Background
The Knight is the protagonist and only 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 sexless.
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.
In-game events
At the beginning of the game, the Knight is equipped with only their Old Nail and the ability to heal themself using SOUL. Throughout the game, the Knight gains access to new powers, Items, and Charms 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 Charm, 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.
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 own 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.
Statistics
Key: Pre-Void Heart | Post-Void Heart
Tier: At least 9-A | Low 2-B
Name: The Knight (It has no true name), Ghost
Origin: Hollow Knight
Sex: None (The Knight has no sex)
Age: Unknown
Classification: Vessel (Its body is that of a shell), Shade, Lord of Shades, God of Gods
Status: Unknown (The true ending of Hollow Knight displays The Knight is either stuck within the dream world after defeating Radiance, or it has been destroyed with the dream world after the Godseeker has died)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (The Knight's purpose was to become the next Hollow Knight and stop the plague. The Knight will not stop and kill those in its way that try to stop it, although it will befriend anyone not attempting to harm it such as the grubs or the people within Dirtmouth)
Dimensionality: 3-D
Attack Potency: At least Room level+ (Defeated False Knight, who broke part of a bridge in its battle. The Knight's power should be far superior to False Knight by the end of the game due to defeating stronger enemies. Comparable to The Pale King, who's viewed as omnipotent in comparison to other bugs) | Low Multiverse level (Grew more powerful after collecting the Void Heart, which allowed The Knight to defeat The Radiance in a weaker form. It can become even stronger in its final form, Shade Lord, being noted to have endless power. The Radiance is far above her tribe, which have the ability to shape dream worlds[1]. The Radiance was also able to infect and corrupt all bugs within the Hallownest as well as light up each dream. The Knight was also able to completely darken the entire dream realm. A dream realm is a world that is noted to be a plane beyond the physical world[2], with even time having no power over it)
Durability: At least Room level+ (Can take strikes from False Knight and its superior dream version, Failed Champion) | Low Multiverse level (Can survive attacks from The Radiance)
Striking Strength: At least Room Class+ | Low Multiversal
Lifting Strength: Unknown | Unknown
Travel Speed: Extra-Temporal (Can move within the dream worlds. It's stated that time itself has no power over dream world beings, meaning that the locations lack time due to it not being able to go through dream worlds) | Extra-Temporal
Combat Speed: Extra-Temporal | Extra-Temporal
Reaction Speed: Extra-Temporal | Extra-Temporal
Stamina: Limitless (The Knight's true form is that of a shade, which is a spirit given form) | Limitless
Range: Below Standard Melee Range, Higher with Spells and Shade forms. Cross-Universal with the Dream Nail | Universal (Darkens an entire dream realm)
Intelligence: Gifted (The Knight is a skilled warrior who's able to quickly learn new techniques in just a short time frame. It's also skilled enough to battle against many skilled warriors, being able to fight hoards of enemies at an arena. Its skill is praised by others such as Hornet and Dream Warriors. The Knight was able to gain the status of the God of Gods)
Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Small Size (Type 1; The Knight is about 1'1.5"), Self-Sustenance (All types; The Knight's body is that of a vessel, its true form is a shade), Weapon Usage (The Knight is proficient with its nail in combat, defeating various warriors and can even defeat a hoard of enemies within one sitting at the Colosseum of Fools and Hall of Gods), Non-Physical Interaction (Can attack shades and dream beings, which are made up of essence), Accelerated Development (The Knight is capable of learning new arts for its weapon quickly), Soul Manipulation and Absorption (When attacking enemies, The Knight absorbs your soul and uses it as SOUL energy. When defeating dream variants of enemies, The Knight can also absorb one's essence), Healing (By using SOUL, The Knight can heal its shell with Focus), Astral Projection (With Vengeful Spirit, The Knight can shoot a spirit as a projectile with SOUL. Desolate Dive allows The Knight to strike the ground with SOUL energy), Sound Manipulation (With Howling Wraiths, The Knight uses SOUL to strong sound to blast at foes), Darkness Manipulation (The Knight can use an upgraded version of Vengeful Spirit named Shade Soul to fire a stronger soul that burns foes. Descending Darkness is a stronger variation of Desolate Dive that strikes down with darkness. Abyss Shriek is a stronger variation of Howling Wraiths, blasts foes with screaming SOUL and shadows), Flight (With Mothwing Cloak, The Knight can dash in the air. With the Crystal Heart, The Knight can fly at quick speeds in a linear direction. With the Monarch Wings, The Knight can use a pair of wings to jump in the air), Surface Scaling (With the Mantis Claw, it allows The Knight to wall jump), Intangibility (With the Shade Cloak, The Knight can phase through objects), Telepathy (With the Dream Nail, The Knight can read the minds of anyone hit by it), Dimensional Travel & Dream Manipulation (By striking people with the Dream Nail, The Knight can travel within someone's dream world), Essence Manipulation (Within the dream world, The Knight can fight your dream variation that is made up of your essence. It uses keeps this essence once defeating various enemies), Resistance Negation (The Dream Nail once awoken can cut through even the most protected minds), Forcefield Negation (The Dream Nail once awoken can bypass forcefields), Portal Creation & Teleportation (The Knight can create a dreamgate that allows it to travel through locations from dreams), Clairvoyance (With the World Sense, The Knight can be aware of how much missing tasks or secrets he's missing), Regeneration, Resurrection, & Immortality (Mid-Godly. Types 3, 8, and 9. The Knight can bring its body and soul back even when it has no soul, mind, nor essence left. Its true form is that of a shade, which can come back even if destroyed), Existence Erasure, Regeneration & Immortality Negation (Mid-Godly & Type 8; The Knight was able to permanently kill The Radiance. The Radiance was able to live forever due to always existing within people's memories. Even if the memories are gone, they come back and manifest into The Infection, which we see was destroyed alongside her). Resistance to Acid Manipulation (With Isma's Tear, it allows The Knight to be unaffected by acid), Madness Manipulation, Corruption, Mind Manipulation, Body Puppetry/Possession, Dream Manipulation, Essence Manipulation (Unaffected by The Infection, which corrupts those infected and can even take over corpses that have been dead. The Infection can also infect those within dream worlds and the beings within, which are made up of essence), Soul Manipulation (Can take hits from other vessels without having their soul absorbed), Empathic Manipulation & Willpower Manipulation (Vessels are stated to have no mindsnor will), Cold (Unaffected by the cold winds at Kingdom's Age when fighting Hornet)All previous abilities, Flight (Shades can naturally fly), Body Control (Lord of Shade and Shade Lord have large limbs that they can use to attack), Darkness Manipulation (The Shade Lord naturally emits darkness), Large Size (Type 0, possibly larger), Incorporeality (Shades are essentially spirits)
Clairvoyance (The Wayward Compass whispers its location to the bearer), Summoning (Gathering Swarm summons flies to grab any geo to give to The Knight. Weaversong summons three Weaverlings to attack. Grimmchild summons a Grimmchild to attack enemies), Soul Manipulation (Soul Catcher and Soul Eater allows The Knight to absorb more SOUL. Grubsong lets the user gain SOUL when taking damage. Kingsoul restores SOUL overtime), Statistics Amplification (Shaman Stone increases the strength of spells. Dashmaster reduces the cool down of dashing. Sprintmaster lets The Knight be able to run faster. Fragile Heart/Unbreakable Heart increases The Knight's health. Fragile Strength/Unbreakable Strength increases The Knight's strength. Spell Twister reduces the amount of SOUL usage needed for spells. Steady Body reduces knockback. Heavy Blow causes enemies to recoil more when hit. Quick Slash allows The Knight to attack faster. Longnail and Mark of Pride increases the range of The Knight's nail. Quick Focus allows The Knight to heal faster. Deep Focus has a slower healing rate, but it doubles its effect. Nailmaster's Glory reduces the charge up speed for Nail Arts. Dream Wielder reduces the charge up for the Dream Nail, and allows the user to gain more SOUL and also gain essence), Energy Projection (Grubberfly's Elegy allows The Knight to fire a projectile if at full health), Damage Boost (Fury of the Fallen increases strength when close to death), Plant Manipulation (Thorns of Agony will sprout thorny vines to attack others when harmed. Spore Shroom uses SOUL to create a damaging spore cloud), Forcefield Creation (Baldur Shell creates a shell to protect The Knight when healing. Dreamshield conjures a shield around The Knight that damages anyone who touches it), Transmutation (Flukenest turns The Knight's Vengeful Spirit ability into a horde of volatile baby flukes), Fragrance Manipulation (Defender's Crest creates a damaging cloud around The Knight), Creation (Glowing Womb uses SOUL to give birth to hatchlings that will sacrifice themselves to protect its parent), Life Manipulation (Lifeblood Heart adds two Lifeblood Masks when resting at a bench. Lifeblood Core adds four Lifeblood Masks when resting at a bench. Joni's Blessing convert's The Knights Masks to Lifeblood Masks), Healing (Hiveblood heals The Knight overtime), Darkness Manipulation (Sharp Shadow makes it so the Shade Cloak can damage enemies when used), Transformation (Shape of Unn turns The Knight into a snail when healing to dodge attacks), Invulnerability (Carefree Melody has a chance to block any damage taken)
Notable Techniques
Other
Standard Tactics: The Knight will typically use its nail or spells to attack an enemy. In its shade forms, it'll use its longer limbs to attack.
Weaknesses: Has a limited amount of SOUL, though certain items can restore it. The vessel is weaker without its shade.
Battle Records
None.
*The Batter (OFF) - Thread
- Key: SBA
- Conditions: None.
- Location: SBA
- Restrictions: The Puppeteer was disable.
None.
Discussions (Link For Mobile Users):
- ↑ Defensive charm once wielded by a tribe that could shape dreams
- ↑ Official manual: A plane beyond the physical world, difficult to enter and even more difficult to escape.