Shovel Knight Treasure Trove: Main Characters | Order of No Quarter | Townsfolk and Other NPCs | Wandering Travelers and Guest Characters | Enemies and Other Bosses
Shovel Knight Dig: Drill Knight & The Hexcavators
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon: Puzzle Knight and Other Characters
Tropes regarding the main antagonists of Shovel Knight Dig. Currently Under Construction.
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The Hexcavators
In General
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: The Order of No Quarter was a group of knights that were (mostly) strong-armed into joining the organization by the Enchantress and Specter Knight prone to infighting and betrayal due to their clashing agendas. The Hexcavators is a group formed through Drill Knight's charisma alone and all of its members joined the group willingly to work toward a common goal with minimal infighting between members.
- Crystal Prison: In the true ending, The Enchantress traps them all, save for Drill Knight, in gems after they accidentally free her.
- Karma Houdini: After the events of Dig, they all started new activities without any prejudice, despite having stolen many treasures and released the Enchantress out of her prison.
- Villains Out Shopping: Once you've beaten their boss fight at least once they can appear at the campsite on the surface, simply enjoying the fire.
Members
Drill Knight
Drill Knight
- Affably Evil: He's definitely a bad guy, but he's very charismatic and friendly. He's become quite popular because of it.
- Big Bad: Of Shovel Knight Dig.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: The Enchantress was a Lady of Black Magic who used the Order of No Quarter to conquer the land and was hated by most. Drill Knight has a gilded aesthetic, uses technology, his Hexcavators are a band of thieves, and he's a Villain with Good Publicity. He's also an Evil Counterpart to Shovel Knight himself.
- Evil Counterpart: To Shovel Knight, having a contrasting color scheme and a digging tool for a weapon, being a Villain with Good Publicity in comparison to Shovel Knight, who's made fun of for his Shovel Blade by anyone who doesn't remember him from his glory years, and is relentlessly greedy in comparison to Shovel Knight holding to the code of shovelry in spite of being a Kleptomaniac Hero on some occasions.
- Final Boss: He's the final foe faced in both the normal ending and the true ending.
- Gold-Colored Superiority: Wears gilded armor and is the leader of the Hexcavators.
- Greater-Scope Villain: In the true ending, but not intentionally. Seeing as Dig is a prequel, his digging into the Well and further travel into the Crystal Core awakened the Enchantress from her amulet, and caused the Tower of Fate to emerge. This in turn led Shovel Knight, Shield Knight, Luan, and Donovan to raid the tower seeking the amulet for different purposes, which led to the Enchantress possessing Shield Knight and beginning her Order, Donovan's reanimation as Specter Knight, King Knight usurping Pridemoor, and - you get it. Long story short: because the Hexcavators dug into the Well, the events of Treasure Trove come to pass.
- Karma Houdini: While he's ultimately jailed following his defeat in both endings, he pretty quickly escapes his confinement by drilling through the wall and since the Enchantress comes into power sometime later, it's safe to say people will be too occupied to bother looking for him.
- Leitmotif: Hexcavators
.- Who Needs Honor and Hegemony (his stage themes).
- The Claim Jumper and The Awakening (his boss themes).
- Who Needs Honor
- Light Is Not Good: He may be a Villain with Good Publicity and rock golden armor, but there's no denying that he's a bad person.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He has Black Knight's Evil Counterpart status, King Knight's gold armor, Mole Knight's digging abilities and Treasure Knight's greed.
- This Is a Drill: He is Drill Knight after all! He knows how to run with a theme! Several drills adorn his armor, all of which seem functional. Then there’s his castle filled to the brim with all sorts of drills. Henchmen equipped with various drill weaponry, grainy drills working automatically, drill spikes, even laser drills!
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He's the one who caused the Enchantress to first emerge from his reckless drilling by unsealing the chamber keeping the amulet locked away. Because of the chamber being open, it allowed for Luan and Donovan to enter the chamber and lead to the chain of events that allowed the Enchantress to possess Shield Knight.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Despite being a villainous thief, his dramatic flair for the grandiose has made him quite popular. It's said that his popularity was how he was able to easily form the Hexcavators.
Spore Knight
Spore Knight
"I'm Spore Knight, front line fortifier for the Hexcavators. And down here, there's no room for you!"
A mushroom-themed knight who is the front-line fortifier of the Hexcavators. She was formerly an agriculturalist before joining Drill Knight and currently guards the Mushroom Mines.- "Get Back Here!" Boss: She spends her boss fight hopping and teleporting about while pummeling Shovel Knight from a distance with her rapidly growing mushrooms, spores and bouncing hat.
- Leitmotif: Spore Judgment (her stage theme) and The Studious (her boss theme).
- Load-Bearing Hero: Her job is creating mushroom stents to hold open tunnels of the Mushroom Mines.
- Distaff Counterpart: She seems to be the Hexcavators' answer to Plague Knight, with her knowledge in horticulture mirroring his expertise in alchemy and them both notably tiny in stature. Their combat styles in boss fights are also remarkably similar, spending the fight moving in hard to predict ways and attacking from far away.
- Heel–Face Turn: Dig's "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue shows her giving up her role in the Hexcavators and instead settling down as a humble chef on the surface.
- Mushroom Man: Mushroom woman! She looks exactly like you'd expect a mushroom themed knight would.
- Pink Means Feminine: She's the second major female knight seen in the series, and her primary color is pink.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Not counting her hat, she's one of the smallest Knights in the series, seemingly even shorter then Tinker Knight in official art. She's also a former agriculturalist.
- Springy Spores: Similar to the mushroom-headed enemies encountered in the Mushroom Mines, Shovel Knight bounces right off her mushroom hat, making it impossible to deal damage with a shovel drop unless she's thrown it first. She also summons a wave of bouncy mushrooms to cover her boss arena on occasion, making a bit hard to attack her.
- Visual Pun: Her hat is a literal mushroom cap.
- Weaponized Headgear: Her big mushroom-like hat doubles as a projectile during her boss fight, bouncing around the arena when thrown. Shovel Knight can use this to his advantage by hitting it back and bouncing it into her.
Tinker Knight
Tinker Knight
"Soon we will forge a new path. How sad you won't be there to see it."
A tiny knight who wears a welding mask and the main engineer of the Hexcavators. He joined up with Drill Knight's crew because they had interesting and difficult problems to solve and currently guards the Smeltworks. As he is one of the villains in the original Shovel Knight, tropes regarding him can be found here.
Mole Knight
Mole Knight
"Now that the Gemstone is in place, I just have to clean up. Let me start by wiping the floor with you!"
A rotund knight who has mole-like claws and fish-like fins on his armor who serves as the burrowing specialist of the Hexcavators. After becoming captivated by Drill Knight’s tunneling prowess, Mole Knight joined the Hexcavators not in search of treasure, but for the thrill of the dig! He serves as the guardian of the Secret Fountain. As he is one of the villains in the original Shovel Knight, tropes regarding him can be found here.
Hive Knight
Hive Knight
- Animal Motifs: Bugs. They're his knight-theme, his companion is a Beeto, he can fly like an insect, and his mining helmet is made to resemble a bug's head.
- Better with Non-Human Company: One of his cons is 'slightly misanthropic and his bio mentions he has troubles communicating with other people compared to his relationship with bugs.
- Flight: Due to the power of him and his Beeto's teamwork, along with his specially-modified armor, Hive Knight has the capability to fly and battle just like an insect would.
- Friend to Bugs: Obviously, considering his partner is one.
- Leitmotif: Pest Friends (his stage theme) and The Chitinous (his boss theme).
- Loyal Animal Companion: His pet Beeto, Fleck, who is always by his side.
Scrap Knight
Scrap Knight
"When I'm done with you, I'll scavenge you for parts!"
A crafty scavenger and one of the founding members of the Hexcavators, you keep her around due to her useful ability to find practically anything. She serves as the guardian of the Magic Landfill.
- The Dragon: To Drill Knight. Aside from him, she's been in the Hexcavators longer then anybody else.
- Combat Pragmatist: She likes to jump around the field while throwing all manner of random objects she has scvavenged, and when that fails, the entire bag. And should that also fail, she will rush her foe down with the bag having been given a Spike Balls of Doom makeover.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Unlike the rest of the Hexcavators, she first debuted in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon as a playable character, before receiving an expanded role in Dig.
- Hammerspace: There's no limit to the things she can carry in that large bag of hers whether it be treasure or people. She weaponizes this ability in the second phase of her boss fight by forcing Shovel Knight inside of her bag.
- Hates Being Nicknamed: Seems offended whenever Hive Knight or Drill Knight calls her anything except for Scrap Knight.
- Human Pack Mule: She carries around all of her valuables in a giant bag she hauls around.
- Leitmotif: One Person's Trash (her stage theme) and The Packrat (her boss theme).
- Space Master: The insides of her large bag are not only seemingly infinite, but are fitted with portals.
