Northern Undead Asylum

The Northern Undead Asylum, also simply known as the Undead Asylum, is a fictional location and the starting area in the 2011 video game Dark Souls, created as part of the Dark Souls series by the game director Hidetaka Miyazaki and the development company FromSoftware. It is an institutional setting where the player character was imprisoned until a character named Oscar of Astora throws down a corpse with a key for the prison cell. Upon progression through the level, the player encounters a gigantic tutorial boss called the Asylum Demon. After defeating the boss and escaping from the asylum, the player character is eventually taken to the game's main setting starting with a hub called the Firelink Shrine. The player character can optionally return to the undead asylum later, where they can fight another boss called the Stray Demon.

The Undead Asylum has been the subject of generally positive receptions by critics, who argued that it served as a very effective tutorial for players to get used to the game's mechanics, controls, and difficulty while giving them some freedom to determine how they want to approach the level. They have also noted that the aesthetics and purpose as a starting location for the player character fits in well with the overall dark and hostile tone of the game. By extent, the Asylum Demon was well-received as the tutorial boss due to his intimidating presence and introduction to fighting bosses throughout the game.