Locke the Echidna

Locke the Echidna is the father of Knuckles the Echidna and was a prominant member of the Brotherhood of Guardians. A dedicated Guardian, Locke often put the training of his son above wishes of his wife Lara-Le, which resulted in their eventual divorce. After Knuckle's training was considered complete, Locke left his son to defend Angel Island alone, while secretly watching him within the secret base of Haven. Year later, after Haven was discovered by Knuckles, Locke took a more active role in his son's life. When the Brotherhood of Guardians went missing and Knuckles refused to return to Angel Island, Locke took up position of Guardian once more and protected his fellow Echidnas. Locke fell in the line of duty, sacrificing his life to free Knuckles from Dr. Finitevus' hex, enabling Sonic the Hedgehog to defeat Knuckles - who was currently Enerjak - and restore his free will.

Raising Knuckles
Knuckles' father and Sabre's son, Locke is the most unpredictable Guardian after Spectre and the most powerful after his son. Locke and Knuckles didn't exactly have a good relationship, as Locke lied to Knuckles about his mother and family. Locke was granted a dream by the Ancient Walkers, which showed him Knuckles in the future facing a terrible evil. Utilizing his technological genius, he subjected himself to genetic manipulation, enhancing his abilities and likely activating the genes that would reveal themselves in Knuckles. He later subjected Knuckles' egg to Chaos Energy, making him into a living Chaos Energy battery. Locke's decisions ruined his relationship with his wife Lara-Le, who divorced him and then married another Echidna named Wynmacher, the two of them going on to have a son named Knecapeon Mace. (StH: #139, KtE: #16, #25)

Over the years, Locke raised Knuckles, instructing him in such subjects as self defense, advanced mathematics, and other Guardian requirements. When the time came, he left Knuckles behind, seemingly dying when he walked through a wall of fire. Unbeknownst to Knuckles, the wall was in fact the concealed entrance to Haven, and Locke joined the Brotherhood in observing Mobius in secret. (KtE: #25)

Guardian
Despite their separation, Locke continued to watch from afar, even assisting Knuckles and the Chaotix in exiling Enerjak into space. Eventually, the pair reunited, and Locke restarted his relationship with his son. It proved difficult, considering that Knuckles came to resent Locke for not giving him the choice to become a Guardian and by making him into a mutant. For all of that, Knuckles continued to look to his father for guidance. (KtE: #25, KMS: #1, #2, #3)

After the rest of the Brotherhood disappeared during a Dr. Eggman-backed Dingo attack on the Island, Locke joined forces with Lien-Da and the Dark Legion to resist the oppressors, only to be captured and imprisoned. Lara-Le, though happily remarried, refused to allow Locke to suffer and so called Knuckles for help. Aided by the Chaotix and Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles was able to free his father and regain his lost Chaos powers. Unfortunately for Locke, he found himself Angel Island's Guardian again when Knuckles, forced to choose between his duty as Guardian and his obligation to fight Dr. Eggman on Mobius, decided on the latter, leading the two to become estranged once again. (StH: #138, #139, #140, #141)

In addition to protecting Angel Island, Locke began a desperate search for the rest of the Brotherhood, refusing to believe that they had died defending the Master Emerald. This led him to briefly hold Shadow the Hedgehog captive for examination, apparently in the hopes that Shadow's unique nature held the key to finding his ancestors, but the Ultimate Lifeform escaped and attacked Locke before leaving. Undaunted, Locke ended up speaking with Rouge the Bat, unaware that her only intent in meeting with him was to learn a way to gain possession of the Master Emerald. Fortunately, Locke's old friend and mentor Archimedes teleported her to Knothole before she could take advantage of the conversation, admonishing him and reminding the Echidna of his previous bad history with women. (StH: #145, #160)

Shortly thereafter, Locke teamed up with Sonic to repel Evil Sonic, who later returned with Rouge in another attempt to steal the Master Emerald. While he caught them both, Locke proved unable to defeat Sonic's Anti-Mobius counterpart after Evil Sonic absorbed some of the Master Emerald's energy to become Scourge the Hedgehog. (StH: #151)

Locke, due to his efforts to find the Brotherhood, began neglecting his suffering people, who by now had been reduced to 10% of their previous size and, combined with the Dark Legions' recent civil war, left them at the mercy of the Dingos, who remained a threat despite their recent defeat. Locke used the Emerald to contact Knuckles in Knothole, and demanded either he or the Chaotix come to his aid. Their gulf widening, Knuckles refused. (StH: #165)

Locke cooperated with Dr. Finitevus, a mysterious albino Echidna who at one point served as Technomage of the Dark Legion, to keep the Master Emerald from responding to A.D.A.M.'s summons during the gathering of every Chaos Emerald in the universe. (StH: #169)

Locke arrived too late to help Echidnaopolis (which by now had been reduced to a primitive collection of huts due to repeated attacks) during a Dingo raid, though thankfully, Lara-Le was saved when the Destructix, at Finitevus' behest, fought back and saved the village. Finitevus claimed he wanted to assist Locke in his search for the Brotherhood, even having Dimitri to back up his claims. To this end, Locke was provided with a Warp Ring to continue his search around Mobius, but now had the capability to do this and return to his Guardian duties when necessary. Locke, seeing the population was celebrating with the Destructix, agreed and departed, unaware he was tricked by Finitevus into leaving so he could carry out his plans for the Master Emerald; to utilize it to re-create Enerjak. (StH: #171)

While on his journey, Locke neglected to check in on Finitevus' activities as de-facto Guardian while on his quest, and so remained unaware that Knuckles, having returned to Angel Island in an effort to patch things up with his father and work together to repair the damage done to their home, had fallen prey to the hex placed by Finitevus placed upon the Emerald, and was reborn as the new Enerjak. (StH: #171, #181)

Enerjak's Return
Locke, his search having taken him to Albion, finally learned the truth about Finitevus, when he witnessed a recording left by Albion's High Councilor Gala-Na (whcih was discovered by Constable Remington). Originally a promising Chaos energy scientist, Finitevus was part of Albion's efforts to drain Chaos Knuckles of his immense energies, but as a result of interference from members of the Chaotix was transformed into his current state. Finitevus, seeing the world as corrupt, resolved to wipe out all life, and, when Gala-Na ordered his euthanization, helped an Eggman Empire get access to, and destroy the city. Following the recording, Locke left Remington in charge of the rebuilding efforts of Albion. (StH: #182)

Returning to Angel Island, Locke soon found out his son was the re-born Chaos demigod, but was powerless to reverse it as the hex placed on the Emerald blocked his access to it. Determined to fulfill his family's mission, Locke used the Warp Ring to abduct Sonic the Hedgehog and Julie-Su from New Mobotropolis shortly after Enerjak was captured by the Egg Fleet. His task for them was to get past the Destructix, whom Finitevus had commanded to guard a weapon created by the Brotherhood of Guardians in preparation for the possibility of Enerjak's return. Once in possession of the weapon, Locke had one intention: to end Enerjak's threat by destroying his own son. (StH: #182, #183)

Ultimate Sacrifice
Unfortunately, Locke's judgement proved poor once again, as even with Sonic and Julie-Su to aid him he was unable to get past the Destructix until Archimedes arrived to provide a brief moment of relief, and Sonic then destroyed the weapon, having never planned to go along with Locke's goals in the first place. Despite Archy's explanation that Knuckles' transformation was as much the Brotherhood's fault as Finitevus', Locke was unappeased and furious, but ultimately came to accept the truth. While Super Sonic did battle with Enerjak, Locke joined Julie-Su and Archimedes after they learned that someone would have to die in order to undo Finitevus' spell on the Master Emerald and free Knuckles. Determined to make amends for all that he had put his son through, Locke calmly walked to the Emerald, and performed the ceremony, causing the Hex upon the Emerald to break and Locke was consumed in energy from the Emerald, causing him to die, leaving nothing but smoke behind. His life-force sacrifice complete, Knuckles was returned to normal. (StH: #183, #184)

Personality
Locke was a strong parent who cared about his son, but firmly believed that his affiliation with the Brotherhood and Knuckles' duty mattered more than his family, or even the possibilty of his son's happiness. This led him to clash on more than one occasion with Knuckles, and Locke also had choice words with his ex-wife. She has since found another husband, and with him is raising a new family that Knuckles is considered a part of, while Locke isn't. Locke's single-mindedness and secrecy made any relationships difficult.

Abilities
Like all Guardians, Locke possessed numerous abilities derived from Chaos energy. As a result of his genetic manipulation, he had enhanced abilities, both physically and in Chaos. He was also a skilled technician.