Sir Ginger

Sir Ginger is a major character in the Clockwork Knight series. He is a clockwork soldier and the friendly rival of protagonist Tongara de Pepperouchau, whom he competes with for the love of Princess Chelsea.

Appearance
Ginger is a thin clockwork toy knight. He has a pointy triangular nose, a pair of rosy cheeks, and an orange mustache and eyebrows. His armor is silver colored, and consists of a helmet, breastplate with tassets on each side, gauntlets, cuisses, greaves, and sabatons with sharp spurs. His helmet is styled after Imperial helmets worn by the Romans, with an orange crest. Ginger’s back sports a unique golden windup key shaped like a butterfly, and golden screws are present around his joints.

History
Ginger is one of four toy knights residing in the house of children Betsy and Kevin, and serves the magical Princess Chelsea, whose song brings him to life every night at midnight. He trains under the guidance of his mentor, the sliding picture puzzle Pa Zur, and is aided by his servant Le Bon and his steed Silver. He is the rival of Tongara de Pepperouchau, as both seek adoration from the princess.

Unlike his awkward golden rival, Ginger is a consummate knight, being able to leap flawlessly through the air and possessing precise sword skills that make him a deadly warrior. He deeply values courage, courtesy and honor, and has a serious and professional aura surrounding him. Ginger is also known to be something of a showoff, liking to dazzle the other toys with his talents, especially Princess Chelsea, whom he wishes to marry. However, this fondness for the princess seems to come less from her innate qualities and more because of her dress, which sports laces and frills that the silver knight is quite fond of.

On a seemingly ordinary night, Ginger competes against Pepper in a contest to cut a heart out from a board as a show of skill. Naturally being the more accomplished knight, Ginger manages without any trouble, though the same cannot be said for Pepper. As he and the other toys giggle at Pepper’s blunder, the lights suddenly go out, and along with them go Chelsea! Realizing the fate of Toyland is at stake, Ginger and Pepper (along with some friends) hop on their steeds and rush out to reclaim the maiden before sunrise. In both games, Ginger appears at the end of certain levels if the player completes them via the secret exits. He’ll strike a short conversation with Pepper, praising him for being able to find him and leaving a spare health key in the boss stages. In Clockwork Knight 2, he makes a unique appearance before the first Study Room level, giving Pepper some advice. He also only shows up in the Study Room and Clock Tower worlds this time around, as Silver takes his place in the Kids Room and Bath Room worlds.

After Pepper finally catches up with and finishes off the monster that captured Chelsea, he and the princess nearly fall off of the wooden platform the duel took place on, but Ginger arrives just in time to hoist them to safety. As the pair look at the still-slumbering girl in worry, they notice a knight emerging from the dragon’s remains. To their surprise, it was a brainwashed Garluch that was responsible for the kidnapping! In a moment of desperation, Ginger asks if the princess can still be revived, to which the old man reveals that he is her brother and that only his key can undo the magic keeping her asleep. Using his key, he revives Chelsea, bringing peace to Toyland. In the Hard mode ending of Clockwork Knight 2, Ginger attends the wedding held for Pepper and Chelsea, surprising the newlyweds with a bouquet of flowers to show his support.

In the compilation Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro and the US version of Clockwork Knight 2, Ginger is a playable character in the boss rush mode (Boss on Parade/Bosses Galore). Compared to Pepper, Ginger runs much quicker, jumps much higher (he can even double jump!), and attacks much faster, making him a reasonably more useful character. He can also be used in Clockwork Knight 2 (US ver. and PnF) by way of a cheat code, with the caveat of cutscenes being omitted and having to fight Crazy T.V. before venturing into the main game. The Barobaro sections revert him back to Pepper as well, though Ginger is still playable after those levels are finished.

Trivia

 * Ginger’s name is derived from the cooking spice of the same name.
 * Ginger appears in the Sega Freaks Card Collection as Card #82.