The Pale King - Blog Posts

Oh i can’t stop thinking about...

lyrics: Wolf Colony - Holy

i cannot keep this jailed in my head any longer okay. I firmly believe the hollow knight has never and will never use a contraction in their life and what I mean by that:

like Ghost? absolutely. despite their very stoic nature they're out here spiting their 'purpose' as a empty vessel by speaking (however they might) in the most slurred, disjointed, vulgar way they can manage and they take great delight in it.

But I just KNOW in my heart of hearts that Hollow is the most pretentious, archaic guy out there. once you get past all the trauma and horror and pain and their siblings finally pull a coherent sentence out of them--like Ghost and Hornet are expecting their questions of "how do you feel what do you want" answered with, like, "I'm sort of fine I just want to rest" NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Hollow is going to hit them with thee thou and thy, okay. They were "raised" (loose!! Loose term, pale king my reluctant beloved) by an ancient wyrm-turned-king, okay. "Are you okay" is going to get the answer of "thy fears art wasted, siblings mine, on a vessel so impure and broken as I."

OKAY 😭 okay? I just need anyone to feel me. Like do you feel me? Hollow deserves to be a little pretentious. I want to read it so bad

This comment will always live in my head rent free. Sometimes you just gotta summon a demon clown with a cowbell to fix the problems you caused. Behold the handmade gif created to honor it

I have once again made some art and you must gaze upon it in awe

Herrah the Beast has accepted the role as one of the Dreamers, but only under one condition: The Pale King is to bear a child with her. Desperate to get the final Dreamer in his plans, the King accepts, but quickly finds that this deal would entail much more than he initially anticipated.

Hey gang! I've finally finished my Fanfic~! Come check it out if you want to see my take on this event in Hallownest history!

The Pale King and The Radiance have so many parallels oh my God-

You don't get it the more I think about it the more these two are literally the same goddamn character in different circumstances and I'm about to list the reasons I know this.

1. Light

Ok let's get the obvious out of the way. Both the Pale King and The Radiance are described as "a light" by the seer, which already implies a connection. (Terms like The Old Light for Radiance and Beacon for Pale King allude to this as well) This could be a physical thing, but it also alludes to the type of power these two hold: both of them are capable of affecting bugs' consciousness.

The Pale King gave them sentience and The Radiance made the Infection. It's unknown whether the Moth Tribe had sentience before the Pale King but considering they were able to harness Essence for themselves it seems likely. Either way the Radiance probably gave them some kind of consciousness before the Pale King showed up.

2. "No Cost Too Great"

Ok so PK may have been the one to say the famous line but it 100% applies to The Radiance as well. Her one motivation is to be remembered, presumably out of self-preservation. To accomplish this she entered bugs' dreams and placed them under a hivemind. Not something we'd call ethical, but hey, neither is killing thousands of your own children to find one with no mind and seal it in a temple.

If we interpret Pale King's intentions as wanting to preserve his kingdom as opposed to keeping more bugs from being infected then he also falls into a similar mentality.

Hollow Knight's biggest theme in general is "all things must come to an end eventually", and The Radiance and the Pale King both cause suffering trying to counter that. One wanting to preserve her memory, the other his kingdom.

3. Overanalyzing their designs

The fuckin horn thingies

Both of these headpieces look like crowns for obvious reasons, but The Radiance's "crown" is a lot smaller, alluding to her status as a fallen deity. (This doesn't mean anything in-universe since thanks to the statue in Crystal Peaks we know she always looked like this, but it's an interesting design choice)

If you wanna look deeper the colors between their eyes and face are inverted

PK gives bugs a mind. Radiance takes it away. They have the same goal and the same power but do the exact opposite. So while PK has a lighter face and darker eyes Radi has a darker face and lighter eyes. This is something they share with the bugs whose minds they've altered; conscious bugs have dark eyes while infected bugs have orange pupils.

I know these details were probably not that deep upon conception but on the off chance they were I wanted to bring them up because they cool.

Anyway in conclusion we have

Similar mind powers

Similar symbolism

Similar desires

Similar "ends justify the means" mentality

We don't get much in the way of actual characterization since we only get like 4 lines out of each of them but their motives and actions seem too similar to not notice.

Kinda just decided that because the characters are the main focus of the picture that since they're finished I would just make a quick background and share it. Then when the background is actually finished I'll post the background along with the characters, cuz the background is gonna be one hell of a pain to finish ;-;

HI YALL I DIED FOR A SECOND THERE BUT IM bACK AND I UH YEAH MADE A THING

OH MY GOSH HES GAY

"...For King Beloved.." -Lurien

I dont know what I'm doing, so heres something...

Also cats out the bag that I like Grimm x PK, so uh, yeah, roast me if you wanna cuz I cant think of a reason I like it atm, but I also absolutely love PK x WL and I like that Lurien is his biggest simp lol. So yeah. Uh.

This is stupid, this is all stupid. I wanna leave, it's all so complicated.

A random fact about me (to get to know me better or something)

Is that I've dawn the pale king 72 times but they're all stupid doodles that I'll never post anywhere because they're all stupid and I hate him.

I've only been in the fandom for 3 and a half months please spare me

Here is a silly bug man. Hes sad ig.

This is an older design i have for him, and I haven't drawn his newer design digitally yet, so he kinda just looks weird.

this drawing did not come forth easy, but i am glad to see it done!- speaking of, this drawing is for the fic learning again to live with scars by @resha04,

progress pics in the read more.

Hey goobers, wrote a fic on my depressed little god king!!!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63085603

twitter trend! i wish he wasn't so addictive to draw lol

best viewed in light mode! here's the gridded version. i changed the order because it looked weird to see only a fourth of the image in the preview

What other ideas did you also have for the Hollow Knight Modern AU?

I have… a lot. (For context: I originally posted about my Hollow Knight Modern AU here). I tried to type some things out and then tumblr erased it, so instead you get my unorganized ramblings that I have on my notes app. (Under the cut so not everyone has to read them). Essentially, Pale Royal (the Pale King) is the mayor of the oddball town of Hallownest and the somewhat negligent father of five chaotic children.

Character names:

Pale Royal (= The Pale King)

Blanca Royal (White Lady) 

Hollis Royal (The Hollow Knight/Pure Vessel)

Kinsey Royal (Broken Vessel/Lost Kin)

Hornet Weaver (Hornet- her mom insisted she should have the Weaver name)

Herrah Weaver (Herrah the Beast)

Greene Royal (Greenpath vessel)

Knight "Ghost" Royal (The Knight/Ghost/player character)

Grimm Nightmare Sr. (Troupe Master/Nightmare King Grimm)

Grimm Nightmare Jr. (Grimmchild)

Dr. Sophia Monomon (Monomon the Teacher, I chose the name Sophia because it means wisdom or knowledge)

Quirrel Monomon (Quirrel, Monomon's adopted son)

Morningstar Claw (Mantis Lord)

Lance Claw (Mantis Lord)

Arrow Claw (Mantis Lord)

Mace Claw (Traitor Lord) 

Bretta Scriber (Bretta)

Tiso Shieldsmith (Tiso)

Sybil Erebis (Seer)

Pale and Blanca have an open relationship - Blanca and Herrah get along fine and Pale having a child with Herrah wasn’t a problem for Blanca. Blanca is also bisexual and in a relationship with Dryya, the Hallownest Chief of Police. 

Tween Hornet: What are you talking about I have no interest in girly things I like ninjas and swords! *hides princess book under the bed* 

Ghost: second grade Force of Chaos

Grimmchild/Grimm Jr.: Second grade arsonist and Ghost's best friend/accomplice 

Pale King and White Lady: parenting is easy! Just let the kids figure it out for themselves! 

Teenage/Young adult Hollow Knight: the only responsible person in the household. Is slowly going insane taking care of four younger siblings. 

Troupe Master Grimm/Grimm Sr.: Similar parenting philosophy to PK and WL. Is *fabulous* Actively encourages his son to be a ball of chaos. 

Herrah: Like a crazy cat lady but with spiders. Her home is not a place for the faint of heart. 

Teenage Mantis Lords: Sisters Morningstar, Lance, and Arrow. Leaders of the student-run Fencing Club which is really just a veneer for a bunch of kids who want to be TOUGH WARRIORS! Members include Hornet and Cloth. 

Traitor Lord: Mantis sisters’ older brother Mace. A deadbeat high school dropout who makes a living as a drug dealer. The family doesn't talk about him. 

Lance: "Yes I'm a girl and anyone else who'd like to comment gets STABBED!" 

People know better than to mess with these kids. 

When Grimm gets a call from the school: "Oh? My son set a fire in the boys' bathroom, you say? Did he tell you why? Because toilet paper is very flammable, he said? Oh well, kids will be kids, it sounds very much like something I would have done at his age... Suspended? Surely that's a little harsh? With all due respect, I think this behavior is teaching him important life skills! Surely that should be more acceptable in a school?" 

I'm imagining Grimm Jr. asking Ghost to run away and join the circus with him 😆😆😆

"You'd be a great act, Ghost! I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind having another kid! You could be an acrobat or a clown or a mime... (at this point Ghost gives him a look).... okay, maybe not a mime."

The town of Hallownest is technically their "hometown," but the Nightmares travel. Grimm Sr. just drops his kid off at the local public school whenever he's too busy to take care of him, never mind whether or not he's actually enrolled. Cue a lot of teachers trying to figure out where the hell this kid came from. How much the kid is actually learning, missing school so often and being dropped in random classes is... questionable, but everything is fine! The Hallownest school system has already given up. Grimm Jr. really only goes to school because Dad is too busy to deal with him full time 😆

He's doing his best to just push his kid off on a stranger like in-game 😆

Ghost also often begs for Grimm to come sleep over, which of course causes more chaos than usual in the Royal household. Poor Hollis, trying to maintain some semblance of order. 

Bretta is already writing fanfic. Ghost once saves her from a bully by dropping onto him from a tree, at which point Bretta decides she’s in love. Then Bretta mentions this to Greene. Bretta: “Oh, is he your brother? He’s so hot! 😍😍” Greene: “… sibling. And they’re seven.” Bretta: “Oh… so that’s why he’s… they’re… so short….” *is mortified*

Bretta later develops a crush on Hollis and writes fan fiction about them.

Grimm just drops off his kid at the Royal house with no notice and no indication of how long he'll be gone 😆

The whole Royal family is autistic in some fashion, because look at them. Pale is an inventor in his spare time and is always thinking about how to optimize infrastructure in the town of Hallownest. He also works late and forgets to eat or sleep when he's hyperfocused. Blanca (White Lady) spends more time with her garden and her large variety of houseplants than with her children, and everything has to be clean and Just So or she'll make a fuss. She always adjusts her children's and stepdaughter's clothing before they leave the house, much to Ghost's and Hornet's chagrin.

Hollis couldn't break a rule to save their life and comes off as stiff and robotic when trying to interact with people. Their parents are proud of the former and entirely oblivious to the latter. 

Kinsey is sensory-sensitive and awkward. Loud noises, bright lights, and busy rooms drive them crazy. This does not stop them from being kind of an extrovert or from getting into trouble with Hornet. 

Hornet, for her part, has some sensory issues with clothing (and hates the fancy things her stepmother tries to shove her into with a passion) and speaks in a very blunt but also overly archaic/wordy manner (if you've seen her dialogue in game you'll know what I'm talking about). She has little interest in socializing with people unless a) they're her mom or siblings, b) she's causing trouble, and/ or c) it's something violence-related. 

Greene takes after their mom with their love of plants. They also love animals and are better with animals than people. They're super shy and awkward lol

Ghost is well, Ghost. They often struggle to speak/experience speech loss and have a raging case of ADHD in addition to the autism, making them constantly chasing after new and interesting things, unwilling and unable to pay attention unless they're interested, and entirely oblivious to social norms. In other words, they're hell to deal with 😆

Quirrel is Miss Monomon's adopted son and a giant nerd. He's 14 and a sophomore in high school because he skipped a grade as a kid. He has an I ❤️ isopods (group including pill bugs) pin on his backpack and is really into "bugs" and other invertebrates. 

Hollis, nicknamed "Holly" by their siblings, is Very Tall (like 6 foot 5 or something), rather gangly and skinny, and AMAB (in part to make their height more plausible lol). At first they look kinda intimidating but they wouldn't hurt a fly, and are just about the quietest, shyest person ever, with one exception: if you hurt their siblings, you incur their wrath. Other than that they will take anything that's thrown at them - bullying, name-calling, way too many home responsibilities for a teenager, etc. - with a stoic front. They have just about no self-esteem and have a bad case of "awkward tall person syndrome," always hunching over and trying not to stand out despite the fact that they are literally head and shoulders above their classmates. Like all their siblings they have white hair (which they keep long), pale skin and very dark eyes. 

Blanca (the White Lady) is an albino, thus the white skin, white hair, and very light blue eyes. She's also something of a Karen and acts like being an albino makes her an oppressed minority or something.

She also never leaves the house without makeup.

Tiso Shieldsmith is Hollis's classmate and maybe-friend who moved to Hallownest last year. He's kind of an idiot teenage boy and he calls Hollis "Stick Bug" thanks to their stick-bug-esque physique. He's, obviously, in the martial arts and fencing club, and he's kind of trying to be a tough jock but not always succeeding. I love the way he interacts with Hollis: 

"Yo, Stick Bug, my man!  I mean, my non-binary guy... I mean, uh...whatever. How are you doing, pal?" 

*Hollis stares at him in an expressionless way as Tiso rambles.* 

Hollis always refers to their parents as Mother and Father instead of just saying "Mom" or "Dad." It's out of respect mainly, and also because Blanca tends to like everything fancy. The outfit I drew Hollis in is what they normally wear to school, at their mother's request XD

Radiance is a local celebrity with a cult-like fan base. Miss Sybil (Seer) is the school's history teacher and the students are shocked when they discover she's an intense Radiance fan. “Radiance” is a stage name and she's Grimm's cousin (a relationship neither of them particularly care to mention most of the time). Pale hates her for reasons unknown, to the point where Pale has tried to pass all kinds of town restrictions on shows and circuses specifically because of Grimm and Radiance. Grimm either ignores the anti-circus ordinances or finds loopholes, and protesters stormed the town hall at the restrictions affecting the Radiance, enough that Pale had to undo them. 

Grimm has some level of ability to break the law in Hallownest in part because the police in Hallownest don't want to deal with him either (lol) and in part because Blanca has used her influence and her relationship with the Chief of Police, Dryya, to discourage the Hallownest Police Department from prosecuting him. “Oh, Mr. Nightmare can’t be in jail, his son is my youngest’s best friend, and the poor man is a single father. I can’t imagine what that would do to poor Grimm Junior. Not to mention I’ve heard that Radiance is actually a relative of his… do you want her fans storming the police department?” (This is, of course, behind her husband’s back.) 

Grimm is also very good at finding loopholes, twisting people's words, and generally being a pain in the arse to anyone who has issues with him. 

Herrah has dark skin and a fat but very muscular figure. Usually around Hornet and the Royal kids she's all motherly and sweet, but when dealing with people she doesn't like she's intimidating AF. 

Obviously the Royal family is white af because... a) they're entitled jerks, at least to a degree and b) look at them. 

Hornet has brown/light brown skin but still has the white-blond hair and almost-black irises that run in Dad's side of the family. She gets strangers trying not to stare occasionally, but at least she isn't so pale she could be mistaken for a corpse XD

In fact I imagine that several of the characters often get strangers trying not to stare- Hollis and Grimm Jr. come to mind.

Grimm has dressed his son in red and black since he was a baby; it’s not every day you see an 8-year old dressed in a fancy black and red suit with a cape and makeup that looks like a cross between "vampire," "emo," and "circus." 

Tiso: Yo, Stick Bug! What's with the dress? You look like you're going to prom or something! 

[Hollis is wearing a white frilly dress that's too long to be anything other than one their mom ordered specially made, along with a fancy necklace and earrings]

Hollis: Mother has tea with her gardeners' club this afternoon and would like to show me off to all her gardening friends (said in a completely calm tone, even with a slight smile) 

Tiso: "Show you off?!?” You say it like you're her favorite doll instead of her kid! Are you expected to do anything at her event? That sure doesn't look like gardening clothes. Your mom is definitely being weird, you sure you're okay with this? 

Hollis: Of course. It means Mother is proud of me. 

Hollis has issues.

They're shy and desperate for approval and their parents are (somewhat unintentionally) walking all over them. They need love and support that's not tying their value to being "perfect." Luckily, their siblings don't want Perfect Obedient Hollis, they want the real, happy them.