Troupe Master Grimm (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fireindreams) wrote2018-06-21 01:06 am
fireindreams) wrote2018-06-21 01:06 am
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Player Information
Name: Zee
Age: 20+
Contact: PM this journal orfunfire
Current characters: None
Character Information
Name: Troupe Master Grimm
Series: Hollow Knight
Appearance: Grimm. Nightmare King.
Age: Ambiguous. He is likely very old.
Canon Point: Just before the Knight uses the Dream Nail on Grimm to begin the Nightmare King boss battle.
Canon History: While there is a wiki page for the Grimm Troupe DLC (found here), it talks more about what was added to Hollow Knight plus boss strategies rather then the plot (even though it's short) so I'll write it out.
When the Knight uses the Dream Nail on a dead bug in the Howling Cliffs red dreamcatcher particles appear, which have not been seen since now. Once the Knight proceeds farther and lights the Nightmare Lantern the DLC begins. It appears that a carnival has arrived to Dirtmouth - much to the apparent annoyance of the Elderbug. Exploring the tents, the Knight meets Brumm, Divine, the Gimmsteeds and of course Troupe Master Grimm himself once they enter the main tent. Grimm tasks the Knight in collecting flames from the Grimmkins scattered around Hollownest for a Ritual. To aid in this Grimm hands over the Grimmchild charm that will absorb the flames when the Grimmkins are defeated.
After the Knight defeats threee of the Grimmkins, Grimm upgrades the Grimmchild to its second form. Upon the second round of flame gathering the Troupe Master challenges the Knight to a fight. One grueling boss battle later Grimm once again upgrades the Grimmchild and tells the Knight the Ritual is almost over and they just need to collect three more flames and come back to see him to finish it off.
At this point the DLC can go one of two ways. If you find Brumm in the Deepnest he explains that the Ritual has been going on for a very long time and feels that this time around it should be stopped, as much as he finds it difficult to go against his master. He'll ask the Knight to aid him in destroying the Nightmare Lantern that summoned the Grimm Troupe to Hollownest and then moves to the Howling Cliffs and waits. If the Knight follows and agrees to help, they both destory the Lantern and banish the Grimm Troupe. As a direct result of this you lose the Grimmchild charm but Brumm, now called Nymm and without memory of the Troupe, hands over the Carefree Memory charm.
But the true ending to the DLC is thus: The Knight journeys and finds the last flames before heading back to the carnival. Grimm isn't there but once they proceed to the back of the tent they'll find him asleep. Upon using the Dream Nail on the sleeping Grimm, the Knight will be sent to a nightmare version of the tent where they'll find one last challenge waiting for them: Nightmare King Grimm.
Upon defeating him the Knight will wake up in Dirtmouth and the carnival has vanished without a trance. The only thing left is the Grimmchild, upgraded to its final form and looking a whole lot like Grimm himself.
Canon Personality: Grimm is introduced to the Knight when they walk into the main tent. The lights are dim but soon red smoke fills the room as a drum roll echoes in the empty space. Strange music begins to swell in the background as two spotlights scan over the floor before focusing on a certain spot, where Grimm appears in a flash of smoke!
You find out later on his room is a little farther back in the tent and he could have just walked.
Troupe Master Grimm is a bug with a flare for dramatics. He is expressive when speaking with the Knight and is very showy during his boss battle. His appearances are always heralded by a flash of smoke and a fancy spin and his theme music actually adds interments to it depending on what attacks he's using at the time. The Troupe Master takes joy in battle which he refers to as a dance. But despite the theatrics Grimm is rather polite and level-headed. Although he calls the Knight a tool he could use to prolong the Heart of Grimm he's nothing but polite to them and praises the Knight's combat ability once they defeat him, seeming to enjoy their company. He also rewards them for their efforts after said fight by handing over another Charm Notch and is fine with the Knight taking their time in completing the Ritual provided they do so eventually. He may involve you into a sketchy Ritual and not tell you what it's for but you can't say he wasn't nice about it.
That being said, attacking Grimm when he's bowing is a bad idea. It's not that Grimm has a short temper but merely a low tolerance for those who are impolite and try to get a cheap shot in during battle - so much that he jumps into using his strongest attack if the player attempts to take a free hit.
It's obvious that Grimm knows a lot more about the world then he's letting on. His Dream Nail dialog after his boss battle shows that he knew the Pale King in some capacity in the past, commenting that even a discarded vessel holds immense power - and the vessels weren't exactly a subject the Pale King went around telling just any old bug about. Even the White Lady comments on the Grimmchild and says, while the Knight and the child couldn't exactly be called friends, they do share some similarities. Grimm somehow knows some very powerful bugs but he appears to be uninterested in explaining the context of how he knows them.
Grimm also has a connection with nightmares. The dreamcatcher particles around him and his Troupe are red, which is associated with nightmares and in his dream battle is called "Nightmare King Grimm". It's implied that, while he's not on the same level as Radiance, he is far more powerful then he's letting on. In a meta-sense, Nightmare King Grimm shares the honor of being the second boss battle with a full-screen title card like the Radiance does. Again Grimm does not seem that interest in explaining without prompting. There certainly is an air of mystery surrounding this bug - and that is not just because of all the references to Dracula.
In a poem written about the Grimm Troupe, it has a line that says "burn the father, feed the child". It's heavily implied that the Troupe (and Grimm himself, going by Brumm's dialog) are caught in a loop where the current Nightmare King must die and the Grimmchild grows to replace them, as a sort of immortality Ritual. To add to this, it's suggested the entire Troupe are vessels for the flames and Grimm's Dream Nail dialog during his fight mentions something about "The slaves". But Grimm doesn't seem to mind all of this and in fact considers it his duty to carry it out. As he himself says:
"Through dreams I travel, at lantern's call.
To consume the flames of a kingdom's fall."
And it is what it is. As they say: "The show must go on."
Personality Shifts: None. While the player can earn the Banish Ending for the DLC by aiding Brumm in destroying the latern, you never see Grimm again afterwords so if he has changed you don't get to see it.
Abilities: To start with the more mundane stuff, Grimm is the master of the Grimm Troupe so he knows how to run a carnival and work a crowd. He is also capable of creating a being known as a Grimmchild, a small bug that functions as a summon if the Knight wears the correct Charm. The Grimmchild can grow stronger if fed the flames gathered by the Grimmkin. He will not be able to create one in LifeAftr without putting in an item request.
He can also hang upside down to sleep because we have to get in one more Dracula reference.
And now for the more OP stuff. Grimm is one of the toughest bosses in Hollow Knight and is both fast and powerful, able to fire off powerful attacks quickly and not leave much room for the player to breathe and find time to heal. Because of this, on top of some other nerfs, all of Grimm's abilities will come with an exhaustion caveat. Firing off like he does in his boss battle without rest will tire Grimm out if he isn't careful about conserving his strength. A video for Grimm's boss battle and attacks can be found here for visual examples!
Teleportation: Grimm is often shown teleporting around, seemingly without limit. He can even teleport in the air. This will be nerfed to line-of-sight only.
Bat-bugs: If Grimm takes enough damage he bursts into a small cloud of bat-like bugs that fly around until he reforms. This ability does not make Grimm immune to damage, however - there is a bug with red eyes that can still be hurt. It just makes it harder to hit him for a bit.
Dive combo: Appearing in the air, Grimm dives to the ground with a kick and then slides across the ground with another kick.
Uppercut: A simple uppercut but Grimm leaves behind six fireballs that fall to the ground. This can be nerfed down to just three fireballs.
Fire bats: Grimm opens his cape and three firebats fly out. It seems that Grimm has to stand still to use this ability.
Fire sphere: Forming a sphere around himself, Grimm starts to spawn small fireballs and basically turns the battle into a bullet hell segment. Since this is Grimm's strongest attack, I'd suggest that he can only use this three-four times before he can't anymore.
Spikes: Grimm's cape stabs itself into the ground and shoots up in the form of spikes that cover the ground.
As Nightmare King Grimm is a dream boss battle that form's abilities will not be available normally. If there is ever a dream plot in the future that could allow his appearance however I'd be happy to talk to the mods about it!
Inventory: Nothing aside from his cape.
Sample
Thread Sample: Test Drive thread
Name: Zee
Age: 20+
Contact: PM this journal or
funfire Current characters: None
Character Information
Name: Troupe Master Grimm
Series: Hollow Knight
Appearance: Grimm. Nightmare King.
Age: Ambiguous. He is likely very old.
Canon Point: Just before the Knight uses the Dream Nail on Grimm to begin the Nightmare King boss battle.
Canon History: While there is a wiki page for the Grimm Troupe DLC (found here), it talks more about what was added to Hollow Knight plus boss strategies rather then the plot (even though it's short) so I'll write it out.
When the Knight uses the Dream Nail on a dead bug in the Howling Cliffs red dreamcatcher particles appear, which have not been seen since now. Once the Knight proceeds farther and lights the Nightmare Lantern the DLC begins. It appears that a carnival has arrived to Dirtmouth - much to the apparent annoyance of the Elderbug. Exploring the tents, the Knight meets Brumm, Divine, the Gimmsteeds and of course Troupe Master Grimm himself once they enter the main tent. Grimm tasks the Knight in collecting flames from the Grimmkins scattered around Hollownest for a Ritual. To aid in this Grimm hands over the Grimmchild charm that will absorb the flames when the Grimmkins are defeated.
After the Knight defeats threee of the Grimmkins, Grimm upgrades the Grimmchild to its second form. Upon the second round of flame gathering the Troupe Master challenges the Knight to a fight. One grueling boss battle later Grimm once again upgrades the Grimmchild and tells the Knight the Ritual is almost over and they just need to collect three more flames and come back to see him to finish it off.
At this point the DLC can go one of two ways. If you find Brumm in the Deepnest he explains that the Ritual has been going on for a very long time and feels that this time around it should be stopped, as much as he finds it difficult to go against his master. He'll ask the Knight to aid him in destroying the Nightmare Lantern that summoned the Grimm Troupe to Hollownest and then moves to the Howling Cliffs and waits. If the Knight follows and agrees to help, they both destory the Lantern and banish the Grimm Troupe. As a direct result of this you lose the Grimmchild charm but Brumm, now called Nymm and without memory of the Troupe, hands over the Carefree Memory charm.
But the true ending to the DLC is thus: The Knight journeys and finds the last flames before heading back to the carnival. Grimm isn't there but once they proceed to the back of the tent they'll find him asleep. Upon using the Dream Nail on the sleeping Grimm, the Knight will be sent to a nightmare version of the tent where they'll find one last challenge waiting for them: Nightmare King Grimm.
Upon defeating him the Knight will wake up in Dirtmouth and the carnival has vanished without a trance. The only thing left is the Grimmchild, upgraded to its final form and looking a whole lot like Grimm himself.
Canon Personality: Grimm is introduced to the Knight when they walk into the main tent. The lights are dim but soon red smoke fills the room as a drum roll echoes in the empty space. Strange music begins to swell in the background as two spotlights scan over the floor before focusing on a certain spot, where Grimm appears in a flash of smoke!
You find out later on his room is a little farther back in the tent and he could have just walked.
Troupe Master Grimm is a bug with a flare for dramatics. He is expressive when speaking with the Knight and is very showy during his boss battle. His appearances are always heralded by a flash of smoke and a fancy spin and his theme music actually adds interments to it depending on what attacks he's using at the time. The Troupe Master takes joy in battle which he refers to as a dance. But despite the theatrics Grimm is rather polite and level-headed. Although he calls the Knight a tool he could use to prolong the Heart of Grimm he's nothing but polite to them and praises the Knight's combat ability once they defeat him, seeming to enjoy their company. He also rewards them for their efforts after said fight by handing over another Charm Notch and is fine with the Knight taking their time in completing the Ritual provided they do so eventually. He may involve you into a sketchy Ritual and not tell you what it's for but you can't say he wasn't nice about it.
That being said, attacking Grimm when he's bowing is a bad idea. It's not that Grimm has a short temper but merely a low tolerance for those who are impolite and try to get a cheap shot in during battle - so much that he jumps into using his strongest attack if the player attempts to take a free hit.
It's obvious that Grimm knows a lot more about the world then he's letting on. His Dream Nail dialog after his boss battle shows that he knew the Pale King in some capacity in the past, commenting that even a discarded vessel holds immense power - and the vessels weren't exactly a subject the Pale King went around telling just any old bug about. Even the White Lady comments on the Grimmchild and says, while the Knight and the child couldn't exactly be called friends, they do share some similarities. Grimm somehow knows some very powerful bugs but he appears to be uninterested in explaining the context of how he knows them.
Grimm also has a connection with nightmares. The dreamcatcher particles around him and his Troupe are red, which is associated with nightmares and in his dream battle is called "Nightmare King Grimm". It's implied that, while he's not on the same level as Radiance, he is far more powerful then he's letting on. In a meta-sense, Nightmare King Grimm shares the honor of being the second boss battle with a full-screen title card like the Radiance does. Again Grimm does not seem that interest in explaining without prompting. There certainly is an air of mystery surrounding this bug - and that is not just because of all the references to Dracula.
In a poem written about the Grimm Troupe, it has a line that says "burn the father, feed the child". It's heavily implied that the Troupe (and Grimm himself, going by Brumm's dialog) are caught in a loop where the current Nightmare King must die and the Grimmchild grows to replace them, as a sort of immortality Ritual. To add to this, it's suggested the entire Troupe are vessels for the flames and Grimm's Dream Nail dialog during his fight mentions something about "The slaves". But Grimm doesn't seem to mind all of this and in fact considers it his duty to carry it out. As he himself says:
"Through dreams I travel, at lantern's call.
To consume the flames of a kingdom's fall."
And it is what it is. As they say: "The show must go on."
Personality Shifts: None. While the player can earn the Banish Ending for the DLC by aiding Brumm in destroying the latern, you never see Grimm again afterwords so if he has changed you don't get to see it.
Abilities: To start with the more mundane stuff, Grimm is the master of the Grimm Troupe so he knows how to run a carnival and work a crowd. He is also capable of creating a being known as a Grimmchild, a small bug that functions as a summon if the Knight wears the correct Charm. The Grimmchild can grow stronger if fed the flames gathered by the Grimmkin. He will not be able to create one in LifeAftr without putting in an item request.
He can also hang upside down to sleep because we have to get in one more Dracula reference.
And now for the more OP stuff. Grimm is one of the toughest bosses in Hollow Knight and is both fast and powerful, able to fire off powerful attacks quickly and not leave much room for the player to breathe and find time to heal. Because of this, on top of some other nerfs, all of Grimm's abilities will come with an exhaustion caveat. Firing off like he does in his boss battle without rest will tire Grimm out if he isn't careful about conserving his strength. A video for Grimm's boss battle and attacks can be found here for visual examples!
Teleportation: Grimm is often shown teleporting around, seemingly without limit. He can even teleport in the air. This will be nerfed to line-of-sight only.
Bat-bugs: If Grimm takes enough damage he bursts into a small cloud of bat-like bugs that fly around until he reforms. This ability does not make Grimm immune to damage, however - there is a bug with red eyes that can still be hurt. It just makes it harder to hit him for a bit.
Dive combo: Appearing in the air, Grimm dives to the ground with a kick and then slides across the ground with another kick.
Uppercut: A simple uppercut but Grimm leaves behind six fireballs that fall to the ground. This can be nerfed down to just three fireballs.
Fire bats: Grimm opens his cape and three firebats fly out. It seems that Grimm has to stand still to use this ability.
Fire sphere: Forming a sphere around himself, Grimm starts to spawn small fireballs and basically turns the battle into a bullet hell segment. Since this is Grimm's strongest attack, I'd suggest that he can only use this three-four times before he can't anymore.
Spikes: Grimm's cape stabs itself into the ground and shoots up in the form of spikes that cover the ground.
As Nightmare King Grimm is a dream boss battle that form's abilities will not be available normally. If there is ever a dream plot in the future that could allow his appearance however I'd be happy to talk to the mods about it!
Inventory: Nothing aside from his cape.
Sample
Thread Sample: Test Drive thread