Knuckles the Echidna and those affiliated with him in the comics, including the Chaotix.
NOTE: Due to the reboot, the Chaotix is officially the same line-up as Team Chaotix in the games. However, for the sake of convenience, we'll keep most of the characters already associated with them on the same page.
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Angel Island denizens
Knuckles the Echidna
The hot-tempered guardian of Angel Island and its Master Emerald.
In the original continuity, Knuckles was descended from a long line of Guardians collectively known as the Brotherhood, a very secretive organization that kept Knuckles Locked Out of the Loop as part of his mandatory training. As a result, for a long time Knuckles believed himself The Last of His Kind when in fact a great deal of echidnas, including both his parents, were alive. Unraveling all of the mysteries, conspiracies, and histories of his people made up a very large fraction of the overall plot, not the least because Knuckles for a time had his own comic book alongside Sonic's. Suffice to say by now many of the secrets are out, but the situation has also changed considerably since his debut. After the Cosmic Retcon however, most of Knuckles` original backstory and plotline were discarded and his background is closer to his video game counterpart's, although he retains some traits from his original self.
Knuckles takes his role as Guardian very seriously, almost to a fault. He'll take extreme measures to keep the emerald or his people safe. Due to living largely in isolation, he is somewhat awkward socially. However, despite being tricked on occasion, this version is probably less gullible than other incarnations of his character. He and Sonic are billed as "friendly rivals," as their personalities occasionally clash.
Because his current personality is more closely tied to the video game series, this folder will be used to list tropes exclusive to the comics only. Otherwise, any tropes he has in common with his main series counterpart should be listed under the main series folders
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: While his game counterpart's life wasn't totally rosy — what with being the last of his kind and having to serve a rather lonely job as guardian of the Master Emerald — the Archie comics really put Knuckles through the ringer. He was subjected to radiation enhancements by his own father when he was just an egg to make him the ultimate Guardian. He was also bullied by a gorilla named Monk when he was around ten. Knuckles also has a very strained relationship with his father Locke over the latter's manipulations, secrets, lies and emotional abuse which included Locke tricking Knuckles into thinking he was dead and that Knuckles was the last of his kind. Then there's him dying in battle against Mammoth Mogul. And that's not even getting into him being possessed by Enerjak.
- Adaptational Badass: He is far stronger here than in any other medium, even the games. In most media, Knuckles' abilities are mostly limited to his Super-Strength and spin attacks. Here, in addition to his strength he has access to the Chaos Force, which grants him all sorts of abilities, particularly as Chaos Knuckles and Enerjak.
- A God Am I: He gained near god-like power after becoming "Chaos Knuckles", but managed to avert this by holding onto his sanity. His attempts to Set Right What Once Went Wrong were flawed, but well intentional.
- Played straight, however, after becoming Enerjak.
- Barefisted Monk: Knuckles prefers to use his physical strength rather than rely on his Chaos Powers like the other Guardians.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't even try to take the Master Emerald from its shrine. It's the only thing keeping Angel Island afloat.
- If it's crucial to him, his people (and family), his job, or his home, try not to keep him Locked Out of the Loop. He was kept in the dark for so long since his dad and the Brotherhood, he expresses hatred of being the last to know about anything.
Knuckles: Apparently, some people are still keeping secrets from me! - Birthmark of Destiny: The white "Nike swoosh" on his chest. Just a part of his character design in the games, but in the comics it's a trait of all members of Knuckles' family.
- Breakout Character: In the games, he's a mildly recurring ally. The comics fleshed out his background significantly. Got his own comic book series dedicated to his story, and when that ended, he was arguably the main focus of the entire series (yes, even more than Sonic himself) until Ken Penders left as head writer and Ian Flynn came along.note
- Brought Down to Normal: First in the Knuckles Chaotix special, and again after being brought Back from the Dead.
- Bystander Syndrome: In SU#67, he muses that from his post high on Angel Island, the shattered world feels like somebody else's problem — but he's long since learned better than that, since trouble on the surface will inevitably sooner or later lead to trouble on the island.
- Calling the Old Man Out: When Locke asks Knuckles to drop everything and help him find the lost members of the Brotherhood (while also saying he can't guarantee the safety of his mother or family), Knuckles, finally fed up with both his father constantly treating him as a lackey and his myopic focus on the Brotherhood, decide to not only refuse to help him but also call him and by extension the Brotherhood out on their failings.
- Character Focus: Due to having his own book, a lot of lore is created, including his origins and what led to him becoming a Guardian. Arguably got to Spotlight-Stealing Squad levels.
- Character Death: One of the only Sega characters to actually die. He got better, though.
- The Clan: He had a very large family.
- Determinator: Shares this trait with Sonic.
- Disappeared Dad: Locke trained him as the next guardian before disappearing from his life, though keeping an eye on him and occasionally assisting him from behind the scenes. They eventually crossed paths again.
- Friendly Rival: For a while, he was billed as "Sonic's Friendly Nemesis."
- Gagging on Your Words: In Sonic Universe #63:Knuckles: Y'see, I need... (ahem) I need your he... your heeeeh...
Relic: Take your time, use your words.
Knuckles: (quietly) ...I need your help watching over the Master Emerald... - Killed Off for Real: While rescuing his long-time nemesis, Dimitri. He Got Better.
- Back from the Dead: When he choose to return to life after perishing as Chaos Knuckles.
- Last of His Kind: Zigzagged to all hell in the old universe. He believed he was alone for much of his life, just like in the games. Then, it turned out there were far more echidnas than he realized. Then there weren't. Knuckles is playing the trope straight again following the Cosmic Retcon.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Possibly the go-to character in the series for this trope.
- Like Brother and Sister: With Sally. The two of them are childhood friends.
- Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb: A bit standard for all Guardian kids, but Knuckles more so due to his father experimenting on giving him chaos powers when he was still inside of his egg.
- Locked Out of the Loop: A lot, as per the tradition from his father's group. It gets to the point where it becomes a Berserk Button for him. He eventually demands No More Lies from his friends and team.
- Meaningful Name: For both universes, it just refers to his fist fighting. The old universe takes it a step further when it's revealed that he has pair of spikes on his knuckles thanks to Locke's experiments.
- Missing Mom: Lara-Le and the rest of Echidnaopolis literally disappeared sometime after Locke took Kuckles away. When Knuckles discovered the city, he meets her for the first time since he was born.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A disturbing 3 if not 4 occasions:
- When Knuckles first obtained his Super Mode while searching for a spare Chaos Emerald for his island,
he fought Super Sonic in a hidden zone seconds from Robotropolis. - After heavily damaging Robotropolis during Mecha Madness, Knuckles stuns Robotnik with a headbutt and explains how he survived before flying himself and Sonic back to Knothole, instead of just finishing Robotnik off right after the headbutt. Knuckles stated that he was heavily damaged after the explosion, and that Mecha Sonic was in worse shape, but since he flew both of them back to Knothole he likely had the power for a final punch. Robotnik was able to rebuild and eventually set up the "Endgame" arc.
- As Chaos Knuckles he tried to use time travel to reunify his people, preventing the Dark Legion from forming. However he failed each time, his last attempt would've gotten his people roboticized. He never realized that he could just stop Robotnik from rising to power in the first place with time travel and save his people. And considering how he knew the origins of quite a few villains by this point, one could say that Knuckles is to blame to the book's villains.
- As Enerjak he destroyed Eggman's base and his air fleet. Bizarrely, while he did use his powers to kill Kage, and realized that his people's problems led back to Eggman, he once again never thought to kill Eggman. Eggman rebuilt what was left in the aftermath into the second Death Egg.
- When Knuckles first obtained his Super Mode while searching for a spare Chaos Emerald for his island,
- No Social Skills: Especially prominent here given his family life.
- Not Quite Flight: Shown to be the result of his Chaos Powers and being a Guardian in this universe.
- Out of Focus: When Ian Flynn came on as the writer. Not particularly noticeable considering he was still a major character all things considered, but a far cry from when he was essentially the main character when Ken Penders was on board.
- Parental Abandonment: Downplayed. Locke trained him as a Guardian before leaving him to fend for himself, part of the Brotherhood's tradition. He does occasionally assist him from a distance. Unfortunately, this training also prevents him from seeing his mom until years later.
- Real Men Wear Pink: His Super and Hyper forms. Lampshaded by Sonic.Sonic: "Hyper Knuckles was way stronger! Or are you just afraid of being pink?"
- Reality Warper: Temporarily, after becoming "Chaos Knuckles."
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: As Chaos Knuckles, he joined the Dark Legion for a while to master his powers. He attempted to time travel and return Angel Island to Mobius so the rise of the Legion never happened, but all of his attempts fail. It had enough power to reverse the disastrous changes before they became permanent.
- Sixth Ranger: He temporarily joins the Freedom Fighters to get their help hunting the shards of the Master Emerald, as he, in turn, hunts Chaos Emeralds and Gaia Temples with them.
- Story-Breaker Power: He is effectively omnipotent as Chaos Knuckles, to the point where any conflict with him would have been resolved instantly. So naturally, he was killed off shortly after getting the transformation and when he returned to life, had none of its abilities.
- Super-Strength: It turns out he wasn't born with it. When he was still in his egg, his father, Locke, infused him with the power of a Chaos Emerald so that he would grow up and become Angel Island's guardian.
- The Rival: Towards Sonic as per usual across the franchise, although it took them a lot longer for them to get on even remotely good terms compared to their main series counterparts.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Mega Drive shows Knuckles shortly after the events of Sonic & Knuckles, where he's dumb enough to fall for Eggman claiming he's changed, and that Sonic is stealing the Chaos Emeralds to become all-powerful, leaving Eggman to steal the Master Emerald again while he goes to fight Sonic. It takes Sonic pointing out he's obviously not Super Sonic for Knuckles to catch on.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: As Enerjak... at first.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: His Dark Enerjak persona from The Silver Saga, needless to say, the power went to his head a bit.
Relic the Pika
A new character debuted after the Super Genesis Wave. An archaeologist studying ancient ruins on Angel Island. Trapped on the island by the planetary breakup, she runs into Knuckles while trying to contact the outside world and befriends him. To her delight, Knuckles leaves her to guard the Master Emerald while he helps the Freedom Fighters find the Chaos Emeralds.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Even named as such during her introduction.
- I Am Very British: She seems to have this sort of accent.
- Meaningful Name: An archaeologist named Relic, go figure.
- The Not-Love Interest: Relic lives on Angel Island with Knuckles, being something of confidant and emotional support for him. She's essentially filling a void that Julie-Su once occupied. Despite this, they're not actually a couple, though it doesn't stop Vector and Rogue from reading into it.
- Older Than They Look: Short stature and looks and acts rather childlike at times, though
Word of God is that she is actually slightly older than Knuckles (thus in her late teens). - Remember the New Guy?: She's a new character who debuted after the Cosmic Retcon, however her and Knuckles have already known each other for a while by the time she makes her first appearance.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: She actually isn't, though this doesn't stop Rouge from teasing Knuckles about it.
- Squee: When she meets Tikal, a member of one of the very ancient tribes she's been researching, face to face.
Fixit
Relic's Gizord partner. Not much is known about him other then that Relic found him after crashing on Angel Island and managed to repair him.
- Cute Machines: Based on his design, he's very less hostile looking compared to Gemeral.
- Meaningful Name: He can pretty much fix anything, even Omega when he took a major blow from a Dark Wisps-enhanced Eclipse.
- Remember the New Guy?: Like Relic, he's also a new addition after the Super Genesis Wave.
- Satellite Character: For the most part, he largely just hangs around Relic.
Chaotix Detective Agency
Vector the Crocodile
An old friend of Knuckles' and the leader of the Chaotix. Known for his over-bearing street lingo and quarrelsome personality, he's since bulked up since he first appeared and focused on growing as a fighter. In the original continuity, he comes from Downunda, where he was part of a group of orphans raised by an old mentor, along with Duck Bill and Barby Koala.
Due to the Cosmic Retcon however, his current self is more in line with his video game counterpart, so see those pages for more tropes about him. This page will list tropes exclusive to the comic continuity, original and new continuity.
- Accent Slip-Up: When Espio reveals that he knows that Vector originally comes from Downunda and just talks in Jive Turkey to cover up this fact, a surprised Vector lets out a "CROIKEY!", before catching himself.
- The Big Guy: Since bulking up.
- Boisterous Weakling: A Downplayed example. In spite of being the biggest and loudest of the Chaotix Vector isn't that strong and while he's reliable and always up for a fight, he's often taken out a lot easier than Mighty or Knuckles. Julie-Su even comments on it during a moment they have trying to understand each other, noting that he's much more talk than muscle. Though later he trains with mighty to turn himself into a full-fledged Boisterous Bruiser.
- Butt-Monkey: Known to suffer from this from time to time.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Implied by Mighty, who says Vector is nearly as strong as he is now due to undertaking Mighty's training course.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He and Espio do double-duty on this for Charmy, noting it's safer to keep an eye on him, annoying though he may be, than let him be on his own.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Vector's pretty thick, but he's come through quite a few times for the other Chaotix.
- Fire-Forged Friends: How he started with Knuckles.
- Hidden Depths: As shown by his occasional badass moments, concern for his friends, and his past in Downunda.
- Jive Turkey: Rather obnoxiously. Eventually it was ditched.
- The Lancer: To Knuckles in the previous continuity, graduates to The Leader in the new one.
- Private Eye Monologue: Tries doing on in "Pirate Plunder Panic". Then he gets his job confused, and it turns into a pirate monologue, and then an archaeologist monologue.
- Punch-Clock Hero: Sort of, post-reboot. He does help people, but he does also like getting paid, since the Chaotix are so poor they literally can't afford to keep the lights on (the ones that work, that is).
- Supporting Leader: Knuckles may be The Hero, but Vector's the leader of the Chaotix. No longer applies after the Cosmic Retcon
- The Friend Nobody Likes: To a lesser degree. Vector butts heads with Julie-Su, has gotten a beating from Knuckles, and is usually on the receiving end of the group's ribbing. The group more than tolerates him, but he gets himself into trouble with his abrasive personality and big mouth. Averted after the Cosmic Retcon.
- Took A Level In Bad Ass: It's stated that Mighty trained Vector during the Time Skip, shifting him from his Knuckles Chaotix look to his Sonic Heroes look
- Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Julie-Su tended to clash a lot of the time, but they were still teammates and prone to bouts of Friendship Moments.
Espio the Chameleon
The stoic and mysterious member of the Chaotix known for his expertise in stealth and ninja skills. In actuality, he was a spy for the Shinobi Clan sent to keep track of the Guardian. Espio was briefly forced to serve the Iron Dominion before helping to engineer the Shinobi Clan's break from it.
Due to the Cosmic Retcon, however, his current self is more in line with his video game counterpart, so see those pages for more tropes about him. This page will list tropes exclusive to the comic continuity, original and new continuity.
- The Atoner: After his clan disbands from the Iron Dominion, he's racked with guilt over having spied on his friends for so many years.
- Bad Liar: He's quite terrible at lying.
- Becoming the Mask: See Cerebus Retcon below.
- Cerebus Retcon: Originally just another one of Knuckles' friends. It's now established that he was sent to spy on Knuckles by his clan. However he eventually developed a real friendship with him.
- Expansion Pack Past: It was established early on that he was from Rainbow Valley. The Iron Dominion arc revealed that he was sent there by the Shinobi Clan as a spy.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Was actually averted in the original continuity as he actually was from a legitimate Ninja clan.
- The Mole: Was actually sent to infiltrate and keep an eye on Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix, before Becoming the Mask.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Serves the Iron Dominion despite being ordered to turn against his friends. Makes sense, when you realize the leader of the Shinobi Clan is heavily implied to be his mother. That said, he was more then giddy when she agreed to break away from the Iron Dominion. Leaving him free and clear to rejoin his friends without worrying about obligation to the clan.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Getting defeated by Bean. Not helping was that it was televised.
- The Smart Guy: The most level-headed of the Chaotix. He's also capable of tracking down information that should otherwise be kept secret, from Sonic's one-time Secret Identity "The Sneak" to the location of Sally's royal birthmark.
- Straight Man: To the more dead serious Knuckles, the more comical Vector, the child-like Charmy, and the more easy-going and friendly Mighty. He's the Only Sane Man of the group.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Ghosts, though he insists he isn't and anyone who says otherwise is projecting.
Charmy Bee
The runaway prince of the Golden Hive Colony. He left his home out of a lack of desire to become a king. He eventually returned to accept his lineage, only to have the colony destroyed by the Eggman Empire. Tragedy struck later however when during Eggman's destruction of Knothole, he suffered mental trauma as a result of his Egg Grape machine, reducing his mental capacity to that of a child's.
Due to the Cosmic Retcon however, his current self is more in line with his video game counterpart, so see those pages for more tropes about him. This page will list tropes exclusive to the comic continuity, original and new continuity.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the games, he's an ordinary bee but in the Archie comics he's a prince.
- Age Lift: The American manual for Chaotix lists Charmy as sixteen. It wasn't until years later, in Heroes, that Charmy was confirmed to actually be six. This is why Charmy in the comics is depicted as a teen with a girlfriend for much of its run.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Being a bee and all.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Since his experience in the Egg Grapes. Post-reboot, he's just like that because, well, he's a kid.
- The Gadfly: Fittingly for a bee, he does know how to irritate people sometimes.
- The Heart: For the Chaotix, prior to his incident.
- Hidden Depths: Post-reboot, while he is extremely childish, he shows some moments of depth every now and then.
- The Mentally Disturbed:
- Enforced. When Sega reimagined the sixteen-year-old Charmy of Knuckles Chaotix as the six-year-old screwball of Sonic Heroes, the comic had to bend over backwards to find a way to reconcile the newer version of Charmy with his contemporary portrayal—and settled on using the Egg Grapes to effectively give him brain damage. Ian Flynn, the writer at the time, has apologized for this and discussed avoiding writing Charmy as a goofball but the circumstances of the comic prevented him from writing Charmy as seriously as he wished to.
- Averted after the Cosmic Retcon, where Charmy's backstory lined up with his canon in the core franchise games.
- Modest Royalty: Prior to the Cosmic Retcon, Charmy didn't make a very big deal about being royalty.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He and Saffron interfered in an attempt to drain Chaos Knuckles of his powers, as the attempt caused him pain. They succeeded, but the explosion they caused as a result is what caused Dr. Finitevus to go rogue as the Chaos Energy warped his mind.
- Noble Fugitive: After the destruction of the Golden Hive Colony.
- Pint Sized Power House: Especially in his initial appearance in which he actually was the size of a real life bee.
- Incredible Shrinking Man: His "flight" mode.
- The Friend No One Likes: Post-reboot, his childishness frustrates Vector and Espio to no end, but they figure it's probably better knowing where he is than letting him wander around on his own.
- The Runaway: Initially ran away from his role as prince. After avenging his friend during a drug raid, he returned to his family.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Since he caused the explosion that resulted in Dr. Finitevus, see Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, he's partly to blame for everything that Finitevus has done, like the near genocide of the echidna race, Knuckles turning into Enerjak, and Locke's death.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's terrified of ghosts, and post-reboot Charmy being a six year old means he has a panic attack when Knuckles mentions them, nearly causing Vector and Espio to plunge into a ravine.
Allies
Mighty the Armadillo
A super-strong armadillo with patience and gentleness to match his might. He seems to be a bit of a big brother surrogate to Ray. He left the Chaotix for some time to search for his missing little sister, who became a member of the Dark Egg Legion, but has since returned.
Since he's technically a character born from the games, Mighty was spared from exile within the new continuity. His history is mostly the same, though he's a former member of the Chaotix rather than an active member, but he still remains close to the group. Now he defends a portion of Rocky Jungle Zone along with his best friend Ray and his mentor, Moss.
- Adaptation Expansion: Mighty only appeared in two games in the main series at the time (SegaSonic and Knuckles Chaotix. Sonic Mania Plus came long after and by then the Archie series was cancelled) , neither of which in a particularly notable fashion. In the comics, he's far more fleshed out.
- Berserk Button: According to this summary on the Sonic Wiki:Snively would have succeeded in capturing all but Sonic the Hedgehog as instructed, if he had not made the one fatal mistake of teleporting Ray the Squirrel prior to Mighty the Armadillo. Enraged at believing his timid friend was dead, Mighty lost all self-control and poured every bit of his fury into his already incredible strength. He proceeded to attack Snively's Beater by ripping off one of its arms and used it as a club to pulverize Snively, practically destroying the mech all by himself. Before the finishing blow could be delivered though, Snively managed to beam Mighty away to a reinforced Egg Grape and then activated a self-destruct program in his mech.
- And do NOT harm his little sister, as the Sand Blasters quickly learned in Universe #49.
- Beware the Nice Ones: His gentle, amiable personality makes it easy to forget how terrifyingly destructive he can be if he actually loses his temper.
- Big Brother Instinct: Do yourself a favor and do not mess with Ray or Matilda. Just...don't.
- The Big Guy: Not the largest one on the team, but he fills this role with his strength.
- Deal with the Devil: Acquired his strength from Mammoth Mogul in order to save his parents, though he doesn't remember it. Likely not the case post-reboot.
- Gentle Giant: Again, not really a giant, but when you're as mild mannered as he is while still being able to tear metal like it's paper, Mighty definitely qualifies for this trope.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Ray, paralleling Sonic & Tails` close friendship. When Mighty went on a quest to find his sister, Ray was the only one he allowed to tag along.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Mighty learned from Espio that his sister is still alive and working for Eggman. He doesn't take this well because he thought she had died, along with his parents, and Espio's clan had known for years.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Well he's technically using his shell...
- Nice Guy: He's got a bit of a temper he has to work on, but Mighty is unquestionably one most kindest characters in the series. An impressed Amy says Sonic could learn a thing from Mighty when he assists her in moving through the jungle.
- Old Friend: To Sonic, as part of a Mythology Gag to SegaSonic Arcade.
- Super-Strength: Word of God says that his strength is second only to Big the Cat.
- Tame His Anger: Something he's been trying to work on in the post-Genesis Wave continuity.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Compared to someone with training like Espio, Mighty's more of a conventional brawler, focusing on physical power over any kind of measured style. It's even lampshaded when the Chaotix go missing in Issue #7 of Knuckles's series.Julie-Su: I wouldn't exactly rate them the world's best fighters, Knux!
Knuckles: Ok, so Mighty isn't much on technique, but when you're as strong as he is, does it matter? - Walking the Earth: With Ray, in order to find his long lost sister. In the #45-49 arc of Universe, he succeeds in finding her.
Ray the Flying Squirrel
An old friend of Mighty's who was trapped in a time warp for years before being rescued. He joined the Chaotix, but followed Mighty when he departed from the team and returned after their mission was finished.
Since he's technically a character born from the games, Ray was spared from exile within the new continuity. His history is unknown, though he did have an encounter with Sonic in a reference to the SegaSonic arcade game that starred him, Sonic and Mighty. He currently lives with both Mighty and Moss in the Rocky Jungle Zone.
- Big Brother Worship: Ray Looks up to Mighty very much
- Breaking Speech: A positive one. He calls out Matilda on her stoic behavior, listing all the crap Mighty had went through to find her and his suffering when she doesn't acknowledge him. It works!.
- Cowardly Lion: He's rather neurotic, but he'll step up if Mighty really needs him.
- Happily Adopted: Considers Mighty his brother which by extension, makes Matilda his sister.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's terrified of being left behind by Mighty again, and joins him in Walking the Earth. He later states his fears to the Chaotix that Mighty will leave him for his sister, but Victor assures him it won't happen. And indeed when they finally reunite with Matilda, Mighty calls Ray over to meet her.
- Kid-Appeal Character: Despite being timid and nowhere near the most skilled of the Chaotix, Ray will always try his best. He's even small and yellow, like the former Trope Namer Bumblebee from Transformers.
- Killer Rabbit: Tried to invoke this against the Downunda Dark Egg Legion's Wing Dingoes by "transforming" into Super Ray. It served as Ray's first
Moment of Awesome and his Funny Moment. - Not Quite Flight: Despite his name, he actually glides rather than flies. Which makes sense since that's exactly how real life flying Squirrels move as well.
- "Not So Different" Remark: For Matilda which he uses as part of his Breaking Speech to her, citing he had just a hard life as she did but that doesn't mean he'll shun away family because of it.
- Speech Impediment: A near constant stutter.
- Year Outside, Hour Inside: Was trapped in a pocket zone for years, thanks to contact with a Power Gem. For him, it was a relatively short period of time.
Old Universe Characters (Pre-Genesis Wave)
Associated characters from the original universe before issue #252. These characters most likely are permanently erased from the new timeline thanks to the Super Genesis Wave. And also because of the Penders lawsuit.
Julie-Su
A tough, fighting-geared soldier and former member of the Dark Legion. She joined Knuckles soon after defecting from the Dark Legion. Her half-siblings Lien-Da and Kragok hid their relations from her via mindwipe, as well as the fact that she is a descendant of Dimitri. Julie-su is strong willed, quick to anger, and compassionate, much like her sparring partner/boyfriend (and future partner in the Light/Dark Mobius timelines) Knuckles. She is also a distant relative of Knuckles.
She's a Ken Penders creation, and was thus phased out of the book due to legal issues.
- Badass in Distress: Was banished to another world by Thrash.
- Cain and Abel: Despised by Lien-Da and Kragok who disposed of her as child. Naturally, after coming to learn all her older siblings have done, Julie-Su vents an equal disgust and hatred for them whenever they meet.
- Cyborg: One of few Echidnas still with their original Dark Legion cybernetics after Knuckles as Enerjak removed the majority of them from their users. He was going to do the same to her as well, but he never got the chance before the Freedom Fighters called him out and Super Sonic fought him for the rest of the arc.
- Dark Action Girl: Before switching sides, and losing the "Dark" part.
- Determinator
- Distaff Counterpart: To an extent, shares a lot of personality traits similar to Knuckles.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Under Manny Galan's pencils, Julie-Su was actually depicted as flat-chested and lacking in curves, the only thing saying she was a girl was fur color, longer dreads and longer eyelashes.
- Family-Friendly Firearms: She was originally going to be armed with a sawed-off shotgun, but her weapon was changed to a blaster pistol due to the negative stereotypes surrounding the former weapon.
- The Gunslinger: Unlike her teammates, Julie-Su prefers to use her double-barreled blaster to take down her foes.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Wears a Tank Top and shoes With No Pants.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be rough and headbutt with people a lot, but deep down, she cares for people, showing that she is certainly not like her vile stepsiblings.
- Love at First Punch: She first met Knuckles while trying to capture him, only to be defeated by him. They've rarely stayed apart since.
- Mook–Face Turn: Initially, she seems to be (and as far as she knows is) a random Dark Legion soldier.
- Parental Abandonment: After the death of both her mother, Mari-su, and Luger, the Grandmaster before Kragok, she was raised by a kindly Dark Legion couple who were ordered to keep the truth of her birth a secret.
- Put on a Bus: Sent into exile by Thrash alongside the rest of the Echidnas; not returning due to legal matters. Not that it didn't make it any sadder for Knuckles after he lost Thrash and realized he'll never see her again.
- Samus Is a Girl: She's introduced as a featureless cloaked Dark Legion mook and Knuckles first mistook her for a boy.
- Satellite Love Interest: Zigzags between this and Action Girl for Knuckles. Played straight in the Time Skip stories 25 Years Later, and 30 Years Later.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With Lien-Da.
- Sixth Ranger: Last of the Chaotix to join, with the exception of Ray and Saffron.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Under Manny Galan's pencils, her eyelashes, pink fur and longer dreads are what sets her apart from Knuckles.
- Tsundere
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Saffron's Girly Girl.
- Un-person: According to Ken Penders of all the characters removed, she is one of the three who are truly banned from appearing in the comic. This was due to the fact that one of the stipulations he tried to force on Archie and Sega was that the future he penned had to be the canon one in the comics, which means she was essential in creating it (due to having a daughter with Knuckles). When both companies refused, Julie-Su was cast out of the comic since she was pretty much considered Penders property.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend
- Vitriolic Best Buds: She and Vector quarrel a lot, but still manage to serve together on the same team. Justified as Julie-Su was once part of an echidna terrorist organization.
- Women Are Wiser: A female Knuckles albeit with a slightly more rational temper.
Saffron
Charmy's childhood friend and fiancée. Joined the Chaotix after they fled the destruction of Golden Hive Colony.
She's a Ken Penders creation, and was thus phased out of the book due to legal issues.
- Action Girlfriend: Not quite as tough the other Chaotix are, but capable of fighting alongside them.
- Devoted to You: Her love for Charmy remained even through the loss of their Hive and Charmy's accident. She stood by him through it all.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: When she first briefly appeared in Issue 28 of the Knuckles comic, she looked like a Princess Classic with orange skin and flowing brown hair. In her second appearance in Issue 192 of the main series, her design was a pink bee with in a tunic-like dress and a short haircut. Her finalized design wouldn't appear until Issue 138.
- Fallen Princess: She was set to wed Charmy, the crown prince of the Golden Hive, before Eggman burned the colony to the ground.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: She was childhood friends with Charmy and the two had always been presented as being nothing but loving and caring towards one another.
- Put on a Bus: Was cast into another world along with Julie-Su by Thrash, likely because she sided with her against him and left him no choice. Will not return due to legal matters.
- Satellite Love Interest: Doesn't play much of a role in the comics aside from being attached to Charmy.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Julie-Su's Tomboy.
Archimedes the Fire Ant
Knuckles' telepathic fire ant mentor, who helped him during his first ordeal with Enerjak. Archimedes is part of a long lineage of fire ants who have aided the Brotherhood of Guardians, and was his father Locke's mentor as well.
He's a Ken Penders creation, and was thus phased out of the book due to legal issues.
- Hypocrite: He, along with his fellow fire ants, criticized the Brotherhood of Guardians for isolating themselves from the rest of the planet despite all the good they could accomplish, yet they never decided to take action against Dr. Robotnik themselves. Keep in mind that the fire ants were the ones who taught the BoG their powers; Archimedes alone could've assassinated Robotnik.
- Hypocrisy Nod: While giving Locke a What the Hell, Hero? speech for his willingness to kill Knuckles after he had been corrupted/brainwashed into becoming Enerjak, Archimedes doesn't hesitate to call out his own hand in helping to engineer the crisis, but then adds that's why he refuses to let Knuckles suffer and pay the price for his or the Guardians' failures.
- Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: Once he's fully revealed, it's explained that all his apparent powers were "smoke and mirrors" except his fire breath. However, afterwards his ninja-style disappearing act might as well be actual teleportation.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: His flame breath was shown to be equal to Dulcy's in Battle Royale. Dulcy is a dragon many times his size.
- Playing with Fire: As with all fire ants, he can breathe fire.
- Pun-Based Creature: He's a fire ant capable of literally breathing fire.
- Put on a Bus: No longer appears in the comic due to legal matters.
- Trickster Mentor: First met Knuckles as part of an elaborate scenario that first made him appear to be a villain.
The Brotherhood of Guardians
A collection of Knuckles' ancestors, including his father Locke and several other ancestors, that protect Angel Island and the city of Echindnaopolis. For most of the book, they chose not to interfere with world events more than they had to, feeling that deploying their advanced technology in an unprepared world would be more harmful than good, allowing Robotnik to operate freely. Eventually, Eggman would advance his own technology enough that, with some assistance from the Dingoes, he eventually stormed and razed Echindnaopolis, slaughtering most of the population. After a final, taxing battle with Eggman's forces, the exhausted Brotherhood was captured by Dr. Finitevus.
- Epic Fail: Not realizing that the guy who's capable of building giant flying battle stations and apocalyptic doomsday weapons with the intent of enslaving the world and turning it into a lifeless husk, nor his alternate universe counterpart who is even more vicious, is someone that they should deal with.
- Fantastic Racism: They were echidna supremacists and considered the dingos violent savages. As a whole, they considered the other races to be lesser beings.
- Fatal Flaw: Their over-reliance on guardian traditions. If they weren't so determined to not get involved in matters outside of their own, they might've been integral in defeating Robotnik. This in turn would've kept the Dingoes and the Dark Legion at bay, which would also have prevented both Chaos Knuckles and Dr. Finitevus.
- Hypocrite: It's been pointed out that, despite espousing that echidna society should refrain from excess technology, they kept the most advanced equipment to themselves.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As stated, they ignored Robotnik until it was too late; the Ultimate Annihilator helped free the Dark Legion, whose antics resulted in Chaos Knuckles and, indirectly, Dr. Finitevus. Also, their treatment of the Dingoes meant that they Jumped at the Call to work with Eggman to get revenge. In the end, battling Eggman's forces to protect the Master Emerald left them exhausted enough to be captured by Dr. Finitevus.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Standard procedure for Guardian training, it started when a past Guardian's son committed a Heroic Sacrifice to stop the Dark Legion many years ago. The practice was designed to help the current Guardian-in-training become self-reliant. However, the Guardian-in-training is kept under constant surveillance by the Brotherhood in case of problems they couldn't handle.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By allowing Robotnik-Prime to run free, the following happened:
- He created EVE, who went on to destroy many inhabited worlds across the galaxy before being stopped by Sonic.
- He fired the Ultimate Annihilator, which led to the Dark Legion being released and everything that happened as a result, like Chaos Knuckles and Dr. Finitevus.
- The UA's firing tipped Robo-Robotnik off that Robotnik-Prime had died, providing a reason to go to Mobius. Robo-Robotnik would become Dr. Eggman and we know how that turned out.
- Heck before the reboot, practically every bad thing could be traced back them in some fashion and a good chuck of the planet's populace are not fans of them due to their indifference and handling of matters.
- He created EVE
- Put on a Bus: They were cast into the Twilight Cage (bar Knuckles and Locke) along with Moritori Rex by Dr. Finitevus; not returning due to legal matters.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Despite all their resources, they never did a thing to stop Dr. Robotnik, even when he was clearly a threat to them. It was suggested by some of their allies that they should help their fellow Mobians and help usher in a golden age for the world, but this never happened either. In fact, Sally asked for their help in fighting Dr. Eggman, but they would only do so if she agreed to the use of their most advanced weapons, implied to be nuclear weapons. Since she couldn't agree to that, they turned her down. Deconstructed because by letting Eggman go for so long, he ended up closing the tech gap enough to attack them directly and wiped out much of the echidna population.
- Suicidal Overconfidence: Robotnik Prime had, before Endgame, discovered their island, weaponized it, endangered it indirectly several times, and tried to ram the island into the sea with the first Death Egg. They didn't do anything to stop him, thinking he wasn't a threat to them, taking the same approach with Eggman (who admitted to nuking his own Mobius into oblivion). They also felt that their traditions would see them through, even though they had indication enough that they wouldn't be dealing with just the usual threats like before. To say this backfired is an understatement.
- Would Harm a Child: They once threw Monk the Gorilla, who was bullying Knuckles, off of Angel Island. Even though they likely had enough options to dispose of him more humanely.
Locke
- Abusive Parents: While not outright abusive, he made a lot of very questionable decisions to prepare Knuckles for his role at Guardian, even by his Brotherhood's traditional standards. He blasted Knuckles' egg with Chaos energy to turn him into a living Chaos Emerald, pushed his wife out of Knuckles' life, reared Knuckles alone in the wilderness with brutal survivalist training, gaslighted Knuckles by convincing him that they were the last survivors of their race, and abandoned Knuckles at the age of 10 by faking his own death, spying on Knuckles until their eventual reunion. After the events of Return to Angel Island arc, he effectively disowns Knuckles and tries to blackmail him by threatening his mother's safety so he can help rescue the other Guardians. Under Ian's pen, he slowly begins to redeem himself.
- All for Nothing: Locke experimenting on Knuckles from birth and forcefully railroading him into life of a guardian was all triggered by him having what he believed to a a precognitive nightmare of Knuckles fighting a foe of unimaginable might. The foe in question either never emerged or turned out to be Knuckles himself and Locke became increasingly hated by Knuckles and his friends for what he had done.
- Break Them by Talking: In Enerjak Reborn Julie Su and Archimedes call Locke out on his seeming hatred for Knuckles. When he tries to explain that he doesn't hate Knuckles but can't ignore the danger he's become, Archimedes flat out tells him that Knuckles has become exactly what they were making him into with their training and Locke's experiments, and the real blame for all this lies with them. Julie Su and Archimedes leave to go Sonic and "the guardian we love enough to rescue" while Locke stews over what he's done.
- Depending on the Writer: Though many characters were affected by the change in writers having different directions for them, Locke's was pretty distinct. Though a lot of Locke's fundamental traits were the same, the way he approached his duties and Knuckles took on a harsher tone when Flynn took over from Penders. Locke's Omniscient Morality License was criticized much more and gave him an almost antagonistic position to Knuckles and the heroes.
- Locke: Release my boy! Give him his own life to lead!
- Heel Realization: In both the "Light Mobius" timeline and the regular timeline, he realized that everything he had done, especially to Knuckles, in the name of the "greater good" wasn't justified in the slightest, in the former due to having time to reflect on himself and the latter being forced to reevaluate himself after Julie-Su and Archimedes give him a What the Hell, Hero? speech while all but stating he never loved Knuckles. Unfortunately, in both cases he's on death's door due to cancer or about to commit a Heroic Sacrifice, meaning he can do little more than beg forgiveness while being unable to take proper steps to making things right. It hits especially hard in the latter, as there he can't even have a proper last talk with Knuckles.
- It's All About Me: A rare case of someone being this and yet not realizing it. Locke is portrayed with a near single-minded obsession with the Brotherhood of Guardians, considering them and their stewardship of Angel Island to take priority over literally anything else, often downplaying or flat out dismissing the threat that Eggman poses. This also extends to his relationship with Knuckles, often being extremely controlling and adopting a "for his own good" style of parenting for Knuckles. Whether this was treated as a good or a bad thing depended entirely on who was in the lead writer seat. This finally came to a head when Julie Su and Archimedes called him out in Enerjak Reborn causing him to realize just what his obsession and authoritarian parenting did to his son, leading to his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Jerkass Has a Point: The final straw that all but destroys his and Knuckles' relationship is when Locke, trying to convince Knuckles to return to Angel Island, suggests that he wouldn't be able to guarantee Lara-Le's safety otherwise. Knuckles in a rage takes this to mean that Locke would dare to hold his mother's life in jeopardy just to force him back and under his thumb, but Locke wasn't entirely wrong to state this, as Locke really did need more aid to protect Angel Island and he was only one person with the rest of the Guardians seemingly M.I.A., and he was in no position to go looking for them without leaving someone to watch over the place. It ends up to the point Locke is forced into an uneasy alliance with Dr. Finitevus and the mercenary Destructix group, who have their own agendas, just to secure Angel Island.
- Killed Off for Real: Died of cancer in the Light Mobius timeline, a result of his earlier genetic experiments. In the regular timeline, he sacrificed himself to break Knuckles' transformation into Enerjak and restore his son to normal.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He ignored Robotnik along with the Brotherhood, as mentioned in their entry. His experiments on Knuckles gave him the potential to gain incredible power. Said potential made Knuckles a target for Dr. Finitevus' "Enerjak Reborn" project, which Locke eventually died to save Knuckles from.
- Last Words: He speaks his last through Tears of Remorse, seemingly begging some higher power to allow him to correct his mistakes.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His experiments on Knuckles allowed his son to reach unparalleled power for a Guardian. This power would later be targeted by Mammoth Mogul, causing a chain of events that led to Knuckles essentially dying, Mammoth Mogul nearly destroying the multiverse, which was stopped by Tails gaining his Titan form. Knuckles came back to life, but exhausted his Chaos powers.
- And as a result of Locke's experiments on his son, Finitevus was warped and twisted by Chaos Energy when he attempted to siphon away said energy from Chaos Knuckles, thanks to outside interference by Charmy and Saffron. Locke was indirectly responsible for Finitevus' rise as a villain, the destruction of Albion and the exiling of the Brotherhood of Guardians.
- Dr. Finitevus convinced him to leave Angel Island under his protection to search for his ancestors, leaning into the fractured relationship with Knuckles just for good measure, kicking off a series of events that led to the doctor brainwashing Knuckles into becoming the new Enerjak and Locke sacrificing his life to free him.
- Offing the Offspring: When Knuckles was tricked into becoming the new Enerjak, Locke thought it would be a good idea to kill him in order to save him. Luckily, Sonic and the others put a stop to this plan, though it left him to sacrifice himself as a Plan B.
- Papa Wolf: Despite his actions, he shows signs that he still cares for his son. He helped him defeat Dimitri/Enerjak during their first encounter, albeit from behind the scenes, and later sacrificed his own life to save Knuckles from becoming Enerjak himself. Many years prior, he and the Brotherhood of Guardians threw Monk the Gorilla, who was bullying Knuckles, off of Angel Island.
- Parents as People: While he initially had good intentions, Locke manipulated Knuckles from birth to fulfill a prophecy, took him from his mother, and pretended to die so Knuckles could fulfill his role as Guardian. Even after that, it's clear that he sees Knuckles as the Guardian foremost and his son second. He effectively cut ties with Knuckles after he chose to take the fight to Eggman instead of guarding Angel Island and indirectly threatens his mother's safety. Locke realizes the errors of his ways during the Enerjak Reborn arc and comes to realize how serious the mistakes he's made are and how badly they've ruined Knuckles' life after Julie Su and Archimedes all but state that Locke never loved Knuckles.
- Put on a Bus: Gone after the Penders lawsuit. Even if Penders hadn't created him, being the father of Knuckles (a Sega character) might still have gotten him booted from the reboot continuity.
- Redemption Equals Death: By the end of Enerjak Reborn, Locke realizes his attempt to groom Knuckles into a force to counter Enerjak did more harm than good and made the present guardian the very monster his Brotherhood was suppose to beat. He undid Finitevus's curse controlling Knux and turned him back to normal at the cost of his life.
- Un-person: According to Ken Penders of all the characters removed, he is one of the three who are truly banned from appearing in the comic.
Athair
Knuckles' grandfather and an outcast from the Brotherhood. The only member of Knuckles line to forgo becoming a Guardian, opting instead to become a mystic and protect the world from mystic threats along with the Ancient Walkers.
- Canon Immigrant: Eventually migrated to Sonic Underground, making him one of the few comic-original Sonic characters to appear in other media.
- Put on a Bus: Gone after the Penders lawsuit; actually a Micheal Gallagher creation. However being the grandfather of Knuckles (a Sega character) might still have gotten him booted from the reboot continuity.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Unlike the rest of the Guardians, he's more than willing to work outside of the guardians traditions, seeing a much bigger picture than simply Angel Island. He's also willing to aid those outside of echidnas and Guardians interest. Its safe to say that he set the first steps for Knuckles Character Development in later books. Among other things, he;
- Healed Tails, preparing him for his final battle against Crocbot, and gave him information towards his destiny as The Chosen One. Much later, he gave Tails and Knuckles advice leading to the sword of acorn.
- Led the lost echidna tribe, guiding them for years until they reached Albion.
- Directly aided Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles when they were banished by Mogul, and provided them with the means to attain super form to combat the villain.
Constable Remington
A law-enforcing friend of Knuckles and son of Kragok.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Temporarily served as a member of the Dark Legion after he was saved from the Egg Grapes by Finetivus as a possible Enerjak candidate.
- Put on a Bus: One of Thrash's victims in Albion. Gone after the Penders lawsuit.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A very reasonable leader of the Echidna Security Team in Echidnaopolis that served him well even after the city fell.
Harry
A Dingo in the Dingo Regime. Harry was born into military service but never really fell into step with the others of his militant upbringing. When the Dingoes are freed from the pocket-dimension and forced to settle in Echidnopolis, Harry is willing to settle down as a Cabbie and live a normal life. Naturally he get's caught up with whatever shenanigans the Chaotix get up to.
- The Everyman: Harry is for the most part just an ordinary working class guy. He has no special abilities like other Mobians nor any significant combat skill like the Dingoes.
- The Faceless: After Kage discovered his betrayal he did "something" to Harry that was incredibly painful and disfiguring. The audience never really sees his face after that, he wears a hood and his face is in shadow. Only his snout is visible and a scar can be seen running down it; the wrappings on his hands are implied to be bandages for his wounds.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Harry is cynical and jaded but never malicious. His debut was him happening upon two strangers (Charmy and Mellow) and rushing them to the hospital when they took ill.
- The Mole: When Eggman conquers Angel Island he appoints Kage as his sub-boss and a regime of Dingoes as overseers. Harry is revealed to have joined them and then revealed to be a double agent, assisting the Echidna/Dark Legion resistance.
