Key Takeaway
Both the Taurus Demon and the Capra Demon may be in Undead Burg to prevent the Chosen Undead from advancing and eventually reaching the Bed of Chaos.
Alternatively, it may be that these demons wandered away from the Demon Ruins and eventually made their home in Undead Burg for unknown reasons.
However, both points are merely speculation.
The Taurus Demon and Capra Demon are two Dark Souls bosses renowned for giving new players trouble. You face these bosses in Undead Burg then find more of them as regular enemies in the Demon Ruins. Their appearance in Undead Burg, though, is more questionable.
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In-Game Hints Why the Demons Are in Undead Burg
There isn’t much in-game that gives us a solid reason as to why the Taurus Demon—who is usually the first boss you must beat after the tutorial—and Capra Demon are in Undead Burg. As a matter of fact, there is only one piece of information in the game that talks about this at all. This comes from the wacky Undead Merchant that hangs around in Undead Burg.
Things are getting treacherous in these parts. A horrible goat demon has moved in below. And up above, there’s that humongous drake, and a bull demon too. If you stick around this place, it might end up being your grave!
The Undead Merchant’s dialogue indicates that the Taurus Demon and Capra Demon have only recently made their way to Undead Burg. Now, whether their arrival at Undead Burg is purposeful or accidental is unclear.
The Mission of the Demons
Given that the arrival of both demons is fairly recent, they may have made their way to the Undead Burg around the same time the Chosen Undead begins exploring Firelink Shrine. We know that the Taurus Demon and The Capra Demon are classified as Lesser Demons, according to the description of their weapons; the Demon Great Machete and the Demon’s Greataxe.
Lesser Demons are spawns of the Mother of all demons, also known as the Bed of Chaos. We know this from the description of the Soul of Bed of Chaos—one of the four Lord Souls.
Soul of the Bed of Chaos and the mother of all demons. This Lord Soul was found at the dawn of the Age of Fire. The Witch of Izalith attempted to duplicate the First Flame from a soul, but instead created a distorted being of chaos and fire. Its power formed a bed of life which would become the source for all demons, and is more than enough to satiate the Lordvessel.
Since the goal of the Chosen Undead is to ultimately collect all Lord Souls, which the Bed of Chaos is also a wielder of, it may be the mission of the Taurus Demon and the Capra Demon to stop the Chosen Undead from ever reaching their so-called “mother”.
Without substantial fact, however, all of this is merely speculation.
The Demons and the Black Knights
The placement of both demons in the Undead Burg is no accident either. We know this because of the presence of Black Knights in this level. There are two Black Knights in Undead Burg, and it’s interesting to note that both of them are situated fairly close to both demons.
Black Knights are former Silver Knights of Gwyn. It is the duty of the Black Knights to hunt and kill demons, which is why their armor, weapons, and shields are now charred black. The description of the Black Knight Shield and Black Knight armor set supports this.
The Black Knights may be here to hunt the demons, or to at least keep them suppressed. That is until you came along and wiped out not only the demons but the knights themselves as well.
Being one of many challenging FromSoftware games, many aspects of Dark Souls are purposefully left ambiguous. Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of the game and the series as a whole, purposefully makes it so that fans can come up with their own conclusions. The explanation as to why the Taurus Demon and the Capra Demon are in Undead Burg may also be up to you—the player. At this point, your headcanon is as plausible as ours.
