False Knight

Overview

{{Navbar|page1=False Knight|page2=Failed Champion}}

{{HK Infobox Boss
|image1 = <gallery>
B False Knight.png|Hunter's Journal
False Knight Unmasked.png|Staggered
</gallery>
|drops = [[City Crest]]<br/>
{{G|200}}
|theme = [https://youtu.be/kV329qtckzw False Knight]<hr/>
{{HK CP Icon Mini|Godmaster}} [https://youtu.be/ut_RjDGUJoY Furious Gods]
|health = 65 (Armour)<br/>
40 (Maggot)<br/>
Minimum total to kill:<br/>
3 armour stages (65x3) + 4 head stages (40x4) = 355
|gender = Male<ref>[[Maggot]] [[Dream Nail]] dialogue: <i>"Wake up, brother! Help me!"</i></ref>
|va = [[Team Cherry|William Pellen]]<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/6rvds8/we_are_team_cherry_the_developers_of_hollow/dl86lbr/ Reddit AMA comment] by Team Cherry [[:File:Reference_William_Voices.jpg|(Archive)]]</ref>
|numbers_required = 1
}}

{{Quote
|A maggot driven mad by a strange force. Inhabits a stolen armoured shell.<hr/>
Weak creatures love to steal the strength of others. Their lives are brief and fearful, and they yearn to have the power to dominate those who have dominated them.
|Hr = Bestiary
}}

False Knight is a main boss in Hollow Knight. He keeps the City Crest required to open the gates to the City of Tears. Failed Champion is his faster and stronger dream form.

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Background

False Knight is a Maggot wearing the armour of Hegemol, one of the Five Great Knights of Hallownest.

<ref name="journal">False Knight [[Hunter's Journal (Hollow Knight)|Hunter's Journal]] entry: <i>"A maggot driven mad by a strange force. Inhabits a stolen armoured shell."</i></ref>

<ref>[[Relic Seeker Lemm]]: <i>"Others have told me there's a statue out by the city's entrance depicting a large knightly figure. Could be one of the Kingdom's great five."</i></ref>

<ref>[[:File:Five Great Knights Silhouettes.png|Background sprites]] in the arena of {{HK CP Icon Mini|Hidden Dreams}} [[White Defender]].</ref>

This weak creature wanted to find means to protect his siblings who live in an abandoned storeroom in the middle of the Forgotten Crossroads.

<ref>False Knight: <i>"I wanted it.... the strength to protect the others..."</i></ref>

When he discovered Hegemol sleeping in his armoured shell, he took it for himself, hoping for the great strength that wearing the armour seemed to promise.

<ref name="shell">False Knight: <i>"When I saw that Knight... sleeping... safe in his big armoured shell... It wasn't madness that drove me to it... I just wanted it..."</i></ref>

Even though madness did not drive him to do this, False Knight eventually fell to the Infection's control.

<ref name="shell" />

<ref name="journal" />

In-game Events

False Knight falls from the ceiling when the Knight enters the hall below the Maggots' storeroom, killing any enemies still wandering inside. He then attacks the Knight, deluded by his own strength, while threatening to collapse the building in his rage.

<ref>False Knight Dream Nail dialogue: <i>"I'm braver than all of you!" "I'm the strongest now!"</i></ref>

At the end of the fight, False Knight accidentally collapses the floor and falls below, where the Knight can execute the final blow. Once defeated, the Maggot is expelled from the armour along with the City Crest. The shelled bug that served as the head of the mace then crawls away slowly.

When returning to the storeroom, the Maggot's corpse can be found lying on an upper level hidden by a breakable wall. His brethren are mourning him, and flee at the Knight's approach. Using the Dream Nail on the corpse brings the Knight to a dream projection of the storeroom where Failed Champion, a much stronger form of False Knight, can be fought.

After this second defeat, False Knight's spirit appears, floating above his corpse, to tell the Knight the reasons behind his acts. He then shatters into 300 Essence that is absorbed by the Dream Nail.

Behaviour and Tactics

{{AttackDisclaimer}}

False Knight possesses a variety of attacks:

* Leap: False Knight jumps a distance in the air to either reposition or prepare for a Slam attack. False Knight does not leap twice in a row. False Knight stops using this move in Phase 3. * Charge: False Knight runs a small distance to get closer if the Knight is too far away and performs a Leaping Bludgeon attack at the end of the charge. * Slam: False Knight rears back, priming his mace for a moment, before swinging it forward, slamming it into the ground. The impact of the mace creates a shockwave that travels forward across the whole arena. In Phase 2, this attack also causes barrels to fall, and in Phase 3, even more barrels fall per slam. If the Knight gets hit by the slam itself, it will deal two masks of damage. * Leaping Bludgeon: False Knight leaps into the air and slams his mace down in front of him when he lands. False Knight targets the Knight when he leaps, so he strikes where the Knight was when he started his leap. While False Knight is in the air, he lifts his mace above his head and then swings it in an overhead arc before he lands, bringing his large body and mace down simultaneously. In Phase 3, this attack also causes barrels to fall. * Rage: After enough damage is dealt to his armour, False Knight staggers, falling down and revealing the Maggot inside the armour. When the Maggot takes enough damage, it re-enters the armour and initiates this attack. Jumping to the centre of the arena, False Knight slams his mace multiple times on his left and right. Each time the mace strikes the ground, barrels fall from the ceiling. False Knight continues to slam the ground with his mace for about three seconds. If the Maggot is left to stagger for too long without being attacked, False Knight gets back up and continues his regular attacks without going into Rage.

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{{Stagger
|False Knight's stagger is based on his health, and False Knight is staggered every time the armour health is depleted to 0.
When staggered, he falls back and lands on his chest, revealing the head of the Maggot.
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}}

/

<hr />

{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdXB4M4m0oc|300|right}}

After False Knight recovers from the first stagger, he goes into Phase 2: the muffled voice of the maggot is now audible with each attack (in Phase 1 False Knight is completely silent), and the Slam attack causes barrels to fall. After False Knight recovers from the second stagger, he goes into Phase 3 where barrels now drop during the Leaping Bludgeon attack and even more barrels drop during the Slam attack.

When False Knight staggers and the Maggot pops out, heal if necessary then get in as much damage as possible. This is the only time the Knight gains SOUL from attacking False Knight.

It is important to note that attacking the armour does not award SOUL, so the Knight should conserve their SOUL if they need to heal or use the Grubsong Charm to regain SOUL when struck.

If healing is needed, the safest opportunity is to wait until False Knight goes into a Rage and then heal up in a corner of the room. Watch for falling barrels.

While the falling barrels deal no damage when they hit the armour from above, the Knight can hit the barrels to redirect them. When angled properly, the barrels can be directed at False Knight, dealing 10 damage each. This is a great way of harming him during the Rage attack if healing is not necessary. Hitting these falling barrels into False Knight can also cause him to stagger.

After exposing the Maggot's head three times, False Knight performs one more Rage attack before breaking the floor, falling to the level below and revealing the Maggot. Drop down and attack the Maggot to end the fight.

After the first time False Knight Rages, a segment of the wall above the left gate becomes breakable, granting the Knight the chance to flee the battle if they so choose. This is useful as the Knight obtains the Vengeful Spirit Spell in the room immediately after the False Knight room, allowing them to either attempt the fight again with a stronger, ranged attack or simply proceed through the rest of the game and come back later. Returning to the area after escaping resets the fight.

After defeating False Knight (or Failed Champion), the Knight can still strike his armour with the Dream Nail, yielding dialogue and SOUL like usual. This is particularly useful when challenging the

{{HK CP Icon Mini|Godmaster}}

Pantheons that contain him in

{{HK CP Icon Mini|Godmaster}}

Godhome, as it allows the Knight to accumulate additional SOUL for the subsequent battles.

{{HK CP Header|Godmaster}}

{{Disclaimer|
Besides defeating him, False Knight is unlocked in the [[Pantheon of the Master]] and the [[Hall of Gods]] if he was skipped by breaking the left wall during his fight and leaving the room.
}}

{{HK GM Boss
|image = Statue False Knight.png
|name = False Knight
|epithet = "I protect the weak in the heart of the crossroads"<br/>"Angry god of the downtrodden"
|pantheon = [[Pantheon of the Master]], 3rd boss
|At_Health = 260*3
|AsRa_Health = 560*3
|arena = The arena is larger than in the base game, no difficulty differences. He does not fall through the floor prior to defeat.
}}

{{TabbedDialogue
|Title1 = During the fight
|Title1_Event1 = Dream Nailed
|Title1_Dialogue1 = [dn]I'm braver than all of you!<br>
I'm the strongest now!<br>
This great shell...It belongs to me!

|Title2 = After the fight
|Title2_Event1 = Dream Nailing the living mace
|Title2_Dialogue1 = [dn]Free at last!
|Title2_Event2 = Spirit after defeating Failed Champion
|Title2_Dialogue2 = I wanted it.... the strength to protect the others...<br/>
When I saw that Knight... sleeping... safe in his big armoured shell...<br/>
It wasn't madness that drove me to it... I just wanted it...<br/>
But... in the end? If strength cannot save you, then what can...?
}}

Location

False Knight is located in the centre of the Forgotten Crossroads.

{{Gallery
|Image1 = Mapshot HK False Knight 01.png!Location in the Forgotten Crossroads
}}

{{Gallery
|Title = Gallery
|Image1 = Screenshot HK False Knight 02.png!Leaping Bludgeon attack
|Image2 = Screenshot HK False Knight 03.png!Rage attack
|Image3 = Screenshot HK False Knight 04.png!False Knight staggered
|Image4 = Screenshot HK False Knight 05.png!False Knight defeated
|Image5 = Screenshot HK False Knight 01.png!Arena in the Forgotten Crossroads
|Image6 = Godhome Arena False Knight.png!Arena in Godhome
|Image7 = Boss_false_knight.png!Promotional art
|Image8 = False Knight Concept Sketch.png!Concept sketch
}}

{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugJ_9EcGv0U|300|center}}

Achievements

{{Achievement|Falsehood}}

Trivia

[[File:Mace Bug.png|thumb|right|Detached Mace Bug]]

* After False Knight is defeated, the head of his mace is revealed to be another bug with an armoured shell. It can be hit to send it rolling in a direction while also stunning it, but it does not take damage and simply scurries off-screen when it gets the chance. Hitting it with the Dream Nail gives the dialogue "Free at last!" and also gives SOUL. * When struck with the Nail, the bug makes the same sounds as an idle Belfly. * False Knight's Dream Nail dialogue and the SOUL gained from using the Dream Nail on him actually originate from the body's hitbox as it is separate from the head's. This means that even if False Knight has been defeated and the Maggot has been removed from the armour, the empty armour casing can still be Dream Nailed. * False Knight has an infinite amount of health. Both his armour and the Maggot within reset their respective health as they interchange stages. However, he is scripted to die after 3 armour stages and 4 Maggot stages. * This also means that if the Knight does not attack during the Maggot stage, or does enough damage quickly during the Armour stage, False Knight can be fought infinitely as he cannot die unless he collapses the floor by finishing the final Rage attack.

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{{Localisation
|DEname = Falscher Ritter
|DEmeaning = False Knight
|ESname = Falso Caballero
|ESmeaning = False Knight
|FRname = Faux Chevalier
|FRmeaning = False Knight
|ITname = Falso Cavaliere
|ITmeaning = False Knight
|JAname = 偽りの騎士
|JAromanised = Itsuwari no kishi
|JAmeaning = False Knight
|KOname = 거짓된 기사
|KOromanised = Geojitdoen gisa
|KOmeaning = False Knight
|PTname = Falso Cavaleiro
|PTmeaning = False Knight
|RUname = Ложный рыцарь
|RUromanised = 
|RUmeaning = 
|ZHname = 假骑士
|ZHromanised = Jiǎ qíshì
|ZHmeaning = False Knight
|CODEname = FALSEKNIGHT
}}

{{Refs|columns=2}}

{{HK Nav Enemies}}

Фалшивият Рицар Falscher Ritter Falso Caballero Faux Chevalier Falso Cavaliere Fałszywy Rycerz Falso Cavaleiro Ложный Рыцарь Несправжній лицар 假骑士