>>3029Oh look, it's my favorite page in all of Archie!
>their influence has rubbed off me to like a bit of it to at least see the appeal of sonknuxyes_hahaha_yes.png
>Can't believe they got away with this.They can say they're playing for laughs but Sonic (and the crowd!) are clearly into it. I don't think Flynn does it intentionally, but he writes them just like a couple that flirt by teasing each other. They're constantly making bedroom eyes at each other and make way more physical contact than is strictly necessary. It's not even limited to Archie, Frontiers, many of the other games, and even the Sonic Channel art has them like this
Here's the story and bio translated by Windii, but TLDR: Flynn gets their canon game relationship 100% right
Sonic Channel Wallpaper Cover Story: Sonic & Knuckles (February 2021)
It happened on one fine day, early afternoon on Angel Island.
In the middle of the jungle, where giant trees and mosses grow in abundance, Knuckles is digging around on the ground with a serious expression on his face, looking for something.
It was then when Sonic suddenly jumped on Knuckles’s head.
“Hey, Knuckles! What are you doing?”
“Sonic! What’s the big idea?!”
Sonic caught Knuckles, who was hurriedly diving into the ground, and tried to greet him, but when he saw Knuckles’s serious reaction, he couldn’t help but want to tease him.
“I mean, if you see a mole going in and out of its hole, wouldn’t you want to whack it?”
“What’d you say?!”
Sonic dodges Knuckles, who jumps at him, just in the nick of time. The slapstick, where it is not clear whether it is a fight or a chase, continues for a while…
“…I’ve called out to you many times, so it’s your fault for not noticing.”
“Shut it. Man, you’re still the same jerk I’ve always known.”
After they were both exhausted and had finally caught their breath, Knuckles started to tell him about a dream he had this morning.
A dream of his distant ancestors wearing ancient tribal garments.
“As a descendant of the Knuckles clan, we have something for you. Search the jungle,” they said.
“I can’t describe it, but I definitely sense something around here… I know it.”
Knuckles looks around with a docile expression on his face.
His interest as a treasure hunter, as well as his sentimentality as the last of the Knuckles clan, made him look more serious than ever.
“OK, that sounds interesting. I’ll help you find that treasure! …We’re chums, aren’t we?”
“What’re you on about? Don’t act so buddy-buddy. Get off my island!”
…As he said that, Knuckles raises his fist in the air, and it seems as if the chase is about to begin again, but Sonic dodges it and trips over something and falls.
“Oww…!”
“Heh, serves you right!”
Knuckles laughed out loud, but at that moment, the earth shook from deep within the ground!
*Rummmmble!*
A small altar made of stone, similar in construction to the ruins at Mystic Ruins, rises up from the depths of the earth. It seems that the pebble on which Sonic tripped was a switch.
On top of the altar was a box, also made of stone.
“You can thank me now, Knuckles.”
“Yeah, thanks for awkwardly stumbling around.”
Knuckles opened the stone box and found a pair of gloves inside. They are the heavy, clawed battle gloves of the ancient Knuckles clan.
“I see. This is a gift that will make me fight harder. It’s a gift that is typical of the “Knuckles clan,” a combat tribe!”
“…”
Knuckles finally finds the treasure, but after a few moments of silence, he puts the lid back on the box. While Sonic looks on in disbelief, Knuckles starts talking with a bold smile while staring at his clenched fists.
“Sorry ancestors, but my current gloves are good enough for me… I just need to be able to protect what is important to me. Even without using such a grandiose item, I wouldn’t lose to anyone in the first place.”
Knuckles is certainly quick to fight and can be a bit rough, but all he wants is the safety and peace of the Master Emerald, and his two fists are there to protect it.
Sonic seemed to have a re-examined perspective on Knuckles, thinking that this was the kind of guy he was. …But seeing Knuckles say such admirable things makes him want to tease him again.
“Exactly! You don’t use tools, you use brute force. That’s what makes you Knuckles!”
“…Who’re you calling a brute?”
Knuckles approaches Sonic while wearing gloves handed down from his ancestors.
“I thought you said you didn’t need them!”
“Shut up! Get back here!”
And so their slapstick, which could be described as neither fighting nor chasing each other, continued in the jungle of Angel Island for a while…
A fighting buddy to run to when the time comes!Knuckles is a powerful red echidna.
As his name suggests, he has two powerful fists, and he lives alone, guarding the mysterious floating island called Angel Island, which was left behind by an ancient civilization, and the Master Emerald that resides there.
It seems that he had already been assigned to guard this island for as long as he can remember. He didn’t know how it happened, his roots, or even the details of the Master Emerald he was supposed to protect, but he had spent his life as a guardian, honestly and without questioning his mission… that’s what Knuckles is all about.
If Sonic is the ever-moving “wind,” then Knuckles is the unmoving “mountain.”
Knuckles’s encounter with Sonic was a shocking one!
Knuckles, tricked by Eggman into thinking Sonic was the bad guy, suddenly attacked him and caused him to fall over.
At that time, Sonic was in his “Super Sonic” state, using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds.
Even though it took him by surprise, Knuckles’s power to stop Sonic in this state is something to behold!
They had such a dreadful encounter in a sense, but in the end, the misunderstanding was cleared up and together they crushed Eggman’s ambitions in the story of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – Sonic & Knuckles.
Although their first impression of each other, their personalities, and their rivalry did not make them “good friends,” they have since had several adventures and been on good terms, always rushing to each other’s aid in a pinch.
They may exchange quips and complain to each other, but when it comes time to act, they are in perfect harmony. Small details aside, they know what’s really important without having to say a word. Such is the bond that exists between the two of them.
They’re rivals, they’re fighting buddies… In the sense of a relationship that “requires no holding back,” it may be as close as the one with Tails.
The two of them will continue to show their many activities during adventures. All while they occasionally fight…!
