Original airdate: September 13, 1969
While walking home from the movies, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo discover a black suit of armor in a pickup truck, and the gang deliver it to the local museum. The kids later break into the museum to search for clues, after learning that the archaeologist who was transporting the suit is missing, and they find that the knight's armor has come to life.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Black Knight: The antagonist is a haunted suit of armor.
- Dinosaur Doggie Bone: When Scooby finds his way into the museum's dinosaur exhibit, he eyes hungrily at the dinosaur skeletons and attempts to take one of the tibias of a theropod, causing its whole skeleton to fall apart. When the collapsing tail vertebrae rips apart a curtain and reveals the Black Knight behind it, Scooby sheepishly puts the skeleton back together before fleeing.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The only character expressing any interest in food is Scooby. Shaggy and everyone else don't eat anything. Shaggy is later depicted as a Big Eater.
- Daphne is the first one to say the phrase "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?", which would become one of Shaggy's catchphrases.
- Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma are called by name. Despite the fact that Fred is hanging with them for most of the episode, his name is not mentioned at all. He also does not interact much with the other protagonists.
- Once the Gang solves the mystery they don’t try to capture the Black Knight themselves like they normally do. Instead, they try to take what they found to the sheriff, but the Black Knight forces them to scatter.
- He Knows Too Much: The villain kidnapped an archaeologist because he knew the professor would recognize that some artworks in the museum were fake.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: The very first use of the trope in the series. Fred and Daphne go one way, Shaggy and Velma go another, and Scooby stands guard. At first.
- Lunacy: The Black Knight comes to life by the light of a full moon, according to legend. In the exhibit with the knight's armor, Shaggy notices the window is showing the full moon outside and pulls down the shades in order to keep the suit of armor from becoming animate, despite Velma telling him that's superstitious nonsense.
- Master Forger: The museum curator, Mr. Wickles, and his cohorts are revealed to be talented forgers, making exact replicas of the real artworks displayed in the museum. They switch the real artworks on display with the fakes so they can sell them in the black market, and they kidnap Professor Hyde White because he's the only person who can identify forgery art.
- Mickey Mousing: The famous chase instrumentals were clearly written for this episode. It's especially obvious when Shaggy and Scooby hide under a bearskin rug and the Knight exposes them, and when Scooby dons an aviators' cap as the airplane is flying through the museum, the "Wild Blue Yonder" song briefly plays.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: In what set the precedent for many a Scooby-Doo episode, a small action reveals a hoax that hides a criminal conspiracy - in this case, the disappearance of a professor, then a supposed legend about a knight’s armor coming to life, and finally an art forgery ring.
- No Name Given: Fred is never mentioned by name throughout this episode, as the show's creators hadn't actually settled on a name for him yet. Some of the storyboards actually referred to him as "Ronnie", a working name before they eventually settled on "Fred".
- "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Shaggy and Scooby when they find the abandoned pick-up truck and find the Black Knight's armor in the driver's seat. When the helmet falls out and lands in front of them, they grin, laugh to each other a moment, then promptly flee.
- Reflective Eyes: In one scene, Scooby's eyes reflect the Black Knight.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The Trope Codifier and the very first one of the Scooby-Doo franchise. The hoax in question is the Legend of the Black Knight, a suit of armor that is said to come to life during the night of the full moon. It turns out to be an elaborate ruse to explain the disappearance of Professor Hyde White, who was kidnapped and held captive by Mr. Wickles to prevent him from noticing art forgery in the museum. Mr. Wickles also uses the Black Knight to chase away any intruder during the night since that's the time where they begin switching real art with forgery.
- The '60s: The episode takes place on the evening of June 10, 1969, about three months before it originally aired.
- Starter Villain: The Black Knight, who serves as the show's very first Monster of the Week.
