Knuckles the Echidna (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

"I am the last Guardian of Angel Island. I will protect the Master Emerald. And I will do it alone if I have to." — Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic the Hedgehog #184

Knuckles the Echidna (born day 251, 3220), also known as Sir Knuckles the Echidna as knighted by Sally Acorn, is a character in Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the titular main protagonist of the spinoff series of the same name.

He is the sole remaining mobian echidna and the last in a line of Guardians of Angel Island. From the age of three, Knuckles was trained by his father Locke to assume the mantle of Guardian by the age of ten. Within the last few years, Knuckles has discovered that he is not the last of his kind, and that threats from all over Mobius are threatening his home. While originally operating alone, Knuckles has developed friends and teammates-formed into a group known as the Chaotix, which he leads-over time to assist him with his role of protecting the Floating Island. He has also taken it upon himself to assist those on the surface of Mobius in fighting the forces of Dr. Eggman, most prominently the Knothole Freedom Fighters under Sonic. Knuckles is the last Guardian protecting Angel Island, all other members of the Brotherhood of Guardians having perished or otherwise left incapable of carrying out their duties. He also considers himself responsible for all the echidna people on Mobius.

Appearance[]

Knuckles is a mobian echidna with red fur that covers most of his body, a black nose on his peach-skinned muzzle, and purple eyes. He bears a white crescent-shaped mark of fur on his chest, a trait tied to his station as Guardian. Officially, he is slightly taller than Sonic. For attire, he wears large, white, mitten-like gloves with sock-like cuffs and two spiked knuckles on each hand. He also wears red and yellow shoes, each with green cuffs, light gray soles, and a gray, sextuple-bolted plate on top. Like many characters in the comic, he initially was given light-blue eyes they were changed to purple to match his design in Sonic Adventure.

For a while, as a result of chaos-related powers going awry, both his fur and eyes were green. He possesses a brown hat with a star-design on the hatband, though he has rarely worn it. He also occasionally wears sunglasses and an air necklace. As an incarnation of Enerjak, Knuckles wore golden armor with blue fabric connecting the various pieces. He has been depicted in a black Dark Legion robe and, for Antoine and Bunnie's wedding, wore tribal echidna attire, tan with a green-and-grey trim and taller boots.

Personality and traits[]

Knuckles is honest, independent, headstrong, and devoted to his duty. He is very serious and usually likes to be by himself, but can be relied upon to help out whenever the planet needs saving. At times he seems jealous of the freedom that Sonic has, but is always ready to help his friends when needed. He also maintains close ties to his friends and family, though at times such relationships are tense. (StH: #39, #125, KtE: #16)

Knuckles also faces a number of problems. From day one, Knuckles has lived a life different from that of any normal mobian, having been raised as the Guardian of Angel Island. Recently, he has been linked to an ancient prophecy that says he will help save the world, hailed by the surviving Echidnas as the "Avatar" despite his disbelief in the prophecy. The strain of this responsibility has taken its toll on him through the years, though he only shows it in moments of extreme duress. (StH: #138)

Despite these setbacks, Knuckles remains stalwart. For a time, he was incredibly depressed, having lost his enhanced abilities and his homeland upon returning from the afterlife. Upon regaining both, he realized that Mobius as a whole needed him more than Angel Island, and he dedicated himself to protecting the entire planet. This has led him to clash with his father on numerous occasions, but he remains vigilant with the support of his friends. For all of his conviction, however, Knuckles remains strongly attached to his people, and this proved to be his downfall when Finitevus told him of the destruction of 90% of the Echidna race, allowing him to fall victim to the mad doctor's influence as the new Enerjak. Knuckles is not that much unlike Sonic: he is cocky and big-mouthed, with a lot of a wise-cracks (as well as arrogance). He also is all too willing to use his fists and loathes Eggman with a passion. Over time he has learned to not trust everyone at first, and has discarded his gullibility. Unfortunately, he also has a strong temper that often leads him to rash action, and he usually reacts with anger when faced with difficult situations. (StH: #125, #165, #181, #182)

Powers and abilities[]

Due to his immense super strength, combat training from a young age, and his wide array of chaos powers, Knuckles is considered to be one of the most powerful beings on Mobius. Knuckles has physical strength far beyond that of an average mobian. His brute strength is his equivalent to Sonic the Hedgehog's speed, which enables him to perform feats such as shattering a Chaos Emerald with a single punch, smashing boulders into dust, punching through extremely durable robots with ease, and even lifting an entire power plant. His raw power enables him to even block and/or push back the Sonic Spin, one of Sonic's signature attacks which can cleave through almost anything given enough speed. He's capable of enhancing the strength of his fists by spinning them so fast that they turn into something resembling saw-blades; dubbing the technique "Hyper Knuckles" (not to be confused with his super form) his fists are able to saw through almost anything, and his punches become even more devastating. Knuckles is also a well-trained fighter from birth with a specialty in punching due to the claws on his knuckles. In addition to his strength, Knuckles possesses incredible durability to match. He's never been seen taking recoil from the force of his punches no matter what he hits. Additionally, Knuckles has been shown to be able to endure point blank Quantum Beam laser, fire, and explosions that are capable of destroying large parts of Angel Island, being splashed by molten lava, devastating full-speed blows from Sonic while using his Figure-Eight Peel-Out technique, Sonic-Screams from Thrash that could incapacitate Sonic, and even blasts of chaos energy from Enerjak. Knuckles can also be pretty quick on his feet and has incredibly fast reflexes, being capable of quickly dodging barrages of gunfire and life-ending traps all at once. His quick reflexes even let him block and dodge Sonic's blinding speed in their battles whereas most opponents can barely fight back. A great testament to Knuckles' power and fighting ability is that he is one of the very few individuals on Mobius who can rival Sonic blow for blow in intense combat; and has done so on 5 separate occasions. Knuckles managed to even best his Great Uncle Dimitri/Enerjak in one-on-one combat by using his superior fighting skills; despite the latter's nigh-omnipotent power. Albeit, this victory can be attributed to Enerjak not using his full chaos powers during the brawl. Knuckles has also been shown to be able to perform a variation of the Sonic Spin to supplant his fighting skills. He first used it alongside Sonic and Tails to destroy Metal Sonic.

Due to being exposed to a Chaos Emerald's radiation while still in his egg, combined with the DNA of his Guardian predecessors, Knuckles possesses chaos abilities far beyond that of almost any being on Mobius. This mutation caused Knuckles to evolve into the most powerful member among the Brotherhood of Guardians, having all the abilities of his ancestors on an even greater scale. To further cement this fact, Knuckles is the only member who could draw power directly from the Chaos Force itself, similarly to Shadow the Hedgehog. All previous Guardians required the Chaos Emeralds or the Master Emerald to draw excess chaos energy. Knuckles is the only guardian to ever reach a Super State as well. It has been stated on numerous occasions by seasoned chaos force users such as Locke, Tobor, and Dimitri that Knuckles possesses chaos energy levels akin to or greater than a Chaos Emerald. Notably, during Knuckles' battle with Kragok, his chaos energy reached such a high level that he was able to project it to another zone entirely; which Tobor could sense and again acknowledged was equal to an Emerald. In addition to possessing immense chaos energy, Knuckles has been granted a variety of abilities from his mutation including the ability to rapidly recover from any injury, as well as heal others; the power to open portals to other places; the ability to generate matter from thin air; telekinesis; the ability to enhance his strength when needed by tapping into the Chaos Force, projecting chaos energy from his body, sensing his surrounding with his eyes closed, and various others. Following his return from the Chaos Force, these powers remained dormant briefly, but most were eventually reawakened when he was exposed to the Master Emerald once again for a long enough time. Knuckles' ability to connect with and tap into the Chaos Force was permanently lost upon return, however. Like all Guardians, he possesses the ability to channel the Master Emerald's energy in battle as used in his battle against Dr. Finitevus. He can utilize these powers in a variety of ways, such as Thunder Arrow.

Knuckles also has other abilities likely caused by his mutation. Including being able to glide by using a mixture of his chaos powers and catching wind currents under his dreadlocks. By fully channeling Chaos energy, Knuckles can fly freely. By using his chaos powers, Knuckles is also capable of sensing Chaos energy and its location. Knuckles can also sense the life force of living beings by using chaos energy, even being able to detect individuals who are invisible, namely when he detected Espio while he spied on him. Due to the mutation Knuckles underwent in his egg, Knuckles is also the only Guardian who possesses an actual set of spikes on his fists. His spikes allow him to effortlessly climb surfaces and make his signature punches even more painful.

Transformation[]

Hyper Knuckles[]

With the power of the Chaos Emeralds or something equivalent to it, Knuckles can transform into Hyper Knuckles. In this state, Knuckles' innate talents are increased many times over, his strength having increased a thousand fold and his link to the Chaos Force becomes more open enhancing his chaos powers. In addition, he gains the power of flight and virtual invulnerability.

Chaos Knuckles[]

As a result of Locke tampering with Knuckles' DNA, Knuckles eventually underwent a natural evolution into Chaos Knuckles. Because this form is more of a mutation of himself rather that an enhanced state, Knuckles could stay like this indefinitely. As Chaos Knuckles, Knuckles was the most powerful being in existence and virtually omnipotent. However, he lost this form permanently when returning from the afterlife.

Relationships[]

Friends/allies[]

Freedom Fighters
- Arctic Freedom Fighters
  - Augustus the Polar Bear
  - Erma Ermine
  - Flip Penguin
  - Guntiver the Arctic Wolf
  - Sealia Seal
- Chaotix (teammates)
  - Archimedes (mentor)
  - Bomb
  - Charmy Bee
  - Espio the Chameleon
  - Heavy
  - Julie-Su (girlfriend and distant cousin)
  - Mighty the Armadillo
  - Ray the Flying Squirrel
  - Saffron Bee
  - Vector the Crocodile (mentor)
- Knothole Freedom Fighters
  - Amy Rose
  - Antoine D'Coolette
  - Bunnie D'Coolette
  - Dulcy the Dragon
  - Miles "Tails" Prower
  - Mina Mongoose
  - Nicole
  - Rotor Walrus
  - Sally Acorn (childhood friend)
  - Sonic the Hedgehog (good friend and rival)
- Downunda Freedom Fighters
  - Barby Koala
  - Duck "Bill" Platypus
  - Guru Emu
  - Walt Wallaby
  - Wombat Stu
- Mercian Freedom Fighters
  - Friar Buck
  - Mari-An
  - Rob o' the Hedge
- Secret Freedom Fighters
  - Shard the Metal Sonic
  - Silver the Hedgehog
- Wolf Pack
  - Canus
  - Leeta Wolf
  - Lobo
  - Lupe Wolf
Echidna Security Team
- Remington
- Teri-Lu
United Federation
- G.U.N.
  - Team Dark
    - E-123 Omega
    - Hope Kintobor
    - Rouge the Bat (rival and flirtation)
    - Shadow the Hedgehog
Big the Cat
Froggy
Benjy
Catweazle
Council of Acorn
- Dylan Porcupine
- Elias Acorn
- Hamlin Pig
- Penelope Platypus
- Rosemary Prower
- Sir Charles Hedgehog
Gala-Na
Neo Walkers
- Athair (paternal great-grandfather)
- Aurora
- Merlin Prower
Alicia Acorn
Amadeus Prower
Bernadette Hedgehog
Jules Hedgehog
Maximillian Acorn
Knecapon "Kneecaps" Mace (maternal half-brother)
Lara-Le (mother)
Wynmacher (stepfather)
Chao
- Chails
- Chuckles (likeness)
- Chonic
Harry
Deo Volente
Lost Tribe of Echidnas
- Iago
- Raynor
- Yanar
- Zax
Brotherhood of Guardians (paternal relatives)
- Hawking (great-x7 grandfather)
- Locke the Echidna (father)
- Sabre (paternal grandfather)
- Sojourner (great-x4 grandfather)
- Thunderhawk (great-x3 grandfather)
Ancient Walkers
Armand D'Coolette
Desi-Ca
Pollu
Meri-Ca
Geoffrey St. John (to a degree)
Hershey St. John
Knuckles Clan
- Tikal
Dimitri (great-x14 granduncle and former arch-nemesis)
Komi-Ko
Blaze the Cat
Princess Elise
O'Nux (Moebius counterpart)
Light Labs
- Dr. Light
  - Light Robot Masters
    - Mega Man
      - Rush
    - Proto Man
Lumina Flowlight

Neutral[]

Babylon Rogues
- Jet the Hawk
- Storm the Albatross (arch-rival)
- Wave the Swallow
Chaos
Team Hooligan
- Bark the Polar Bear
- Bean the Dynamite

Enemies[]

Dr. Ivo Robotnik
Eggman Empire
- Dark Egg Legion
  - Downunda Dark Egg Legion
- Dr. Eggman
- Snively Robotnik
- Hunter (arch-nemesis and victim)
- Badnik Horde
  - Burrobot
  - Hey Ho
  - Metal Sonic v.3.0
  - SWATbots
Mammoth Mogul
Destructix
- Drago Wolf
- Fiona Fox
- Flying Frog
- Lightning Lynx
- Predator Hawk
- Scourge the Hedgehog
- Sergeant Simian
- Sleuth "Doggy" Dawg
Dark Legion
- Benedict
- Enerjak (arch-nemesis)
- Kragok
- Lien-Da
- Dr. Finitevus (arch-nemesis)
- Mechanauts
- Moritori Rex (attempted killer)
- Xenin
Solaris
- Iblis
- Mephiles
Ixis Naugus
Nack the Weasel
Patch D'Coolette
Thrash the Tasmanian Devil (arch-nemesis)
Renfield the Rodent
Bear Pack
Xorda
Dr. Wily
- Wily Robot Masters
Void

Trivia[]

In Knuckles the Echidna #25, Knuckles took off his glove revealing a red echidna hand with spikes on his knuckles, much like his glove and is the first echidna to have spikes on his hands.
Knuckles is the only Guardian known to have undergone a super form or to be capable of doing so.
A family tree for Knuckles and Julie-Su was provided in Sonic the Hedgehog #109. The family tree did not list either Byron or Angel-La, the parents of Dimitri and Edmund. Remington was also not mentioned, though the family tree did point out the son of Kragok was with someone already in the comics. A completed family tree was later provided in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.
A prototype storyline for the issues after Sonic the Hedgehog #134 would have featured Knuckles refusing to remain on Angel Island because his presence caused the Master Emerald to put off more energy, making it easily detectable to villains, rather than his decision that his Guardian duties included the entire planet of Mobius. However, instead of remaining in Knothole with the Freedom Fighters and other Chaotix, he set off on a world tour to learn martial arts, eventually apprenticing himself to Monkey Khan. Khan's dojo would have turned out to be built atop the hiding place of a powerful jewel known as the Master Geode, which would have been targeted by Robotnik, the Iron Queen, and Mammoth Mogul. Knuckles was intended to become a pawn of the Iron Queen's placed under an evil spell and pitted against the Robotnik-controlled Khan. Eventually, he would have become temporarily omnipotent due to a reaction to the Master Geode, which ended up being fragmented and scattered across Mobius. In continuing his journey, Knuckles would have absorbed energy from these fragments.
The creators of the Sonic comic have previously stated that Knuckles and Julie-Su will never have an actual marriage, as a result of Knuckles being a top tier SegaSonic character and thus unable to be tied down to any one character. However, several possible futures have been shown where the two live or have lived together, but are bound by commitment rather than legality. These futures have also featured the pair having a daughter named Lara-Su, though one version later changed her name to Jani-Ca. The future of 3437 P.X.E. has featured a descendant of Knuckles' named Edmund, who is possibly Knuckles' grandson and the son of some version of Lara-Su; Lara-Su is also featured in artwork from this future. A comment by Edmund suggested that a version of Argyle the Crocodile may be his father, meaning that Vector and Knuckles would be his grandfathers.
The possible futures mentioned above both featured Knuckles losing control of his chaos powers and going on a rampage, much as he did when his power was overloaded by Dr. Finitevus. However, while one version of him was restored to normal by Sonic's efforts, the other went on to become a malevolent Dark Enerjak.
The fact that Chaos Knuckles changes his fur color from red to green may be a reference to the fact that Knuckles, when still in the early design stages, was originally green.
Knuckles was the first character—in his personae of Chaos Knuckles and Enerjak— to be shown capable of reverting characters with cybernetics back to their fully organic form. Ixis Naugus later joined this category after accidentally transforming Bunnie back into a fully organic form.
As a result of the Endangered Species storyline, Knuckles was left one of only three Echidnas known to remain on Mobius Prime, the others being Dr. Finitevus and Dimitri. Mari-An and her son Jon were not captured by Thrash, but their fate remains unknown.
This version of Knuckles made a cameo appearance alongside Sonic in the 1999 pilot issue to the Archie's Weird Mysteries comic series. There, they were summoned alongside a host of characters from various Archie Comics properties in order to fight off a gang of monsters that were attacking Riverdale.

Notes[]

↑ In his data file in Sonic the Hedgehog #112, Knuckles is stated to be born on day 51 of the year 3220. With the latest year in the Pre-Super Genesis Wave timeline being 3237, that places Knuckles at 17 years old.