History Characters / HollowKnightNPCs

* BigEgoHiddenDepths: Zote has an enormous ego and is constantly talking a big game about himself, but it's also implied he has a bad relationship with his family. He seeks the approval of his (possibly emotionally distant and "jealous") father while also implying his mother betrayed him and his brother wronged him at some point.

* OffModel: Zote's mouth is a little weird-looking when he's trapped in the jaws of the Vengefly. His mouth moves like a normal mouth instead of him having a nutcracker-like jaw. It's also not colored black on the inside.

* GirlInABox: The White Lady is confined to a solitary hut on the outer rim of the Queen's Gardens, unable to move and protected only by the motionless corpse of one of her loyal knights, seemingly not even aware of the other's passing.

* Cloudcuckoolander: He really likes to talk to himself, and even after you hit him, it still takes a while for him to even ''realize'' you are there.

A strange fungoid being that only appears late in the game, in secluded spots that must be tracked down. Finding out what he is or is after is another story...

A mysterious, bloodthirsty bug warrior who's obsessed with battle and war. He tasks the Knight with cataloging the many monsters that infest the ruins of Hallownest, promising rewards the more he kills and discovers.

* PosthumousCharacter: As a ghost, they are already long dead by the events of the game.

* AmbiguousGender: It's not specified what their gender is.

* PosthumousCharacter: As a ghost, they are already long dead by the events of the game.

* PosthumousCharacter: As a ghost, they are already long dead by the events of the game.

* PosthumousCharacter: As a ghost, they are already long dead by the events of the game.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: If you don't locate the Moss Prophet in the Fungal Wastes before [[spoiler:killing the Broken Vessel or waking a Dreamer and triggering the Infected Crossroads]], he and his mossy vagabond audience will be long dead by the time you reach them in the adjacent Queen's Gardens. You'll miss his lore and dialogue for that playthrough but still get the entry for mossy vagabonds though.

* PosthumousCharacter: As a ghost, they are already long dead by the events of the game.

* PosthumousCharacter: As a ghost, they are already long dead by the events of the game.

* MotherOfAThousandYoung: [[spoiler:Wearing the flukenest charm has her recognize it as part of the Flukemarm, as well as an epiphany that she might become the next Flukemarm in her mother's place.]]

* JobStealingRobot: Is annoyed to see the Knight holding a pass for the tramways, explaning that he hates how the tram became this trope for the stags.

* DynamicEntry: If you meet the conditions to make her join the fight against the Traitor Lord, Cloth will make her entrance dropping in from the ceiling and smashing the second mantis traitor with her club.

* DynamicEntry: If you meet the conditions to make her join the fight against the Traitor Lord, Cloth will make her entrance [[spoiler:from the ceiling by smashing the second mantis traitor with her club]].

* ShaggyDogStory: Cloth's character arc can end this way if you don't find and help her in Ancient Basin before defeating the Traitor Lord. [[spoiler:While this outcome spares her life, it's clear that [[NotQuiteTheRightThing this is not what she wanted]] and after a final meeting in Dirtmouth, she leaves Hallownest dejected over not finding the "good death" she was searching for]].

* MightyRoar: A rare case in a game where all bosses scream before the fight, Cloth is the only friendly GuestStarPartyMember who follows her entrance by screaming.

* MeaningfulName: Vespa is the Italian word for wasp.

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Downplayed. Going by what happens to [[spoiler:everything else the Knight faces in the Colosseum, it must be assumed that they consciously chose to spare his life at the conclusion of their "duel"]]; Zote repays [[spoiler:the Knight's mercy by badmouthing them to everybody in Dirtmouth and swaying their fangirl to his side instead]]. However, the Knight doesn't seem to care at all and nobody but Bretta ever acknowledges Zote or what he said.

* GuideDangIt: A basic gameplay mechanic that can easily be missed is Confessor Jiji being able to summon the player's Shade from elsewhere on the map, which is left after the character dies, so that the player can more easily recover their soul and geo. The problem is that Confessor Jiji is so cryptic (taking about "leaving regret behind in the world" and her being able to "return one's regret") that it's incredibly easy to dismiss her as just another vaguely depressed bug (of which there are several in the game). Players can easily go through the entire storyline with no idea what her actual gameplay purpose is.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: It's unclear what happens to Quirrel at the end of the game, but he's last seen [[spoiler: sitting by the edge of Blue Lake after Monomon is dead. He tells the Knight that he feels "at peace" at abandons his nail. The implication is that he died, having seen Hallownest's wonders one last time before serenely accepting the end of his life.]]

* AffablyEvil: They are described as "the kindly heretic".

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: If you choose to banish the Grimm Troupe at the end of their quest line, the Dirtmouth BGM is replaced with an accordion arrangement played by Nymm, who is apparently an amnesiac version of Brumm.

* BonusBoss: As of the ''Godmaster'' update, all three Nailmasters are now able to be fought in Godhome. Sheo still uses his artist tools to fight rather than his nail, though.

* BonusBoss: A dream version of himself is now one, as of the ''Godmaster'' update.

** [[spoiler:As the player repeatedly defeats [[BonusBoss Grey Prince Zote]], she starts to recognize Zote for the faker he truly is, to the point where she'll leave Dirtmouth if Grey Prince Zote is defeated four times.]]

* GrumpyBear: He is the most surly, reserved of the three brothers, and the only one who charges you to learn his Nail Art. However, he does compliment the Knight's skills once he's taught them.

* SmallNameBigEgo: He's convinced that he's the most awesome guy around, but the truth is that he's a complete weakling. When he returns from the Colosseum of Fools, he proudly displays a trophy from his triumphant victory there... a helmet from the first standard enemy you fight at the beginning of the first trial in the Colosseum.

* TookALevelInBadass: During her first encounters, she reveals herself as not that strong and a bit of a scaredy cat. But, if you get her key encounter in the Ancient Basin, then Cloth will gather up enough courage to fight the Traitor Lord alongside the Knight.
* VideoGameCaringPotential: You can rescue Cloth from the monsters in Deepnest depending on your previous interactions.

* ChekhovsLecture: Precept Eighteen: 'Seek Truth in the Darkness' and Precept Twenty-Eight 'Don't Peer into the Darkness'. Zote claims that the former is self-explanatory, while he explains the latter as that point wherein staring into the darkness makes you linger over old memories. These are clues to how [[spoiler:the Knight can recover its memories in the Abyss, the place where the player starts to make progress to towards the Golden Ending]].

* HiddenDepths: Double subverted. When you read his mind at [[spoiler:the Colosseum]], he laments not being able to fulfill a promise while trapped there, only for it to be a selfish promise of glory to himself. However, it is also suggested that Zote came from an abusive home and craves the [[WellDoneSonGuy approval of his parents]].

* {{Cap}}: Millibelle's bank caps at 4500 geo. [[spoiler:The real cap is 2500. She'll steal it all if you deposit more than that.]]

* InGameBankingServices: She offers you her bank services to allow you to store your cash to prevent it from being lost when you die. [[spoiler:It's actually a scam, and should you deposit more than 2500 geo, she runs off with your money to the Pleasure Tower.]]

* PermanentlyMissableContent: Once you deposit 2550 geo or more at Millibelle's Bank and sit at a bench, [[spoiler:she will run off with the money to the Pleasure House in the City of Tears. You can slap her around to make her drop the money, but the cardboard bank will be lost for the rest of the game]].

* InvulnerableCivilians: There's no way you can kill or damage [=NPCs=] in this game, as most attacks will simply pass through. Some few characters can be hit with the nail however, but they will just [[NoSell shrug it off]] like it's nothing.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: A Giraffe Weevil.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: They both look like Willoh, which also makes them based from the Giraffe Weevil by extension.