Why Sekiro is the best warrior in Soulsbourne games

Why Sekiro is the best warrior in Soulsbourne games

Here’s why Sekiro The One-Armed Wolf is the best warrior out of all protagonists in FromSoftware’s Soulsbourne games.

There are multiple characteristics of Sekiro that make him a remarkable warrior:

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  • Training
  • Discipline
  • Focus
  • Courage
  • Tools and weaponry
  • Stealth
  • Perseverance

Let’s discuss each of these aspects of him more thoroughly.

Training

The Great Shinobi named Owl encountered a child who roamed the battlefields where the destructive wars of the Sengoku Era took place.

…Fascinating. Will you join me, starving Wolf?

Owl upon encountering the Wolf for the first time.

Owl was the most skilled and powerful Shinobi at that time. He took the stray cub he found on the battlefield under his care, as a father, and trained him relentlessly to become a master Shinobi. The training of a Shinobi differs from a Samurai. They keep to the shadows and are single-minded and focused. He taught the Code of the Shinobi to the Wolf, who was now fully trained.

As your father, my word is absolute. Your master is a close second. As of today, he is your master. Defend him with your life. If he is taken, bring him back at any cost.

Owl introducing Lord Kuro as the Wolf’s master.

As his father instructed him, the Wolf took the duty upon himself to defend Lord Kuro with his life. He’s a dutiful and loyal person.

Moreover his training, Sekiro manages his guilt about killing by using various breathing techniques. For example, by exhaling after performing a Deathblow, he lets off his guilt and heavy-heartedness. These types of techniques he uses to remain mentally healthy and mindful are major parts of the training of a Shinobi.

He also uses a single fighting style with his Katana, unlike other protagonists of Soulsbourne. As the game progresses, he perfects this style further. At the end of the game, you, the player will be a master of Sekiro’s balanced combat style and the game will feel quite easy at some point. This quote by Bruce Lee is a good example of a single fighting method perfected and polished over time:

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

Bruce Lee

Discipline

Discipline is a major characteristic of any formidable warrior, including the Shinobi and the Samurai. Sekiro is incredibly disciplined and it’s very noticeable throughout the game. He’s a quiet man that rarely expresses his feelings. Usually, when people keep their feelings to themselves, it results in outbursts and chaos at some point. But Sekiro manages his feelings very well and is never angry, sad, or afraid. In my opinion, Sekiro’s mental strength and self-control are far greater than his physical prowess.

In the game, he encounters many things that an ordinary person would crave. Even though he encounters Emma, an attractive woman, he never lusts for her. Instead, he keeps her at a distance as a friend and never breaks his incredible focus. Many allies of Sekiro offer him Sake (rice wine), but he’d rather give them to his friends like Emma, the Sculptor, or Isshin Ashina than intoxicate himself.

Focus

Sekiro’s main goal is to serve his master, Lord Kuro. The lord tasks Sekiro with perilous tasks that require single-mindedness and incredible focus. Fulfilling Lord Kuro’s wishes and commands is not very difficult in Sekiro’s eyes because he is very calm and focused on his goals. For example, let’s take the enemies he encounters. When he has to fight multiple enemies at once, Sekiro’s best tactic as a master Shinobi is to focus on one enemy at a time. And he needs to do this while also defending himself from all the other enemies. For the player’s gameplay experience, this tactic is the best way to overcome multiple foes without failure.

When Sekiro enters a dark space, his training allows him to focus and see much more than an ordinary person sees in the dark. He can also eavesdrop on enemies that are somewhat distant from him. His incredible focus helps him to disregard the noises of anything and hear what the enemies are talking about. These are a few examples of how focused Sekiro is.

Courage

In his path, Sekiro has to face countless grotesque, terrifying, and powerful enemies. But he never falters or gets frightened in the face of overpowered monsters or disciplined samurai alike. In the previous section, we talked about his focus. Usually, when someone faces something that seems insurmountable, they lose their focus because of nervousness or anxiety. This is never the case with Sekiro. He doesn’t express his awe, but simply says “Enough talk” to human opponents, or gets in his fighting stance against monsters. His courage is truly admirable.

We also should keep in mind how Sekiro defeated demons and Gods alike. For example, the Divine Dragon was an almighty dragon god, but Sekiro overcame him without even saying anything. Something else I truly love about Sekiro is how he doesn’t brag about his kills or achievements at all.

Tools and Weaponry

I mentioned earlier how Sekiro only has a single fighting style, that is very polished and perfect for him. Like all Ninjas, he has a lot of tools. He uses these items with his Shinobi prosthetic arm and each of them is suited for targeting the weaknesses of almost any enemy. His combination of a single polished sword style and these tools allow him to destroy any enemy that stands in his way. Sekiro’s battle arts like Ichimonji are also powerful tools that allow him to be victorious.

Along with his impeccable training, which we discussed above, his tools and weaponry make him similar to Batman with prep time.

Stealth

Unlike Samurai warriors who directly face their enemies, the ninjas dispatch foes silently and precisely. Sekiro is a master at stealth and he’s as agile and silent as a cat who hunts mice. Stealth is one of the most powerful traits of Sekiro. He can even target strong enemies to instantly weaken them by performing a deathblow. It’s yet another reason why Sekiro is the best warrior in Soulsbourne games.

Stealth is another reason why Sekiro is the best warrior in Soulsbourne games

One of the best tactics that Sekiro use is picking out many enemies silently before focusing on bosses and powerful enemies. He also uses various items like handfuls of ash and ceramic pieces to distract enemies and be at an advantage.

Perseverance

How many times have you died and come back to life for my sake…? Two, three times? Perhaps a number so large you’ve lost count…

Lord Kuro

The above quote depicts how persistent Sekiro is. He’s ready to die and return to life as much as he can until he fulfills his duty. This is perhaps, his best quality. No matter how strong and overpowered his enemies are, no matter how perilous and dangerous the environments are, he comes back as many times as it takes. Sekiro never gives up and he eventually succeeds, surmounting even the greatest foes. This is the best quality that any warrior, or rather, any person in the world could have. Like Sekiro, who suffers painful deaths but comes back to life and retries until he succeeds, everyone should be persistent enough to not give up.

These are the reasons why Sekiro is the best warrior in Soulsbourne games and someone who is capable of defeating anyone or anything in his path.

If you haven’t already played it, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. You can read our full review to learn more about the game.

What do you think of Sekiro? Is he the best warrior in Soulsbourne? Let us know your thoughts on the forums!