I asked Dark Souls director Miyazaki about his now-legendary Undead Dragon quote, and he had a great response: 'Something beautiful needs something depraved or tragic to embolden that beauty'

There may be no more effective way to tank a conversation than trying to explain a meme, but screw it—I knew I had to try. When I visited FromSoftware's offices in Tokyo to interview company president Hidetaka Miyazaki for PC Gamer's next cover story, I knew I had to ask him about my favorite bit of trivia from Dark Souls: the instructions he gave to the artist behind the Undead Dragon. 

It may be my favorite quote from any videogame creator, and I know I'm not alone in loving it, because I see this quote from the Dark Souls: Design Works book passed around all the time as an example of what makes FromSoftware's games so special. But to my knowledge Miyazaki's never spoken about the quote since—I wasn't even sure if he knew it had become a bit of a legend on the English internet. So I plowed in headfirst, reading him the quote—reproduced below—and then asking if he knew that it was now often used as shorthand to express the ethos of FromSoftware's games.

From Dark Souls Design Works:

" Hidetaka Miyazaki: Most people don't believe me when I say this, but a certain kind of refinement, elegance, and dignity are very important to me. I'll usually tell the designers that flat-out grotesque or splatter type designs will not get past me. This has everything to do with my own personal sensibilities, and it is something that I apply to every design that I approve. It's a little hard to describe if you were to ask me, 'Well, what do you mean by dignity?' I guess the best answer I can provide is right here in this book, in every design you see within these pages. My idea of dignity is something that I pursue with every project I work on and not just Dark Souls.

" Masanori Waragai: I remember when I was drawing the Undead Dragon, I submitted a design draft that depicted a dragon swarming with maggots and other gross things. Miyazaki handed it back to me saying, 'This isn't dignified. Don't rely on the gross factor to portray an undead dragon. Can't you instead try to