Knuckles the Echidna

Prior to Knuckles' birth, his father Locke received a vision from the Ancient Walkers that warned him of a threat that would one day come upon Mobius and that his son would have to stand against. As a result, Locke performed experiments on himself and later on Knuckles' unhatched egg, all for the purpose of creating the ultimate Guardian. His work appeared rewarded when Knuckles began displaying intelligence beyond his years, and Locke was soon teaching Knuckles at a college level. Locke wanted to begin Knuckles' training as guardian at age three, but Lara-Le didn't want Knuckles to be raised this way. When she realized that she would have little or no say in Knuckles' life, the dispute ended their marriage. Locke won custody of Knuckles when he was five, taking him to Angel Island for training to become a Guardian.

Locke instructed Knuckles in various fields he would need to survive, and as such he would be, to an extent, secluded as a child, learning history, mathematics, geography, sciences, and other issues a guardian would need to know in order to perform his job effectively. During this time, Knuckles met Princess Sally Acorn, who became his first friend, though their time together was brief. Eventually, when Knuckles was ten, Locke journeyed to the Forbidden Zone with the confidence that Knuckles could be the next guardian, he performed one of the Brotherhood of Guardians' most grueling rights of passage, walking through the wall of fire that marked the entrance to Haven, leaving Knuckles thinking that his father was dead. Distraught at first, years later, Knuckles became the Guardian his father hoped for. With Princess Sally no longer able to see Knuckles now that Robotnik took over her father's city, his only friend would be the Mobian Catweazle. Knuckles eventually overcame his loneliness with the help of friendships formed with Vector the Crocodile, Mighty the Armadillo, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy Bee, all of whom eventually became members of Knuckles' support group, the Chaotix.

Knuckles first met Sonic the Hedgehog when the Freedom Fighter and his sidekick Tails stumbled across Angel Island and flew up to investigate. Having met-and been fooled by-Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Knuckles thought that the pair were after the Chaos Emerald he and the other Guardians had protected for generations. He thus employed all his knowledge of the island and its boobie traps against the two, eventually taking them captive. Releasing them later, he followed them on the suspicion that they would go after the Emerald, only to have Robotnik take it instead. Acknowledging his mistake, Knuckles formed an alliance with Sonic to recapture the jewel before Angel Island fell into the ocean. They parted ways afterwards, not entirely sure what to think of each other.

Knuckles would return and clash with Sonic many times after their initial meeting, the first leading also to an encounter with Nack the Weasel. Not long after that, Knuckles had to save all the Freedom Fighters from an evil theme park built by Robotnik, engaging Metal Sonic in battle and defeating him using the power of the Super Gems. This was also when he and the Chaotix first began working together as a team against the various villains of Mobius.

Not long after this, Knuckles found himself involved with a piece of history. Recently, he had been plagued by an unknown entity known only as Archimedes, whose latest act had been to spirit away the Chaotix to the Grand Conservatory of Angel Island. Infiltrating the ancient facility, Knuckles found his friends and discovered the identity of Archimedes: that of a Fire Ant. At the same time, the ancient evil known as Enerjak, Knuckles' distant uncle Dimitri, who had absorbed eleven Chaos Emeralds worth of power and thus been driven mad, escaped from his ancient prison. Recreating the city of Nekronopolis, he banished Knuckles and Archie to the island's desert and enslaved the Chaotix. Knuckles eventually made his way back and confronted Enerjak, but was forced to retreat from the battle as his foe was launched into space-unbeknownst to Knuckles, the work of his long missing father Locke. From that point, Archimedes became another of Knuckles' friends and advisors.

Later, Knuckles went in search of a new Chaos Emerald as a backup for the one that remained under his care, which he feared might give out. Finding one in the Kingdom of Acorn's Lake of Rings, he grabbed it only to be challenged by Sonic, who claimed the Emerald as Kingdom property. The two rivals ended up battling in another Zone, where they transformed into Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles and battled. This battle ended in a draw, with Knuckles leaving with the Emerald he'd sought and his relationship with Sonic tenser than ever.

Knuckles would meet Sonic in battle yet again, this time when the Hedgehog fell victim to "Mecha Madness", having been Roboticized by Robotnik and sicced on his fellow Freedom Fighters. After Bunnie Rabbot's failed effort to stop this Mecha Sonic, Sally called on Knuckles to help the beleaguered heroes. Knuckles fought bravely but was defeated by Mecha Sonic's superior abilities, leading to a desperate act: the Roboticization of Knuckles himself. The new and improved Mecha Knuckles engaged Mecha Sonic in a battle that leveled half of Robotropolis, ending with Mecha Sonic badly damaged and barely clinging to life. Mecha Knuckles brought his former enemy back to Knothole, where both were de-Roboticized. Knuckles, irritated by Sonic, soon left again to return to Angel Island.

It wasn't long before Sonic and Knuckles crossed paths again, this time to deal with the menace of the Death Egg. Knuckles struggled to protect Angel Island from the giant battleship, and then helped Sonic to bring the fortress down. Despite this alliance, the pair were soon squabbling again as Sonic demanded that Knuckles return the Emerald he had taken from the Lake of Rings so it could be used to help the ailing King Maximillian Acorn. When Knuckles refused, the Freedom Fighters sought the Crown of Acorns instead, only to be betrayed by one of their intelligence agents. After helping them in the ensuing battle, Knuckles agreed to search for the one thing that could find the Crown: the Sword of Acorns. His quest led him first to a meeting with his great-grandfather Athair and the Ancient Walkers, who directed him to seek a number of magic users. This led him to an encounter with Tails' uncle Merlin Prower, though Knuckles didn't know of the relationship at the time.

At this point, Knuckles was side-tracked when he had to help the Freedom Fighters in dealing with Evil Sonic, the Anti-Mobius version of Sonic. In the process, Knuckles met his own counterpart, the pacifistic Anti-Knuckles. Despite their differences, the two Echidnas were able to work together to save Anti Knuckles' Sunken Island, and in the process thwarted Evil Sonic's plans. Following this, Knuckles continued his search.

Resuming his quest, he encounters with the sorcerer Black Death, the Enchantress, and the wizard Mathias Poe, as well as a meeting with Sir Connery. His quest ended with success, as he was able to locate the missing sword and obtain it from Mathias Poe. Before he had the change to turn it over to Princess Sally however, Mammoth Mogul used his magic to pit the Knothole Freedom Fighters against the Chaotix. When this failed, Mogul used the Fearsome Foursome to distract both teams while he secretly swapped the real Sword of Acorns for a fake. Not recognizing the switch, Sally then dubbed Knuckles a Knight of the Kingdom of Acorn.

Knuckles' misconception that he was the last living Echidna was shattered when he clashed with the Dark Legion - an organization of cyborg Echidnas founded by Dimitri's son Menniker that split off from the rest of the Angel Island Echidnas and was later banished to the Twilight Zone by the Guardian Steppenwolf. In his time, Knuckles tangled with the Dark Legion Grandmaster Kragok. Aided by the Chaotix, he challenged Kragok and his followers and managed to drive them off, forcing them to abandon their then-headquarters.

Shortly thereafter, Knuckles would be attacked by a lone Legionnaire named Julie-Su, who blamed him for her separation from her people due to an unexplained attraction she felt for him, one that Archimedes quickly identified as the Soultouch, a sixth sense by which Echidnas recognize their mates. Possessed of similar personalities, the two young Echidnas clashed from the start, only to soon find themselves faced with the unexpected reappearance of Echidnaopolis, the capital city of the Angel Island Echidnas. Having been dispatched to another dimension by Guardian Hawking to protect it from nuclear fallout, it's return threatened Angel Island. Moreover, the city of the Echidnas' traditional enemies, the Dingoes, was returning as well-in the same location. As General Von Stryker and his men struggled to establish their power base, Knuckles dealt with a number of problems: Constable Remington of the Echidna Security Team, a reunion with his all but forgotten mother Lara-Le, and a meeting with his ancestor Hawking. Joining forces with Julie-Su, Knuckles defeated the offending Dingoes, and Echidnaopolis was permanently and safely restored to Angel Island by Hawking, who then disappeared, leaving Knuckles his trademark hat.

Now uneasy friends, Knuckles and Julie-Su visited Mobotropolis in the wake of Robotnik Prime's defeat. Returning to Angel Island, they were soon confronted with new problems. Mammoth Mogul, his scheme continuing, summoned Enerjak back from the depths of space to Angel Island, where the omnipotent Echidna took control of the Dark Legion after revealing his identity to Kragok. Bent on revenge, Enerjak immobilized the Brotherhood of Guardians and their Fire Ant allies, as well as having his men capture Haven and the Chaotix. Knuckles was attacked by his old nemesis, who tried to break Knuckles with displays of his immense power. When Knuckles refused to give in, Enerjak tore him apart at the molecular level, seemingly killing him. However, the Ancient Walkers and Athair intervened, restoring Knuckles to his normal state. He returned to Echidnaopolis on the tail end of Enerjak's final assault, just in time to save Dimitri after the ancient Echidna was depowered by Mammoth Mogul wielding the Sword of Acorns. Contacted by Locke, the Freedom Fighters then arrived, only to have the now super-powered Master Mogul transport Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails away from Angel Island.

Aided once again by the Ancient Walkers, Knuckles and the others returned with Power Rings in tow, and with the energy of Mogul's accumulated 12 Chaos Emeralds worth of power were able to transform into Hyper Knuckles, Super Sonic, and Turbo Tails. With the aid of the Brotherhood of Guardians' link with the Chaos Emeralds of Angel Island and Dimitri's own Chaos Syphon, the trio were able to defeat Mogul and seal him in the newly created Master Emerald.

Worried by this new development, Knuckles decided to remain on Angel Island rather than accompany Sonic and Tails on their quest to bring down Robotnik's underbosses and Ixis Naugus. Despite this, he was pulled into their efforts when Athair recruited him to be the last Mitre of the Lost Tribe of Echidnas, who had for centuries been making their way back to the Echidna homeland of Albion. Athair had been their leader before, and passed the role on to Knuckles. Knuckles reluctantly accepted the role, doing his best to protect the people of the tribe even after Athair disappeared. Discovering new powers along the way, Knuckles eventually found a new ally in Rob O' the Hedge, a Hedgehog in the realm of Mercia who initially challenged him. When the Tribe was captured by the High Sheriff, a Roboticized version of Armand D'Coolette, Knuckles and Rob-aided by Sonic, Tails, and the Echidna Mari-An (who would go on to become Rob's wife) defeated his forces and liberated them. Knuckles then brought the Tribe to Albion, but departed for home using the Guiding Star Gem given him by Athair's follower Yanar. As he left, Knuckles was unaware that Athair and the Walkers looked on proudly.

Continuing to display new powers as he made his way home, Knuckles returned to Angel Island just in time to hear that his mother was engaged to Wynmacher, an Echidna whom Knuckles had worked with against the Dingoes. Thrown off balance by the news, and by Lara-Le's story of his confusing past, Knuckles went off alone to think things through. He was approached by Julie-Su, who surprised him with a kiss on the cheek, one that both of them strangely appreciated due to their budding attraction for one another. A new distraction came, however, in the form of Knuckles' long lost ancestor Tobor, who had been wandering the surface of Mobius for years after being badly injured in a battle with the Dark Legion Grandmaster Moritori Rex, who had then impersonated him and taken his place amongst the Brotherhood. Warmly welcoming his distant kin to the family, Knuckles sought answers by attempting to interrogate an imprisoned Kragok. The two old rivals soon engaged in a battle that carried them into the Twilight Zone, which both escaped-only for Tobor to force Kragok back into it by grabbing him, leaving Knuckles' questions unanswered.

A freak snowstorm soon gave Knuckles more problems to worry about, what with his mother disappearing and King Acorn's Secret Service, led by Geoffrey St. John, arriving in search of Sally's lost brother Elias Acorn and their mother Queen Alicia Acorn. Knuckles' search for answers inadvertently brought him to Haven prematurely, much to the chagrin of older members of the Brotherhood. Moritori, knowing that his cover would soon be blown, attacked Knuckles after catching him off guard with the sight of an ailing Hawking. Knuckles pursued the Legionnaire, but Moritori escaped yet again.

Dimitri, now rebuilt extensively as a cyborg, caused trouble for Knuckles and the people of Echidnaopolis once again when he aimed to take over the city politically, by having his android Benedict elected to the position of High Councilor. Knuckles was also Dimitri's target, as the Grandmaster had identified his emerging Chaos powers and decided that they might hold the key to his restoration. His efforts to unlock Knuckles' secrets backfired, causing an electromagnetic pulse that fried Benedict and forced Dimitri and his forces-including the elite Legionnaire Xenin-to retreat. Immediately afterwards, Knuckles found himself face-to-face with his long lost father, Locke, who took Knuckles back to Haven so they could catch up on things. Locke also made some chilling revelations, telling Knuckles of his dreams about Mobius' future and how he had performed experiments on Knuckles' egg to make him more powerful.

Locke soon had the tables turned on him as Knuckles approached him on another matter: his feelings for Julie-Su. Knuckles recognized his attraction for her, but his lack of experience dealing with women left him feeling unsure of himself, especially as Julie-Su was being wooed by others. Getting antagonized by Vector the Crocodile didn't help matters, but Knuckles finally worked up the courage to ask Julie-Su on a date. She accepted readily, but then learned from Lara-Le that her and Knuckles' plans fell on Knuckles' birthday, which he had forgotten. Knuckles allowed himself to be led to a surprise party, where he and Julie-Su finally decided that they wished to enter a closer relationship-a commitment they demonstrated with a kiss.

Knuckles then departed Angel Island briefly to join forces once again with Sonic and company, traveling with them to another dimension after the Master Emerald was stolen. Teaming up with the heroes of the Image Comics Zone, they did battle with an evil scientist who wished to use the Master Emerald's power for some twisted design of his own. Using his link with the gem, Knuckles teleported himself and the Freedom Fighters back home, despite being tempted by the voice of Dimitri to use the power to rule over the world.

It wasn't long before Knuckles found himself torn between his commitment to the Brotherhood of Guardians and his friendship with Sally, who had come seeking aid which the Brotherhood refused due to the Freedom Fighters' refusal to use certain weapons technology.

Another bad piece of his past returned when Monk, a gorilla who had picked on Knuckles as a child and been exiled from the island secretly by the Brotherhood, returned to renew his old form of recreation. The two old enemies found themselves targeted by Hunter, an Overlander who forced them to work together as he pursued them. When Monk was killed in the ensuing chase, an enraged Knuckles unleashed a blast of power that incapacitated Hunter, leaving him easy prey for the Brotherhood to capture.

To make matters worse, Dimitri and an alternate dimension's Robotnik, who had come to Mobius Prime to fill his other self's vacated position, joined forces to take on all their enemies. Capturing their greatest foes, they attempted to erase their memories, but Knuckles and Sonic ended up switching bodies instead. Somehow managing to overcome the difficulties of being each other, the two managed to adapt and regain their identities in time to destroy the mad geniuses' Chaos Cannon, a device designed to turn living tissue into organic metal.

The Freedom Fighters and Knuckles met yet again when Dr. Eggman released the ancient and powerful creature Chaos, who shattered the Master Emerald in order to absorb power from it, inadvertently releasing Mammoth Mogul. With Angel Island floating on the ocean, Knuckles set out to find some answers, ending up in the Mysterious Cat Country and encountering the wandering spirit of Tikal, the Echidna girl who had imprisoned Chaos centuries before. Gaining knowledge of this time through visions as he searched for Master Emerald fragments, the Guardian eventually joined up with Sonic and the others to battle Chaos. As Super Sonic battled the monster, Knuckles played his part to defeat the beast, tapping into yet more power to lift an entire power plant by himself. He then rejoined the Chaotix, learning more of Echidna history and helping end an old feud between his people and the inhabitants of the Mysterious Cat Country.

Back on Angel Island, Knuckles found himself fighting the Dark Legion again, but was then driven from the island after his mother's wedding by the Legion's Quantum Beam, which teleported everyone but the Dark Legion to another Zone and left Knuckles adrift on the ocean below Angel Island.

With no other apparent avenue open to him, Knuckles traveled to Mercia and there ran into his old ally Rob, Amy Rose, Antoine D'Coolette, and Bunnie Rabbot as the latter three searched for Antoine's father. Knuckles decided to help the group, as did Rob after he was convinced of Antoine's goodly nature despite his resemblance to the hated High Sheriff. Making their way to Albion, the group found Antoine's father imprisoned and being readied for disassembly, a precaution authorized by Councilor Gala-Na to neutralize a threat to the city. Forced into a confrontation with the Sheriff after attempting to rescue him, Knuckles displayed the greatest amount of power yet, becoming covered in Chaos energy that gave him a green hue. Gala-Na, fearing his immense powers, ordered his capture and that of the others, but Knuckles used his newfound strength to send his allies-and the High Sheriff-to safety, escaping himself in search of help.

He traveled to the Golden Hive Colony, home of his old friend Charmy Bee following his departure from the Chaotix. The two spoke only briefly before Nack the Weasel and his sister Nic the Weasel arrived and forced Knuckles to come with them. Brought to a gathering of forces from Albion, Knuckles began undergoing the extraction of his Chaos powers through the use of the Chaos Siphon Suit, a device crafted by Dr. Finitevus. Charmy and his girlfriend, Saffron, quickly intervened to help the Guardian, upsetting the process and causing a chain reaction. As a result, Knuckles became even more powerful than he had been, and took off for Angel Island in maddened pain, unaware that the incident had also transformed Finitevus into a madman who would play a terrible role in his future.

Maddened by pain and desperate to find his lost friends, Knuckles returned to Angel Island struggling to get a hold on his newly increased powers. Sensing his great-grandson's peril, Athair brought Tails to the island from Knothole in the hopes that he would be able to reason with Knuckles. Unfortunately, the now green Guardian was beyond reason, and soon knocked his young friend unconscious. Turning to Tails' uncle Merlin, Athair soon had Tails ready to rejoin the battle as Turbo Tails, but the young hero was replaced with a duplicate by Mammoth Mogul. This duplicate Tails, thought to be the true Tails by all involved, engaged Knuckles in a brief battle that ended with his defeat, as he lacked the power of the true Turbo Tails. Before Knuckles could end the confrontation, however, he heard the voice of the only member of the Chaotix remaining on Angel Island: Julie-Su.

Discovering that she is a captive of the Dark Legion, Knuckles made a dramatic entrance in Dimitri's command center. His old enemy surprised him, however, by requesting his help. With the destruction of the Quantum Beam-an event brought about when its dimension shifting power released Tobor and Kragok from the Twilight Zone-Knuckles became the only power on Angel Island who could undo the effects by altering history itself. Despite his and Julie-Su's misgivings, Knuckles agreed to work together with Dimitri. He stepped back in time to three different events, that he might prevent history from taking its current unfortunate course. He traveled first to the time of the White Comet, and prevented it from striking Echidnaopolis-only for the city to be destroyed anyway. Next he tried aiding Edmund in lowering Angel Island back to the surface, but failed to control the descent. One of these two timelines, or possibly some other alteration made by Knuckles, would have resulted in his engagement to Princess Sally after he brought her mother Alicia back to the Kingdom of Acorn in a timeline where Robotnik's coup was thwarted. Finally, he prevented Edmund's death at the hands of a Dark Legionnaire, but the result of that timeline was that all the Echidnas ended up as Roboticized slaves of Dr. Robotnik.

By sheer luck, Knuckles' own instincts saved the timeline from any permanent changes wrought by his actions. Thwarted in his efforts to change the past, he decided to alter the present instead, using his own immense energies to undo the effects of the Quantum Beam. His friends in the Chaotix, his family, and the other citizens of Echidnaopolis returned, only to have Dimitri make a surprising offer of the Dark Legion rejoining the rest of society with Knuckles' support. Facing opposition from the people-even his own mother, who revealed that she was once again pregnant-Knuckles remained firm in encouraging the reunification. Matters grew complicated as Lien-Da made her own plans, apparently determined to prevent the Echidnas from joining together peacefully. Her main plan involved an assassin who attacked during a meeting between Dimitri, the Mitre of Angel Island, and a group of representatives from both sides. Knuckles took the blast in this event, and used his powers to fake his own death. Unbeknownst to him, his illusion fooled not only Dimitri but Lara-Su, his daughter from a possible future who had come back in time to prevent the Knuckles she knew from being killed. Lara-Su did manage to save Julie-Su from Syntar, another assassin, and thwart Lien-Da's plan, and returned to her own time to learn that her father had not died, but gone insane after absorbing a large amount of Chaos energy and assumed control of the Dark Legion.

While continuing his efforts to reintegrate the Echidna people of Angel Island-an effort hampered by Dimitri's failing health, Knuckles found some time to enjoy with his friends. Sadly, that time ended all too quickly when Mammoth Mogul returned, having recently battled Sonic and his own Tails duplicate after holding the true Tails prisoner and absorbing power from him to sustain himself. Kidnapping Dimitri and constructing his own Chaos Syphon, Mogul demanded that Knuckles confront him if he wanted to save his ancestor's life. Left with no choice, Knuckles challenged Mogul to a battle, during which Mogul revealed that the very room they were fighting in was a gigantic Chaos Syphon. Realizing that he had no other chance for victory, Knuckles pushed his powers to their absolute maximum, causing an explosion that demolished the building where Mogul had been hiding out. When Remington and Lien-Da arrived on the scene, they found Dimitri unharmed, Mogul vanished, and Knuckles dead.

Knuckles surrounded by the other deceased members of the Brotherhood while watching his own funeralHowever, despite this untimely fate, Knuckles remained aware of happenings on Mobius, bearing witness to his own funeral. At this time, he found himself accompanied by the other deceased members of the Brotherhood of Guardians, who explained to Knuckles that unlike the other peoples of Mobius, the Guardians do not simply "die", but evolve to a higher plane of existence due to their close relationship with the Chaos Force, eventually evolving once again once chosen by Aurora to become one with the Chaos Force itself. After this discussion, two Chao came and chose Knuckles to evolve to a higher plane of existence, leaving the other Brotherhood members to wait for their turn.

Aurora treated Knuckles to visions of long forgotten parts of his past: his parent's bittersweet relationship, the mutation of his unborn self, his father's departure from his life, and the earliest meetings he had with his friends the Chaotix and Princess Sally. Regretting his lost life but deciding that there was nothing to be done about it, Knuckles agreed to Aurora's wishes and traveled to become one with the Chaos Force, returning to his original red coloring in the process. While in this higher state of being, however, Knuckles sensed the peril of his friends back on Mobius as they faced the villainous Xorda. Never one to stand by as his friends faced danger, Knuckles separated from the Chaos Force and asked Aurora and Athair-the latter having appeared shortly after Knuckles-to send him back. The two agreed, Aurora unwillingly, and Athair with the warning that Knuckles would have to give up his powers in order to return. Not understanding-nor caring-for Athair's words of caution, Knuckles launched himself across the planes of existence to rejoin his comrades in their hour of need.

Knuckles returned to Mobius just in time, arriving in time for the energy wave of his rebirth to save his old friends and enemies from the defenses of the Quantum Dial. Speaking briefly with Julie-Su, Knuckles got ready to charge into battle-only to learn that his powers were gone. Helpless, he watched as Sonic seemingly sacrificed himself in a suicidal attack on the Quantum Dial. Believing his old friend dead, Knuckles became dedicated to fighting for Sonic's cause. However, trouble soon arose when Kage Von Stryker, son of his old enemy General Von Stryker, formed an alliance with Dr. Eggman and took over Angel Island, enslaving the Echidnas. Depowered and unable to get King Maximillian Acorn's support for a liberation mission, Knuckles was forced to wait as his people suffered under Eggman's cruel yoke. Some relief eventually came in the form of Sonic, who had not been killed but instead teleported to the far side of the galaxy, where he had been gone for a year Mobius time. Knuckles was among the first to welcome him back, both joking about their apparent deaths.

Almost immediately, Knuckles and the Chaotix with Amy Rose as backup-were dispatched to help Armand D'Coolette's troops defend the ruins of Robotropolis from Robotnik's attack. Destroyed by a nuclear attack, the fallout of which was contained within an energy shield built by Eggman to keep the Freedom Fighters from escaping if they entered the city, Robotropolis became an extremely dangerous potential hazard, especially as Eggman had other plans in place that Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters had to deal with. Despite Julie-Su's fears that he couldn't handle himself without his powers, Knuckles threw himself into battle, and with the aid of the Freedom Fighters elsewhere, they triumphed in stopping Eggman's schemes. Unfortunately, Knuckles then bore witness to the breakup between Sally and Sonic, Sally having made the request that Sonic abstain from fighting and rule by her side after seeing him wounded in battle with Eggman, only to have Sonic refuse. Shortly afterwards, Knuckles was assigned a patrol area by the King that placed him right under the flight path of Angel Island. Tempted as he was to return to his home and help his people, Knuckles recognized that he couldn't do it alone and depowered as he was, and so refrained for another day, much to Eggman's chagrin, who had an army of Shadowbots ready to ambush Knuckles.

Finally, Knuckles' prayers were answered when Knothole received word that his father, Locke, had been captured by the Dingoes. With Sonic and the Chaotix at his back, Knuckles launched an attack on Angel Island, breaking up a Dingo prison camp. To his shock, the Echidna prisoners-including former Constable Remington-began worshiping him as the Avatar, a being prophesied to bring peace to Mobius after returning from the afterlife. Feeling the weight of his people's confidence-confidence that he felt he couldn't measure up to in his weakened state, especially since he doubted his prophetic role-Knuckles learned that the news of Locke had come from his mother, who had sent a message with help from the Angel Island resistance aka, the Dark Legion, now led by Lien-Da. After seeing her again and also encountering Dr. Finitevus-whose origins remained unknown to him-Knuckles came before the Master Emerald after hearing that the Brotherhood, except for his father, had disappeared while defending it. In a cruel twist, Knuckles found that the Emerald weakened him where it had once provided strength, news that outweighed even the unsettling introduction of his baby brother, Kneecaps the Echidna. Determined as ever, he led the Chaotix and the Dark Legion in an offensive on the Dingo headquarters, defeating General Kage and freeing his father. However, Eggman responded by sending his newest henchman and Knuckles' old enemy, Hunter, to seize the Master Emerald. By the time Knuckles and the others arrived, Hunter had already sent Remington and many other Echidnas to the Egg Grape Chamber in New Megaopolis and had his sights set on the Master Emerald. Weakened by exposure to it, Knuckles was helpless-until it suddenly awoke his lost powers, allowing him to transform into Hyper Knuckles and defeat Hunter, hurling him off Angel Island. Afterwards, Knuckles came to the conclusion that Eggman was the most serious threat, and that defeating him was paramount to defending Angel Island. And so, despite his father's objections, Knuckles and the Chaotix returned to Knothole.

Knuckles soon found himself involved in another unsettling event in Sally's romantic life, as she married Antoine D'Coolette as her father took ill. Unbeknownst to her, though, her new husband was in fact Patch, Antoine's evil counterpart from Anti Mobius who had switched place's with him due to the machinations of Evil Sonic. Luckily, Sonic and Sally's brother Elias thwarted the attempt, defeating Patch and sending him back to Anti Mobius while bringing the real Antoine back home. Knuckles and the Chaotix were then called to action to defend Knothole against the Metal Sonic Troopers, robots built on King Max's orders to replace Sonic after his apparent demise. Hijacked by Dr. Eggman's computer virus "son" A.D.A.M., the robots attacked first Eggman and then Knothole. With the aid of Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles and the others were able to defeat the assault, and Knuckles also learned of Shadow's inexplicable link with the Chaos Force. As if these new enemies weren't enough, several old ones-Mammoth Mogul, his minions the Destructix, Ixis Naugus, and the Arachne-returned and seized the Sword of Acorns and Crown of Acorns. Knuckles joined his friends in battling the two forces of evil.

When Rouge the Bat appeared after last being seen fleeing the Freedom Fighters with Scourge the Hedgehog, Knuckles and the Chaotix were quick to take charge of her. The Bat made no secret of her attraction for Knuckles, but it seemed obvious that she cared only about what ends he could help her achieve-as well as stealing him away from Julie-Su. Ignorant of Rouge's ends, Knuckles brought her along as he and the Chaotix investigated the efforts of their old enemy Renfield T. Rodent, who had once again joined forces with Dr. Eggman, this time to run a casino used to copy data for use in building an army of robots. Easily thwarting the scheme, Knuckles had to watch the base while Sonic, Shadow, and NICOLE interfaced with Professor Gerald's diary. Unfortunately, Knuckles had to defend Knothole from Snively's Egg Lobster, and Shadow had to help Knuckles when Snively demanded his hair back (Knuckles was not surprised that Snively tracks his hairs individually). Then, the Chaotix-minus Rouge-ended up on bodyguard duty for Mina Mongoose on her concert tour, contacting the Freedom Fighters only to inform them that they had heard a rumor of Rouge stealing the Master Emerald and offering it up for auction. It turned out to be a farce on Rouge's part to impress Knuckles, and managed to lure in the weakened Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus as well as Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear, who were defeated and captured. Knuckles would then be called upon to battle a remote-controlled Sonic who attacked Knothole, and managed to defeat him with Tails' help, landing a blow to Sonic's head that destroyed the control device in Sonic's ear.

Knuckles then attended the wedding of Antoine D'Coolette and Bunnie Rabbot, dressed in Echidna tribal finery. The happy occasion was soon followed by a tragic one, as Dr. Eggman launched an all out assault on Knothole that leveled the city and resulted in the capture of everyone inhabiting it but Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Sally's computer NICOLE. The group of five boldly set out to rescue their friends and loved ones, breaking through New Megaopolis' defenses and freeing their friends from the Egg Grape Chamber. Thanks to NICOLE's efforts, they were all then teleported to a new city, New Mobotropolis, which had been constructed by Robotnik's nanites and then taken over by NICOLE. With the Kingdom of Acorn apparently safe, Knuckles decided that it was finally time to go back to Angel Island and square things out with Locke. Knuckles also planned to help his father with a few problems Locke had mentioned during their most recent communication, which had ended violently after Locke demanded that his son return.

Knuckles arrives on the scene as the new EnerjakWhile Dimitri was no longer Enerjak, he retained some of his goals for world domination. However, as time went on, his ancient body began to fail him, and he sought to rejuvenate himself with Chaos energy. Originally, he intended to use Knuckles-who at the time was a living Chaos Emerald-as a power source, but Knuckles' temporary death and subsequent powerlessness left Dimitri without a way to return to his Enerjak form.

Dr. Finitevus, a scientist from Albion, had his own plans for the Enerjak legacy. When the Dark Legion splintered in civil war, one side led by Lien-Da and the other by Remington, Finitevus became determined to bring Enerjak back to reunify the Legion and crush the Dingoes who had used the division to seize control of Angel Island with the aid of Dr. Eggman. Recruiting a group of criminals-the Destructix, Scourge the Hedgehog, briefly Rouge the Bat, and Fiona Fox-he managed to convince Knuckles' father Locke to give him custody of the Master Emerald so that Locke could search for the absent Brotherhood. Dimitri, reduced to little more than a head in a floating glass orb, resented Finitevus taking him apart to keep him alive, and soon left to warn the inhabitants of New Mobotropolis - which at the time included Knuckles - about Enerjak's return. Unfortunately, Finitevus didn't care for the former Enerjak, and in fact seemed pleased that another Echidna would be needed to take on the identity.

Dimitri's warning came too late, as Knuckles had departed for Angel Island before his arrival and subsequently vanished. Upon his arrival to Angel Island, Knuckles was captured by Scourge the Hedgehog and the Destructix, and brought to the Chaos Chamber. There, with Lien-Da and the mind-wiped Remington present, Knuckles was manipulated by Finitevus into coming into contact with the altered Master Emerald, reawakening his Chaos powers. Now under Finitevus' influence, the new Enerjak was brought forth by the power of the Master Emerald right in front of Scourge the Hedgehog and Fiona Fox.

Enerjak immediately proceeded to reshape Angel Island as he saw fit - he first confronted the Dingoes, banishing them to the desert while disintegrating their former leader Kage Von Stryker along with Cavem Canus, the Dingo capital. He then moved on to confront the Dark Legion, restoring Remington's memory and removing all the cybernetic implants of the Dark Legion. Unhappy with their anger at him, he then left them to be, moving on to Echidnaopolis, whose residents he teleported to Albion. Now finished on Angel Island, Enerjak arrived at New Mobotropolis, quickly dispatching their force field and revealing his identity to the stunned Freedom Fighters and Chaotix.

Knuckles explained that his plan was to reshape Mobius, ridding it of all technology and forcing peace upon the inhabitants. Despite the pleas of his friends, he remained set on his goal, and attempted to revert Julie-Su to fully organic form as he had the Dark Legion. Sonic arrived just in time to stop him, and shortly afterwards Shadow the Hedgehog also got involved in the battle. Despite Shadow removing his power inhibitors and Sonic's onslaught of insults, Enerjak overcame the pair of Hedgehogs. Sonic was left stunned after one of his blows removed Enerjak's helmet to reveal Knuckles, but he quickly joined the people of New Mobotropolis in a charge. Enerjak trapped them all in a force field, only to be bombarded by fire from the arriving Egg Fleet and transported to the Egg Vineyard. Despite knowing Enerjak's identity, Sally Acorn was hesitant to launch a rescue mission that would unleash his threat upon the world again. Locke the Echidna intervened, kidnapping Julie-Su and Sonic so that they could help him defeat the Destructix and reclaim a weapon made by the Brotherhood of Guardians to destroy Enerjak.

After Enerjak had been sent to the Egg Grapes, Dimitri arrived at New Megaopolis and tried to convince Dr. Eggman to use this opprotunity to take Enerjak's power away. But Dr. Eggman thought everything was under control, and this would cost him. Enerjak broke free and destroyed much of New Megaopolis, as well as the Egg Fleet. However, the Egg Grapes had still drained Enerjak much of his power, so he teleported back to the Master Emerald Chamber at Angel Island, where Dr. Finitevus was waiting. Finitevus then started using the Master Emerald to repower Enerjak. But suddenly, Sonic (who had just got back from fighting the Destructix with Julie-Su, Locke, and Archimedes, as well as destroying the very weapon that could stop Enerjak) arrived and used the repowering as his chance to use the Master Emerald's power to become Super Sonic once more.

Enerjak and Super Sonic began their battle, a display of raw power so great that it could be seen not just on Angel Island and in New Mobotropolis, but in Albion as well. Super Sonic held up well against Enerjak's assault at first, taunting him with the usual banter and doing his best to bring out Knuckles' old self. These efforts proved futile, as Dr. Finitevus had "locked" the hex placed on Knuckles, making it so that only the sacrifice of someone's life could break the spell. Julie-Su and Archimedes were both willing to do so, but it was a guilt-stricken Locke who finally took on the responsibility while the other two fought off Finitevus. With the spell broken, Knuckles was returned to normal and Enerjak ceased to be once again.

Upon regaining his awareness and learning of his father's death, Knuckles immediately targeted the one responsible: Dr. Finitevus. Despite landing a powerful blow, Knuckles failed to catch his nemesis before Finitevus escaped through a Warp Ring. Blaming himself for his actions as Enerjak despite being brainwashed and blaming the whole incident on his decision to leave Angel Island, Knuckles resolved to remain the island permanently.

The Chaotix respected his decision, but joined him to keep a close eye on him. Escaping them, Knuckles traveled to Albion, peeking in on his mother and her family as well as the Echidnas in general. Feeling that they were safer without him, he then traveled to the Dingo encampment in Angel Island's desert, and revealed his actions as Enerjak to General Von Stryker, who wept for his son as Knuckles left. Finally, Knuckles spied on his friends as they completed a bridge between Angel Island and the new shrine island, created as the Master Emerald shrine was blown free of the rest of the landmass by the battle between Enerjak and Super Sonic. Longing to rejoin his friends, Knuckles was unexpectedly approached by Rouge, who admonished him for his decisions. She pointed out the failure of the previous Guardians' methods, and that with his new Warp Ring-given to Locke by Dr. Finitevus as part of a ruse and then passed to Julie-Su-he would be able to travel quickly between Angel Island and New Mobotropolis to help his friends on the surface. His concerns lifted-or so it appeared-Knuckles rejoined his friends, unaware that Rouge had ulterior motives for getting him back into the fight.

After returning to the surface with the Chaotix, Knuckles joined Mighty the Armadillo, Mina Mongoose, Tails, and Sonic in being magically cleansed by Merlin Prower. He and Sonic were subjected to the spell in order to ensure that no remnants of Finitevus' hex remained, while the other three were being freed from a hypnotic spell left in place by Mammoth Mogul.

Feeling relieved by the experience, Knuckles went on a mission with Sonic and the Chaotix to fighting against the Dark Legion, now serving under Dr. Eggman as his "Dark Egg Legion". Feeling that it was his falt the Dak Legion turned to Eggman, Knuckles went to confront their second-in-command: Lien-Da. Knuckles tried to convince her to stop working for Eggman, but she wouldn't listen and ordered reinforcements from Snively. When Snively told her there were none, however, she ordered the Legion to retreat. Unfortunately, they were retreating to the same control tower that Charmy, Saffron, and Ray were setting up bombs inside of. Sonic also had to leave due to the Suppression Squad launching an attack on Freedom HQ. Knuckles thought that they didn't need Sonic's help there anymore, though he may have changed his mind, as Dimitri then showed up with a new giant, robotic insect-like body. Dimitri and Knuckles exchanged dialogue until the former finally had enough and ordered the Dark Egg Legion to open fire. Even with his help, the Legion was quickly defeated by the Chaotix and forced to retreat. Dimitri remained behind temporarily, in which Knuckles asked why he would try to command the Dark Egg Legion. Through sarcasm and insult, Dimitri explained that he was deliberatly leading the Dark Egg Legion to defeat in order to weaken the Eggman Empire from within. Knuckles and the Chaotix then returned, only to find the Freedom Fighters in retreat, Freedom HQ having fallen to the Suppression Squad.

A few days following the loss of Freedom HQ to the Suppression Squad, Knuckles accompanied Sonic before the Acorn Council to discuss their plan of counter attack. Following the Acorn Council's decision to focus on Eggman, Sonic attempted to get Knuckles' insight on the matter. However, the Guardian was still in heavy mourning for the loss of his father, and thus left Sonic angrily. After a brief argument with Julie-Su and later hearing some heart-felt words from his friend Charmy, Knuckles apologised to Julie-Su and realised he could not allow his grief to paralize him.

Knuckles, along with the rest of the Chaotix, worked along side the Knothole Freedom Fighters in their final push against the crumbling Eggman Empire. While Sonic and the Freedom Fighters distracted the Dark Egg Legion, Knuckles led the Chaotix to flank them and catch them by surprise, forcing them to retreat. When the Egg Phoenix arrived, Knuckles explained to Sally all of his plans to take it down were ground based, and thus would not work. When Sally came up with a plan, Knuckles helped to carry it out. After Sonic was tossed into the air by Vector, Knuckles glided up and grabbed him. When Sonic said "I haven't had this much fun since the invasion", Knuckles replied "You're hopeless" before tossing him up to Tails. When the Egg Phoenix was destroyed, Knuckles helped to set up their camp for the night.