Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles the Echidna (ナックルズ・ザ・エキドゥナ), or "Knux" for short, is a red 16-year-old anthropomorphic echidna, who is both physically powerful and highly resilient. He has a white crescent symbol on his chest. The character is both a friend and a rival to Sonic the Hedgehog.

Knuckles' 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, behind Tails, Shadow and Sonic.

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.

Encounter With Sonic
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 (quite literally) breaking into the Master Emerald's chamber in the Hidden Palace Zone and electrocution.

Joining the Team
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 &amp; Knuckles/Sonic 3 &amp; Knuckles/Knuckles in Sonic 2, Knuckles is able to use the Chaos Emeralds to go Super, changing into Super Knuckles. In Sonic 3 &amp; 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.

No Longer the Last
He has an important part to play in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for the Nintendo DS, in which he encounters an extant tribe of Echidnas (the Nocturnus Tribe) who had warred with his people (the Knuckles Clan Echidnas) in ancient times. In the game, Knuckles is a playable character. 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 obstacles from previous games. He is the second strongest and has the second highest defence in the game, losing both titles to E-123 Omega.

Minor Appearences
In Sonic and the Secret Rings, Knuckles took on the persona of Sinbad the Sailor from Arabian Nights. He also appeared as a playable character in Party Mode.

In Sonic Rush, he had a few minor appearances, the first was where Cream introduced him to Blaze, he got the wrong idea when Blaze told him that she didn't have any Chaos Emeralds (they were Sol Emeralds) and he attempted to attack her, ending up being buried under some rocks, the second was when he was saved by Sonic and Tails and he told them what happened and then got angry and destroyed the boulder allowing Sonic and Tails to continue on forward then the third was when he caught up with Blaze wanting payback, but he was distracted by Amy long enough for Cream to fly Blaze away, the last was when he was with the others, he has no hostile intentions towards Blaze at that time (implying that he has been informed about Blaze and why she is there), he joined the others in giving Blaze the support she needed to recharge the Sol Emeralds.

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 shuttleloop in the background).

Knuckles is in Sonic &amp; the Black Knight. He is portrayed as Sir Gawain of the Knights of the Round Table, and uses the Galatin, two swords. He is guarding the cave when Sonic approaches him. Gawain thinks he is stealing the Dragon's treasure and attacks. After being defeated, he nearly commits suicide to avenge his honor, but Sonic asks him if there is more to being a Knight than serving a king. He later helps with stopping Merlina's corruption of the Kingdom. Other than looking like Knuckles, Sir Gawain seems quite gullible like Knuckles originally was, and defends the dragon's treasure, a parallel to Knuckles because he defends the Master Emerald.

Knuckles is set to appear in the game Sonic &amp; SEGA All-Stars Racing.

Knuckles is also set to appear in the game Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games. In the game he is a power-type character. His main rival is Wario. Knuckles signature move is the Screw Driver on the Wii and Spiral Uppercut for the DS version.

Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)
As in the games, the Archie Comics version of Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald. However, in the Archie Comics, he is actually the latest in a long line of Guardians, collectively known as the Brotherhood of Guardians.

In the Archie Comics, the echidnas eventually returned from their mysterious disappearance (the only continuity in which they have done this en masse), and Knuckles was reunited not only with his people but his large family as well.

Knuckles has many enemies in this continuity, including the echidnas of the Dark Legion and the super-powerful Enerjak (an identity he was once brainwashed into assuming himself). He also has a long-standing love interest in the form of a former Dark Legionnaire Julie-Su, and the two of them have a daughter named Lara-Su in various alternate futures.

Many echidnas believe that Knuckles is a legendary Avatar, destined to deliver the world from suffering.

Sonic the Comic
In the UK publication Sonic the Comic, Knuckles is not only the guardian of the Master Emerald but the Chaos Emeralds and the Floating Island as well. Although he was duped by Doctor Robotnik during the comics adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, he remained sceptical enough to conceal the fact that he possessed the Grey Emerald, which could control the other Emeralds and which he eventually used to defeat Robotnik after being betrayed.

His uncertainty of the fate of his own people greatly affected him, even more so when the only other echidna he met (Doctor Zachary) proved to be a genocidal madman.

In this continuity, Knuckles was in fact over 8000 years old and had been the leader of the echidna armies under Pochacamac, fighting the Drakon Empire. However, he retained no memory of this, having presumably survived to the present day by being in suspended animation.

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 Rouge.He is unaware of Rouge's crush on him. Knuckles is simple-minded, often choosing force to be the solution. 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 shows his true fear.

The Knuckles of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie 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.

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 with the help of a local resident named Hawk (more specifically the red one, a possible play on Knuckles' own body color). He also apparently likes cheese and crackers.

Love Life
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 ceremonies 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 OVA, Sara is rumored 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 try for me, brave man?" and gives him a kiss. Knuckles blushes and yells "RIGHT! YES MA'AM!", then he goes off.

In the canon series and Sonic X, proves that he has some relationship with Rouge the Bat actually it is confirmed that she likes him, but Knuckles has never shown real affection towards her. It could be true that Knuckles doesn't really dislike her, it's just that he is unaware that she has a crush on him.

It is also seen in the game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Knuckles is seen to be romantically inclined to Shade the Echidna. However, this might be because Shade is based off of Julie-Su, Knuckles' girlfriend and future soulmate in the Archie continuity.

Abilities
Knuckles is an incredibly strong character in the series, so strong that he can split the hydrogen in the air by punching with a technique known as Deep Impact. Another feat of strength is that he can punch the ground with enough force to cause fissures. Knuckles is one of the strongest charactes overall, with only Vector (but only in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games) and Yellow Zelkova (Sonic X) being stronger (although many, many games, sites and programs say he is THE strongest). His monstrous strength also enables him to perform other 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 (like in the Sonic X episode "Zelkova Strikes Back" where Zelkova smashed Knuckles twice and when the two knuckles on one of his hands shatters after delivering a serious blow to Zelkova). 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). Knuckles can lift about 15 tons.

He is also shown to be very fast on his feet, but still not quite as fast as Sonic or Shadow. Unlike Sonic, 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 the Sonic Underground episode "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. 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.

Knuckles can use the Mystic Melody which causes something to happen when played in front of a shrine (but in Sonic Adventure 2, so can everyone else). 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.

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.

The following is a list of POW moves Knuckles has in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood:


 * Uppercut (アッパーカット): Knuckles delivers an uppercut to his foe, piercing armor.
 * Quake Punch (クエイクパンチ): Knuckles punches the ground, causing an earthquake that may stun the opposing team.
 * Revolver Slam (リボルバースラム): Sonic spinballs into Knuckles, sending him flying, then he punches the foe as he falls. This ignores armor and may leave the target vulnerable.
 * Knuckles Express (Knuckles Dive ナックルズダイブ): Shadow propels Knuckles with Chaos Control on an arc as he punches them. All foes caught in the arc may be distracted.
 * Knuckles Sandwich (Knuckles Throw ナックルズスロー): Sonic and Amy spinball jump, then Knuckles throws them as energized spheres. Impacts may stun the target.
 * Hard Line (Fly High Drop フライハイドロップ): Knuckles hurls Shade up into the air; at the apex of her ascent, Shadow teleports above Shade, and throws her up even higher. Shade then comes cannoning down on top of the opponent fists-first, delivering a considerable amount of damage and likely distracting the target.

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.

Relations
''[Note: Relationships unique to the Archie Comics version of Knuckles, including family members, are listed at Knuckles the Echidna (Archie character).]

Friends/Allies

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Friend and Rival)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower (Good Friends)
 * Tikal the Echidna
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Shade the Echidna (Possible Love Interest, Sonic Chronicles only)
 * Christopher Thorndyke (Sonic X)
 * Hawk (Sonic X)
 * Heavy and Bomb
 * Amy Rose
 * Shadow the Hedgehog(Ally and Rival)
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Vanilla the Rabbit
 * Big the Cat
 * Silver the Hedgehog(Ally and Rival)
 * Emerl
 * Sara (Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie)
 * Sonia the Hedgehog (love interest; Sonic Underground only)
 * Blaze the Cat

Rivals

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Friendly Rival)
 * Rouge the Bat (Rival and Possible Love Interest)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Blaze the Cat (formerly)
 * Storm the Albatross
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Wave the Swallow
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Shade the Echidna (formerly)
 * Metal Knuckles
 * Fang the Sniper
 * Emerl the Gizoid
 * Wario (Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games)
 * Anti-Knuckles the Echidna (Archie-Comics)
 * Yoshi (Both Being A Foil To Mario/Sonic)

Enemies

 * Doctor Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Pir'Oth Ix
 * Fang the Sniper
 * Storm the Albatross(Mainly a Rival)
 * Metal Knuckles
 * Gemerl
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Former)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower (Former)
 * Shade the Echidna (Former)
 * Doctor Zachary (STC)

Love

 * Sonia the Hedgehog(Sonic Underground)
 * Sara (Sonic OVA movie)
 * Rouge the Bat (Maybe)

The Battle: Sonic VS. Knuckles


Ever since Knuckles' introduction, there has recurring and unfinished battle between Sonic and Knuckles. Because of their differences and morals, the two are constantly getting into a crossroads, which then devolve into outright fisticuffs. However, they finish the battle tied, one victorious, 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.

The battle has appeared in the games, comics, and TV series. It occurs in practically every game featuring Knuckles since his debut in Sonic 3. It appeared in Archie's Sonic comics and Sonic X. It should be noted that in the Archie Comics, Knuckles was the one who went through roboticization in order to fight Mecha Sonic, becoming Mecha Knuckles. With Sonic's speed paralleling Knuckles' stength in every way, their fights are always climatic. (A silmilar rivarly is existent with Shadow in both Sonic and Knuckles, as all three have fought each other numerous times.)

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.

Trivia

 * In Sonic Chronicles, depending on the players choices after shutting down the 2nd generator in Metropolis Ground Zero Shade will call Knuckles "A decendent of Pachacamac" which suggests he is somehow related to Pachacamac and Tikal.
 * 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. Also a few times in the gaming universe alone.
 * He has also been tricked by Emerl once in Sonic Battle.
 * 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 colour as Knuckles but with a bright purple aura. A similar effect was used in episode 3 of Sonic X.
 * In the Mega Drive games he is playable in, the letters K.T.E. are by his life icon, instead of "Knuckles".
 * Knuckles's eye colour has varied in the Sonic series, changing from blue to purple. In Sonic Battle, he is actually portrayed with both eye colours (blue for the fighting and purple for the cutscenes.)
 * He and Shadow were originally confirmed to appear in Sonic Unleashed as playable characters.
 * Knuckles's music was one of the reasons for the Mild Lyrics warning in Sonic Adventure 2, "Unknown to M.E." and "Wild Canyon's Theme".
 * Knuckles and Amy are the only 2 Sonic characters who appeared to have "aged" (Knuckles going from 15 to 16, and Amy going from 8 to 12, respectively.
 * Knuckles is the only playable character in Sonic '06 who doesn’t finish a level/boss/town mission. Despite this, Knuckles does have a victory pose. This can be seen if you glitch the levels to the end with Knuckles, the victory pose is almost identical to his Sonic Adventure 2 victory pose).
 * Both of Knuckles' Storybook counterparts involve treasure in some way, as well as some of his qualities revolving around treasure (Sinbad is a treasure hunter (Knuckles is known to be a good treaure hunter), and Sir Gawain guards the Dragon's Treasure (Knuckles guards the Master Emerald, which is considered a valuable treasure to many, especially Rouge the Bat).
 * During multiplayer on Sonic Heroes, the white cresent symbol on Knuckles' chest will dissapear while he is taunting the opponent.
 * In Sonic Rivals 2 you can unlock an Eggman costume for Knuckles.
 * Knuckles could be considered the only non-hedgehog playable character in Sonic Rivals (Metal Sonic counting because he is based on Sonic, a hedgehog himself).
 * Knuckles was originally portrayed as being as smart as the rest of the characters, but as of recently he has been "dumbed down" a bit. This can be seen in Sonic the Hedgehog, when everyone agrees on gathering the Chaos Emeralds to revive Sonic. Everyone heads in one direction with Knuckles running in the other direction, realizing he's going the wrong way after a few seconds.
 * Knuckles is 16 in the recent games, with Sonic being 15. However, in his debut he was 15, same age as Sonic.
 * In one of Knuckles' Sonic Adventure 2 themes, A Ghost's Pumkin Soup, he states that he is not afraid of anything, but before fighting King Boom Boo it is revealed that Knuckles is afraid of ghosts when he says, "What the? A-A ghost?!" in a scared manner. And in the Sonic Heroes levels, Hang Castle and Haunted Mansion, when one of the pumpkin-headed ghosts appear out of nowhere, Knuckles occasionally says in a shaken voice, "You surprised me!', trying not to show that he was scared.
 * Knuckles, along with Shadow, are the only 2 charcters with visible fangs as a sign of their violent nature, but Knuckles' fangs are only seen when he's smiling or grinning or in the 2D games, when undergoing a super transformation.

Solo 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 (This theme also appeared in Sonic and the Black Knight when Sir Gawain appears and when the Medal of Gawain item is equipped).
 * 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.

Shared Theme songs

 * In Sonic Heroes, Knuckles' team, Team Sonic, theme tune is called 'We Can', and actively mentions him in the lines; 'Add 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 Dreier.
 * 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 Canna.

Gallery
For more see: Knuckles the Echidna/Artwork.

Memorable quotes
"Still got it" Winning in Sonic Rivals 2

"Ah finally"Restoring the Master Emerald in Sonic adventure 2

"The servers are the seven chaos.Chaos is power.Power is enriched by the heart.Only you can do this.STOP THE CHAOS EMERALDS" Knuckles asking the Master Emerald to neutralize the power of the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic Adventure 2

"I found them" When finding the three pieces of the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2

"What do you think you're doing Shadow!?" Knuckles when Shadow destroys a G.U.N soldier or robot in Shadow the Hedgehog

"Hey good going" Knuckles when Shadow destroys a black alien in Shadow the Hedgehog

"Hand it over Eggman I'm losing my paitence" Knuckles demanding Eggman to give him the Emerald Detector in Sonic Rivals 2

"No time for games..." When Knuckles is about to use a special attack in Sonic Adventure 2.

"Look who's calling who a thief." While Eggman was stealing the Master Emerald and Rouge called him a thief in Sonic Adventure 2.

"I'm one with the Master Emerald." When starting a multiplayer stage in Sonic Adventure 2.