Shovel Knight is a cool game. And it has some cool bosses. Bosses which could work in the context of Super Smash Bros. You see where I'm going with this.
But alas, there are too many Shovel Knight bosses! There's the main 8 that you fight at the end of the normal levels, you have the traveling knights, you have the boss refights, you have the Enchantress-how could I pick just one?
Answer: I chose the r
ight one.
JOB 108
Baz (Shovel Knight)
Baz is an optional boss from Shovel Knight, an indie platformer released by Yacht Club Games in 2014. When you encounter him, Baz appears saddened by the fact that no one truly appreciates his strength. He wants to join the Order of no Quarter-the group of knights led by the evil Enchantress-so he can prove himself. But even after buying "the
best gear, the
slickest armor, and the
strongest rope", he is denied. If only he had a title...like a real knight...
And so, he fights Shovel Knight (who was just minding his own business walking across the world map), using his whip and electric abilities, but ultimately loses in the end.
Later on, however, he loses to Plague Knight, who expresses pity for the lost soul, and accepts him into the Explodatorium. There, Baz happily does minimal housekeeping tasks (and steals health potions for you), thankful that he now has a purpose and is appreciated.
Why him?
...is a question you're probably asking yourself right about now. Heck, when I came up with this idea, I had to question my sanity. But in all honesty, Baz makes perfect sense as a Wishing Stars-exclusive boss.
First of all, I couldn't really narrow down which boss I wanted to use from Shovel Knight without considering Baz. Most of the Order are pretty much fighter-sized, which wouldn't make for a good Smash boss IMO. I guess Polar Knight
could work, but he's a very minor character with almost no dialogue. The Enchantress, while cool, would be a tad too spoiler-y for my liking (also I just think her boss fight would be uninteresting compared to what we already have in Smash Bros). And the other traveling knights don't fit super well as Smash bosses, same as the Order.
Wishing Stars is all about warriors coming together to prove their strength, right? That's what Baz is all about! I could totally imagine him camping out on the side of a path, waiting for an unsuspecting fighter to walk by, before jumping out and challenging them.
In battle, Baz is really dang slow, in the air and on the ground. His behavior consists of chasing down the opponent and attacking or jumping every few seconds. His moves are as follows.
Whip Crack: Baz cracks his whip forward. Pretty similar to Simon's forward tilt. It's not killing anytime soon, but it's enough to keep the opponent on their toes.
Whip Swing: Baz, in the middle of a jump, latches onto a piece of nearby wall and starts swinging back and forth. On the third swing, he jumps up slightly from the air, then falls down fast, with his elbow first, hitting the ground and causing a shockwave of two electric bolts that snake to opposite sides of the stage. The elbow hitbox is really strong here, and the electric bolts stun you for quite some time-enough time for Baz to get in a Whip Crack.
Shocking Explosion: This is a desperation attack that Baz will not use unless only 1/3 of his health bar remains. He looks up at the sky and opens his palms. Not after long, many electric bolts will come down to him in pairs of two and reach his chest. From there, electric bolts will fire off in an X-shape for a few seconds. These bolts do a considerable amount of damage and stun. However because of the long animation, Baz cannot punish the stun in time. Speaking of long animations, the cooldown for this move is really long, so use this time to lay in those final hits!
Jumping Shock: In the middle of a jump, Baz throws out his limbs in a star shape, and electric bolts fire from each one of his limbs as well as his head. As with the other two electric moves, they stun and do sizeable amounts of damage.
Whip Counter: Occasionally, Baz will spin his whip in a lasso motion in front of him-this does not do any damage. However, it deflects projectiles (not
reflecting them, deflecting them-like how when you shield a projectile with the corener of your shield? That's deflecting, and Baz will deflect the projectile away from the opponent). And if you attack the whip during this animation with a melee attack, Baz grabs the opponent with the whip, swings them around like a stuffed animal for a second, then smashes them into the gruond behind him.
While Baz may seem very strong, all of his attacks have quite a bit of startup, so if you're smart about how you attack, he should be out of commission in no time flat.
Here's a video of Baz in action for visualization purposes. Note that I came up with the Whip Counter myself, it's not present in this boss fight.
If you're still not convinced Baz should be our Wishing Stars-exclusive boss, here is an image of Baz dancing in his Explodatorium outfit to change your mind.