Wade Whipple

Wade Whipple ’’’”What am I doing?”’’’ Gender: Male Type: Scapegoat Official Age: Unknown Species: Human Portrayed by: Adam Pally Kit Rakuten (little kid) Idris Elba (as Knuckles the Echidna) Michael Bolton (singing voice) Status: Alive Media of origin: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Wade Whipple is a major character in Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog film series, and the deuteragonist of the spin-off series, Knuckles. He is a fellow police officer of Green Hills, and Tom Wachowski's best friend. His best anthropomorphic best friend is Knuckles the Echidna.

He is portrayed by Adam Pally.

Good Qualities

1. He's a very fun and likable character, as he is one of the nicest human characters and gets along with Tom, Maddie, Sonic, and his friends.
2. He exhibits a charmingly lighthearted and innocent nature, occasionally oblivious to Tom's sarcasm while on duty. In moments of crisis, he tends to succumb to anxiety, lacking the ability to devise independent plans and relying on Tom's guidance and quick thinking.
3. He has some funny moments, where he tells Tom about a duck stealing a bagel and when Dr. Robotnik and his goons leave the police station after hassling him without erasing his memory, he states "I will tell people about this!".
4. When faced with adversity, Wade's true mettle shines through, showcasing his assertiveness and bravery. Notably, he confronted Dr. Robotnik with unwavering courage, brandishing his service pistol to protect Tom.
5. Although prone to occasional embarrassment, Wade surprises others with his moments of sharpness and unwavering determination.
6. He gets a slightly larger role in the second movie, where he shelters Sonic and Tails in his garage and they leave to find the Master Emerald. He later interrogates Agent Stone, but his good cop/bad cop routine did not work on him.
7. His chemistry with Knuckles is amazing as he offered to train Wade to help him be an Echidna warrior and the two set out on a quest of self-discovery towards Reno for Wade to participate in the Tournament of Bowling Champions.
   • His good nature enables Knuckles to come out of his shell and enjoy life on Earth.
   • The two would form a bond very similar to that of the one formed between Sonic and Tom.
8. Despite the issue of Wade taking up too much screen time, it is nice to see him grow into character development throughout the series, even more so than the first two Sonic movies. This is especially noticeable in the second half of the series.
9. His story in Knuckles revolves around him, being trained by Knuckles in the ways of the echidna warrior, developing from a Butt-Monkey who struggles to earn the respect of those around him and constantly chokes whenever it matters to a genuine hero able to fight to defend those he cares for and stand up on his own two feet.
   • After being constantly pushed around by Jack and ending up captured by him for a bounty reward, Wade eventually learns to stand up for himself by escaping his imprisonment and turn the tables around, taking Jack’s hat, jacket, and bowling team shirt.
   • By the final episode, he's donned Agent Mason's gauntlets to defend Knuckles alongside his family together and hold off The Buyer after he's drained Knuckles' power.
10. Adam Pally did an amazing job portraying Wade.
    • Additionally, Michael Bolton does a great job providing his singing voice in the Knuckles episode "The Flames of Disaster", it is played for laughs and he even sounds similar to Wade Whipple's normal voice.

Bad Qualities

1. He tends to be a Butt-Monkey in most scenes he appears in. This ends up getting upgraded in the Knuckles mini-series as his comic relief is boosted to full-on slapstick.
   • It starts with his attempt at a plan literally blowing up in his face in a blaze of glory, getting launched around by a rocket-propelled Power Fist against his will, getting stabbed in the arm by his extremely unlikeable sister Wanda during a petty argument, and being dragged away by the foot by Jack's motorcycle while Knuckles and Wanda just watch without bothering to save him.
2. It is so sad and very unsatisfying to see that he was bullied by his sister as a child and Wade was even upset about it when he depressingly walked into his own room after the fight with her at the dinner table, but despite this, we'll definitely always feel sorry for him, as he's considered to be innocent.
3. While it is nice to see Wade get some character development, he admittedly takes up way too much screen time, causing Knuckles to not have enough of it, which is highly ironic, considering that "Knuckles" is the name of this show in the first place.

Trivia

• His original name was listed as "Billy Robb"; however, it was changed to Wade Whipple for unknown reasons.
• Wade Whipple appears to be quite a fan of movies, as he's referencing them a lot, and his childhood room has numerous movie posters, ranging from RoboCop to Rambo.
• In the Knuckles episode "The Shabbat Dinner", Wade and his family are revealed to be Jewish, a rare instance of a real religion in the Sonic series.

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