/vr/ - Retro Games

Because you use new characters to tell new stories. You can't give radically different backstories to already-established characters within the same continuity.
>Knuckles is incredibly tied to Angel Island, the Master Emerald, and his dead tribe. He's an unambiguously good guy trying to do good things even in 3K, and is on good terms with Sonic immediately following the events of 3K. Sure, they can rib into each other as bickering buddies, but them actually fighting feels forced and unnatural nowadays (Adventure 1, Advance 2, Rivals).
>Metal is incredibly tied to Eggman and Sonic. He was created by Eggman for the sole purpose of fighting Sonic, born with the drive to surpass him and prove himself superior. Eventually, he has broken off on his own (not even the first Eggman robot to do so in the games, nor even the last), but was the only one brought back under control. Even while he was rogue, he was laser focused on beating Sonic. Metal has been regularly appearing in games lately for a fight of some kind, a little too much, brings down his hype level.
Would you rather deliberately fuck up an existing character that people are already attached to, or make a new one?