Talk:Darksign/@comment-4511886-20130209175927/@comment-1687225-20130225055252

It is heavily implied in the game that killing a hollow or near-hollow permanently removes them. Most of the people you kill are near-hollow, although some are not and still disappear permanently if you kill them (good examples being Rhea with her massive amount of liquid and solid humanity as well as Patches with a lesser, but still substantial amount).