Summary
Hollow Knightis remembered by a fervorous fanbase as one of thebest Metroidvanias ever, filled to the brink with tough boss battles that’ll force you to get good or give up. However, it’s not only bosses that may cause you trouble during your journey through Hallownest, as the fallen kingdom is home to hundreds of deadly enemies.
Hollow Knight’s enemies can sometimes represent a bigger danger than bosses. That’s because enemies can attack in trap-infested areas instead of clear arenas, and enemies usually join forces to take your attention away from a single target. It’s no wonder that simple enemies can put an end to your life more frequently than bosses, especially in challenges such as the Steel Soul mode, in which death is permanent. Let’s take a look at Hollow Kight’s ten toughest non-boss enemies.
10Great Husk Sentry
After a few hours of playing Hollow Knight, you should realize that attacking enemies from above is always a good strategy to cause some damage while staying away from danger. The Great Husk Sentries, however, carry a huge shield they can use to stop you from pogo-nailing their head. Furthermore, this enemy has an upward attack that punishes those who try to remain above them.
Great Husk Sentries have a lot of health points and need multiple nail attacks, even with a fully upgraded weapon. Finally, the mightiest guardians of the City of Tears also cause two masks of damage with their heavy sword attacks. The only thing that prevents this enemy from being deadlier is that they show up in wide spaces and can be easily avoided.
9Lesser Mawlek
The Brooding Mawlek is one of the first bosses to test your Hollow Knight skill. This boss is deadly, erratic, and refuses to be pushed back by your nail strikes. The child version of the Mawlek retains most of the boss patterns, making it capable of quickly draining your masks.
The Lesser Mawleks acid-spit attack covers a wide area and lingers on the floor, forcing you to be extra careful where you step. In addition, they claw you as soon as you approach, forcing you to balance aggression and dodge to survive an encounter.
8Volt Twister
Volt Twisters are special kids of Soul Twisters that appear in the Colleseum of Fools. Instead of shooting projectiles in your direction, Volt Twisters can summon electric fields around the arena, forcing you to move constantly to avoid damage.
Vol Twisters also have the unnerving habit of teleporting away when you get close to them, meaning you’ll have to survive another round of dashing through electric fields while trying to avoid other enemies and traps. While Volt Twisters don’t have much health, hitting them is quite challenging, making them some of the toughest enemies to beat.
7Grimmkin Nightmare
Part of the Grimm Troupe, Grimmkin Nightmares carry nightmare flames that you must gather to fight the Nightmare King inone of the best boss battles in the game. Taking these flames might prove harder than you expect, though, as the Grimmkin Nightmares are fast, powerful, and can take a lot of damage.
After finding a Grimmkin Nightmare, you’ll have to watch out for their dash attack and the waves of projectiles they launch at you, finding a clear moment to hit them once or twice. It doesn’t help that some Grimmkin Nightmare show up next to spikes and platforms, forcing you to split your attention between the enemy and the environment.
6Great Hopper
The giant version of the Hopper does a lot of damage and keeps the pressure on by constantly moving in your direction. Found in the desolate wastes of Kingdom’s Edge and the Colleseum of Fools, the Great Hopper can take down even veterans for the simple fact it never stops jumping over you.
Great Hoppers also have many health points, which means fighting one might take a while, especially if you didn’t fully upgrade your nail. It’s hard to dodge the Great Hopper’s attacks and even harder to time your nail strikes, making it one of the most annoying enemies in Hollow Knight.
5Flukemunga
The Flukemunga is the hardest enemy of the worm family that inhabits the Royal Waterways. These bloated maggots patrol narrow passages, rushing toward their prey as soon as they see it.
Flukemungas are faster than you, and their location prevents you from jumping over them. The only way to defeat them safely is to bait them to a vertical passage and hit them from above or below. However, since Flukemungas patrol long corridors, you’ll most likely only realize there’s one nearby when it suddenly tramples you.
Flukemungas were introduced in the Godmaster DLC, the final package of free content added to the game. The DLC also introduceda new ending to the game that deeply alters your understanding of Hollow Knight’s lore.
4Stalking Devout
Stalking Devouts are the deadliest predators hiding in Deepnest. Protected by a mask impervious to your nail, the Stalking Devout only lowers its guard when it gets ready to slice you with its sharp claws.
To properly fight a Stalking Devout, you must wait for it to open its mask and hit it a couple of times before immediately dashing out of its way. It’s a tense game of chicken that forces you to face death up close.
3Crystal Hunter
Crystal Hunters are one of the peskiest flying enemies in Hollow Knight, shooting crystals that can take you down in the air and push you against spikes in the ground. What’s worse is that the crystal you manage to evade becomes a cluster of deadly crystals wherever they hit.
It’s hard to hit a Crystal Hunter in the air, but paying attention to its projectiles and the environmental traps it leaves in its wake is even harder. you’re able to destroy the crystal clusters with your nail, and it’s possible to deflect its projectiles with a well-timed attack. Still, since Crystal Hunters often show up next to traps and other enemies, they can be particularly deadly.
2Hive Guardian
The Hive Guardian is a hulking bee that plunges toward you as soon as you cross its field of vision. This behemoth takes two masks with a single hit, and the fact it flies around makes it harder to hit. Even worse is the Hive Guardian’s huge health pool.
The Hive Guardians can detect your presence from distant corners of the Hive rooms, meaning you can be hit by one even before realizing it is nearby. Finally, Hive Guardians are never alone, joining their forces with other bee enemies to take you down quickly.
While Hive Guardians are deadly, they can also be useful for breaking cracked walls and opening new paths and shortcuts inside the Hive.
1Primal Aspid
If there’s one thing the Hollow Knight fanbase almost unanimously agrees, it is that Primal Aspids are evil. These flying enemies shoot three projectiles in your direction, which are hard to dodge, given there’s not much pace between them.
As one Primal Aspid alone is not a big deal, these winged pests often accompany other enemies and other Primal Aspids. That means the screen is soon filled with projectiles you must dodge, all while you try to reach these enemies and defend yourself from other attacks.
