Collector

"Dark figure locked inside the Tower of Love. Preserves Hallownest's creatures in glass jars with particular attention given to Grubs. A shadow that sometimes flits through the caverns, making strange noises to itself. I've never seen it clearly so I have no idea what type of creature it is."

The Collector is a hidden boss in Hollow Knight. Defeating it grants the Collector's Map.

Lore The Collector is a Void creature. It lives hidden away in the locked Tower of Love along with a large collection of bugs from throughout Hallownest that are preserved, both dead and alive, in glass jars.

While always displaying a joyous demeanour, the Collector is only concerned with the preservation of other creatures. It trapped the Grubs from the Forgotten Crossroads colony and recorded their location throughout Hallownest on a map. Despite its attention to the Grubs, it only has three within its tower. It also has a connection to the previous owner of the key to the tower, a Hallownest aristocrat bug that can be found dead deep within the Queen's Gardens.

In-game events The Collector can be heard laughing outside the padded door of the Tower of Love. When reaching its room, it leaps from the ceiling to attack the Knight. If the Knight dies to the Collector, their Shade can be found trapped in a glass jar before entering the fight arena. When defeated, Void particles erupt from the Collector as its final laugh dies out. Then its body falls to the floor and collapses: dissolving into a black liquid which quickly evaporates.

Behaviour and Tactics
The Collector uses a series of attacks and manoeuvres mainly focused on spawning enemies:


 * Jar: The Collector leaps into the ceiling, causing glass jars to rain down. The glass jars fall from random positions in the ceiling. While falling, the jars do not break when they hit the Knight, but they do deal contact damage. The jars shatter when they hit the ground, and each glass jar randomly lets out 1 of 3 enemies: Vengeflies, Baldurs and Aspid Hunters. A noise of rattling glass sounds for each glass jar that comes down and can be used to determine the number of jars that fall, along with a puff of dust signifying where they will fall. When all of the glass jars have fallen, the Collector drops back down.
 * Grab: The Collector leaps towards the Knight's position and makes grabbing motions, dealing contact damage.
 * Hop: The Collector's method of traversing the arena: it quickly jumps a set distance with its hands raised. There is a set number of hops the Collector can make before performing another attack.

Jars
The number of jars that the Collector drops depends on the Phase and the summons still alive. After reaching 300 health the Collector transitions into Phase 2.

The Collector can drop jars when 3 or less summons are alive. When there are 4 or more summons it stops dropping jars.


 * Phase 1: The Collector drops 1-2 jars at once. The maximum number of summons at once is 5.


 * Phase 2: The Collector drops 2-3 jars at once. The maximum number of summons at once is 6.

The Collector erratically jumps around the room, avoiding attacks. The main threat in the battle comes from the Jar attack and the creatures it spawns. The Collector itself does not give SOUL unless hit by either weaverlings (when Grubsong is equipped) or the Dream Nail. This makes gathering SOUL particularly challenging during the fight.

As the fight progresses, the Collector gets faster and more aggressive. Be careful with healing, as the Collector is fast, and its movement pattern can be difficult to read. Be wary of its Grab attack because it has a surprisingly long range. Charms like Quick Focus and Shape of Unn make healing much safer.

It is recommended to get the Coiled Nail first as this makes it possible to kill the enemies it spawns in one hit; equipping Fragile Strength when using the Channelled Nail is also a viable strategy. Nail Arts maximize the damage done to the Collector. Cyclone Slash is very useful for clearing summoned enemies and damaging the Collector. It is a good tactic to deal with the summoned enemies as quickly as possible.

The Spells Desolate Dive/Descending Dark and Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul are very useful for clearing summoned enemies and damaging the Collector too. They do require Soul, which can be collected by striking the Collector with the Dream Nail while it is staggered, or by striking summoned enemies in general.

Due to the Collector's movements, it is recommended to stay on the ground at all times. The Knight is small enough to walk under the Collector when it hops, but, if needed, the Shade Cloak is helpful for avoiding the Collector.

After dealing 750 damage to the Collector and effectively defeating it, it leans over as if staggered and stays there in place slowly chuckling. An additional 15 hits are required to finish the fight once it is in this state. The Collector is still dangerous and deals contact damage while in this state.

Location
The Collector is locked in the Tower of Love, which can only be accessed using the Love Key, found in the Queen's Gardens. The Tower can only be entered from the deep lift shaft between Kingdom's Edge and the City of Tears. An exit to King's Station can be accessed after flipping a switch.

Trivia

 * The Collector is exempt from the pacifying effect that Void Heart has on Void beings like the Siblings and Void Tendrils.
 * Within the Tower of Love, there is a secret area that can be accessed by jumping into a hidden gap within the ceiling along the hallway of the Grubs. This reveals a mysterious piece of art known only as the "Vitruvian Grub".
 * When the Collector is fought during a Pantheon in Godhome, a distorted version of "Gods & Glory" is played, in reference to the original fight having a distorted version of "Decisive Battle".
 * The Collector's overall design resembles the armourless body of a Kingsmould, but with hands as well as a distinguished head.

References

Der Sammler Коллекционер El_Coleccionista Il Collezionista Kolekcjoner Le Collectionneur