Hornet in Hollow Knight and Silksong: Who She Is and Why She Leads the Series

Who Hornet Is

Hornet was created by Team Cherry, the Australian independent developer, with Ari Gibson and William Pellen credited as creators. She was designed by Gibson and is voiced by Makoto Koji, and she is described as a female warrior arachnid hybrid. Her first appearance came in Hollow Knight, which launched on Windows on 24 February 2017 and on Nintendo Switch on 12 June 2018.

That game casts players as the Knight, exploring the ruined kingdom of Hallownest beneath the town of Dirtmouth. Hornet is one of its most memorable figures: a fast, needle-wielding fighter who appears more than once, testing the player in combat while also carrying genuine narrative weight. She is not a one-off encounter or a throwaway mini-boss. She appears as a boss in Hollow Knight and later as the playable protagonist of Hollow Knight: Silksong.

It is worth being precise about what is known. The public record at this point consists of official Team Cherry announcements, storefront and game-site copy, and encyclopedic background; review scores, sales figures, and developer interviews fall outside that base, so claims about the games' commercial or critical performance should be treated with caution.

From Boss to Playable Lead

The apparent contradiction in Hornet's identity is easy to resolve once the chronology is laid out. In Hollow Knight she is an NPC and a boss. In Hollow Knight: Silksong she is the playable protagonist. Both roles are true, in different games, and neither cancels the other out.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a 2025 Metroidvania game developed and published by Team Cherry. Its premise places Hornet far from home: she is captured and taken to a distant, unfamiliar kingdom, where she must battle foes, seek allies, and ascend on a pilgrimage to the kingdom's peak. The journey runs through mossy grottos, coral forests, and shining citadels, a markedly different set of environments from Hallownest's caverns.

That setup explains why she works as a lead rather than a supporting figure. Hornet's speed and needle-and-thread combat, already the defining traits of her boss fights, translate naturally into a protagonist's toolkit, while her status as a stranger in an unfamiliar kingdom gives the sequel a fresh perspective that the Knight's return to Hallownest could not have offered.

Silksong launched on 4 September 2025, developed and published by Team Cherry. It runs on the Unity engine, features a score by composer Christopher Larkin, and is a single-player experience. Its platform lineup, per Wikipedia, spans PC, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

The sequel's arrival was only part of a busy stretch for the studio.

Where the Series Stands Now

As of late October 2026, Team Cherry remains in an active post-launch phase on both games.

For Silksong, Patch 5 is live on PC platforms, bringing Traditional Chinese and German updates among other changes, with console versions to follow. The patch is dated 16 March 2026 on Team Cherry's site.

The original Hollow Knight, meanwhile, received a current-gen refresh. On 5 February 2026, Team Cherry announced the game is available on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S with higher frame rates, higher resolution, and additional effects. Existing Switch, PS4, and Xbox owners receive it as a free upgrade.

The platform history, in order, runs as follows: Windows on 24 February 2017, Linux and macOS on 11 April 2017, Nintendo Switch on 12 June 2018, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later, and the current-gen consoles in 2026. A Hollow Knight: Silksong expansion titled Sea of Sorrow is referenced in the source material; Team Cherry's site lists a post on a Silksong expansion and a refreshed Hollow Knight, though the full details were not retrievable.

Why Hornet Still Drives Coverage

Months after release, Silksong remains a live beat for guides desks, with Eurogamer maintaining a Silksong coverage hub featuring a The Slab walkthrough and a Moorwing boss guide.

Following Hornet Forward

Hornet is the clearest entry point into the Hollow Knight franchise: a boss who became a protagonist, now headlining a series that is still being patched and re-released on new hardware. Readers who want the details straight from the source should check the official Team Cherry site for patch notes and platform announcements, and the official game sites for storefront information. This article will be updated as console patches and further announcements land.

Tags

Hornet, Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Team Cherry, Metroidvania