Shovel Knight (Smash Plus)

Shovel Knight is a playable character in Super Smash Brothers Plus for the Nintendo Switch Plus. Representing the Shovel Knight universe, he is listed as Fighter #94 in Smash's modified numbering system and is classified as a Heavyweight Fighter. He is hidden at the start of the game, but can be unlocked through random encounters in Versus Mode or by defeating The Enchantress in Boss Rush Mode. He is also a new character, as this is his first playable appearance in a Smash game.
Shovel Knight is a very defensive fighter. His short hitbox and heavy weight makes him hard to KO from a grounded level. And many of his attacks have a lot of power behind them. However, his shovel blade lacks range and his attacks surprisingly lack power despite his weight, with only a couple of true KO moves to his name. His heavy weight also hinders his aerial ability in terms of jumping, though he has a surprising amount of attack options in the air. Chief among these is his Shovel Drop technique, which can allow him to remain in the air for lengthy periods of time. His vertical recovery is somewhat dodgy, with the high-risk high-reward Tow Anchor putting inexperienced Shovel Knight players into an easy self-destruct situation. This is in contrast to the Propeller Dagger and Dust Knuckles for his side special and forward aerial respectively, both of which grant him a surprisingly good amount of horizontal recovery. Shovel Knight is all about outlasting your opponent, finding weakpoints in their defenses where you can, and then putting them away with the right move. Shovel Knight has two normal jumps and no additional movement options.
==Moveset==
===Basic Attacks===
*Neutral Jab- Shovel Knight performs a basic strike with his shovel. While it is very slow for a neutral attack, it is also very strong, having the most knockback of any initial neutral attack in the game.
*Side Tilt- Shovel Knight swings the Shovel Blade down in a swift high to low motion.
*Up Tilt- Shovel Knight swings his Shovel Blade overhead from front to back, as if digging a hole in front of him.
*Down Tilt- Shovel Knight performs a dig move with his Shovel Blade at a low angle. This also creates a disjointed hitbox from the earth he sprinkles forward, which does small flinching damage.
*Dash Attack- Shovel Knight runs in head first, using the horns on his helmet to deliver a short range running headbutt that knocks foes away.
*Grab & Pummel- Shovel Knight grabs with his free hand and pummels with the hilt of the Shovel Blade.
*Forward Throw- Shovel Knight slashes at the opponent with his Shovel Blade, knocking them forward.
*Back Throw- Shovel Knight stabs the opponent with the Shovel Blade and then tosses them over his shoulder, landing behind him.
*Up Throw- Shovel Knight stabs the opponent with the Shovel Blade and then tosses them straight up into the air, though at a slight backwards angle.
*Down Throw- Shovel Knight digs at the opponents feet, knocking them down in the process and popping them up into the air. This has a partial chance of burying foes.
*Neutral Air- Shovel Knight will use his War Horn relic, creating a full circular sound wave around himself that launches foes on contact.
*Forward Air- Shovel Knight fires a punch with his Dust Knuckle straight forward. If the player presses the attack button a second time at the right time, he will follow up with a second punch, moving forward slightly. Only the second hit has powerful knockback to opponents.
*Back Air- Shovel Knight swings his Shovel Blade behind himself at a slightly upward angle.
*Up Air- Shovel Knight uses his Rising Dagger relic, moving up in the air slightly with an attack that hits multiple times. While the attack can be used in the air more than once, Shovel Knight will only rise with the dagger the first time it is used.
*Down Air- Shovel Knight drops his Shovel Blade straight down and fall towards the ground. Holding the attack button will cause Shovel Knight to keep the blade in that position. If he hits anything besides the stage, he will bounce back up into the air. This neutralizes projectiles. Opponents hit by the Shovel Drop will be launched slightly upward, unless they are hit right at the beginning of the initial drop, in which case they will be spiked. Shovel Knight can continue bouncing as long as the attack button is held down and as long as he doesn't touch the stage or isn't dealt knockback.
===Smash Attacks===
*Side Smash- Shovel Knight performs his charge attack, swinging his shovel blade straight down in a forward arc. If this attack is fully charged, it will create a small electric spark attack that travels out a short distance from Shovel Knight. Comes out quickly, but has a short amount of endlag.
*Up Smash- Shovel Knight stabs his Shovel Blade straight up into the air blade first, stabbing it three times with the third hit launching foes at high vertical angles. Shovel Knight's most reliable KO move.
*Down Smash- Shovel Knight hops into the air and strikes his shovel down onto the ground. This creates a small pillar of fire on either side of Shovel Knight that damage foes, giving this smash attack the greatest amount of range in all directions, but also making it the weakest, as the fire pillars have very low knockback scaling.
===Special Moves===
*Neutral Special: Flare Wand- Shovel Knight pulls out the Flare Wand relic and shoots a simple fireball horizontally across the stage. Pressing the special button will fire one fireball a good distance, traveling completely across most stages. Up to three fireballs could be on stage at a time. Alternatively, you can hold the special button for two seconds, charging the attack, and detonating a powerful burst of fire energy directly in front of Shovel Knight that has good launch power but short range and endlag.
*Side Special: Propeller Dagger- Tapping the button causes Shovel Knight to pull out his Propeller Dagger and flies forward in a straight line with the dagger extended forward. If he hits an opponent or if he reaches the end of the move, he will fall slightly, but players can tap the special button command again to make him move forward again. This can be continued indefinitely in the air. However, holding the Special Button for 1.5 seconds will cause Shovel Knight to charge the attack and fly twice as far as a normal propeller dagger charge, also doing nearly twice as much damage to foes if it hits them. Using this version however sends Shovel Knight into Freefall.
*Up Special: Tow Anchor- Shovel Knight tosses a ship's anchor up into the air in an arc, similar to Belmont's axe. The anchor does a good amount of damage and has a surprising amount of launching power. However, if you hold the special button as the axe is launched, then Shovel Knight will hold onto the anchor and fly along with it. This causes him to rise up in the arc (though not as high as a thrown anchor), but he will begin plummeting straight down to the ground, smashing into opponents if they get in his way. This version of the attack cannot be canceled, so using it over the Blast Zone will result in a self-KO.
*Down Special: Phase Locket/Shadow Knight- Tapping the Special Button will cause Shovel Knight to use the Phase Locket, briefly phasing out of existence for approximately three seconds, during which time he is immune to all attacks and can move but cannot attack opponents. This version of the attack has a 5 second cooldown before it can be used again. If the Special Button is held down during the phasing animation, then Shovel Knight will use Shadow Knight. summoning a ghostly knight of himself who performs a forward smash attack in front of himself, which has a huge amount of power behind it. He will still be phased for three seconds, but will also be unable to move while the Shadow Knight is present. This also increases the cooldown time to 8 seconds.
*Final Smash: Remnant of Fate- Shovel Knight uses his blade to turn over a mound of dirt. Anyone hit by the dirt is sent into a cinematic Final Smash inside the Tower of Fate, where Shield Knight and what is left of the Enchantress are present. Shield Knight will use her mighty shield to cover Shovel Knight as the Remnant of Fate blasts every other fighter with a stream of fireballs, launching them as the Final Smash ends.
===Miscellaneous===
*Special Aesthetic: Gold Drop- When Shovel Knight dies by falling into the lower Blast Zone, a bag of gold will fly up and hover over the general area where he fell. Any player who collects it will have 10 gold added to their total amount of gold for use in the Smash Mall. The bag of gold will only hover for 5 seconds before disappearing.
*Entry Animation- Shovel Knight does a jumping flip onto the screen and holds his shovel blade high, ready for battle.
*Idle Animation 1- Shovel Knight crouches up and down a couple of times before resuming normal battle stance.
*Idle Animation 2- Shovel Knight looks back and forth, and then resumes normal stance.
*Side Taunt- Shovel Knight holds up a random piece of treasure, a music sheet, or relic in front of himself, generating the usual fanfare that plays whenever he finds treasure in the game.
*Up Taunt- Shovel Knight drinks from a Troupple Chalice, though it has no effect outside of the taunt.
*Down Taunt- Shovel Knight waves his Shovel Blade up and down in premature victory.
*Victory Animation 1- Shovel Knight does a flip off of a Mobile Gear and holds his Shovel Blade up in Victory.
*Victory Animation 2- Shovel Knight is seen fishing through a random treasure chest, before he holds up a large pink gem in victory.
*Victory Animation 3- Shovel Knight jumps into the air, catching Shield Knight, and then lands back on the ground, holding her in his arms as she smiles at him lovingly.
==How to Unlock==
Shovel Knight can be unlocked any of the following ways:
*Playing Versus Matches until he randomly shows up as a "Challenger Approaching" fight. Defeat him to unlock him.
*Defeat The Enchantress in the game's Boss Rush Mode.
*Unlock him in the Finale of World of Light by defeating him.
*Pay 1,000 gold in a shop, where he can randomly appear (though rarely.)
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. (series)
Category:Smash Plus Characters