Is Knuckles Sonic's 2nd sidekick?

[EzSonic01]

So, I think this would be an interesting debate to discuss...We all know the oficial sidekick position belongs to Tails... but could Knuckles be considered a 2nd sidekick to Sonic? You know, Knuckles in the beggining, antagonized Sonic, but that was due to Eggman's trickery. After that, Knuckles became one of Sonic's friends and a hero on his own right. After being added to Sonic 3 and Sonic 2 as a playable character through S&K lock-on technology, he also became part of the "main three" and a core Sonic character.

However, he was also supposed to be a rival of Sonic, and a friendly one for that matter, not outright enemies. Fastforward to the early 2000s, Sonic Heroes is released, and the Team Sonic trio is officialy formed. From then onwards, Knuckles was seen in the role of being Sonic's 2nd sidekick a lot more often. That is, if you count the Sonic Riders series, Sonic Chronicles, Sonic '06, the Sonic Runners games, Sonic Boom... We also see Knuckles teaming up with Sonic a lot these days, and if not in the role of sidekick, he's a supporting character such as in Lost World, and the upcoming Forces. Mania will have him in a role similar to S2K and S3K, helping Sonic & Tails defeat Eggman.

But Knuckles teaming up with Sonic was nothing new, as in games like Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R, he's there helping Sonic in some way. In many of the media where he appears (and specially in recent times) he's not guarding the Master Emerald at all. I sometimes even think that this concept has been dropped, alongside his rivalry aspect with Sonic being quite downplayed.

I mean, when was the last we Knuckles and Sonic fighting each other? When was the last time Knuckles was seen as the guardian of the Master Emerald and Angel Island? And post-Colors onwards, we've seen Knuckles as one of the few characters to appear and have a role in the games, alongside Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Eggman.

So, what do you think, is Knuckles a sidekick to Sonic? I would like to know what other fans think.

 

[Azure P]

I think SEGA just sucks at character development.

Just look at Tails in Sonic Adventure where he is stepping out of Sonic's shadow and doing things himself. Now we're back to square one.

[big_smile]

1 hour ago, FairPlay said:

But Knuckles teaming up with Sonic was nothing new, as in games like Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R, he's there helping Sonic in some way. In many of the media where he appears (and specially in recent times) he's not guarding the Master Emerald at all. I sometimes even think that this concept has been dropped, alongside his rivalry aspect with Sonic being quite downplayed.

 

In Sonic Runners it was explained Knuckles put the Master Emerald into hiding so he could go on his adventures. Later in the story, the animals friends took over guarding it, so it seems it's no longer his job (although in a special event he refers to still guarding it, so perhaps he does it part time.). 

[Salamander]

Knuckles is in a bit of a difficult position, in that his role and backstory do contradict the fact that he was, indeed, clearly designed to be the third member of a foetal "Team Sonic."  He's the third major anthro character, the third playable character, his colour scheme and design fit neatly together with those of Sonic and Tails...  It's possible that he was designed just for S3&K and without the idea of continuing to use him in further games, but that seems pretty naive as it would be obvious that he would be just as popular as Sonic and Tails were.  So why was he put in a context where it would never make sense for him to be used again?

With that said, I'm pretty sympathetic to all handwave explanations for how he can leave the Master Emerald on its own.  The Runners explanations cited above will do, and you could also suggest that Tails installed some new defence systems for him; you might even argue that Knuckles identified Eggman as the main threat to the Master Emerald and is specifically trying to keep the doctor out of action.  But that's not really what this thread is for...

In conclusion: I don't know if I'd call Knuckles a "sidekick," or at least, that's not what I want him to be.  I think it's more interesting to regard him as a kind of equal partner with his own agenda that happens to align with Sonic's.

[SonicComicFanboy]

Knuckles is no one's sidekick & Knuckles only sidekick is Knuckles!

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

He gets it on by himself, he don't need no posse.

[Mick]

Nah.  I think Chip may be the 2nd sidekick.

[SuaveKnux]

Knuckles is Sonic's best friend 

[Osmium]

I wouldn't consider Knuckles to be a sidekick. He happens to be on Sonic's side a lot of the time just due to consequences and having similar sentiments to taking down dangerous people, so they team up when they know they'll need extra help and they are technically friends, even if the relationship is a lot more rocky compared to Sonic and Tails. Knuckles isn't even around Sonic that often, since he often has his own issues to take care of, Angel Island duties, shit like that. 

They have independent lives that just come into contact a lot, due to dealing with a lot of the same issues as one another. 

[horridus]

In theory? No, he isn't.

In practice? Given that I'm not even certain that Tails is really Sonic's sidekick these days, I'm not sure I'd call Knuckles a sidekick if only because he really seems to have been sidelined to something much less active within the games along with virtually everyone else, at least until Mania came along. 

[Diogenes]

Yeah, pretty much. Since Heroes, I'd say. Not just because it formally established "Team Sonic", but because by that point their rivalry had pretty much entirely faded (with Shadow stepping up to take that role). He's still not quite as "essential" as Tails, but he's the inevitable next choice if they want a third guy on the team.

The real question is if Amy counts as #4 yet. She's sort of been hovering around the edges of being a genuine member of the team for a while.

[rosedust]

11 hours ago, Azure P said:

I think SEGA just sucks at character development.

Just look at Tails in Sonic Adventure where he is stepping out of Sonic's shadow and doing things himself. Now we're back to square one.

yeah for real, it just sucks that tails has been relegated to being just a sidekick again :/

 

also knuckles is not a sidekick he has his own endeavors but we probably won't see them because sonic is the only one we focus on now.

[Mick]

Wow, what?  No one else thinks that Chip is Sonic's 2nd sidekick?  Makes sense to me.

[Chaotix Prime]

He's about as much of a sidekick as when Batman teams up with Superman.

[Azure P]

18 hours ago, Foxboy Mick said:

Wow, what?  No one else thinks that Chip is Sonic's 2nd sidekick?  Makes sense to me.

No. Let us never speak of this abomination again.

[Kuzu]

Well...whenever the series remembers he exists, but for the most part yea. He had been faded out of his antagonistic role by SA2, so there was nowhere for him to go but there.

[horridus]

Ah, it occurs to me that while I pointed out how diminished his role was, I didn't really answer how I feel about where he resides. 

In theory he isn't a sidekick, but in practice, when he DOES get included, he kind of is. His status as Sonic's 'friendly nemesis' is pretty much gone now, and he hasn't really had much of his own story to follow since Sonic Adventure. He's pretty subordinate to Sonic as far as the story is concerned, along with everyone else at this point. 

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

Wish they would go back to making sonic and knuckles rivals again. Sorta like "i do this my way and you do your way" thing. Have them buttheads from time to time on how to take out eggman.

When you hear, "sonic and knuckles", the first thing should come to mind is, " Oh man, I know this story is about to be crazy. Like you know sonic & knuckles are about to get into some real stuff.

[Chris Knopps]

I'm not really sure what Knuckles is anymore.

It seems SEGA is trying to push him as a rival at this and that moment, then they push him as a dude-bro the next...

I'd like to say he's Sonic's rival, but it seems Shadow has filled those shoes in our new era, still fighting against Sonic in Generations even.

Knuckles...

He's just kind of the... How to put it...

"Tougher than you jock"

I guess that's the best way to put it...

He's like your friend that was the school bully at some point and still has that bully streak in him that's popping up here and there.

So...

He's the jock of the franchise. One who discretely pumps steroids here and there to stay on top. I guess that's the best label for Knuckles now.

Our "special" steroid pumping jock.

[NintendoSoul]

He's been that way for years. Sonic Heroes was just the first game to portray Knuckles as another sidekick for Sonic. 

[DabigRG]

Eh...no and yes?

Really, Heroes and later Lost World re-established him as a friendly rival to Sonic compared to the Adventure Series, where he was a separate entity that didn't see eye to eye but would occasionally help him save the day when he was relevant. The marketing and format of Heroes (and especially the Riders Games) just made him seem like another close friend of Sonic's while the actual character would take the opportunity make competitive jabs at him. 

Knuckles was initially conceptualized as a foil/rival to Sonic in almost every way (even being Green originally) and was likely meant to be a one time thing. Of course, his popularity and the later introduction of Shadow and Jet(who simply play the role better/more obviously) meant he keeps showing up as an ally of Sonic's and a hero.

[AzureLakeSanic]

IDK tbh

I see him as his Sonic 3 personality

[Dash Speed]

On 7/26/2017 at 9:47 AM, Chaotix Prime said:

He's about as much of a sidekick as when Batman teams up with Superman.

Uh don't you mean Shadow is Batman to Sonic's Superman, Knuckles is definately a Superman character that helps Superman and is tied to him, like Steel.

[ClassicKnuckles]

I mean, in the TOMY Sonic 3 packs, Knuckles is right beside Sonic... And they made only TOMY Sonic Comic Packs of Sonic and Knux... I dunno. I think Knux has a lot more character development than Tails, and I like him a lot more. I think he plays a lot better than Tails as well.

[EzSonic01]

I think we can all agree that Sonic and Knuckles, alongside Tails, are a great team, in my opinion the best of them all. I would say Knux can be seen as a sidekick to Sonic occasionally, even if he's much more independent from Sonic than Tails.