Shovel Claw



The Shovel Claws are a pair of hooked metal plates with spiked claws that attach to Knuckles' gloves, made just digging. This upgrade is only for Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. They allow the red echidna to dig through certain surfaces (Such as soft dirt and stone), allowing him to find items such as Rings and Item Boxes, as well as Emerald Shards in Action Stages.

The Shovel Claws also appear in Sonic X.

Sonic Adventure
In Sonic Adventure, the Shovel Claws are found in a small cave behind Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins, close to the Mine Cart that takes players to the Mystic Ruins Chao Garden. After getting trapped inside by a cage door activated by a Kiki Badnik, Knuckles has to find a self-destruct switch that destroys the cage the badnik is protected by, which is buried underground in a nearby ring-shaped dirt pile. Once the switch is pressed, the door opens and the Badnik explodes along with its cage. It is a later requirement to find the Master Emerald shards in certain levels.

Sonic Adventure 2
In Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles finds them in Pumpkin Hill, on a platform just in front of the starting point of the level. As before, they are the only mandatory upgrade for Knuckles here, as at least one of the Emerald Shards in the level will be hidden underground, requiring the upgrade to get to it. In this game, Rouge the Bat has an equivalent upgrade called the Pick Nails, which clip onto her boot heels and allow her to dig with her feet.

Sonic X
In Sonic X Knuckles uses them to dig and in rare cases, as an offensive weapon like when he tried to attack Team Chaotix or when fighting Chaos 6.