In Greek mythology, the sphinx is a creature with the body of a lion, wings of an eagle and a woman's head. She is said to have guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes, killing and devouring any traveller who could not solve her riddle. Sphinxes also feature in Egyptian mythology, where they are usually depicted as male and do not have wings. Statues of them, often bearing the likenesses of pharaohs, are associated with temples and tombs, the most famous being the Great Sphinx of Giza that guards the pyramids.
Hordriss tasked Team 1 of Series 5 with finding him the shin bone of a sphinx ("or at least a portion of it"), and gave them a box containing Pixel in return for their aid. Unfortunately dungeoneer Kathryn perished on a causeway before completing this mission. Hordriss was still searching for a sphinx bone when Team 4 of Series 5 encountered him in Level 3, and this time he was in luck, as they had obtained one from Elita in exchange for a green gem. He revealed it was a vital ingredient for a potion he had in mind, and rewarded the team with a FREEZE spell to defeat Aesandre and a FIRE spell to release their quest object.
In Spain's version of Knightmare, El Rescate del Talismán, the Sphinx (La Esfinge) is a wall monster using the same animation as Brangwen. While she limited herself to asking questions in the first series, she shared her tragic backstory in the second, recalling that centuries ago she had enjoyed freedom as a young Egyptian princess whose dreams and whims would be instantly satisfied at court, before falling prey to a "terrible curse" that turned her into stone. She now longed for something natural and beautiful that would brighten her confinement, and when the team succeeded in bringing her a rose, she gave them the spell they needed to incapacitate "our common enemy, the Lord of Evil".

El Rescate del Talismán also featured the famous Riddle of the Sphinx, though ironically posed not by the Sphinx but by the Genie of the Wall (equivalent to Knightmare's Golgarach): "What animal begins to walk with four feet, then with two, and at the end of its life with three?" Like Oedipus, the team correctly answered man, who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks upright as an adult, and uses a walking stick in old age. As a reward for answering a previous question correctly, the jester Rufo had given them an ornate cane as a hint.

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