Hornet (Silksong)
- For the Hollow Knight character and boss, see Hornet (Hollow Knight).
Hornet is the mysterious princess-protector of Hallownest’s ruins, a major character in Hollow Knight and the playable protagonist of Hollow Knight: Silksong. She wields a Needle and thread with deadly prowess.[27] Hornet is captured by outsider bugs and brought to their kingdom, Pharloom, but she escapes her cage before arriving at their destination. She then must battle foes and solve mysteries to ascend on a deadly pilgrimage to the kingdom's peak.
Background
Hornet is the daughter of The Pale King and Herrah the Beast, the result of a bargain for Herrah to become a Dreamer. Her shared father with the Knight, The Hollow Knight, and the rest of The Vessels makes her their half sister.
She was birthed by Herrah, the queen of Deepnest. Eventually, Hornet was brought to The White Palace and was brought up by The White Lady, queen of Hallownest. At some point, she was trained in The Hive by Hive Queen Vespa.
She was brought to Pharloom by veiled bugs in a cage covered in a rune. Hornet was intended to be brought to Grand Mother Silk, so the Mother could use Hornet's power.[28]
In-game Events
At an unspecified point of time after the Radiance was slain and the Infection ended along with it, Hornet was captured by Choirbugs and taken to Pharloom. After the rune on the cage[29] is broken by a Silk Fly, Hornet breaks free and falls down. She begins her journey through the haunted kingdom of Pharloom to find out the purpose behind her capture.
She discovers Bone Bottom, a small settlement, meets Lace, who she battles, and enters The Citadel either by activating five bells and defeating the Last Judge, or by defeating Phantom in Bilewater. Once in The Citadel, she conducts the Threefold Melody, letting her ascend to The Cradle, where she defeats Lace once again. She then may defeat Grand Mother Silk and bind her, becoming the new ruler of Pharloom, marking a possible ending.
Alternatively, if she completes a large amount of Wishes, making her start to care for Pharloom and its people, she may seeks an alternative method, and accepts the Silk and Soul quest from the Caretaker to accomplish this. After completes the quest by gathering materials needed to craft a trap, Hornet then activates it after the battle against Grand Mother Silk, instead of binding her. This causes void to spread into Pharloom, starting Act 3 of the game.[Missing information]
Health and Silk
Health
Health is represented as Masks, shown in the upper-left corner of the screen. Hornet starts the game with 5 Masks and can obtain more by collecting Mask Shards. Health is lost by taking damage, either from enemies or from environmental hazards. Health can be regained by the use of the Bind ability, consuming a full Silk spool to regain three masks. This is increased to four with the Multibinder tool.
Lifeblood/Plasmium Masks, granted by Plasmium Phials or killing Winged Lifeseeds are temporary masks that cannot be normally regenerated by healing, the are removed when sitting on a bench.
Cocoon
Upon running out of Health, Hornet will die, leaving behind a Cocoon. In Normal Mode, she will respawn at the last used Bench or checkpoint, without her Rosaries and with any Spool upgrades that was previously collected missing. Breaking the Cocoon will bring those back. In 
Steel Soul Mode, the game will instead end and be permanently lost on that save profile, attempting to load said profile will prompt the player to clear it.
Silk
Silk is represented as a spool below the health indicator. Silk is consumed when using special abilities, including Bind. Striking enemies with the Needle fills the spool by 1 strand. When there is enough silk to perform a Bind, the symbol representing the side of the spool left to the health indicator is filled. The Spool can be expanded by collecting Spool Fragments. Every two Spool Fragments permanently allows Hornet to store one more strand of Silk.
Upgrades and Equipment
Needle
Hornet's main weapon. Can be used to slash or block attacks against enemies. The Needle can be used to attack downwards while Hornet is above enemies, spikes or certain objects to bounce off them and gain vertical height, this is called Needle-bouncing. Hornet also uses the needle as a grappling hook, and alongside her other abilities.
Tools
Special items classified into red, blue and yellow versions, equipped on a Crest with limited slots for each type. Tools can be used as throwing weapons or defensive aids and do not cost Silk. They are found throughout Pharloom, and can be changed while sitting on a Bench, similar to Charms in the previous game.
Crests
Special items that alter Hornet's basic attacks. Each Crest has its own unique set of needle attacks and a Needle-Bounce, some have additional mechanics.
The Crest also determines the amount of Tools and Skills slots, starting with a different number for each type, and more can be unlocked using Memory Lockets.
Hornet can aquire new Crests in specifc places in Pharloom, binding the Crest to herself.
Crests can be replaced while sitting on a Bench, with exactly one Crest being equipped at any time. The Hunter Crest is the default.
Silk Skills
Offensive spells designed by the Weavers out of Silk. After learning any of them, Hornet can expend some silk to use the Skill, damaging nearby enemies. Silk Skill damage scales with needle upgrades, each skill always dealing around three times needle damage. Like tools, Silk Skills can be equiped and swapped while sitting on a Bench.
Ancestral Arts
Weaver abilities that enhance Hornet's movement and aid in her traversal of Pharloom. These are primarily not for combat, but they can still be useful in a fight. Like Silk Skills, Ancestral Arts are found in what remains of the Weavers in Pharloom, mainly in the Weaver Burial Spires.
Abilities
Other abilities Hornet may gain throughout her journey, helping with movement, combat or progression, they can be aquired in a variety of ways.
Gallery
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Hornet arriving to Pharloom
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Hornet sitting on a bench in Bone Bottom
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Hornet snared by Silk in Bellhart
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Hornet given clarity on her nature by Eva
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Hornet travelling with the Flea Caravan
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Hornet and Phantom clashing
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Hornet caged after being taken to the Slab
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Hornet and the Fayforn
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Hornet sitting on a bench in Songclave
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Hornet in Whiteward with Sherma
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Hornet playing the Threefold Melody
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Hornet and Lace in the Cradle
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Hornet and Shakra at Trail's End
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Hornet binding the First Sinner
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Hornet binding Grand Mother Silk
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Hornet taking Karmelita's heart
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Hornet entering her Red Memory
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Baby Hornet with her mother in Deepnest
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Young Hornet with her mentor in the Hive
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Hornet confronting the memory of the White Lady in the White Palace
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Hornet diving into the Void with the Everbloom
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Hornet picking up Lace in the Abyss
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Hornet sleeping in her Bellhome in Bellhart
Pre-release art
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Promotional art
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Concept Art
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Concept Art
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Concept Art
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Concept Art
Trivia
- On Silksong's Steam page, Hornet is called a "Princess Knight".[30]
- Hornet has a love of fluffy bugs, as evidenced by various entries in her Hunter's Journal.[31][32][33]
- Regardless of whether she is imprisoned by them, Hornet shows a disgust toward the flies of The Slab.[34][35][36]
- At some point in the past, Hornet had mates.[37]
Names in Other Languages
| Language | Name | Meaning/Explanation |
|---|---|---|
 Brazilian Portuguese
|
Hornet | — |
 French
|
Hornet | — |
 German
|
Hornet | — |
 Italian
|
Hornet | — |
 Japanese
|
ホーネット Hōnetto? |
Hornet (loanword) |
 Korean
|
호넷 Honet |
Hornet (loanword) |
 Russian
|
Хорнет Xornet |
Hornet (loanword) |
 Simplified Chinese
|
大黄蜂 Dà huángfēng? |
Hornet (name for the insect) |
 Spanish
|
Hornet | — |
 Internal name
|
HORNET
|
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Notes
References
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