The Glide is a technique where the user glides gently through the air in semi-flight. When Knuckles the Echidna uses Glide, he can also attack in the air with his fists.
Description
Glide is not a technique that grants the user unbound flight through the air, but rather it manipulates the user’s fall through midair. To perform Glide, the user must be positioned in midair, either from a jump or a fall over an edge. The user then manipulates the air currents around him or her which makes it possible for the user to both slow down the rate of the descent from the fall and to move significant horizontal distances while descending, much farther than what they could reach with a normal jump or fall, but they cannot move upwards. The user will continue to glide until he or she latches onto a wall, lands safely on solid ground, or stops on purpose. If the user should stop gliding while in the air, he or she will begin to drop normally through the air; however, if the user wants to, he or she can resume the Glide.
The ways to manipulate the air currents vary from user to user; Knuckles uses his dreadlocks to trap air under them and Rouge the Bat does it by using her wings to move through the air. Since most users of the Glide can also climb on walls, this move is perfectly suited for exploring the surroundings.
For users such as Knuckles, the Glide can also be used offensively. By extending his spiked fists in front of him while gliding, Knuckles can damage any unprotected enemy his fists come in contact with. This is also known as the Grinder Attack.
Background Information
- The Glide was based on the technique of the same name in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. It was unnamed in the comic, but is considered tier 2 canon by this site's canon policy, as it does not contradict already established canon from tier 1.