Introduction
Well… this is indeed a fight. While for the season premiere we got treasure hunters, this time we’ll be having a battle of treasure hoarders. Scrooge McDuck, the King of the Klondike, will be set to go up against Shovel Knight, the Blue Burrower.
Shoutouts to MajorM119 for their Scrooge Blog.
Background
Scrooge McDuck
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| "It's important to always remember who you are... but it's more important to never forget who I am!" |
“If you want to go to the top you must first work your way up at the very bottom.” This quote certainly describes the humble beginnings of the richest duck in the world, Scrooge McDuck. Born in Glasgow in 1867, Scrooge was the last male of the McDuck Clan, a formerly wealthy Scottish clan that became poorer and poorer over time.
In order to support his family and his two sisters, the little duckling began working as a shoe polisher at the early age of 8, and that was an experience that had a huge impact on his life: his very first client tricked him by paying with an American dime (unusable in Scotland), and that led Scrooge to believe that he had to “be tougher than the toughies and sharper than the sharpies", in order to succeed in life. He kept the dime as a lucky charm (that will be later known as his iconic “Number One Dime”), and 5 years after, he casted off to reach the United States to make his fortune.
Here, he worked as a riverboater in Mississippi with his uncle until the latter’s death, two years later. Having to endure with a family of outlaws, the Beagle Boys, constantly pestering him, Scrooge then went on a brief stint as a cowboy, only to go and travel multiple times outside the States, such as returning to Scotland to defend his family’s castle or going to South Africa to search for gold (here he would also meet and befriend Flintheart Glomgold, who would become Scrooge’s mortal enemy and the second richest duck in the world). Finally, he decided to go to Klondike, in Canada, hoping the Gold Rush would help him find gold to maintain his family.
Thanks to his courage and audacity, Scrooge explores the deserted White Agony Creek and manages to find the Goose Egg Nugget, an abnormous gold nugget that was deemed to be a mere legend by the other gold diggers. This causes him to gain notoriety in the town, but not in a good way: the gold diggers began to harass the scottish duck and take the mick out of his family's recent tragedies (the duck avenges his honor by going berserk against them all), and by doing so he attracts the attention of singer (and heavily implied prostitute) ”Glittering" Goldie O' Gilt. Scrooge soon meets her in her saloon, and it’s love at first sight for him; however, Goldie had other plans, as she drugs him to steal the nugget and all of his gold. Scrooge doesn’t give up however; he returns to the saloon, beats up all of her men, forces her to write a one thousand dollars I.O.U., takes his properties back and kidnaps her, forcing her to work as a miner for him, underpaying her even.
Their stay in White Agony Creek was the beginning of a weird love-hate relationship between the two (and we learn that they had a lot of fun there through an handful of innuendos); unfortunately though, Goldie puts an end to their relationship as she frames Scrooge for a crime he never committed and escapes.
To recover from the heartbreak, Scrooge kept mining gold, making affairs all over the world and became a billionaire. He then moved with his sisters to the desolated Duckburg, Calisota, which he turned into a metropolis, also building his legendary moneybin in it.
But, along his road to ultimate prosperity, Scrooge loses a bit of himself; he commits more villainous acts (forcing an african tribe to get off their land) and becomes more cold-hearted and obsessed with gold. Disgusted by his behaviour, his family abandons him, leaving the webbed-foot billionaire alone, sitting in a corner for years, full of regret and depressing thoughts.
After more than fifteen years later, Scrooge finally gets too lonely and invites his nephews, Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie over for Christmas. Even though Donald initially despises his uncle, the three little ducks’ curiosity for his past convinces Scrooge to tell them his story, and both the triplet and Donald begin respecting him after hearing it.
Suddenly, the new generation of Beagle Boys attack the moneybin, and Scrooge decides to finally stand up and show them that he’s still the fiery duck that he has always been. After that Christmas, Scrooge once again became the unstoppable treasure hunter that he has always been, travelling the world and getting richer and richer with every passing second, but this time, with his family at his side.
Shovel Knight
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“Prepare to taste justice! Shovel justice!”
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A brave and noble adventurer, this azure knight (no relation to Nightmare) roamed the land with his partner both in battle and in love, Shield Knight. The two would go on to vanquish evil left and right, and nothing could possibly separate or stop them. However, upon venturing into the imposing Tower of Fate, tragedy struck. A cursed amulet led to the tower being sealed, with Shield Knight gone.
Entering a bout of depression, the poor Shovel Knight went into a life of solitude, retiring to the countryside, thus leaving the kingdom open to various evils left and right, including the villainous Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter, who have unsealed the Tower of Fate. With the opportunity to finally rescue his beloved, Shovel Knight embarks on a new adventure: to defeat these new villains and save Shield Knight.
As his adventure continued, Shovel Knight managed to defeat each member of the Order, while fending off attacks from his rival, Black Knight, who also held romantic feelings for Shield Knight. Black Knight reveals that the Enchantress has possessed Shield Knight’s body through the cursed amulet and his battles against Shovel Knight were his way of protecting her.
Upon ascending the Tower of Fate, Shovel Knight defeated the Order of No Quarter in a final set of rematches before expelling the Enchantress’ spirit from Shield Knight; it soon transformed into a monster called the Remnant of Fate and set its sights on him. However, the re-awakened Shield Knight took up arms alongside her lover and the two defeated the specter in battle, triggering the destruction of the tower. Although Shovel Knight collapsed due to fatigue, he managed to escape thanks to Shield Knight, who held off the Remnant’s final attack, and Black Knight, who carried Shovel Knight away to safety.
With the Enchantress gone and the Order going their separate ways, the reunited Shovel Knight and Shield Knight take a moment to rest before setting off on a new adventure.
Fighting Style
Scrooge
Believe it or not, Scrooge is actually an accomplished martial artist. Or at least is a skilled hand to hand fighter, specializing in Judo in his younger days.
For those who don’t know Judo is a Japanese Martial Art that employs the user of strong attacks, throws and pins. Judo practitioners are especially skilled at disarming a foe and bringing them to the ground. Scrooge Mcduck displays skilled Judo usage in throwing people down with his own technique, the Mcduck Throw, which can knock someone out in one attack. Like Judo practitioners, Scrooge also uses pins, his technique being called the Full McDuck. Scrooge invented this technique at the 1904 Olympics in Saint Louis. He used this very same technique to knock out the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, while he was sliding down an Incan Temple. Yes, this is a thing that happened. Scrooge is also a skilled enough fighter to take on an entire army of thugs when mad.
Scrooge is a well-trained swordsman who has had extensive practice with fencing and has shown he hasn’t gotten rusty with age. He sometimes uses his fencing skills while wielding his staff. Scrooge is experienced wielding other kinds of swords, and even has his own move called “The Mark of $crooge”.
Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight's style of fighting is described as "Shovelry". It usually involves Shovel Knight just digging and stabbing downwards to attack. Since the shovel he has is also a blade and moves where he slashes at enemies, it can be assumed swordplay is also a part of his fighting style.
Weapons
Scrooge
Scrooge has collected a ton of weapons/items/abilities over the years during his travels. And we mean a toooooon. These weapons include...
Cane
Scrooge McDuck’s cane is often used to help him walk, but it seems to be more of an accessory than a necessity considering how agile he normally is. It makes for a handy tool and weapon too, often being used to bludgeon or to trip enemies, and to hang from hooks or ledges. Scrooge can also wield it in a similar manner to a rapier.
It was later upgraded by Gyro Gearloose to allow it to perform several functions, including the ability to bypass hazards such as spikes, Scrooge’s infamous pogo jump (which can come down hard enough to break rocks and smash robots to pieces), the ability to smash through stones or send boulders nearly his own size flying with his “Golf Swing”, and is able to help Scrooge pull and drag heavy things across a room. All of these features were upgraded with several adaptors from Gyro Gearloose which further enhanced these features to allow Scrooge to perform harder strikes as well as pull and drag heavier loads.
In addition, when Scrooge became his superhero alter ego “The Masked Mallard”, the cane was further upgraded by Gyro Gearloose to make it more effective for fighting criminals around the city. It gained the ability to fire lasers in response to Scrooge’s whistling that are capable of cutting things like a blade. It also gained the ability to fly through the air in a similar manner to a jet pack and can be charged with electricity. However, it is possible this was a different cane from his usual one considering the unique and exclusive functions only used in conjunction with his other gadgets when he dons the “Masked Mallard” persona.
Ancient McDuck Sword
This sword was passed down through the McDuck Clan (it was used by Sir Quackly). Scrooge used it in the battle for McDuck Castle, and he can mentally summon the blade to his side (like the Sword of Omens). While Scrooge doesn’t use it often he has great skill with swords.
Guns
Believe it or not, Scrooge is an excellent sharpshooter. He has used various guns throughout the years such as...
Two Colt.45 Peacemakers: The Colt.45 Peacemakers is a single-action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges allowing for a total of six shots. It was designed in 1872 and during his adventures, Scrooge picked two of these babies up while in America. His attack when using them is called The Yella-Belly Waltz
S&W Model 14 Revolver: In his olden days, Scrooge carries around a Model 14 Revolver for protection as shown here
Blunderbluss/Musket: In order to protect his precious Money Bin, Scrooge also carries a Musket which he has experience in using due to his miner days.
Cannon: Scrooge has shown himself to be in possession of large old fashioned fuse-lit cannons. Scrooge has shown he can rig the cannons so they go off as soon as someone enters the room as a trap. Scrooge has also shown he can summon a cannon called “Big Bertha” (which happens to be his favorite) by simply tapping his cane into the ground which can then fire either a cannon ball or a giant boxing glove.
Anti-Inertia Ray and Neutral Friction Ray
Two guns that look alike (and take AA batteries), but shoot rays that have different side effects. They were invented by the “Cabbage Professor” and originally used by the Beagle Boys to seize Scrooge’s Money Bin, but due to their irresponsibility of leaving the ray guns behind Scrooge McDuck acquired both of them. He used them to defeat the Beagle Boys, and then kept them for himself. The effects of both these ray guns last at least a couple of hours, hindering the opponent for a large amount of time. (Here’s the Full Comic for context)
Anti-Inertia Ray: Shoots a ray that removes “Inertia” (The force of something moving in a straight line it gains from velocity) from anything it’s aimed at. If Scrooge fires this at an incoming projectile, it will harmlessly fall on the floor the second it hits him with zero impact or strength behind it. If fired at an enemy, it will nullify the force of their punches to the point where Scrooge feels nothing the moment it connects. If fired at guns or cannons, it makes their ammunition as harmless as being hit by feathers. However, it cannot nullify the velocity of something falling from above due to natural weight and gravity.
Anti-Inertia Ray: Shoots a ray that removes “Inertia” (The force of something moving in a straight line it gains from velocity) from anything it’s aimed at. If Scrooge fires this at an incoming projectile, it will harmlessly fall on the floor the second it hits him with zero impact or strength behind it. If fired at an enemy, it will nullify the force of their punches to the point where Scrooge feels nothing the moment it connects. If fired at guns or cannons, it makes their ammunition as harmless as being hit by feathers. However, it cannot nullify the velocity of something falling from above due to natural weight and gravity.
Neutral Friction Ray: A ray gun that negates all coefficients of surface friction, rendering whatever it hit super slippery. It can be used to nullify barbed wire, make structures collapse due to the nails being too slippery to grip the wood, make ropes incredibly easy to slip out of, and can make heavy things or people so slippery that they’re near weightless, allowing Scrooge send them sliding back great distances with just his finger. It can also be used to make objects impossible for others to grip/hold.
Spectrification Gun
Used in this issue of Uncle Scrooge, Scrooge can make himself intangible with a gun that Gyro made for him. It allows him to walk through people and walls. The amount of time it lasts or method of reversal is unknown.
Gold-bearing Salts
A phial containing salts that smell like gold. It can make Scrooge instantly recover in case he faints.
Didgeridoo Flute
A flute which when played, instantly attracts a moose that he can use as a mount, or even a stampede of wild moose that will help Scrooge if he's in trouble. He can carve one in no time out of a wooden stick using a simple knife.
Bowie Knife
Scrooge while has been shown to use knives in the comic, his main knife appearing to be a bowie knife. He is also an excellent knife thrower
Shovel and Pickaxe
During his adventures he used a shovel and a pickaxe. They were mainly used to fetch for gold though he can use them as weapons.
Rope
During his horseback adventures he would often use a rope to entangle enemies as well rein in the horse Hortense… speaking of which
Hortense
During his younger days Scrooge had a horse named Hortense, which was named after his sister because both were stubborn. Hortense can allow Scrooge to quickly escape from danger.
Fountain Pen
A pen that shoots ink as a projectile. Pretty self-explanatory.
Laser Pen
A seemingly ordinary pen that can generate a laser, either to burn things up close or even shoot a full-fledged laser beam that can cut down trees, through stones, and through metal weapons. However, if overused it will malfunction and cease working.
Boomerang
His trusty old boomerang that he collected during his explorer days.
The Multiplicator
Created by Gyro Gearloose, it creates various clones of the user and act according to his orders. At first given to Donald, the Beagle Boys stole it and Scrooge took it back.
Flare Gun
Scrooge puts a whole meaning to “make it rain” with this gun, where Scrooge creates a green cloud that begins to rain gold coins (Full comic with panel here). It can also be used to fire regular flares if needed.
Omnisolve
Gyro Gearloose developed a substance that dissolves literally anything that it touches except for crystallized carbon/diamonds. It does this by compressing matter down to the atomic structure (as mentioned in the aforementioned scan, making it molecular hax). Gyro coated a diamond dust-covered umbrella with the stuff that makes it completely immune to damage (as things covered in omnisolve can even nullify bullets and cannonballs by dissolving them the second they make contact and dissolve the air around it) as well as a very dangerous weapon. Honestly it’s probably Scrooge’s most powerful tool. (Full comic for context)
Magic Wand
The wand Scrooge stole from Magica that is capable of stunning enemies who it's pointed at and leaving them dazed temporarily
Burglar Stunner
A laser gun that Scrooge carries around; capable of shooting a beam that can easily leave cut through metal including leaving holes in steel titanium plate. (Full comic here)
Philosopher's Stone
The legendary Philosopher's Stone itself that Scrooge managed to obtain. It is able to turn any kind of metal it touches into gold by simply being pressed against it or being thrown at it. However, if Scrooge holds it for too long or uses it too much, he himself will start to turn into gold (albeit slowly) starting by stiffening his joints and turning his eyes yellow. (Full comic for context here) While he did give it up in the end, he has since managed to somehow get it back and make it part of his collection.
Hyperspace Pocket
A special pocket on Scrooge’s clothes made by Gyro Gearloose. Essentially gives Scrooge hammer space to carry or store a large abundance of items
Tank
Scrooge actually owns a real life tank and isn’t afraid to use it on someone attacking his money bin. He seems to save it for armored enemies who’ve tanked everything else.
Bagpipes
A regular pair of scottish bagpipes, though Scrooge can play them so terribly that they hurt the ears of those who hear it to the point where they yell out in agony. It’s also the first Christmas present he’s ever received from Santa.
Explosives
Scrooge also has classic fuse-lit round black bombs as well as sticks of real dynamite handy to use on intruders.
Fire Crackers
Scrooge sometimes has some fire crackers (and a match) handy. He can use firecrackers that look similar to sticks of dynamite to blow holes in the ground and has rocket fireworks he can light to shoot airborne targets
Sleeping Spray
A small spray bottle that when Scrooge sprays the contents into someone’s face, they’ll fall asleep for awhile, and makes those already sleeping sleep even longer (though they can still be waken up with loud noises)
The Masked Mallard
A super hero alter ego of Scrooge McDuck who fought crime in the streets of Duckburg to defend his reputation. As the masked Mallard, Scrooge uses unique weapons and gadgets provided for him by Gyro Gearloose, including a modified cane that functions as a jet pack, can emit electricity, and fire lasers when Scrooge whistles. He also gains a utility belt known as the “Futility Belt” that houses his other gadgets (and can shock anyone who tries to steal it) including purple boomerangs and ropes (Which can be tied together to act as grappling hooks), a magnet gun that attracts/snags metal objects from his foes, a canister of oil to make his enemies slip, and a retractable arm with a cold water spray bottle. He also has a pair of bouncing shoes that allow him to hop great heights and distances.
Shovel Knight
Shovel Blade
If the name didn’t give it away, then let it be known that the man called Shovel Knight wields a bladed shovel, which he can use to slash things with or dig piles and holes like a regular shovel, which must help given that it’s sharper than anything you can find at Home Depot. It’s also capable of reflecting most projectiles, including magical ones, at enemies.
Shovel Knight has also applied three types of upgrades to this trusty weapon of his thanks to the Shovel Smith: the Drop Spark allows him to create projectiles whenever he swings the shovel at full health, the Trench Blade gives him the ability to dig up entire piles of dirt in one swing, and the Charge Handle grants him the usage of a charged swing that deals more damage.
It’s also noteworthy that he can trade in his blade for special variants if he wears the special armor sets gained from defeating Kratos and the Battletoads, which allow him to fight similarly to the foes he defeated to earn said armor.
Armor
Scrooge
Medieval Armor
Medieval armor, used together with the McDuck Sword when Scrooge had to defend Castle McDuck.
Shovel Knight
The default armor Shovel Knight starts out with is his Stalwart Plate, which outside of being his most iconic look, offers no additional benefits. However, burning some gold with the Armorer gives him access to additional sets with varying advantages and disadvantages.
The Final Guard reduces the amount of gold he drops when he dies, although as it’s more of a game mechanic and realistically should have no bearing in an actual fight. The Conjurer’s Coat increases the damage he takes in exchange for having a larger magic pool and being able to harvest magic from defeated foes. The Dynamo Mail grants him the ability to use his Charge Slash without penalty after performing two consecutive shovel drops, although if he doesn’t keep the drops coming he loses it. The Mail of Momentum reduces knockback taken but worsens his traction, meaning that he won’t be able to stop immediately after running. Lastly, the Ornate Plate is a gold set of armor which is entirely cosmetic, other than it let's him do fancy Torrian flips in the air.
In addition, Shovel Knight can earn extra armors either by defeating Kratos or the Battletoads in their respective versions of the game. These are:
This special armor was obtained by Shovel Knight after defeating Kratos. When Shovel Knight equips this armor, it allows Shovel Knight to perform multi-hit combos, but he is unable to use any upgrades purchases. The Armor of Chaos also changes up Shovel Knight’s downwards attack, making it a much faster drop like Black Knight. The Armor of Chaos also allows Shovel Knight to collect Red Orbs which amplifies your next attack, sending a small wave of fire across the screen.
This is the armor you get after defeating the Battletoads. It allows Shovel Knight to attack and run faster as well as ending combos with one large hit similar to Battletoads. You also get a more powerful power dive similar to the Armor of Chaos. However, the Toad Gear prevents you from using the charge swing or drop spark.
Power-Ups
Scrooge
Magic Coin
An item that makes Scrooge temporarily invincible for about 10 seconds while simultaneously being able to damage anyone who touches him. It also makes Scrooge glow with a yellow aura while also increasing his movement speed. However, Scrooge does not have this item on hand and often needs to find it first, so this could be excluded.
Shovel Knight
Relics
Shovel Knight is equipped with various magical relics which grant him different abilities when equipped. Using each relic takes a set portion of his magic resources away, and if a relic’s magic cost is insufficient, he will be locked out of using it unless he obtains magic potions from defeated enemies or from his Ichors, as will be explained later.
Flare Wand
The Flare Wand allows Shovel Knight to shoot out fireballs in a straight path. While not as impressive or gimmicky as his other Relics, it’s a practical weapon and one of his default ranged attacks, seeing as it’s magic cost is relatively low.
Phase Locket
The Phase Locket temporarily makes Shovel Knight invincible and allows him to walk through enemies and most dangerous surfaces, hence the name.
Dust Knuckles
The Dust Knuckles allow Shovel Knight to strike through dirt blocks and enemies in quick succession, and can make him hover temporarily if he uses it in mid-air.
Throwing Anchor
The Throwing Anchor is another projectile wherein Shovel Knight tosses an anchor in the air.
Alchemy Coin
The Alchemy Coin turns smaller foes who are hit by it into money. However, it is ineffective if used against tougher foes like armored knights and bosses.
Mobile Gear
With this, Shovel Knight summons a large gear which he can use to trample over enemies, jump gaps and can be used as a platform to reach certain heights.
War Horn
This relic has Shovel Knight take out a large horn and blow it, dealing a wide-spread damaging attack. However, it is the relic which puts the largest dent into his magic meter, and can only be used a certain amount of times before it drains entirely.
Propeller Dagger
The Propeller Dagger has Shovel Knight dash forward, damage enemies and gives him better mobility in the air.
Fishing Rod
As the name implies, using it near pits or large bodies of water allows Shovel Knight to fish for random pick-ups. However, as an actual weapon, it’s pretty impractical to use.
Chaos Sphere
This relic has Shovel Knight fire a bouncing green ball which will damage enemies who come into contact with it while it is still active.
Troupple Chalice and Ichors
Paying a visit to the mystical Troupple Pond with these two chalices can grant Shovel Knight an audience with the Troupple King, who will gladly fill each chalice up with the player’s choice of Ichor, which grants different bonuses after drinking them. The red Ichor of Renewal instantly fills up Shovel Knight’s health and magic to its maximum limit, the blue Ichor of Boldness grants invincibility for 10 seconds and the yellow Ichor of Fortune attracts treasures towards him for the next 60 seconds. The Ichors are a one-time use, however; the King is the only individual who can refill the chalices.
Amiibo Relics
Thanks to the partnership of Nintendo, Shovel Knight got a pretty awesome amiibo, fit with additional relics he can use as a result.
Bait Bomb
An “Arcana” that is also used by Plague Knight. It can be used for fishing, often detonating and sending up what ever was in the water (or a pit). If thrown on the ground, it will rush along until it hits an object or an enemy and then explode.
Flareo Rod
Works similarly to the flare rod, but in instead of shoot fight balls it unleashes an explosion right in front of him.
Rising Dagger
Used in the same manner as the Propeller Dagger, only it instead makes Shovel Knight fly straight up instead of flying horizontally for a few seconds.
Infinidagger
Also used in the same manner as the Propeller Dagger, only Shovel Knight will infinitely fly horizontally until he collides with a wall or object.
Tow Anchor
Works similar to the throwing anchor, but instead Shovel Knight will hold onto the anchor when he throws it, sending him flying along with it as it busts down enemies or obstructions.
Ghost Glove
When Shovel Knight punches, he can send phantasmic ghostly fists propelling towards the enemy across a short distance.
Buzzsaw Boomerang
A buzzsaw like projectile that when thrown, spins ahead and cuts enemies in front of it. Afterwards it curves back around and returns to Shovel Knight’s direction.
Fleet Flask
Upon consumption, Shovel Knight will dash forward while bursting with green magic flames until he collides with a solid object.
Shadow Knight
Creates a purple copy of shovel knight that remains a fixed distance in from of him. It attacks and jumps when shovel knight does, but it doesn’t take damage and isn’t affected by gravity.
Special Moves (Amiibo)
Dash Boots
Simply lets shovel knight sprint forward to get to places a little faster
Shovel Upgrades
Allows Shovel Knight’s shovel blade’s abilities to be fully upgraded to their max abilities, giving him the Charge Handle (his chargeable attack), the Trench Blade (for digging), and the Drop Spark (where Shovel Knight can shoot a projectile from his shovel blade at full health)
Glide Cloud
Double Jump
Self explanatory. Allows Shovel Knight to follow up his first jump with a second jump while still in mid air.
Diagonal Drop
After Shovel Knight jumps into the air, he can then dive down diagonally towards his enemies while striking with his shovel.
Bounce Bomb
Allows Shovel Knight to throw small explosives that go off after a second or two without seemingly any limit to the amount he can throw or carry
Charge Moves (Amiibo)
Burrow Bomber
After charging up, Shovel Knight propels his entire body forward while spinning with his shovel pointed forward.
Fire Razer
After charging up, Shovel Knight can jump up into the air and diving back towards the ground resulting in a small eruption of flames
Bomb Burst
After charging up, Shovel Knight erupts with a small explosion around him that also propels him into the air
Blink Flash
After charging up, allows shovel knight to dash forward a short distance through enemies and hazards without taking damage himself
Coin Capture
After charging up, Shovel Knight can emit a magical field around him that allows him to draw in any near by treasures
Feats
Scrooge
Strength/Durability
- Later in that episode swam from Alcatraz to shore
- Can throw and flip a heavy wooden beam into the air a short distance (here’s the full comic for context)
- Dazed a large sea monster underneath a thick blanket of seaweed with just a shovel
- When some gold diggers were insulting his dead mother, Scrooge went into a berserk state in which he displayed some great feats of strength
- Scrooge broke his shackles/chains out of pure rage, beat all of the gold diggers that were taunting him, broke two iron smokestacks with his own hands, threw a grand concert piano out of the window. The two smokestacks later hit a boiler which caused a fire that then destroyed the whole cruise ship they were on. (here’s the full comic for context)
- And here's a scan of Scrooge tanking an explosion that destroyed his money bin. (full comic here). Here's another for consistency. (full comic here)
- Rode his money bin into orbit and tanked the full recoil of the impact
- Calc for the feat here
- According to our calcer, eyeballing the feat, it looks to be class 4 or 5 on the Volcanic Explosive Index (ranging the output from one digit to two digit megatons of force)
- Has tanked land mines going off under his feet and even blowing up in his face. He even managed to tank a cannon shooting him point-blank in the head, and was still able to walk it off with no injury (full comics here, here, here, here, and here)
Speed/Agility
- Scrooge reacted to an old-fashioned gun going off, jumping over the bullet at the last moment
- Scrooge has shown multiple times he can out-dodge as well as outrun arrows
- Dodged a "Electrabolt Cannon" and rockets being fired by an out-of-control robot
- Quickly hopped from place to place with no effort at all
- Once tossed a coin to the other side of a lake, quickly paddled a boat all the way across, and caught it before it landed
- Dodged Goldie's shotgun blasts
- Calc here
Other
- Can spot a dime on a mountain far away from him despite the dime being very small, this shows that his eyesight is much greater than a usual human
- Scrooge had demonstrated the ability to reverse transmutation, as shown in Ducktales 2, when he reverses being turned into a frog by a warlock
- Drank from the Foundation of Youth which means Scrooge’s aging is slowed down
Shovel Knight
Strength/Durability
- Defeated the Enchantress twice; the second time was with Shield Knight’s aid.
- Defeated the entire Order of No Quarter twice; the first time was in their respective zones while the second was in consecutive back-to-back battles inside the Tower of Fate.
- Can run rather quickly and jump rather high without his armor weighing him down
- Can get back up from being hit by all sorts of elemental/magic attacks
- Can even get back up after being hit with cannonballs his own size (and nullify their damage by holding out his shovel)
- Tanks hitting the ground after getting flung long distances from catapults without taking any damage at all
- Can take a hit from one of Black Knight’s meteorites
- Calc for the feat here
- Survived face planting off of the Battletoads’ hover bikes and could take hits from the Battletoads themselves
- Was physically comparable to Kratos, who tore apart the floor beneath them
Speed/Agility
- Is rather quick and nimble despite always running around wearing armor
- Calc here
- Can react to obstacles while driving the Battletoad’s fast hoverbikes and maneuver around them (and even react to the hoverbike speeding towards him itself)
Other
- Likely has resistance to transmutation via being able to carry the alchemy coin
Defeated several wandering opponents, including:
- The Battletoads (on their own fighting terms no less)
Weaknesses
Scrooge
Scrooge can leave himself very blindsighted as to what's going on around him, and the possible consequences, when it comes to money. He's also considered not as physically endowed as he once was when he was younger (though feats would suggest the opposite).
Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight’s relics draw from a finite pool of magic, with more powerful relics taking up a larger chunk of said pool; obviously, he’ll be locked out of using certain attacks if he doesn’t have the resources available. The same applies to his Ichors too; he’ll only have two at a time and can’t refill them by himself. The Drop Spark will also be out of his repertoire if he isn’t at full health. Lastly, he can't put on a different suit without going to the Armorer first, so it's unlikely he could make a costume change in the middle of a fight. As to what armor he’d prefer is unknown, as he’ll tell Mr. Hat that he’s attached to his helmet, no matter which armor he wears.
Summary
Scrooge McDuck
Advantages:
- Stronger and more durable (about 748 times so)
- Can resist the Alchemy Coin’s effects
- Over a generation more experience (as far as we know about Shovel Knight at least)
- Omnisolve is an instant kill if it makes contact with Shovel Knight
- It's possible if Shovel Knight is wearing a more useful armor that the Philosopher's Stone could turn it into the functionally useless Gold Armor (that's a big “if” though)
- Can spot anything Shovel Knight does from literally miles away thanks to his incredible eyesight
- Anti-Inertia Gun nullifies all of Shovel Knight’s physical abilities
- Slippery Gun gives Shovel Knight uncontrollable traction
- Can basically perform a Bill Cosby on Shovel Knight with the Sleep Spray
- Main weapon is more multi-functional
- Can create more clones with less of a catch
- Is used to dealing with magic users
Disadvantages:
- Slower
- Has no healing options
- Invincibility option is more limited
- Has no way of hitting Shovel Knight when he’s intangible
- Inertia Gun and Slippery Gun run on limited charge and can burn out if overused
- Same issue with the Laser Pen
- Relationship between him and Goldie is still left without an answer
Shovel Knight
Advantages:
- Faster (ranging anywhere from between about 8 to 80 times faster)
- Has healing options in the form of the Ichors
- Armor may or may not be resistant to the Philosopher's Stone’s effects
- Has a lot of adaptability for situations he's never been in, as shown against the Battletoads
- Intangibility is extremely useful for surviving stuff that could kill him
- Actually got the girl in the end
Disadvantages:
- Weaker and less durable
- Intangibility is extremely short-lived unless it's from the Blue Ichor
- All magical abilities draw from a limited source
- Will instantly lose if hit with the Omnisolve Umbrella
- All physical abilities will become useless if he's hit with the Inertia Gun
- Slippery Gun could give him traction impossible to work with
- His Shadow Clone comes with a big catch, and to add onto this, Scrooge can make more clones
- Far less experienced (as far as we know)
- Can't change armors mid-battle
- Alchemy Coin is useless
Verdicts
Malcolm Belmont
Well, this is certainly a fight that I never predicted would happen, though personally I am very happy that my personal favourite Disney character of all time making it into Death Battle.
Now who would win in this fight; the Duck Billionaire - Scrooge McDuck, or the Knight with a Shovel - Shovel Knight. Honestly I think this is an extremely close fight but after researching it, I have concluded that Scrooge will end up being the victor and now let me explain why.
First let’s talk weaponry - honestly this would go to Shovel Knight if Scrooge was just allowed his cane but if they do that they would be seriously lowballing him so it’s very likely Scrooge will get most of his weapons.
Let’s first talk about Scrooge and Shovel Knight’s main weapons - the Cane and the Shovel. Scrooge’s Cane surprisingly has a lot of variance to it - being able to smash through stone and send boulders flying. It can also charge itself with electricity, become a jetpack and fire lasers. Scrooge is also extremely skilled at using the Cane in combat and has been shown through the series that he is perfectly able to use his cane like a traditional sword. Shovel Knight’s shovel also is deadly but i would say is not as multifunctional as Scrooge’s cane but i would say Shovel Knight’s Shovel is slightly more stronger being able to dig up dirt and preform charged strikes with ease. Really it all comes down to which is better - a weapon that is slightly weaker but has more multi fictional or a weapon that is slightly stronger but is not as multifunctional. Overall i do think Shovel Knight’s Shovel is stronger than Scrooge’s cane
Scrooge’s not only has plenty of ranged weapons including two Colt.45 Peacemakers perfect for shooting some poor sod but also a revolver, blunderbuss/musket and cannons..lots of canons (especially Big Bertha) that not only allow Scrooge to stay at a distance from Shovel Knight but do a decent amount of damage to him. Shovel Knight has the Flare Wand which allows him to shoot out fire which could potentially hurt Scrooge at range but are still rather slow and easy to dodge especially the Fire Wand. Scrooge has been shown to be extremely accurate and a skilled marksmen so Scrooge would definitely be able to him Shovel Knight with his ranged guns.
Now let’s talk about unique weapons and oh boy - Scrooge absolutely destroys Shovel Knight. Scrooge has the Ancient McDuck Sword which he can call to his side at any time. Scrooge can make himself intangible with the Spectrification Gun. Is skilled with a Bowie Knife and an excellent knife thrower. A Laser Pen that burns things up close or even shoot a full fledged laser beam that can cut down trees, cut through stones, and cut through metal weapons.The Multiplicator that can create multiple versions of himself as well as the Magic Wand that stuns people, a Hyperspace Pocket that stores all of Scrooge’s equipment, a tank that is capable of knocking someone back a fairy distance and many many more.
But Scrooge has three considerable trump cards Anti-Inertia Gun - A gun that shoots a pink ray, that makes the victim’s attacks so weak that Scrooge can hardly even perceive them and the Slippery Gun that makes foes so slippy that Scrooge could throw him away by touching him with a finger and the Omnisolve - Gyro Gearloose developed a substance that that dissolves literally anything that it touches. Scrooge can use is as Gyro coated an Umbrella with the substance.This means that if Shovel Knight tries touching the Umbrella then he will likely be dissolved. He even has a Magic Coin that makes him temporarily invincible.
While Shovel Knight certainly has some powerful weaponry - like the Phase Locket, Alchemy Coin (buuuut Scrooge has transmutation resistance meaning that this would not matter much),War Horn,Chaos Sphere and Dust Knuckles but they all suffer from the factor that they drain Shovel’s magic quickly and are more based around platforming and combat. Scrooge’s weaponry is overall more varied, destructive and thanks to Scrooge’s hyperspace can carry as much as he wants. Though Shovel Knight does have two chalices which give him health and make him temporarily invincible.
And that’s not even going into the fact that Scrooge’s is an incredibly skilled fighter able to easily take on skilled fighters (for example when he participated in the Olympics in 1904 and has been shown to take on massive groups of thugs and overpower Teddy Roosevelt.)
The final nail in Shovel’s coffin is experience - Scrooge has been fighting and exploring locations for over 60 maybe even more and yet despite being put in constant danger he has managed to survive every time. He is extremely smart and knows a way out of most if not all situations and is fully capable of thinking of a plan and then defeating a foe.
So overall Scrooge in my own personal opinion takes this match due to weaponry,experience and feats. I am personally really looking forward to this matchup and seeing what the end result will be but personally i don’t mind either way.
Doctor Moo
Alright, Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight… Gonna be honest, this not a match up I would have ever thought of and it took me completely by surprise. Heck, I never thought I’d be analyzing this match up in such detail, but here I am… Well, let’s hop to it, shall we?
In terms of physical stats, it’s obvious that Scrooge has the Strength and Durability advantages while Shovel Knight has the speed advantage (Funny considering Scrooge isn’t the one running around in bulky armor)
Fighting style and experience?
Well, considering Shovel Knight’s history isn’t really known and Scrooge has been on WAY more adventures during the years, it's clear Scrooge has more experience. Scrooge has not only been around the world, but has even been to space and traveled through time on multiple occasions. Both are experienced dealing with all kinds of spell casters, creatures, and monsters on a frequent basis.
Shovel Knight often fights his opponents head on, using his relics to match or counter what is thrown at him, and sometimes negating enemy attacks right back at them. He doesn’t rely on tricks and traps; just fighting skill and versatility. Scrooge will often use his wits to figure out the best way to attack his enemies, find ways to trick them, lower their guard, or lead them into traps.
Shovel Knight is also great at adapting to strange scenarios and dangerous opponents; even if Scrooge is given the homefield advantage of fighting in his money bin (which is likely all things considered) Shovel Knight defeats his enemies on their home turf all the time. This means even if Scrooge starts swimming around in his money bin to get away from Shovel Knight or attack from different directions, Shovel Knight can and WILL adapt to it (Heck, He’d probably be smart enough to put a dollar on his fishing rod to lure Scrooge out and then counter once Scrooge starts swimming circles around him in the money bin) meaning Scrooge will also have to change tactics.
All in all though, I’m going to say the one with edge for experience might go to Scrooge, especially given the fact that his history is more detailed, he’s arguably been on more adventures and has dealt with other knights and spell casters which needless to say would serve him in this fight.
Because of the ABUNDANCE of items both fighters have and the fact that for the actual battle itself that it will be unlikely that they literally bring/use/factor everything they have, I’m splitting my prediction in two parts: One scenario where both fighters are restricted to certain items (Which will most likely be the case for the official DB), and a scenario where both fighters have everything. I’ll call them scenario A and B respectively
Scenario A: Both fighters go in with limited arsenals
In this case, Shovel Knight is going in everything BUT anything he can get from the amiibo.
In Scrooge’s case, his most recurring weapons would be his cane, his guns, his cannons, his explosives/fireworks, rope, pick axe, shovel, and maybe his items from the games (His hyperspace pocket and Magic Coin). This is what I think will be the most likely arsenal for Scrooge for the actual episode since it’s doubtful every single weapon will be accounted for (Especially since some are more obscure than others due to the character’s vast history)
Scrooge’s cane is slightly more versatile, as he can use it for a multitude of different attacks/purposes including bouncing off deadly spiked floors and areas, something Shovel Knight’s shovel can’t do. Thought Shovel Knight’s weapon technically more practical for combat all things considered.
In terms of everything else; Shovel Knight’s relics are all diverse but Scrooge has experience dodging magical projectiles/attacks due to his frequent run ins with Magica De Spell (as well as others like the Duck Warlock from 2, the time he dodged electricity from the goddess Aphroducky, and more) so I’m certain Scrooge can avoid most of them. Others like the war horn, while powerful against regular foes, probably wouldn’t damage scrooge too badly (and meanwhile sap away at Shovel Knight’s magic as the fight continues)
The relic that will cause Scrooge the most grief is the phase locket, due to not only granting intangibility, but allows him to hurt Scrooge despite the fact that Scrooge can’t hurt him.This can allow him to get up close and personal and do as much damage as he wants without having to worry about the consequences… for a little while anyway. Remember, ALL of Shovel Knight’s weapons share the same limited supply of magic which will run out if any relic is over used.
Many people would argue that the alchemy coin could be the weapon that does Scrooge in since not only does it turn the enemies it touches into gold. Although we need to keep in mind that this coin really only transmutes smaller weaker foes (and it’s safe to say Scrooge is more powerful than a Blorb or a Ratsploder.) and can sometimes merely damage enemies opposed to turning them into coins. While there’s a chance the alchemy coin can permanently turn Scrooge into a coin, there’s also a chance that it won’t, so it can’t be completely relied on.
Scrooge’s supply of guns, cannons, fireworks, and explosives could all potentially be dodged by Shovel Knight. Not to mention Shovel Knight’s armor can help him take the damage and keep getting back up from attacks that do hit. On the bright side, they’re not as limited in their uses as Shovel Knight’s relics, so it’s unlikely that Scrooge will run out of ammunition before Shovel Knight does.
Though once Shovel knight DOES run out of magic or is somehow too damaged to keep going, drinking red ichor can restore his health back to the way it was at the start of the fight as well as his magic, meaning then he can use relics again. Scrooge may be though, but he has no methods of healing himself. On the topic of Ichor, Scrooge’s magic coin and Shovel Knight’s Blue Ichor counter each other due to being invincibility power ups that last 10 seconds; not much else to say about that.
Over all with scenario A (Limited Items); Scrooge would have a much more difficult time due to Shovel Knight’s speed and relics, not to mention the fact that red ichor would mean he’d have to fight Shovel Knight two rounds in a row. But given Scrooge’s stamina, durability, and overall experience and intelligence, it would be a very difficult fight, but I think he can last long enough to come out on top.
Scenario B: Both fighters have EVERYTHING.
As in, Shovel Knight goes in with all his relics including his Amiibo items, and Scrooge goes in with all the weapons and gadgets listed above. The weapons that stand out the most for Scrooge are the Spectrification gun, The multiplicator, the Omnisolve, the Anti-Inertia Ray, the Slippery Gun (AKA Neutral Friction Ray), and the philosopher's stone.
The spectriciation gun may have in handy, but it has a lot of drawbacks: while under its effects, Scrooge is intangible, but he also has no way of attacking and he can’t simply turn it on and off since he requires someone else to shoot him with it (otherwise he can’t revert back to normal)
Lucky for him, the Multiplicator can take care of this problem; Chances are Scrooge could get one of his clones to zap him to make him go back and forth between normal and intangible, or Scrooge can even zap his own clones to make them intangible if he wishes. Needless to say, the Multiplicator also increases Scrooge’s odds, since Scrooge on his own is a formidable foe for Shovel Knight, it’s more than possible a whole group of them working together can overwhelm Shovel Knight as well.
The omnisolve covered umbrella needless to say can potentially block EVERYTHING Shovel Knight can throw at it and can even take out Shovel Knight himself effortlessly… However, Shovel knight has several ways around this; He can use his own speed to play keep away, use the phase locket to bypass it and attack Scrooge, which can potentially surprise him and make him drop the umbrella on the floor, making it eat through the ground and plummet deep down where Scrooge can’t get it. The omnisolve covered umbrella is his most powerful weapon, but it’s still VERY tricky to use.
The Anti-Inertia Ray meanwhile could definitely hinder Shovel Knight’s striking power by nullifying all momentum from his physical attacks he can throw forward, meaning that his strikes (including his charging strike and punches from his dust knuckles) would become powerless. HOWEVER, the Anti-Inertia gun can’t nullify the momentum from weight/gravity, meaning attacks like Shovel Knight’s downwards attacks (Like Diagonal Drop, Fire Razer, and his basic downward thrust attack) can still hurt Scrooge.
The Slippery Gun would also be pretty deadly, it can not only make Shovel Knight too slippery to maneuver, but it could also make his weapons/relics too slippery for him to hold or make him too slippery to properly grip them due to removing friction. Needless to say, these two guns could REALLY mess him up…
However, there’s still a good chance Shovel Knight can dodge the rays fired from these weapons, and even with Scrooge’s aim it’s possible he can keep avoiding the rays thanks to his speed (or intangibility) until they run out of battery power from excessive use. Same could be said about Scrooge’s laser based weapons (Laser Pen, Burglar Stunner, and Laser Cane from his “Masked Mallard” alter-ego) which can all easily cut through metal with ease, meaning it’s possible they can pierce straight through Shovel Knight’s armor/body (Assuming he doesn’t dodge or use the phase locket, and assuming those weapons don’t get burnt out either)
As the masked Mallard, Scrooge also gains some advantages; he has better maneuverability with his bouncing boots and his jet-pack like cane. His magnet gun can also snatch away some of shovel knight’s items (including his shovel blade)
As for Shovel Knight’s relics and abilities from the amiibo; most of the new relics are just variations his already existing ones; projectiles like Ghost Glove and buzzsaw blades can be dodged, and Bait Bombs and Flareo Rod can be tanked. While he does gain more options and variety, keep in mind that all of these still have the same weakness of sharing/consuming magic with use.
I will say that the wider variety of charge moves do make him more dangerous to fight up close. Abilities like dash boots and double jump give shovel knight an increase in speed and height for better maneuverability, diagonal drop gives him another attack option, and bounce bombs are items that (unlike the relics) can be used without worry of using up magic.
So over all with scenario B (All items); Scrooge gains even better weapons that give him even more of an advantage due to them being much deadlier. They also assure that he can last longer and counter more of what Shovel Knight throws at him. Shovel Knight gains notable buffs in speed and additional fighting moves, but not much else.
Despite the fact that Scrooge’s extra weapons do still have their limits and Shovel Knight still has ways of countering them with his own skills or relics, the relics are all drawing upon the same finite magic source that can only be refilled once. Once that magic is gone, all the relics become useless. Meanwhile, if any of Scrooge’s weapons run out of ammo, break down, or burn out, he still has access to a lot more and can change tactics at any time (Especially with the abundance of them brought over in scenario B)
Shovel Knight has a better chance of winning with scenario A considering his tendency to beat his enemies on his own turf and the fact that it’s possible that he can wear down Scrooge after two rounds. It would be a huge test of endurance for both fighters to see who can out last who by the end, but I’m confident Scrooge can pull still through in the end.
But with Scenario B, Scrooge gains much more advantages that more than assure that he can out last Shovel knight to the end, can counter more of what shovel knight throws out, or even wear him down even faster. Shovel Knight doesn’t get nearly as many buffs by comparison. Sure it still won’t be easy for Scrooge considering who he’s up against, but he’d still have the odds more towards his favor.
My overall verdict after going through all of that is that Scrooge will be the victor, not to say it’s going to be any easier either way regardless of what scenario he goes in with.
ThorGundersen1058
SWEET! Another cartoon in Death Battle, so what’s the match-up Looks up, you have got to be kidding me… I get it being a fun match up, but ‘they both appear in games with a pogostick mechanic’ has gotta be in the top 3 dumbest fight conceptions, and I’m sick of people just dismissing cartoon characters as pushovers cause they are Comedic or something. Both these two had much better matchups you could have made, Scrooge’s being Mr. Krabs and Shovel Knight’s being….uh Throws a Dart at wall full of pictures of characters knowing they have 99% chance of being better ...Vamber from Mighty Magiswords I guess.
Felt good to get that outta my system, now on to the prediction. Now going over their Stats and arsenals, the winner is actually quite clear cut. Scrooge being several hundred times more strong and durable is an ENORMOUS advantage that just can’t be ignored, it’s unlikely he’d need more than one good hit to end this match. Shovel Knight on the other hand is anywhere from 8 to 80 times faster depending on what you count but let’s go with 80 for the sake of argument. Shovel Knight can dish out less than 1 hundredth the amount of force we know Scrooge can tank, meaning Scrooge actually isn’t in much danger, Shovel Knight’s blows will do little to nothing meaning his only chance is to deal a huge amount of chip damage before Scrooge punches him. Now being 80 times faster isn’t exactly so fast hitting them is impossible and Scrooge can legit stop him from running and jumping with the anti-inertia gun. The Anti-inertia gun also would cancel any of his projectiles legit forcing him to get close and in more danger. Scrooge has a LOT more experience and is much smarter than Shovel Knight and could easily outlast his temporary intangibility and he is immune to transmutation leaving Shovel Knight with no effective Hax. So in conclusion, this is Scrooge’s fight to win and Shovel Knight is McF*cked.
McGasher
Welp, can’t say I expected this match-up. I would have personally preferred Scrooge vs Krabs and Shovel Knight vs Juan Aguacate from Guacamelee (as unlikely the latter is), but still, I’m really hyped to see this one, and I’m seriously excited to see an 8-bit Death Battle, finally.
Now, on with the prediction! I’ll compare the characters’ capabilities under every category, occasionally addressing arguments that I saw being used in debates regarding this match-up. So… here it is!
Strength and Durability:
Not much to say there: the duck is thousands of times stronger AND durable than Shovel Knight, granting him a huge advantage. Scrooge’s durability tops Butt Butt’s even without the need of an armor; actually, SK’s amount of alternative armors become kinda useless, as none of them can even get close to Scrooge’s resistance, making inconvenient disadvantages the only things that the knight gains by switching armors. Scrooge takes this one.
Arsenal and power-ups:
Both characters have a lot of absurd weapons and power-ups, but I think that, in the end, Scrooge has got the upper hand. Starting with the basics, the cane and the shovel: both are incredibly resistant, with the cane being basically unbreakable, the cane and the shovel: both items are incredibly resistant considering what they are, being able to break through stones and one shot creatures such as gorillas and yetis. There’s really no difference between the two’s functionalities, as they are both melee weapons also usable for bouncing, but Scrooge’s cane… might be just a little bit better.
Let me explain: if you buy the Shovel Knight Amiibo for a Nintendo console version of the game, you can upgrade the shovel and make it able to dig multiple piles of dirt faster and charge a swing that deals more damage.
In every Ducktales game, since the very beginning and without the need of further upgrades by Gyro, the cane can easily break through various rocks without problems, and Scrooge can send boulders as big as him flying with a simple golf swing. Basically, the shovel needs console-specific add-on upgrades to do what the cane normally does (and the cane does it better, too). Of course, those Amiibo upgrades also allow the azure knight to throw long-ranged attacks, but in order to do that the Blue Burrower needs to be at full-health, and honestly it’s not like they would be too dangerous for the duck either (the projectiles don’t travel at very fast speeds, plus Scrooge has dodged bullets point-blank in the past so). Let’s not forget that the cane can shoot lasers and basically fly when Scrooge becomes the Masked Mallard, so even its upgrades are better than the shovel’s (and the Masked Mallard alter-ego being factored in the fight is just as unlikely as the Amiibo upgrades being considered).
"You’re forgetting that the shovel is actually a shovel blade, meaning that it’s actually pretty sharp, unlike the cane. Shovel Knight could just cut in half it and leave Scrooge without his most iconic weapon!"
Well, the shovel is indeed sharp, but it won't be a problem. Thing is, Scrooge’s cane is not… well, a normal cane. It’s pretty much indestructible, a normal cane would break if costantly smashed against rocks and hard surfaces, but Scrooge does it often in the games without problems. Plus, the cane has resisted getting smashed against sharp surfaces before, for example it can bounce off spikes without getting damaged. Also, since I brought that up, Shovel Knight will die if you try to bounce off spikes with the shovel, so that’s another point for the cane, which can do what the shovel can’t.
Now, on with the other weapons. I’ll personally prefer not to consider some particular one-issue weapons for Scrooge such as the Multiplicator or the Spectrification Gun, because I hardly doubt that they will be considered. If it was for me, I wouldn’t personally consider the Amiibo-exclusive weapons for SK for the same reason, but I will factor them in my prediction nonetheless because I feel like they will appear in the actual fight.
In my opinion, Scrooge still has the advantage.
Thing is, while the Blue Burrower has an incredibly various arsenal of power-ups, none of them could really be a problem for the scottish duck, save for 1-2, maybe. We’re talking about magic fireballs, a dagger that allows the user to dash forwards, an anchor, two gauntlets and bouncing green balls. And the question is: “could they be a problem for an expert swordsman and brawler that took a gazillion of gold dimes on his head, survived repeatedly stepping on landmines and dodged bullets at close-range, dealt with various magic users all without problems?”. The answer is, of course not. Not saying that those can’t hurt Scrooge at all, but, if they do manage to hit him, they will… just hurt a bit. He took a lot, a lot worse than everything SK has to offer (and was always perfectly fine afterwards). They won’t cause too many problems.
Let’s take a look at the other power-ups the Knight can use:
Mobile Gear and Fishing Rod - not really useful for combat. The former could help SK escape from danger if needed, but it won’t help a lot in the end.
War Horn - it and Scrooge’s bagpipes counter each other. Considering that both SK and Scrooge can emit such an annoying sound without damaging themselves, they most likely won’t hurt the other combatant either.
Phase Locket - the Phase Locket is actually pretty useful for SK, allowing him to become intangible for a limited amount of time and might help him into avoiding certain death if used correctly, however, the azure hero can’t attack while intangible, so it’s only useful to help him stay alive and not to actually fight.
Amiibo Relics - the two daggers are just a boosted up version of his normal equipment, and does not represent any real danger for Scrooge, the Bait Bomb and the Flareo Rod cause explosions that are way smaller than those that Scrooge survived multiple times without a single scratch, and the Shadow Knight won’t be a problem: the duck is known for taking on dozens and dozens of skilled fighters at once, having a secondary foe that mimics everything his main foe does helps making it even more predictable. I can see the Fleet Flask, Buzzsaw Boomerang and the Ghost Glove taking the King of Klondike by surprise when first used, but in the end, he will undoubtedly learn how to avoid them after getting hit for the first time (McDuck could easily destroy/avoid the Boomerang simply by dodging, by sending it back with a cane swing, stopping it by shooting at it, making the Omnisolve eat it).
Alchemy Coin - Oh, this one. I have seen a lot of arguments on how Scrooge would almost certainly fall for this magical trick, touch the coin and automatically lose. First of all, as all of the others said, Scrooge has shown to be able to resist transmutation and revert back to his duck form. However, I’m confident that he wouldn’t go and take the coin in the first place, either. See, Scrooge is extremely stingy and loves money, and would do everything for it. However, even he has priorities. Before anything else, Scrooge is a great strategist and fighter. If the knight that wants to steal his money and is trying to do everything to kill him suddenly throws a coin that unrealistically bounces in his direction… he isn’t going to fall for it. Nobody (save for the brainless minor enemies in the game, which are the best targets of this Relic) would honestly fall for it.
Ok, but Scrooge has done things such as diving into a sea full of sharks to catch a dime before. How wouldn’t he fall for the Alchemy Coin?
Yes, he has gone straight into dangerous zones for money before, but it’s a thing to try and catch a dime that you know is a dime defended by some aggressive entities (and realistically, Scrooge knows his limits. He knows that sharks aren’t too much for him, and that’s why he did it in the first place); and it’s another thing to rush to catch a coin that moves unnaturally and that has just been thrown by the dude who is trying to kill you. Keep in mind that Scrooge has actually gave up on money to save human (or duck) lives before: in the European story “Zio Paperone e il tuffo nel black hole”, for example, he gave up all of his money to save the planet from a black hole, and in a Ducktales episode he gives up a lot of gold he just found to save his relatives.
Plus, he would recognize the coin’s nature since the beginning: the Alchemy Coin is worthless, as Plague Knight says in-game, and Scrooge is actually capable of feeling the tingling sound and smell of actual money (from distances of city blocks, even), and even understanding who does it belong to.
He can even distinguish his coins from each other: he knows each dime’s story, and in cases where he faints and the salts are not enough, Donald & co. have to pick up the Number One Dime specifically and make him smell it to let him recover, every other dime won’t do it (and no one, save for Scrooge, can figure out the differences between the identical looking coins).
On the other hand, Shovel Knight wouldn’t know, for example, that even touching Scrooge’s black umbrella with his shovel would cause him to fade from existence.
Scrooge has a varied arsenal, that grant him an advantage both in long and close range. He has a lot of hax weapons (the Anti-Inertia and Friction guns, the Omnisolve…), lots of guns that could help him at least keeping at bay the azure knight, and swords that he can use with mastery. On top of that, if one of his weapons run out of energy/bullets, he can still use the other ones. All of SK’s Relics rely on the same supply of magic, meaning that every time he uses one of them, he limits himself in the use of the others. So, Scrooge takes this category.
Speed:
I admit, I’m not a big fan of the meteorites feat. In the last Black Knight boss battle, it’s not like you can really see the meteorites and dodge them. They come at you so fast that, if you are standing on their trajectory, you’re almost inevitably going to get hit. They are avoidable only by being far away from their trajectory in the first place (which is not hard, considering they’re as wide as SK, basically, so they don’t take a lot of space on screen), or by “cheating” and use a Relic such as the Phase Locket. Plus, it wouldn’t be really “reacting to” in the first place. Think about it like a dodgeball match: you’re standing in a corner, concentrated on an opponent’s movements, and suddenly you see, with the corner of your eye, that another opponent has the second ball, is looking at you and starting to throw it at you. You don’t “react” to the ball itself, seeing where it goes and being able to move out of the way before it reaches you. You weren’t expecting it, you just had the time to run away from your position, hoping for the best. This is a thing called aim dodging, and it’s generally not considered as a legitimate reaction speed feat. And, in this feat’s case, it wouldn’t even be aim dodging. Shovel Knight either gets hit or avoids the meteorites because he was far from their trajectory in the first place.
However, let’s consider this as a legit feat: Shovel Knight, in this case, takes the speed advantage, but… it’s not enough. What I mean is that this is not one of those cases where one of the two fighters completely speed-blitzes the other, a la Flash vs Quicksilver, it’s one of those cases where one of the two is faster, but the difference between the two speeds is not too big to make a big difference. Thing is, Scrooge himself has reacted to, to make some examples, missiles and electric attacks (electricity travels at 60 km/s at the very least) and point-blank bullets. Even though the azure knight is faster if we consider the aforementioned feat to be true, Scrooge can still easily react to his movements and attacks, and keep up with him. Let’s not forget that Scrooge still has a curbstomping advantage in strength and durability: even if Shovel Knight was too fast for the duck to react, he wouldn’t have anything going for him that could put the scottish duck to sleep for good. So Shovel Knight takes this category, although not for much.
Experience, fighting ability and intelligence:
The reason for why I’ve put all of these three categories together is because their verdicts are all the same. Shovel Knight might be a good knight and fighter, we know he was good enough that he gained a lot of treasures when he fought alongside Shield Knight, and… well, we don’t know how exactly smart he is (seems to be average in this category), but Scrooge still tops him in all of these three categories. The duck has had more than a hundred years of adventures filled with fights and quarrels against skilled fighters, monsters, magic users, otherwordly creatures; he is a beast in hand-to-hand combat, expert swordsman, capable of using weapons of all kinds and an insanely great strategist, both in economy and combat. This one undoubtedly goes to Scrooge.
“Island Level Shovel Knight” (debunking the Cloud upgrade):
Now, this category was made in order to debunk the points of a common argument I see being brought up in debates with Shovel Knight. There is a theory according to which The Enchantress (the main villain of the game) created omnipresent, magical black clouds that cover the entire island on which the game takes place. This feat would give her Island Level magical capabilities, and Shovel Knight would scale to her via having defeated her at the end of the game and the clouds moving away from the overworld map every time you progress.
Thing is, this theory would have been correct, if the clouds at least existed. This whole theory revolves around some clouds that never appear and are never mentioned throughout the game. The only proofs for this theory are a cutscene art with some kind of gray clouds/fog over the lands, a stage in which there are green clouds in the background, and the game map, in which the yet-to-discover zones are covered in fog.
First of all, the fog in the cutscene appears nowhere in the entire game. There, Shovel Knight is looking down the lands from an incredibly tall mountain, and the zone near the big bad’s mansion is surprisingly covered by foggy, stormy weather and an overall eerie and creepy atmosphere. This is a common thing in a lot of movies, comics, books and videogames, though. It even has a TvTropes page.
Thing is, the fog/clouds never appear in-game, you don’t see them in the skies when you literally walk through those zones that were covered by them in the cutscene. Same thing for the green clouds in the Tower of Fate stages: yes there are green clouds and it’s stormy when you play through this stage, but you can see the Tower multiple times during the game and there never are clouds around it. If the Tower in those screenshots was so detailed that it even had the windows, stairs and every kind of fancy particulars drawn in it, wouldn’t they know that they have to draw clouds too?
A lot of people usually respond to this by saying that the artists might just have forgot to add them in, or didn’t know that they had to put them because they aren’t the same guys who wrote the lore, but… what is the evidence, at this point? There is literally nothing that suggests that there are omnipresent clouds on the entire island, and nothing about the Enchantress making them either, it’s simply a scene of a landscape with a stormy weather, and a lot other images of the same landscapes where it’s sunny, there is a sunset… it’s just normal weather. The only proof suggesting that those clouds exist is the theory itself, and it’s the only thing not made by the actual developers of the game.
Finally, using the overworld map as a stable proof of something that doesn’t happen in the actual game is not a good way to prove something. The whole deal of using fog to cover yet-to-discover zones is a common aesthetic choice in games (see Warzone 2100). I remember that Lego Battles for the Nintendo DS also had some missions’ overworld maps cover the enemies’ zones in fog until you wandered in them, but by no means the enemy monsters had weather manipulation powers, and my little Lego infantrymen didn’t surely move the fog by simply walking around.
Also, saying that Shovel Knight can move clouds because they disappear in the level selection map, is the same as saying that Mario can go from the center of an island to the middle of the ocean in a couple of seconds because you can do it in the level selection map of Super Mario World. It would also be like saying that the Cheep Cheep near Bowser’s water cave from the same game has infinite stamina because it continuously bounces outside the water in a loop animation.
Conclusion:
Out of 7 categories, Scrooge McDuck has a whopping advantage in 6 of them, while the gap between him and Shovel Knight in the remaining one is not even that great. The King of Klondike is infinitely stronger and too durable for everything that the Blue Burrower can throw at him, he is a much better strategist, a more skilled fighter, has a much better arsenal, and finally his opponent has basically nothing at his disposal that could kill him, whereas Scrooge has a lot of hax that helps digging the digger’s grave even faster. And yes, Shovel Knight has fought and won against the likes of Kratos and the Battletoads, but those weren’t as powerful as the canon characters are in their own verses, plus, it’s not a matter of who fought the most powerful opponents, it’s a matter of who would win in a fight.
And Scrooge McDuck should be able to do it without problems.
(Insert obligatory “Don’t fuck with the McDuck" quote here)
ramonzer0
Before I say anything:
Right.
There honestly isn’t much for me to say about this fight, unlike my friends here. As cool as Shovel Knight is, a lot of Scooge’s feats and gear put him above what SK has done in his game. That’s all there is to it, and while SK winning is still a possibility, I’m still giving this fight to Scrooge based on what he has and what he’s done.
HomestuckLover
Let me just start by saying that Ramonzer is right, it should have been fucking Krabs. I'm sooooooo salty about it lol. SpongeBob in Death Battle felt so within my grasp, and it flew away.
Also, Thor is totally right that Shovel Knight should fight either Vamber or Prohays from Mighty Magiswords. They all use unconventional swords and are warriors for hire. Pretty good fight idea generally.
Going into an actual verdict however, I have to say that this pic is quite appropriate for how this should end.
So basically, in terms of strength and durability, Shovel Knight’s ability to take damage from Black Knight's meteorites is his most impressive feat. There are other feats that have led people to believe he's more powerful, but they're actually bunk as hell. Kirby Kid in his verdict already explained why the Enchantress Cloud Splitting feat isn't legit, so I'll take a crack at the Earthquake feat, and explain why that feat just doesn't work.
The common misconception with the feat is that the building’s weight when crashing down is what causes the earthquake that shakes the whole map. In actuality however, it was revealed in Plague Knight’s story (@15:15) that it was his Ultimate Potion that caused the shaking across the map. Notice that the shaking starts the moment the potion hits the ground. So it wasn't the building itself that caused the earthquake, but the Potion.
What does this mean exactly? Well, for one, there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that Shield Knight was in the Potions blast radius. She survived the building falling on her, and that's about it.
So with that, and the Cloud feat debunked, Shovel Knight’s only option is finding a way to hax Scrooge to death. Too bad for Shovel Knight that he only has one hax, and it's completely useless against Scrooge.
One thing I will give Shovel Knight is that he's definitely faster, but speed is almost nothing when you can't hurt your enemy in a million years. This situation reminds me of the Kenshiro vs Jotaro debate, in that while Jotaro is way faster than Kenshiro, he can never hurt him with any of his physical attacks. Also, chip damage isn't a thing. You won't eventually kill someone by tossing a paper ball at them over and over for the rest of their life. You could maybe drive them to insanity, but that's about it, lol.
Just to make matters worse, the Omnisolve Umbrella is a hax that Shovel Knight has no counter for besides intangibility (which is severely limited by his magic capacity, not to mention the fact that he has no way of knowing what it would do to him) so if Shovel Knight so much as touches it, he's automatically dead. There's also other stuff like the Anti-Inertia Gun, which when fired at Shovel Knight, all his physical attacks are rendered useless. This can also be used on his projectiles, rendering them useless too.
One more thing I'd like to bring up is the iffy situation of Scrooge being able to turn Shovel Knight’s armor and shovel into gold. Assuming this is possible, Scrooge has a specific ability that allows him to somehow not get crushed by the weight of swimming through gold. It's possible that this could apply to strikes from gold too (though I admit that's also iffy) It's just something I wanted to point out though.
But overall, Scrooge McDuck is just way too powerful and has enough instant win weapons to the point where I can solidly say that Shovel Knight doesn't stand a chance in hell. Insert obvious joke about grave digging.
Kirby Kid
A thing I’ve noticed over the years of this show, it’s always the smaller DB fights that, for some inexplicable reason, cause the most controversy than other ones (Case in point, Shovel Knight vs Scrooge) “cough” Amy vs Ramona “cough”
After some thought, I think it’s because the more popular requests have already been talked about to high Hell, so to figure out verdicts for those is 10x easier than for any random obscure match DB pulls out of thin air.
If you’ve stuck with the forums, you’d know how much effort I put into finding Scrooge feats.. so much so I literally sifted through hundreds of Scrooge comics just to find feats for the ol’ duck. While not a painful task, definitely not something I look forward to doing again in the near future, but the payoff was worth it.
You’d think from putting so much effort into researching Scrooge, I’d actually be on Scrooge’s side. In fact, it’s just the opposite. That’s right, I’m on Shovel’s side, however, probably for all the wrong reasons some of you may believe, and I’m going to do my best to explain why that is in a second.
So let’s start off with Shovel’s notorious “cloud” feat, one done by my boi thomasj3-shura, who btw deserves 100% recognition for the calcs he does that I’ll be showing off. Despite being impressively calced, I have major issues with this-
1. Relating the cloud parting to the amulet's power doesn’t work for me. This comes from the assumption that every time Shovel goes through a sequence of boss fights with the order of no quarter, the power that the enchantress’ influence on them within their land diminishes, causing the clouds to move and open up a different part of the land. The big thing that tips me off about this is the first boss fight you have with Black Knight, whom of which has no alliance with the enchantress, does the same exact thing. So it can’t be exclusively attributed to the order.
2. There are several viewing points within the games that show off a full-scale view of the tower of fate. In all of them, there are no clouds to be seen. People have made this out to be animator ignorance but the castle can be seen from here, here, here, here, and here. All of which have no clouds in sight at all. The view of the castle is the only thing that has remained constant for the entire run of the game, simply because it’s there to show the player just how close they are to reaching the tower of fate. Chocking it up to ignorance of the animator, despite Shovel Knight literally being of the most purposely detailed games because of its design, just doesn’t work for me.
3. That brings me to the last thing- the clouds are simply there for aesthetic purposes. The point of the clouds moving after every few major boss encounters is there to show progression, every evil encounter is fit with its own dark and eerie setting because that’s the point of designing one. Without it, the impact of the situation is lost. There are various examples of this, like the arrival of Bram Stoker’s Dracula to England, to random ghost encounters in Danny Phantom, where setting turns dark at any hint of evil. This, of course, is just my opinion, but it is important to take into consideration.
Next up, we have the tower of fate earthquake caused by “The Tower of Fate.”
This is actually way more reliable and in your face than the previously discussed calc, but is also not something I would accept at face value.
There’s 2 ways to interpret the ending-
- She stays in the Tower, and allows herself to be crushed… Only to be slightly harmed, recovering from the destruction of the tower that, after tumbling down, created a massive earthquake.
- In this version of the ending, Shield Knight actually escapes the Tower, doing what Shield and Black Knight had to do in order to survive the towers collapse.
There’s enough evidence to say that the latter of the two instances is what actually happened.
In my opinion, Shield Knight actually escaped, and there’s enough evidence to suggest that she did. When Shovel Knight and Co makes their way out of the tower, the enchantress begins to dissipate as she continues to barrage Shield Knight. It’s not until 9:20 the screen begins to dissipate as well, meaning that at the rate the Enchantress was disappearing at, she could’ve easily been gone by the time the screen fades to black.
The after credits scene also shows that Shield Knight wasn’t too far behind Black Knight and Shovel Knight, as she limps next to Shield Knight after Black Knight leaves Shovel Knight to lay down in the presence of the fire, the fire and the time of night being an indicator that she wasn’t that far behind them.
Also, there’s the issue of what caused the earthquake in the first place. It wasn’t the collapse of the tower, it was actually revealed to be Plague Knight's own special bomb, as HSL has brought up already. We never see Shield get hit by the bomb, but to add to that, the explosion happens below the boss fight between Shovel/Shield Knight, as Plague Knight fights his copy and they scale down the tower during said fight. You could easily say that the tower fell on top of Shield Knight, but that would still depower the feat significantly, since it wasn’t the tower that caused the earthquake, like I said.
Also, something interesting to note, Shield Knight was originally planned to die in the game's ending.
“We actually designed the entire story around Shield Knight dying in the end! We were shooting for the charming, goofy, but slightly sad and contemplative mood that Mother 3 so brilliantly struck," D'Angelo says. "We thought Shield Knight dying would capture this perfectly—how sad would it be to learn Shovel Knight carried a shovel because he knew his quest ended burying his loved one! Once we were implementing the story, we found that we didn't develop the characters enough for the ending to be effective—it was hard to feel anything other than cheated by the death of Shield Knight. In addition, the levity and goofiness felt squashed. So like many things in Shovel Knight, we reworked the story to its current state and landed in a much better spot: the story still evokes the Mother 3 feel we wanted, while leaving players with a much stronger connection to Shield Knight. And let's be honest, we wanted to play a co-op sequel after the final battle.” – straight from the hyperlink.
Making the ending a case of PIS.
Now onto what I do agree with-
I agree with virtually all of Shovel Knight's speed feats. While I don’t agree with the more lenient and high-end version of the meteor feat (there’s no way those meteors are moving anywhere near 4c) I do think the meteor feat is legit, as well as the lightning timing feats.
Shovel Knight fought two people that use lightning as an attack, Baz and Phantom Striker, and not only that, Phantom Striker can even move through lightning.
While I see what my fellow verdict writers are saying about the meteor feat, Meteors move way too fast to just consider them something that Shovel Knight can simply aim-dodge, even if air resistance is a thing.
As it stands for me, I believe Scrooge comfortably takes the durability and experience categories, while Shovel takes Power, Speed, and weapons versatility category. SK has a much more reliable arsenal than SM does, and while being more durable is an important thing to have in a fight, SK will be coming in too fast for the old duck to handle. My vote goes to Shovel Knight.