Ancient Walkers

The Ancient Walkers are a strange and ugly trio of highly evolved, powerful Mobosaurs who are said to have had the greatest connection to the Chaos Force of any creature to ever grace Mobius. Appearing around the same time as the first Chaos Emeralds, they learned to harness their energy and became a powerful alliance for good. In modern times, they aided Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Miles "Tails" Prower in discovering destinies that the Walkers had themselves foretold. However, the Walkers were later mortally wounded by the villain Mammoth Mogul, and a dimensional rift opened by the magical Sword of Acorns pushed them past their breaking point and killed them.

Rise to Godhood
Originally a trio of Mobosaurs-a pterodactyl and two earthbound species-the Ancient Walkers were alive in the time during the Coming of the Chaos Emeralds where they first discovered and began tapping into the power of the Chaos Emeralds. At some point they reached a state of higher being through a connection to the Chaos Force, which led them to become the defenders of Mobius. During this period, they predicted the rise of three heroes-Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, the latter two also known as the Chosen One and the Avatar-who would bring harmony to Mobius through a variety of means. (StH: #56, #138, TMS: #2, #3)

Interactions with Coporeal Beings
The Ancient Walkers violated their adopted principles of non-involvement with lesser Mobians by placing a curse upon Mammoth Mogul's Chaos Emerald so that each of his attempts to achieve world domination ended in failure and defeat. Some time during this era, they also may have begun training Aurora, a being of similar power-though less than the Walkers-who would later be named as one of their successors and become as revered as they. (StH: #120, #188)

The Walkers also became heavily involved with the affairs of the Brotherhood of Guardians, who revere them as the greatest ever masters of the Chaos Force, during their four most recent generations. The first was when they brought young Athair to Haven before his time, convincing his mother Janelle-Li that he had a role other than that of Guardian to fulfill. She then returned to Angel Island to act as Guardian while Athair became Mitre of the Lost Tribe of Echidnas as well as a student of the Walkers in the ways of the Chaos Force. Later, when Janelle-Li fell ill and near death, the Walkers came to inform Athair of it. Athair's son Sabre demanded that his father return to Angel Island, and when Athair did not, Sabre went in his place to take on the role of Guardian. Some decades afterwards, the Ancient Walkers gave Sabre's son Locke a dream that warned of a future peril his son Knuckles would have to face. Locke thus performed a number of experiments designed to enhanced Knuckles' abilities in order to make him the ultimate Guardian. (KtE: #11, #25)

Aiding the Heroes of Prophecy
Appropriately given their role in his alteration, the Ancient Walkers appeared first to Knuckles after he fell from a mountain while attempting to retrieve a Chaos Emerald half that was burrowing towards the Emerald of Angel Island. The Walkers explained to Knuckles that if the fragmented Emerald made contact with the island's whole Emerald, it would set off a chain reaction that would destroy the entire island. Returning him to the island to stop the Emerald, the Walkers then took possession of it when it was reunified by his efforts and those of Sonic the Hedgehog. (STT)

Later, Tails met them while traveling in Downunda, and they provided him with a view of Mobius' history with the Chaos Emeralds, going back to their own origins. This was also the first time tails was informed of his destiny as the "Chosen One". (TMS: #1, #2, #3)

Soon afterwards, Sonic met them when he came into contact with his one-billionth Power Ring. They tested him with riddles regarding the Power Rings and Chaos Emeralds, in which Sonic learned that a link of sorts existed between the two. As a reward for his successes, they agreed to answer him one question, but in his surprise his tongue slipped and he asked one that had little relevance, and thus lost the chance. (StH: #35)

When next the Ancient Walkers appeared, it was after Knuckles began his search for the Sword of Acorns. Tails took him to Downunda to meet the Walkers and so have a clue as to where to begin his search. Athair sent them to see the Walkers after a brief debate with Knuckles, and they informed the duo that there was no connection between the crystallization of Maximillian Acorn and Chaos Emeralds. That being said, they directed the Guardian to seek out a sorceror, a wizard, an alchemist, a charlatan, an enchantress, and a paladin in his search. One by one, Knuckles found them all: Black Death, Mathias Poe, Damocles the Elder (or at least a statue of him), Merlin Prower, the Enchantress, and Sir Connery. (StH: #42)

Later they would return to save Knuckles after his near death at the hands of Enerjak, who had scattered his molecules and would have killed him had the Walkers not reassembled Knuckles afterwards. Almost immediately afterwards, they provided Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails with Power Rings so that they could transform into Super Sonic, Hyper Knuckles, and Turbo Tails in order to combat Master Mogul. The Walkers themselves also joined the fray, directing their powers against Mogul to free the Mobians he held prisoner. (StH: #56, KtE: #9)

Afterwards, they called upon Athair to fulfill his task and bring Knuckles to lead the Lost Tribe the rest of the way to Albion. In the end, as Knuckles left with his mission accomplished, the Walkers and Athair both looked down on him in approval. (KtE: #10, #12)

Death
Unfortunately, even the Ancient Walkers could not evade death forever. Upon his escape from the Master Emerald when Dr. Eggman shattered it to provide energy to Chaos, Mammoth Mogul used the embers of his Chaos power to launch a mortal attack against the Ancient Walkers, which left them weakened and diminishing with the passing of time. (StH: #79, #162)

Though they endured for over a year, up until the point Mogul was sealed in his own Chaos Emerald, they knew that they could not hold out much longer and so called on Merlin Prower to aid them in one last desperate ploy to restore their health using the Source of All. Sadly, Merlin was unable to recover the Sword of Acorns before it was used by the Arachne to release the evil wizard Ixis Naugus from his captivity in the Zone of Silence, creating a dimensional tear that proved too much for the weakened Walkers to overcome. Before they expired, the trio named their successors, the Neo Walkers: Aurora, Athair, and Merlin Prower. (StH: #162)

Powers
The Ancient Walkers are described as the only beings who have ever completely mastered the Chaos Force. As a result, their potential abilities were virtually limitless, and can be presumed to have included every Chaos power displayed by other wielders of this energy and more that are known to no one. Of their vast abilities, those that are known are the ability to move themselves or others between Zones, halt the passage of time while interacting with someone, transmit dreams into the minds of others, manipulate reality to the point of reassembling someone who had been taken apart by another Chaos Force wielder.