HomeFeaturesSekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Headless in Sekiro is the only boss that legimitately terrifies meI fear no boss, but that thing…
I fear no boss, but that thing…
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/From Software
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/From Software
Headless enemies aren’t exactly a new concept in games, so I’m not sure why the Headless inSekiro: Shadows Die Twiceinstills such dread in me. It’s so terrifying to face that I almost didn’t write this post, because I knew I’d have to drop into its heinous lair in order to take the screenshot you see above.
But I’m a brave boy, so I dropped in, and of course died almost instantly. Sekiro is still one of the toughestsoulslikesaround, absolutely filled with extremely dangerous bosses and twisted body-horror monstrosities that can carve you up with just a couple of hits, sending you back to the last checkpoint bereft of all your XP. But the Headless scares me so much, I actively avoid facing it until I have absolutely no choice.
12 Sekiro Tips And Tricks To Easily Conquer The First 10 HoursWatch on YouTube
12 Sekiro Tips And Tricks To Easily Conquer The First 10 Hours
That was probably FromSoftware’s intention, to be fair. The first time you meet a Headless is actually very early on in the game, and it’s part of FromSoft’s familiar “look, it’s a boss that’s way too tough for you, we’ve included it early to show you that it’s okay to come back later when you’re more powerful” technique. But the thing is, I’ve beaten Sekiro several times in the past few years. I know what I have to do to beat the Headless. But I still need to take a few deep breaths before I face it.
Why is it so awful to face? It’s not the boss’s appearance - loathsome though it be, all pasty and plump and cranially challenged. It’s probably more to do with the fact that the stakes are higher for the Headless fight than almost any fight in any soulslike I’ve ever had. See, the Headless does three really shitty things to you. First: it puffs all this murky mist around itself which prevents you from dodging. Second: it’s practically impervious to your attacks. And third: every time it attacks you, it inflicts Terror. Once your Terror bar fills all the way, you die instantly.
I think that’s probably why the prospect of fighting a Headless (and yes, there are several dotted about the world of Sekiro) is so daunting. I genuinely feel a chill down my spine to this day whenever I have to drop down into a Headless’s caliginous, cramped little lair and face the creature head-on. Maybe that’s why I chose, subconsciously, to play Sekiro again as Halloween drew near.
