The indie action RPG appears to have an NPC character that makes reference to Siegmeyer from Dark Souls, with both characters sharing similarities.
Acid Nerve's Death's Door has drawn a lot of comparisons to action RPG The Legend of Zelda. But an early NPC appears to be an homage to a fan favorite character from Dark Souls.
Death's Door is a new action RPG from publisher Devolver where players take the role of a crow who works a job as a Reaper of Souls. When an assigned soul goes missing, players have to venture into mysterious realms to try and track down the thief. Death's Door released to positive reviews and many comparisons to such games as Hollow Knight and Hades. While there are definite similar design elements, Death's Door is more forgiving in its gameplay. Unlike Hades, it is not a roguelike, and players don't lose their currency when they die.
An early NPC in Death's Door appears to be an homage to a popular character from Dark Souls, Siegmeyer of Catarina, also known as the Onion Knight. Players of Death's Door encounter a character named Pothead, so named because he has a soup pot for a head. Although Pothead has no voiced dialogue, his occasional laughs and other sounds that he make sound very similar to those made by Siegmeyer. Although not a perfect match, the two characters also share a similar design silhouette. Both have exaggerated heads that lack normal facial features, though Siegmeyer's head is distorted due to the armor he wears, while Pothead's head is a literal pot. Both characters also associate with food, with Pothead's continual offering of soup from his head, and Siegmeyer's nickname the Onion Knight.
The way in which players encounter and interact with Pothead is also reminiscent of Siegmeyer's appearances in Dark Souls. When players first meet Pothead, he is in a garden, unable to continue his journey to a witch's mansion because of the iron gate that bars the way. Siegmeyer, meanwhile, can first be found in Dark Souls sitting near an iron gate outside of Sen's Fortress, where he will bemoan to players that he cannot get the gate to budge. In both games, as players progress through a dungeon and open various pathways, they will encounter both Pothead and Siegmeyer multiple times.
As of this writing, there's been no official confirmation from developer Acid Nerve that Pothead is a tribute to Siegmeyer from Dark Souls. But while Death's Door might not be as punishing, their are some broad similarities between the two games: players collect souls as currency and deal with themes of death and undying. In light of these similarities, it makes sense for Death's Door's Pothead to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Siegmeyer, the Onion Knight.
Death's Door is on PC/Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
