A character with open questions...
Anyone who’s played Dark Souls 1 knows Shiva of the East – a quiet warrior, merchant of rare weapons, and mysterious companion of the Forest Hunter covenant.
But his story ends abruptly. No fight, no betrayal, no resolution. To many, he simply seemed like a minor NPC – but much more had been planned for him.
The Quest That Never Came to Be
According to data found in the game code, Shiva was originally meant to have a significant side story.
After the player obtained the Chaos Blade, Shiva – driven by jealousy – was supposed to betray them. He would have stolen the weapon and fled to the Painted World of Ariamis.
There, players could have tracked him down using a special item – the Black Eye Orb – and confronted him in a duel.
The reward: vengeance, a rare artifact, and the return of the Chaos Blade.
But this quest was scrapped before the game was released.
Unearthing An Old Secret
Almost 14 years later, YouTuber splee5556 discovered that part of this abandoned quest is still hidden in the game – and can even be triggered.
No modding, no datamining – just a technical glitch: by using the "Item Swap" trick, the Black Eye Orb can be activated at a specific spot in the Painted World, exactly where remnants of the quest still linger in the code.
And suddenly it happens: the player is invaded by Shiva and his ninja bodyguard – just as originally intended.
After the fight, you receive the Souvenir of Reprisal, but no dialogue follows.
After this, Shiva still exists in the main world, but remains silent – a ghostly echo of his abandoned role.
Why This Discovery Matters
What remains isn’t a fully playable quest – but a rare glimpse into what could have been. This discovery highlights how much unfinished content lies hidden within Dark Souls.
It also shows how passionate the community remains in their search for answers. Not to "fix" the game – but to better understand it.
A forgotten story, a glitch, a quiet battle in a desolate world – and one player who brought it to light.
Have you encountered lost stories like this in games – content that was never officially released but still exists somewhere?
