Mask Shard

Mask Shards are Items in Hollow Knight that are used to increase the Knight's health.

Use
Mask Shards are parts of Ancient Masks. 4 Mask Shards are needed to complete an Ancient Mask, which increases the Knight's health by one.

With a total of 16 Mask Shards in the game, the Knight can increase their Mask count by 4, for a maximum of 9, not counting bonuses from Charms and Lifeblood Cocoons.

How to Acquire
There are a total of 16 Masks Shards to be found in the game:

Trivia

 * The A Weird and Wonderful World trailer shows that an early name for the Mask Shard was "Grey Mask Shard". In the Ferocious Foes trailer, it was called a "Shell Fragment".
 * The music heard after acquiring four Mask Shards originates from a short sample track that was posted when Christopher Larkin was hired as the game's composer.
 * If the Knight has extra Lifeblood Masks when the number of Masks is increased, the Mask gained overlaps a Lifeblood Mask, creating a white Mask that drips and has a blue background like a Lifeblood Mask. However, both Masks remain and taking damage removes the Lifeblood Mask first.
 * Having the Joni's Blessing Charm equipped when the number of Masks is increased has no effect on the Knight's current health. It is only updated when resting at a Bench.