Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic Boom)

Knuckles the Echidna is one of the main characters in the Sonic Boom series. He is an anthropomorphic echidna from Angel Island and the last of his kind. He is also the keeper of the Fregosi Sapphire. Knuckles serves as the muscle of Team Sonic, a group of heroes who defends the peace of Seaside Island and the world at large. Unlike his friends, Knuckles is a nomad without a permanent home and lives in nature.

Concept and creation
When developing the character designs, Knuckles was made larger and more muscular to emphasize his strength, his role as the strong guy on the team and the bruiser he is. His gliding ability was excluded because it did not fit into any of the stories.

The sports tape Knuckles wears is inspired by fighters and American football players and is meant to give him a sense of practical heroism by showing that that he is not vain, which is a trait more fitting for villains, when saving the world, and to give him a more grounded approach. It is especially worn around his arms to emphasize that his specialty is power. Excluded from Knuckles' design were his boxing gloves because he was needed to show gestures with his hands and fingers in a TV show.

Appearance
Knuckles closely resembles his main series counterpart in overall characteristics, but is quite drastically different in terms of physical proportions. He is much larger than all of his team-mates, standing over a head taller than Sonic, and is considerably more muscular. He has a rather large torso, broad shoulders and thick muscular arms, making him very top-heavy, and possesses longer legs and quills. Also, like his main counterpart, he has a white, crescent moon-shaped mark near the top of his chest.

For attire, Knuckles wears a pair of red and yellow shoes, designed with wrap-like markings, that have green cuffs and grey metal plates on top. He also wears gloves with knuckle-spikes on them and has white sports tape wrapped around his hands, the lower half of his arms and legs, and his biceps, making him similar to a Muay Thai boxer. He also occasionally wears his Communicator.

In addition to his usual clothes, Knuckles has a number of additonal attires:
 * For high-altitude trips, Knuckles has an advanced white spacesuit with red boots, belt and arms (the last having spikes to accommodate his knuckle spikes), and a white helmet with an antenna and transparent visor.
 * For underwater missions, Knuckles has his own high-tech attire which includes a red wetsuit with a white stripe on each side and his face icon on the chest, red flippers resembling his shoes, and a transparent red face mask attached to an oxygen tank on his back.
 * When he worked at Meh Burger, Knuckles wore the standard Meh Burger uniform, which is a lavender shirt with yellow leaf-markings and a name tag on it.
 * For cold weathers, Knuckles wears a thick grey and dark grey down jacket with a hoodie, red mittens with white spikes to accommodate his knuckle-spikes, and grey, white and red winter boots.
 * When playing for the Pin Dashers, Knuckles wears a dark blue and white-striped bowling shirt with matching bowling shoes. His shirt is likewise emblazoned with the team's logo.
 * For soccer matches, Knuckles has a soccer uniform that includes a white and blue t-shirt with a blue chest logo shaped like Sonic's head, long white socks, and white shoes with blue laces and red soles.
 * On holidays, Knuckles has been known to wear a green and white Santa Hat, white and green-striped socks, and a green shirt with golden buttons, white fur cuffs and rib, and a white crescent mark on the chest.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Knuckles was with Sonic, Tails and Amy in another endeavor to foil Dr. Eggman's plans, where they chased him and Metal Sonic to a new island. Following a brief separation, Team Sonic reunited at a mysterious tomb, where Metal Sonic cornered them with Eggman's new Destruction Troops. Though Knuckles insisted they did not need saving, Sonic took the crew into the tomb to save them. As they tried escaping the sealed tomb, Knuckles quickly blamed Sonic for their predicament, just as they accidentally awoke Lyric the Last Ancient, which Knuckles also blamed Sonic for. The group was then tied up by Lyric with his shackles as the snake escaped, but they used the shackles―now converted into Enerbeams―in an fruitless attempt to catch Lyric.

With Lyric gone, Team Sonic sought information from Cliff. The archaeologist revealed that Lyric was an evil Ancient who planned to power his Sentinel army with the Chaos Crystals to destroy all life in the world, but was imprisoned by his race when they discovered the plan. The group thus set out to retrieve the Crystals before Lyric. As they sought one Crystal in an Abandoned Research Facility, where the team split up, Knuckles and Amy met MAIA, a robot who rebelled against Lyric, who, with their aid, helped Sonic and Tails get a map to the Crystals while Knuckles and Amy got the second Crystal.

Continuing their hunt, Team Sonic subsequently faced a short alliance between Lyric and Eggman, Metal Sonic who had been reprogrammed to serve Lyric, and the power struggle between Lyric and Eggman. Needlessly, the team overcame every foe and got each Crystal. When obtaining the last one though, Lyric had his robots surrounded Sonic and demanded that Knuckles, Tails and Amy gave up their Crystals if they wanted Sonic alive. Though Knuckles and his friends surrendered the Crystals, Lyric still had his robots attack Sonic. Much to Knuckles' relief however, Sonic survived, and the team followed Lyric to his lair to stop him for good. In the following battle, Lyric used the team's Enerbeams to ensnare them, but before he could destroy Team Sonic, Eggman ambushed Lyric from behind, freeing the group. Knuckles then joined Sonic in incapacitating Lyric for good, during which Shadow the Hedgehog dropped by from an earlier battle, where Knuckles helped Sonic dispose of Lyric's technopathy device. With Sonic and Knuckles back on good terms, they returned to the Village to celebrate their victory.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, after saving Sticks (who gave them ominous warnings of an army coming) from a rockslide with his friends, Knuckles came with Amy to help her on a research trip, though Knuckles' constant pestering drove Amy to have him stand guard far away and look for Ancient relics in the Scrapyard, where robots would attack him. He soon met Sonic, Tails and Sticks, who revealed that Amy had been kidnapped by an evil snake named Lyric for her knowledge on the Lost Crystal of Power. Wasting no time, Knuckles quickly joined the group's rescue mission of Amy.

As Knuckles and co. tracked Amy with her data logs, they would come across a peculiar-acting Shadow the Hedgehog. After Sonic beat Shadow in a fight, Knuckles and his team learned that Lyric had been controlling Shadow with a Mind Control Device. The group was then warned by Lyric over a hologram from the device that he would soon have the power of a god, once he was done with Amy. Undeterred, Team Sonic kept following Amy's clues while Shadow left alone to get revenge on Lyric.

Arriving in Lyric's robot factory, Knuckles worked on trashing the facility until Metal Sonic came. Sure Metal could take them to Lyric, Team Sonic followed the robot to a volcano where they reached Lyric's sky base using an plane left by the Ancients. After freeing Amy, Knuckles united with his team again Lyric, only for the snake to trap them all except Sonic. While Knuckles was soon freed by Sonic, Lyric pulled out a weapon to destroying Knuckles and co with. Thankfully, Shadow arrived to stop the weapon and enabled Sonic to drop Lyric from his airship. As their trip was concluded with a discussion on teamwork Knuckles barely got, Knuckles headed home with his friend while arguing with Sonic over the name for "Team Knuckles".

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice
In Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, while out "wrassling", Knuckles came across D-Fekt, an Eggman robot with nearly limitless magnetic powers, but left him alone since he was too small to beat up. Soon after, Knuckles met the rest of his team who were looking for D-Fekt, suspecting he had a connection to the recent emergences of fissure that he was protecting, which were creating world-ending weather patterns.

Coming along to challenge D-Fekt, Knuckles pursued D-Fekt across the islands with his team while also sealing fissures with some new powers his team had acquired to stabilize the weather. At the same time, Knuckles had to deal with Sonic being taken away by Dr. Eggman repeatedly to race Eggman's Ragnium-powered EggBot Racers. In time, the team learned the fissures held Ragnium minerals which D-Fekt was covered in. Team Sonic thus got D-Fekt to wear a tracker which lead them to Ragna Rock, where Eggman was mining for Ragnium and piping the mining by-products off to adjacent islands, thereby creating the fissures which were destroying the environment. Confronting Eggman in his mines, Knuckles waited while Sonic and Sticks fought D-Fekt to save Eggman when the robot went overboard trying to destroy Team Sonic to please his creator. In the aftermath of the fight, Eggman's Ragnium mine was destroyed beyond repair. Feeling obligated to show gratitude for saving him though, Eggman gave D-Fekt to Team Sonic as thanks. As Tails reprogrammed D-Fekt to be harmless, Knuckles headed home with his team.

Past
An orphan with no relatives, Knuckles hails from Angel Island. Throughout his life, Knuckles knew that he was the last of his kind. While growing up, Knuckles was tutored by multiple teachers, but never managed to retain his lessons. He eventually settled on Seaside Island and would become the third of his friends that Sonic the Hedgehog met. In time, Knuckles would become a part of Team Sonic and help save the local village from hundred of thousands of Eggman attacks.

Years ago, Knuckles consistently pestered a guy named Charlie by fooling around with his workplace's inventory, costing Charlie his job. It was also years ago that Knuckles would spent all his time playing Tomatopotamus 2 with his team until the game got recalled. In the past, Sonic and Knuckles also had a few escapades while staying in Amy's House, such as letting in skunks and competing to put hats on the most monkeys.

Season one
When Sonic held try-outs for a new sidekick, Knuckles went to make Sonic his sidekick, but Sonic reclined the offer. Eventually, his sidekick plans did not work out, which Knuckles told Amy, inspired Amy to try becoming his sidekick. During a visit to Tails' House, Knuckles and his team saw that Sonic and Tails housed Dr. Eggman, Orbot and Cubot while their lair underwent repairs. Two days later though, where Eggman had kept Sonic and Tails up all night, Eggman revealed to the heroes that he lied about his lair so he could exhaust Sonic and Tails, and summoned Obliterator Bot to destroy Team Sonic. However, the robot misheard Eggman and instead attacked his lair. Accepting Eggman's pleas for help, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks distracted Obliterator Bot while the rest reached its kill switches, though they were too late to save the lair.

As Knuckles, Sonic, Amy and Sticks chilled on the beach, Tails showed them his universal translator UT. However, UT created tension between Knuckles and the others by translating their private thoughts from the subtext of their speech. When Tails and UT returned the next day, the latter "translated" their comments into insults. However, as they began fighting, Tails discovered that this UT was a fake sent by Eggman to tear them apart. While Tails went to save the real UT, Knuckles and the others stayed home, not thinking UT was worth it. Later, UT returned to give them a message from Tails and translated it into a call to rescue him from Eggman. Coming to the lair, Knuckles and his team freed Tails and beat Eggman's Mega. While Knuckles had found peace with UT, Sticks quickly threw it into the sea.

When Team Sonic saved the Village from Fire Bot, Knuckles and the team saw Sticks' bad treatment of animals and convinced her to get a pet to learn about compassion. To their surprise though, Sticks chose a disgusting robo-dog named Buster. Over the next week, Buster was an annoyance to Knuckles and the rest which culminated in Buster keeping them from stopping a robbery made by Orbot and Cubot. As Knuckles and the team tried making Sticks give up Buster, Eggman appeared with a gift for Buster. As Eggman revealed he made Buster, his gift transformed Buster into a larger robot who caught Knuckles and the rest. However, they were freed when Sticks assumed control over Buster, who got rid of Eggman. The team then said goodbye to Buster as Sticks released him due to his dangerous nature.

While Team Sonic was in the Village as it was being hit by meteors, Sticks saved them with her defense system. Shortly after, Knuckles and the others heard from Sticks that she had been nominated for an Awardy Award, but refused to go to the Awardy Awards because she feared embarrassing herself. Knuckles thus helped Sticks train to become a proper lady. At the gala, Knuckles made friends with Admiral Beaverton and Prof. Cluckins, and learned that Eggman was a nominee too (by cheating). When Eggman did not get the award and retaliated, Knuckles tried fighting the doctor's robots, but was caught. As Knuckles got freed by Sticks, he was saved from a laser by his new friends, while his team beat Eggman and saved the gala.

When preparing Amy's decorative lunch, Knuckles played with the food against Amy's wishes, making her feel unappreciated. Eggman then showed up to hire Amy for a redecoration of his lair for Modern Lair Magazine which Amy accepted to Knuckles' shock. Later, Team Sonic began to miss Amy, so they went to Eggman's lair to check on her, where Eggman claimed Amy had chosen to stay. As Knuckles found this uncharacteristic, he and the team broke into the lair, freed Amy from imprisonment and made peace with her. Team Sonic then trashed Eggman's lair and his Badniks on their way out, costing Eggman his place in Modern Lair Magazine.

When at Sonic's Shack, Knuckles found some Evil Cookies and ate one, turning him into a clone of Eggman. Now evil, Knuckles regrouped with Tails, Amy and Sticks (who had also eaten the Evil Cookies) under Eggman's tutelage to plan Sonic's destruction. When Sonic came to save them, Knuckles and the rest cornered him, but then began fighting over who deserved the honor for capturing Sonic. During the fight, Knuckles and the rest were restored to normal by Sonic and Eggman (who Sonic turned good with an Evil Cookie with his DNA). The good Eggman thought they would now work together, but Team Sonic did not like the idea and turned the doctor back to normal.

A while later, Knuckles and Sonic got attacked by Eggman's Badniks, but defeated them. One day after, they met Orbot and Cubot who searched for Eggman. Since Knuckles was caught up in his own recollection of their last encounter, Sonic told where Eggman went. During Knuckles' game of coconut hurl with Sonic, Eggman came by to attack Team Sonic with Cowbot, a robot they could not destroy without creating a massive explosion. Team Sonic thus disabled Cowbot while Tails reprogrammed it, causing Cowbot to target Eggman. Not liking that Eggman would get killed, Knuckles and the team made Sonic go warn him.

While Team Sonic fought Eggman's Octopus Bot, Tails endangered them with a rockslide caused by his untested Unbolterizer. After Eggman fled in defeat, Knuckles scolded Tails, making the fox leave the crew until he had fixed his invention. Not long after, Team Sonic met T.W. Barker and his traveling circus who needed substitute performers, which they volunteered for. The team put up a great show, though Barker revealed afterwards that he planned to keep them as his performers, and imprisoned them. Fortunately, Team Sonic were freed by Tails. After taking care of Barker, Knuckles congratulated Tails for his work.

For a week, Knuckles competed against Sonic many times and lost (with Knuckles blaming it on bad luck), the final straw being in Gopher Ball. Telling Amy and Sticks about this, Sticks told Knuckles the luck balance of the universe had tipped against him. Knuckles thus began causing himself brutal misfortunes to use up his bad luck until Sonic made them have a rematch, which was ruined by Eggman invading the island. Knuckles tried helping stop Eggman, but his bad luck and Eggman's current good luck ruined the team's chances. Fed up with Sonic, Knuckles tried joining Eggman on Sonic's suggestion, but his bad luck made Eggman's Mega destroy itself and Eggman fled. As Knuckles sulked, his team explained they made him join Eggman so their luck streaks would cancel each other out. As they went home, Knuckles noticed his bad luck had been passed onto Tails.

During the night, Team Sonic found a meteor crashing nearby which briefly knocked Sonic and Eggman out when they tried claiming it. Knuckles carried on with his team afterwards until Eggman arrived and claimed to be Sonic, having switched brains with Eggman. Knuckles did not believe it and drove Eggman off, but he soon returned with his army. While fighting however, Knuckles and the rest met Tails who verified that the meteor really had switched Sonic and Eggman's minds, and they restored them to their old bodies. After a battle with Scorpion Bot, Knuckles and his team saw that Eggman was descending into a slump. As Eggman soon lost all motivation, Knuckles was driven crazy by Sonic who grew restless from the peace. Knuckles and the rest thus tried re-motivating Eggman by getting Sonic to fight him. Though Sonic was not tricked as they hoped, their plan still made Sonic and Eggman resume their conflict. Knuckles later joined his team at the pie festival, excluding Tails who had to plant an orchard. When they returned, Tails had left to join the Lightning Bolt Society and the seeds that had been planted turned into mutant flora. Knuckles and Sticks thus held the plants off while the others got Tails back, who destroyed the plants with a machine he had made.

Having helped beat Eggman's Moth Bot, Knuckles was later made Sonic's lawyer on a whim when Eggman sued Sonic for breaking his neck. Regardless, Knuckles only made the case worse for Sonic, who was poised to lose due to Eggman's machinations until Amy revealed Eggman was fine. Knuckles then fought Eggman's Badniks as they attacked. After making Tails take a break from his plane, Knuckles and his team found Eggman selling tomato sauce. When the sauce proved not to be poisoned as they though, they allowed Eggman to keep selling it. Weeks later, while dealing with faulty electronics, Team Sonic saw Eggman reveal on a TV that his sauce cans had turned their electronics into robots to conquer the island. With Tails handling his weaponized plane, Knuckles and the team took the fight to Eggman after beating a small appliance army, but were outmatched by Eggman's robots. Fortunately, Tails saved the team by snatching Eggman's controller and shutting the robots down while Eggman mistakenly foiled his plan by revealing it on live TV.

During a game, Knuckles and co. were attacked by Crab Bots, but because Sonic had begun making a horrid noise when running, they kept him out of the fight. Eggman then appeared, claiming the attack was an accident, and offered Sonic help. Though Knuckles did not trust Eggman, Sonic took Eggman's offer and soon returned with new shoes that seemingly muted his noise. Eggman then attacked with his Giant Robot which Knuckles tried to fight, but it only got stronger the more Sonic ran with his new shoes. However, despite Knuckles' skepticism, Sonic would overload the robot with excessive running. While Knuckles was having a movie night with his team, Eggman attacked in his Egg Tank. There, Eggman accidently created a time loop, making the day repeat itself endlessly. While Knuckles was unaware of it, Eggman was not, and enlisted him to contain the loop's reaction with a container. However, Knuckles kept stalling since he had a dentist appointment the next day. After Sticks pulled his bad tooth out though, Knuckles followed the plan and broke the loop.

As Knuckles was parasailing while towed by Sonic, they accidentally awoke a Granifer Giganticus. Failing to stop it, Knuckles regrouped with his team as the rock monster rampaged through the Village, where they noticed the rock monster only tried to fall asleep. Discovered the rock monster got sleepy from Sticks' singing, the team relocated him when he blocked a road, only for Eggman to try and capture the rock monster. Driving Eggman off, Team Sonic noticed the rock monster had fled with Sticks. Failing to find her, Tails' Disasterometer located Sticks, and Knuckles helped rescue Sticks and lead the rock monster to Eggman's lair where they had him fall asleep to a recording of Sticks' singing. During another battle with Eggman, Knuckles saw Sonic chase Eggman into Buddy Buddy Temple where they were trapped. While Knuckles wanted to rescue Sonic, he argued with Amy over who should lead them. After Orbot and Cubot joined them, the group fell into the temple as it caved in, where they found Sonic and Eggman, who got them out just in time through an escape route. Making (somewhat) up with Amy, Knuckles left with his team.

When Team Sonic was at Meh Burger, they met Orbot and Cubot who had deflected from Eggman to be their friends, though Knuckles actively avoided them. Later, Orbot, Cubot and Eggman came to Team Sonic for help to stop a computer virus named Nominatus who had taken over Eggman's tech to destroy all life forms. Knuckles thus helped keep Eggman's invading robots at bay until Tails, Eggman, Orbot and Cubot stopped Nominatus, and Team Sonic ended their truce with Eggman. Knuckles later goofed off with Sonic until Sonic had to go return a library book. As Sonic then came under attack by Eggman's robots, Knuckles and the team rescued him. Getting rid of the robots, Knuckles "helped" Sonic recover his book and return in time.

When Knuckles learned Amy was going to Hidden Meadows, Sonic bet with Sticks that he could teach Knuckles better survival skills than Sticks could teach Amy, which were needed for the trip. With Knuckles in on the bet, the duos agreed to a race to Hidden Meadows. However, Knuckles and Sonic arrogantly neglected their training, and when the race began, they quickly fell behind. Stumbling through the jungle, Knuckles and Sonic either rejected or failed to notice the girls' help, before finding them stuck in an abandoned missile silo. With the girls safe there, Knuckles and Sonic took this opportunity to reach the goal, but the girls beat them to it by riding a missile there. As Knuckles then got pranked by his team, they saw Eggman spying on them with Fly Bot. Team Sonic thus fed Fly Bot false info and lured Eggman into a prank which made Eggman give up technology, including his lair. Soon after, Team Sonic tried to stop an random onslaught of Eggman's robots and missiles on the island, started by the Lightning Bolt Society, who had seized Eggman's lair. Changing priorities, Knuckles and the team charged Eggman's lair, where Eggman helped them outsmart the Lightning Bolts and drive them away, while Eggman resumed his old life.

As Knuckles played with his friends, Amy told them she was starting a restaurant meant to give better service than the sloppy Meh Burger. Knuckles and his friends helped Amy for a while as her staff, but left as Amy grew obsessed over her rivalry with Dave the Intern. Regardless, Knuckles still answered Amy's call for help when Chez Amy got attacked by Badniks. However, Team Sonic could not save Chez Amy and they returned to being customers at Meh Burger after rebuilding it from an Eggman attack. While Knuckles was out with his team, they met Swifty the Shrew, whom impressed Knuckles with his street skills. After Team Sonic saw Shifty challenge Sonic to a race where the loser would get banished for the Village, Knuckles did not entirely despise Shifty's attitude, but still rooted for Sonic at the race, which the hedgehog lost. However, Sonic was brought back after Eggman came and revealed he and his Swifty robots orchestrated it all to take over the Village, and Knuckles helped the villagers topple Eggman's dominion while Sonic beat Eggman's forces.

Carrying on his daily routines, Knuckles would get cornered by traps from Sticks, who tried protecting her team from the "Curse of the Cross Eyed Moose." Dismayed, Team Sonic followed Sticks to a marmoset named Monkey-Boy to break the curse, who gave them chores to prove their worthiness. Amidst this, they saw Eggman attacking Monkey-Boy. Making a deal, Team Sonic got rid of Eggman and Monkey-Boy broke their curse in return. While heading home, Knuckles kept Sticks from assuming another curse had befallen them.

Helping prepare the Chili Dog Cook-Off, which Knuckles had signed up for, Knuckles showed his team a special pepper he had bought from Mrs. Vandersnout to win with, only to learn it was a phony. Finding and trying a new pepper, Knuckles' efforts were wasted by Eggman's Facepeeler Maximus entry and so he set out to find the Lost Pepper of Claggerhorn told to him by Vandersnout. Upon finding it, Knuckles agreed to help his Pepper People reclaim their ancestral home of Claggerhorn when hearing that he was their prophesied oaf. When they attacked the Village Center though, Knuckles refused to fight his team and intervened, leading to a solution where both parties could co-exist and benefit from it. However, Knuckles realized his adventure was all a dream when his team awoke him after he had fainted from the pepper he found earlier.

After foiling Eggman's plans with his Explode-o-nuts, Knuckles helped with Sticks' forced yard sale. During this event, where Knuckles had to hear Tails' techno-talk, Knuckles found Sticks' Burrow overrun by evil Froglodytes which Amy had set free by removing the blockade of their caves in the burrow. When the frogs took Sticks into their caves, Team Sonic went in and rescued her using Sticks' junk. After escaping the caves, the team sealed the Froglodytes up once again. Coming to Mayor Fink for a law proposal, Knuckles agreed to approve bylaws for the mayor in exchange for getting his law approved. Growing power mad, Knuckles would approve any permit the villagers had, casting the Village into chaos and bringing him at odds with his team and Eggman. As Team Sonic and Eggman came to stop him, Knuckles tried giving himself ultimate authority, only for his approval stamp to dry out which Eggman took to control the Village. Knuckles thus helped destroy the stamp and apologized for his mess as Mayor Fink returned.

When Eggman shot a movie with Sonic in it, Knuckles was made Sonic's stuntman, enduring severe injuries from Eggman's robots. When Knuckles came to the movie premiere however, it was revealed it was intended to enslave the audience with hypnotism. However, it failed due to an error on Eggman's part and everyone could leave.

When Knuckles wanted to see a movie with Mike the Ox instead of fighting Eggman, Sonic came to pick him up. There, Sonic upset everyone, including Knuckles, when he said Mike could not join them as he was "just a guy." Much to Knuckles' dismay, he and his team were then dragged into Amy's sensitivity seminar with Sonic when the hedgehog tried to restore his image. Rejoining the seminar with Sonic after he got Mike injured by letting him join Team Sonic's fights, Knuckles came along on a camping trip while Sonic decided to retire. When Knuckles returned, he found Sonic back in action and beloved by the villagers again.

Another time, Knuckles met a wiser version of himself at his team's barbecue, whom they found out was from a Mirror Dimension. While amazed by his counterpart, Knuckles' opinion about him changed when he disobeyed them to get what they needed from Eggman to get him home. Soon after, Knuckles began to weaken and flicker from having two versions of himself in the same dimension, which would soon destroy both worlds. However, Team Sonic got the alternate Knuckles back, along with the needed tech, and Knuckles helped his counterpart return home. When Knuckles later enjoyed some unintentional commodities provided by Dave the Intern, he and his team had to step in when Dave imprisoned Eggman, seized Eggman's forces, and clumsily used Octopus Bot to attack them. Knuckles thus kept Dave from hurting himself and others until Sonic returned with Eggman and stopped Octopus Bot.

On the day of New Year's Eve, Team Sonic set up the Village party while warding off Eggman's Ball Bot attack. As Knuckles kept mixing up New Year with other crazy holidays while partying, Eggman arrived and used his Slow Motion Machine to slow down time long enough for him to beat Sonic in something before New Year. However, Knuckles did not believe Eggman's claims of victory, as it happened too fast for him to notice. As the Justin Beaver fever reached the Village, which turned all the females into crazy Justin fan girls, Knuckles and Tails joined Sonic's Dreamboat Express boy band so they could pass off as Justin's opening act to the bouncer Salty at Justin's set and investigate Justin's producer, Dixon. There, they heard Dixon was using music-based mind control to sell merchandise and planned to expand it at Justin's next concert. Unable to convince Amy and Sticks, Knuckles' band faced Justin in a sing-off at his concert and found the frequency to break the mind control with Tails' Measure-o-meter. They then formed Knuckles' dream band, Dude-itude, and freed everyone's will with their power rock ballet.

After a painful wheelbarrow race with Sonic and helping his team stop Eggman's Decimator Bot from hurting Leroy the Turtle, Knuckles learned that Tails was crushing on Zooey, explaining Tails' recent absent behavior. As Tails sought advise on how to talk to Zooey, Knuckles told him to act manly. However, Knuckles' idea did not work. As Eggman launched an attack, Knuckles and crew stayed back on Tails' order and watched proudly as he stopped Eggman while winning over Zooey in his own way.

When Knuckles and Sonic got Amy to let them look after her house, they accidentally ruined her couch. Joining Bro-Down Showdown to win a new couch, Knuckles was rejected by Sonic when he got paired with Eggman. Jealous, Knuckles competed against Sonic with Mike, but was eliminated. When Obliterator Bot then attacked the Village, Knuckles almost got killed fighting it alone. However, Sonic saved Knuckles, though at the cost of being disqualified, and together they beat the robot. Fortunately, a stray missile from the robot destroyed Amy's couch, removing any trace of Knuckles and Sonic's mess. When caught fooling around with a trash can on his head at a photoshoot, Knuckles incidentally began a new trend, his new celebrity status soon going to his head. After rejecting Eggman's sponsorship offer, Knuckles was called in and tutored to be the guest host on the Comedy Chimp Show, only to be made the permanent host due to his comical foolery. When Eggman attacked the show, staged by a jealous Comedy Chimp, Knuckles helped his team stop Eggman on Sticks' urging. He then renounced his fame in favor of being with his team.

After visiting Meh Burger, Sonic, Knuckles and Amy met Perci who had a biking accident. Enamored by Perci, Knuckles fought with Sonic over aiding her until they took her to Tails' Workshop to fix her bike. As Knuckles dried Perci's scarf, he squabbled with the other over pampering her as the workshop caught on fire. Once it was over, Tails came and Knuckles gave his own explanation for the mess before Perci corrected it. As Tails saw that his security system caused the fire though, a guilt-free Knuckles left. When Sonic was labeled a thief, Knuckles solely believed Sonic's innocence. He thus offered the angry mob to find Sonic, when he really planned to warn Sonic of the mob. Despite some people following him, Knuckles found Sonic and helped him corner the real thief, Metal Sonic. After beating he robot, the duo brought back the stolen goods, and with timely arrival of Sonic's friend Earl with an inert Metal Sonic, they proved Sonic's innocence and that Eggman was behind this.

While Tails showed his Super Antenna, Knuckles was inspired to begin inventing and tried sharing ideas with Tails. As the Robot Battle Royale came, Knuckles goaded Tails into compete with him, but quickly lost with his Vacuu-Fan 2000. When Eggman won by taking over Tails' robot-controlling Hypnobot in the finals, he used it to seize Tails' inventions. As they fought Eggman, Knuckles inspired Tails to sneak up on Hypnobot in Knuckles' robot and retake it (while Knuckles protected Tails), as Vacuu-Fan 2000 was too base for Hypnobot to affect. After Eggman was beaten, Knuckles opted to begin a new hobby while Hypnobot got blown up. During a heatwave, Team Sonic tried enduring the heat while fighting super-charged Badniks. When the latter began acting weird, Team Sonic went to check on Eggman and saw he had caught the Archipelago Homeowners Association to avoid eviction. After freeing the prisoners, whom Eggman came to an agreement with, Knuckles and co. left.

Another time, Knuckles and his team learned Amy was playing Fuzzy Puppies and ridiculed her. While carrying on their routines and fighting Eggman though, Knuckles noticed things were slow, leading to his team's discovery that Amy and Eggman were "Fuzzy Puppy buddies." Keeping an eye on the pair at Puppy Con, Team Sonic prevented a rockslide seemingly caused by the Lightning Bolts, only to learn it was a distraction Eggman staged so he could steal a rare game piece. Knuckles then stood back while Amy resolved the situation. After foling Eggman's plans once more, Team Sonic agreed to fight fairly with Eggman by facing him one-on-one. On his turn though, Knuckles was tricked by Eggman into finishing a component for him. Although Sonic mocked them as they got tricked, Knuckles and the gang still helped Sonic when Eggman caught him with their own gear. Working together in shifts (as promised) Team Sonic beat Eggman. However, the team still encaged Sonic with Eggman to teach him a lesson.

Upon beating Eggman for the millionth time, Team Sonic received the Greatest Role Model of All Time Award. Since the team still horsed around though, the mayor hired D.B. Platypus to make them better role models, who got Knuckles and his team to follow strict rules that made Sticks leave. The team later tried to stop Eggman's theft of a trophy, but were left helpless when Platypus told them not to use violence. However, Sticks returned in time to get rid of Platypus and the audience, and Team Sonic went back to beating Eggman in their old way. While stuck in Amy's House during a storm, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails and Sticks drove Amy nuts by horsing around. Finding Amy's private script for A Rose Without Thorns, they got upset at Amy for her portrayals of them in it. With Amy also mad at them for reading her stuff, the team fell apart as they all began to argue. While Knuckles, Sonic, Tails and Sticks reconciled after a fight, Amy stayed mad since they had trashed her house, so they put up Amy's play for her as an apology. While it worked, they and the audience still went to Amy's House as a new storm came.

While Knuckles had a stay-awake challenge with Sonic, he was inspired by Counter Productive on the Comedy Chimp Show to make amends with Charlie for his past screw-ups despite Charlie assuring he did not have to. However, Knuckles' incompetence ended up running Charlie's life, making Charlie become a supervillain who bullied him with an Ancient weapon. As Knuckles refused to fight Charlie in favor of making amends with him, his team told him of a rule in Counter Productive that allowed him to fight back. Beating Charlie, Knuckles made a truce with his wife and took his team out for a snack. Team Sonic later helped Amy built a bookcase when they were attacked by Team Eggman, Eggman's league of villains. Knuckles himself was left to battle T.W. Barker and Octopus Bot. After beating Barker and wrapping up the Chameleon, Knuckles rejoined his team as Team Eggman was defeated to juggle with Eggman as payback.

Season two
When Knuckles came to his favorite movie star Tommy Thunder's new movie promotion with his team, they stopped Eggman's attack on a baker, inspiring Tommy to observe Sonic's heroics for his upcoming role. While Knuckles was charmed by Tommy and his benefits, Tommy got Sonic to let him hang around, although Tommy took credit for Knuckles and his team's next victory over the Weasel Bandits. Still, Knuckles was proud of Sonic when he finally let Tommy share the credit. Learning later that an asteroid would hit the earth and destroy civilization, Knuckles and his team built Tails' Solar Convergence Device and steal Eggman's Egg Rocket (since Eggman wanted the asteroid to hit so he could sell spots in his bunker to the villagers). Being the best suited for the mission, Knuckles was sent into space alone so he could knock the asteroid off-course with the SCD. Due to a mishap with the instructions though, Knuckles broke the SCD and had to shatter the asteroid by hand. After some trouble, Knuckles got home in the Egg Rocket while Sonic handled the asteroid pieces that fell towards Seaside Island.

Knuckles was later with Sonic when he calmed a village revolt. He also saw the power-angry villagers destroy Eggman's latest contraption for him when Eggman showed it to everyone. Another time, Knuckles helped his team experiment on boosting Sonic's speed. When Sonic vanished while using Tails' Ultrasonic Speed Amplifier, Knuckles blamed Tails for disintegrating Sonic, only to learn that he was just stuck on another plane of existence. As Team Sonic tried to bring back Sonic, Eggman used Sonic's absence to attack the Village. Knuckles thus protected Tails until he could return Sonic, and together, the heroes beat Eggman's forces.

When Sonic introduced Mark the Tapir, his biggest fan, to the gang, Knuckles was worried (and jealous) over Mark's obsessive fan behavior, though Sonic would still make Mark his assistant. After Knuckles fought Charlie with Sonic, he and the team went to see a movie. When Sonic did not show up though, they went looking for him and discovered that Mark held him captive. Knuckles was subsequently caught by Mark too, along with his team, but they all soon broke free and beat him. Knuckles learned later that Sonic and Tails had betted to see if the latter could catch the former. He soon after fell into one of Tails' traps (Sonic tricked him to spring it for him) and was left behind. He was freed later by Tails to help his team save Sonic when Eggman exploited Tails' capture of Sonic. Afterwards, Knuckles was still mad at Tails, though he later saw him take his bet's punishment at Meh Burger Karaoke Night.

After beating Eggman again, Knuckles and co. went to investigate seismic activity out at sea. There, they found Eggman generating a tidal wave underwater to destroy the Village. After getting stalled by the aquaphobic Sonic, Knuckles and his team forced Sonic into the sea with the aid of Soar the Eagle's life-coaching. Joining Sonic and Amy undersea, Knuckles struggled to fight Eggman's Crab Bots upon finding Eggman. As Knuckles saved Sonic from drowning with Sticks' aid, the heroes were able to redirect the Wave Machine and go home. When Dreamcaster subtly hypnotized him through TV, Knuckles was influenced to not believe Sticks' story about seeing Dreamcaster. As Sticks then disturbed the Village with her story on TV, Dreamcaster made Knuckles and co. arrest her for breaking into the studio. Knuckles soon after became Eggman's zombie slave, who had him and the hypnotized villagers build a world-controlling satellite. After being tricked by Sticks to free her, Knuckles attacked her when she came to the rescue, but was freed by Sticks' tin foil hats. With the team restored, Knuckles and co. freed the villagers and stopped Eggman's plan.

Getting introduced to Tails' new defense for the Village when Tails repelled Eggman with it, Knuckles and co. beat Eggman and his Scorpion Bots at Tails' trophy ceremony when Eggman got past the defense in his Egg Tank and used it to attack the Village. Knuckles later hanged out with an odd-acting Tails when he found four dimwitted copies of Tails. Learning that Tails had split himself, Team Sonic made more copies when trying to remerge them. While recovering the runaway copies, Knuckles kept those they had busy while his team and Eggman got the rest. In turn, Eggman helped fuse the copies back into the real Tails. Then, after stopping Eggman's attack on the Fuzzy Puppy Warehouse alongside his team, Knuckles reunited with his friends to protect City Hall from Orbot (now an independent villain) and his forces. This battle ended when Orbot destroyed the new villain permit's records and Orbot was restored as Eggman's lackey. Knuckles' team then cleared things up with Eggman and his theft of Tails' invention.

While foiling one of Eggman's attacks, Knuckles got amnesia, but was cured by his team soon after. Recalling that he was the last of his kind though, Knuckles experienced a new sense of loneliness that made him seek a foster family. After many attempts, Knuckles got taken in by Charlie and Belinda, who, after bonding with him, made him become their fellow villain if he wished to stay in their family. Knuckles thus helped Charlie attack Team Sonic, but would rejoin his team and help beat Charlie when he noticed he was being used. Afterwards, Knuckles realized that his true family was his friends all along. When playing Jungle Predator, Knuckles and co. found a mech suit in an airtight Ancient ruin. The team got trapped there by Eggman, but Sonic broke them out with the mech suit, although Knuckles had to stop him from killing Eggman. Noticing Sonic's growing malice while wearing the mech suit, Knuckles and his team found the mech suit's blueprints and learned it was taking over Sonic. When Sonic would not listen though, Team Sonic fought him when he threatened the Village. Though Knuckles could not beat Sonic, the others rendered the mech suit benign, thus freeing Sonic, who chose to keep his mech suit.

After hours of playing Sonic's Tomatopotamus 2 game with his team, Knuckles would gloat when he beat Sonic. After Sonic went for chili dogs though, Knuckles saw an Eggman robot named FiendBot had followed him. Although Sonic said FiendBot was nice, Knuckles did not trust the robot and would dislike how he messed up their days. When Knuckles and co. had to fight Eggman though, FiendBot helped them beat Eggman's bots and even took a laser blast for Sonic. Knuckles thus reluctantly gave up his team's video game (and his high score) so Tails could fix him. Making FiendBot a part of the team, the group gave him a home with the Cubot prototypes, whom he could protect. Having stopped Eggman's search for Ancient tech, Knuckles and co. would investigate some robberies, eventually discovering the thief was Og, a friendly Froglodyte just seeking a new life on the surface. With Sonic thinking Og was a spy, Knuckles was soon tasked with watching Og, only for Knuckles to pass Og onto Sticks when Og annoyed him. When other Froglodytes then invaded the Village, the horde would swarm Knuckles and co. when they faced them. However, Og would help the team reseal the evil frogs underground. Knuckles then made up with Og, who would leave to get his own pad.

Eventually, Knuckles joined the studio audience at an edition of the Comedy Chimp Show with his crew, where he won a lamp. Wanting a home for it, Knuckles was fooled by T.W. Barker into buying a house, which his team found decrepit. Forced by Barker to pay his bills and unfair fees though, Knuckles had to take a job at both Diane Aardvark's ad agency and Meh Burger, which kept him away from his team's adventures. In the end, Knuckles lost his jobs while trying to see to all his duties. Bringing in his team against Barker's contract, Knuckles was freed from his deal and resumed his nomadic ways while keeping his lamp at Tails'. When the Village had a power outage, Knuckles and his team investigated its cause. Finding Eggman innocent, they interrogated Mayor Fink and learned the town's power source (the Meroke Crystal) had died out. As such, Knuckles and his team followed Fink's directions into the mountains to get a new crystal from a deadly temple built by the Ancients, where Knuckles repeatedly solved the riddles of the place and its guardians with his simple way of thinking. Claiming the crystal, the team got it to the Village in time to restore order.

At a town meeting, Knuckles learned that their village was named after Sticks' evil ancestor, Jebediah Badger. Eventually wanting the town renamed, he agreed to a referendum between Amy and Eggman's name propositions at a new town meeting. After voting at the referendum however, which Eggman used to get elected as Village leader, Knuckles found himself and his team legally unable to stop Eggman's plan to destroy the Village. Thanks to Amy and Sticks though, who found a way to remove Eggman from power, Knuckles could help defeat Eggman, after which Sticks renamed the Village. After coming to Meh Burger, which had gotten new robot employees (courtesy of Eggman), Knuckles saw Dave the Intern lose his job to one of the robot employees in a contest. Upon attenting the reopening of the improved Meh Burger with his team (minus Sticks) however, Knuckles and the villagers got trapped in a force-field and sent towards space in Meh Burger by Eggman. Contacting Sticks, Knuckles and his trapped crew conducted a mid-air rescue of themselves and the villagers with the aid of Sticks and Dave (whom Sticks recruited) while returning Meh Burger to the surface. Knuckles subsequently saw Meh Burger return to normal.

After Team Sonic stopped Eggman and his robots' theft of the Fregosi Sapphire at its unveiling, Knuckles took custody of the gem. He was later alarmed when Amy adopted a Bee Bot named Bea. As Knuckles and co. tried to comfort Amy after Eggman took Bea, Eggman came and used Bea alongside Bee Bot look-alikes (which kept Team Sonic from hurting them) to take the Fregosi Sapphire from Knuckles. Facing Eggman and his Bee Bots without Amy, Knuckles and co. fought a Fregosi Sapphire-powered Mega Bot until Amy came and helped spot Bea and beat Mega Bot when it shot Bea. Taking the damaged gem back, Knuckles saw Tails fix Bea. Having visited the Science Fair Awards, Knuckles would come to help his team foil an Eggman attack, during which he stole Beth the Shrew's admiration of Tails with his display of strength. After hogging Beth for a time, Knuckles worked with Tails in an experiment that would make Beth notice them both, but they got so caught up in their demonstration that Beth left them in favor of Sticks. When Knuckles got a new hangout, he showed it to his team. However, the local berries he snacked on made him go on muddy sleepwalks, during which he was mistaken for Muckfoot by Tails. Unaware of his walks, Knuckles would praise Tails for asserting Muckfoot's existence with a photo of Knuckles on his sleepwalk, and take part in Muckfoot Mania. On his ensuing sleepwalks, Knuckles was hunted by Tommy Thunder (who hit him with an arrow) and spied on by Tails and Sticks, before getting caught by Barker, who made him his new attraction by posing him as the real Muckfoot. Knuckles was saved by his team after Barker took him on a world tour however, and Knuckles helped Tails reveal the truth about him to the public.

Knuckles soon came to see Tails demonstrate his Build-it Box by materializing a small Ms. Tomatopotamus, whom Knuckles tamed. Stopping an Eggman attack afterwards, Knuckles and co. focused on their hippo until she suddenly grew. Discovering that Nominatus, Beta and Retro had hijacked the Build-it Box, Knuckles and Tails went to ask their suspect Eggman about the theft while their friends faced the thieves. Hating Nominatus himself, Eggman helped Team Sonic stop Nominatus and his gang as they used the Build-it Box to materialize an army to conquer the planet with. With the evil trio shrunk and capture by Eggman, Knuckles took in the again-miniaturized Ms. Tomatopotamus. Coming to the beach, Knuckles and his team eventually got attacked by Eggman. While they won, Knuckles disliked that Sonic hogged the fight for himself. Later at lunch, Knuckles and co. were told by Sonic that he had Steve Eggman join the team after Steve saved him. Besides Sonic making a team decision alone, Knuckles also had issues trusting Steve, even after he helped them save some Gogobas on a mission. Knuckles later went into exile when people began accusing him of theft, but Tails and Amy soon told him that he had been framed by Steve, who was a shapeshifting robot out to break Team Sonic apart. Knuckles thus joined his reformed team and helped them save Sonic when Eggman and Steve attacked him.

After hearing that Sonic and Tails had irked each other since Sonic moved in with Tails (as a widabit was using Sonic's Shack for its courting ritual), Knuckles and Sticks would confront Eggman upon his return. As Team Sonic assembled, ESC's Fastidious Beaver would halt their fight with Eggman due to a widabit's arrival, just as more widabits, whom Tails had mistakenly attracted, ran through the Village to Sonic's Shack. After Knuckles saved some bystanders from the stampede, he and his team located a fiftieth widabit to join those at the shack, which would let Sonic relocate them. When that was done, Knuckles invited himself into Tails' home when Sonic had to spent a week there while waiting for the relocation.

When Knuckles and co. held a charity car wash, Eggman attacked them with his Badniks when he complained about their service. Team Sonic easily beat the Badniks, but lost when Mighton and Bolts appeared and beat the team for Eggman. After Eggman left with his new allies, Knuckles investigated these robots' origins with his team. Finding a spaceship, they discovered the robots were not of this world. Orbot and Cubot later came and told Knuckles and co. that Eggman held Mighton and Bolts captive in his lair. Saving Mighton and Bolts after a battle in the lair, Knuckles and co. made peace with them before seeing the duo off after helping fix their ship. Just then however, the Cubot prototypes attacked the group and shot Tails. Tails survived though, and Team Sonic subdued the prototypes. Leaving Sonic and Tails to examine the prototypes, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks found the Village under a relentless attack from every robot around, prompting them to engage the robots. After Sonic and Tails joined the fight, Tails revealed a malware signal from Morristown was controlling the robots, so Knuckles stayed behind with Amy and Sticks to keep the robots at bay while Sonic and Tails went to Morristown to stop the signal. As the battle raged on, Knuckles and co. received help from Og. When the robots began to overwhelm them though, Knuckles convinced the villagers to help them with an inspirational speech. The robots withdrew not long after, once Sonic and Tails stopped the malware signal, which left Knuckles and co. with a town to clean up, but without the villagers' help.

With Sonic and Tails staying in Morristown for a while, Knuckles and co. began cleaning up the town until they saw Eggman head for Morristown with his army and Hypnobot to conquer it. Believing Sonic and Tails would need them, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks used FriendBot to reach Morristown when Hypnobot made him join the invasion. There, Knuckles helped his team and allies fight Eggman's army until Hypnobot began turning Morristown's robots against them. Overwhelmed, the group retreated to a bunker where Bolts made malware-proof cyborg clones of Knuckles and his team, who helped them overpower Eggman's army when they resumed the fight. After Hypnobot got smashed and Eggman retreated, Knuckles bid farewell to a liberated Morristown (now renamed "Roboken") with the knowledge that his team's cyborg clones had the city covered.

Eventually catching fleas after helping his team stop Eggman's newest theft by beating his HugeBot with Sonic, an itchy Knuckles soon saw at Meh Burger that his team had fleas too. This led to Knuckles and his crew getting quarantined by the authorities when they tried to enter the Male Fennec shop, although the mayor soon freed them so they could stop Eggman's latest attack. It was then that they discovered that their fleas were remote-controlled Eggman robots. Unable to remove these FleaBots, Knuckles faced Eggman with his team to make him stop them. As Eggman struck back using his FleaBots and Badniks, Team Sonic made the former stick to Eggman for the time being after getting his FleaBot remote. Foiling later the Lightning Bolt Society's newest scheme, Knuckles and his Pin Dashers faced the Lightning Bowler Society in bowling after the latter became bowlers, and lost. Pressed by Sonic, Knuckles trained with his team for their arranged rematch, but on the day of the match they heard that the Lightning Bowlers broke up. Following Sonic's plan to reunite them for the rematch, Knuckles and co. gathered the group, but then had to stop Eggman when he came with his Mega. While Knuckles and co. beat the Mega with the unintended help from the Lightning Bowlers when they tried to fight Team Sonic, the rematch got canceled when the Lightning Bowlers decided to become Lightning Bolts again.

Hearing from Tails that Dude-itude had been asked to play at a concert on the other side of the island, Knuckles joined his band as they left for the concert in the Dude-Mobile with their gear. However, the crew's trip got sidetracked by tourist traps, stops, the police, and the Bike Chain Bandit. Eventually, they got jailed when they were mistaken for the Bike Chain Bandit's associates. With Salty's aid though, who had been jailed for the same reason as them, Knuckles and co. broke out and cleared their names by catching the bandit after a wild chase and handing him over to the officer pursuing them. At the concert site however, Knuckles learned that his band was a month too early for their concert, which Tails had overlooked. Knuckles and co. soon after got lured into a trap by Eggman, but were able to beat his robots and get away. Hearing later that Eggman had turned his lair into a hotel to pay a fee, Knuckles checked in there with his team to keep an eye on Eggman's plans. Knuckles in particular abused the towel privilege. Eventually, Team Sonic and the guests got trapped when Eggman took them hostage for a scheme, but Sticks, who was not among them, freed them. Knuckles and his team then fought Eggman's robots, which led to the guests' liberation and the destruction of Eggman's lair.

When local gossip revealed that Dr. Eggman was no doctor, Knuckles would see him as an even greater joke. He thus joined the villagers in mocking Eggman during the scientist's next trip to the Village. For the next boring weeks where Eggman focused on getting a Ph.D., Knuckles spent his free time goofing off with his friends. Though Knuckles and co. stopped Eggman when he tried to rob a store, their fight lacked the usual spark. When Eggman did earn his doctorate, Knuckles watched his graduation ceremony. Visiting later the Haunted Forest with his team alongside Eggman, Knuckles had a laugh seeing Eggman get traumatized by the props. A few days after, Knuckles and co. got attacked by Barker after he seized Eggman's properties. Thanks to Barker's strategies, Knuckles had a hard time against the Badniks Barker used. However, he and his team were saved when Eggman reclaimed his Badniks and properties from Barker. Knuckles then proceeded to fight Eggman and his robots like always.

Knuckles later had a game with his team, during which Sonic disapproved of his digging, when he saw Cubot, who had gone nuts and was flying around with a rampant Anti Gravity Ray, and Eggman arrive. With Cubot's gravity field picking up innocent villagers, Knuckles and co. tried to rescue the villagers, only for Cubot to gain control of the Anti Gravity Ray. Cubot then began taking Knuckles, along with some of his friends and the villagers, into space to enlighten them. Thankfully, Sonic and Tails got them down by reversing the Anti Gravity Ray. After removing the Anti Gravity Ray from Cubot though, Knuckles and co. almost got crushed by the gravity it began to emit. With Sonic's approval though, Knuckles saved them by destroyed the device with his digging. When their beloved rec center then got closed, Knuckles and co. tried saving it by filling out a petition, which the mayor dismissed. Concurrently, Eggman tried to get the rec center so he could trash it. Since only the winner of a sports game could get it, Knuckles' team and Eggman arranged a soccer match. When Knuckles later saw that they would face Team Cybonic, whom Eggman had recruited with mind-control, he accepted this once Eggman promised his team's freedom after the match. Knuckles' team stood to lose however when Eggman made his team meaner (but dumber) while the teams practiced. At the match though, they won by exploiting Team Cybonic's stupidity, leading to the rec center's reopening. Knuckles then helped freed Team Cybonic from the mind-control when the cyborgs attacked them, and together they got payback at Eggman.

When Knuckles goofed off with Sonic and Tails, he accidentally caused a tree to fall on Lady Walrus. With Lady Walrus too injured to watch her baby Chumley, Knuckles and co. agreed to babysit Chumley while she recovered. However, this was no easy task for them, and Amy refused to help. When Eggman attacked the trio though, Chumley ended up helping them defeat him. Having seen what Chumley liked, Knuckles and co. got the hang on babysitting him and had a good time. When Chumley vanished after they went to sleep though, Knuckles and co. looked for him in vain before confronting Lady Walrus. Fortunately, Chumley appeared in time for them to return him to his mother, and Knuckles resumed his earlier escapade with his friends, albeit with a small responsibility lesson in mind. Knuckles soon after had a drag race with Sonic, during which Sonic got sent to another dimension by Eggman and Morpho. When Sonic returned, Knuckles helped him beat up the villanous duo as payback.

Another time at Tails', Knuckles helped get Tails to make a big Build-it Box for making large and fun stuff after seeing the fox's measly use of a small one. With it, the crew made themselves cars. Getting over-competitive, Knuckles and co. prepped their own car race, only to be forced to make it an official event by racing laws presented by the mayor. After eight months of permits, Knuckles had his race against his team in his truck, with locals like Eggman joining them, but crashed on the track. With the rest of Team Sonic crashing too and Eggman poised to win, Knuckles, like his team, realized their erroneous ways and helped make a car from their own that Sonic won the race with. Afterward, Knuckles received a participation trophy. Knuckles later played soccer with his team when Eggman came and told Sonic to add him on FriendSpace. Sonic refused, which made Eggman run off, but ultimately decided to do it anyway to spy on him. Knuckles soon learned though that Eggman was bombarding Sonic with notifications. Knuckles subsequently got into Scrambler until it got deleted.

The Big Boom
On the beach, Knuckles came with Tails and Amy to help Sonic fight Dr. Eggman in his Big Boy. After beating the mech and making Eggman retreat, Sticks came and told Tails' House had been robbed. When the gang got to the site however, they saw the whole house was gone: what Sticks meant was that the house had been stolen by what she described as a "cyborg rock golem", created by Eggman. Though Knuckles had trouble following it, Sticks seemingly caught the scent of the robot. Though it turned out she was only smelling the grass, the group still found the Rock-cyborg by following its footprints. As they set up an ambush for the robot, Knuckles had trouble following the plan which made Amy insult him. Though angry at that, Knuckles helped Amy, Tails and Sticks make the Rock-cyborg fall, allowing Sonic to destroy it and bring Tails' house back on its foundation.

Tired of being ragged on, Knuckles wanted to prove his smarts by faking an alliance with Eggman and then strike, so he went to Dr. Eggman's lair and joined him. When Eggman later attacked the island in his Big Boy again, Knuckles assisted the doctor in fighting and capturing his team, where he claimed to have switched sides because of Amy's criticism. In the Big Boy's cargo, Knuckles revealed his plan to his team, but Amy pointed out that he had let Eggman win this way. Knuckles moped over his blunder until Tails and Amy restored his confidence. Knuckles then faced Eggman, got rid of Orbot and Cubot, and made Eggman retreat by destroying the mech. As his team escaped the Big Boy, Knuckles accepted Amy's apology. After he got rid of Orbot and Cubot again however, Knuckles noticed Amy panicking over losing her hammer. At Amy's House, Knuckles tried miserably to calm Amy down, and on Sticks' orders, he, Sonic and Tails began looking for Amy's Hammer. When he could not find it, Knuckles returned, but got injured by Amy when she tried out new weapons. Fortunately, Sonic returned with the hammer and Knuckles could go home for the night.

For a showdown with the Big Boy, Team Sonic agreed to a battle with Eggman, only for Knuckles, Sonic, Tails and Amy to forget about it. Later, Eggman, Orbot and Cubot surprised them in the Big Boy, and though Team Sonic counterattacked, the upgraded Big Boy proved too much for them. Coming to their aid was Sticks, who claimed she had found an all-powerful weapon: the Rock of Justice. Exasperated, Knuckles did not believe a rock was such a weapon and continued the fight. However, Sticks saved them with the Rock of Justice by throwing it at the Big Boy, causing it to ricochet into the mech and destroy it. After scaring Eggman and his lackeys away, Knuckles admired the Rock of Justice, only to hear that its power had been used up, and he saluted the inert weapon.

Boom Shaka-laka and Worlds Unite
When Dr. Eggman attacked Sonic, Knuckles and his team helped defeat Eggman's minions. Though Eggman got away, he soon returned when the team was at Meh Burger to request their aid in operating his rides at the Eggtoberfest, which Eggman hoped to gain the villagers' trust with. Agreeing to it, though to keep an eye of things, Knuckles and his friends soon found Eggman's army attacking the villagers Knuckles and his friends thus destroyed the army and was hailed by the villagers.

Not long after, Knuckles saved Sonic again from Courier Robot with his team. Just then, the robot became a video phone which Eggman used to challenge Team Sonic to a fair race in the Go-kart Pan-island Grand Prix. While Knuckles and the team accepted it when Sonic agreed to it, Sticks refused, believing it was a trap. The next day at the Grand Prix, with go-karts provided by Eggman, Knuckles and his team took the lead as the competition started. While racing, Knuckles tried talking to his fellow racer Bomb Driver, unaware he was being scanned, but only got the cold shoulder. Enraged, Knuckles punched Bomber Driver, making it detonate and blow him into a body of water. Recovering, Knuckles arrived with Tails and Amy to save Sonic when he fell into a ravine due of Eggman. To Knuckles surprise though, Sonic asked them to wait with going after Eggman as he wanted to prove he could beat Eggman fairly in his own race, and Knuckles threw Sonic back on the road with his go-kart. Afterwards, Knuckles and his friends showed up in Tails' Plane to distract Eggman when he kept Sonic from reaching the finish line with his Spider-Kart. After Sonic won the race, Knuckles joined the entirety of his team in making Eggman retreat by destroying his Spider-Kart. Knuckles then received a heartfelt thanks from Sonic, unaware of where Sticks had gone to. After Sticks returned, Knuckles set up a campfire with his team to hear Sticks' story about fighting an evil robot alongside an interdimensional army, though Knuckles had trouble keeping facts straight.

When Knuckles went looking for a hat, a salesman scammed him into buying several. Unbeknownst to Knuckles, he insulted Eggman by mocking a hat he owned, unaware the doctor spied on him.

Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom
In Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, Knuckles is a playable character who can be unlocked with thirty Red Star Rings. In gameplay, his special power is "Knuckle Slam" which lets him unleash a blast that destroys all nearby Badniks.

In later updates to the game, Knuckles makes an appearance on the High Score menu, holding the sixth place with a score of 375,000 points.

Personality
Knuckles is described as a "punch-first-and-keep-punching-until-you-need-a-punch-break" kind of echidna, and the best solution to a problem for him is to smash it to pieces. He is determined and strong of character, but tends to be rather cocky and get into trouble. Knuckles also has a huge ego: he clearly thinks of himself as his team's leader and most capable member, and fancies himself very heroic. However, his self-admiration makes him exaggerate his own recollection of his accomplishments and endeavors to the point of absurdity, leaving him convinced in his mind that he, for example, has various ridiculous superpowers. Proud of his manliness, Knuckles has a very macho-orientated attitude which at times makes him sound somewhat archaic.

Despite his tough personality, Knuckles is a softy on the inside with some noticeable preferences in particular: he loves nature and is very loyal to his friends. He can also be protective and even gentle as displayed by his dedication to the Fregosi Sapphire and Ms. Tomatopotamus. Also, after reevaluating his status as the last of his kind, Knuckles began feeling the kind of loneliness that comes from knowing that you has no relatives, making him both vulnerable and long for the love only a family can provide. However, he has since come to realize that his friends are his family and that their love is just as good.

Knuckles is the opposite of Sonic: he is stubborn, likes to take his time and is very naive. He is likewise far from intelligent, admitting himself that he is "as dumb as a rock." Having trouble keeping even the simplest facts on his friends straight, he is a little slow on the uptake, particularly when it comes to elaborate plans and math problems, as even simplified explanations takes him a long time to process. He is also a bit goofy at times and easily distracted to the point where he is drawn to things as simple as shiny objects. Knuckles is not entirely dim-witted, however, having on a few occasions shown some surprising insight, cunning, witticism,  sarcasm,  and even resourcefulness in different situations. His simple-minded view on things likewise lets him find answers to questions that would otherwise confuse more intellectual individuals. Knuckles can also be quite the charismatic rallier, as he has the grounded and simple (if not selfish) ideals that the common man find very relatable; most noticeably, he was able to convince the villagers of Hedgehog Village to help Team Sonic fight an army of robots by inspiring them to protect their possessions.

Knuckles is a little sensitive when it comes to his intelligence. While he accepts he is not the smartest, he takes great offense when being called stupid and will go to extreme lengths to prove otherwise. Also, when Knuckles got his team into trouble with a half-baked plan, he sunk into a depression over his imposed stupidity until his friends restored his confidence.

Noticeably, Knuckles also has a habit of saying "not cool" to others when they do something he disagrees with.

Powers and abilities
Described as the "muscle of the team," Knuckles possesses incredible superhuman strength acquired through sheer upper body workouts which lets him destroy virtually anything; according to Sticks the Badger, his strength exceeds that of his Prime Zone counterpart. With his strength, Knuckles can create destructive shockwaves that can send enemies flying without damaging the environment, punch through rock and metal alloys, fold sheets of metal like paper, and even swing the colossal arm of the Big Boy mech around without effort. His arguably greatest feat of strength though, was when he smashed a gigantic asteroid in space to pieces with a single punch. While Knuckles' strength mainly lies in his arms however, his legs are powerful as well, having enough strength to easily overpower the Mega's caterpillar tracks by running on them. To maintain his strength, he regularly goes through intense weight training exercises.

Using the spikes on his hands, Knuckles can climb along walls, across ceilings and scale slippery surfaces. He is as well quite efficient at burrowing, capable of digging through rock and dirt and construct earth barriers at an exceptionally fast rate.

Knuckles has immense durability, even by normal standards, allowing him to withstand extreme and painful physical punishment. He only got a bump from hitting a falling boulder with his head, got right back up after jumping into a deep rock ravine and survived getting hit by a falling meteor, all while enduring strenuous injuries. He also has some skills as a tracker, having successfully located Sonic once using only smell and taste.

After eating an Evil Cookie infused with Eggman's DNA, Knuckles gained average-level intelligence. However, it dropped back to normal after he got cured.

Equipment
Knuckles wields a Communicator, a multifunctional and waterproof smartwatch-like device created by Tails. This device allows Knuckles wide-ranged radio communication between similar devices. It can as well generate its own Enerbeam (an energy tether that can latch onto objects or form a makeshift whip/rope), tell the time, interface with Knuckles' tech-based equipment for remote operation, and assume other powers. It also comes with its own tracking device.

Knuckles also has a unique set of clothes referred to as a Luminous Suit which can provide him with light in otherwise light-deprived environments.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of Knuckles' teammates and his closest companion. Despite them being complete opposites, Knuckles considers Sonic his friend and is very loyal towards him. He notably fancies himself to be Sonic's best friend (not understanding that this honor has been reserved for Tails), even though the two of them are always disagreeing. Knuckles in particular thinks of Sonic as scrawny, weak, clumsy and pathetic, and is downright sickened by looking at him. He firmly thinks that he is better than Sonic, often viewing him as his sidekick, and believes that he is always bailing Sonic out of jams. Nonetheless, Knuckles sees him as a valuable member of their team. He has trouble discerning him from Tails at times however.

Deep down, Knuckles and Sonic share a mutual bond of respect, though it was not always like this: during their mission to stop Lyric, Knuckles was quick to blame Sonic for the misfortunes he caused, but was proud of his growth during the venture and eventually made up with him. In fact, Knuckles chose Sonic over the world during this endeavor to protect him. While Knuckles still does not take kindly to Sonic's snarky attitude, they are overall the truest of friends, referring to each others as "bros." In time, Knuckles has come to realize that Sonic is not just his friend, but also the family he had been missing for much of his life.

Sonic is one of the few people Knuckles can really be himself around, as they spent most of their time together roughhousing and goofing off with various extreme and often foolish activities. Their friendship is especially important to Knuckles, as he did not want to loose Sonic when he was about to go to jail and felt both betrayed and hurt when Sonic chose Eggman over him for Bro-Down Showdown. Also, despite having been forced to attack Sonic more than once, Knuckles is honestly reluctant to fight him in such cases due to their friendship.

Knuckles has a friendly rivalry going on with Sonic and he cannot help competing with him in all sorts of activities. Whereas Knuckles always takes their competitions seriously and asserts his confidence by trash-talking, Sonic usually retains a cool-headed attitude. Knuckles utterly resents losing to Sonic (which he often does) and will rather blame it on luck than admitting that Sonic is more skilled than him. In case he does get a victory over Sonic though, Knuckles will eagerly rub his victory in Sonic's face as much as he can.

Miles "Tails" Prower
Another one of Knuckles' teammates and friends is Miles "Tails" Prower. While Knuckles does not have any real issues about Tails, their relationship is at times difficult due to their contrasting qualities, with Tails being a genius while Knuckles is "as dumb as a rock." This often frustrates Tails, which Knuckles hardly notices. Peculiarly, even though he admits that he not very smart, Knuckles still thinks himself more capable than Tails; even as a novice inventor (and a bad one at that), Knuckles considered himself a better one than Tails.

Compared to his other friends, Knuckles is more easily impressed by Tails' more questionable inventions (though not always for the desired reasons). However, he never understands Tails' big words, which makes him wonder if Tails talks like that just to make him feel stupid. He is also very much against having Tails lead him and has trouble discerning him from Sonic at times. While not mean-spirited, Knuckles also likes to tease Tails with his quirks.

In spite of their differences, Knuckles values Tails as a precious friend whom he enjoys hanging out with, and they are both loyal and good-spirited teammates. In fact, Knuckles has realized over time that Tails is not just his friend, but also the family he had been missing for much of his life. Similarly, Knuckles has often Tails with him and Sonic on their numerous escapades.

Amy Rose
Amy Rose is one of Knuckles' teammates. While the two of them are friends, their relationship is at times strenuous, and they often bicker due to their opposing viewpoints. While Amy is elegant, intelligent and thinks strategically ahead, Knuckles is macho-minded, dimwitted and tackles trouble head-on without thinking. Also, when Sonic is out of the picture they usually argue over who should be in charge.

Like his other friends, Knuckles clearly thinks he is more capable than Amy and perceives her as helpless without his guidance. Even more so, he is under the impression that Amy looks up to him and is enamored by his manliness. Not happy to be bossed around by Amy, Knuckles will obstinately refuse to take orders from her, even at inconvenient times, nor is he very keen on her ideas for group activities. At the same time, Knuckles tends to test Amy's patience with his dimwittedness. While Knuckles often fails to notice Amy's criticism of him, he does not take kindly to it when he does.

Despite their disputes, Knuckles remains loyal to Amy and always has her back. In fact, Knuckles has come to realize that Amy is not just his friend, but also the family he had been missing for much of his life. No matter how much they argue, Knuckles always makes peace with Amy at the end of the day as they realize their misguided behavior (although Knuckles tends to put more of the blame on Amy). They also work well together in combat, even having their own maneuvers. Also, while Knuckles may act inconsiderate towards Amy, he still appreciates her as both a teammate and a friend, and will try making up with her whenever he has upset her. In fact, Knuckles cannot stand watching Amy cry.

Sticks the Badger
Sticks the Badger is another of Knuckles' friends and teammates. While Knuckles treats Sticks with support and admits she is really nice deep down, he also honestly thinks she is a whack-job. Clearly believing himself to be better than Sticks, Knuckles holds the impression that Sticks looks up to him and is enamored by him.

Unlike his other friends, Knuckles has, on several occasions, expressed genuine belief in Sticks' theories. At the same time, he will also show some skepticism about her more outrageous claims, though he will be remorseful when she proves him wrong. Regardless, Knuckles is very loyal to Sticks, and has realized over time that she is not just his friend, but also the family he had been missing for much of his life. In battle, the two of them have also shown good collaboration, even having their own throwing maneuver.

Dr. Eggman
Like the rest of Team Sonic, Knuckles' sworn enemy is Dr. Eggman, whom he generally dislikes. However, their relationship is rather complex. In battle, Knuckles fights Eggman determinately to stop his plans and has no qualms about bashing his face in. Outside of that, they keep a passive relationship where they let each other be nearby without starting to fight.

Like most of his friends, Knuckles finds Eggman to be a total joke. In spite of their mutual hatred though, Knuckles is known to have tried defecting to Eggman, once because he thought the doctor would appreciate him, until he realized the error of his ways. Because of his constant victories over him, Knuckles has a tendency to underestimate Eggman and forget how dangerous he can be.

Being as gullible as he is, Knuckles is easily deceived by Eggman's tricks (more so than his other friends); once, the doctor tricked Knuckles into trapping himself in a hole without noticing it. Also, while Eggman does not think much of Knuckles, the echidna believes on the contrary that Eggman fears him. It is also his opinion that Eggman looks ridiculous with his mustache.

Mike the Ox
Knuckles is good friends with Mike the Ox. The two seem to get along rather well, and have met up to hang out or compete together on a few occasions. Knuckles appears to value Mike a lot, as he opted to see a movie with him instead of fighting Eggman. He also got very upset when Sonic insulted Mike.

Charlie
Charlie, the former archeologist-turned-supervillain, is Knuckles' personal foe, who views the echidna as his arch-nemesis. The two of them go back to when Knuckles' foolery cost Charlie his first job. Years later, Knuckles tried making up for his past mistakes to Charlie, only to ruin Charlie's otherwise great life. This pushed Charlie to become a supervillain so he could get revenge on Knuckles. At first, Knuckles remained non-confrontational and attempted to fix things between him and Charlie, but eventually realized he had to stand up to Charlie and what he had become, establishing them as enemies.

Unlike Charlie, who hates Knuckles with a passion, Knuckles holds hardly any grudge at Charlie. In fact, Knuckles has been known to barely remember Charlie, and when he does, he talks to him in a friendly and casually manner. While a part of Charlie's family, Knuckles would look up to Charlie as a father-figure, but he would regain his old opinion about him when he realized he was only using him.

Friends/allies

 * Team Sonic
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Sticks the Badger
 * FriendBot
 * Cliff
 * Q-N-C
 * Perci
 * MAIA
 * Admiral Beaverton
 * Mike the Ox
 * Og
 * Mighton
 * Bolts
 * Team Cybonic
 * Cyborg Amy
 * Cyborg Knuckles
 * Cyborg Sonic
 * Cyborg Sticks
 * Cyborg Tails
 * Chumley

Rivals

 * Sonic the Hedgehog

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Metal Sonic
 * Lyric the Last Ancient
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * T.W. Barker
 * Lightning Bolt Society
 * Dave the Intern
 * Willy Walrus
 * Weasel Bandit
 * Chameleon
 * Nominatus
 * Froglodytes
 * Dixon
 * Charlie
 * Mark the Tapir
 * Dreamcaster
 * Belinda
 * Morpho
 * Hypnobot
 * Bike Chain Bandit

Trivia

 * While Knuckles is a nomad and loves nature, he does not know how to survive in it.
 * Knuckles may have a learning disorder. This is evident as he had many teachers, but could not retain their lessons.
 * Knuckles may have dyslexia, as in addition to his illiteracy, he exhibits many traits that are common among dyslexics. A few examples are his inability to tell left from right, his gift for music, and his inability to understand verbal explanations.
 * Knuckles is illiterate, even though he owns reading glasses.
 * Knuckles cannot count past three.
 * Knuckles claims he cannot brush his teeth or tie his shoes without aid.
 * Knuckles learned how to ride a bike, wrap his sports tape and count from Tails.
 * Knuckles can skillfully play the piano and on drums.
 * It is implied that Knuckles is allergic to fish saliva.
 * Knuckles claims to have studied air conditioning and refrigerator repair, specifically from "Sonic School of Impressing the Ladies."
 * It has been revealed that Knuckles cannot cook.
 * Knuckles was voted "sensitive soul of the month" by Hulking Brutes magazine.
 * Knuckles is not permitted inside the library due to his signature move, the ground pound.
 * Knuckles has always wondered how he would look like with a bolo tie.
 * Knuckles has a habit of digging tunnels everywhere.
 * Knuckles is a feminist.
 * In Sonic Boom #2, Knuckles is shown gliding through midair despite being established as incapable of this skill. According to Evan Stanley, this was because the comic staff was not told by Sega about Knuckles' inability to glide when that issue was written.
 * In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, one of the collectible toys depicts a protein shake, which is described as "grape flavored with notes of tacos, specially formulated for echidnas". This implies that Knuckles' affinity for grapes was carried over into the Sonic Boom continuity.