Specter Knight

“	Your boy is a handful, Luan. But... he will be safe. That's a promise I can now keep. Well... one last reverie...	„
	~ Specter Knight

“	Luan... I would lay down my life to save his. I promise.	„
	~ Donovan to Luan

Background

Specter Knight (formerly called Donovan) is one of eight Knights of the Order of No Quarter who serves the Enchantress and keeps watch over the Lich Yard.

Specter Knight also serves as the protagonist of Specter of Torment where he must recruit knights for the Enchantress to regain his life back.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Specter Knight's story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Personality Specter Knight is a thoroughly cruel Knight, showing sheer coldness towards his enemies, as well as being somewhat sarcastic. He has a tendency to hiss at people when he is angry or annoyed. When about to face Shovel Knight, he taunts him with the memory of Shield Knight by insisting she is dead. Whilst many of his comrades acknowledge Shovel Knight's strength to some extent after the Battle Royale, Specter Knight instead affirms his faith in The Enchantress and assures Shovel Knight that he cannot succeed. Before battling Plague Knight, he is quick to mock him for his cowardice, being the only one able to reduce Plague Knight to stunned silence. As shown in Specter of Torment, Donovan's loyalty to The Enchantress is actually incredibly forced, despite her being the one who resurrected him in the first place. In reality, Specter Knight hates The Enchantress and deeply resents her treatment of him, only serving her because he is forced to, as he had relinquished his free will to her. At the start of Specter of Torment, he only agreed to serve her as part of a deal so she can restore him back to life. This is enforced by the Keepsake Locket, which The Enchantress granted the power to reverse death, but only when 8 knights swear their loyalty to her, thus Donovan is forced on a quest to gather them for her. After discovering that The Enchantress is actually Shield Knight, he also shows how angry he can be, and proceeded to attempt to slay her, knowing he would never be restored to life if he succeeded. He does not believe that there is anything left of Shield Knight in the Enchantress, and that attempting to return her to normal is a pointless endeavor, nor does he care to try due to his deep-seated hatred of her. His sarcastic remarks about Shield Knight being dead to Shovel Knight may stem from this. Though his loyalty to The Enchantress is forced, his loyalty to his late-friend Luan is genuine. He swore to protect Luan's son, Reize, at all costs, even at his own life. He honors this oath so far, that he took Reize's place as the 8th knight of the Order of No Quarter, relinquishing his own free will to The Enchantress, and then used the locket's power that could have restored his humanity to save Reize from The Enchantress's power. While he can be genuinely ruthless and cold, his heart is not as dead as he is. He still feels incredibly guilty over having a hand in the death of Luan. Relationships Luan Luan was Specter Knight's friend in life and longtime partners in crime. Luan considered Donovan part of his family, and even handed his treasured keepsake locket to him. Reize Luan's son, whom Donovan swore to protect if anything would happen to Luan. As Specter Knight, Donovan still honors his promise and tries his best to protect Reize. Shield Knight Specter Knight holds a grudge against Shield Knight, as it was her interference that prevented Luan and him from obtaining the magical amulet inside the Tower of Fate. Donovan's fight with Shield Knight caused the ceiling of the chamber where the amulet was to collapse, resulting in Luan's death. After Specter Knight discovers that Shield Knight is the Enchantress, he becomes even more fueled by rage, blaming her for the death of his friend and his state as a serving wraith. Black Knight He was the very first Knight that Specter Knight attempted to recruit, under the orders of The Enchantress, and the one that reveals to Specter Knight that she is actually Shield Knight possessed. Specter Knight and Black Knight show a mutual respect for each other's abilities. He is one of the few characters to only refer to Specter Knight as Donovan. This is because they knew each other in life, though it is unclear as to how. He also has knowledge on the events leading up to Donovan's death, unlike any other known character. Black Knight expresses happiness to see Specter Knight well, but also wishes to maintain distance between them. King Knight Specter Knight has a hatred towards King Knight due to him being a "fool" and "a child, in the guise of a monarch". Every dialogue exchange between them has King Knight taunting on Specter Knight, calling him names such as "loyal lapdog" or "mangy beggar", showing their rivalry and antipathy for each other. King of Cards Specter Knight faces King Knight twice in King of Cards, using his ninja-like form seen in Specter of Torment. His first appearance is in Spectral Ravine, where he tries to give King Knight advice on how to become a champion of Joustus, but becomes aggravated by King Knight's arrogant personality and decides to fight the gilded goon instead. During this battle, Specter Knight runs and jumps around the room, sometimes using his Curios to attack. He'll often shoot Bounding Soul and Spider Scythe and will sometimes jump into the air to use Dread Talon. On rare occasions, he'll use Judgement Rush, but the attack can be interrupted. Later, Specter Knight appears as an Encounter Boss blocking the way to King Birder's stage, King's Roost. Here he uses his Curios much more often and breaks out the Throwing Sickle and Skeletal Sentry in addition to the ones he used in his first battle. However, once his health is reduced to three full health bubbles, Specter Knight channels his power and transforms into his reaper-like form from Shovel of Hope and fights exactly as he did in the aforementioned campaign. Similarly, to Plague Knight in Plague of Shadows, in Specter of Torment Specter Knight receives a new sprite set that makes him smaller (almost the same size as Shovel Knight) and with unique animations for walking, jumping and climbing, among others. His design has been slightly tweaked, as his cloak no longer covers the majority of his body, allowing players to see his armor. Specter Knight's gameplay is fast and melee oriented, using his Scythe's Slashes as his primary way of attack. He can also perform an attack called Dash Slash against enemies and certain objects while airborne; a gash will appear on the target, and if the attack he attacks in that moment, Specter Knight will fly through the target with a scythe attack. He can Dash Slash downward/upwards if he is above/below his target, respectively; it is also possible to perform Chain Dash Slashes by hitting opponents/objects multiple times. Much like Plague Knight, Specter Knight has a very short jumping height. This is balanced by his ability to use Chain Dashes, and he can also climb walls and perform wall-jumps, granting him high mobility. He also has the ability to break dirt blocks by simply jumping off of them, but he completely falls though sand blocks due to this ability. Specter Knight has access to Relics of his own, called Curios, which require Darkness (the equivalent of Magic) to be used. Darkness, unlike Plague Knight's Power, does not refill over time, but can be replenished collecting Darkness Jars, which drop from opponents and some breakable objects. Unlike both Shovel Knight and Plague Knight, Curios can be upgraded for 4000 gold apiece by visiting Legion in the Tower of Fate. In addition, in order to unlock Curios, Specter Knight must collect Red Skulls, which are scattered on each stage, in a similar way to Cipher Coins in Plague of Shadows. These Red Skulls can be turned in to Red, who will lead Specter Knight to a small dungeon in the Tower of Fate, where the player must pass a small gauntlet using the Curio they bought before they can leave. Specter Knight can also equip different kinds of Cloaks, similar to Shovel Knight's Armors and Plague Knight's Cloaks. These can be bought from Manny in the Tower of Fate.

General Information

Key: Donovan | Specter Knight

Name: Donovan (Real name), Specter Knight

Origin: Shovel Knight

Sex: Male (Canon), Female (Body Swap)

Age: Unknown

Classification: Former Thief, Knight of the Order of No Quarter

Status: Alive | Undead (After making an agreement with The Enchantress, Specter Knight became an undead being)

Alignment: Neutral Evil (Donovan was a thief and planned to steal an artifact for more power, even if it was intended to help Luan's son. He then killed Luan at a lust for greed) to Chaotic Neutral (After becoming Specter Knight, he was tasked to make an army for The Enchantress and work under her. While he does not want to and instead stop her, he has no choice but to work for her in order to keep Luan safe)

Codex Statistics

Key: Donovan | Specter Knight

Tier: High 8-C | High 8-C

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Large Building level (Fought against Shield Knight) | Large Building level (Defeated Black Knight, who can break the ground, giving these results. Cut through a cannon ball which garnered these results. Can harm Shovel Knight)

Durability: Large Building level | Large Building level (Can survive lightning bolt strikes)

Striking Strength: Large Building Class | Large Building Class

Lifting Strength: At least Class K | At least Class K (Is comparable to King Knight, and should be stronger than even Tinker Knight, who can carry the entire Order of No Quarter with one arm)

Travel Speed: Supersonic (Comparable to Shield Knight) | Supersonic (Faster than cannonballs)

Attack Speed: Massively Hypersonic | Massively Hypersonic

Reaction Speed: Massively Hypersonic (Can keep up with Shield Knight) | Massively Hypersonic (Dodged lightning from Phantom Striker)

Stamina: High | Limitless

Range: Extended Melee | Extended Melee physically, Several Meters to Tens of Meters with Curios, Kilometers with Weather Manipulation and Darkness Manipulation

Intelligence: Gifted Intelligence (Donovan was a former thief who can successfully steal various treasures with Luan. Defeated and gathered the Order of No Quarter)

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Powers and Techniques

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Homing Attack (Donovan can home onto enemies or objects to slice them), Surface Scaling and Acrobatics (Can run on walls momentarily and wall jump), Weapon Usage (Skilled in using his blade and caltrops), Magic & Weapon Creation (Can use magic to toss throwing caltrops), Stealth Mastery (Able to infiltrate the Tower of Fate)

Same as before, Undead Physiology (After making an agreement with The Enchantress, Specter Knight became an undead being), Telekinesis (Can pull up his scythe and locket), Resurrection & Purification (The Enchanted Locket will resurrect Specter Knight once his task is complete. He later used it to revert Reize's corruption from The Enchantress), Teleportation (His entrance involves him teleporting. Can teleport in battle), Sheer Will (His health is replaced with Will), Attack Nullification (His scythe can block projectiles), Heat Manipulation (Leaves heat marks in cannon balls when he cuts them in two), Aquatic Breathing and Self-Sustenance (Respiratory Self-Sustenance; Specter Knight can freely breathe underwater. Can fight other knights in the Event Horizon stage in showdown), Summoning (Able to summon his scythe), Consumption (Can eat rotten food to restore his Will), Restoration and Healing (Specter Knight regains Darkness anytime he hits an opponent along with health), Non-Standard Interaction and Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation; Can interact with and kill ghosts), Flight (Can naturally fly), Cloth Manipulation & Size Manipulation (Increased the size of his cloak and height), Weather Manipulation (Causes lightning to strike when he arrives), Necromancy (Can call undead beings to fight), Darkness Manipulation (Uses Darkness to power his Curios. Causes an entire room to go dark in his battles with Shovel Knight), Damage Transferal (When enemies or objects are nearby, Specter Knight can harm all of them at once).

Resistance to Heat (Can walk in an underground full of lava), Cold (Can walk around snowy and icy areas), Illusion Manipulation and Mind Manipulation (Can consume wisps which normally causes mortal beings to hallucinate), Radiation Manipulation, Biological Manipulation, and Gravity Manipulation (Should be comparable to King Knight who can survive in the vacuum of space. Can fight in the Event Horizon stage in Showdown)

Healing & Sheer Will (The Will Skull restores willpower to Specter Knight), Intangibility (His Throwing Sickle can pass through objects once upgraded. The Bounding Soul can phase through enemies once upgraded. Judgement Rush allows Specter Knight to phase and fly through objects to unleash a strong slash), Damage Boost (Dread Talon releases a more powerful strike for darkness), Duplication (With the Shadow Mirror, Scepter Knight can create a copy to fight), Summoning & Explosion Manipulation (With the Skeletal Sentry, Specter Knight can summon Sentry Boneclang to fight and explode once done), Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation; With the Bounding Soul, Specter Knight can throw a lost soul as a projectile), Flight (The Hover Plume lets Specter Knight fly for a short time), Invulnerability (When upgraded, the Hover Plume and Judgement Rush makes Specter Knight invincible), Time Manipulation (The Chronos Coin slows down time), Attack Absorption, Forcefield Creation & Fire Manipulation (With the Barrier Lantern, Specter Knight can form fire to surround him. The flame increases when touching enemies or absorbing incoming projectiles, and can be thrown)

Instinctive Reaction and Damage Reduction (The Cloak of Clemency will teleport Specter Knight out of harm's way, along with taking less damage from spikes), Damage Boost (With Striker’s Shawl, Specter Knight can charge a more powerful slash), Power Modification, Statistics Amplification, and Enhanced Darkness Absorption (The Raiment of Risk decreases Specter Knight's maximum will, but boosts his damage, bestows his melee attack with projectiles, and regenerates darkness passively), Afterimage Creation (The Ghostly Garb can create afterimages).

Resistance to Spikes and One Hit KO (Rail Mail allows Specter Knight to rail on spikes without taking damage, and Cloak of Clemency sacrifices some of Specter Knight's will to prevent instant death from spikes)

Statistics Amplification (The Berserker Bee doubles the amount of knockback inflicted), Explosion Manipulation (With Bombs), Sealing (The Joustus Card seals opponents inside), Flight (The Propeller Pack allows the user to fly), Time Manipulation (The Chronos Coin slows down time), Energy Projection (The Cube of Zorix and Remnant Spiral fires energy beams), Pseudo-Telekinesis (The Repeller pushes enemies away if close to the user), Transmutation (With the Fairy Wand, which turns enemies into fairies), Teleportation (With the Warping Glass, which swaps the placements of all enemies), Electricity Manipulation & Paralysis Inducement (With the Witherbolt, which fires thunderbolts and stuns an enemy), Invulnerability (With the Ichor of Fortitude, which makes the user invincible), Summoning (With the Egg, the user can hatch a Griffoth, Fairy, or Birder to attack), Vibration Manipulation (With Slamvil, an earthquake is caused to both damage enemies and stun them)

Healing (Potions and various foods heal its user. The Troupple Chalice heals the user overtime), Explosion Manipulation (With Bomb, Fire Bomb, Ice Bomb, Crystal Clear, and Bomb Cannon. Dynamallet blows up enemies hit by a chain attack), Fire Manipulation (With Fire Bombs, which explodes into fire. The Flame Axe burns enemies when hit. The Fizzle Wand leaves a trail of fire wherever the user walks), Ice Manipulation (With Ice Bomb, which freezes anyone hit by the explosion. The Ice Axe freezes enemies when hit), Statistics Amplification (Wood Blade, Steel Blade, and Hero Blade respectively increase the user's attack power. The Troupple Chalice, Meal Ticket, and Premium Meal Ticket increases the user's maximum health. The Single Glove deals extra damage to one enemy. Diamond Dust increases the user's item power and durability. Too Big Bomb increases the size of bomb explosions), Sound Manipulation (With the War Horn, which blasts a soundwave around the user), Time Stop (The Chronos Coin stops time. Chronos Glass freezes time at the start of battle), Durability Negation (The Wildcard defeats all foes that look alike), Electricity Manipulation (The Zap Wand shoots electricity), Smoke Manipulation (With Smoke Bomb, which explodes a field of smoke), Damage Boost (The Swift Dagger deals extra damage for the first hit. The Third Amulet deals extra damage for every third hit on the same enemy. Five String deals extra damage for every 5th hit done to the same enemy. The Power Pail increases damage once the gem meter is full. The Obsidian Drill deals extra damage to blocks), Resurrection & Summoning (The Fenix Feather revives its user upon death, while also summoning a phoenix to destroy everything), Flight (The Nimbus Balloon allows its user to float over hazards), Rage Power (The Fury Horns increase damage and enrage the user when on low health after preforming a chain attack), Holy Manipulation (Divine Liquid deals more damage to undead beings while also recovering full health if preforming a 10+ chain attack), Absorption (The Desperation Talon heals the user from attacking others when on low health), Pain Manipulation (Shockproof Socks deals damage for every 10 steps its user takes), Poison Manipulation (Toad Totem poisons enemies with any attack), Enhanced Senses (The Snoutin' Charm allows the user to find gems in blocks).

Resistance to Electricity Manipulation (Shockproof Socks resist electric damage), Explosion Manipulation (Bomb Seed Bag grants bomb resistance)

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Equipment

As Donovan: Small Sword, Caltrops

As Specter Knight: Scythe

• Curios:

Name	Red Skulls Cost	Unlock Stage	Effect
Throwing Sickle	5	Plains	Launch a boomerang blade.
Dread Talon	8	Plains	Unleash a powerful close-range strike.
Will Skull	3	Plains	Clutch this skull to regain Will.
Skeletal Sentry	9	Lich Yard	Summon a skeleton sniper and detonate with Curio.
Barrier Lantern	7	Clockwork Tower	Create a shield which blocks projectiles to charge up.
Shadow Mirror	6	Pridemoor Keep	Cast a reflection and attack from a distance.
Spider Scythe	5	Stranded Ship	Throw a scythe which climbs over obstacles.
Bounding Soul	5	Explodatorium	Free a lost soul that reflects off of surfaces.
Chronos Coin	10	Lost City	Slows down everything around you.
Hover Plume	7	Iron Whale	Float for a short time.
Judgment Rush	10	Flying Machine	Grasp this jewel to rush at the nearest enemy and strike.
Caltrops	N/A	Collect all Red Skulls	Scatter spikes in front of unsuspecting foes.

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Optional Equipment

• Cloaks:

Armor	Image	Cost	Description
Crimson Cloak		N/A	A tattered garment tinged with remnants of the past.
Cloak of Clemency		3500	Lose will and darkness instead of perishing in pits and spikes! Drop less gold when you fall in battle.
Rail Mail		6000	An advanced cloak. Hold [Down] when landing to grind quickly along surfaces and spikes as if they were rails!
Striker’s Shawl		6000	Hold [Attack] to charge, then release a superior scythe swing.
Raiment of Risk		5000	Break checkpoints to lower your max will, but boost attacks and regenerate darkness until you fall in battle!
Ghostly Garb		8000	Look more imposing and fearsome than ever before... but to no effect.
Donovan Set		N/A	Adopt the visage of your former self.

• Showdown: Berserker Bee, Bomb, Joustus Card, Propeller Pack, Chronos Coin, Cube of Zorix, Remnant Spiral, Repeller, Griffoth Egg, Fairy Egg, Birder Egg, Slamvil, Fairy Wand, Warping Glass, Witherbolt, and Ichor of Fortitude

• Pocket Dungeon Items:

Name	Description
Potion	Restores 2 HP.
Bomb	Explodes, damaging everything in its radius. Effects and looks are slightly changed by Plague Knight's abilities and the Too Big Bomb Relic.
Fire Bomb	Explodes, leaving damaging flames in its radius.
Ice Bomb	Explodes, freezing everything in its radius.
Crystal Clear	Explodes, damaging everything.
Wood Blade	+1 damage to base attacks.
Steel Blade	+2 damage to base attacks.
Hero Blade	+3 damage to base attacks.
Flame Axe	Ignite foes on hit!
Ice Axe	Freezes foes on hit!
War Horn	Blasts an area around you!
Shield	Blocks 1 damage.
Chronos Coin	Stops time for a while.
Bomb Cannon	Vs. Mode item. Drops Bombs on your opponent.
Spear	Long reach, pierces shields.
Wildcard	Destroy all matching foes.
Monster Potion	Vs. Mode item. Temporarily transform your opponent into a monster.
Zap Wand	Blast a line with electricity.
Flood Fish	Vs. Mode item. Flood the opponent's board.
Turkey	Restores 10 HP.
Smoke Bomb	Avoid harm in the smoke.
Troupple Chalice	+5 max HP until end of level.
Troupple Chalice	Restores 1 HP every 5 turns until end of level.
Shuffle Top	Shuffle the opponent's board.

• Pocket Dungeon Relics:

Name	Base Cost	Description
Swift Dagger	10000	First strikes do +1 damage.
Fenix Feather	10000	This feather will destroy everything and restore your Health if you fall in battle. But only once!
Nimbus Balloon	8000	Don't float away... Just kiddin'. With this balloon, you'll hover just high enough to avoid floor hazards.
Mentor Manual	8000	If you know the way, you can get out of the Dungeon faster!
Fury Horns	10000	After you score a fatal blow with a Chain, your next hit will pack a furious wallop!
Meal Ticket	6000	+2 Health.
Premium Meal Ticket	8000	+3 Health.
Fizzle Wand	6000	This broken Flare Wand leaves a damaging trail wherever you walk.
Snoutin' Charm	6000	Find Gems in Blocks.
Divine Liquid	8000	+1 damage to Undead. 10+ Chains recover all health.
Potion Napkin	8000	Does not Chain Potions, letting them being drink singularly.
Single Glove	8000	+1 damage to single foes.
Diamond Dust	8000	+1 Item damage and their Durability.
Third Amulet	8000	+1 damage every 3rd hit on the same foe.
Gem Beet	6000	Slows down Gem Meter depletion and slain foes grants more Gem Meter.
Dynamallet	6000	Your next Chain explodes. Recharges when opening chests.
Desperation Talon	6000	Fatal blows recover 2HP at low health.
Power Pail	10000	+1 damage at max Gem Meter.
Five String	10000	+1 damage every fifth hit.
Too Big Bomb	10000	Bigger Bomb explosions.
Gem Chain	8000	More Gems from Chains.
Shockproof Socks	6000	Resist electric damage. +1 damage every 10 steps.
Obsidian Drill	6000	Deal extra damage to all blocks.
Chronos Glass	6000	Freezes time on room enter or when board is nearly full.
Gold Leaf Clover	8000	Find rarer Items.
Bomb Seed Bag	6000	Find more Bombs + bomb resistance (this includes Ratsploders blast.
Toad Totem	10000	Attacks poison foes.

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Other

Standard Tactics: As Donovan, he'd use his sword to home in on his opponents while using his shooting stars. As Specter Knight, he'd use the same homing attacking while also using various Curios to aid him in combat.

Weaknesses: Donovan's greed and pride is what ended up causing his death. As Specter Knight, his Darkness meter is limited (Though can be regenerated with the Raiment of Risk cloak), and potions hurt him when consumed.

Battle Records

None.

None.

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