History VideoGame / ShovelKnight

* AnAesop: The game rewards you with treasure and an achievement for properly putting out Shovel Knight's campfires before leaving them.

* AnAesop: Propeller Knight's story ends with him learning that flying by the seat of your pants isn't always a good idea and it helps to have solid plans.

* DropTheHammer: One of King Knight's relics is a massive hammer, which beats healing hearts out of enemies in addition to hitting a wide arc.

* AutoScrollingLevel: A few of the stages have a section consisting of this. The Flying Machine section adds a wind that steadily pushes Shovel Knight ''[[NintendoHard back.]]''

%%* BribingYourWayToVictory: You can buy back cards you lose from Chester, and can even purchase ''cheats'' that will straight-up win a game for you. This is balanced out by the fact that a single cheat costs far more than you're likely to win in the game you use it, and is essentially [[MercyMode a way for players who are bad at Joustus]] to [[HundredPercentCompletion 100% the game]].

* ContinuingIsPainful: Every time you lose a game of Joustus, you lose one of the cards you played that game, usually one of the better ones. Therefore, every time you try to rematch the same opponent, your deck gets steadily weaker and weaker until there's no chance of you winning at all. [[BribingYourWayToVictory Better head back to Chester to re-buy your cards, and maybe some cheats while you're at it]]. [[TakeAThirdOption Or]], you know, [[SaveScumming exit and reload the game every time you lose]].

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: The angler fish in the Iron Whale stage chases the player at first, before eventually being fought as a regular miniboss with an arena.

* BroadStrokes: Several of the specific details of some campaigns don't tie perfectly into one another. The biggest discrepancies of this kind are between ''Shovel of Hope'' and ''Plague of Shadows'', where Plague Knight and Shovel Knight's journeys overlap. This includes things like [[TheBattleDidntCount Plague Knight beating Shovel Knight only for Shovel Knight to defeat Plague Knight while he's celebrating victory]], and Shovel Knight being unconscious for most of the BossRush while Plague Knight does all the work when that definitely didn't happen in ''Shovel of Hope''. Overall, though, their stories happen side-by-side so that Shovel Knight can defeat the Remnant of Fate while Plague Knight blows up the Tower with the Ultimate Potion, even if some of the specifics don't mesh.

The game was released on June 26, 2014 for the Platform/WiiU, Platform/Nintendo3DS, and all PC [=OSes=] on Platform/{{Steam}} ([[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Windows]], [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Mac]], and [[Platform/{{UNIX}} Linux]]). However, thanks to the (very) successful kickstarter, several free expansions featuring members of the Order of No Quarter were made for the game. The first of these, ''Plague of Shadows'', was released on September 17th, 2015, [[AnotherSideAnotherStory starring Plague Knight in a story parallel to Shovel Knight's]] as he turns traitor on the Order in order to harness their essence in pursuit of an ultimate potion. The second expansion, ''Specter of Torment'', is a {{prequel}} that follows Specter Knight as he recruits the Order of No Quarter, released in Spring 2017 (March 3 for the Platform/NintendoSwitch and April for other platforms). ''King of Cards'', the third and final expansion was released on December 10th, 2019 and is another {{prequel}} that features King Knight rise to power and first member of the Order Of No Quarter, and a four-player Battle Mode known as ''Shovel Knight Showdown'' was released on the same day for non-portable formats.\\

''Shovel Knight'' is a 2D {{platformer}} developed and published by Creator/YachtClubGames. Featuring a {{Retraux}} 8-bit graphical style and inspired by the likes of ''Franchise/MegaMan'', ''VideoGame/DuckTales'', ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', ''Shovel Knight'' is a game that seeks to pay homage to [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames the 8-bit era]], while also... ahem, [[ObligatoryJoke digging]] out its own place in the VideoGame landscape.

The game was released on June 26, 2014 for the UsefulNotes/WiiU, UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, and all PC [=OSes=] on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} ([[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows]], [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Mac]], and [[UsefulNotes/{{UNIX}} Linux]]). However, thanks to the (very) successful kickstarter, several free expansions featuring members of the Order of No Quarter were made for the game. The first of these, ''Plague of Shadows'', was released on September 17th, 2015, [[AnotherSideAnotherStory starring Plague Knight in a story parallel to Shovel Knight's]] as he turns traitor on the Order in order to harness their essence in pursuit of an ultimate potion. The second expansion, ''Specter of Torment'', is a {{prequel}} that follows Specter Knight as he recruits the Order of No Quarter, released in Spring 2017 (March 3 for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and April for other platforms). ''King of Cards'', the third and final expansion was released on December 10th, 2019 and is another {{prequel}} that features King Knight rise to power and first member of the Order Of No Quarter, and a four-player Battle Mode known as ''Shovel Knight Showdown'' was released on the same day for non-portable formats.\\

During the [=PlayStation=] Experience event, it was announced that ''Shovel Knight'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll5grB6C9Bw will be ported over]] to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 4]], and [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita Vita]], with the addition of a new SuperBoss for Shovel Knight only: Kratos from the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series. During GDC 2015, it was announced that ''Shovel Knight'' will also be ported to the UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and Zitz, Pimple, and Rash from ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' will be featured as [[SuperBoss bonus bosses]] for Shovel Knight's story only.\\

[[http://yachtclubgames.com/2017/01/switch-up/ On January 11th, 2017]], it was announced that the update featuring ''Specter of Torment'' would also rebrand the game's original format with all the expansions included as ''[[CompilationRerelease Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove]]'', and that the game will be ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. In turn, all four of the game's campaigns and the Battle Mode will be available for standalone purchase for those who don't want to pay for the entire collection. Additionally, the update would include the long-promised Body Swap Mode that [[Rule63 reverses everyone's gender]], and co-op multiplayer for every version of the original game (now named ''Shovel of Hope'') but the 3DS and Vita. [[http://yachtclubgames.com/2017/02/specter-of-torment-and-treasure-trove-initial-release-date A followup post on February 22]] revealed that the Switch would be the first to get the ''Treasure Trove'' version and the ''Specter of Torment'' standalone campaign as system launch titles, with other platforms getting the update over a month later.\\

* TheCameo: Shovel Knight has made numerous cameos in a wide variety of indie games, including the UsefulNotes/WiiU exclusive ''VideoGame/{{Armillo}}'' (which released around the same time as ''Shovel Knight''), ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt 2'' (via Amiibo), ''VideoGame/RoadRedemption'', ''VideoGame/{{Indivisible}}'', and ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee''.

** Shovel Knight's UsefulNotes/XboxOne-exclusive battle with the Battletoads has you go through challenges reminiscent of the original games (including a remake of the speeder bike section).

* MonochromePast: Specter Knight's flashbacks are done in sepia (specifically, a variation of sepia that resembles the original UsefulNotes/GameBoy palette).

* {{Retraux}}: An 8-bit style done out of [[DoingItForTheArt love]], not convenience. The tribute to 8-bit games is deliberately idealized, though, so the occasional cheat is done to improve the presentation. [[http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidDAngelo/20140625/219383/Breaking_the_NES_for_Shovel_Knight.php This blog post]] by developer David D'Angelo details exactly how the game does and doesn't abide by the limitations of the NES.

* CompilationRerelease: The original version of the game, now dubbed ''Treasure Trove'', retroactively becomes this since all of its 4 separate campaigns, plus Battle Mode, got released as standalone titles. It's also something of an inversion due to this.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: After completing the first two Order of No Quarter stages, the return to the Potionarium has Plague Knight accidentally walking in on Mona dancing by herself. She's clearly embarrassed over getting caught, asking Plague Knight how long he was watching. He reassures her that he barely saw anything and that he's not a creep, but mentions that dancing by yourself doesn't seem very fun. All in all, it's easy to interpret the scene as an allegory for Mona [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown getting caught]] doing [[ADateWithRosiePalms something else]].

** An [[AlluringAnglerfish angler fish miniboss]] using Chester's chest as bait appears within Treasure Knight's stage. The chest is indeed real. You just have to defeat the miniboss first in order to free Chester so that you can buy the Throwing Anchor from him. In ''King of Cards'', this fish instead carries a fake ''goal ring'', which leads into the King's battle.

* {{Cameo}}: Shovel Knight has made numerous cameos in a wide variety of indie games, including the UsefulNotes/WiiU exclusive ''VideoGame/{{Armillo}}'' (which released around the same time as ''Shovel Knight''), ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt 2'' (via Amiibo), ''VideoGame/RoadRedemption'', ''VideoGame/{{Indivisible}}'', and ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee''.

* FiveManBand: Plague Knight and his named colleagues form one of these.
** TheHero: Plague Knight
** TheLancer: Mona, though she can also work as TheSmartGuy.
** TheSmartGuy: Percy, though he can also work as TheLancer. [[spoiler:The latter is especially true once Mona leaves.]]
** TheBigGuy: [[spoiler:The Baz. Doubles as the SixthRanger.]]
** TheChick: The Magicist
** TeamPet: Oolong

For Shovelry!

** Done by way of putting in a specific code when naming a profile. The most famous is "Butt Mode", which replaces key words in the script with the word "butt." In April 2020, Yacht Club Games released [[https://yachtclubgames.com/2020/04/shovel-knight-treasure-trove-cheat-database/ the official cheat database]], with around 400 codes in total.