Being popular and iconic has nothing to do with this, as no one argued otherwise. This argument isn't about who
deserves it more, as clearly Tails and Eggman are the most deserving; it's about you spouting off dribble that Tails and Knuckles are so frigging unique and Shadow is exactly like Sonic when that isn't the case.
And a "few"? Try a lot. Tails and Knuckles hardly have anything special in comparison. Just a Sonic that can fly and replace a few kicking attacks with tail attacks, and a Sonic that can glide and get rid of most kicking attacks for more punches. MORE PUNCHES YAY!!!
No one's arguing that Tails and Knuckles can't be unique. We're trying to get it through your thick skull that Shadow isn't just clone fodder like you claim and that Tails and Knuckles are equally likely to be clones as much as Shadow as they are all equally likely not to be as well.
And again, the spiked knuckles do NOTHING SPECIAL and wouldn't magically make Knuckles different. So what, he just punches with them? Big whoop, it's just a freaking punch. It's not like half the Smash Bros. cast can't punch already.
And the tails? Ok, so Tails gets a few moves with his tails. Nothing special.
You honestly don't know what you're talking about either when you talk about body shapes. Knuckles has the same exact body frame as Sonic. Not having spikes on his back or having hard nipples on his knuckles doesn't change that.
Link and Toon Link? Different body types. One is of average human body, the other has a tiny frame, short legs, and a huge head.
Mario and Wario? Different body types. Wario has stubby legs and a rotund gut compared to Mario.
Sonic and Knuckles? Same body type. Their torsos are same shape, their legs are same length, arms are same length, heads are the same size. Features may be different with the tail, spikes, and ears, but they share a body type.
It's like Lucario and Mewtwo. They look nothing like each other, yet they share a similar body type, despite one being much larger in size than the other.
Tails, I will concede has a bit different of a body type, but not because of his tails. Because of him being shorter and stockier compared to Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, Espio, Jet, etc, who all have a similar body type.
But I don't know why you're arguing body types. They don't make a difference, I mean, look at all the characters that have similar body types to one another. If anything, you're grabbing at straws at this point to try to prove how Tails and Knuckles are in no way similar to Sonic and can't be copied from him in no way shape or form for stupid reasons, and why Shadow has absolutely nothing different from Sonic for equally stupid reasons.
And do you know why Toon Link was cloned from Link? Because he replaced Young Link, who too was cloned from Link. Also, Toon Link is Link. Shadow is not Sonic.
You know, you are quick to judge people when you are guilty of crap yourself. You're given a comprehensive list of what Shadow can do which far exceeds the list of what Tails and Knuckles can do and you dismiss it as a "few things", yet keep listing things that WOULDN'T AFFECT MUCH for Tails and Knuckles and act as though it's more than enough to make them unique.
Tails flys? Well then, guess he has multiple jumps. Ok, so he's like Kirby, Jigglypuff, Meta Knight, Dedede, Pit, and Charizard.
Knuckles glides? Ok, so he's like Meta Knight, Pit, and Charizard. Knuckles would not be climbing walls for balance purposes, so at most he'd Wall Cling. So he'd be like Sheik, Lucario, Squirtle, and Diddy Kong.
Here's the deal.
-Can they Spin Dash? All three of them can, yes. So that's two Specials down.
-Can they use Springs? All three of them can, yes. Ok, that's three.
-Can they Homing Attack? All three of them can. "What? NO! TAILS AND KNUCKLES CAN'T BLARHGHGHG!" Wrong, they can. Sonic Heroes. So that's all four specials cloned.
-Can they use Super forms? All three of them can. So there we have it. They all can clone Sonic easily.
Now here's the fun part.
-Do they have unique abilities? Yes, all three of them do.
-Can they have moves that differ from Sonic? Yes, all three of them can.
-Can they all just as easily be unique as being clones? YES.
Now stop being foolish and just admit that Tails, Knuckles, AND Shadow can all be unique very easily. Maybe then you can redeem yourself.
EDIT: Also, watch the damn video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHdNzU8IYGk&feature=relmfu I posted it for a reason!