Knuckles the Echidna

is a fictional character in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic's best friend and former rival. Determined and serious, but sometimes gullible, he has the ability to punch enemies with brute force by using his fists which will destroy the enemy in his way. He serves as the guardian of the Master Emerald, a huge gemstone that controls the series' integral Chaos Emeralds, and is the last living member of his tribe, the Knuckles Clan.

Knuckles debuted as an antagonist in ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' (1994) after Doctor Eggman tricks him into opposing Sonic and Tails. He first became a playable protagonist in ''Sonic & Knuckles'' later that year; after initially opposing Sonic once again, he forms an alliance with him after learning of Doctor Eggman's trickery. Since then, he has appeared in dozens of playable and non-playable roles, as well as in several series of comic books, Western animated television, Japanese anime, the ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' feature film and its upcoming sequel.

One of the series' most popular characters, Knuckles has appeared in most games in the franchise, including those for the main series and spin-offs. His likeness has also frequently appeared in several pieces of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' merchandise, and he has been the subject of multiple Internet memes.

Concept 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. In collaboration between the Sonic Team and Sega of America's product marketing manager, Pamela Kelly, the final character of "Knuckles" was chosen. The emphasis of the character was to break walls, with the original idea being a 'whirlwind' ability, rather than punching.

Knuckles was created by developer Takashi Yuda, who never intended him to be any more than a "supporting character". Knuckles was introduced in ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' as an "intimidator" because of his powerful abilities and physical strength. He was given a headlining role in the next game, ''Sonic & Knuckles'', where he made his first appearance as a playable character.

Voice portrayal

Knuckles has been voiced by several different actors over the years. In the Japanese dubs, he was voiced by Yasunori Matsumoto in '' Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie''
and by Nobutoshi Canna since 1998, beginning with ''Sonic Adventure''.

In animation, he was voiced by Brian Drummond in ''Sonic Underground'' and by Bill Wise in the English dub of '' Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie''.

In the video games, Knuckles was originally voiced by Michael McGaharn in Sonic Adventure, and then by Ryan Drummond in Sonic Shuffle. Scott Dreier began voicing the character in 2001, starting with ''Sonic Adventure 2''. He continued to voice the character for three more years until 2004, his final role as Knuckles was in '' Sonic Advance 3''. Dan Green began voicing the character in the anime series ''Sonic X'', he would later take over the role in the video games in 2005, starting with ''Shadow the Hedgehog''. In 2010, he was replaced by Travis Willingham, beginning with ''Sonic Free Riders''. Willingham continued voicing the character until 2018, and his final role as Knuckles was in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. Since 2019, Knuckles has been voiced by Dave B. Mitchell, beginning with ''Team Sonic Racing''. In the film ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'', Knuckles is voiced by Idris Elba. Elba is set to reprise the role again in the upcoming ''Knuckles'' spin-off series, which is set for release on the streaming service Paramount+ in 2023. In the 2022 Sonic short film, ''Sonic Drone Home'', Knuckles is voiced by Fred Tatasciore. In the Netflix series Sonic Prime, Knuckles will be voiced by Adam Nurada.

Characteristics

Knuckles is a fictional red anthropomorphic echidna, the only living descendant of a well-established clan of echidnas. For many years, his clan guarded a giant gemstone called the Master Emerald, which controls the Chaos Emeralds, objects central to the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game series. As such, Knuckles has spent most of his life atop a floating island called Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald from harm.''Sonic Adventure 2'' (Dreamcast
instruction manual
pp. 10–11. (PDF) He has grown up fairly introverted as a result.

Knuckles has a personality described as cool. However, he sometimes loses his composure and gets in fights with other characters, and can be shy around girls.Sega (1997). ''Sonic Jam'', Sega Saturn. Sonic World's Character Profiles (in English) His favorite food is grapes, and his relationship with Sonic is ambivalent. However in later games, their relationship became more unequivocal: Knuckles entered the series as an antagonist of Sonic, but later becomes one of the protagonists and sees him as a partner,Sega (2003). ''Sonic Heroes'
instruction manual
pp. 7–8. (PDF) while envying Sonic's adventurous lifestyle. He is depicted as somewhat gullible and very rash, especially when angered. Since he never left Angel Island, he has often been tricked by Doctor Robotnik, but is stated in one game manual to have become more skeptical of him, possibly due to the multiple times of getting fooled by Robotnik.

While slower than Sonic, Knuckles is depicted as one of the series' strongest characters and a skilled martial artist: his brawny physique allows him to lift objects many times his size and weight, while his powerful fists enable him to smash boulders and break through solid ground. He can also glide long distances and climb up walls using the spikes of his gloves. Unlike Sonic, Knuckles is able to swim.Sega (2004). '' Sonic Advance 3'' instruction manual, pp. 12-13. As is typical among ''Sonic'' characters, Knuckles can roll into a ball to attack enemies.Sega (1994). ''Sonic & Knuckles'
instruction manual
pp. 7–8. (PDF) He also has an empowered "super" form: using the Chaos Emeralds allows him to transform into Super Knuckles. Using the Super Emeralds allows him to transform into Hyper Knuckles.

Appearances

In video games

Knuckles debuted in the 1994 Sega Genesis game ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3''. Knuckles joins the series' primary antagonist Dr. Robotnik after being tricked into thinking that Sonic is attempting to steal the Master Emerald; Knuckles fights Sonic at several points throughout the game. Robotnik's betrayal is revealed late in ''Sonic & Knuckles'' when he steals the Master Emerald and attacks Knuckles, ''Sonic & Knuckles'' is also the first game where he became a player character, his story takes place after ''Sonic's Story''. A similar plot follows in ''Sonic Triple Trouble''. While Knuckles' canonical playable debut comes in ''Sonic & Knuckles'', he is playable in ''Sonic 2'' and ''3'' via the Genesis' lock-on technology. Knuckles starred in '' Knuckles' Chaotix'' for the Sega 32X, in which he serves as the guardian of an island amusement park and rescues his friends—collectively known as the Chaotix—from Robotnik in 1995. He teams up with them individually, creating an unusual gameplay style involving two characters being tethered together.

Eggman shatters the Master Emerald, thus freeing Chaos who appears before Knuckles, the pieces are scattered, and Chaos flees in ''Sonic Adventure''. To restore the Emerald, thereby protecting Angel Island, he searches through various expansive levels for pieces. At one point, he defeats Chaos, and Eggman tricks Knuckles into thinking that Sonic is trying to collect Emerald shards for his own purposes. Knuckles finds Sonic holding two Chaos Emeralds he thinks are Master Emerald shards, and attacks him. This knocks them out of Sonic's hands, so Eggman shows up to steal them and leaves. He initially stays on Earth to look for pieces while Sonic and Tails follow Eggman, but later joins them aboard Eggman's airship, the Egg Carrier, after seeing a vision of there being more pieces on it. He finds the final pieces and is confronted by Chaos' final form, then returns to the Emerald's island to restore it.

Early in ''Sonic Adventure 2'', Knuckles & Rouge argue over the Emerald; she wants the pieces for her personal collection. Eggman tries to steal it, so Knuckles shatters it aboard Eggman's hovercraft, sending the pieces every which way, while also mentioning that if the shards are found they can be made whole. He spends the game recollecting the pieces similarly to in ''Adventure''. He later helps Sonic, Tails, & Amy find Eggman's base inside a giant pyramid, and a key to an inner chamber housing a giant Space Shuttle. He follows them to a giant space station called the ARK with it, where he again scuffles with Rouge over the Emerald. He saves her from falling into a constructed pit of lava; she decides the shards are worthless and dismissively lets him keep them, so he reassembles the Emerald and runs off. The antagonist Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather, initiates a program to send the ARK on a collision course with Earth as revenge for an attack on the ARK decades earlier, so Knuckles teams up with the other playable characters to reroute it.

Knuckles serves as a power-based character in ''Sonic Heroes'' alongside Sonic and Tails, who respectively represent speed and flight.''Sonic Heroes'' (GameCube) instruction manual, p. 7. They team up to defeat Eggman after receiving a letter saying that he will destroy the world in three days. However, it turns out that Eggman is being impersonated by Metal Sonic, whom all of the other characters defeat together. Knuckles helps Sonic, Tails, Amy Rose, and Cream the Rabbit stop Eggman from building an empire in the ''Sonic Advance'' trilogy. With the same team, Knuckles recurs in ''Sonic Riders'' and its two sequels; in each game, they participate in board-racing competitions together. In another team-based installment, the role-playing game '' Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'', Knuckles is a playable character with a major role in the story. The game begins with Tails informing Sonic that Knuckles has been kidnapped, so a team beginning as Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Rouge must rescue him. He is eventually saved, and it is revealed that the echidna race is still alive in the form of the helpful Shade the Echidna and her villainous tribe, the Nocturnus.

He is a minor character in ''Sonic Rush'', where he accosts protagonist Blaze the Cat under the impression that she has stolen Chaos Emeralds. In the Nintendo DS version of '' Sonic Colors'', Knuckles arrives at an amusement park Eggman has created after receiving a letter. Frustrated at having been tricked, he challenges Sonic to a race as a mission, but shortly learns that Rouge wrote the letter inviting him to the park. He has a short argument with Rouge. Modern Knuckles gives Classic and Modern Sonic missions and helpful advice in ''Sonic Generations''. In ''Sonic Lost World'', Knuckles and Amy look after forest animals while Sonic and Tails rescue the animals' friends. Later, the Deadly Six, the game's antagonists, take control of one of Eggman's machines to drain life from the world, and Amy and Knuckles die, but they are brought back to life when Sonic and Tails replenish it. He is a playable character in ''Sonic Mania Plus'', regaining his role from the first games alongside Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray. He appears in the game ''Sonic Forces'', where he becomes the leader of a resistance created to fight back against Eggman's advancing forces.

Knuckles has been a playable character in numerous spinoff games with little effect on the series' plot, such as the fighting game ''Sonic the Fighters'', the racing title ''Sonic R'', and the party title ''Sonic Shuffle'', as well as crossover games like '' Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games'' and ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed''. He makes a cameo appearance in ''Sega Superstars Tennis'', as a member of the audience in the Green Hill court and in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' Green Hill stage, where he, Tails, and Silver run through the vertical loop in the background. Knuckles appears as one of four playable characters in the action-adventure spin-off property ''Sonic Boom'' ('' Rise of Lyric'' and '' Shattered Crystal''). In ''Lego Dimensions'', Knuckles appears as a non-playable character in the Sonic the Hedgehog world, in which he requests the player to assist him in a sidequest to take down some of Eggman's robots, during which he makes a number of references to the rap songs about him in the ''Sonic Adventure'' games. Knuckles also makes a cameo as an easter egg in '' Deus Ex: Mankind Divided'' on the box of a video game entitled ''Knuckles the Echidna in Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles'' which stems off of a running joke regarding the "& Knuckles" part of the title card when Sonic 3 is locked on to the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge. In ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', Knuckles appears as an assist trophy that attacks players when summoned; he also appears as a spirit.

In comics

In ''Sonic the Comic'', Knuckles plays a similar role to that of the games. When the Death Egg crashes on Angel Island, Knuckles is briefly tricked by Dr. Robotnik and thus allows Robotnik to place his robot armies on the island and construct a base to repair his Death Egg. Knuckles also assists him in fighting Sonic and stealing Sonic's own six Emeralds so they can be combined with Knuckles' into one set of Emeralds. However, Knuckles does not trust Robotnik enough to tell him that he possesses a seventh Emerald that can control the others, and when Robotnik tries to absorb the Emeralds' power into himself, Knuckles uses this Emerald to defeat him. From that point on, he works as an ally against Robotnik, starting by removing all traces of the doctor's influences from Angel Island.

In the comic series of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' published by Archie Comics

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