The Knuckles Paramount+ show is real bad at giving Sonic the Hedgehog characters the spotlight. Despite having his name at the top, Knuckles is only in the show for half its runtime and barely speaks when he’s there. But despite the lack of anthropomorphic characters throughout, the show does have quite a few references to the Sonic games that are pretty fun. If only the live-action universe spent more time making jokes about those things than pop culture references from 20 years ago.
Let’s run down a few standouts, but be sure to check out @wg_alen’s extensive Twitter thread for some finer details.
Knuckles’ obstacle course is a Sonic level made out of rocks and logs
Right as the show opens, we see Knuckles has made himself an obstacle course outside his new Earth home, following the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This includes hazards and props that are homage to Sonic games, such as the spiky iron balls and crushers that could squish Knuckles into a Sonic-branded pancake. But there’s also a goal signpost at the end that, once Knuckles reaches it, shows a chalk drawing of his face similar to the ones that would show up at the end of levels in the 2D Sonic games.
The ghost of Pachacamac seems nicer than his game counterpart
In the first episode, Knuckles is greeted by the ghost of Pachacamac, an Echidna elder from our hero’s tribe who has since passed. In the games, Pachacamac debuted in Sonic Adventure and was alive thousands of years before Sonic and Knuckles. He was also portrayed as a bit of a bastard who committed war crimes. In the live-action universe, who he is depends on who he’s talking to. Sonic remembers him as a violent tribe chief who killed his caretaker Longclaw in the first movie, but when his ghost greets Knuckles, he’s kind of an old doofus and a source for gags like falling through the floor as Knuckles tries to hug his ghostly projection. He also guides comic relief cop Wade through a musical number in episode 4. But more on that later. Hard to believe this echidna killed people in cold blood when he’s spending most of his Knuckles screen time being a silly little guy.
Knuckles loves grapes
One of the more subtle references to old Sonic lore is a scene where Knuckles is going ham on some grapes. Wade makes a joke about how grapes seem like they’d be hard for Knuckles to eat, considering his hands are always covered in gloves, but the echidna is so into the tiny fruit that he doesn’t even acknowledge it. Knuckles loves grapes, and that shit goes back as far as his debut in 1994. In the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 instruction booklet, Knuckles’ character profile says his favorite food is fruit, specifically grapes. So it’s fun to see the live-action universe leaning into this 30-year-old trivia as a bit.
Wade riding on Knuckles’ back is more than an E.T. reference
There’s a segment in Knuckles’ second episode in which Wade rides on Knuckles’ back as he glides. Unlike Tails, Knuckles can’t fly, but he can glide down to safety in a pinch. Wade, despite being twice Knuckles’ size, is able to ride on our hero’s back. The scene ends up becoming an eye-roll-worthy reference to E.T. as the two fly past the moon in one shot, but as AlenWG points out, this also appears to be a reference to Sonic Advance 3, in which Sonic can ride on Knuckles’ back as he glides if you choose the two of them as your playable character and sidekick.
The musical number is a big ol’ Sonic level
Episode 4, “The Flames of Disaster,” is one of the wildest episodes in the six-episode series. Both because it sidelines Knuckles for all but the first and last scene, and because it becomes a rock opera starring Wade. As the musical unfolds, Wade dresses as Knuckles and lives out a portion of his backstory, and this is communicated by watching him go through mock-ups of different Sonic levels. This includes a stage set of the classic Green Hill Zone from the first game and what looks like a 3D special stage from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. But the Sonic game references in the musical number don’t stop there.
Iblis exists in the live-action universe
The wildest reference to Sonic games is one we covered here at Kotaku already, but it is so earth-shattering we have to bring it up again here. The musical segment culminates in Wade (as Knuckles) facing a “Fire Demon” and claiming his power source called the “Flames of Disaster.” This monster appears to be Iblis, one of the main villains in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). We learn Knuckles defeated Iblis and found his superpowers were inside him the whole time, but it gets the mind racing about how or if the live-action Sonic universe will use Iblis in a future movie. It would be buck wild if they brought up this huge piece of Sonic lore just to make a Facebook Marketplace joke in a musical, right?
Knuckles’ cowboy hat is a reference to an old OVA
Knuckles is often seen in the show’s promotional material wearing a cowboy hat. In the show, the hat first belongs to Jack Sinclair, a former friend of Wade’s and a bounty hunter. After Wade defeats him in a jousting match, he takes the hat and gives it to Knuckles. He only wears it a couple of times in the show itself, but this is a reference to his appearance in the 1996 animated movie, in which he wore a cowboy hat adorned with star-clad medals in the front. Will he wear it again in Sonic the Hedgehog 3? It’s a good look, honestly. Let him keep it, Paramount.
Those are a handful of standout easter eggs for Sonic fans, but it was surprising how most of the references didn’t amount to much in terms of building the live-action universe. At least, not in a way that makes the series seem like a crucial piece of foundation for the third movie premiering on December 20. Where was the Rouge the Bat post-credits scene, y’all? If this forthcoming movie is going to take a lot from Sonic Adventure 2, you gotta have the full Dark team.
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