Havel the Rock

Havel the Rock is one of the few exceptions for common hollows throughout all the Soulsborne games (aside from Demon's Souls and anything prior).

Once a bishop for the Way of White, Havel scoffed at the concept of sorcery, and had a deep-seated hatred towards the dragons of Lordran. This sent him off in search for the armor of a once gargantuan army of warriors known as the "Havel Knights", who had fought in the battle against man and dragons. He carried with him a tooth that was presumably pulled from a dragon (whether killed by him or not is a mystery) and enchanted it to protect him from magic and fire. Havel proceeded to slay many of the dragons that plagued the land, so many that Lord Gwyn had him recruited as one of the elite knights of Lordran. During this time, Havel had became obsessed with killing the father of dragons, Seath the Scaleless, trying over and over to defeat the creature. In time, his memories rotted, and he became mad with the want for souls. This caused one of his fellow knights, Knight Artorias, to take action by locking him in a tower, leaving him to rot until someone (the Chosen undead) opened the tower back up to fight him.

Superior Defense

 * The armor that most Havel knights wear is extremely high in defense, especially against fire and magic which, along with his shield and dragon tooth (both also providing considerable protection from fire and magic) make him one of the stronger enemies in the games.

High-Level Damage Output

 * Havel can one-shot most low level players and even some non-optimised high level players.

Excellent Durability

 * Havel's armor is the second heaviest armor in the first game, requiring high strength and vitality to even wear, let alone comfortably battle in. However, Havel has a ring that raises his vitality by a small amount.

Attacks from the Rear

 * Havel's armor does encumber him by a large margin (he is capable of performing a dodge roll, albeit slowly). so wearing light armor or no armor might allow the player to hit him from behind. Caution must be taken, however, as this tactic makes attackers more vulnerable.

Fighting Fire with Fire

 * Playing the game for long enough will allow a character to tank his attacks, though they will still do a lot of damage. However, a character will probably have enough estus to heal himself throughout the fight.

Trivia

 * In the original Dark Souls, Havel's armor is non-reflective, as it is made of stone, whilst in Dark Souls 2, the armor reflects light, which may imply that it is a metal recreation, rather than the original. This is changed back in Dark Souls 3.
 * In Dark Souls 2, if a player enters the Pilgrims of Dark Covenant and plays the side quest which can be accessed, portals will be opened for human effigies to light beacons. One of the portals leads to an area with a phantom Havel Knight.
 * In Dark Souls 3, not only is Havel the Rock in the game, but if he is allowed to live, some of the enemies in the area will summon Havel clones.