Hollow Knight has 47 distinct boss fights if you count every unique boss and their key variants in the fully updated game (all free DLC included).

Quick Scoop: How many bosses are in Hollow Knight?

If you’re wondering how many bosses in Hollow Knight there actually are, the most widely accepted “full game” answer is:

  • 47 bosses total, counting all unique bosses and their variations introduced across the main game plus content updates like Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and Godmaster.
  • This 47 includes joke/odd cases like Zote the Mighty, who technically can’t damage you, but is still classified as a boss encounter.
  • It does not include a couple of fake-out encounters that look like bosses but aren’t real fights.

Some guides and wikis phrase it slightly differently, but they converge on the same range:

  • The official-style wiki page on bosses explicitly states that, “including every variation, there are 47 bosses in the game,” while excluding the two fake-out bosses.
  • A major fan wiki also confirms that counting variations yields 47 bosses and notes that this tally includes Zote but excludes the two non-fight fake-outs.

So if you’re planning a completionist or “face every boss at least once” run, you’re aiming at 47 boss encounters.

TL;DR: For “how many bosses in Hollow Knight,” the accepted full-game answer is 47.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.