Since its 2017 release, Hollow Knight has long reigned as one of the finest achievements of the indie gaming scene, and part of its acclaim is owed to how content-rich the game is for coming from such a small team. If you’re not speedrunning the game, it’s fairly easy to spend over a hundred hours on a playthrough because of how much there is to do.
Team Cherry was certainly bound by huge expectations and obligations after a successful Kickstarter campaign, going on to release three DLCs that even generously contained content from unreached stretch goals. However, it seems the Australian trio must have been incredibly prolific beyond all this, as a considerable amount of enemies, areas, and quests were left on the cutting floor.
Of course, Team Cherry came to the very public realization that their plans for the promised content surrounding Hornet would demand a whole new sequel in Silksong, so be warned that some of these details could potentially spoil parts of it. Though, for the most part, it seems much was omitted to keep Hallownest rooted and the gameplay coherent. Still, so much lore is withheld in the game that it’s painful, and these cuts provide a fascinating glimpse into something greater.
10 The Snail Village
The Snail Village was one of the main features of the “Wierd and Wonderful World” trailer but was surprisingly withheld from the game altogether. A lot of effort was seemingly put into this encounter with the backgrounds looking rather polished and the character design of the snail, complete with a house-like shell meeting Hollow Knight’s high standards.
However, the snail was considered a tad too cartoonish by Team Cherry in comparison to the overarching art style of the game. The encounter likely took away from the foreboding plot surrounding the infection and did little to serve the game’s narrative. However, it’s theorized that Bardoon, the giant caterpillar found in Kingdom’s Edge, likely encompassed much of the character.
9 Acid Swimming
Also featured in an early trailer was the ability for The Knight to swim through acid. In the game’s final release, acid restricted progression early on until Isma’s Tear was unlocked. This ability then provided the protagonist with the ability to swim through acid and reach new areas, but only keeping to the surface.
Swimming stages have somewhat gained a reputation for being fiddly and tedious, but it would have been interesting to see how Hollow Knight incorporated it. Game files have since been found for a swimming area that resembles Unn’s room, suggesting that the short interaction with the Higher Being was planned to be much more epic.
8 Some Fully-Animated Enemies
Bizarrely enough, detailed time was spent on fully animating this centipede-like creature to charge at The Knight. It’s surprising to learn that such a decision was made, given how intricate and complex Hollow Knight’s 2D hand-drawn style animation is. At the very least, it seems that the creature could have been repurposed for a brief section of the Colosseum of Fools just so the effort didn’t go to waste.
A description was even shared of the “Blundering Oberlisk” in a Kickstarter update, detailing how it’s an herbivore that doesn’t intend to inflict harm but is accident-prone due to its bulky weight and careless nature. Similarly, ants and a small dragonfly creature were also removed from the game.
7 Dryya Was Still Alive
Early on in Hollow Knight’s development, Dryya, one of The Five Great Knights of Hallownest was intended to still be alive during the timeframe of the game. Although it seems she heroically went out defending the Queen’s Garden from a horde of Mantis Traitors, much more was previously planned for the character.
In fact, Dryya was planned as one of Hollow Knight’s bosses and even had a big Kickstarter announcement, which described how she defends the Queen’s Glade. And although it may seem out of character for the knight to have grown hostile, it’s explained that she’s driven mad by the death of the Queen and the ensuing deterioration of her gardens.
6 Backdashing And Other Abilities
While Hollow Knight offers a great range of playstyle customizability with its ingenious Charms system, having all the abilities work homogeneously together without becoming overpowered must have become an incredible balancing act for Team Cherry. It also seems cuts were made to simplify the combat system, with backdashing being a considerable loss.
However, while it may seem trivial, the ability showed no real advantage over simply turning around and dashing in the opposite direction. Other abilities cut included a planned Godmaster feature to “Glorify” charms. An earlier version of Desolate Dive, called Tyrant’s Fist, also saw The Knight focusing energy into his fist.
5 The Holy Grounds And A Giant Spider
The Holy Grounds was one of the most noticeable cuts from the game, as it meant a whole area was scrapped. Interestingly it was planned as the original resting place of Herrah and featured creatures that bore a striking resemblance to The Knight, though somewhat bulkier. Originally a place of worship, the Holy Grounds were said to have been overtaken, perhaps implying these doppelgängers were enemies.
Another hugely noticeable omission was a Giant Spider that loomed over the landscapes of Hallownest. Although giant creatures are shown to be possible within Hollow Knight, most are deceased or absent, with the exception of Bardoon. Whether this creature was set to be an NPC or a boss is anyone’s guess, though.
4 Unused Dialogue
Huge swaths of dialogue and text were stripped away from Hollow Knight to make the narrative more mysterious and cryptic. These cuts began from the absolute beginning of the game, starting with the opening poem “Elegy for Hallownest,” which used to be three times longer.
A talking Shrumal Warrior was also teased in a trailer, showing that perhaps more talking NPCs were once planned for the game. However, they likely made the world more colorful, whereas the developers decided that tragic mystery should take precedence.
3 An Expansion To The Abyss
As fascinating as The Abyss is, it will always stand out as one of the most undeveloped areas of Hallownest. However, an expansion was planned as a high Kickstarter tier that was never reached. In the Kickstarter campaign, the Abyss expansion was promised to be “massive” and to offer some of the game’s hardest challenge, plus four new bosses.
One such boss was likely attached to the lighthouse quest as seen in sketchbook images from the game’s development. Perhaps it would have tied into the planned swimming ability, as most of the action sat waiting inside the Lake of Void. Ultimately, the content was scrapped to keep the team from working on Hollow Knight for years to come.
2 Dream Diving
One of the more bizarre things cut from Hollow Knight was a whole “dream diving” ability that would have likely provided a lot of insight into the characters. As seen in the early Dream Nail trailer, The Knight rather comically chops off part of Elderbug’s head before jumping on. There, in the “dream well”, they can meet a young version of the NPC.
As well as offering a chance for some deep lore, the feature would have come with unique gameplay as The Knight dives deep into the heads of multiple NPCs and confronts their nightmares and secrets as they search for the dream’s core. Dreams were set to visually vary to match the personality of characters, plus offer unique treasures and challenges.
1 The Forest of Bones
The Forest of Bones is another area that was cut, though apparently only because its size would have caused constraints on other areas. It seemed that it was planned to be in the game for a long time, as it was originally attached to the Forgotten Crossroads, before being moved to below Deepnest where Ancient Basin is now found.
The area looked incredibly visually impressive, magnificently lit up by burning tar waterfalls. Local inhabitants included ants as well as strange creatures that donned the skeletons of long-deceased giants. Finally, players could have opened the Holy Grounds area by lighting up torches. Though it was unfortunately cut, a strikingly similar location is seen in the Silksong trailer, suggesting that all their work didn’t go to waste.
NEXT: Hollow Knight: Every Area Of The Hallownest, Ranked
