Hollow Knight

Hunter's Journal


''Fully grown Vessel, carrying the plague's heart within it's body..    The Old King of Hallownest... he must have been desperate to save his crumbling little world. The sacrifices he imposed on others... all for nothing.''

Behaviour
The Hollow Knight is the previous Hollow Knight that sealed away the Infection. It is one of two final bosses of the game.

Upon breaking the seals on the temple by destroying the three Dreamers, the player is allowed to enter in order to fight this boss. To begin the fight, the player must break the 4 chains holding the Hollow Knight to the ceiling to free it. After that, it roars and breaks free.



Phase 1
The Hollow Knight has multiple moves:
 * Nail Combo: The Hollow Knight slashes its nail at the smaller Hollow Knight multiple times.
 * Infection Burst: The Knight jumps and stabs the ground, causing pillars of dark energy to charge up and then rise from the ground.
 * Nail Lunge: The Knight dashes at the player with its nail pointed forward.
 * Teleport: The Hollow Knight warps from one part of the stage to another.
 * Parry: The Hollow Knight raises its nail in a defensive stance. If the player strikes twice with their own nail, the Hollow Knight quickly counters with a slash.
 * Infection Shot: The Hollow Knight launches orange balls of goo from its chest in a sweeping arc at the player's general direction.

Phase 2
During the second phase of the battle, the Hollow Knight gains some new attacks on top of the old ones:
 * Self-Mutilate: The Hollow Knight stabs itself repeatedly with its nail. While not a direct attack, standing in range of the nail as it comes through the back of the Hollow Knight's body will deal damage. In addition, it takes almost no damage from the player while in this state.
 * Engorged Slam: The Hollow Knight floats in the air, homing in on the player before slamming down to the ground. This repeats multiple times.
 * Infection Barrage: The Hollow Knight levitates in the air and unleashes orange balls of goo in all directons.

Tactics
The main weakness of the Hollow Knight is that it is vulnerable to attacks from above. During a Nail Lunge or Combo, jump above its head and Nail bounce a few times while its animation plays out. If it tries to Parry, simply dash away before it counter-attacks.

Aside from Infection Shot and Infection Barrage, most of its attacks are easy to read and give plenty of time to dodge. While seemingly random, there is a pattern to the blobs, so pay attention and move into safe zones. Dashing can often overshoot a safe zone, so walking is usually the safer option.

During Engorged Slam, there is very little time to avoid the attacks, so either focus purely on dodging or use Desolate Dive/Descending Dark if available, as this attack has invincibility frames long enough to dodge one slam and then dash out of the way of the following one.

The Hollow Knight's Teleport will usually position it far away from the player, so using Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul during this time is useful to get hits in before it charges another attack.

First Ending
Upon defeat, The Hollow Knight dies and the player absorbs the infection into itself. The player is then sealed inside the Black Egg and the game ends.

Second Ending
Near the end of the fight, If the player has acquired the Void Heart, Hornet will swoop in and fracture the Hollow Knight's mask with her needle before restraining it and giving the player an opening.

If the player strikes The Hollow Knight enough while it is restrained, it breaks free and the fight continues. This causes a secret ending where, in addition to the events of the first ending, Hornet is also sealed inside, her mask becoming the new seal on the door (as the Dreamers' were before).

Third Ending
While Hornet has the Hollow Knight pinned down, if the player uses the Dream Nail on them, they will be transported inside Hollow Knight's mind and fight The Radiance. At the end of this fight, the Hollow Knight returns at the end as a shade that rips open the Radiance's face, allowing the player to destroy it.

After the player has defeated The Radiance, the Infection is defeated and the Black Egg remains open. Hornet wakes up to find the player character's mask, broken in half, at the center of a crater in the room, implying the player has died for this cause.

Trivia

 * It is unknown as to why the Hollow Knight begins to stab itself halfway through the fight. It could be trying to help the player by killing itself, or it could be trying to further increase its strength by opening up the infection more.
 * It could also simply be going mad and trying to destroy the infection by itself.
 * It is explained through NPC dialogue that the Hollow Knight could not contain the Infection due to an unnoticed flaw which caused the Hollow Knight to not be "completely hollow"
 * It is implied that, in the First ending, this will also happen to the player character--eventually the Infection will leak through and cause chaos all over again
 * In the Second ending, the player is noted by the White Lady to have become truly hollow due to acquiring the Void Heart, and thus able to fully contain the Infection. Whether this is actually true or another assumption that could be proven wrong remains unknown.
 * During the scene in the Abyss before the player receives the Void Heart, a Hollow Knight similar looking to the player character is shown exiting the Abyss with the The Pale King. It is implied that it's the same Hollow Knight fought in the Black Egg Temple.