The Radiance

“	...THE LIGHT CANNOT BE CONSUMED...	„
	~ The Radiance

“	...I WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN...	„
	~ The Radiance

“	The plague, the infection, the madness that haunts the corpses of Hallownest... the light that screams out from the eyes of this dead Kingdom. What is the source? I suppose mere mortals like myself will never understand.	„
	~ Hunter's Journal

Background

The Radiance is the secret final boss of Hollow Knight. Absolute Radiance is her perfect form.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of The Radiance’s story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

The Radiance is a higher being of light similar to Essence, and as such, opposed to the Void, her ancient enemy. The Moth Tribe is born from her light and in return revered her. Lore After the Pale King arrived in Hallownest and expanded the minds of his new subjects, the Moth Tribe turned their backs on the Radiance and worshipped him instead. In doing so, the Radiance was almost entirely forgotten, yet traces of her memory remained, such as a statue on Hallownest's Crown. Her memory started spreading throughout the Kingdom, by then in its golden age. Soon, all of Hallownest began to dream of her appearing to them as a blazing light. These dreams could break the minds of bugs and eventually enslave their wills to her. However, the King and his subjects resisted her memory, which then started to manifest as the Infection. With the Infection, the Radiance offered unity to bugs at the cost of a mind incapable of thought. The Pale King attempted to stop the Infection by sealing the Radiance within a Vessel. These creatures, infused with the Void to be without a mind and without a will, were to be able to withstand the Radiance's influence. The Hollow Knight was chosen, raised, and grown for that purpose. The Radiance was sealed within them, and the Vessel was chained within the Temple of the Black Egg. However, the Vessel had attained impurities of mind. Because of this, the Radiance was still able to invade the dreams of bugs. She ultimately wiped out the inhabitants of the Kingdom, whose King had vanished, but left the rest of the land untouched. Time passed, Hallownest turned into a myth while the Radiance remained sealed. Her influence finally started to break out of the Hollow Knight. She reignited the Infection, threatening again the land of Hallownest and prompting the Knight to return. In-game events From her prison, the Radiance, heart of the Infection, plagues the dreams of bugs. She infects Myla, causing her to attack the Knight, and uses Lightseeds and Infected flies to reanimate the Broken Vessel and the Watcher Knights. After killing at least one Dreamer, or obtaining the Monarch Wings, the Infection worsens in the Forgotten Crossroads, turning it into the Infected Crossroads, and making its bugs more violent and dangerous. Her fate is linked to the end of the Knight's journey. By defeating the Hollow Knight, the Knight is able to seal the Radiance within, taking the place of their sibling within the Black Egg. Collapse If the Knight enters instead the mind of their sibling with the help of Hornet, they have the possibility to challenge the Radiance herself. However, with the Void unified under the Knight's will, the battle takes a tragic turn for her. The Void itself slowly creeps in her dream, seeking to ensnare and consume the Radiance. At the end of the fight, it finally catches up with and immobilises her. The Shade of the Hollow Knight takes advantage to expose her core, to which the Knight's own Shade deals the last blows. The Radiance's Essence bursts out as the Void consumes her and vanishes from the Temple of the Black Egg, putting an end to the Infection. Regardless of Hallownest's recent events, the Godseeker seeks to attune the Radiance to Godhome, where her people can revere the forgotten being as their God of Gods. The Knight can summon her by defeating the Pure Vessel. With the Godseekers' attunement, she becomes the Absolute Radiance, her perfect state. Unbeknownst to the Godseeker however, the Void was also lured within Godhome. If the Knight pushes through the Pantheon of Hallownest, they can challenge the Absolute Radiance in Godhome in a similar fight as within her dream. However as the Radiance is cornered by the Void, the Knight's Shade fuses with it. This time attuned by the Godseekers, they take an all-powerful form and lash repeatedly at the Radiance's core, her Essence bursting out. She finally shatters, putting an end to her plague on Hallownest.

General Information

Name: The Radiance

Origin: Hollow Knight

Sex: Female

Age: Unknown

Classification: Forgotten Goddess of Light, Higher Being, Mother of the Moth Tribe

Status: Deceased (Was killed by The Knight)

Alignment: Chaotic Evil (The Radiance is a being who only causes destruction by infecting everyone with no remorse. No matter if anyone tries to stop her, she will always attempt to spread her infection)

Codex Statistics

Key: The Radiance | Absolute Radiance

Tier: At least 9-B, likely Far Higher | At least 9-B, likely Far Higher

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: At least Wall level (Can fight and harm The Knight), likely Far Higher (Was able to infect and corrupt all bugs within the Hallownest as well as light up each of their dream realms. Far above her tribe, which have the ability to shape dream realms. A dream realm is a world that is noted to be a plane beyond the physical world, with even time having no power over it) | At least Wall level, likely Far Higher (More powerful than before)

Durability: At least Wall level, likely Far Higher (Can survive attacks from The Knight) | At least Wall level, likely Far Higher

Striking Strength: At least Wall Class, likely Far Higher | At least Wall Class, likely Far Higher

Lifting Strength: Unknown (Can become the Sun, though due to being within a metaphysical dream world it is unknown what this exactly entails) | Unknown

Travel Speed: Unknown | Unknown

Attack Speed: Unknown | Unknown

Reaction Speed: Unknown | Unknown

Stamina: Limitless (Dream realm beings are made up of essence, thoughts and memories) | Limitless

Range: Several Meters to Stellar to Multi-Universal

Intelligence: Gifted Intelligence (The Radiance was a former leader of the Moth Tribe before the Pale King took over. She is also able to keep up with The Knight in combat)

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Powers and Techniques

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Abstract Existence (Idea, Primordial Source), Incorporeality, & Intangibility (Dream realm beings are made up of essence, thoughts, and memories), Timeless Physiology (It's stated that time itself has no power over dream realm beings, meaning that the locations lack time due to it not being able to go through dream realms), Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation), Absorption, & Non-Standard Interaction (Within Hollow Knight, striking someone can absorb their soul for SOUL energy), Regeneration & (Mid-Godly; 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), Madness Manipulation, Corruption, Mind Manipulation, Body Puppetry/Possession, Dream Manipulation, Essence Manipulation, Willpower Manipulation, Morality Manipulation, Biological Manipulation, & Memory Manipulation (The Radiance is the source of The Infection. Infected beings can naturally spread its infection through touch or even by air. The infection corrupts those infected that makes you go mad and can even take over corpses that have been dead. The Infection can also infect those within dream realms and the beings within, which are made up of essence and memories. Those infected become slaves to The Radiance, and will have no second thoughts about sacrificing their life to those who aren't infected. Those that attempt to resist the infection only gets consumed by it more. It targets all your cells, causing your body to deform), Life Manipulation (The Infection can create living beings through the air, becoming liquid, and then flesh), Power Bestowal (Those that are infected become stronger. They can also give them the ability to shoot projectiles or explode), Transformation (Can transform into the Sun or her moth form), Multipresence (The Radiance appears in all the dream realms of the bugs in Hallownest. A dream realm is a world that is noted to be a plane beyond the physical world, with even time having no power over it), Light Manipulation (Naturally emits a bright light. Can fire beams of light at enemies), Teleportation (Teleports around during combat), Weapon Creation (The Radiance can create swords and spikes), Energy Manipulation & Homing Attack (Can create projectiles out of essence that homes in on you), Curtain Fire (Can fire a hoard projectiles). Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation) & Absorption (Can take several strikes from The Knight without having her soul fully taken)

Same as before, Curtain Fire (Fires her projectiles even faster)

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Equipment

None

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Notable Techniques

• Beam Burst: A beam never strikes in the same place consecutively (so burst 1 and 3 may be almost exact). The Radiance does not move during this attack, and therefore spells like Howling Wraiths/Abyss Shriek or Nail Arts are a viable option, given her large hitbox. Healing without Charms can be done throughout this attack (especially with lucky burst patterns) but healing is safest to start once the third burst pattern is known.

• Sword Burst: Everything said about the Beam Burst applies to the Sword Burst except in this case, there is only the one burst to consider. Thus, the Knight can begin healing just about as soon as the attack starts.

• Sword Rain: The Radiance teleports during this attack so damaging her while dodging the swords is difficult. Abyss Shriek is useful at the end of this attack, and Nail attacks allow for flexible and quick damage while the Radiance is within reach. Healing without Charms is possible once the last set of swords is seen or throughout the attack if arrangement of swords allows for it.

• Sword Wall: The Radiance teleports during this attack, so damaging her while dodging the swords can be difficult. The safest method is to use Nail attacks when the Knight is near the Radiance. It is possible to use the Shade Cloak and dash through the swords, but it is not possible to dash through all of them, since the Shade Cloak has a cooldown. Healing without Charms is only viable if the wall patterns are forgiving or the Knight starts healing on the side of the arena opposite the wall's spawn. This is more forgiving in Phase 4 because the walls move slower.

• Wall of Light: This attack must be dodged either with a shadow dash or Descending Dark. The Radiance teleports during this attack so quick damage is most viable. Healing without Charms is safest if the Knight gets through the wall quickly or starts healing when a wall spawns on the opposite side of the arena. This is more forgiving in Phase 4 because the wall moves slower.

• Orb: The Orb attack requires quick movements. It is best to try to bait Orbs into the floor or platforms to destroy them early, leaving more time to attack the Radiance. Using the Shade Cloak to dash through a projectile destroys it, and can be useful if multiple projectiles are close to each other. There is no time to heal without Charms or getting lucky with the platforms in Phase 4.

• Spike Floor: The Radiance spawns short spikes covering half of the floor. Unlike all other attacks used by the Radiance, this attack deals only one mask of damage. The spikes disappear for up to 5 seconds if struck by the Knight's body or hit with Descending Dark. The spikes almost immediately return in Phase 3.

• Beam: The Radiance fires one beam of light, targeted at the Knight. This attack becomes more accurate the higher the Knight gets during Phase 5. It can be baited to fire and miss the Knight, since the attack is used at regular intervals.

• Orb Barrage: The only new attack features slower orbs but are constantly fired every 2 seconds. These orbs behave much more like the Radiance's orbs and disappear if lead off-screen. This attack is only used in Phase 6 (Absolute Radiance only).

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Other

Standard Tactics: The Radiance will infected whoever she sees. If that fails, she will use a barrage of swords, beams of light, or energy projectiles to attack.

Weaknesses: None notable.

Battle Records

None.

None.

None.