10 Secret Origins Behind Iconic Video Game Features
2. Dark Souls’ Bonfire Was Inspired By Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai
For avid Dark Souls players, the sight of a bonfire is a great source of relief. Serving as a checkpoint, health/estus replenishment point, and fast-travel portal, the bonfire is integral to the game.
The unique design of the bonfire with a sword sticking out of it may be inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. In one scene from the movie, a Japanese greatsword is placed upon a fire, similar to the bonfire in Dark Souls. Although Dark Souls’ creator Hidetaka Miyazaki never explicitly admitted this, he often cited that he loves Kurosawa’s works and drew inspiration from them. Furthermore, the likeness between the scene and the iconic bonfire is too uncanny to be a mere coincidence.
In fact, the bonfire isn’t the only thing in the game that bears a visual resemblance to Kurosawa’s work. One of the bosses, Nito, also looks eerily similar to a pile of bones in the same movie.