#hollow knight charms

[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-fights]

Hollow Knight Fight Round 1, Wave 5

Submit your propaganda here or in the tags/comments/reblogs!

[anerbananers]

With Silksong feeling like it's finally, ACTUALLY on the horizon, I've been back in my HK mood again. So I resumed painting the charms I was doing while working on the tarot deck (which I've also resumed lol). Learning a lot by drawing these funky lil pins. I definitely want to make stickers of these to put in my journal

[thegoldendaystrikesback]

Hollow Knight charms icons pixel art

Each one of them are around 18x18 pixels ± 2 pixels

I really like how they turned up. Originally they were supposed to be a cross-stitch patterns. So at first I tried to keep the color count to the minimum (the first row). Later I realized that some of those colors are too complex and I probably won't find the right yarn. But I still tried to add new colors only when it necessary.

It was really fun to make them. I thought that some of them are actually impossible to make (thorns of agony, dream wielder)

I will try to cross stitch some of them.

[sweeneydino]

Quick Slash and Unbreakable/Fragile Strength, my beloved 💕

[justkovi]

[starseaweed]

Noble Embrace

Unyeilding love of a noble who sacrficed everything for family. Resonates with the Noble's bloodline, attuning the bearer to their presence. [Requires 2 Notches]

~

Also yes the watermark and signature are dated different we're pretending that was intentional because I started it last year and finished it this year.

[zakequaznook]

Started replaying Hollow Knight and had an idea because of how my gameplay is going

I have Grimmchilds charm equipped and went to get Unns charm (1 flame so far).

The cavern shook as somthing rose from the acid lake. The being was nearly as big as the cavern, and was looking directly at ghost.  The giant being look to be about to do somthing, but paused. "You are born of pale light and root." The being said moving closer. "Oh, but I see you are born of void even more. How dire the circumstances that there must be for you to ever have been created." The continued with mourning in their voice. "Wah" grimchild put in their two cents. "Hm?" The slug turns to grimmchild. "You have the price of red flame with you aswell...." They were silent for a moment, "I see that this kingdoms stasis has met it's end." The being placed down a charm infront of ghost. "Children of change. May my blessing help you in your great task." The being decreed. They then retreated down below the surface of the lake. Shape of Unn Charm acquired.

[hollow-knight-stats]

Art Dump!

Originally these art pieces were likely associated with the Unpopular Opinions post, but we no longer know where we intended to put these, so we opted to just put them together in one post. Enjoy!

(The rest will be under the cut to prevent the post from getting too long.)

[tangleslime2]

Thorns of Agony be like

[tonythr]

Cool charm spots appreciation post, part 2

[hollow-knight-fights]

Hollow Knight Fight Round 1, Wave 6

Submit your propaganda here or in the tags/comments/reblogs!

[uberthemeh]

Hollow Knight Charm Pins!!!

It's 3D printed and Hand Painted, AND has a pin on the back side!

If you want to nab one of these in the future, keep an eye on my twitter OR Tumblr page once I open up my Etsy Store!

I will be making the rest of the charms in the future! Stay tuned!

[alaskanratwoman]

I want opinions

[miikrowelle]

Charm Knights!!!

[part 1/?]

[mebis-art-dump]

The truth behind charm notches