Knuckles the Echidna

From Sonic Earth

Knuckles the Echidna (ナックルズ・ザ・エキドゥナ, Nakkurusu za Ekiduna?) is a video game character within the Sonic the Hedgehog fictional universe of video games, television shows and comics. His creator is Takashi Thomas Yuda.

He is a red, male, teenage, anthropomorphic, humanoid echidna, and while Sonic has large, spiky hair locks, Knuckles has dreadlocks. He stands 110 cm (3 ft 7 in) and weighs 40 kg (88 lb). His debut was on February 2, 1994. He also has a white crescent birthmark on his chest. His first game appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released on February 2, 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. He was described as being 15 years old when he made his debut, but since Sonic Adventure, he is now given the age of 16.

Knuckles' name is derived from the four knuckles, two on each hand, which are actually sharp spikes. His task since birth has been to guard the Master Emerald, normally located on Angel Island. According to official Sonic Team polls, Knuckles placed fourth in the favorite character poll, first in the third favorite character poll, and third in the character who should appear more.

1 Games
2 Personality
3 Interactions with other characters
- 3.1 Sonic vs. Knuckles
4 Abilities
5 Super Forms
6 Voice actors
7 Associated songs
8 Links

[edit] Games

Original Knuckles on the left, latest on the right.

Knuckles lives on Angel Island, which hovers in the sky thanks to the power of the Master Emerald. His duty in life is to guard the Master Emerald, and he is the last surviving member of the Echidna people who once inhabited the island.

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles thought that Sonic and Tails were attempting to steal the Master Emerald and that the infamous mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (also known as Dr. Eggman) was trying to protect it. However, Robotnik had lied to Knuckles. He was planning to use the Emerald to power his space station, the Death Egg. In the Hidden Palace Zone, Eggman's betrayal was revealed to Knuckles very bluntly, in the form of an electric shock. Since then, Knuckles has joined Sonic and Tails in their quest to stop the villain.

Aside from appearances in the main Sonic series, Knuckles featured prominently in Knuckles Chaotix, a relatively unknown spin-off title developed for Sega 32X. The game also introduced Team Chaotix, a group of comical misfits.

In Sonic Adventure, the Master Emerald shatters when Eggman frees Chaos and Tikal's spirit from within it, causing Angel Island to fall out of the sky. Knuckles's goal is to reassemble the shards of the Master Emerald. These levels are large, explorable areas in which players must hunt about the various Action Stages for three shards per stage.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles the Echidna is guarding the Master Emerald when Rouge the Bat attempts to steal it. In the middle of their argument, Dr. Eggman snatches the emerald. Knuckles then shatters it in order to prevent Eggman from successfully obtaining it. Knuckles then sets off to find the pieces and restore the Master Emerald once more. The gameplay is similar to the first Adventure title.

Sinbad the Sailor takes the form of Knuckles in the Story Mode of Sonic and the Secret Rings.In Sonic Heroes, Knuckles joins forces with Sonic and Tails, becoming the power member of Team Sonic. He serves a similar role in Sonic Riders, which also features a rivalry between him and Storm the Albatross. In Shadow the Hedgehog, he assists Shadow in several Hero missions. In Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles appears with Tails as an "amigo" character in Sonic's storyline.

Knuckles is also a playable character in Sonic Rivals. The game starts out with him on a search for the Master Emerald which strangely disappeared. Due to his rivalry with Sonic, once Dr. Eggman reveals he is the cause for the Master Emerald's disappearance, the two begin a friendly competition which expands to include other rivals, namely Shadow the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog and Metal Sonic.

He is a playable character in Multiplayer Mode of Sonic and the Secret Rings alongside Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Cream, Silver and Blaze. Sinbad the Sailor from the Arabian Nights stories takes the form of Knuckles in the single-player mode.

He will be appearing in Sonic Rivals 2 and the Mario and Sonic crossover game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, along with Sonic and Tails.

[edit] Personality

Knuckles' personality and character traits vary between various continuities. However, he is consistently used to represent the "tough guy" or "loner," and his abilities remain roughly the same. Also, in almost all versions of the Sonic universe Knuckles has a tense relationship with Sonic. The game manual included with Sonic Adventure explains the nature of their rivalry; "If Sonic exemplifies the wind, Knuckles is the mountain, stern and unmoveable." Faced with the solitary task of forever guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island, Knuckles appears to be jealous of Sonic's independent nature and freedom. Knuckles being tricked by Eggman into believing Sonic is the villain has become a recurring theme in the Sonic universe, even to the point of being a running gag. Ever since the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog as one of Sonic's darker, more anti-heroic rivals, Knuckles' relationship with Sonic has seen as much more friendly by comparison.

In the games, Knuckles is independent, headstrong, devoted to his duty and gullible. He is very serious and usually likes to be by himself, but can be relied upon to help out whenever Earth is in danger. Because of his flaws, he and Sonic do not always get along, but are still allies. Various literature from the early games (game manuals and Sonic Jam bios) list his favorite food as being fruit, or to be more specific, grapes. He also is described as hating strong sunlight (evidenced in Sonic Adventure when he first arrives at Station Square and shields his eyes from the sun).

[edit] Interactions with other characters

Rouge the Bat was first introduced as a rival for Knuckles the Echidna, both of them expert treasure hunters. Knuckles remains highly competitive with Rouge and his emotions around her see to range from mildly amused and annoyed to outright flustered by her antics.

Tails and Knuckles are allies, and they often team up with Sonic on his adventures. They appear to be on friendly terms, but it is not shown often. Tails often has to break up fights between Sonic and Knuckles.

Knuckles has been friends with the Chaotix ever since they worked together to stop Eggman on Carnival Island in Knuckles Chaotix.

Knuckles is also friends with Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, and Big the Cat and seems to be on friendly bases with them although they do not directly interact much.

Dr. Eggman is perhaps Knuckles' greatest source of embarrassment and irritation. Having been fooled time and time again by Eggman, he has constantly found himself locked in battle with Sonic or others only to realize that he has been duped.

Aside from Sonic and Rouge, Knuckles has accrued a number of other rivals. Various instances have brought him into competition with both Shadow the Hedgehog and Silver the Hedgehog.

In Sonic Riders he developed a strong rivalry with Storm the Albatross. But the two (supposedly) become friendly rivals at the conclusion of the game.

[edit] Sonic vs. Knuckles

A recurring theme within the Sonic universe is that Sonic and Knuckles will have some sort of disagreement resulting in combat. This often stems from Knuckles being outwitted by Dr. Eggman into thinking that Sonic has goals that do not coincide with his own. However, these battles are always left unresolved, tied, or interrupted by outside circumstances. In terms of stature, both rivals are likely on equal standings or if not on par, Knuckles strength matching Sonic's speed. In overall, these battles normally conclude with both characters generally teaming up to defeat a common enemy. Despite the rivalry, Sonic and Knuckles often act friendly and respectful toward each other. For example, in Sonic Heroes, they both shake hands in the Team Sonic victory pose.

[edit] Abilities

Knuckles is physically one of the strongest characters of the Sonic series. His brute strength is often depicted as being equivalent to that of Sonic's speed. His extraordinary physical strength enables him to perform feats such as shattering boulders with his fists, and lifting objects many times his own size and weight. His endurance is also notable. Knuckles is shown to have fire-enhanced punches, as well as earth elemental powers, though these are usually game-specific abilities. He is also an expert of a variety of martial arts, though his sharp knuckle punches are still his specialty.

Like most characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Knuckles is a very fast runner, though not as fast as Sonic or Shadow. He also uses Spin Attacks, which are variations on the tendency for echidnas to roll into tight spiny balls for protection. However, Knuckles is one of the few characters that is able to swim and float along the surface of a body of water. Although his jump height is relatively low, he can glide by, according to the Sonic Heroes manual, trapping air under his dreadlocks. Knuckles is also a proficient burrower, able to dig into nearly any wall or floor, and can use the spikes on his eponymous knuckles to grip and climb walls. As the Guardian of the Master Emerald, he is able to access and utilize its powers, allowing him to use some Chaos powers in an incredible manner, and can sense it from a distance, even in pieces. This comes into play as Knuckles's role in the games sometimes involves tracking down the Master Emerald. Additionally, he seems to be able to sense other energies such as those used in Chaos Control. In Sonic Adventure 2, when Sonic uses Chaos Control to save himself, Knuckles (who was wandering about somewhere else) states that he felt "some strange energy."

[edit] Super Forms

Super Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles

Like several other characters in the Sonic games, Knuckles can make use of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into a super form, named "Super Knuckles." In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, he could also use the Super Emeralds to transform into "Hyper Knuckles." The exact powers granted by these transformations vary from game to game. First appearing in Sonic 3 and in Sonic & Knuckles as a playable character, Knuckles the Echidna can transform into Super Knuckles with the power of the Chaos Emeralds, and Hyper Knuckles with the power of the Super Emeralds. Knuckles does not change color, but merely glows while surrounded by a pink aura. His Hyper State looks the same, but leaves afterimages. Hyper Knuckles gains the ability to destroy all on screen enemies by gliding into a wall.

[edit] Voice actors

Sonic Underground - Ian James Corlett
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie - Yasunori Matsumoto (Japan) - Bill Wise (US)
Sonic X - Nobutoshi Kanna (Japan)
Sonic Adventure - Michael McGaharn (US)
Sonic Shuffle - Ryan Drummond (US)
Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle, Sonic Advance 3 - Scott Dreier (US)
Sonic X and every game since Shadow the Hedgehog - Dan Green (sometimes using his alias "Jay Snyder")

[edit] Associated songs

The games feature several theme songs related to Knuckles. For the most part, Knuckles is associated with the rap/hip hop genre.

Sonic Adventure: "Unknown From M.E." - Marlon Saunders.
Sonic Adventure 2: "Unknown From M.E." (remake) - Marlon Saunders, Hunnid P.
Sonic Heroes: "We Can" - Tony Harnell, Ted Poley. This was a team theme shared with Sonic and Tails.
Sonic Riders: "High Flying Groove" - Tomonori Sawada. This was also a team theme shared with Sonic and Tails.

In addition, each of Knuckles's levels in Sonic Adventure 2 has a vocal song associated with the character.