I'm building a scientific taxonomy for Hollow Knight creatures — here's my analysis of the Mantis Tribe
Not long ago, the YouTube creator SZANG released a series on Hollow Knight where he described the game's creatures from a scientific perspective. That really inspired me, and I decided to build my own taxonomic classification. The main difference is that SZANG explored how real-world biology could be applied to the game (which is undeniably cool, and I genuinely enjoyed it), while I'm attempting to classify them purely based on the information and lore presented in-game, without leaning on real-world biology as a strict framework. I won't deny that many of my conclusions, while logical, are ultimately my own deductions, and the system relies on several conventions. I'm by no means a professional biologist—just a curious fan with modest knowledge in a few biological fields. That said, here's a brief preview of my classification approach, using the Mantis Tribe as an example:
With Mantis Youth and Mantis Warrior, there were virtually no issues. They're textbook juvenile and adult forms, which is even directly supported by the Hunter's Journal entries. Right away, we established a working axiom: as young mantises mature, they shed their wings.
The Mantis Lords presented a more interesting case. They're the leaders of the Mantis Tribe, but their power structure is unique. While Bees operate under a matriarchy and Vengeflies under a patriarchy, here authority is held simultaneously by three females. And at one point, their biological brother—the Traitor Lord—was also a Lord. Power in the hands of several closely related individuals of different sexes is a rare, almost unique leadership model for Hallownest. But why does this matter for taxonomy? It's simple: in the real world, leader individuals often exhibit morphology distinct from their rank-and-file kin. Given that the Mantis Tribe is fundamentally a warrior society, future Lords likely hone their combat skills from birth. Constant physical strain and the stress of dominance could theoretically trigger hormonal shifts capable of reshaping their bodies. This is why I introduced the concept of a "dominant form" for the Lords and the Traitor Lord—female and male, respectively.
Since I'm classifying creatures strictly in the order they appear in the Hunter's Journal, the mantis outcasts were saved for later—they live far from their former kin. Although I made an exception for the Traitor Lord by analyzing him alongside the other Lords, I held off on the regular outcasts. And I was right to. While working on other species, I kept feeling like I'd hit a wall once I finally reached them. What was the problem? The Mantis Traitor itself. You know the lore, but just to recap: these are former members of the tribe. But… why do they look so radically different from the Mantis Warrior? They're stockier, lack antennae, instead sporting horn-like protrusions, and have a fundamentally different forewing structure that looks more like a cloak. And yet, they come from the same village. They have to be the same species—mantis are extremely hostile to outsiders, and a tribe made up of different (even if closely related) species would struggle to maintain unity.
I searched for a clue for a long time until I noticed the obvious: the Mantis Traitor looks like a scaled-down version of the Traitor Lord. They share a ton of traits. And then it hit me. What if this really is just one species? Ladies and gentlemen, sexual dimorphism. I concluded that Mantis Warriors are females, and Mantis Traitors are males. Dimorphism perfectly explains the morphological differences: enlarged blade-like limbs, horns, a heavier build, and "cloak-like" forewings are typical male traits. Meanwhile, antennae and a more slender frame belong to females.
Confirmation came almost immediately: the Traitor's Daughter looks exactly like a Mantis Warrior. She inherited the female sex → develops along the female line → takes on the appearance of a base-form female. That's when everything clicked into place. The Mantis Traitor is simply the adult male form. And since Petra has wings and small horn buds (while Youth, as noted, has antennae—a female trait), the conclusion is obvious: Petra is a juvenile male.
It seemed like the puzzle was complete. But there was one detail I couldn't ignore: the Mantis Lords, who are females, sport those same horns instead of antennae, along with the "male" forewing structure… Are the Mantis Lords secretly tra…? No. Remember the hormonal restructuring and morphological plasticity of dominant individuals. Given that this is all one species, the presence of these traits in female leaders makes perfect biological sense. Dominance reshapes the body.
Well, that's about it. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I probably won't be able to finish the full classification anytime soon—I haven't even completed the first journal yet. But I hope you enjoyed this little preview!