Ok Here’s that Hollow Knight Four Swords AU heehee
So basic gist of this is what the Four Swords crew would be like if they were bugs in Hallownest! (This AU would lie just before the infection starts up, and then cut to in-game) I’ll put this under a read more because whew boy did I pour out my soul into this
First lets start off with Green!
I’m thinking that he’d either be a Mantis, or a leafbug, def something green (but lets go with leafbug for now)
I think he’d live in Greenpath (heh) helping out the Mosskins just to make sure that the pilgrims traveling to the City of Tears don’t go where they’re not supposed to
He’s helpful though! offering up his services as a guide if anyone got lost
He’s loyal to Unn, because he got separated from his parents when they were travelling to the City and a few Mosskins adopted him instead. So they taught him to be wary of Hallownest and its King
He learned how to wield a Nail from them and also uses a shellwood sheild.
Once the Infection starts up, he and the Mosskin family that adopted him decided to try to travel deeper into Greenpath, thinking that the Infection was caused by contact with other bugs, not dreams
Sadly, the Mosskins he was with ultimately fell to the Light, and left him alone to fend for himself.
He then keeps to himself, thinking that he’s better alone (Kinda like the start of the Manga when he’s just Link) until he ventures out of Greenpath and stumbles into Blue! They fight until they both realize that neither of them are infected.
He tries to stick with Blue, because he really doesn’t know the biomes of Hallownest that well, but they butt heads often.
Now onto Blue!
Blue in this AU is a Blue Mud Dauber
He lived in the Hive, then later in Kingdom’s Edge where he would test his strength in the Coliseum of Fools
He’s still arrogant and a bit hot headed, so he decided to leave the Hive since he kept butting heads with Hive Knight on how to be a better guard.
He first trained in the Hive using a stinger weapon (Like Hive Knight) before picking up a club when one of the challengers from CoF died
I feel like he and Oro would get along somewhat, though Blue doesn’t appreciate how training is behind a pay wall of Geo that he just doesn’t have.
He would occasionally fight in the CoF just to prove that he’s strong, but he’s stopped at the first trial (He’s still young and a lil bit scared of what would happen if he lost)
Once the Infection started up, Blue decides to steer clear of the CoF due to the fact that more Fools started being hyper-aggressive in the fights, so he looked for a better place to go that wouldn’t kill him (He doesn’t know where to go though, so he decides he’s going to leave Hallownest entirely to go look for another fight ring)
He found a way into the Royal Waterways through Isma’s Grove (Though it wasn’t called that just yet) and into the Fungal Wastes near Mantis Territory
He skirted the Mantis Village (This would be the time that the Traitor Lord split from the other Mantises) and found himself at the entrance to Greenpath from Fog Canyon
That’s where he stumbles into Green and they spar, he then tells Green to get lost before continuing his travels (With Green following behind lol)
Next up we got Red!
Red is a ladybug (I couldn’t find a better bug but if anyone else has a better idea for Red please let me know!)
He grew up in Dirtmouth as an orphan due to a mining accident killing his parents as they worked in Crystal Peaks
Luckily he was taken care of by the town and he became a baker’s apprentice
(Ok I like to think that the Grimm Troupe came to Hallownest before the Knight summoned them since Grimm knows about the vessel plan)
When Grimm and his Troupe pay a visit to Hallownest, Red was one of the only bugs brave enough to see one of their shows.
He became absolutely enchanted by the circus and it left an impression on him
When the infection hits his mentor and kills them, leaving Red without a job or a home, he decided to join the Grimm Troupe
When he does, he’s given a mask and a new name “Rouge” and learns how to be a fire dancer.
Rouge is a bit more daring that Red was, trying out highly dangerous stunts, but he’s still a kind soul, helping out to pitch tents or help mend costumes or cook food for the Troupe.
His primary weapon as Rouge is a Flame Staff
Once the Grimm Troupe is summoned by the Knight, Rouge is tasked with collecting Nightmare Flames for the Ritual.
(This is going to go through the Banishment Route just so that there’s an excuse for why Red stays behind) When the Knight banishes the Grimm Troupe, both Brumm and Rouge stay behind in Hallownest as Nymm and Red because of Red’s attachment to Dirtmouth (Ig? Idk I just need Red to stay)
As he now has no memories of either his past or his time with the Troupe, he decides to stay in Dirtmouth and sometimes wander into the Forgotten Crossroads before it gets infected.
He meets up with Blue and Green when they make it up to Dirtmouth for a supply run, and he decides to travel with them (much to Blue’s chagrin)
He’s still a capable fighter! Now he wields a staff he made from the metal scraps from ruins of the old village in the Crossroads
Now for Vio!
Vio is a Purple Emperor Butterfly
He lived in the City of Tears as a burgeoning scholar, planning to work for Monomon’s Archives once he was done with his studies.
He prefers being alone, holed up in a library pouring over the history of Hallownest.
When the infection starts up and the City is blocked off from the rest of Hallownest, Vio panics and decides to hole up in his apartment until the hysteria calms down.
Once most of the panic dies down, there’s a big struggle over finding supplies and food among the citizens of the City, with the nobility hogging most of it
In the scuffles, Vio stumbles into the Soul Sanctum, hoping that the Sanctum has food/supplies
He instead finds a container, and in that container is a Shade, a near to melting Shade
He decides to break it out of the container it was in as a sort of act of pity, and gets the hell out of the Sanctum, not knowing that he was followed...
(I’ll explain why Shadow can do all this stuff once we get to them but) It turns out that the Shade he freed now resided in his shadow as he traveled into to the Ancient Basin after stealing a Tram Pass and traveling to Kingdom’s Edge
He finally notices Shadow and promptly freaks out but slowly learns that Shadow is just chillin, and he tries to communicate with them to an extent of charades
They soon become good friends, with Vio telling them stories about the different subjects he learned about and Shadow trying to mime out what had happened to them, causing Vio to learn that their shell had split open and they needed a new mask to keep staying alive outside of their container
Not to mention that Vio started experiencing Void exposure due to Shadow leeching off of his life force to stay corporeal (Like the Bug from the Queen’s Garden, the “Too long spent together we became as one”)
So now with the both of them up against the clock, Vio decides to do something hella risky, head to Deepnest where the supposed “Mask Maker” lived and hoped that a new mask would save the both of them
They head to Deepnest, almost die, but make it to the Mask Maker where it seemed that he was already expecting them.
Bada-bing bada-boom, Shadow now has a new mask and a new form, and Vio stops feeling the effects of Void exposure
They both decide to go up and out exploring, hoping to leave Hallownest behind
So they travel together, and actually run into Blue, Green and Red in Dirtmouth, and decide to stay for a bit to at least advise them of the dangers deeper below.
Oh before I forget, Vio wields a crossbow, and practiced target shooting on the Primal Aspids in Kingdom’s Edge (hehe)
They join the little band of travelers and wham! Four Swords Squad is united
Now onto our final character, Shadow!
Shadow is a vessel! They have two horns on their head that curve in a wave behind (Like his hat in the Manga)
Shadow actually escaped the Abyss after it was sealed, since they hatched after the Pure Vessel ascended, they along with a few others took the tunnels out into Deepnest.
They encountered Nosk before simply running out of its lair, not looking back to see if their siblings needed help (It’s not because they’re cruel, it was simply a flight reflex taking over before helping type thing)
They somehow slipped into the tram and ended up in the Ancient Basin and into the City of Tears.
None paid them any mind because no one knew what Vessels were except for the Dreamers. So they slunk around the City just marveling at all the new senses they were experiencing
But there's a reason that Vio finds them as a Shade. They had just so happened to be near the Soul Sanctum when they were captured by its denizens
Vaati (Yes he’s here but he succumbs to the infection real quick) is one of the Soul Twisters that tries out a new experiment in hopes of gaining favor from Soul Master.
He decides to try to leech Soul off of Shadow without turning them into a husk, thing is, Shadow didn’t have any Soul to begin with, so the process breaks their shell and their Shade pops out
But due to the nature of the container being able to hold intangible things like Soul, and Shadow’s will to live being super strong, Shadow’s Shade stays trapped in the container
Vaati decides to keep them in there and simply monitor how they react to Soul, and even Infection exposure
It goes like this for a while before the City shuts down and chaos erupts, with the Soul Master instructing his minions to capture more bugs for more Soul, leaving the Sanctum pretty empty....and thats when Vio shows up
Vio breaks the container, and with no where else to go (unless you count the Abyss but Shadow did not want to rest) Shadow dives into Vio’s shadow as a last ditch effort, being able to cling to Vio’s soul reserves to keep them from truly fading
You know what happens next, they both live in Kingdom’s Edge for a while, and Shadow used miming through the shadows reflected on the walls to try to puppet out what had happened to them when asked by Vio.
Once they make it to the Mask Maker and get they’re new mask, they finally are able to experience the world again, this time with someone trusted by their side. Vio promises to try to learn sign to help teach them so that they can communicate now that they actually have hands
Due to the fact that they had been in Vio’s shadow for a good while, they’re naturally clingy to him, either by leaning against him, or holding his hand (with Vio being a bit flustered at the contact) and they’re very wary of the other Four Swords at the start, but soon warm up to them little by little
Now it’s canon that all Vessels are genderless, so Shadow in this AU goes by they/them, later on once they’ve been with Vio and the Gang long enough, they decide that they like He/Him pronouns too, so Shadow does go by They/He
Shadow has no weapon, but they do know Shade Soul and Desolate Dive from being experimented on in the Soul Sanctum so cool spell combos along with the Gang’s fighting style
And there you have it folks! If you have any questions or any suggestions please don’t be afraid to send me an ask! I love interacting with people who share my interests!
I have so many questions. Where is his cross? Why are there nails in his feet just because? Why is he holding his legs up when he doesn't have to? Is the cross invisible? And what is with his ribs? Where is his body fat?
My best guess is the artist had already pre-made him to be nailed to a cross of the customer's choosing, but this particular customer chose this instead.
He almost looks like this nearby Jesus, so I assume it's the same artist.
