| “ | There are substantial inadequacies in my hydraulic actuators. Considerable iteration is warranted! | ” |
— Tinker Knight, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope | ||
Tinker Knight is one of eight Knights of the Order of No Quarter who serve the Enchantress and a brilliant engineer. He is the boss of the Clockwork Tower.
He was also previously a member of the Hexcavators as their engineer and boss of the Smeltworks, and he alongside his allies ended up threatening The Valley due to their decision to dig up The Well.
Official Bio[]
| “ | Some knights love rushing into the glory of battle, ready to crush the skulls of their enemies! Tinker Knight is not one of those knights. He does his fighting before the battle begins, laboring on diabolical devices that do his work for him. The wrench is the tool of his trade, doubling as an engineering device and a melee weapon. Some are quick to dismiss Tinker Knight’s lethality... usually just before falling victim to one of his mechanical monstrosities! | ” |
- Pros: Gregarious Demeanor, Hard Worker
- Cons: Rough Hands, Works Long Hours, Always Out to Prove Himself
Bio from Shovel Knight Dig[1][]
- Pros: Gregarious Demeanor, Hard Worker
- Cons: Rough Hands, Works Long Hours, Always Out to Prove Himself
| “ | Every heist needs a big brain behind the brawn, and the diminutive Tinker Knight signed on as engineer for the job! The little schemer joined the Hexcavators because they had interesting and difficult problems to solve - he doesn’t seem to mind that they’re crooks! Tinker Knight has made his lair in the Smeltworks, where he has found great potential researching submersible magma tech… | ” |
Dig the Vote pitch[]
Tone[]
| “ | Tinker Knight is a diligent trickster. He would likely be aloof to goings-on, instead focusing on honing his craft and defeating anyone in his way. | ” |
Original Play Style Ideas[]
- Throws wrenches in an arc pattern
- Fixed jump trajectory and double jump
- Workbench – Spend money in level to construct limited use items.
- Construct Gear Cycle – Fast moving vehicle for extra mobility.
- Construct Drill – Propels Tinker Knight forward and breaks blocks for an extra melee attack.
- Construct Armor – Construct a suit of armor to take a few extra hits.
Tinker Knight ended up taking the second to last place of the Dig the Vote selection, placing as 9th, with an average score of 4.61.
Personality[]
Tinker Knight is described as gregarious demeanor and hard working, always one step ahead with a plan beforehand. He valorizes safety as much as he hates taking risks. He was the only member of the Order of No Quarter with good intentions since the start, as he wished the group was fair and just and hoped it wouldn't be a force of evil. At the end of Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope, he is seen building toys for Hoop Kid and Playing Kid, showing he has a liking for kids.
Relationships[]
Plague Knight[]
| “ | Oh, look, it's Plague Knight! I heard you might show up! Why have you come here? | ” |
— 'Tinker Knight', Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows | ||
Tinker Knight seems to be the only member of the Order of No Quarter that Plague Knight respects, as they are both men of science. They share similar ideals, and the alchemist respects his craft. Plague Knight even tries to convince him to surrender his Essence peacefully. However, when Tinker Knight makes his refusal clear, Plague Knight does not hesitate to take it by force.
Propeller Knight[]
| “ | You did not ask, you just talked. Like you still do, right now. But no more from you, I've had it!
|
” |
— 'Tinker Knight', Shovel Knight Showdown | ||
Propeller Knight and Tinker Knight have opposing views, as Tinker Knight believes having solid plans is the best way to handle a situation, while Propeller Knight believes that no reward is without risk. However, as they are in the same group, they are forced to respect each other and, after being trapped together in Shovel Knight Showdown, learn to work together.
Mole Knight[]
| “ | Ah! You! The one with the claws. Yes, you can dig, and we're on the same team! At last, some help! | ” |
— 'Tinker Knight', Shovel Knight Showdown | ||
Mole Knight and Tinker Knight first met during Shovel Knight Dig, where they already grew to dislike each other. In one of their interactions while sitting near the Surface's campfire, both complain about each other. Tinker Knight believes that his teammate does nothing for the team and claims he is "not good for much." After the Hexcavators disband, the two spend sometime without seeing each other until they're both recruited by Specter Knight to serve in the Order of No Quarter. Shovel Knight Showdown's narration compares them to oil and water, showing that Tinker Knight believes that safety should always be the first thing to consider, while Mole Knight is much more reckless and spends little time considering his options. In spite of this, because of the Order, they are forced to work together, such as during the making of the Magma Furnace in the Lost City.
Story[]
Before Treasure Trove, Tinker Knight made his own reputation as an engineer in The Valley, pushing the boundaries of his field with his own complex creations. He established a crew of workers and set shop at the Clockwork Tower in the Birder Kingdom. One of his inventions, mechanical men of brass and tin named Tinkerbots, exceeded all his expectations by developing their own free will. These mechanical fighters however scared the engineer out of the tower and into hiding in an abandoned house, believing they were out to get him.
In King of Cards, King Knight meets Tinker Knight in the abandoned house he uses to hide from his Tinkerbots. They both spook each other, with the decadent dandy believing to have met yet another ghost on his adventure. The paranoid engineer thinks however that King Knight is trying to take the robots from him and starts attacking him. After his defeat, Tinker Knight joins the Glidewing to play a few games of Joustus. He vows to scrap for parts all his rebellious creations once back on land.
In the ending, Tinker Knight is seen traveling through the Birder Bluffs with Polar Knight and Mole Knight to reach the Tower of Fate; all three knights have accepted an invitation to the dark tower. Black Knight spies on them while concealing himself.
In Specter of Torment, Tinker Knight is sought at the Clockwork Tower by Specter Knight to raise an army for the Enchantress with his mechanical engineering skills. Under the insistence of Enchantress's emissary, Tinker Knight, who has not time to lose on his own work, attempts to force Specter Knight out of his workshop.
After his defeat, Tinker Knight shows up in the dining hall of the Tower of Fate. Finally compelled to join the Enchantress's ranks, the engineer declares that tools of wars can bring peace as long as the Order's rule is fair. If anything were to be broken during their conquest, he would rush to fix them.
Shortly before Specter Knight's confrontation with the Enchantress in Specter of Torment, Tinker Knight was working overtime on his dark mistress's plans when he was captured by the Mirror of Fate wreaking havoc. He awakes in the Colosseum, believing to have passed out on his blueprints. He starts to panic when foes suddenly materialize in front of him, and realize that something wrong is going on.
On his path to freedom, Tinker Knight encounters Mole Knight at the Piston Furnace. The engineer doesn't remember his colleague's name, but gladly offers to help each other out of the world they are stuck in. However, a misunderstanding arises with Mole Knight believing his fellow knight called him a servant. A fight erupts between the prideful pair who both strive for leadership on their rescue party, and end with the fiery digger's defeat. They meet again before the Mirror Chamber and Mole Knight finally agrees that they need to work together to safely escape. Tinker Knight however has gained too much confidence after defeating his colleague and dismisses his help while insulting him, which is enough to provoke yet another fight between the two leaders. The engineer wins and proceeds to shatter the Mirror of Fate to free himself. Back in the real world, Tinker Knight and Mole Knight finally make peace in order to work on the Order's plans. From their cooperation comes another invention, a magma furnace set in the Lost City and operating within safety parameters. Tinker Knight still believes the Order of No Quarter is not a force for evil.
In Shovel of Hope, Tinker Knight is drowning in work for the Enchantress and does not notice Shovel Knight barging in his workshop atop the Clockwork Tower. The adventurer inadvertently insults the engineer's short frame while asking to be granted access to the Tower of Fate, which provokes a fight between the two knights, ending in Tinker Knight's loss.
They meet again when Shovel Knight drops down at the dining hall of the Tower of Fate, surrounded by the Order of No Quarter all together. The engineer is all too happy to test out his new plans to defeat his adversary during this Battle Royale. After Shovel Knight helps him out of the pit his own defeat sent him, Tinker Knight acknowledges that he has yet to perfect his weapons before he can finally win against the Blue Burrower.
In Plague of Shadows, Tinker Knight is not surprised by Plague Knight's sudden visit of which he was informed, but ignores his reason. The alchemist pays respect to the engineer's craft, and asks him to relinquish his Essence without a fight. Tinker Knight refuses and provokes Plague Knight into a battle of strength and wits, which he loses.
They meet again in the Tower's dining hall after Plague Knight unknowingly drops down in the middle of his former colleagues' banquet. Tinker Knight boos the rogue alchemist for letting his personal ambition break their team. He joins on the Battle Royale against Plague Knight after Shovel Knight also crashes down on their diner party and is knocked out by the fall. He is eventually defeated once again and left to hang over a pit by an uncaring Shovel Knight, while Plague Knight makes his escape.
In Pocket Dungeon, Tinker Knight is one of the many knights who were trapped inside the titular artifact. His presence inside the puzzle box shaped its landscapes, adding a carbon copy of the Clockwork Tower to the dungeon. He can be randomly encountered as a boss fight and recruited to Puzzle Knight's campsite.
Strategy[]
In the opening phase of the fight you can defeat Tinker Knight with one hit from the Mobile Gear. If you can't, simply dodge the wrenches he throws as he runs back and forth, then when he trips, stay away from him as he will throw a temper tantrum, throwing wrenches in all directions.
Once he gets into his mech, the Tinker Tank, jump on the large missiles or Shovel Drop the bouncing bombs he fires to get up to the spinning lance. From there you have two options for damaging him. The first is to start pogoing on his head. The second is to hit his red shoulder missiles back at him (each one does one full circle of damage to him when it hits). You can also use your Throwing Anchors without having to get on top of his mech.
Pocket Dungeon[]
As a playable knight, Tinker Knight's main ability lets him gather metal, then use it to build a mini-mech. Furthermore Tinker Knight's starting HP is 3, being lowest alongside Black Knight. Metal is gathered by attacking blocks, with one per hit times the number of blocks in the chain. A maximum of 20 metal can be held at the time, and the mech can be built if at least one is in Tinker's possession. The mech increases HP and attack by 2, but attacking costs one metal when in it. When metal is depleted, the mech explodes, dealing 3 damage to all adjacent enemies and leaving Tinker Knight at 1 HP.
Tinker Knight's Refract Ability, Mobile Gear lets him instead build Mobile Gears. Constructed with gathered metal just like the mini-mech, after it's built, the Mobile Gear has two functions: it can move and attack, even on its own, and if Tinker Knight is riding it, he can eject himself out of it to the first free space above. Once a direction is chosen, it cannot be changed, or Tinker Knight will automatically fall from the Gear without the boost towards the cealing; if the down direction is chosen, once the bottom is reached, the Gear, either when on its own or when Tinker is on it, will then turn either left or right and proceed in that direction until all of its own HP are depleted. Furthermore, in order to be boosted above, or just step down from the Gear, a free space, above for the boost, in the other directions otherwise, must be available, or Tinker will remain on the Mobile Gear.
Unlike the mech, it can be built with any quantity of metal, and multiple ones can be active at the same time, however, the maximum hit capacity of the device will be equal to the metal spent, with a maximum of 5 HP for 5 metal, which is the quantity used by default if spare metal is available. However, Tinker Knight may be safe from floor hazard such as Spikes and the like, as well as trade-off damage, while riding on the Mobile Gear, but he cannot take advantage of the effects of attack Relics, such as the Single Glove, Coin of Carnage, Third Amulet and so on, nor attack boosting items.
The Mobile Gear has a fixed attack power of 2, and can damage everything with the exception of Treasure Chests, Keys, shielded foes, and the exit door; in the case of the chests and the door, the Gear will simply move past them, even when Tinker Knight is riding on it. However, If Tinker is not on it, any Potions or Turkeys on the Mobile Gear's path will be simply destroyed and not remotely collected. Lastly, Tinker Knight has still a reduced base HP of 3 even with this Refract ability equipped.
Joustus Deck[]
|
|
|
|
| Tinker Knight | Fairy | Fairy | Fairy |
|
|
|
|
| Clockameleon | Electrodent | Electrodent | Tinkerbot |
|
|
|
|
|
| Tinkerbot | Tinkerbot | Cogslotter | Cogslotter |
|
|
|
|
|
| Cogslotter | Sine Dagger | Sine Dagger | Sine Dagger |
Dialogue[]
Treasure Trove[]
| Click to expand | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Spin-offs[]
| Click to expand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Trivia[]
- Tinker Knight's mask appears to be based off of a welder's mask.
- Tinker Knight is the only boss (other than the Enchantress) to have two phases (and thus two health bars) instead of one. This is likely a throwback to platformers of old where high-level or extremely tough bosses had multiple forms that needed to be defeated.
- He is also one of only three bosses to have two themes along with Black Knight and the Enchantress.
- Tinker Knight's super-weakness to his own stage's item appears to homage Mega Man 2, in which Metal Man was similarly defeated in a single hit by his own weapon, the Metal Blade.
- Tinker Knight's first form may be a direct reference to the Changeling boss from the NES title "Wizards & Warriors". His initial attack and behavior pattern is very similar and the room in which the battles takes place is nearly identical.
- In Specter Knight's campaign, Tinker Knight subverts his initial weaker battle by actually incorporating the Mobile Gear, what was previously his weakness, into the fight against Specter Knight, along with a height adjustment mechanism to make things more difficult.
- In addition to the first phase difficulty increase, as Specter Knight’s campaign lacks a Battle Royale, the platter containing the Chicken that restores health comes after the first phase is defeated. This marks the only time this happens outside the Battle Royale.
- In the Japanese version, he is called Machine Knight (マシンナイト Mashin Naito).
- Tinker Knight is seen creating toys for children with help from the Armorer and Shovel Smith in the end credits of Shovel of Hope.
- Oddly enough, Tinker Knight normally speaks in one-syllable words only. The only exception to this is when he's discussing complicated machinery.
- In Shovel Knight Showdown, crouching with Tinker Knight actually makes his sprite one pixel taller: instead of crouching, he stands on his toes.
- When Tinker Knight is battled in the ninth stage of Propeller Knight's story in Shovel Knight Showdown, "The Destroyer" plays instead of "The Schemer". This marks the only time "The Destroyer" is played outside the Tinker Tank phase.
- Tinker Knight is one of the 3 characters to appear in all 7 games. He shares this feat with Mole Knight and The Enchantress.
Gallery[]
References[]
| Dig Characters | |
|---|---|
| Main Characters: | Shovel Knight • Shield Knight (Altius) • The Enchantress |
| The Hexcavators: | Drill Knight • Spore Knight • Hive Knight (Fleck) • Scrap Knight • Tinker Knight • Mole Knight |
| Surface Merchants: | Hoofman • Whisker • Armorer |
| The Well Merchants: | Master Argus • Tom Bola • Gastronomole • Fetcher |
| Surface/The Well Merchant: | Chester |
| Surface NPCs: | Walter • Master Argus • Big Bohto • Hoop Kid • Black Knight |
| Wandering/Campfire/Side-room NPCs: | Duelist Di • Cooper • Percy • Bag Fellow • Peacock Gent • Adventurer • Gastronomole • Hunter • Lamp Lighter • Meleeist • Oreman • Canary Scout • Guard • Fan Boy • Prospector • Student Mage • Caster • Farmsmith • Bow Lady • Spelunker • Forager • Clawed Miner |
| Final Boss: | Drill Knight |