| “ | Through dream I travel, at lantern's call, to consume the flames of a kingdom's fall. | „ |
| ~ Grimm's riddle in the Hunter's Journal. |
Grimm, also known as the Nightmare King, is a supporting antagonist in Hollow Knight, introduced in "The Grimm Troupe" DLC. He is the villainous leader of the mysterious Grimm Troupe, a group of performers who seek to collect the flames of the fallen kingdom of Hallownest in order to prolong the Nightmare's Heart, a process the Troupe calls "The Ritual", and manipulates the Knight into doing his bidding.
Biography[]
Grimm first appears when the Troupe is summoned to Hallownest by the Knight lighting the Nightmare Lantern in a hidden area in the Howling Cliffs, after which they set up camp in Dirtmouth. Inside the main tent is Grimm, who greets the Knight and explains that the Grimmkin now travel across Hallownest to collect the "flame in dream". He gives the Knight the Grimmchild charm, and encourages them to seek and defeat the three Grimmkin who have gathered flames in order to upgrade the Grimmchild.
After defeating the three Grimmkin and collecting their flames, Grimm appears when the Knight and the Grimmchild return to his tent and uses the flames to upgrade Grimmchild into a deadly companion. He then sends the Knight out to find three more flames to further grow the Grimmchild so he can begin the performance. Following the next three flames, Grimm leads the Grimmchild into his body and challenges the Knight in a duel. After being defeated, Grimm congrats the Knight and mentions how they have the potential in prolonging the Nightmare Heart. He awards them with a charm notch and returns the Grimmchild, now in its third form, and encourages the Knight to seek out the last three flames so the Ritual could begin.
Following Grimm's boss fight, the player is given two options to complete Grimm's quest: the first is to collect the remaining three flames and return to Grimm, who now sleeps in the back room of his tent. Dream Nailing him takes the Knight to Grimm's dream in the nightmare realm, where they must fight against Nightmare King Grimm to complete the performance and finish the Ritual. Defeating him there will transfer the Nightmare's Heart from Grimm to the Grimmchild, granting the Knight the fourth and final form of the Grimmchild. Defeating Grimm causes the Grimm Troupe to vanish, although Divine will stay behind and upgrade the fragile charms.
However, talking with Brumm in the Deepnest before collecting all three flames and following him to Howling Cliffs to quench the flame of the Nightmare Lantern will cancel the Ritual and banish the Troupe. The Nightmare Lantern is the anchor through which the Grimm Troupe can manifest in the waking world, and destroying this anchor banishes the Troupe back to the nightmare realm.
Godmaster[]
In Godmaster, Grimm is fought in the Pantheon of the Sage as the fifth boss, and later in the Pantheon of Hallownest as the twenty-fifth boss. Nightmare King Grimm is fought in the Pantheon of Hallownest as the antepenultimate boss, regardless of whether or not he was defeated in Dirtmouth or if the Troupe was banished.
A statue of Grimm is found in the second floor in the Hall of Gods. If the player has not defeated him yet, the statue will not show and an empty stand will read: "I await the lighting of the lantern". Otherwise defeating him in the base game will make the statue materialize in a bright light, allowing him to be fought again. Once the player either defeats Nightmare King Grimm in Dirtmouth, banishes the Grimm Troupe, or encounters Nightmare King Grimm in the Pantheon of Hallownest, the player can Dreamnail the statue to fight Nightmare King Grimm.
The Grimm statue reads: "Travelling god of the troupe", while the Nightmare King version reads: "God of nightmares".
Appearance[]
In his regular appearance, Grimm is a slender dark being covered by a multicolored cloak, with a gray exterior and a red interior. His face is pale with red eyes, and underneath his cloak, his body is scaled and red. As the Nightmare King, Grimm's body turns entirely red, with his cloak having a maroon color. His face remains pale and his limbs remain black. In his staggered form, Grimm resembles the Grimmchild's third form, only his eyes are glowing red and the rest of his body is black.
Personality[]
| “ | Masterful! Even a vessel discarded bears fierce strength. Fine craft dear Wyrm, and perfect tool to prolong the heart of Grimm. | „ |
| ~ Grimm's thoughts on the Knight after the player defeats him for the first time. |
Grimm, throughout all of his interactions with the Knight, remains polite and respectful, bowing in shows of respect to them on several occasions. He is dedicated to the part he plays in the Ritual, and has a flair for theatrics, keeping with his persona of the leader of a traveling troupe. He views battle as a form of dancing and in combat shall unleash moves that cause his always nearby audience to cheer.
His respect extends to the Godseeker, for when summoned to do battle with the Knight before her, he shall again bow towards her. Dreamnailing him shows Grimm is in fact delighted to be in Godhome, viewing it as a pleasure to take part in the Godseeker's quest to find the strongest creature in Hallownest.
Gallery[]
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Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Grimm (particularly his Nightmare King form) is based on vampires, most notably Dracula.
- At the beginning of the battle, if Grimm is attacked while he is bowing, he lets out a banshee-like screech and retaliates with his Flame Spawner attack, which he normally only uses when his health reaches 75%, 50%, or 25%.
- The Grimmchild charm is required for both battles excluding rematches in Godhome. The Grimmchild itself, however, cannot participate in any of Grimm's battles, even if equipped in Godhome.
- The audience in the background will only applaud every time Grimm uses his Fire Spawner attack or reforms after being staggered.
- At the beginning of the fight, Grimm will always bow towards the Knight unless he is fought in Godhome, where he will bow towards the Godseeker audience instead. Regardless, attacking him whilst bowing will cause him to screech like in his fight outside of Godhome.
- Grimm's health is determined by the Knight's Nail upgrades, gradually increasing depending on the upgrade level. This also applies to the Grimmkin, the Dream Warriors, Dung Defender, and Hive Knight.
- Nightmare King Grimm is tied with the White Defender as having the second-highest health of any boss in the game, only behind the Radiance.
- Along with the Radiance, Nightmare King Grimm has a full-screen title card. It isn't uncommon for fans to speculate that he is related to the Radiance in some shape or form. Some fan-works even depict him knowing the Radiance personally.
- While uncertain what species Grimm is given all characters in the game are bugs, the most accepted theory is that Grimm is a moth, particularly a Calyptra, or the vampire moth.
- Grimm is a popular subject of memes, jokes and trends amongst the Hollow Knight meme community due to his character.
- One of the most common jokes relating to him is that the fandom nicknames his flamespawner attack as the "Pufferfish Maneuver".
- YouTubers who bow to Grimm in their lets-plays are met with praise for respecting Grimm's bow instead of interrupting him.
- His head-shape has led a few fans to compare him to Bendy from Bendy and the Ink Machine, hence his resemblance.
- As of now, Grimm's battle theme is the only song in the Hollow Knight soundtrack to feature an electric guitar.
- Grimm's theme is one of the most famous and remixed pieces from the Hollow Knight soundtrack, with it usually being the first song remixed by a music YouTuber from the game. Currently, Retrospecter's medley of Grimm's theme and his theme as the Nightmare King has over one million views.
- Nightmare King Grimm will almost always begin the fight with his uppercut attack unless he scurries away from the Knight after teleporting too close to them.
- Since Grimm travels to other kingdoms to collect Nightmare essence, he may make an appearance in the upcoming game: Hollow Knight: Silksong. Even though it is set in another kingdom.
External Links[]
- Grimm on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki.
- Grimm on the Hollow Knight Wiki.
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 Villains
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Hollow Knight The Infected Grimm Troupe Other Hollow Knight: Silksong | ||