Sojourner

Sojourner is a Mobian Echidna, the son of Spectre and father of Thunderhawk. While not known for any outstanding achievements during his tenure as Guardian, as a member of the Brotherhood of Guardians Sojourner has fought many times against the Dark Legion during Knuckles time in as Guardian of Angel Island. Following the invasion of Angel Island by the Eggman Empire, Sojourner fought along side the rest of the Brotherhood to fend off against a horde of Egg Pawns seeking to steal the Master Emerald. Following the battle, Sojourner and the rest of the Brotherhood were captured and secretly studied by Dr. Finitevus before being banished to the Twilight Zone.

The Queen Alicia Incident
Like his son Thunderhawk, little is known about Sojourner's tenure as Guardian of the Floating Island. During the Great War, Queen Alicia Acorn and her infant son Elias were sent to Angel Island to avoid being captured by the invading Overlander hordes. As their ship approached the island however it was shot down by aerial Overlander ships. After it crashed, the Brotherhood arrived on the scene first. Sojourner discovered amongst the wreckage the baby Elias. Sabre, who was in charge of the mission, told the arriving Overlanders everyone had died in the crash. Following the Overlander withdrawal from the island, the Brotherhood took Alicia and Elias to the safety of Haven where the dying queen was put into cryo sleep. When the issue came up over whether to inform King Max of his wife and son's survival, Sojourner decided it was best to keep it a secret for the time being, stating "If the Overlanders discover we withheld the facts from them, that will force their hand into taking action -- upon which we would be forced into taking action, and getting dragged into a war we have no interest in whatsoever". Thus, for the next several years, the Brotherhood raised Elias, with Sojourner teaching him and acting as a father figure. When Elias was old enough, the Brotherhood left him in the care of Colonel Sommersby at the Royal Compound. (KtE: #20, #21)

Brotherhood Member in Knuckles' Time
As the Brotherhood expanded their efforts to maintain order to the rest of Mobius, Sojourner was responsible for watching over a specific region. When the Brotherhood discussed the carnage around Mobius following Sonic the Hedgehog's chase of Ixis Naugus, Sojourner was about to mention the area he was watching over before being interrupted by Sabre. (KtE: #16)

When the power in Haven mysteriously cut out, Sojourner went with Moritori Rex (disguised as Tobor) to ensure Hawking's life support systems were still working. He then reminded Moritori they needed to check on Queen Alicia. When Moritori pointed out he didn't believe in allying with outside forces, Sojourner stated he agreed, but that they weren't the "final authorities" and the Brotherhood always acted on a group consensus. Later, when discussing the possible cause of Haven's blackout, Sojourner explained to Sabre that the reason one component took out their entire complex was due to the fact Haven's designs were extremely simple in their layout. He then added that his worries were the vulnerability Haven had to attack with its systems down. (KtE: #17, #18)

When Knuckles wound up in Haven, Sabre diagreed with Thunderhawk that Knuckles was too undiciplined to be in Haven, and that the Brotherhood's methods may not have been right all this time. Sojourner quickly debated this, stating "You would question our customs and traditions, Sabre? Our system has work for over four centuries! We should send the lad back, before he comes to his senses!". Spectre then stated fate had taken its course, and they should allow Knuckles to remain in Haven. Shortly afterwards when Elias Acorn arrive in Haven with the Royal Secret Service, Sojourner explained to Elias that Thunderhawk wasn't present because he was checking up on Hawking's health. (KtE: #21)

The following day when Benedict was presenting his speech, Sojourner pointed out that the Brotherhood were hypocrites for using technology. Sabre pointed out their use of technology was to give them an even playing field with the Dark Legion, and that their forefathers never meant to suppress technology forever. Sorjourner quickly retorted "Says who? Where's your proof?" at which point Thunderhawk attempted to break up the debate. Seconds later, Dark Legion troops broke into the room and tranquilized the three Guardians. When they awoke and Thunderhawk asked how the Dark Legion penetrated Haven, Sojourner answered "Isn't it obvious, Thunderhawk? Only one being other than our own could have done so!" implying it was Moritori Rex, who had been impersonating the Guardian Tobor for years and was only exposed days earlier by Knuckles. Eventually, the three were rescued by Locke and Spectre. (KtE: #22, #23, #24)

When Princess Sally Acorn went to the Brotherhood of Guardians to propose and alliance against Robo-Robotnik, Sojourner carried on a friendly conversation with her prior to the meeting's beginning. (KtE: #29)

After Hunter managed to disable all of the Brotherhood's monitors and fail safes, Sabre and Sojourner investigated the problem in one part of Haven while Locke and Thunderhawk investigated another. Sojourner looked into Haven's main circuit board but found no problem with its hardware. (KtE: #31)

Following the return of Mathias, Sojourner participated on the Brotherhood attack on the Grand Conservatory to put an end to the Dark Legion's attempted takeover of the Floating Island. However, he along with the other Brotherhood members were caught in a trap and banished to an alternate zone when the Dark Legion Battle Cruiser fired the Quantum Beam. (SSS: #14)

Sojourner and the rest of the Brotherhood were returned to Mobius Prime when Chaos Knuckles undid the effects of the Quantum Beam. When the Brotherhood rummaged through the ruins of Haven, Sojourner stated believed there to be no evidence as to who was behind its destruction. His son Thunderhawk soon pointed out it was obviously the Dark Legion. (StH: #107)

Last Stand and Captivity
During Sonic's time in space, the Eggman Empire launched a full-scale invasion of Angel Island with assistance from the Dingo Regime, who under Kage Von Stryker allied with Eggman in exchange for technological and military assistance. During the invasion, the Sojourner along with the rest of the Brotherhood defended the Master Emerald from being captured. The battle drained them of most of their energy, and they were believed to have been killed in the fight. Having been badly weakened from the battle, Dr. Finitevus had no problems capturing and holding the Brotherhood captive. From there, Finitevus performed numerous studies on each member of the Brotherhood in order to understand their relationship with Chaos energies. Once he felt he learned all he could, Finitevus dumped the Brotherhood and Moritori Rex into the Twilight Zone, leaving them for dead. (StH: #139, #183)

Personality
Sojourner was known for stating his mind and holding true to tradition. He agreed with "Tobor" they they should not ally themselves with outside forces. When Sabre stated the Brotherhood's ways may not have been right all this time and that they should allow Knuckles to remain in Haven, Sojourner disagreed, stating their methods had worked for centuries. Later, when the issue came up over the Brotherhood's use of excessive technology despite the Echidna's ban of it, Sojourner was quick to mention that the Brotherhood were hypocrites and there was no proof their forefathers intended technology to be used again. (KtE: #17, #23)

Background Information

 * Sojourner was typically depicted as averaged aged in most of his appearances, though in Super Special #14 he was depicted with wrinkles and much older.

Continuity Errors
Back in the letters page of KtE #21 a fan asked a question about listing Knuckles' relatives in order up to Hawking. The response was: "The father of Knuckles is Locke. Locke's father is Sabre. Sabre's father is Athair. Followed by Athair is his mother Janelle-Li, the first and only female Guardian, and daughter of Thunderhawk. Thunderhawk's father was Sojourner, who was child of Spectre. Tobor the father of Spectre, and the son of Hawking." Evidence to support this appeared in the comics in KtE #29 when Spectre gives a roll call introduction to Princess Sally stating that his son is Sojourner and Thunderhawk is his grandson.

It wasn't until the Sonic Data Banks that this was changed around to Sojourner being the son of Thunderhawk. As to reasons why this change was made nobody is quite sure. All that is known of this situation was that it was handled under poor editing. Hardcore fans got upset with this, but many have adapted to the changes. This order was also shown on Knuckles family tree.

Confusion once again arose in the letters page of StH #193. When asked the order of birth, the editor responded: For the record: The order goes Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk, then Janelle-Li, Athair, Sabre, Locke and Knuckles, for those of you keeping track at home.". When asked about this, writer Ian Flynn responded: I'm going to have to go over it all again to see if there's a nuance somewhere that can nail it down. We will eventually be setting it in stone. Officially. In print. That's more official than what's come before. (1)

Given the recent note by the editor, confirmation by the lead writer this is more canon than what has come before, as well as evidence from dialogue in the comics, Mobius Encyclopaedia recognizes the order as: Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk.