Ranking Every Character in Hollow Knight From Worst to Best

I just finished playing Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight for our summer backlog challenge. To celebrate (the joy? the pain?), I decided to echo a piece of Punished Backlog royalty: our ranking of all 231 Breath of the Wild NPCs. For this list, I ranked 105 unique Hollow Knight characters (i.e., not those stupid little fireflies with their exploding tummies; they can go to hell).

To create my list, I used the extremely scientific method of giving them made-up scores (out of 10) across three categories: 1) how much they amuse me, 2) their value to the Knight/the player, and 3) how difficult they were to fight (if applicable). The latter score can be negative—if you’re too annoying to fight, you lose points.

This piece will be as spoiler-free as possible, but idk why would you read this without having played it? 

All 105 Hollow Knight Characters, Ranked

What are the absolute worst and best Hollow Knight characters? It’s time to find out.

Let’s buckle up and find out how long it takes me to lose my mind.

105. Traitor Lord

UGH. Would’ve ranked him higher if we had more context on why he went traitor, but as it stands, I was so bad at timing out my shade dashes with him that I almost burst into tears fighting him. Screw you, Traitor Lord. No wonder all your people kicked you out, because you’re a dick. / Points: -2

104. Grimmsteed

How come Willoh can talk but you can’t? Achieve sentience!!! Dream bigger! / Points: 1

103. Eternal Emilitia

Fun little giggle but I came away with more questions than answers. How was she immortal? If she’s immortal, why stay down here literally in the sewers? If she’s immortal, maybe she should’ve been the Hollow Knight instead? OK I know that doesn’t really work but my point is why girl? Why here? Zero value for not helping the kingdom and just letting yourself go insane. / Points: 2

102. Willoh

Stop just eating shit, Willow! Help me out! Half a point for living your best life I guess. / Points: 2.5

101. Mask Maker

ANNOYED. I wanted a lot more mask lore content and instead this dude’s just chopping away like he’s making a bunch of Caesar salads for an office park’s Tuesday lunch meeting. My annoyance might also be because I kept going there by accident thinking his mark on the map was a different boss battle. / Points: 3

100. Magnus Strong

His advice is not correct so whatever. If you’re not gonna Zote lesson me, then I don’t want it. One point for value for all the spirits. Half a point for having a very Gladiator style name. / Points: 3.5

99. Snail Shaman

Lost 2,000 geo early in the game because this guy locked me in. We’re not friends. / Points: 4

98. Moss Prophet

Wants everyone to join their little culty hivemind. Pass. I like the singing, though. / Points: 4

97. Boss (Spirit)

He says we’re the same but I seriously doubt it. Were YOU born of the underworld like a thousand little shadow genderless blobs who somehow went on some magical adventure but still came back here to save their kingdom? I don’t think so bruh. We’re not the same. / Points: 4

96. Caspian

Intense name for an intense spirit boy. / Points: 4

95. Gravedigger

A good little giggle about making more work for him. Hope I gave him some of his own eternal peace. / Points: 4

94. The Traitors’ Child

Romeo and Juliet is always fun. Wait I already said that. Well, because this list goes from worst to best, you’ll see it later. It’ll be like me from the future. Or the past? I don’t know. I’m getting so tired. This is so many more NPCs than I really wanted to think about. / Points: 4

93. Massive Moss Charger

Trying too hard. Y’all are embarrassing yourselves. / Points: 5

92. Molten

I’m fond of anything that resembles the Knight. Probably some very on-purpose design choices. But they work! / Points: 5

91. Poggy Thorax

Not sure how Poggy’s body is in the Pleasure House but his spirit is in the glade. Is this like a split-soul type situation? Or even worse, a Twin Peaks Dale Cooper situation? / Points: 5

90. Vengefly King

Don’t touch my boy Zote. / Points: 6

89. Waldie

Bad ass with his little eyepatch and Dark Souls references. / Points: 6

88. Little Fool

So sweet. So pure. So never getting down from there. / Points: 6.2

87. Steel Soul Jinn

Seems cagey. Buying Rancid Eggs “for a friend.” Just admit that you like them too, bruh. Don’t kink shame. / Points: 6.5

86. Brooding Mawlek

Another sad orange boy. I like the spider arms. / Points: 7

85. Oblobbles

Fighting invaders forever with your lover? Kinda romantic tbh. / Points: 7

84. Crystal Guardian

Too annoying to fight the second time. He’s a brat. Go to therapy, man. / Points: 7

83. Caelif & Fera Orthrop

One of those many “oh, oh no” moments in Hollow Knight was finding these two intertwined souls deep in the green, wondering out loud if they had gotten lost. / Points: 7

82. Dr. Chagax

He went to grad school! We love to see it! / Points: 7

81. Iselda

Go on a trip, babe! You’d enjoy it. Nobody needs you working at a store with no products. Travel, see the world! / Points: 7

80. Mister Mushroom

Points for delight I guess but his face creeps me out. Doesn’t feel aligned with the rest of the art. Soar off into space and out of my life, Mister Mushroom. / Points: 7

79. Relic Seeker Lemm

Would’ve gotten more points if he actually ever translated any of the journals I brought him. Gimme some lore, dude. / Points: 7

78. Tiso

Good world flavor but a jerk. In the immortal words of Shania Twain, “You don’t impress me much.” / Points: 7

77. Nailmaster Mato

A pain to get to and still harping on about Oro’s promise. Communication is a two-way street, my friend. / Points: 7.5

76. Atra

Another warrior in the spirit glade. Cool but would’ve liked more background. Stop tempting me with these cool spirits. / Points: 8

75. Gorb

I AM GORB! Tell it, little distended brain. / Points: 8

74. Bardoon

Running into Bardoon’s tail and being like… “wait, what?” then following the sounds until you find him is one of those moments that epitomizes the rewarding of curiosity and exploration in Hollow Knight. Moments like this make the game a predecessor in many ways to Elden Ring. / Points: 8

73. Grohac

Cool but freaky design with his old pals around his neck. / Points: 8

72. Kcin

“I was once obsessed with power though my time within this glade has shed me of such desire.” Giving us dark back story that we often don’t get to hear. / Points: 8

71. Unnamed Moth

Thoughtful design touch for the Kickstarter backers who helped make this game a reality. But kind of stressful dialogue about discourse: “When many voices gather, great or terrible things are sure to come…” / Points: 8

70. Uumuu

A nice, fun change-of-pace battle! I’ll give them points for that. / Points: 8

69. Wayner

Thank you for the giggle re: “I’m afraid I’d lose my head.” / Points: 8

68. Xero

“I know you will not flee. Wherever you go… I will be watching.” Like, why are you so obsessed with me? / Points: 8

67. Wyatt

One of the few thoughtful bugs even in ghost form so thanks for not trying to accidentally poison me. / Points: 8

66. Elderbug

First friend, oldest friend. But never gave us any charms or hugs or super intense feels, so, sorry, can’t put you any higher. / Points: 8

65. Nailmaster Oro

So emo and also kinda rude. Who else is getting their Nail sharpened by you? Couldn’t cut us a discount?  / Points: 8

64. Garro

“Stand strong little warrior.” Thank you for the confidence boost!!! / Points: 9

63. Hundred Nail Warrior

Metal af—literally. / Points: 9

62. No Eyes

Ooooooppphhh. Clawing out your own eyes and other bugs’ eyes? Not cute, babe. / Points: 9

61. Perpetos Noo

Ugh, again! You’ve made this NPC spirit too tempting and now I’m frustrated by not having more. I’m greedy. Gimme. This name is wild. PERPETUATE THIS NOO and give me backstory. / Points: 9

60. Revek

Poor Revek. So stressed. Just wanted to give you some eternal rest after so much hard work. / Points: 9

59. Blue Child Joni

She was nice but getting here was a pain. “Blue World” by Mac Miller is gonna be one of my top-played songs of 2022 so I’ll give you points for that. I’m almost halfway through this list. I’m not losing my mind at all.  / Points: 9.5

58. Leg Eater

Was a nice little surprise! So points for that, but points off for such fragile charms. / Points: 9.5

57. Grey Mourner

Romeo and Juliet never fails to hit, especially when you have long… hair? Is that what’s going on here? Delicate Flower was a dope present aspect. I play a lot of Fire Emblem so you know I’m into gift-giving + reactions in games. / Points: 9.5

56. Hollow Knight

Aww, sad. And also, a pain to fight. He also failed the kingdom for having thoughts, so, I have to remove some points. Come on, man. Having thoughts? In this economy?  / Points: 10

55. Karina

Awww, I liked the context that this little moth’s comments gave me about the bug world hierarchy. / Points: 10

54. Marissa

A nice pretty little moment! Wish she did more tho. / Points: 10

53. Hive Queen Vespa

A delightful surprise to see Hive Queen Vespa pop up and talk to her knight. Great world-building flavor too. / Points: 10

52. White Lady

Really rewarding moments of dialogue and it was exciting to reach her, so gotta give the queen her due. Also, can’t get the best ending without her. But also feel like she could’ve done more for the kingdom before it got to this point so smh. Wait I guess you’re the Knight’s Mom? And I love my mom… so… I’ll… give some bonus points. / Points: 10

51. Millybug

“Buy my cookies! Once I’ve sold them all I can go home.” I’m not crying, you’re crying. / Points: 10

50. Hex

“I’ll see you soon,” she said, though that was long ago. I wonder where she went?” I SAID I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING. / Points: 10

49. Thistlewind

Great lore around the moths and world-building in chats with Thistlewind. Definitely the winner of the Spirits’ Glade. / Points: 10

48. Gruz Mother

This poor mom. She’s so tired. And we just came here and tried to cut her up. I bet if you brought Gruz Mother a glass of tea, a blanket, and offered to handle some Gruzzers for a few hours, she would’ve given us charms on charms on charms. Also apparently during development, she was called “Empress Muzznik.” Let’s put some respect back on Gruz Mother. / Points: 10

47. Tuk

Girl, let’s move on. Get out of the sewers, stop collecting Rancid Eggs (but like, OK, they are useful), come out to where the people are, let’s get brunch. / Points: 11

46. Mace Bug

What a fun little surprise (: Free at last indeed, my friend. / Points: 11

45. Galien

Respect for that scythe wielding. / Points: 13

43 & 44. Brumm/Nymm

These are definitely the same guy, right? I like the music, though. Do y’all watch The Repair Shop? It’s a very wholesome show on the BBC. There’s a few great episodes about accordions and stuff like that. Wow this is really hard to make comments on all of these characters. I literally don’t understand how PJ did this for Breath of the Wild. / Points: 12

42. Midwife

Tried to eat me in the middle of a convo. Rude. / Points: 12

41. Flukemarm

I said “gross” out loud. / Points: 13

40. Troupe Master Grimm

Makes you babysit his kid for hours for free. Then when you come back and even helped the kid grow up a little, he whoops your ass in front of a bunch of paying customers. Let’s not even talk about the whole plunging world into eternal darkness or flames or whatever stuff. Kind of a dick. / Points: 11

39. Elder Hu

“Never forget what once was lost, yet do not let it tie you down.” Dropping mad wisdom Elder Hu, respect. / Points: 11

38. Sly

Sly indeed. Love your little secret life. Also, gimme a discount bruh. / Points: 11

37. Nailmaster Sheo

An absolute king. Loves the arts AND nail arts, and isn’t stingy about teaching. The best Nailmaster, hands down. / Points: 12

36. The Pale King

Way to go man. You built and doomed an entire kingdom. / Points: 13

35. Fluke Hermit

Way to go for being sentient, Fluke Hermit. Also, sorry all your friends are infected. No kisses please. / Points: 13

34. Markoth 

One Bad Ass Moth(er). Good fight. / Points: 13

33. Bretta

Is the OG of fan-fiction. Love whoever suggested all of this insanity. Look at her up there on her little sexy bed. / Points: 14

32. Cornifer

The only humming I’ve never gotten sick of. It’s such a relief to meet Cornifer the first time, and a good way to focus on finding him in new maps. However, I wish he’d sing a little louder sometimes… I wandered around some places a long time before I found him. Also, dude, you left your wife alone for like… a long time. / Points: 14

31. Marmu

“I’ve been waiting a long time, stranger. I’ve been fighting a long time, stranger. Wake me when the Queen arrives, stranger. Perhaps the Queen will teach us both to fly, stranger!”” I. SAID. I. AM. NOT. CRYING. / Points: 14

30. Myla

I cried a little bit when Myla lost her mind not gonna lie. Great way to make the Infection spread feel real and tangible. I sad. / Points: 14

29. Broken Vessel

Great addition to the “implied lore” energy. Satisfying battle. / Points: 14

28. The Hunter

Points for being one of the few people to impart wisdom for free in the game, and extra for the strong design choice for a fake-out when getting the Hunter’s Mark. / Points: 14

27. False Knight

It’s like hitting a giant mashed potato baby. So satisfying. / Points: 14

26. Lurien the Watcher

Yo what a creep. His little telescope, just watching one nook of the alley forever. Plus, a coward because he wanted to just let the infection rot. Hard pass. / Points: 15

25. God Tamer

Such a fucking queen though, riding another bug, how cool. Sad they’ve both gotta be infected. Can’t anyone here live a good life being a badass? / Points: 15

24. Grimmchild

Love when kids shoot flames out of their mouths, like honestly really good content for me. But he is not loyal enough to the Knight and is way too much of a Daddy’s boy. / Points: 15

23. Soul Master/Soul Warrior

Definitely a professor with a wicked ego who mansplains. Satisfying to take down for sure. / Points: 16

22. The Godseeker

There’s… a lot going on here. Not sure I was even totally following it from the wikia because I did not successfully play Pantheon. But like… rock on girl, try to save your people, etc. Cool hat though and I respect the hustle. / Points: 16

21. Grey Prince Zote

I would love a super sexy strong alter ego version of myself to just beat up people who dared judge me.  / Points: 16.5

The 20 Best Characters in Hollow Knight

20. The Weaverlings

Weaversong was one of my top-used Charms throughout my playthrough. These spider-balls are LOYAL AS HELL (yeah, I’m looking at you, Grimmchild) and when also equipping Grubsong, these guys gather magic floaty energy goodness like nobody’s business. Plus they sit cute next to the Knight on the bench, and I loved Charlotte’s Web so I gotta keep Weaverlings in the top 20. / Points: 17

19. Mantis Lords

Love earning the respect here, and the design choice to make the Mantis Lords sulk whenever they’re beaten. Would’ve been cool if I got more than just some coins and a bench for proving myself. Like… cool Mantis stilts. Here’s a great essay arguing why it’s the best boss fight in the game.  / Points: 17

18. Radiance

I WILL GLOW AND RUIN WHOLE WORLDS MWAHAHAHAHA. = a big mood. Can you imagine trying to hang out with Radiance? Like just have a beer, chill, girl. But she’s on one. Gotta respect the hustle. / Points: 18

17. Hive Knight

I loved fighting Hive Knight because their combat reminded me so strongly of Hornet; I would love to see Team Cherry double down on their original idea that Hornet was raised by the Hive. Her style and her name are obvious homages to the Hive culture. / Points: 19

16. Confessor Jiji

I love the sounds that Jiji makes. Gotta keep the homie fed, esp when I kept leaving my spirit next to the Traitor Mantis Lord. / Points: 19

15. Divine

A delight. So charming. But royally ripped me off to buy cool poop. / Points: 19

14. Charm Lover Salubra

What a champion on every level. Great charms. Great little kisses. Great little giggle. / Points: 19

13. Seer

The world is never complete without a fuzzy old weirdo talking to you about the world before your time. / Points: 20

12. Grubfather

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the most important thing to me in Hollow Knight was rescuing Grubs. I made such an effort to rescue all those little grubs. I will never recover from what happened when I finally did. / Points: 20

11. Millibelle the Banker

Great arc. I literally :O’d at the effort put into this Millibelle’s bank when you revisit it. My first thought was, “Oh, I’m gonna get such revenge on you Millibelle by ranking you low on my list” but then satisfyingly made a profit later so that was nice. I guess we can call relentless monetary revenge a battle. Also, click for lols. / Points: 21

10. Herrah the Beast

Big respect for a crazy spider queen that has weird shadow people come kidnap other people for her, and that also made our lovely Hornet. / Points: 22

9. Nosk

SO SO SO SO CREEPY. I was so delighted by stumbling upon this fight, really thinking I was about to rescue another Knight/vessel. / Points: 23

8. Cloth

HA-YAH! I loved watching Cloth rock my world with her big jump-arounds. Happy to have empowered Cloth to have the honorable death she sought but damn. It hurt. What a homie. Battle points for helping. / Points: 24

7. The Collector

AHEEE-HEEEE—STOP THAT LAUGHING OH MY GOD. This dude was so creepy but I thought that this was such great level design throughout. The lead-up, where you think you’re going to discover some like romantic cool cavern but instead it’s this freaky guy’s home museum. I found it satisfying to challenge myself to get better at the actual combat through the battle. It’s also the only death that really does something clever with your left-behind Shadow. Plus, I love the grub quest so I was hyped to get more details and more guidance. / Points: 25

6. Monomon the Teacher

I found Monomon’s lore level rewarding and interesting, but would’ve loved to have been able to explore their library a bit or talk to Quirrel more about their relationship. But that’s not Monomon’s fault. Thanks for believing in the Seal being broken, Monomon. / Points: 25

5. Dung Defender

Gave me one of my favorite charms and biggest laughs of the game so I will look out for this loyal good boy with my point charts. / Points: 26

4. Quirrel

Nice to see a friendly face on our travels. The mask reveal was tight, plus having him show up at the place of records was such a boss move for a boss boy. Points for helping. And I mean, wow, people make inspirational quote images from him. Pretty cool. / Points: 26

3. Zote (the Mighty)

Do you know all 58 lessons or not? Extra points for the delightful surprise of fighting him in the battle pit./ Points: 27

2. The Last Stag/Old Stag

Absolute homie. I’d play a DLC or spin-off where I just help Stag find other Stags. And yes, he gets double the value because if I had to traipse around the map without him… this shit would be unplayable. Someone even wrote an essay about “the wistful optimism of the Last Stag.” That’s nice. / Points: 30

1. Hornet

The first time I ran into Hornet, I gasped a little—I could tell I was on the verge of The Plot Really Beginning. Can’t wait to see Hornet shine in Silksong. The absolute coolest. I’m giving her a cool one hundred points. And yes, I went overboard on points. Fight me. If any Hollow Knight character list does not top out with Hornet, then I am really worried about the person making the list. I hope this means y’all don’t have to worry about me. At least on this. When I finally play Life is Strange: True Colors... yeah, y’all should worry. Wait this isn’t about me. It’s about Hornet, the coolest character in Hollow Knight.  / Points: 100

Want more Hollow Knight content? Read out our list of Hollow Knight bosses ranked, as well as our music review of “City of Tears.”