Hollow Knight Bosses Locations Guide

With the help of our Hollow Knight Bosses Locations Guide, you'll be able to learn all about finding all the different bosses in the game.

In this Hollow Knight Bosses Locations Guide, we will guide you on different bosses encountered in Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight features tons of unique bosses that you will be required to fight and defeat to complete the game.

Hollow Knight Bosses Locations

The sheer amount of bosses in the game and the much harder difficulty makes this game a solid Dark Souls contender. We have detailed all the bosses in our Locations Guide so that you can view vital information about them and know where to find them and what will you get for defeating them.

Since each boss is unique, you must know their strengths and weaknesses if you want to take them down and our guide takes care of that.

Broken Vessel

Broken Vessel is a shattered corpse who has been brought back to life by infected parasites.

Location: Ancient Basin

HP: 525

Reward: Monarch Wings

Boss Moves

  • Slash – Dashes forwards quickly to slash you with the nail.
  • Aerial Slash – Jumps up and quickly crashes down to slash you.
  • Leap – Leaps in any direction around the arena.
  • Flail – Swings its nails overhead multiple times in both directions.
  • Slam – Leaps up and performs a slam attack while also spawning blobs.
  • Headbanger – Fills the arena with infectious blobs that fly upwards.
  • Balloon – Spawns a Balloon blob that flies slowly towards Knight. Causes damage on impact.

Brooding Mawlek

Hollow Knight is a very ferocious creature. It is also a social creature but it can be aggressive if it unable to adjust with other creatures of its own species.

Location: Forgotten Crossroads

HP: 300

Reward: Mask Shard

Boss Moves

  • Slash – Slashes downwards on the Knight if it gets too close.
  • Spit – Spits a couple of blobs towards the Knight while also moving.
  • Leap – Jumps upon the Knight then quickly leaps back to the start position.
  • Vomit – Vomits cumbersome blobs towards the Knight while standing idle.

Crystal Guardian

The Crystal Guardian is a heavyset miner based in Crystal Peak who has been overcome by a crystal growth. You’ll have two encounters with the boss, each with varying difficulty and reward. Both HPs and rewards are mentioned below.

Location: Crystal Peak

HP: 280/450

Reward: 385/550

Boss Moves

  • Laser Beam – Shoots an energy beam at the Knight.
  • Sky Beam – Showers a couple of energy beams from above.
  • Hop – Hops to move around the arena.

Dung Defender

The Dung Defender is a huge beetle boss who is a skilled warrior underneath. It attacks its enemies with balls of compacted dung and hence boasts a decent attack range.

Location: Royal Waterways

HP: 700

Reward: Defender’s Crest

Boss Moves

  • Toss – It tosses a ball that bounces around the arena for 5 seconds. Can be broken if sufficient hits are landed on it.
  • Burst – Goes underground for a few second, as it comes above ground, it shoots 4 ball just like toss.
  • Dive – Dives into the ground coming up and then back down in waves.
  • Zeal – Goes into rage at about half HP and chains a series of fast burst attacks.
  • Evade – Rolls into a ball to get away from the Knight.

False Knight

False Knight is a huge maggot and looks terrifying holding a giant bolder attached to a stick as a weapon. It also has a strong armored shell, which is rumored to be stolen from another creature. Its body parts have different HPs; the main body has 65 HP while the head has its own HP of 40.

Location: Forgotten Crossroads

HP: 65+40

Reward: City Crest

Boss Moves

  • Slam – Slams it mace into the ground causing a shockwave through the arena.
  • Leaping Slam – Jumps up and towards the knight slamming its mace when close to the ground.
  • Rage – Goes into a rage when its armor is shattered. Slams mace in both directions, causing rocks to fall from the ceiling.

Flukemarm

The Flukemarm keeps its young inside it so it is mostly filled with its own babies. It also reproduces at an alarming rate.

Location: Royal Waterways

HP: 350

Reward: Flukenest

Boss Moves

  • Spawn – Spawns two Flukefeys every couple of seconds that attack the Knight.

God Tamer

God tamer excels at training other creatures and will always be found fighting next to them. She is also a veteran warrior herself belonging to the Colosseum of Fools. Her mount has 450 HP while she has 600 HP.

Location: Trial of the Fool

HP: 450+600

Reward: nil

Boss Moves

  • Leap – The tamer leap into the air and hurls it lance down on the Knight.
  • Rolling – The tamer’s beast rolls across the arena as a ball and flies into the air to land on the Knight when it hits the wall.
  • Spew – It spawn cumbersome blobs of infections that travel in different  direction covering the arena.

Gruz Mother

Gruz Mother has no chill and it attacks by hurling her body at the enemies. This is even stranger as it carries her babies in its belly. You can encounter it at two places. If you encounter it at Forgotten Roads, it will have 90 HP and give you 50 Geos as reward. If you encounter it at Colosseum of Fools during the Trial of Warrior, it will have 120 HP.

Location: Forgotten Crossroads, Colosseum of Fools

HP: 90, 120

Rewards: 50 Geos, nil

Boss Moves

  • Charge – Charges at the Knight.
  • Zig Zag Slam – Slams wildly between the wall and the floor slowly moving ahead. Covers whole arena.

The Hollow Knight

The Hollow Knight contains the plague’s heart inside its body and is the fully-grown vessel. It comes with four phases of boss fight. Each phase will be unique and The Hollow Knight will change its move set.

Location: Temple of Black Egg

Hp: 1000

Boss Moves

  • Triple Slash – Slashes its nail quickly thrice.
  • Lunge – Jumps into the air and tries to land where the Knight stands.
  • Parry – Block the Knights attack and quickly follows with an offensive.
  • Flame Pillar Dive – Leaps into the air and land where the Knight is, makes a flame pillar to gush out of the ground.
  • Contrition – Reduces the amount of damage it takes when its health is at the lowest.

Hornet Protector

Hornet is equipped with a needle and thread and does hesitate to kill anyone foolish enough to storm the Hallownest’s Ruins which it protects. It has 225 HP during the first encounter and 700 health during the second encounter.

Location: Greenpath, Cast-Off Shell, City of Tears, The Abyss, Beast’s Den, Temple of the Black Egg

HP: 225, 700

Rewards: Mothwing Cloak or King’s Brand

Boss Moves

  • Lunge – Lunges at the Knight with its needle.
  • Aerial Lunge – Jumps and lunges at the Knights with its needle.
  • Gossamer Storm – Unleashes a storm attack with area affect that is centered around itself.
  • Throw – Throw its needle towards the Knight than retracts it back. Can cause damage when retracting as well.

Mantis Lords

Mantis Lords is a combination of three leaders of the Mantis tribe. They are extremely quick and they are equipped with nail-lances. They are exceptionally good warriors. During the fight, they will have 210 HP during the first phase and 160+160 HP for the second phase.

Location: Mantis Village

HP: 210, 160+160

Rewards: Mark of Pride, Hallownest Seal or 620 Geos

Boss Moves

  • Dash – Dashes towards you quickly from either side of the arena.
  • Drop – Hover over the Knight for a moment then quickly drop down with its lance.
  • Boomerang – Throws its weapon that roams the arena boomeranging back to it.

Nosk

Nosk is a deceiving boss because it can mimic the shape of different creatures to lure unsuspecting enemies to its lair. It then devours them without any remorse.

Location: Deepnest

HP: 680

Reward: Pale Ore

Boss Moves

  • Charge – Quickly charges in your direction.
  • Leap – Jump into the air and crashes down upon you.
  • Eruption – Come to the center and shoot infectious blob covering the whole arena.
  • Rain – Jumps up into the ceiling and disappeares from site. Then drop infectious blobs from above every few moments.

Soul Master

Soul Master is the head of the Soul Sanctum. It hoards the souls of other creatures in order to stave offHallownest’s affliction. He has 275 HP for the first phase and 110 HP for the second phase.

Location: Soul Sanctum

HP: 275, 110

Reward: Desolate Dive

Boss Moves

  • Dash – Dashes across the arena, quickly towards the Knight.
  • Orb – Shoots an infectious orb towards the Knight.
  • Clock – Conjures orb that rotate around the Soul Master as he flies around the arena.
  • Slam – Slams onto the ground sending impact waves across the arena.
  • Fake Out Slam – Fakes a slam is coming then changes position with the Knight’s  movement.

The Collector

The Collector is locked inside the Tower of Love where it loves to collect and preserve different creatures. He specially loves Grubs but also preserves other Hallownest’s creatures.

Location: Tower of Love

HP: 750

Reward: Collector’s Map

Boss Moves

  • Jar – Jumps onto the ceiling and makes glass jar rain down. The jar shatter when they fall ad release Vengeflies, Baldurs or Aspid Hunters. When its health is low, it rains more glasses and summons more monsters.
  • Grab – Leap towards the Knight and grabs him to cause damage.

The Radiance

It is considered as the forgotten light. It comes with a large move set which is used during the boss fight.

Location: Temple of Black Egg

HP: 1,700

Reward: nil

Boss Moves

  • Beam Burst – Shoot multiple beams around itself.
  • Sword Burst – Shoot numerous swords running in all directions.
  • Sword Rain – Rains pillars of swords from the ceiling.
  • Sword Wall – Creates a wall of swords that travel across the arena.
  • Orb – Summons orbs to attack the Knight.
  • Wall of Light – Summons a light wall that traverses the whole arena.
  • Spike Floor – Creates spikes on sections of the floor that disappear after a while
  • Big Beam – Shoot massive energy beam at the Knight,

Traitor Lord

The deposed Traitor Lord used to be a Lord of the Mantis tribe until it turned dark. It embraced infection and turned sour to his sisters and his tribe.

Location: Queen’s Garden

HP: 800

Reward: White Lady

Boss Moves

  • Dive – Jumps into the air and tries on dive straight onto the Knight.
  • Dash – Dashes quickly towards the Knight to hit him.
  • Dancing Glaives – Shoots spinning blades at the Knight that cover a large area.
  • Radiant Waves – Causes shockwaves in the ground the travel in both directions.

Uumuu

Uumuu resembles a jellyfish but it is a very intelligent being who is responsible for guarding the inner chamber of Teacher’s Archives.

Location:  Teacher’s Archive

HP: 300

Reward: Monomon Teacher

Boss Moves

  • Burst – Creates a burst of light that fills the arena
  • Chase – Creates light bursts that chase the Knight as he tries to evade.

Watcher Knight

This is actually a discarded shell of a Watcher Knight, which has been brought back to life by a swarm of infected flies. Comes equipped with a sword and does rolling attacks as well.

Location: Watcher’s Spire

HP: 1320

Reward: 650 Geos, Hallownest Seal or Lurien the Watcher

Boss Moves

  • Double Slash – Slashes its swords at the Knight twice, quickly.
  • Roll – Curls up into a ball and rolls across the arena to knock the Knight.
  • Bounce – While as a ball, it bounces across the arena and tries to hit the Knight twice.

Warrior Dreams

These bosses can only be challenged once you have acquired the Dream Nail. Defeating them rewards you with handsome amount of essence.

Elder Hu

Elder Hu is nothing more than a lingering dream of a fallen warrior. It has travelled around the world trying to help the infected.

Location: Fungul Wastes

HP: 200 or 650

Reward: 100 essence

Boss Moves

  • Teleport – Warps quickly around the arena to catch you off guard.
  • Ring Slam – Summons energy rings that slam down on the gound from above.
  • Ring Curtain – Creates a layer of rings that cover most of the arena. Then slam them on the ground.

Galien

Galien is yet another lingering dream of a fallen warrior. It however, wants to become a Knight and has been trained in the wilds surrounding the kingdom.

Location: Deepnest

HP: 200 or 650

Reward: 200 essence

Boss Moves

  • Scythe Spin – Control a scythe that hovers around trying to slash the Knight.
  • Scythe Ricochet – A huge scythe bounces around the arena.
  • Soul Scythe – Several smaller scythes bounce around the arena covering most safe areas.

Gorb

Another dream of a fallen warrior which is a mysterious life form and contains all the knowledge of the world in its brain.

Location: Howling Cliffs

HP: 200 or 570

Reward: 100 essence

Boss Moves

  • Warp – Teleport around the arena quickly to catch you off guard.
  • Spear Cast – Shoot multiple spears in your direction.

Markoth

Markoth is the last remaining fighting member of his forgotten tribe and is a lingering dream of a fallen warrior.

Location: Kingdom’s Edge

HP: 200 or 705

Reward: 250 essence

Boss Moves

  • Teleport – Warp instantly from one place to another.
  • Nail Summon – Summons nails to dart them at the Knight.
  • Shield Cyclone – Creates shields that spins around it in a wide radius.

Marmu

Another lingering dream of a fallen warrior who also happens to be the protector of Queen’s Gardens.

Location: Queen’s Garden

HP: 200 or 570

Reward: 150 essence

Boss Moves

  • Roll – Curls up into a ball and rolls towards the Knight trying to knock him.

No Eyes

No Eyes disappeared during the plague yet it is another lingering dream of a fallen warrior.

Location: Greenpath

HP: 200 or 570

Reward: 200 essence

Boss Moves

  • Spirit Summon – It summons multiple spirit that moves up and down on waves spawn a lot of the area. When its health is low, the spawn rate                                          increases.
  • Teleport – It warps around the arena to change position.

Xero

Xero was executed for crimes against the king but now remains back in the world as a lingering dream of a fallen warrior.

Location: Resting Grounds

HP: 200 or 570

Reward: 100 essence

Boss Moves

  • Nails of Light – Summons between 2-4 nails to dart at the Knight. The number of nails increase as its health depletes.

Failed Champion

Failed Champion is encountered in Forgotten Crossroads. Its body has 360 HP while the head has separate HP of 40.

Location: Forgotten Crossroads

HP: 360+40

Reward: 300 essence

Boss Moves

  • Slam – Jumps up and slams the ground at the Knight’s position creating shockwaves                 all over the arena.
  • Leaping Slam – Much quicker and much more potent than the regular slam.
  • Rage – Slams its mace on the ground causing boulders to fall from above.

Lost Kin

Location: Ancient Basin

HP: 1200

Reward: 400 essence

Boss Moves

  • Slash – Dashes towards the Knight while slashes with its sword.
  • Aerial Slash – Jump up and come crashing down to slash the Knight with its sword.
  • Leap – Quickly moves around the arena from one side to the other.
  • Flail – Slashes its sword quickly in both directions multiple times.
  • Slam – Jumps up and slams down on the Knight’s position while also spawning blobs that can slam the Knight.
  • Balloon – Creates a balloon of infection that slowly flies towards the Knight causing damage on contact.

Soul Tyrant

It is found in Soul Sanctum. It will have 900 HP during the first phase of the boss fight and 350 HP during the second phase of the fight.

Location: Soul Sanctum

HP: 900/350

Reward: 300 essence

Boss Moves

  • Dash – Dashes across the arena, quickly towards the Knight.
  • Orb – Shoots an infectious orb towards the Knight.
  • Clock – Conjures orb that rotate around the Soul Master as he flies around the arena.
  • Slam – Slams onto the ground sending impact waves across the arena.
  • Fake Out Slam – Fakes a slam is coming then changes position with the Knight’s movement.

Grey Prince Zote

Every time he is defeated, he becomes much stronger. He is now a remaining figment of an obsessed mind and nothing else.

Location: Dirthmouth

HP: 1200 or 1500

Reward: 300 essence

Boss Moves

  • Frantic Swings – Cashes the Knight while swinging its sword and also slams the ground to create shockwaves.
  • Zotling Summon – Summons Zotelings that independently attack the Knight.
  • Shadow Slam – Warps to appear right above the Knight, then crashes down and creates shockwaves.
  • Leaping Slam – Jumps up and crashes down to create shockwaves.
  • Retreat Slam – Jumps backwards and creates shockwaves.

White Defender

White Defender is only a figured remain of a fondly remembered past. It also becomes stronger after every defeat.

Location: Royal Waterways

HP: 1600

Reward: 300 essence

Boss Moves

  • Dung Toss – Tosses 2-3 dung balls that bounce around the arena.
  • Bouncing Beetle – Curls up in a ball and bounces across the arena.
  • Dung Eruption – Disappears underground for a while then throws multiple dung ball on both sides of the arena.
  • Dung Dives – Dives in and out of ground going across the arena like a fish.
  • Dung Eruption – Slams the ground to pull out pillars that scatter Dung balls on the arena.
  • Zeal – Goes into a rage, perform Dung Eruption multiple times in a row.

Grimm

Grimm is the master of the Grimm Troupe, located in Dirtmouth.

Location: Dirtmouth

HP: 800 or 1000

Reward: Notch or Grimmchild (Level 3)

Boss Moves

  • Dive Dash – Leaps into the area and turns into a screw to crash down upon the Knights position.
  • Dashing Puch – Dashes towards the Knight punching him at the end while leaving flames in its trail.
  • Cloak Spike – Creates spikes on the ground by throwing its cloak.
  • Flames – Comes to the center of the arena and spawns flames all over the arena.
  • Evade – Evade Knight’s attack and follows with an offensive.
  • Batmation – Turns into a swarm of bat that attack the Knight.

Nightmare King

Nightmare King is a twisted specter of a scarlet flame. He excels at fire attacks and is found in Dirtmouth.

Location: Dirtmouth

HP: 1500

Reward: Grimmchild (Level 4)

Boss Moves

  • Firebat Teleport – When summoning bats, if the Knight comes to attack, it instantly teleports to the otherside of the arena and releases a swarm of bats.
  • Flame Pillars – Hovers over the ground and causes flames pillar to rise from the ground for a few moments.
  • Dive Dash – Leaps into the area and turns into a screw to crash down upon the Knights position.
  • Dashing Puch – Dashes towards the Knight punching him at the end while leaving flames in its trail.
  • Cloak Spike – Creates spikes on the ground by throwing its cloak.
  • Flames – Comes to the center of the arena and spawns flames all over the arena.
  • Evade – Evade Knight’s attack and follows with an offensive.
  • Batmation – Turns into a swarm of bat that attack the Knight.

Hive Knight

Hive Knight protects Hive’s Queen with its life and is a ferocious fighter although it cannot fly.

Location: Hive’s Queen

HP: 800

Reward: Hiveblood

Boss Moves

  • Bee Cannon – Spawn Hivelings that fly towards the Knight from above.
  • Lunge – Dashes along the ground in a lunge position with the spear in front.
  • Beenades – Summons 3 spiked ball of explosive that burst near the Knight.
  • Teleport – Quickly warps around the arena.
  • Leaping Ball – Curls into a ball then leaps onto the Knight
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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...