Hollow Knight

"Fully grown Vessel, carrying the plague's heart within its 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."

The Hollow Knight is one of the main bosses in Hollow Knight. They are central to the Knight's journey and the story of Hallownest. The Pure Vessel is their uninfected form.

Lore The Hollow Knight is the Vessel chosen by the Pale King to seal away the Radiance and save Hallownest from the Infection. Like their siblings, they are the child of the King and Queen of Hallownest, birthed in the Abyss to be infused with the power of the Void. As such, they are genderless. This birth condition was also supposed to leave them without a mind, will, and voice, to prevent the Radiance from influencing them. However, their purity was misjudged, tarnished by an idea instilled, a bond with the Pale King who raised them.

In-game events The fate of the Hollow Knight is linked to the end of the Knight's journey. By killing the Hollow Knight, the Knight takes their place in sealing the Radiance. By instead entering their mind with the help of Hornet, the Knight can kill the Radiance. At the end of this fight, the Hollow Knight's Shade appears and opens up a weak point on her head, allowing the Knight to land the finishing blows. The two siblings then return to the Void together.

The Hollow Knight is also inherently part of the Godseeker's ritual. She seeks to attune the Radiance to Godhome through the Hollow Knight. In doing so, she summons the Pure Vessel instead, their uninfected form. Once the Knight defeats the Pure Vessel in the Pantheon of the Knight, the Radiance reaches Godhome.

After the Knight defeats Absolute Radiance at the peak of the Pantheon of Hallownest, the Infection vanishes from Hallownest. The Hollow Knight can then be seen walking out of the Black Egg, freed from the Infection. They are met outside by a startled Hornet.

Behaviour and Tactics The Hollow Knight emits a roar at the beginning of the fight, and at the start of each Phase of the fight.

Phase 1 These are the base attacks that the Hollow Knight starts with. They are expanded on in the next 2 Phases.

Phase 2 After reaching 750 HP, the Hollow Knight gains these attacks in addition to the attacks of Phase 1. The Hollow Knight attacks and moves more frequently.

Phase 3 After reaching 400 HP, the Hollow Knight gains these attacks in addition to the attacks from the previous Phases. However, they lose the Lunge and Triple Slash attacks. The Hollow Knight attacks and moves less frequently.

Phase 4 After reaching 0 HP, the Hollow Knight heals for 250 HP only if the fight is continued. Depending on the Knight's progress, the fight is interrupted by Hornet, allowing the Knight to access their mind with the Dream Nail and fight the Radiance, otherwise, the fight continues as normal.

During the fourth Phase of the battle, the Hollow Knight loses all other attacks except the Bouncing Balloon attack and gains one new attack.

Upon breaking the seals on the Temple of the Black Egg by destroying the three Dreamers, the Knight is allowed entrance in order to fight this boss. To begin the fight, the Knight must break the four chains holding the Hollow Knight.

The Hollow Knight fight has 4 Phases. Each Phase is marked by the Hollow Knight standing still, turning their head skyward and roaring. This roar stuns the Knight. The fight changes with each Phase.

In Phase 1, the Hollow Knight has three attacks: Triple Slash, Lunge, and Parry. The attacks come regularly. The Hollow Knight back dashes, teleports, and leaps around the arena between attacks.

In Phase 2 of the fight, the Hollow Knight gains two more attacks (Barrage and Diving Flame Pillar) and the Hollow Knight moves and attacks with greater frequency.

In Phase 3, the Hollow Knight begins stabbing themself. The Hollow Knight gains two more attacks (Outbreak and Bouncing Balloon) but they also slow down: rarely leaping or teleporting and their attacks come less often.

In Phase 4, the Hollow Knight can barely move. They can no longer teleport or leap and can hardly swing their nail. Only two attacks are used in the phase: the Bouncing Balloon and Deterioration.

The main weakness of the Hollow Knight is that they are vulnerable to attacks from above. During a Lunge or Triple Slash, jump above their head and Nail-bounce a few times while they finish the attack. If they parry your attack, shadow dash through their riposte.

There are safe zones amongst the blobs during the Barrage and Explosion atacks so pay attention and move into safe zones. Dashing can often overshoot a safe zone, so walking is usually the safer option.

During the Bouncing Balloon attack, the Hollow Knight attempts to home in on the Knight. They have trouble tracking if the Knight constantly changes direction. Dodge the first slam, then dash under them when they rise for a new slam, then reverse again after they come down and repeat.

During the Diving Flame Pillar attack, the pillars briefly charge on the floor before erupting, showing where it is safe to stand. When the Hollow Knight jumps and readies their nail, start looking for a safe zone immediately after dodging the downward strike.

The Hollow Knight's teleport usually positions them far away from the Knight, so using Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul during this time is useful to get hits in before they charge another attack. Moving too far from the Hollow Knight makes it more likely they will teleport close to the Knight, so be careful when running away to heal.

Under normal circumstances, the Hollow Knight is immune to the Dream Nail and does not grant any SOUL on a successful hit.

Depending on the Knight's progress, one of two endings plays out after the fight. After the ending, the Knight respawns at the last Bench they rested at. The Hollow Knight can be Dream Nailed at the start of Phase 4 if the Knight has Void Heart, initiating the fight with the Radiance.

Location The Hollow Knight is located in the Temple of the Black Egg which can be opened after all three Dreamers have been killed.

Achievements

Trivia
 * Even though their Shade has two arms, the Hollow Knight is never shown with a second arm during the battle.
 * Pure Vessel, the Hollow Knight's prime form, has both arms, suggesting that the Hollow Knight lost an arm after being Infected.
 * The Hollow Knight, along with Pure Vessel, is the only boss whose title appears at the top-centre of the screen.
 * After the Knight absorbs the Infection from the Hollow Knight, a bright silhouette of the Radiance can be seen for a split second as the Hollow Knight lets out their final roar before dying.


 * The Hollow Knight has cut Dream Nail dialogue which is the following:
 * ...Kill...
 * ...Shall blaze free...
 * ...This Vessel, broken...fails...
 * ...Dawn...Shall break...
 * ...No mind, the usurper...Only strength...
 * ...Kill the usurper...Our light it would suffocate...
 * ...Father?...

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