syntheticgerbil Posted November 17, 2014 Knuckle's new design reminds me of old cartoons where characters would blow into their thumb and inflate themselves. I'm so glad the podcast cut off right before I had to hear about 1989, Max Martin and Shellback's next new foray into the pop puppet show. Also everyone knows that Knuckles is Sonic's friendly Nemsis: I don't think you can really consider anything in the Sonic games as exuding personality until they got the terrible writing and voice acting in the Dreamcast era. Before it was whatever you could glean from the attitude on the title screens. The cartoons, comics, and chapter books were all SoA marketing junk, and I get the feeling the manuals were still of the era when someone in the United States wrote a bunch of shit off the top of their head. I suppose there was that Sonic OVA. It wasn't half bad from what I remember. Knuckles was only ever friendly in that. There was also voice acting in the SegaSonic arcade trackball fun time machine, but Knuckles wasn't in that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cleinhun Posted November 17, 2014 Initial designs for sonic in sonic boom: It looks kinda like the Scout from TF2, doesn't it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tegan Posted November 17, 2014 I fucking love that Ken Penders (on the comic cover in syntheticgerbil's post) is the ur-Deviantart Sonic fan. He is that fucking person, given creative control of a surprisingly long-lived branch of the franchise. He's tried (unsuccessfully) to wrestle the rights to his original characters, which include memorable roles like "Knuckles in a hat" and "Knuckles in a different hat," back from Archie Comics so that he could write his own sci-fi epic about members of an alien race called the Echyd’nya. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainFish Posted November 17, 2014 Hmm, weirdly I have a way more negative reaction to Knuckles being dumb than him looking weird even though it fits into his character just as much as being more physically imposing than Sonic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problem Machine Posted November 18, 2014 Paired with the resemblance to dreadlocks it carries some, uh, unfortunate implications Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted November 18, 2014 Hahaha, whyyyyyy?!!!! I suppose that is canon, he did do that in the cartoon that old Sonic Team "supervised." I don't even think the original Knuckles is supposed to have dreadlocks even! It's just their stylized echidna quills on top of Felix the Cat the same way Sonic has stylized hedgehog quills also on top of Felix the Cat. The transition from Knuckles to just another doppleganger style character to this rap music bad ass dude in Sonic Adventure is really jarring on retrospect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
namman siggins Posted November 18, 2014 Well, I got an exclusive look at the next Sonic design Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CollegeBaby Posted November 18, 2014 ^Looks like the lead character artist on Dot Gobbler is still getting work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainFish Posted November 18, 2014 Hahaha, whyyyyyy?!!!! I suppose that is canon, he did do that in the cartoon that old Sonic Team "supervised." I don't even think the original Knuckles is supposed to have dreadlocks even! It's just their stylized echidna quills on top of Felix the Cat the same way Sonic has stylized hedgehog quills also on top of Felix the Cat. The transition from Knuckles to just another doppleganger style character to this rap music bad ass dude in Sonic Adventure is really jarring on retrospect. SA 1 also retconned him to prefer flexing his muscles over chuckling. Knuckles fucking loved to chuckle! Just look at him! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Korax Posted November 18, 2014 I fucking love that Ken Penders (on the comic cover in syntheticgerbil's post) is the ur-Deviantart Sonic fan. He is that fucking person, given creative control of a surprisingly long-lived branch of the franchise. He's tried (unsuccessfully) to wrestle the rights to his original characters, which include memorable roles like "Knuckles in a hat" and "Knuckles in a different hat," back from Archie Comics so that he could write his own sci-fi epic about members of an alien race called the Echyd’nya. DAMMIT, KNUCKLES IN A DIFFERENT HAT IS MY OC, MY "DO NOT STEAL" SCREED WAS VERY CLEAR ABOUT THAT Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted November 18, 2014 SA 1 also retconned him to prefer flexing his muscles over chuckling. Knuckles fucking loved to chuckle! Just look at him! He also says unlike Sonic he doesn't chuckle. I don't recall Sonic chuckling either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BusbyBerkeley Posted November 18, 2014 So GTA 5 first person mode has animations for boning prostitutes you pick up. Yeeeeeesh. Its really gross and has tipped me firmly into the pass camp on this one. Video games! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Smart Jason Posted November 18, 2014 Paired with the resemblance to dreadlocks it carries some, uh, unfortunate implications This is actually some problematic stuff for me. Sonic's weird canon makes Knuckles a descendant of an ancient tribal race and he is notoriously designated for having (awesome) hip hop character themes (and level themes in Sonic Adventure 2), so transforming him into a comic relief goofball is not just some move you can make indelicately. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sclpls Posted November 19, 2014 So GTA 5 first person mode has animations for boning prostitutes you pick up. Yeeeeeesh. Its really gross and has tipped me firmly into the pass camp on this one. Video games! Yeah I don't get the excitement. Like, all the not not good stuff about GTA is still in the game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted November 19, 2014 This is actually some problematic stuff for me. Sonic's weird canon makes Knuckles a descendant of an ancient tribal race and he is notoriously designated for having (awesome) hip hop character themes (and level themes in Sonic Adventure 2), so transforming him into a comic relief goofball is not just some move you can make indelicately. Well I guess he was a cowboy or a Crocodile Dundee type at some point. Now unlike Sonic he doesn't chuckle and Rouge is sexy as hell. (Bat tits) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainFish Posted November 19, 2014 I dunno that the Knuckles lore from the Adventure games matters anymore. Since Unleashed, which was the first turn back from the overdramatic writing to more cartoony stuff, the world has kind of just changed to accomodate whatever was going on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RubixsQube Posted November 25, 2014 I'm very sorry, everyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apple Cider Posted December 1, 2014 I drew this when I listened to the episode, no references used whatsoever other than what Jake described: I am sorry the quality, but I was at work and only had my pen and sticky notes. I promise I'm a way better artist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikemariano Posted December 1, 2014 I drew this when I listened to the episode, no references used whatsoever other than what Jake described: Quick, put an umlaut over the u or something and make him an OC! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dewar Posted December 1, 2014 That's a pretty accurate drawing based on just what you heard on the podcast. The bottom of the chip just needs to be a little more pointy I can't draw, but what impresses me is the ability to picture what others are saying like that. My imagination tends to be in text I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikemariano Posted December 1, 2014 Meanwhile, I get Billy Joel's "Captain Jack" stuck in my head whenever Captain Toad is mentioned. I wondered if I was the only one who thought this. SPOILER: I was. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apple Cider Posted December 3, 2014 That's a pretty accurate drawing based on just what you heard on the podcast. The bottom of the chip just needs to be a little more pointy I can't draw, but what impresses me is the ability to picture what others are saying like that. My imagination tends to be in text I guess. The downside to this ability is that I am always constantly visualizing things, even if they are terrible or graphically awful. Like turns of phrases! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites