Hollow Knight: Silksong Characters & NPCs — Styx, Nuu, Gilly and Every Named Character

Hollow Knight: Silksong's Pharloom is full of named bugs, and unlike the original game (where most NPCs were tied to Hallownest's ruins), Silksong's cast is alive, quest-driven, and part of Hornet's daily life. If you're searching "styx silksong" or "silksong characters," you want to know who each character is, where to find them, what they do for Hornet, and how their stories play out — not just a list of names. Here's the full picture, spoilers included.

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Every Named NPC at a Glance

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Styx: The Complete Questline

Styx is a subservient bug found in Sinner's Road — described in official guides as "a very unfriendly place." He's reluctant and wary when Hornet first encounters him, but if you help him, he follows through on his promise. His questline (documented in full by IGN and the Hollow Knight Wiki) works like this:

1. Finding Styx

Styx is hidden in Sinner's Road, a hostile early-to-mid game region. You need to locate him (he's tucked away, not on the main path) and free him from the situation that's holding him.

2. His promise: the Silkeater farm

Once saved, Styx keeps his word — he supplies Hornet with Silkeaters. His farm (the area where Silkeater cocoons are grown) is tied to him; young Silkeater cocoons are usually found close to fully-formed cocoons outside Styx's farm, which is how you can farm them yourself once his quest is underway.

3. The reward loop

• Silkeaters are consumables: a grub that feeds on Pharloom's lingering Silk and can sense it across great distances.
• Using one recovers your Cocoon: when Hornet dies, she leaves a Cocoon in the world; consuming a Silkeater calls the Cocoon back to her. This is a meaningful safety net for the game's hardest exploration stretches — and it's why Styx's quest is worth doing early.
• Wild Silkeaters can also be picked up in the world, but Styx's farm is the reliable, renewable source.

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Nuu: The Hunter's Journal Quest

Nuu is a young bug Hornet first meets at the Halfway House in Greymoor (early in the game). She's immediately memorable: childlike innocence combined with academic rigor and a fascination with Pharloom's creatures.

The quest

Nuu gives Hornet the Hunter's Journal — the Silksong version of the original game's bestiary — along with a wish: fill out one hundred entries documenting the bugs of Pharloom. Every new enemy and creature you encounter gets logged; the journal fills as you fight and explore.

What makes her arc special

• She's a quest giver + collection interface + traveling companion all in one: her commentary on your progress updates as your entry count grows.
• The journal's 100-entry target is the game's big collectible side-quest, with a reward at completion (a proper journal entry payoff — worth finishing before the endgame).
• Her dialogue evolves as you report back, making her one of the most present NPCs in the game.

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Gilly: The Hidden Bush

Gilly is a small, shy NPC in Hunter's March who disguises herself as a bush. You can only talk to her after discovering her hiding place — and while disguised, she sometimes sneezes or makes small sounds that give her away.

• She offers no quests and no items — her value is environmental lore and atmosphere.
• Finding her rewards attentive exploration: the "is that a bush?" moment is a small delight of Hunter's March.
• Her presence is a recurring joke in the community (players walk past bushes in every area afterwards).

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Merchants and Service NPCs

Silksong's world is full of bugs who trade with Hornet in exchange for Rosaries (the game's currency) or other goods. Notable service roles:

• Weapon/gear vendors — several named merchants sell tool upgrades and weapon parts (the game's crafting/gear system is built around finding parts and tools).
• Charm-adjacent vendors — Silksong's tool system replaces charms; vendors tied to it are spread across the main route.
• Fast-travel and service bugs — benches, map vendors, and the like.

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Collectible "Characters": Materium, Seeker's Soul, and Silkeaters

Some of the most-searched "silksong character" terms are actually items — here's what they are:

Materium

• What: a collectible item type used to display various items and materials in Hornet's Bellhome (her home base).
• How it works: collect Materium pieces across Pharloom; back at Bellhome, they populate a display — the game's version of a trophy room. Completionists treat the full Materium collection as a major goal (Game8 maintains a complete list of every Materium and where to get it).

Seeker's Soul

• What: a Key Item / deliverable in Silksong.
• Role: officially described as a deliverable item, and community guides connect it to unlocking Act 3 progression (you need it for a specific story gate). It's one of the few items where "where do I use this" is a genuine mid-game puzzle.

Silkeaters

• What: consumable grubs (see Styx's quest above).
• Extra detail: striking young Silkeater cocoons doesn't produce a Silkeater — only a bar or two of Silk. There's also an unused animation of a Silkeater singing, a beloved bit of cut content that fans found in the game files.

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Minor NPCs (Names Without Full Profiles Yet)

Silksong's datamined/community-recorded cast includes several minor characters — loddie, kratt, squirrm, shardillard, the Silksong "baby," and the caretaker — that appear in various Pharloom locations. Official wiki coverage of these minor figures is thin as of this writing; treat specific claims about their dialogue/roles as pending verification until the community wikis fill out their pages. The main takeaway for searchers: they exist, they're optional, and none of them gate main-story progression.

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Silksong Characters vs. Hollow Knight Characters

The big shift: Silksong's NPCs are quests first, flavor second. Hollow Knight's cast mostly sat in place and talked; Silksong's cast gives you mechanics (Silkeaters, journal entries, displays) that change how you play.

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FAQ

Who is Styx in Hollow Knight: Silksong?

A subservient bug in Sinner's Road. Rescue him and he runs a Silkeater farm that supplies Hornet with Silkeaters — consumables that recover her Cocoon when she dies, making them the game's "extra life" item.

What does Nuu want in Silksong?

Nuu (first met at the Halfway House in Greymoor) gives Hornet the Hunter's Journal and asks her to document 100 species of Pharloom's bugs. It's the game's big bestiary side-quest with a completion reward.

How do I complete the Hunter's Journal in Silksong?

Fight and encounter every enemy type as you progress — the journal auto-fills with each new species. Reach 100 entries and report to Nuu for the quest completion reward. Exploration of optional areas is required (some species only spawn there).

What is a Silkeater in Silksong?

A consumable grub that feeds on Pharloom's Silk. Consuming one calls back the Cocoon Hornet leaves when she dies, recovering her lost progress — supplied by Styx's farm or found wild.

Who are all the NPCs in Silksong?

Styx (Silkeater farm), Nuu (Hunter's Journal), Gilly (hidden bush in Hunter's March), merchants and service bugs across Pharloom, plus minor figures (Hoker, loddie, kratt, squirrm, shardillard) with limited official profiles.

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Related guides: Silksong DLC — Sea of Sorrow · Silk Soar & All Abilities · Hollow Knight Platforms

Last updated: August 11, 2026.