Brotherhood of Guardians

The Brotherhood of Guardians is a fictional organization of anthropomorphic, humanoid echidnas in the Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comic) series. They are a group of Echidnas who protect Mobius from a secret facility known as Haven. They are also Knuckles the Echidna's predecessors and family in the title of Guardian. The Brotherhood's existence is secret to all but a few individuals, including their arch-enemies, the Dark Legion.

History
The Brotherhood of Guardians began with Steppenwolf inheriting the title of Guardian from his deceased father, Edmund, and battling the Dark Legion. As the years passed, Steppenwolf's descendants joined him in watching over Angel Island, and it was his great-grandson Remembrandt who first suggested the name Brotherhood. Early on, the group's operating methods and existence were known to all its members, even the current Guardian, until the first death of one of their number since Edmund: that of Aaron. Afterwards, the Brotherhood created a code of conduct that involved hiding from the people of Mobius, their existence hidden from all but a handful of allies-and of course their ancestral enemies, the Dark Legion-and observing Mobius as a whole while the youngest member defended Angel Island itself against such threats as the Dingoes and the Overlanders. With only a few exceptions, the Brotherhood had no contact with anyone from the outside world. This continued for 400 years, right up until Knuckles became the active Guardian of Angel Island.

The House of Acorn formed a friendship of sorts with the Brotherhood during the years between the Great War with the Overlanders and the later war with Dr. Robotnik. Because of political differences, however, the two groups never truly aligned with each other, not even against the threat posed by the second Dr. Robotnik. When Princess Sally Acorn met with the Brotherhood to discuss their providing support to the beleaugered people of Knothole, the Guardians refused to grant her request. The main reason for this was that the Brotherhood's main offering would include munitions technology, something that the Kingdom of Acorn's traditional laws forbade the use of and that Sally personally loathed.

Despite their usual missions of observing Mobius, the Brotherhood members have gotten involved in matters personally. Such occurrences include when the disguised Guardians threw Monk, Knuckles' childhood tormentor, off the edge of Angel Island. They later atoned for this in a way by holding Hunter, the human responsible for Monk's death, in prison. Later, members of the Brotherhood led by Guardian Mathias attacked the Dark Legion stronghold at the Grand Conservatory, resulting in Mathias' death.

During Sonic's exodus in space, a result of the battle with the Xorda, all living members of the Brotherhood except for Locke and Knuckles-with the exception of Athair, as he is not technically a member of the Brotherhood any longer, disappeared mysteriously. This apparently occurred when they worked together to hold off Dr. Robotnik's attempt to seize the Master Emerald. Later on, Dr. Finitevus supplies Locke with the apparent location of his missing family, tricking Locke into passing on the Guardian duties to him and sending him off with a Warp Ring to undertake his search.

Possible Future
Several members of the Brotherhood appear in the unaltered future depicted in the Mobius: 25 Years Later storyline, indicating that somewhere along that possible timeline the Guardians were found and brought back. Knuckles approached them in search of a way to spy on Lien-Da's son Rutan. They did not appear in the second version of Mobius: 25 Years Later in which Mobius is ruled by Shadow the Hedgehog.

Edmund
The first Echidna to take on the title of Guardian, Edmund was also the first to bear the white crescent birth mark on the chest that has passed down through the family line. Edmund was originally a scientist, and worked with his brother Dimitri on the Chaos Syphon. When Dimitri became Enerjak, Edmund was appointed Guardian and sent to defeat him. With the aid of several fire ants, he brought down Necropolis, Enerjak's stronghold. Edmund later perished when the Dark Legion, led by his nephew Menniker, attacked Echidnapolis. Knuckles later met Edmund during an attempt to change history, in which he worked together with his ancestor to safely lower Angel Island-an effort that failed. A second such past, in which Knuckles saved Edmund from being killed, resulted in Knuckles' Roboticization. Fortunately, neither attempt at alternation had any affect on the timeline.

Edmund, while alive, was an intellectual. Skilled in the field of politics, he felt that subterfuge was the best course of action to accomplish his goals. While he was deeply dedicated to his duties as a Guardian, family was infinitely important to him.

Steppenwolf
Edmund's son and the second in the line of Guardians, Steppenwolf's counterpart on the side of evil was his cousin Menniker, head of the Dark Legion. After his father's death, Steppenwolf was taken to Haven by the fire ant Christopheles, who then trained Steppenwolf in several ways. Steppenwolf then confronted the Dark Legion, and repulsed their first attack, banishing them to the Twilight Zone. Later on, he also repulsed an Overlander scouting party, led by Dr. Robotnik's ancestor, Brutus Kintobor. Steppenwolf is dead in the current time period, either from old age or from falling in battle. However, his spirit appeared to the ailing Hawking, who then accompanied him into the afterlife.

Steppenwolf was the first warrior Guardian, having been trained in various methods of combat. Despite the fact that this was the primary focus of his instruction, he was also a powerful speaker, capable of convincing others that his ideas were right. Moreover, his dedication to his cause was incredibly strong, enough that he didn't flinch even when one of the people he had sworn to defend threatened to kill him.


 * Steppenwolf's name may be a reference to the band who sang such hits as "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride".

Mathias
Father of Hawking and the oldest Guardian still living by the time of Knuckles, Mathias retired from his duties in Haven to spend the rest of his life in quiet meditation in another dimension. However, his time there was brought to an end when he sensed the Dark Legion preparing for yet another offensive against the Brotherhood and Echidnaopolis. Returning to Haven, he marshalled the Brotherhood for a preemptive strike against the Legion in hopes of thwarting Dimitri's plans. They launched an attack against the Dark Legion's headquarters in the Grand Conservatory, Mathias leading a meld of their powers with devastating effect, but all the members of the Brotherhood were then caught up by the effects of the Quantum Beam.

Hawking
Hawking was the Guardian of Angel Island when the Echidnas were attacked by their life-long enemies, the Dingoes. He protected Echidnaopolis from a nuclear attack with a dome shield, but then used a teleporter device to send all life off the island into another zone. He then spent much time cleaning it up, until it was again fit for habitation. He returned all the inhabitants except for the Dingoes and the Echidnas, both of whom returned after Robotnik fired the Ultimate Annihilator. Hawking, still powerful, but now confined to a wheelchair, fought against the impending threat, but the overextension of his abilities sent him into a coma and from which he did not wake. The spirit of Steppenwolf appeared to Hawking to guide him to the afterlife; Hawking's own spirit, appearing as he did in his youth, would later return to speak with Knuckles.

In his youth, Hawking was a kind and friendly individual, eager to fight for the cause of good. Like many Guardians, he was strongly dedicated to his family, and particularly of his son Tobor. As an older Echidna bound to a wheelchair, he was somewhat cranky, and insisted that he could take care of himself.


 * Hawking's name and wheelchair use is a reference to physicist Stephen Hawking.

Tobor
Hawking's son and the first Guardian charged with protecting Echidnaopolis after the Dingoes' nuclear attack, while his father returned to Angel Island to begin cleaning up the nuclear fallout. When the Dark Legion returned for another attack, Tobor battled the then Grand Master Moritori Rex, who attacked the Echidnas with advanced weapons while the citizens were left with farming tools. Tobor and Moritori were teleported to the Floating Island, where they were severely injured by falling ruins. Hawking, looking for his son, mistook Moritori for him and took him back to Echidnaopolis, where he infiltrated the Brotherhood. The true Tobor wandered the planet in shame, and had his eyes replaced with cybernetic implants by a doctor who appears to have been an ancestor of Knothole's Dr. Quack.

Tobor later returned to the Floating Island, where he had a run in with Julie-Su. Mistaking her for a Dark Legionnaire-not surprising, given her previous membership in that group-he attacked her with the intent of killing her, but his morality overcame his lust for vengeance and he ended up accompanying her to see Knuckles instead. After convincing his descendant of his identity with the display of his Guardian ring and the story of his banishment, Tobor admitted that he no longer wanted vengeance, and that all he wanted was to return to his family and home. Knuckles granted his wish, leaving him in the care of his mother Lara-Le while he sought answers from Moritori's grandson, Kragok. Kragok then revealed that it had been a conspiracy from the start: Moritori had monitored Tobor, and then arranged a trap that allowed him to replace the Guardian and infiltrate the Brotherhood. Both of them were drawn into a realm known as the Twilight Zone, where the Dark Legion had been periodically imprisoned since Steppenwolf had defeated Menniker.

Sensing his descendant's peril, Tobor left Lara-Le and rushed to his aid. He reached a portal that opened between Echidnaopolis and the Twilight Zone and dragged Kragok into it before it closed, resulting in both of them being trapped there for a short time. The two later escaped in front of a Dark Legion attack ship, and Tobor sacrificed himself to take out the weapon and Kragok. Because of Moritori Rex taking his place, the rest of the Brotherhood assumed that Tobor had died a long time ago and thus were confused when Spectre reported the death of a third Guardian besides Mathias and Hawking-Locke temporarily feared that the third sensed death was his son's.

As a youth, Tobor was determined to protect his family and people. He idolized his father Hawking, which made the switch with Moritori Rex all the more painful for him. Years spent wandering the surface made Tobor bitter, and for a time revenge was all that he wanted. However, upon returning to Angel Island and meeting Knuckles, he realized that what he wished for was to have his family back. Tobor remained firmly dedicated to his cause, perfectly willing to give his own life.

Spectre
The oldest living guardian, the enigmatic Spectre is the most unpredictable of the group, the most ruthless in battle and one of the most powerful. He is unusual among the Guardians for several things: his black coat of fur, a cloud of smoke that trails him everywhere, blood-red eyes, and a silver open-faced helmet and flowing black robes resembling those common among the Dark Legion (it should be noted that, for most of his life, he was raised by a Dark Legionnaire, Moritori Rex, who was impersonating his father). Spectre is the son of Tobor, the father of Thunderhawk, and following the deaths of Mathias, Hawking, and Tobor, became the oldest living Guardian. Like most of the Brotherhood, he disappeared sometime during Sonic's Xorda induced exile in outer space.

In the Mobius: 25 Years Later story, Spectre immediately assumes that Lien-Da is causing trouble when Knuckles wants to use Haven 2's surveillance to spy on her family. Spectre was seen as an infant in a flashback, and it is unclear if more will be revealed about him, according to the editors.

Although Spectre can seem unfriendly and anti-social at times, he can be polite when he wants to, as demonstrated when Princess Sally Acorn and he seemed uncharacteristically courteous towards each other. Spectre is also known for incredible hatred of the Dark Legion. Spectre is the most violent in his approach to Guardianship, as demonstrated when he brutally blinded Moritori Rex or attacked Dark Legion soldiers purely out of spite. However, despite this apparent lack of moral inhibitions (or perhaps because of them), Spectre also possesses abilities that seem far beyond what the other Guardians (save Knuckles) have displayed, such as extra-sensory perception and telekinesis. Spectre always uses Chaos energy when fighting, as he believes hand-to-hand combat is "vulgar".

Thunderhawk
He is the son of Spectre and father of Sojourner. Little else is known about the purple (lavender) Guardian.

Sojourner
He is the son of Thunderhawk and father of Janelle-Li. Sojourner thinks the Brotherhood is hypocritical at times, because the Guardian family line was established to fight advancements in technology. Yet they use many technological devices against the Dark Legion and other invaders.

Janelle-Li
She is the mother of Athair and daughter of Sojourner, first female Guardian whom passed away at a young age in comparison to the rest of the Brotherhood. Other than that little is known about her.

Athair

 * See main article.

Sabre
Sabre is the son of Athair and the nominal 'leader' of the Brotherhood. He is the brains of the group, and is a top problem solver. He refuses to speak to his father, since Athair did not return to the Island when Sabre's grandmother was about to die. Despite being born into the Lost Tribe, Sabre chose to return to Angel Island to assume Athair's place as Guardian. Sabre was also the first Guardian to be trained by Archimedes, the Fire Ant who went on to instruct both Locke and Knuckles. Like the other members of the Brotherhood, he disappeared after defending the Master Emerald from Dr. Robotnik's forces, and his apparent demise was a great distress to his former mentor.

In the Mobius: 25 Years Later story arc, Sabre is found in a vegetative state, unaware of anything going on around him.

Locke

 * See main article.

Knuckles

 * See main article.

Dr. Finitevus

 * See main article for more details.

While he is not actually a member of the Brotherhood, Dr. Finitevus can be considered a temporary Guardian given that Locke turned over the responsibilities of the office to him to search for the other real members of the group. However, Finitevus's only reason for seeking out this post was so he could get Locke out of the way of his plans for the Master Emerald, which involve using the energy within to restore Dimitri to his full level of power as Enerjak. This is part of Finitevus' overall plan to crush the Dingo regime and reunify the civil war-split Dark Legion.

Lara-Su

 * See main article.

Abilities
Since Steppenwolf was instructed in the manipulation of Chaos energy by the fire ant Christopheles, all of the Guardians have had the ability to control such energy. Each member of the Brotherhood uses it to varying power, and it seems to be augmented by their emotions. Use of these energies gives the Guardians powers such as teleportation, telekinesis, and the ability to fire Chaos energy blasts from various parts of their bodies, most often their hands.

Having been exposed to Chaos radiation while in his egg state, Knuckles is the most powerful member of the Brotherhood, being effectively a living Chaos Emerald. As such, he has demonstrated powers that no other member of the Brotherhood has ever exhibited, such as warping reality as he so chooses or healing any injuries that are inflicted upon him. Knuckles also temporarily used his power to become Chaos Knuckles, a green colored version of himself who is the most powerful Chaos entity on Mobius. Knuckles is also uniquely possessed of super strength, and is the first member of the Brotherhood to have actual fist spurs. All older Guardians who appear to possess them are really wearing barbed mittens, a tradition originating in the Knuckles Clan, whose members include Tikal the Echidna and her father Pachacamac. Knuckles is the only Guardian whose knuckle spikes are actually part of his hand. His future/possible daughter, Lara-Su, allegedly has a similar feature, but is capable of retracting them into her hands.

Haven
The headquarters of the Brotherhood, Haven is located in the Forbidden Zone, a dimension split off from the rest of Mobius with its entrance disguised by a holographic wall of fire. Haven is the most advanced facility on Mobius, and all Guardians not on active duty reside here. Haven also serves as a monitor for nearly all activities on Angel Island, and many on the rest of Mobius. Haven was originally used as a training center by Steppenwolf, who was brought to the location by the fire ant Christopheles. During the Dark Legion Quantum Beam attack, Haven was demolished.

In the Mobius: 25 Years Later story, the Brotherhood lives in an identical facility known as Haven 2.

Jordann and Kayla-La
The great-grandparents of Edmund and Dimitri. Kayla-La was the scientist who discovered that the White Comet would impact Echidnaopolis. Together, the two managed to devise a method to lift Echidnaopolis and part of the surrounding landscape into the sky with 12 Chaos Emeralds, thus making them the founders of the Floating Island.

Byron and Angel-La
Edmund and Dimitri's parents. The Floating Island was later renamed Angel Island after Angel-La.

Sonja-Ra
Hawking's wife, the mother of Guardian Tobor.

Voni-Ca
Tobor's wife, the mother of Spectre.

Crystal-La
Athair's wife, Sabre's mother, was a member of the Lost Tribe. Crystal-La is the only Guardian spouse whose absence is explained, as she was captured and Roboticized. Assuming that she survived the years spent as a Robian, she could conceivably have been restored to normal form by the Bem, but she has not appeared to indicate continued existence.
 * Current writer Ian Flynn has stated that he assumes the character to have survived and made her way to Albion, but does not plan on revisiting the subject in the series.

Jenna-Lu
Wife of Guardian Sabre, Locke's mother.



Lara-Le
Mother of Knuckles the Echidna, Lara-Le is a member of the House of Arian, presumably named for an important ancestor of hers. She did not figure prominently in Knuckles' life until years after his birth. Wife to the Guardian Locke, Lara-Le became furious with her husband when she realized what he had done to their son. Divorcing Locke, she intended to leave with Knuckles, but was forced to give him up. When Knuckles grew old enough to question her absence, Locke simply replied that she was gone. Because of this, Knuckles assumed that she was dead, not thinking that his father's actions had driven her away. Despite this, she still had feelings towards Locke as he did her and she was deeply saddened by his death in Mobius: 25 Years Later.

Later, when Echidnaopolis was restored, Knuckles met his mother for the first time. He grew to love her, and the only bit of contention he felt was when she remarried to an Echidna named Wynmacher. Later, Lara-Le gave birth to Knuckles' half-brother, Knecapeon Mace, otherwise known as 'Kneecaps' or 'Mace'. Shortly afterwards, Lara and the other former residents of the destroyed city of Echidnaopolis were faced with the horror of a reborn Enerjak, who proved benevolent as he transported them to the safe haven of Albion. Of course, Lara knew nothing at the time of the full evil behind the new Enerjak: that he was, in fact, her firstborn son Knuckles.

In addition, several alternate futures have named her as the grandmother and namesake of Lara-Su, Knuckles and Julie-Su's daughter.

Wynmacher the Echidna
A resident of Echidnaopolis, Wynmacher is Lara-Le's second husband and Knuckles the Echidna's stepfather. Despite the mild tension caused by his mother remarrying, Knuckles has no ill feelings towards Wyn, and Wynmacher has no problems at all towards his stepson and his wife's former in-laws. Wynmacher and Lara later had a son, Kneecapeon Mace, Kneecaps for short, and in the dark days of Robotnik's domination, the three are inseparable. Wyn is also a fanatic when it comes to the prophecy of the Avatar, whom the general populace of Echidnaopolis believe is Knuckles. This leads Wyn to constantly call Knuckles "Avatar," despite Knuckles' protests. Together with his wife and son, Wynmacher was among the Echidnas who witnessed Enerjak's return before being sent to the Echidna island of Albion.

Despite his aristocratic appearance, Wyn is not afraid to do work. He helped Knuckles subdue a group of Dingoes holding him and Lara hostage during Echidnaopolis' return to Mobius proper. When Knuckles complimented his tackle, Wyn replied, "I played varsity!" This skill, along with his cooking expertise, came from his college days.


 * Keeping up with many other Star Wars references in the comics, Wynmacher wears an outfit similar to Darth Vader, sans the helmet.


 * Cancelled story ideas by Archie included Wynmacher also being taken prisoner due to Hunter's attack, leaving Lara to raise Kneecaps with the help of Locke. 

Knecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace the Echidna
Knecapeon, going by the nickname Kneecaps is the son of Lara-Le and Wynmacher, and the half-brother of Knuckles. Knuckles is rather put off by his new baby brother, for several reasons: his horrible name (Knuckles and Kneecaps?) and habit of hitting Knuckles on the head with his rattle. Kneecaps is a rather stereotypical infant: he loves his rattle - and hitting Knuckles with it - speaks in baby gibberish that most people do not understand, and is inseparable from his mother. Despite his tendency to hit Knuckles with his rattle, he seems genuinely fond of his older sibling. However, this fondness would have been noticeably decreased had Kneecaps been able to understand that Enerjak, whom he encountered some time later, was his transformed older sibling.

In Mobius: 25 Years Later, he is understandably more mature, about 25 at the time of the story. He also goes by the more mature (and perhaps more apt, considering his behavior as a child) name Mace.

Continuity Errors
Back in the letters page of Knuckles the Echidna #21 a fan asks a question about listing Knuckles' relatives in order up to Hawking. It states, "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."

It even goes as far as the official story in Knuckles the Echidna #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.