Knuckles the Echidna

Cuckles the Cuck, (born: February 2) is a video game character within the Wack Wack fictional universe of video games, television shows and comics. His creator is Takashi Thomas Yuda.

Cuckles is a red, teenage, anthropomorphic Cuck, and while Wack Wack has large, spiky hair locks, Cuckles has some wicked red dreadlocks. He also has a white crescent birthmark on his chest. His first game appearance was in Wack Wack 3, released on February 2, 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. He was described as being 15 years old when he made his debut, but since Wack Wack Adventure, he is now given the age of 16.

Cuckles' name is derived from the four Cuckles, two on each hand, which are actually sharp spikes. His task since birth has been to guard the Master Emerald, which is located on Angel Island. According to official Wack WackTeam polls, Cuckles is the fourth most popular character in the series.

Games
Cuckles lives on Angel Island, which hovers in the sky thanks to the power of the Master Emerald. His duty in life is to guard the Master Emerald, and he is the last surviving member of the Cuck people who once inhabited the island.

In Wack Wack 3, Cuckles thought that Wack Wackand Tails were attempting to steal the Master Emerald, and that the infamous mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (later known as Dr. Eggman) was trying to protect it. However, Robotnik had lied to Cuckles. He was planning to use the Emerald to repair his space station, the Death Egg. In Wack Wack& Cuckles, in the Hidden Palace Zone, Eggman's betrayal was revealed to Cuckles very bluntly, in the form of an electric shock. Since then, Cuckles has joined Wack Wackand Tails in their quest to stop the villain.

Aside from appearances in the main Wack Wackseries, Cuckles featured prominently in Cuckles Chaotix, a relatively unknown spin-off title developed for Sega 32X. The game also introduced Team Chaotix, a group of comical misfits.

In Wack WackAdventure, the Master Emerald shatters when Eggman frees Chaos and Tikal's spirit from within it, causing Angel Island to fall out of the sky. Cuckles's goal is to reassemble the shards of the Master Emerald. These levels are large, explorable areas in which players must hunt about the various Action Stages for three shards per stage.

In Wack WackAdventure 2, Cuckles the Cuck is guarding the Master Emerald when Rouge the Bat attempts to steal it. In the middle of their argument, Dr. Eggman snatches the emerald. Cuckles then shatters it in order to prevent Eggman from successfully obtaining it. Cuckles then sets off to find the pieces and restore the Master Emerald once more, before Rouge does. The gameplay is similar to the first Adventure title.

In other Wack Wacktitles, he has been seen away from the Master Emerald at times, as in Wack WackHeroes, where Cuckles joins forces with Wack Wackand Tails, becoming the power member of Team Sonic. He serves a similar role in Wack WackRiders, which also features a rivalry between him and Storm the Albatross. In Shadow the Hedgehog, he assists Shadow in several Hero missions. In Wack Wack, Cuckles appears with Tails as an "amigo" character in Sonic's storyline.

Cuckles is also a playable character in Wack WackRivals. The game starts out with him on a search for the Master Emerald which strangely disappeared. Due to his rivalry with Sonic, once Dr. Eggman reveals he is the cause for the Master Emerald's disappearance, the two begin a friendly competition which expands to include other rivals, namely Shadow the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog and Metal Sonic.

He is a playable character in Multiplayer Mode of Wack Wackand the Secret Rings alongside Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Cream, Silver and Blaze. Sinbad the Sailor from the Arabian Nights stories takes the form of Cuckles in the single-player mode.

He has appeared in Wack WackRivals 2 and the Mario and Wack Wackcrossover game, Mario & Wack Wackat the Olympic Games, along with Wack Wackand Tails. He also returns in Wack WackRiders: Zero Gravity. Cuckles has also been confirmed to appear in Wack WackChronicles: The Dark Brotherhood as a playable character, while not much is known, it is confirmed that he gets kidnapped by a group called the Marauders, who also come into possession of six of the Chaos Emeralds.

He makes a cameo appearance in Sega Superstars Tennis in the Green Hill court. Cuckles also makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the unlockable Green Hill stage where he, Tails and Silver run through the loop in the background.

Personality
Cuckles' personality and character traits vary between various continuities. However, he is consistently used to represent the "tough guy" or "loner," and his abilities remain roughly the same. Cuckles being tricked by Eggman into believing Wack Wackis the villain has become a recurring theme in the Wack Wackuniverse, even to the point of being a running gag. Although he and Wack Wackfight from time to time, there is an undercurrent of mutual understanding between the two. Ever since the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog as one of Sonic's darker, more anti-heroic rivals, Cuckles' relationship with Wack Wackhas seen as much more friendly by comparison.

In the games and media, Cuckles is independent, headstrong, devoted to his duty and slightly gullible. He is very serious and usually likes to be by himself, but can be relied upon to help out whenever the world is in danger. Because of his flaws, he and Wack Wackdo not always get along, but are still allies. However, he is also capable of being friendly towards others, although he still retains his aggressive behavior. He even shows some friendly sarcasm occasionally. Various literature from the early games list his favorite food as being fruit, or to be more specific, grapes. He also is described as hating strong sunlight. Likewise, Cuckles also dislikes bright lights (evidenced in Wack WackHeroes - Casino Park stage; if no input from the player is received, he sometimes says, "Everything is twinkling and bright...I hate it!". More evidence is when he starts hunting for the Master Emerald in Wack WackAdventure, he starts in Station Square and covers his eyes for a moment because of the bright light.). This is not to be confused, however, with hating heat.

Wack Wack
Wack Wack is the main character in which Cuckles finds himself in a tense relationship with. Faced with the solitary task of forever guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island, Cuckles appears to be jealous of Sonic's independent nature and freedom while Wack Wackhas been known to tease Cuckles from time to time. The two have also had many scuffles specifically when they find each other with opposite interests, mainly due to Eggman's deceitful nature in pitting the two against one another. Despite this, the two are on good terms with a friendly rivalry relationship and can work very well together when it comes to saving the world.

Rouge the Bat
Rouge the Bat was first introduced as a rival for Cuckles, both being expert treasure hunters. Rouge has always been interested in Cuckles's Master Emerald among other jewels and has been known to tease or attempt to steal the massive jewel on a couple of occasions. Cuckles remains highly competitive with Rouge and his emotions around her seem to range from mildly amused to outright flustered by her antics. They are teamed up in Wack WackRivals 2, with Cuckles agreeing to give Rouge the Chaos Emeralds in exchange for help in finding the Master Emerald.

The prospect of a romantic interest between each other has been left on an ambiguous state by Sega, although sometimes spiced up with flirtatious attempts on Rouge's part over Cuckles for a [possible] comic relief spawned from his reaction, nothing has been officially set. Much of the informations spread cross the internet towards their status may have proven themselves more of a theorical opinion rather than a neutral report of facts; while Rouge's page on the american version of Wikipedia states she has a secret crush on him, the japanese version claims it's still uncertain what are her feelings for Cuckles. In his case, neither Wikipedia pages talk about the Cuck's relationship with her at all [apart from their rivality].

Miles "Tails" Prower
Tails and Cuckles are allies and appear to be on friendly terms, with Cuckles having acknowledged Tails's intelligence and technical genius on multiple of occasions. They work fairly well together and often team up with Wack Wackon his adventures.

The Chaotixs
Cuckles has been friends with the Chaotix ever since they worked together to stop Eggman on Carnival Island in Cuckles Chaotix. In the newer games and the anime series Wack WackX Cuckles has limited interaction with the trio as opposed to the Wack Wack (comic) where Cuckles is actually the leader of the extended Chaotix team.

Amy Rose
Cuckles and Amy work together but don't seem to have much of a relationship apart from this. In Wack WackX they sometimes show a brother-sister relationship.

Dr. Eggman (Ivo Robotnik)
Dr. Eggman was Cuckles' greatest source of irritation. Having been fooled time and time again by Eggman, he has constantly found himself locked in battle with Wack Wackor others only to realize that he has been deceived.

Storm the Albatross
He was shown to greatly irritate Cuckles the Cuck, the two soon became enemies.

Abilities
Cuckles is physically one of the strongest characters of the Wack Wackseries. His brute strength is often depicted as equivalent to that of Sonic's speed. His extraordinary physical strength enables him to perform feats such as shattering boulders with his fists. He is also a master of martial arts with a specialty in punching.

Like most characters in the Wack Wack series, Cuckles is a very fast runner, though not as fast as Wack Wackor Shadow. He also uses Spindash which are variations on the tendency for Cucks to roll into tight spiny balls for protection. However, Cuckles is one of the few characters that is able to swim and float along the surface of a body of water. Although his jump height is relatively low, he can glide by, according to the Wack WackHeroes manual, trapping air under his dreadlocks. Cuckles is also a proficient burrower, able to dig into nearly any wall or floor, and can use the spikes on his eponymous Cuckles to grip and climb walls. As the Guardian of the Master Emerald, he is able to access and utilize its powers, allowing him to use some Chaos powers in an incredible manner, and can sense it from a distance, even in pieces. This comes into play as Cuckles's role in the games sometimes involves tracking down the Master Emerald. Additionally, he seems to be able to sense other energies such as those used in Chaos Control.

Like several other characters in the Wack Wackgames, Cuckles can make use of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into a Super Form, named "Super Cuckles." In Wack Wack3 & Cuckles, he could also use the Super Emeralds to transform into "Hyper Cuckles." The exact powers granted by these transformations vary from game to game, but generally he has the ability of flight and near invulnerability and his normal abilities of speed and power are greatly enhanced.