Knuckles Is Black And We Knew It All Along
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie series helped confirm a fan-favorite character theory
I had mixed feelings when I first saw the Ugandan Knuckles video. Over the years, Knuckles has been the prime target for Sonic-related jokes. Ever since his original appearance in 1994’s Sonic 3 & Knuckles, he’s increasingly had his IQ questioned, often portrayed as a comic relief character who never really got the full grasp of the game’s dire situations. 2014’s Sonic Boom went even further in terms of embracing his idiocy, turning him from the mischievous anti-hero into a musclebound, dumb (if well-meaning) jock.
Ugandan Knuckles embraces the series’ mockery of the character while taking things a touch too far. For no other reason than laughs, Knuckles is given a phony, vaguely African accent to top off the joke. The meme shifts the joke from the character himself, unnecessarily dissing a country of 44 million people.
But right next to the video’s mildly racist undertones is the glaring admission of something we’ve known all along: Knuckles is Black.
Paramount confirmed this fact of life on August 10, when they announced Idris Elba would be voicing the Red Echidna in the 2022 film Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
It’s less of a surprise that Knuckles is Black than it is that Hollywood cast him as such. Video gamers, despite the industry’s revenue generation and increasingly mainstream presence, are often tossed to the fringes of media culture. Internet memes rarely get a chance to radiate in the Hollywood sun, reserved to the darkest, dankest corners of the internet.
While Knuckles being Black is part meme, it is, more importantly, truth. His shoes seemingly refer to the flag of Jamaica (he was originally planned to have a Jamaican accent), and his spines, which hang low down his back, are identifiably styled locks.
His video game source material further played up Knuckles’ identification. Sonic Adventure gave Knuckles the character rap song Unknown from M.E.; it’s boom bap raps sat in stark contrast to the game’s predominant rock and punk sounds.
Knuckles’ role as guardian of the Master Emerald further skewed his portrayal towards Blackness. Unlike Sonic, Tails, and even Amy, Knuckles led a largely sequestered lifestyle. He was never an outcast, rather, an “other’’ who clearly had a different background and upbringing than many of the series’ characters.
Despite the Sonic series and community largely being devoid of overt racial issues, giving Knuckles a Black voice actor feels like a win. I grew up watching shows and playing games without feeling slighted by the lack of Black representation — it just seemed like the way things were. The occasional Black character that would pop up — Barret in Final Fantasy VII, Balrog in Street Fighter, CJ in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas — were more stereotypes than authentic representations (although Barret’s voice portrayal in Final Fantasy VII: Remake redeems him as one of my favorite Black protagonists ever).
I’d sometimes find solace in a more nuanced Black character like Sazh Katzroy in Final Fantasy XIII or Miles Morales from Spider-Man, both of whom are identifiably Black without their race being the primary means of their characterization.
Elba’s casting as Knuckles is a step in the latter direction. For most it’ll be nothing more than a fun piece of trivia. But for some, it’s a reminder of something we knew all along.
