ShopKeeper

ShopKeeper
Character Background
Homeworld(s):	ThornTail Store (Dinosaur Planet)
Age:	+200 BLW
Character Statistics
Gender:	Male
Species:	Strange Floating Dinosaur
Skin Tone:	Green, Yellow
Character Politics
Affiliation:	Fox McCloud ThornTail
Occupation(s):	Owner of ThornTail Store Scarab Room Gambler
P.D.A. Scan:	STORE KEEPER - Likes to haggle.
Appearance(s)
Main Game(s):

“Welcome to my store. Feel free to look at the many wonderful items within these walls. I have food, special goods, and many maps. And if you like to play games, then enter the Scarab Room! Yesss... Oh! And that's the exit...Now, if you find something that you like, then choose that item, and we'll discuss a price. Is that clear? Good! Now hurry up and choose something. Or get out!”

—The ShopKeeper

The ShopKeeper, or Shabunga, is the proprietor of the ThornTail Store in ThornTail Hollow, the only store on Dinosaur Planet and hosts the Scarab Room minigame located within said store. He is a rude, miserly, stone-hearted creature, as he is greedy for Scarabs from his customers, even going far to haggle his prices, or otherwise snapping at his customers to leave his store if they are not interested in his business. He also appears to be a thief, as he has stolen various items such as the Hi-Def Display Device (original owner Star Fox team), the SnowHorn Artifact (original owner blue old SnowHorn) and Tricky's Ball (original owner Prince Tricky), yet claims to have merely found them before selling them for hefty prices.

Appearance

The ShopKeeper's actual name as well as his true species was never identified properly, other than being referenced as a "strange floating dinosaur.” He closely resembles a SharpClaw, but without legs, and instead floats like a ghost. His mutterings about how long he has staying in business suggests his age and ability to float and teleport makes him seem even more like a ghost. He wears purple and gold garments with a plumed cowl and wears a Scarab shaped pendant, which acts like a ticker-tape price tag.

Business roles

Shop

Instead of directly saying how much the item you want costs, he says "You pay this much" and shows the cost of the item in his gadget decorated as a Scarab. This may imply that he either doesn't know the numbers or he is just plain rude. The gadget is used to select the amount you want to pay for the item. If you enter an amount too low, the ShopKeeper will refuse. If you do this three times in a row, he will call you a cheapskate and tell Fox to leave the shop. Curiously, Fox can also over-pay for the items, without any visible benefit.

Scarab Room

In the Scarab Room behind the exit, Fox can gamble with the ShopKeeper for Scarabs, this is entirely optional. This can be a useful tactic to collect Scarabs for steep items, such as the SnowHorn Artifact and the Bafomdad Holder.

The player must first select their number of Scarabs and the ShopKeeper will match it. He will drop the number of Scarabs the player bets into a small dip in the cave along with black Scarabs. The player must run to collect only the green Scarabs within the time limit, for touching a purple one will result in failure. The winner takes all.

Portrayal

The ShopKeeper's dialog was performed by Steven Brand.

Trivia

• He is one of the few dinosaur characters in the game to not have his tribe specified, other than being described as a "strange floating dinosaur". 
• He's the only dinosaur, as well as one of only two natives of the planet, that can speak to Fox without the need of a translator (the other being the WarpStone). Perhaps being a creature of magic he is capable of telepathy, or as a merchant he is fluent in multiple languages.
• Due to the ShopKeeper muttering about having spent 200 years pushing around his wares, this would make him the second oldest character in the game, with the first being the WarpStone.
• In the original game Dinosaur Planet, the WarpStone warped Fox into the Shop. This explains why there is just an "Exit".
  • This also explains why, in the beginning of the game, a certain ThornTail says "Have you been to the WarpStone Shop yet?" instead of the "ThornTail Shop".
• The ShopKeeper resembles Gruntilda, the primary antagonist of Rare's Banjo-Kazooie series. Both the ShopKeeper and Gruntilda are gifted in magic powers, wear purple clothing and have similar negative, foul attitudes towards other characters. Like the ShopKeeper, Gruntilda also had green skin, at least before Banjo-Tooie.
• His name in the Japanese version is Shabunga. In the Dinosaur Planet prototype, Shabunga is the name of the FireCrawler guardian in charge of protecting the Spellstone in Dragon Rock.

Gallery

Fox first meets the ShopKeeper within his Store. Note how he actually welcomes Fox, for such a pessimistic creature.

The ShopKeeper wears a Scarab shaped garment which acts like a ticker tape styled price tag.

The ShopKeeper settles for the bargain price of the SnowHorn Artifact.

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	シャブンガ Shabunga	Scroll Roller
French	Marchand	Merchant
Spanish	Mercader