Sir Gawain

"Say your prayers, you thieving rat!"

- Sir Gawain, Sonic and the Black Knight

Sir Gawain (ガウェイン) is a character in Sonic and the Black Knight. He is the alternate reality doppelgänger of Knuckles the Echidna from the world of Camelot. He is a member of the Knights of the Round Table, a group of knights in the service of King Arthur. Gawain is known for his stubbornness when it comes to his unbending loyalty to King Arthur, along for a direct approach to conflict. He carries the legendary twin-Sacred Swords Galatine.

History
Gawain, along with his fellow knights Lancelot and Percival, was sent by King Arthur to eliminate Sonic the Hedgehog when he arrived into their world. Gawain was the second knight Sonic fought, and after being defeated, Gawain felt that he was disgraced and wanted to die, saying that only death could remove that stain upon his honor. Sonic prevented him from performing this act and asked if there was more to being a knight than serving a king.

After King Arthur turned out to be an illusion created by Merlin years ago and that it was all a plot orchestrated by Merlina, Gawain, along with the other knights, set off to use the sacred swords to defeat Merlina. After the four swords formed a barrier around the castle and Sonic defeated the Dark Queen, Caliburn revealed that Sonic was the true King Arthur of this world, and Gawain, along with Lancelot and Percival, bowed to Sonic before the hedgehog returned to his own world.

Powers and Abilities
Much like his alternate reality counterpart, Gawain possesses immense amounts of superhuman physical strength, being able to deal maximum damage to his opponents with relatively few strikes. To match his strength, Gawain also possesses incredible durability that lets him withstand just as much punishment as he can deal out, reaching the point where he is hardly faced by Sonic's sword strikes.

Like most other characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Gawain can run at super speed and is able to keep up with even Lancelot, who has been remarked to be as quick as Sonic. Gawain is also rather acrobatic, executing both swordplay and tricks while in midair. Also, by stretching his arms and legs outwards while airborne, Gawain can catch the wind under his dreadlock-like spines, allowing him to glide long distances through midair and can do so with great control over his movements.

As a member of the Knights of the Round Table, Gawain is a master of swordsmanship. In battle, Gawain specializes in offensive swordplay, focusing on powerful ground combo sword strikes and slashing dives, while keeping up a constant series of strikes, not allowing his opponent to lower his guard. However, Sonic has remarked that Gawain is good at defending as well. Gawain is also skillful enough with his swords to throw them as boomerangs to strike his opponents from afar and catch them when they return.

Gameplay
Gawain's style of fighting is heavily ground-based. His two swords allow him to strike with strong ground combo attacks, but his aerial attacks are mostly dives. He can also glide like Knuckles to cross long-distances. One of Gawain's drawbacks is his lack of a Homing Attack, meaning Gawain would have a heavy disadvantage in Legacy Missions. However, Gawain's aerial attack can be considered a pseudo-homing attack, despite not being able to destroy the enemies on Legacy Missions.

His Soul Gauge move, Gail Meteor, has him throwing him his swords like boomerangs at enemies. He can only use this move on the ground, but it can strike both flying and ground foes easily. While this move doesn't allow him to gain distance while attacking like other Soul Gauge moves, he can still run incredibly fast if used when no targets are around.

Like Lancelot and Percival, Gawain is permanently set to his character style in Adventure Mode, which is Paladin Style.

Quotes

 * [To Lancelot and Percival]: "Must we? She is the royal wizard after all."
 * [To Sonic]: "Ho! You dare mock Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table?! An act most unwise, my friend!"
 * [To Sonic]: "Bah! You cannot fool me with your lies! No doubt your after the Dragon's treasure!"
 * [To Sonic]: "You have defied King Arthur. This place shall be your grave!"
 * "No! How can this be?!" - After being defeated by Sonic.
 * "Gail Meteor!" - When using Soul Surge.
 * "To lose to a mere apprentice.... I have been disgraced! Only death can remove this stain upon my honor!" - When attempting to kill himself after being defeated by Sonic.
 * "Silence! Silence, I say! A knight that fails their King is unfit to live!"
 * "You! How did you come by that scabbard? Where is the King?!
 * "Stand aside, stand aside!" - When using Soul Surge when no enemies are around.
 * "Must we simply stand and watch our kingdom's ruin?"
 * [To Sonic]: "How dare you!"
 * [With Lancelot and Percival]: "For the kingdom and its people!"
 * [To Sonic]: "You fool! This no longer has anything to do with chivalry! Get out of there! Run!" - After Caliburn is broken and Sonic continuously attacks the Dark Queen.
 * "To think... King Arthur was but an illusion!" - In the ending cutscene after Sonic defeated the Dark Queen.
 * [With Lancelot and Percival]: "You are the one and true King Arthur?!" - After finding out Sonic is the true King Arthur.
 * "I shall return!" - When failing in a mission.
 * "Leave everything to me!"/"I'll show you a knight's valor!"/"Excellent!" - When selected in Battle Mode.
 * "Ready yet?" - After been accepted as played character in Battle Mode.
 * "You will rue the day you met me!" - When battling the Dragon in the Dragon Slayer Challenge.

Trivia

 * According to the Arthurian Legends, Gawain (in the legends named Gawaine) is the nephew of King Arthur.
 * As Gawain fights with two swords, he can be considered ambidextrous.
 * In Arthurian Legends, Gawain is the son of King Lot and Morgause (also called Anna). He is also the half-brother of the villainous traitor, Mordred. He also had three other brothers, but they were all killed by Lancelot when Gawain tried to stop Guinevere's execution. Only his half-brother was spared.
 * Caledfwich is one of the equipable weapons for Gawain. That was the Welsh name for Excalibur.
 * Gawain's set character style is Paladin, a Power-type style. This refers to Knuckles himself being a Power-type character.
 * In Arthurian Legends, Gawain is called the Red Knight which also fits his appearance in the game.
 * Gawain is the only Adventure Mode Character who has no Homing Attack, making it so that he has to glide head on into foes in the Legacy Missions to destroy them.
 * In the Arthurian Legends, Gawain is said to get his strength from sunlight, hence why he is called Knight of the Sun.
 * Gawain's appearance at Stonehenge may be an allusion to Knuckles at the Emerald Altar.
 * Gawain's final weapon, the Flamberge, looks more like a pair of sickles. They are also the same colors as Knuckles himself, with the tongues of the flames as his dreadlocks.
 * When Gawain first appears, a small section of Knuckles' Sonic Adventure theme Unknown From M.E plays in the background.
 * Gawain's running animation is similar to Knuckles' running animation in Sonic & Knuckles.