| Black Knight | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stage | Plains, Arena, Tower of Fate: Entrance |
| Theme | The Rival |
| Second Theme | The Defender |
| Weapon | Shovel Blade |
| “ | 'For the last time, I answer to no one!' | ” |
Black Knight (sometimes 'The Black Knight') is one of many Knights that appear in Shovel Knight. He is Shovel Knight's enigmatic yet good intended rival. His fighting style differs from Shovel Knight, despite their same choice of weapon.
Black Knight appears three times for a fight in both Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows: once as the end boss of the Plains, once as a wandering boss after clearing a stage in the third region and once as the end boss of the Tower of Fate: Entrance.
In Specter of Torment, he is fought twice while mounted on his armored steed, Terrorpin: once at the of the Plains, and once at Tower of Fate.
Official Bio
| “ | 'As the Yin to Shovel Knight’s Yang, the Black Knight calls nobody master. Clad in obsidian armor, he hounds Shovel Knight to the ends of the Earth, spoiling for a battle. The Black Knight’s skill with the Shovel Blade rivals that of Shovel Knight, or so the Black Knight hopes to prove! While Shovel Knight is confused as to why he has this mysteriously relentless doppelganger, no number of humiliating defeats by Shovel Knight could dampen the Black Knight’s spirit: he will always rise up to fight again!' | ” |
- Pros: persistent, confident, goal-orientated
- Cons: slightly inept, squeaky voice
Strategy
Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows
The battles in the Plains of Passage and overworld are remarkably similar. Black Knight has some of the same moves as Shovel Knight, including the Shovel Drop, where he actually propels himself to dive faster with his blade, and won't bounce off should he hit his opponent. However, he can launch a large purple projectile attack, which can be reflected by attacking it directly with the shovel. During the second battle, he will deflect this back at you if you attempt to deflect it, until he lets his guard down, causing himself to get hit.
In the final battle against him at the Tower of Fate: Entrance, the battle starts similarly, except when using his purple projectile attack he will instead phase across the screen launching them. After a while during the battle, he will grow wings, which will fire thorns upon being released. In this form he will occasionally summon large meteors to strike the earth, with two meteors staying on the ground, that will cause damage to Shovel Knight upon contact. These cannot be destroyed by the player, but can by Black Knight, who will occasionally Shovel Drop onto them, causing them to explode. After a while his wings will disappear and he will retake his previous strategies, occasionally growing them again to restart the cycle. He also has a more powerful Shovel Dirt attack, which will launch multiple debris imbued with purple energy; these can be reflected by attacking with the shovel.
Specter of Torment
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Black Knight engages Specter Knight using a different strategy: he fights while mounted on his trusty and shelled steed, Terrorpin.
Dialogue
As Shovel Knight:
Plains of Passage:
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Wandering across the Plains:
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At the entrance to the Tower of Fate:
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After defeating Black Knight:
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As Plague Knight:
Plains of Passage:
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Wandering across the Plains:
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At the entrance of the Tower of Fate, before fighting Black Knight:
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After defeating Black Knight:
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As Specter Knight
Plains of Passage:
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After defeating Black Knight:
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At the Tower of Fate's entrance:
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After defeating Black Knight
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Trivia
- One reason for a knight to have black armor was to indicate they served no lord. Given that Black Knight is a wholly independent character, enough so that Shovel Knight notes he does not blindly follow, this is quite fitting.
- Black Knights also appear in various Arthurian Legends, where they are usually depicted as errant knights and rivals to White Knights. They are sometimes associated with death.
- Shovel Knight's Mail of Momentum uses a similar palette to Black Knight's armor.
- Shovel Knight and Black Knight can be related to Mega Man and Proto Man.
- Both are similar in basic design to their counterparts (Shovel Knight to Black Knight and Mega Man to Proto Man), with a few added elements such as Proto Man's helmet and shield, and Black Knight's sharper and over-all more menacing armor.
- Both Black Knight and Proto Man share the trait of having an intense rivalry with the protagonist of their original games, as well as a prior connection to said rivals. These relations to the protagonists have not yet been elaborated on in-game in either series, although there are comic series and the like for the Mega Man series that provide their own detailed interpretations of Proto Man's connection to Mega Man.
- Although there has been no proof of this as of yet, there have been speculations by fans that Proto Man was an inspiration for the character Black Knight.
- In Plague of Shadows, Black Knight is the only character aside from the Wandering Travelers that Plague Knight doesn't try to harvest the essence from.
- However, he becomes a mandatory boss who sticks outside the first Order of No Quarter stage the player clears in the third region and never moves. After his defeat, Mona will leave the Potionarium, and be replaced by Percy.
- In the Tower of Fate: Entrance battle, Black Knight is not seen receiving power from The Enchantress, but already have the power upgrades. This implies that Shovel Knight reached the entrance first.
- The first dialog between Black Knight and Shovel Knight is possible a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In the film, King Arthur meets a black knight who guards a bridge. The dialog is quite similar: "I have no quarrel with you, good sir knight, but I must cross this bridge." Another parallel between the two is the black knight's response to King Arthur: "I move for no man."
- It is implied that Black Knight has romantic feelings for, or at least was very attached, to Shield Knight, hence his rivalry with Shovel Knight. He was aware of The Enchantress' true identity, which was likely why he was determined to keep Shovel Knight from her and declared how concerned he was to keep her safe, even though he insisted he was not her servant. Additionally, as Shield Knight risked herself to hold back the Remnant of Fate's attack, Black Knight begged for her to stop and wanted her to save herself. Shield Knight also expressed her happiness that she got to see Black Knight once again in addition to Shovel Knight.
- The name of Black Knight's turtle, Terrorpin, is a possible reference to a rare turtle in World of Warcraft, named Terrorpene. Terrorpin also has a very similar design to Terrorpene.
- It could also simply be a combination of "Terror" and "Terrapin", which is a type of turtle.
Sprites
Gallery
