The Gods of Hollow Knight EXPLAINED

Hollow Knight prides itself in its legendary experience of gameplay and near-unspoken storytelling that uses every bit of its unique visuals and outstanding music (created by the talented Christopher Larkin) to immerse players in the world of Hallownest.
But one of the more jarring tidbits is their "gods." In this video, I cover the lore and history of Hallownest's "gods", from the start of Hollow Knight to the end of its final DLC, Godmaster. Join me in breaking down Hollow Knight's incredible lore and the interesting parallels it shares through its roster of "gods."
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[@endymon5240]

The irony of this is that, if the pale king never took over, the radiance would never have came to any power. Mindless bugs cannot dream, only the pale king's sapient ones

[@expychristian]

That's what I also was thinking of, not exactly how you put it, but around the same vibe. Without either Pale King nor Radiance, the bugs would've just been bugs. But because of the two, they were able to advance like as humans, while also inevitably suffering plague and the collapse of a civilization like as humans. Not to mention neither Void nor Radiance are actual "good" guys. Merely elemental forces that formed part of their universe.

[@maximillion322]

@@expychristianthat’s actually the opposite of true, because the radiance was already in power before the Pale King came. The moths who worshipped her were in Hallownest before it was made into Hallownest. The moths abandoned the Radiance to worship the Pale King, which is what caused the Radiance’s vengeance. Point being, had the Pale King not come, the Radiance would very much be in power

[@expychristian]

@maximillion322 Fair. My mindset going into the Radiance-King conflict is that of these powerful elemental forces that have granted different measures of power to the bugs beneath them and how the absence of one, the other, or both, has caused the abject collapse of Hallownest. Hallownest with the Radiance, I'm certain, was fine. But once the bugs got more advanced through the Pale King, they forgot the Radiance, and this sparked the whole story of Hollow Knight. Neglect and ignorance, as well as the hubris of Hallownest, is what makes up the game's setting.

[@maximillion322]

@@expychristian I’m of the opinion that it actually reflects on the Pale King kinda similarly to Gwyn from Dark Souls, where the whole thing he’s trying to prevent is just the world returning to the state it was in before he came. It speaks to his hubris in trying to make his civilization last forever that once he’s gone, everything he built will eventually crumble. We don’t know what happened to the Pale King but one way or another he’s not around anymore by the time of the story. If he were, he probably could’ve just done whatever he did the first time to hold back the radiance when he first arrived in Hallownest. And that’s the other thing: the lore tablet’s claim that Hallownest is the “last and only civilization” is an outright lie. The Mantises, Spinners, Moss, Bees and most importantly the Moths, were all around before the Pale King, having fully developed societies of their own. Point being that the Pale King just isn’t as big of a deal as he thinks he is, making his whole attempt to fight both the void and the radiance just exercises in hubris.

[@expychristian]

@@maximillion322 And I believe that is one of the best ways of looking at that relationship that the Pale King has established with the world around him. He gave Hallownest that means of advancing themselves beyond the primitive state of most bugs and tried to ensure an eternal kingdom where he stood at the top while simultaneously helping his vassals. Yet, this is in ignorance of other tribes who've operated independently longer than he has. It's one big cycle of making something temporal into something eternal. Great comment.

[@ThatDwag69]

*says ascended,shows gorb* instant sub

[@expychristian]

Thank you for the sub! I'm not gonna lie, I kept seeing people make memes about Gorb ascending, and I was confused UNTIL I FOUGHT HIM IN GODHOME AND HE WOULDN'T GET DOWN. Plus, it's hilarious just hearing him murmuring "incantations" mid-fight like a Cartoon Network villain, haha

[@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh]

@@expychristianhe also say ascend with gorb

[@expychristian]

​@@Nebulius_the_uuhhhhascend with Gorb (until he literally disappears into the ceiling)

[@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh]

@@expychristian gorb

[@furryoftheyear]

"and Zote, a pathetic vessel" I want to scream and weep

[@expychristian]

If it's any indication, I kind of have a vendetta against Zote haha Such an annoying boss fight. If anything, it's props to Team Cherry for turning a bug into an actual character that can stir emotion in players.

[@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh]

Zote…is not a vessel

[@expychristian]

He's something alright.

[@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh]

@@expychristian he is the Invincible, Fearless, Sensual, Mysterious, Enchanting, Vigorous, Diligent, Overwhelming, Gorgeous, Passionate, Terrifying, Beautiful, Powerful, Grey Prince Zote.

[@expychristian]

​@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh And above all that, he's annoying xd Gave me so much trouble in Godhome.

[@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh]

@@expychristian honestly, GIT GUD

[@expychristian]

@@Nebulius_the_uuhhhh I'm TrYInG 😭😭😭

[@soupydamoosey5488]

High quality editing man this is really good stuff ❤

[@expychristian]

Happy to provide! And thank you for the comment! This one took some time so I opted to just go all in and make it as best as I could with all of the limitations of my workplace. Always trying to find improvements wherever I can.

[@alexiaatheducc]

that was sick , dude! on my way to get fixated on hollow knight again 🤟

[@expychristian]

Thanks, my dude! Good luck on the grind! I'm not gonna lie: I really thought I would have a one-and-done walk through because I was struggling with the difficulty, but making this video made realise the great experiences I've had from playing the game (minus the Zote and Uumuu fights) and I wouldn't mind going through it again.

[@alexiaatheducc]

@@expychristian the way you described and explained the plot and lore of the game gave me chills, dude. i had already known all this stuff, but your storytelling made me feel like i was like.. it felt so immersive, i felt like i was experiencing the game for the first time again. great work my man!

[@expychristian]

@@alexiaatheducc Thank you, sincerely. It's in the channel's "brand": "Telling the stories underneath the stories." But on a more personal note, I love doing this kind of longform-style. The lore is always great, but I feel there's always something that can be unraveled besides the plot and its relationships to cutscenes and game mechanics. Storytelling is what and how I approach most of my videos (at least starting from late last year). And I do want to improve always in writing and voice-acting, so, yeah it meshes into videos like these. Thank you again. Happy to provide, joyful to do. Glad you enjoyed this video!

[@ThatDwag69]

Man this video is mossbag level quality u deserve way more views and subs

[@expychristian]

Thank you, kindly! I do my best, hoping for the best! And I like Mossbag; his content helped to provide some fire for me to better flesh out this video! It was also a challenge to fit in what I could argue was over 40+ hours worth of lore and content into a 30 or so minute video, haha It's a small world for us Hollow Knight fans, ain't it? Glad you enjoyed the video! Feel free to stick 'round, I got more planned!

[@ThatDwag69]

@@expychristian Im ALWAYS surprised how this Lil indie game is still relevant after like 7yrs modders and youtubers still make High quality content about this game like what else is there to discuss other than some really cool mods I genuinely thought the lore of hk could not get any better and also everyone in this community is a F-ing masochist lol

[@expychristian]

@@ThatDwag69 That is also what surprised me. This game is legendary on its own in nearly-every aspect. But the community, who likely believes that Absolute Radiance is a cakewalk, decided to make mods like Pale Court or Inferno Nightmare Grimm. Goes to show the dedication of community spawned from a game that had so much passion put into its creation. And I personally felt drawn to the lore of the "Gods" in Hollow Knight because I felt there was something missing about them. Hence this video's inception!

[@ThatDwag69]

@@expychristian Pale court is like THE best hk mod I belive all the hk youtubers have at least made a single vid on it and also PPL are doing any rad 3x in a row and also all the colloseum mods like trial of the masachist (which is completely true btw) and even MORE like ancient aspid gods of batte like tc release silksong or the community has gone already insane

[@expychristian]

@@ThatDwag69 People want either to test their combat prowess or try and unveil the lost history of Hallownest. I suppose it's a double-edged way to invest into the game, haha

[@HiveOrd]

great vid man im subbing

[@expychristian]

Appreciate it, friend! I do my best.

[@NT-sx2bd]

Love the showing of blasphemous!

[@expychristian]

Thank you! I love both games.

[@jontainaka]

You're so underrated, that's some quality stuff right here, keep it up!

[@expychristian]

Thank you! I can't say it enough, but I do my best and hope for the best concerning the channel while also trying to improve however I can! Appreciate the encouragment! Helps to keep me going. I got more for the future planned 'round these parts, haha

[@cupcakejack7375]

Found another small channel with very good content. You just got a sub my friend.

[@expychristian]

Appreciate the sub! And although I don't necessarily speak on the behalf of all the small channels who produce content akin to mine, but we all do our best with what we got and what we receive! Thank you for the support.

[@cupcakejack7375]

@@expychristian yeah, I'm thankful to youtube for reccomending me really good content from a lot of small channels as of late. My sub count is going up real fast- lol- can't wait to see what you do in the future!

[@expychristian]

@cupcakejack7375 Stayed blessed! I'm certain that we are all trying our best amongst your sub list, haha. And thank you again for the support and encouragement! I got projects churning and I can't wait to share 'em!

[@twater2828]

You need more subs, I adored your blasphemous video

[@expychristian]

Thank you! I seem to be having a penchant for these kinds of games as of recent, haha I appreciate the comment!

[@filipthunell8631]

you lost me when you called zote a vessel

[@expychristian]

Zote's somethin' alright xd

[@talenstout8324]

Gods?, more like the boss battles of the game. So it’s a tournament of gods. Animals are that smart, but animals don’t have laws, animals are destructive, they kill, that’s not peaceful, but some things need to kill to survive, it’s called being a carnivore. Yeah imagination has the power to come to life. I would say that, radiance, pale king, grimm, and the shadow being inside the knight, are actual gods. Based on their might, makes sense they are considered gods. Pure?, if they don’t have emotions then what’s the point of their existence if their’s nothing for them to live for. Or they can actually have those powers regardless. Yeah it’s a gameplay thing. A human’s only limits are the limits they place on themselves, but having some limits is healthy. There are no laws of nature, nature is the place of freedom. Your fate is that of which you choose, you just gotta work for it.

[@seanfarrelly3455]

Some of your naming is weird like saying the dreamers are higher being which is just kinda wrong as they were just influential regular bugs. Same with calling zote a vessel. Sill a cool vid. Good job. 😊

[@expychristian]

Got lost in the sauce of Hollow Knight lore, I'm not gonna lie, haha I did take into account how the bugs perceived each other, rather than just going off of a neutral, not-bug perception of what Hallownest was. Hence the Jungle Book-related themes. That said, I DID NOT know what Zote was (besides annoying), so that was something xd Thank you for the comment! I'm always trying to do better.

[@TheChickenLorde]

Nice video have a 12 in. Sub

[@SmallOneEyedKing]

So by the end a god is a role model

[@expychristian]

I posed it as such, but yes. God CAN be a role model, alongside many other role models we may have from other people (ie. Think of a certain athlete, arts-person, etc). I posed it in the sense that we can take inspiration for our own destinies and paths from the people we believe in.

[@SmallOneEyedKing]

@expychristian a god, is a role model that they can bestow upon their beliefs and ideologies, and in turn, they worship and praise the god.

[@expychristian]

@SmallOneEyedKing Well said! In principle, that can be true, and there's certainly a root there between divinity and mortality when it comes to having God as your role model.

[@axolotlinabucket1287]

im sorry im trying really hard to get in the flow of the video but the overly flowery writing makes every point ambiguous and irratating to get breakdown, like, im all in on immersions but it feel like watching a 30 minute ad for a chocolate not like reading a fantasy novel. like, i really don't want to sound rude by this, but its really really makes the scripts unfocused, like, it sound like youre to max out the word count or something its a slauge to go through despite the amazing persentation

[@expychristian]

I understand! I'm trying to improve how I can better condense a lot of lore and history into these kinds of videos. It was around 60+ hours of gameplay and exploration that I had collected over the course of playing the game; while also simultaneously telling a story. Appreciate the honesty.

[@luckyowl6432]

Your complaint was unfocused and rambled a bit and also seemed like you were trying to maximize the word count. Something about stones and glass houses.

[@Swagpion]

I think the godseekers have just lost all standards in search of gods. Like Hornet, Lost Kin/Broken Vessel, Pure Vessel, Radiencr, and Grimm are the only higher beings in godhome. So those are the actual gods. The rest arent. Like False Knight is just a maggot in cool armor, Massive Moss Charger is 4 moss chargers in a trenchcloak, and Crystal Gardian can be beaten wiyhout even fighting them, by just being stinky enough.

[@expychristian]

My thoughts near-exactly! Some of the "gods" can be classified as god-like, but a lot of them are just creatures with a stronger evolution or adaptation compared to the rest of their species. It's a very unique way of fleshing out the bug-dominant setting of Hallownest as a form of an ecosystem as opposed to a kingdom in complete cadence to a human civilization, but it does end up being the straw that breaks the camel's back (or the back of the Godseeker in this case).

[@SmallOneEyedKing]

Hollow knight analysis videos are rare except for silksong

[@expychristian]

Saw the trailer while making the video; got sad. Silksong looks amazing, but we're still left in the dark :( Glad I could offer a rarity in content!

[@WobblesandBean]

11:00 "They desire to strive for". This sentence has been brought to you by the department of redundancy department.™ (And the department of plagiarism, because I totally stole that joke)

[@Yume_nikki_real]

32:00 not to “erm actually” this amazing video but the person hornet is fighting is the hollow knight, not the knight. Good video nonetheless. :)

[@expychristian]

Fair enough, I tried to leave it as Team Cherry did: open-ended. I wouldn't be surprised if it is either Hollow Knight or the Knight. What I DO wonder is what Silksong has in store here, since Team Cherry basically said every ending is a possibility for continuity. Nonetheless, I appreciate the comment! Thank you, kindly.

[@binobravo5616]

First like! WOOO!

[@expychristian]

'Ppreciate it, mate xd

[@Anonyomus_commenter]

4:20 Objection: the dreamers weren’t higher beings- at best only two were, but I see no evidence for Monomon or Lurien being higher beings, and on a lore tablet in fungal wastes referring to deepnest it says “Their sealed mother, but the common beast.", referring to Herrah. 7:25 It’s not dream borne, the Kingsmould was holding it. The infection and dreamer seal points are correct tho.

[@expychristian]

Fair point! In (my personal) theory, they were considered Higher Beings in principle. They were vastly different in ability and capacity compared to the rest of the bugs of Hallownest, so while they weren't worshipped in the same vein as the Pale King (save for Herrah), I feel they would've been considered Higher Beings by their lesser contemporaries because of the length of which they fulfilled their duties and influenced the bugs around them. Just my theory, though! And by dream borne, I was referring to how the Kingsoul became the Void Heart through the dream sequence of the Abyss. Not dream borne as in its made entirely of dreams (hence the fragments from the Lady and the Palace). Just to clarify!