Overview

Knuckles the Echidna is the sole remaining descendant of the Echidna tribe and the last echidna on earth. He guards the Master Emerald, which controls the Chaos Emeralds. His dominant trait is that of superhuman strength, and the two spikes on his knuckles, from which his name is derived. He uses his clawed fists to dig and scale walls. Knuckles has spent most of his life atop Angel Island alone, which makes him fairly independent and introverted. He can also glide using his dreadlocks. His final concept was the result of testing dozens of different ideas and inspiration from different animals.

Personality

Relationships

• Knuckles is one of Sonic’s greatest rivals, yet a Right-Hand Man to the Blue Blur.
• He doesn’t have the best Connection with Rouge, yet he is Selfless enough to help her. There is some rivalry between the two, one being a treasure hunter and the other a Jewel Thief.
• Like most Mobians, he dislikes Eggman, as he was fooled about 8 Times in the series alone, but He usually fixes his mistakes at the end.

Appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994): Knuckles debuted as one of the main antagonists of Sonic The Hedgehog 3. In Sonic and Knuckles, he debuted as a playable character. In the game's story, Dr. Robotnik pits Knuckles against Sonic and Tails, making him believe they intend to take the Master Emerald from him. Robotnik eventually uses Sonic and Knuckles' rivalry against them, and during their fight he takes the Master Emerald. Knuckles, realizing his mistake, forms a temporary alliance to fight against Robotnik, and the story concludes with Angel Island being restored. 

Sonic Adventure (1998): Although this was not Knuckles' first appearance as a playable character, he played a large role in the overall story. The completion of Knuckles' story is required to progress onto the final story to finish the game. Sonic Adventure was the first introduction of the treasure hunting stages, which would later be used again in its sequel game, Sonic Adventure 2. These stages would feature 3 shards of the Master Emerald scattered across it, with the player essentially playing a game of hot and cold. The closer you get to the Emerald shard, the more noise the indicator makes. Knuckles story would have him venture across multiple areas in search of said shards to complete the Master Emerald and go back to guarding it, fighting Robotnik's new monster Chaos along the way.

Sonic Adventure 2 (2001):

Trivia

• Knuckles was originally designed as a lizard, his long tail is a remnant from this stage in the development.
• According to the JP manual of Sonic 3, Knuckles thought the death egg was the egg of a legendary dragon.
• According to the Sonic 3 and Knuckles’ manual, his favorite food is grapes. 
•  He was originally going to have a Jamaican accent, Despite being based on an Australian animal.

Quotes

• “I'll probably be on this floating island forever, guarding the Master Emerald once again. I may not know the whole story behind this, but perhaps it's better that way. I'm at peace once more.” (Sonic Adventure, 1998)

• “As far back as I can remember, I've been living here on this floating island. Always guarding the Master Emerald from anything that could harm it. I don't know why I was given this job, why it was my "fate", destined to be up here forever...” (Sonic Adventure, 1998)

(Early knuckles character document for STI uncovered by a private collector. Link)