#mantis traitor

[mousathe14]

What is the point of having Cloth for the Traitor Mantis fight if they’re too slow to hit anything and don’t draw aggro?

Also I kind of hate that no matter where I go or what order I go in or what charms I have or how much health I have, nearly every boss fight is the hardest boss fight. I don’t feel like I’m progressing, I kind of feel like I’m running in circles.

Like Dark Souls.

But unlike Dark Souls only there’s at least fun gameplay to be had in-between boss fights rather than the game itself feeling like running in circles.

Btw I haven’t posted this because I’ve won, I’m still putting up with the fight.

In fact, what’s also frustrating is that the challenge can’t just be the fight. The challenge is also having to manage getting through all the spike infested halls to get to the traitor in the first place and it’s so easy to make a mistake and now you don’t have enough health for the boss fight or enough soul to heal yourself for the fight or during the fight or whatever.

Like, why have benches so far away with all this stuff in-between? What’s the purpose of all this other than attempting to instill a deep abiding hatred for an otherwise fun game?

[nooooough]

Traitor

[hollow-knight-fights]

Round 1

[forrksie]

Long due, but someeee tiiimeeee agoooo we were commissioned on Traitor Lord by Sunspeir_art on Insta 😊 took me a whioe to post him, haha 😅

[eliduck]

The Traitors' Child

boom shakalaka

ref

[koumouby]

What if the Traitor Lord had been murdered during his plot by the other lords, but the Child has spared?

[grapejuicedragoon]

MANTIS POSTING

testing expressions n stuff they are constantly rotating in my brain

[bisaactear]

traitor lord my love 💞💞💞

[aridis]

Oof-

[nonuggetshere]

New AU just dropped

[traitor-lord]

game: gives me a character

me: ok! *draws the character completely different*

side note, should i include transcripts of what i write in my art? is my handwriting legible? lol

[littlebittyhollowbugs]

Mantis lords headcanons~

First things first, the mantis lords names! We have..

Oriana (eldest)

Siara (eldest middle)

Biana (youngest middle)

Timono (youngest)

And additionally~

Tulian (Traitors child)

Mia (Traitor Lord's wife)

The mantis lords~

The sisters are triplets all a few years older than their brother.

Oriana is the eldest, the leader of the four. She is practical and stern, very composed and calculating. She is the face of the mantis lord council and tribe.

Siara is a bit more relaxed than.. all of her siblings. Probably the most open-minded and least stubborn. She is usually the one sent beyond the tribe to deal with outside affairs.

Biana is quiet and a bit secretive. More of a follower than the others. She enjoys working on traps, weapons, and leads the technological advancements within the tribe.

Timono was of lower rank than the other Lord's. (To gain higher rank one must prove to be as strong of a warrior as the elder Lord's. Something he, despite years of effort, had never proven.) Still Timono was a fierce warrior, who wanted more than anything to finally grant his tribe freedom from Hallownest.

(In case anyone missed this bit of lore- The pale king made a deal with the tribe that they must keep the spiders of Deepnest from gaining access into his kingdom and in turn allowed them to keep all their territory. The mantis lords all agreed though they still begrudged Hallownest and it's rulers. None more so than the eventual Traitor lord.) He wanted to put a permanent end to the war with Deepnest and their contract with Hallownest.

It was always the tribes intent to expand their territory into the West, And after the queen took all of the territory that would become queen's garden, while the mantises fought endlessly to keep the small area of land they had, Lord Timono became especially intent on standing against Hallownest.

Timono was angry, optimistic, and overzealous. He genuinely wanted what was best for his people, And would go to any lengths to achieve that. His more pessimistic and calculating sisters, while in agreement with his motivations, did not agree with his plans for action.

They knew they did not stand a chance taking up arms against Hallownest. He was angry with them, believing them to be cowards. They would very often butt heads over this, and Timono was of course always outnumbered by his sisters so his plans were never put into action.

That is until he began a rebellion against them. Another important aspect of his character, is that he was an excellent leader and motivator. He was the most extroverted of the four by far, incredibly passionate and optimistic as I've said, and after ascending to the rank of lord, he easily gained the favor of a large portion of the tribe.

Traitor Lord's family~

He was married to a war leader, named Mia. Mia had spent almost all her life fighting and dreamt of a peaceful era for the tribe. The two of them bonded over their dreams and ideals.

His wife died shortly after their child was born. (She died in battle against Deepnest.)

Tulian, the name that we've given the traitor's child, was similar to both parents, an idealist who longed for a better future, though much more gentle and patient than her father, And of course eventually becoming much more sympathetic toward Hallownest. Coming to believe that they should find a more peaceful end to the conflict between the lands. Timono loved his child more than anything, and was extremely protective of her, Though her sympathy toward Hallownest did create a rift between them. (The more complex the parent-child relationship, the more obsessed we become, or so go the written legends)

The rebellion and the infection~

Now.. exactly how this plays out in our story, may not be exactly what was implied in game and I acknowledge that. The Hunter's notes about the traitor lord seem to imply that he took in the infection and was then banished from the tribe. But in the backstory we've written it happens the other way around. (Our excuse is that the hunter probably isn't aware of the exact details of the mantis tribes affairs haha)

Anyway this made more sense to our characters,

Basically eventually after attempting for years to get his sisters to agree to expanding their territory into the garden, Timono finally decided to take matters into his own hands and lead a rebellion against his sisters. (He was hopeful that if the tribe would strike during the spread of the infection when their enemy was most vulnerable, they would be able to conquer. his sisters did not agree, civil conflict ensues) He had many followers and the conflict was devastating to the tribe.

He and his followers were defeated and driven from the village. They were branded traitors, and were left to fight for the garden without any support.

Now Tulian wanted to try and negotiate a peaceful resolution with the Queen. This attempt did not end well. Upon being refused his demands the traitor lord lead an attack against the queen, and in the conflict Tulian was killed.

The traitor lord and his warriors retreated into the lower garden, now more devasted and desperate than ever before.

The traitor lord had heard much about the infection over the years. He knew that it was dangerous, but that it granted any bug greater strength, At the cost of their minds. He believed that, as mantises (higher minded beings) that the infection would not be as devastating to their minds as to the common bug. That they would be able to attain some control, And it would be worth it to obtain that strength.

He was also incredibly desperate, and grieving the loss of the last of his family. He believed there was no other option. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides, Hallownest, Deepnest, even their own tribe. So he lead all of his followers in taking in the infection to gain the power of the radiance.

And from there on things are pretty self explanatory..

The future of the mantis tribe~

In our new hallownest happy ending au, the lands of hallownest are all brought together in rebuilding the kingdom and the mantis tribe does get to expand. There are eventually three main villages. The capitol village in the fungal waste, The battleground village in what was once north eastern deepest, And the garden village in what was once northern Queen's garden. As well as roadways between them. Each village is ruled by one of the mantis lords.

A little extra stuff about the whole mantis family and their relationships with each other~

The sisters are all incredibly close, and have been since birth. Siara and Biana are especially in sync with one another in most areas.

They did love their brother, though there has always been some distance between them and him. He looked up to them greatly in his youth and wanted more than anything to be treated equally with them. Something, he felt, never came to be. (The more dramatic the sibling relationship the more obsessed we become, or so go the written legends)

He was closest with Biana out of the three. But her eagerness to please her sisters stood between her siding with him on most matters.

The Lords also all deeply cared for Tulian. Timono was protective, but his sisters were all equally protective aunts. This made the banishment of the traitors all the more devastating to them.

They held much respect for the sister they gained through their brother's marriage as well. A most honorable defender of the tribe, who had been involved in many battles.

Timono loved his wife dearly of course. She was as inspiring to him as he was to her. (The more in love the married couple are with each other, the more obsessed we become, or so go th-)

And Tulian did not get much of chance to know her mother, but was told very many inspiring tales.

This is just the basics and I'll probably add more to it later. We have lots of smaller headcanons about this family as well.

[r0ulotte]

New set of stickers is now available on my Redbubble 🔴

[trialserrors]

anyway. what if the traitor lord hungered for further strength in hopes of at last trumping deepnest? and what if the infection distracted him, inspired him to elsewhere? what then

and if the traitors child had the focus to fall in love, and pursue that love, was she infected at all? was she holding it back? did she die to that endeavors failure? head in hands

[hollow-knight-fights]

Hollow Knight Fight Round 1, Wave 4

Submit your propaganda here or in the tags/comments/reblogs!

[pippatis]

All right, I've been taking a break long enough, it's time to start working on the next figure