| “ | ...Outcast... Survive... Kill... | „ |
| ~ Traitor Lord |
The Traitor Lord is a supporting antagonist and boss in Hollow Knight. He was once the leader of the Mantis Tribe, but his lust for power that the Infection would give him drove him to turn against his clan.
Biography[]
When the Infection spread through the kingdom of Hallownest, the Mantises of the Mantis Tribe in the Fungal Wastes managed to restrain the spread to their village by training warriors to fight against the plague-induced bugs. Once his daughter had died from mysterious causes, she had been around one of the five great knights, Ze'mer, and died in the Queen's Gardens, his sisters objected to his idea of invading the Queen's Gardens to get revenge on his fallen child.
Their leader, on the other hand, gained a desire from the Infection, believing that it would make him become more powerful; thus, he and his following Mantises embraced the Infection. A battle ensued resulting in the leader's sisters, the Mantis Lords, exiling the Traitor Lord and his men to the Queen's Gardens.
In the Queen's Gardens, the Traitor Lord and his men fought against the guards of the White Lady, including Dryya, one of the Pale King's five great knights, whose corpse can be found outside the White Lady's cocoon surrounded by dead Mantis Traitors.
The Traitor Lord can be found in the room exactly before the White Lady's cocoon, thus he must be defeated in order to access her and obtain her half of the Kingsoul charm. After fighting three Mantis Traitors, Traitor Lord emerges from the ceiling. He has four attacks: dashing towards the Knight, diving from the air, slashing his claws out similarly to the Mantis Lords and Mantis Petras, although they move in zigzags contrast to boomerang-like, and slamming his claws against the ground, creating a massive shockwave that can only be dodged by using the Shade Cloak to safely pass through it.
His attacks are simple, yet hard to dodge due to the small arena and all of his attacks deal heavy damage, two masks per hits. Plus, it is easy to be harmed while focusing on healing due to his fast and aggressive agility. When the Traitor Lord uses his dive and dash attacks, jump over him, get in a downward strike or use Desolate Dive, then quickly dash away to avoid contact damage. Continue attacking and dodging until the Traitor Lord goes down, opening the passageway to the White Lady.
Should the Knight have befriended Cloth after saving her in the Ancient Basin beforehand, she will help out in their battle against the Mantis Traitors and Traitor Lord. When the Traitor Lord takes enough damage, he stabs Cloth with one of his claws, but she will finish off the lord with her by smashing his head in with her club.
Godmaster[]
In Godmaster, the Traitor Lord is fought in the Pantheon of the Knight as the fourth boss, and later in the Pantheon of Hallownest as the thirty-fourth boss.
A statue of him is found in the first 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 defile the gardens of false royalty". Otherwise defeating him in the base game will make the statue materialize in a bright light, allowing him to be fought again.
The Traitor Lord statue reads: "Treacherous god of anger".
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Trivia[]
- Defeating the Traitor Lord unlocks the "Execution" achievement.
- In the room where the Knight fights the Mantis Lords, there is a fourth and broken pillar standing next to the Mantis Lords. This is presumably where the Traitor Lord's throne originally stood.
- Supposedly, the Traitor Lord had a daughter, whose grave can be found in the lower portions of the Queen's Gardens. Whether or not she was infected when she died is uncertain.
- The Grey Mourner's lover was the Traitor Lord's daughter. Judging her dialogue, the mantises and the Traitor Lord despised their relationship due to the Grey Mourner being an outsider.
- While the Infection tends to reduce infected bugs to a feral state, the Traitor Mantises seem to have a working society.
- As of the Lifeblood update, the Traitor Lord emits an aura of Infection from his body.
- Prior to the Lifeblood update, Traitor Lord dealt regular damage and did not use the zigzag claw attack or the shockwave. He is now twice as strong and quicker. On the contrary, Cloth is more accurate in damaging the Traitor Lord.
- In the Hall of Gods area in Godhome, if the Traitor Lord had not been defeated beforehand, the tablet where his statue would stand reads "I defile the gardens of false royalty." This may imply that the Traitor Lord attacked the Queen's Gardens because he saw the White Lady as not the rightful Queen of Hallownest, possibly wanting to usurp her and take her place.
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 Villains
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Hollow Knight The Infected Other Hollow Knight: Silksong | ||