Capra Demon

The Capra Demon is an optional boss and an enemy in Dark Souls.

Location
First encountered as an optional boss in the lower area of Undead Burg. Lesser Capra Demons are later encountered as respawning enemies in Demon Ruins.

Description
They are large humanoids with four red-glowing eyes and a horned skull for a head. Capra Demons each possess a bone tail, and have exposed shoulder blades and spines. They also wear a ragged skirt made of straw and dual wield Demon Great Machetes.

Strategy
The boss version of the Capra Demon battles the player in a small, confined room which makes it harder to recuperate health and stamina. It is best for the player to eliminate the two Attack Dogs as quickly as possible as they may stun-lock low Poise players and can also trap players in a corner. Climbing the staircase will enable the player to attack the boss with ranged weapons and give them an opportunity to recover; however, the boss can still reach the player. Players can climb the set of stairs and walk onto the protruding archway over the door at the far end of the room to recover safely. The Capra Demon will climb the stairs after you, but will be blocked by the low railing and miss its swings as long as the player is standing on the far end of the arch. Should the player have sorceries or pyromancy available to them, they can remain on the archway and batter the Capra Demon from out of its range, moving to the very corner of the archway to avoid being hit by its leap attack after it climbs the stairs. The Capra Demon has a long recovery time every time it lands after jumping, so if one lures it up the stairs and baits it into jumping off, the player can use that opportunity to deal decent amounts of damage. The Capra Demon is weak to fire, so Charcoal Pine Resins and Firebombs can be effective.

Wearing armor with high physical protection and poise will prove very useful against Capra Demon as all of its damage is physical. Weapons with high damage that aren't slow are also useful, as the fight revolves around mobility. If the weapon also has high Poise damage, this will help in stunning the Capra Demon out of attacks. High stability shields will be helpful in blocking a majority of its attacks.

An easy way to defeat the Capra Demon consists in equipping the Ring of Fog before traversing the fog gate, this way the Attack Dogs will ignore the player completely and the boss can be fought without intrusions, as long as the battle is kept near the archway.

The Lesser Capra Demons fought in the Demon Ruins are much more simple to handle as the player has more room to maneuver. Players may lure them over with ranged weapons as fighting two at once may be challenging.

Single Slash
The Capra Demon swings with either of its swords. It can be avoided by rolling.

Double Swing
Very similar to the Single Swing, however, the Capra Demon swings with one sword after the other in a two-hit combo. Deals heavy damage, or heavy stamina drain if the player is hit while blocking.

Leaping Smash
Used when the player is far away from the Demon. It jumps towards the target, then smashes its two swords into the ground upon landing. This attack can be blocked with a strong shield or it can be dodged by rolling away.

Left Sword Smash
A quick strike from its left side causes heavy stamina drain when blocked, but can be dodged by rolling towards the Demon.

Dual Slash
It holds its two blades together and pulls them back to slash into the ground. This attacks does heavy stamina damage when blocked, and is easily dodged.

Power Smash
The Capra Demon's strongest attack. It raises its swords above its head, then brings them down in a vertical smash. It cannot be blocked, and deals heavy damage to the player. However, it has an obvious animation and a long wind-up time, so it is easy to dodge.

Trivia

 * The Capra Demon has the same soundtrack as the Centipede Demon.
 * In biology, "Capra" is a genus of goats and goat-like mammals.