Enerjak

Enerjak is the name of a villainous alter ego and Chaos demigod that has been applied to numerous Echidnas. The first known to be so designated in the time of the First Robotnik War was Dimitri the Echidna, who absorbed the power of eleven Chaos Emeralds using his Chaos Syphon device. He retained this identity until he was drained of his powers by Mammoth Mogul nearly 400 years later. Another incarnation of Enerjak was recently created by Dr. Finitevus as part of Project Enerjak: Reborn, using the Master Emerald and a brainwashed Knuckles the Echidna. This Enerjak was also defeated when Locke the Echidna broke Dr. Finitevus' hex on the Master Emerald, returning Knuckles to his former state. Afterwards, Knuckles learned from Finitevus that both he and Dimitri were but the latest individuals to assume the identity. Additionally, two Enerjaks exist in an alternate future reality; one as a tyrannical dictator, the other as a protector and restorer of the world.

History of the Second Enerjak
The second incarnation of Enerjak arose during the Forgotten War between the Order of Ixis and the Albion Knights of Aurora. So great was the threat posed by this Enerjak that the two warring factions temporarily put aside their hostilities in order to engage their common foe.(CSE)

History as Dimitri

 * See also: Dimitri

Becoming A God
The third Enerjak known to have existed was Dimitri, a scientist from Angel Island who, together with his brother Edmund, sought to return Angel Island to the surface by using their Chaos Syphon machine to drain energy from the island's twelve Chaos Emeralds and safely cause the landmass to descend. However, the High Councilor at the time, Menthor, rejected the plan as it interfered with his own ambitions, and the Theocracy denounced it out of resentment towards the Technocracy. Enraged by this, Dimitri used the Chaos Syphon without authorization. Due to a malfunction, the device destroyed eleven of the Emeralds and transferred their energies into Dimitri, thus creating the nearly omnipotent being. Maddened by the power flowing through his body, Dimitri briefly attempted to conquer Angel Island, using his powers to reprogram the Mechanauts to enslave the echidnas. He was stopped when the Fire Ants ate through the foundations of his Dark Tower, causing it to collapse and bury him. The burial site became known as Mount Fate. (StH: #35, #36, KtE: #1, KMS: #1, Saga #1)

Despite being buried, Dimitri survived. He reached out to his son Menniker, using a form of telepathy. Menniker then went on to forge the Dark Legion, a technocratic group of Echidnas who wished to follow in Dimitri's example and restore Angel Island to its original landsite, as well as restoring technology into Echidna society, which was banned after Dimitri's use of the Chaos Syphon. The Dark Legion, while successfully killing Edmund, were hurled into the Twilight Zone by Edmund's son Steppenwolf. They continued to thrive, each new generation of Dimitri's bloodline taking command. (KtE: #2)

Escape and Defeat
Over the centuries, in the depths of the ruins, Dimitri's knowledge and insanity grew. It was during this period that he took on the name Enerjak, that of the legendary evil. All the while, he remained unaware that Edmund's bloodline, which lived on in the Brotherhood of Guardians over the generations, was continuing. Eventually escaping from his prison, Enerjak did battle with the great descendant of his late brother and his distant nephew, Knuckles the Echidna and his friends the Chaotix, brainwashing the latter into attacking the former. Rather than simply use his limitless power on his great nephew, Enerjak took a sort of sadistic pleasure in pitting him against his own friends. When this failed, he decided to use only his sheer strength in hand-to-hand combat with Knuckles. This proved to be his downfall, as it bought Knuckles' father Locke enough time to launch Enerjak's Citadel of Darkness into space with him still on it. (KMS: #1, #2, #3)

Vengeance
Enerjak did not stay gone long, as he was rescued and brought back to Mobius by Mammoth Mogul, where he took command of the Dark Legion from his great-great grandson Kragok. Before he would do anything however, he took immediate steps to ensure his enemies would not stop him a third time. He immediately transported Archimedes and his grandfather Deo Volente into a small device which acted like a prison, preventing them from teleporting around and warning Knuckles of his return; then he set his sights on the Chaotix, and finally Knuckles himself. He first offered him the chance to accept Enerjak as his master and serve as his underling. When Knuckles refused, he forced him to endure numerous hardships, including teleporting him to the bottom of the ocean, as well as sending him to the tip of the planet's atmosphere. When his final offer to join him was declined, Enerjak literally took Knuckles apart, atom by atom. His descendant survived solely due to divine intervention by the Ancient Walkers, who had envisioned that Knuckles had a destiny yet to be fulfilled and thus saved him from destruction. (KtE: #7, #8, #9)

Believing the Guardian to be dead, he launched an attack against Echidnaopolis and the Dingoes. As the battle began, Enerjak seemed calm, protecting his aircraft from enemy fire using his powers to create a force field bubble. Although the combined might of the Dingoes and the Echidna Security Team at first was effective against the Dark Legion forces, Enerjak used his powers to disable their weapons. He then ordered the city to surrender, but while giving his speech was caught off guard by the arrival of Mammoth Mogul. (KtE: #9)

Final Defeat
Using the power of the Sword of Acorns, Mogul drained the power of the eleven Emeralds from Enerjak, and the persona disappeared to leave a decrepit Dimitri in its place, thus ending Enerjak's reign. Mogul did not retain his powers long, as a battle with Hyper Knuckles, Super Sonic and Turbo Tails, resulted in his own defeat, and Dimitri's Chaos Syphon was used to convert the energy of Mogul's Emeralds and the two that still held Angel Island aloft into the Master Emerald. (KtE: #9)

History as Knuckles

 * See also: Knuckles the Echidna and Project Enerjak: Reborn



Prelude
While Dimitri was no longer Enerjak, he retained some of his goals for world domination. However, as time went on, his ancient body began to fail him, and he sought to rejuvenate himself with Chaos energy. Originally, he intended to use Knuckles-who at the time was a living Chaos Emerald-as a power source, but Knuckles' temporary death and subsequent powerlessness left Dimitri without a way to return to his Enerjak form. (StH: #114, #118)

Dr. Finitevus, a scientist from the Dark Legion, had his own plans for the Enerjak legacy. When the Dark Legion splintered in civil war, one side led by Lien-Da and the other by Remington, Finitevus became determined to bring Enerjak back to reunify the Legion and crush the Dingoes who had used the division to seize control of Angel Island with the aid of Dr. Eggman. Recruiting a group of criminals-the Destructix, Scourge the Hedgehog, briefly Rouge the Bat, and Fiona Fox-he managed to convince Knuckles' father Locke to give him custody of the Master Emerald so that Locke could search for the absent Brotherhood. Dimitri, reduced to little more than a head in a floating glass orb, resented Finitevus taking him apart to keep him alive, and soon left to warn the inhabitants of New Mobotropolis - which at the time included Knuckles - about Enerjak's return. Unfortunately, Finitevus didn't care for the former Enerjak, and in fact seemed pleased that another Echidna would be needed to take on the identity. (StH: #165, #171, #179)

Enerjak's Attacks
Dimitri's warning came too late, as Knuckles had departed for Angel Island before his arrival and subsequently vanished. Upon his arrival to Angel Island, Knuckles was captured by Scourge the Hedgehog and the Destructix, and brought to the Chaos Chamber. There, with Lien-Da and the mind-wiped Remington present, Knuckles was manipulated by Finitevus into coming into contact with the altered Master Emerald, reawakening his Chaos powers. Now under Finitevus' influence, the new Enerjak was brought forth by the power of the Master Emerald right in front of Scourge the Hedgehog and Fiona Fox. (StH: #179, #180, #181)

Enerjak immediately proceeded to reshape Angel Island as he saw fit - he first confronted the Dingoes, banishing them to the desert while disintegrating their former leader Kage Von Stryker along with Cavem Canus, the Dingo capital. He then moved on to confront the Dark Legion, restoring Remington's memory and removing all the cybernetic implants of the Dark Legion. Disappointed with how some of them reacted, he moved on to the village housing the survivors of Echidnaopolis, whose residents he teleported to Albion along with those Legionnaires who were glad to be made fully organic. Now finished on Angel Island, Enerjak arrived at New Mobotropolis, quickly dispatching their force field and revealing his identity to the stunned Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. (StH: #181)

Knuckles explained that his plan was to reshape Mobius, ridding it of all technology and forcing peace upon the inhabitants. Despite the pleas of his friends, he remained set on his goal, and attempted to revert Julie-Su to fully organic form as he had the Dark Legion. Sonic arrived just in time to stop him, and shortly afterwards Shadow the Hedgehog also got involved in the battle. Despite Shadow removing his power inhibitors and Sonic's onslaught of insults, Enerjak overcame the pair of Hedgehogs. Sonic was left stunned after one of his blows removed Enerjak's helmet to reveal Knuckles, but he quickly joined the people of New Mobotropolis in a charge. Enerjak trapped them all in a force field, only to be bombarded by fire from the arriving Egg Fleet and transported to the Egg Grape Chamber. Despite knowing Enerjak's identity, Sally Acorn was hesitant to launch a rescue mission that would unleash his threat upon the world again. Locke the Echidna intervened, kidnapping Julie-Su and Sonic so that they could help him defeat the Destructix and reclaim a weapon made by the Brotherhood of Guardians to destroy Enerjak. (StH: #182)

After Enerjak had been sent to the Egg Grapes, Dimitri arrived at New Megaopolis and tried to convince Dr. Eggman to use this opprotunity to take Enerjak's power away. But Dr. Eggman thought everything was under control...and this would cost him. Enerjak broke free and destroyed much of New Megaopolis, as well as the Egg Fleet. However, the Egg Grapes had still drained Enerjak much of his power, so he teleported back to the Master Emerald Chamber at Angel Island, where Dr. Finitevus was waiting. Finitevus then started using the Master Emerald to repower Enerjak. But suddenly, Sonic (who had just got back from fighting the Destructix with Julie-Su, Locke, and Archimedes, as well as destroying the very weapon that could stop Enerjak) arrived and used the repowering as his chance to use the Master Emerald's power to become Super Sonic once more. (StH: #183)

Defeat and Aftermath
Enerjak and Super Sonic began their battle, a display of raw power so great that it could be seen not just on Angel Island and in New Mobotropolis, but in Albion as well. Super Sonic held up well against Enerjak's assault at first, taunting him with the usual banter and doing his best to bring out Knuckles' old self. These efforts proved futile, as Dr. Finitevus had "locked" the hex placed on Knuckles, making it so that only the sacrifice of someone's life could break the spell. Julie-Su and Archimedes were both willing to do so, but it was a guilt-stricken Locke who finally took on the responsibility while the other two fought off Finitevus. With the spell broken, Knuckles was returned to normal and Enerjak ceased to be once again. (StH: #184)

Despite his freedom from the Enerjak persona, Knuckles remained guilty over his actions while in this form. This guilt leads him to briefly isolate himself from the Chaotix and the other surviving Echidnas, as well as making apologies to General Von Stryker for the death of his son and the destruction of Cavem Canus. Knuckles is also driven to act against the Dark Egg Legion, who turned to Dr. Eggman after Enerjak removed their cybernetic implants. Eventually, Knuckles' regret over his time as Enerjak even led to tension in his romantic relationship with Julie-Su. Later, he was surprised to learn from Finitevus during a battle between them that he and Dimitri were only the latest in a series of Enerjaks. (StH: #186, #189, #191; SU: #12)

History as Alternate Knuckles
See also: Knuckles (alternate reality)

Alternate Knuckles' Descent
In Dark Mobius, the meeting between Dimtri, the High Council, and the Mitre went well, even though the assassination attempt still happened. Things resolved peacefully with the Dark Legion welcomed back into society, but Knuckles noted the talks just continued while he recovered on the floor. Instead of getting him medical aide, they used his "death" as a point of debate. Peace may have been made, but Knuckles thought the wrong people were handling it. He believed that, as the Guardian, he was better suited to the task with his power & training, and change was required. (ASUB)

As time passed, Knuckles felt the peace brokered under Dimitri was a farce since there was still a divide between the former Legion and original citizens. It was at that point that he took over the Dark Legion and absolved the High Council in order to simplify the situation and unify the entire populace as one collective under him. As a sign of his sincerity to the old legionnaires that he wanted to bridge the gap, Knuckles even had his right eye replaced with a cybernetic implant. Despite this, Knuckles found himself wondering why others around him could not agree with his decisions and began to think about how whenever he did something right, everyone pointed out he was being foolish, dating back to his attack on Sonic and Tails when he thought that they were invading the island, him tapping into the powers that his father gave him, and the situation with the Legion and High Council. (ASUB)

Knuckles then began to think that Sonic was jealous of him for taking out their universe's version of Dr. Eggman easily when Sonic had been trying to for years, as well as Sonic just wishing that he was as powerful as Knuckles. He thought that it must have been something in the air, since the Brotherhood was getting uppity too. He had to put Spectre through a wall after the unification with the ex-legion, which he then reconsidered it as the ex-ex-Legion. The Dark Legion was his army at that point, and they were going to set things right across Mobius. If the Brotherhood and his friends didn't want to be part of the solution, then he would treat them like part of the problem. (ASUB)

Julie-Su was gone. Part of Knuckles wanted to say, "What's one more betrayal?" but her leaving hurt him a lot. He didn't understand it, since she was with him when he simplified things between the Dark Legion and everyone else as well as being with him on vaporizing Eggman. Even though she had her doubts, she supported him. He thought that maybe he was not around enough for her, but he was trying to make Mobius a better place. He was having to fight everyone to get anything done. Even the Dark Legion was starting to get on his nerves. He felt that surely she understood that he was a busy Guardian. Then he thought that maybe it was because she was getting round across the middle, yet he thought she was beautiful, regardless of if she put on a few pounds. He figured that he would look for her later, since he had a resistance to quell. (ASUB)

Knuckles thought that he could rest and concentrate on strengthening his second-sight in his chambers, but Remington surprised him with a bomb. Knuckles; however, was powerful enough that the explosion didn't do anything to him. He then thought that he was officially on his own. Julie-Su ran off with his daughter, but he did't know where to. He thought that his spies were pathetic, and the Chaotix had openly turned on him. The Dark Legion was starting to show signs of descent, and he was fighting most of his battles alone. He didn't see it as too much of a bad thing, though, as fighting entire armies single-handedly was about the only fun he had at that point. He had been thinking that the title, "Guardian," didn't really suit him anymore, as he saw it as too small in scope. According to him, he was not just protecting Angel Island anymore, but he was fixing the world. He thought that a man of his kind of power and vision needed a better title. Although "Enerjak" had some negative connotations, he deemed it fitting, guessing that he could fix that along with everything else. He liked the sound of "Enerjak the Hero." (ASUB)

An Unstoppable Force
After becoming corrupted by his own increasing power, he took on the title of Enerjak. With the Dark Legion and their capitol city of Nekronopolis under his command, his conquest spread to the rest of the world. He became so powerful that at one point, he was outnumbered by hundreds of G.U.N.'s warships and singlehandedly sent their fleets to the bottom of the sea. It was known as Operation: Night Fire and was lead by that universe's version of Commander Abraham Tower, the chief executive of the Guardian Units of the Nations. The objective was a pre-emptive strike against the perceived threat of the individual known as "Enerjak." The aggressive moves by Enerjak and his forces, the Dark Legion, were likely to threaten the sovereignty of the United Federation's city-states within the next two years. The operation was to remove the threat of Enerjak, disrupt the Dark Legion's ability to wage war, and slow attempts by the Dark Legion to recover from its losses. It's forces consisted of G.U.N. Navy (all available ships, aircraft, and crew), G.U.N. Air Force (flying flagship G.U.N.A.F. Gilgamesh, 30 Osprey-class long range bombers, and 150 Hawk-class fighter jets), and their universe's version of Team Dark (all seven members were present). The Operation Synopsis was as follows: A G.U.N.N. rendezvous within firing range of Angel Island at 0500 hours, G.U.N.A.F. beginning assault on Angel Island's surface while Team Dark is inserted and moves to the Hidden Palace Zone to secure the Master Emerald at 0530 hours, Enerjak arriving and beginning his counter-assault with a delay being attributed to intelligence that he was based in Soumerca at the time of the attack at 0545 hours, the entirety of G.U.N.A.F. forces were destroyed at 0550 hours, the entirety of G.U.N.N. forces were destroyed at 0555 hours, Team Dark reported all resistance in Hidden Palace Zone had been neutralized at 0600 hours, and finally, Team Dark reported the Master Emerald was secured with that report being immediately followed-up with reports that they have engaged Enerjak at 0615 hours. That was the last communication with Team Dark. (SU: #26, #27, ASUB)

A third of G.U.N.'s military was lost, their premier special operations unit was lost, and aggressive behavior was expected to increase. Commander Tower reported all of this to the President of the United Federation, and it was with great shame that he had to report it was an unmitigated disaster. At that juncture he recommended a political approach wherein the United Federation publicly branded the attack as unsanctioned and to paint himself as a rogue agent while he took the role of the scapegoat and, hopefully, bore the brunt of Enerjak's retaliation rather than the rest of the nation. He finished his report with his sincerest apologies. (ASUB)

While all of this was going on, the Freedom Fighters, lead by Julie-Su and Lara-Su, were developing plans of their own. Sally Acorn was out looking for the Sword of Acorns and making alliances, but Sonic the Hedgehog had another plan, which he discussed in a letter to her to let her know what was going on. Although he did not trust Mammoth Mogul, he believed that he also wanted to stop Knuckles, and so they formed an alliance. Amy Rose and Miles "Tails" Prower already had leads on a couple of the Chaos Emeralds, and, with Mogul's help, they planned to get all seven together in a couple of weeks. They succeeded in obtaining the seven gems, and Sonic was able to become Super Sonic. In the end, Enerjak took the Chaos Emeralds so that his power would remain unrivaled, and he soundly crushed his opponents, including Super Sonic. (ASUB, SU: #26, #27)

Eventually, Julie-Su was taken captive during a raid, and Lara-Su began her search for the Sword of Acorns. Enerjak sank Downunda during his conquest because he either knew of the Sword of Acorns that was on the continent or the Freedom Fighters' plan to use it to drain his powers. He then used his powers to extract Cores from his victims, creating Prelate soldiers and used them to combat the Last Freedom Fighters. As time passed however, he desired new challenges to keep his interest, and began to send his Prelates to scout other realities and locate ones that would prove entertaining for him to conquer. (SU: #26, #27, ASUB, ASUB)

Enerjak's Final Battle
When Prelate-V arrived in 3437 P.X.E., it was followed back by Silver the Hedgehog. Watching upon a jewel-shaped screen from his lair filled with husks of his former enemies, Enerjak observed Silver fighting for his life and seemed rather intrigued by the hedgehog's psychokinetic abilities as he finished extracting the core of his latest victim, Remington. Once the hedgehog met and joined up with the remaining resistance members, he became even more enthralled in Silver's unique abilities and his story of coming from the future. Ultimately, Enerjak grew bored of the Freedom Fighters from this zone, who he had been using to entertain himself until then, and he proceeded to finally attempt to rid himself of them once and for all. (SU: #25, #26)

Approaching the hideout of the Freedom Fighters, which he apparently already knew of, he used his Chaos based powers to lift up the building. Once the Freedom fighters emerged, Enerjak used his powers again to stop and hold them in place, but they broke free after Silver overcame these powers and landed everyone to safety. Deciding to humor his opponents' bravado, Enerjak then summoned the cores of several Chaotix members to create Prelates and give the rebels a "fair fight." He also summoned Prelate-JS using the core of Jani-Ca's mother which he had been saving for a "special occasion," inciting the fury of the rebels' leader. During the battle, a large piece of rubble was tossed at Enerjak, which he easily broke apart with a single punch; however, it was a distraction with Silver waiting behind the rubble to trap Enerjak in mid-air using his own psychokinetic powers. Enerjak instead broke free of the hedgehog's hold and knocked him to the ground with ease, telling Silver that he had arrived just in time to witness his final victory over the Freedom Fighters. (SU: #26)

Enerjak soon revealed to Silver why he sent his Prelate to Silver's time. His comment of whether or not Silver's world would have more "fun" beings like him only enraged the young hedgehog, causing him to rip up the top of the tower he stood upon; Enerjak easily recovered and smashed through the rubble. He then casually watched as the Freedom Fighters systematically destroyed the Prelates and Silver grabbed the resulting Cores, wondering why Jani-Ca still resisted him. He eventually applauded the rebels for their entertaining show of "such violence and drama." In response to Silver's taunt, Enerjak charged straight through the team, taking back his Prelates' Cores, and began adding the Freedom Fighters' to his collection one-by-one after Silver was smashed into the pavement and incapacitated. With only Lara-Su left, he taunted her about how she had become such a strong woman and how she had attempted to go back in time to save him once. During this, Silver broke loose from his confines, and attempted to strike the demi-god with a massive concrete fist; delighted at the promise of a terrific battle, Enerjak smashed through the fist and charged at Silver, thanking his young challenger for "giving this world the flashy ending it deserves." (SU: #27)

Charging at each other, Silver, in a rage, threw large pieces of rubble at Enerjak, who easily disintegrated them. Asking if it was his turn now, Enerjak resumed his charge at Silver, who then used his powers to throw him through the face of his statue and off of Angel Island. Remarking that he was rather fond of the statue, Enerjak said that throwing him was nothing compared to him hitting Silver with the island, which he then did, much to Silver's shock. Enerjak then proceeded to summon an army of Prelates, which nearly overwhelmed Silver had it not been for Jani-Ca coming to his rescue. With Jani-Ca fighting the Prelates, Silver turned his attention back to Enerjak. Enerjak would then be trapped by Silver in a psychokinetic bubble and be dragged across the entire island by him before Silver would throw him at the island itself. Though Silver assumed that he had killed him, Enerjak would unexpectedly reappear behind him and remark how "rude" it was of Silver to scuff his helmet. Enerjak would then throw Silver against the pavement and mock him for not being powerful or skilled enough to stand against him. As Enerjak was about to strike the final blow, Silver, recalling a number things he was told by Mammoth Mogul and Edmund, realized that he would be unable to match Enerjak in power and instead began using his psychokinesis to redirect Enerjak's chaos energy blasts back him. Enraged, Enerjak would keep attacking Silver blast after blast, which Silver would keep on deflecting whilst remarking that Enerjak could still fix a lot of the damage he had caused. Enerjak, however, remarked that the only mistake he had made was not having crushed Silver sooner, and began charging at him. However, Jani-Ca would suddenly jump in front of Silver, stun Enerjak with the Sword of Acorns' magic, and recite a variant of Tikal's Prayer to drain his power in a flash of light. As the light faded, Enerjak was reduced to a withered, old man and Jani-Ca, unexpectedly, had become the next Enerjak. Knuckles would attempt to convince Jani-Ca to give him back a little of his power, claiming that she had taken too much, supposedly so that he could get back on his feet and help her rebuild. However, Jani-Ca did not fall for his deception and destroyed the sword so that he would never be able to regain his powers. As Silver started departing, Jani-Ca gave him her word as Guardian that she would use her powers to restore her world, remaining hopeful that she could restore Knuckles as well, to which Silver wished her good luck before disappearing in a flash of light. (SU: #28)

History as Jani-Ca
See also: Jani-Ca

The Last Resistance
Jani-Ca (at the time she was known as Lara-Su) and her mother, Julie-Su, soon became part of a much larger resistance; they organized what became an army of Freedom Fighters and were nearly successful in taking down Knuckles, who at this point had assumed the mantle of Enerjak, but he crushed the resistance shortly after with the added power of the stolen Chaos Emeralds. Scarlette Rabbot brought Lara-Su the news one morning that Julie-Su was gone due to a raid gone bad. Numb from the shock, a day passed with her just staring at the walls, though she believed she cried at some point, unable to remember when. With her mother gone, she was officially in charge and renounced her name to cut all ties to Enerjak, something she could not bring herself to perform in front of her mother. Eventually Lara-Su took on her old alias of "Jani-Ca", and was left with just a handful of allies. (SU: #26, Official Blog)

At some point, Cutlass Depardieu informed Jani-Ca of their world's version Sir Charles Hedgehog, and arranged a meeting for him with her. Reading Cutlass' letter of introduction, she took into account Charles' poor self-presentation and temperment as it went on to mention that he was amazingly brilliant and knew of a medical technique that was sure to save some lives for the greater good, particularly Blockbuster, who had presumably been injured and was in need of Charles' Roboticizer. (Official Blog)

Leading the remaining Freedom Fighters, Jani-Ca continued to fight against Enerjak and his Prelate army, which she started by following up on Julie-Su and Elias' request to obtain the Sword of Acorns. Jani-Ca hired her world's version of Nack the Weasel to find the Sword of Acorns for her, balking at his exorbanant finder's fee, but agreed to it regardless. When she next heard from Nack, it was through a letter he sent claiming that he had found the Sword on Downunda at great personal risk, which made his rate triple. Following Nack's instructions, Jani-Ca got the money together by the end of the month for delivery at the agreed spot, and Nack upheld his end of the bargain. With the Sword of Acorns now in hand, Jani-Ca was able to form a plan; to ambush Enerjak when he dropped his guard and use the Sword to drain away his power. (Official Blog, Official Blog)

Confronting Enerjak
When her team discovered someone being attacked by the Prelates, Jani-Ca's team moved in to save him; the would-be victim turned out to be Silver the Hedgehog, who had traveled from another reality following one of the Prelates. Silver and Jani-Ca got off to a rough start (due to him mistaking her for another reality's version of herself and using her old name), and she almost cut him down until Blockbuster intervened to allow the hedgehog to explain himself. After hearing Silver's story about how he was a time-traveler and met another Lara-Su, Jani-Ca accepted his story outright. She then had him accompany her team to their secret base and Jani-Ca explained their situation and plan to him while also breifly explaining that she believed his story from her own time-travel experience. However, they soon found themselves ambushed in their own base by Enerjak who claimed to have always known where they were and kept them around for entertainment value until Silver had arrived. Joining hands with the rest of her team, she told Demo to clear a path for them and was lifted out of the crumbling remains of their hideout by Silver, only to be captured in Enerjak's chaos energy. Jani-Ca was able to break free of his hold with the Sword of Acorns however, and remained defiant in the face of her corrupted father and his summoned minions. She became especially enraged when he revealed a new Prelate especially for her; one based upon her mother, whom Enerjak had rendered into a Core. As she engaged her new foe in attempt to hold it off with the rest of Enerjak's soldiers, Jani-Ca told Silver to help the others and leave her to fight her mother. (SU: #26)

During her fight with Prelate JS, she spoke to it thinking that her mother might be able to somehow hear her from inside, promising that she would save her. Before Jani-Ca could deliver the killing blow though, Silver interrupted the fight, using hs power to freeze JS. Jani-Ca was furious as Silver had no right to intrude on a personal matter, but as he pointed out her team was losing and needed her, she agreed he was right and went to help Scarlette & Blockbuster in their battles with Prelates V & M. With the fight over, she destroyed the immobile JS so Silver could add her core to the others he rescued from Enerjak. Noting afterwards that the demigod had just been watching them and brooding for a while, she ordered her team to move until he aprroached, applauding their efforts. Jani-Ca realized Enerjak himself was about to attack and told everyone to scatter, but it was pointless as he quickly caught and removed the cores of each of them one at a time until just she was left. Even while in her father's grasp, Jani-Ca still defied him as he noted how much wasted potential she still had until Silver attacked him, causing Enerjak to let her go. She stayed back as Silver went to confront Enerjak in tremendous final showdown, and gathered up her friends' lifeless bodies. Promising to restore them soon, Jani-Ca turned to the battle at hand and waited to make her move. (SU: #27, #28)

Goddess Heritage
Jani-Ca then rushed to Silver's aide when he was overwhelmed by a horde of Prelates, and helped him fight their way through them until Silver was close enough to reach Enerjak. Telling Silver to go finish his fight with the demigod, Jani-ca turned her attention to dealing with the Prelates and held them off singlehandedly. Eventually she saw that Enerjak was completely focused on crushing Silver and quickly jumped in, stunning him with the Sword of Acorn's magic, and recited a variant of Tikal's Prayer to drain his power. Following a flash of light, Jani-ca was shocked to find that by taking Enerjak's power away from him, she had become the next incarnation herself as a demigoddess. With a quick test of her new powers she was able to summon her mother's core and realized she could restore everyone and rebuild Mobius. She then destroyed the Sword to prevent her father from regaining his power and offered to help Silver's world in thanks. He declined though, as he still did not know how things went wrong and she accepted that, saying she would not be Enerjak for long. She gave her word as Guardian that she would not miss this opportunity to save her world. She then wished Silver luck in his quest as he departed, remaining hopeful that she could restore her father as well. (SU: #28)

Now as Enerjak, Jani-Ca began to think about how to repair the damage to Mobius and decided to first restore the cores to their owners. Though she would have rather stayed away from there, she went to the former Enerjak's abode, the Citadel where the Prelates came from. She felt it was still too soon to forgive Knuckles or regard him as her father again, but brought him with her as her only source of insight. With Knuckles guidance, she gained entrance by concentrating on wanting to go in, and they arrived at a small room with a throne. Hesitantly following his instruction to sit, Jani-Ca extended her will again and the ceiling vanished with the entire height of the spire, and every victim who had fallen to Enerjak, revealed to her. (ASUB, ASUB)

Surveying all of the sad and frightened looking figures preserved by the magic that had robbed them of their cores, Jani-Ca stopped on one man in particular. Knowing him only through his legendary evil, she asked her father if it was Dr. Eggman, as she thought he had been vaporized. Knuckles confirmed it was Eggman, explaining he was not in complete control of his power then, and it took a great deal of experimentation to restore him since the doctor was the first person he stole a core from. As Jani-Ca learned the bodies were all preserved as far as Knuckles knew, but that he never restored a core to someone, she found herself not knowing where to begin or even how. (ASUB)

When Knuckles inquired, Jani-Ca affirmed her plan to restore the cores to their owners, but remained unsure if she could figure out how. Knuckles warned her that she could err without mastering her powers, and might destroy the body, the core, or both. She listened as Knuckles suggested he could coach her in the process, but when he mentioned doing so by example and sharing her powers with him, she silenced him with a look. At this point, a dark voice began to make itself known in her mind, whispering malicious ideas, but Jani-Ca ignored it as she knew that kind of thinking led to the misery she grew up in and refused to perpetuate it. However, she realized she would not be able to resist the whisper forever, and had to restore the cores and Mobius quickly. (ASUB)

Jani-Ca was still uncertain who she would try to restore first when Knuckles asked. As he suggested her mother, only to add that Jani-Ca would not start with her because she would not want to risk botching it and losing her forever, she seethed at his accuracy. She reluctantly nodded, but told him that she did not want any more sacrifices when he suggested using Dr. Eggman or another villain who would not be missed, nor that anyone else would be lost to his machinations. She then turned to a familiar face, Remington, and realized she never really knew him. She hated him in her childhood purely from principle, and his heroism only confused her as she grew up. Finally understanding that he had given everything to try to protect everyone, Jani-Ca believed he would have volunteered himself if he knew it could save the world. Hoping she was right and that Reminton could forgive her if she was wrong, Jani-Ca summoned a core and offered it to the body, softly begging him to please wake up. (ASUB)

Zone Jail
Enerjak's claws were seen in the Zone Jail's area for inmates items, indicating that a version of Enerjak may be among the inmates.

Abilities
The abilities of an Enerjak are highly varied, all derived from the use of the Chaos Force; in comparison to most beings anyone who assumes the mantle of Enerjak is virtually omnipotent. Abilities Enerjak displayed included teleportation, telepathy, mind control, levitation, control over matter and energy at a molecular level, becoming a giant and super strength. Knuckles' version of Enerjak also utilized Chaos energy in a fashion similar to Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Spear attack, in a move called Thunder Arrow. The alternate reality version of Enerjak seems fond of extracting his victims' Cores, a kind of concentrated life essence, leaving them lifeless husks. These abilities make Enerjak seem somewhat similar to various super forms attained by other Mobians, though the form itself has more in common with Chaos Knuckles, a similar state of being reached by Knuckles. Like Chaos Knuckles, Enerjak is permanent so long as no extenuating circumstances -- such as death or being subjected to a magical artifact or siphon device -- result that drain Enerjak's powers and revert him to whomever he was before becoming Enerjak.

Personality
When Dimitri was in the role of Enerjak, he retained his genius but displayed a clear lack of respect for any other intelligent beings. Others were simply there to amuse him, which he was quite willing to do on a regular basis. He felt completely justified in all his actions, and was also arrogant, boastful and vindictive to the extreme.

The most recent Enerjak, his persona supplied by Knuckles, was similar to the original but with noticeable differences. While still brutal and unforgiving, he retained the feelings Knuckles had towards his closest friends and family-in particular, his love for Julie-Su and his compassion towards Remington, the latter of whom was first to be restored to a normal Echidna state in place of his Dark Legion parts, and restored his memory that was lost when he was trapped in the egg grapes. Rather than acting as a conqueror, Knuckles/Enerjak sees himself as a deliverer, a savior and bringer of peace to the people of Mobius, whether they like it or not. He also has Knuckles' general dislike of technology-no doubt born from years of living without it and fighting those who relied on it for power blown completely out of proportion, in addition to thinking himself to truly be of divine nature, and thus irrevocably in the right to do as he saw fit. Dr. Finitevus' hex appears to have had a disruptive effect on his sense of right and wrong: he had many of Knuckles' desires but seemed utterly uncaring how he went about achieving them or whether they were moral or not.

The alternate reality Enerjak shared many traits with Dimitri, though perhaps he is slightly more insane than his predecessor. This Enerjak was completely confident in his abilities and domination over his Mobius; the Alternate Freedom Fighters were merely playthings to keep him entertained, and he had sent his Prelates out to seek new worlds for him to conquer. Silver's arrival seemed to utterly fascinate him, and he appeared to be positively delighted at the prospect of a true challenge to his godlike power.

As Jani-Jak, Jani-ca/Enerjak seemed much more kind and good-hearted, appearing to retain Jani-ca's personality and desire for peace. She seemed to have no particular desire to retain that form, short of restoring the world as shown when she said "I won't be Enerjak much longer." She didn't wish to rule others, either, as the other three incarnations have, simply to fix the things her father destroyed. It is as yet unknown if she will successfully carry out these goals and relinquish her newfound powers when done.

Background Information

 * Thunder Arrow, used by the second Enerjak, was the name of an attack Knuckles could use in the multiplayer mode of Sonic Adventure 2/Battle after obtaining 40 rings. The attack would damage the enemy and cause disorientation when used.
 * Archimedes made reference to Enerjak as the "Great evil of legend!" in KMS #1, suggesting that Enerjak was a figure in echidna history and that Dimitri merely adopted the persona after centuries of madness. Further evidence supporting this was Dimitri himself referring to it as a persona in StH #107. Dr. Finitevus confirmed in SU #12 that in fact there had been Enerjaks throughout the ages, and Dimitri and Knuckles were only two of them, even suggested there was a cycle and that he had rushed it this time.
 * In the Q&A section of StH #211, Ian Flynn revealed that Knuckles's body was inhabited by the "spirit of Enerjak" thanks to Finitevus's help, indicating that becoming Enerjak involves more than the absorption of immense amounts of Chaos energy. Dimitri's centuries long isolation and resulting madness, along with Knuckles' brainwashing and the "dark whisper" in the back of Jani-Ca's mind suggests that the host's personality is suppressed and manipulated by the spirit.
 * Enerjak is to date, the only major villain never to have been actually defeated by one of the main characters. In each instance it was circumstances and outside forces that brought the threat of Enerjak to an halt.
 * Pir'Oth Ix of Sonic Chronicles fame was mentioned in the letters at the end of Sonic Universe issue 16 as an unlikely candidate for an Enerjak predating Dimitri and Knuckles.
 * Enerjak's overall appearance resembles the Predator alien from the 1987 thriller film Predator.
 * The Dark Mobius Knuckles version of Enerjak is featured on the cover of The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.
 * Jani-Ca was the first incarnation of Enerjak shown to be female, all previously introduced incarnations being male. The fact that the persona was not limited by gender was hinted at by Dr. Finitevus, who had considered Lien-Da as a possible new Enerjak. However, as of the introduction of the Jani-Ca version, the persona seems confined to members of the Echidna race.

Appearance
When Dimitri initially became overloaded with Chaos energy, he simply glowed green; however, when he reappeared he had gained the more recognized Enerjak armour. The ornate blue-and-gold outfit is somewhat Egyptian in appearance, resembling that of Egyptian pharaohs and gods, the faceplate in particular, and typically consists of a menacing mask covering all but the lower jaw bearing a red gem on the forehead, a chestplate, blue skirt, gold adornments on the arms and legs with blue clothing between, and boots with rounded gold toes. However, there are some variations in the design between Dimitri's version and that of Knuckles.

As Enerjak, Dimitri's faceplate was open at the back, allowing his long, wrapped dreadlocks to flow out, while the version worn by Knuckles featured a studded partial helmet over the top of the head. Dimitri's had a round red gem; Knuckles, a more angular one. Dimitri's gloves had thin gold strings wrapped between the fingers; Knuckles retained his usual gloves (though sometimes coloured blue rather than white) and his boots featured rounded studs. He also gained two blue belt-like pieces ending in gold triangular pieces at the waist. Both carried a golden, eagle-headed staff sometimes used as a weapon.

The alternate universe Enerjak retains the same basic design elements (golden armour with a faceplate), but unlike the other two, his design features lots of black in addition to the red and gold, rather than the bright blue of the previous incarnations. He sports gold and black bands on his dreadlocks and massive gold claws on the backs of his hands; he also wears a large cape (black with red interior). Additionally, this design features robotic elements: there are cables running to his arms and within his dreadlocks, and his right eye appears to be mechanical, surrounded by an Eye of Horus-like design in red.

Jani-Jak had a much softer design, retaining some gold but mainly consisting of white and lavender colors. The headgear had a Egyptian-like headdress with a pointed top, from which the faceplate could be removed. She wore a white skirt and wrapped sandals. Another interesting feature is that she no longer seems to need her glasses, as they appeared to simply vanish when she transformed. Her dreadlocks have gold bands near the end, and each is adorned with a dangling bead.