History Characters / HollowKnightProtagonists

* TheNecromancer: In a specific way, however. Their basic spell is to [[ShapingYourAttacks conjure an angry ghost]].

** Heavy Blow greatly increases the knockback distance with the Knight's attacks, pushing the enemies farther away. Sounds good on paper, right? Well in gameplay, it can be very detrimental for those who spec into melee builds focusing on the nail, as you have to ''get close'' in order to deal damage with your main weapon, but Heavy Blow will just ruin that and force you to move every time. It's also impractical against flying enemies, especially those with ranged attacks like the Primal Aspids - All that this charm does is just to give these enemies more breathing space to shoot you even more. The charm can only be viable in spell-focus builds and for players who like to spam their spells, but even a spell-focused build is [[DifficultButAwesome difficult]] against most lesser mooks. What's worse, Heavy Build is practically ''useless'' against large [[ContractualBossImmunity bosses that are immune]] to knockback.

** Want a way to technically refill your soul gauge infinitely without heavy risks and without the Kingsoul? Equip both the Grubsong and Hiveblood charms, damage yourself into hazards or enemies, invoke the Grubsong's effect, retreat, wait for your health to regenrate, and repeat.

Near the end of the game, the playable Knight can assume the form of an entity. Additional tropes specifically regarding this entity be found [[Characters/HollowKnightLoreAndHistory here]] under the [[spoiler:Void Entity]] entry.

* FlowerMotifs: May be white roses, possibly shared with Lace; a few pieces of promotional art for ''Silksong'' depict Hornet in Lace's white-rose boss arena or surrounded by them.

** WordOfGod stated her name is actually an affectionate nickname from Hive Queen Vespa, who raised Hornet as a stepdaughter. This was a subplot that ended up being cut for time, and is one of the reasons Vespa’s realm feels so disconnected from the rest of Hollownest.

* PowerUpLetdown: In its initial form, the Grimmchild does absolutely nothing but waste 2 charm notches, so you are actually forced to proceed with Grimm's FetchQuest if you want to make some use for this charm. Fortunately, it [[MagikarpPower evolves]] as you proceed with the quest, making it one of the useful offensive charms once it reaches its full capacity.

** Once you have obtained the Void Heart, the Knight will be permanently emitting a faint black shadow when it walks[[note]]Citation needed.[[/note]].

** A Gulka's projectiles can be deflected back at it using a well-timed nail slash.

* WallJump: The Mantis Claw allows the knight to automatically cling to and slide down walls when not on the ground. The wall-jump can be done in limitless successions (allowing you to scale up most walls) until the knight touches the ceiling or reaches a ledge.

* DiscOneNuke: The Howling Wraiths spell becomes this once you've unlocked the mantis claw and decided to navigate your way to the Fog Canyon early on. The spell deals twice the damage of the Vengeful Spirit, and its three-way aerial effect can hit a lot of enemies within short range. Among the earliest possible bosses you can fight, it devastates the Soul Master the most.

* VideoGameDashing: The mothwing cloak allows you to dash both on ground and on the air. Later on, you'll get a super dash ability that enables "flight" on a straight horizontal line until you hit a wall (or press jump or dash to stop short). An upgrade to the normal dash will allow you to phase through enemies, and with a certain charm you'll deal damage while doing it.

* WallJump: The mantis claw allows the knight to automatically cling to and slide down walls when not on the ground. The wall-jump can be done in limitless successions (allowing you to scale up most walls) until the knight touches the ceiling or reaches a ledge.

* PowerGivesYouWings: {{Inverted}}. The Monarch Wings give you the ability to double-jump.

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Knight is strongly associated with darkness, and is referred to by several characters as "Ghost" and "Shadow". [[spoiler:They later turn out to be a being of the Abyss, which is also this trope; the Void is a completely neutral wellspring of potential creation that is primarily used to stop the plague, and the worst sentient product of it turns out to be a misguided WellIntentionedExtremist who may or may not have been right. This contrasts the BigBad of the game, who is firmly LightIsNotGood.]]

** If you complete the Journal, the Hunter calls the Knight as one of his own, a "Hunter".
* ItIsDehumanizing: The Knight is just commonly referred to as "it" in third-person. Justified as [[spoiler:the Vessels don't have gender identity, and the friendly [=NPCs=] do not know what other pronouns to call the Knight either]].

* KidHero: If the Knight shares the same general developmental path as [[spoiler:their sibling, the Hollow Knight]], they're still a child during the events of ''Hollow Knight''.

* LaserGuidedTykeBomb: [[spoiler:All of the Vessels were made to specifically counteract Radiance. The playable Knight in particular is sent off to take the place of the current Vessel.]]

** Ogrim can leave a dung statue of the Knight after you defeat him several times.

** The Knight gets mistaken for one of those infected husks by the Dung Defender, initiating a boss fight. The latter eventually apologizes afterwards.

* NoBiologicalSex: Vessels have no biological sex or gender identity due to being Void beings created by the Pale King.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The Knight can carry around Fragile Flowers to help the Grey Mourner and to gift certain other characters with. However... [[spoiler:It turns out those flowers somehow amount to kryptonite for beings of void. If the Knight happens to gift one to the Godseeker, then the flower ruins their attempt to burst out of her as a mass of darkness at the end of the ''Godmaster'' campaign.]]

* StealingTheCredit: Zote will wrongfully accuse the Knight with this once he gets rescued from the Vengefly King, claiming that, when the Knight killed the Vengefly King, it interrupted the fight between Zote and his "prey" (when in reality, Zote is ''in danger'').

* HeroicBastard: She's the result of a union between [[spoiler:the Pale King of Hallownest and Herrah the Beast of Deepnest]], as part of a deal [[spoiler:that made Herrah agree to become a Dreamer]]. Despite that, her loyalty to Hallownest is unwavering.

* PhlebotinumOverdose: Known as "overcharming". If you have at least one empty charm notch, you can still force a charm that won't normally fit the notch count. This is done by attempting to equip the charm five times; on the fifth try it is equipped, an image of glass breaking appears, and a message states that the knight is now "overcharmed" and will take double damage.

** The Defender's Crest adds DeadlyGas to some of the Knight's abilities.

* NonIndicativeName: Hornet fights using silk as a RazorFloss, or to get around quick. Her [[spoiler:mother is Herrah the Beast, from the spider tribe]]. Both of which indicate that Hornet is actually based from spiders.

[[AC: Additional Tropes for the Knight's Charm System in ''Hollow Knight'']]

They then use souls to heal themselves or projects them in various directions to deal damage.

* TrappedInContainment: The [[spoiler: Sealed Siblings ending] has [[spoiler:Hornet locked in the Black Egg with the Knight turned [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan Vessel for the infection]], and also with her becoming the new [[CosmicKeystone Dreamer sealing the entrance]].]]

* DeadHatShot: Following the Knight's [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice to destroy [[TrueFinalBoss the Radiance]], only their broken Vessel mask is left behind]].

* MightMakesRight: What Hornet believes in, and is also the reason why she [[spoiler:tries to halt the progress of the Knight by standing in the way and forcing a fight. Also doubles as a test of strength and resolve, since Hornet knows what the Vessels are, she wants to test if the current, stranger Vessel (the playable Knight) is strong enough to differentiate itself from the rest of the failed Vessels. She does acknowledge your strength every time you defeat her, and by the second time in Kingdom's Edge, she willingly allows you to obtain the King's Brand]].

* TrappedInContainment: The [[spoiler:second [[MultipleEndings Bad Ending]]]] has Hornet locked in the [[spoiler:Black Egg with the Knight turned [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan Vessel for the infection]], and also with her becoming the new [[CosmicKeystone Dreamer sealing the entrance]]. Since TheKeyIsBehindTheLock, she is effectively [[AndIMustScream trapped forever]], and no one can enter to put a stop to the Infection once this Vessel [[LeakingCanOfEvil fails]]]].

* EmptyShell: [[spoiler:The Knight's true nature as a Vessel for the infection makes them one, as the King of Hallownest intended for the Vessels to be without thoughts or emotions.]]
** [[spoiler:This is played with, however, as a certain NPC's dialogue]][[note]][[spoiler:...It refuses to trade...? It has a will... all its own.]][[/note]][[spoiler:hints that The Knight may not be completely hollow, just like their predecessor. There's also the fact that they can take part in some sidequests completely unrelated to their mission (like saving the grubs and challenging the colosseum), although it is unclear if this is an intentional hint or just a big case of GameplayAndStorySegregation since the player decides all of the aforementioned actions.]]
** There's a concrete line of dialogue near the end of the game that subverts this trope - The Knight manages to [[spoiler:transform the Kingsoul into the Void Heart after recovering its memories in the Abyss. The Void Heart's description reads "Unifies the void under the bearer's will." Notice the phrase "bearer's will" here. Our playable knight couldn't be hollow from the start since it has a will of its own, and the Void Heart was a result of this]].

* EscapedFromHell: [[spoiler:Upon their birth, the Knight attempted to rise out of the Abyss but fell after another one was already chosen to become the Vessel by the King. Oddly, the game gives no explanation or hint of how the Knight escaped and came all the way to Howling Cliffs after that.]]
* EverybodysDeadDave: The Knight is the only remaining uininfected Vessel left, all other Vessels were [[spoiler:left for dead in the Abyss]].

** Hitting your own leftover shade with the dream nail will instantly kill it, making you [[HeroicMime unable to read any thoughts]]. [[spoiler:This is actually part of the Pale King's designs for the Vessels - "No mind to think".]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:In the normal ending, the Knight gives their life to become the new vessel for the infection, while the true ending sees them give up their individuality to become one with the void, consume the Radiance, and destroy the infection permanently.]]
* InformedAttribute: Some characters state that [[spoiler:the Knight is an emotionless shell like they are supposed to be, but depending on the player's actions, they have the potential to be kind, vengeful, thoughtful, heroic, curious, sad, respectful, determined, etc. In terms of story, all the player really needs to do is kill the Dreamers, then the Hollow Knight to take their place; everything else the game has can be ignored for the most part. This is reflected in other endings such as the true ending, where instead of being a new vessel, the Knight instead TakesAThirdOption and destroys the root cause of the plague instead of doing their duty and make sure they do not potentially start a new cycle of infection. In another set of endings, they take the fight directly to Radiance without killing their predecessor in the process.]]

-->'''Steel Soul Jin''': ...It refuses to trade...? It has a will... all Its own. Can refuse.

** When you are near your own left-over shade, a short, looping track plays, often dubbed as the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryd4g2gd0xA "Shade Music Box"]]. A slower version is played like an actual music box tune[[note]]When this track is played at 150% speed, it matches the timing of the shade's tune[[/note]] at the nursery room in the White Palace, which hints that [[spoiler:the Vessels stayed there at a young age. The secret Path of Pain cutscene supports this, as the young Hollow Knight (AKA [[TheChosenOne The Pure Vessel]]) was in the Palace's balcony with the Pale King]].

* NoBiologicalSex: Vessels have no biological sex or gender identity due to being artificial constructs created by the Pale King.

* PerpetualMotionMonster: [[spoiler:A heroic example, as revealed in flashbacks of the Knight's origins; although the Vessels created by the Pale King aren't invincible, they [[ImplacableMan were supposed to not have a mind or a will to break]] and will serve their [[SealedEvilInACan intended purpose]] unflinchingly and single-mindedly with nary a break for food or sleep.]]

* PowerOfTheVoid: The upgraded versions of the Knight's spells are void-themed. In the path to the true ending, the Knight [[spoiler:becomes one with the Void and wields it against the Radiance to defeat her for good]]. All of these are made possible since the Knight is [[spoiler:a being born of the void]].

* PyrrhicVictory: In all of the endings, [[spoiler:it doesn't end well for the Knight, as it may have to sacrifice itself or lose its own will to the void in order to seal or defeat the infection]].

They then use souls to heal themself or projects them in various directions to deal damage.
* TheSpeechless: Like all others of its kind, the Knight is this [[spoiler:by the design of the Pale King]]. While the game's art style rarely depicts characters with mouths, it's probable that in the protagonist's case [[NoMouth this isn't just stylistic]].

* TakeAThirdOption: The ''Godmaster'' update adds two more endings that deviate from the choices in the base game, both of which involve the Knight [[spoiler:killing the Radiance directly in the dream world (via entering the Godhome), preventing the need to fight their predecessor Vessel just to kill the Radiance (in the "Dream No More" ending). This choice also avoids the consequences of the Knight absorbing all the infection into itself (in "The Hollow Knight" and "Sealed Siblings" endings). Naturally, this instead leaves the Hollow Knight waking up in the Temple of the Black Egg and face Hornet outside]].

* UniformityException: At a young age, all Vessels are nearly identical with their siblings save for their horns which come in various shapes and sizes. Among them, [[spoiler:the Knight and the young Hollow Knight look almost like each other, if not for the fact that the young Hollow Knight has taller horns and with larger jagged patterns in the middle of each horn. By the time you meet the Broken Vessel, it also looks identical to the playable Knight since both are still in their smaller forms, save for the fact that the Broken Vessel's horns are now longer and bent forwards, possibly due to the infection [[BodyHorror damaging its head]]]].

** Once you have obtained the Void Heart, the Knight will be permantently emitting a faint black shadow when it walks.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: As in literally a "heart". The Void Heart charm gives no gameplay benefits other than being a ClingyMacGuffin that is tied to the GoldenEnding's route, as well as symbolizing that the Knight now managed to [[spoiler:"unite the void under [its] will". This ability to unite the void comes in handy in defeating the Radiance later on]].

* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: The Kingsoul charm [[spoiler:starts out purely white at first, then it completely changes into the pitch-black Void Heart charm on the way to the TrueEnding]].

** Joni's Blessing may be weird at first glance, since the Knight basically just [[RobbingTheDead grabs the item out from Joni's corpse]]. But when Joni's ghost appears, [[GhostAmnesia he cannot remember anything]], thinks that he has willingly given the charm to the Knight, and is fine with it. Thus, Joni thinks that he allowed the Knight to have his blessing.

* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: The Kingsoul charm has many benefits – [[spoiler:A passive RegeneratingMana effect, a key to open the Birthplace in the Abyss, and the key to obtaining the Void Heart charm, which in turn, unlocks the final path to the GoldenEnding.]]

* SoulPower: The Knight can fill their soul gauge through various means, mostly whacking other bugs with their nail. They then use souls to heal themself or projects them in various directions to deal damage.

* TheSpeechless: Like all others of its kind, the Knight is this [[spoiler:by the design of the Pale King]]. While the game's art style rarely depicts characters with mouths, it's probable that in the protagonist's case [[NoMouth this isn't just stylistic]].
* TheUnchosenOne: [[spoiler:The Knight is a vessel who tried to crawl out of the Abyss to be selected by the Pale King for their quest to seal away Radiance. Upon reaching the top, they fell back into the Abyss after finding out that a different one had been chosen. The game begins as they surface an indeterminate amount of time later, seeking to complete their task after being called back to Hallownest by either the Hollow Knight or the Radiance.]]

* DevelopersForesight: Once you've obtained the Hunter's Journal, the entry for the Shade will automatically be added. This takes into account the Steel Soul Mode where you only [[FinalDeathMode have one life]] and won't normally be able to spawn the Shade via dying.

** Defeating [[spoiler:[[TrueFinalBoss the Radiance]] in either the base game or the Godmaster scenario]] also counts as this. The Knight beats [[spoiler:her]] back all on its own with [[spoiler:the Void only coming in to back them up in the final stages of the fight, and either the Hollow Knight's shade arrives to help it deal the final blow or the Knight ''ascends into godhood'' and becomes the Void Entity to destroy her itself. But considering what happens following the Godmaster version of the fight, this becomes a case of BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu.]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: [[spoiler:The Knight was one of the few Vessels that managed to climb out of the Abyss — a shame they got there second, as the Pale King already chose a pure Vessel. The Hollow Knight weakening allows them to have a second change at fulfilling their duty, and they eagerly take it.]]

* ArcWords: "Void" is heavily associated with the Knight late in the game - it is what they are made of, what they use to [[spoiler:defeat the Radiance, the Void Charm being [[ClingyMacGuffin unequippable once obtained]], and how the Godseekers call the Knight's statue in the Hall of Gods as either the "Void Given Form" and the "Void Given Focus"]].

* BadassAdorable: A cute little bug, who constantly fights creatures ten times bigger than them [[spoiler:and can challenge and defeat the local Goddess]].

** The dream nail's normal attack is a charged one. It deals no damage but still fills a good chunk of the soul gauge. It is difficult to use in combat because it requires you to stand still while performing it.

* EscapedFromHell: [[spoiler:Upon their birth, the Knight attempted to rise out of the Abyss but fell after another one was already chosen to become the Vessel by the King. Oddly, the game gives no explanation or hint of how the Knight came all the way to Howling Cliffs after that.]]

* EvolvingWeapon: Collecting 1800 Essences and returning to the Seer upgrades the Dream Nail into the Awoken Dream Nail, allowing you to read even the most protected minds.

* FreezeFrameBonus: In the middle of a fast and tense fight, the Knight's sprite can be hard to see when casting spells. The upgraded, void versions of the spells will have frames showing the knight in their shade form, (Best [[https://youtu.be/SIJtfr-PO4Y?t=240 explained here]]), but even the small details such as void tendrils in that form can be hard to notice as well.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:In the normal ending, The Knight gives their life to become the new vessel for the infection, while the true ending sees them give up their individuality to become one with the void, consume the Radiance, and destroy the infection permanently.]]
* InformedAttribute: Some characters state that [[spoiler:The Knight is an emotionless shell like they are supposed to be, but depending on the player's actions, they have the potential to be kind, vengeful, thoughtful, heroic, curious, sad, respectful, determined, etc. In terms of story, all the player really needs to do is kill the Dreamers, then the Hollow Knight to take their place; everything else the game has can be ignored for the most part. This is reflected in other endings such as the true ending, where instead of being a new vessel, the Knight instead TakesAThirdOption and destroys the root cause of the plague instead of doing their duty and make sure they do not potentially start a new cycle of infection. In another set of endings, they take the fight directly to Radiance without killing their predecessor in the process.]]

** The Dreamers call it as "Shadow".

* ItIsDehumanizing: The Knight is just commonly refered to as "it" in third-person. Justified as [[spoiler:the Vessels don't have gender identity, and the friendly [=NPCs=] do not know what other pronouns to call the Knight either]].

* LaserBlade: The Dream Nail is very similar to one - Its physical handle or hilt is merely a pin, but the "nail" part of it is made up of purple essence energy.

* LateToTheTragedy: The Kingdom of Hallownest is already in dire states when the Knight decided to return to it from the Howling Cliffs.

* MessianicArchetype: Downplayed. The Knight doesn't share the backstory of [[spoiler:the Hollow Knight which covered most of the latter's allusions to the Messiah]], but our PlayerCharacter could [[spoiler:visually share a resemblance in the game's first ending, where it serves as the new Sealed Vessel, absorbing all the infection in itself and somehow saving the bugkind once more, while also being chained hanging in the temple's center]].

* PensieveFlashback: [[spoiler:The dream sequence that you enter after using the dream nail in the black egg found at the Birthplace is the Knight's past memories. It starts off from the moment our Knight gets thrown in the Abyss and has to struggle and climb its way back up. Unfortunately, the Pale King had already chosen an ideal Vessel so the Abyss had to be closed, forcing our Knight to fall back into the deepest levels.]]

** {{Downplayed}} in the Kingdom's Edge, the [[spoiler:Cast-off Shell will collapse with the knight still inside. As the knight loses consciousness, we get to see [[BigDamnHeroes Hornet]] carrying it outside]].

* AndIMustScream: In the "Sealed Sibling"-ending, [[spoiler:Hornet is locked in the Black Egg alongside the Knight, possible becoming something similar to the Dreamers. Unlike the Dreamers, this is not of her own volition.]]

* MightMakesRight: What Hornet believes in, and is also the reason why she [[spoiler:tries to halt the progress of the Knight by standing in the way and forcing a fight. Also doubles as a test of strength and resolve, since Hornet knows what the Vessels are, she wants to test if the current, stranger Vessel (the playable Knight) is strong enough from the rest of the failed Vessels. She does acknowledge your strength every time you defeat her, and by the second time in Kingdom's Edge, she willingly allows you to obtain the King's Brand]].