Knight

Troupe Master Grimm is both a quest character and boss introduced by the Grimm Troupe in Hollow Knight. He is the main character behind his quest. Nightmare King Grimm is his Dream form.

Grimm is the master of the Grimm Troupe, a mysterious travelling circus. In truth, Grimm and his Troupe travel from the Nightmare realm to wherever the Nightmare Lantern has been lit by acolytes. They gather Nightmare Flames from ruined lands to fuel the sinister being enslaving the Troupe, the Nightmare Heart.

The Troupe Master has a charming and playful personality. As the Nightmare King, however, his self in the Nightmare realm, his thought are focused on his enslavement to the Heart. Their ritual to feed it consists of feeding first a Grimmchild with Nightmare Flames. They then slay the Nightmare King for it to be reborn anew through the Grimmchild.

Grimm and his Troupe set up tents in Dirtmouth as soon as the Knight has lit the Lantern. Inside the main building, he appears to them in a show of red light and smoke. The Troupe Master is aware that the Knight called them with he Lantern and offers them to participate in their ritual. He then gives them a Grimmchild and entrusts them to collect the Nightmare flames gathered by his Grimmkins throughout Hallownest.

With each set of three flames gathered, Grimm has the Grimmchild consume them to grow. After the second set, the Troupe Master tests the Knight's strength in a fiery, theatrical battle, in preparation for their confrontation with the Nightmare King. He also rewards them with a Charm Notch.

After collecting the third set of flames, Grimm will be found sleeping in his quarters. As such, he is ready for the Knight to use the Dream Nail on him and enter the Nightmare realm. If they successfully slay the Nightmare King, the Troupe will have completed their ritual and leave Hallownest before the Knight wakes up. The Troupe will also disappear if the Knight helped Brumm banish them instead of facing the King.

Grimm can be summoned to Godhome by  the Godseeker's own ritual. There he will be conscious of his surroundings and delighted to participate, even though he is not native of Hallownest. He takes part in both the Pantheon of the Sage and the Pantheon of Hallownest. In the latter, the Nightmare King appears as one of the last three Gods at its peak. Even though away from the Nightmare realm, the Heart still watches over the Nightmare King's fight.

Behaviour and Tactics
Because Grimm moves by way of teleportation and rarely stays in one place for long, from an offensive perspective, it's important to deal as much damage to Grimm in the shortest time possible.

Each spell has its use against Grimm. Vengeful Spirit is useful to use during the Cloak Spikes, Pufferfish Attacks and Fire Bats Attack. Desolate Dive is a great way to dodge the Dive Dash Attack. It's best to use it almost as soon as the Knight sees Grimm preparing the Dive Dash Attack because Grimm will land in the middle of it. Howling Wraiths can be useful during a Flamespawner Attack right before the fireballs start to spawn and during a Cloak Spikes Attack since Grimm is taller than the Knight.

The Nail Arts Great Slash and Dash Slash are also useful, providing 2.5x Nail damage and good range for damaging Grimm and staying safe (especially during Cloak Spikes, Dash Uppercut, and Fire Bats Attacks).

Use the Shade Cloak to dash through both of his Dash attacks (Dive Dash and Dash Uppercut). The Knight can also damage Grimm this way if they have Sharp Shadow.

Standing directly next to where Grimm explodes into fire when he uses Dash uppercut is a good way to avoid all 5 projectiles as they spread in a cone pattern, this also gives healing opportunity especially with Quick Focus.

During the Cloak Spikes attack, The Knight can use the time to heal. This is easier to do with Quick Focus.

Shape of Unn is a fantastic way to heal against Grimm. The charm lowers the Knight's hitbox so the Knight can heal safely during a Fire Bats Attack. If combined with Quick Focus, the Knight can run and heal from Grimm during a Dash Uppercut Attack too. It can also be used to heal and position at the same time during the Cloak Spikes attack.

If the Knight stays near the right/left side of the screen and light tap jumps, they can mostly avoid the flames during Grimm's Flamespawner Attack.

Double jump and dash over the Fire Bats, putting the Knight in range to attack.

It is possible to defeat Grimm under few seconds only using Abyss Shriek in conjunction of Spell Twister, Shaman Stone & Stalwart Shell. While having all 3 Soul Vessels (Having Coiled Nail or higher, otherwise 2) fully filling them by Dream Nailing creatures from Forgotten Crossroads then when the fight starts hitting it while bowing to make it start his Flamespawner attack, quickly get under it and repeatedly using Abyss Shrieks. If the Knight does not have the required number of Soul Vessels, they can wear Grubsong to regain some soul by taking damage to use the final Attack. Using this won't let Grimm use any of its other attacks. According to the Nail upgrade, the number of uses varies:
 * Having Channeled Nail or lower upgrade, have to use 6 times.
 * Having Coiled Nail, have to use 7 times.
 * Having Pure Nail, have to use 8 times.



Trivia

 * Grimm always bows to the Knight before the start of the fight. If struck when bowing, he screeches at them and starts the Flamespawner attack.
 * When fought in Godhome, Grimm bows to the Godseeker instead of bowing to the Knight.


 * weapon = Nail
 * equipment = Charms

Spells and Abilities }}
 * energy_source = SOUL

"An enigmatic wanderer who descends into Hallownest carrying only a broken nail to fend off foes."

- Official manual

The Knight is the protagonist and playable character of Hollow Knight.

Lore
The Knight is a discarded Vessel. They are the child of the Pale King and the White Lady, born in the Abyss with Void inside their shell. Hornet is the Knight's sister through their shared father. Like the rest of their Vessel siblings, the Knight is genderless.

After climbing out of their birthplace in the Abyss, the Knight witnessed their sibling the Hollow Knight being taken out of the Abyss by the Pale King. The entrance to the Abyss was sealed, causing the Knight to fall back down. Sometime after this, despite the entrance being sealed, the Knight and some of their siblings managed to escape the Abyss.

Eventually, the Knight ended up wandering outside of Hallownest for unknown reasons. Spending time in this area caused the Knight to lose their memories, but being there did give them a certain resilience. They returned to Hallownest after a call went out from either the Radiance or the Hollow Knight.

Upgrades and Equipment
{| style="padding:5px; ; text-align:center;" width="100%" align="center" !

Nail
!

Charms

 * Nail 1 Old Nail.png
 * Charms prompt.png
 * The Knight's main weapon, able to swing in any direction. The nail can be swung downwards while the Knight is above spikes, enemies, or certain objects, which can be a useful tool for traversing Hallownest. The nail can be upgraded for stronger strikes, and charged attacks called Nail Arts can be learned from the Nailmasters.
 * Special trinkets acquired through adventuring or by purchasing from other bugs. By equipping them on available Notches, Charms enhance the Knight's power through a variety of different methods, including increasing health, reducing heal times, spawning allied hatchlings, and more.
 * colspan="2" |
 * Special trinkets acquired through adventuring or by purchasing from other bugs. By equipping them on available Notches, Charms enhance the Knight's power through a variety of different methods, including increasing health, reducing heal times, spawning allied hatchlings, and more.
 * colspan="2" |
 * colspan="2" |

!

Spells
!

Abilities

 * Vengeful Spirit.png
 * Skill Mantis Claw.png
 * First acquired from the Snail Shaman, these magical attacks deal large amounts of damage in short bursts, at the cost of SOUL. Each Spell can be upgraded to a stronger version by finding hidden rooms throughout Hallownest.
 * Skills and tools found throughout Hallownest that allow the Knight to more effectively traverse the terrain and engage enemies in combat, including dashing, wall-jumping, and double-jumping.
 * }
 * Skills and tools found throughout Hallownest that allow the Knight to more effectively traverse the terrain and engage enemies in combat, including dashing, wall-jumping, and double-jumping.
 * }

Hollow Knight
At the beginning of the game, the Knight is equipped with only their Old Nail and the ability to heal themselves using SOUL. Throughout the game, the Knight gains access to new powers and items to help them through their journey.

After encountering the Dreamers in the Resting Grounds, the Knight acquires the Dream Nail. With this weapon, they can break the Seals in the Temple of the Black Egg by killing each of the three Dreamers. This allows them to enter the Black Egg, where they can fight the Hollow Knight. If the Hollow Knight is faced before obtaining Void Heart, the Knight kills their sibling and takes their place in sealing the Radiance.

If the Knight has fought Hornet twice and has the King's Brand and the Shade Cloak, they have access to both halves of the Kingsoul. When the complete Kingsoul is equipped, the Knight can transform this charm into Void Heart by going to their birthplace at the bottom of the Abyss and remembering their past. Void Heart allows the Knight to unify the Void under their will.

With Void Heart, the Knight can use the Dream Nail on the Hollow Knight after Hornet holds them down. If the Dream Nail is not used, the Knight has to kill the Hollow Knight. This gives a similar ending as the ending without having Void Heart, but instead, Hornet becomes a Dreamer, her face appearing on the entrance to Black Egg.

Using the Dream Nail initiates the fight with the Radiance. At the end of this fight, the Knight breaks their shell and lands the finishing blows on the Radiance in their Shade form, with the help of the Shade of the Hollow Knight. Both siblings and all the other Shades in the Abyss then return to the Void.

In Godhome, the Knight can ascend by attuning all the Gods of Hallownest and defeating them in the Pantheons. In the Pantheon of Hallownest at the end of the fight with the Absolute Radiance, the Knight breaks their shell and their Shade falls into the Void. The Void Entity then appears which kills the Absolute Radiance, after which Void starts leaking from Godseeker's body in Junk Pit and eventually bursts out of her. If Godseeker was given a Delicate Flower, the Void and Godseeker disappear instead.

Trivia

 * The Knight's design is taken from Team Cherry's first game, Hungry Knight, which was made during a Game Jam that started the company.
 * While the two games are very different, Team Cherry has stated that they "liked the main character and the general aesthetic so much that [they] fleshed it out and expanded on it."
 * This plan was put forward through the conceptual "Hungry Bug" artworks done by Ari Gibson, which helped visualize and shape the world of Hollow Knight.
 * Mister Mushroom makes reference to Hungry Knight in his first dialogue with them, saying "...It's nice that you were able to help your friend. So you're not hungry any more?"
 * The Steam Trading Card refers to the Knight as "Hollow Knight".
 * When the Knight has one Mask left, Void particles can be seen floating off them. Their posture also changes from upright to a bent over, gasping stance.
 * Team Cherry has stated that they are not sure how the Knight escaped the Abyss.

Der Ritter El Caballero Le Chevalier The Knight Рыцарь Лицар O Cavaleiro b]]
 * There is a secret area in Grimm's tent above the arena where the empty masks of the audience, some chests, and a strange device can be found. It can be accessed by wall climbing through a false ceiling to the right of the arena, second arch.
 * When using a spell in this secret room some sort of barrier appears which may possibly be related to a Seal of Binding.
 * In a response to a question on Grimm's character inspirations in one of their Hollow Knight streams Team Cherry has stated:
 * Can you confirm Grimm was inspired by Dracula from Castlevania?

William: "He’s like a mix of a lot of things." Ari: "Yeah, he has this kind of circus master quality, and-" William: "Halloween-y.. He’s spooky."
 * Ari: "I don’t think- I mean Grimm obviously has a lot of Dracula-like qualities. But he also has other elements."


 * In Godhome, it is possible to fight Grimm (and his dream form Nightmare King Grimm), without the Grimmchild charm equipped. If the Knight chooses to use the charm, the child will not appear to aid the Knight in the fight.

Гримм Grimm