Knuckles the Echidna is Sonic's friendly rival. First introduced in the Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles lives on Angel Island, which hovers in the sky due to the power of the Master Emerald. As the last surviving member of the Echidna people who once inhabited the island, his duty is to guard the master Emerald.
During conception of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the development team wanted to create a new rival for Sonic. The final design of Knuckles was the result of dozens of possible designs inspired by numerous different animals. A character with many different abilities and skills, he is physically one of the strongest characters of the Sonic series. His strength and mastery of martial arts, specialising in punches, enables him to perform feats such as shattering boulders with his fists, while he can trap air under his dreadlocks in order to glide for short distances.
