Shopkeepers

Shopkeepers are allies/enemies in the roguelike platformer game Spelunky, including its remake Spelunky HD, and its sequel Spelunky 2. They make up the Shopkeepers' Association that will hunt down the player if they are wanted, even for something they didn't do. The Shopkeepers are neutrally aligned characters that will go mindlessly berserk if any harm enters their shop, but prove very helpful to the player through their various shops. In addition to shops where players can buy useful items, Shopkeepers run an array of other useful facilities, such as the Wheel of Fortune which often rewards players with more money than they spent, and can additionally give them a prize. 
All Shopkeepers are old men that share the exact same appearance, with the exception of Ear, who has noticeably larger ears and is based on a misspelling of Earl that was present in the initial release of Spelunky 2. They are also all noticeably strong, being strong enough to break free from a Mantrap which normally kills the player regardless of health, and their in-game stats reflect this. Shopkeepers move about as fast as the player, fire shotgun blasts indiscriminately making is very difficult to be near them without getting killed, are immune to being whipped, can hurl the player around like a Yeti, and can take a great deal of punishment-- more than the player can. 
There are several ways the player can kill a Shopkeeper, but if already provoked, the safest way to kill them is to use bombs from a distance due to how dangerous they are. Shopkeepers can also be seen in small cells guarding treasure chests, in which case the Shopkeeper is on guard and will try to kill you if you unlawfully enter with a bomb. 
== Background ==
Shopkeepers are all clones of a guy referred to as "the Original Man" in Spelunky 2. He was kidnapped by the Alien Queen Lahamu and cloned for unknown reasons. On the Mothership level, generators that clone the Original Man will often produce Proto Shopkeepers, which are deformed clones of the original that are weak and slow. Occasionally, the generators will succeed at producing a regular Shopkeeper. This strongly implies that the Shopkeepers are all clones, providing an explanation for their identical appearances to one another beyond just gameplay mechanics. 
== Profiles ==
=== Spelunky ===
=== Spelunky HD ===
=== Spelunky 2 ===
== Stats ==
Shopkeepers outclass the player in both strength and durability. Specifically, Shopkeepers have 10 HP, which is more than the player in most cases, as it would take rescuing 6 damsels to get that much HP, since you start with 4 HP. They are immune to being whipped, but can be stunned. Sacrificing them to Kali in both games will grant 6 favor points if stunned and 3 favor points if dead.
== Behavior ==
Shopkeepers are passive NPCs by default, but destroying any part of their establishment, injuring a Damsel or Hired Hand, shoplifting, including carrying a Damsel out of their shop or a Hired Hand without paying, using any weapon on them, dropping a bomb in their shop, using any weapon on them or trying to accost them will make them angry with the player. Anytime any damage befalls them, their establishment, or their personnel, the Shopkeepers will always blame the player, even if they weren't directly responsible for it or even at all. This is why it is not recommended you take an Idol and cause the boulder death trap to destroy much of the level if there is a shop or vault in the level. 
There are several ways to incur their wrath without intending to:
* Stealing a Golden Head is almost certain to anger the Shopkeepers if there is a shop in the current level, as it will spawn a boulder that will roll across the level until it reaches the end, and will likely destroy a part of the Shopkeeper's shop or vault.
* If an arrow dispenser happens to spawn right in front of the shop entrance, either you will try to enter the shop and get damaged or killed by the arrow, bomb the dispenser so it goes away, or if you drop an item in front of it to prematurely activate it so it won't hit you when you go in front of it, it will damage the Shopkeeper or other person in the shop and provoke it, whether you do this as a dumb or rookie mistake or if an item or monster just happened to fall in front of it. The latter is one of the ways the Shopkeepers can become mad at you to absolutely no fault of the player. 
* The player may accidentally injure a damsel in a kissing parlor if a monster is in the parlor. Monsters are known to spawn in shops and parlors on rare occasions. Injuring the damsel will make the Shopkeeper mad at you. Strangely, monsters that spawn in the parlor will not hurt the damsel, nor do they hurt the Shopkeeper.
** However, certain monsters CAN injure the damsel, such as the Cobra by spitting poison, or the Fire Frog by blowing up. The Shopkeeper will blame you even though you have nothing to do with this.
** The above also applies to the injuring of Hired Hands.
* Monsters such as the Cobra can additionally anger Shopkeepers by breaking Mystery Boxes with their poison attacks. Again, the Shopkeeper will blame you even though in this case it is not your fault.
* The player may throw a bomb and have it land offscreen at a shop unintentionally. The player will know that this happened if the Shopkeepers’ leitmotif plays and the sentence “Terrorist!” appears at the bottom of the screen. Additionally, you will hear shotgun blasts being fired that will make it obvious you angered a Shopkeeper.
* Fire Frogs can destroy a shop if one happens to be near one and die, which is another way a Shopkeeper can get mad at you for no reason. However, this is rare.
* A Hired Hand can potentially throw a bomb into shop carelessly, although this is a rare occurrence
* It’s also possible but unlikely for a player to throw an item and have it injure a Damsel or Hired Hand offscreen. Usually if this happens, it's with a bomb. 
* In multiplayer, if any player angers the Shopkeeper, the Shopkeeper will treat all players with equal aggression, and will kill any player regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with what took place. This can be bad if the other players were not planning to rob the Shopkeepers.
Shopkeepers in vaults are already on guard, but will become mad at the Spelunker for the same reasons as any other Shopkeeper: their establishment being damaged or stealing from them. The only difference in behavior is that Shopkeepers "on guard" will pace the vault back in forth with their shotguns drawed. It is possible to enter the vault without angering the Shopkeeper by teleporting into it using the Teleporter.
== Virtues ==
* They can kill a villainous player, although whether you play villainously or not, you need to avoid this if you want to complete the game, as you can't die once if you want to complete the game.
* The Wheel of Fortune they offer is extremely generous, as it takes two spins to spend as much money as you would gain from just one win, and there are an equal number of winning slots and nothing slots, with one of them being a jackpot. Because of this, the player can easily make use of this to gain a lot more cash than they started with. In addition to this, one of the slots on the wheel is for the prize, which can be useful to the player depending on what the prize is. A player can end up with a jetpack more easily this way than by buying it in the shop, if they are lucky enough to find a jetpack as a prize and land on the gift slot.
* They are the only way to obtain the Ankh, which is necessary for reaching the City of Gold, a very good deal given that a successful player will certainly end up with more than they spent purchasing it after leaving from there. The Ankh is also a lifesaving tool, and is the only item in the game that will allow you to die without having to restart. It costs $50,000, but it is a reasonable price given it is one of the most desirable items in the game and is one of the four artifacts required to reach the City of Gold. However, doing so is extremely difficult, to the point that about 99% of players don't get to it. For the player to be successful however in reaching the City of Gold, they need to buy the Ankh from the Shopkeepers, or rob them, although this will make the run significantly harder. 
* While neutral in practice for merely selling items, which is neither good or evil, these items are almost necessary to complete the game. Without the Shopkeepers, the Spelunker would be stuck.
* They are very protective of damsels in their kissing parlors.
== Glitches ==
=== Spelunky HD ===
* Throwing a Damsel out of a parlor with the Pitcher's Mitt has the possibility of not making the Shopkeeper angry for unknown reasons. It is likely a bug.
* If a Shopkeeper is killed while frozen, the game won't stop playing the angry Shopkeeper music even if there are no Shopkeepers in the level.
* Shopkeepers will not drop gold if they are killed by telefragging or while frozen.
* Whipping a Shopkeeper while running into one can possibly cause the player to move through them.
== Theme Music ==
thumb|center|300 px|Always accompanied by shotgun blasts and other dangers, so it sounds very different in-game
== External links ==
* Shopkeepers on the Spelunky Wiki
* Shopkeepers on the Villains Wiki
== Navigation ==
Category:Organizations
Category:Virtually Resourceful
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:True Neutral
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Indie/Doujin Heroes
Category:Fantasy Heroes
Category:On & Off
Category:Lethal
Category:Vengeful
Category:Misguided
Category:Wrathful
Category:Brutes
Category:Fighters
Category:Guardians
Category:Wealthy
Category:Victims
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Antagonists
Category:Mysterious
Category:Good Vs. Good
Category:Paranoid
Category:Male
Category:Elderly
Category:Species
Category:Criminals
Category:Monster Slayers
Category:Protectors
Category:Twins/Clones
Category:Related to Villain
Category:Bio-Engineered
Category:Berserkers
Category:Dreaded
Category:Obsessed