Sunbro Cosplayer D-Piddy Uses 'Dark Souls' Roll To Escape Real Life Dangers

Rolling has long been a staple of both the action and hack-and-slash genres. Whether it’s to avoid enemies, or survive otherwise impossible boss fights, “stopping, dropping, and rolling” has proven itself time and again to be the most effective tactic against both fire and your prototypical H&S opponent.

It allows even the most inexperienced of players to navigate any battle and win, with just enough health to spare, and narrowly evade the quickest attacks. It encourages gamers to become extra inventive, and rather than button mash endlessly to win, develop more unique strategies. It encourages us sometimes lazy gamers to reach for a high score and more rewards, instead of settling with just a simple, textbook victory. It also gives users an edge, like say a chance to blindside an otherwise unbeatable opponent or surprise a typically perceptive foe.

Whether it’s #Uncharted, #GodofWar, #DarkSouls, #NinjaGaiden, #SilentHill, #DMC, or a mix of all of the above, rolling is often our only shot at clearing stages and winning boss fights. We’d be dead in seconds without the ability to roll. What about in real life, though? Obviously, when your shirt has caught fire, rolling can mean the difference between life and death. But what about in a battle? Faced against an armed mugger, a soldier, or an MMA fighter, would any of us survive by actually attempting a roll?

D-Piddy, a US-based cosplayer known for his hilarious Deadpool videos, fortunately answered this question for us. Earlier this month, he cosplayed as the brave knight #Solaire of Astora (also known as #Sunbro) from Dark Souls and visited #SabotenCon in Phoenix, Arizona, testing out the famous H&S roll against his fellow costumed characters. Check out the hilarity below:

“It Hurt Itself In Its Confusion!”

As an evasive maneuver, the move just barely worked. As a diversionary tactic however, it was, by all accounts, super effective. D-Piddy’s Sunbro did cause considerable confusion among his enemies by rolling all over the floor without a word, just enough to completely stop them in their tracks. Some even stopped to laugh. Hypothetically, in a real fight, D-Piddy could have used this chance to hit back and throw a sucker punch, or shoot a prowling killer in the head, or just attempt a rapid escape and actually succeed. In a life-or-death setup, those 5 to 10 seconds could easily prove monumental.

In real life, rolling is an effective distraction. A last shot way of surviving an otherwise inescapable danger. Think Naruto’s Sexy Jutsu; a move he tried on the most powerful being in their universe and succeeded, leaving the enemy wide open and buying the team just enough time to attempt a direct attack. It’s weird, but it works.

I’m really reaching here though. Obviously, the experiment is meant to be taken as a joke. It’s a smartly executed parody, meant to be funny, not scientific. Even I couldn’t stop laughing just watching D-Piddy troll his fellow cosplayers in a way Ryan Reynolds’s Wade Wilson would be proud of. But that doesn’t mean D-Piddy wasn’t able to prove a point.

Distractions are just as effective as guns or melee. Heck, if Marty McFly was able to survive three bullies and several threats to his life by just distracting the crap out of them, only to hit them clean on the face and run away, I’d be glad to one day roll to save my life, thanks.