#hk theory

[mebis-art-dump]

Thinking about this dialogue from White Lady and how it applies to lifeblood

Specially considering this post I did a while ago about the lifeblood beast

#hollow knight #hollow knight lifeblood #hollow knight theory #lifeblood creature #lifeblood beast #white lady #hk white lady #hk lifeblood #hk theory #krita #digital art #fanart #rkgk #mebi's art

[bluu3berry]

fan theory

My fan theory on this was hornet and PK used to train a lot when younger, soon both growing the same attack moves copying one another, Hornet not having to train /that/ hard so she didn't grow up that much compared to her older sibling PK

She still trained a little which is how she grew and didn't just stay as a little buglit like ghost!

-----

Fan theory2 (edit)

Maybe they both trained with the pale king/ one of the knights of the pale king, it could still be training with one another but training with the same person makes sense!

But my fan theory of both still stands i think they trained together/ with the same person!

#fan theory #theory #hollow knight theory #hk theory #hornet theory #hornet #hollow knight #PK hk #hk #Pale vessel #Pure vessel #Hornet from hollow knight #Pale vessel from hollow knight #Pure vessel from hollow knight #Hk theory

[miscmangos-wonderland]

ik people like menderbug hegemol theory/headcanon, but have you all considered:

lurien's butler hegemol. thematic significance. hegemol and lurien can be implied to be working together in some capacity, such as the statue by the city gates and hegemol having the key, hegemol just. disappearing after his armor was stolen.

it would also account for the soft voice thing since the butler is a cowardly husk whomst is v smol, and politeness is grilled into butlers.

i also think it would be incredibly funny but also incredibly sad since he waited at lurien's side even as infection overtook his mind.

also, it would make sense for lurien to have a highly trained fighter to guard him at all times, and for that highly trained fighter to be lauded by the king for protecting an important figure

anyway this was me rambling a random theory that doesnt have very good legs, lmk all your thoughts

#hollow knight #lurien the watcher #lurien's butler #hk hegemol #mighty hegemol #hk theory #kinda crack theory #butler hegemol

[feathers-feathers]

Has anyone else made this connection?

Long post alert. Most of it under the cut tho.

So, I was exploring some NPC pages in the wiki - and when I had a gander at Bardoon's page, I was surprised to see it refer to him as a caterpillar - the credit for the assertion going to the Wanderer's journal. Unfortunately I do not have that myself, so I couldn't see where. Either way, it struck me as obvious after seeing that. Just looking at his whole body plan… yeah, of course he's a caterpillar.

Knowing that some of the bugs in this game were based off of real life insects, I decided to make a cursory inspection of known real life caterpillars that fit the bill. Which would be, uh… stark white, I guess.

Wouldn't you know it, the very first one I see was the caterpillar stage for the Bombyx Mori - AKA the Silk Moth. AKA the Moth that a lot of people have connected to the Radiance due to being a very fluffy and very pale moth.

A comparison, for your viewing pleasure - CW I suppose for two images of real life insects - under the cut.

Right: Silk Moth / Radiance, Left: Silk Moth Caterpillar / Bardoon

It's not an exact fit for either obviously - but even then, known examples of bugs based off their real life counterpart don't often fully conform exactly either. Bardoon of course is very familiar with all this godly business. He can quite easily resist the infection, and quite easily resist even the awakened dream nail. He is possibly ancient - and knows things that are pretty much only known by other gods. Of course, this is more head-canon than theory. But it is such an interesting idea, is it not?

Let's take this idea and run with it: The Radiance and Bardoon are the same species.

This would add another interesting layer to the Radiance herself… she really wouldn't be all that different to the Pale King in this case. In fact, they would have almost identical backstories of arriving to Hallownest as worm-like creatures, transforming into their current form, possibly eradicating the previous rulers (the ancient caste and their void shenanigans in the Radiance's case), while starting up their own nation as replacement.

And if the Radiance isn't simply a one off thing, and is actually a member of a species of moths gods - then, of course, there would be others likely outside the kingdom. Unless, like the Wyrms, they too are going the way of the dodo.

And then, of course, there's Bardoon himself. If he eventually pupates into another Moth god… that would… probably be the best case scenario for a good future outcome, wouldn't it? I honestly can't see Bardoon causing any problems. Dude's just so chill.

I've always seen this world as being very high entropy - needing the supernatural power of gods to impose enough order for life to truly thrive. With most endings in the game, Unn is the only god left and she's not likely to last much longer. There's also the White Lady, but I really don't get the feeling that she's up for the task. So unless the life-sapping Void could somehow… not do what it's very nature does, post-Embrace The Void… I never really thought there was much hope for Hallownest to return to prominence. But with this whole concept, then there definitely is a chance.

Another cool idea: Take the normal ending. Post-Hollow Knight. The protagonist is containing the Radiance. Let's say the protagonist isn't a pure vessel, and the Radiance escapes again eventually. She begins spreading the infection once again. Except by now Bardoon has fully matured, and has very similar power. Bardoon has already spread his own much more benign form of the infection without all that mind control shenanigans. So the Radiance simply cannot find purchase in anyone's minds, as Bardoon's benign infection… basically acts as a vaccine, inoculating the minds of Hallownest's bugs.

I really did not expect to be thinking about Bardoon of all people like this, considering how out of the way he is. But here we are. I think this is a very interesting idea. Lots of room for speculation here of course! I want to see some more takes on this, if some of y'all are willing?

#hk #hollow knight #bugs #insects #moth #caterpillar #hk the radiance #hk bardoon #hk theory #hollow knight theory #hk headcanons #hollow knight headcanons

[pan-perkozeq]

Wait I just realized, why doesn't vespa have wings in game??

I have no clue why...

But apparently Hive Knight doesn't have it either

He just levitates during the whole fight

Probably Team Cherry removed it to not distract the players in combat but that's just my assumption

But tbh: If you didn't ask I would miss this detail lol

#hollow knight #hk #hk theory #hk hive #hk hive knight #hive knight #game theory

[clockwork-vessel]

on vessels and void

Also known as how I explain the vastly disparate sizes of the vessels despite them all being the same age.

So. We know that Vessels are born of god and void, that they’re at least partially composed of void, and that they are not bugs.  What does this mean? Well, allow me to explain.

All of this is technically pure speculation on my part, but it’s the only thing I can think of that explains all the in-game evidence we have -- I basically take it as canon.

Let’s get going, shall we?

(I use it/they for vessels at complete random, as their relationship to gender is fundamentally alien and they have no real concept of it at all)

So, of the vessels we know of, three are gonna be important: the Knight, the Broken Vessel, and the Hollow Knight. First, their heights. The Knight is tiny, the Broken Vessel is a little bit taller, and the Hollow Knight is massive.  And then where they spent the vast majority of their lives. The Hollow Knight, presumably, spent almost all its time in the White Palace; the Broken Vessel seems to have stayed in the Ancient Basin; and the Knight, well, they left the kingdom entirely.

We're pretty sure that the vessels all hatched in one huge event.  We know for a fact that they made the climb out of the Abyss all at once; we see the Knight and the Hollow Knight within metres of each other, and the only difference in height is their horns. All the other vessels falling as the Knight ascends are also Knight-sized.

So what gives, huh? Why does the Knight stay baby-sized for their entire life, while the Hollow Knight towers over almost everyone else?

Well, remember where they spent time.

The Hollow Knight was raised by the King in the White Palace. We know the King was directly manipulating void to make the wingsmoulds and kingsmoulds. We know he was experimenting.

He has a void workshop in the Palace itself -- though, given the White Palace you explore in-game is almost certainly a projection of the King’s last paranoid dreams and not any kind of reflection on what the place was actually like... I personally find it pretty compelling that of all the non-sawblade things included in the memories are the White Lady’s room, the throne room, the memory with the Hollow Knight... and his workshop. I dunno, I think that speaks of how important those things were to him in life. Regardless! I think we can assume pretty safely that he has some source of void within the palace itself.

Alright, so what? Well, the Broken Vessel was also in the Ancient Basin. And the Knight? Left the kingdom.

Void, void, no void.

This brings me to my hypothesis: Vessels require access to a source of living void to grow at all. If they have no access to void, they will remain at hatching size forever.

The Hollow Knight had ready access to void, and was trained in its use. They had close proximity to it at almost all times; between the palace’s location in the Ancient Basin as well as whatever shenanigans the King pulled to get void into his workshop, the Hollow Knight was able to grow to its full size quickly.

It’s not a groundbreaking revelation, but it’s the only thing that fits the evidence we have. I think it works very nicely, so it’s part of my canon for the universe.

Anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk there’s a whole heck of a lot more where this came from!

#hollow knight #hollow knight theory #hollow knight vessel #hk vessel #hk theory #this is absolutely 100% how it works in my lore and how it works for clock #who i will explain very soon

[tonythr]

Quick Slash is even cooler from a narrative perspective, and why I think the Nailsmith's story parallels the Pale King's

Cold take: Quick Slash is the best charm in Hollow Knight.

Slightly Warmer take: Quick Slash is the only S-tier charm that is great from both gameplay and lore perspective (aside from maybe Spell Twister).

The reason for this is that its existence is actually a

metaphor

Here, look at this.

So, Quick Slash is something that was created from a relatively big number of objects that were discarded and deemed imperfect, and that possess a collective will of wanting to fulfill their purpose.

You know what that reminds me of?

A large amount of creations: check.

Discarded as imperfect: check.

Still possessing a will to find closure: check.

Being a part of a larger, more powerful thing: check.

Having a common creator who is responsible for their creation and rejection: check.

So yeah, I think that Quick Slash's lore (or at least its description) is meant to parallel that of the Vessels'.

But I wanna talk about that last point: the creator.

It is heavily implied that the person who created and then later discarded those nails was the Ancient Nailsmith we see in the room where we get Quick Slash.

(Oh by the way I just realized that this stone ring thing on the right of that room is actually the furnace, neat.)

Judging from their Dreamnail dialogue, this Ancient Nailsmith was trying to achieve the same goal as the other, more famous Nailsmith we all know and love: creating a Pure Nail.

And you know who else was trying to create a perfect, Pure thing while discarding many other similar things that later gained a collective will?

That's right - it's the guy who is also responsible for creating those other discarded things we discussed earlier!

Ok, but what I really wanted to talk about here is how all of what I just said ties back to that other, more famous guy - The Nailsmith.

We don't know for sure how the story of the Ancient Nailsmith ended, but it feels like it exists there mainly to put an emphasis on the City's Nailsmith's story; to convey that his struggle is an important theme in this narrative (because ancient means important, ok?) And, I mean, the City's Nailsmith's story also parallels that of the Pale King's in the same manner, right?

The thing is, we already know how PK's story ended.

In trying to achieve perfection, to create an eternal Kingdom by making a Pure Vessel devoid of mind, voice and will, the Pale King doomed himself to be taken over by his regrets, by the vast emptiness of the futility of his struggles. But was it because he failed, or because that was where his story was headed all along?

What if PK succeeded? What if the Radiance was sealed forever? What if his Kingdom actually stood eternal, never to change, never to end? What if he realized he achieved his only goal in life?

And that's the part where we get to a story the ending of which is up to the player's choice.

To quote White Lady, only two obvious outcomes there are from such a thing.

The first is an honorable death by the fruits of his labor.

If we choose to kill the Nailsmith with the Pure Nail, he dies happy, knowing that his life's goal is accomplished and having gained all the satisfaction he could from it.

The second I find preferable, a new passion.

If the Nailsmith doesn't feel the finishing blow of the Pure Nail, he is left unsatisfied. But, while trying to resolve that unsatisfaction, he eventually finds something (and someone) that gives him a new calling, a new thing to create, a new reason to live.

And, while those are both equally valuable, equally canonic outcomes, don't you think the second one is just... better? I mean, not only does it include the achievement of the Nailsmith's goal, but it lets him live AND gives two lonely souls a partner in life! I feel like that's the thing this narrative is trying to convey. What it's trying to say about the meaning of life, about our dreams.

Maybe that was the ultimate folly of the Pale King - the inability to change. His story would've ended in the same way, regardless of whether Hallownest lasted eternally or not. He would be dead, if not by the hands of the Void, but by his own - but ultimately, by the hands of that vast emptiness of realizing that you achieved your only goal and that now all there is for you is this eternal satisfaction that slowly fades away, leaving you with nothing.

TL;DR: Quick Slash is the best because it's a metaphor for discarded vessels; perfection is overrated, try to get laid instead.

#hollow knight #hollow knight lore #hollow knight theory #nailsmith #pale king #hollow knight charms #quick slash #hallownest #pure vessel #hk vessels #sheo

[phantomgrape]

Thing I noticed while I was chatting with some pals about Hollow Knight

Crystal peaks being the ONLY part of the game where you actively ASCEND to progress is fucking genius.

Crystal Peaks was the place the place where the moths resided, as did The Radiance presumably. The Radiance in her presence and boss fight have a heavy emphasis on flight and ascending upwards (look no further than the final part of the fight, where Ghost LITERALLY climbs up to her to land the final blow).

In retrospect, Crystal Peaks in its fundamental design almost FORESHADOWS this moment and its association to The Radiance and her moths.

#hollow knight #text post #theory #hollow knight theory #hollow knight the radiance #the radiance #hk radiance #rambles

[eliduck]

wormy wyrms 🪱

#hk #hollow knight #pale king #hk pale king #No clue what the blackwyrm looked like sincd theres diff theories of who and which so i just slap it there #hk knight #Hollowknight wyrm #hollow knight fanart #sometimes i question if he casually toss the food down inside his fork head and it just gets eaten there idk how to explain in words uhh #Eliduck

[defnotkanyewest]

Hollow Knight theory

The Hollow Knight actually was a perfect vessel void of mind body and soul but the Pale King grew to love him which made him an impure vessel

The only reason Hallownest fell was because of the Pale Kings love for his son despite the fact he was trying to save it

#I feel like this theory makes the whole story more tragic which I like #Like despite all the sacrifices he made the pale king still loves his son #And that ultimately led to the downfall of the entire kingdom #And even his own son #video games #gaming #hollow knight #hk #pale king #the hollow knight #team cherry #the knight #hk radiance

[mebis-art-dump]

the Pale King's involvement on the making of the black egg

It is already assumed by the majority that PK was involved in some way; it is a fair assessment but I feel like it's most of the time an assumption based on PK's situation relative to it

- powerful magic being

- head of the project

- smart and inventive

So decided to gather a lil bit of evidence in favor of his direct involvement

1- The lore tablets that start with "higher beings, these words are for you alone" are more likely written by PK himself, given the one before the abyss and the fact that they open with PK's voice (plus the whispers of soul) (you could also count the world sense tablet within it).

The background that shows up behind these texts have a certain detail which in closer observation looks quite similar to the pillars of the black egg's corridor

2- both the abyss and black egg entrances are sealed with a stone door that is conjured out of thin air, with a ringed texture unlike normal shell/fossils but much like the rings of a worm (or a certain chunk of the wyrm, which is a sprite depicted here); the "key" needed to open the door displayed in white within an indentation.

Not shown in the image, but both seals (the white glowing patterns that show when casting a spell) have the glyph that represents the king's brand.

The black egg door also has a structure reminiscent of ribs, but not like the normal looking straight ribs of fossils all over crossroads (more prominent near the mawlek graveyard); rather, they're more similar to the ribs and teeth of the wyrm

Now, the seal of binding developed by the weavers seems to have been a key element in the project, but

1- it's a very specific design, which we do see within the egg but only in its central chamber

2- the pale king makes plenty use of it within the palace, so maybe it is either possible to make it in a "compact way" to be deployed afterwards at any moment and any place, or the king was able to replicate it after the first version was made

The rest of the egg could be a modified version or multiple completely different seals, but it is very likely that much of it was made by the pale king

#hollow knight #pale king #hk pale king #the pale king #black egg #hollow knight lore #hollow knight theory

[anonymous-utility]

I like the theory that Lace is the Pharloom version of a kingsmould, but made out of stuffing instead metal.

#silksong #hollow knight #hk hornet #silksong lace #lace is such a fun design to draw #watch lace turn out to be a silk worm or something #listen i just like the Lace is void theory because of the potential of hornet going though a crisis because of it

[bugs-andsnacks]

#hollow knight fanart #hollow knight #hk #hk fanart #pale king #hollow knight pale king #hk pale king #hk lurien #lurien the homosexual #oooops #lurien the watcher #hollow knight lurien #hollow knight collector #yeah I'm tired of making theories so throw at you this au like pk throw collector to lurien #towerfam au

[p---l---c]

when will she return from the war

"wait how did you get the red-"

OH IT WAS SO DIFFICULT. no I didn't just go "ohhh nooooo i don't have red oh well guess i'll add a color" NO.

you see these??? these are all the layers used to do the base of making her dress look a little red. 15, 16, and 17 are difference layers, which means essentially that they wanna be the opposite of whatever color they really are: dark blue green.

the rest is sheer color theory magic. to make that shade of red look believable, the lighting has to match in such a way where she seems to be green-tinted due to natural reasons and not "oops no red or white" reasons. So the light from above is lots of that light green in overlay so it was as vibrant yellow as possible, then the depth uses the blue-greens as shadows, to make your brain think "oh, see? she's just in the blue area, that's why her red dress is so green :)"

i am perhaps not the intended audience for palette challenges as i see them as puzzles to be solved instead of a style adjustment but that's okay, I Win.

#hollow knight #silksong #hk hornet #silksong hornet #hollow knight art #bee draws #commissions open #color theory talk under the cut because i do palette challenges funny

[pan-perkozeq]

So I was thinking...

If we control the Ghost's actions... Does it mean the Ghost is possesed by us?

Like we're responsible for every death, every decition and he's just a pawn in our hands? A Likeness of Undertale but here we got emotionless machine capable of anihilating deities, leaded only by our will. " ARE WE THE BADDIES? " Yeah I know that's how the game works dont worry xd I'd just like to headcanon this as a part of Hollow Knight lore

#hollow knight #hollow knight headcanons #headcanon #undertale #hk #hk ghost #hk vessel #hk theory #fan theory #theory #game theory #this theory is cool and dumb at the same time and i like it #imma headcanon it #headcannons #are we the baddies? #hk fandom #fandom #game fandom #game #lore #ahhh yes a lore!

[foileadeux]

THE one. THE only. THE absentee father! heres my grimm gijinka

#hollow knight #hollow knight gijinka #hk grimm #hollow knight grimm #grimmchild #idk why i didnt just do this for all my other gijinkas but im gonna throw all my thoughts in the tags instead its way easier #so if you cant tell i like the theory that hes related to radiance #or at least the nightmare heart is (i am aware that grimm is more like a vessel) #and that hes a moth #tried 2 make his palette directly contrast radiances #wanted to make him circus lookin. clown makeup and all #he looks like the hazbin hotel sexyman #had to get that one outta my system before someone else pointed it out first #this was unintentional #anyways id smoke a blunt w him i think #my art #design ref