The Hexcavators are Drill Knight's squad of knights who specialize in digging. They, along with their boss, are the main antagonists in Shovel Knight Dig.
Description[]
The Hexcavators are a gang of treasure hunters, focused on the treasure in The Well.
Members[]
- Drill Knight - Captain
- Spore Knight - Mycologist, front-line fortifier
- Hive Knight - Spelunker, alongside his pet Beeto Fleck.
- Scrap Knight - Salvager, second-in-command
- Tinker Knight - Engineer
- Mole Knight - Burrowing specialist
Story[]
Shovel Knight Dig[]
While holed up in the Tower of Fate, Drill Knight and Scrap Knight, thanks to a map found by Scrap Knight, discovered the existence of a great weapon, buried deep underneath the earth. Wishing to obtain notoriety and riches by obtaining it, Drill Knight and Scrap Knight recruited four other individuals, Spore Knight, Tinker Knight, Mole Knight, and Hive Knight, forming a specialized team of burrowers, and began stealing the Stones of Fate from their owners across the Valley, one of which being personally retrieved by Scrap Knight herself, as they had learned that the artifacts were the key for the success of their operation.
Taking advantage that Shovel Knight, the latest owner of the last Gemstone they needed, was quietly resting right on top of the location of their objective, Drill Knight used his Rocket Drill to ambush him, stealing in the process his entire bag of loot, and creating the entrance to their tunnel, the Well, a large hole connecting many areas throughout the underground of the Valley.
Using the stones to support the enormous hole, as per Tinker Knight's idea, they excavated deeper and deeper. What they didn't realize, was that dark magic was at play, the Stones themselves urging them to continue, as their actions had started the process of unsealing an ancient evil.
The Tower of Fate sank beneath the earth, waiting for the Hexcavators to reach its hidden treasure chamber. There, Shovel Knight, who had followed suit due to his loot bag also containing an object he dearly needed, confronted Drill Knight, warning him that his actions were not only without honor, but they were also reckless due to the lack of understanding of the forces they were messing with.
During their battle, Drill Knight's Omega Saw malfunctioned, revealing a hidden locking mechanism that needed the six Gemstones to unlock, opening the way to the Crystal Core. Past that, the Hexcavators finally found the prize they were searching, a minute but extremely powerful Amulet. Upon touching it, a monstrous figure appeared, The Enchantress, now freed from her ages-long imprisonment.
She offered the Hexcavator to become her servants, but after Drill Knight refused her invitation, confident that he and his Hexcavators could take her on, she immediately proved him wrong by using her powers to trap the other five inside the Gemstones and corrupt their leader into a gigantic monster. Thankfully, the combined forces of Shovel Knight, Shield Knight, and the owl Altius, were able to subdue the creature that Drill Knight had become, and trap The Enchantress back into the Amulet, while the rest of the Hexcavators watched powerlessly the struggle unfold from within the Stones.
However, the Tower of Fate, its purpose now fulfilled, began to rise from the depths again, which caused the Well to start to collapse. Forced to abandon their plans to destroy the Amulet then and there, the three heroes used the Rocket Drill to make a hasty escape, while Drill Knight, expelled from the Amulet and injured, dragged himself out of peril's way.
With their big heist being ultimately a failure, the Hexcavators disbanded and went their own separate ways. Their leader, Drill Knight was successfully arrested and put into jail, but was able to evade moments after, thanks to his drill-tech armor, fleeing to parts unknown.Spore Knight became a chef above ground, Tinker Knight improved his tech, Mole Knight got a new transformation, Hive Knight became a sports guy along with Fleck, and as for Scrap Knight she found love in the scrap heap (maybe).
Trivia[]
- The name "Hexcavators" is a portmanteau of the words "hex" and "excavators". "Hex" can either mean "curse", "spell" or "witch" in English, and the number six in Ancient Greek, with all of these meanings being quite indicated considering the events of the story.
- Interestingly, in a blink-and-miss moment, when the Hexcavators were trapped inside the Gemstones, Fleck can be seen being flung far away instead of being trapped with Hive Knight.
- The map that Scrap Knight found and that had been used for guidance by the group, its the exact same map that can be seen hanging in Donovan's old hideout in the Lich Yard (only flipped), implying that he and Luan somehow retrieved and used that same chart to reach the Amulet during their own (disastrous) attempt to claim it.