Mantis Warrior

"Member of a proud tribe, fiercely protective of its territory. Launches savage attacks with bladed forelimbs. If you venture too deep into the fungal forests, these warriors will stand in your way. What is it they guard, deep at the bottom of their territory?"

Mantis Warriors are enemies in Hollow Knight. They are adult members of the Mantis Tribe who guard the tribe and their leaders. Like all other Mantises in the Mantis Village, they resist the Infection.

Behaviour and Tactics
Stands still until disturbed. Once engaged, it attacks with very quick, long-range slashes, often accompanied by a short dash. Its attacks are quite difficult to dodge, so sometimes it is easier to tank a few hits, slashing at it as fast as possible and healing once it is dead.

If possible, try to jump and attack it from the air, down-striking at it. Though it does have an upward slash attack, it is short-ranged and usually misses, typically allowing the Knight to safely attack from above until it dies.

Once the Mantis Lords are defeated, all Mantises become non-hostile towards the Knight, however, they still retaliate if attacked, even if accidentally damaged by an area-of-effect attack.

Location
They are only found within and in the entrance of the Mantis Village.

Trivia

 * After the Mantis Lords are defeated, Mantis Warriors (as well as Mantis Youths) gain new Dream Nail dialogue and bow to the Knight as they pass by.
 * The non-hostile Mantis Warriors do not retaliate if damaged by Defender's Crest and Spore Shroom but do turn hostile if damaged by the Dreamshield or any summoned familiar such as  Grimmchild or Glowing Womb.
 * In a Kickstarter update the Mantis Warrior was referred to as "Lesser Mantian":
 * "The Mantian tribe were always the outsiders of Hallownest society. After the cataclysm, these inscrutable hunters retreated into the fungal forests to escape the plague."