When Sonic the Hedgehog fans watch Knuckles on Paramount+, they might go in expecting to see a bunch of Easter eggs related to the video games. While the show does feature some Sega references, the show has a surprisingly large number of callbacks to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These references do make sense in context, but the surprising thing is that there are a handful of them throughout the show. Fans of the TMNT franchise might want to keep an eye out for the following in the series (this article will contain minor spoilers for the Knucklesย show).ย
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Knuckles Episode 1: The Warrior
The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference in Knuckles happens in the very first episode of the show, and is the most difficult one to spot. Towards the end of the episode, Knuckles battles Agent Willoughby (Ellie Taylor) and Agent Mason (Scott Mescudi), who are using weapons powered by quills. A punch from Knuckles sends Mason flying into a pair of old arcade machines. The one that gets destroyed is a Golden Axe machine, while the one next to it seems to be Konami’s original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. That arcade game remains one of the most beloved of all-time, and does remain a frequent sight in arcades, despite being more than three decades old.ย
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a franchise owned by Paramount, while Golden Axe is one of Sega’s oldest games, actually predating the original Sonic the Hedgehog by about two years. Interestingly enough, Golden Axe will also be getting its own show from Paramount, which is set to appear on Comedy Central.ย
Knuckles Episode 3: The Shabbat Dinner
In the third episode of the series, Knuckles gets to see the childhood home of Wade Whipple (Adam Pally). Throughout the series, Wade shows a strong affinity for a lot of ’80s and ’90s pop culture including the TV show American Gladiators, the movie RoboCop, and the music of Blink-182. Apparently, Wade’s mom has not updated his bedroom since he left home, as Wade’s childhood interests are on full display, including on his bed where we can see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bed sheets. Unlike the arcade game in the first episode, the bed sheets are a lot more blatant, and can be seen at several points, starting around the 15:00 mark.ย
Knuckles Episode 4: The Flames of Disaster
The fourth episode of Knuckles picks up the next day at the Whipple household. The episode begins with Wade awakening in his bed with the Ninja Turtles sheets, and he’s now sleeping wearing a TMNT t-shirt. Presumably, Wade would have changed into something else, but he gets kidnapped at the start of the episode, while wearing his shirt and a bathrobe. As a result, he ends up wearing it for the vast majority of the episode.ย
Did you spot any additional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles references in the series? Were you surprised by the number of TMNT Easter eggs? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter atย @Marcdachampย or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!
