The Hollow Knight

Player

Name & Pronouns: Ruka, they/them, she/her, he/him
Age: 18+
Contact Details: rukafais
Referral: I'm on superorbital's friends list!

Character

Character Name: The Hollow Knight; nameless otherwise
Age: Most likely several hundred years, but due to imprisonment and secluded childhood, I'm interpreting them as an anxious and extremely sheltered 17-18 year old.
Suitability: N/A

Canon: Hollow Knight
Canon Point: Post-Dream No More ending, where the player character destroys the god possessing them and destroys their physical body in the process, leaving them just a shade.

History:

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Hallownest; it was raised from nothing by the Pale King, a monarch radiant and wise. It was grand and glorious, before a plague swept it, and as quickly as it had risen to fame and fortune it crumbled to dust and ruin.

And before that, there was no kingdom, but a collective of bugs that basked in hypnotic light. Before the Pale King, there was the Radiance, and she unified all bugs at the cost of their higher minds.

The Pale King tore the throne from Radiance, casting her far into the dreams from which she was born, usurping her territory to establish a kingdom of his own. He instilled order and uplifted bugs to far beyond their normal capacities, using his sharp intelligence and charisma to bend bugs to his will. But traces of her remained, though those who had once worshipped her forgot her, and when she came raging back to reclaim what she viewed as rightfully hers, she crawled back in through the dreams of Hallownest’s citizens and brought down a plague that warped body and mind.

Desperate to save his crumbling kingdom, the King dug deep and found a source of possible salvation. From the Abyss, the darkness deep under Hallownest, ancient beyond measuring, he instilled life into emptiness. He bound it in bone-white masks and created empty children whose only purpose was to trap that ancient light and the plague that came with it into a vessel that had no mind to break, could feel no pain, could never give voice to their suffering.

The Hollow Knight was chosen for this purpose. Finding his perfect vessel - the Hollow Knight - he took them from their birthplace and away from their siblings, raising and training the child that adored him to be a living sacrifice that could face a god in single combat. He sealed Radiance within them, bargaining with three powerful bugs to form dreaming seals on his vessel’s prison so that Radiance would never break free. These three were the Dreamers, serving as extra protection so that nobody could access the vault that held the Hollow Knight.

This state of affairs would hold for uncountable years. The kingdom of Hallownest was preserved. All seemed well. Then, as Radiance wormed their way into the vessel's mind, breaking down their defenses, preying on their dreams and fears of the future, the kingdom crumbled once more - this time, for good.

The Hollow Knight held on, nevertheless, even cast into despair as they were by the ruin of the kingdom they were meant to protect and by their own failure to uphold the expectations of their father. Even as the plague began to consume their body, losing them an arm and gaining them deep scars in the process, they never gave in.

But they did call for help, unable to bear their pain in silence any longer. A desperate cry drew one of their siblings back to the kingdom, and eventually to a final confrontation with them. Inside the Hollow Knight's mind, the final battle with Radiance took place, and eventually they aided in finishing her off for good.

Personality: The Hollow Knight, at first, seems an enigma, a finely-honed warrior and little else. Martyred by their sacrifice to keep Hallownest from being ravaged by a deathly plague, much of their life is inaccessible, their history a distant dream. Even when they are fought - once in the physical world and once in dreams - it seems to reveal very little about them aside from their adeptness in physical combat.

But, deep down, as much as they tried to crush such things, they were a fully realised person with a deep well of feelings that they tried to repress. A child sacrifice taken from the darkness where they were born, they were raised by their father the Pale King for one purpose and one purpose alone; to be the seal that imprisoned Radiance, a wrathful goddess who their father had previously deposed.

Still, despite the Pale King's efforts (and their own), they were far from being the empty, unthinking vessel he had hoped for, a perfect creation that could seal away a god who preyed on dreams without cracking or breaking. Their compromised state when they are unearthed in the present, a broken and battered shell of their former self, reveals two key things: a burning determination to fulfill their purpose, and the depth of feeling that went against it.

This ability to focus and endure what was likely unrelenting training and - later in life - unrelenting pain - makes the Hollow Knight an incredibly effective, and often ruthless combatant. It also makes them quite stubborn in the right circumstances; when they have something or someone to fight for, they seem to transform into a different person altogether. It also makes them less likely to listen to what others want, in these cases, even if what they want may benefit the Hollow Knight; they have an objective, and they must simply fulfill it, no matter the cost to themselves. They walked willingly into a prison in order to contain a god; other goals they encounter are no different. If something is asked of them, they ask no questions about what might happen, or what it's for; it is simply an order, to be obeyed.

Their strong emotions, on the other hand, run contrary to their upbringing as both a sacrifice and an unrelenting warrior. When left to their own devices, the Hollow Knight takes the rules they were taught incredibly seriously, and is unsure and uncertain outside of those well-worn boundaries. There are things they must do, and things they must not do, and to them those rules are as unchanging as any law of the universe. When they feel things like yearning for their father's love, or guilt at leaving their siblings behind, they repress those things, hiding them deep within and letting those burning feelings eat them up inside. Letting them go is impossible; confronting them or even expressing them is forbidden. With the absence of an emotional outlet, and training encouraging them to not express any emotional vulnerability whatsoever, they bottle things up until a time comes where they can no longer hide them - which may be a long time indeed.

Trained by a perfectionist who expected nothing but perfect results has made them terribly apologetic and anxious about missteps; they're quick to back down or otherwise show penitence for slights both real and perceived. In many ways, they're an incredibly passive person, willing to be walked on by others if it means not sparking conflict.

All vessels began as children - and curious children at that - willing to explore and engage in the world around them. This spark of curiosity and engagement still remains in the Hollow Knight, making them more curious than they might otherwise be expected to be - though, due to their restricted upbringing, pretty much everything makes them entirely out of their depth, and so they become intensely nervous when faced with something that isn't covered by their training.

Finally, their long ordeal under Radiance has left them battle-scarred and traumatized by an enemy who weaponized their dreams against them. This has left the Hollow Knight further unsure and exhausted about expressing weakness of any kind, or what they perceive as weakness; they find it incredibly difficult to ask for help, or even to ask questions. They would rather hide injuries than let someone else deal with them. Despite this, they're not inherently antisocial; they're simply very, very tired. Being treated with kindness and warmth is a confusing affair they have little experience in handling, as they got very little of it in their life.

Sin:

Sloth - The Hollow Knight is a passive, ennobled figure; a willing sacrifice to their father's ideals and their inherited responsibility, no matter what they thought of it otherwise. They accepted their fate with open arms and never thought of doing anything else, though their strength was of significant merit, and they could have broken away from their duty if they truly wished.

Wrath - Not as pronounced as their siblings', but still there. The Hollow Knight had a deep well of anger for their sworn enemy, and this fervor to pursue and destroy her manifested partially in wounding themselves deeply to spite the god imprisoned within them and fully in taking revenge against her when she was no longer able to harm them.

Pride - The Hollow Knight wholeheartedly believed in their own ability, through their father's training, to keep a god contained forever, to be the sole prison that could keep Hallownest from decaying or staining. That stubborn pride in the last remnants of themselves is one of the sole things that keeps them from buckling fully to Radiance's control.

Executor Title: Seal

Memoria: This is the big one! These are the aspects of themselves that your character will be regaining as they progress through Purgatory. Please list exactly fourteen Memoria that you would like your character to regain during the game. These do not have to be full memories but can be aspects of your character's identity that would be important to them. For example, they can be the existence of an important person, a skill or hobby that your character had in their life or it can even be their name. It's up to you!

Pure Vessel: A memory of a lifeless and sterile childhood; being trained for constant combat both magical and physical.

Sealed Vessel: A memory of pain and chains; a willing imprisonment in a dark place, and an infection eating them alive. They gain the ability to weaponize their missing arm as an explosion of void tentacles. This is a long range ability.

Focus: A memory of learning magic, the ability to focus energy gained in combat. Taught by someone whose face and identity are blurred. They regain the ability to use magic in combat. This magic takes the form of ornate daggers made of light (three at a time, long range), medium-sized AOE explosions of light (up to five simultaneously) and a line of light spears (up to five in a straight line as long as that line is on the ground). They can only use each two times before it becomes exhausting.

Identity: A memory of being told their purpose as a child, standing in darkness, looking at someone whose face greatly resembles their own.
"No cost too great.

No mind to think.
No will to break.
No voice to cry suffering.
Born of God and Void.
You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams.
You are the Vessel."
It ends just before their 'name' is spoken. They regain the memory that they had a father at all, though those feelings are associated with both love and fear.

Neglect: A memory of looking back and seeing their sibling clinging to the edge of a great abyss, and not doing anything to help them.

Cradle: A memory of sleeping in a cradle, being watched over by a vast, glowing tree of light, whose branches and roots seem to spread out forever.

Burden: "Though bound, you shall know the state of the world. Hallownest will be whole again."

A memory of watching a city slowly crumble and wear away. Someone else's presence hovers in the back of their head, mocking, taunting.

Birth: A memory of a dark, mournful place. It is both claustrophobic and too empty. There is the awareness of the remains of their siblings crunching underfoot, and horror. They remember that they have countless siblings, though the memories are associated with sadness and loss.

Lullaby: The memory of a soothing tune winding on a music box, meant to ease restless sleep.

Dream: The memory of watching light fade, feeling an enemy fade with it. There is a feeling of triumph. They regain the ability to heal one major injury per battle through their body's regenerative powers.

Vengeance: Rage burns red-hot as they tear into an enemy's flesh, forcing her to yield at last. There is a sense of immense satisfaction.

Rain: The sound and smell of constant rain echoing through a cavern, and water dripping down high above.

Court: The vague recollection of five bugs in white armor. Each is notably different from each other. Their voices are faded, but there is a feeling of warmth. Regains the memory of the ideal of knighthood, that they were supposed to embody a guardian and protector.

Loneliness: This memory is dark and empty. There is nothing to see except the curved walls of their prison. There is only the attempt to feel nothing, as futile as that is.

Extra: Is there anything else we need to know, that we didn't mention above? Note it here!