Aspid Mother
 Shamelessly uses its own young as a weapon against its foes! Appalling, yes, but I do admire its resourcefulness. Good hunters do not always make good parents.  |
Aspid Mothers are enemies in Hollow Knight. They are the females of the Aspid species.[1] Carrying their eggs inside their bodies, they can hatch and birth their young to attack threats.[2]
Behaviour and Tactics
Births Aspid Hatchlings one at a time, up to a maximum of fifteen. Two more Hatchlings are spawned upon defeat.
The primary danger is that she can spawn many Aspid Hatchlings. Keep an eye on the Hatchlings and strike the mother either when there is an opening, or once the Hatchlings have been dealt with.
Dream Nail Dialogue 
- ...Light...Danger...
- ...Safe...Dark...
- ...Hungry...Hungry...
- ...Scared...
- ...Eat...When...
- ...Kill...Hurt...
- ...Away. Away...
- ...Pain...
Location
Aspid Mothers can be found in the Forgotten Crossroads, mainly next to the Tram station.
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Locations in the Forgotten Crossroads
Gallery
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Aspid Mother near the Tram in the Forgotten Crossroads
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Aspid Mother with Aspid Hatchlings
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Large Aspid Mother corpse
Trivia
- In a Kickstarter update, she was referred to as "Bulbous Hummingnit (Female)":
- "The female of this species is just as aggressive as the male. Appallingly, it uses its own young as a defensive measure against intruders."[3]
- A particularly large, dead Aspid Mother can be seen where the Glowing Womb Charm is collected, although she is not fought.
- When Dream Nailed, she gives the line: "Breed..."
- She is referred to as "giant_hatcher_corpse" and "HATCHLING_QUEEN_CORPSE" in the game files
- Pre-release Aspid Mothers featured a reddish body colour rather than bright orange.[4]
- If an Aspid Mother has 14 or 15 Aspid Hatchlings spawned when killed, a large amount of Infection pours out instead of the usual two Hatchlings.
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Dead Aspid Mother
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Pre-release Aspid Mother animation
References
- ↑ Wanderer's Journal, p. 31.
- ↑ Aspid Mother Hunter's Journal entry: "Carries the eggs of its young inside its belly. Can hatch and birth its young as needed to deal with intruders."
- ↑ Kickstarter update of November 22, 2014.
- ↑ Team Cherry Blog post of November 27th, 2014.
