Hornet's Cloak Removal in Silksong Sparks Player Curiosity

IGN recently unveiled that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available for play at an Australian museum in September 2025, alongside a sprite sheet from the eagerly awaited game. The internet, as it tends to do, erupted with reactions.

A commenter on Reddit questioned the necessity of a particular sprite showing Hornet without her cloak, asking, "In what situation [is] making a sprite of naked Hornet necessary?" This sprite, found among many others depicting Hornet in various poses, shows her casually holding her cloak under one arm. You can see it in the close-up below or on the original sheet on the right-hand side, just under the uppermost ring:

A close-up of the controversial sprite, located on the right-hand side of the original image. One Redditor humorously remarked, "What kind of situation in-game calls for her to remove her cloak and hold it like she's an exhausted dad returning from work? This is cursed." Another expressed disbelief, saying, "Is this real???? There’s no way this is a sprite that is going to be in Silksong. Is that just what she looks like????" while another exclaimed, "IN WHAT KIND OF SITUATION WOULD THEY EVEN NEED THIS SPRITE?"

The discussion soon took a playful turn, with one user stating, "So, we don't have to bother making a mod," and another quipping, "We're going straight to ESRB 18+ for this one." The responses continued with comments like, "HORNET PUT YOUR CLOAK BACK ON THAT'S SO INDECENT WHAT THE HELL," and "This looks so wrong," as well as "this is completely unnecessary." Another user simply stated, "I do not like this."

While the most likely reason for this sprite might be to allow for cloak upgrades or changes, fans are left to let their imaginations run wild for now.

Hollow Knight: Silksong 2025 Screenshots

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Team Cherry's sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, continues to dominate the Steam wishlist charts and is one of the most anticipated games globally. After a brief appearance at Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct last month, Team Cherry confirmed a 2025 release window, much to the delight of its patient fans. With the game set to be playable at Australia's national museum of screen culture, ACMI, starting September 18, some speculate a potential launch around August, though no official confirmation has been made yet.

Hollow Knight: Silksong will be part of the Game Worlds exhibition at the Melbourne museum, which will also feature insights into the game’s design and artistic direction.