Players will run into a myriad of interesting characters along their journey through Hollow Knight. Some are curious merchants, others are hardy warriors, and many are simply surviving in the remains of a once-great kingdom. A recurring NPC that players can interact with is Zote; a traveler who came to Hallownest in search of fame and glory.
Equipped with his trusty Nail, Life Ender, the self-proclaimed Zote the Mighty can often be found in precarious situations where he will insist that he had things under control. Although Hollow Knight doesn’t overtly present players with the element of choice, their first encounter with Zote will demonstrate that the player has more agency in some scenarios. Deciding to leave Zote behind will have a different outcome than saving him, but which should players choose?
Neglect
Players can first find Zote in Greenpath along the route leading to the Howling Cliffs, northeast of Hornet’s arena. Zote will be in the jaws of a Vengefly King, and players can choose whether or not to intervene.
If players decide not to save Zote here before they obtain the Mantis Claw from the Mantis Village, he will die. Although this will lock any further progression of Zote’s storyline, players will be rewarded with the Neglect achievement for leaving him behind.
Rivalry
Choosing to save Zote in Greenpath will initiate a mini-boss encounter with the Vengefly King. After defeating it, players can then interact with Zote, who will complain that the player got in his way. From this point on, players will now be able to meet Zote in different areas across Hallownest. He will next appear in Dirtmouth and in a corridor in the City of Tears, leading to the city storerooms, where players can speak to him again.
Following these interactions, players will next come upon Zote in another precarious situation. Presumably captured by the inhabitants, Zote can be found bound by spiderwebs in a central area of Deepnest. Zote will signal his position to players by grumbling, which will become louder as they approach his location. Unlike in Greenpath, Zote cannot die in Deepnest, but it is advised to save him here as it will lead to another special encounter and an achievement.
Players will be able to see Zote struggling against the webs in a closed-off area that cannot be accessed. Instead, players should head up from here into a different room and walk towards the left before dropping down into another area. The exit to this room will be locked until players defeat a group of Corpse Creepers, and players can then proceed to save a disgruntled Zote.
If players save Zote both times, he will then be captured and taken to the Colosseum of Fools where he can be spoken to again in the resting area. Because Zote is now present at the Colosseum, he will become the final encounter for players that undertake the Trial of the Warrior. Unfortunately for the mighty fighter, Zote’s Nail does not deal any damage, and players must simply continue to attack him until the “battle” is over. Players will be awarded the Rivalry achievement for defeating Zote in the Colosseum of Fools.
After his defeat, Zote will make his way back to Dirtmouth, with a souvenir from the Colosseum that he keeps by his side as he regales others with stories of his heroism and valor. One such audience member is Bretta, who the player can save in the Fungal Wastes after obtaining the Mantis Claw. Bretta becomes infatuated with Zote, channeling her love by making dolls of him and writing fanfiction.
After defeating Zote in the Colosseum and earning the Monarch Wings, a secret room in Bretta’s home in Dirtmouth will be revealed. Players must use the Dream Nail on a statue in this room to access a secret boss with Grey Prince Zote. Unlike the real Zote, this Dream variant of the warrior is a projection of Bretta’s affections for him and will fight to the death to protect his queen. Players will be awarded the Dark Romance achievement for defeating Grey Prince Zote.
Godhome
Zote can be encountered again as part of the Godmaster expansion, but not in the way that players may expect. To unlock Godhome, players must use a Simple Key on the Godseeker’s cocoon in the Junk Pit, found in the Royal Waterways.
If players saved Zote in Greenpath and defeated his Dream variant after discovering Bretta’s secret room, Grey Prince Zote will appear again as part of the Pantheon of the Sage. However, it is possible to complete this Pantheon without doing either of these things for players that decided not to pursue Zote’s storyline.
Unlike the Pantheon of the Sage, there is a hidden chamber in the Hall of Gods that is automatically unlocked after players enter Godhome. Players can access the hidden room by going to the second level of the Hall of Gods and heading to the far right. Above will be a breakable ceiling that players can use Nail attacks or Howling Wraiths/Abyss Shriek to shatter, which leads up to the secret room. To reach it, players must use the Crystal Heart to dash from the right wall and double jump to get in. They'll then need to break a wall on the left to make way for a statue of a familiar figure to enter.
Challenging the statue will lead to a special fight against Zote, who will appear much as he did in the Colosseum of Fools, but defeating him this time will trigger the Eternal Ordeal. Waves of Zotelings will spawn and a counter will appear at the bottom left of the screen, keeping track of how many Zotelings the player is able to dispatch before dying.
If players defeat 57 Zotelings, one for each of Zote’s Precepts, a new main menu style will be unlocked where Zote will be singing along to the theme, with his statue proudly brandishing Life Ender in the background.
Hollow Knight is available on PC, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.