History[]

Past[]

Knuckles has spent his life guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island from anything capable of posing a threat to it. As a result, he would become extremely familiar with much of the island's terrain as well as skilled at navigating it.^[5]

In the past, Knuckles would find Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Eggman on Angel Island. In order to keep up with Sonic, Knuckles would utilize the shortcuts around Angel Island that he knew of and went to fight the Hedgehog head on and even a robot version of him.^[6][7] Shortly after Knuckles would encounter Eggman working with Fang the Hunter to distract Sonic and Tails from getting the emeralds^[8] and even go on his own adventure and destroy Newtrogic High Zone^[9][10].

Classic Era[]

Seasons of Chaos[]

One day shortly after the Phantom Ruby incidents^[11][12][13], 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.^[4]

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 Mighty and 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.^[4]

Fang the Hunter[]

Fang's Gang heads over to Angel Island to talk to Knuckles about the rumored eighth Chaos Emerald, But the echidna traps Bean and Bark leaving 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.

Knuckles' 30th Anniversary Special[]

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 Islands from 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 Tails too 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.^[14]

Modern Era[]

Sometime later, Knuckles participated in a situation involving the Space Colony ARK in which Dr. Eggman used its Eclipse Cannon to blow up a part of the moon in order to show the world the power that he wielded. These events lead to Knuckles, Sonic and Tails teaming up with Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Eggman in order to fight a bigger threat.^[15][16][17]

Later, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails formed a team. Soon after, a battle happened between Team Heroes and Neo Metal Sonic - the powered-up form of Metal Sonic - who was impersonating Eggman. This time, the fake Eggman was piloting the Egg Emperor mech, but Knuckles and his friends defeated the mech.^[18][19] After learning that Neo Metal Sonic had taken over the Eggman Empire however, Knuckles and his team defeated the robot, causing him to revert back to normal.^[20][19] He went to even fight Sonic on a few occasions after.^[21][22]

The Eggman War[]

In the recent past, after Sonic got captured by Dr. Eggman, who was able to seize control over most of the world in doing so, Knuckles became the commander of a resistance group that opposed Eggman's reign (although it was Amy who kept the group organized).^[23] Later on, after being reunited with Sonic, he, alongside the rest of the Resistance, defeated Dr. Eggman, thus ending the Eggman Empire's reign over the world.^[24][18]

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.^[23]

Fallout![]

Eventually, Knuckles went to investigate Barricade Town, but did not report back after a while.^[23] 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.^[1]

The Fate of Dr. Eggman[]

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.^[19]

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.^[3]

Battle For Angel Island[]

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 Emerald for 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.^[25]

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.^[25]

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, Shadow showed 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.^[26]

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.^[27]

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.^[28]

All or Nothing[]

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 Zavok had 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.^[29]

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.^[29]

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.^[30]

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 Zavok with 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.^[31]

Out of the Blue[]

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.^[2]

Deep Trouble[]

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.^[7]

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.^[7]

Guardians[]

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.^[32]

Misadventures[]

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.^[5]

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.^[33]

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.^[34]

Sonic's 900th Adventure[]

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."^[35]

For My Destiny[]

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 Chaotix and 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 Amy tells 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.^[36]

Quotes[]

See also[]

• Knuckles the Echidna (disambiguation)

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Knuckles the Echidna at IDW Sonic Hub Wiki, the IDW Sonic wiki.