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 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.

History as Dimitri

 * See also: Dimitri

Becoming A God
The first 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)

Despite being buried, Dimitri surived. 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 prophecied 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 hovercraft from enemy fire using his powers to create a force field around them. 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)

Abilities
Enerjak's abilities are highly varied: he was functionally omnipotent in comparison to his enemies, and claimed that he could do anything by just thinking of it. Abilities Enerjak displayed included teleportation, telepathy, mind control, levitation, control over matter and energy at a molecular level, 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. 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 new 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.

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 refering 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 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.

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, 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.