Zate

**Zate the Weak** is an NPC in *Hallow Knight*.

## Lore

He is a traveler from outside of Hollow Nest who came to the Kingdom to fulfill a promise. This is ultimately revealed to be a promise to his family that he will not show his face until he becomes strong enough to deserve returning to them.

Although he sees himself as a weak being - as indicated both by his promise and by the name he gave himself - he is actually among the greatest warriors in the land.

### The Four Articles of Higher State of Being

1. We all have dreams; we all have an ideal we want to reach. Some people's dreams are merely hidden.
2. Do not fear that which you do not know; do not fear strange travelers, do not fear incomprehensible nightmares, do not fear fire you did not light.
3. Value life above all things; look after the quality of life of both you and others, so that all may enjoy this gift.
4. Always aim higher; only through self-improvement can one ascend.

== In-game events

## Behavior and Tactics

* **Slam :** zate jumps high in the air, reaching the top of the arena and attempts to cut Daniel in half, upon landing he releases a Shockwave of holy energy towards you, the Shockwave is about twice as tall as Daniel.

* **Dash :** zate jumps towards the end of the arena before dashing towards Daniel. it covers around 50% of the arena, zate will **slash** at the end of the dash, emmiting a beam of energy, which covers twice as much vertical space as normal but has the same speed and covers all the rest of the arena, dissappearing upon hitting the wall of the arena.

* **Ascent :** if Daniel is above zate and he isn't attacking, he will point his nail upwards and jump straight up, when reaching the top of the arena, zate will **Slam**.

* **Slash :** if Daniel is right next to zate and he isn't attacking, he will swing his nail at you, releasing a holy beam of energy, which is the same height as zate himself and behaves like the one from the **Dash** attack.

* **Nail Throw :** Zate will throw his nail at Daniel like a boomerang, it will travel quickly all the way to the end of the arena before coming back to Zate, the nail cannot be hit in any way and cannot be taken away from its trajectory, as its covered in a protective holy energy shield for the whole attack.

Attempting to attack zate in any way is useless, as zate will counter you if you try to attack him :

* **nail counter :** attempting to attack zate with your nail will cause him to parry you and then disarm you, sending your nail flying on the ground, it can be reclaimed although it is useless to do.If zate doesn't have his nail due to using the **nail throw** attack, he grab Daniel's hand and hold it in place, preventing hitting zate and forcing you to get hit by zate's nail as it returns

* [**shade soul counter/vengeful spirit] counter :** Zate will **slash** towards it, the holy beam resulting from it will destroy the spell and keep going towards the end if the arena. If the spell is not going towards zate or isn't threatening to him, he'll just stand still to avoid it.

* [**descending dark/desolate dive] counter :** zate will immediately **ascend** if Daniel is right above him, hitting Daniel before the spell starts. If Daniel isn't right above zate but close enough for the shockwave to hit zate, zate will simply jump above it, before **slamming**

* [**abyss shriek/howling wraiths] counter :** Zate will quickly **slam**, regardless of how high he is above Daniel, hitting him before the spell starts. If he's on the ground or too far away from Daniel to get hit when the spell is used, he will simply wait until the spell is over.

Zate can perform those counters under any circumstances, mid-air or on the ground. If attacked during one of his attacks, he'll interrupt his attack in order to counter.

## Trivia

* Zate's first Article of Higher State of Being is likely referencing the Ideals at the end of Dream Chains.