A 47-boss progression list covering main-story gates, optional fights, Warrior Dreams, dream variants, and every Pantheon-eligible DLC entry.
Per the wiki, "counting the variations, there are 47 bosses in the game. That number includes one joke boss that cannot damage the Knight (Zote), but excludes the two that are never actually fought." Roughly 10 of those are required for the standard main-story path; the rest are optional, dream-only, or DLC.
According to the wiki, "the Knight may have to defeat a Boss to access a new area, acquire an item, complete a quest, or simply further the main story of the game." The required ones are the gates that lead from Forgotten Crossroads to the Black Egg Temple; the optional ones are charm, ability, and lore rewards.
The wiki specifies that "almost all the boss fights in the game have multiple variations in the Hall of Gods, including alternate arenas that change the nature of a fight, or special challenges such as beating a boss without taking a hit." The Hall of Gods version and the Pantheon version of the same boss are often tuned differently.
This guide orders every boss by where the Knight naturally encounters them on a story run, flags the required vs optional gates, threads the Dream Nail rematch chain (Failed Champion, Lost Kin, Soul Tyrant, White Defender), and finishes with the DLC additions including Grimm, Pure Vessel, and the Absolute Radiance capstone.
False Knight in Forgotten Crossroads; the canonical story-start fight. The Hollow Knight in the Black Egg Temple after all three Dreamers fall.
The Radiance fought via Void Heart in the same Black Egg fight.
Pure Vessel + Absolute Radiance in the Godmaster DLC Pantheons.The 47-boss total is the key framing. Per the wiki, "counting the variations, there are 47 bosses in the game. That number includes one joke boss that cannot damage the Knight (Zote), but excludes the two that are never actually fought." The split breaks roughly into main-story gates, optional regional bosses, Warrior Dreams, and DLC additions.
According to the wiki, the bosses that gate the main story are: False Knight, Hornet Protector, the Mantis Lords (optional but rewards passage), Soul Master, Crystal Guardian, Broken Vessel, Watcher Knights, Uumuu, and the three Dreamers indirectly through their guardians, plus the Hollow Knight as the final boss. Without Void Heart, the run ends there.
The wiki specifies that "some bosses also make a second appearance in the Colosseum of Fools." The Colosseum trials (Conqueror, Warrior, Fool) recycle Massive Moss Charger, Zote, Oblobbles, God Tamer, and a half-dozen other arenas. Players who skip the Colosseum miss roughly five bosses worth of Hunter's Journal entries.
The canonical first-pass order from Forgotten Crossroads through the Black Egg Temple runs through these fights. Each row marks whether the boss is strictly required for the standard ending.
| Order | Boss | Region | Gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | False Knight | Forgotten Crossroads | Story (Mask Shard) |
| 2 | Gruz Mother | Forgotten Crossroads | Optional |
| 3 | Vengefly King | Greenpath path | Optional |
| 4 | Hornet Protector | Greenpath | Story (Mothwing Cloak) |
| 5 | Moss Knight / Massive Moss Charger | Greenpath | Optional |
| 6 | Mantis Lords | Mantis Village | Soft-required (Deepnest) |
| 7 | Soul Master | City of Tears | Story (Desolate Dive) |
| 8 | Crystal Guardian | Crystal Peak | Soft-required (Crystal Heart) |
| 9 | Dung Defender | Royal Waterways | Optional |
| 10 | Broken Vessel | Ancient Basin | Story (Monarch Wings) |
| 11 | Watcher Knights | City of Tears | Story (Lurien) |
| 12 | Uumuu | Fog Canyon | Story (Monomon) |
| 13 | Herrah Dreamer gate | Deepnest | Story (third Dreamer) |
| 14 | The Hollow Knight | Temple of the Black Egg | Standard ending |
| 15 | The Radiance | Black Egg Dream | Dream No More ending |
According to the wiki, the order above is the natural progression order, not a hard requirement. Speedrunners commonly skip Crystal Guardian, the Dung Defender, and even the Mantis Lords; completionist runs add the optional fights between the story gates.
Per the wiki, the True Ending (Embrace the Void or Dream No More) requires the Void Heart Charm, which is obtained inside the Abyss. The Hollow Knight fight in the Black Egg ends the run without Void Heart; the Radiance fight only opens after Void Heart is equipped. In actual play, this means the Knight beats the Hollow Knight twice on most files: once without Void Heart for the standard ending, once with Void Heart for the Radiance.
Optional bosses sit off the critical path but reward Masks, Charms, or Hunter's Journal completion. Per the wiki, "the Knight may have to defeat a Boss to access a new area, acquire an item, complete a quest, or simply further the main story of the game." The "acquire an item or complete a quest" branch covers most of the optional roster.
The wiki specifies that the Colosseum of Fools recycles many of these in its trials. Trial of the Warrior is the second trial and locks in Oblobbles plus Zote as the gate; Trial of the Fool is the third and ends with God Tamer for the achievement.
Warrior Dreams are dream-only fights against fallen warriors' spirits. Per the wiki, each grants Essence for the Awoken Dream Nail upgrade chain and lore from a former Hallownest figure. The five Warrior Dreams are:
According to the wiki, these are entirely separate from Dream Boss variants like Lost Kin and Failed Champion. Warrior Dreams require the standard Dream Nail only; the Dream Boss variants require the Awoken Dream Nail upgrade.
Dream Boss variants are tougher rematches against main-game bosses, accessed by Dream Nailing the boss corpse or memorial. Per the wiki, the canonical four are tied to the Awoken Dream Nail completion pass:
The wiki notes the rematch yields 300-400 Essence per kill, making them the highest yields outside the Warrior Dreams. Players going for Awoken Dream Nail or 112% completion need all four variants on the kill list.
Three DLC expansions added the highest-difficulty tier of Hollow Knight bosses, all optional with respect to the standard ending but required for 112% completion.
Per the wiki, "Pantheon of Hallownest chains every prior fight" across the four prior Pantheons, ending with Absolute Radiance as the 47th consecutive boss. It is the hardest sequence in the game and the only way to see the Godmaster ending cutscene.
Boss order ties to the Dream Nail completion pass, the Pantheon chain, and the ending tree. 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.