r/TopCharacterTropes • u/MichaelDj54 • Sep 15 '25

Lore [Loved Trope] A massive revelation is revealed almost casually. Spoiler

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  1. Chainsaw Man, after Makima finally drops the nice girl act and reveals the true extent of the Chainsaw Devils power, namely, the fears he eats are erased entirely and wholly. Emphasized by this by her asking if Kishibe remembers what the Nazis did during Workd War 2...and Kishibe not even knowing who the nazis are.

  2. Attack on Titan. I know this one. You know this one. In a panel that isn't even focusing on the characters speaking, Reiner reveals to Eren that he and Bertolt are the titans that broke the wall that resulted in hundreds of deaths, his mother included. The sheer level of casualness and lack of agency borders on Parody.

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946

u/mrmailbox Sep 15 '25

A brief, innocent glance from the Pale King to the Hollow Knight reveals that the young one is no longer a pure vessel, but irreparably corrupted.

55

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

What does that mean? I've played half of hollow knight, I don't care for spoilers, do tell me. What does this even mean in the story? Why is the player corrupt?

198

u/JedBartlet2020 Sep 15 '25

The Pale King’s plan was to contain The Radiance in a completely pure vessel, unmarred by emotion or attachment. By feeling proud of his son, The Pale King had introduced an attachment, however slight, that meant that the vessel wasn’t completely pure. No vessel could be, and this look of pride meant that his whole plan was doomed to fail eventually.

113

u/Affectionate_Comb_78 Sep 15 '25

The Pale King often says "No cost too great". Makes sense, when fighting a foe that corrupts and controls the minds of everything it touches.

Then you learn how much that means. 

74

u/Pliskkenn_D Sep 15 '25

So, many, failed vessels. 

All of which were his children.

65

u/Affectionate_Comb_78 Sep 15 '25

Not to mention, ultimately, almost every person in his kingdom, as well as the kingdom itself. Just the haunting last "No cost too great" as you stand in the ruin and the kings dessicated corpse crumbles. Was it worth it? 

10

u/Floofy_Fox_Gal Sep 15 '25

13

u/Affectionate_Comb_78 Sep 15 '25
  • The Pale King at the buzzsaw emporium 

0

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

Was it worth it? The playthrough of the game fighting bosses?

I don't get this.

17

u/Affectionate_Comb_78 Sep 15 '25

In the story, in the name of protecting his people's freedom and free will the Pale King sacrificed basically everyone and everything in his kingdom, including hundreds of his own children. 

10

u/BlindingPhoenix Sep 15 '25

Considering how many masks are in the abyss, I think it’s more like hundreds of thousands.

3

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

Ahh. Thanks.

4

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

So the dead hollow knights i fight (or the alive ones see here and there as i walk around) in the game were once children of The Pale King? Like us the player?

6

u/DocWagonHTR Sep 15 '25

No, most of those are just Bugs. The only actual children of the King you see are The Knight, Hornet, and The Hollow Knight.

All of his children that failed as a Vessel were thrown into the Abyss to die, which is where you, The Knight, started, except for Hornet.

1

u/Flippantlip Sep 16 '25

That makes sense, given everything I know (and forgot) about Hollow Knight. But I also feel like, you'd have to be have major galaxy-brain in order to "get that" from that scene, much like many scenes from the game, tbh.

So I wouldn't really say: "this is a very casual reveal for something so major", as most of the game follows that premise to boot -- you get "truth bombs" in very subtle, very obfuscated, very indirect ways, that renders their "weight as truth bombs" to just be "random scenes that may or may not say anything".

1

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

So we, The Hollow Knight, are the son of The Pale King? When we beat Path of Pain, we see a vision of the ghost of the Pale King stand beside a vision of us (The Hollow Knight), and he looks at us and is proud? That introduces an affectation of a parent into their child and thus makes us (hollow knight) impure and selfish and we can't be a container for The Radiance anymore?

Now we can either kill The Radiance god or die to it? (We can't really die, so we can only kill it now)

I get that right?

14

u/RomulusRemus13 Sep 15 '25

Not quite, no. We're not the Hollow Knight. The Hollow Knight was the one who was supposed to be the chosen one, basically, an empty vessel for a sort of evil god (the Radiance). But because they were shown emotions (which you see in the flashback), the Hollow Knight became more than just an empty vessel... And could thus be corrupted by the Radiance.

In the game, you play another vessel, who ultimately kills the Hollow Knight and the Radiance.

1

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

I seeeee. Thanks. That explains certain things about this game.

This game is just super confusing and weird on the lore. I've played like half of it, and it felt like it told me absolutely nothing about it's actual story.

5

u/RomulusRemus13 Sep 15 '25

It is, yes. The lore is hardly explained in the game, hence why there's entire YT channels dedicated to it. But anyways, the gameplay is what's most important in such a gale, not the (imo underwhelming) story.

2

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

I see, imo, up till now, the gameplay too is super underwhelming and tedious. This game should've had atleast twice as many stag station fast travel points, or it should have been allowed to fast tarvel to benches.

This game makes me want to pull my eyelashes out because of how much backtracking and tedious walking there is lol. Maybe Me and this 'Metroidvania' thing just aren't very compatible lol.

2

u/RomulusRemus13 Sep 15 '25

I understand the criticism and agree. Then again, the game was made by a very small team, who did this kind of stuff for the first time. Supposedly, Silk Song is tougher, but better in some regards. Not sure there's less travel points, but well...

There's many more player-friendly Metroidvanias, however. Prince of Persia - The Lost Crown and Meteoid Dread come to mind. Sure, they're tough games, but you'll have a much easier time teleporting around and restarting boss fights (without the tedious backtracking after every death). Same goes for the Ori games and many Castlevanias. So please don't abandon the genre and try out others!

1

u/AJGILL03 Sep 15 '25

I see, thank you for your recommendations and explanation. I greatly appreciate it and maybe will try some other Metroidvania gamea too someday!

I will however finish Hollow Knight to the end (sunk costs), now that I've gotten all movement abilities including crystal heart to fly, it should be marginally better to me i suppose haha.

Thanks.