| “ | The fruits of my research are no mere trick! | ” |
— Plague Knight, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope | ||
Plague Knight is one of eight knights of the Order of No Quarter who serves the Enchantress and is a master alchemist. His lair is the Explodatorium. He is also the protagonist of Plague of Shadows, in which he seeks to craft the Ultimate Potion from the Essence of the Order's members.
Official Bio[]
| “ | Sometimes, the bomb is mightier than the sword. Deep in the recesses of his alchemical lab, Plague Knight perfects concoctions both poisonous and explosive. Toxin, disease, and death are his playgrounds. Even his comrades give Plague Knight a wide berth, because he spreads more than just the common cold. With an array of mysterious and magical bottles at his side, Plague Knight could be considered the black sheep of The Order of No Quarter. | ” |
- Pros: Maniacal scientific mind, fearlessness bordering on recklessness
- Cons: Physically weak, short stature, shy at parties
Dig the Vote pitch[]
Tone[]
| “ | Plague Knight is a mysterious fellow. Because he is a reclusive character, his campaign will slowly reveal his secrets and melancholy past.. | ” |
Original Play Style Ideas[]
- Bomb Arsenal – Multiple types of potion bombs
- Bomb Jumping – Explosions can propel Plague Knight to new heights.
- Invisibility – Escape into the unseen to avoid damage.
- Resource Management – Break down objects to get raw resources. Use resources to create more powerful bombs.
- Random Bomb – Blindly pluck a random bomb from your pouch but be prepared to think on your feet.
Plague Knight became one of the winners of the Dig the Vote selection, taking the 2nd place with an average score of 6.49 (compared to King Knight's 6.02 score, who took 3rd place, and Specter Knight's 6.51 score, which earned him the 1st place). The proposed story tone was changed when it came time to develop his campaign, turning it into a more comedic story based on romance, while on the gameplay side, most of the proposed ideas were actually implemented, after being reworked and rebalanced, with the exception of the resource and crafting system, which was considered during development, but was scrapped due to overcomplexity.
Personality[]
Plague Knight has a somewhat reckless personality and notably treats several of his allies with contempt or indifference. With the exception of Tinker Knight, he treats all of the Order of No Quarter with disrespect, often gleefully attacking them and being entirely unapologetic at the Battle Royale.
While he brushes off most criticism without second thought, Specter Knight is able to reduce him to stunned silence by commenting on his cowardice regarding his feelings for Mona.
He is insecure about his lack of strength and power, believing that he needs the Ultimate Potion to become powerful enough for Mona to love him.
Appearance[]
Plague Knight is a short person who wears a green plague doctor mask. While his mask covers his face, he can still drink through the mask with a straw. He wears a golden necklace and a hooded black cloak with long baggy sleeves. A purple pouch is attached to his waist by a green sash. He has golden pants with black kneepads and small black boots.
As a playable character in Treasure Trove, Plague Knight appears smaller and wears a shorter mask than in his appearance as a boss. This is also true in his ending scenes in Specter of Torment and King of Cards. In-lore, this is because Plague Knight uses artifices to hide his short stature. He owns different masks, as seen in his wardrobe in the Explodatorium.
Relationships[]
Mona[]
| “ | Mona, I love the way you think! Hahaha!!! The bigger the explosion...
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” |
— 'Plague Knight', Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows | ||
Mona is one of Plague Knight's few genuinely positive relationships. He respects her greatly as a fellow alchemist and also harbors romantic feelings for her. He is deeply saddened when, due to a misunderstanding, she temporarily leaves him thinking that his quest for the Ultimate Potion was all an attempt to beguile the Magicist. However, after the events of Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, the two end up together once she understands who the potion was actually supposed to impress.
Percy[]
| “ | Ugh! You've made such a mess this time, Percy! But as usual, I'll clean up after you, hee hee hee!
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” |
— 'Plague Knight', Shovel Knight: King of Cards | ||
Plague Knight tolerates Percy reasonably well despite all the ballistics mishaps the equine scholar causes. He gets exasperated with him at times and isn't above threatening or mocking him.
Tinker Knight[]
| “ | Ah, the esteemed inventor! I do so respect your craft, hee hee... Relinquish your Essence and you won't be harmed. | ” |
— 'Plague Knight', Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows | ||
Tinker Knight seems to be the only member of the Order of No Quarter that Plague Knight respects, as they are both men of science. They share similar ideals and the alchemist respects his craft. Plague Knight even tries to convince him to surrender his Essence peacefully. However when Tinker Knight makes his refusal clear, Plague Knight does not hesitate to take it by force.
Baz[]
| “ | (Hee hee, I did say he would fit in perfectly!) | ” |
— 'Plague Knight', Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows | ||
Plague Knight seemingly takes pity on Baz and recruits him as a Minion. Once he becomes a member however, Plague Knight does express some exasperation at his dimness.
Plague Minions[]
Plague Knight rules by force his minions and doesn't mind experimenting his bombs on them. Furthermore, he mocks their capacity when he allows Baz to join, noting his lack of brainpower makes him fit in with them. Passive Plague Minions wandering in the Potionarium and in other stages can be blasted off. He also left them in charge of the Explodatorium, but their incompetence led to the lair going haywire. With the intrusion of Shovel Knight upon the base, they attack Plague Knight amidst the ambient chaos.
Abilities[]
Plague Knight's main weapon is his Bombs, which can be set to different modes.
- Mobility
- Long Jump: a high jump that can reach half the height of the arena and traverse half of its length.
- Smoke Bomb: disappears in a green cloud and reappears elsewhere in the arena.
- Base Attacks
- Bomb Toss: a single bomb tossed in a lobbed arc.
- Black Powder Bomb: explodes on impact.
- Tracer Powder Bomb: produces wall-climbing flames on impact.
- Cascade Bomb Toss: three bombs tossed and producing each a high vertical flame on impact.
- Special Attack
- Bomb Barrage: locks in midair and throws bombs one after the other all over the arena floor.
- Vat: summons Vats. Can provoke a large explosion when hit by a bomb and produce a chain reaction with nearby Vats.
- Mobility
- Double Jump: Plague Knight can jump a second time in the air.
- Base Attacks
- Bomb Toss: Plague Knight tosses his equipped bomb forward, or downward ahead in the air.
- Bomb Burst: Plague Knight lets loose a damaging burst to launch himself into the air.
- Mobility
- Long Jump: a high jump that can reach half the height of the arena and traverse half of its length.
- Smoke Bomb: disappears in a green cloud and reappears elsewhere in the arena.
- Base Attacks
- Bomb Toss: a single Black Powder bomb tossed in a lobbed arc and exploding on impact.
- Special Attack
- Bomb Barrage: locks in midair and throws bombs one after the other all over the arena floor.
- Vat: summons Vats. Can provoke a large explosion when hit by a bomb and produce a chain reaction with nearby Vats.
- Clones: Summons up to two clones who behave the same but only last two hits.
- Mobility
- Double Jump: Plague Knight can jump a second time in the air.
- Base Attacks
- Bomb Toss: Plague Knight tosses a bomb forward, or downward ahead in the air.
- Spin Burst: Plague Knight lets loose an explosive burst that allows him to spin in a ball at opponents.
- Special Attack
- Staff of Surging: Plague Knight uses his staff to attack upward with energy.
Strategy[]
Shovel of Hope[]
Plague Knight is a slippery character, hopping around the stage while throwing explosive bombs (looks like potion vials or flasks) at Shovel Knight. These bombs can break the stage's floor, changing the terrain and making him even harder to manage. He is also constantly changing his bomb set-up, throwing lobs or bounces. Some of the bombs will also cause fireballs and trace the floor after they explode. Occasionally, he will summon two Vats (large beakers) filled with a mysterious purple substance. If a thrown bombs hits these Vats, they will cause a large explosion, inflicting high damage. Once his health reaches a certain point, he will summon enough Vats to fill the floor, though if the player defeats him quickly this is of no concern. While doing all of this, he will also teleport around the room erratically, making it even harder to land successful hits. A good strategy is to use the Chaos Sphere in this battle, as it'll bounce around the room as Plague Knight is jumping and uses teleport.
It is worthy of note that all of his thrown vials can be thrown back at him if hit with the Shovel Blade, and they are often launched in ways attempting to intersect with Plague Knight's next move or current position, roughly hitting him 30-50% of the time despite his erratic movement, although it is not reliable to fight Plague Knight using only this strategy. Reflected potions only deal 1 damage to Plague Knight (considering that 10 health dots to represent 20 health).
Specter of Torment/King of Cards[]
Sometimes, Plague Knight may disappear, then reappear with fake clones. These clones can only take 2 hits before vanishing, and can be identified as clones due to the fact that the bombs they hold are a different color from the true Plague Knight. Unlike his boss fight in Shovel of Hope, he does not use any powders except the black powder.
In Plague of Shadows, Plague Knight receives a new sprite set, that makes him slightly smaller (almost the same size of Shovel Knight) with unique animations for walking, jumping, climbing, among others. His design has been slightly tweaked, with smaller and rounder proportions to make him look more "adorable".
Plague Knight's gameplay is ranged oriented, reflecting his fight as a boss. Its style is reminiscent of Metroid and Mega Man; Plague Knight's main weapons are various potions crafted into powerful Bombs that he can throw at enemies. These bombs can be customized to be given various effects, and its customization is divided in three sections:
- Casing: Affects the trajectory of the bombs. Switching between them allows Plague Knight to control where he will throw the bombs.
- Powder: Affects the resulting explosion of the bombs. These can vary from simple explosions to pillars of flames or electrical pulses.
- Fuse: Affects the timer of the bombs. With this Plague Knight can control when the bombs will explode.
All these customizations can be bought from Mona at the Potionarium, who can also research for more variations as Plague Knights gives her enough Cipher Coins. With the right combination, Plague Knight can dish out damage much faster than Shovel Knight, making some boss fights easier.
With this in mind, Plague Knight can adapt to almost any situation and any kind of enemy, which gives him a kind of versatility that Shovel Knight lacks; however, Plague Knight has very little health by default and jumps much lower than Shovel Knight. On the other hand, Plague Knight naturally has a double jump (that even so is much lower than Shovel Knight's standard jump) and can even perform Bomb Bursts by charging an attack similarly to the Charge Handle or the Striker's Shawl; doing so will cause his sprite to blink, and releasing it will propel Plague Knight upwards. Bursts can be used indefinitely, and gives Plague Knight the mobility he lacks on ground. However, controlling the Burst can be difficult at first, as he falls as fast as he soars, which can lead to many deaths. However, the Float Burst is available early and allows to mitigate this problem. By throwing a bomb after performing a Bomb Burst, Plague Knight can cancel his midair momentum, progressively slowing down with each bomb throw, a technique conveniently named Bomb Brake. By combining his double jump, the Float Burst and the Staff of Surging Arcana (which propels him upwards), Plague Knight is by far and beyond the most mobile character in the game, able to completely ignore long stretches of platforming challenges by soaring over them (appropriately enough, given his bird-like mask).
While venturing through the lairs of the Order's members, Plague Knight can find the Relics Shovel Knight would obtain in the original campaign; it is only possible to find these by taking specific routes present in Plague of Shadows only. Upon acquiring one, Plague Knight will proclaim the Relic as "worthless"; it cannot be equipped and used. Instead, he hints that there's more to the Relics when he says "maybe someone else would want this rubbish". Indeed, if Plague Knight explores the lair thoroughly, he'll eventually come upon Chester, residing in the exact same places Shovel Knight would find him. He'll trade said "worthless Relic" for Arcana, functioning in a similar vein to the Relics used in the main game. This effectively explains how Chester came to possess the Relics Shovel Knight would later buy from him.
Arcana are fueled by Power, represented through a dynamic meter on the top-left of the screen. Using Arcana will deplete the meter, with the amount varying dependent on the Arcana used. The meter starts out relatively short at the beginning of the game, but similar to Shovel Knight's Mana, it can be lengthened by purchasing Power upgrades from the Magicist. Unlike Shovel Knight's mana meter, which allows for many uses of his Relics but needs items to refill, Plague Knight's Power meter is much more restrictive, but rapidly regenerates over time, allowing him to use Arcana to his heart's content, but not in quick succession.
Plague Knight also starts out with low health, but unlike Power, permanent health upgrades are not purchasable; they are primarily obtained as the player progresses through the game. The player may also utilize Health Tonics that they receive by completing certain in-game events (e.g. recruiting Baz), by "fishing", purchasing them from the Magicist, or as a random pickup if they wish to increase their maximum health. Drinking one increases Plague Knight's maximum hit points by two. These upgrades are only temporary, however, as his hit points are returned to their original value should he fall in battle. This drawback is significantly mitigated by the Leech Liquid Arcana, which allows Plague Knight to regain health in battle as he inflicts damage to opponents, potentially increasing his lifespan far beyond the limits of his mediocre health pool.
Plague Knight can also equip different kinds of Cloaks, similar to Shovel Knight's Armors. These can be obtained from the Troupple King once the Troupple Chalice is obtained, which grants Plague Knight his blessing in forms of special cloaks rather than potions.
Pocket Dungeon[]
With Plague Knight's main ability, attacking foes will poison them, including chains. Furthermore, Bombs now have the same poison effect on enemies; however, until the Bomb Seed Bag is equipped, Plague Knight is still just as much vulnerable to the explosion as anyone else. Plague Knight has a reduced HP of 4, but he is immune to poison damage.
His Refract Ability restores his Bomb Burst technique, allowing Plague Knight to jump all over the dungeon; furthermore, if Potions have been stored, then they can be used as explosive charges for the Burst, doing a 3x3 explosion radius dealing 3 damage points to anything caught in it, with up to 5 potions being able to be stored. However, Turkeys do not work, and will not be collected as charges.Campaigns[]
TBA
In Specter of Torment, Plague Knight's renown as an alchemist gets the attention of the Enchantress. She entrusts Specter Knight in recruiting him as court alchemist for her plans. In the Explodatorium, the alchemist's lack of interest in that proposition forces Specter Knight to fight him.
Plague Knight and his minions join the Tower of Fate after being defeated. While he seems to enjoy the activity in the ranks of the Enchantress, he is in fact plotting to take the Order's Essence for his own plans.
In the ending, unbeknownst to the Order, Plague Knight is moving out his laboratory to his secret headquarters outside the Explodatorium. Mona and him are also starting to manifest feelings for each other. He also bows to the Enchantress along his fellow knights, forging the Order of No Quarter.TBA
In Shovel of Hope, Plague Knight is one of the felon knights standing between Shovel Knight and the Tower of Fate. He can be found and fought in the Explodatorium where he conducts his experiments. He reappears later at the top of the Tower of Fate for a revenge fight. Like other villain knights, he can be either left hanging after the fight or helped up.
In the ending, Plague Knight is giving advanced potion lessons at the Explodatorium.
In Plague of Shadows, Plague Knight reveals his true purpose in joining the Order of no Quarter: to harvest the Essence of its powerful members. He hopes to accomplish, with the help of his partner in crime Mona, the Serum Supernus, the Ultimate Potion capable of achieving unlimited power and anyone's dreams. For that purpose he has set his real laboratory, the Potionarium, in the Undervillage where his minions and allies alike gather in secret to practice their fringe science.
Plague Knight first encounters Black Knight in the Plains who discovered the Alchemist's schemes. He misunderstands Plague Knight's motive as trying to beguile the Magicist with his concoction, then tries to stop him before he can harm the Enchantress. After the battle, Plague Knight later regains his hideout to put his plan into motion, betray and seek the Order's knights and the Enchantress herself.
Plague Knight beats his former colleagues one after the other, stealing their Essence after each fight. He eventually runs into Shovel Knight who invaded the Explodatorium. Failing to beat the adventurer at the last minute, the alchemist follows him back to his campsite to steal his Essence, although Plague Knight account on his interactions with Shovel Knight have been noted to be biased and unreliable [1].
As his plan progresses, it becomes evident that Plague Knight attempts to craft the Ultimate Potion in order to woe Mona, unaware of her profound affection towards him. Black Knight's misunderstanding of Plague Knight's motive however leads Mona to quit him. He still caries on with his plan, hoping to be able to change himself through the Ultimate Potion and conquer Mona's heart.
Black Knight's encounter at the Tower of Fate confirms Plague Knight to push on for Mona's sake. After a revenge match with all the Knights, the Alchemist beats the Enchantress and acquires her almighty Essence. Black Knight barges in too late with Mona, who reveals her true feelings to Plague Knight before he can make the Serum Supernus. But with the final distillation already on its way, Plague Knight is swept into a mental battle, first to defeat the Plague of Shadows infesting his mind, then his own Corrupted Essence.
With the Ultimate Potion stabilized and his mind regained, Plague Knight finally decides to relinquish his wish since Mona already confessed her love to him. He uses the powerful concoction instead to destroy the Tower of Fate in a formidable explosion. In doing so, he frees the Valley from the Enchantress and becomes a hero to its inhabitants.
In the ending, Plague Knight is knighted by King Pridemoor. He leaves the management of the Explodatorium to his allies and goes on to exploit his former colleagues. With his new status and wealth, Mona and him are finally free to pursue their crazy experiments in the open. Just after returning from the Tower of Fate, the two alchemists execute a waltz in the Potionarium away from prying eyes.
At some point during the events of Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows, Plague Knight ended up, alongside his fellow Order of No Quarter members, Mona, Percy, and many others, being trapped inside the Pocket Dungeon, a legendary magical puzzle box which nobody had ever solved before. His presence inside the puzzle box influenced its landscapes, adding the Explodatorium to the puzzle's layout (starting from the Paradox Pack DLC).
Eventually, Plague Knight met the other prisoners, and after a brief fight, joined them in their united efforts to escape the trap box. They eventually succeeded in doing so after they visited all four of the Shrines and defeated the true mastermind behind the whole kidnapping scheme, which turned out to be The Enchantress herself, up to another of her plans for total domination of the Valley.
Upon escaping, a brief truce was established between all prisoners, and the group celebrated their freedom, with Plague Knight being seen enjoying a more wintery attire and drinks with his friends.Joustus Deck[]
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| Percy | Macawbe | Macawbe | Macawbe |
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| Troupple | Troupple | Troupple | Gulper Mage |
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| Gulper Mage | Gulper Mage | Kettleleg | Kettleleg |
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| Kettleleg | Kettleleg | Ratsploder King | The Alchemeister |
Dialogue[]
Treasure Trove[]
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Spin-offs[]
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Stage Introduction Splashes[]
- Hee Hee Hee!
- Time for Research
- Bombs Away
- Let's Get Volatile
- Prime Your Potions
- For Science
- Boom!
- Ready?!
- Let's Experiment
Trivia[]
- Plague Knight was originally an explosion-themed boss called Dyna Knight, as a pun on dynamite. The developers rethought his theme to fit with the game's medieval setting.[2]
- Mole Knight alludes to this change in Plague of Shadows, where he mistakes Plague Knight for a demolition expert.
- Plague Knight's mask is based on the beak-like mask that Plague doctors wore while treating patients during the plagues in Europe. The beak was filled with aromatic herbs that were thought to ward off disease, and the stick was meant to examine people and lift folds of clothing without having to touch them.
- Like the other "Dig the Vote" winners, he has a Steam emoticon.
- Plague Knight's original details as a playable character were as follows:[3]
| “ | Plague Knight is a mysterious fellow. Because he is a reclusive character, his campaign will slowly reveal his secrets and melancholy past.. | ” |
- Original Play Style Ideas:
- Bomb Arsenal – Multiple types of potion bombs
- Bomb Jumping – Explosions can propel Plague Knight to new heights.
- Invisibility – Escape into the unseen to avoid damage.
- Resource Management – Break down objects to get raw resources. Use resources to create more powerful bombs.
- Random Bomb – Blindly pluck a random bomb from your pouch but be prepared to think on your feet.
- Original Play Style Ideas:
- If the player tries to dance anywhere near Mona in her room, Plague Knight will instead act nervously around her (twiddling his fingers and looking downwards).
- Although Mona is not seen on screen during the second fight against Black Knight, Plague Knight will behave the same if the player tries to dance.
- Plague Knight cannot dance when fighting the Corrupted Essence.
- In Plague of Shadows, players can access Plague Knight's room in the Explodatorium. Inside it, a closet can be found, containing variations of the same mask he wears in his campaign, as well as the larger, longer mask he wears as a boss and a white mask with golden details and closed eyes.
- The items Plague Knight uses in his boss battle are some featured in Plague of Shadows:
- Bombs set-up: Bounce and Lob Casing; Black, Tracer and Cascade Powder, Impact Fuse.
- Arcana: Vat (although he can summon multiple Vats remotely)
- Burst: None, but he can jump higher than normal.
- Also, he can teleport in a puff of smoke during battle. This ability is exclusive to his boss appearance, but is very likely an application of the Smoke Bomb Arcana.
- Using the cheat code "PLC&CART", Plague Knight's walking animation will look similar to that of Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, along with starting him off with unlimited uses of the Staff of Striking.
- In the game Brawlhalla, Plague Knight makes an appearance as a skin for one of the game's playable characters, Caspian. Along with King Knight, Specter Knight, Black Knight, Shovel Knight, and the Enchantress.
- On the Arby's promotion for the Shovel Knight Kids Meal, Plague Knight's name is changed to Doctor Knight.
- While in Pridemoor Keep, Plague Knight is forced to improvise a Shovel Knight-shaped pose in order to activate the revolving wall that contains Shovel Knight's silhouette. While Plague Knight is wearing the Boomtech set costume, he takes on an even more awkward pose in order to fit through the wall.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Yacht Club Twitter post
- ↑ Shovel Knight: Official Design Works
- ↑ Character Polls! on the official Yacht Club Games website