Hollow Knight: Silksong's Hornet Has a Lot Riding on Her Shoulders

Hollow Knight: Silksongis so hotly anticipated that it has assumed something of a mythological status, with gaming audiences treating it as though it were a legend due to its multiple delays and obfuscated development timeline. ButSilksongis a very real project, one that is aiming to expand upon the rock-solid foundation set by its seminal predecessor, and this will come with both unique opportunities and pressing challenges.

One of the most fascinating and significant distinctions betweenHollow Knight: Silksongand the firstHollowKnightcomes down to the player-character. Known only as “The Knight,” the protagonist ofHollow Knightis silent, stoic, and devoid of any real emotion. Of course, this is by design, as The Knight is one of the Pale King’s Vessels: beings whose only function is to stop the Infection. Circumstances are markedly different when it comes toSilksong, though, as Hornet is a voiced protagonist, the daughter of the Pale King and Herrah the Beast, one of the Dreamers. That is to say, she is both more complex and more “human-like” than The Knight, making for a unique set of factors going intoSilksong.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Tag Page Cover Art

Hollow Knight Silksong: Hornet’s Potential

Hornet’s Personality Makes Her Fundamentally Different from The Knight

While The Knight is, fittingly, a vessel for the player, lacking specific or definitive personality traits,Hornet is more well-cast. She is determined and adheres to a strong set of values, positioning herself as the protector of Hallownest, but she is also guarded, paranoid, and even somewhat stubborn. Surviving the fall of her kingdom, she developed a penchant for violent and erratic behavior, likely as a defense mechanism.

On top of all this, she is cold and walled-off, which makes her a fitting anti-hero; her enigmatic and unfriendly persona inHollow Knightgives her a certain allure and ensures that she is consistently menacing as a repeat boss, but being a main character comes with a different set of expectations. All of this is to say that, though she may be The Knight’s sister, the two have virtually nothing in common in terms of their psychology, and this sets the stage for a markedlydifferent narrative experience inSilksong.

Hornet’s Complexity Could Define Silksong’s Narrative

Ultimately,Hollow Knightis a game more about world-buildingthan strong character writing. Much like the FromSoftware games that inspired it, it is filled with charismatic and likable NPCs, but the brunt of the story revolves around the lore and dense history of its fictional land. As previously mentioned, The Knight is meant to be more or less a surrogate for the player, lacking dialogue and strong personality traits to facilitate a smooth connection between audience and art.

But Hornet’s much stronger, more defined characteristics, not to mention her ability to speak, mean that she is significantly more complex than her sibling. She has psychological strengths and weaknesses that can be explored, allowing Team Cherry the opportunity to pen a more emotionallyimpactful and personal story inSilksong. Hornet has preconceived notions about the world that could be confirmed or subverted, vulnerabilities that can be exploited by her enemies, and trauma that can either strengthen or threaten her convictions.

All of that is great, but it’s a different ballgame fromHollow Knight’s more aloof and intellectual approach to narrative design. It will be weird if, for instance, Hornet behaves much like The Knight in her interactions with NPCs, but altering these dynamics to better fit with her character could be a challenge, if only due to its major distinctions from the first game. Either way, Hornet’s fundamental character traits mean thatSilksongwill be fresh territory for Team Cherry, which is exciting.