Mantis Warrior

"Member of a proud tribe, fiercely protective of its territory. Launches savage attacks with bladed forelimbs. If you venture too deep into the fungal forests, these warriors will stand in your way. What is it they guard, deep at the bottom of their territory?"

Mantis Warriors are enemies in Hollow Knight. They are adult members of the Mantis Tribe who guard the tribe and their leaders. Like all other Mantises in the Mantis Village, they resist the Infection.

Behaviour and Tactics
It stands still until disturbed. Once engaged, they attack with very quick, long-range slashes, often accompanied by a short dash. Its attacks are quite difficult to dodge, so sometimes it is easier to tank a few hits, slashing at it as fast as possible and healing once it's dead.

If possible, try to jump and attack it from the air, downstriking at it. Though it does have an upward slash attack, it is short-ranged and will usually miss, typically allowing the player to safely attack from above until it dies.

Once the Mantis Lords are defeated, all Mantises become non-hostile towards the Knight, however, they will still retaliate if attacked, even if accidentally damaged by an area-of-effect attack.

Location
They are only found within and in the entrance of the Mantis Village.

Trivia

 * After the Mantis Lords are defeated, Mantis Warriors gain new Dream Nail dialogue and will bow to the Knight as they pass by.
 * The non-hostile Mantis Warriors will not retaliate if damaged by Defender's Crest and Spore Shroom but will turn hostile if damaged by any summoned familiar like Grimmchild and Glowing Womb.
 * In a Kickstarter update it was referred to as "Lesser Mantian":
 * "The Mantian tribe were always the outsiders of Hallownest society. After the cataclysm, these inscrutable hunters retreated into the fungal forests to escape the plague."

References

Guerrero_mantis Воин богомолов Modliszkowy Wojownik Guerrière Mante