Hollow Knight bosses in order: how this progression guide is organized
Fighting the Hollow Knight bosses in order turns a sprawling Metroidvania into a readable difficulty curve. The map of Hallownest does not gate the bosses in a straight line, so the same enemy can be reached through several paths, and the “correct” order depends on how much ground you have already covered, which abilities you have unlocked, and which charms you have equipped. This guide treats progression as a build question as much as a route question, because every boss introduces a new mechanical idea, and the tools you bring into a fight change which idea is exploitable.
The structure is deliberately linear even though the game is not. Each entry below describes the boss, the prerequisite exploration, the mechanics you should learn, the rewards that open up the next region, and the common failure modes that a careful player can pre-empt. If you only need the shortest list, the summary table near the top of the article gives the canonical order; the long-form sections explain why that order is the standard for a first playthrough and where an experienced runner would diverge.
Before you start, a few caveats. The game was released by Team Cherry in 2017 for Windows, macOS, and Linux and later ported to consoles, and the boss set has remained stable across those releases. There is no New Game Plus that rearranges fights, so the order below also describes the order you will see in a fresh save. Difficulty ratings and charm recommendations are editorial guidance based on widely observed community patterns, not official grading.
Quick reference: the canonical boss order
| Step | Boss | Region reached from | Key reward | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | False Knight | Forgotten Crossroads | City Crest (after upgrade) | Access to City of Tears |
| 2 | Gruz Mother | Forgotten Crossroads | None mandatory | Geo farming, exploration freedom |
| 3 | Vengefly King | Greenpath | None mandatory | Confirms aerial combat baseline |
| 4 | Hornet (Greenpath) | Greenpath | None mandatory | Sets the parry-and-strike baseline |
| 5 | Mantis Lords | Fungal Wastes / Mantis Village | Mantis Claw | Wall jump, new platforming routes |
| 6 | False Knight (dream version) and Soul Master are interchangeable by regionForgotten Crossroads / City of Tears | Fragile Heart / Soul Catcher | Charms, spell routing | |
| 7 | Crystal Guardian (Crystal Peak) | City of Tears, then Crystal Peak | Crystal Heart | Super dash, new traversal |
| 8 | Broken Vessel | City of Tears via Tram, then Forgotten Crossroads | Monarch Wings | Double jump, opens upper Hallownest |
| 9 | Herrah the Beast | Deepnest | None | Dreamer progress, lore |
| 10 | Lurien the Watcher | City of Tears | None | Dreamer progress |
| 11 | Monomon the Teacher | Fog Canyon via Fungal Wastes | None | Final Dreamer |
| 12 | Watcher Knights | City of Tears / Royal Waterways | City key for Isma’s Grove | Ite’s Tear / Shade Cloak path |
| 13 | Dung Defender | Royal Waterways | Isma’s Tear | Acid swimming, Queen’s Gardens access |
| 14 | Broken Vessel (dream) and Marmalade variants | Deepnest / Ancient Basin | Various charms | Optional depth, charm slots |
| 15 | Collector | City of Tears, through Tower of Love | Several grubs | Optional geo and lore |
| 16 | Grimm Troupe content (if DLC-free Grimm Troupe is enabled) | Howling Cliffs | Fragile Heart upgrade, Grimmchild | Optional endgame |
| 17 | Radiance / Hollow Knight finale | Dream sequences + White Palace | Ending | Credits, completion metrics |
The table gives a working map. The sections below expand the same list, explain why each fight teaches a specific skill, and identify the routes that experienced players use to swap steps when they want a particular charm early.
How Team Cherry designed the Hollow Knight boss curve
The original Hollow Knight release built its pacing around three ideas at once. First, each boss is a tutorial for the next region, because the new traversal ability you win is the only way to reach the next part of the map. Second, the boss roster is short enough that the player can learn the vocabulary of the game in roughly fifteen encounters, then re-encounter the same vocabulary in harder combinations in the back half. Third, the dreamer fights sit at the structural midpoint and act as a difficulty wall, because the moment you awaken the third dreamer, the Infection begins to push the world into its final state. That moment is also when the optional content, including the Grimm Troupe path, starts to escalate.
For a developer studying the game, the lesson is that progression order and ability order are the same thing. The Mantis Claw is not a reward for finishing the Mantis Lords; it is the design reason the Mantis Lords exist at that point. The Soul Master is not just a side boss; the spell routing the player learns there is the precondition for fighting the Soul Tyrant later. Every reward has a job.
How to use the guide if you are replaying or speedrunning
If you already know the mechanics, the list still works as a routing checklist. Three things change the order without breaking the game:
- Visiting Crystal Peak before Fungal Wastes is possible if you reach the upper tunnels from the City of Tears elevator; the Crystal Guardian can be fought before the Mantis Lords if you accept a harder encounter.
- Entering Deepnest through the Fungal Wastes side can put Herrah ahead of the Mantis Lords in your personal order, although the recommended charm loadout is weaker at that point.
- Skipping optional bosses such as Gruz Mother, Vengefly King, and Massive Moss Charger saves time but costs the geo and charm that make early boss runs reliable.
Early game: the Forgotten Crossroads and Greenpath bosses
The first region teaches the entire combat loop: jumping, healing, and the nail art that becomes your primary burst tool. The bosses here do not introduce new mechanics so much as confirm that you have learned the basics. They are short, but skipping them is a mistake, because they hand out the geo and charm upgrades that make every later fight manageable.
False Knight
False Knight is the first real encounter and the first test of the nail’s reach. The boss drops from the ceiling, swings a mace in a three-hit pattern, jumps, and then staggers. The correct response is to dodge forward through the first swing, hit twice, jump over the second, then hit twice more, and back away from the third. The stagger window only opens after the third ground slam. False Knight then throws the mace in a long-range arc that you can either jump or walk under, depending on positioning.
The fight’s design lesson is that the knight’s basic attack is enough to win if the player commits to two-hit cycles. The reward is the City Crest after the player returns to the save bench, which opens the gates into the City of Tears.
Gruz Mother
Gruz Mother is the optional farming fight that almost every player tries. She is a large flying creature that charges across the arena, then summons smaller gruz that you can either kill or ignore. The safe pattern is to strike only when she is at the apex of her arc, then retreat to the opposite side. She drops a moderate geo pile and confirms that vertical combat is not optional; the player must learn to look up.
From a design perspective, the Gruz Mother teaches a different lesson from the False Knight: in a flat arena, aerial enemies reset the player’s spacing, and the charm loadout has to include either Quickslash or Mark of Pride to keep the window reasonable.
Vengefly King
Vengefly King is the first mini-boss of Greenpath and the first true aerial encounter. The pattern is short: a swooping charge, a brief hover, a second swoop, and a recovery. The recommended approach is to stand near the center of the arena and let the boss commit, then strike once on each pass. Healing during the hover is the most common mistake; the boss always commits to a second dive, so the timing window is the brief moment between the first and second pass.
Hornet (Greenpath encounter)
The first Hornet fight is the most important encounter in the early game because it teaches the parry timing that every later Hornet, the Mantis Lords, and the Watcher Knights rely on. Hornet throws her needle in a straight line, then jumps, then throws a second needle. The intended counter is to jump the first, strike once, and dash the second. After the second throw, Hornet repositions, and the player repeats the cycle. The fight is the first time the player is forced to learn that healing is a punishable action: she punishes healing greed with a guaranteed follow-up needle.
The reward is narrative rather than mechanical. Hornet reappears in several later regions and in the finales, so the parry timing learned here is reused throughout the game.
Mid game: City of Tears, Fungal Wastes, and Crystal Peak
The mid-game section is the real test. Each boss here introduces a new traversal ability, and the charm economy becomes a strategic layer. The player should have at least four charm notches and a balanced mix of healing, damage, and survivability.
Mantis Lords
The Mantis Lords are the first real multi-phase fight. The encounter starts with one Mantis Lord, then a second joins, and finally a third. The pattern is a horizontal dash that the player can either jump or dash through, followed by a leaping attack. The safe response is to bait the dash, strike once, jump over the leaping attack, then repeat. When the second Lord enters, the player should focus one at a time rather than splitting damage. The third Lord does not change the pattern; it only changes the threat density.
The reward is the Mantis Claw, which gives the player a wall jump. This single ability is what makes the upper regions of every map reachable. Without it, the player is locked out of roughly a third of the game.
False Knight (dream version)
The dream version of the False Knight appears in the Warrior’s Grave and is a faster, harder re-skin of the early fight. The pattern adds an extra ground slam, a longer mace throw, and a brief invulnerability after the stagger. The reward is the Fragile Heart charm, which increases the knight’s health pool. The fight exists to give the player a way to revisit the first encounter with new tools, which is a recurring design pattern in the game.
Soul Master
Soul Master sits in the Soul Sanctum in the City of Tears and teaches the player how to manage spell energy under pressure. The boss teleports around the arena, fires a projectile, and summons two orbs that orbit the player. The safe response is to wait for the teleport, then dash through the projectile, then close the distance and strike. The orbs can be destroyed with a single nail swing, which the player should do every time they are near.
The reward is the Soul Catcher charm, which increases the soul gained from hitting enemies, and the spell upgrade. The fight’s design lesson is that ranged combat is reliable only when the player commits to closing the distance.
Crystal Guardian
Crystal Guardian sits at the bottom of Crystal Peak and is the first boss with a long, telegraphed laser. The boss rises from the ground, fires a beam in a fixed direction, then sweeps the beam in a 180-degree arc. The safe response is to dash through the laser’s origin, then strike twice on the back side. The player must also manage the falling crystal shards that the boss summons during the second phase.
The reward is the Crystal Heart, which gives the player a super dash. The ability is the key to crossing large gaps and bypassing the spikes that line the upper regions of every map.
Late mid-game: Deepnest, the Royal Waterways, and the Dreamer chain
This section is the structural midpoint of the game. The dreamer chain gates the ending, and the bosses in this section are designed to be the hardest fights the player faces before the finale. The charm loadout should be near maximum by this point, and the player should have at least one extra mask from the lifeblood masks in the Grimm Troupe path.
Broken Vessel
Broken Vessel sits in the Ancient Basin and is the closest the game comes to a true horror boss. The pattern is a long jump, a brief stagger, a forward dash, and a spawn of infection orbs. The safe response is to jump over the first swing, strike twice, then retreat. The infection orbs can be destroyed with a single nail swing, but doing so costs time; experienced players let them pass and heal in the gap.
The reward is the Monarch Wings, which gives the player a double jump. The ability is the precondition for reaching the upper regions of every remaining map, and it is also the only way to reach the Watcher Knights arena in the Tower of Love.
Herrah the Beast
Herrah sits in Deepnest and is a short, scripted fight. The player cannot damage her; the goal is to survive her attacks long enough for the dream sequence to trigger. The pattern is a ground slam, a web projectile, and a brief pause. The player should focus on healing and on avoiding the web, because the web applies a slow effect that makes the rest of the pattern harder to manage.
Lurien the Watcher
Lurien is a dreamer encounter in the City of Tears. The fight is the same as Herrah’s in structure but with a different attack pattern: a beam that sweeps the arena, a brief invulnerability, and a charge. The safe response is to dash through the beam and then use the invulnerability to heal.
Monomon the Teacher
Monomon is the third dreamer and sits in Fog Canyon. The encounter introduces the bubble enemies that obscure the arena, and the player must learn to read the attack through the bubble. The reward is narrative; the player wakes the third dreamer, and the world changes.
Watcher Knights
The Watcher Knights are the hardest mid-game fight. For additional context, Six knights enter the arena one at a time, each with the same pattern: a rolling charge, a jump, and a brief stagger. The player must learn to bait the rolling charge, then strike once, then retreat before the next knight enters. The encounter is the first time the player has to manage threat density over a long fight, and it is the first time that healing during a stagger is unsafe, because the next knight can interrupt.
The reward is the city key to Isma’s Grove, which gives the player access to the next two major upgrades.
Endgame: Dung Defender, the dream bosses, and the finales
The endgame section is the first time the player has access to every traversal ability and every charm. The bosses here are designed to be approachable with the full toolkit, and the optional bosses are the place where experienced players learn the game’s deeper mechanics.
Dung Defender
Dung Defender sits in the Royal Waterways and is a short, fast fight. The pattern is a forward dash, a spin, and a brief stagger. The reward is Isma’s Tear, which lets the player swim in acid and reach the Queen’s Gardens and the upper regions of the Royal Waterways.
Collector
Collector is an optional boss who appears after the player rescues enough grubs. The fight is a series of jars that spawn flying bugs. The player must destroy the jars, then strike the boss. The fight is the first time the player has to manage add control, and the reward is several grubs and a large geo pile.
Broken Vessel (dream version)
The dream version of Broken Vessel is faster and harder, and the reward is a charm that increases the knight’s nail damage. The fight is the first time the player has to learn how to use the void dash, which is the key to several endgame routes.
Grimm Troupe content
The Grimm Troupe content is an optional path that adds several bosses and a new charm set. The hardest is the Nightmare King Grimm, who is widely considered the most difficult boss in the game. The pattern is a long, fast combo that mixes fireballs, dashes, and spikes. The reward is the Grimmchild charm, which summons a familiar that deals damage over time.
Finales: White Palace, Radiance, and the Hollow Knight
The final section of the game is the White Palace and the dream sequences that lead to the Radiance. The White Palace is a platforming challenge, not a boss fight, but the player must complete it to reach the final encounters.
Hollow Knight
The Hollow Knight is the final mandatory boss. The fight is a long, scripted sequence that begins with a cutscene and ends with the player’s choice. The pattern is a series of void-based attacks, and the player must use the void dash to survive. The reward is the ending, which is one of three possible outcomes depending on the player’s choices.
Radiance
The Radiance is the true final boss and the hardest fight in the game. The pattern is a long, multi-phase sequence that mixes beams, orbs, and spawning enemies. The player must use every tool learned throughout the game to survive. The reward is the second ending, which is considered the canonical conclusion.
What the final sequence teaches a developer
The Hollow Knight and Radiance fights are interesting because they are not really boss fights; they are platforming tests with combat. The player must use the wall jump, the super dash, the double jump, and the void dash in combination to survive. The fight is the first time the player has to use every ability at once, and it is the moment when the game stops being a sequence of tutorials and becomes a single test. The structural lesson is that the final boss should demand every tool the player has learned, and that the reward for learning the tools is the ability to use them all together.
Recommended charm progression for the full boss order
Charms are the deepest customization layer in the game, and the recommended progression is a tradeoff between damage, healing, and survivability. The table below shows the charm loadout that an experienced player would use for each section of the game. Charm notches are the cost in the upper charm menu; the player can only equip charms whose total notches do not exceed the number of slots unlocked through rewards.
| Game section | Notches available | Recommended charms | Why this loadout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Crossroads | 3 | Wayward Compass, Quick Slash | Map clarity and fast strikes beat any defense |
| Greenpath | 4 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Longnail | Range and speed are the answer to aerial threats |
| Mantis Lords | 5 to 6 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell | Adds a survivability cushion without losing damage |
| Crystal Peak | 7 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell, Soul Catcher | Soul economy matters for spell-heavy fights |
| Deepnest dreamers | 8 to 9 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell, Soul Catcher, Quick Focus | Faster healing is the key to long dreamer fights |
| Royal Waterways | 9 to 10 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell, Soul Catcher, Quick Focus, Shape of Unn | Shape of Unn enables healing while moving, which is essential for the Watcher Knights |
| Grimm Troupe path | 10 to 11 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell, Soul Catcher, Quick Focus, Shape of Unn, Grimmchild | Grimmchild turns the knight’s familiar into a steady damage source |
| Finale | 11 | Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell, Soul Catcher, Quick Focus, Shape of Unn, Grimmchild | Same loadout, but the player now understands when to swap |
Charms are not the only answer, and the game supports a wide variety of builds. A healing-focused build with Quick Focus and Shape of Unn can clear the Watcher Knights, while a damage-focused build with Quick Slash and Mark of Pride can speedrun the early bosses. The loadout above is a baseline, not a rule.
Common failure modes and how to read them
Every boss has a tell, and most player deaths are caused by misreading the tell. The list below catalogues the most common failure modes and the diagnostic that separates a real problem from a recoverable mistake.
- Healing greed: the player heals during a window that the boss will punish. The diagnostic is the boss’s position; if the boss is moving toward the player, healing is unsafe. If the boss is idle, healing is usually safe.
- Overcommitment: the player strikes too many times after a stagger and gets hit by the recovery. The diagnostic is the stagger animation; the stagger ends with a brief flash that the player must learn to recognize.
- Positioning collapse: the player gets pushed into a corner and has no room to retreat. The diagnostic is the arena’s shape; the player should always retreat toward the center, not toward the wall.
- Charm mismatch: the player is using a charm loadout that does not match the boss’s attack pattern. The diagnostic is the death log; if the player is dying in two hits, the loadout needs more survivability. If the player is timing out, the loadout needs more damage.
- Ability mismatch: the player is fighting a boss without the traversal ability the arena expects. The diagnostic is the arena’s shape; if the arena has spikes or acid that the player cannot cross, the player is missing an ability, not a charm.
Routes and shortcut decisions for the Hollow Knight boss order
The map is non-linear, and the player can swap several steps. The table below shows the most common route swaps and the tradeoff for each.
| Swap | Effect on order | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal Guardian before Mantis Lords | Replaces step 5 with step 7 | Harder early fight, but unlocks Crystal Heart earlier, which makes Mantis Lords easier |
| Herrah before Mantis Lords | Replaces step 5 with step 9 | Saves time on dreamer progress, but the charm loadout is weaker for Herrah |
| Watcher Knights before Dung Defender | Reorders steps 12 and 13 | Possible if the player has the city key, but Isma’s Tear is useful for the Watcher Knights arena |
| Nightmare King Grimm before Hollow Knight | Optional, but useful for practice | High difficulty, but the patterns are similar to the Radiance’s second phase |
| Collector after every other optional | Reorders optional content | Saves time, but the rewards are more useful earlier in the run |
Route swaps are not exploits; they are part of the game’s design. The map is built to support multiple paths, and the player who learns the map learns the game.
How the boss order compares to other Metroidvania design choices
For developers, the Hollow Knight boss order is interesting because it does not follow the “gate boss per region” pattern that most Metroidvanias use. Instead, the game uses a hybrid: the early bosses are regional, the mid-game bosses are ability gates, and the late bosses are tests of the player’s full toolkit. The pattern is closer to a 2D Souls game than to a traditional Metroidvania, and it is one of the reasons the game is widely studied as a design reference.
The original release and the 2018 console port kept the boss order stable, and the physical release discussed in Eurogamer’s report on the collector’s edition does not introduce a new boss set. The 2020 sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, has its own boss order that is not covered in this guide, but the design language is recognisable.
Practical checklist before you start a fresh run
The list below is a short, copyable checklist for a player who wants to follow the canonical order without re-reading the long sections.
- Clear the Forgotten Crossroads and beat the False Knight to unlock the City Crest.
- Beat Gruz Mother and Vengefly King for geo and charm experience.
- Reach Greenpath, beat Hornet, and learn the parry timing.
- Descend into Fungal Wastes, beat the Mantis Lords, and unlock the Mantis Claw.
- Push into City of Tears, beat the Soul Master, and learn the spell routing.
- Take the elevator to Crystal Peak, beat the Crystal Guardian, and unlock the Crystal Heart.
- Take the tram to the Ancient Basin, beat Broken Vessel, and unlock the Monarch Wings.
- Activate the three dreamers in any order, but complete Herrah first for the cleanest path.
- Clear the Royal Waterways, beat the Watcher Knights, and unlock the city key.
- Reach Isma’s Grove, beat the Dung Defender, and unlock Isma’s Tear.
- Clear the White Palace and reach the final dream sequence.
- Beat the Hollow Knight and unlock the first ending.
- Return to the dream sequence, beat the Radiance, and unlock the canonical ending.
Frequently asked questions
What is the very first boss a new player should fight?
The first boss is the False Knight in the Forgotten Crossroads. The fight is short, the pattern is readable, and the reward opens the City of Tears. The Gruz Mother is optional and the player can skip it, but the geo and the charm experience are useful, so most players fight it before moving on.
Is the Hornet in Greenpath the same Hornet as the final boss?
Yes. The Greenpath encounter is a scripted story event, not a real boss, but the parry timing the player learns there is reused in every later Hornet fight. The player who skips the Greenpath encounter will have a harder time in the late game, because the parry timing is the only reliable way to survive the Watcher Knights.
Do I have to fight the dreamers in a specific order?
No. The three dreamers can be activated in any order, and the game does not change the difficulty based on the sequence. The recommended order is Herrah, then Lurien, then Monomon, because Herrah’s arena is the hardest to reach, and the player’s charm loadout is at its strongest after the Mantis Lords.
What is the hardest boss in the canonical order?
For most players, the hardest mandatory boss is the Radiance, because the fight demands every tool the player has learned. The hardest optional boss is the Nightmare King Grimm, which is part of the Grimm Troupe path and is widely considered the most difficult encounter in the game.
Can I beat the game without the Monarch Wings?
No. The Monarch Wings are the only way to reach the upper regions of every map, and the final dream sequence is unreachable without them. The Wings are also the only way to reach the Watcher Knights arena in the Tower of Love, so the player who skips the Broken Vessel fight will be locked out of roughly a quarter of the game.
How does the Grimm Troupe path change the order?
The Grimm Troupe path is optional and does not change the canonical order, but it adds several bosses and a new charm set. The path can be started at any point after the player reaches the Howling Cliffs, and the rewards are most useful in the late game. The Nightmare King Grimm is the hardest boss in the path, and the fight is a useful practice for the Radiance.
What is the difference between the False Knight and the dream version?
The dream version of the False Knight appears in the Warrior’s Grave after the player has collected enough essence. The pattern is faster, the mace throw has a longer range, and the boss is invulnerable during a brief stagger. The reward is the Fragile Heart charm, which increases the knight’s health pool.
Is the Collector a required boss?
No. The Collector is an optional encounter who appears after the player has rescued enough grubs. The fight is useful for the geo and the charm experience, but the player can complete the game without ever fighting the Collector. The fight is a useful test of add control, so most players clear it at least once.
What is the recommended charm loadout for the Radiance?
The recommended loadout is Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, Stalwart Shell, Soul Catcher, Quick Focus, Shape of Unn, and Grimmchild if the player has unlocked the Grimm Troupe path. The loadout is not a rule, and the player should experiment with the available charms to find a combination that matches their playstyle.
Does the boss order change in the 2026 console port?
No. The boss order is identical across all platforms, and the 2020 console port does not introduce new bosses or reorder the existing ones. The only difference between platforms is the control scheme, which can affect charm loadouts on handheld devices.
