S&K storyline

Well, judging from Sonic's ending, you would suppose that Knuckles' story takes place after Sonic's, because after the credits you are treated with a screen showing a pile of broken Eggrobo parts (supposedly the ones Sonic fought in the Sky Sanctuary Zone) and a functional Eggrobo rising from the debris. One would suppose that that very same robot is the one that then bombs Knuckles in the Mushroom Hill Zone, and sets the stage for his story.
Additionally, when playing as Sonic, there are small occurances that differ from Knuckles' story. In Sonic's version of Lava Reef and Hidden Palace, the Death Egg can be seen stuck in the volcano's crater, while is is missing in Knuckles' version of the stage. In Sky Sanctuary, you see the Death Egg rising as Sonic, and Angel Island is on the ground because the Death Egg is carrying the Master Emerald. In Knux's story, Angel Island is clearly floating just as Sonic and Tails left it, and the Death Egg is nowhere in sight. Another aspect would be Mecha Sonic - in Sonic's storyline, you see it falling down the bottom of the screen as a whole, possibly maintaining functionality once he reached the floor. This would make sense with Knuckles' version of the stage, where Mecha Sonic awaits you in the Sky Sanctuary, and this time you can actually see it "blow up".
If you were to add Sonic 3's part to the mix, you'd have to notice that the water levels in Knuckles's story are much lower than in Sonic's. This could be easily explained if you were to admit that Angel Island is back in the air. The background of Angel Island would also confirm this, as in Sonic's game you can see the ocean in the back and with Knuckles you can't.

So, I'd suppose Knuckles's story takes place after Sonic's.

And I think you meant FBZ2, not WFZ2 =P

 

I've always seen it as this. According to the official story behind Knuckles, he is tricked by Eggman into thinking Sonic is a bad guy. It would seem rather dumb for Eggman to attack Knuckles, right?

However, after stealing the Master Emerald... Maybe Knuckles thought he was hot on Eggman's tail when he went to Sky sanctuary, yet found Egg Robo in place. If you fought Eggman, good bye to him, as he;d be split in half. Unless you had a different boss or different way of fighting the boss...

 

Maybe from act 2 and HPZ, but not act 1:


=P

But anyway, Neo Chaotikal pretty much nailed dead-on.

 

Didn't know about that goof they made. Guess that goes alongside with the FBZ2 Eggman sprite, then. Thanks for enlighting me, Rob ^_~

 

I always thought the Robotnik appearance was made in FBZ because Knuckles caught him by surprise (he does sneak aboard). Then of course there is the Robotnik in Knuckles' Mushroom Hill glitch...

 

I always (somehow) figured the two story lines were alternates, where one could replace the other.

But then eggrobo replacing robotnik makes no sense...

I always attributed Knuckles bosses being harder to Rbotnik being replaced with some kind of Mecha Robotnik.

Yeah... worst mecha idea ever.

 

I always saw Knuckles' game to be taking place slightly after Sonic's, and attributed the bosses being harder to Robotnik having learned from his mistakes with Sonic (that and Knuckles' shorter jumps). Your Eggrobo theory fits in with mine, though.

 

I always thought Knuckles' story didn't really need an explanation... A malfunctioning Eggrobo arises from a pile of destroyed robots and thinks he's the real Eggman, then starts causing mischief where Knuckles happens to be just as Eggman would.

 

when I was little, I always thought Robotnik sends the Eggrobo to fight Knuckles so that Knuckles does not know that Robotnik is the one causing trouble. (presumably, Knuckles thinks the Eggrobo is working for Sonic.

I also thought that both the stories occurred simultaneously.

That was a long time ago, and I was little......


No matter how you look at it, it is impossible for both the stories to happen. So I am going to have to agree with Hivebrain. :P

 

This was one of the things I pondered as I played S3&K. The official storyline is, of course, that Knuckles was tricked by Eggman into attacking Sonic. This storyline is shattered when you play as Knux - you are Eggman's enemy from the start. For a while I thought that Eggman was sending his EggRobos to deal with Knuckes while he took care of Sonic... but, if Knux was battling EggRobos while Sonic was fighting Robotnik, then he wouldn't have the opportunity to jump out of nowhere next to a conveniently placed switch/button (like he does I believe once every zone) and... do whatever to Sonic. Plus there's the fact that Eggman, being the brilliant scientist that he is, wouldn't attack his own ally. Which brings me to another point - Knuckles seems like an absolute moron. Eggman successfully tricked him into believing he was a friend... all while sending armies of badniks to swarm the Island, effectively taking it over. And building some kinda launch base. And burning down Angel Island. I mean, if I wanted to convince you that I was your friend, the perfect way would be to send my armies to occupy your homeland, build a base there, and perhaps burn down a forest or two. You'd never realize my true intentions! :D

Another theory might be that Knuckles' storyline takes place shortly after Sonic's. But if that were the case... AIZ would be in flames (or just burnt down, since the flames most likely died off), MGZ (or at least Act 2 of it) would be devastated by Eggman's drill-o-matic whatever-machine... and probably other things. And wouldn't Eggman have already been defeated by Sonic?

My theory (however stupid it may sound) is that Knux's storyline is in an alternate timeline, where perhaps Sonic and Tails did not arrive on the Floating Island (for whatever reason), and Eggman would have no need to trick Knux, since Eggman could take care of the echidna himself... Actually, suppose that Eggman saw no need to waste his time with Knux, and instead sent out his EggRobos while he worked on repairing his crashed Death Egg.

Wow, that did seem sort of like fan fiction. o_O I don't think this stuff was supposed to be analyzed that closely.

 

Well, large portions of Knuckles' AIZ are underground, so surface damage is less noticeable. As for MGZ, I think it was more than the boss machine causing the damage... perhaps the ancient ruins have some degree of shiftability?

As for Knuckles' story's timeline, I imagine it would have to take place right after Sonic's SSZ begins. Past that, I won't speculate. At least not here.

 

...But you see that in Sonic's good ending the floating island starts to float over the water, which makes sense for Angel Islands change in the background, as the water is no more. And also, there's that rising Eggrobo scene.

 

I just played Knux's AIZ Act 1 on my gens+ emulator, and it seemed identical in every respect to Sonic's AIZ1, up to the mini boss.

Having now thought it over, I think they just wanted the option to play as Knux. I don't think it was intended to be related to the storyline in any way.

 

Take a better look at it. You can't see the sea in the background anymore, and there's no underwater parts as well (since the island is supposed to be floating on air now).

 

Y'know, I never noticed that before. I should probably pay more attention in the future.

 

I see it as this:

Both Sonic and Knuckles stories happen around the same time, and Robotnik simply made an Eggrobo to delay Knuckles and prevent him from catching Robotnik causing problems on the island. Then, somewhere between Lava Reef Act 2 and Hidden Palace, Sonic and Knuckles fight and end up catching Robotnik stealing the Master Emerald. Robotnik gets away so Knuckles takes Sonic to the Sky Sactuary zone and makes sends Sonic on his way to the newly launched Death Egg. Sonic takes care of Robotnik in the Doomsday Zone and gives the Master Emerald back. However, the Eggrobo Robotnik created to delay Knuckles is still around and takes the Emerald up to the Sky Sanctuary, where he repairs Mecha Sonic. Knuckles see's this and transports himself to Sky Sanctuary again and Knuckles' final fight begins. Once Mecha Sonic is defeated, Knuckles falls to his death, but is rescued by Sonic, who happens to still be in the area after taking out Robotnik.

Then they all live happily ever after until Shadow arrives and fills them full of emo and angst.

 

Nobody's mentioned the ghosts in Sandopolis 2 yet? I'm disappointed.

 

Isn't the death egg out of the background in Launch Base Zone too?

EDIT: oh and yeah doesn't it happen when you die while fighting the boss on MHZ act 2?