Knuckles the Echidna is a fictional character in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a red anthropomorphic echidna who is determined and serious, but sometimes gullible. He has the ability to glide and climb up walls, and is a powerful fighter with spiked hands. He serves as the guardian of the Master Emerald, a huge gemstone that controls the series' integral Chaos Emeralds.
Knuckles was born alone and raised on Angel Island as the last surviving member of the Knuckles Clan, a long-lost race of echidnas, devoted to protecting the Master Emerald from being abused. Apparently, he had been charged with protecting the Master Emerald for as long as he can remember. However, Knuckles' own past was a mystery to him; he knew nothing of how he came to be, his ancestral roots, or even the details of the Master Emerald he was supposed to protect, and believed himself to be the last of his kind entirely. Despite this, he chose to spend his life as the Master Emerald's guardian, never questioning it. Knuckles knew as well from innate knowledge that his duty was his fate, and he was content with that.
For much of his life, Knuckles stayed close to the Master Emerald's shrine, steadfastly protecting it while having little to no contact with the outside world, becoming friends with all the animals and the nature itself on Angel Island.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles was on his usual patrol of Angel Island's pillar, watching over the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds. However, the Chaos Emeralds started to float and vibrate as tremors began. Then, in an ear-piercing crash and brilliant flash, Knuckles was knocked unconscious. When he regained consciousness, Knuckles found the altar partially destroyed and the Chaos Emeralds missing. Shocked, he investigated the island and discovered the Death Egg had crash-landed on Angel Island, its impact having pushed the island into the sea. This sight made Knuckles recall a prophecy depicted on murals at the Hidden Palace that said that a dragon's egg would bring disaster to the island.
Over the next days, Knuckles patrolled the island while looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Eventually, he met a mysterious man, whom he tried to attack. However, the man, introducing himself as Dr. Eggman, begged for mercy, telling Knuckles that he was a friendly scientist conducting research on the Death Egg and that two people, named Sonic and Tails, were disrupting his work and had come to steal the Chaos Emeralds. Due to his seclusion, Knuckles believed Eggman and made it his goal to stop Sonic and Tails and keep them from the doctor, not realizing that he was actually being used by Eggman to keep the duo at bay while he rebuilt the Death Egg.
When Sonic arrived on the island as Super Sonic with Tails, Knuckles pulled a cheap shot on Sonic that forced the Chaos Emeralds out of him, which Knuckles escaped with and hid away. As Sonic and Tails traveled across Angel Island, Knuckles attempted to stop the duo in Angel Island Zone, Hydrocity, Carnival Night and Launch Base with his traps. As Sonic tried to board the Death Egg, Knuckles kept Sonic from getting close until tremors caused him to fall into the water.
In Sonic & Knuckles, after the Death Egg crash-landed on Angel Island again, Knuckles briefly visited the Hidden Palace through a Giant Ring in Mushroom Hill. After securing the hidden object (unaware that Sonic and Tails were watching), Knuckles disappeared into the forest.
As Sonic and Tails continued to explore the island, Knuckles opposed them with traps in Mushroom Hill and Lava Reef. However, as Sonic and Tails arrived at the Hidden Palace, Knuckles faced Sonic in an fight but lost. After his defeat, Knuckles heard an explosion at the Master Emerald's shrine and discovered that Eggman was stealing the Master Emerald to power the Death Egg. Realizing he had been deceived, Knuckles tried to stop Eggman but was electrocuted as the doctor escaped. Befriending Sonic and Tails, Knuckles guided them to the Sky Sanctuary from where they could board the Death Egg, though he was too exhausted to accompany them. Fortunately, Sonic and Tails returned with the Master Emerald to Angel Island, and Knuckles watched as his new friends left the island in the Tornado.
Days later, the peace on Angel Island came to a halt when one of the Eggrobos, under orders from Mecha Sonic Mk. II, attacked Knuckles with a bomb as he was relaxing in the Mushroom Hill. Through luck or toughness, Knuckles survived the explosion and set off to defeat the Eggrobo.Knuckles proceeded to follow the Eggrobo to the Sky Sanctuary where it grabbed him with its Egg Mobile and brought it before Mecha Sonic, who had stolen the Master Emerald, threatening to make Angel Island fall once more. However, Knuckles escaped the Egg Mobile before Mecha Sonic could kill him, resulting in the Eggrobo's destruction. As Knuckles fought Mecha Sonic, the robot used the Master Emerald to go Super. Though Knuckles beat him, the fight caused their arena to crumble. Fortunately, Knuckles and the Master Emerald were rescued by Sonic in the Tornado, and the two returned to Angel Island with the Master Emerald. Having saved the floating island again, Knuckles departed ways with Sonic once more.
In Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, Knuckles was fooled by Dr. Eggman into thinking that Sonic was out to conquer the world using the Chaos Emeralds. Acting promptly, Knuckles found the five lost Emeralds first and hid them away in the Special Stages.
Knuckles eventually found Sonic and Tails where he warned Sonic spitefully that he would never get the Emeralds, before escaping. Knuckles then attempted several times to oppose Sonic and Tails' quest, but when he faced Sonic and Tails head on using an underwater vehicle, he was defeated. Following his defeat, Knuckles was imprisoned in the Atomic Destroyer Zone by Dr. Eggman, but he was soon freed by Sonic and Tails. Making peace with them, Knuckles escaped from Eggman's base alongside the duo.
In Sonic Drift 2, Knuckles took part of a race competition where he drove the Tempest. Here, he had to win a series of races against Sonic, Tails, Amy, Dr. Eggman, Nack, and Metal Sonic. At the end of the competition, he would race the doctor on the Death Egg.
In Knuckles' Chaotix, a few months after the Angel Island incident, Knuckles noticed a new island had risen from the southern ocean as a result of tectonic activity simulated by the Master Emerald's presence, and was now rapidly flourishing due to the gem's pillar. Curious, Knuckles speculated it held the remains of the Knuckles Clan and that something there was amplifying the power of the Master Emerald's pillar. Duty-bound, Knuckles left to investigate the island. When he got there, Knuckles noticed that it had been converted into the Newtrogic High Zone by Dr. Eggman who sought to synthesize Dark Rings to help him steal the Master Emerald. Knuckles soon found Eggman and made him to flee with Metal Sonic as he was trapping Espio the Chameleon in his Combi Catcher. Knuckles then freed Espio, and they teamed up to free Eggman's other captives and thwart the doctor's plans.
Together, Knuckles and Espio freed the captive Vector the Crocodile, Charmy Bee and Mighty the Armadillo, who also joined them. After that, Knuckles and his crew began securing the prestigious Chaos Rings while stopping Eggman's usage of his Dark Rings on several occasions. When the time came for the final showdown, the Chaotix was attacked by Metal Sonic. During the ensuing battle, Knuckles and co. fell into another room where they were attacked by Metal Sonic Kai, Eggman's final trump card. Regardless, Knuckles and the Chaotix still defeated him, thus restoring peace to the island.
In Sonic the Fighters, Knuckles had been entrusted to safeguard one of the Chaos Emeralds to keep Dr. Eggman from abusing it. Eventually though, Knuckles met Sonic and Tails, who needed the Chaos Emeralds to power the Lunar Fox, a single-seat spaceship Sonic could use to reach and destroy the Death Egg II, a space station Eggman was currently using to deploy robots to lay waste to the world with. Knuckles, however, argued that since the Lunar Fox only had one seat, then the one to go should be the strongest among them (which he meant himself). Before Knuckles and Sonic could fight over the spot though, Tails got between them and convinced them to fight fair and squarely over the spot in the ring with the other Emerald guardians, and the one who could win against all the contestants got to ride the Lunar Fox. A fighting tournament was subsequently established.
At the end of the tournament, the victor used the Chaos Emeralds to go to the Death Egg II and made it self-destruct moments after escaping it.
In Sonic 3D Blast, Knuckles joined Sonic and Tails on their trip to Flicky Island. Having heard legends that the Flickies on the island held the key to finding the Chaos Emeralds, the group journeyed to there to find these birds. When they got there, however, the island was in pandemonium because of Dr. Eggman who had built a base on the island from where he turned the Flickies into Badniks and used them to search for the Chaos Emeralds on the island. As such, Knuckles worked together with Sonic and Tails to find the Chaos Emeralds, helping their hedgehog friend save the Flickies and defeat Eggman.
In Sonic Blast, Knuckles teamed up with Sonic to stop Dr. Eggman when the doctor planned to use the shattered pieces of a Chaos Emerald to fortify his Silver Castle. Knuckles' reasons for doing so was partially because he could not trust Sonic to accomplish this task alone, although he mostly just wanted to punish Dr. Eggman. In the end, the heroes secured the Emeralds and destroyed Eggman's fortress.
In Sonic R, Knuckles heard from an advertisement that the World Grand Prix, a racing competition to determine the fastest in the world, was about to take place. Hearing that Sonic was participating, Knuckles entered too, not willing to miss the chance to settle his score with Sonic.
At the World Grand Prix, Knuckles not only went up against Sonic but also his other friends, Tails and Amy, as well as his nemesis Dr. Eggman and his minions, who planned to use Sonic and co. to locate the Chaos Emeralds on the race track. In the end though, the heroes kept Eggman from getting the Chaos Emeralds, securing world safety again.
In Sonic Mania, sometime after Sonic and Tails saved Angel Island, Knuckles was relaxing on his island when he heard a loud noise. As it turned out, five Eggrobos serving Dr. Eggman, called the Hard Boiled Heavies, had excavated the island in search of a mysterious gemstone called the Phantom Ruby. Knuckles prepared to fight them but the robots knocked him out, activating the ruby and transporting the echidna away. Knuckles ended up in Green Hill Zone, along with Sonic, Tails and the Eggrobos. Having been upgraded by the Phantom Ruby, the Hard Boiled Heavies retreated with the ruby, leaving Knuckles and co. to chase them down.
The trio was eventually attacked by Dr. Eggman and his Death Egg Robot. Even so, they managed to defeat Eggman, causing him to fall into a hole. Following Eggman, Knuckles and his friends saw Eggman take the Phantom Ruby from the Hard Boiled Heavies, who had begun to disobey him. Once Eggman obtained the ruby, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails got sent to Chemical Plant Zone by the gem's power. Not set back by their displacement, Knuckles and his allies continued their pursuit of Eggman, occasionally clashing with the Hard Boiled Heavies and other foes along the way. Whenever they caught up to Eggman however, the doctor either gave them the slip or sent them away with the Phantom Ruby. During the adventure, Knuckles also kept the leader of the Hard Boiled Heavies, the Heavy King, from trying to steal the Master Emerald when the echidna got separated from his friends. Afterward, he caught up with his friends again.
Along the way, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails found out that Dr. Eggman had captured Little Planet. There, Eggman and the Hard Boiled Heavies housed a new base of operations: the Titanic Monarch. Eventually, the trio made their way to the heart of the robotic area where they faced Eggman in his Phantom Egg mech and four of the newly upgraded Phantom Heavies. Despite the odds, Knuckles and co. managed to defeat Eggman, resulting in the breakdown of the Titanic Monarch. While Knuckles and Tails managed to escape Little Planet, Sonic and Eggman were transported to another dimension. Soon after, Little Planet was freed from its chain once again, and Knuckles and Tails smiled upon seeing a star constellation of Sonic appear in the sky as the planet vanished.
Around the time of Sonic's return, Knuckles took the Master Emerald from its shrine and began bringing it elsewhere. His reason for doing so was to keep the Master Emerald safe after all the trouble that had showed up since Sonic and Eggman's arrival on Angel Island. Just as he had found a safe place for the gem, Knuckles heard someone nearby, and thought it was Eggman, the Heavy King, or even Sonic coming to take the Master Emerald. However, the stranger turned out to just be Ray the Flying Squirrel, who was looking for Mighty the Armadillo. Just as Knuckles informed Ray that he had not seen Mighty however, he threw Ray away for trying to touch the Master Emerald. Three RhinoBots soon after showed up, which Knuckles destroyed. However, he then saw that the Master Emerald had been stolen while he was occupied. Spotting then the Tornado dragging the Master Emerald through the sky, Knuckles assumed Sonic had stolen the Master Emerald, and began chasing the biplane. Knuckles soon after spotted Sonic and Tails heading towards a foreign Eggman base on his island and began chasing after them.
Upon reaching Dr. Eggman's base, Knuckles immediately prevented Metal Sonic from harnessing the power of the Master Emerald by punching both him and Dr. Eggman into the distance. Having successfully retrieved the Emerald, Knuckles walked off, ignorant of Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray, who stared at him.
In Sonic Mania Plus, after Sonic made his return from his latest adventure, Knuckles teamed up with Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray to keep the Hard Boiled Heavies from harnessing the Phantom Ruby again.
The group was eventually attacked by Dr. Eggman and his Death Egg Robot. Even so, they managed to defeat Eggman, causing him to fall into a hole. Following Eggman, Knuckles and his friends saw Eggman take the Phantom Ruby from the Hard Boiled Heaves, who again refused to obey him. Once Eggman obtained the ruby, the heroes got sent to Chemical Plant Zone by the gem's power. Not set back by their displacement, the group continued their pursuit of Eggman, occasionally clashing with the Hard Boiled Heavies and other old foes along the way. Whenever they caught up to Eggman however, the doctor either gave them the slip or sent them away with the Phantom Ruby.
Eventually, Knuckles and his allies found out that Dr. Eggman had seized Little Planet once again. There, he and the Hard Boiled Heavies had rebuilt the Titanic Monarch. Eventually, the heroic group made their way to the heart of the rebuilt Titanic Monarch where they faced Eggman in his Phantom Egg mech and four of the recently re-upgraded Phantom Heavies. Despite the odds, Knuckles and his friends managed to defeat Eggman, resulting in the Phantom Ruby creating a rift that began devouring the Titanic Monarch. Assuming their Super States with the aid of the Chaos Emeralds however, Knuckles and his group escaped the rift, whereas Eggman got swallowed by it. Afterward, the gang closed off their adventure with a trip to an ice cream parlor, only for the Heavy King to make an appearance and surprise them with a sundae.
Knuckles is playable in Sonic Superstars (a game set during the Classic period), retaining his classic moveset but now with the benefits of the Emerald Powers. Knuckles gets a powerful punch for his Extra Emerald ability. Knuckles starts the game relaxing next to the Master Emerald before seeing Sonic and Tails in the Tornado and following them. He joins them on the adventure to defeat Doctor Eggman and Fang the Hunter. Along with Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Trip, Knuckles manages to save the day.
In Sonic Adventure, as Knuckles was falling asleep beside the Master Emerald at its altar while lamenting the story of his life, he awoke to find Chaos next to the shattered Master Emerald. Assuming Chaos broke the relic, Knuckles attacked him, but he blindsided him and escaped. With the Master Emerald gone, Angel Island fell into the sea. Knuckles thus began searching for the Master Emerald's wide-scattered Emerald Shards, but after finding a few, he was pulled into the past Mystic Ruins by Tikal's spirit, when the Knuckles Clan still thrived, where he saw the female echidna trying to convince Chief Pachacamac to abandon his war efforts.
Back in the present, Knuckles spotted Dr. Eggman and a shining object in the doctor's hands, which he believed to be an Emerald Shard but discovered it was a Chaos Emerald when he cornered him. The villain called in Chaos 1 and transformed him into Chaos 2, but the echidna still recognized him and beat him. Afterward, before leaving, Eggman told Knuckles that Sonic was after the Emerald Shards as well, which filled Knuckles' mind with doubts. After finding more Emerald Shards, Knuckles found Sonic and Tails. Seeing something shining in Sonic's hands, Knuckles believed it was Emerald Shards, and attacked the duo until Sonic dropped them, and they were revealed to be Chaos Emeralds. Eggman then showed up to nab the Emeralds, mocking Knuckles with how easy it was to trick him into assisting him steal the Emeralds, and gave them to Chaos 2, turning him into Chaos 4. After defeating Chaos 4, Knuckles left to find the remaining Emerald Shards while Sonic and Tails chased Eggman's Egg Carrier.
Knuckles was soon after sent back to the past after finding more shards where he saw Tikal trying to convince Chaos to flee the Altar of Emerald along with the Chao. Finding himself back at the present-day altar, Knuckles tried restoring the Master Emerald, only to see it still missing a few pieces. From an image inside the Master Emerald, Knuckles saw the Egg Carrier and deduced it was there where the last Emerald Shards remained. Knuckles soon after stumbled upon E-102 Gamma and trailed the robot to the Egg Carrier where Knuckles found the remaining shards, only to be sent to the past again, this time to see the altar ablaze where he tried asking Tikal what was going on but was immediately sent back to the present. Back on the Egg Carrier, Knuckles briefly met Sonic as he was heading after Eggman. As Knuckles wished Sonic well, the latter left the echidna to battle off Chaos 6. Knuckles subsequently defeated Chaos and got retrieved his six Chaos Emeralds before returning home with all the Emeralds and Emerald Shards where he restored the Master Emerald, allowing it to return Angel Island back to the sky.
Not long after, the Angel Island fell down again, and Knuckles decided to find Sonic to ask for advice, believing the Chaos Emeralds he brought back had something to do with it. Soon after, however, he discovered Robotnik and was ambushed by Chaos, who took his Chaos Emeralds. Later found by Sonic and Tails, Knuckles informed them of Chaos's return and that he would destroy the world using the Chaos Emeralds, before taking off himself to deal with the threat. Arriving in Station Square where Perfect Chaos was on a rampage, Knuckles found four of the now-drained Chaos Emeralds and brought them to Sonic while his other friends brought the remaining three, where he reluctantly agreed with Tails that Sonic could still harness the Chaos Emeralds' positive energy to stop Chaos.
After Super Sonic had defeated Perfect Chaos, Knuckles looked on with content as Chaos was returned to a peaceful creature once more and departed with Tikal.
In Sonic Shuffle, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, and Amy were suddenly transported to the Temple of Lightin Maginaryworld. There, they met Lumina Flowlight who had brought them here to help restore the Perfect Precioustone which had been shattered by Void and made their guardian, Illumina, disappear. With Void now posed to destroy Maginaryworld with the Precioustone gone, Knuckles agreed to help with the others. While finding the Precioustone and restoring the world affected by Void, Knuckles had a dream where he met Void. Knuckles and the others initially opposed Void but eventually saw that Void was lonely and sad which touched their hearts, and they soon saw that Void and Lumina were two halves of the same whole.
After having brought the Precioustones to the Temple of Light, Knuckles and the others returned there when Void went for the Perfect Precioustone again. There, Void's despair transformed him into a monster. Knuckles and the team defeated Void, but Lumina fell into despair as the Perfect Precioustone was not recovering. When Sonic found Void in the form of a dark gem, Knuckles helped get Lumina to accept Void by noting how negative feelings were needed for dreams to flourish. With Lumina's hope restored, Knuckles and the group saw her restoring the Precioustone, and Lumina and Void remerging back into Illumina. With Maginaryworld restored to an even better place, Knuckles and the gang received Illumina's gratitude before returning home.
In Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles discovered the Master Emerald had been stolen by Rouge the Bat. Tracking her down to a desert, Knuckles had an ownership dispute with Rouge over the Emerald until it was stolen by Dr. Eggman, who had tracked its signal. Rather than letting Eggman have it, Knuckles shattered the Master Emerald and scattered its Emerald Shards to prevent the theft, knowing full well that it can be repaired. With Rouge berating him for his action, Knuckles began hunting down the shards before Rouge could get them. After gathering some shards on the way, Knuckles got lost inside the Aquatic Mine and ended up in Central City, where he met Tails and Amy, only for Amy to drag him into Sonic's latest adventure, where they were trying to stop Eggman from using the Eclipse Cannon to take over the earth.
Having located Eggman on Space Colony ARK, Knuckles led the group to Eggman's base, having seen both Eggman and Rouge enter it. Believing there was a space shuttle there that could take them to the ARK and destroy the Eclipse Cannon, Knuckles, and the team infiltrated the base, where Knuckles found the keys to the center at Sonic's choice, before having a fight with King Boom Boo. At the shuttle's launch pad, Knuckles and the others were ambushed by Eggman with the Egg Golem. While Sonic defeated the Egg Golem, Knuckles and the others got a space shuttle to take off in. While on route to Space Colony ARK, however, the shuttle hit a stray asteroid, causing the cargo bay to open and releasing all the Emerald Shards Knuckles had stored there. Panicking, Knuckles tried taking control of the shuttle, only to cause it to crash into the ARK. After landing, Knuckles left the group to find the lost shards.
After finding some shards, Knuckles met Rouge again and fought her to a stalemate. However, as Rouge lunged towards the Master Emerald, she tripped and began falling towards a lava pit, but Knuckles saved her life, only for Rouge to show ingratitude to him. Regardless, she returned the Emerald Shards she had found as thanks, with his questioning why she even bothered to steal the Master Emerald in the first place when she tried to justify it as the shards "stink(ing) like echidnas do". After restoring the Master Emerald, Knuckles left with it, but not before swallowing his pride and apologizing to Rouge for hurting her. No sooner, Knuckles found Sonic appearing in front of him after he had escaped from a doomed capsule using Chaos Control with a fake Chaos Emerald, who told Knuckles to go help Tails and Amy as he left to destroy the Eclipse Cannon.
After the Eclipse Cannon had been stopped, Knuckles and Sonic met Rouge, who told them that the ARK was on a collision course with earth, although Knuckles thought by her appearance that she was still after the Master Emerald. Knuckles and the others then saw a recording of Gerald Robotnik announcing to the world that the ARK's impact would destroy the planet as his vengeance against humanity for the death of his granddaughter, Maria. Banding with Eggman, Knuckles and the group came up with the plan to use the Master Emerald to deactivate the seven Chaos Emeralds, which were powering the cannon's core, to stop the Space Colony's crash course. Knuckles' specific role in opening the way to the core was accessing the ball switch underwater to unlock the final gate to the core for Sonic, the room he was in having been flooded by Rouge earlier to ensure he could reach the switch and throw it. When Knuckles and Sonic made it to the core, they were attacked by the Biolizard, but Shadow arrived to distract him. Knuckles used the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds, but the Biolizard warped outside and fused with the ARK, becoming the Finalhazard, to keep the ARK on its collision course. Knuckles then watched Sonic and Shadow use the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow before leaving to defeat the Finalhazard. He and the others advised the two through transmission lines.
After Super Sonic and Super Shadow beat the Finalhazard and brought the ARK warped into orbit, Knuckles saw Sonic return alone, informing them that Shadow had seemingly died. Knuckles then asked Rouge what she planned to do and was content to hear she considered giving up treasure hunting before they returned to earth.
In Sonic Advance, Knuckles joined forces with Sonic, Tails, and Amy to stop Dr. Eggman from obtaining the seven Chaos Emeralds. Over the course of their adventure, Knuckles and the others got the Chaos Emeralds first and chased the doctor to the X-Zone. After they defeated the Egg X, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy returned to earth while Super Sonic faced Eggman in a final confrontation on the moon. There, they awaited Sonic's return but grew confused when he did not show up. A few days later, though, Sonic finally returned.
In Sonic Advance 2, Knuckles was kidnapped alongside Tails by Dr. Eggman when the evil scientist attempted once more to create the Eggman Empire. After being captured, Knuckles was somehow tricked by Eggman into fighting Sonic.
In Sky Canyon, Knuckles intercepted Sonic and his allies in the Egg Saucer but was defeated. Realizing that he had been tricked, Knuckles tried to defend himself but was chided by Sonic. When Sonic then tried to leave, Knuckles joined him, wanting payback at Eggman.
After hunting down and seemingly beating Eggman, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, Cream, and Cheese found Vanilla who had gone missing, only to see her being kidnapped by Eggman in his new mech. Knuckles then witnessed Sonic using the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and taking off to rescue Vanilla and stop Eggman. When Sonic returned with Vanilla, Knuckles congratulated Sonic for a job well done.
In Sonic Advance 3, where the earth was split into seven regions by a massive Chaos Control induced by Dr. Eggman, Knuckles met Sonic and Tails in Sunset Hill. Seeing the trouble, Knuckles joined his friend to help, despite being declined by Sonic.
Traveling across the different regions, Knuckles and his friends eventually got the seven Chaos Emeralds and had Amy and Cream join them. Along the way, Knuckles also faced Dr. Eggman's newest creation, Gemerl, a rebuilt version of Emerl. Eventually, Knuckles and his friends got to the Emerald Altar where they beat the Hyper Eggroboand used the Master Emerald to return the world to normal. Later, following Sonic's return from his and Eggman's battle with Ultimate Gemerl, Knuckles remained behind at the Master Emerald's shrine and watched on satisfied as his friends took their leave.
In Sonic Heroes, Knuckles and Tails received a letter from Dr. Eggman, who claimed to have created "the ultimate weapon" to conquer the world and challenged them to stop him within three days. Using the Tornado 2, Knuckles and Tails found Sonic and brought him the news. As Knuckles was confident they could handle it, he and Tails joined Sonic in stopping Eggman's scheme, officially forming Team Sonic.
Beginning their mission by tracking Dr. Eggman, Team Sonic found the doctor at Ocean Palace, where they were attacked by the Egg Hawk. Though the team defeated the machine, Eggman escaped. Knuckles and Team Sonic then followed Eggman to Grand Metropolis, where the team freed the city from Eggman's control and escaped from the Power Plant, before running into Team Rose, who they managed to give the slip. During the fight Knuckles taunted Sonic asking him if he was playing with Amy's heart again.
Arriving in Casino Park, Knuckles was taken back by the place but was pushed on. As they got through the city, Eggman attacked them with his Robot Carnival, but Team Sonic defeated the horde. Following Eggman to Rail Canyon and only having until sunset, Knuckles and his team headed for Bullet Station and destroyed Eggman's base there. Team Sonic found Eggman in the Egg Albatross and destroy it. It was then, however, that Knuckles and the team discovered that the Eggman they had been chasing was a copy and that their challenge was to distract them while Eggman launched his Egg Fleet. As Sonic took off, Knuckles quickly followed him.
Following Eggman through the jungle, Team Sonic met Team Dark and saw Shadow was still alive. As an argument arose about who would take down Eggman, the two teams fought each other. After the battle, Team Sonic followed Eggman and Shadow to Hang Castle, where Knuckles teased Tails by saying that it could have been Shadow's ghost they saw. After infiltrating the castle and escaping Mystic Mansion, Team Sonic was attacked by Eggman's Robot Storm but defeated it.
After that, Team Sonic got to the Egg Fleet and went straight for the Final Fortress where they destroyed the colossal flagship's core. Team Sonic then found Eggman in his Egg Emperor and defeated him. After destroying much of the Egg Fleet, Knuckles teased Sonic with how he would have stood no chance without their help, but was surprised when Sonic agreed and thanked him and Tails. Knuckles and Tails then watched Sonic run away as Amy arrived.
Later, Team Sonic and the other teams saw the return of Metal Sonic, who had been staging the teams' adventures and impersonating Eggman so he could follow them and copy their data for a plan to conquer the world himself, as he transformed into Metal Madness. Seeing that the teams had collected all the Chaos Emeralds, the real Dr. Eggman came up with the plan of using them against Metal Sonic. When Sonic decided to face Metal Sonic alone, Knuckles insisted on going with him along with Tails. While Team Sonic charged the Chaos Emeralds, Team Rose, Dark, and Chaotix fought Metal Madness to buy them some time.
When Metal Madness transformed into Metal Overlord, Knuckles and Tails were given their own Super States by Sonic as he transformed into Super Sonic. The team then took off and defeated Metal Overlord. Back on the flagship, Knuckles watched Sonic leave, before chasing after Rouge once she said she would steal "someone else's treasure." Soon after, Knuckles joined Sonic and Tails as they headed off to find their next adventure.
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles left his post on Angel Island and joined forces with most of his friends and G.U.N.'s forces to repel the Black Arms invasion of earth. He appears during Shadow's Hero missions, where he asks Shadow for assistance against the Black Arms.
Arriving in Glyphic Canyon, Knuckles attempted to assist G.U.N. by driving off the Black Arms infesting the area. There, he met Shadow, who had just been teleported to the ruins by Black Doom. Upon meeting him, Knuckles filled Shadow in on the Black Arms around them and requested his assistance in clearing the area of the Black Arms.
In the Hero scenario, where Shadow accepted Knuckles' request, Knuckles and Shadow managed to drive the Black Arms out of the area, and as well find one of the Chaos Emeralds amongst the ruins.
In Central City, Knuckles discovered that the Black Arms had set up bombs across the city that would destroy the entire city, a tragedy that Knuckles did not intend to come true. When there were only a few minutes left until the bombs would explode, Knuckles noticed Shadow had arrived in Central City and asked for help defusing the bombs, aiding G.U.N. as they sent in their bomb squads to defuse the larger ones.
In the Hero scenario, where Shadow accepted Knuckles' request, Knuckles and Shadow succeeded in defusing enough bombs and managed to save the city, buying time for the President to be evacuated by the Commander Tower and GUN to their headquarters via a G.U.N. flying battleship.
Having gotten onboard the Black Comet, Knuckles assisted G.U.N. in attacking the Black Arms' base, with Knuckles planning to destroy the comet's core. On his way to the core, Knuckles came across Shadow and asked him for his help to get to the center.
In the Hero scenario, where Shadow accepted Knuckles' request, Knuckles and Shadow made it to the center of the Black Comet, where they found the Chaos Emerald that the Black Arms had stolen. Though Shadow refused to follow Knuckles any further, Knuckles still came to Shadow's aid when the hedgehog was attacked by Dr. Eggman and his Egg Dealer. Eventually, the two destroyed Eggman's contraption and claimed the final Chaos Emerald before Shadow personally ended Eggman's life.
In the Last Story, Knuckles arrived with Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge and Dr. Eggman to stop Shadow from giving the Chaos Emeralds to Black Doom. Black Doom, however, took the Emeralds and used an enhanced Chaos Control to transport the Black Comet to the surface, planning to use humans as energy sources for his kind. As Knuckles prepared to act, he and the others were paralyzed by a special nerve gas, and Black Doom unleashed the Death leeches to prey on them. Shadow, however, proved to be immune to the gas, and he left Knuckles and the others behind as he pursued Black Doom.
Knuckles and the others eventually escaped the Black Comet and found some shelter from where they cheered Super Shadow on as he fought and defeated Devil Doom. Knuckles then witnessed Super Shadow sending the Black Comet back into space and blowing it up with the Eclipse Cannon. As Eggman then tried to sneak away to claim the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles furiously chased after him.
In Sonic Battle, Knuckles heard the news that an E-121 Phi had been robbing jewelry stores. Later, Knuckles met up with Sonic, Tails and Emerl, a robot Sonic had found, who had come to ask for the Chaos Emerald in his possession to develop Emerl. Knuckles, however, mistook Emerl for the E-121 Phi and attacked him but was defeated. Knuckles then relinquished his Chaos Emerald and learned about Emerl's abilities and that Dr. Eggman and Rouge were after him, making him suspicious.
Later, Knuckles met Tails and Emerl, where he, after a brief fight with Emerl, was then told by Tails to come to Emerald Beach when their path was blocked by Chaos Gamma. In the end, Knuckles took care of Gamma alone, allowing Tails and Emerl to leave. When Chaos Gamma escaped, Knuckles got to Emerald Beach, where he saw Rouge leave and heard what had happened from Sonic. When Knuckles tried to ask Emerl, he became infuriated as Emerl continued to ignore him, especially upon Sonic's orders, which made Knuckles fight both of them.
Later, after Emerl had been stolen by Rouge, Knuckles and Tails aided Sonic when he fought Rouge to get Emerl back, with Rouge eventually surrendering Emerl. Later on, when Knuckles learned about how Emerl needed Chaos Emeralds and that he grew stronger the more he fought, he vowed to help realize Emerl's full potential. Finding Emerl with Tails in Emerald Town, Knuckles trained with him until they heard the news saying that an E-121 Phi was in Night Babylon and Knuckles took Emerl with him to deal with it.
In Central City, Knuckles briefly came across Amy, only to be attacked by Chaos Gamma. After forcing Chaos Gamma to leave, Knuckles encountered Rouge, who filled him in on Chaos Gamma and learned the robot wanted revenge at Emerl. After processing this, Knuckles and Emerl continued to Night Babylon. There, they met a clerk who mistook Emerl for a Phi and called a Guard Robo. After destroying it and escaping, Knuckles lost his temper and yelled at Emerl and upset him. Apologizing for his outburst, Knuckles had Emerl wait while he went into a casino. When Knuckles returned, however, Emerl was gone, and he began looking for him. After several skirmishes with store clerks, Knuckles found Emerl with Rouge. Knuckles thought Rouge was after Emerl, but he found her innocent. Just then, they found the Phis. Knuckles and Emerl proceeded to destroy them and got their Emerald Shards before being given an Emerald Shard from Rouge as well who suggested they ask Tails about the Emerald Shards.
Heeding Rouge's advice, Knuckles returned to Tails who explained they could get a whole Chaos Emerald if the collected two more shards from the Phis. Knuckles then left with Emerl to train him and fought him to settle their score. After their battle, Dr. Eggman appeared and attacked them with a Phi, but Knuckles and Emerl defeated it, claimed its Emerald Shard and chased Eggman.
Finding Eggman in Central City, Knuckles and Emerl destroyed another Phi and took its Emerald Shard. There, Knuckles acknowledged Emerl as his battle partner, before hearing Eggman say that he was heading to Gimme Shelter as he escaped.
As Knuckles entered Gimme Shelter, he was caught in Eggman's "spiky rodent trap," and Eggman revealed that he had tricked him into coming. As Eggman announced the plan to have Emerl absorb his Final Egg Blaster, Knuckles was left in Chaos Gamma's hands, but Emerl defeated it. Afterward, Knuckles asked Emerl to free him, but Emerl began mocking him for his lack of strength, infuriating him enough to try breaking free himself until Emerl shut the trap down, causing Knuckles to hurl himself due to his struggling. Heading back to Emerald Town, Knuckles had Tails use their Emerald Shards to make a whole Chaos Emerald, which they gave to Emerl. As Tails wondered what happened during the pair's adventure, Knuckles asked Emerl to keep it a secret that he got tricked by Eggman. Regardless, Emerl still told Sonic, who had just arrived, and Tails, making Knuckles explode with anger.
Later on, Knuckles met Emerl again, who had come to fight him under direction from Shadow so that Emerl could fight the latter. Later, when Eggman revealed his newest Death Egg and its Final Egg Blaster, Knuckles met up with Sonic, Tails and Emerl at Holy Summit, where he revealed that Chaos had returned, a sign of danger. As Emerl went to the Death Egg to stop Eggman, Knuckles and the others watched Emerl back on earth.
When Eggman was defeated, however, Eggman fired the Final Egg Blaster, destroying some stars. The sudden release of enormous amounts of energy caused Emerl to revert to his original destructive programming. However, Eggman could not control Emerl as excepted, and Emerl prepared to fire the Final Egg Blaster at earth. Knuckles then urged Sonic on as he went to the Death Egg to stop Emerl with the Master Emerald. When that failed, Sonic had no choice but to destroy Emerl. Once the deed was done, the world was saved, though everyone mourned Emerl's death.
In Sonic Rush, Knuckles was walking around on his own when he met Cream and her new friend Blaze the Cat. As he was introduced, Knuckles got angry when Cream mentioned his shortcomings but then noticed that Blaze held a Sol Emerald. Sensing that its power was similar to Chaos Emerald energy and thus a Chaos Emerald, Knuckles advised Blaze that she gave it to Sonicfor safe keeping. Blaze, however, denied his claim of having a Chaos Emerald and tried to leave, but Knuckles thought she was lying and tried to chase after her. During the chase, however, he was buried under a pile of rocks by Blaze.
Eventually, Knuckles pulled himself out of the rocks and met Sonic and Tails. Knuckles then told them how Blaze got him stuck there and took off to punch some things to vent his anger, inadvertently opening a path blocked by rocks. Following that, Knuckles searched for Blaze to get some payback and eventually found her with Cream and Amy but was held back by Amy while Cream and Blaze escaped.
In the aftermath of Sonic and Blaze's final battles with Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega, Knuckles joined up with the others in celebration, where he warned Sonic that Amy was coming.
A while afterward, Knuckles, along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and Cream, came to Blaze's aid when Eggman and Eggman Nega drained the Sol Emeralds of their power to conquer both Sonic's dimension and Blaze's world. With Knuckles and the others supporting her, Blaze recharged the Sol Emeralds, becoming Burning Blaze, and joined up with Super Sonic, and together, they defeated the doctors and saved their worlds.
In Sonic Riders, Team Sonic arrived in Future City in search of a Chaos Emerald when the Babylon Rogues appeared. When Tails read that they had the Emerald, Knuckles aided Sonic in intercepting the Rogues and managed to knock Storm off his Type-S. Knuckles and Tails then followed Sonic when he chased after Jet, only for the two to find him knocked down as the Babylon Rogues escaped.
The next day, the team saw Dr. Eggman on the local monitors, announcing the EX World Grand Prix, and that the entry fee for the contestants was a Chaos Emerald, with the winner getting to claim all seven. Seeing that the participants Dr. Eggman had found were none other than the Babylon Rogues, Knuckles and the team decided to enter the competition.
After the qualifications rounds, Knuckles and his team met Amy, who had also signed up for the tournament so she could keep an eye on Sonic. After then hearing Tails explain the legends about the Babylon Rogues and Babylon Garden, Knuckles wondered how Extreme Gears worked, but found Tails' explanation too confusing. Just then, Wave came by and mocked Tails' Blue Star, much to Knuckles' annoyance. Shortly after though, Knuckles and the others had to hurry out to next race.
After the race, Knuckles was walking through the Egg Factory when he bumped into Storm. Recognizing him, Knuckles wanted to settle the score between them. When Knuckles and Storm heard that the next race was about to start, however, they decided to settle their dispute on the racetrack. In the end, Knuckles won the race.
Before the semifinals, Knuckles and Tails watched Sonic practice his Extreme Gear techniques until Jet appeared to mock Sonic before leaving. Eventually, Knuckles and his team got to the finals, which Jet won after Wave sabotaged Sonic's Blue Star. They then witnessed Jet claim and use the seven Chaos Emeralds in tandem with the Key to Babylon Garden to reveal Babylon Garden itself, with the intention of claiming its treasure. Eggman, however, stole the Key so that he could take the treasure for himself, believing it to be technology that he could use to conquer the world. Knuckles and Tails followed Sonic however, as he headed out to stop Eggman.
Using the Tornado 2, Knuckles and Tails got to Babylon Garden, while Sonic took off on the midway to chase Eggman. There, they met Wave and Storm, and Knuckles got ready to fight Storm but had to stop when a flock of E-10000 robots attacked. Chasing after Wave and Storm, Knuckles and Tails got to Sonic's location as Sonic stopped Dr. Eggman and returned the Key to Babylon Garden to the Rogues. Knuckles and the others were about to leave when Amy arrived and chased furiously after Sonic for attacking Eggman while he held her hostage. They heard a heard a roar and decided to check it out. Arriving inside the Babylon Garden, Knuckles and the group saw that the Babylon Rogues had awoken the Babylon Guardian, and were then forced to fight it.
After beating the Babylon Guardian, the group found the treasure of Babylon, which was revealed to be a Magic Carpet, much to the disappointment of Eggman. With the whole ordeal over, Team Sonic and the Babylon Rogues went their separate ways, knowing they would meet again some day.
In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, a few months after the EX World Grand Prix, Knuckles was driving with Sonic and Tails through Monopole with a mysterious meteorite Tails had found the other night. On their way to Megalo Station, however, Knuckles and the others were attacked by SCR-HDand a group of SCR-GP, a part of a currently global robot rampage who were after the meteorite. In the insuring chase, the group crashed and fell out a 300-story building, though Knuckles and Tails saved themselves by flying while Sonic was saved by the meteorite which could manipulate gravity.
After that, Knuckles and the group tried to hide from the robots, where they met Amy, who was being chased by the robots because she had a meteorite similar to theirs. The group then decided to go to MeteorTech, who created the robots, for answers. There, Knuckles and the gang were discovered by security, but the Babylon Rogues arrived, and Jet repelled the security robots with another meteorite. As the Babylon Rogues demanded their meteorites, called the Arks of the Cosmos, Knuckles was ready to fight but had to wait when more robots showed up.
Arriving in the control room, the group were surprised to find Dr. Eggman, who owned of MeteoTech, though Eggman claimed to have no part in the global robot rampage. However, when Eggman recognized Sonic's Ark of the Cosmos, Knuckles threatened the doctor to tell them what he knew. Eggman then revealed that MeteoTech's computer was powered by one of the Arks of the Cosmos and that the robot leader, SCR-HD, which also had an Ark of the Cosmos, sought them out for reasons unknown. The group then noticed Amy was gone and saw her being chased by SCR-HD and Storm on a computer screen, and Team Sonic left to save her.
When they found Amy, Knuckles and the others learned that SCR-HD had suddenly blown up and Storm had taken its Ark of the Cosmos. However, Tails deduced that they had to remove the Ark of the Cosmos in MeteoTech's mother computer to stop the rampaging robots. As they tried to figure where the mother computer could be, Amy remembered a place Storm mentioned with info on the Arks of the Cosmos, which Knuckles recognized it as Gigan Rocks and personally lead the group there.
Arriving at Gigan Rocks, Knuckles translated the ancient scripts there, and they learned that the Arks of the Cosmos were ancient power units for Babylon Garden. After then seeing the Babylon Rogues chase after Eggman above them, Knuckles translated some more inscriptions, which helped the group figure out the location of the MeteoTech's computer mother. When they arrived there, Knuckles and the others found the Crimson Tower and the Babylon Rogues, who revealed that Eggman had stolen their Arks of the Cosmos. Understanding that Eggman planned to use the Arks of the Cosmos to control all the world's robots and conquer the world, Knuckles and the others raced against the Babylon Rogues to Eggman.
At the end of the race, Eggman was stopped, and the robot rampage came to an end. After Babylon Garden had appeared due to all Arks of the Cosmos being present and handing over their Arks of the Cosmos, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails were about to leave when SCR-HD appeared and took all five Arks of the Cosmos to Babylon Garden. This transformed Babylon Garden into Astral Babylon, forming a black hole that threatened to consume the planet. Knuckles, Tails and the Babylon Rogues then followed Sonic to Astral Babylon to disconnect the engine where they faced Master Core: ABIS and defeated it, saving the world.
Later, Knuckles, Sonic, Amy, and Tails returned to Monopole, where Tails told Knuckles and the rest of how the Arks of the Cosmos made the robots to go amok. Knuckles and then others then saw Jet flying by, who challenged Sonic to a new race, which Sonic accepted.
In Sonic Free Riders, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails signed up to compete in the second World Grand Prix hosted by Dr. Eggman for the sake of the competition rather than the prizes. As Omochao interviewed them before the competition, Knuckles was itchy to begin.
During the first round, Team Heroes faced Team Rose, who Knuckles hardly considered threatening. Additional, he was annoyed by Amy berating of Sonic for not going easy. Though Team Heroes eventually beat Team Rose, Knuckles insisted they should not let their victory go to their heads.
For their next race, Team Heroes faced Team Dark. When Knuckles went up against E-10000B, however, he heard the robot making clicking sounds and moving around funny. After the race, Knuckles blamed E-10000B for foul play, but no proofs of his claims could be found. Regardless, Team Heroes still beat Team Dark.
Having advanced to the finals, Team Heroes met went up against Team Babylon, with Knuckles aggressively ready to face them for the championship. Over the course of the team face-off, Knuckles supposed both his team and mocked Team Babylon as their victory slipped away. After defeating Team Babylon, even when the opposing team was given a second chance due to mechanical trouble, Knuckles was asked for comments and said that that he had a good time since he managed to shut Jet up.
As the tournament progressed, Team Heroes had their fair share of losses, while Knuckles remaining dedicated to the competition and his team. At the end of the tournament, Knuckles and the other teams went to the awards ceremony to collect their prizes, but Eggman made all of the competitors race his "ultimate Gear-jockey robot." After the race, Eggman revealed that he used the World Grand Prix to get the riders' racing data with his E-10000 robots to create the ultimate Extreme Gear which he could use for his own agenda, which Knuckles knew confirmed his suspicion about E-10000E. Eggman then challenged Knuckles and the others to a race but lost. As Knuckles mocked Eggman for his defeat, Metal Sonic revealed himself as the one controlling E-10000B and passing fake data to Eggman, while taking the real data himself in an effort to beat Sonic in Extreme Gear riding.
Knuckles and the others following watched as Metal Sonic challenged Sonic to a race, in which Sonic defeated his robot copy. Afterward, as the World Grand Prix came to a close and everyone began to leave, Knuckles blamed Eggman for all the trouble they had to face during the tournament.
In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Knuckles saw Dr. Eggman on the outskirts of Soleanna and received a message from the doctor, who told him to give it to Sonic. Telling Tails he wanted to see Sonic, Knuckles awaited Sonic's arrival until he got there and gave him the message. From it, the trio learned that Eggman demanded Sonic's Chaos Emerald in exchange for the return of Princess Elise.
Despite being certain it was a trap, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails went to White Acropolis. When Sonic handed over the Chaos Emerald, however, Eggman sent them to an apocalyptic future with a time machine. There, they met Shadow and Rouge. The group then decided to work together to get home by finding enough Chaos Emeralds for a Chaos Control powerful enough for time travel.
While searching for the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails briefly saw Silver and Blaze talking with Mephiles before they went back in time. The group then learned from their database that Elise would die in the Egg Carrier's future crash-landing. Locating a Chaos Emerald in Flame Core, Sonic his friends met up with Rouge and Shadow and went to the central volcano, where Rouge found the Emerald only for Iblis to attack them. After defeating Iblis, Sonic and Shadow use their two Chaos Emeralds to create a time-space rift, which Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails used to return to the present. After that, Knuckles helped find information on Elise's whereabouts. Later on, Knuckles helped Sonic through Aquatic Base to save Elise from her imminent death onboard the Egg Carrier.
Later on, Knuckles passed through Soleanna Castle Town with Tails and Amy when they were suddenly caught in a spatial distortion created by Solaris and send to End of the World, where they met Shadow, Silver, Rouge, E-123 Omega and Eggman. There, they also found Elise and Sonic, and Knuckles saw to his shock that Sonic was dead, having been killed as a part of Mephiles' plan to remake Solaris. As Solaris prepared to consume time itself, Knuckles opted to destroy him, but it was deemed impossible due to Solaris' temporal omnipresence and Sonic's passing. When Elise sensed that Sonic's soul was still among them, however, Knuckles and the others collected the seven Chaos Emeralds to revive Sonic. After Elise revive Sonic as Super Sonic, Knuckles stood behind and supported Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Super Silver as they defeated Solaris before they all were engulfed in light. When Sonic and Elise then ensured Solaris never came to exist; time was reverted, resulting in the events and memories of the adventure being erased and Knuckles to be returned to where he was prior to the events.
In Sonic Rivals, Knuckles was guarding the Master Emerald when it suddenly disappeared. His search for the Master Emerald eventually took him to Onyx Island where he saw who he believed was Dr. Eggman, but was really Eggman Nega disguised as Dr. Eggman (Knuckles, however, does not realize this throughout the game) with Sonic, and he suspected the doctor was behind the theft. Confronting Eggman Nega, the doctor showed he had turned the Master Emerald into a card with his special camera. Meanwhile, Sonic asked Eggman Nega where Tails and Amy were, and Eggman Nega showed that he had turned them into cards too. As Eggman Nega escaped, Knuckles raced Sonic to the doctor.
After they had found Eggman Nega, the doctor attacked in the Egg Turtle which they defeated. After the doctor had escaped, Knuckles met Shadow, who also looked for Eggman Nega. However, when Shadow criticized him for letting the doctor escape, Knuckles raced Shadow to find Eggman Nega first. When they reached Eggman Nega, Knuckles demanded the Master Emerald back, but the doctor attacked them in the Egg Falcon, which they defeated.
After the battle, Knuckles was teleport to another area by Eggman Nega with the Master Emerald. There, he met Silver, who had come to bring Eggman Nega back to the future. After answering Silver's questions, Knuckles started asking him, but Silver did not answer, provoking Knuckles to chased after him. Eventually, Knuckles found Eggman Nega and asked how he stole the Master Emerald only to be told that Onyx Island was Angel Island before he was attacked by Metal Sonic. After beating Metal Sonic, Knuckles pondered about how Onyx Island could be Angel Island when he met Shadow. As Shadow berated him for letting the doctor get away again, Knuckles raced Shadow to Eggman Nega.
When Knuckles found Eggman Nega, the doctor explained that Onyx Island was Angel Island from the future, before he attacked with the Egg Lynx. After defeating the machine, Knuckles tried to make sense of what Eggman Nega said when he met Sonic and Tails. Not wanting Sonic to outdo him as he seemed to know where the doctor was, Knuckles raced Sonic to Eggman Nega.
When they found Eggman Nega, Knuckles demanded a full explanation. Eggman Nega then revealed that the Master Emerald disappeared because he turned it into a card in the future, which due to the Master Emerald's properties made it disappear in all time frames, and that he then used it to transport the Angel Island in the future to the present as Onyx Island. Deeming Eggman Nega responsible for all this, Knuckles defeated both the Egg Kong and Metal Sonic. Frustrated at his constant defeats, Eggman Nega told Knuckles that he now planned to turn the world into a card and escaped. Sonic and Tails then showed up in the Tornado when they were heading to Eggman Nega's base, and Knuckles teamed up with them to stop Eggman Nega. On their way through Eggman Nega's base, Knuckles and Sonic met Shadow and Silver, and they all put aside their differences to stop Eggman Nega.
At the center of the base, Knuckles and the others found a large spaceship with Eggman Nega's special camera equipped on that he planned to use to turn the world into a card. Knuckles then noticed that Eggman Nega planned to fuel the device with the Master Emerald's card and some other cards, but the four rivals destroyed the spaceship as it took off, thus foiling Eggman Nega's plan. With the Master Emerald back, Knuckles planned to use it to send Onyx Island back to the future where it belonged, and as well to look for the other treasures Eggman Nega had trapped in cards.
In Sonic Rivals 2, Knuckles looked for the Master Emerald when it went missing again. Arriving on an island, Knuckles suspected that Dr. Eggman was behind the theft. Knuckles then met Rouge, who offered to take him to Eggman if he helped her find the Chaos Emeralds, which he agreed to. Knuckles then saw Sonic and Tails, who were also looking for Eggman and asked Sonic if he had seen Eggman. Sonic, however, insisted on getting to Eggman first, so Knuckles competed with Sonic to find Eggman.
Knuckles and the others eventually found Dr. Eggman, who was really Eggman Nega masquerading as Dr. Eggman (Knuckles does not realize this throughout the game). Knuckles demanded the Master Emerald back, but the doctor played innocent and attacked in his Egg Liner. Knuckles and Rouge then followed Eggman Nega to Sunset Forest Zone, where Rouge thought the doctor had to have an Emerald Detector to locate the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald, and they decided to find this device. On his own, Knuckles met Shadow who insisted on keep them from the Emeralds once he told him the story, forcing him to fight him.
Knuckles and Rouge eventually found Eggman Nega with Shadow and Metal Sonic. As Knuckles demanded Eggman's Emerald Detector, the doctor attacked in the Egg Dealer. After defeating it, Knuckles and Rouge got the Emerald Detector, which picked up a signal. As Knuckles searched the area in Neon Palace Zone, he met Silver, who wanted some Chao. After looking for Rings for the Emerald Detector, Knuckles asked Silver of why he sought Chao but thought he was crazy when he heard it was to save the world, and they ended up fighting. Later on, Knuckles and Rouge found Eggman Nega with Silver and Espio, and the doctor attacked in the Egg Dealer, but the group defeated it.
Arriving in Frontier Canyon Zone, Knuckles and Rouge lost track of Eggman Nega. The Emerald Detector soon found more Emeralds, but Knuckles was frustrated that none of them were the Master Emerald. Knuckles then saw Shadow and Metal Sonic nearby and followed them, with Knuckles chasing Metal Sonic after him after hearing Eggman's voice come from the robot. Shortly after, Knuckles met Rouge, who explained that Eggman Nega sought to bring forth the Ifrit to destroy the world. Just then, Eggman Nega attacked them in the Egg Bull, but Knuckles and Rouge defeated it despite inference from Shadow and Metal Sonic.
At Mystic Haunt Zone, Knuckles was convinced by Rouge that Eggman was here. While looking, Knuckles met Espio and asked him if he had seen Eggman or Shadow, hoping they had the Master Emerald but was dismissed. Soon after, he met and fought Metal Sonic so he could bring him to Eggman Nega. True enough, Knuckles found Eggman Nega and Shadow and demanded the Master Emerald. However, Eggman instead revealed that he used Rouge to collect the Chaos Emeralds to opening the portal to the Ifrit's world. As Silver then arrived, Knuckles had enough and fought the Egg Phantom.
After the battle, Knuckles saw that the portal to the Ifrit's dimension was opening, despite Rouge only having six Chaos Emeralds (with the seventh unknown to them being inside Metal Sonic). Intending to stop the Ifrit, Knuckles dragged Rouge with him into the Ifrit's dimension. After entering, Knuckles lost track of Rouge and began to look for her, and soon after found the Ifrit, who had taken control of Rouge. With no choice, Knuckles fought both Rouge and the Ifrit. Despite Knuckles occasionally falling prey to the creature's mind control, the two defeated the Ifrit, thus preventing him from leaving his world and got back to their home dimension before the portal closed.
After checking up on Rouge, Knuckles was annoyed the Master Emerald was still lost but then discovered that it had been inside the Emerald Detector all along. As Knuckles was praise by Rouge for his heroism, he saw Rouge leave with the Master Emerald, and he chased after her.
In the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, Knuckles got a letter from supposedly Dr. Eggman, which made him go to Egg Planet Park, though he eventually realized when he got there that he had been tricked.
Here, Knuckles met Orbot and Cubot and fought them, thinking they were behind the letter. However, he was distracted when he saw Sonic and Tails coming allowing Orbot and Cubot to get away. As Sonic and Tails began questioning him, Knuckles tried to cover up that he had been tricked and challenged Sonic to a mission. After he had lost, Knuckles moped over his defeat, but still denied he had been tricked. When Sonic won their competition with excellence, though, Knuckles took his loss more sportingly.
Later, Knuckles met Rouge and suspected she was after the Master Emerald again. As Knuckles continued to argue with Rouge, Sonic and Tails arrived to try to break up their argument, but Knuckles stopped them while still denying that he had been tricked when Rouge brought it up. When Knuckles then noticed Rouge knew something about his letter, he learned from her that she wrote the letter, leaving him feeling very humiliated.
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, Knuckles attended and helped prepare Sonic's surprise birthday party. As the party began, however, the Time Eater suddenly appeared, and Knuckles was sucked into one of the Time Eater's Time Holes and ended up in White Space, where he was turned into a statue due to the Time Eater's effects.
Eventually, Knuckles was returned to normal by Sonic and Classic Sonic. When the Sonics confronted the Time Eater, which was revealed to be controlled by Eggman and Classic Eggman, Knuckles arrived at the battle with the others and cheered on both Sonics, allowing them both to transform into Super Sonics. When the Sonics defeated the Time Eater, Knuckles and the others were sent back to the present, where Knuckles admitted to Sonic that he was not half-bad, only to be knocked into a tree by Amy for thinking so little of him. Continuing the celebration where it left off, Knuckles later waved goodbye to Classic Sonic and Classic Tails when they returned to their own time in the past.
In the Wii U version and PC version of Sonic Lost World, Knuckles remained behind with Amy to look after some Animals while Sonic and Tails went out to free the other animals Dr. Eggman had captured. When Amy contacted Sonic, who revealed they had only got one capsule of animals back, Knuckles boasted that he could have done better before he was pushed away.
When the Deadly Six took control of Eggman's Extractor and began draining the life out of earth, Knuckles observed the planet's energy being taken away. Eventually, Knuckles was drained of his energy to the point where his death seemed imminent. Fortunately, he and everyone else were saved when Sonic and Tails got the Extractor and returned the stolen energy. When Sonic and Tails returned, Knuckles boasted he would have finished it sooner, but accepted the outcome, nonetheless.
In Team Sonic Racing, Knuckles and his teamreceived vaguely worded invitations to the "Ultimate Test of Racing Skill." With their curiosity getting the better of them, Team Sonic made a beeline for the rendezvous, where they ran into Team Rose. Soon after, a stranger approached, a Tanuki calling himself Dodon Pa. Introducing himself as the one who sent the invitation, Dodon Pa told Team Sonic that they would be racing as a team in the most advanced cars he could create in a Grand Prix that would test their limits. While Dodon Pa's vagueness rose suspicion among Knuckles and the others, Sonic convinced his team to join the Grand Prix. As Team Sonic got ready to depart for the first race on Planet Wisp, Team Rose ended up coming along and joining the competition.
For the races, Knuckles received the Land Breaker to race in. Knuckles soon after got more hyped up about the Grand Prix after learning that the winners got to keep their cars. After a couple of races though, Knuckles began to wonder what was compelling Dodon Pa to make them compete. Not long after, Team Vector joined the Grand Prix. Meeting Silver, Knuckles learned that Silver had received an invitation to the Grand Prix as well. Seeing that Dodon Pa had managed to sent a message to the future, Knuckles realized that their enigmatic host was dangerously powerful. A few races later, Knuckles caught Tails talking with Vector. Tails tried to cover up his discussion, but Knuckles did not buy it. In addition, Knuckles realized something was up with Vector, since he was not here with his usual crew. In the end, Knuckles told Sonic that Tails was being sneaky. Not long after, Dr. Eggman and his team joined the competition, along with Team Dark.
During a race between Team Sonic and Team Dark, Knuckles talked strategy with Tails while contending with Omega. Knuckles soon after rammed Rouge's racecar from behind as payback, only to trigger a Skim Boost between her and Omega that sent Rouge flying ahead. Soon after, Dr. Eggman intruded on the teams' race in order to compete against them on his own as a "special guest" (which Dodon Pa permitted despite knowing it was a lie). After Eggman began gaining the lead, Knuckles and his team were convinced by Rouge to put their feud aside and work together with Team Dark to beat Eggman. Following Tails' plan, Knuckles helped Sonic get past Eggman together with Shadow with a Slingshot move. Although Knuckles worried that the two teams would not be enough to stop Eggman, Tails said he had a plan. Knuckles thus covered for Tails while he got Team Rose and Team Vector to join the teams on the racetrack. Together, the racers surrounded Eggman on the racetrack before delivering a massive beatdown on the doctor with their combined Wisp power-ups. However, Dodon Pa was too busy watching Eggman's beating to see who crossed the finish line first.
Later, Knuckles learned from Omochao that Dodon Pa was sending information on the teams' teamwork out to an unknown receiver. Believing the receiver to be Eggman, Knuckles was tempted to bail on the Grand Prix. When Big later alone insisted that Dodon Pa was a nice guy, a frustrated Knuckles tried to convince Big otherwise until Big brought up a point that made them all realize that Dodon Pa could be a good guy after all. Later, when Zavok joined Eggman's team, Knuckles wanted them to make their move, but the others reminded him that they had no moves yet and that they did not know for sure who the bad guy was; all they could do for now was keep racing. Eventually though, Knuckles had enough, and confronted Dodon Pa in order to get some answers. It was then that Vector revealed to Knuckles and everyone else that Dodon Pa was actually the king of a planet and the President of Donpa Motors. Soon after, Dodon Pa revealed that he was using the Grand Prix to gather information for his corporation's Ultimate Energy Engine, which Dodon Pa wanted to use for philanthropic purposes.
Soon after, the heroes learned from Big that Eggman had kidnapped Dodon Pa and brought him to the Final Fortress. Wanting to rescue Dodon Pa, Knuckles and co. went to the Final Fortress. There, Eggman had them compete in a number of races with Team Eggman and his army of Eggpawns in exchange for Dodon Pa, not knowing Eggman was using them to gather the Ultimate Team Energy needed to finish the Ultimate Energy Engine. Once the engine was complete, Eggman stole it from Dodon Pa and incorporated it into his Death Egg. Knuckles and his crew subsequently faced the Death Egg and beat it. However, the Death Egg soon after went crazy and drove into the Final Fortress's core. As the Final Fortress crashed, Sonic had his friends abandon their cars and evacuate, with the exception of Knuckles and Tails who decided to remain with Sonic and help him save Dodon Pa. Having convinced Sonic to let them help him, Knuckles and Team Sonic saved Dodon Pa and reunited with the others down on the ground. Just as the Grand Prix seemed over since the cars had been destroyed when the Final Fortress crashed, Dodon Pa decided to give everyone new cars, thus allowing Knuckles and his friends to race once more.
In Sonic Forces, Knuckles was guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island when he got visited by Silver the Hedgehog, who Knuckles thought to be a part of a dream. He put more belief into this when he saw Angel Island become what was Pachacamac's village several years ago. The duo then met Chaos, who intimidated Silver. Knuckles tried to tell Silver that Chaos was harmless, only to get attacked by him. Knuckles and Silver then fought Chaos, until Chaos, along with the village, disappeared. Silver then explained that a catastrophic event would soon happen in Knuckles' time that would affect his future. Believing himself to be important in preventing this catastrophe, Knuckles promised to help lead a team to save the world. The duo then went off to warn the others around the world.
Unfortunately, Dr. Eggman soon launched an attack on the City with his army, in which Sonicfailed to prevent and was captured, seemingly leading to his demise. Due to this, Eggman soon took control over more than 99% of the world. Over the next six months, Knuckles assumed commandership over a ragtag resistance made up of his friends and allies, his flair for daring plans making him suitable for leadership, to counter Eggman's forces. However, Knuckles' army made little progress despite their efforts, and victory seemed impossible.
Knuckles eventually brought in a Resistance rookiewho had survived an attack from Eggman's new henchman, Infinite in the City some time ago. After introducing the Avatar, Knuckles equipped them with a Burst Wispon. He soon after sent them on a rescue mission after Rouge revealed that Sonic was alive and was held captive onboard the newly-rebuilt Death Egg. Rouge also told Knuckles and the team that Sonic was only alive to see Eggman's empire thrive, but as the evil doctor caught wind of their rescue mission, he planned to eject Sonic into space quickly. The Avatar managed to steal a shuttle from the Spaceportand made it to the Death Egg with some other soldiers. Onboard the Death Egg however, the other soldiers got occupied by enemies, so Knuckles left Sonic's rescue to the Avatar. After the Avatar found Sonic, Knuckles expressed his relief over the radio, before ordering him and the Avatar to escape the Death Egg. Upon reuniting with the duo, Knuckles, out of necessity, sent them on a mission to shut down the Arsenal Pyramid, a weapon factory supplying Eggman's army, which he followed over the radio.
Knuckles soon after discovered that the Resistance troops in Mystic Jungle was being bombarded by the Egg Fleet. Luckily, Sonic went there to salvage the soldiers' efforts. More trouble soon arose, however, when the Eggman Army broke through the City's defenses. Finding himself short on soldiers, Knuckles sent the Avatar to rescue the unfortunate civilians. Joining the fight, Knuckles soon learned, much to his relief, that the enemies were withdrawing, all because of the Avatar's efforts. Knuckles soon after followed the Avatar's investigation of some lifeform readings in Mystic Jungle, which led to the discovery of Tailsand Classic Sonic, the latter of whom had been brought to the present by Eggman's new power. Bringing the two into the Resistance, Knuckles learned from Tails that Eggman had a plan that would wipe the Resistance out in three days. However, Knuckles had to put their meeting on hold when Shadow, who had seemingly defected to the Eggman Empire, attacked the Resistance's troops.
While Sonic dealt with Shadow, Knuckles learned that Eggman's HQ in Metropolis was undermanned. As such, he formulated a military action called "Operation Big Wave" to capture Metropolis with and end the war. Shortly into the attack however, Infinite, used his Phantom Ruby prototype to cast the Resistance's army into chaos. Suffering huge casualties, Knuckles and his army had no choice but to withdraw in defeat. Regrouping with his friends, Knuckles was updated on Shadow's case: according to the real Shadow, who had joined the Resistance, all the familiar faces in Eggman's Army were but Phantom Copies created by Infinite. With the Resistance now looking for a way to stop Eggman's Phantom Rubies, which had proven to be the one obstacle that keeps getting in their way, Knuckles was forced to wait while Tails and Classic Sonic investigated a lead. Eventually, the duo returned, having discovered that the Phantom Rubies needed the Death Egg to give them power, or they would be useless. As Tails presented his plan for destroying the Death Egg, Knuckles was eager to join it, but was benched by Amy so he could lead the Resistance. Knuckles would thus instruct the Avatar on how to distract the enemy when they went Guardian Rock to distract the Eggman Army. With the enemy's army occupied, Knuckles sent Sonic to Network Terminal and guided him to the Death Egg's computers. After Sonic shut down the Death Egg's defenses, Knuckles followed Classic Sonic's invasion of the Death Egg, which resulted in its destruction.
With the Phantom Rubies seemingly done for, Knuckles led another attack on Metropolis to capture Eggman. Although Knuckles' plan did not got as intended, as Eggman evaded capture and Sonic and the Avatar temporarily got banished to null space, he and the Resistance still managed to seize Metropolis. However, they also discovered that Eggman had prepared a backup power source for the Phantom Rubies underneath his Eggman Empire Fortress.
With less than an hour left until Eggman's endgame, Knuckles led his army on an attack on the Eggman Empire Tower, where they faced Eggman's Phantom Copy army and Infinite. There, E-123 Omega came to the rescue of Knuckles and co. when Infinite threatened to kill them. It was then that Infinite executed Eggman's endgame; using his Phantom Ruby, he created a virtual sun to drop on the Resistance. Thanks to the Avatar however, the sun was vanquished, and Knuckles rallied his army to continue the fight. Telling his army to cover his friends, Knuckles stayed behind while Sonic and the Avatar destroyed Infinite. When Classic Sonic then found a way into the Phantom Rubies' reactor, Knuckles sent Sonic and the Avatar, who destroyed the reactor. Thanks to Eggman and his Phantom Ruby-empowered Death Egg Robot however, thousands of Phantom Copies appeared, threatening to overwhelm the Resistance. Fortunately, Sonic, the Avatar and Classic Sonic beat Eggman's robot, which made his Phantom Copy army vanish and left the Resistance as the victors.
In the aftermath, Knuckles bid farewell to Classic Sonic, whose return to the past was imminent with the Phantom Ruby now gone. Knuckles then followed Sonic's example and set out to clean up the mess Eggman had left the world in. A while later, Knuckles disbanded the Resistance, which had served its purpose. However, Silver reminded him that they still had a lot to do. With the Avatar taking their leave too, Knuckles, although surprised, bid them farewell and praised their efforts. Knuckles and his friends then agreed with Tails that even though they would go back to their old lives, they would keep working together to restore the world.
In Sonic Frontiers, during a routine patrol of Angel Island, Knuckles stumbled across a Portal Gear in the Sky Sanctuary, with a mysterious Portal he had never seen before positioned nearby. Upon inserting the gear, he was pulled somewhere else, where he was confronted by a group of Soldiers, whom he easily disposed of. However, the echidna was ultimately defeated by Sage, who trapped him inside a digital cage on Ares Island, one of the Starfall Islands, leaving him stranded between dimensions.
Eventually, Sonic arrived on Ares Island after defeating Giganto, freeing Knuckles but further infecting his body with cyber corruption energy. When Sage later appeared and attempted to eliminate the hedgehog, the echidna rushed in and deflected her attack, but was stopped by his friend from attacking the girl in response, as he believed she might be protecting something. Afterwards, the two did not hesitate to search for the Chaos Emeralds together, learning a bit more about the Ancients, a society that inhabited the islands long ago, in the process. Knuckles in particular noted some similarities between the Ancients' civilization and the ruins on his home turf, and encountered a group of Koco who behaved like soldiers, helping them fulfill their final wishes so they could die in peace. He later expressed his envy of Sonic's carefree, globetrotting lifestyle and vowed to see more of the world once he got his physical form back. After he exchanged some banter with his friend and gave him a fist bump, Knuckles saw the hedgehog set off to defeat Wyvern.
Knuckles would later regain his physical form after Sonic deactivated all of the towers on Rhea Island, alongside Amy and Tails, but this came at the cost of the hedgehog, who by this time had taken on too much cyber corruption energy and met the same fate as they had previously. The trio sacrificed their physical forms once more so that their friend could stop Supreme and The End, which he ultimately did. In the aftermath, Knuckles expressed his desire to go home, at least for a short while, before they all climbed aboard the Tornado and flew away from the Starfall Islands.
In an alternate version of Sonic Frontiers' ending, Knuckles (still partially in cyberspace) helps Sonicfind the Chaos Emeralds along with Tails and Amy. He uses his strength to destroy some specific corrupted platforms that are effecting certain kocoto assist the others in gaining access to the Emeralds. Knuckles in game is able to glide across vast distances, perform punching combos, perform a drill attack, and climb on special walls to access new areas. After helping give Sonic the Emeralds, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy all show up at the end to defend both Sage and Doctor Eggman, thus helping Sonic finally defeat The End. After defeating The End, the game ends the same way the original story did with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all restored to their physical forms and flying home in the Tornado.
Knuckles does not actually appear in the original version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but he does appear in the 2013 remaster of the game as a playable character. He also appears in the good ending if the player collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, where he is seen hiding in the bushes as Dr. Eggman is throwing a temper tantrum at his defeat in the end screen similar to his appearance on the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Locking Sonic the Hedgehog 2 onto Sonic & Knuckles will unlock Knuckles in Sonic 2, an alternate version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 where Knuckles is the main character; It is also included in most re-releases of the original game. In this version, Knuckles has all his skills from Sonic & Knuckles, including his climbing and glidingmaneuvers. This allows him to reach previously unknown areas, although his low Spin Jumpmakes it difficult to reach otherwise regular sections in the Acts. Sonic and Tails are not playable, having been removed, and there's no two-player mode. Several Monitor power-up items such as Super Rings and 1-Ups have been placed in previously unreachable places for Knuckles to discover. The player can also turn into Super Knuckles as well, being easier to obtain than Super Sonic as Knuckles doesn't lose his Rings upon exiting a Special Stage.
With the lock on-technology provided by Sonic & Knuckles, Sega had originally planned to replace Sonic with Knuckles as the protagonist in the original 1991 title, Sonic the Hedgehog, similar to how he was added as a playable character using this method in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3, though this idea was ultimately abandoned in favor of the Blue Sphere. The reason for this is that Knuckles' palette conflicted with that of Sonic, causing technical problems.
However, in the 2013 remaster of the game, Knuckles was included as an unlockable character (alongside Tails). As with Knuckles in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, his special abilities remain the same, being able to glide and climb, although his jump height is still reduced.
Monitor power-ups such as Shields and Invincible have been added for both Tails (who is now able to fly) and Knuckles to discover, in places which otherwise cannot be reached normally as Sonic.
In Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, Knuckles attacked Sonic for unknown reasons when he came across the hedgehog. Upon his defeat, Knuckles dropped the Chaos Emerald he was holding. After Sonic claimed the Emerald however, Dr. Eggman ambushed them and took the Emerald before leaving Knuckles and Sonic to get crushed by the collapsing cave they were in. Using his last strength, Knuckles got Sonic out of the cave by sending him flying out of it with an uppercut. Some time later, Knuckles got his Chaos Emerald back. Shortly after, he saw Sonic and Tails fly by in the Tornado.
In Sonic Pinball Party, right after Sonic had foiled another of Dr. Eggman's attempts at world domination, Knuckles enrolled himself in Casinopolis's Egg Cup Tournament. His first opponent, however, was none other than Sonic, who had joined the tournament to foil Eggman's latest scheme. Refusing to lose to Sonic, Knuckles competed against him, but was soundly defeated. Although sour about his loss, Knuckles advised Sonic to keep his guard up. Later, after Sonic defeated Eggman, Knuckles saw Sonic liberate Eggman's prisoners in Casinopolis.
In Sonic and the Secret Rings, Knuckles appears as a playable character in Party Mode. He is available from the beginning of the game.
In Sonic and the Black Knight, Knuckles appears as a playable character in Battle Mode. He can be unlocked in Battle Mode by clearing the "Defeat the Boss: Sir Gawain" mission in Titanic Plain. In gameplay, he has the same moveset as Sir Gawain, Knuckles' alternate reality doppelganger from the world of Camelot. He also wields the twin-swords Galatine during battle and his Soul Surge is Gail Meteor.
In both the Wii version and Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Knuckles appears as one of the playable characters.
In the Mission Mode in both versions of the game, Knuckles has to beat a set of five missions, which will unlock a final mission. Clearing all six missions will award the player with the Knuckles Emblem.
In both versions of the game, the player can also earn the Knuckles Crown by getting all gold and 1st medals using Knuckles.
In both the Wii version and Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Knuckles appears as a playable character. Knuckles also has the special skill, Screw Driver, which he can use in certain events to gain speed.
In the Wii version of the game, a Mii costume based on Knuckles can be unlocked in the game after winning five gold or/and 1st place medals in any Olympic/Dream Events with Knuckles and then buying the costume in the boutique.
In Adventure Tours mode in the Nintendo DS version of the game, Knuckles appears as one of the unlockable characters who can take part in the mode's sports events. He can be found in Frostown where he must be beaten in a Biathlon event. After that, Knuckles will join the player's team. Later in Polastraits, Knuckles helps Creamopen a chest that contains the Fighter's Stick, which is needed for future events. However, only after Knuckles clears the Luge event presented to him by Cream can the player obtain the Fighter's Stick. Afterward, in Cubyrinth, Knuckles pulls a lever whose functions the cast does not know, causing everyone to fall down from Cubyrinth to Polastraits. There, the cast is trapped in an unknown area, but Knuckles can crack the large piece of ice obscuring the way as a part of the "Break the Ice!" mini-game. Here, Knuckles has to break down an ice wall blocking a passage in less that 45 seconds. Clearing the mini-game will unlock the passage in the overworld. Knuckles then continues his adventure with the group, eventually taking on Dr. Eggman and Bowser in Blizland to stop their plan of taking over the Olympic Winter Games.
In both the Wii version and Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Knuckles appears as one of the playable characters. In the Wii version, Knuckles also has the special skill, Screw Driver, which he can use in certain events to gain speed.
In the Wii version of the game, Knuckles also appears as an interactable character in London Party. Here, the player can speak to him in order to play mini-games and earn stickers. Also, a Mii costume based on Knuckles can be unlocked in the game by either winning it through a Scratch Card or paying ten blank cards.
In the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, Knuckles belongs to the Wild Ones class and can only take part in selected sports events for this class. In the game's story mode, Knuckles and Vector were summoned by Espio and Charmy, who were actually a Dry Bones and a Lakitu in disguises that a Magikoopa had put on them, before the Olympic Games. As a result, Knuckles and Vector were lured into a sports hall, where the Magikoopa stunned them by summoning a Chain Chomp and Piranha Plant. The heroes were then forced to take part in sporting events against Bowser, whom they lost to due to still being in bad shape from the earlier attack. However, when they fully recovered, they failed to catch Bowser because his minions stopped them. When the Phantasmal Fog later covered London, Knuckles and Vector caught up with Bowser and challenged him to an event when he tried to fight Sonic. After defeating Bowser, Knuckles destroyed one of the Fog Machines, thus clearing the Horse Guards Parade of the fog. Knuckles and Vector would then keep watch over Bowser. However, when Knuckles tried to hit him, it turned out that this Bowser was but a three-dimensional hologram. Sometime after, the fog returned to London, but more intense than before. However, Knuckles and Vector, with the help of Donkey Kong, managed to clear the Horse Guards Parade of the fog, which was later reported to Sonic and Mario as their way of supporting the duo during their final showdown with Dr. Eggman and Bowser. Knuckles was later present at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
In the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, a badge of Knuckles can also be obtained from the badge machine.
In Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Knuckles appears as one of the playable characters. In this game, Knuckles has the special skill, Screw Driver, which he can use in certain events to gain speed.
In Legends Showdown, Knuckles is on the second team, along with Amy, Wario and Waluigi. Also, a Mii costume based on Knuckles can be unlocked in the game by playing an event one hundred times.
In the Wii U version, Nintendo 3DS version and arcade version ofMario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Knuckles appears as a playable character.
In the Wii U version of the game, Knuckles is available from the beginning and playable in all events. Also, Mii costume set based on Knuckles can be unlocked in the game by completing Knuckles' Carnival Challenge. However, it must be collected in two separate parts, each with their own stat changes.
In both the Nintendo Switch version and arcadeversion of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Knuckles appears as a playable character.
In the Nintendo Switch version of the game, Knuckles appears as one of the characters in the story mode. In this mode, Knuckles and Shadowcame across Tails and Luigi, who were looking for a way to charge an object called the Excitement Battery with the cheer of the Olympic Games' audience so that they could save Sonic, Mario, Dr. Eggman, Bowser and Toad, who were suck inside a dying gaming system. To help excite the audience and produce enough cheers, Knuckles and Shadow went up against Princess Peach and Yoshi is a Badminton court event, which they lost. Afterward, Knuckles and Shadow joined Tails and Luigi's team on their mission. Knuckles also advised the team to seek out Jet for further help. When they found Jet in the Olympic Stadium, Knuckles would face Jet in an event and beat him, thereby creating more cheer and charge for the Excitement Battery. After everyone had gotten out of the gaming system, the Olympics were ready to commence.
In Sega Superstars Tennis, Knuckles makes a cameo appearance in the Green Hill court.
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Knuckles appears as a playable character. On the console versions, the player needs to pay 7,500 SEGA Miles to unlock Knuckles, and on the Nintendo DS and iOS versions, the player can unlock him with 500,000 SEGA miles. For the racing in this game, he is driving a red quad bike named the Land Breaker.
In gameplay, Knuckles has high maneuverability and acceleration, but low speed and turbo-boost. His All-Star Move, "Emerald Power", allows Knuckles to glide above the track and unleash an earthquake that stuns all opponents. On the DS and iOS versions however, his attack is short-range only.
In Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Knuckles once again appears as a playable character. In this game, he is available from the beginning. For the racing in this game, he is driving a backwards trike designed after himself in a gliding stance, which can transform into a boat, a plane, or a car, depending on the surrounding terrain. It is implied that Knuckles entered the race because Sonic and Tails invited him.
In gameplay, Knuckles has above-average speed, acceleration, handling and boost. His All-Star Move lets him use the Master Emerald to create green energy blasts (similar to the Chaos Blast) that can attack surrounding racers.
Knuckles makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the unlockable Green Hill Zone stage where he, Tails, and Silver run through the shuttle loop in the background.
Knuckles makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in the unlockable Green Hill Zone stage where he, Tails, and Silver run through the shuttle loop in the background. Both versions of the game also include a downloadable Knuckles costume exclusive to Mii Brawlers.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Knuckles appears as an Assist Trophy. He will attack opponents using the Homing Attack, punch them or dig underground and use a powerful uppercut when summoned. Knuckles also makes a cameo appearance in Green Hill Zone. Knuckles is also once again available as a downloadable costume for the Mii Brawler, which was released as DLC on 16 April 2019. Compared to the previous installment, the size of the Mii Brawler costume's gloves have been reduced. In addition, Knuckles makes another appearance as a Primary Spirit with the following characteristics:
At the beginning of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, and Amyfaced Dr. Eggman on the Egg Carrier, and successfully made the flying vessel crash into Metropolis while Eggman was presumed dead in the crash.
Some time later, Knuckles learned that six of the Chaos Emeralds had been stolen by a group dubbed the Marauders. Intending to stop them, Knuckles came to Tails and had him set up a trap for the Marauders by using the last Chaos Emerald. When the Marauders appeared, however, they jammed the trap and turned on Knuckles who was overwhelmed by numbers and defeated by their leader, Shade the Echidna, for then to be taken with them as they escaped with the Chaos Emerald.
Locked up in their hideout, Knuckles attempted to break out, when he met Sonic, Tails and their friends, who had come to rescue him. When Knuckles decided to head back to Angel Island to protect the Master Emerald from the Marauders, they discovered that the island was gone. Suspecting that Eggman was working with the Marauders, the group began looking for the doctor using Tails' Eggman Detector. With a Pattern Generator made from Eggman Devices they found, the team located Eggman. However, the doctor claimed that he was against the Marauders as well and that he had also been reformed, willing to help Knuckles and the others fight the Marauders by leading them into Metropolis where the Marauders had drawn Angel Island to with the Chaos Emeralds, which they accepted.
On their way there, Knuckles and the others met Shade and her lackeys, and Knuckles discovered that Shade and the Marauders were a group of echidnas called the Nocturnus Clan, exiled to the Twilight Cage in ancient times. After defeating them, Shade blocked their way to Metropolis, but Knuckles and the others found a way around it. Meanwhile, Knuckles was torn to finally meet others of his kind but was forced to fight them. Regardless, Knuckles was joined by Sonic and his party when he went to Angel Island to secure the Master Emerald, while Tails and Eggman made a weapon against the Nocturnus Clan.
By hijacking an airship and with some help from Tails' team, Sonic and his group got to Angel Island where they met the Nocturnus Clan's leader, Imperator Ix, who sought to rule the world. Ix unleashed his soldiers on them, but Knuckles and Sonic held them off until Tails and Eggman came and deployed their weapon, which dispatched the soldiers. United, the team fought Ix until the techno wizard blew him and the others away, even Shade, but Knuckles saved Shade. Ix then stole the Master Emerald and used it to create a wormhole into Knuckles' dimension so that the Nocturnus Clan could conquer it, while Angel Island fell from the sky. The team then came up with the plan of going after Ix into the Twilight Cage and reclaim the Emeralds, and Shade joined Sonic's team to stop Ix's plan, having realized the evil nature of her leader.
Having constructed the Blue Cyclone, Knuckles and the group entered the Twilight Cage, while Eggman stayed behind. Inside the Twilight Cage, Knuckles and his team got five of the Chaos Emeralds back and got the alliance of the alien races residing there. When they planned to invade Nocturne to get the last Emeralds, Knuckles remained reluctant to fight Ix and instead hoped to return the echidnas to Earth peacefully so that he would not be alone anymore. With the assistance of the alien races, Knuckles and the others got to Nocturne. Once there, Knuckles got the team split into two, with him and Shade leading their group and Sonic and Tails leading the other, to find the last two Chaos Emeralds, which Charyb and Scyllapossessed. Knuckles, meanwhile, planned to redeem Ix before Sonic could get to him.
Soon after, Knuckles and his team were almost defeated by Gizoid Centurions but were saved by Sonic and Tails. Knuckles and his team then found and defeated Scylla and got his Chaos Emerald, before helping Sonic's group defeat Charyb. Afterward, Knuckles and his team were teleported to Ix, who tried to persuade Knuckles to join him. Realizing Ix was unredeemable, Knuckles declined and stood by his duty while vowing to help the Nocturnus Clan his way before fighting Ix. Sonic then arrived and ensured the defeat of Ix while Knuckles reclaimed the Master Emerald. With his final defeat, Ix started to close the wormhole out of the Twilight Cage, but Knuckles and the others got through it just in time. When they returned home, however, Knuckles and the others saw that much time had passed, thus allowing Eggman to rebuild his forces, which they faced upon exit from the Twilight Cage.
In Sonic Dash, Knuckles makes an appearance as a playable character. In this game, he can be unlocked by either restoring Seaside Hill Zone or by obtaining 50 of his Character Cards.
On August 14, 2020, Knuckles was re-released as "Treasure Hunter Knuckles", a variant character of Knuckles which, notably, features his hat from Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie.
On October 31, 2023, Knuckles was re-released as "Mummy Knuckles", a variant character of Knuckles dressed to resemble an ancient Egyptian mummy.
On August 6, 2024 (2 August 2024 in Sonic's Shop), Knuckles was re-released as "Karate Knuckles", a variant character of Knuckles dressed in a karate gi.
In Sonic Jump, Knuckles encountered Dr. Eggmanon Angel Island. The doctor demanded that Knuckles handed over the Chaos Emerald he had, but he refused. Unfortunately, when Knuckles turned around to see Sonic and Tails' arrival, Eggman snatched the Emerald. Now possessing all the Chaos Emeralds, Eggman gloated to the heroes that he planned to harness the Emeralds' power to create the "Brainwash Beam", which would let him take over the world, before taking off. As Knuckles then began arguing with Sonic over whose fault this was, Tails stopped them. Tails then suggested that Eggman needed to head into space in order for the Brainwash Beam to cover the whole world. As such, Knuckles and his friends headed for South America, which was supposedly where Eggman had a space station to launch a rocket from. When they arrived however, Eggman had already prepared the rocket launch and was heading into space. Not willing to give up, Sonic asked for a way to catch up to Eggman and Tails replied that it was possible using the space station's controls. Contend with letting Sonic go after Eggman, Knuckles remained on earth to guard the space station while Sonic went into space.
After Sonic destroyed the space satellite containing the Brainwash Beam, Knuckles and Tails found Sonic after he crash-landed on earth. As Knuckles praised Sonic's luck and headstrongness, he asked him about the Chaos Emeralds, only to learn, much to his dismay, that they got scattered across the globe after the space station blew up. After the heroes re-gathered the Emeralds however, Sonic noticed that one was missing, which he suspected was in Eggman's possession. With Knuckles believing that Eggman was hiding out in space, Sonic went there and got the Emerald back after defeating Eggman. After Sonic returned though, Knuckles had a feeling that they had not seen the last of Eggman.
In Sonic Jump (2012), Knuckles and co. discovered that Eggman had begun kidnapping Animals again and taking them high into the sky, prompting the heroes to set out to stop Dr. Eggman's operations. Whenever they managed to corner Eggman in a Zone and defeat him however, the doctor would retreat to another Zone, although not before capturing more Animals. After Eggman's defeat in Mechanical Zone however, the doctor would crash down to earth, ending his plans, thus allowing Knuckles to reunite with all the Animals.
In Sonic Jump Fever, Knuckles appears as a playable character. In this game, he can be unlocked after either collecting fifty Knuckles Character Tokens or paying 750 Red Star Rings for him. In gameplay, Knuckles' powerful Double Jump allows him to ascend rapidly and smash through rebound platforms and rock falls. The power-ups he can utilize in this game include the Stun, Spring Shoes, Magnet and Detonate.
Knuckles also appears on the game's preset leaderboards, placing third in each Zone. When playing a Zone, a destructible monitor containing Knuckles' portrait will appear if his score has been passed.
In Sonic Runners, Knuckles and his teamdiscovered that Dr. Eggman was back to sow up chaos again. With the aid of Sonic and Tails, Knuckles spent the next period foiling Eggman and his lackeys' numerous plots, such as kidnaping Animals, hunting Wisps on Earth, harassing Chao, building new and improved Badnik armies, and attempting to procure the Master Emerald. Along the way, Knuckles also helped several local inhabitants with their issues.
While Team Sonic managed to stop Eggman every times, it all would lead to Eggman's endgame: the construction of a new Brainwashing Laserpowered by the Chaos Emeralds to enslave the world with. Although Knuckles and co. secured the Emeralds, they were too late to stop Eggman from draining them of their energy. In the end, it came down to a final showdown between Team Sonic and Eggman, during which Eggman fired his Brainwashing Laser at Sonic. However, thanks to the Chaos Emeralds Sonic had, which reabsorbed their power from the laser, Sonic transformed into Super Sonic instead, and Knuckles saw him take out Eggman's laser. Reuniting with Sonic in the aftermath, Knuckles noticed Eggman had snuck away to plan his next scheme, but let that pass, knowing that they could stop whatever he could come up with, in favor of celebrating this victory with his friends.
In Sonic Runners Adventure, Knuckles tagged along on Sonic and Tails' hunt for Dr. Eggmanwhen the scientist was stirring up trouble again. When the trio arrived in a hostile environment, Knuckles' toughness allowed him to take the lead. Discovering an Eggman facility while saving a village along the way, Tails revealed after doing some recon that the facility was an Extractor. Knuckles would thus shut it down while defeating Eggman when the doctor tried to stop him. When Eggman then made his escape, Knuckles and his team would follow him, eventually arriving in Sky Sanctuary. When Sonic was forced to let Eggman go by the doctor's Mind Control Ray though, Knuckles and Tails realized what Eggman's plan was all along: setting up a new mind control cannon powered by the Extractor and Sky Sanctuary to take over the world with. Despite the opposition though, Team Sonic still managed to destroy Eggman's mind control cannon while Sonic forced Eggman to retreat.
In Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, Knuckles appears as a playable character.
On October 7, 2020, Knuckles was re-released as "Treasure Hunter Knuckles", a variant character of Knuckles dressed in his treasure hunter ensemble from Sonic Dash, as a part of the version 3.0.0 update.
On October 31, 2023, Knuckles was re-released as "Mummy Knuckles", a variant character of Knuckles dressed to resemble an ancient Egyptian mummy.
On 4 August 2024, Knuckles was re-released as "Karate Knuckles", a variant character of Knuckles dressed in a karate gi.
In Sonic Racing, Knuckles is a playable character. He is available from the beginning of the game.
In Sonic Speed Simulator, Knuckles appears as one of the playable characters for the player to choose from in the Characters menu. He was first added on 24 April 2022:
On May 21, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Treasure Hunter Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles dressed in his treasure hunter ensemble from Sonic Dash.
On July 2, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Adventure Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles wearing his Shovel Claws, Hammer Gloves, Air Necklace, and Sunglasses from Sonic Adventure 2.
On August 6, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Riders Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles dressed in his Sonic Riders-exclusive attire.
On August 20, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Camper Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles dressed in a camping outfit based on the Sonic Channel artwork for September 2016 found here.
On October 1, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Fake Metal Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles outfitted with the metal skin that the player could use in the 2-Player Mode of Sonic Heroes.
On October 15, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Skeleton Knuckles", a Halloween variant of Knuckles with skeleton-like markings on his body.
On December 30, 2022, Knuckles was re-released as "Reindeer Knuckles", a Christmas variant of Knuckles dressed in a reindeer outfit and headband.
On April 22, 2023, Knuckles was re-released as "Renegade Knucks", a variant of Knuckles dressed in his New Yoke-exclusive attire.
On October 14, 2023, Classic Knuckles was added, based on Knuckles' design during the Classic Era.
On December 2, 2023, Knuckles was re-released as "Racesuit Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles wearing his "Jumpsuit" outfit from Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
On January 13, 2024, Knuckles was re-released as "Knuckles the Dread", a variant of Knuckles dressed in his No Place-exclusive attire.
On February 10, 2024, Knuckles was re-released as "Diesel Punk Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles in a diesel punk outfit.
On March 2, 2024, Classic Knuckles was re-released as "Pixel Knuckles", a variant of Classic Knuckles while in Cyber Station Zone in Sonic Superstars.
On March 2, 2024, Classic Knuckles was also re-released as "Racesuit Classic Knuckles", a variant of Classic Knuckles dressed in a racesuit with the number "94" as a pin, showing the year Knuckles was created.
On April 20, 2024, Movie Knuckles was added, based on Knuckles' design from the Paramount Movies.
On April 27, 2024, Movie Knuckles was re-released as "Series Knuckles", based on Knuckles' design from the Paramount Series
On July 20, 2024, Knuckles was re-released as "Gold Style Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles in a black and gold outfit.
On September 2, 2024, Knuckles was re-released as "DJ Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles in a DJ outfit.
On October 5, 2024, Fake Metal Knuckles was re-released as "Fake Gold Knuckles" a variant of Fake Metal Knuckles coated in gold instead of metal.
On January 18, 2025, Knuckles was re-released as "Luminosity Knuckles", a variant of Knuckles in a purple neon outfit.
In this game, Knuckles and all of his variants are controlled in the same way as the other characters in the game. They also have the Spin Dash, Spin Jump, Spin Dash Charge, and Homing Attack in their moveset. Their base speed and jumping height depend on the player's current level. Most of them have the attribute of being able to Glidethrough the air when leveled up.
In Sonic Rumble, Knuckles appears as one of the playable characters for the player to choose from in the Characters menu
One day shortly after the Phantom Ruby incidents, while relaxing in Mushroom Hill Zone, Knuckles met a Pocky, who gave him one of the Chaos Emeralds. Right after accepting the gem, however, Knuckles was ambushed by Metal Knuckles. Just as he had Metal Knuckles on the ropes, the robot made a giant mushroom cave in above some animals. Though Knuckles managed to save the animals, the distraction allowed Metal Knuckles to get away with the Chaos Emerald. Following its trail to Spring Valley Zone, Knuckles rescued Sonic just as he was repelled by Metal Sonic, who had just swiped another Chaos Emerald. After telling Sonic, Tails and Amy his story, Tails deduced that Eggman was seeking out the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles thus teamed up with Sonic and Tails to secure the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. Making their way to Summer Falls Zone, Knuckles and his team came across Fang, Bark and Bean, who had been hired by Eggman to find the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles proceeded to engage Bark, but their fight ultimately ended in a draw and distracted them from securing the local Chaos Emerald, which fell over the edge of a waterfall. Unable to recover the Chaos Emerald, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails decided to move on.
Tailing Fang's gang to Autumn Forest Zone, Knuckles and his team eventually came across Eggman and Metal Sonic. The trio proceeded to attack Eggman and surrounded him, but Metal Sonic escaped them. Later, they were joined by Fang's gang and Amy, who had brought Mightyand Ray with her. Eggman proceeded to explain that Heavy King had overthrown him and begun collecting the Chaos Emeralds to gain ultimate power and conquer the world. Hearing this, Knuckles joined forces with Fang and Eggman. The group subsequently went to Winter Caverns Zone, where they got to the entrance of Eggman's base. There, Knuckles and the group were attacked by Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles. They proceeded to fight the robots until Eggman regained control of them. Inside the base, the group found Heavy King, who began bombarding them with energy projectiles empowered by the seven Chaos Emeralds. Fortunately, Knuckles and his allies were able to recover the Chaos Emeralds after Sonic managed to get Heavy King's full attention. Afterward, Knuckles and his allies departed the base and decided to share the Chaos Emeralds between them to keep Eggman from getting them. Taking the green Chaos Emerald with him, knuckles parted ways with Sonic as he pointed out his strange sense of humor.
Fang's Gang heads over to Angel Island to talk to Knuckles about the rumored eighth Chaos Emerald, But the echidna traps Bean and Barkleaving Fang to rescue them. fang would catch him in Sandopolis and a fight ensues, with Fang and his gang leaving after Knuckles assuming they are referring to the Master Emerald and Knuckles calls Fang delusional.
Sometime after the Northstar Islands incident, Knuckles is thinking about how it's his duty to guard the Master Emerald and how he's the guardian of it, with him further saying how he's doing a good job. He begins recalling when he fended off evil geniuses, scheming thieves, master robots, annoying blue hedgehogs, or even blue robot hedgehogs. He further goes on to say after all that everything's still intact and commends himself for his actions. Suddenly, he notices that Angel Island is passing by the Northstar Islandsfrom above. He remembers how it wasn't long ago he bailed out Sonic and the others to stop Eggman's evil ambitions and also rescuing Trip in the process. Knuckles then begins to think about Trip being the guardian, thinking that her having that role is iffy and says he'll go and teach her about being a guardian.
Soon Knuckles glides above Bridge Island when Knuckles lands in front her, causing Trip to hide in her helmet before recognizing him as Amy's tough friend. Knuckles explains that he's here to toughen her up, further saying that if he was a real threat Trip would not be able to help the animals. Trip responds saying that he's not a threat, leading to Knuckles telling her he knows what it's like to be on her own with no one. Trip rebukes, revealing that she's not the only person on the islands. Soon they arrive to a village of Sungazers deep within the Speed Jungle that greet Trip. Knuckles then asks where they came from, prompting Trip to tell him that they have always been here. Knuckles recalls that when he ran through there was nothing but Badniks and traps. Trip answers by explaining that when she heard Eggman arrived, she warned her people to hide until he was gone, but she got stuck with him. She then laments the fact that she was supposed to be the new guardian but ended up being bullied into helping the bad guys. Knuckles nervously responds when Trip asks if he'd also been bullied like she was.
Suddenly Trip is called over by her grandfather, during their conversation Trip asks Knuckles about his armor, but Knuckles tells her he does not have any. Trip's grandfather's attention is caught by her mentioning that Knuckles is also a guardian. Trip confirms this to him and tells him that he is going to train her to be the best she can be. Knuckles nervously agrees saying how there were close calls last time but after she's done training with him that Trip will be ready for anything. Her grandfather agrees, telling them to have fun and not to run off into trouble. Trip thanks him, but then nearly falls over, before telling Knuckles they can start training over there. Soon, Knuckles teaches her the first lesson which is to patrol her territory quickly and efficiently. Trip says that she's pretty quick, but Knuckles tells her there's more to it, mentioning it's also about maneuverability and knowing the terrain. He further tells her to know what her body can do and move in sync with herself and her surroundings without thinking.
Trip tells him that she already is all those things and Knuckles tells her to prove it. Soon they start racing, with Knuckles having the upper hand, but then Trip uses her Ring Rolling technique to catch up. The race eventually leads them into Sky Temple, where Trip asks for a lunch break. Knuckles yells at her, as they had just gotten started. Trip tells him that she is already tired, but Knuckles continues onto his next lesson to test her endurance. Knuckles tells her to get her helmet and says they're going to spar. Trip tells Knuckles that she doesn't want to hurt him, but Knuckles ignores her worries and assures that she won't. The fight starts, and Knuckles starts moving too fast for Trip to keep track. Knuckles swings at her helmet, causing it to spin around and hurting his hand. Trip gets dizzy and falls over, with her helmet hitting Knuckles' foot, causing him to yelling in pain. Trip asks if she won while Knuckles helps her adjust her helmet. Knuckles demands for a second round, but Trip asks for a break. Knuckles continues push her to fight, but it becomes too much and Trip runs off crying. Later on, Knuckles recalls times where he also pushed Amy and Tailstoo far. He thinks further to the resolutions of those conflicts, remembering that he caused Tails to loosen up his fear of lighting and taught Amy how to properly swing her Piko Piko Hammer. He at first thinks about acting more like Sonic, but he denies wanting to be more like him and instead decides to change his approach his own way.
In Golden Capital, Trip is still sad about the situation. Knuckles soon comes over wanting to talk, but she runs away and hides behind a giant Picky and Rocky. The two block him, but Knuckles is able to gently push them aside. Knuckles then tells Trip the reason why he acts the way he does is because nobody was there to teach him. Knuckles tells her about Angel Island and how he guards it by himself. However, Trip is amazed by this and praises him for his feats. Knuckles asks Trip if she guards a gemstone as well, to which Trip reminds him that she guards the Black Onyx. Trip takes Knuckles to a mural which he recognizes from his first time exploring the island. Trip tells Knuckles the meaning of the mural, explaining that it shows her ancestors protecting the Black Onyx by using the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles asks if it's really been around that long to which Trip confirms, however she worries she may never measure up to her ancestors. Knuckles responds by reassuring her that she has potential to be a great guardian, causing the sungazer to hug him and thank him for his support. Knuckles waves goodbye, saying he needs to head home. Trip tells Knuckles that she looks forward to the next time they train together. Knuckles then realizes he doesn't know how he will get back up to his island. Trip then remembers that there is still Eggman tech on the island and the two find a leftover Egg Mobile, which Knuckles uses to fly back home. Later on, Knuckles thinks to himself again, telling himself how it's good to be him and that he's a good trainer.
After the war, Knuckles and the Resistance set out to clean up from the war. However, with the Eggman Empire's Badniks being everywhere and randomly attacking anyone they came across, Knuckles and the Resistance had to work from a centralized, organized position that would allow them to combat the Badniks more effectively.
Eventually, Knuckles went to investigate Barricade Town, but did not report back after a while.While there, he single-handedly destroyed the Badnik horde that was surrounding said town. After finishing off a Death Egg Robot, Sonic came by on Amy's request to check up on him. Knuckles explained that Barricade Town's Wispon shipments had dwindled and that he came by to find out why. He and Sonic entered the town, finding the citizens in a panic. There, they were informed by the gatekeeper that their town's Wispons had been stolen by a duo of mercenaries that had, before the war ended, driven Eggman's forces away and saved Barricade Town, only to then conquer the town and keep its arsenal to themselves. Knuckles and Sonic went off to the town's supply depot-turned-fortress to put an end to the mercenaries' cruelty. There they found several Wisps being hoarded. Soon, Knuckles and Sonic confronted the mercenaries, who introduced themselves as Rough and Tumble. A battle ensued between the four that seemed to be evenly matched, until Sonic called upon the help of the Wisps who remained in the hoarded Wispons. After the Wisps broke out of the Wispons, Knuckles and Sonic easily defeated the mercenaries. Rough and Tumble were then taken to jail while Knuckles and Sonic celebrated their victory with the townspeople and Wisps.
Meeting with Sonic, Tails and Amy in Resistance HQ, Knuckles learned from Sonic that Neo Metal Sonic was the ringleader behind the recent organized Badnik attacks. Apparently, he had taken over the Eggman Empire in Eggman's absence in an attempt to continue Eggman's rule for him and give him back command after finding him. In an effort to undermine Neo Metal Sonic's scheme, Knuckles and Amy decided to help Sonic and Tails search for any old plans that could tell them what Neo Metal Sonic was up to.
Continuing his work from Resistance HQ with Amy, Knuckles eventually sensed that the Master Emerald was calling out to him. Immediately after, Knuckles and Amy were contacted by Sonic and Silver, who, after having discovered Neo Metal Sonic's plan, told them to call in everyone.
After having called their allies to Resistance HQ, it was revealed to the assembled heroes that Neo Metal Sonic had taken over Angel Island and turned it into a flying fortress. To make matters worse, Neo had also secured the Master Emeraldfor himself on the island. Outraged at what had been done to his homeland in his absence, an upset Knuckles blamed himself for this. Knuckles was thus eager to volunteer for the team that would confront Neo Metal Sonic and secure the Master Emerald. Also, when Tails tried to discourage Blaze from going after Neo Metal Sonic as Burning Blaze, Knuckles told him that the Master Emerald could not interfere with the Sol Emeralds (the source of Burning Blaze's power). In the end, Knuckles and Sonic were chosen to confront Neo Metal Sonic and secure the Master Emerald while the others focused on breaking the Egg Fleet's control over the island.
On the way to Angel Island, Knuckles refused to relax while his home needed him. When they finally neared Angel Island however, the Egg Fleet began bombarding their ship. Using their Extreme Gear, Knuckles and Sonic left the crashing ship and flew to the Master Emerald's shrine, which had been turned into a fortification. Inside it, the two heroes found Neo Metal Sonic on top of the Master Emerald. When they tried to confront him however, Neo Metal Sonic used the Master Emerald to turn into Super Neo Metal Sonic.
With Knuckles understandably frustrated by this development, Super Neo Metal Sonic went on the offensive. Knuckles subsequently tried to reach the Master Emerald while Sonic distracted Super Neo Metal Sonic, but both him and Sonic were foiled and outfought at every turn by the robot. When Knuckles and Sonic ended up lying in defeat before Super Neo Metal Sonic however, Shadowshowed up and succeeded in making Super Neo Metal Sonic revert back to normal before laying the smackdown on him. After Sonic brought the fight to a halt, Knuckles tried to get to the Master Emerald. However, Neo Metal Sonic then revealed that he had already copied Shadow's bio-data, which, combined with Sonic's bio-data and the Master Emerald's power, would let him assume his final form. As Neo Metal Sonic grew in power, Knuckles tried in vain to stop him. However, Knuckles was forced to evacuate the stronghold along with Sonic and Shadow once the structure started to fold into Neo Metal Sonic. The ground soon after began to rumble and Knuckles noted that the Master Emerald had been cut off from Angel Island―without its power, the island would fall. Meanwhile, Neo Metal Sonic grew into a form more monstrous than the last―dubbing it Master Overlord―and demanded that Sonic bowed to him.
Getting attacked by Master Overlord, Knuckles contacted his allies in hopes of getting Burning Blaze's help, only to learn that it was impossible. He, Sonic and Shadow were then grabbed and flown away by Master Overlord, who wanted them to see him destroy their allies, who were onboard one of the Egg Fleet's battleships. It was then that Sonic came up with a plan: if they could drive Master Overlord closer to Angel Island and rip the Master Emerald out of him, they could deprive the robot of his power source and save the island. When the trio finally escaped Master Overlord's grasp, Knuckles relayed Sonic's plan to their allies while he tried removing the Master Emerald. Despite the hardships, Master Overlord was distracted long enough by Knuckles' allies for him to retrieve the Master Emerald and return it to Angel Island before the island plummeted into the ocean. In the aftermath, Sonic and Tails joined Knuckles at his shrine and informed the echidna that Metal Sonic was offline.
While Knuckles rested on top of the Master Emerald, Sonic came to him and informed him that the island was intact. Sonic then asked if he was coming back to Resistance HQ, but Knuckles told him that was staying to guard the Master Emerald like he always had. As Sonic then reminded him of his responsibilities as the Resistance's commander, Knuckles decided to disband the Resistance as he believed there was no need for them anymore. He also dismissed Sonic's offer to stay in contact should he become lonely as he believed Sonic would only bring trouble. Knuckles soon saw his allies off as they left Angel Island in the repaired Egg Fleet battleship.
Some time later, a Rescue Shuttle arrived down to the island, much to Knuckles' confusion. A robotic-looking Sonic dropped down from the ship startling the echidna and he asked why he was looking like Metal Sonic. Sonic apparently had no time to talk and said that Tails and Amy would be able to explain. He turned to the two expecting answers, though he felt as if he would not like them. Tails and Amy told Knuckles about how Dr. Eggman had returned and created a new substance called the Metal Virus that was able to infect living things and turn them into Zombots. He distributed this via his new Faceship. The situation had grown out of even Eggman's control, which resulted in a lot of their allies getting injured or becoming Zombots themselves. As Restoration HQ was compromised, the Restoration and the remaining survivors of the plague had nowhere else to go. Sonic soon came back to find out that Knuckles had been caught up to speed, though the echidna made it clear that he was annoyed that trouble was brought to his island again. Suddenly, a portal opened of which Eggman, Dr. Starline and Metal Sonic dropped out of. As Amy prepared to attack them for everything that they have done, Sonic prevented her act and questioned why Eggman appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden unarmed since he had the advantage. Eggman responded to this by saying Starline brought the Deadly Six onboard the Faceship, which they swiftly took control over. Espio then appeared to inform everyone that they had just gotten word from Rouge. On the shuttle, while Knuckles kept an eye on Starline, Rouge reported that Eggman had been powering the Faceship with the Chaos Emeralds, which Zavokhad now distributed to the rest of his team and then sent them out into the world; she went on to say that she was coordinating with Orbot to spy on their deployments and coordinate their counterattack. An argument soon arose between Tails and Eggman about a cure for the Metal Virus, with the fox noting that he was close to making a cure before it was lost to Zombots. Eggman clarified that he did not need to have one as his research found that as the Metal Virus mutated, it became unsustainable. Tails helped Knuckles and the others understand that soon, every Zombot would disintegrate. Eggman theorized that this would occur approximately two hundred years into the future. An injured Silver came onboard and confirmed this claim as it described his current future well.
Later outside, Knuckles and the others tried to come up with ideas on how to counteract the virus. Starline suggested using the Master Emerald to neutralize the Deadly Six but Tails told him that they could not move it risking the whole island and luring the Zeti to them as it would be too much of a gamble; Knuckles also added that Starline would not be allowed to touch the Emerald. Eggman instead came up with the idea to use the Warp Topaz, as if they had Super Sonic charge it with his power, they would be able to warp the virus away with one swoop. Starline protested against it due to its instability and decided to leave and create a solution on his own; instead, Eggman, with Metal Sonic's help, removed Starline's glove that had the Warp Topaz attached to it, fired him and had him thrown out via a Warp Portal. Following this, Eggman surmised that Rouge would be able to steal the two Emeralds that were on the Faceship from Zavok; Espio noted that it left five Zeti left to deal with but Silver felt confident that they would be able to overwhelm them so long as they had each other. The group realized that they would have to split up and ambush the Deadly Six all at once since there was a risk that one could contact the others should they get a sense of their plan. While Eggman thought to work on a "Multi-Portal Generator" to help the others reach their destinations, Tails thought it would be better if each person had backup in case someone turned into a Zombot; this prompted Amy to call in the Babylon Rogues to increase their numbers.
Knuckles watched Tails and Eggman build their Multi-Portal Generator with the Warp Topaz that would take everyone where they needed to go in an instant, but was alarmed for a bit when he heard Eggman say there was a chance that he could have imploded. Sonic returned from his run and had come up with a plan for who should be assigned with who and what Zeti they should go after. He claimed it would be best for Espio and Knuckles to take on Zazz as this Zeti was a berserker and they were the best trained fighters. However, Knuckles went against this, saying that since everyone was going off on a "suicide mission" and Sonic was in no place to fight, that would leave Eggman and Metal Sonic alone with the Master Emerald. Sonic initially questioned this paranoia, but went with it as he remembered the history that he and Eggman shared of working together and getting stabbed in the back by him in the end. Espio stated that he would be alright going alone, as he already had a tactic in mind. Later, Espio showed Knuckles how little survivors they managed to save. Worried that there was a chance that they could fail, Espio began to fear what could happen if he did not defeat Zazz. Knuckles denied this and told him that if things went south, he would look after the survivors. After the two genius inventors finally set the coordinates on the portals, Knuckles, along with Sonic, Eggman and Metal Sonic, watched as everyone headed out.
After most of the other survivors arrived back on the island, they found that Zavok had found their location, drawing nearer to the island in the Faceship. He had led a large horde of Zombots to the location as well. However, thanks to the efforts of Rouge, the Faceship was brought down and fell into the ocean, crashing down onto the horde of Zombots. This did not stop Zavok as he simply emerged from the rubble and became Giant Zavokwith his Chaos Emerald. As retaliation, he shot a fireball at the island with his mouth, which deeply angered Knuckles. He then grabbed a large handful of Zombots and threw them onto the surface to deal with the survivors, which included a number of familiar faces to Knuckles. While Sonic, Silver and Metal Sonic went off to retrieve the final Chaos Emerald from Zavok, Knuckles took the Zombot Shadow head-on in order to buy Sonic some time and protect the island; however, this act ended up infecting him. Though Knuckles had the upper hand over Shadow, he fully succumbed to the virus and became a Zombot himself. He and Shadow then turned to Tails, who was being infected by Cheese and Chocola. Eventually, with the combined efforts of Super Sonic and Super Silver, they were able to warp the entirety of the Metal Virus away from the world and to the sun. This act turned both Knuckles and Shadow back to normal. The duo acknowledged each other before both angrily turning to Rouge, who wanted to selfishly spend her final moments lying down on the Master Emerald before being inevitably infected. A large explosion soon erupted between the Warp Topaz, Sonic and Silver, which threw the latter back on the island. Knuckles and Tails helped Silver up, with Amy being present; the hedgehog stated that the Metal Virus was destroyed but Starline was right about the Warp Topaz not being able to take so much power. Silver continued, saying that Sonic tried to ditch the Topaz in the Super Warp Portal but this only resulted in a green gate of energy appearing in the sky, with Sonic nowhere to be found.
After Sonic's sudden disappearance, Knuckles stated he believed Sonic was just being dramatic and would return soon. He waited for him, but soon became annoyed at Sonic not showing up. Once Knuckles overheard Amy's complaint of how she only became organizer of the Restoration was because Knuckles disbanded the Resistance on whim, he argued that his place was on the island and the war was over anyway. Amy countered this by saying that the people down below still needed help. Knuckles disagreed with Amy's want to spread herself thin to help everyone everywhere and asked when the refugees would be leaving. Tails said that this would be after he repaired the Rescue Shuttle but after looking around, he could not find it. Eggman also seemed to be missing, until Big pointed out that he was escaping via the final Rescue Shuttle.
Seeing that it was just headache after headache with everyone, the echidna took little regard of Eggman went off to the Master Emerald's altar. There, he found Rouge who had remained atop the Master Emerald. Knuckles told her that Eggman had escaped and she was supposed to be watching him. Rouge turned it on him, saying that he should have been on watch since it was his island. As Eggman was no longer on the island, Knuckles said that it was no longer his problem and told Rouge to get off the Master Emerald. Rouge jokingly asked for five more minutes, to which Knuckles replied that he tolerated her presence this long since she just helped save the world but asked her not to make him throw her off of the island. Rouge noted Knuckles' stubbornness, but complied and ran her finger past his locks as she said her goodbyes and left. Knuckles was slightly flustered by this but quickly recovered, looking up at the sky and quietly telling himself that Sonic would return soon, visibly shaking.
Over the next period, Knuckles spent his time scouring Angel Island for Metal Virus remains. Along the way, Knuckles would also discover secret passageways around the island, much to his displeasure, as it dawned on him that there were still secrets about Angel Island that he did not know about.
Eventually, Knuckles discovered some unusual quakes in Marble Garden. Needing help to investigate this and recalling how well Team Heroes worked together, Knuckles reluctantly called upon Sonic and Tails for help. When he finally spotted them arriving in the Tornado, Knuckles glided down to meet them. However, Knuckles told him that he had had second thoughts about asking Sonic to come, briefly losing his temper and blaming Sonic for bringing Zavok and the Zombots to Angel Island. After Tails dissolved the tension, though, Knuckles told them of why he had called them up here. Sonic thought that meant that Knuckles counted on them, but Knuckles snarked that he counted on Sonic to cause trouble and relied on Tails to keep him focused. Nonetheless, Knuckles and his team headed towards Marble Garden. As Sonic and Tails began discussing the fastest way to get there, Knuckles unveiled a shortcut to them. As his teammates acknowledged him for his knowledge about Angel Island, Knuckles admitted his recent discovery of this shortcut and that there were still regions of Angel Island he had yet to explore. When the trio reached Marble Garden, they soon after came upon Dr. Eggman, who had been causing the quakes by recklessly drilling for rare minerals in a vehicle of his. After Knuckles furiously reprimanded Eggman for intruding on his home, Knuckles and his team attack Eggman's vehicle. Although they nearly got swallowed by a crack in the earth that Eggman made, Knuckles and his team overcame it and defeated Eggman, who retreated from Angel Island. Afterwards, Knuckles hoped he would not see Eggman again for a while. Knuckles then declined Tails' offer to go for some R&R, insisting that he had to uncover all of Angel Island's secrets first. Regardless, Knuckles promised his team to call upon them if trouble should arrive.
Knuckles saw a strange pillar of fire coming from Lava Reef and went to investigate. He discovered Blaze arrived on his island to talk to him. Blaze explained she wanted advice from another guardian. They walked together and Blaze asked if it is OK to step away from being a guardian for a while if circumstances allow it. Knuckles asked about her duties, royal and guardian, and she explained how they can be covered if she is away. Knuckles realized she doesn't want to step away because Blaze wants to be there if something goes wrong. Saying that, he told Blaze to take a vacation as the situation she is in is a gift. Unlike her, the Master Emerald can't leave Angel Island and he can't hide it somewhere else. Every time he leaves the island, Knuckles says, he is taking a gamble. Blaze thanked him for his insight and Knuckles said he appreciated to talk to someone who understand responsibility. Blaze then offered to watch the island for Knuckles so he could take time off to repay for his kindness. Knuckles declined, saying he doesn't like laying his burdens on other people. Blaze then left to return to her world and Knuckles looked on into the sky.
Knuckles caught Amy from falling into Hydrocity Zone. He asked Amy why she was on the island, and she showed the statue she wanted to return to the island. Knuckles was amazed and after Amy explained how she got the statue, he thanked her and offered Amy to join him in placing the statue back. Amy said yes and asked how he knew where it went. Knuckles explained the style and color of the stone narrowed it down to three locations. Amy trusted him and Knuckles told her to be careful as they went to the surface. They made it to the surface in Marble Garden, where the ground rumbled. Knuckles explained the whole area was unstable and Eggman's digging did not help. Amy offered Knuckles for some members of the Restoration to look out on the island. Knuckles declined, and after Amy protested, he explained keeping an eye on them and the island would only make things more complicated. He clarified he only trusted around six people. Amy caught his compliment and said that meant he trusted her to take over the Resistance when he abruptly ended it. Knuckles nervously said yes, but Amy told him to relax and only wishes she had more prep. Knuckles apologized and Amy said they were even. They eventually reached their location and Knuckles stopped Amy from walking in. He said there was a trap inside and Amy offered to cover him while he put the statue back. Knuckles protested but Amy reassured that they trust each other. Amy went ahead and set off the trap. Knuckles went in and put the statue back. The trap stopped and Knuckles and Amy shared a fist bump. Just after, the floor fell out and Knuckles glided Amy to safety in the cavern. Amy asked if he grew up like this and Knuckles said it's what made him who he was today. Amy took his hand and offered for him to take a break at Restoration HQ. Knuckles said he would think about it and took Amy on his back as he climbed back out of the cavern.
Sometime later, Knuckles caught the Babylon Rouges trying to steal the same statues. He fought Storm, but was pushed aside from him, leading the Rouges to have a clean getaway. Knuckles then left the island and went to the Chaotix Detective Agency so they could help track them down. Talking to Vector and Espio led them to conclude they were hired by someone to get the statues. Charmy went to call Amy for help, but Knuckles slammed the phone as he didn't want his pride to be hurt by telling Amy. Knuckles went with Team Chaotix to Egg Base Delta, where they got Eggman's attention. Speaking with him over the Egg Monitor, Knuckles demanded his relics back from him. Eggman denied that he did, and after Knuckles explained it had no real value or powers, Eggman said he doesn't care about it and demanded they leave. Knuckles admitted to the mistake, but said he was strong to admit it. Back in Seaside City, Knuckles was eating ice cream with Vector where they concluded the next suspect would be Clutch. Knuckles slammed the table with his fist, angry that things are getting complicated and they can't just simply smash the bad guys. When Charmy came back with a lead on where the Rouges' hand-off would happen, Knuckles immediately left with the Chaotix to investigate.
Knuckles and the Chaotix attacked the Babylon Rouges that night at the docks. Once again, Knuckles fought Storm and the albatross was getting the upper hand. Knuckles broke the dock under them and subdued Storm. The other Chaotix managed to stop the Rouges and get the statues. Knuckles wasn't interested in who hired the Rouges and just wanted the relics back. Storm challenged him to another fight and Knuckles was willing to, but the other Rouges pulled Storm back. Vector asked about payment for the detective services, and Knuckles said he could pay with fruits and mushrooms. The Chaotix then left to go to dinner at Vanilla's house, leaving Knuckles wondering how he will get home.
Tails called Knuckles to help Sonic get rid of the Warp Topaz. He left Angel Island and found Sonic in a desert. Just as Sonic was handing off the Topaz to Knuckles, however, it warped away with Sonic. A short while later, Sonic warped back to where Knuckles was with Metal Sonic. When Sonic told Metal off, Knuckles asked for him to hold the Topaz so he could help save the world. Sonic said he changed his mind and he could handle the Topaz himself. Furious, Knuckles yelled at Sonic and sarcastically said if he needed anyone else to stand around and do nothing he would be right there because he "doesn't have anything better to do."
On Angel Island, Knuckles is talking to himself and how another simple day with just him the Master Emerald and the sky. Knuckles flops to the ground in exhaustion when he starts to wonder what Sonic and the others are up to, he assumes they're on some unexpected adventure when the Master Emerald starts glowing towards him and ask if it's trying to show him something to, he then accepts and says to show him what it has. Suddenly Knuckles sees visions of his closest allies: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge and Team Chaotixand saying how he has had his fair share of adventures. He further explains how his life may not be as wild and free as Sonic's but there are lots of good things here.
Knuckles further says that even if he's the last of his people and he's the one on the Island by himself it's because of his duty and the need to protect the world that he treasures each day. Suddenly Knuckles looks down and sees a white glowing version of himself who Knuckles says that if there was a version of him without a purpose, the Master Emerald, or friends that he'd feel bad for him when Sonic appears again in a void and Knuckles says that he's thankful for the destiny that led him here. Soon Knuckles wakes up and stairs at the emerald and says without it he wouldn't have anything but because of it he does and thanks it. Suddenly Sonic who is sitting on top of the emerald says how he'd thought Knuckles would never say that when Knuckles responds saying he wasn't talking to him when Sonic starts to tease him. Knuckles yells at him to come down from the emerald when Sonic says he was totally just thinking about him and Knuckles says how he was never thinking, and Sonic says how Knuckles has no idea what he's saying when Tails and Amytells them to stop arguing.
Knuckles then ask the group what they're doing here and did something happen. Amy responds saying does something have to happen to come visit their good friend and Tails jumps in and says that they just wanted to check in on him and make sure he wasn't getting lonely. Tails further explains that it was Sonic's idea when Sonic says how it was a good idea and saying how he missed their "beautiful friendship" when Tails apologizes for being late saying how they got sidetracked. Knuckles then says how an unexpected adventure happens and knows them to well and asks what happened when Sonic starts by saying it started this morning
Having noticed Eggman's drilling operations for the Paradox Prism in Green Hill's Mountain. The team, (minus Sonic) advanced on the cavern, and fought the initial wave of Badniks. Knuckles and the team would sarcastically greet Sonic once he returned, exclaiming his tardiness. Knuckles and his teammates would proceed to battle the remaining Badniks, only to be interrupted by Sonic's accidental shattering of the Paradox Prism, and action which displaced Knuckles and his teammates across dimensions in the Shatterverse. His alternate counterparts are: Renegade Knucksfrom New Yoke City, Gnarly Knuckles from Boscage Maze, and Knuckles the Dread from No Place.
When Sonic visits Ghost Hill, he finds ghost version of his friends. Knuckles is seen lifting a rock, while saying "I don't need the details, just tell me who to smash". Sonic is excited to see his friend at first, until he realizes he is always repeating the same line. Some days later, Sonic comes back to the place with Shadow and Nine. While Nine is putting the Shards together, Knuckles and the rest of Sonic's friends quickly turn back to normal. However, this only lasts a few seconds.
When Ghost Hill starts to collapse, Sonic takes a final look at his friends. Knuckles and the others are seen floating up to the sky while everything around them is being destroyed with a possibility of him dying offscreen.
When Green Hill is finally restored, the timeline resets to a point before the Prism incident. Sonic arrives and sees Knuckles and his other friends fighting Eggman's badniks. Knuckles is weirded out when Sonic hugs Eggman's mech. He fights alongside his friends and defeat Eggman. Knuckles is surprised to see Shadow in the cave. Later on, Knuckles is seen lifting a rock on the beach, while his friends hang out on the beach. An explosion ruins their picnic, as something big in the sky comes near them. Knuckles and the others are determined to fight back, and they all run into battle.
In Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Knuckles would be invited by Dodon Pa to compete in the CrossWorld Grand Prix along with the promise of the Master Emerald being safe. He rides the Land Smashermachine which can transform to function on land, seas or air.
During one of the races, Jet grabs an Item Box containing a Triple Homing Punch and immediately launches it causing a series of explosions erupts across the track, forcing racers to swerve wildly. The blasts cause Knuckles to spin out of control, though would manage to make it through. Eventually they were transported to Dragon Road through a Travel Ring and as they speed across the waves, the Dark Gaia Phoenix emerges, firing rows of pinions that take out Knuckles, Silver, and eventually Eggman.
In the Sonic Underground television series, Knuckles was the lone guardian of the Chaos Emerald on the Floating Island and was mentored by his great-grandfather Athair. While he was a kid, he met Queen Aleena who told him that he would be the first ally of her children Sonic, Manicand Sonia to join them in the war against Dr. Robotnik.
Years later, Knuckles met Sleet and Dingo who tricked him into believing that Sonic, Manic and Sonia were thieves after his island's Chaos Emerald. When the hedgehogs arrived on the Floating Island to find their mother, he attacked them until Sonic saved his life. After clearing up the misunderstanding, the echidna and the hedgehog siblings teamed up to reclaim the Chaos Emerald the villains had stolen before the island fell from the sky and they became the allies Aleena wanted. When Dr. Robotnik found another Emerald, Knuckles aided the heroes in reclaiming and containing it when it ran rampant.
In the Sonic X anime series, Knuckles originally lived on a planet in a Zone parallel to the Earth's dimension, where he guarded the Master Emerald. He took his job seriously and had a fearsome temper with a "chip on his shoulder". During one of the battles with Dr. Eggman, an accidental large-scale Chaos Control sent Knuckles, Sonic, the doctor, and their friends to the human world. Upon becoming stranded in this world, the echidna's only desire was to get back to Angel Island quickly. Preferring to do things his own way, he spent most of his initial time on Earth traveling alone rather than joining up with Sonic and their friends, though he would occasionally come to their aid to fight Eggman and befriend others.
When Angel Island was transported to Earth after he failed to work together with Eggman to bring them back home, Knuckles returned to guarding the Master Emerald while helping Sonic with other major threats. Eventually though, he and everyone from his world returned home after learning their presence was threating to freeze time.
Six months after returning home, Knuckles was persuaded to join Sonic and his friends in their fight against Metarex, an alien race of cyborgs that was a threat to the safety of the entire galaxy, when they needed him and the Master Emerald to power the Blue Typhoon. During the final showdown, the echidna was forced to sacrifice the Master Emerald to defeat the Metarex's leader, Dark Oak. After defeating the Metarex, he returned home to look over the Emerald until its power could return naturally.
In the Sonic Boom franchise, Knuckles hails from Angel Island and is the muscle of Team Sonic, a group of heroes who protects Seaside Island and the earth at large from Dr. Eggman and his legion of robots. An orphan and the last of his kind, Knuckles is not very bright, less independent and a little slow on the uptake, but he still has his soft spots: he loves nature and is extremely loyal to his friends. Also, while they are friends, Knuckles has a friendly rivalry going on with Sonic.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Knuckles was the 18th Guardian of Angel Island and a member of the Brotherhood of Guardians. Born to Locke the Echidna and Lara-Le, Knuckles' DNA was indirectly tampered with and his unhatched egg was irradiated with Chaos Emerald radiation by Locke so he had a chance of facing a horrible threat in the future which Locke had seen in a vision. The result was a child with incredible powers–a "living Chaos Emerald."
Knuckles was raised by in Guardian tradition by his father in the wilds on Angel Island and then left to fend for himself at 10 years old. Knuckles learned self-reliance while his forefathers monitored his process, sometimes lending him a hidden hand. Despite the Brotherhood's neutrality, Knuckles joined the First Robotnik War after a meeting with Sonic the Hedgehog and later the Second Robotnik War. The mysteries around his life began to unravel when the effects of the Ultimate Annihilator returned both the Dark Legion and the city of Echidnaopolis to Angel Island. Knuckles was exposed to a family and heritage he knew he had. During this event, he would meet a female Dark Legion member Julie-Su, whom he would soon get close with and would both become members of the Chaotix.
As his prowess grew in facing new challenges, Knuckles' Chaos power grew out of control, transforming him into Chaos Knuckles, a form with god-like power, but had little to no control. The transformation culminated when Knuckles was forced to fight Mammoth Mogul to save his distant uncle and old foe Dimitri, where he released all his power to stop Mogul and died in the process. Knuckles joined the Chaos Force to a degree even the Ancient Walkers had reached. However, with his cosmic awareness, he sensed the Xorda Invasion of Mobius. Using his unlimited power, Knuckles returned to life - but sacrificed his "living Chaos Emerald" quality, leaving him weak and powerless until the Master Emerald's energies restored his powers. His Chaos Force connection was later abused Dr. Finitevus who used dark magic to transform Knuckles into Enerjak. As Enerjak, Knuckles made sweeping changes to Angel Island and the world. He was restored, but at the cost of Locke's life, making him withdrawn to almost everyone. He endured further losses when he later lost almost all the echidnas, including his family and Julie-Su on Mobius to Thrash the Tasmanian Devil.
Following the events of Worlds Collide, Knuckles and his history became nearly indistinguishable from his game counterpart. Assisting in the Shattered World Crisis, Knuckles went on a hunt for the Master Emerald's shards after shattering it to keep it safe.
In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, 8,000 years ago, Knuckles was the leader of the Echidna Empire's armies under Pochacamac, fighting the Drakon Empire. Presumably by being placed in suspended animation, Knuckles survived to the present day, but with no memories of his earlier life. Seemingly the only echidna left in this era, Knuckles came to live on the Floating Island where he alone guarded the Chaos Emeralds. In addition to a near obsession of protecting his island, Knuckles is greatly affected by the uncertainty of the fate of his own people.
When Dr. Robotnik and his Death Egg II crashed on the Floating Island, Knuckles was tricked by the doctor into believing Sonic the Hedgehog sought to steal the island's Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles thus allowed Robotnik to rebuild the Death Egg II on the island and assisted him in fighting Sonic and stealing Sonic's own six Chaos Emeralds so they could be combined with Knuckles' into one set of Emeralds. Knuckles, however, was skeptical enough to conceal that he had the missing Grey Emerald, so when Robotnik revealed his betrayal and tried to absorb the Emeralds' power, Knuckles used the Grey Emerald to defeat him.
From that point on, Knuckles worked as an ally to the Freedom Fighters in the battles with Robotnik. When Dr. Zachary appeared, Knuckles stopped him from destroying Mobius, but then had to spend the next period undoing the subsequent damage to the Floating Island, which culminated as he returned home to stop Robotnik and Zachary from turning the Emerald Hill refugees into an organic computer. After Robotnik had been overthrown, Knuckles came to help Sonic and his friends' with the following threats, such as when Robotnik tried to force Mobius into environmental collapse and when Chaos was unleashed.
In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Knuckles is a traveling treasure hunter who roams the Land of Darkness, and a long-time friend of Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails.
When Sonic and Tails came to the Land of Darkness to stop the Robot Generator, Knuckles came to the duo aid when they came under attack by Metal Robotnik and helped destroy the metallic menace. When it turned out that the Robot Generator was a trap made by Dr. Robotnik to complete Hyper Metal Sonic, the echidna helped the heroes keep the doctor from destroying the Land of the Sky.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog film series produced by Paramount Pictures and its spin-offs, Knuckles is an alien echidna who is the last of his kind and is seeking out the Master Emerald, a gemstone of great power created by the echidnas but was later confiscated by the giant owls due to its dangerous power. To gain a clue to the Master Emerald's whereabouts, Knuckles began to search for the Sonic the Hedgehog, who was the apprentice of the final owl, Longclaw. In his search, he discovered Dr. Robotnik, who lead him to Earth and promised to help him find the Master Emerald. However, Robotnik later betrayed Knuckles and took the Master Emerald for himself. Due to this, Knuckles teamed up with Sonic and Tails to recover the Master Emerald. The trio formed a pact to protect it and Knuckles went on to live with them and the Wachowskis on Earth.
In the Legacy of Chris Thorndyke,
He is reprised by Dave B. Mitchell in the English dub and Nobutoshi Canna in the Japanese dub.