Hornet

Mysterious protector of Hallownest’s ruins. She wields a needle and thread with deadly prowess.

Hornet is said by the White Lady to be the result of a "dalliance" (sexual relationship) between the Pale King and Herrah whom he offered to have a child with as bargain for her becoming a Dreamer.

The achievement Sealed Siblings, which describes Hornet and The Knight, as well as Hornet calling The Hollow Knight her sibling, suggests that Hornet and the Vessels are presumably siblings.

Hornet is seen fighting Quirrel in the official comic. She warns him that she will grant death to any warrior who would seek to desecrate Hallownest. She attempts to fight him, but is repelled by the mask of Monomon that Quirrel wears on his head. Hornet leaves him alone upon recognizing that something called Quirrel to Hallownest.

She can be first encountered throughout Greenpath, but tries to kill the Knight at the end of this area. Hornet can later be fought in Kingdom's Edge where she challenges the Knight to a fight once again. After this encounter, she will no longer act hostile to the Knight but instead tries to help them. She can finally be found in the Temple of the Black Egg after Void Heart has been obtained, where she will assist during two of the endings.

First Encounter, Greenpath (Hornet Protector)
When travelling through the area, she will appear several times, but will quickly dash away. When approached at the end of the zone, she is standing by the body of another Vessel. She says that she can sense something awakening within Hallownest and that she knows the nature of The Knight, and because of that, she cannot allow them to proceed.

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Behaviour and Tactics
Hornet has 4 base attacks: Wait until she moves in with a Lunge attack and get a few hits in to charge SOUL. Then, when she moves out of range, hit her with Vengeful Spirit. At this point in the game, Vengeful Spirit does 3 times as much damage as the Nail.
 * Lunge: Lunges forward with her needle in front of her.
 * Aerial Lunge: Jumps in the air before aiming at the Knight and rushing downwards.
 * Gossamer Storm: Unleashes an area-of-effect attack centered on herself, using her thread to slice into anything around her.
 * Aerial Gossamer Storm: Jumps into the air and unleashes an area-of-effect attack centered on herself, using her thread to slice into anything around her.
 * Throw: Throws her needle forward, then pulls it back. The range of this attack is slightly smaller than the width of the battlefield. The needle can damage the Knight on the way back.

After taking about a fifth of her health, she will stagger and kneel on the ground to recover. This happens four times throughout the fight. Use this time to either heal if needed or hit her with Vengeful Spirit, as the next attack on her will cause her to immediately recover.

The best moments to heal during battle are during her Throw Attack and her Gossamer Storm Attack since both have limited range and take time to complete.

The player can perform a downward slash if they mistimed their jump over the Needle during the Throw Attack, allowing them to bounce off of Hornet's needle without taking damage. }} Upon defeat in Greenpath, she flees and the corpse she was standing by drops the Mothwing Cloak, which allows the Knight to dash.

Second Encounter, City of Tears
Hornet will appear briefly outside the Fungal Wastes entrance to the City of Tears. Once The Knight reaches the statue of The Hollow Knight, she will appear again and tell them to seek "the grave in ash" if they wish to seek a role in Hallownest's perpetuation. This will not occur if she was already encountered at Kingdom's Edge.

Third Encounter, Kingdom's Edge (Hornet Sentinel)
Hornet is next encountered in the far east area of Kingdom's Edge, which requires the Monarch Wings to reach. Upon meeting Hornet here, she will challenge The Knight to one more battle to prove that they are worthy to see the truth about Hallownest.

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Behaviour and Tactics
She has the same attacks as her previous fight in addition to two others:

Hornet Sentinal uses tactics similar to the first encounter, but her attacks come at a much more rapid pace. Dashing over her as she lunges is a typically safe move and using Desolate Dive/Descending Dark will prevent the Knight from taking damage while it is being cast.
 * Parry: Holds her needle in a defensive stance, blocking any incoming attack. If struck while she is defending, she will giggle before unleashing a wide-range counter slash.
 * Snare: Uses her thread to suspend spiked balls in midair. The spikes deal contact damage and will remain until they are destroyed by either Nail attacks or spells.

Having Quick Focus and/or Soul Catcher/Soul Eater is useful as it will allow for more opportunities to heal or charge SOUL, respectively.

Using Nail Arts Great Slash is effective due to the fact that Hornet rarely stays in one place long enough to get more than one or two standard Nail strikes in. }} After defeating her, the Knight is allowed to enter the Cast-Off Shell and mark themselves with the King's Brand, allowing them to open the gate to the Abyss. However, once the King's Brand has been interacted with, the shell collapses, prompting Hornet to rescue the Knight.

Fourth Encounter, The Abyss
After obtaining the Shade Cloak upgrade, she will appear at the top of the area, telling The Knight that there are two choices ahead of them; to prolong the world's stasis, or face the source of the plague.

Fifth Encounter, Deepnest
If she is defeated in Kingdom's Edge and if the King's Brand has been obtained before facing Herrah the Beast, she will appear after The Knight has undone Herrah's seal. Unlike other instances, she does not offer advice or clues, but is simply there to mourn the passing of her mother.

Final Encounter, Final Boss
If Void Heart has been acquired, Hornet appears outside the Temple of the Black Egg, telling The Knight that she cannot follow them inside, but will help if the opportunity presents itself.

Locations
Hornet can be found in several locations across Hallownest. However, she may not appear in all due to events within the game.

Trivia

 * Hornet was revealed in one of the Kickstarter updates:
 * "Quick with her deadly needle, relentless in battle, Hornet is exploring Hallownest to find the answer to a riddle that has plagued her. She has so far resisted the infection, but will still cut you down if you stand in her path."


 * "You may catch glimpses of Hornet during your exploration of Hallownest, although she always seems to be one or two steps ahead of you. If you do manage to catch up with her, be wary! Her needle can cut a bug down from thirty yards."


 * One of the Kickstarter goals (for AU$ 56,000) was Hornet to receive her own DLC in a later update and becoming the second playable character. This goal was reached and her DLC will involve her fighting an Assassin Bug several times as a backer boss character.


 * After defeating her in the second battle, if the player dream nails her before talking to her, they will gain soul as if she were still an enemy.


 * Hornet is among the few bosses who do not have to be killed but rather just defeated.


 * The names "Hornet Protector" and "Hornet Sentinel" were coined in the Godmaster DLC, prior to which she was commonly referred to as simply "Hornet 1&2".


 * During development, Hornet was intended to be "the child of three queens". Although Team Cherry had said that they can't confirm whether this concept still applies, the idea was that Hornet was to be born to Herrah, raised by White Lady and trained under and named by Hive Queen Vespa.

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