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Knuckles produced the contest's first truly overwhelming blowout and briefly inspired talk of a much deeper run. The writeup mainly treats the result as an early demonstration of his potential against very weak opposition.

Minor Knuckles upset hype disappeared almost immediately as Solid Snake controlled the match from the start. The writeup treats the result as confirmation that Snake belonged among the contest's serious contenders.

Knuckles won one of the most evenly debated first-round matches after spending much of the night in a near-stalemate with Yuna. His powerful day vote then turned the close contest into a comfortable finish.

Snake comfortably beat Knuckles in the first rematch in Character Battle history, producing little suspense because the same matchup had already ended decisively the year before. The writeup treats Knuckles as another stepping stone toward Snake's eventual Mega Man test.

Kefka surprised the board by leading early and forcing Knuckles to recover despite expectations of an easy Knuckles win. The writeup ultimately treats Knuckles' showing as disappointing and debates whether Kefka's picture and broader Square support helped explain the resistance.

Pic: The writeup says Kefka's recurring lettuce picture may have helped him attract unusually strong early support, before Knuckles took control later in the match.

Solid Snake beat Knuckles yet again, but the writeup is mostly exasperated that the same second-round pairing kept recurring. Knuckles looked better than in their earlier meetings, leaving open whether he improved or Snake declined.

Knuckles stunned a board that had essentially treated Magus as a lock and even a possible division winner. Magus led early before Knuckles's daytime strength took over, producing one of the contest's most memorable bracket-busting upsets.

Squall quickly ended the post-upset Knuckles bandwagon and controlled the match despite Knuckles' familiar daytime strength. The writeup uses the result to bury Magus's old statistical reputation and set up a difficult Vincent-Squall division final.

The first four-way contest match immediately showed how different the new format could be. Yoshi took first comfortably, while Knuckles survived Rikku after major voting swings and Vaan's shared fanbase hurt Rikku in the fight for second.

LFF: The writeup explicitly identifies Vaan as the contest's first clear LFF case, saying his shared Square support drained enough from Rikku to cost her an advancing spot.

Mega Man and Yoshi advanced with little suspense after Knuckles's weak opening-round showing had already killed most of the debate. Knuckles again disappointed and never seriously threatened Yoshi.

Mario won as expected, but Zelda resisted the feared fanbase suppression and comfortably held the second advancing spot over Knuckles. The writeup treats the result as another blow to Sonic Team's standing and a strong performance for Zelda.

Knuckles eventually pulled away from Cecil, but the match stayed far too close for far too long given Sonic Team's daytime advantage. The writeup treats the result as another major embarrassment for the Sonic cast.

Sonic comfortably suppressed Knuckles and used the result to undercut the idea that single-series favorite polls translate directly into contest matchups. Knuckles's brief early lead supplied the only real drama.

SFF: The writeup says Sonic easily SFFed Knuckles despite Knuckles having won an old Sonic-series favorite poll.

Knuckles won as expected, but Celes unexpectedly took second in the Expert Challenge ordering over Seifer. The writeup treats Seifer's collapse as one of the contest's most embarrassing failures of supposedly obvious expert logic.

Samus overwhelmed Knuckles and Catherine and remained one of the few Noble Nine characters consistently meeting expectations. Catherine's respectable share is treated as proof that her first-round upset was not pure luck.

Knuckles crushed a matchup many experts had favored Zidane to win and extended his remarkable history of first-round success. Rally spillover from the neighboring Monika poll is treated as an extra tailwind, not the sole reason for the upset.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Monika rally brought in outside voters who disproportionately favored Knuckles, with one analysis explicitly saying Square was hurt by the spillover.

Zero beat Knuckles by almost exactly the sort of margin historical strength estimates suggested, ending another unlucky Knuckles run against elite opposition. The writeup treats Knuckles as legitimate despite yet another early exit.