Sir Gawain

"Say your prayers, you thieving rat!"

- Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain (ガウェイン) is the alternate reality doppelgänger of Knuckles the Echidna from the world of Camelot who appears in Sonic and the Black Knight. 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 and his strength when it comes to his unbending loyalty to King Arthur, along for a direct approach to conflict. Gawain carries the legendary twin-Sacred Swords Galatine, which is known for their sharpness.

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 before Sonic before the hedgehog returned to his own world.

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. Gawain is permanently set to Paladin Style.

Quotes

 * [To Lancelot and Percival]: "Must we? She is the royal wizard after all."
 * [To Lancelot]: "Yes, but..."
 * [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.
 * "Say your prayers, you thieving rat!" - Before the boss battle.
 * "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.
 * Gawain tried to kill himself after losing to Sonic, only to be stopped be Sonic.
 * Ironically, even though this was a scene in which someone tried to commit suicide, the game was still rated E 10+.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Though Gawain is based from Knuckles himself, Gawain is far more polite and level-headed than Knuckles.
 * 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.