Knuckles (Sonic)

Knuckles the Echidna is a character from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic's secondary best friend and former rival. Determined and serious, but sometimes gullible, he fights his enemies using brute force and strength. His role is established as the guardian of the Master Emerald, a large gemstone which controls the series' integral Chaos Emeralds, and is the last living member of his tribe, the Knuckles Clan.

Knuckles debuted as one of the main antagonists in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994); in Sonic & Knuckles, he first became a playable character. In the games' story, Doctor Eggman tricks him into opposing Sonic and Tails.

Characteristics

Knuckles is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked 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. 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 he can be shy around girls. His favorite food is grapes, and his relationship with Sonic is ambivalent.

Reviews and impact

The character has received positive attention. According to IGN's Levi Buchanan, fans "seemed legitimately happy" with the addition of the character of Knuckles, who was popular enough to get marquee billing in Sonic & Knuckles, but Buchanan felt that characters who came after him were going "overboard". IGN's Colin Moriarty singled out the introduction of both Knuckles and Tails as when the series became "iffy" and listed them and all other characters in the series, sans Sonic and Robotnik, as being 2nd most in need to "die" on his top 10 list.