Funny / Hollow Knight

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Even in a setting as bleak as the ruins of Hallownest, there's humor to be found.

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• Within the Fungal Wastes, there are numerous balloon-like enemy creatures named Fungoons to fight. They loudly deflate upon death.
  • Also in the Fungal Wastes are rolling mushroom creatures that sound bizarrely like Owen Wilson.
• If you dare attack Grimm while he's bowing at the start of the fight, the guy actually screeches at the Knight and starts up the "pufferfish bullet spread" attack he normally only does at low health.
• For all his bravado, Tiso ends up dying at the Colosseum of Fools before you get the chance to fight him. This is taken a step further in the Godmaster update: A Brooding Mawlek falls on him.
  • What makes this funnier is the note found in the Shrine of Believers written by his backer, Tiso Spencer. It's almost like it's a resigned statement towards Tiso's ultimate fate and patheticness.
    "I know."
• Before Zote makes his way to Dirtmouth (or if he dies and never finds his way there), Bretta can be found resting on the bench next to the Elderbug if she's been saved. Sitting next to her will cause her to blush and shuffle nervously.
• Zote the Mighty is a self-proclaimed "peerless knight" who often gets himself into trouble:
  • In your first encounter with Zote, he's hanging in the jaws of a Vengefly King, muttering in annoyance. You can either save him from the giant insect or leave him to die.
  • While traveling through Deepnest, you can find Zote again, who is dangling from a series of spiderwebs. Cut him free, and he'll only insist that he didn't need your help.
  • At the Colosseum of Fools, Zote shows up as a boss. He is incapable of harming you in this "fight."
  • The Hidden Dreams Update added a dream boss named Grey Prince Zote, a larger and more dangerous "dream" version of Zote cooked up by Bretta, accessed via a Stalker Shrine to Zote found in her basement. The fight takes place in a lavish boudoir where Bretta watches while being waited on by servants who all look like Zote. Every time you defeat the Grey Prince, he becomes stronger and gains an extra title. The full title of the boss is Invincible, Fearless, Sensual, Mysterious, Enchanting, Vigorous, Diligent, Overwhelming, Gorgeous, Passionate, Terrifying, Beautiful, Powerful, Grey Prince Zote.
  • Grey Prince Zote is a pretty difficult boss, but all his attacks are upgraded versions of the real Zote's flailing around like an idiot.
  • The Eternal Ordeal. You must fight an unending horde of Zotes who take on several weird forms while humming the background music. The Godseeker does not even show up to watch this nonsense. If you defeat more than fifty-seven Zotes, you can unlock a special title screen with a statue of Zote, and his humming rendition of the main menu theme. All of Zote's humming can be a source of intentional laughter as well, since his voice cracks, goes out of tune or pitch, and even coughs.
    • Grey Prince Zote has a proper place in the Hall of Gods, is described as a "god" (albeit a false one), and the fight against him is watched by an audience of Godseekers. Meanwhile, normal Zote has none of these things; even the Eternal Ordeal, which is represented by a statue of Zote, is kept away from all the other statues, hidden behind two different breakable walls. Considering that Godhome is basically the Godseeker's mind, this means that she treats an imaginary, idealized version of Zote created by a fangirl with more respect than the real deal.
  • Zote's simlish during his fights is amusing, particularly when he trips over himself and says something that sounds suspiciously like "Damn it all!"
• Using the crystal heart (which causes you to rocket forward) to crash into a wall, then using the mantis hook to slowly slide down while the Knight looks at the screen as though in pain. It feels like something out of Looney Tunes.
• Salubra's Blessing is granted to The Knight... in the form of a big, sloppy kiss. And it makes an apparition of Salubra float above their head every time they rest at a bench, dribbling SOUL down onto them. Earning the Blessing is also met with the "key item acquired" jingle, but it's distorted as if the game's unsure of whether that's a good thing. It's as silly as it sounds.
• How you get the Shape of Unn charm. You go to the Lake of Unn, they show up, spit it out, then go back into the water. This is the only time they appear in game, and they don't even have dialogue.
• As of the Godmaster update, the Delicate Flower can be delivered to a variety of characters from the grave you're meant to take it to (previously, it could only be delivered to the Elderbug by intentionally not completing the Grey Mourner's quest, and gave the Elderbug hope for the future), such as Eternal Emilitia and the White Lady. For one of the characters that it can be delivered to (namely the Godseeker), the Flower plays an important role. Others, however, merely reject it with varying degrees of politeness (Emilitia and the White Lady), and one accepts it begrudgingly (Oro, though it's probably a show given that he puts it in a vase after you leave). Given that one of the advertised features of Godmaster was "expanded romance options", it's hard not to see this as the closest the Hollow Knight story will get to a dating minigame or romance sidequest.
• The Dung Defender. Considering what the rest of the Royal Waterways are like, you'd expect to meet some kind of nightmarish beast as you approach the boss arena. Instead, you're greeted with a heroic dung beetle knight that acts like a professional wrestler and fights exactly like you'd expect a dung beetle to fight. Also, whilst it is a very sad moment when you discover it, the fact that the Defender made statues of the King and the Five Knights out of poop is hilarious.
• Despite being presented as a Blood Knight, the way the Hunter comments on the creatures in his Journal shows that he's actually Not So Stoic and can write humorous comments if he is so inclined. Even a few of them can border into dark humor:
  • The Hwurmp enemy, on top of having a name that's just fun to say, has very brief Hunter's Notes. "Extremely amusing creature." These are the little guys found in the Royal Waterways that start tiny before puffing up to several times their width when struck, and then loudly deflates when they die.
  • His reactions to the Zotelings imply that he's unimpressed with how ridiculous these dream creatures turned out to be:
    Winged Zoteling: Figment of an obsessed mind. Grudgingly assists its master in combat by lazily flying towards foes.
    Hopping Zoteling: Figment of an obsessed mind. Jumps about in a nonthreatening manner.
    Volatile Zoteling: Figment of an obsessed mind. Deals poorly with the pressure of existing and quickly explodes.
  • And of course, even the Hunter considers Zote to be too pathetic to kill:
    Some rare creatures are so weak, so helpless, so inept and so irritating that hunting them gives no pleasure.
  • He jokes that Elder Baldurs curl up to hide from the world, possibly thinking of more carefree times.
  • The Hunter's Journal entry for Maggots is especially cold-hearted:
    Consisting mainly of sweet fat, these helpless creatures make excellent provisions for long journeys. Best roasted over open flame. If they try to bargain for their life, just ignore them. They have nothing to offer.
  • His opinion on Shardmites isn't very high either:
    I don't find this creature particularily notable or interesting. It should learn to fly, or breathe flames, or sing hauntingly. Anything to justify its existence.
• When you first meet the Hunter you see his glowing eyes peering out of a grass covered cave. So it's a pretty humorous aversion of expectation when you find out that the cave is actually part of his body and he's basically just been sticking his head through the dirt the entire time.
• The audience in the Colosseum of Fools will laugh in certain situations: when the Knight dies, when the two Sturdy Fools from the second wave of the Trial of the Fool are killed by spikes, during the fight with Zote the Mighty, and after revealing the Grub Mimic. Nonetheless, the way they laugh, and the manner in which the audience move at these instances will also make the players laugh in conjunction. If they don't scream in rage from the frustration.
• There is a Fool Eater in the Queen's Gardens that can be avoided simply by picking up the relic that it's guarding. This is due to the Knight's hitbox shrinking for a while by bending over. Of course, the Fool Eater just snaps its jaw but comically fails to attack the Knight. Talk about an Unusually Uninteresting Sight.
• In the Fog Canyon, you can find an NPC named Millibelle the Banker, and she'll offer to set up a bank account so you can store up to 4500 Geo (for a small fee of 100 Geo to set it up). And for the most part, she'll do her job properly. However, if you put too much Geo into the bank (around 2550 or so), she will actually run off with your hard-earned money when your back is turned. If you hit her station with your nail, it straight up falls over as though it were made of cardboard, and the bank sign falls to the ground on the way out.
  • If you track her down to Pleasure House, you'll find her relaxing in the water, where she is incredibly shocked and claims that she was just holding on to your Geo for safe keeping, and that all of it is now gone. Her title even changes to Millibelle the Thief. At this point, you are free to smack her around the area with your nail to force her to cough up the stolen goods. She has her shell for protection, so there's no lasting harm done.
• Some of the voice work done for enemies is absolutely ridiculous, especially if you envision a grown-ass adult making the sounds. Of special note are the Flukemon and the Flukefey, with their messy, obnoxious slobbering; if you try to bum-rush your way through an area with them, you will be greeted with the ludicrous cacophony produced by over half a dozen of them at once.
• Beside the Grey Mourner, there's a giant cracked nail almost the same size as her. Despite her sad story, it's amusing picturing her wield it. Though given she is hinted to be Ze'mer of the five knights, it's also somewhat tragic.

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