Knuckles the Echidna (Archie)


 * For the version of this character before the Super Genesis Wave, see Knuckles the Echidna (Pre-Super Genesis Wave).

Knuckles the Echidna is one of the main characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog and its spin-off comic series' published by Archie Comics. He is the last anthropomorphic echidna known to inhabit Sonic's World and the Guardian of both Angel Island and the Master Emerald. While his primary concern is protecting his home from invaders, certain threats-particularly those posed by Dr. Eggman-have been enough to persuade him to leave the island.

Appearance
Knuckles is a red echidna with purple eyes. He bears a white crescent mark on his chest, a trait tied-in the original continuity-to his station as Guardian. Officially, he's slightly taller than Sonic. He wears white gloves similar to boxing gloves and has two spiked knuckle-claws on each hand. He wears green, yellow and red footwear with a metal "Lego" plate atop each shoe.

Early Adventures
Knuckles spent most of his life living alone on Angel Island, keeping watch over the Master Emerald. This isolation came to an end when Dr. Eggman arrived on the island following his latest defeat at the hands of Sonic the Hedgehog. Knuckles was soon persuaded that Sonic and his sidekick Tails were out to steal the Master Emerald, and opposed their journey across the island starting with ambushing Sonic and scattering his collected Chaos Emeralds. Unbeknownst to him, however, Sonic and Tails were looking to stop Eggman, who had decided to steal the Master Emerald for himself. After a brief scuffle, Knuckles eventually befriended Sonic and Tails after Eggman stole the emerald himself. Knuckles, worn from the battle and from Eggman after trying to stop the thief, showed Sonic and Tails the path to reach Eggman. After Eggman was defeated and expelled from the island, the Master Emerald was safely returned. Dr. Eggman then dispatched his lackey, Julian Snively, to steal the emerald once again, with the diminutive villain employing an Eggrobo to do so. However, Knuckles successfully recovered the Master Emerald, putting a stop to the doctor's plan for good.

A number of adventures later, Knuckles was once again keeping watch over the Master Emerald when Dr. Eggman hatched another nefarious plan. This time, he shattered the magic gemstone in order to release Chaos, an ancient water elemental long imprisoned inside the stone. With the fragments scattered across Mobius, Knuckles was forced to leave the island in order to recover them. Along the way, he learned about his heritage and the ancient Knuckles Clan through visions imparted to him by Tikal, a member of that group who had imprisoned Chaos. Working together with Sonic, Tails, Amy, and others, Knuckles succeeded in restoring the Master Emerald, and Chaos was pacified and returned to its home inside the Master Emerald.

At some point after these events, Knuckles made the acquaintance of archaeologist Relic the Pika, who had came to the island after it fell near the Mystic Ruins and convinced Knuckles to let her stay on the island. The next female visitor to the island was nowhere near as friendly: the thief Rouge the Bat attempted to steal the Master Emerald, only to be beaten to the punch by Dr. Eggman. In order to prevent the mad doctor from using the Emerald's power for his latest scheme, Knuckles shattered the Emerald himself. He then proceeded to search Mobius for the shards yet again, clashing with Rouge on a couple of occasions. Eventually he managed to recover all the Emerald shards, and participated in Eggman's defeat yet again before returning home.

Knuckles was one of the many heroes to be caught up in the Black Amrs invasion of the planet, where he and his allies where paralyzed by a toxic gas released from the Black Comet. Prior to this, he faced Metal Overlord alongside a number of other heroes, and worked together with the Chaotix-and their mutual friends Mighty and Ray-on multiple occasions. He would later engage Sonic in another clash over Chaos Emeralds, this time while the Hedgehog was accompanied by the robot Emerl. Another adventure found the Master Emerald threatened yet again by Eggman, this time piloting his diabolical Hyper Eggrobo.

Worlds Collide

 * Note: Due to the Genesis Wave, Knuckles' history and memories were changed to be nearly identical to that of his game counterpart's.

Knuckles found himself in a whole new world after a Genesis Wave washed over the planet. He was almost immediately captured by Doctor Eggman and his new partner Dr. Wily, and turned into Knuckles Man, before being sent with his fellow Roboticized Masters-Tails Man, Shadow Man and Rose Woman-to steal a Chaos Emerald from the Mega City Bank, in Dr. Wily's home dimension. The group where then confronted by Proto Man. Knuckles Man managed to knock away Proto Man's shield, leaving him to Rose Woman to finish off, only for Mega Man to arrive and rescue his brother. After a brief battle, in which Knuckles Man was the first Roboticized Master to be stunned briefly by Mega Man's Mega Buster, the villains escaped to Sonic's World through a Warp Ring with Metal Sonic's aid. After dispersing, they rejoined the evil doctors, and later joined in an attack on Sonic and Mega Man after the two heroes and their allies joined forces. He was subsequently pulled from that battle along with most of the other Masters to pursue Proto Man.

Eventually, Knuckles Man and Rose Woman were left the last Roboticized Masters standing, and engaged Mega Man and Sonic in a battle that led to their return to normal. Sonic teased Knuckles over his Roboticization, jokingly inquiring whether or not he was tricked into undergoing the process or kidnapped, either of which would have been embarrassing. Knuckles gained a measure of revenge, however, as Sonic was then set upon by a tearful Amy. After being introduced to Mega Man, Knuckles was eager to join the fight against the evil doctors, and joined Tails in going to reunite with Proto Man and the Chaotix. The team of heroes soon gathered together, and were joined by Shadow, E-123 Omega, Silver the Hedgehog, and Blaze the Cat. Unfortunately, the group found itself facing a massive army of Robot Masters led by Rouge Woman. Leaping right into the fight, Knuckles proved himself a formidable foe, overcoming Plug Man and reminding opponents Concrete Man and Stone Man. He was subsequently menaced by Ground Man, but escaped to pursue Gemini Man.

Knuckles subsequently encountered more Robot Masters, but unfortunately, the group eventually found themselves on the ropes, outnumbered and outgunned. Determined to give it his all, Knuckles decked Burner Man but was then astonished by the arrival of the original Light Robot Masters, who came to their rescue. After being apprised as to their friendly status by Dr. Light, the heroes realized that their blue allies were taking too long for everything to be going well. At Knuckles' suggestion he, Dr. Light, and Proto Man boarded Rush and several hover boards to fly up to the Wily Egg. Finding Sonic and Mega Man captured, Knuckles and Proto Man went after Eggman and Wily while Dr. Light freed them. The two red heroes continued their assault even as the doctors entered their Egg-Wily Machine X, and found their attacks extremely effective due to the doctors' mutual sabotage of each other. They had almost penetrated the battle machine when the doctors restored it using the Chaos Emeralds, making it more powerful than before. Knuckles briefly lamented that the doctors' hadn't stolen the Master Emerald, which he could have used to negate the Chaos Emeralds, just as the Super Genesis Wave began to spread across both realities. Before he and Proto Man could suffer harm at the doctors' hands, however, Super Sonic and Super Armor Mega Man intervened, allowing the pair to retreat with Dr. Light. Though the duo was still caught in the wave, Super Sonic was subsequently able to restore Mobius, though not without interference from Eggman.

The Great Chaos Caper

 * Note: From the readers point of view, this picks up from where Knuckles' original timeline ended.

The Shattered World Crisis affected Angel Island as it did the rest of the planet, and Knuckles was caught in the middle of it. As he watched, Chaos was thrown from the Master Emerald to Mobius' ravaged surface. Immediately thereafter, Tikal addressed him from within the Emerald and informed him of the situation, which she assured him was a phenomenon meant to occur. However, she also informed him that a powerful spirit was meant to participate in restoring the world, and that she sensed a weakness in that entity. As such, Knuckles determined to seek out the spirit so that Tikal could aid it. Fearing to leave the Master Emerald unguarded, he reluctantly approached Relic and her assistant Fixit to watch over the gemstone. Making his way to the surface, he traveled through the Sky Rail Zone, where he spotted Eclipse the Darkling's escape craft plummeting as it fled the destruction of the New Black Comet.

Continuing his journey, Knuckles ended up in Pumpkin Hill Zone, where he ran into some old allies: the Chaotix. Learning that they had been hired by Sally Acorn to help locate the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles agreed to help them, as he sensed an Emerald nearby. The group were forced to deal with the minions of Dark Gaia, and then ran into another opposing force: the Hooligans. The two groups initially battled, but halted their conflict when Bean pointed out that they were attacking each other over a Chaos Emerald that neither side had. Nack and his teammates then departed, while Knuckles was able to determine through his Emerald sense that the gem was underground in the Aquatic Mine Zone, which he had previously visited. However, the pressures of his quest to find the spirit, his concern over Angel Island, and Vector's impatience grew to be too much for him, and he announced his intentions to leave. However, he then sensed the Emerald nearby-and the heroes found it in the hands of the spirit he had been looking for.

Taking both the spirit-whom Charmy dubbed "Chip"-and the Emerald into their custody, Knuckles and the Chaotix headed for the exit to the mine, only to run into the Hooligans again. To make matters worse, the biggest minion of Dark Gaia yet, the Dark Gaia Titan, appeared to attack them. The Hooligans took advantage of its appearance to seize Chip and the Emerald, blasting all the exits to the mine except the one that they took to escape before sealing it behind them. Left with only a flooded tunnel-too long to swim through without an air supply-to escape through, Vector reasoned upon a scheme that carried them along with water current to escape the cavern. They then intercepted the Hooligans, only to be attacked by the Titan again, but managed to trick Bean into attacking it. Recovering Chip and the Emerald, they sent the Hooligans fleeing with a sabotaged Chaos Emerald sensor. Knuckles then finished off the Dark Gaia Titan, and suggested that he take the Chaos Emerald and Chip back to Angel Island for safe-keeping. He and Chip return to Shrine Island and were met by Tikal, only for Relic to arrive with dire news: the island had been invaded.

Total Eclipse
After examining Relic and Fixit's findings regarding the invaders, Knuckles determined that the invaders were definitely not native to the island, meaning they had to be expelled. This led to a brief awkward moment with Relic, which was interrupted as Team Dark arrived-resulting in another awkward moment for Knuckles as Rouge believed Relic to be his girlfriend and Relic questioned what he had told people about her. After being informed by Team Dark of the presence of Eclipse and the Dark Arms, Knuckles reluctantly left Shadow with Relic and Fixit at the Master Emerald Shrine while he led Rouge and Omega to Red Mountain Zone to search for the aliens. Along the way, he had to restrain Omega from blasting various parts of the environment, and was confronted by Rouge about whether he wanted anything else from his life besides protecting the island. The trio then came upon Eclipse's wrecked shuttle, but before they could enter, Fixit contacted them to warn them that Eclipse was attacking the shrine. Arriving after Eclipse had been driven off, Knuckles was enraged when Shadow informed him of his decision to move the Master Emerald to a G.U.N. facility for safe-keeping. When his and Relic's protests fell on the deaf ears of Shadow and his teammates, Knuckles resorted to force. Throwing Shadow from Shrine Island to the main island, he charged him, declaring that the Emerald would stay and Shadow would leave.

After briefly fighting him near the Master Emerald Shrine, Knuckles used his considerable strength to throw Shadow to the Azure Lake Zone and pursued him there. While the fight proved difficult, Knuckles refused to give up, reflecting on the many misfortunes that had befallen the Master Emerald on his watch and vowing not to let it happen again. Unfortunately, his fight with Shadow allowed Eclipse and the Dark Arms to seize the Master Emerald. Breaking off their fight, the two heroes moved to intercept Eclipse and engaged him and his Dark Arms in battle. Though they gained the upper hand in the fight, Eclipse managed to escape defeat with the help of the Dark Arm known as Rhygenta. Ultimately, with the only other option being allowing Eclipse to escape with the Emerald, Knuckles shattered it for the second time in his life. Fortunately, Angel Island was kept aloft by the same forces holding the shattered planet in place, and Knuckles set off to recover the Master Emerald fragments yet again.

Champions and aftermath
After recovering an Emerald shard from a mine, Knuckles-accompanied by Chip-ended up in Casino Park, where he sensed a powerful Chaos energy signature he believed to be a cache of shards. However, it turned out to be a Chaos Emerald that served as the prize for the Chaos Emerald Championship being held by Breezie the Hedgehog. After locating another shard that had been made into a necklace-and stealthily recovering it from its would be owner-Knuckles and Chip discovered that several of Knuckles' friends were taking part in the tournament. They were then approached by Scratch, who informed Knuckles that he was going to be late for his first match-unbeknownst to him, he had been added to the tournament roster by Espio. Realizing that this would allow him to secure the Emerald, Knuckles accepted and entered into a tough battle with Bark. The two fought fiercely, well-matched in terms of strength, but Knuckles managed to knock out his larger opponent. This moved him on to the next round, where he would go up against Amy Rose. After Nack won against Bean, Amy and Knuckles began their fight. Amy got pumped to take down Knuckles and face Sonic in the finals, but started over-analyzing the situation and worrying about disappointing or hurting her Hedgehog hero. While she was distracted, unaware that she wasn't ready yet, easily defeated her with an explosive punch that sent her flying into the spectator seats. His next match was against Nack, who attempted to psych Knuckles out by bringing up his failure to protect the Master Emerald and his going overboard during the fight with Amy. Knuckles remained stoic the whole time, waiting for Nack to get in close enough for him to grab the Weasel and handily defeat him. With that, Knuckles moved on to the championship round against Sonic, with both of them arguing over who had won more of their previous battles. During the course of their bout, Knuckles got frustrated with Sonic showing more concern for how Breezie had obtained the Emerald than the battle, and again when he informed Sonic why he wasn't on Angel Island. The Hedgehog offered to let Knuckles throw the fight so that Knuckles could continue his quest, but Knuckles refused to let his rival off so easily. Their bout was interrupted by the Hooligans' sabotage of Casino Park's defenses, and the two heroes put aside their conflict to stop Metal Sonic from stealing Breezie's Chaos Emerald. Afterwards, with the Chaos Emerald in hand, Knuckles and Chip joined the Freedom Fighters, and were given an unexpected introduction to Sonic's Werehog form on the way back to the Sky Patrol.

While aboard the Sky Patrol, Knuckles briefed the Freedom Fighters on what had happened to the Master Emerald and his efforts to find its fragments; at the same time, he had to defend himself against Amy's grudge for her humiliating defeat in the tournament. Upon learning that he was relying upon his somewhat limited treasure hunting sense to find the fragments, Amy suggested helping him through the use of her Mystic Melody. Her first attempt proved promising, but Rotor was reluctant to let her go off when they needed her abilities to help them find the Gaia Temples. This worry was eventually resolved after Knuckles, Amy, and Bunnie D'Coolette went to the aid of Sonic, Antoine, and Chip in Apotos. After engaging yet another Dark Gaia Titan and recovering a Master Emerald shard from it, the heroes were informed by Sonic's squad of the Gaia Keys and Gaia Gate, which could be used to access the Gaia Temples without finding them. This opened the way for Amy and Knuckles to depart in search of the Master Emerald shards, and Knuckles took the opportunity to tease Sonic over his crestfallen reaction to the idea of Amy leaving. Knuckles and the Freedom Fighters would subsequently come to the aid of a G.U.N. unit that had been attacked by Metal Sonic, who had managed to steal the last Chaos Emerald from them.

Worlds Unite
Knuckles soon joined the New Freedom Fighters in Mobotropolis to deal with a M'egga Man, Mega Man turned into the minion of the mechanical menace Sigma. Though they fought hard, they proved no match for M'egga Man's weaponry, even with Gemerl's aid. As a result, Sonic's World and Mega Man's World were tied together by the Unity Engines, leading to a confrontation between M'egga Man and Sonic Man, a roboticizated version of Sonic. It also led to a surprising alliance between them and the Robot Masters, who were joined by the cured Sonic and Mega Man and by the Maverick Hunters and Team Sticks. The larger force of heroes then boarded the Sky Patrol in order to hunt down Sigma. While aboard, Knuckles took the opportunity to work out, and Sticks the Badger told him she felt he could be stronger and bulkier. It was not long before the heroes arrived at the Lost Hex, where Sigma had established his base, only to find the Deadly Six and an army of Mechaniloids waiting for them. Knuckles and his comrades fought bravely, with Wood Man allowing the Echidna use of his Leaf Shield ability to attack Zazz. Unfortunately, the Zeti used their powers to take control of the robots' bodies and set them upon their organic teammates.

This conflict led to Knuckles engaging Break Man in a fight. Knuckles tried to reason with his opponent, but to no avail, for the Deadly Six's power was too great. Break Man suggested that they might take advantage of his nuclear power core to tip the odds in the heroes favor, but, knowing this would destroy him, Knuckles refused and instead encouraged Break Man to fight the Zeti's control, allowing Knuckles to defeat him while leaving him intact. Knuckles returned from this battle just in time to save Sally from Gemerl. The heroes were driven back into the Sky Patrol by their manipulated allies, until the Deadly Six were defeated by the Egg-Wily Uppity Robot Scrambler Cannon. Sadly, the heroes would have no chance to rest, as Sigma appeared in a gigantic new body and unleashed his Maverick army upon the heroes. Knuckles and his comrades fought bravely, the Echidna facing off with Wheel Gator, but their exertions left them vulnerable. Most of the Mavericks scattered while a handful remained to finish them off, but help arrived in the form of heroes recruited by Sticks from the World of Street Fighter. Knuckles was particularly impressed by Ken Masters' fighting abilities, and the work of their new allies allowed the heroes to scatter in pursuit of the other Mavericks, who had been dispatched to set up more Unity Engines.

Knuckles and Quake Woman traveled to the world of Skies of Arcadia, where they recruited the Blue Rogues. Afterwards, they rejoined their friends for a massive battle with Sigma. It eventually fell to Super Sonic and Super Armor Mega Man to defeat him, but reality was still left in dangerous condition. The actions of Xander Payne later undid all these events, and Knuckles and his comrades were returned to the times and places they had been before Sigma's attempt at conquest had begun.

Personality
Knuckles is a very driven individual with an almost single-minded focus on protecting Angel Island and the Master Emerald from anyone who would do them harm. However, he also recognizes the danger the Master Emerald poses in the hands of villainous powers, and has demonstrated on more than one occasion a willingness to shatter it into fragments in order to keep it safe. Knuckles has also demonstrated enough sense to realize that a threat to the planet is a threat to his island as well, and has left Angel Island on more than one occasion in order to combat a threat to the planet. In this he often finds himself working alongside Sonic and Tails, though he and Sonic enjoy a friendly rivalry in addition to friendship.

Knuckles has proven somewhat gullible over the years, with Dr. Eggman tricking him into fighting Sonic on several occasions. He is hot-tempered and quick to act without thinking, usually choosing violence over discussion. Patience is another area in which Knuckles is not at his strongest, but despite this he is a trustworthy friend and powerful ally.

Powers and abilities
Knuckles is an incredibly strong individual and served as the muscle of Team Sonic; his techniques include the "Spiral Upper," a punch so powerful that his fist catches on fire from the friction and is devastating to anything. He can also glide through the air using his long spines, and his namesake spikes are both effective in combat and for climbing up walls or digging and burrowing underground. In addition to his combat prowess, Knuckles is skilled to a degree in footwork and utilize the Spin Dash attack as seen during his fight with Shadow. Due to his connection to the Master Emerald, Knuckles has limited mystical abilities, including being able to sense the presence of Master Emerald shards or Chaos Emeralds and hone in on their position. He can also utilize Tikal's Prayer to grant himself a brief boost in power.

Rouge the Bat
Knuckles and Rouge have had a strange relationship since their first meeting, due in part to the fact that Rouge attempted to steal the Master Emerald and Knuckles is sworn to protect it. Knuckles has often been the recipient of Rouge's flirtatious nature, and she delights in teasing him.

Relic the Pika
So far, Knuckles' relationship with Relic the Pika seemed to be something that he just tolerates. Possibly because of her energy and desire to investigate every inch of Angel Island, he seems to view her as a bother, though he does trust her enough to let her watch the Master Emerald, though he has a major desire to get back before she did anything. However, when Vector teased Knuckles about Relic being his girlfriend, his reaction - to glare at him - shows that he does not view her in that way, most likely because his duty comes first. In interactions with Relic herself, however, he seems to appreciate her presence, and does his best to apologize when he inadvertently makes it seem like she is unwelcome. When Rouge made a similar guess about their relationship, Knuckles was embarrassed and had to explain to an astonished Relic that he had not made any claims about her being his girlfriend.

Friends/Allies

 * Chaotix
 * Vector
 * Espio
 * Charmy
 * Mighty
 * Ray
 * Team Sonic
 * Sonic
 * Tails
 * Team Dark
 * Shadow
 * Rouge
 * E-123 Omega
 * Team Rose
 * Amy
 * Big
 * Cream and Cheese
 * Chip
 * Relic and Fixit
 * Blaze
 * Silver
 * Tikal
 * Chaos
 * Honey
 * New Freedom Fighters
 * Sally
 * Rotor
 * Antoine
 * Bunnie
 * Nicole

Enemies

 * Eggman Empire
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Dr. Julian Snively (formerly)
 * Metal Sonic
 * Black Arms
 * Eclipse the Darkling
 * Dark Arms
 * Dark Gaia Creatures
 * Hooligans
 * Nack the Weasel
 * Bean the Dynamite
 * Bark the Polar Bear

Trivia

 * As a result of the reboot done in Sonic the Hedgehog #252, Ian Flynn has confirmed that the established history of Knuckles is no longer canon. He has also expressed relief at not having his history being the "Hot Pocket of Destiny".
 * Prior to the reboot, the various Sonic Adventure 2 adaptations featured in the comic did not feature Knuckles, despite his fairly prominent role in the story of the game. However, following the reboot, it is assumed that Knuckles' participation was the same as in the actual game.