Knuckles the Echidna


 * "Knuckles" redirects here. For other meanings of the word, see Knuckles (disambiguation).

"I'll probably be on this floating island forever, guarding the Master Emerald again. I may not know the whole story behind this, but perhaps it's better that way."

- Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles the Echidna (ナックルズ・ザ・エキドゥナ) is a fictional, anthropomorphic 16-year-old red echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is the last guardian of the Master Emerald, a powerful ancient relic which is his solemn duty to protect from anyone who wants to abuse it. For a long time, he was thought to be the last of the echidna race, until the Nocturnus Clan was revealed to still be active. His dominant traits are his superhuman strength, and the two spike-like knuckles on each of his hands, from which his name is derived from, that he can be used to dig with and climb up walls with ease. He can also trap the wind under his dreadlocks to glide through the air.

A loner by nature, Knuckles is independent, headstrong and serious, yet gullible and short-tempered to a fault. He is fully devoted to his duty, spending most of his time on Angel Island protecting the Master Emerald, and rarely cares for anything else. When his friends and others are in need of his help, however, Knuckles can always be relied on being willing to leave his post and prove himself as a true and good-hearted hero. He is also one of Sonic's oldest friends and rivals.

According to official Sonic Team polls, Knuckles is the fourth most popular character in the series, behind Tails, Shadow, and Sonic.

Conception and creation
Knuckles was originally created and designed by Takashi Thomas Yuda. 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. Knuckles's shoes are based on the colors of the Jamaican flag, and his appearance is overall Jamaican. In fact, he was originally to speak with a Jamaican accent.

Early Life
Knuckles was born and raised on Angel Island, an island that floats in the sky duo to the power of the Master Emerald. He is the last surviving member of the Knuckles Clan, a long-lost tribe of echidnas, which were devoted to protecting the Master Emerald after the catastrophe where the Chief Pachacamac incurred the wrath of Perfect Chaos, who nearly completely wiped out the Knuckles Clan 4000 years ago. Following the disappearance of the rival clan, the Nocturnus Clan, the survivors of the Knuckles Clan dedicated themselves to protecting the Master Emerald, with Knuckles being the latest and last of these guardians.

Despite his peoples' colorful history, however, Knuckles's own past was a mystery to him; he did not know how he came to be, nor what other reasons he had for existing, and he believed himself to be the last of his kind entirely. The only thing Knuckles knew about himself was that for as long as he could remember, he had been living on Angel Island, protecting the Master Emerald. He did not know why he was compelled to fulfilling this task, only that it was his sworn duty and fate to protect the Master Emerald from anyone who wanted to abuse its power. As far as Knuckles knew, this was his purpose in life, and he was content with that.

Having his innate oath in mind, Knuckles spent much of life close to the Master Emerald's shrine, steadfastly protecting the Master Emerald from any kinds of threat, while having little to no contact with the outside world. Over time, Knuckles became friends with all the animals and the nature itself on Angel Island.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Shortly before the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles was on his usual patrol of the island's pillar, watching over the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds. Just as he was making sure that the Chaos Emeralds were in place, however, the Chaos Emerald before his eye began to float as tremors started to occur. Confused at this unique phenomenon on his island, Knuckles witnessed the Chaos Emeralds starting to vibrate violently as well, as the tremors grew worse. When the tremors reached their climax, Knuckles heard an ear-piercing crash just as a brilliant flash filled his vision. Then, without warning, Knuckles was thrown out of the altar and fell unconscious.

When Knuckles later came to, he discovered that he was outside the alter, only to see that the altar itself  had been partially destroyed. He flew back to the alter, where he discovered that the Chaos Emeralds had disappeared. Shocked and in a daze, Knuckles left the altar and quickly began traversing the rest of the island. Gazing into the horizon, Knuckles saw the Death Egg, which had crash-landed on Angel Island, with its impact having pushed the island into the sea and caused the previous tremor. Seeing the Death Egg made Knuckles recall a prophecy depicted on murals in the Hidden Palace Zone that said that a dragon would bring disaster to the island. Recognizing the Death Egg as that dragon, Knuckles feared that the prophecy had come true.

Over the next few days, Knuckles patrolled the island while investigating the altar, hoping to find the Chaos Emeralds, but could not find any trace of them at all. Knuckles however, refused to give up and continued to relentlessly investigate the island. Eventually, Knuckles came across the villainous Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the woods during his search. The doctor introduced himself as a scientist conducting research on the Death Egg to prevent disaster, before claiming to Knuckles that two people, named Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower, were out to steal the Master Emerald. Due to his seclusion from the outside world, Knuckles believed what Robotnik said, and made it his goal to do whatever it took to try and stop Sonic and Tails while keeping them from getting to Robotnik, not realizing that he was being used by Robotnik to keep Sonic and Tails at bay while he rebuilt the Death Egg.

At the time Sonic and Tails finally approached Angel Island, Knuckles was ready to face them. When Sonic arrived on the island as Super Sonic, Knuckles launched an ambush on Super Sonic, pulling a cheat shot on him that forced the Chaos Emeralds out of him. With Sonic ín disarray, Knuckles took the Chaos Emeralds, before grinning at the hedgehog, and made his escape. With the Chaos Emeralds in his possession, Knuckles hid them away across the island, before turning his attention to his various traps that was meant to deal with Sonic and Tails.

As Sonic and Tails continued to travel across Angel Island, Knuckles attempted on several occasions to stop the duo. After Sonic and Tails had defeated the Flame Mobile, Knuckles appeared and destroyed a bridge that send Sonic and Tails plummeting into the Hydrocity Zone. Here, Knuckles appeared again later, where he destroyed another bridge that Sonic and Tails stood on, sending them deeper into the city. When Sonic and Tails later made it through Carnival Night Zone, Knuckles appeared before the duo and used a switch to turn off the lights and flood the area with water, before escaping. Later, at Launch Base Zone, Knuckles tried to get rid of Sonic and Tails by destroying the tower they were in with a bomb, but was unsuccessful. When Sonic later tried to use the Eggmobile to board Robotnik's rocket ship, Knuckles kept Sonic from getting anywhere near it. However, the tremors from the rockets caused Knuckles to trip and fall, allowing Sonic to pass through.

Sonic & Knuckles
After the Death Egg had crash-landed on Angel Island a second time, Knuckles returned to the Hidden Palace Zone. After having finished his errands there, Knuckles used a Giant Ring to get to a hidden room in the Mushroom Hill Zone. After looking around cautiously (not aware Sonic and Tails were watching), Knuckles closed the hidden room's door and disappeared into the forest.

Seeing that Sonic and Tails were still set on exploring the island, despite having interfered with them every step of the way, Knuckles continued in his endeavors to stop the two of them. When Knuckles later encountered Sonic and Tails in the Mushroom Hill Zone, Knuckles activated a powerful wind that blew Sonic and Tails into another part of the forest. Later, when Sonic and Tails were going through Lava Reef Zone, Knuckles used a large boulder to push them deeper into the volcano.

Following his boulder trap, Knuckles found Sonic and Tails arriving in the Hidden Palace Zone. Upon meeting Sonic there, Knuckles made his final stance against the intruders and fought Sonic, but was defeated. After his defeat, Knuckles heard an explosion at the shrine and went to check the Master Emerald. There, Robotnik's betrayal was revealed to Knuckles very bluntly, as he saw Robotnik had broken into chamber and was stealing the Master Emerald to power the Death Egg. Realizing he had been tricked, Knuckles furiously attacked Robotnik. When he tried to get the Master Emerald back, however, Knuckles was electrocuted, and the mad scientist escaped. Understanding that they were on his side, Knuckles guided Sonic and Tails to a hidden Warp Point to the Sky Sanctuary Zone from where they could board the Death Egg.

Once arriving in the sanctuary, the trio witnessed the successful relaunch of the Death Egg. Knuckles, however, had become too exhausted from the previous two struggles to go on. The only thing the echidna could do now was to lead Sonic and Tails on their way, and then wait for them to bring the Master Emerald back. Fortunately, Sonic and Tails soon returned with the Master Emerald and gave it back to Knuckles. With the Master Emerald secured and Angel Island returning to the sky where it belonged, Knuckles watched on contently as Sonic and Tails left the island in the Tornado.

Unfortunately for Knuckles, the newfound peace came to a hault when one of the EggRobos, under orders from Robotnik to eliminate Knuckles, went to attack the echidna. While he was relaxing in the Mushroom Hill Zone, Knuckles was suddenly ambushed when EggRobo dropped a bomb in front of him. Though luck or thoughness, Knuckles survived the explosion and saw his attacker. Enraged, the wild echidna set off to defeat EggRobo.

After having cased the robot across his island, Knuckles followed it to Sky Sanctuary Zone. Once arriving there, however, Knuckles was ambushed by EggRobo, who grabbed Knuckles with his Eggmobile. Knuckles was then brough before Mecha Sonic, who had stolen the Master Emerald for its own ends, causing Angel Island to wobble in the sky and threating to fall down completely. Before Mecha Sonic could land the killing blow on Knuckles, the echidna escaped the Eggmobile, resulting in EggRobo being destroyed, and he began his showdown with Mecha Sonic. When Knuckles seemed to have Mecha Sonic on the ropes, the robot played its triumph card by harnessing the Master Emerald's power to induce a super transformation, becoming Super Mecha Sonic. Despite his opponent's overwhelming power, Knuckles managed to finally destroy Mecha Sonic by attacking the robot during its recharge cycles, though its defeat caused their battle ground to crumble.

Fortunately, Knuckles and the Master Emerald were rescued from their fall when Sonic arrived in the Tornado and caught Knuckles holding the Master Emerald on the plane. Thanking Sonic for his help, the two of them returned to Angel Island where they brought the Master Emerald back into place. Having saved Angel Island again, Knuckles and Sonic departed ways once more.

Sonic Triple Trouble
In Sonic Triple Trouble, Knuckles was approached by Dr. Robotnik once more, and was duped into believing that Sonic and Tails were out to steal the Chaos Emeralds, not realizing he was being used to gather the Emeralds for Robotnik after the doctor had lost them following a weapon test accident, and as well to deal with Sonic. Regardless, Knuckles resolved to keep the Chaos Emeralds away from Sonic and Tails.

Acting in good time, Knuckles managed to beat Sonic and Tails to it by finding the five lost Chaos Emeralds first, which were then hid away in the Special Stages. When Knuckles later found Sonic and Tails as the duo was searching for information on the emeralds, he appeared before them and blocked their path, and told Sonic spitefully that he would never get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds, before making his escape.

After their encounter, Knuckles tried on several occasions to hinder Sonic and Tails's quest to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. In Great Turquoise Zone and Meta Junglira Zone, Knuckles appeared before Sonic and Tails and triggered a torrent of flames that blew them away, while in Robotnik Winter Zone, he tried to bury them alive in an avalanche. In Tidal Plant, Knuckles finally decided to face Sonic and Tails head on, here using an underwater vehicle, but was defeated.

Following his defeat, Knuckles was trapped inside a cage in the Atomic Destroyer Zone by Robotnik. Later, after Sonic and Tails had defeated Robotnik, Knuckles was freed from his captivity by the duo, and Knuckles made up on good terms with his friends once more, before taking his leave.

Knuckles' Chaotix
In Knuckles Chaotix, a few months after the events of Sonic & Knuckles, Knuckles noticed one day that a new island had suddenly risen in the southern ocean as a result of tectonic activity simulated by the Master Emerald's presence when Angel Island sank into the sea. What irked Knuckles even more so was that energy from the Master Emerald's pillar was transforming the island from a barren rock into a lush tropical paradise at a unnatural fast rate.

Annoyed with questions about this phenomenon, Knuckles believed that there had to be something on that island that was causing all this, and began to speculated that it held the remains of a legendary civilization that perished long ago. It eventually occurred to Knuckles that something on the island was resonating with the Master Emerald's pillar, amplifying its power. Knuckles, devoted to his duty as guardian, therefore headed out to the island alone to determine if it was threat to the Master Emerald.

When Knuckles arrived on the island, he noticed to his shock that it had been converted into the Newtrogic High Zone by Dr. Robotnik, who had arrived on the island to find the Chaos Rings in order to synthesize Dark Rings that would allow the doctor to summon the Master Emerald and conquer the world. Some time after arriving, Knuckles found Robotnik, who was in the process of trapping Espio the Chameleon in his Combi Catcher. Appearing before the scientist, Knuckles managed to scare Robotnik off, and he freed Espio from his prison. No sooner, Knuckles and Espio saw Robotnik being carried to safety by Metal Sonic, and the two of them decided to team up to free Robotnik's other captives, collect the Chaos Rings, and put a stop to Robotnik's plans.

Together, Knuckles and Espio managed to free Robotnik's other captives, namely Vector the Crocodile, Charmy Bee and Mighty the Armadillo, who joined them in their mission, forming the Chaotix. The group was also joined by Heavy and Bomb, two robots that had deflected from Robotnik's forces. Over the course of their adventure, Knuckles and his group managed to get all six Chaos Rings before Robotnik, and stopped the scientist's usage of the Dark Rings on several occasions.

Eventually, Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix came under attack by Metal Sonic, who they managed to defeat, though the resulting battle caused them all to fall into a closed battle arena. There, Knuckles and the others were attacked by Metal Sonic Kai, an enhanced form of Metal Sonic and Robotnik's final trump card. Knuckles and the Chaotix still managed to defeat Metal Sonic Kai despite the robot's increased power, thus ending Robotnik's plans and restoring peace to the island.

Sonic the Fighters
In Sonic the Fighters, Dr. Robotnik had gone and built the Death Egg II, from where he prepared to unleash his forces on Earth for conquest. To face this threat, Knuckles entered a fighting tournament where the winner got to collect all the Chaos Emeralds from the other participants, where he himself already had the red Chaos Emerald. Should he win all the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles would then earn the right to use Tails's Lunar Fox to travel to the Death Egg II and destroy it.

During one of the rounds of the tournament, Knuckles went up against Sonic. Despite his best efforts against his rival, however, Knuckles was defeated by Sonic in a best out of three match. Knuckles then threw a fit as Sonic claimed his Chaos Emerald and advanced in the tournament, with Sonic eventually winning it and managing to destroy the Death Egg II.

Sonic 3D Blast
In Sonic 3D Blast, Knuckles joined Sonic and Tails on their journey to Flicky Island. Having heard legends that the Flicky birds on the island held the key to finding the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails traveled there in hopes of finding these gems. When the trio finally arrived on the Flicky Island, however, Knuckles and the others found the whole place in disarray. It turned out that Dr. Robotnik had arrived on the island before them and established a base there, from where he trapped the native Flickies in his Badniks and used them to search for the Chaos Emeralds, which happened to be located on the island. Learning of the doctor's nefarious plans and deeds, Knuckles and the others decided to put a stop to Robotnik's plans by freeing the Flickies from their captivity, return them to their home dimension, and collect the Chaos Emeralds first.

While Sonic traveled across the island, freeing the Flickies, Knuckles and Tails helped Sonic find the Chaos Emeralds by taking him to their locations. With Knuckles and Tails's assistance, Sonic was successful in freeing the island from Robotnik's tyranny, and bringing peace back to the island.

Sonic R
In Sonic R, Knuckles heard from some global advertisement that the World Grand Prix, where all the best racers in the world would participate, was about to take place. Once he learned that Sonic was going to participate in this event, Knuckles entered the World Grand Prix himself, not willing to miss the chance to compete against his blue rival once more.

During the World Grand Prix, Knuckles not only went up against Sonic, but also Tails, Amy Rose, and Dr. Robotnik and his lackeys, who were using the competition to locate the Chaos Emeralds on the race tracks. At the end of the tournament, Knuckles had been outraced by Sonic, but the heroes managed to keep Robotnik from getting the Chaos Emeralds, ensuring the world's safety once more.

Sonic Adventure
In Sonic Adventure, Knuckles went on a quest to find the shards of the Master Emerald, after the large gem was shattered due to the actions of Dr. Eggman, in the doctor's attempt to take control of Chaos, a creature sealed up inside the Master Emerald. Along the way, Knuckles learned more about his ancestor's history.

In the beginning of the story, on Angel Island in the dusk of night, Knuckles was sitting beside the Master Emerald at its altar, drifting to sleep while lamenting the story of his life. Suddenly, he was awakened by a large shattering noise, and found Chaos next to the shattered Master Emerald. As Knuckles was left shocked and enraged at the damage done to the relic, he assumed that Chaos was behind it and went on to attack it. However, the beast blindsided Knuckles, sending him flying off the altar, and escape. Knuckles then suddenly felt that Angel Island was falling from the sky, which he knew was due to the Master Emerald's absence, resulting in the island falling into the sea next to the Mystic Ruins.

Knowing that the Master Emerald could be restored if he found all its fragments, Knuckles left Angel Island to search for its wide-scattered Emerald Shards. After finding the Emerald Shards in Speed Highway and Casinopolis in Station Square, Knuckles was pulled into the past of the Mystic Ruins, when the Knuckles Clan was still thriving, by Tikal's spirit. Through Knuckles did not recognize the place, he found it confusingly familiar. While there, Knuckles witnessed Tikal's futile attempts to convince Pachacamac of abandoning his warmongering ways, before he was sent back to the present.

As he pondered about what just happened, Knuckles spotted Dr. Eggman and a shine in doctor's hand, which Knuckles believed to be a piece of the Master Emerald, and began following the doctor. Once Knuckles had cornered Eggman, however, the doctor revealed his possession to be a Chaos Emerald, before giving it to Chaos 1, transforming it into Chaos 2. Recognizing the creature from his island, Knuckles attacked and defeated Chaos 2. After the battle, Knuckles was then told by the departing Eggman, much to his own confusion, that Sonic was after the Emerald Shards too. Wondering why the blue blur wanted the shards, Knuckles decided to find Sonic to get some answers.

After returning from Red Mountain, having found some more Emerald Shards there, Knuckles came across Sonic and Tails. Seeing a shine in Sonic's hands, Knuckles believed it was Emerald Shards, and proceeded to attack them, demanding the Emeralds back. Knuckles and Sonic, with aid from Tails, duke it out for a while, only for Sonic to lose his two emeralds during the fight, and having Eggman, who had just appeared, nab them. Knuckles then saw to his chock that they were actually Chaos Emeralds, and was even more surprised when Eggman revealed that he had tricked him so that he could steal the Emeralds. Eggman the gave the Chaos Emeralds to the newly arrived Chaos 2, causing it to transform into Chaos 4. Unshaken by Chaos's new form, Knuckles, with Sonic and Tails's aid, defeated Chaos 4. As Eggman left in the Egg Carrier, with Sonic and Tails going after him, Knuckles went to find the rest of the Emerald Shards.

After finding more Emerald Shards in Lost World, Knuckles was send back to the past again, where he saw Tikal trying to make Chaos leave the Altar of the Emeralds with the Chao, but to no avail. Knuckles was then sent back to the present again, in front of the present-day alter. Despite his own confusion, Knuckles tried to restore the Master Emerald, only to see that it was still missing a few pieces. Knuckles then saw the Egg Carrier's image in the Master Emerald, and deduced that that was where the last Emerald Shards were.

As he left altar, Knuckles spotted E-102 Gamma heading to the jungle, and decided to follow the robot, believing it would lead him to the Egg Carrier. Soon after, Knuckles found the Egg Carrier and sneaked aboard. After finding the last Emerald Shards on the Sky Deck, Knuckles prepared to return home, but was then sent to the past again, where he found the alter under a thick flame. He walked over to Tikal and attempted to find out what was going on, but failed when Tikal ran to the Master Emerald, sending him back to his time. Back on the Egg Carrier, Knuckles tried to leave, but then spotted Eggman and Sonic. As he met up with Sonic, who went after Eggman shortly after, Knuckles was confronted by Chaos 6. After a long battle, Knuckles had Chaos relinquish the six Chaos Emeralds it had absorbed. When the Egg Carrier then began to self-destruct, Knuckles glided back to Angel Island with the six Chaos Emeralds. Back at the Island, Knuckles fully restored the Master Emerald, allowing the giant gem to hoist Angel Island back to the heavens. With Knuckles once again at peace, he initially wondered what his existence meant, but decided it did not matter.

Not long after, however, the Angel Island soon fell back down from the sky again. Knuckles, baffled as to why this had happen, decided to find Sonic for advice, believing the Chaos Emeralds he had brought back with him had something to do with it. Before he could head out, however, he found Eggman beaten up in front of the altar. No sooner, Knuckles was ambushed by Chaos, who took his Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles was later found by Sonic and Tails, and he informed them of Chaos's return and warned them that Chaos would destroy the world with the Chaos Emeralds, before telling them to keep the last Emerald safe, though they failed to do so.

Knuckles later traveled to the ruins of Station Square where Perfect Chaos, Chaos' ultimate form, was on a rampage. There, he found four of the now-drained Chaos Emeralds, and brought them to Sonic, somewhat reluctantly agreeing with Tails that Sonic could still harness the emeralds' positive Chaos Energy to stop Chaos. With all seven Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles later bore witness to Sonic's transformation into Super Sonic and triumphant victory against Perfect Chaos. After the battle, Knuckles looked on with content, as Chaos was returned to a peaceful creature once more and departed with Tikal to regions unknown, while things returned to normal.

Sonic Shuffle
In Sonic Shuffle, Knuckles was hanging out with Sonic, Tails and Amy, when they were suddenly transported into Maginaryworld. After landing in the Temple of Light, Knuckles took a look around their new location and wondered if they were all dreaming. Here, the group met a fairy-like being named Lumina Flowlight, the person responsible for transporting them to Maginaryworld.

Knuckles asked Lumina where they were, and she introduced Maginaryworld to him and the others. Lumina then explained that they were brought here to help save the Precioustone, the object that sustained Maginaryworld, which had been shattered by Void when he tried to steal it. Its pieces were then scattered to different part of this world and had made their ruler and protector of the Precioustone, Illumina, vanish as well. As Lumina explained that she needed Knuckles and the others' help to recover the pieces of the Precioustone, or Void’s darkness would bring Marginary World's end, Knuckles agreed to help, remarking that he got nothing better to do.

The party began their adventure by recovering the Precioustone pieces from the different worlds within Maginaryworld, and restore the places affected by Void. Each time after finding a Precioustone piece, Knuckles and the others had a vision where they saw and interacted with Void. While Knuckles and the gang initially stood against Void, with Knuckles insisting on protecting this world, they began to see that Void showed signs of depression and loneliness which touched their hearts, and they began to see that there were more to Void than they believed.

After Knuckles and the others had collected the missing Precioustone pieces and returned them to the Temple of Light, they went back to the temple as Void was going there to seek out the gem again. When Knuckles and the others got to the temple to stop Void, Void claimed he just want to become whole, but never could. With Knuckles and the others rejecting him, Void’s loneliness and despair reached its peak and he transformed into a monster.

Knuckles, Sonic and Tails and Amy fought and defeated Void, but Lumina gave into despair as the Precioustone was not recovering and feared it was the end of her world, despite Knuckles telling her it could not end like this. When Sonic found Void in the form of a dark gem, Knuckles and the others understood that Void and Lumina embodied the positive and negative aspects of dreams and were two halves of the same being. As the group tried to make Lumina accept Void, Knuckles told her that people only lose their dreams when they give up on themselves, a fact that he remarked Lumina should know all about.

With everyone’s help, Lumina understood that both positive and negative feelings were necessary for dreams to exist. Knuckles and the group then witnessed Lumina restoring the Precioustone, and Lumina and Void returning to their original form, Illumina. As Marginaryworld was restored to an even better place, Knuckles and the gang heard Illumina explaining that it was her own despair that split her into Lumina and Void. With Illumina's gratitude, Knuckles and the others returned to their own world.

Sonic Adventure 2
In Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles discovered that the Master Emerald had been stolen by Rouge the Bat. Tracking her to a desert area, Knuckles confronted Rouge and got into an argument with her about the ownership of the Master Emerald. As Knuckles explained to Rouge about the abilities the Master Emerald had, the gem was stolen by Dr. Eggman, who arrived hoping to find the Chaos Emeralds. When Eggman tried to escape, Knuckles voluntarily shattered the Master Emerald, scattering its Emerald Shards everywhere, to prevent the theft. Knuckles was then berated by Rouge for smashing the Master Emerald, but Knuckles told her why he did that and that he could reform it later. As Rouge left, saying that the Master Emerald would be hers, Knuckles rebuked that, saying that they would see about that.

Beginning his search for the Emerald Shards, Knuckles started out in Wild Canyon, where he managed to find some Emerald Shards. From there, Knuckles traveled to Pumpkin Hill in a mountainous region. Despite being unsettled by the haunted grounds, Knuckles managed to find more Emerald Shards. After that, Knuckles's search took him into Aquatic Mine in a mountainous region, a dangerous mine that Knuckles found tougher that he believed it to be.

After finding more Emerald Shards in the Aquatic Mine, Knuckles got lost in the tunnels inside the mines, and ended up the sewers of Central City. Emerging from a manhole in the streets, Knuckles came across Tails and Amy, who he casually greeted upon meeting them. When he tried to ask where they were, however, Knuckles found himself literally dragged into Sonic's latest adventure by Amy, where Sonic, Tails and Amy were trying to stop Dr. Eggman from using the Eclipse Cannon to hold the Earth hostage and take over the world.

Having determined that Eggman was on Space Colony ARK, Knuckles led the group to the pyramid that Eggman's base was located at, having witnessed both Eggman and Rouge enter it. Believing there was a space shuttle in there that they could use to get to Space Colony ARK and destroy the Eclipse Cannon, Knuckles and the other infiltrated the base. After getting inside, Sonic had Knuckles volunteer to find the keys to the base's center, though Knuckles was not too keen on it. After finding the keys, Knuckles was attacked by King Boom Boo, but he managed to defeat the ghost. After having gaining access to the launch pad of the shuttle, Knuckles and the others were ambushed by Eggman with the Egg Golem. While Sonic dealt with and defeated the Egg Golem, Knuckles and the others got onboard and launched a space shuttle, with Sonic joining them just in the nick of time.

While en route to Space Colony ARK, the group's space shuttle hit a stray asteroid, causing the cargo bay to open and releasing the Emerald Shards that were stored there. Panicking, Knuckles insisted that they went back to get them, and tried to take control of the shuttle and make it turn around, only to cause it to crash land on Space Colony ARK when he pulled a lever. After their death defying landing, Knuckles left the group without a word to find the Emerald Shards.

Arriving in Meteor Herd, Knuckles managed to find some Emerald Shards, before meeting Rouge again. With Rouge continuing to claim the Master Emerald as her own, Knuckles was through talking and they began fighting. As they fought to a stalemate and continued to argue, Knuckles saved Rouge's life when she tripped and nearly fell into a magma pit. Despite this, Knuckles was berated Rouge, who believed he did it just to hold her hand. Angry at her treatment despite saving her life, Knuckles told Rouge that he did it to save the Emerald Shards she had. Regardless, Rouge returned her Emerald Shards to Knuckles as thanks, and Knuckles finally restored the Master Emerald. As he left, Knuckles swallowed his pride and apologized to Rouge in the case that he hurt her.

After having made it back inside, Knuckles sensed Chaos Energy and witnessed Sonic appearing in front of him when Sonic used Chaos Control to warp back inside the Space Colony ARK from an exploding capsule with a fake Chaos Emerald. As he checked up on Sonic, Knuckles was told by him to go help Tails and Amy, before Sonic left to destroy the Eclipse Cannon.

When Knuckles and Sonic arrived in the main control room of the Space Colony ARK after the Eclipse Cannon was destroyed, they discovered that the station gave off vibrations. Here, Knuckles met Rouge, who told them that the ARK was on a collision course with earth. Knuckles and the others then saw a recording of Gerald Robotnik announcing to the world that the ARK's impact would destroy the planet, wiping out the human race as his revenge at the world for the death of his granddaughter, Maria. Banding together with Eggman, Rouge got the idea that they could use the Master Emerald to deactivate the seven Chaos Emeralds, which was powering the cannon's core, to stop the Space Colony's crash course, something Knuckles realized could just work.

With everyone working together, Knuckles and Sonic made it to the core, but were then attacked by the Biolizard. Fortunately, Shadow arrived and held off the Biolizard, while Knuckles and Sonic made it to the shrine. Reciting Tikal's prayer, Knuckles use the Master Emerald to successfully neutralize the Chaos Emeralds. In response, however, the Biolizard warped outside the ARK and merged with it, becoming the Finalhazard and kept the ARK on its collision course. Knuckles then witnessed Sonic and Shadow using the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and Super Shadow, and gave them advice against the Finalhazard through transmission lines.

After Super Sonic and Super Shadow had defeated the Finalhazard and brought the Space Colony ARK back into orbit with Chaos Control, Knuckles and the others found Sonic returning alone, informing them that Shadow had seemingly died from falling into the atmosphere. As they processed all that had happen, Knuckles asked Rouge what she planned to do next, expecting her to continue her hunt for jewels. Rouge, however, told Knuckles that she considered giving up that profession, though she was sure it would work out, something Knuckles was content with. With everything over, Knuckles and the others returned to Earth.

Knuckles has a variety of different costumes in Sonic Adventure 2.

Sonic Advance
In Sonic Advance, Knuckles joined forces with Sonic, Tails and Amy to stop Dr. Eggman from obtaining the seven Chaos Emeralds, as the doctor's resumed his hunt for the Emeralds. In the end, Knuckles and the others managed to beat Eggman to it and got the Chaos Emeralds first. After having defeated Eggman on several occasions, Knuckles, Tails and Amy remained back on Earth, while Super Sonic faced Dr. Eggman in a final confrontation on the Moon. As Sonic did not return following his victory over Eggman, Knuckles and the others wondered what had happen to Sonic as they awaited his return. A few days later though, Sonic finally returned to Earth.

Sonic Advance 2
In Sonic Advance 2, Knuckles was kidnapped alongside Tails by Dr. Eggman when the evil scientist attempted once more to create the Eggman Empire. After being captured, Knuckles was somehow tricked by Eggman into fighting Sonic for him.

In Sky Canyon, Knuckles intercepted Sonic and his allies in the Egg Saucer, but was defeated. As the Egg Saucer was destroyed, Knuckles was badly burned in the process, causing him to furiously chase after Sonic and the others. Realizing that he had been tricked, Knuckles tried to defend himself by telling Sonic how strange events had made him fight them. Sonic however, chided Knuckles for being duped by Eggman again, causing Knuckles to become very emotional. When Sonic tried to leave him, however, Knuckles joined Sonic in his mission to beat Eggman, as Knuckles wanted to get back at the scientist for tricking him.

After seemingly beating Eggman, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, Cream and Cheese found Vanilla the Rabbit who had gone missing, only to see her being kidnapped by Eggman in his new mech, making Knuckles quietly disappointed at the turn of events. Knuckles then witnessed Sonic using the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and then taking off to rescue Vanilla and stop Eggman. When Sonic shortly after returned to Earth with Vanilla, now having beaten Eggman, Knuckles managed to congratulate Sonic for a job well done, before the hedgehog took off on his own once more.

Sonic Heroes
Knuckles appears as a playable character in Sonic Heroes, as the power member of Team Sonic. Knuckles, along with Sonic and Tails, chased Dr. Eggman throughout the world in an attempt to prevent him from using his new "ultimate weapon". However, at the Final Fortress, they met with Team Dark, Team Chaotix, and Team Rose and found out that Metal Sonic was the real mastermind behind the plot, and had locked the real Eggman in a cell and impersonated him all the time. The other teams gave them their Chaos Emeralds and distracted Metal Sonic, who had transformed into Metal Madness, while Team Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds to turn Sonic into Super Sonic, also resulting in Tails and Knuckles gaining Super Shields. Then they set off to the skies to fight against Metal Sonic. After the fight, Knuckles and Rouge briefly interact, where Rouge commented about stealing "someone else's treasure." Knuckles, deducing she's referring to the Master Emerald, pursues her to stop her. Knuckles is last seen in the game running with Sonic and Tails as they head off to find a new adventure.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, he helps out in Glyphic Canyon, Central City and the Black Comet stage in which the player can choose to help him get to the Center of the Comet so that he can attempt to destroy it. He also appears in the Egg Dealer boss battle. In the Last Story cutscenes he is the first to be paralyzed by Black Doom. Nonetheless, he eventually manages to escape with the other characters while Shadow pursues Black Doom and later fights him, sealing themselves in a sanctuary. After Shadow destroys the Black Comet, Knuckles proceeds to chase Dr. Eggman, presumably having overheard the latter's comments about trying to sneak away and steal the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
In the Xbox 360/PS3 game Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles notably receives a minor role in this game as an amigo character compared to Tails' role in Sonic's story mode of this game. Knuckles meets Sonic and Tails in the warehouse district of New City of Soleanna to pass a message to Sonic by Eggman who demands the blue Chaos Emeralds Sonic currently possess in exchange for the safe return of Princess Elise. Team Sonic head rush to Eggman's base in White Acropolis where Eggman and Elise are waiting for the trio's arrival. Although Sonic passes the Emerald to Eggman, the evil doctor double-crosses the trio and traps them in a barrier. Knuckles tries to punch the barrier but it's too strong to break. Eggman demonstrates his 'Solaris' prototype (the name which surprises the frightened Elise) to the three heroes and sends them to the future.

The trio also encounter Shadow and Rouge in this apocalyptic future and decided to work together to find two Chaos Emeralds which will help them to return back to the present. While searching, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles discovered Silver, his friend Blaze and Mephiles who were planning to travel back to the present to kill the 'Iblis Trigger'. After they did, Team Sonic accesses the computer files only to discover that Princess Elise died two days after the Festival of the Sun'. After finding two Chaos Emeralds with Shadow and Rouge, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles find themselves back in the present.

Knuckles is not seen again until the near-end of the story, when the trio meet up again in Aquatic Base. Later on in the Last Story, Knuckles, along with Tails find themselves caught in Solaris' distortion and meet up with the rest of the cast and shocked to see Sonic dead. Along with the rest of the cast, Knuckles finds one of the Chaos Emeralds inside of the distorted world. Then they witnessed Princess Elise reviving Sonic and he (as Super Sonic), shares his powers with Shadow and Silver as they undergo their super transformation and then the three super hedgehogs 'defeated' Solaris. Due to Princess Elise's actions that follow which erased the game events, it is unknown what Knuckles was doing prior to the events of the game.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
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 Clan) who had warred with his people (the Knuckles Clan Echidnas) in ancient times. On Voxai Colony Alpha like the rest of team he is under the Overmind's control saying the following "Must protect Overmind" until he is freed. When Knuckles gets captured by Ix the history of the Nocturnus Clan is revealed. At first it seems like Knuckles is going to join Ix but declines, saying that he stole the Master Emerald, that it does not belong to him and he will find a way to help Shade's Clan his own way before fighting Ix. In the game, Knuckles is a playable character, although he is not available for the second to final battle (he is containing the power of the Master Emerald, and in the final battle it's Super Sonic versus Super Ix). He is of the Power Class, which means that he can hit hard and pierce armor. 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 in terms of attack and has the second highest defense in the game, losing both titles to E-123 Omega.

Sonic Rush
In Sonic Rush, he mistook Blaze's Sol Emeralds for Chaos Emeralds. When he have her advice to give them to Sonic, Blaze gives a rude response and attempts to leave. Knuckles runs after her until she leaves him stuck in a pile of huge rocks. Knuckles is freed by Sonic and pursues to take revenge on Blaze until he stopped by Amy. Towards the end of the game, he had no hostile intentions towards Blaze (implying that he had been informed about Blaze and why she was there).

Sonic Colors (DS)
Knuckles is a supporting character in the DS version of Sonic Colors. He seen in a confrontation with Orbot and Cubot and then challenges Sonic to a race. After losing against Sonic, Knuckles talks to them. Tails asked him if Eggman tricked him into entering the Intergalactic Amusement Park. Knuckles denies this several times despite Sonic and Tails' skepticism.



Knuckles is then seen again arguing with Rouge. Knuckles tells Rouge that he is in the Interstellar Amusement Park because of an inviation by Eggman. Rouge tells him that she wrote the letter to trick him and then runs off with a very irritated Knuckles.

Sonic Generations
Knuckles appears in the console version of Sonic Generations. Knuckles and the others were celebrating Sonic's birthday party. Suddenly, the Time Eater captures him and ends up in Sky Sanctuary. If Classic Sonic rescues Knuckles, asks him if he "gained weight" as Classic Sonic rubs his stomach somewhat sadly in response. If Modern Sonic rescues Knuckles, he thanks him, but says he did not need any help and states it's good to have his sanctuary back. In the Center of Time, he was alongside Amy encouraging both Sonics in their latest endeavor against both Classic and Modern Dr. Eggman. After they were defeated, Knuckles and the others returned back to the right time where they continue celebrating.

Knuckles also appears in a Green Hill mission where he races Classic Sonic and in a Sky Sanctuary mission where he digs up medals for Modern Sonic.

Sonic and the Secret Rings
In Sonic and the Secret Rings, Knuckles took on the persona of Sinbad the Sailor from Arabian Nights. He is sought out by Sonic and Shahra as they need his help to stop the Ifrit Golem, one of the Erazor Djinn monsters. After freeing him from his prison, he tells them they can use his water blue World Ring to weaken the Ifrit Golem, but they had to take it back of the band of pirates who stole it from him. He is last seen following Sonic on his last adventures through the Arabian Nights as Sonic sought out a way to return home. He also appeared as a playable character in Party Mode.

Sonic and the Black Knight
Knuckles is in Sonic & the Black Knight. He is portrayed as Sir Gawain of the Knights of the Round Table, and uses the Galatine, 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 attempts suicide to avenge his honor since he failed his king's orders, 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. His Soul Surge is Gail Meteor.

Mario & Sonic Series
Knuckles also appears 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.

In Mario and Sonic at the olympic games, he has five missions and boss fight with Wario in Dream boxing. Missions are:
 * Throw three times increasing your distance with each throw in Hammer throw
 * Finish in 2nd place in 400m
 * Perform GREAT or PERFECT in all aspects of 10m platform
 * Perform 5 succesful smashes and win in table tennis
 * Perform one combo within 30 seconds in Dream basketball

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

Sonic &amp; SEGA All-Stars Racing
Knuckles appears as a playable character in the racing game Sonic &amp; SEGA All-Stars Racing. His All-Star Move is Emerald Power, which allows Knuckles to glide above the track and unleash an earthquake that stuns all opponents.

In the console versions, Knuckles is playable from the start, but in the DS and iOS versions, the user needs to pay 500,000 SEGA miles to play as him.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
He returns as a racer once again in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, though he's changed his quad for a strange backward trike influenced by himself in this game.

Archie 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 skeptical 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 a coldly honest, independent, tough, somewhat gullible and short-tempered echidna with a one-track mind. Like how Sonic embodies the wind, Knuckles embodies the mountain; stern, unmovable and anchored to his duty. Due to having grown up on the isolated Angel Island and having been devoted to his sworn duty of protecting the Master Emerald for as long as he can remember, Knuckles has lived much of his life in seclusion and has become a rather antisocial, reclusive individual and a loner by nature. As such, he cares very little about what others thinks, which makes him bluntly honest and somewhat egotistical in the face of others.

Knuckles is fiercely loyal to his homeland, and does whatever is in his power to protect it and the Master Emerald. He prefers to stay close to the island's current emerald shrine to keep a watchful eye over everything on his home in order to maintain peace. Despite this, however, Knuckles is often willing to go with Sonic and company on their adventures whenever his help is needed, or when he feels the Master Emerald and Angel Island will be safe. Though Knuckles has been known to find other lifestyles appealing, he would never trade away his duties as he is far too devoted to his role as guardian of Angel Island and the Master Emerald. Whenever he is not focusing on his duty, Knuckles spends his time practicing his fighting skills, going treasure hunting or sometimes go hanging out with his friends

Knuckles is most of the time very serious and usually likes to be by himself. He prefers to do things his own way and is very stubborn and headstrong in his choices, which often causes him to clash with others' decisions, especially with Sonic. Though he is cool and determined in battle, Knuckles has a very short temper and sometimes aggressive behaivor which can easily flare up when he thinks he has been insulted, wronged, tricked or is just confused. Though Knuckles' wild-temper has often been known to get him into trouble, such as in his interactions with Rouge the Bat, he has also learned to use it to his advantage by channeling it into fighting whoever might be threatening his friends or his home.

Despite being a silent loner, Knuckles is also heroic and kind-hearted, as proven in Sonic Adventure 2 when Knuckles wanted to hunt Rouge down for stealing his Master Emerald. When he finally found her, the two engage in a fight, during which Rouge trips causing her to fall into lava, but is saved by Knuckles before she does, and he even apologized to her if he hurt her. Also in Sonic Rush, when Blaze got away from Knuckles when he was going to hurt her, when she got away along with Cream, Cream told her, "Don't get this wrong Blaze, but Knuckles is actually a nice guy!" and in Sonic Rivals 2, Knuckles seems to be more caring to Rouge than she is to him, like when they got separated Knuckles said, "I hope Rouge is alright!" He is seen also coming to the rescue of Shade the Echidna in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood when she almost falls off Angel Island as a result of an explosion caused by Ix. This occurred even before Knuckles and Shade became allies. Overall, despite his temper and tough facade, Knuckles is a loyal friend, a true hero and a good-hearted guy, who is always willing to help out his friends in tight situations.

Since meeting with Sonic, Knuckles has had a strong rivalry with the blue hedgehog. The two of them initially started as antagonists, due to Dr. Eggman's trickery, but after Knuckles realized that Eggman had fooled him, he and Sonic came to have a more friendly relationship. Despite being more friendly towards each other, however, Knuckles still held an inhospitable attitude towards Sonic, due to their different points of view and natures. This however stem from the fact that Knuckles is sometimes jealous of Sonic's independent nature and freedom, finding it enviable, though he would never admit it. Over time, Knuckles' relationship with Sonic has improved and he has come to see Sonic as both a rival and his best friend.

Often, Knuckles displays a distrusting demeanor towards strangers and people he thinks has questionable motives, making him rather aggressive towards the person(s) in question; this behaivor is not without its reasons however. Having been living on the isolated Angel Island for much of his life, Knuckles grew up believing in honesty, but because of his lack of social ingenuity, it has made him very naive and extremely gullible. Since he has a history of being easily tricked by Eggman - namely into believing Sonic is the bad guy - it has become a recurring theme in the Sonic series, even to the point of being a running gag, particularly when Sonic shouts, "Way to go, Knucklehead!". Over time, however, Knuckles has gotten better about this and is more suspicious concerning Eggman's trickery.

Knuckles is rather simple-minded, but not necessarily dull witted. He is often prone to rash and ill-advised actions, especially when enraged and is not one for choosing complex strategies. Instead, Knuckles often chooses force to be the solution, pushing himself through his troubles while focusing on his original goal and ignoring all other factors or questions along the way. When in his right element, however, such as on Angel Island, Knuckles can be quite clever and sneaky, as seen when he managed to set several successful traps for Sonic and Tails when they first arrived.

Despite his long history of being tricked by Eggman, however, Knuckles holds a strong and steadfast belief that there is good in everyone, which is the reason he has given Eggman so many chances over the years and why he tried to appeal to Pir'Oth Ix rather than fighting him. Once he finds out he has been tricked, however, Knuckles can get quite angered, but quickly regains enough of his composure to immediately start working towards a resolution and will stop at nothing to punish the perpetrator as evidenced by Sonic & Knuckles when he helped Sonic gain entrance to Sky Sanctuary and in Sonic Adventure when he helped subdue Chaos 4.

Knuckles is said to be shy around women in his bio in Sonic Jam, which can be backed up by the way he acts awkwardly around girls like Amy, Blaze, and Rouge.

Because of his secluded lifestyle on Angel Island, Knuckles feels very uncomfortable in industrialized or crowded cities and places, and being around hi-tech objects or gadgets (mostly because he's uninclined).

Knuckles seems to have mature somewhat in Sonic Generations. While he still displays some aggressive, headstrong and stubborn behavior, he is shown being better to acknowledge his shortcomings and displays more personal restraint and better social interaction. He still displays some rivalry towards Sonic and tries to hide his feelings of being impressed with Sonic's abilities by saying phrases like, "You weren't half-bad." or "Thanks for the help, not that I needed it!".

Strength
Knuckles's trademark ability is his immense amounts of superhuman physical strength, so vast that it enables him to accomplish incredible feats, such as shattering boulders to smithereens, punch holes through thick steel and lift objects several times his own size and weight. His super strength seems to lie in his upper body, particularly in his arms and hands. Knuckles' strength is believed to be equal to Sonic's speed, which would make him able to lift and press 100 metric tons, making him physically stronger than all other characters in the series.

Another testament to Knuckles' monstrous brute strength is that he is able to split the hydrogen in the air by punching, strike out with his fists or throw object through air with such force that he can make them ignite fire and punch the ground with enough strength to cause fissures, tremors, explosions and even kick up small volcanic eruptions over a wide area.

Physical Abilities
Like most other character in the series, Knuckles is shown to be very fast on his feet, being able to run at remarkable, near-superhuman speeds, though he still not quite as fast as Sonic, Tails or Shadow. Additionally, his high speed does not seem to extend to his upper body, and he has been noted for having slow movements in combat. Over time, Knuckles began to lose some of his speed, but also gain a lot more power.

Knuckles also possess near-maximized physical endurance to match his strength, and is capable of taking as much major punishment as he is able to deal out, even being able to survive a bomb exploding right in front of him. Knuckles is as well strong enough to hold out against an army of robots without rest.

Unlike Sonic, Knuckles is a very experienced swimmer, due to his interest of being a treasure hunter, and can swim to incredible depths and with both great speed and skill.

Knuckles is also shown to have sharp reflexes and acrobatic skills, being able to do special tricks and movements while in mid-air, though he is not nearly as acrobatic as Sonic or Shadow are, nor can he jump very high. To make up for his lack of agility, however, Knuckles possesses a wide range of movement abilities. By stretching his arms and legs outwards while airborne, Knuckles can catch the wind under his dreadlock-like spines, allowing him to glide long distances through mid-air and can do so with great control over his movements. Also, by using the spikes on his fists, Knuckles can attach himself to walls and climb up any kind of surface with ease, no matter the material.

Knuckles is also a proficient burrower, able to dig into any wall or floor and excels at tunneling through subterranean regions with great speed.

Besides physicals strengths, Knuckles is also expert treasure hunter, which is shown during his several hunts for Emerald Shards, and can be considered one of the best treasure hunters in the world. While not exactly highly intelligent, Knuckles is well-versed in ancient cultures, ruins and legends, and is very knowledgeable on the subject, such as when he was able to translate the ancient texts at Gigan Rocks with little effort.

Knuckles is also one of the few who knows how to access and utilize the powers of the Master Emerald, allowing him to harness the powerful emerald's various abilities. He can also sense the Chaos Energy of the Chaos Emeralds from a distance, or objects similar to them, such as the Sol Emeralds. Like Sonic and Shadow, Knuckles can also harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds to empower himself.

Combat Skills
Being the guardian of the Master Emerald, Knuckles is a very powerful and fierce fighter. He is a master of a wide variety of martial arts, focusing on hand-to-hand combat, and is capable of taking on even the most powerful of opponents without rest, such as when he was able to take down several of the military trained Nocturnus Clan soldiers. Even more so, he has been able to fight Sonic the Hedgehog to a standstill on several occasions. Also, in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Tails notes that anyone capable of beating Knuckles in a fight must be very powerful and dangerous, a testament of his amazing fighting abilities.

Fighting Style
When in battle, Knuckles makes most use of his powerful arms and fists to take on his foes, with his specialty lying in punching moves where he uses his spiked fists to their fullest. In terms of fighting style, Knuckles' focuses specially on power, using strong and powerful punches, such as powerpacked jabs or piercing uppercuts, to deal damaging blows to his opponents. Once he catches an opponent in his combos, he keep them trapped by keeping up his strikes, not allowing his opponents a chance to counterattack. For stronger strikes, Knuckles tend to build up momentum with his fists by swinging them around, before hitting his opponent with full force. In his Major Eruption move in Sonic Battle, Knuckles takes advantage of his burrowing abilities, hiding underground and hitting opponents with an uppercut as he leaps out when his opponent least expects it.

Despite being a powerhouse in close combat, as stated by Sonic, most of Knuckles' fighting moves are slow and easy to read, making Knuckles more vulnerable to those who give themselves time to read his moves.

Techniques and Moves
Knuckles' various moves and techniques revolves around his trademark Punch Attack, where he attacks his opponents with various punching combos, including surrounding his fists with fire. His Spiral Upper allows him to strike foes above him with a spinning uppercut, and his Drill Claw sends him spiralling down on his foes from above. For wider impacts, Knuckles can use his Hammer Punch or Knuckle Slam to create wide tremors or explosions that effect everything within their effect range.

Knuckles has also been shown being able to use Sonic's trademark Spin Attack and Spin Dash to curl himself up and spin into a spiky ball when in motion that can damage, destroy or mow down many obstacles or foes or even burrow underground. He does, however, not use these moves or their variants, such as the Homing Attack, as often as Sonic and Shadow do.

When gliding, Knuckles can also use his Grinding Knuckles Attack in conjunction with his movements, using the spikes on his fists to damage any foes he comes into contact with during his descend. With his Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack, Knuckles glides through air at high speeds, destroying any foes within his attack range.

Miscellaneous Skills
Knuckles has been shown to possess some mystical abilities of his own on several occasions, such as in Sonic Battle and Sonic Adventure 2, possibly due to his close connection to the Master Emerald. In Sonic Battle, Knuckles displayed some limited geokinetic abilities, such as harnessing elemental earth energies to protect or heal himself, or calling forth meteor-like rocks from above to strike his opponents, which is described as "supernatural control of earth". Also, in Sonic Adventure 2, he can call forth lightning bolts called Thunder Arrows to strike and stunt his opponents.

Knuckles has also proven himself to be a skilled Extreme Gear in the Sonic Riders series, having shown himself a worthy competitor against many of the world's best Extreme Gear riders. To best put his skills in perspective, Knuckles was able to beat Storm the Albatross in a race, who is a part of the world's best Extreme Gear rider team, the Babylon Rogues. When riding his Extreme Gear at high speeds, Knuckles can bash his way through certain obstacles effortlessly, and, when someone gets near him on their Extreme Gear, he can engage in close combat with his opponents, without losing control over his Extreme Gear.

Transformations
Like Sonic and Shadow, Knuckles has the ability to power up into stronger forms of himself, usually by using Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emeralds and Super Emeralds. These transformations grants Knuckles overall improved physical abilities, such as greater strength and speed, and abilities he did not have access to before.

Super Knuckles
In Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, with the seven Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles is able to become Super Knuckles. In this mode, Knuckles glows Pink, as opposed to most other character's Golden glow. When Knuckles is in his Super State, he gains invincibility and all his powers and natural abilities are enhanced up to their full limit. Super Knuckles is several times faster and more powerful, and can climb walls twice as fast and fly. He however need rings to maintain this transformation.

Hyper Knuckles
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, Knuckles can also transform into an extended version of Super Knuckles, called Hyper Knuckles with the seven Super Emeralds. Unlike Hyper Sonic, who blinks multicolored, Knuckles blinks between bright and dark shades of Red and Pink. In this form Knuckles is faster and stronger than Super Knuckles and he can destroy all on-screen enemies by gliding into a wall, causing the stage to shake. He also have the ability to fly at a fast speed without staying in the air long enough to reach the speed when he is in normal form. Hyper Knuckles is also incapable of drowning. Like Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles has an after image effect when moving.

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

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic is Knuckles's good friend and rival, They have known each other for a long time, but their relationship seems to be somewhat complicated. The two do not understand their differences and they often cause fights, Sonic being cool and cheeky and Knuckles being tough and serious. It is also mentioned in Sonic Heroes that Knuckles is somewhat jealous of Sonic's freedom and carefree attitude.

Knuckles is often tricked by Dr. Eggman into believing that Sonic is the bad guy. That causes them to get into fights and Sonic teases Knuckles whenever this happens, in which Knuckles does not take it very well. However, since then he has gotten better with this and is more aware of Dr. Eggman's plans. With Sonic's speed paralleling Knuckles' strength in every way, their fights are always climatic. (A similar rivalry 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, where Dr. Eggman (really Eggman Nega in disguise) captures Tails and the Master Emerald and turns them into cards. Knuckles tells Sonic that he must get to Eggman first and save the Master Emerald, so Sonic decides that they should race each other, which Knuckles agrees on.

Overall, Sonic and Knuckles are good friends and help each other in many situations. The two show teamwork in battle as seen in Sonic Heroes and in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

In Sonic Generations, it is shown that Knuckles is actually impressed by Sonic and has belief in his abilities, but does not directly want to admit it. This is shown when Knuckles responded, "Thanks for the help, not that I needed it!" after Modern Sonic saves Knuckles and also when Knuckles told Sonic when he was not "half bad" after fixing the time, beating Time Eater and saving his friends. If Classic Sonic saves him, then he compliments Sonic by responding, "Thanks Sonic, you did a good job back there", which implies that he will sometimes admit, although he also asked if Sonic gained weight.

Dr. Eggman
Knuckles is constantly tricked by Dr. Eggman. In Sonic 3, Eggman had tricked him saying that Sonic's the enemy who is stealing the Chaos Emeralds, and because of Knuckles' simplicity he had believed Eggman and played various tricks on Sonic as well as fighting him. Knuckles has also been tricked by Eggman in Sonic Advance 2. Knuckles was tricked by Eggman again in the TV show Sonic X, but as the games pass by, Knuckles has stopped falling for Eggman's tricks, as mentioned in the guide for Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. Knuckles has also shown a rough attitude towards him in the Sonic Rivals series even once stating that he won't believe anything he says a twist to his former attitude against him and something even Eggman is taken aback from.

Rouge the Bat
Rouge the Bat is Knuckles' rival. Knuckles and Rouge have been fighting over the Master Emerald ever since the two met. Rouge was designed to be Knuckles' compatibility just like how Shadow was designed to be Sonic's compatibility when it comes to basic rivalry and skills.

In Sonic Adventure 2, when Knuckles purposely shatters the Master Emerald to save it from Dr. Eggman, Knuckles and Rouge both go looking for its pieces. Eventually, Knuckles has to hunt Rouge down for the remaining pieces, and the two have their final confrontation at the level, Meteor Herd. But during their fight, he saves her life instead after she slips on a narrow beam and was about to fall into a burning pit of lava. After the rescue, Rouge and Knuckles share a long moment gazing at each other, before Rouge snatches her hand away and retorts with ungratefulness and teasing. In the end, Rouge gives him the remaining pieces of the Master Emerald and stubbornly complains that, "They stink like echidnas do!". Knuckles gathers the shards to complete the Emerald and glances over to her, muttering, "I'm sorry if I hurt you...", and runs off. Before the scene fades out, Rouge gives a thoughtful smile over her shoulder before exiting.

In Sonic Heroes, at the end of Team Dark's story, Rouge commented that she would go look for the Master Emerald, "since that irritating echidna is here." However, in the last scene, she went to Knuckles and coquettishly hinted about going to look for someone else's treasure. Knuckles smiles and says "She never gives up, does she?"

In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, codex states that, "there's a sort of unstated connection between Rouge and Knuckles that neither are overly willing to explore." Rouge even admits that Knuckles is cute but just not her type during the game.

In Sonic Rivals 2, the two are teamed up. Rouge's reason for this is because she had a mysterious client who told her that if she found all the Emeralds, she would be rewarded. She teamed up with Knuckles in search for the identity of her client. They fight the Ifrit to get back to normal depending on which side you play.

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Rouge joins up with Knuckles to collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds to bring Sonic back to life.

In Sonic Colors, Knuckles explains to Rouge that he is at Starlight Carnival because he received an invitation from Dr. Eggman, but proving that he did not get tricked. Rouge tells him that the invitation was written by her, causing Knuckles to burst in anger.

In Sonic Generations, Knuckles and Rouge oddly seem to be friendly to each other at the party, as they are seen setting the table, eating, smiling and talking to each other.

Friends/Allies

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (best friend, rival)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower (good friend)
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese the Chao
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat (also rival)

Rivals

 * Wario (in the Mario & Sonic series)
 * Rouge the Bat (friendly rival)
 * Blaze the Cat (formerly)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (friendly rival)
 * Storm the Albatross (rival in strength)

Enemies

 * Doctor Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Fang the Sniper

Trivia

 * According to the Sonic 3 manual, Knuckles' favorite food is grapes. This is referenced many times in the games.
 * In Sonic and the Black Knight. Knuckles' counterpart, Gawain fights with two swords on both hands making him ambidextrous. This could mean that Knuckles might be ambidextrous as well.
 * In Sonic Generations, once the Sky Sanctuary and Knuckles are restored, you can see grapes growing on a tree behind Knuckles. This is an Easter Egg for Knuckles as grapes are his favorite food.
 * Strangely, in Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the cutscene Knuckles is slightly pinker than the playable Knuckles. This is due to the palettes conflicting with the HUD items, the playable Knuckles was able to be perfected so this would not happen.
 * Knuckles has been tricked six times all together in the TV shows he stars in. Twice in Sonic Underground, and four times in Sonic X.
 * In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, finishing the game with only the Chaos Emeralds leaves a picture of the character's Super State 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.
 * Due to space limitations, in Sonic Drift 2, Knuckles' name is spelled "Knucles".
 * In the Mega Drive games he is playable in, the letters K.T.E. (Knuckles the Echidna) are by his life icon, instead of "Knuckles" because the name display could not support more than than five letters, like on "Sonic" and "Tails".
 * Knuckles's eye color has varied in the Sonic series, changing from blue to purple. In Sonic Battle, he is actually portrayed with both eye colors (blue for the fighting and purple for the cutscenes.)
 * He and Shadow were originally confirmed to appear in Sonic Unleashed.
 * Knuckles' music was one of the reasons for the "Mild Lyrics" warning in Sonic Adventure 2. "Unknown From M.E.", "Deeper" and "Kick the Rock!" were among them.
 * 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.
 * Knuckles, along with Sonic and Dr.Eggman are the only characters whose Japanese voice actors have voiced their character in all Sonic games since Sonic Adventure.
 * Knuckles is the only playable character in Sonic '06 who does not finish a level/boss/town mission. Despite this, Knuckles does have a victory pose. This can be seen if the player glitches the levels to the end with Knuckles, the victory pose is almost identical to his Sonic Adventure 2 victory pose.
 * During multiplayer on Sonic Heroes, the white crest symbol on Knuckles' chest will disappear while he is taunting the opponent.
 * In Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2, the player can unlock an Eggman costume for Knuckles.
 * Knuckles' socks have been miscolored five times:
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic Triple Trouble and Sonic & Knuckles, Knuckles' socks were colored yellow during cutscenes as it interfered with the HUD palette.
 * And in Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic 3D Blast, Knuckles' socks were colored blue.
 * In a lot of the 2D games, the crest on Knuckles' chest is colored peach. But in later games, it's colored white.
 * Knuckles is the only character in the franchise with purple eyes.
 * One of Knuckles' nicknames is "Knuckle," as stated in the Japanese manual of Sonic 3.
 * In Sonic Battle, Sonic once calls Knuckles a "spiky-headed mole". This is a pun on how echidnas and moles have the same burrowing prowess. It is also be a play on the Japanese term for echidna, which literally translates as "needle-mole".
 * He is also mistakenly referred to as a mole in the Sonic OVA movie.
 * If the player pauses at the right moment, in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 or Sonic and Knuckles when the sign is twirling in the air, the Knuckles color will be blue instead of red.
 * Super Sonic is invincible to any damage, but somehow Knuckles knocked the Chaos Emeralds out of him in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. This indicates that Knuckles is powerful enough to knock him out of Super State.
 * In Sonic 3 and Knuckles, if one glitches Knuckles into Sonic's part of Marble Garden Zone Act 2, Tails will still fly him up so he can defeat Dr. Robotnik. It is the only time this can be done without a cheat.
 * In Sonic Colors, Knuckles is the only one of the "Side Quest" characters to have five poses. All the others have four.
 * Knuckles' crescent-shaped symbol on his body was originally going to be the NIKE logo on him as part of a short-lived sponsorship deal.

Solo

 * In Sonic Adventure, Knuckles' theme song is called "Unknown From M.E." It is a mix of hip-hop, jazz, pop, and R&B. This song was performed by Marlon Saunders and Dred Foxx. 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 known as "Unknown From M.E." but has a faster pace and a greater focus on pure rap, and performed by Marlon Saunders and Hunnid-P.
 * Knuckles also has his own percussion theme in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Shared

 * 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."

Memorable quotes

 * "Still got it!" - Winning in Sonic Rivals 2.
 * "Ah finally..." - Restoring the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "As far back as I can remember, I've been living here on this dark island... Always guarding the Master Emerald from anything that could harm it. I don't know why I was given this job... Why it was my fate... Destined to be here... forever!" - Knuckles thinking about his life at the beginning of his story in Sonic Adventure.
 * "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the chaos. Only you can do this. STOP THE CHAOS EMERALDS!" - Knuckles pleading with the Master Emerald to neutralize the power of the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "It's closer..." - When the Emerald Radar turns red.
 * "I found 'em!" - When finding the three pieces of the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Yeah, I feel good!" - After getting a B Rank.
 * "What do you think you're doing Shadow!?" - Knuckles when Shadow destroys a G.U.N. robot or soldier in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Me? My fists are my weapons of choice." - Knuckles saying that he would rather use his fists than a gun in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Hey good going." - Knuckles when Shadow defeats a Black Arms alien in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Hand it over Eggman. I'm losing my patience." - Knuckles demanding Eggman to give him the Emerald Detector in Sonic Rivals 2.
 * "No time for games..." - Knuckles when he is about to use a special attack in the 2-Player mode of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Get down!" - Knuckles after unleashing the Hammer Punch special attack in the 2-Player mode of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Take this!" - Knuckles after unleashing the Thunder Arrow special attack in the 2-Player mode of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Take that!" - Knuckles after unleashing the Power Flash special attack in the 2-Player mode of 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 will protect the Master Emerald." - When starting a multiplayer stage in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "That's a good one, YOUR Emerald. Talking to you is a waste of time!" - Knuckles before his second fight with Rouge in Sonic Adventure 2
 * "Just enough to pass." - Getting an E Rank in Sonic Heroes.
 * "What a wild ride." - Going in circles in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Whew, that was tough." - Knuckles when defeating Metal Overlord in Sonic Heroes
 * "Well if I can't convince them, then I'll just let my fist do the talking!" - Being the last one still on the field when facing Team Rose in Sonic Heroes
 * "No way!" - When Knuckles tries to dig on something like metal or steel in Sonic Adventure
 * "Did she say red mutt?" - After Wave calls him a red mutt before leaving with Storm on the Babylon Garden in Sonic Riders
 * "Stone Fists! - After wining a fight in Sonic Battle
 * "It's not me! Blame Sonic!" - When talking to Rouge in the Japanese version of Sonic Battle
 * "I feel some strange energy..." - While walking around in the Space Colony ARK right before Sonic Chaos Controls in front of him in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "As much as I hate to admit it, I think Tails is right about this." - Knuckles after hearing Tails' plan to defeat Perfect Chaos by helping Sonic go Super in Sonic Adventure
 * "We've no time to waste. We've got to defeat it now!" - Knuckles' frustration with Solaris ready to consume time itself in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
 * "I'll probably be on this floating island forever. Guarding the Master Emerald, again. I may not know the whole story behind this. But perhaps it's better that way. I am at peace once more." - Knuckles thinking once again about his role as Guardian of the Master Emerald in the ending of his story in Sonic Adventure
 * "I'm unstoppable!" - When Knuckles speeds up in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games on the Wii
 * "Don't get in my way!" - When starting a race in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
 * "Anytime! Babylon Rouges!" - When finding the Babylon Rouges in MeteoTech
 * "Let's go... Yah!!" - About to perform a Gravity Dive in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
 * "It's a pretty famous ruin among us treasure hunters." - Knuckles explaining the Gigan Rocks to Sonic, Tails, and Amy in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
 * "Stooop! I get it, okay?! It just floats and that's good enough﻿ for me!" - Knuckles asking Tails to stop explaining how an Extreme Gear floats in Sonic Riders
 * "I sure don't wanna fall off." - Knuckles when the player turns the camera too much in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX.
 * "A trap!? What have you done Eggman!?" - Knuckles confronting Dr. Eggman at the top of Crimson Tower in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Outta my way!" - When attacking in Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "It's over..." - Knuckles after dying in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Yeah! This is perfect!" - After getting an A Rank.
 * "I am one with the Master Emerald" -Starting a treasure hunt on 2-Player mode of Sonic Adventure 2
 * "My emerald, my destiny" Getting a piece of the emerald on 2-Player mode of Sonic Adventure.
 * "If that's what you thought, you should've given me them in the first place." Knuckles after Rouge gives him the pieces of the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "I didn't use all my strength!" when getting a D-rank in Sonic Heroes or getting 2 stars in Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * "Stop attacking the good guys!" Knuckles when Shadow destroys a G.U.N robot or soldier in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "I must...protect...the Master Emerald..." - Knuckles, after losing to Rouge in their first, and only, battle on the ARK, in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Alien Scum!" - Knuckles when Shadow defeats a Black Arms alien in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Damn! A dead end! Looks like we have to take our chances with the tornado!" - Knuckles, after arriving to a tornado in Glyphic Canyon in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Hmph. I'm just warming up!" - Sonic Heroes.
 * "Thanks, Sonic! You did a good job back there! Hey, did you gain weight?" - Knuckles after Classic Sonic rescues him at Sky Sanctuary in Sonic Generations.
 * "Thanks for the help. Not that I needed it! But it's good to have my sanctuary back." - Knuckles after Modern Sonic rescues him at Sky Sanctuary in Sonic Generations.
 * "I'll handle the treasure hunting!" - Knuckles before the Sky Sanctuary mission with Modern Sonic begins.
 * "Come on Sonic, smack him!" - Knuckles cheering Sonic to keep going in Sonic Generations.
 * "Help! We're being sucked in!" - Knuckles when he gets sucked into the tornado in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Yeah, thats what I'm talkin' about" - When Knuckles wins a world tour event in Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed