Welcome to the Hollow Knight Text Database! This app is a searchable repository of all the text in Hollow Knight and Silksong, including their content updates. Don't know how to run code or query a database? Not a problem! This app handles everything for you; all you need to do is tell it what you want!
This app uses the same fonts as the games: Trajan Pro and Perpetua. While it shouldn't be necessary to install these fonts for the app to run, it is highly recommended as all of the interface formatting is built around them. The font files (.ttf) are included in this repository. Simply download the files (Trajan Pro and Perpetua) then double click them. Your system should then give you the option to install the fonts. You only have to do this once.
Download the HKTD_Mac.zip file. Double click the .zip file to extract the HKTD application. You can now move the app wherever you'd like on your system and the .zip file can be safely deleted.
Apple Software will likely quarantine any executables that aren't downloaded from the App Store. To fix this, see Troubleshooting - Mac Install below.
Download the HKTD_Win.zip file. Double click the .zip file to open its contents. Drag the HKTD Folder out of the opened .zip file to extract it. You can now move the Folder wherever you'd like on your system and the .zip file can be safely deleted. Inside the Folder you will find the app (.exe file) and a folder (do not interact with this folder or you may prevent the app from working properly). The app needs to remain inside the HKTD Folder, but you can make a shortcut of it so you can run the app from wherever you'd like on your system.
Windows Defender (and likely any other anti-virus software you may have) may try to stop you from running unknown executables. To fix this, see Troubleshooting - Windows Install below.
Simply double click the application to launch it! It may take a bit of time to launch (10-20 seconds), especially the first time, so don't worry.
This app queries a database of all the text in the Hollow Knight games, which is a lot and not entirely useful as a whole. So you can trim the text to only include specific entries by using Filters. There are five types of filters that you can use: Game, Source, Type, Topic, and Keyword.
Game: Filter according to the game the text came from. Options are Hollow Knight (HK), the Hollow Knight: Hidden Dreams update (HK:HD), the Hollow Knight: Lifeblood (HK:LB) update, the Hollow Knight: Grimm Troupe (HK:GT) update, the Hollow Knight: Godmaster (HK:GM) update, Silksong (SS), and the Silksong: Sea of Sorrow (SS:SS) update. Cut Content is also included in the database (HK:C and SS:C), but is ignored by default. Note: Cut content was either withheld or removed as a deliberate act from the developers. While it can provide helpful insight, it should not be considered explicitly canon.
Source: The source of the given text. Examples include NPCs, Journal Entries, Lore Tablets, etc.
Type: The type of text. Options are Dialogue (text spoken by NPCs), Dream Nail/Needolin (text prompted by using the item), and Text (Non-spoken text such as menu descriptions or journal entries).
Topic: The topics addressed by the text. Examples include Void, Hallownest, Dreams, etc. These topics are admittedly subjective and many of them overlap, so scrolling through the full list is recommended so you can get a sense of what's included. There are some specific examples to highlight which can be found in the Topic Clarification Section Below.
Keyword: Search the text itself and/or the conditions required for a given word or letter pattern.
The Game, Source, Type, and Topic Filters consist of two lists: terms to include and terms to exclude. Individual entries can be moved from one list to the other by clicking on the word, then using the < or > button to move the entry. Additionally, the <<< and >>> buttons will move all entries from one list to the other.
The Keyword Filter allows you to enter in your own term you'd like to search the text for. Typing in a keyword and clicking the + button will add it to the list of keywords underneath. To remove a keyword, type it again and click the - button. Keywords are case-insensitive, and match whole words. For example, using the keyword Infect will match all entries using Infect or infect as a complete word (i.e. surrounded by spaces or punctuation). If you want exact matches regardless of whether or not they're complete words, put the keyword in quotation marks. For example, using the keyword "Infect" will match all entries using those letters, such as Infect, Infection, or Infected.
The Keyword Filter searches the text entries themselves, but by checking the top box underneath the keyword list, you can also search the conditions. For example, using the keyword First Encounter and checking the "Include Condition" box will show you all the dialogue that occurs the first time you encounter an NPC (i.e. the condition of the text contains First Encounter). By default, the keyword filter looks for all text that contains any of the listed keywords. For example, using keywords ghost and shadow will return all text that contains the word ghost and/or the word shadow. If you want only the results that contain both ghost and shadow, check the second box under the keyword list. This box tells the app to only return text that contains all of the listed keywords (NOTE: Using this option will always ignore the Condition of the text).
You can use any and/or all of these filters at the same time! But, there are somethings to be aware of:
Firstly, All of the filter conditions must be met by a text entry in order to be included in the results. Think of this like using the word and in a sentence: The included text will have its Game in the Included Games List AND its Source in the Included Sources list AND its Type in the Included Types list AND its Topics in the Included Topics list AND contain any keywords (if used). For more complicated queries (i.e. filter combinations that would use OR instead of AND), see the Advanced Queries section below.
Secondly, the Topics Filter prioritizes the Included topics over the Excluded. For Example, if topic A is included and topic B is excluded, an entry that has both topics A and B will be included in the results.
When you're filters are set, press the Search button and the table will populate with all matching results.
The dropdown menus in the top left of the application have some useful functions:
Menu: GitHub and Menu:ReadMe will open the GitHub page in your default internet browser or the ReadMe.txt file in your default text editor.
Menu: Quit will close the application.
Data: Import Data will ask you to input a Excel File (.xlsx), which it will use to rebuild the database using the new data (see the Editing the Data section below). This may take a few seconds.
Data: Revert Data will revert the database to the original form it had when downloaded from GitHub. This will undo any changes made by the Import Data option.
Data: Reset Filters will quickly revert all the filters to their default state (include all games, sources, types, topics, and no keywords).
Data: Multi-Query will ask you to input multiple Excel Files (.xlsx) from previous queries, and combine them into a single Excel File (see the Advanced Queries section below).
Data: Export .xlsx and Data: Export .csv will save the results of your search as an Excel File (.xlsx) or Text File (.csv, entries separated by "|" ).
Data: Export Info will generate a Text File (.txt) with an overview of your search results, including the number of matches, the filters used, and a list of unique games, sources, types, and topics from the results.
View: Full Text and View: Single Row will adjust the results table to show either the full text for each entry, or reduce each entry to a single row.
Here are some clarifications on some of the included topics that aren't self-explanatory:
-Void, Vessels, Hollow Knight, The Knight, Infection, and Radiance are separate topics.
-Any entries related to the nail weapon or the Nailmasters (Oro, Mato, Sheo, and Sly) are grouped under the topic of Nail. Simalarly, any entries related to Pinmasters or the Pinstresses are grouped under Pinmasters.
-Any entries related to Herrah, Monomon, or Lurien are grouped under the topic of Dreamers.
-Any entries detailing the religion of Pharloom (such as the pilgrimage, faith, or acts of service) are grouped under the topic of Religion. The topic Citadel contains entries related to the physical location or its functioning and purpose.
-Any entries from Hollow Knight relating to the delicate flower or lifeblood have been tagged with the topics of Everbloom and Plasmium respectively to account for information given in Silksong.
If you'd like to change any of the topics on these entries, or add new ones, you can do so (see the Editing the Data section below).
Found a mistake in the data you want to fix? Want to change the topics of some of the text? Want to add new text? Want to replace all the text with those from a different game and still use the filter system??? You can do all of this and more!
The database and all of the filter options are generated dynamically from a spreadsheet when running the app. While you won't have direct access to the original spreadsheet (that way the Revert Data menu option will always work as a backup), you can make a copy of it by Exporting the full data set (all filters include everything, no keywords) to a .xlsx file. You can edit the exported data in a spreadsheet software like Excel or Google Sheets, then Import the data back into the app. The app will then create a new database, with new filters, that you can use just like before. The changes to the database will be saved (even when the app is closed) until you either Import new data, or Revert the data to it's original state.
If Importing or Reverting Data ever fails, see Troubleshooting - Failed Imports below.
NOTE: If there are any major issues with the original data found on GitHub (such as missing or erroneous text), please file an Issue Report.
To keep the application interface clean and user friendly, only one filter set (game, source, type, topic, and keyword) can be used at a time and the selected entries must meet the entire set. But sometimes, you might want to select entries that meet one filter criteria OR a different filter criteria.
For example, say you want all dialogue either spoken by Hornet or pertaining to Hornet. If you set the Source filter to only include Hornet and the Topics filter to only include Hornet, then the results will only include text where Hornet is speaking about herself since both filters need to be satisfied (i.e. text that satisfies Source:Hornet AND Topics:Hornet). This is not what you want. Instead, you want the individual results of Source: Hornet and Topics: Hornet merged together (i.e. text that satisfies Source:Hornet OR Topics:Hornet).
The app does not allow you to do separate queries like this at the same time, but it will let you merge past queries into a single result. Using the Multi-Query menu option, you can upload any number of .xlsx files from previous queries and it will automatically merge them into a single .xlsx file (removing any duplicate entries).
For the above example, you would save the output of Source:Hornet and Topics:Hornet individually, then use Multi-Query to merge the results into a single file. This file could then be Imported to the application for further filtering if you so choose.
You may get an error when verifying the app along the lines of "This app is damaged and can't be opened". This is a security measure that Apple uses to ignore apps not downloaded through the App Store. To fix this, right click the app and select "copy". Then in the search bar, open the Terminal program. In the terminal type "xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine " then paste the path to the app in the terminal. The full terminal command should look like "xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine <copied_path>/HKTD.app" where <copied_path> should be the path to where you placed the app on your system. Press Enter in the terminal, and the app should work from now on.
In most cases, Windows Defender will refuse to run the app after the download with a pop-up window saying "Windows protected your PC". To tell it to trust this app, click "More Info" then click the "Run anyway" button. You should only have to do this once.
In some cases, Windows Defender (and possibly other software like McAfee) might be more agressive and delete the app (.exe file) on its own. It should give a pop-up notification warning about the file, which you can click to open the settings. You should then have a few seconds to tell Windows to trust the app before it is deleted.
The process seems to vary greatly depending on whether you're using Windows 10 or 11, or if you have third party anti-virus software installed. If you are unable to launch the app, or prevent it from being automatically deleted, you may have to google your specific error/scenario to resolve this.
There are a few rules to editing the data so the application will still function properly. Firstly, the new data must maintain the structure of the original data: 6 columns - Game, Source, Type, Text, Condition, Topics - in that order. Secondly, the Game, Source, and Type columns can only have a single entry, not a list. Thirdly, the Text entry can handle special characters with one exception: both apostrophes and quotation marks in the same entry. In any text using both, " should be replaced with ' or removed. Finally, if an entry has multiple topics, enter them as a comma separated list and the application will separate them automatically.
If the Revert Data option fails, then the internal data of the app has somehow been corrupted. In this situation, the simplest fix is to just delete the app and re-install it from GitHub.