Double jump is the Monarch Wings ability that drops after defeating Broken Vessel in Ancient Basin. The mid-air re-jump refreshes on landing, nail-bounce, and wall cling.
Yes, Hollow Knight has a double jump. According to the wiki, the ability is called Monarch Wings and it sits in Ancient Basin directly past the Broken Vessel arena. The pickup is a single chamber west of the boss room, and the Knight gets a permanent mid-air re-jump the moment the wings manifest.
Per the wiki, the double jump refreshes in three ways: landing on solid ground, nail-bouncing off an enemy or breakable object with a Down Slash, or clinging to and re-jumping from a wall using the Mantis Claw. That refresh chain is what turns the simple 2-jump cap into the chained aerial sequences Path of Pain demands.
The wiki notes a 1-frame quirk most players hit at least once: the first frame of the wings animation does not actually lift the Knight. If the second jump fires the instant the Knight clips a spike or hazard on the way down, the damage still lands because the wings have not produced upward movement yet. The fix is to start the second jump 1-2 frames earlier than instinct suggests.
This guide covers the Monarch Wings pickup route, the Broken Vessel boss preparation, the three refresh sources, the 1-frame hazard quirk, and the canonical Path of Pain and Pantheon platforming sequences that depend on the double jump.
Monarch Wings ability that allows one mid-air re-jump after the initial ground jump.
Beat Broken Vessel in Ancient Basin, then walk west to the wings chamber.
Ground landing, nail-bounce, or wall cling via Mantis Claw.
1-frame manifest delay means spikes can still tag the Knight on a late second jump.Pressing the JUMP button while airborne fires a second jump of the same height as the standard ground jump. Per the wiki, the input window opens the instant the Knight leaves the ground and stays open until the Knight lands, bounces, or wall-clings.
According to the wiki, the second jump produces a visible feathered-wings animation behind the Knight that lasts roughly 0.3 seconds. The animation is purely cosmetic after the first frame; the upward force is applied as a single instantaneous burst, not a sustained lift.
The wiki specifies the double jump is NOT separable from the wings cosmetic. Equipping Carefree Melody, Joni's Blessing, or any other charm does not change the jump's height, duration, or feel. The wings are permanent; once unlocked they cannot be turned off and they apply across every save action including Dream Realm boss fights.
Per the wiki, the double jump works inside Dream Realm fights (Failed Champion, Lost Kin, Soul Tyrant, White Defender, Grey Prince Zote) once unlocked in the main save. The Pantheon and Hall of Gods bouts inherit the Knight's unlock state at the moment of entry, so wings stay available across the entire godmaster run.
The wings sit in a small chamber west of the Broken Vessel arena in Ancient Basin. Per the wiki, the chamber is unlocked the moment Broken Vessel falls; no secondary key, charm, or progression flag gates the pickup.
Per the wiki, the Broken Vessel arena is also the source for one Pale Ore piece on a corpse near the arena entrance, plus the Defender's Crest farm route via the Dung Defender alcove. Bundling all three pickups into a single Ancient Basin trip is the speedrun-friendly path.
Broken Vessel is the only required boss between the Knight and the double jump. Per the wiki, the 525-HP fight has 3 phases that cycle as HP drops: Phase 1 ground slams, Phase 2 Infected Balloon spawns, Phase 3 aerial pogo charges.
According to the wiki, the canonical prep loadout is Sharpened Nail (or Channelled if the first Pale Ore is already in hand), Quick Slash for nail speed, Fragile Strength for damage, and Mark of Pride for range. The fight runs cleanly without Lifeblood charms; the arena is small enough that Hiveblood-style mid-air heals do not pay off.
The wiki notes the Infected Balloons are the actual difficulty spike. They pinball off the arena walls and chip Masks while the Knight focuses on the boss. Down Slashing through them is the fastest clear; each balloon pops in one hit.
Monarch Wings refreshes in exactly three ways. Per the wiki, the second jump becomes available again the moment any of these three triggers fires.
| Refresh trigger | How it works | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Ground landing | Any solid surface contact, including spike platforms and crumble platforms before they break | Standard platforming traversal |
| Nail-bounce | Down Slash on an enemy, breakable object, or Shardmite spike spawn | Path of Pain chained-bounce sequences, Mantis Lords ceiling juggle |
| Wall cling + jump | Mantis Claw grab on any wall, then a wall-jump back off | Pantheon Markoth orbiting-shield routing, White Palace vertical shafts |
According to the wiki, the nail-bounce refresh is the highest-skill use of the three. Chained nail-bounces over spike rooms appear throughout Path of Pain and the late Trial of the Fool platforming wave; mastering the rhythm unlocks parts of the game that feel impossible on first sight.
The wiki notes the wall-cling refresh requires Mantis Claw, which is a separate ability picked up in Mantis Village. Saves without Mantis Claw still have 2 jumps total (ground + wings) but lose the wall-jump refresh chain. Mantis Claw + Monarch Wings together is the platforming unlock.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Jumps per air period | 1 second jump after ground jump (2 total) |
| Second jump height | Same as ground jump |
| Animation duration | ~0.3 seconds |
| Manifest delay | 1 frame (hazards still hit during this window) |
| Refresh on landing | Yes |
| Refresh on nail-bounce | Yes (Down Slash on enemy/object) |
| Refresh on wall cling | Yes (requires Mantis Claw) |
| Refresh on Crystal Heart dash | No (Super Dash counts as continuous movement) |
| Works in Dream Realm | Yes (after main-save unlock) |
| Removed by charms | No (Monarch Wings is permanent) |
| Location | Ancient Basin, west of Broken Vessel arena |
Per the wiki, the second jump uses the same physics constants as the ground jump: same maximum height, same air control, same fall acceleration. Players who buffer the second jump too late will fall through it; the buffer window is roughly 0.15 seconds.
Double jump unlocks roughly 40% of Hallownest. Per the wiki, the most demanding double-jump sequences live in White Palace (the saw-blade vertical shafts), Path of Pain (the chained nail-bounce corridors), and Pantheon of Hallownest Markoth (the orbiting shield gap).
According to the wiki, the canonical double-jump build for Path of Pain is Dashmaster for the downward dash, Sharp Shadow for shadow-dash damage, and Quick Focus for between-attempt heals at the sparse bench. In actual play, the Dashmaster + double jump + nail-bounce chain is the only way to clear the final spike-floor corridor without taking a mask hit.
The wiki specifies Markoth at Pantheon 4 is the cleanest demonstration of the double-jump + wall-cling refresh chain. The boss's orbiting shield opens a single-frame gap that requires a wall-jump + immediate Monarch Wings + nail strike sequence; saves without Monarch Wings cannot legally clear the fight.
The double jump ties to Broken Vessel, the Ancient Basin region, Crystal Heart's no-refresh interaction, and the Path of Pain platforming chain. These spokes pick up the threads.
Game data and screenshots adapted from hollowknight.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Team Cherry.