| “ | Ka-Pow! I'm taking over this town, girly! And there's nothing you can do about it! | „ |
| ~ Ammo Baron to Shantae |
The Ammo Baron is a major antagonist the Shantae series.
He is one of the Barons of Sequin Land, as well as the general of the Ammonian Army, who desires to expand his territory and conquer all of Sequin Land have, bringing him into conflict with Shantae and her friends. He is the employer of Twitch and Vinegar, and the brother of the Armor Baron.
Biography
Risky's Revenge
After arriving in Polyp Bay, Shantae finds a depressed Mayor Scuttle Butt residing there. Here, Scuttle Butt states that, due to Risky Boots' plans for revenge, Sequin Land Palace has stopped sending wagons and the town's fish trade has plummeted because of it. With no other options, the Mayor asks Shantae to give the town deed to the Ammo Baron, who had previously pressured him into selling the town.
The Ammo Baron resides in a small tent in Baron Desert, from which he commands his army and plans for future conquests.
After working her way through the desert, Shantae finally finds Ammo Baron in his tent, where he states that he needs Scuttle Town for his new campaign. After giving him the deed, Ammo Baron gratefully gives Shantae a passport and activity book for "Ammo Town" and allows her to train at his Battle Tower, which contains the second Magic Seal she needs to stop Risky.
Pirate's Curse
At the beginning of the game, Ammo Baron and his troops attack Scuttle Town for supposedly no reason and Shantae heads out to stop them. Shantae confronts Ammo Baron at the end of the level and orders him to stop destroying the town and reminds him that the Mayor has 30 days to refund the sale before he can claim ownership, but the Baron chooses to fight Shantae instead and she has to fight him and his giant tank. In order to defeat Ammo Baron, Shantae must wait for him to fire a cannon ball out of his tank, whip it back at him and then damage Ammo Baron after he falls out.
After Shantae beats Ammo Baron and destroys his tank, Sequin Palace's Royal Guards inform Shantae that, since the Baron is the legal owner of the town, he is allowed to destroy it or not destroy it as he pleases and place Shantae under house arrest until her punishment can be administrated. Ammo Baron then laughs at Shantae for being punished for trying to help and walks off.
Later throughout the game, Ammo Baron's soldiers rebuild the town into a fortified base covered with Techno Baron's cannons.
Much later in the game, Shantae sees Ammo Baron on Frostbite Island discussing one of the cannons with Techno Baron, who he orders to finish faster as he needs it for his conquest of Sequin Land. After retrieving the final piece of the cannon from Bolo and getting Twitch, Vinegar and Barracuda Joe back to their posts, Shantae gives the final piece of the cannon, not knowing that he planned to use it to destroy Sequin Palace and send a message to all who dare oppose him. However, due to Bolo's incompetent design, the cannon horribly misfires and blows a hole in Frostbite Island, blowing up Techno Baron (who, unknown to Ammo Baron, was planning on betraying him).
During the final boss, Twitch, Vinegar and Risky Boots use Ammo Baron's cannon to destroy the Pirate Master.
After defeating Pirate Master and finally regaining her magic, Shantae uses it to remove everything Ammo Baron did to Scuttle Town and forces him to leave and return the town's deed to Scuttlebutt or else she will use her magic on him. Ammo Baron is last seen in one of the pictures in the credits, having his tank sink into quicksand.
Half Genie Hero
Ammo Baron returns yet again in Half Genie Hero, however, unlike in previous games, Ammo Baron does not play a central role in the story and serves as a minor character.
After Shantae finds out that someone is planning on stealing the magic carpets used in the Magic Carpet Race in Crustacean Cape, she enters the contest and discovers that Ammo Baron and the Ammonian Army were the perpetrators. After fighting through his forces and bringing down his ships, Shantae directly confronts Ammo Baron, who reveals that he was stealing the carpets because, due to their near extinction, he was not able to capture any magic silkworms and settled on taking the carpets made from their silk and turning them into new outfits for his soldiers to wear in their upcoming conquest of Sequin Land. He and his men then don their magic silk outfits and use their magic to levitate, engaging Shantae in a boss fight. Ammo Baron attacks Shantae by having his men dive down at her and making them form a giant rotating circle around him and Shantae must defeat him by attacking him while he commands his soldiers. Upon his defeat, Ammo Baron's magic suit is destroyed and he is carried away in a stretcher by Twitch and Vinegar.
Towards the end of the game, Ammo Baron reappears outside the Item Shop in Scuttle Town. When talked to, Ammo Baron states that he needs scrap metal in order to rebuild parts for his airships. When given the metal, Ammo Baron returns the favor by giving Shantae one of the clues she needs to prevent Risky from destroying the Genie Realm.
Ammonian Army
As stated previously, Ammo Baron is the leader of a large army known as the Ammonian Army, which is composed of various different Human and Cyclops members. While the army's members are mostly composed of speechless generic enemies, there are many other different characters who are or have been involved with the army.
Known Members
- Barracuda Joe - Ammo Baron's right hand man. Joe has an extremely laid-back personality, to the point where he shows little to no emotions at all. Despite the fact that he is his "right hand", in Pirate's Curse, Ammo Baron seemingly treats Joe with little respect, referring to him as good for nothing when he's not at his post, although he shows concern when he realizes that he could have been eaten by Zombies on Spiderweb Island. In Risky's Revenge, Joe appears as the caretaker of the Battle Tower and appears as an engineer in Pirate's Curse. Joe does not appear in Half Genie Hero, and by extension, is the only recurring character in the series who does not appear in the game.
- Twitch and Vinegar - Ammo Baron's head demolition experts. Twitch and Vinegar are both extremely energetic, trigger happy and loyal to their boss. Despite having a neutral relationship with Shantae, Twitch and Vinegar are seen as recurring villains in the series, as they follow the indulge in multiple sinister activities with absolutely no regard for their actions and seemingly enjoy the bad things that they do, such as when they willingly fired at Sequin Land Palace or when they stated they were going to sell the secrets of the hero Bran-Son to the Grim Reaper's Ghost (a parody of Skeletor). Despite their evil nature, Twitch and Vinegar willingly help Risky Boots and Shantae destroy The Pirate Master at the end of Pirate's Curse.
- Techno Baron - The lead engineer of the army. Although technically not an official member, Techno Baron is supposedly the one who built all of the army's tanks, cannons, weapons and other equipment. However, Techno Baron, unlike everyone else involved with the army, is not loyal to Ammo Baron at all and was planning on betraying him and taking over Sequin Land for himself once the time was right (although he was blown up before his plans could come to fruition).
Trivia
- Despite stating that he doesn't need another girlfriend, Ammo Baron attempts to hit on Shantae in Risky's Revenge.
- According to him, Ammo Baron's tank was a gift from his mom.
- Ammo Baron's hat greatly resembles a Tanooki, a mythical Japanese creature.
- Ammo Baron's silk outfit and pose while levitating in Half Genie Hero is possibly a reference to Street Fighter villain M. Bison.
 Villains
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Pirates The Barons of Sequin Land The Seven Sirens Other | ||