Hollow Knight Cut Content

This post hopes to be a comprehensive collection of content cut from Hollow Knight, whether it be unimplemented ideas, unused dialogue, or unreached stretch goals.  Please let me know if you think something should be added, changed or removed.  You can reach me at @mossbag69, u/mossbag or mossbag#0563.

I am publishing this alongside a YouTube video which I will shamelessly plug right now.  While this blog post serves as a collection of sources and raw information, the video is more focused on analysis and making fun of Bill Cosby.

This document contains spoilers for Hollow Knight.

UPDATED 11/14/18

Kickstarter Stretch Goals and Implementation

 

This list of stretch goals provides a vague idea of what Team Cherry's original plans were for some of the content in the game.

The White Palace

The White Palace does not contain a boss.  Instead there are multiple Wingmoulds and four Kingmoulds.  Ari responded to the missing bosses in the Reddit AMA Team Cherry held on August 6th, 2017 on r/gaming.

"White Palace, i can't remember what happened to its second boss? I know Kingsmold/Golem was one." -Ari Gibson

William also responded to a similar question in another Reddit AMA (Reddit AMA #2) held on June 21st, 2018 on r/nintendoswitch.

"They kinda got combined into the Kingsmould I think." -William Pellen

4 Additional Quests

These additional quests were detailed in Kickstarter Update #18.  All of these quests are technically in the game, but they are not exactly as described.

This isn't really a quest in the final game.  After the Pure Nail is obtained, the Nailsmith asks to be killed with the weapon.  If he is not killed, the Nailsmith will wind up at Nailmaster Sheo's house.  Either way, the only reward is an achievement.

This quest possibly transformed into the Void Heart quest, with the Radiance becoming the additional boss encounter.

The Hive was originally planned to be connected to Deepnest.  This can be seen in an earlier version of the map of Hallownest shown in an interview Team Cherry had with Game Informer.

We also know that the original plan for Hornet's backstory involved Vespa, the Queen of the Hive.  This makes more sense if the Hive was originally connected to Deepnest.

"Vespa to Hornet was intentional. There was an old concept here that may still apply: Hornet was the 'Child of Three Queens,' one birthed, one raised, one trained. It is from the third queen that Hornet took her name. Whether that notion still applies however, I can't confirm, though it was definitely the basis for the names." -Ari Gibson

There is also evidence that the Hive was connected to Deepnest in some of the unused artwork found within the game.

SpriteAtlasTexture-Deepnest-2048x2048-fmt12 (LEFT), deepnest_blur_hive (RIGHT)

The image on the right was used in the Infected Crossroads in the room where the Glowing Womb charm can be found.

In the final game the Hive was fairly empty, with only one NPC and no boss.  Team Cherry expressed their desire to have had more time to develop the Hive in the August 6th Reddit AMA.

Neither zone came in super late, [Kingdom's Edge, the Hive] but the Hive particularly, we would've liked a little more time on. Not that we wanted to do much more, just details and density. An NPC to meet in there? Or little Hivehomes, with sleeping bee-creatures. That would've been cool! -Ari Gibson

In the Lifeblood Update, released on April 20th, 2018, the Hive was given more detailed backgrounds as well as a new boss fight called the Hive Knight.

In the final game, the player can reach the Stag Nest after opening almost all the stag stations.  There, the player can find a hatched Stag Egg, hinting at the fate of the stags.  Also, the Last Stag's name changes to Old Stag.

Wii U Port

Hollow Knight was originally going to come to the Wii U, but development was cancelled and moved to the Nintendo Switch.  Hollow Knight launched on Nintendo Switch on June 12th, 2018, and then on PS4 and Xbox One on September 25th, 2018.

Hornet DLC

The Hornet DLC is coming soon™.  

Colosseum of Fools

The Colosseum of Fools was an unmet stretch goal that was still implemented into the game.  In Reddit AMA #2 Team Cherry revealed that the Colosseum of Fools was added into the game at a fairly late stage in development.

Colosseum squeaked in there late in development. We were talking about potentially releasing it as a free DLC (this is before we had the idea of content packs) but after discussion we decided that having a place to really test your combat skills was important to have. Also, removing it would have left a weird empty gap at the top of Kingdom's Edge! -William Pellen

But not everything mentioned in the Kickstarter can be found in the final game.  Ari explained this in the Reddit AMA.

"The Colosseum does hide a secret, and there's a chance we'll explore it in the future. I'm trying to remember how many extra bosses we did put in the colosseum. Zote was one. Those Fat bees were another... Two of the Colosseum warriors were originally bosses, but we liked them so much we transformed them into regular foes. It's all a bit of a blur!" -Ari Gibson

In September 2015, Rock, Paper, Shotgun released an article featuring pictures from Ari Gibson's sketchbook, which is where a lot of the artwork and designs for Hollow Knight began.  in the Game Informer interview, one of these pages from Ari's sketches was displayed with a note explaining that it was concept art for the Colosseum of Fools.

From the Game Informer map, we can see that the Colosseum of Fools was originally planned for the Fungal Wastes.

Zote DLC

Zote DLC will never happen.  Let's just accept it.

PlayStation Vita Port

RIP PS Vita.

The Abyss Expansion

The Abyss was included in the final game, but there aren't any bosses found there.  There is the Lifeblood creature and the Shade Beast, but there is no word on if these creatures were intended to be bosses or not.  Ari Gibson discussed what the Abyss expansion would have been like if included in the game.

"The Abyss was a stretch goal we never did reach, though we'd really love to explore it! What you see in the game is actually just the Abyss Shore. The expansion would've taken players down into the lake of void, to explore the twisted space within." -Ari Gibson

Later, during an interview he gave on the Creative Hustler's Show in October 2017, Ari said that Team Cherry would not be working on the content planned for the Abyss expansion, citing that the world for the game was built without considering this expansion, and that Team Cherry would like to move on from Hollow Knight and work on a new game in the near future.

A Weird and Wonderful World Trailer

During the final week of the Kickstarter, Team Cherry released a trailer that contains quite a few pieces of cut content.

Blundering Oberlisk

The Blundering Oberlisk was revealed in Kickstarter Update #3.  Team Cherry included a brief description of the enemy.

This placid herbivore doesn't seem to wish harm on any of the creatures it shares a habitat with. However, its careless nature and bulky weight sometimes leads to messy accidents.

 Shrumal Warrior NPC

 

 Unused concept that possibly hinted at a village of Mushroom NPCs.

Backstepping Ability

Additional movement option that Team Cherry scrapped.

Tyrant's Fist

The Tyrant's Fist was first announced in Update #5 of the Hollow Knight Kickstarter.  It appears to be an earlier version of the Desolate Dive.  It serves the same function, and the Desolate Dive is obtained after defeating the Soul Master, whose second fight is called Soul Tyrant.  In the update, Team Cherry provided a description of the ability.

During your journey through Hallownest, you'll be collecting a whole bunch of powerful equipment, tools and spells. One of those spells is the earth-shattering Tyrant's Fist. This ancient, royal magic allows you to focus energy into your fist and slam it down into the ground, releasing a shockwave that blows away foes and can even rupture the earth you stand on

Higher Beings Statue

This statue shows early depictions of the Pale King and the White Lady along with a portion of another figure.  The missing figure is most likely an early version of the Hollow Knight.  There is a rough drawing of the full trio in the margins of the Game Informer map.

The third figure closely resembles the Hollow Knight.

White Crystal Ring

It appears as though the Vengeful Spirit ability might have once had charging capabilities.  In the trailer, the Knight can be seen possibly "charging" this ability before firing it at an Elder Baldur.  The white circle that surrounds the Knight might be the item White Crystal Ring which can be seen in Sly's shop later in the trailer. 

 

An early list of Sly's Shop items can been seen in the Game Informer map.

1. heart container x4 (Mask Shard)

2. money magnet (Gathering Swarm)

3. recover time up  (Stalwart Shell)

4. see breakable walls (cut charm)

5. charge time reduce (Quick Focus)

6. mp charge rate up (possibly Deep Focus or Soul Catcher)

Dream Diving

The Dream Diving ability would allow the player to enter the Dream Well.  Team Cherry provided a description of the Dream Well on the main Kickstarter Page.

With the right tools, a determined traveller can embark even into the minds of other bugs. Within the labyrinths of a mind all sorts of secrets and treasures can be discovered. But! No mind is built for trespassers and it will try and protect itself against your intrusion.

"A gate in dream"

The Dream Diving ability was announced in Update #8 of the Kickstarter.  There, Team Cherry went into detail about how the ability would work.

During your quest through Hallownest, you'll find an ancient, bizarre artefact called the Dream Nail. Using the Dream Nail, you can slice through the conscious layer of a being's mind and access the "Dream Well," a deep space containing a bug's hopes, fears and secrets. Terrible nightmares and unique challenges will test you as you search for the core of the dream, but persevere and you'll uncover startling revelations and claim precious treasures that can't be found anywhere else.

This mechanic adds a whole other layer to exploration in Hollow Knight, as players are able to enter the dreams of almost every character they meet. Dreams will fit the personality of each character and may even reveal some surprising secrets they have hidden away. These dreams will often involve unique twists on the Hollow Knight gameplay, such as challenging you to escape a horde of invincible flying nightmares or defeat a group of creatures without your nail. The Dream Nail is a mysterious weapon with hidden uses, and inquisitive players will find dreams hidden in the strangest of places. 

We're super excited about Dream Diving, as it opens up a whole new world for us as developers and for you guys as players. What do you think about it? What do you want to see in a bug's dream? What kind of weird and startling stuff would we see down YOUR dream well?!

Ari Gibson explained the removal of this ability in the Reddit AMA.

"We did experiment with a full dream diving system (Dream levels in every NPC's head!), but it ended up feeling really disjointed and distracted from exploring the world. The time we saved making dream levels went into more fully fleshing out Hallownest." -Ari Gibson

Team Cherry posted a video showing off the Dream Diving ability on the Elderbug.  The video shows a younger version of Elderbug that the Knight could interact with.

Swimming

At some point, swimming under acid was possible.  This room shown in the trailer looks very similar to the room where Unn can be found.  In the final game, Isma's Tear allows the Knight to swim on the surface of acid, which is required for the Knight to reach the room where Unn resides.

Giant Spider

Possibly a boss.  Appears to predate Deepnest, since Deepnest does not appear in early designs for the map of Hallownest.

Snail Village

Team Cherry discussed the removal of the Snails in Reddit AMA #2.

Snail was too damn big! I guess it just got forgotten along the way? Looking at it now, it's a bit toonier than the final game ended up being. Bardoon, in Kingdom's Edge, is likely the game's final version of the snail. -Ari Gibson

The snail village is gone, sadly, we put it into a big pixel-grinding machine and used the mixture to pave over some of the roads in the game. RIP the best NPCs in the game..... sigh -William Pellen

It appears that the snail village might have once been planned for the Resting Grounds.  But it is also possible that this is referring to the Snail Shamans.

The shell house that the snails live in can still be found in the game's assets.

Forest of Bones

The Forest of Bones is the largest piece of content cut from Hollow Knight.  It was first revealed by Team Cherry in Update #22 of the Kickstarter.

"Avoid the scorching waterfalls of burning tar in the Forest of Bones!"

"Deep within the Forest of Bones waits the Holy Grounds, once a place of worship, now overtaken."

Team Cherry gave a short description of the Forest of Bones in the Kickstarter update.

The Bone Forest is further into the game than other areas we've shown so we don't want to spoil too much! But we will say it's a gigantic area of the game, with plenty of routes you can take through it and hidden secrets you can find if you brave the heat and the strange creatures who clad themselves in the bones of dead giants.

From Rock, Paper, Shotgun article

From the Reddit AMA, we know that ants were planned for the Forest of Bones at one point.

"Ants are cool, and there's lots of interesting stuff you could do with them. They were planned for the Bone Forest area so didn't make it into the base game, but we might see some ant stuff in future updates?" -William Pellen

Thanks to an interview Team Cherry did with PC Gamer, we know a little bit about how the Forest of Bones fit into the early maps of Hallownest.

The Forest of Bones was originally located in the northeast corner of Hallownest.  In the early stages of the game's development, it was planned that three separate areas would each have a Dreamer boss, with the Forgotten Crossroads connecting them together, as well as being the location for the final boss fight.

Sidenote: Below are two different images of the map of Hallownest.  These maps are similar but not identical.  The maps were featured in interviews Team Cherry had with PC Gamer and Game Informer.  For the most part, I have been using the Game Informer map because it is a digital picture of the map, where as the PC Gamer map is a photo taken of a print out of the map.  I have provided both maps in their entirety below.

PC Gamer Map

Game Informer Map

The Forest of Bones was later moved to the bottom of the world, apparently because Ari didn't like the idea of a lava area being at the top of the map.  Deepnest was then added to connect to the Forest of Bones in its new location.

In an interview they did on a Roundtable Live podcast, William and Ari discussed some of the content that was cut from the game.  In this interview, William gave a brief description of what the Forest of Bones was like.

“...Where as Bone Forest was like a big labyrinthian thing where you had to go through, go through, get this power up, get double jump cuz that’s where it used to be, go through, light these torches, open up a gate and all this stuff. And it was the biggest area as well.” -William Pellen

In the PC Gamer interview, William Pellen gave some information about what the Forest of Bones looked like by the time it was cut.

"It was the biggest area. It existed. It didn't have any enemies, but you could run around and see the lava and the bone structures and stuff. But we made a call to take it out. A couple of smaller new areas replaced it, in a way. We cut Deepnest down heaps, and then expanded it, just because we had to. And then added Ancient Basin." -William Pellen

In the r/nintendoswitch Reddit AMA, William listed off a few features planned for the Forest of Bones

Off the top of my head:

• It was at the very bottom of the world, accessed via the bottom-right of Deepnest
• You earned the MOnarch Wings there by fighting a huge bony creature that would chase you across several screens
• The lava was gonna kill you instantly (but maybe there'd be a charm to prevent that?)
• There was a locked temple gate at the far-right end. To open it, you'd have to find and light two huge torches guarded by lava worm minibosses. One of the Dreamers would be in the temple... I think maybe the original version of Herrah was gonna be there?
• It easily would have been the best area of the game, with fifty unique enemies, incredible spine-chilling music, bizarre surprises around every turn etc etc. Imagine your favourite area of Hollow Knight, but 100 times better.

-William Pellen

Forest of Bones in PC Gamer Map

Forest of Bones in Game Informer Map

This map for the Forest of Bones is fairly detailed, and will be able to help us understand how it originally fit into the game.

Forest of Bones Annotated

1&2.  The player would have had to enter the Forest of Bones from Deepnest.
3.  The double jump ability was located here, indicated by the white circle.  Around this location would have been a boss fight with a large bony creature that crossed over several screens.
4.  The double jump would have been required at this point to reach more of the area.  The map indicates this with white arrows.
5.  These appear to be the torches and the locked gate that William mentioned in the Reddit AMA.  There would have been lavaworm minibosses in the upper and lower rooms.
6.  Green power-up (possibly early version of King's Brand) required to reach 7.
7.  Possibly the location of the Holy Grounds.
8.  In the PC Gamer Map, the Abyss and the White Palace are locked off until after the King's Brand is obtained.
9.  This room has the word "Empress" on it.
10.  A backer boss could be reached after obtaining the Shadow Dash.
11.  "Skyward Slash" might be a cut nail art. 
12. "Quake Upgrade" is probably the Descending Dark.

Sidenote: The text above the room that leads to the Holy Grounds reads "Hegemol".  Hegemol was Herrah's original name, meaning this was probably Herrah's original location.  The masks found in the background of the Holy Grounds resemble Monomon's mask, but it's likely that the mask designs for each of the Dreamers was not established this early.  There are several examples of the three dreamers having identical masks for part of the game's development.  (See Unused Rooms below)

Sketch of a spawn animation for a Dreamer minion.

The creatures shown in the picture of the Holy Grounds appear in one of Ari's sketches.  From the notes in that sketch, it appears that at one point these creatures were actually the Dreamer's "minions" that the Dreamer could summon to help them fight the Knight.  (See Ari's Sketchbook below)

This page from Ari sketchbook appears to contain artwork for the Forest of Bones.  In the picture on the top left portion of the page, we can see a similar ground pattern that can be seen in the in-game screenshots of the Forest of Bones.

These "Bone Vines" displayed in this picture look very similar to artwork found in Kingdom's Edge in the final game.

This page appears to have more artwork for the Forest of Bones.  In the top right portion of the page is a drawing labeled "Lava Fountain".  On the left side of the page is a drawing labeled "Ore Pillar".  Pale Ore has been given very little explanation in the final game.  When asked about what the Pale Ore exactly is, Ari gave a vague reply.

"It may be expanded on in future, but all we can say for now is it shares some connection with the Pale Beings." -Ari Gibson

Team Cherry gave two reasons as to why they cut the Forest of Bones.  The first reason was that it would have taken a really long time to finish.  The second reason they gave was that they thought it would be too much for players to handle.  This is echoed in the PC Gamer interview, the Roundtable Live podcast and the Reddit AMA.  From the AMA:

"Boneforest made the world map too big! Some players get overwhelmed, even at the current size. It was a huge area. Also we would have died making it. We're a tiny team!" -Ari Gibson

William and Ari have admitted that cutting the Forest of Bones was a tough call in Reddit AMA #2.

"Kinda tough, especially 'cos it left a big hole at the bottom of the world and it was shaping up really nicely. Was definitely the right decision in the end though! It was huge, and if anything, TOO much fun if that makes sense." -William Pellen

"yeah, it was tough! But it was the right call. The world was already big enough, and it would've made it too big.  Also, most crucially, for it to get into the game, other parts would've had to suffer, less npcs, less enemies, more bugs." -Ari Gibson

Dryya Fight

In Update #26 of the Kickstarter, Team Cherry revealed the character who would eventually be known as Fierce Dryya, at this time simply known as the White Knight.

One of Hallownest's five greatest Knights and defender of the Queen’s Glade. She was driven mad by her Queen lost and the garden overrun. Still she retains her honour, offering fair challenge to the Hollow Knight: Nail against nail. A duel to the death.

In the final game, Dryya is dead while the Queen (the White Lady) is still alive.  Ari talked about fighting the Five Great Knights in the Reddit AMA.  When a user asked if there would be more dream bosses, specifically against the Five Great Knights, Ari replied:

"Yes for both! We've planned to explore the great knight's in a slightly different way though, not necessarily in dream!" -Ari Gibson

In Reddit AMA #2, William teased that the Five Great Knights might get fleshed out further if Team Cherry can find the time to do so.

"We've got a potential idea for fleshing out the story of the great knights that we think is pretty interesting and would be fun to do. Will we actually do it...? Maybe! If we get time!" -William Pellen

From this early map, we can see that Dryya and the White Lady were originally located near the White Palace.  The White Knight guarded the path to the Queen's Glade.  At this time in development, the Queen's Garden was simply known as the Royal Garden.

Tiso

Tiso was revealed in Update #42 as a backer designed NPC.  His story was described as having an intense conclusion.

You’ll encounter Tiso as he searches the deepest parts of Hallownest for challenging foes. We’ve some extra special plans for Tiso that we won’t yet reveal, though expect an intense conclusion to his story. 

In the final game, the conclusion to Tiso's story is not very intense.  He dies off screen leaving a corpse behind in Kingdom's Edge.  William discussed Tiso's fate in the Reddit AMA.

"Hallownest is a brutal place, and not everyone gets their moment of glory, sadly." -William Pellen

Sidenote:  Tiso was only a backer NPC, so there might not have been any plans to give him a proper boss battle.  There were three total pledges for the Backer bosses.  Only one boss made it into the initial release of the game, the God Tamer by Dmitry Shcherbakov.  The second backer boss is the Assassin Bug, that was teased in Update #50.  This boss will be coming in the Hornet DLC.  Another backer boss was planned for the Forest of Bones at some point, according to the old map of Hallownest.

Cut Charms

There are a few charm designs that were cut from the game.  In Update #40 of the Kickstarter, Team Cherry revealed the charm system found in the final game as well as a collection of different charm designs.  From this reveal, we can see seven charms that made it into the final game, as well as six charms that were either removed or changed.  Two of these changed charms were described in the update from Team Cherry's website.

Vengeful Swarm: When taking damage, spawn angry hatchlings that attack nearby enemies.

Unending Greed (Glass): Causes much more Geo to drop from enemies, but will break if you’re defeated while it’s equipped! Be careful and don’t let your greed blind you to the dangers ahead.

The following charms were left within the game's files but were unused.

Zote Charm

A charm idea William had that didn't make it into the final game.

"Hahaha I actually wanted to make a Zote charm that would make you die in one hit or something. Maybe we'll sneak it in with a content update...?" -William Pellen

Glorified Charms

 In the Godmaster expansion announcement, Team Cherry revealed that players would be able to glorify their charms.

Glorify Charms - Prove yourself and uncover a whole new depth to your charm collection.

This feature was cut from the expansion, and Team Cherry has given no formal explanation for it's removal.  Apparently, Team Cherry has explained through the Hollow Knight server on Discord that the feature was cut due to the amount of work involved.

Miscellaneous Assets

I do not know if these assets are really unused, but I do not recall seeing them used in the final game.  So if you know that one or more of these pieces of art is used somewhere in the game, please let me know.  Also, please let me know if you know of any more interesting assets in the game's code that I do not mention here.

Blue Lantern

"atlas0 #44303"

Unused Rooms

User kcghost on Mod DB released a mod of Hollow Knight that allowed the player to reach unused rooms that were still left in the final game.  This mod was made for v1.0.3.7 of the game.  The Hidden Dreams update (v1.1.1.4) removed these rooms, making this mod no longer functional in the more recent versions of the game.

Abyss_07

This room has untextured walls.  An entrance is located on the right with a long, narrowish hallway to the left.  The hallway eventually opens up into a wide room, behind which is a functional bench.  In the background, a pile of thread and needles can be seen. 

This room exits into the Ancient Basin where the entrance to the Stag Station was placed for the Hidden Dreams update.

Dream_Guardian

This room in the Dream world features a static sprite of a Dreamer standing in place.  It cannot be dream nailed, and has no interactions.  The dreamer is wearing Monomon's mask, but is clearly not as tall.  It looks like one of the three generic dreamers depicted in the Hollow Knight monument found in the City of Tears.

During development, the Dreamers shared mask designs.  This image of the Temple of the Black Egg from during the games development proves this.

RestingGrounds_11

A larger version of the hidden moth statue room found in the Glade of Hope.

Fungus1_33

Possibly an early version of Unn's lair.  They are both long, vertical, maze-like rooms with the same wall textures.  They also both have a large opening in the bottom portion of the area.

At some point during development, the Fungal Wastes was broken up into three separate areas, F1 being Greenpath, F2 being Fungal Wastes and F3 being Queen's Garden and the Fog Canyon.

Fungus3_29

A tall untextured room.  It is symmetrical, which may hint at it being an early version of Monomon's Archive.

Fungus3_31

 

Similar to the Fungus1_33, but may have been an earlier version of the room in Fog Canyon where the charm notch can be found.

Fungus3_45

A large untextured area.

Fungus3_46

Untextured room with a bad spawn point.

Mines_12

A short hallway with little in it.

Mines_14

Another unused room for the Crystal Mines.

Unused Dialogue

City of Tears Lore Tablet

City of Tears Tablet 2 - Missing monarch, we need you now. The madness spreads. The Vessel fails. You must return to us.  (Similar dialogue to this can be found in the final game by dream nailing the corpses resting at the base of the fountain in the Ancient Basin)

Elegy of Hallownest

Only the first four lines of the Elegy of Hallownest appear in the final game during the opening cutscene.  The rest can be found hidden within the game's code.

In wilds beyond they speak your name with reverence and regret,
For none could tame our savage souls yet you the challenge met,
Under palest watch, you taught, you changed. Base instincts were redeemed,
A world you gave to bug and beast as they had never dreamed.         
Our cherished dreams you granted and delivered more,
But in dismay you found too late our desires had no end,
What cost to tame our savagery? You gave your all and then gave more.
Yet still desires lay unquenched, more dreams remained, your energies spent.
Amongst it sprang a dreadful scourge,
that forced return our aggressive urge,
and turned us back to beasts or husks,
Our souls consumed by light above.
Within your corpse can still be heard the plaintiff cries of one,
Who took our pain, and loss, and dreams inside itself to...
Through it's pain we found a truth that must now be confessed,
For nothing can contain such things but perfect emptiness.

Moss Prophet

This is from the developer's note, but it reads like dialogue so I'm adding it here.


To change ones form is a blasphemy against the light!  To steal the soul of weaker creatures is a blasphemy against the light!  And most of all... most of all!  To DIE is a blasphemy against the light! Live forever, brother and sisters, or be cursed for all eternity!

(someone else says this)For a God, there is only one crime: To die.  (OR)  For a God, there is only one crime:  To die.  Emptiness is a hateful thing!  A vile thing!  Kill the empty ones!  Tear them to pieces!  Suffer them not to bask in the light of this world!

Hollow Knight Dream Nail Dialogue

Hollow Knight 1 - ...Kill...

Hollow Knight 2 - ...Shall blaze free...

Hollow Knight 3 - ...This Vessel, broken...fails...

Hollow Knight 4 - ...Dawn...Shall break...

Hollow Knight 5 - ...No mind, the usurper...Only strength...

Hollow Knight 6 - ...Kill the usurper...Our light it would suffocate...

Hollow Knight 7 - ...Father?...

Dreamers

Monomon the Teacher

My mind is seal upon that tragic being. But who shall teach them now? Who shall open their minds, where I cannot?

To sleep eternal, what difference from death?

To live forever in an unchanging world... Death, I would fear less.

Only one path I see.  The Seals must break.  Will it bring destruction?  Of course.  It will bring change, too.  Let it.  To live forever in an unchanging world... Death, I would fear less.

For diversity. For variance. For evolution. I become bond upon the Vessel.


We sealed that plague, and thought we'd found an answer, but we were wrong.  Our sacrifices... what did they win us?  A world sealed in stasis.

Open your minds, brother and sister.  Our vow was to protect...but do we?  The Vessel weakens.

Lurien the Watcher

Remember our bond... our sacrifice. For the kingdom's sake... for the one we must protect.

Remember our promise, sister!  We three vowed to protect the seal with all of our devotion.

It matters not.  Our Seals remain.  This shadow seeks to defy us...  It must be cast away.

Herrah the Beast (Originally called Hegemol)

Talks about her history: As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?

For my daughter and my kind, I become bond upon the Vessel.

More detached than the other dreamers? Maybe ponders how the Hollow Knight (vessel) feels after all this time. Would he make the same choice again?First few dialogues are very taciturn

Generic/Unsure

Our King appears as bug, and I shall take him as so.But his are traits that transcend our kind. His is a mind beyond ours. Deity given form.In sleep, I shall not look upon his like again.

That plague, it calls to something within. But that union it offers is a lie, the cost, a mind regressed.

What compels you to claw your way out of the darkness? What compels your return to this sacred kingdom?

What calls it from beyond the Seal?  The Vessel, or that captive light?

As you say... we made a promise. Let it be done.

How long has passed? How long have we slept?

Go no further, little shadow.

Fade away, little shadow.  Fade away, and allow us sleep in peace.

This little shadow...  Must return to its darkness.

Do you truly wish to break it...?  Do you have the strength, or the will...?

It would break the Seals.  They cannot be undone.  They must be undone.  An empty vessel to bring hope.  A strong vessel to bring stagnation.  An enlightened vessel to bring an end.

Pale King/White Lady 

The White Lady and Pale King both have a line of dialogue that was completely removed from the game's code after launch.  It is interesting that Team Cherry removed these lines, but have not bothered to remove other lines of cut dialogue.

White Lady - "Two halves of a whole.  You found your way... back to me?  We were so unfair, weren’t we? To cast you out.  Please, you must not hate him. He did what he thought was right. The Kingdom had to live..."

Pale King - "False one… you can not… reach me… here"

Pure Vessel Dream Nail Dialogue

Pure Vessel 1 - Do not think…

Pure Vessel 2 - Do not speak…

Pure Vessel 3 - Do not hope…

Pure Vessel 4 - Do not…

Pure Vessel 5 - …

Godseeker in Junk Pit

GODSEEKER_WATERWAYS_AWAKE_GODFINDER

That instrument you hold. It is an aid built for seekers, one bound to our mind.

It’s a grand boon to receive so fine a device, and dangerous even, for us to allow it part.

That instrument lays much of our mind bare. Accept it then as our faith in you.

Scour this land. Gain mastery over beings of great power and it’s beacon shall respond.

GODSEEKER_WATERWAYS_WORLD_TUNE_EXTRA

Tuning... An art, difficult. Never perfect. We, the ones below, We bond Our strength to the world. Follow what We give... listen for the Gods. Resonate. Attune!

GODSEEKER_WATERWAYS_AWAKE_ALLGODS

Crawler. Grand, strange Crawler. Favoured plaything of the Gods! Our mind is filled with the strengths of this kingdom. Rich. Bright. Clear.

Thou have attuned thyself to the many Gods of this land. Much power. Perfection? Thine? Perhaps even a match for our glorious shell…

Knight Statue in Hall of Gods

In the Hall of Gods, there is a statue that changes depending on if the player has defeated every boss on Attuned, Ascended, or Radiant difficulty.  In patch 1.4.2.8, one of these statues gave a different prompt.  It originally read "Void given mind."  It now reads "Void given focus."

Zote in the Hall of Gods

While the Eternal Ordeal can be found in the final game, there is cut dialogue for Zote that lines up with the descriptions the game gave for other boss:

Zote

Intruder amongst the gods of Hallownest

Ari's Sketchbook

Ari Gibson filled several sketchbooks with concept art for Hollow Knight.  During the game's development, Ari shared some of these drawings in an article posted on Rock, Paper, Shotgun in September of 2015.  Ari explained in this article that most of his sketches end up in the final game.

"Sketches like these, while seriously crude, form the basis for most of the game. To date, I’ve filled 3 sketchbooks for Hollow Knight. Almost everything within makes its way into the final game. Very little is wasted. Most of these sketches are produced on Thursday nights at a cafe meet-up of local artists. The sketches produced during that event tend to cover about a weeks worth of final work." -Ari Gibson

I have already shown off a few of the images from this article, but there are a couple more that I found interesting.

On the left page, next to the monument to the Hollow Knight is a strange bug wearing a Dreamer mask.  On the right is a large creature wearing a mask similar to the ones worn by Herrah and the Weavers.  Or it could possibly be tied to the Colosseum of Fools.  Below is a drawing of the cocoon the White Lady can be found in, but it is hanging by roots instead of sitting on the ground.

In the top left is a design for a flying bug.  In the top right is an early design of Nosk with insect wings and a long, blade-like tail.  In the Godmaster update, a new boss called "Winged Nosk" was added to the game, possibly as a nod to this original design.

The picture in the bottom middle shows the three Dreamers standing in front of the Hollow Knight (?) in the Dream world.

The text beneath it reads:

Dreamers Confrontation

Leap from area/die in combat all lead to waking up

Difficult fight (Near impossible)

Camera lock to area

Dreamer roar summons minions

Upon awoke

Lingering sense of crone/butterfly (?)

Dream Nail

In the bottom left is the entrance animation for an enemy of some kind, likely the "minions" mentioned above and in the Forest of Bones section.

LINKS

Hollow Knight Kickstarter - Launched November 18th, 2014

State of the Art: The Elegiac Beauty of Hollow Knight | Rock, Paper Shotgun - Published September 30th, 2015

Hollow Knight Cut Content Mod by kcghost - Released July 12th, 2017

Roundtable Live! #95 | Team Cherry Interview - Published July 21st, 2017

How to design a great Metroidvania map | PC Gamer - Published August 3rd, 2017

Team Cherry Reddit AMA - Published August 6th, 2017

The Creative Hustlers Show #45 | Ari Gibson interview - Published October 14th, 2017

Team Cherry Reddit AMA #2 - Published June 21st, 2018

The Making of Hollow Knight | Game Informer - Published October 15th, 2018