False Knight |
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| Location | Forgotten Crossroads |
| Health | ?? |
| Reward/s | Geo City Crest |
False Knight is a Boss in Hollow Knight. Bosses are special Enemies that feature their own arena, a large amount of health, and a variety of unique moves and abilities. You will need to perform multiple attacks such as using The Nail and Nail Arts along with the Spells and Abilities in order to defeat them. Some bosses are capable of entering into a state of stagger after landing a number of attacks on them.
As soon as you encounter a boss, its name will appear on the screen, the music will change into a boss battle theme, and usually, paths connecting the arena will close or will be blocked leaving you no choice but to face these devastating and unique foes.
A maggot driven mad by a strange force. Inhabits a stolen armoured shell.
Weak creatures love to steal the strength of others. Their lives are brief and fearful, and they yearn to have the power to dominate those who have dominated them.
False Knight Location
- Forgotten Crossroads
- Godhome (2nd encounter)
False Knight Rewards
200- City Crest
False Knight Strategies
Strategy Writeup
The False Knight can be found at the centre of the Forgotten Crossroads, this boss is one of the first few bosses to encounter. The False Knight may seem a formidable foe, but do not get overwhelmed by his appearance since his attacks at first are slow and can be avoided.
We will assume that you have chosen to face this boss in the early stage of the game and that you do not have that many charms, spells and abilities - The False Knight has three phases, where at first he will have three basic attacks, a leaping attack, a basic overhead slam attack, and a slamming shockwave attack. Keep in mind that the leaping attack is in conjunction with the overhead slam attack where he can bait you into thinking that he will only leap towards you. Always keep your distance or if you are close enough, try to dash or run towards the opposite direction and land a few strikes.
The leap attack deals damage upon contact and can also follow up with slamming his mace down which has a long reach, his third attack is a shockwave slam where The False Knight will slam the ground hard in place, releasing a shockwave that travels in a horizontal line towards The Knight - the only way to dodge this is to keep a distance and jump over the shockwave to avoid it.
Once you have inflicted enough damage, The False Knight will stagger where he will fall flat onto its belly, and reveal hisface. This is your window of opportunity to strike him as much as you can. However, right after that, he will recover and enter its second phase. The False Knight will follow up with a fast attack where he slams the ground in an overhead arc from left to right that deals damage upon contact - in addition, since he is now in a state of rage, the shockwave slam will also cause rocks to fall from the ceiling.
The third phase will start after staggering The False Knight for the second time, it will start off similar to phase 2 where he slams its mace from left to right. However, for this phase, all attacks that consist of The False Knight slamming the ground with his mace will cause rocks to fall from the ceiling in random spots and gains an increase of speed.
The battle will end where he leaps away and lands on the ground causing it to break and falls down. Follow where he falls to find him lying on his belly and the maggot's face springing out of the armour - continue striking him until he explodes which implies that the boss battle has ended. The False Knight drops 200 and the City Crest upon exploding/defeat.
Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Counter |
| Phase 1 | |
| False Leap | The False Knight will jump in the air towards The Knight's direction in order to close the gap or to follow up with slamming the ground with his mace. It is somehow a slow attack which allows you to watch his movement. So do not jump, be patient and wait for the opportunity to move around in case you are stuck in a sticky situation to avoid and keep your distance - deals damage upon contact. |
| False Slam | This attack is a follow-up attack in conjunction with his leaping attack, the False Knight slams his mace on the ground after landing on the ground. It has a long reach, so keep your distance or try to move to the opposite direction to avoid the attack - deals damage upon contact. |
| Shockwave Slam | This attack is also in conjunction with the leap attack. The False Knight may perform a mix-up with his attacks, instead of just slamming the ground, the False Knight emits a shockwave created after slamming the ground with his mace. The shockwave runs in a horizontal line towards The Knight's direction that deals damage upon contact. |
| Phase 2 | |
| First Tantrum | After staggering The False Knight, he recovers and throws a tantrum. After recovering, he will slam his mace from left to right in place - deals damage upon contact. |
| Boulders from above | In his second phase, after The False Knight slams his mace on the ground for a shockwave slam attack, boulders from the ceiling will fall down. These rocks will fall in random positions and do not lock onto The Knight's position - deals damage upon contact. |
| Phase 3 | |
| Second Tantrum | After staggering The False Knight for the second time, he recovers and throws another tantrum by swinging his mace from left to right in place. Apart from dealing damage upon contact, he will also cause rocks to fall down the ceiling while slamming on the ground - in addition, all of his movement and attacks have increased speed. |
| Boulders from above | In phase three, his regular slam attack along with the shockwave attack or any attack where The False Knight uses his mace to slam it on the ground will cause rocks to fall from the ceiling in random spots. |
False Knight Lore
The False Knight is a Maggot - a small and largely defenceless creature regarded as prey by most other bugs. At some point the False Knight had stolen the armor of Hegemol, one of the five knights of Hallownest, and now uses it to eliminate those who cross his path so he may protect the lives of his brethren. Later on, upon returning to the Forgotten Crossroads after defeating him, you will find two other maggots weeping over his corpse and referring to him as their brother. After battling him again in his dream form Failed Champion, his sorrowing ghost will rise and explain to the Knight that the only reason he stole Hegemol’s armor and attacked others who came into his domain was to protect his family, the innocent maggots, who were being preyed upon by other bugs of Hallownest.
The mace he uses (known as Macebug) is actually a strange armored bug with tiny skittering feet that is found nowhere else in game; it crawls away once you have defeated the False Knight.
False Knight Notes & Trivia
- Defeating the False Knight unlocks the "Falsehood" Trophy/Achievement.
- In the first arena, after he falls down, you can obtain the Vengeful Spirit spell before jumping down and heading towards the next area instead.
- The head of the mace of the False Knight is revealed to be another bug (Macebug) that can be bounced around with The Nail - it squeaks and stops moving when struck. It cannot be killed and does not deal any damage to the Knight.
- Hitting the corpse of the False Knight with the Dream Nail will initiate another boss fight to face the Failed Champion.
- Similar to other projectiles in the game, the falling rocks in this fight can be knocked back to the boss, damaging him. Although it isn't necessary to defeat the boss, it can be used to shave a little bit of time off the fight.
I love this character and his brothers. The False Knight and his family (the innocent little “maggots”, which are actually large beetle grubs/larva based on their obvious appearance, and the fact that they “provide excellent provisions” according to the Hunter) deserve justice for how horribly they were treated. Treated like dirt, hated by ignorant brutes that deemed them worthless, devoured and/or forced into slavery... It’s no wonder False Knight longed to protect them - he had every right to defend his endangered family. His story in the game is very deep and incredibly sad... Makes me sick that the game encourages you to kill the innocent, frightened, defenseless brothers (who were mourning for their protector), and gives you no choice but to kill poor False Knight. He isn’t evil. He’s one of the most valiant warriors in the game. I wish you could save and protect him and his family...
I’ve played through the entire 112% of Hollow Knight, and although I love so many of the characters and really enjoy the game in general, I hate the fact that this game has such a weak story, poor writing, too many holes in the plot and contradictions, and doesn’t give you more options to spare certain good yet misunderstood characters’ lives.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
What does breaking the exit during his second stage do for the rest of the story?
me after killing The False Knight:"there is a false knight among us"
the maggots watching:''dude wtf you killed one of our family member that was protect us and u made a among us meme out of it''
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