Professor Charles the Hedgehog

Sir Charles "Chuck" Hedgehog is Sonic the Hedgehog's uncle. A respected scientist who earned a knighthood for serving the Acorn Kingdom, Chuck is unwittingly responsible for the rise of Dr. Robotnik. Uncle Chuck's capture by Dr. Robotnik is the catalyst that turns Sonic into an orphan and eventual hero.

The creator of the roboticizer, a process that turns flesh into metal, Charles hoped to use this technology as a means of curing the sick and allowing people to live longer (Charles' likely motive was to heal his brother Jules, who had been wounded during the war). When Warlord Julian Kintobor sabotaged his machine, Charles discovered to his horror that Jules had been transformed completely into a machine. The project was stolen by Kintobor, who used it to rob others of their free will. This device paved the way for him to enslave Charles' people and seize control of Mobotropolis, emerging as the ruthless dictator Robotnik. Chuck was among the first to be robotized, an event that drove his nephew Sonic to become a Freedom Fighter. Sonic tried to break Chuck out of Robotropolis (as seen in the 1st issue and later in flashbacks), but was not able to.

Sonic continued to regret failing to save Uncle Chuck. When he and the rest of the Freedom Fighters were deposited into a holographic fantasy world by Robotnik (to trap them forever), Sonic envisioned a world free of Robotnik, where Uncle Chuck was still his old self and they both lived happily. Ironically, Chuck's mind was freed by none other than Robotnik himself, when the Doctor tested an anti-matter device that malfunctioned and restored Chuck's free will. Chuck remained undercover, working as a spy for the Freedom Fighters while pretending to still be a mindless slave, up until Robotnik's defeat.

After the war, Chuck became a member of the main group of Freedom Fighters. He serves as a technical expert, befriending Rotor and his assistant Tommy Turtle. Chuck has had few major roles to play recently, other than helping Sonic defeat a swarm of nanites and working towards a cure for the roboticized Jules. He re-opened his chili dog stand in the city of New Mobotropolis, and was elected to the Council of Acorn.