Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles the Echidna (ナックルズ・ザ・エキドゥナ) is a character within the Sonic the Hedgehog universe of video games, television shows and comic]]s. His was created by Takashi Thomas Yuda.

Knuckles is a red, teenage, echidna, and while Sonic has large, spiky hair locks, Knuckles has red dreadlocks. He also has a white crescent birthmark on his chest. He is deceptively slim, but still rather buff. His first game appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released on February 2 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. He was described as being 15 years old when he made his debut, but since Sonic Adventure, he is now given the age of 16. Knuckles has two spikes or claws on each hand, and his dominant trait is his strength. He can also glide by trapping air under his dreadlocks, and is very skilled at a wide variety of martial art forms.

Games storyline
Knuckles lives on Angel Island which hovers in the sky thanks to the power of the Master Emerald, which he is charged with guarding.[citation needed] Knuckles is the last surviving member of the Echidna people who once inhabited the island. Due to his rather remote location and the fact that he rarely strays far from his duty, Knuckles is often alone, and as thus can be quite antisocial and distrusting, but on the other side, he is often quite gullible. One example of this gullibility is the belief that he held throughout Sonic the Hedgehog 3: that Sonic and Tails were attempting to steal the Master Emerald and that the infamous mad scientist Dr. Robotnik was trying to protect it. Dr. Robotnik, of course, had lied to Knuckles, and was planning on using the emerald to power his space station, the Death Egg. In the Hidden Palace Zone, Robotnik's betrayal was revealed to him very bluntly, in the form of electrocution. Knuckles then joined Sonic and Tails in their quest to stop the villain. Knuckles has been a (sometimes reluctant) friend to Sonic and Tails since then, sharing many of their adventures, getting tricked by Dr. Robotnik, and catching the thieving eye of a certain white bat named Rouge, who tries to steal the Master Emerald for herself (Sonic Adventure 2). Aside from appearances in the main Sonic series, Knuckles featured prominently in Knuckles Chaotix, a relatively unknown spin-off title developed for Sega 32X. The game also introduced Team Chaotix, a group of comical misfits. In Sonic & Knuckles/Sonic 3 & Knuckles/Knuckles in Sonic 2, Knuckles is able to use the Chaos Emeralds to go Super, changing into Super Knuckles. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, he is able to use the Super Emeralds to change into Hyper Knuckles. In Shadow the Hedgehog, he helps out in the Glyphic Canyon, Central City and Black Comet levels, and in the Black Comet Egg Dealer boss battle.

Fleetway storyline
Knuckles is a character in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic. Knuckles' DVD profile in the Sonic Anime, which incorrectly refers to him as a mole and Sonic's best friend. In Sonic the Comic, Knuckles is depicted as (at first) being the last of his kind, and bears the burden of guarding the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds alone. When the Death Egg crashed on the island, Knuckles was briefly duped by Doctor Robotnik into believing Sonic was a dangerous villain who plotted to steal the Island's Chaos Emeralds. The echidna thus allowed Robotnik to place his Badnik armies on the island and also construct a Launch Base Zone to rebuild his Death Egg, and assisted him in fighting Sonic & stealing Sonic's own six Chaos Emeralds so they could be combined with Knuckles' into one set of Emeralds (the original state of the Chaos Emeralds). Knuckles, however, didn't trust Robotnik enough to tell him that he had the Grey Emerald (which could control the others), and when Robotnik tried to absorb the Emerald's power into himself, Knuckles used the Grey Emerald to defeat him. Knuckles spent the next few months destroying every trace of Robotnik's influence on the Floating Island, including the entire Carnival Night Zone, and assisted Sonic both when his secret base came under attack by a Badnik army and when Robotnik established a base in the Ice Cap Zone. Finally, the two heroes teamed up to destroy the Death Egg before it could launch - which they failed to do, and worse Knuckles had failed to stop Robotnik's Metallix from stealing the Master Emerald to power the Death Egg! While Sonic fought to retrieve the Emerald, Knuckles used ancient echidna technology to pilot the Floating Island and open fire on the Death Egg with Chaos Energy blasts, finally downing the craft. With the Master Emerald returned, Knuckles owed a debt to Sonic and, despite prefering privacy, agreed to hide the entire population of Emerald Hill Zone in the Mushroom Hill Zone to keep them safe from Robotnik's wrath. Whilst the arrangement was generally stress-free, the villagers swiftly demanded to be returned home when Robotnik was overthrown. In the story "The Homecoming", Knuckles discovered that a elderly, white-furred echidna named Dr. Zachary had appeared on the Floating Island. He claimed to be the first of the race to return to Mobius and was being pursued by a dangerous robot, but it turned out Zachary was evil & using the robot (in reality an ancient echidna Guardian Robot) as his minion. He had the robot destroy the Master Emerald and absorb its power, leaving the Island to crash while he destroyed Mobius, but Knuckles stopped him (using the robot's head as a brief substitute Emerald) Zachary apparently perished as he fell from the Island, but later returned, with a part-robot body, working for Robotnik. It was hinted that he knew where the echidnas had vanished to, but his story was left unfinished at the end of the comic. Knuckles retrieved a new Emerald from the echidna's Sacred Emerald Mines, which existed in a haunted graveyard. In doing so, he had to face the spirit of the Kohenyu, a race of Styrakosaurus' who were unwittingly hunted to extinction by the echidnas, and take responsibility for their death. He then was roped into helping Captain Plunder and his Sky Pirates launch a heist on an alien galleon, in return for a chest of ancient echidna documents that could help him with the Island's ancient computer systems. Knuckles trekked across Mobius with the chest, fighting the occassional villain as he went, before finally returning to the Island to battle Robotnik & a cyborg Zachary's attempt to turn the Emerald Hill refugees into an organic computer. When Robotnik was overthrown, Knuckles spent his days with Porker Lewis trying to uncover the mysteries of his lost people, occassionally being drawn into battle against such foes as a D.R.A.T.-affiliated heist team and a Chaos-charged Robotnik. Knuckles left his island to save lives from the environmental collapse of Mobius, when Robotnik tried to drain the planet's life force. Soon after that (in STC's last story), the Floating Island came under attack by the terrifying Chaos creature and Knuckles was forced to stop it absorbing the Chaos Emeralds by scattering them to the four corners of Mobius - dooming the island in the process. He was left distraught and had to be forcibly evacuated from the island, and joined up with the Freedom Fighters to stop Chaos & retrieve the Emeralds. Knuckles is also one of the few to know of Tails' legendary status in the Nameless Zone, a fact he became aware of when he followed Tails through a portal mistakenly believing the young fox was being kidnapped. The Nameless Zone residents came to the conclusion that Knuckles was actually Sonic, whom Tails had claimed was his sidekick. Far from blowing Tails' cover, Knuckles was delighted to meet people who didn't worship his rival and played along, assisting him in defeating the terrifying Trogg once and for all. The last STC storyline revealed that the ancient echidnas had been at war with the alien Drakon Empire, who invented the Chaos Emeralds; Knuckles was alive back then and served as the leader of the echidna's army. It is presumed by Sonic that Knuckles was placed in suspended animation for unknown reasons and lost his memory. Nigel Kitching's original plan was to reveal that the outcome of the war was that the Drakons were driven back but the only surviving echidnas were Drakon slaves scattered across the Empire (and that Zachary was one of these echidnas).

Archie storyline

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In the American comic published by Archie Comics, Knuckles is the sixteenth guardian of the Floating island. Knuckles initially lived alone, his objective in life being to protect it for many years until he learned of his noble heritage and the whereabouts of his people. His place in life was established centuries before his birth, as a descendant from Edmund who would be the first guardian. Locke, Knuckles' father, would marry Lara-le from the House of Arian. After a couple of years married, Knuckles was born. However, without the knowledge or consent from his wife, Locke would subject Knuckles' egg to large doses of chaos radiation. The intent behind this was to create a guardian that surpassed the abilities achieved by his ancestors. Locke also expirimented on himself prior to Knuckles' birth to achieve this result. After Knuckles hatched from his egg, it wasn't long until he sported intellect and abilities that were very abnormal in children his age. It was at the age of three where Locke decided training would begin for Knuckles as the next guardian. The decision clashed with Lara-le's idea on raising her son, and the dispute would end their marriage. However, Locke would win custody of Knuckles and at the age of five, Locke wold remove Knuckles and himself from echidna society and would return to the Floating Island. Due to an occurrence that happened two centuries prior, inhabitants of the floating island, including echidnas, relocated to another zone on issues concerning safety. Hence as they returned to the island, their first thing done would include returning the refugees that included their people, back to floating island. During this time, he would prepare Knuckles to live alone as a guardian. Throughout his secret, childhood friend would be in princess Sally, who would accompany her father to visit and converse with Locke who was the current guardian. Like Sally, Knuckles would be to an extent secluded as a child, learning history, mathematics, geography, sciences, and other issues a guardian would need to know in order to perform his job effectively. When Knuckles was ten, Locke would journey to the forbidden Zone with the confidence that Knuckles could be the next guardian. Locke would join the brotherhood in Haven. The brotherhood involving several of the sixteen guardians. Years would pass, and Knuckles would be the guardian his father hoped. Princess Sally no longer able to see Knuckles now that Robotnik took over her father's city, Knuckles' only friend occasionally accessible at this point would be the cockatoo catweazle. Later on he would eventually become friends with Vector, Espio, Mighty, and Charmy-- soon to be members of the Chaotix. He would also be mentored by Archimedes the fire ant. Guardians had previously relied on fire ants for this purpose. Knuckles would not long after meeting his mentor find a confrontation in Enerjak, who would turn out to be Dimitri. Dimitri being the leader of Knuckles' long time threat to Knuckles and his friends, the Dark Legion. Since then, Echidnaopolis had been restored to the Floating island, Knuckles learned of his ancestry, reunited with family, and still struggles with his personal life. Knuckles bears the weight of being a living chaos emerald, while trying to a normal guy. Attempts shown would include his relationship with Julie-su, and friends. As for his family, Lara-le has remarried with a child (Kneecapeon--Mace) and his father is a bachelor. During what fans commonly refer to as the "green knuckles saga", Knuckles would undertake an evolution that would change his pigment, and would awaken greater powers. However, Knuckles at the end of this arc would die using these powers to fight against Mammoth Mogul to protect his former enemy Dimitri. Knuckles would return back to life, rejecting the ability to become one with the Chaos Force. The result was that Knuckles had lost his powers after he thwarted an earthquake on the battlegrounds with the Xorda. His return would lead to his being dubbed the "Avatar", similar to Tails' alias of the "Chosen One." According to the prophecy of the Ancient Walkers, the Avatar would bypass death and deliver the world from its suffering. Knuckles afterwards would be prohibited to return to the Angel Island, but eventually gathered the approval to go by Sally. It was then that he learned what Robotnik had done to the people while he had been gone. The echidnas had been enslaved, the Dingo population carrying out the orders of Robotnik in a fashion not unlike Nazi Germany. Knuckles would confront Robotnik turning himself into Super Knuckles and would regain his powers, and the people would praise him as the Avatar. It was this adventure that gave Knuckles an awakening, that the rest of the world suffered like his people. The realization and empathy towards this would give him the will to extend his services beyond the Angel Island, much to the disapproval of his father Locke.[3]

Personality
Knuckles is honest, independent, headstrong, devoted to his duty and often gullible. He is very serious and usually likes to be by himself, but can be relied upon to help out whenever the planet needs saving. In all versions of the Sonic universe Knuckles has a rivalry in some form with Sonic. He appears to be jealous of his independent nature and freedom.[4] Knuckles being easily tricked into believing Sonic is the bad guy has become a recurring theme in the Sonic universe, even to the point of being a running gag (particularly when Sonic shouts, "Way to go, Knucklehead!", or, "You let Eggman trick you again?!") Knuckles' personality varies, depending on the universe - the Knuckles of the Sega games is extremely stubborn and is loyal to his duty, although he does go with Sonic and company to save the world far more often than his counterparts in other continuities. He is easily fooled into walking into traps. Knuckles is said to be shy in his bio in Sonic Jam,[citation needed] which is not consistent with the new games, but can be backed up by the way he acts awkwardly around girls like Amy, Blaze and especially Rouge.[citation needed] In Sonic Adventure 2, he claims that he is not scared of ghosts before the level, Pumpkin Hill, but before fighting King Boom Boo he reveals his true fear. The Knuckles of the Sonic Anime is a devoted treasure hunter (perhaps because there are no Chaos Emeralds involved in the story), almost carefree and quite goofy at times. He is said to be Sonic's best friend, but he's still more serious than Sonic and he knows his priorities.[citation needed] The Knuckles of Archie Comics is the devoted Guardian of the Master Emerald, and though he is more sulky, he is also perhaps more talkative and sarcastic as he isn't a social loner like his other depictions. [citation needed] The Knuckles of Fleetway is even more devoted to his duty as a Guardian, to the point of an obsession. He finds Sonic's enhanced ego slightly obnoxious, and is an extreme loner. He is quicker to anger, slow to trust and slightly less gullible than usual. He guards not only the Master Emerald, but also the Chaos Emeralds.[citation needed] The Knuckles of Sonic X gets mad very easily, but is slightly less stubborn than other incarnations and tends to give in to situations when others gang up on him. He is probably the most gullible of the versions of Knuckles, perhaps for the comedy factor involved in Sonic X. Perhaps he focuses less on his duty as a Guardian, but in the first season of the show Angel Island wasn't around to protect anyway. Knuckles spent the majority of the first season travelling on his own, resulting in a lack of screen time. Though during this season, there was at least one episode which focused on Knuckles, as the primary character, in a small side-story in which he ultimately gained possession of a Chaos Emerald (more specifically the red one, a possible pun of Knuckles' own body color). He also likes cheese and crackers.

Love Life with Rouge the Bat
In the video games since Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles appears to have a slight crush on Rouge the Bat that he tries not to show, and Rouge is confirmed to have a crush on him. In Sonic Adventure 2, he saved Rouge when she lost her footing and was (presumably) going to fall into lava. While this could be labelled as regular 'Hero' behaviour and that Knuckles was only trying to save the pieces of the Master Emerald, the Master Emerald is a very powerful gem and would have survived a trip through lava. Because of these reasons, and the fact that this is the most alluded-to relation in the entire franchise, Knuckles and Rouge is a very popular coupling in the fanbase. In Sonic X, Knuckles and Rouge's relationship is more advanced, both have regular encounters and conversations with one another along romantic lines. Episodes 39, 52 and 73 to 78 drops several hints that they could take things further.

With non-game characters
Like Sonic, Knuckles has had a history of girlfriend relationships outside the game-related continuities. In the Archie Comic, Knuckles fell for a female Echidna named Julie-Su because both were destined for one another, though for a time he also showed romantic inclination towards Sally Acorn. In the comic's alternative M25YL storyline, Knuckles and Julie Su are together (not married as both characters don't believe in cermonies to prove their commitment to each other) and have a child, Lara Su (though this is stressed to be a possible or alternate future in the comic, see Alternate Selves below). In the Sonic Underground TV series, Knuckles showed interest in Sonic's sister, Sonia the Hedgehog. Also, in the Sonic Anime, Sara is rumoured to be in love with Knuckles, as once he saves her from death, she says "Thank you Mr. Mole!" (a goof is that Knuckles is called a mole in the movie) and kisses him. In the Sonic the Hedgehog Anime movie, Tails asks Knuckles if he will stop a river of magma from destroying the arctic caps, but Knuckles hesitates. Sara says "Would you do it for me, brave boy?" and gives him a kiss. Knuckles blushes and yells "YES, MA'AM!", then he goes off.

Abilities
Knuckles is the physically strongest character in the series and overall one of the strongest. His practically monstrous strength enables him to perform amazing feats such as punching holes right through thick steel, shatter boulders to smithereens and lift objects many times his own size and weight. His super strength seems to lie in his upper body, particularly in his arms and hands (or fists). He also possess near-maximized endurance; capable of taking some major punishment. Knuckles' can also attack with Fire Punches, as shown in the games Sonic Advance 1, 2, and 3, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Battle (However, in Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles needs the Hammer Gloves to attack with Fire Punches). He is also shown to be very fast on his feet, but still not quite as fast as Sonic or Shadow. Unlike the hedgehogs, however, Knuckles can swim. He can glide in the air by apparently trapping air under his dreadlocks, and so far he is the only one who knows how to access and utilize the powers of the Master Emerald, other than Tikal the Echidna. He can also sense the Chaos Emeralds from a distance. Knuckles is also a proficient burrower, able to dig into any wall or floor. Like Sonic and Shadow, Knuckles can power up into Super Knuckles using the Chaos Emeralds or the Master Emerald. Super Knuckles has a pale hot pink colour and, as speculated by some fans, longer dreadlocks. Also, as if he weren't amazing enough, Knuckles has achieved the ability to access the force known as "The Power of Chaos", allowing him to perform Chaos-based abilities without the use of any emeralds. In "Sonic's Evil Twin", like Manic, Knuckles plays the drums. He can twirl his sticks with his hands, twirl both sticks in his right hand, and throw them in the air and catch them like most drummers do. His sticks are small and bend. His drumset can control the earth, creating seismic activity under his direction. His cymbals can even reflect laser fire.

Game-specific abilities
In Sonic Adventure, Knuckles can use the Maximum Heat Attack to do a punching version of Sonic's Light Speed Attack. In Sonic & Knuckles/Sonic 3 & Knuckles/Knuckles in Sonic 2, Knuckles does not have the ability to jump quite as high as Sonic or Tails. This is extremely apparent if the level select code is successfully used to play as Knuckles in the Sonic & Knuckles version of Death Egg Zone, which is normally only accessible to Sonic and Tails. Knuckles can only clear the level through use of the debug code. In Sonic Heroes, Knuckles can use a move called Fire Dunk in which he uses Sonic and Tails as fire balls to destroy their enemies. In Sonic Heroes, Knuckles can slam the ground and kick up tremors to attack enemies. The range and power increases as Knuckles collects energy cores. At Level 3, Knuckles can kick up a small volcanic eruption, spewing fireballs at all enemies. Knuckles can use the mystic melody which causes something to happen when played in front of a certain kind of object (but in Sonic Adventure 2, so can everyone else). In the game Sonic Riders Knuckles is a power-type character, and can bash his way through certain obstacles. When someone gets near him, or he catches up to them, he punches the opponent in one of two different ways - one being a normal punch and the other being one that leaves opponents in a screw form for a second or two. In Sonic the Fighters Knuckles can activate the Knuckles special where he spins around the opponent and punches them until they fall. In Sonic & Knuckles, Kunckles has the ability to glide as his hair puffs out and catches the air. This move reapears in Sonic Heroes under the name of 'Triangle Dive'. Knuckles holds onto Sonic and Tails, gliding with his dreadlocks. Using this move and huge fans, it is possible to go up instead of floating down. In the 2P Battle Mode in Sonic Adventure 2, collecting 20 rings allows him to punch the ground and stun the opponent. Collecting 40 rings allows him to utilize a move known as the Thunder Arrow, which shocks the opponent and makes them dizzy. Finally, 60 rings allows him to do a move called Power Flash and the opponent can't move for 10 or 20 seconds.

Transformations
Like Sonic and Shadow, Knuckles has the ability to power up using the Chaos Emeralds and become Super Knuckles, and he can also use the Super Emeralds from Sonic 3 & Knuckles and become Hyper Knuckles. As both he is in a hot pink form, an indication of his power increasing. Like Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles has an after image effect. When he moves, there appears to be 3 of him. Knuckles is also thought to have not turned into Super Knuckles in Sonic Heroes because instead of a true super aura he only had a super shield involving him, similar to Super Sonic's appearance in Sonic Adventure. When Knuckles is in a Super form, he gains invincibility and all his powers and natural abilities are enhanced up to their full limit. Super Knuckles can run a hundred times as fast, is a hundred times more powerful, and can climb walls twice as fast and fly. In the final battle of Sonic Heroes, Super Knuckles could also shoot Fire Balls from his fists. As Hyper Knuckles, he can destroy all on-screen enemies by gliding into a wall, causing the stage to shake. He also had the ability to fly at a fast speed without staying in the air long enough to reach the speed when he is normal. Hyper Knuckles is also incapable of drowning. In the Archie Comics, Knuckles can use 7 Chaos Emeralds to turn into Hyper Knuckles, and use the Master Emerald to turn into Super Knuckles. (In Sonic the Hedgehog #141, the term "Hyper Knuckles" for his first transformation was scrapped in favor of "Super Knuckles", which correlates with the naming convention used by the games.) As both, Knuckles appears in a hot pink form, and Super Knuckles has the same powers he has in the games. Also, before his death, Knuckles was also able to turn into a green-colored Chaos Knuckles. Chaos Knuckles was incredibly powerful, he had all kinds of Chaos powers and he overloaded two Chaos syphons. His Chaos powers included Chaos Blast, the full limit of Chaos Control, healing ability, mind control and several others. This was Knuckles' most powerful form, but he lost this power when he came back from death. Chaos Knuckles was the most powerful Chaos entity on Mobius when he appeared. Another abnormality in Chaos Knuckles was that his form was permananent, and Knuckles would have remained in that state if not for his death. See also: Super Sonic

Family and Relations

 * Brotherhood of Guardians - Predecessors/Grandparents
 * Dimitri/Enerjak - Arch-Enemy
 * Spectre - Paternal Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
 * Thunderhawk - Paternal Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
 * Sojourner - Paternal Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
 * Janelle-Li - Paternal Great-Great-Grandmother
 * Athair - Paternal Great-grandfather (also featured in Sonic Underground, Voiced by Sean Connery).
 * Sabre - Paternal Grandfather
 * Lara-Le - Mother
 * Lock - Father (Former Guardian who is currently guarding the Master Emerald in Knuckles' absence)
 * Wynmacher - Stepfather
 * Kneecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace - Half-brother
 * Julie-Su- Girlfriend
 * Kragok - Third-generation cousin
 * Lien-Da/Kommisar - Enemy
 * Lara-Su - Daughter (alternate/possible future)
 * Dr. Finetivus: Unknown enemy

Alternate selves
Like several characters in the Archie Comics continuity, Knuckles has been depicted has having multiple counterparts in other realities. Among these counterparts are Anti-Knuckles, a version of Knuckles from the Anti-Verse, which is the evil version of the main Sonic universe. Anti-Knuckles, like Knuckles, guards the Master Emerald, but in his dimension, he lives on the undersea Sunken Island. This version of Knuckles has an Irish accent, wears a beret, and as opposed to his classic counterpart, is pacifistic. Only matters of great importance are likely to get him into a fight, but when he does, Anti-Knuckles is no pushover. Anti-Knuckles at first maintained an isolationist position on his world, until Evil Sonic tricked him into going to his counterpart's world. After Anti-Knuckles saw his error, he became a fierce opponent to the miscreant Evil Sonic. Knuckles also has a counterpart named Tuxedo Knux, from a Sailor Moon themed version of Mobius. This version of Knuckles wears the tuxedo, cape, and mask of character Tuxedo Mask, and his weapon is also a thrown rose. This version is also the boyfriend of Sally Moon, that dimension's Sally Acorn. Two other versions of Knuckles come from alternate futures. In the future from which Knuckles' daughter, Lara-Su, made her first appearance, Knuckles went insane after absorbing a massive amount of Chaos energy. Julie-Su lied to her daughter about her father's fate, saying that he had been killed. In reality, Knuckles had become the leader of the Dark Legion, leading them in place of Enerjak. Another future version of Knuckles, from the Mobius: 25 Years Later storyline, is also different. This Knuckles is Julie-Su's husband, but not civilly, because Knuckles "believes in commitment and not ceremony." He too is Lara-Su's father, but one she actually knows. The two constantly bicker, as Lara wants to become the next Guardian, but Knuckles doesn't want her to. This Knuckles also has a cybernetic right eye, as a result of Sonic attempting to stop him with a device he didn't know how to work due to Knuckles again becomeing Chaos Knuckles. Knuckles also doesn't get along at all with Sonic, with untold amounts of bad blood between them. Knuckles also serves a more political function as Guardian of Angel Island. In an alternate Mobius: 25 Years Later story, Knuckles serves as the chief enforcer of Shadow, who rules Mobius as a despotic king. This version of Knuckles apparently retains his gullibility, as he must be convinced by King Sonic, Tails, and his own daughter that Shadow is evil. It can be assumed that other versions of Knuckles exist, but they have not been encountered. In fact, of the members of Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) Knuckles is the only one not to have teamed up with innumerable other selves to combat a massive threat. This is likely because the plot would be cliché, since it would be the third time it was used. Spoilers end here.

The battle: Sonic versus Knuckles
Ever since Knuckles' introduction, nearly every Sonic continuity featuring him has had the most cliché scene in Sonic history: the recurring and unfinished battle between Sonic and Knuckles. Because of their differences, the two are constantly getting into arguments, which then devolve into outright fisticuffs. However, they finish the battle tied or something serves to interrupt the battle before its end, thus putting the fans in suspense as to who is the more powerful of the two. Rather like the idea of one or more of the characters settling down and getting married, the end of the recurring battle, and the final victor, is one of those things that is never likely to happen. The battle has appeared in the games, comics, and TV series. It occurs in practically every game featuring Knuckles up until Sonic Adventure 2. It appeared in both Fleetway and Archie's Sonic comics, the latter even featuring a battle between Sonic and Knuckles' powered-up selves, Super Sonic and "Hyper" Knuckles. It has also occurred during Knuckles' introductory episode of Sonic Underground and several times throughout Sonic X. In spite of Sonic & Knuckles' rivalry and the constant skirmishes they get themselves into, in the end they eventually join forces. When Sonic & Knuckles fight side by side they create one of the most imposing forces one could ever have the misfortune of being put up against. In fact, the rivalry has all but disappeared in some continuities, and in others it is a sort of game between the two, actually serving as the plot for the game Sonic Rivals. This rivalry between two heroes is also like many other rivalries in anime, manga, and video games, for example Kai Hiwatari and Tyson Granger from Beyblade and Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke from Naruto.

Trivia
Although Knuckles first appeared in Sonic 3, he is actually playable in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by simply using a Sonic and Knuckles game cartridge, inserting a Sonic 2 cartridge in the top of Sonic and Knuckles, and then turning on the system. Instead of Sonic and Miles "Tails" Prower, it will say "Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic 2", and Knuckles will appear on the title screen. The Sonic and Knuckles Knuckles sprites are used in the game. The gameplay is exactly the same except Knuckles performs shorter jumps than Sonic (a handicap that really works against Knuckles when fighting the final boss). He is still capable of gliding and climbing walls. He also won't lose Rings after attempting a Chaos Emerald Challenge. The ability to climb walls leads to Knuckles reaching things that the others could never reach. Knuckles was originally supposed to be green, which likely led to his temporary color change in the Archie Comics. Knuckles' white birthmark was inspired by the swoosh symbol by Nike. Knuckles was originally going to be Jamaican, and speak with a Jamaican accent. Knuckles has been tricked by Eggman/Ivo Robotnik a total of 6 times in the gaming universe alone. Some believe Knuckles is a descendant of Tikal, though this is unlikely because Tikal had sealed herself in the Master Emerald, and no evidence has been used to support the idea that she had children. Unless of course if she had a brother or a sister, who was one of the few who survived the attack of Chaos on the tribe after Tikal sealed Chaos and herself inside the Master Emerald, meaning that Knuckles may just be Tikal's nephew. Knuckles has been tricked 6 times in all of the TV shows he stars in. Twice in Sonic Underground, and 4 times in Sonic X. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, finishing the game with only the Chaos Emeralds leaves a picture of the character's Super form on the Game Select screen. If the game is completed with Knuckles, an image of Super Knuckles is shown. In this image, he appears to be the same color as Knuckles but with a bright purple aura. A similar effect was used in episode 3 of Sonic X. In the Genesis games he is playable in, the letters K.T.E. are by his life icon, instead of "Knuckles". This is likely because the name is much longer than "Sonic" or "Miles" and "Tails".

Theme songs

 * In Sonic Adventure, Knuckles' theme song is called 'Unknown from M.E.' It is a mix of rap, jazz, and other styles of music. By Marlon Saunders, Dredd Fox
 * In and Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles' theme song is also 'Unknown from M.E.', but it has a slightly different tune and some extra lyrics in the main, rap section. By Hunnid P
 * In Sonic Heroes, Knuckles' team, Team Sonic, theme tune is called 'We Can', and actively mentions him in the lines; 'And Knuckles by our side, makes this a safer ride.'
 * In Sonic Riders, Knuckles' theme, shared with Sonic and Tails, is an instrumental called "High Flying Groove".

Voice actors

 * In Sonic X and every new Sonic game beginning with Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles is voiced by Dan Green.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle, and Sonic Advance 3 he is voiced by Scott Drier. (Fans wish for him to return to his role as well.)
 * In Sonic Shuffle, he is voiced by Ryan Drummond. (Michael McGaharn, mentioned below, unexpectedly quit the role after the first game).
 * In Sonic Adventure, he is voiced by Michael McGaharn.
 * In Sonic Underground he was voiced by Canadian voice artist Ian James Corlett.
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (Sonic Anime) he is voiced by Bill Wise for the English dub and Yasunori Matsumoto for the original Japanese version.
 * In Japan (Sonic Adventure and onwards), he is voiced by Nobutoshi Kanna.

Gallery
Image:Knuckles0.jpg|Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Image:Knuckles.png|Knuckles from Sonic Heroes (2004) Image:KnuxRiders3.png|Knuckles from Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008) 