Smash Academy App
Sep. 19th, 2014 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
monotreme_101Out-of-Character Information
Name: Jim
Are you over 15?: Yes! Quite!
Time Zone: West Coast time.
Personal Journal:
jimimReliable Method of Contact: My email is not_geoffrey(at)Yahoo.co.nz or my AIM is monotreme101 and I'll always reply to PM messages to any of my accounts! =)
Other characters in the game: Jon Talbain, Sonny Moe Snorlax and Joel
Tegaki: I... used to have one but I haven't logged in for like 6 years.
Anything Else?: Ptttttttthb.
In-Character Information
Name: Knuckles the Echidna
Game/Series: Sonic series
Teacher/Student/Other: Student!
Canon Point: A little after Sonic Generations.
Age: 19
Grade Level/Class Taught/Job: Freshman!
Dorm or Living Arrangement: Dorm
Personality.
Knuckles is a range of things, but he's primarily known for his gullibility and hot-headedness. Stubbornness and pride, too.
It doesn't take much to win him over, even if you've screwed him around before. (Eggman does this on a semi-regular basis.) He has one of those maddeningly heroic outlooks on life which requires he believe everyone has some good in them somewhere, and if you give them enough chances, they'll pleasantly surprise you. But he's getting a little better at telling who's being genuine with him and who isn't! He just has a drive to be useful and helpful and do right by others and so he's easy enough to trick into doing the grunt work for people who are less than nice, or just plain lazy. He's easily manipulated into all sorts of jams. This also comes from his isolated life on Angel Island. It's hard to understand duplicity and lies when you have never encountered them before.
He's easy to rile up and this gets him into plenty of trouble. (Like punching the Master Emerald into bits so Rouge can't have it in Adventure 2. Or fighting Sonic and getting his little red ass handed to him in... a lot of games. Like a whole lot. This happens all the time. And in other canons, too.) Being as into martial arts as he is he does his best to hold on to that temper, but the amount of success he has with this varies. He's often goaded into fights, tricked into fights, or gets into fights over misinformation fed to him by someone else. (Almost always that darned Eggsguy.)
He won't let up when he feels he's in the right and that's most of the time. This caused him to get electrocuted pretty severely in Sonic and Knuckles when Eggman finally revealed his true colors and stole the Master Emerald. Even after getting beaten down by Sonic, he grabbed onto the Eggmobile and wouldn't let go until knocked unconscious momentarily. When presented with a challenge, he won't refuse and he won't hold back until he's either beaten it, or is beaten. This can be to his advantage - Finding treasure and fighting tough opponents are both things that he's adept at and finds fun! Or to his disadvantage - such as when Sonic challenges him to a race. (He can win sometimes, and actually has to in some games for his story to advance (Sonic Rivals series, mainly.) but his strength comes in finding shortcuts over actual speed. His speed on foot pales in comparison to Sonic's. But he can punch boulders in half. Let's see Sonic do that, huh?)
He's a prideful sort, especially when it comes to his physical strength and his lineage. He's the last surviving Echidna and he does feel a great deal of pride for many of his ancestors' accomplishments. Echidna kind once ruled most of the Earth and they had an amazing, vibrant and strong culture. He does feel guilty, however, at the actions of some of his species. Pachacamac, the leader of his clan 4000 years ago DID kind of order his army to kill a bunch of innocent Chao in order to get to the Master Emerald. Which was a dick move - especially being they also had to trample Tikal, the Chief's daughter, to do it! And that set about the chain of events that caused the annihilation of the remainder of his clan. Apart from that, though? His race was responsible for amazing architecture, teleporters, a flying continent. Y'know. Cool stuff like that. His job of guarding the Island and his Emerald are handed down to him by his ancestors and he won't let them down.
He can be quite clever - devising traps and tricks to deter thieves all over his Island. It's a hands-on kind of cleverness. He'll never be great at technology or science-ey stuff. ("STOOOP! It just floats, and that's good enough for me!", Knuckles, interrupting Tails as the fox tries to explain how
He's also quite kind. In his time on the Island, he developed a fondness for all the little creatures that inhabited the place, from chickens and squirrels to Chao and flicky birds. When Robotnik's Eggbot threw a bomb at a bunch of his little pals, that was enough to send him on an Island-spanning adventure to take the Good Doctor out. And he's none too pleased any time he comes across little creatures stuffed into robotic bodies. That really gets his goat. (Or pig or bunny. He's not fussy about what kind of animal is in there. He'll bust it out no matter what it is!) Some people wouldn't credit that such a rough and tumble guy who loves punching stuff in half could be so gentle, but watching him pet a Chao and say 'Now, there!' is enough to win those sorts of people over! And he was more than happy to help the Human world out when the Black Arms invaded, too. Leaving his Island alone to thwart an Alien invasion and save Humanity's butt, yet again. (The things he does for you people, honestly.)
He's incredibly dedicated to his duties as Guardian of the Floating Island and the Master Emerald. Before meeting Sonic, he never could have concieved of leaving his Island home. But if it's important enough he'll take the time to help out and he'll leave the Island. He knows he'll be on his Island forever, doing what needs to be done. But he DOES privately envy Sonic's carefree and adventurous personality. He wonders what it could be like to live that way himself.... but nah. He's got way more important stuff to do!
He does have poor impulse control sometimes, leaping before looking. He'll chalk this up to being strong enough to handle anything, but it doesn't always work out for him.
And he's quite shy around girls. The fairer sex was definitely something his lush Island paradise was lacking. Rouge the Bat loves taking advantage of this wherever possible and manipulating the stuttery, discombobulated Echidna to her own ends. (The end of their arc in Sonic Rivals is a perfect example of this. She praises him for being her brave hero and savior... and then runs off with the Master Emerald while he's trying to figure out how to process this.)(Yet he seems just fine around Amy. What gives?) Anyway, he's a shy guy when it comes to the Ladies.
He has a few anxieties and insecurities. Despite the tough talk in A Ghost's Pumpkin Soup, Knuckles really is no great fan of ghosts. He lives on an Island full of ancient ruins, filled with the spectres of the departed - They'll attack you in Sandopolis Zone, Act II! And the fact that you can't just beat a ghost up probably doesn't help.
It's been said that if Sonic embodies the wind, Knuckles embodies the mountain. Unmovable and stern in the face of Sonic's free-wheeling mobility. Maybe that's why they've gone head to head so many times - The irresistible force meets the immovable object is always fun to watch play out, after all. And if these two are seen as an embodiment of that particular phrase... Superman was wrong. Neither will surrender.
Backstory
The Wikipedia entry for his appearance in games is a pretty concise listing and a good summary of the plots of the main series.
Sonic Wikia also has a pretty in-depth character history section, including spin-off titles.
Knuckles is the last living Echidna on Earth. His tribe, the Knuckles clan, had been declining in numbers after a catastrophic event some 4000 years ago, leaving him as the last of his species inhabiting this plane of reality. (There's an entirely seperate tribe of them called the Nocturnus Clan trapped in an alternate dimension called The Twilight Cage. But he hasn't encountered them yet being as Sonic Chronicles is in the somewhat distant future.) He never knew his parents - at least, not that he can remember - and he raised himself on the Floating Island in amongst the ruins of his species' civilization. A kind of lonely existence, but it made him strong and capable.
Knuckles' story begins in earnest when the status-quo of his Island was upset in a big way. Death Egg crash-landing in the Volcano that his House is built in kind of status quo upsetting. The guy inside offered the Echidna a bizarrely well-rendered sandwich and told him a tale of woe. A tale of woe where-in a bad guy called Sonic the goddamn Hedgehog was here to steal all of Knuckles' Emeralds.
This would not stand.
Knuckles up and punched the Super right out of that blue needlemouse's smug little face, collected the Seven Chaos Emeralds... and that's when the games began.
He continued to mess with Sonic and his little
That was when Eggman decided to show his true colors, steal the Master Emerald, electrocute Knuckles until he was a crispy shade of broiled, and launch his megaweapon, the Death 'That's No Moon' Egg back into space to dispense puppies and kittens from the lower atmosphere. (Puppies and kittens encased in weaponized robotic armor.)
Knuckles, knowing now where his loyalties should lie, used the last of his strength to help Sonic and Tails get up to the Sky Sanctuary, from where they'd be able to hitch a ride on the Death Egg and foil Roboknit's evil scheme. Which they did! They also returned the Master Emerald to him so that he could get his Island back up into the air where it belonged.
So, he decided to move the Emerald shrine to a nice outdoor location and figured he'd never see that annoying Hedgehog ever again! And good riddance.
...oh if only he knew.
Over the next few years, Sonic, Tails, Amy and the various other multicolored pests that Sonic tended to accumulate would become a regular fixture in his life. The Chaotix showed up one day, along with Robotnik and Metal Sonic and that was no great picnic. Fang, the Weasel, too. Oh man, now THAT guy was a dirt-bag. And Eggman tricked him that time as well so... yeah. Then, there was the time he wound up going to Flicky's Island to help Sonic get to the strange half-pipe zones where the Chaos Emeralds had wound up. He made Sonic pay him 50 rings each time, though. (So did Tails. Why? We don't question these things.) There was also that one time they had a fighting tournament to see who could collect all the Chaos Emeralds and use them to power a spaceship to fly up to the Death Egg Mach II...
There were a few more similar adventures. Diversions, really. Meet-and-greets with colorful characters from The Outside World. Knuckles, however, remained steadfast in his insistence on guarding the Master Emerald. Then things got really serious.
One night, he was sitting there after a hard days' training, ruminating on his existence. He didn't know much of anything about himself. He knew about his ancestors and their culture and the things they had left behind. But all he knew about himself was his duty. To be alone on his Island in the sky, looking after the most powerful magical relic in the world.
Then it kind of just... smashed.
So. Yeah. There's that. That happened. It was a bit upsetting.
A weird watery thing stood there where his beloved Emerald ought to be. So. Knuckles decided to Punch It In The Face! But it dissapeared before he could get to it, and his Island started to fall from the sky, causing massive tectonic activity and a tsunami. Not a great day for anyone involved.
Knowing that his magical soulbond superconnection with the Emerald could restore it to its former glory if he collected all the bits, he made the pilgrimage to the Outside World once again to do so. His ability to track it down by way of sensing its energy let him travel the world looking for all its shards.
Over the course of this Adventure, he was tricked into fighting Sonic once... but other than that, he came to aid Sonic, Tails, Amy, The Robutt Guy and Big in their quest to beat down Eggman and Chaos. Not to mention, he was able to discover a lot about his ancestors' past through visions given to him by Tikal. Once Chaos had absorbed the negative energy from all seven Chaos Emeralds and had become Perfect Chaos, however - the same creature that had doomed his species to non-existence 4000 years prior - he handed over the Emeralds he'd managed to collect so that Sonic could take on their positive energy. As the survivors of Station Square chanted Sonic's name, he became Super Sonic and took Chaos down with the power of Positivity!
Maybe there was something to this positivity stuff. And maybe Sonic and his rag-tag collection of housepets and hangers-on weren't SO bad.
Then, there was this other time, that a Bat Girl by the name of Rouge came to his Island and stole his Master Emerald. He tracked her through the desert and refused to be distracted by her feminine wiles! (Apparently the Master Emerald > Girls? Priorities, guy. Priorities.) Eggman grabbed the Emerald while they were bickering. So Knuckles punched it into a million bazillion bits. A reasonably sensible thing to do. Probably.
This resulted in another world-spanning Treasure Hunt (Hey! Lucky for him he's so good at them!) which culminated in Space. Because of course it did. Eventually, tensions between him and Rouge came to a head and they fought on a series of metal beams erected around a pit of molten metal. (I'm not saying that Knuckles has a tendency towards poor life choices? But he kind of does.) As he won the bout, the Bat fell backwards off the beam and was headed for certain death in the pit. Then he grabbed her hand and saved her life even though they were still foes. She called him smelly and gave him her emerald shards because they stink like Echidnas do, and... he ran away. Confused, of course. He also met Shadow the Hedgehog, the grumpiest fuzzball in the history of anything ever and rejoiced at no longer being the grumpiest fuzzball in the history of anything ever. He helped Sonic and Shadow defeat the Biolizard when it warped outside the Space Colony Ark and fuzed itself to the thing's hull, dragging it for a collision with the Earth. (And when I say helped, I mean he sat back in the relative comfort of the Space Colony Ark's interior, giving them advice over the radio. Because he'd had a long day. Fighting giant ghosts and stuff. Give him a break.)
By the time Sonic Heroes rolled around, Knuckles had relaxed a little bit. He was able to hang out with Sonic and Tails without feeling an immediate and unwavering urge to punch them, and even took up a role on Team Sonic (He didn't pick the team name.) to help them figure out what the balls Eggman was up to this time. He was the Strength member of their three man crew, using his unrivalled power to smash apart boulders and that sort of stuff. He apparently had the Limp Knuckle Flu during this adventure, though, and couldn't climb anything. His gliding abilities were still intact, though, and so he was able to help them traverse a bunch of environments and face off against the other various teams. It says a lot about him that when the final hazard was revealed to be Metal Sonic gone rougue, he wouldn't let Sonic face the metallic monster alone, but instead opted to help out. Part of me wonders if this was just so he could have the fun of punching battle ships in half while in a semi-super state. Either way, he was able to put himself to good use and help Sonic defeat Metal once and for all. Until next time.
But still, the valiant Echidna could claim no respite. It wasn't long after this that the Black Comet passed by Earth, unleashing its denizens - The Black Arms - in an invading force. Considering he'd helped save the world before, the Guardian Units of Nations (GUN.) and Sonic requested his help in calming the situation down. This involved charging around a floating ruin punching Aliens to save the GUN soldiers, charging around a city diffusing bombs to save the city, and being sent INTO the comet to destroy its power source. He asked for Shadow's help to get to the center of the comet, and they wound up fighting Eggman's Egg Dealer.
Unfortunately, Black Doom used a variation of Chaos Control to warp the Black comet to the surface of Earth and wanted to use Humanity as a power source for his own people. (Like a bizarre fusion of The Matrix and Alien.) So, Shadow (Like a bizarre fusion of Sonic and the chick from Species.) had to become Super Shadow to take on the monstrous might of Devil Doom! Knuckles and everyone else was paralyzed by a nerve gas that Shadow was immune to because of his alien physiology, but they had at least managed to evacuate the city so that Shadow could fight all out and not worry about civilian casualties. (Because Shadow always seemed really concerned about collatoral damage.) Shadow won, of course, and then everyone gathered together for a chat afterwards in the ruins of Station Square. Eggman tried to sneak off to steal the Emeralds but Knuckles started chasing him around, having no intention of letting that happen.
There were plenty of other adventures, too. Teaching the Gizoid, Emerl, how to fight was one of his favorites. He was pretty sad when the robot had to be destroyed to save the world, even if he tried not to let it show. He'd liked that funny little guy! He was also dragged into the evens of Sonic 2006. But he doesn't remember any of it and that's probably for the best. He was also involved in several Extreme Gear racing tournaments! He definitely enjoys getting out and about on his Gear when the need arises - even if he has no clue how those planks float around like they do. He was able to help the Heroes out by translating ancient writings at the Gigan Rocks and his abilities as a Power type racer were integral during the competitions. He was also racing against his friends in Sonic Rivals, in which Eggman (Nega.) was... turning their friends into trading cards? (Look, it was the mid 00s, Yu-Gi-Oh was a thing... I have no other explanation.) But the Master Emerald was transformed into a card too and that really didn't sit well with Knuckles, and that was reason enough for him to fight the good fight.
In Rivals 2, he reluctantly teamed up with Rouge to help track down the missing Master Emerald. He used an Emerald Radar in this instance to help speed up the Finding Things process. And it sort of worked - they found some Chaos Emeralds! Six of them, eventually. The Seventh was hidden inside Metal Sonic and when the seven were grouped together, a portal to the dimension of an ancient evil was opened - the Ifrit. A ginormous fiery dragon with mind control powers. It took ahold of Rouge's little grey cells and so Knuckles had to fight her AND the Ifrit at the same time.
He won and returned Rouge to her right mind. And then, DUH, he found that the Master Emerald was actually inside the Emerald Radar this whole time! Rouge complimented him on how brave and selfless and wonderful he was, and while he was melting into a puddle of appreciative goo from the sound of her praise, she grabbed the emerald and ran off.
In thew DS version of Sonic Colors, he was lured into Eggman's interstellar amusement park by a letter Rouge had written him. (Pretending to be Dr. Eggman. Because apparently asking him for a date at an amusement park was a far too straightforward way for her to spend time with him. Or maybe she just assumed he'd say No.) (He probably would have.) He, once finding out he'd been tricked, was kind of humiliated. But still. He had a pretty OK time messing around on a bunch of planets drawn together for the Eggman's amusement.
Which brings us almost to the present - He was one of the friends who helped organize Sonic's 18th Birthday party! By this time you could say that a lot of his animosity towards that Blue Hedgehog had dissipated to be replaced by a more friendly rivalry. He even compliments Sonic on a job well done for rescuing him from the Time Eater's trap. (He'd been sucked into a portal and turned into stone until Sonic was able to free him by running through Sky Sanctuary.) And he's even there to cheer on the two Super Sonics during the final boss battle. "Come on Sonic, smack him!" (Continuing a tradition of giving Sonic sage advice during final boss battles.)
So, finally, the Red Echidna could hang up those white gloves of his for a few weeks and catch some much needed Me time! He happily went back to a life of seclusion, rigorous training and Emerald guarding surrounded by his beloved nature. Meditation and pushups and grapes and... wait.
The Master Emerald, attuned as it was to the forces of space and time and troubled as it was by the recent restructuring of reality by the Time Eater, gave him a vision. He looked into it and saw another floating Island - different to his own in so many ways. But similar in others. Being a huge, hovering landmass covered in ruins and all. You didn't see those every day! He reached out a hand and placed it on the smooth, green surface of the gem, leaning in to get a better look...
FWASH!
He found himself ON the Island he'd seen in the reflections from his Emerald. Some kind of Chaos Control had displaced him, here. He could tell it was somewhere new by the smell of it. The foliage was different. It didn't feel anything like his home. Not only THAT, but it was covered in monsters! What kind of a place was this? Was there a Master Emerald here, too, keeping this place afloat? How was he going to get home? Why would the Master Emerald think he needed to be here? Well, it was about time he got some answers, wasn't it!?
He went burrowing around, looking through the ruins, saw various other people doing the same thing... but being as he didn't know them, he kept to himself. Eventually though, he decided the only way to get the answers he was looking for was to follow them. See where they were coming from, what they were doing here. He saw that they were coming from some place down below - a grouping of buildings way down there in the mountains.
He jumped from the edge of the Island and decided to glide his way down to Smash Academy. Maybe he'd find something down there to help him figure out what was going on!
So here he is, ladies and Gentleman. Landing on the quad after leaping from on high, staring at you all and wondering what sort of a wacky, zany adventure he's having today. And how Sonic-and-or-Eggman are probably to blame.
Anything Else?:
-This is a reset version of the character. No pre-existing CR from the game or memories or anything like that. He's brand spankin' new straight out of his native canon. But feel free to mention the prior version if you want to. He's going to find that to be SUPER CONFUSING at first, but will get used to it eventually.
In-Character 1st person sample:
[There's a new video on the Network. The first twenty five seconds of it are some kind of black, triangular nose on the end of a peachy colored snout. It moves around and the microphone stutters and wheezes and whoever this nose belongs to can be heard muttering something unintelligible.
Then, a violet eye stares into the feed, blinks several times with a big, red eyelid. Then he draws back so you can see his Echidna-ey face in its full glory.]
First off, I ain't wearing this uniform thing. I was hatched with fur. It's good enough for me, it should be good enough for you.
Uh... anyway. I'm Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna.
Hmmm...
[He's sort of run out of things to say. He has questions, but he's not really used to talking to a computer. He's used to smashing them to gain extra lives and shields and stuff.]
Anyone know anythin' about the Floating Island above this school? It's kinda important. Also, has anyone seen a fat guy with an orange mustache? Or a blue Hedgehog? Or maybe a pink one? Or a fox with two tails? I'd even take the big purple cat guy and his frog.
[You are now treated to over a minute of closeup footage of his white-swooshed chest as he tries to figure out how to turn the computer off.]
In-Character 3rd person sample:
He stood there in the halls near the admin block, looking at a trophy case. The shiny golden-ness of all the trophies and accolades had grabbed his attention immediately.
There was a photo in there, showing a group of people dressed up for some kind of sport. One guy looked kind of like an Echidna. It was hard to tell, with that helmet covering its dreadlocks. But there was a certain familiarity to be found in that sharp toothed grin...
Well, no time to worry about that now. He walked out of the building onto the pathway. Strange birds fluttered around, chirping at him and he watched them as he walked, his expression softening. At least there was plenty of nature in this place. He was going to have a rough time staying inside all these buildings all the time! He'd been made a student here, and while he relished the opportunity to fight strong opponents and hone his skills, he was worried over what might be going on back in his own world.
He cast a glare up at that floating landmass and crossed his arms. Oh, Island. One day, he would learn your secrets and figure out why he'd been sent here. One day. Until that day, he had a date with a miraculous invention they'd come up with in this strange world. A thing of wonder and power.
He was going to go and get a Fruit Cup from the cafeteria.
