By 2026, boss-vs-boss YouTube videos have become their own strange little sport. Players who once argued about lore now argue about health bars, poise, and whether a DLC port can turn a beloved swordsman into a walking war crime. The channel Elden Ring Fights has been running this exact circus, and its latest headliner is a doozy: Dark Souls' Knight Artorias vs. the base-game bosses of Elden Ring. The setup is simple. FromSoft dusted off the Abysswalker for Elden Ring Nightreign's Forsaken Hollows DLC, effectively porting him into Elden Ring's engine. That meant the YouTube channel could finally pit him against the Lands Between's finest without modding in a papier-mâché hitbox.
The result is not a lore debate. It is a facetank DPS race, and Artorias enters it like a retired prizefighter wandering into a casino and finding every table rigged in his favor—until the high-rollers show up. Early terrors such as Margit and Godfrey do not stand a chance. Single hits from Abyss Artie chunk health bars so hard that the fights look less like duels and more like a tax auditor going through a small business's receipts: methodical, unimpressed, and leaving nothing behind.
⚔️ The Highlight Reel
If one has a real job and does not want to watch a 30-minute video, the four fights worth skipping to are Maliketh, Placidusax, Radagon & Elden Beast, and Malenia. All four are dynamic, close, and genuinely fun to watch. Here is the quick version:
| Fight | Timestamp | Result | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maliketh the Black Blade | 8:22 | Artorias loses | Maliketh comes from behind in phase two and hands Artorias one of only two L's. |
| Dragonlord Placidusax | 13:31 | Artorias wins | A come-from-behind squeaker against mobility and brutal AoE. |
| Radagon & Elden Beast | 16:53 | Artorias wins | A marathon fight that should not favor him, yet somehow does. |
| Malenia | 24:06 | Artorias wins | Flinchable, but lifesteal and Waterfowl Dance keep it tense. |
Maliketh is the standout. Watching him fight Artorias is like watching a master locksmith meet a door that was never built to open—every trick works until the hinges bite back. Phase two turns the fight into a burglary alarm in a museum: sudden, loud, and impossible to out-stat. The article's writer admits they have never once felt in control of the Maliketh battle across five playthroughs, and if Maliketh had a beefier health bar, he might be the toughest boss FromSoft ever made. That is high praise from someone who has clearly been traumatized by a black blade.
Malenia is Malenia. The fact that she can be flinched gives her a huge disadvantage in boss-vs-boss battles, which really do boil down to facetank DPS races. But her health back on strikes, plus the mostly uninterruptible Waterfowl Dance, make up for it. Watching her fight Artorias is less a duel and more a billing dispute—every hit she lands is a line item she adds to an invoice that Artorias cannot afford to pay.
🐉 Comebacks and Slogs
Placidusax and Elden Beast are notable for being come-from-behind victories for the boy in blue. Artorias's AI clearly was not designed to handle their mobility or brutal AoE attacks, not to mention the marathon nature of the Radagon–Elden Beast fight. And yet he still squeaked it out. The Fire Giant fight is similarly close, but it is a slog to watch. Nobody needs to see two giant health bars slowly erode each other while the viewer's coffee goes cold.
Then there is Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, née Praetor. The article has absolutely no respect for him, and honestly, that is fair. He is a big dumb blob of snake with two health bars and an AoE fire damage effect, resulting in an unentertaining, unearned victory over Artorias. That is a participation trophy disguised as a championship belt. Rykard did not outfight Artorias; he out-blobbed him.
But the video does not tell the full story. Nobody knows how Artorias fares against Shadow of the Erdtree bosses. Another Elden Ring Fights video shows him getting beat by Carian Knight Rellana in a different context, which does not bode well for his chances elsewhere. Still, Artorias risks sullying his legacy as a fighter, preserving a 20-2-0 record by not taking fights he might lose. In 2026, that is either cowardice or brand management, and honestly, the line has never been blurrier.
🏆 The Verdict
The boss-rush format works because it strips away the mythology and leaves only the math. Artorias is a legend, but in Elden Ring's engine he is also a hitbox with a health bar and a dream. Against the base game's early bosses, he looks like a god. Against Maliketh, he looks like a guy who forgot to check the patch notes. Against Rykard, he looks like a victim of bad design dressed up as a boss fight. And against Malenia, he looks like someone who brought a sword to a billing dispute.
For viewers, the fun is not in the lore. It is in watching a 2011 legend walk into a 2022 arena and discover that the rules have changed. Sometimes he adapts. Sometimes he gets folded like a lawn chair. Either way, the video is worth the watch—especially the Maliketh fight, which is the closest thing to a perfect boss-vs-boss tragedy that the channel has produced so far.