Wild Knuckles

Henry "Wild" Knuckles is the overarching protagonist of Illumination's 12th feature film, . He is a former supervillain and the original leader of the Vicious 6, until they double-crossed him. Now, he takes the role as young Gru's idol & parental figure.
He was voiced by the late in his final role, who also portrayed the title character in Inspector Clouseau.
==Appearance==
Wild Knuckles is an elderly man who is of a tall, skinny statue. He has a fair skin complexion, brown eyes, a long, and pointy nose, and white hair with a beard. He wears a black leather vest over a red sleeveless shirt, a red bandana on his head, black fingerless gloves, gold bands on his upper arms, white pants with a gold buckle with his initials “WK”, and brown leather shoes with black soles.
==Personality==
Wild Knuckles was the founder of the Vicious 6 and considered to be the best, with young Gru idolizing him the most. While he was a bit rough around the edges and is still committed to a life of crime, he was not nearly as petty or treacherous as his former teammates, and he valued what he thought was their loyalty. But age has taken its toll on him, and his team were vicious enough to kick him out of the team. Despite surviving their betrayal, Knuckles finds himself as a washed-up villain unable to pay his henchmen who bail on him after getting beaten up by a kung-fu teacher and nearly eaten by his pet crocodiles that he used to tame. Upon this predicament, Knuckles decides to recruit Gru under his wing and teach him a few things of being a super villain. The young Gru brings out the best in Knuckles, who not only finds a new purpose but also the strength to stand up to his former teammates. Likewise, he has every reason to hate his former comrades for betraying him but when he actually fights them in the climax, he's doing it for a heroic purpose, namely protecting Gru from being harmed.
==Overview==
===Past and Betrayal===
The film starts with the Vicious 6, headed by the legendary Wild Knuckles, who goes on the quest with his team and retrieves the Zodiac Stone. However, he is betrayed and left to die by his crew, which now consists of Belle Bottom, Nun-Chuck, Jean Clawed, Svengeance, and Stronghold. But unknown to them, his death is fake, Wild Knuckles is actually alive & is planning his return for revenge. 
===Story===
Gru uses Nefario’s gun to swipe the Zodiac Stone, but the Vicious 6 catch him and begin to pursue the young villain. Gru rejoins the Minions and tosses the Stone to one Minion, Otto. Gru rides away as the five chase him. He causes Stronghold and Nun-Chuck to knock each other out, and when Belle and Jean latch onto Gru’s bike, he uses the rocket to get them out of there. Meanwhile, Knuckles witnessed the whole thing and follows Gru in his van.
Eventually, Knuckles’ henchmen capture the young villain and throw him in their van, which Kevin watches. He goes to tell the other Minions that their mini boss has been kidnapped. Gru is brought to Wild Knuckles’ hideout. Gru is excited to meet his idol, but Knuckles is angry to find that Gru doesn’t have the Stone. He contacts Gru’s home to attempt to get a ransom from his mom, but Kevin answers the phone, and Knuckles tells him to deliver the Stone to San Francisco within two days time, or they will kill Gru.
Knuckles puts Gru in a torture device that’s a record player that will push him closer to spinning saw blades. He sends his henchmen to go out, and they find the Minions. The henchmen quit on Knuckles after their run-in with Master Chow, an acupuncturist with extraordinary kung fu skills. He frees Gru from the trap and makes him do chores. While cleaning his pool full of crocodiles, Knuckles falls in. Gru manages to pull him out and save him, and Knuckles is thankful. He brings Gru along on a heist. They go to the Bank of Evil, posing as grandfather and grandson. Knuckles pretends to have a heart attack so Gru can swipe the keys of Mr. Perkins. Gru manages to steal the Mona Lisa, making Knuckles proud.
The Vicious 5 track down Gru’s house and tear the roof off, interrogating Marlena and the other Minions as to his whereabouts. One of the Minions spills that Gru was taken by Knuckles. The 5 then head off to Knuckles’ house and also tear the top off, trashing the place and finding nothing. When Gru and Knuckles return, they find his home destroyed. He knows it was the 5 that did this, and he becomes upset that they would continue to try and hurt him after all this time. He tells Gru he is giving up and he just tells him to go home, despite Gru’s protests.
Later in the movie, Knuckles shows up to save Gru, along with Kevin, Stuart, and Bob. Belle turns the three into (respectively) a rabbit, a chicken, and a goat. Although Knuckles puts up a good fight, Belle takes him out with her fire breath. The three remember Chow’s words and unleash their inner beasts, and they proceed to beat up the mutated Vicious 5. Otto frees Gru, and he rushes off to help his friends. The three Minions overpower the 5, and Gru grabs the Stone, using it to turn them all into rats. The AVL shows up and takes them into custody. Knuckles is injured and is also arrested because he is also a member of the Vicious 6, though he tells Gru that he will see him again soon.
Cut to a funeral, where it seems that Knuckles has died. Gru gives him a touching eulogy, only to find that Knuckles faked his death and is hiding. After the Minions give a Minion rendition of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, Gru rejoins his idol, and they drive off into the sunset with the rest of the Minions. It is unknown what happened later, but it's presumed that he died of his old age sometime before the Despicable Me films (along with Master Chow) where Gru has grown up. 
====Legacy====
Gru grew up to become a well-known supervillain and also fulfilled his promise to steal the moon. Although Gru later return the moon, he found happiness with three girls who eventually brought him true happiness which Wild Knuckles found in young Gru.
====Alternate ending====
In the Chinese cut that runs one minute longer than the original version, a screenshot montage with text shows that Wild Knuckles was captured and arrested for 20 years, where he pursued his love for acting and started his theater troupe. Meanwhile for Felonius Gru, it is implied that he had returned to his family, while his biggest accomplishment is being the father to his three girls.
==Trivia==
*Gru apparently inherited the plot of land where Wild Knuckles’s house used to stand, with Gru even reconstructing the house albeit with a different colour scheme.
*Despite Wild Knuckles getting double crossed by his own team the Vicious 6, he did however mange to extract his revenge with the help of Gru and his Minions who defeated them by turning them into rats and allowing the Anti-Villain League to apprehend them. 
**Before then Wild Knuckles revealed himself to be lonely and all he ever wanted was a team. Unfortunately, his second in command Belle Bottom betrayed him for nothing. Later when he met Gru after kidnapping him, he never turned his back on him which made him a family he never had.
*Wild Knuckles is the only villain to not be found in the ending sequence of Despicable Me 4. Given his age and the amount of time passed, it is very likely he passed away prior to the first film.
==External Links==
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