Zote

Zote the Mighty is a traveller from outside Hallownest. He came to the Kingdom to fulfill a promise; this is ultimately revealed to be a promise of glory for himself.

Lore
He named his Nail "Life Ender" because names supposedly have power. Unfortunately, because it is made of shellwood, it cannot deal damage.

While he claims to be the strongest warrior in the land, he is found trapped by weak enemies or claiming the glory of another bug's deeds. He disregards the Knight as beneath him and accuses them of constantly getting in his way.

Hollow Knight
Found along the path leading to Greenpath. He is held in the mandibles of a Vengefly King, and the Knight will have the choice to either save him or leave him. If saved, he will complain that the Knight got in the way between him and his "prey", he will introduce himself and boast about his supposed mighty deeds.

If he is not saved before acquiring the Mantis Claw, he will die in this location, with his nail and shell remaining. Hitting his shell here grants the Neglect achievement.

If he is saved in Greenpath, Zote will show up in Dirtmouth, where once again he will talk to the Knight in an arrogant fashion.

Zote will be found in a corridor leading back to the storerooms of the City of Tears. He will have forgotten the Knight and will introduce himself again.

Found stuck in spider webs, presumably having been captured by the beasts of Deepnest. Once again the Knight has the choice to either save him or leave him, though this time leaving him will not result in his death. If saved he will once again complain about the Knight meddling in his supposed heroics.

If the Knight saved him both times, he will be captured and found in the resting area of the Colosseum of Fools, where he will brag about his skills and how his capture was part of his plan. He then becomes the final boss of the first trial. As a boss, he deals no damage due to his nail being made of shellwood. He simply has to be whacked until the fight is over. He is quite inept in combat and regularly messes up his jumps. Beating him will reward the Knight with the 'Rivalry' achievement.

After the defeat, and after Bretta is rescued, he will return to Dirtmouth with the helmet of a Shielded Fool as a supposed "trophy" and claims that he is the new champion while slandering the Knight's reputation. Bretta falls for him, her drawings and dolls of the Knight replaced by a single portrait of Zote. Here he will recite "The Fifty Seven Precepts Of Zote".

While Zote alone is too weak a creature to partake in the Godseeker's ritual, his mind can still invade the  Hall of Gods. He appears there as an infinite amount of dangerous Zotelings of various types in an endless gauntlet called The Eternal Ordeal.

Locations
Zote can be found in several locations across Hallownest after he is saved in Greenpath.

Trivia

 * Zote was the first character revealed in a Kickstarter update:
 * "Times are hard for Dirtmouth, the small town built above the ruined underground kingdom of Hallownest. The townsfolk are slowly disappearing; savage creatures prowl beneath the surface and a strange poison in the earth refuses to let any vegetation grow. But lo! From the mists a proud figure emerges, ready to defeat the formless evil that plagues the populace. With his sword held aloft and a fiery determination to protect the helpless, this giant of bugkind strides confidently into the light and..."
 * "Oh, it's Zote. False alarm everybody."
 * "Zote, self-proclaimed 'Knight of the People', recently turned up in Dirtmouth and started demanding free lodgings, food and attention from the townsfolk. Claiming to be a rival of the Hollow Knight and his superior in every way, Zote has supposedly come to Dirtmouth to defeat the evil creatures lurking in the depths and find the source of the poison."
 * "When he isn't having one of his frequent rest stops in town, Zote will be exploring the depths of Hallownest with his unique, home-made nail in hand. He favours caution and patience above all else, so he doesn't always make the same kind of progress as the Hollow Knight. Nor does he have the same successes due to what he calls his "atrocious, appallingly unfair bad luck"."
 * "If you see him during your travels, Zote will be more than happy to stop and chat, pointing out everything you've been doing wrong during your adventure so you can learn from his example."




 * While looking somewhat similar to the Knight, Zote seems to be purely a comedic foil, having a more haphazard outfit and a presence and mindset completely opposite of the Knight's.
 * One of the Kickstarter goals was for Zote to become a playable character, but that goal was not reached.
 * The Fifty Seven Precepts of Zote is reminiscent of the real world Thirty-Six Strategems authored by Wáng Jìngzé, and The Book of Five Rings authored by Miyamoto Musashi. The structuring of his lessons is similar to the former, while his quote of, "this precept explains itself," is akin to Musashi's repetition of, "you must research this well," in the latter.
 * In the Colosseum of Fools, when Zote begins his battle, the audience laughs at him.
 * He may have the most dialogue in the game, rounding out to about 2650 words of dialogue.
 * A charm called "Zote Charm" was an idea that never made it into the game. It would have made the Knight die in one hit.