Hook is a giant, lizard-like Gestalt and a boss in NieR and NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139.... It is the Shade that destroyed Kainé's home and killed her grandmother, Kali. It made its lair somewhere near The Aerie.
Personality
Compared to other Shades that often act in self-defense, it is a malicious intelligent creature that could perfectly understand people yet still chooses to gruesomely kill them, and is cunning enough to be able to attempt to psychologically manipulate Kainé by posing as her grandmother.
Story
It is fought three times, first when Nier meets Kainé just outside The Aerie, and again later on, in The Aerie itself. After a long battle, the injured Hook makes a last ditch effort to save itself by talking to Kainé in her grandmother's voice and trying to convince her to stop fighting; Kainé, however, is unswayed by this and Hook is ultimately killed by Nier, who uses a powerful magical attack to smash it down through the platform it was standing on, impaling the grotesque Shade on the support beam.
It is fought for the last time at the Divine Tree, within Kainé's world of memories. The Administrators recreated a data version of it before it is destroyed by Kainé who uses Grimoire Weiss's magic.
Strategy
First battle
Hook has a fairly basic attack pattern. First, it will spawn energy orbs in Nier's general direction. These are all easily evaded or blocked. Nier can also slash energy orbs to refill the magic meter, though early weapons have poor range and it is quite easy to fail a combo, taking massive damage in the process.
While the creature's entire body is vulnerable to magic, it's best to focus on the legs when going in for melee hits. The Shade will create shockwaves with its legs if you slash it too much.
Shockwaves need to be double-jumped over to avoid damage. Hook usually telegraphs when it will do one by lifting its arm for a few seconds. It's best to retreat a few yards back and wait for the barrage to conclude.
Eventually, an Attack Gauge will appear by one of the monster's hands. Just slash it until it is filled.
About midway through the battle, Hook will begin coughing out spherical Shades. Leaving them unattended for too long will cause the Shades to start pouring out a stream of energy orbs that could be trouble if unnoticed.
When Hook's health is fully depleted, it will collapse to the ground and allow Nier to perform a finisher on it.
Trivia
- Hook is named after the pirate Captain Hook from Peter Pan.[1]
- Hook dies in a similar way to Angelus in Ending E in Drakengard.
Gallery
