#Mega Man has conditioned me in mastering the art of metallic shading.

[stardestroyer81]

If you've been following my blog for a while, chances are that the name 'Fated Acolyte' might sound familiar to you! The Fated Acolyte was my first publicly shown Shovel Knight OC/Self-Insert that I designed in early 2020 and didn't end up posting to tumblr until the end of that year. While he's gotten a few touch-ups to his design, I'm still proud of his overall look and feel as he looks like he'd fit right at home in a campaign like Specter of Torment!

In the Fated Acolyte's debut post, I mention that— at the time— it was a lot tougher for me to make a Shovel Knight OC than it was for me to make a robot master OC, merely because at that point I had only been familiar with the Shovel Knight franchise for a little under a year. Sure, I'd actually designed one or two knights during that time, but I'll get around to showing them once I touch up their designs a bit.

However, a couple of days ago, I was struck with a genius idea for a Shovel Knight OC, and given that my familiarity with the Shovel Knight universe has expanded since 2020, I sprang to action to bring a skilled marksman to the Valley...

Meet Battle Knight - The Administrator!

(Check under the cut for a bio, a design deep dive on Battle Knight's look and a special bonus!)

Name: Battle Knight Height: 5'11" (6'5" counting helmet) Track Names: An Unmatched Artillery, The Administrator Affiliations: The Order of No Quarter (Formerly) Pros: Strategical mind, possesses great confidence, well presented Cons: Refuses to accept defeat, easily intimidated when outnumbered

"Armed with a tactful mind and a fearsome onslaught of warriors, Battle Knight is notorious for being outstanding in his field— the field of battle! Battle Knight once worked closely with The Enchantress and the Order of No Quarter to diligently plan the takeover of the Valley, and was responsible for recruiting worthy warriors to defend each knight's respective keeps.

He holds a strong appreciation and knowledge for all things weaponry, evident by his very own literal arm cannon. His artillery smarts are perhaps most evident on Propeller Knight's Flying Machine, which he aided to equip with state-of-the-art cannonry, landing him a strong fellowship with the Spin Controller.

In spite of his prestigious position, Battle Knight is easily frustrated with anyone claiming to be a worthy opponent and not have an ideal weapon to match (Take, for instance, a spade), and has been known to drop his brave demeanor once faced with an army greater than his own. But a fighter wouldn't stay true to their name if they couldn't hold their own, and Battle Knight ensures any scuffle he finds himself in will see him victorious!"

Unlike the Fated Acolyte, who's design process at first took a few days and was improved upon over the course of 2020, Battle Knight's design was so clear to me from the get-go that it took me a little over an evening to both design and sprite him! I chalk this up to the fact that I knew that I wanted him to be a war general type of character, and was quick to scour the lands of Google for good outfit references.

As is standard practice with my sprite posts, here is the process I went about when spriting (And by extension designing) Battle Knight! While a regimental coat was a given for the type of knight I was going for, I'm most proud of two aspects of his design: his cannon arm and his bullet shaped helmet!

The day after I had completed Battle Knight's base sprite, it felt only right to also sprite a dialogue portrait to go along with it (And so I could write humorous dialogue between him and the other knights)! What's interesting is that I'll usually sketch out what I want a sprite portrait to look like before spriting it, but much like Stellar Man, I ended up freestyling the whole thing, making for a flashy final result!

And from having sprited a portrait for Battle Knight, I put it to good use by designing him his very own Joustus card! Having Battle Knight's card in your deck ensures turning the tide should your opponent gain the upper hand; between possessing both a Bomb arrow (Referencing his cannon arm) and being a Slam card, this is certainly a card to chase after!

With that, that's finally everything! I hope that you've enjoyed my deep dive pertaining to this steadfast sharpshooter, because I'm extremely proud of what all I was able to come up with for him!

#Shovel Knight #Shovel Knight OC #Battle Knight #OC #Sprite Art #Deep Dives with Star #Coolness #I was just S O excited to show Battle Knight off you don't even KNOW #It was a goal for me to try to nail the Shovel Knight feel as closely as I could while designing and spriting him... #... and I think I did a fine job! #I was even able to stick within the five color sprite limit which I wasn't sure would be possible at first! #On the topic of colors I really like how his bullet helmet's shading came out #Mega Man has conditioned me in mastering the art of metallic shading. #Battle Knight was originally going to wear a deep blue coat before I decided red would look a bit better #And if I went with blue then his color scheme would match up pretty closely with Treasure Knight's... #... who ALSO has a cannon arm #Originally I had planned on including a quartet of dialogue box sets starring Battle Knight and the other knights here #But I think that I'll save those for a later post as this post turned out to be WAY longer than I thought it would #But hey! Who doesn't love a good read? #Also you bet your bullets that Battle Knight craves Joustus. It's a game about strategy- it was M A D E for him