Sonic Canon Part 1 - April 11, 2003
Submitted by: Crazy Penguin
Subject: What Was Canon And Is No Longer Canon

Sonic HQ, one of the most popular Sonic sites on the internet. The community is very large (which has both it's advantages and disadvantages), and then there are people that don't really bother with the message board but still like to contribute to the site, yet this, the editorial section, one of my favourite bits of the site, has been dead for nearly 3 years now. It's not like there hasn't been plenty to talk about since then - infact there's been loads, and very soon there will be even more to write about what with the upcoming new games and Sonic X (which has had it's first episode aired in Japan already). I hope that this editorial will inspire others to make full write ups on whatever Sonic issues may be on their minds and make use of what is possibly the most undeservedly neglected part of Sonic HQ.

So don't complain about this being poorly written. =P

Now that I've got that out of the way though, onto the REAL topic. And today that topic is (as you may have guessed by now the the title) the canon continuity and changes made to it as time has passed. What was canon, and what is no longer canon. Some opinions you may not agree with, others you may wonder why you never though of before, but it's all part of the fun to get a few rebuttals.

To start this off we'll have a look at the main series. The games that we are 100% sure do count.

1: Sonic the Hedgehog
2: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
3: Sonic CD
4: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
5: Sonic Adventure
6: Sonic Adventure 2

They are the absolute certainties. The core and basis of all things Sonic. For the sake of the topic in hand Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles shall be treated as one game, Sonic 3 & Knuckles (yes, the game you get with the lock-on feature). Now we know that all of those games count, but there are certain inconsistencies and changes that have been made through the years. Let's look at the stories of each game (as well as a few other tidbits of Sonic information from STI and Sonic Team) and bit by bit strip away and ponder plot points that have been changed/contradicted.

First up is Sonic the Hedgehog.

The malevolent gifted scientist, Dr. Eggman, prepares his bad intentions again: " Sonic... This impertinent, this contrary hedgehog; he hopes that my bigger projects are always annihilated. But this time, my strength that resides in my intellect will crush him! Ha ha ha ha..."

South Island is a treasure of jewels and ruins, including the "Chaos Emeralds" that sleep buried somewhere within the island. These stones deal to all life a terrific energy. New techniques basing themselves on nuclear weapons and laser radii are then possible. But, they are not necessary should these stones fall between bad hands that don't understand their power. Also, since South Island is an island with a circular movement, the island started forming a interdimensional torsion in which the Chaos Emeralds wander.

One day, something horrible presented himself on the island. Dr. Eggman and his army set foot there. "Ha ha!. Even though it is necessary to transport every particle of this island, I will have the Chaos Emeralds!!. Then, Dr. Eggman undertook the development of an enormous fortress in an angle of the island.

"Eggman, not again him?!!! Hearing rumors circulating on South Island, Sonic ran. Dr. Eggman thinks that Sonic is his deadly enemy, but Sonic does not really account of his adversary. However when Sonic arrived on South Island, a strange spectacle was held before Sonic. "Look Sonic, this time the situation is totally different! ALL the animals of the island have been transformed into robots!" "E... everybody!" "These individuals act henceforth under my unique control. In short, all the island is now your enemy! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha.. This time, the whole world will be mine!"

Difficult! But go for it!
As Sonic the Hedgehog, everybody waits for your help.

One of the more controversial topics in continuity discussion is the Chaos Emeralds' involvement in Sonic 1's story. It tells that the 6 Chaos Emeralds were on South Island. However in the follow up canon games there have always been 7 Chaos Emeralds. Not too much of a problem really, that can be dismissed with the idea that perhaps Sonic and/or Eggman didn't know about the 7th Chaos Emerald, or that it wasn't on South Island with the others, or you could simply pretend that there were 7 Chaos Emeralds in the game.

The bigger problem however is what the Chaos Emeralds are doing on South Island when (as you will soon see) both the Sonic 2 storyline and STI's Sonic tech files say that the Chaos Emeralds were sealed away on West Side Island many years ago. Infact the STI tech files mentions South Island, but do not relate the Chaos Emeralds to it like it does West Side Island and Angel Island.

Here's my theory on the matter, one that I think works quite well infact. The Chaos Emeralds were sealed away in another dimension whilst they were on West Side Island. This dimension can be accessed via West Side Island's Star Posts, and also by South Island's Super Rings caused by South Island's movement in the ocean, and thus Dr. Eggman travelled to South Island for his first attempt to capture the emeralds. At the end of Sonic 1 the emeralds are warped back into the other dimension.

Remember, the Sonic 1 story only said that the Chaos Emeralds were in another dimension that can be accessed from South Island.

Next up is Sonic CD. Yep, you read right, Sonic CD. You simply cannot have a Sonic game inbetween the events of Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. It also makes more sense to place it before Sonic 2 as opposed to after Sonic 3 & Knuckles because both Sonic 2 and Sonic CD were being developed at the same time, there is also reason to believe that Sonic CD actually began development before Sonic 2 did. Add that with the fact that Sonic CD was released later than originally planned (with the possibility that one of the reasons was to distance it from Sonic 2's release) and I think you can see why it is commonly accepted that Sonic CD takes places before Sonic 2. Now without further ado...

A small and beautiful star, Little Planet. This star appears over a huge lake, called Never Lake, for only one month of the entire year.

The star, which was also called the Planet of Miracles, was a place where the wonderful "Time Stones", that commanded Time, lay dormant.

An event in which the Time Stones caused a miracle to occur, was when it would transform the polluted water, and the surrounding desert around it, into a beautiful lake.

The evil scientist, Dr. Eggman, kept a close watch on it.
"The star, Little Planet, where the Time Stones sleep, is suitable for my fortress!"

Little Planet was soon chained over Never Lake, and he began to build a huge fortress. After finding all of the Time Stones, time flowed freely, and he set forth to attain his world conquest.

Although Sonic, who knew nothing of this plan, was on his way to Never Lake to watch the planet.

"What? Sonic? Coming here? How convenient."

Dr. Eggman heard of of his coming, and had a sparkle in his eye as he wore a fearless smile.

Sonic ran up, and saw the Little Planet attached by a chain, to a rock, and became very upset. He looked at the rock, and saw Dr. Eggman's face, inevitably, in the slope.

"That's Eggman!"

"This time, I will destroy what stops my plans..! And, with the Time Stones, I can conquer the world! Ho, Ho, Ho."

A blue sparkle of light, waited, hidden among the shadows behind Dr. Eggman as he laughed loudly.

Although it was Sonic who had destroyed Dr. Eggman's ambitions easily, can the Little Planet be freed?

"OK! As long as I have courage, I can do anything!"

No problems there at all, unless you want to be REALLY picky about the fact that Sonic Adventure showed Sonic carrying Amy and being chased by Metal Sonic, which wasn't strictly seen in the game. Onwards to Sonic CD's character profiles....

Cast

Rosie the Rascal
Real Name / Amy Rose
Gender / Female Age / 8
Personality / Energetic tomboy. Talent Weather (*)
Specialty? / Card Reading - Dousing (*)

A bright, energetic girl who likes fortunes and mystic things. She came to the Little Planet by "the order of the cards," but there she has a "destined" encounter with Sonic. And then...

(*) - Uncertain translation

Doctor Eggman

An evil genius scientist. This time, his target is the Time Stones, and then he plans to conquer the world. In order to counter his rival, Sonic, he has constructed a robot just like him.

--

Metal Sonic

MAIN CPU:
LIPS AI EGGMAN Custom Chip (In Head 3 Basic loading)
Fuzzy Interaction System Logical Operation
Imitation Neuro-Connection between sections

SUB CPU:
Power Control - Neo Super FX DSP Chip (In body section 5 Basic loading)
Image Revision - Next Risk chipset III (In Eye-unit 8 basic loading * RGB distinction)

FRAME:
Monocock Titanium

COLOUR COATING:
Reinforced Blue Metal Tectite

MAIN ENGINE:
250cc 4 Prong Orugon Fusion Engin
Max Power 55ps/6800rpm
Max Torque 7.54Kg-m/4000rpm

SECONDARY ENGINE:
Tesla Power Coil Electromagnetic Induction Energy output
Max Power 256 Kw

Total Height: 765.4 mm
Dry Weight: 125.2 kg

The ultimate robot built by Eggman. His abilities are the same as Sonic's, and what's more, he can put out speeds faster than Sonic in an instant. Aligned with Eggman's intentions, he regards Sonic as an enemy.

Although the Sonic CD profiles state that Amy Rose is 8 years old, every official source since Sonic Adventure says that she is 12 years old. No significant amount of time has passed between Sonic 1 and Sonic Adventure 2. Her age in the Sonic CD profile should be ignored. 12 is now the canon age. Also Metal Sonic's height is listed as 765.4 mm whereas more recently Sonic's height has been listed as 100 cm. Sonic and Metal Sonic are supposed to be about the same height.

Now on to Sonic 2.

Sonic the Hedgehog is always searching for new adventure in his life. Today, luck was on his side; Sonic discovered a beautiful lush island, rich with greenery and pleasing to the senses.
"All right!" Sonic thought to himself. "I'll rest here for a while." The white smoke escaping from Sonic's plane "the Tornado" drew a long arch in the sky, its shadow stretching out over the length of the island.

The legend of West Side Island, the Island of Illusion, tells that many years ago, a people here based the development of their civilization on a collection of strange stones, and employed their greatest philosophers to theorize on the true power of these stones. In order to gain these powers, some attempted to channel the energy of the stones for their own evil intents. These attempts, however, came to naught. Since, the legends tell that the stones have been sealed by the gods somewhere on this island.

Some days passed since Sonic landed on the island. One day, while Sonic explored a region of the island, he noticed that he was being watched by someone behind him. He turned around and saw that a small fox had been secretly following him. Seeing Sonic's face, the startled fox shyly hid in the shade of a coconut tree. Ignoring the fox, Sonic began to run, but the fox, seeing him leaving, started running after him with all his strength. Seeing the determination on its face, Sonic changed his mind about the little fox. "I may as well let him follow me," he said to himself, and stopped running. He decided to make friends with the young fox.

Miles Prower was a small fox, who sported two bushy tails instead of one. For this reason, the animals of West Side Island nicknamed him "Tails". Miles was happy with his life, but after meeting Sonic his view changed. He made a decision to improve his skills, and so he began to hang around Sonic all day long.

One early afternoon, Miles discovered a superb plane resting on the beach; he rushed to get a closer look at it. The curving outline of the plane's sleek, streamlined body impressed him. It was just the kind of vehicle Miles liked. He strolled towards the front of the plane, admiring its impressive fuselage. He stopped as he saw Sonic asleep in the cockpit. He quickly scampered back to the rear, hoping not to wake him.

Suddenly, Miles saw a brief flash of light coming from the direction of the nearby woods. Without any further warning, rumbling explosions and columns of flame rose above the trees, scattering stones, leaves and branches in all directions. Miles watched in terror as the spectacle unfolded before his eyes. From within the burning red forest, an army of robots marched forth, cluttering the earth.

Miles watched, stunned, as the explosions continued. But even Miles in his fear did not realize the full scope of the situation. Sonic watched the burning forest with anger in his eyes. "Eggman..." Sonic breathed, remembering his arch-enemy with contempt. He jumped down onto the beach and gazed up at the wood beyond. Something was beginning. Having fainted for a few seconds, Miles collected himself and ran to catch up with Sonic.

"Da - Ha ha ha ha!!" The loud laughter echoed around the wood; Doctor Eggman was nearby.

"Finally, my plan is underway! The CHAOS EMERALDS sleep somewhere on West Side Island, the Island of Illusion, so it will be easy to expel my adversary Sonic! Soon, my supreme weapon, The Death Egg, will be launched into space. Just you wait, Sonic, this time, THIS time I will gather the Chaos Emeralds, and with their power I will defeat you! Thus, I, Dr. Eggman, shall become master of this world! Daa-HA HA HA!!"

No real problems there, however it does bring up the question of how Gerald Robotnik and the ARK crew were supposed to have studied the Chaos Emeralds if they were sealed away in the other dimension well over 50 years ago. Although having said that, perhaps they never actually had a Chaos Emerald in their possession, or if that explanation doesn't cut it for you then maybe they retrieved the Chaos Emeralds from the other dimension, but they were returned somehow.

And now on to the most controversial game when it comes to canon continuity discussion - Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

In his previous adventure, Sonic destroyed Dr. Eggman's base, the Death Egg; now the debris has started its fall to Earth. And right in the path of the falling base floats a giant cloud-like mass. The giant shadow of Death Egg hides the cloud... Towering mountains, a gigantic forest... the cloud is none other than the legendary floating island, suspended in the sky.

The Death Egg became a fireball and hit the floating island; mountains were destroyed, the forests decimated...

This disastrous event greatly alters the island's path, forcing it towards the Earth.

The island crashes into the sea surface. The impact creates a gigantic wave, but the island doesn't sink.
The floating island now sits on the sea surface as if nothing happened.

Many days pass...

On an island far from where the floating island hit the sea surface, Tails, a two-tailed fox, read a strong Chaos Emerald reaction on the Jewel Reader, a machine he has developed.

"Maybe this has something to do with that big wave I saw a few days ago..." he said.

Thinking there may be trouble, he decided to consult with Sonic.

At the same moment, while relaxing on the beach, Sonic found a small ring washed up on shore. Sonic looked at the ring carefully, and noticed some ancient characters carved on it.

The ring reminded Sonic of a legend he once heard about a "mystery island."

In an ancient time, the "mystery island" was part of the main continent. A people with an extraordinary culture inhabited it. That civilization had built a peaceful and happy society using the energy of something they called "The Mighty Stone". But at a certain point, a faction of dark-minded elders tried to steal the energy of the stone, and by accident made that energy explode.

The civilization was wiped out in a second, erased from history. Time passed, and a god descended from the sky to the newly created "mystery island". The sky god restored part of the civilization to the island, and threw the "Mighty Stone" into the open sky...

A ring washed up on the shore - the legend of the "mystery island" - Sonic, feeling his excitement build, made his preparations for another adventure.

Dr. Eggman, who managed to escape from the Death Egg before it fell, had heard that Chaos Emeralds are supposedly buried on the floating island. From the crevice created by the fall of the base, a massive presence of Chaos Emeralds is detected.

"If their energy could be utilized", Dr. Eggman thought, "the Death Egg may be able to fly into orbit again."

Dr. Eggman then quickly built a base on the floating island to harvest the Emeralds. He kidnapped animals and transformed them into robots, and changed the island's environment into a nightmare with his new Environment-Control Machine.

"Yes! Even if Sonic comes to the island, it will be too late! This time the Emeralds are mine!".

The actors and the stage are now ready; here starts Sonic the Hedgehog's newest adventure.

Now Sonic still has the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic 2, as can be seen at the beginning of the game, but this story doesn't mention that. Infact it makes out that there are some Chaos Emeralds on Angel Island, more on that later...

The legend thing fits in with Sonic Adventure very well, if you keep in mind that it's just a legend and God stuff didn't really happen (instead it was a rather nasty accident with Chaos aand the inbalance with the seperation of the emeralds). It should be noted though that in Sonic Adventure it was shown that the echidnas went after the Chaos Emeralds, not the Master Emerald (aka Mighty Stone).

Now the Knuckles' part of the story just goes to show how much was changed for Sonic Adventure.

That day, as he always seemed to, he was making his patrol around the alter on the island. Protecting the 7 Chaos Emeralds who sleep and control the power of the "Pillar" is the mission he has been charged with.

His name, Knuckles the Echidna. But to inhabitants of the island, he is an echidna called "Knuckle." Born and raised on the island, all of nature and the animals who live in it are his friends. And that which protects his friends is none other than the Chaos Emerald's crystaline "Pillar."

Suddenly something awoke.

Just as he was verifying that that not one Chaos Emerald was out of place, the Chaos Emerald right before his eyes rose and a strange vibration started.

Knuckles was confused by this phenomenon, which had never occurred before. In the blink of an eye, violent shaking occurred within the Chaos Emeralds. Then, as the shaking reached its climax, a "kiiiin" sound was heard along with a brilliant flash. The next thing Knuckles remembered was his own body, seeming to be lightly floating, and at that moment he was interrupted.

When Knuckles regained consciousness, he found his body thrown outside of the altar. He slowly got up, and what entered his eyes as he looked around was the Chaos Emerald altar--partially destroyed. In a flurry, Knuckles flew into the altar. However, in place of the emerald that should have been there, were fragments left of what had dissappeared...

In a daze, Knuckles left the altar. He gazed off into the distance, powerless... it seemed like a peculiar thing had appeared around the lake. The sight of the giant, round, egg-like body that Knuckles beheld sent a shiver down his spine.

"That big egg is the dragon in the legend's...."

That egg appeared in the legend depicted in the Chaos Emerald altar--there was no doubt that it was the egg which would bring disaster to the island.

Some days later, Knuckles was patrolling the altar of the island's seven Chaos Emeralds, but all traces of the Emeralds had vanished. While in his relentless investigation of the island, Knuckles encountered an unfamiliar man in the woods.

The man called himself Dr. Eggman, and already knew Knuckles was the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds. He said to Knuckles:

"I am a scientist who came here to stop (?) that egg. Uumu, since you are the Chaos Emeralds' guardian I knew I had to inform you. The truth is, there is an evil hedgehog named Sonic that has been interfering in my research, he is the one who has stolen this island's Chaos Emeralds."

"The Chaos Emeralds were stolen....!"

With Dr. Eggman's ingenius lies, Knuckles was very easily tricked. That is how Knuckles' challenge to Sonic was started.

Now this says that there is more than one "set" of emeralds, and that Angel Island has 7 Chaos Emeralds whilst Sonic still has the 7 Chaos Emeralds from Sonic 2. Now before I go on about that let's look at the prologue in the Sonic & Knuckles manual.

Dr. Eggman's large fortress, the Death Egg, was going to escape into space, but Sonic crashed his 'Egg into the ground again. As he escaped from the falling space station, Sonic was thrown down by the wind and into the "floating island", where huge mushrooms grow luxuriantly inside a deep forest.

The Death Egg's safety was confirmed as it crashed into the large volcano of the "floating island". Sonic was annoyed that the Death Egg had survived and would not feel totally at ease, unless it was completely destroyed. Sonic realizes Dr. Eggman couldn't complete the Death Egg properly due to the amount of time he had to work on it!

Just as Sonic ponders this, Knuckles appears from the door hidden in a thicket, and looks around cautiously. After a quick look, he ventures out and disappears into the wood. Sonic waits for Knuckles to disappear, and then pushes a button to open the door to the room. As he enters the room, Sonic is astounded by a dazzling bright light, that seems to reflect in his eyes. The light came from the special shining "Super Ring".

"What _is_ this ring?"

Sonic couldn't tear his curious eyes away from this shining ring. He thought the ring was wonderful, but the moment he touched it with his hand, Sonic heard a shrill sound and was catapulted across the dimensions.

When Sonic arrived on the other side, he ended up in a large room he had never seen before. Sonic found it odd that the solem altar that was built into the large room had not collected dust at all. Just as Sonic looked up at the large altar, he faltered in surprise. In the center of the altar, sat the "Master Emerald", a huge deitied Chaos Emerald.

What is up with this strange altar?
Just what does this Knuckles guy do here?
This island has a massive secret and Sonic bets that Dr. Eggman knows what it is!
But Sonic will have to face Knuckles in a final confrontation in order to get to him!

The "Sonic the Hedgehog" adventure on the "floating island" is underway and there is still more to come!

In the actual game, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Knuckles steals Sonic's emeralds and the first, "Sonic 3", half of the game is spent retrieving them from the Special Stages accessed by the Super Rings. In the second, "Sonic & Knuckles", half of the game Sonic encounters the special shining Super Rings that teleport him to the altar, his Chaos Emeralds are pulled away and large, grey, "empty" emeralds are formed around the Master Emerald. When Sonic makes contact with one he is warped to a Special Stage and completing it will fill the large emerald with a colour, and it becomes a "Super Emerald". Once all 7 Super Emeralds are retrieved the Master Emerald starts glowing a bit more.

Sonic Adventure explained the history of the Chaos Emeralds, it was a pivotal plot point that there are only 7 Chaos Emeralds and 1 Master Emerald. Nothing outside of Sonic 3 & Knuckles suggests there being 2 sets of Chaos Emeralds. It should not be considered canon material any more. In Sonic Adventure Knuckles simply does not care about the Chaos Emeralds, just the Master Emerald. Also, one of Sonic Adventure's plot points was that a chunk of land was lifted up into the sky by the Master Emerald's power when the Chaos Emeralds were seperated from it (it became Angel Island). When 6 of the Chaos Emeralds were returned to Angel Island it fell back onto the planet. The Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds keep each other stable. It is best dismissing the idea of there being Chaos Emeralds on Angel Island. It should be noted though, that in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 when the Chaos Emeralds are gathered in an emerald shrine they become really big - this seems to me to be a deliberate nod to the "Super Emeralds", and them being nothing more than just the Chaos Emeralds.

Something that simply cannot be dismissed as easily however is the Hidden Palace. In Sonic Adventure only one shrine is seen, both in the past and present, and it is out in the open, and Knuckles keeps the Master Emerald there. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles there is a shrine in the Hidden Palace underneath the island's volcano. That was vital in-game storyline and it just cannot be dismissed. I think it is best to assume that a replica shrine was made in the Hidden Palace and that it was stored in there by the Angel Island echidnas up until Eggman took it, and then Knuckles let it remain outside in the original shrine.

Another of Sonic 3 & Knuckles' gameplay points is the rewards for collecting the emeralds. It goes like this:

Sonic + 7 Chaos Emeralds = Super Sonic
Sonic + 7 Super Emeralds = Hyper Sonic
Knuckles + 7 Chaos Emeralds = Super Knuckles
Knuckles + 7 Super Emeralds = Hyper Knuckles
Tails + 7 Super Emeralds = Super Tails (accompanied by 4 Super Flickies)

Everything before and after Sonic 3 & Knuckles suggests that only Sonic (and Shadow, obviously) can turn Super, and none of his friends can (the scene before Sonic Adventure's final fight does well at showing that it's one of the things that makes Sonic special). Therefore I think that it is best to only consider Super Sonic as canon out of these 5 special forms.

One more thing that seems to pass people by is that Knuckles' game in Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a canon part of the story, it takes place after Sonic's story. If you coplete Sonic 3 & Knuckles/Sonic & Knuckles as Sonic with 7 Chaos Emeralds you'll see a screen of an Egg Robo that survived Sonic's attacks rising from the wreckage (also remember that Mecha Sonic did not explode into little pieces either). Completing the game as Sonic with all 7 Super Emeralds gives you the logo at the end instead of the animation sequence. That is why Knuckles fights Egg Robo in his game (sometimes a few glitches will cause sprites to switch to Eggman, they are only glitches and should be ignored, also, Flying Battery Zone's boss has not been given an Egg Robo sprite due to laziness/forgetfulness of the developers). Also, the Chaos/"Super" Emeralds should be ignored completely in Knuckles' game because the Chaos Emeralds cannot be on Angel Island without neutralising the Master Emerald's power and because in all of the following games the Chaos Emeralds are located on the planet. Keep in mind though, that the ending you get when you finish the game with all 7 Chaos Emeralds (and Knuckles saves the Master Emerald) is the canon ending.

Next up is Sonic Adventure. This game mostly works. Some of the dialogue/action is slightly different depending on which character you're playing as. I think that if a scene can be seen playing as Sonic that it's best to go with Sonic's version, he is the star after all. Other scenes (like Amy's first encounter with Gamma) is more down to preference than anything else, it doesn't effect anything drastically. ^_^

Finally is Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic beating Shadow and Tails beating Eggman in their final fights should be taken as canon and everything works perfectly.

Now just a few more things to clear up. STI's tech files say this about Tails:

Miles Prower (from Miles-per-hour), nicknamed "Tails" is a two-tailed flying fox with the amazing ability to use his twin tails like the blades of a helicopter allowing him to fly (and mostly keep up with Sonic). He made his first appearance in Sonic 2, and he is truly the little brother that Sonic never had. Miles worships Sonic and wants to be just as fast and cool as his hero. He is about 10 years old, weighs 15 pounds, and is about 2.9 feet tall.

Newer profiles state him to weigh 44lbs and 2.6ft tall. Also, he is 8, although the STI tech files never explicitely said that he was 10 anyway ("about 10 years old").

Sonic Jam's profiles state Sonic to be 16 years old. Every official profile since says that he is 15. 15 is the canon age.

Sonic Jam's profiles state Knuckles to be 15 years old. Every official profile since says that he is 16. 16 is the canon age.

I hope this guide of inconsistencies in the 100% certain canon games has helped you. Maybe you even agreed with some of my points, if you disagree with anything I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter. ^_^

In part 2 I will be looking into the possibilities of other games being canon. See you then.

Crazy Penguin