Black Phantoms are a type of enemy in Demon's Souls. They can be generalized as a malicious form of a soul which attack the living in order to gain souls; the miracle Hidden Soul describes them as "an enemy of God and man."
There are two primary types: invading players and NPC Black Phantoms. The former are only encountered while playing online, and, being controlled by human players, vary widely in appearance, attributes, and tactics. They are not necessarily hostile, but can generally be expected to act so, as they are rewarded for slaying any living or White Phantom players in the world they invade. Though different from NPC Black Phantoms, they are equally affected by Hidden Soul and the Graverobber's Ring. The Banish miracle will expel any invading player caught in its radius when it is cast. Players in the form of a Black Phantom gain a bonus to the damage of their attacks while wearing the Foe's Ring. While attempting to invade another player in the Tower of Latria, it is possible to be summoned to kill the target player as the Old Monk.
The latter type may take on the form of a standard enemy, a named NPC, or an unnamed NPC, and are always hostile. With the exception of three Black Phantom Mind Flayers beyond the Fool's Idol Archstone, they only appear outside of neutral World Tendency. Banish does not work on them. Black Phantom versions of other enemies and NPCs in the game behave identically to their normal counterparts, with the only difference being in HP, defenses, and attack strength. The most common world tendency in which NPC Black Phantoms appear is Pure Black, although the aforementioned Mind Flayers are always present, and a few appear in Pure White World Tendency. Standard enemy-based Black Phantoms are the only ones that respawn once killed.
Boletarian Palace Black Phantoms[]
- Dreglings (Also appear in Pure White)
- Knights
- Fat Officials
- Assassins
- Executioner Miralda (NPC)
- Ostrava of Boletaria (NPC, always appears)
- White Bow Archer (Unnamed NPC, always appears)
- Scraping Spear-Wielding Knight (Unnamed NPC, always appears)
- Penetrating Sword-Wielding Knight (Unnamed NPC, always appears)
Stonefang Tunnel Black Phantoms[]
- Scale Miners
- Fat Officials
- Bearbugs
- Rock Worms
- Scirvir the Wanderer (NPC)
- Great Club-Wielding Barbarian x2 (Unnamed NPC, always appears)
Tower of Latria Black Phantoms[]
- Mind Flayers (Three always appear)
- Man Centipedes
- Gargoyles
- Lord Rydell (NPC)
- Old Monk (NPC, always appears)
- Female Thief (Unnamed NPC, always appears)
Shrine of Storms Black Phantoms[]
- Silver Skeletons
- Gold Skeletons
- Black Skeletons
- Reapers
- Satsuki (NPC)
- Male Swordsman (Unnamed NPC, always appears)
Valley of Defilement Black Phantoms[]
- Depraved Ones
- Giant Depraved Ones
- Selen Vinland (NPC)
- Garl Vinland (NPC, only appears in Pure White)
- Meat Cleaver-Wielding Female (Unnamed NPC)
Notes[]
- The three Black Phantoms beyond the Penetrator Archstone are believed by some to correspond to the three knights mentioned Ostrava's legend: Longbow Oolan; Metas, the Knight of the Lance; and Alfred, the Knight of the Tower.