I know some are aware of this...but I have a whole fan-fiction universe set around the gijinka versions of the Sonic characters. It spins out of the video game universe and there's actually a sort of time progression in it, so that like Sonic is not freakin' 15 years old forever. XD There's even a reason for the human-like forms...when Super Sonic clashed with Perfect Chaos (the events of "Sonic Adventure"), a powerful wave swept over the world, transforming all Anthros into humanoid forms. This was later dubbed "The Chaos Wave"...and was pretty important later on down the road in my fan-fics. After the events of "Sonic Adventure 2", "Sonic Heroes" and such...an approximate time of 3 years since the Chaos Wave had passed. Knuckles had gotten together with Shadow...Mighty had returned from his years long journey around the world (my explanation for his absence)--up to about 7 years passed in the course of my fan-fics.

One of the things I revealed was a theory I thought of...based on Knuckles' monologues from the original SA game (where Knuckles says he's "always been alone", he can "remember no parents or others" there was "only the Master Emerald" for as long as he could remember). What if Knuckles was pretty much like the original Chaos? What if Knuckles was created by the Master Emerald to serve in Chaos' absence--as its Guardian? So...Knuckles feels an empathy with Shadow, who was created by science and not "born naturally"...because he thinks of himself as a "golem", a being created for a single purpose--so much of my fan-fics has Knuckles learning to compromise between a life surrounded by others and his original purpose of guarding the Master Emerald. His personal wants versus his original design purpose. Also, in the revelation of Knuckles being a "golem"...he comes to realize he may be much older than what people say he is (16 as of the original "Sonic 3" and "Sonic Adventure" games, officially in his biography data). It's what I think, anyways...I've thought this ever since I played the original "Sonic Adventure"--that the Master Emerald created Knuckles partly on its previous Guardian (Chaos...who had unique strength and skills) and the Echidna female (Tikal) who trapped her soul as well as Chaos', inside the Master Emerald. :)

Knuckles the Echidna belongs to Sega, this human-form design is my own. :)