Broken Vessel

The Broken Vessel is a major antagonist and boss in Hollow Knight. It is a Vessel similar to the Knight that has been posthumously infected by parasites, turning it into a destructive force like the rest of the plague-bringers.

History
The Broken Vessel was one of the vessels created by The Pale King with the purpose to seal off the Infection within themselves. Only The Hollow Knight managed to succeed this impossible achievement, while all the remaining Vessels went missing or met their demise against the monsters possessed by the Infection, including the Broken Vessel, who died in Ancient Basin against an army of infected parasites.

Because it has been infected, the Broken Vessel serves as an obstacle in the Knight's adventure through Hollownest, facing the Knight in its original death spot in the Ancient Basin, where it is revived by a multitude of Lightseeds jumping into the large crack on the back of its mask. The Broken Vessel uses attacks similar to the Knight, such as dashing and slashing its Nail both on the ground and air, as well as its own Desolate Dive, where it slams its Nail into the ground and conjures four Infection blobs from underground to rise upwards. It also has an attack where it bangs its head, releasing a multitude of blobs covering the entire arena.

Defeating the Broken Vessel leads to a room where the Knight acquires the Monarch Wings, allowing them to double jump. This also marks where the Forgotten Crossroads becomes the Infected Crossroads, assuming no Dreamers have been killed yet.

Optionally, using the Dream Nail on the Broken Vessel's deceased body will trigger a Dream Boss against a stronger variation of the Broken Vessel named Lost Kin, making the Broken Vessel one of the six bosses who can be refought as a Dream Boss, the others being Soul Master, Failed Knight, Dung Defender, Zote, and Grimm. Defeating Lost Kin grants the Knight 300 Essence to their Dream Nail.

Trivia

 * Upon defeat, The Broken Vessel reaches out to the Knight before dying, and after defeating Lost Kin, their ghost bows to the Knight before being absorbed for Essence.
 * The Broken Vessel wields a Coiled Nail.