Who is Dark Souls’ Manus? It’s a question you might ask yourself after a mysterious hand drags you through a portal, or perhaps that’s old news to you, and you want to know who this huge brute in front of you at the bottom of a dark cave is. Well, Dark Souls’ Manus is pretty notorious as many regard him to be one of the toughest bosses from the entire Dark Souls trilogy, not just the first game.
There’s so much more to DS’ Manus than first meets the eye, and we’re ready to tell you all about him, from his lore to his boss fight. However, there’s more to the world of Lordran than this vile beast. If you want to know more about the Age of Fire and how it came to be, our Dark Souls Gwyn guide can shine a light on it. Or, to discover more about those that inhabit the dying lands today, our Dark Souls Ornstein, Dark Souls Quelaag, Dark Souls Nito, and Dark Souls Solaire guides are a treat. Praise the Sun!
Who is Dark Souls’ Manus?
Also known as the father of the abyss, Manus is a primordial human. After an unknown primordial serpent, presumably, Kaathe (because, evil), influences the townspeople of Oolacile to explore the abyss. A chasm of pure darkness, where they come across the ghastly beast.
When the people meet Manus, he becomes so enraged that the first thing he wants to do is take over the local area while looking for his jewellery. Specifically the broken pendant we use to gain access to the Artorias of the Abyss Dark Souls DLC. This most likely explains why Manus grapples you like Homer Simpson grabs a tasty doughnut. The abyss corrupts the locals into crazy red-eyed monsters, and the town of Oolacile deteriorates into an unlivable state, so it’s up to you to… well, it all takes place in the past so you can’t exactly save the day, you mainly act as the exterminator of the abyss and euthanize what remains of Artorias.
Manus is also Latin for ‘hand’, and you’d better get used to seeing a lot of his giant, hairy, deformed left arm as he swings it at you with malicious intent at volatile speeds.
Where can I find Dark Souls’ Manus?
Not only is Manus a DLC boss, he’s the big, bad final boss of it, so you can expect to be going on quite a long journey to find him. Heck, you need to slice and dice your way through Artorias before you can even think about finding Manus.
Once you defeat the fallen knight and enter Oolacile, you need to fight your way through the once-thriving town until you eventually reach the final area of the expansion – a dark cave known as the Chasm of the Abyss. Yeah, I hear it’s truly lovely this time of year. Luckily, while the area appears intimidating at first due to how dark it is and all the humanity sprites around, it takes little more than a minute to reach Manus when you know where you’re going, and so long as you’re careful, you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding him your first time in the cave.
However, a helpful bit of advice is to consider equipping the skull lantern to shine some light on the situation. Better still, use a Sunlight Maggot, as that’s a headpiece, so you don’t have to give up your shield or off-hand weapon to use it. These two items can help to prevent you from falling to your doom, and you’ve already done enough of that in the Tomb of the Giants.
Continue downward through the chasm, head towards the Humanities floating in the darkness, and you can find a makeshift stone bridge made of a fallen pillar marked by some colorful glintstones. At the base of the bridge, there’s a cave entrance. Continue heading down, where you ultimately find Manus’ boss arena fog wall, and since he’s such a nice guy, Manus even gives you a hand getting into the boss room himself.
Dark Souls Manus boss fight
There’s a reason many regard Manus as one of the hardest bosses in Dark Souls, and that’s because he hits like a freight train while being able to move at surprising speed for someone of his stature. To combat this, we recommend that you bring a shield and buffs that support your stamina, the Cloranthy Dark Souls ring and green blossom consumable item are very helpful here.
Many of his attacks come from his large left arm, which can grab and smash you into the ground, and also juggle you in a combo for massive damage. So circling around to the left (Manus’ right) towards his staff is the best course of action when it comes to dodging. Manus lets out a loud roar when he’s about to break into a five-hit juggling combo. The best course of action here is to use that large shield and back away, defending yourself from the first few blows. Be sure to manage your stamina here so Manus doesn’t break through your defenses.
In Manus’ second phase, he starts to use that staff of his, casting dark magic of all sorts. Although you can take a chance at dodging through Manus’ offenses, there’s one item that can heavily even the odds. You can find the Silver Pendant in Oolacile Township, which deflects Manus’ dark magic attacks if timed correctly, similar to a parry mixed with the Force miracle. Again, Manus has no direct weaknesses, not with spells, miracles, or weapon types. So any benefit to defend yourself while trying to deal any damage you can.
What if I said you don’t have to take on Manus alone? You can find a small sword-wielding Dark Souls Sif hiding behind several illusionary walls in the Chasm of the Abyss. By following the spirit of Alvina through the darkness, behind even more illusionary walls, you find Sif under attack by several Humanity being protected by Dark Souls’ Artorias‘ magic shield. Quickly deal with them so Sif can safely escape the abyss with a thankful howl. Inside Manus’ boss room, Sif’s summon sign appears to the left of the area as you crashland into the fight.
There you have it, everything you need to know about Dark Souls’ Manus. If you want to step out of the darkness of the abyss and into the light of Anor Londo, have a look at our Dark Souls Gwynevere and Dark Souls Gwyndolin guides.