So, What are your thoughts on Knuckles and his character? Do you agree with my points made? Did I miss anything? Leave a comment below as I read EVERY single comment.

Knuckles is no joke. Unlike Sonic, he doesn't chuckle.

"Do I look like I need your power?" And just like that, Knuckles can be taken seriously again.​

Remember that knuckles is NOT dumb at all, he's been isolated all his life protecting the master emerald, how in the world would he know how social interaction works decades later?

Just saw Sonic 2 in theaters, and I can say with confidence that Knuckles’ character has been restored to what it’s supposed to have been. I’m so impressed with the movie crew, just wish Halo’s producers would’ve done the same with their show

I remember when Knuckles was described in the manual as being "clever".

“Your untrained “ “Unskilled” “Unworthy” Knuckles is back y’all

We did. One year later but KNUCKLES IS A BADASS AGAIN. Look at Sonic Frontiers Prologue with Knuckles.

"Back off or you're gonna get hurt!" Literally any line that sounds serious from Knuckles makes us know he is not joking around. That's why I love this Echidna

The movie makes him look like a badass. I hope he stay that way.

SEGA takes the characters biggest flaws and boost them up to 100 Sonic’s flaw: He’s cocky annoying sometimes but he knows when to get serious New sonic: cocky annoying, and barley gets serious Tails flaw: Sonic’s side kick, scared sometimes. New tails: Needs sonic or he’s useless Knuckles flaw: in some games he’s naive and gets tricked easily New knuckles: LOL I’m dumb

In the new Sonic movie, I like how while they kept him kinda dumb, but he’s also a badass. It makes sense due to him not originally being from Earth and also being the last of his kind. This was my favorite portrayal of his character out of any

Knuckles needs his own solo game as treasure hunter

Plus, Knuckles should be Sonic's toughest rival. He was the ORIGINAL RIVAL

I like the idea that Knuckles' internal monologue is a never ending rap.

considering they changed how sonic looked in the first movie due to internet backlash it's clear the movie crew paid attention to the fandom. I have a sneaking suspicion this video helped get knuckles back in the second movie.

The movie Knuckles seems like a good character development, I hope it influences the game character, since he wasn't a complete fool in it, but still has that awkwardness because of his social isolation.

Sadly it's gonna take the movie rendition of Knuckles to propel him back to the awesome status he once had.

It's important to note that Knuckles _doesn't_ immediately believe Eggman in Sonic Adventure. He actually decides to go ask Sonic and get his side of the story, which he didn't do in 3K. It's only when he sees Sonic holding a green gem that Knuckles assumes to be a Master Emerald shard that he starts throwing punches. This is because Knuckles is very protective of the Master Emerald, and is unlikely to be diplomatic with someone that he now has absolute proof (or so he thinks) is after the Master Emerald. Also, he still hasn't had much social interaction, so diplomacy isn't his strong suit anyway.

Sonic 2 may not be a perfect movie, but its portrayal of Knuckles makes me want to cry tears of joy. I'm praying that Sega takes notes from the movies for his characterization in future games

I recall in the OVA Knuckles was an explorer and a treasure hunter, he wasn’t stuck guarding the emerald 24/7. He also wasn’t a joke at that point, he acted on his own but was a team player who cared about the others. I think that all happened after Sonic CD, for sure before Sonic Adventure.

Seems like Sonic 2 is gonna do Knuckles justice.

Honestly, Sonic 2 is a redemption for Knuckles.

They definitely combined the best of both versions in the movie. We was a strong, battle hardened warrior and last of his kind, as well as being kind naive and a bit dumb when it comes to social interactions as he has been on his own since he was young. He takes the legacy and protection of the emeralds and his kind very seriously but he isn’t apposed to taking it easy when he wants to.

When it comes to rivals for Sonic, I usually think of 3: Knuckles, Shadow, and Metal Sonic. I also feel like they reflect Sonic in different ways. Watch PJSHOW's analysis on the other two. You'll understand. Just like how Sonic is most known for his speed, Knuckles is most known for his Strength and there's also their skin color, blue for Sonic and red for Knuckles, as they're primary colors along with yellow (like Tails). He's also more introverted, serious and responsible when compared to Sonic who's more extroverted, lighthearted and carefree, but he does become more like a mix between personalities overtime. What I think makes Knuckles unique is because he feels like a natural rival to Sonic instead of being created by scientists, he is an echidna unlike Shadow and Metal Sonic just like how hedgehogs and echidnas are similar but different just like Sonic and Knuckles and he feels like a good hearted rival. I would say he feels like a friend/rival to Sonic. They start off with a rivalry, but overtime, they become friends while still keeping their rivalry. He is the perfect contrast to Sonic. That's just my opinion.

And then the movie trailer is released and he's back to being a badass.

Knuckles went from being a badass and a threat To a dumbass And now back to a badass and a threat Same goes for tails Basically everything just came in full circle with the new sonic movie

Damn, the investigation for this video, crazy. Loved how you examined Knuckles. Sincerely didn't know too much about the character, only really saw him portrayed in Sonic Boom (love that series btw). Incredible video!!

I like how Sonic X gives Rouge a bigger motive for going after the Master Emerald as it was part of her cover to fool Eggman. I wish they would take notes from the successful Adventure titles, Heroes, and the gba games and create a game that gives the characters back the growth and traits that we grew to love.

Knuckles when they got the 2010 writers hired: "Oh no." I feel like the Sonic Movie sequel will do some justice to his character. The first movie may not have been perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot so I think they will handle his character well. Knuckles deserves better than this.

Idris Elba made me fall in love with Knuckles again. He’s not trying to be the comic relief in the movie, but unintentionally is because he’s so serious all the time and all about honor and being the best warrior. Sonic likes to do all those one-liner jokes and pop culture references, which works for his character. For instance, the Vin Diesel/ Rock beef joke he made had my whole theatre laughing. Also thank god Sonic had a cute redesign. Could you imagine how horrifying Knuckles, Tails and Shadow would’ve look?

You got your wish with Frontiers! They're bringing back Knuckles's original story arc with the Frontiers Prologue: Divergence short.

I love when knuckles is the clever history buff who knows lots about fighting tactics and is just kind of oblivious when it comes to people. He’s not dumb.

I thought Knuckles was so cool as a kid. I would imitate his poses in the games and I think my family still has an embarrassing picture of one of those instances >.

18:55 “What? just because i’m a meathead doesn’t mean i’m not a feminist.” actually made me cackle a little, Boom Knuckles (tv series one) is great and i adore knuckles in general for every lil aspect of him. tho, they did him dirty for making him an absolute dumbass or a minor character in some games.. Edit: glad to see a lot of people agree that boom knuckles is nice :)

Pretty much EVERY character was simplified down into base stereotypes over time... Shadow became edgy, Knuckles became a meathead, Tails became the nerdy sidekick, Amy regressed to her role as "the girl" character who likes Sonic, Eggman became the comedic Saturday morning cartoon villain, and Sonic only makes snarky quips that aren't even good jokes.

Movie knuckles was a FANTASTIC step in the right direction. Instead of making him straight up dumb, they made him brave warrior who just doesn’t understand earth customs. So they made him a brave warrior while still making him kinda have the same hotheaded personality he has in newer games. The movie saved Knuckles’ character and I hope they don’t make shadow completely overSHADOW him.

Man, this feels like exactly what happened with Piccolo in Dragon Ball. He was introduced and was a fantastic rival to Goku and had an amazing character ark of becoming allies with him, then a new rival was introduced in Vegeta, causing Piccolo to be tossed to the side as a plot dump character and nothing more.

I’m glad that they seem to be bringing him back to his original glory in the new movie. Or at least close

Honestly in the sonic 2 movie I wasn’t even rooting for sonic, I was rooting for knuckles. The movie made him so badass imo and way more serious then how Sega had made him.

Knuckles in 1994: Brave warrior who can be naive and gullible Knuckles in 2017-: Homer Simpson

This guy must be so happy about the Sonic 2 trailer making knuckles a badass

Making Knuckles the idiot on the receiving end of all the slapstick is redundant. That's the role they put Team Chaotix into when they came back for Heroes, and honestly their Three Stooges type shenanigans are a lot more entertaining than anything with Dumb Knuckles.

Would’ve made more sense if Tails made him a security camera at the island so he can visit them more, and knuckles would mention it in ‘06. And to keep Knuckles as Sonic’s rival Shadow should have visited him to train with him which would explain how he remains strong while guarding the emerald.

After seeing the Frontiers preview, I do anticipate Knuckles' core character being redeemed. Not holding my breath, but I can still hope.

"Only male hedgehogs can have a super form." All playable characters from Sonic Mania Plus other than Sonic: Are we a joke to you?

"Sexy and smooth" "Out for my jewls" "Feeling her in mysterious ways" OK HOLD ON THERE SEGA THAT'S A LITTLE TOO SPICY FOR A KIDS GAME

They did Knuckles' character so well in the new movie. (major spoiler warning) I hope they can restore Shadow to his original glory too.

I'm sure you might've already seen it, but please, PLEASE make a reaction video to the Frontiers Prologue animation if you haven't watched it yet! This was one of the first videos I watched from your channel, and seeing your wish for better characterization being fulfilled by Sonic Team is amazing!

this is how I feel about Wario. he went from greedy Bizarro-Mario to living fart joke.

Honestly, Sega should take down notes from the new Sonic movie about Knuckles' character because fans definitely want Knuckles to be taken seriously and look more like a badass character.

OMG Thank you for drawing attention to this! He's my favorite and I feel the exact same way! Even regarding Sonic Boom, I wanted to be mad but he was hilarious 😂

At 20:39 it reminds me how in SpongeBob Patrick had a funny act in the first 4 seasons but in later seasons he is made a meat head against Steven Hilinburg's old look at Patrick.

Knuckles was a misunderstood character. Back in the 90s, people thought Knuckles was pure evil. He put in work into making Sonic look like a joke, but when it was revealed that he wasn't actually a bad person, it was such a big deal. It really showed how perspective really changes our view. But nowadays, when people play Sonic 3 & Knuckles for the first time, people just laugh at how gullible he is. Sonic Adventure gave us his perspective this time, which at least added more depth to his character (even if it wasn't written the best way), but in Sonic Advance 2, and in the OK KO special, this gullible trait is exaggerated for stupid flanderized humor, and nothing else. The whole argument that "Knuckles isn't dumb, he's just gullible" just doesn't work anymore, because the way he's tricked is just done in the way that makes him look like an idiot. To me, his character became the punching bag since Sonic X. It's not a bad portrayal, because he does have some serious moments and a reason why he's not guarding the Master Emerald, but a lot of times, he was there to make Sonic look good in comparison. Remember in Sonic 3, he put in effort to make Sonic look bad? But now, everyone makes him look like a joke. He's more gullible, hotheaded, and is obsessed with beating Sonic. Knuckles' top priority is to guard the Master Emerald. His rivalry with Sonic was more secondary to his character. But without the Master Emerald, it seems like that's the only thing he cares about in games like Sonic Generations and Lost World. Even Shadow in the IDW comics is falling into this flanderization. Sonic Forces put him in the right direction but fails due to bad writing. It shows that Sega understood that fans missed the more serious Knuckles. Knuckles is such an important and complex character, and I'm sad to see him being downgraded as the joke sidekick.

Do you feel like the Sonic 2 movie has vindicated Knuckles, made you feel good about the character again? I feel like this video is about to get another couple hundred thousand views

I find the thumbnail as such a good roast for that cool kid or a father figure

Frontiers does a phenomenal job of characterizing knuckles, tails, and amy. I know this video is a year old, just putting my opinion out.

Knuckles is becoming one of my favorite characters honestly, he should be in more games

*"Does it look like I need your power"* Character development went from devolving to an idiot to developing to a *massive* threat... nice

Yesss. The whole time I was watching your video I was thinking: “Yeah IDW does a pretty good job” Happy to see you agree!

Saga needs to watch this video. This makes total sense. 👏

I feel so bad for knuckles, honestly. He's literally so adorable and he's been watching that emerald for years, YEARS. He needs a break, ever since eggman lied to knuckles, knuckles isn't dumb or anything, he just thought eggman wasn't lying because he HAS to watch the Emerald-- in fact, I heard that if he doesn't watch the emerald. his island will fall, I don't know why and the meaning behind this island and this emerald, but I feel like he should just take a break and hang out with some people, live an knuckles life lmao, but maybe sonic, tails, knuckles himself maybe got along because he probably seen maybe that sonic isn't that one to take an emerald NOR tails himself too.

It honestly feels as if the writers during the 2010s never even knew about his title as the guardian of the Master Emerald. I can't recall one time where Knuckles even mentioned the Master Emerald or Angel Island.

This guy reminds me of game apologist, small channel with incredible sonic content. Keep it up

As someone who isn't a fan of Sonic The Hedgehog, Knuckles is the only character from the series I like. I've tried to give the Sonic series several chances, and I'll be trying again soon. So many people like it, and insist I'll see what's so great about it, but from a gameplay perspective my attitude was always that Knuckles should have been what everything was built around. Character is a different story, I'm not that attached to any of the characters or plots.

It’s not the Knuckles ISN’T slightly gullible or hotheaded, it’s that he’s more than JUST those character traits. If you crank his trusting nature to the extreme and just make him an idiot, you’re losing the part of his characterization that is a disciplined and respected fighter, and the same goes for if you just make him a strong warrior with a short temper and forget that he can also be laid-back. He isn’t just impulsive, or trusting, or any one of his other character traits, he is all of those things and more! He can be a rival to Sonic and still be his friend, he can be very serious about his duty to the Emerald and still be generally chill, and he can be overly trusting in the good nature of others while still being clever. None of these traits are contradictory!

"Only Male Hedgehogs Can Use Super Forms" They're borderline stopping themselves from being creative. Like, why can't characters like Knuckles and Espio use that kind of power? It would allow for a lot more potential to be unshackled from their current positions as characters, and not only that, given that Knuckles' tribe have strong connections to the Master Emerald, I think it's complete bullshit that he can't use its power to go super more often. Sega honestly need to get their act together and start treating him with respect, honestly even Penders treated him better, and everyone hates him. Lol

Finally we’re taking about this.

"Knuckles used to be so cool, but now he's just pointless comic relief" Sonic Movie 2: "Your saviour is here!"

Something I’m really glad that they did in Sonic Movie 2 is not making movie knuckles the guardian of the master emerald, so they don’t have to constantly come up with an excuse for him to be around since he’s not tied to angel island anymore because of it. Not to mention, movie knuckles as a whole is my favorite interpretation of knuckles by far, with them making him more of a “Smart and skilled warrior, but naive and lacks social skills” similar to Drax instead of a “meatheaded moron” which he’s been characterized as for god knows how long now, and im glad that a new generation will know knuckles as the former instead of “sonic’s stupid friend”

The upcoming Sonic film sequel seems to be giving Knuckles his due respect... _hopefully_ ! It would be especially cool if the film uses some version of his Sonic Adventure theme tune during the film(or afterwards too)!

0:30 And that was the perfect description of the "Knuckles" show. Minus Knuckles being a meathead.

Thank you for making this video! Knuckles is my favorite Sonic character to this day. This exactly what I thought and felt about him. They ruined him through out the years, especially in Boom. That one line in Boom is hilarious though. I'm so happy they fixed it with the Sonic 2 movie!

Here's how I would write his character: he's well versed in Ancient civilizations and even gems, understanding more about the Emeralds than. However, due to his isolated upbringing, he's not too smart when it comes to social or modern affairs. He wants to see the good in other people, but his own wariness that borders on paranoia makes that difficult, which leads people to branding him a Knucklehead, pun entirely intended.

Knuckles is a character I hold deep to me as someone I relate to and it's sad how his character has been butchered in official games like this. I'd really like to play as him again with more rap songs giving a further inside of his character, showing his doubts and feelings of the story and each stage he's in. He may not be Sonic's rival anymore, but he has his own purpose Shadow doesn't have.

I can’t wait to see how Knuckles will play into the Frontiers prologue, and see if it does his character justice

Your video makes a lot of good points! Great job! I noticed a pattern as you explained knuckles history.. if the Chaos Emerald is not part of the main story, then Knuckles doesnt stand much of a chance . Since day one his entire backstory and purpose was to protect the big ol' gem! if he's not around it , the creators have a hard time giving him something to do. The stories you mentioned where Knuckles had some harsh writing or made into a background character were the ones where the games were going a different direction.

I hate how overlooked is the fact that Knuckles is supposed to be as strong as Sonic is fast. That's hella strong. I think it's even mentioned in a manual or something

Knuckles was originally Sonic’s rival but after shadow (Vegeta the hedgehog basically) showed up they didn’t know what to do with knuckles so they just cut him off with any of the action and made Shadow part of the spotlight

“Stamps 100 times in a row” Approved.

meanwhile: knuckles gets the respect he deserves in the movie

I love the idea of Knuckles having a humourous side, and I love the idea of being shown how he slowly begins to open up. It was really weird to see how in the games knuckles didn't really say a word about the master emerald. Despite that being one of the most important things in Knuckles life. I do really miss that team sonic dynamic, and it sucks that he was pushed so far in the back. As if he wasn't part of that team at all. But I think Knuckles being a bit socially awkward makes sense. Specially since he was isolated so long. I would've love to see them play more with that concept. Maybe like, how sonic and tails help him get used to socializing more, and learning how to take a breather. But then maybe it can be shown just how much he holds dear his role of protecting the emerald. How that can clash with hanging out with sonic and tails all the time.

I never really saw Knuckles as Sonics “rival” since he was talked into being his enemy. Once he learned that Sonic and gang were on his side, he became friends. Can’t forget the guy was on a floating island alone his whole life, he had some social issues, but over time he learned how to really be a friend. I would akin him more to Picolo than Vegeta in the sense of being an enemy turned friend, whereas Shadow may be friendly with Sonic but he will always try to prove he is the “ultimate life form” thus making him Sonic real rival.

You were so close to a 1000 subscribers and now you have literally almost 30000 in 6 months... Dude, you rocked it

9:56 i actually kinda like that their rivalry ends ^^ it makes me feel they've moved past that and have moved on to being friends and i feel like it helps show growth for both of them. it also kinda works with the whole part of knuckles character that thinks there's good in everyone :D that's just my thought's tho :) ( btw, i just found your channel and I love your videos! )

As a Blaze fan it makes me glad she's underutilized, if this is how Sega allows one the oldest, quintessential Sonic characters to be treated as well as perceived.

Man I really hope the movie does him Justice. This video was great and I’m glad hat you pointed out what many people including myself were thinking

just learning about all this sonic stuff after watching sonic 2 the movie. interesting, and it's a good thing they made knuckles like you said he was written in the first game.

My dad had a PS3 when I was little. Most of his games were off limits, but there was one game I was allowed to use: Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. It was through that collection that I found my love for Sonic-- and eventually Knuckles. Sure, I found him quite a bit after his introduction (I wasn't even alive when Sonic 3 released), but I still got that same feeling of disappointment watching Knuckles descend from the badass I admired to his modern depictions. This video gave me more of an understanding of Knuckles though, as I missed out on a lot of the series between Sonic & Knuckles and Unleashed. It was nice to see the facets of Knuckles' old personality be given some attention again

Lets all remember that Knuckles will be in the movie sequel and the writers of the movie love Knuckles, so there could be hope for him, just in a different media.

I think it comes down to the master emerald. When it is "a thing", then the only way to get him to participate in the Story, is to have it shattered, stolen or threatened (again!). When it is there, it dominates his story and actions. They cut it out for Heroes, so he could be part of the story. But that also meant a lot if his traits no longer made sense and had no basis.

Coming here after watching Sonic 2, Sonic Prime and the prolouge for Sonic Fronteirs and I can say it seems like Knuckles' character may be getting much better again, especcially with the story in the hands of Ian Flynn now

The way Knuckles in the movie is who he really is I hope he returns to that state in the games

"males hedgehogs only" sounds like something Chris-Chan would come up to. C'mon SEGA, really...

Imagine how I feel as someone who grew up on the Archie comics. Knuckles was legitimately the strongest and most intelligent character in the series. Naive? yes, and for the same reason. Also, hyper-knuckles.

Wow! You blew up from almost to 1k CONGRATULATIONS DUDE!

"they are the original trio" Amy: My game came out before his.

I'd argue that Sonic Chronicles was the last game that had Knuckles' character left intact while also exploring Echidna lore with the Nocturnus Clan (although, it's been a while since I last played that game and am aware that this game harbors conflicting opinions).

I honestly never had a problem with Knuckles willingly shattering the Master Emerald in order to stop Eggman from obtaining it. It shows that Knuckles has this willingness to do whatever it takes to stop it from falling into the wrong hands. Plus, if it just broke accidentally, you know that everyone nowadays would look back on that scene and go "UH OH, HE LET THE MASTER EMERALD GET BROKEN AGAIN! HERPY DERP, ISN'T HE A MORON?" God, I hate that attitude towards this character!

YO 8:36 I’ve never heard this or played those games, but damn those are some bops. The first one is funny as hell lowkey, but they’re all so smooth 🌊