#first vessel

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

Some random doodles with failed vessel interacting with other hollow knight characters.  When FV was a little vessel he followed the Pale King around a lot. Back then he didn’t understand fully what his intended purpose was, he just knew he wanted to be everywhere his father was.  Failed Vessel was very attached to Hornet when she was a little baby and always kept the little spider/wyrm out of mischief. Now that they’re both adults he won’t harm her, even being infected doesn’t change this. Of course because him and the Radiance are lovers, the infection doesn’t affect him the way it does other bugs and he can still think rationally.  If the Failed Vessel were to ever meet Lace he would instantly try to kill her. The creature has made attempts to harm his beloved little sister and he will not allow anyone who has hurt her to live.  Pure Vessel and Failed Vessel will never be friends. The Pure Vessel replaced him and he will never forgive him for it. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

As a specimen for Soul Master’s experiments the Failed Vessel was put through all kinds of torture, from mental to physical. The scientist didn’t treat him like a living creature, but an object with no thoughts or feelings of his own. Even when he would try to escape and did things that something with an actual mind would do the bug refused to think of him as anything more than a mindless thing.  It didn’t help that the Pale King seemed to believe the same things about vessels, thinking of them as shells animated by the void.  Any indications otherwise were always explained away. Those showing attitudes that contradicted this belief were written off as flawed dolls. This belief, of course, was echoed by most bugs in the kingdom, with the White Lady being the exception. However, not even she could prevent what was happening to the Failed Vessel in the Soul Sanctum. and he was left there for years, used and abused by the scientists that worked there. It wasn’t until the Pure Vessel had become an adult and was close to being prepared to seal the Radiance that he managed to escape, leaving the corpses of his tormentors scattered all over the laboratory.  Present times he avoids the place completely, as it will trigger his PTSD and send him into uncontrollable panic attacks. It’s the one place in Hallownest that Ghost could access without the Failed Vessel making any attempts to stop him. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

The Failed Vessel and The Pale King

The failed vessel was the very first vessel ever created by the Pale King and White Lady. His birth is slightly different from the other vessels as he has a biological sex, male, and a bit less void than the others. At first he seemed to be just like any other vessel but his imperfections became more obviously when he grew up. Before he was replaced with the Pure Vessel the pale king raised him from infancy, believing he would be able to stop the infection and save everyone. The young vessel was treated in a similar fashion to the Pure Vessel and as he grew he became very attached and loving to the Pale King, believing the King loved him back.

Even after he was replaced and handed over to the Soul Master to be used for experiments he still loved his father, but wondered why he’d abandoned him to such a horrible fate. This also stirred a burning hatred for the Pure Vessel and other vessels afterward, leaving him to believe they all exist to replace him. 

His delusions have let him to kill any vessels he came across and ensuring the seal on the Black Egg was broken, proving to his father that he was the one who should have been used to seal the Radiance and not the others, as he believes he is the only pure one and the others are failures, not him.

If Ghost were to Dreamnail the Failed Vessel, he would find himself in a corrupted version of the White Palace, with a glowing form of the Radiance seen in the background clouds, entering the tower would take him into a short hall with the Pure Vessel hanging from thorns from the ceiling, and the main area where he would find the Pale King on his throne wrapped up in thorny vines. Each image symbolizing something in the Failed Vessel’s mind. 

Radiance being Freedom, Hung Pure Vessel being Revenge, and the imprisoned Pale King being Desire. 

It would seem strange that after all he’s been through he would still love his father but he does, in a slightly perverted sense of the word. He refuses to accept the King never really cared for him and will not tolerate anyone speaking badly about him. He just wants to prove himself to the Pale King, that he’s not a failure and wants him to be proud of him. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

Starset - MANIFEST (lyrics video)

The Failed Vessel’s theme. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

The failed vessel eventually grew tired of being used as a science experiment and broke free from his restraints. He killed nearly all the scientists in the sanctum and then murdered the Soul Master who was the one mostly to blame for all of his suffering. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

Failed Vessel 4 by lady-warrior

The final piece in the set. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

The Failed Vessel wasn’t always the way he is now. Back when he was the First Vessel he had a pretty good life in the White Palace. The pale king didn’t discover he was not pure until he saw him interacting with a then baby hornet. The Failed Vessel’s emotions were awakened by his little sister and he became very attached and protective of her. 

[contaminate-fallen-failure]

(( i've been waiting, in i o l i t e )) by corrosive-limes