Can the words "Undead" and "Hollow" be used interchangably in this game, or do they mean two different things? I know that when I am not human, I can reverse hollowing at a bonfire. But, I have spoken to an NPC in non-human form and he told me that I looked "far from being hollow" when I thought I was hollow. Am I missing something here?

As someone who has finished more than one playthrough I fill I speak with authority when I say: ???????

I believe that story wise, being Hollow actually means that you lose your mind. So he says you're not Hollow because you still have control of yourself.

@AndyD74: Yeah, they each have a different meaning ... In Dark Souls, the undead are people who cannot really die because of the dark sign (similar to a sickness), they are called "undead" even in human form. When they "die" they lose humanity and become increasingly hollow (zombie-looking, lose sanity). So "hollow" is a state of an undead.

As opposed to the NPCs in the world, the player avatar keeps his sanity though when he becomes hollow.... maybe because he's the chosen one. Well, the actual player in front of the TV might still lose sanity after hundreds of deaths (how clever!)

@FluxWaveZ said:

I believe that story wise, being Hollow actually means that you lose your mind. So he says you're not Hollow because you still have control of yourself.

Its this pretty much. Everyone in the world is undead but will eventually become hollow. The darksign being the reason for this, it carries the undead curse which eventually drives everyone to insanity over a period of time. Its the reason why NPC's can be found to become hollow after you reach a certain point.

The breaking of the curse is the whole goal of the game, not that it really puts that upfront!

So what's the purpose of the dark sign that you aquire in the game? Is it a consumable? I've never tried it.

@AndyD74 said:

So what's the purpose of the dark sign that you aquire in the game? Is it a consumable? I've never tried it.

It's sort of like a homeward bone only you lose all your souls and humanity when you use it. It's sort of like the nexial binding from Demons Souls.

@benjaebe said:

@AndyD74 said:

So what's the purpose of the dark sign that you aquire in the game? Is it a consumable? I've never tried it.

It's sort of like a homeward bone only you lose all your souls and humanity when you use it. It's sort of like the nexial binding from Demons Souls.

It's basically your "undead" curse ... you die but then you awake again with less humanity and you lost all souls. Using it is basically dying.

Thanks for the info fellas.