Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles the Echidna (ナックルズ・ザ・エキドゥナ)

Knuckles is a red 16-year-old anthropomorphic echidna, who is both is physically powerful and highly resilient. He has a white crescent birthmark on his chest. The character is both a friend and a rival to Sonic.

Knuckle's name is derived from the four knuckles, two on each hand, which are actually sharp spikes. According to official Sonic Team polls, Knuckles is the fourth most popular character in the series.

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.

Conception and creation
During conception of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the development team wanted to create a new rival for Sonic. The final design of Knuckles was the result of dozens of possible designs inspired by numerous different animals. The emphasis of the character was to break walls.

Games
Knuckles lives on Angel Island, which hovers in the sky thanks to the power of the Master Emerald, which he is charged with guarding. Knuckles is the last surviving member of the Echidna people who once inhabited the island, though it is later revealed that he is not the last of his species entirely. 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.

In other Sonic titles, he has been seen away from the Master Emerald at times, as in Sonic Heroes, where Knuckles joins forces with Sonic and Tails, becoming the power member of Team Sonic. Knuckles has appeared either as a playable character or in a supporting role in almost all later Sonic titles, although not always with particularly major role in the storyline.

He appears however to have an important part to play in the upcoming Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for the Nintendo DS; it has been confirmed that in the game he gets kidnapped by a group of aliens. Knuckles has also been confirmed to be a playable character in the game. He is of the Power Class, which means that he can hit hard and pierce armour. He also has a wide range of navigational skills, as he retains the ability to glide, climb and destroy obtacles from previous games. He is the second strongest and has the second highest defence in the game, losing both titles to E-123 Omega. In terms of storyline, the game delves into the past of him and his race. In fact, the player later finds out that his name was derived from the Echidnas he was descended from the Knuckles Clan Echidnas, which is the same one that was levelled by Chaos. The Nocturne Clan Echidnas, a rivaled clan, prepared to rule after this event, but mysteriously vanished.

He also makes a cameo appearance in Sega Superstars Tennis in the Green Hill court, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (in the unlockable Green Hill Zone stage where he, Tails, and Silver run through the shutleloop in the background).

Knuckles has been confirmed to appear in the upcoming games Sonic Unleashed and Sonic & the Black Knight.

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 correctly 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).

Knuckles' Past
Knuckles initially lived alone, his objective in life being to protect Angel Island and safeguard the Master Emerald, 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 was the first Guardian. This continuity was the first to talk about Knuckles' relatives, introducing a group made up of his ancestors known as the Brotherhood of Guardians.

Knuckles' father, Locke of the House of Edmund, married Lara-Le from the House of Arian. After Knuckles was born, and without the knowledge or consent from his wife, Locke subjected Knuckles' egg to large doses of Chaos radiation in order to create a guardian that surpassed the abilities achieved by his ancestors. After Knuckles hatched from his egg, he quickly sported intellect and abilities that were very abnormal in children his age. Locke wanted to begin Knuckles' training as guardian at three, but Lara-Le didn't want Knuckles to be raised this way, and the dispute ended their marriage. Locke won custody of Knuckles when he was five, and retreated to the Floating Island. Like his childhood friend Princess Sally Acorn, 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 journeyed to the Forbidden Zone with the confidence that Knuckles could be the next guardian. Locke then joined the Brotherhood in Haven.

Present
Years later, Knuckles became the Guardian his father hoped for. With Princess Sally no longer able to see Knuckles now that Robotnik took over her father's city, his only friend would be the cockatoo Catweazle. Later on he became friends with Vector, Espio, Mighty, and Charmy-- soon to be members of the Chaotix. He was also mentored by Archimedes the fire ant since Guardians had previously relied on fire ants for this purpose. The Guardian eventually met Sonic the Hedgehog, with whom he formed a rivalry that gradually became mutual respect and friendship. Knuckles later found confrontation with Enerjak, who would turn out to be Dimitri, his great-great-great uncle. Later, Knuckles found himself confronted by the Dark Legion, a group founded by Dimitri's descendants, including his rival Kragok and female arch-nemesis Lien-Da. In addition, he found himself facing such challenges as going through Roboticization to battle Mecha Sonic and being set the task of recovering the Sword of Acorns. During the latter, he unknowingly met a relative of his friend Tails in the form of Merlin Prower.

Since then, Echidnaopolis was restored to the Floating Island. Knuckles then learned of his ancestry, reunited with family, and still struggled with his personal life. He had to bear the weight of being a living Chaos Emerald, not to mention being part of a prophecy that said he was destined to help save the world, while trying to be a normal guy. His time was occupied with quests and battles, among them numerous confrontations with the Dark Legion, taking over as Mitre of the Lost Tribe of Echidnas from his great-grandfather Athair, joining Sonic and Tails in a battle against Mammoth Mogul-which led to the creation of the Master Emerald, replacing the Chaos Emeralds that had originally been used to keep Angel Island aloft-and fighting the Overlander known as Hunter. Knuckles was then forced to deal with the disappearance of Echidnaopolis' population, a result of a discharge from the Dark Legion's Quantum Beam.

Knuckles later undertook an evolution that changed his pigment and awakened greater powers, becoming the functionally omnipotent Chaos Knuckles. Using his new power, he joined forces with the Dark Legion in several efforts to alter history. After failing, he used his power to reverse the effects of the Quantum Beam himself. He died in a battle against Mammoth Mogul to protect his former enemy Dimitri, and then later came back to life after rejecting the ability to become one with the Chaos Force. Because of this, Knuckles lost his powers after he thwarted an earthquake on the battlegrounds with the Xorda. This confirmed his legendary status, as according to the prophecy of the Ancient Walkers, the Avatar (aka Knuckles) would bypass death and deliver the world from its suffering.

After Rebirth
After the battle with the Xorda and Sonic's transportation to the other side of the galaxy, Dr. Eggman was able to take over Angel Island and backed the oppressive Dingo regime. Because of this, Knuckles was not allowed to return to Angel Island for a long after Robotnik seized control of it, until Knuckles eventually gained the approval to go back from Sally after Sonic's return. In the heat of the ensuing battle, Knuckles regained his powers and the people praised him as the Avatar. After realizing that the rest of the world suffered like his people, Knuckles gained the will to extend his services beyond the Angel Island, much to the disapproval of his father Locke. Since that time, Knuckles and the Chaotix have lived in Knothole, working together with the Freedom Fighters. This choice resulted in Knuckles becoming involved in battles against the likes of the Destructix and Ixis Naugus. He also accompanied Sonic, Tails, and Merlin to the Bem homeworld of Argentium to rescue Tails' parents Amadeus and Rosemary Prower, and thus was among the first Mobians to learn of the threat posed by the Black Arms, a warlike race of aliens who had visited Mobius once and were likely to return at any time.

Locke approached Knuckles again sometime before the Argentium mission, arguing with him to return to his duties as Guardian of Angel Island. From this conversation, Knuckles learned that the Echidnas were still threatened by the Dingoes under General Kage and that the Dark Legion had been split into civil war, with the two factions led by Lien-Da and an Echidna resembling his late nemesis Kragok, though the latter appears to actually be his old ally Remington, who is Kragok's biological son. Despite this information, he refused to return to the island, feeling that his responsibility to Mobius as a whole was greater. Unknowingly, he left an opening for Dr. Finitevus, who convinced Locke to entrust Angel Island to his care and that of the Destructix while he went to look for the missing Brotherhood of Guardians. Locke had no way of knowing Finitevus' true intent: to recreate Enerjak using the energy contained within the Emerald.

When Sonic was implanted with a remote control device that forced him to act against his will on Robotnik's orders, Knuckles was responsible for subduing him and destroying the device. Since it was located in Sonic's ear, Knuckles solved the problem with an uppercut, though Sally later admonished him for the potentially lethal tactic. Not long afterwards, Knuckles held off Snively Kintobor while Sonic helped Shadow the Hedgehog search Gerald Robotnik's journal for answers to his past, a quest that Knuckles deeply sympathized with. Knuckles then became the only member of the Chaotix to avoid capture by Eggman's forces when Knothole came under attack by the villain's Egg Fleet. With the help of Sonic, Tails, Amy Rose, and NICOLE, he was able to quickly liberate his comrades from their Egg Grape Chamber prison and transport them to a new home. Knuckles wasn't in the city of New Mobotropolis long, however, leaving the city on his own and heading to Angel Island just before Tails' parents began their reformist revolution. Despite Julie-Su's protests, he claimed that New Mobotropolis' need for his help wasn't urgent and that it would be a good time to patch up things with his father and help Locke out with the Echidnas.



Time as Enerjak
Knuckles disappeared during this mission, a circumstance made more ominous by Enerjak's return. Upon arriving on Angel Island, Knuckles was beaten and taken captive by the Destructix and Scourge the Hedgehog, who delivered him to Dr. Finitevus, Lien-Da, and his old friend Remington (who not only didn't recognize Knuckles, but who had taken over as Grandmaster of the Frost Legion after learning of his origin as the son of Knuckles' old rival, Kragok). After Finitevus informed Knuckles that 90% of the Echidna people had been killed by Robotnik, Knuckles drew the powers of the Master Emerald into himself, setting off a brainwashing spell trap set by Finitevus, and transformed into a new-and-improved Enerjak. Using his newfound powers, he banished the Dingoes to Sandopolis, restored the Dark Legionnaires to their normal forms-including Remington's lost memories-and sent all the Echidnas but Lien-Da and a few loyalists to Albion. Teleporting to New Mobotropolis, he easily overcame NICOLE's forcefield and confronted the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. It was only when Julie-Su, heartbroken and vengeful, tried to attack him and avenge Knuckles, whom she believed dead, that Enerjak removed his helmet to reveal himself as Knuckles, to the horror and shock of all his friends, Julie-Su and particularly his mentor Archimedes, who had witnessed the horrible events leading up to his transformation.

As his friends tried to come to grips with Knuckles' change, the new Enerjak revealed his plan to rid Mobius of technology and bring peace once and for all to the planet. When his friends tried to convince him that he wasn't acting like himself, and that his methods were far too extreme, he attempted to undo Julie-Su's cybernetics just as he had those of the Dark Legion, only to come under attack from the returning Sonic. After this surprise attack, Sonic was not able to match Knuckles at all, at which point Shadow, GUN's newest agent arrived and fought Enerjak alone after removing his power inhibitors. Though Shadow was able to match Enerjak's might, he could not keep such a monumental effort up and soon tired. As Enerjak seemed to have the upper hand, Dr. Eggman arrived and teleported Enerjak away to his new Egg Grapes, made specifically to contain Enerjak. Knuckles' situation was made even more grim when his father, abducting Julie-Su and Sonic for the purpose of enlisting their aid, revealed that he couldn't undo Finitevus' spell on his son, and that his solution to defeating Enerjak was to use a Brotherhood-made weapon...to kill him.

Robotnik's modifications to the Egg Fleet proved faulty very quickly: immediately upon recovering from the shock of being transported, Knuckles broke free of his prison and proceeded to lay waste to New Megaopolis. Easily wiping out Robotnik's ground forces, Enerjak then struck a final blow by turning the missiles of the Egg Fleet back against them, destroying them utterly. While Robotnik fled to safety, Enerjak returned to Angel Island in order to recover after losing a great deal of power. Seeking Dr. Finitevus, he commanded his "benefactor" to replenish his power, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Sonic, who had just destroyed the weapon Locke had been attempting to recover. Leaping atop the Master Emerald, Sonic drew power from it, and Finitevus stopped Enerjak from attacking him as he became Super Sonic; the doctor was apparently pleased as he saw his own corrupted energy neutralized by Sonic's power. The battle began in earnest as Super Sonic attempted to break Knuckles free by taunting him, goading him with the usual banter between them. Unfortunately, Finitevus' magic proved too strong, and Knuckles continued to attack his former friend.

Meanwhile, back on Angel Island's surface, Finitevus revealed to Julie-Su that he had "locked" his hex by making it so that it could only be broken by someone sacrificing their own life. Julie-Su and Archimedes were both willing, but it was Locke who stepped in to save his son. Returned to normal, Knuckles found his father dead and in a rage attacked Dr. Finitevus, eager to punish him for all his crimes. The mad doctor escaped, and Knuckles, motivated most likely by guilt at having lost his father because of his past decisions, swore that he would remain on Angel Island to guard the Master Emerald-for the rest of his life.

Returning to the Team
Knuckles was soon talked out of his course of action by Rouge the Bat, who found him sulking as he observed the Chaotix at work building a bridge between the new Shrine Isle-the Master Emerald Shrine on its own small island-and the mainland of Angel Island. Having just flown over Albion and visited General Helmut Von Stryker amongst the Dingoes, Knuckles' feelings of guilt had increased to the point where he felt his people were better off in Albion, where they would be safe from him. Rouge quickly antagonized his decision to take up the old Guardian traditions, pointing out that they had resulted in the apparent destruction of the Brotherhood and that he had no way of knowing how things would have turned out had he remained on Angel Island instead of fighting on the surface. She also pointed out that with the Warp Ring Locke had passed to Julie-Su, who in turn had passed it to him, he could move back and forth between the fight with Robotnik and Angel Island, fulfilling both his obligations. Thus assuaged, Knuckles happily rejoined the Chaotix, unaware that Rouge only motivated him to do so in her own interests.

Possible Futures
A variety of Knuckles from alternate futures also exist. These include a future where Knuckles apparently gives rise to a race of mechanical Echidnas called Brass Knuckles, who later menace the Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy. Another future Knuckles is one who goes insane after absorbing a massive amount of Chaos energy and becomes leader of the Dark Legion. In order to protect their daughter Lara-Su from the knowledge of what her father had become, Julie-Su told her that Knuckles had been killed by Constable Remington. After Lara-Su traveled back in time and tried to thwart the alleged assassination, her mother revealed to her the true fate of her father.

The main future Knuckles appears in Mobius: 25 Years Later. This Knuckles is a powerful political figure in his role as Guardian, and is paired with Julie-Su. Due to their shared opinion that commitment matters more than ceremony, the two are not officially married, but have a daughter named Lara-Su. In this future, Knuckles and Sonic have had some bad shared history, leading to repeated disputes between them. Among these is an incident where, after becoming Chaos Knuckles once more, Knuckles attempted to remake Mobius as he saw fit following his defeat of Dr. Eggman. Before he could carry out his plan in full, Sonic stopped him with an alien device, thus robbing Knuckles of his right eye. Refusing to have it replaced with a cloned organ citing religious beliefs, Knuckles instead had a cybernetic right eye implanted that allows him to see in all spectrums.

Together with Sonic, Knuckles was brought into the confidence of Rotor and Cobar, who discovered the imminent collapse of Mobius' timeline. Putting aside their differences, Knuckles and Sonic agreed to work together in hopes of saving their shared planet. Before setting out on this mission, Knuckles granted his daughter Lara-Su's request to become the next Guardian, something he had refused for some time beforehand. This decision resulted from the realization that he was giving Lara as little choice over being a Guardian as his late father Locke had given him. However, Lara sneaked aboard his transport, and when Sonic was sent into the past using the Tachyon Displacement chamber, Lara-Su disappeared as well.

In the alternate Mobius: 25 Years Later, Knuckles retains his memories of the original timeline due to having been next to the Tachyon Displacement Chamber when it went off. This time around, Knuckles became chief enforcer to Shadow the Hedgehog, who became the despotic ruler of Mobius. Among his assignments were capturing not only the returning Lara-Su and Sonic, but also Tails. Held captive, the trio had to convince Knuckles that Shadow's rule was not the best thing for Mobius. Knuckles soon revealed to the three, and Rotor, that he didn't take them prisoner for real, and that he had planned the fake arrest from the very beginning so that he, Tails, Lara-Su and Sonic could rebel against King Shadow together. The plan went off flawlessly.

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. 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?!") According to the Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity instruction booklet, he has gotten better about this and is more suspicious concerning Eggman's trickery.

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 around women in his bio in Sonic Jam, 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. 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.

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.

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 traveling 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.

Physical Appearance
Knuckles has red fur, long-snouted, peach muzzle, violet eyes, seven dreadlock-like quills hanging from around his head, buff chest with a white, crescent-shaped marking going across, pointed, shiny black nose and long tail that is bent angularly in two places.

Attire
Knuckles wears a pair of large, white boxing gloves with two spikes coming out of where the pinky and index finger knuckles would be, backed by a cylindrical cuff, a pair of red and yellow shoes with metal soles and integrated steel, sextuple-bolted plates on top and cylindrical green collars on top of the shoes that seem to take the role of socks.

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 labeled 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.

With non-canon 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 man?" and gives him a kiss. Knuckles blushes and yells "YES, MA'AM!", then he goes off.

Abilities
Knuckles is an incredibly strong character in the series, perhaps the strongest overall. 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 Knuckles(Archie Comics)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. It is worth noting that around the time of Sonic Heroes and Sonic Battle, Knuckles had begun to lose some of his speed but gain a lot more power. 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, Knuckles has the ability to glide as his hair puffs out and catches the air. This move reappears 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 siphons. 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 permanent, 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
 * Locke - Father (Former Guardian who is currently guarding the Master Emerald in Knuckles' absence)
 * Wynmacher - Stepfather
 * Julie-Su- Girlfriend
 * Kragok - Third-generation cousin
 * Lien-Da/Kommisar - Enemy
 * Lara-Su - Daughter (alternate/possible future)
 * Dr. Finetivus: Unknown enemy

Friends

 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Heavy and Bomb
 * Amy Rose
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Shade the Echidna
 * Bark the Polarbear
 * Bean the Dynamite
 * Sally Acorn
 * Bunnie Rabbot
 * Antoine D'Coolette
 * Rotor the Walrus
 * Dulcy the Dragon
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Big the Cat
 * Cosmo the Seedrian
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Marine the Raccoon
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Shade the Echidna

Rivals

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (formerly)
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Blaze the Cat (formerly)
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Storm the Albatross
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Shade the Echidna

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Scratch and Grounder
 * Metal Sonic
 * Ix
 * Fang the Sniper
 * Storm the Albatross

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. It even occurs in ancient mythology, with the battle, rivalry and alliance between Gilgamesh and Enkidu in Sumerian mythology.

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".


 * Other than Amy, Knuckles was the only one who was particularly upset about Sonic's death in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. This is demonstrated when he shouts "SONIC!".

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 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.
 * 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 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games(2007)'' Image:Knuckles.png|Knuckles from Sonic Heroes (2004) Image:KnuxRiders3.png|Knuckles from Sonic Riders Image:Sonicchannel knuckles nocircle.png|Knuckles on Sonic Channel. 