Knuckles the Echidna
Knuckles the Echidna is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, television shows and comics. His (other) nicknames are "Rad Red", "Red Storm", "Knux, and "Knucklehead", though many of these nicknames have appeared only occasionally and many are not recognised by a majority of the fanbase. His creator is Takashi Thomas Yuda.
He is a red echidna (Although in his first appearance, he had a decidedly pinker tone, so one might say it is between red and pink) whose quills look like dreadlocks. He is 16 years old, 3'7" tall, and is 88lbs. Two of the knuckles on each of his hands are actually sharp spikes. His name also shows his ancestry, from the ancient Knuckles Warrior Clan which included Pachacamac and Tikal. In the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis games, Knuckles is 15 years old. However, in the Sonic Adventure games, his age was changed to 16. He is the most powerful member of Team Sonic. He can move faster than Amy but can't beat Sonic or Tails in a straight run race. He also has the ability to glide by trapping air under his dreadlocks. In several storylines, he also possesses Chaos energy abilities, such as opening portals.
History
Knuckles lives on 'Angel Island', also known as the Floating Island, which hovers in the sky thanks to the power of the Master Emerald, which he is charged with guarding. Knuckles is the last surviving member of the Echidna people who once inhabited the island. Due to his rather remote location and the fact that he rarely strays far from his duty, Knuckles is often alone, and as thus can be quite antisocial and distrusting, but on the other side, he is often quite gullible. One example of this gullibility is the belief that he held throughout Sonic the Hedgehog 3: that Sonic and Tails were attempting to steal the Master Emerald and that the infamous mad scientist Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was trying to protect it.
Dr. Eggman, of course, had lied to Knuckles, and was planning on using the emerald to power his space station, the Death Egg. In the Hidden Palace Zone of Sonic & Knuckles, Eggman's betrayal was revealed to him very bluntly, in the form of electrocution. Knuckles then joined Sonic and Tails in their quest to stop Eggman.
Knuckles getting easily tricked into believing Sonic is the bad guy has become a recurring theme in the Sonic universe. Also, in the Sonic X Cartoon, aside from his gullibility, another running joke seems to be that despite his headstrong and stubborn attitude, Knuckles will very easily crumble under peer pressure; As soon as he says 'No' to something, the rest of the cast will gang up on him and question his abilities until he agrees to do what they wish him to do.
Knuckles has been a (sometimes reluctant) friend to Sonic and Tails since then, sharing many of their adventures, getting tricked by Eggman, and catching the thieving eye (as well as the heart) of a certain white bat named Rouge, who tries to steal the Master Emerald for herself (Sonic Adventure 2). His other friends include Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit.
Aside from appearences in the main Sonic series, Knuckles featured prominently in Knuckles' Chaotix, a relatively unknown spin-off title developed for Sega 32X. The game also introduced team Chaotix, a group of misfits who essentially do the same thing as Sonic and his friends (saving the day from evil villains) but for a different reason: cash.
Like Sonic, Knuckles is able to use the Chaos Emeralds to go Super, changing into Super Knuckles. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, he is able to use the Super Emerald's to change into Hyper Knuckles. Although Knuckles' Chaotix did feature a similar quest for Chaos Rings, getting them all did not further affect gameplay.
Knuckles was also in Sonic Underground (Voiced by Ian James Corlett), Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (Sonic Anime) (Voiced by Bill Wise), and Sonic X (voiced by Dan Green).
He is an important character in Archie's Sonic comics and Sonic the Comic (Fleetway) as well. In the former, Knuckles even gains his own nemesis: Enerjak (also known as Dimitri). In the Archie Comic storyline, Knuckles also has a large extended family of numerous grandfathers, all of which are his predecessors. His family also includes the leadership of the evil Dark Legion, a group of technocratic Echidnas. This series also features a female Echidna named Julie-Su, who becomes Knuckles's girlfriend and eventually ends up marrying him. In Sonic the Comic, however, Knuckles is depicted as being the last of his kind, and bears the burden of guarding the Chaos Emeralds alone.
Love life
Like his rival Sonic, Knuckles has had a history of girlfriend relationships. In the Archie Comics-storyline, Knuckles fell for a female Echidna named Julie-Su. In the Sonic Underground TV series, Knuckles showed possible love interests in Sonic's sister, Sonia the Hedgehog. In the video games since Sonic Adventure 2 and in the anime Sonic X, Knuckles is known to have a crush on Rouge the Bat (Though he doesn't show it. In fact, he usually shows the others nothing but hatred for Rouge, although he does fall victim for Rouge's flirting. He tends to show embarrasment at this. He would rather deny his love then make it his downfall).
Relatives
Though in the games and TV series Knuckles is depicted without family, he does have relatives in the Archie Comics-Universe. These are as follows:
- Brotherhood of Guardians - Predecessors/Grandparents
- Dimitri/Enerjak - Great Uncle
- Athair-Great Grandfather (Also featured in Sonic Underground, Voiced by Sean Connery).
- Lara-Le - Mother
- Wynmacher - Stepfather
- Kneecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace - Half Brother
- Julie-Su- Third-Cousin/Wife
- Lara-Su- Daughter
- Kragok- Third-Cousin
- Lien-Da/Kommisar - Third-Cousin
- Locke - Father
Secret Appearance
Although Knuckles first appeared later, you can actually play as him in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by simply using a Sonic and Knuckles game cartridge and inserting a Sonic 2 cartridge in the top of Sonic and Knuckles and then turning on the system, and instead of Sonic and Miles "Tails" Prower, it will say Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic 2, and a 3-D Knuckles will appear. The gameplay goes exactly the same except Knuckles performs shorter jumps than Sonic, but can still glide, and will NOT lose Rings when doing a Chaos Emerald Challenge.