Locke


 * You may be looking for the Mobius: X Years Later version of Locke. See: Locke (MxYL).

Locke is the son of Sabre, father of Knuckles the Echidna and was a prominent member of the Brotherhood of Guardians. A dedicated Guardian, Locke often put the training of his son above wishes of his wife Lara-Le, which resulted in their eventual divorce. After Knuckle's training was considered complete, Locke left his son to defend Angel Island alone, while secretly watching him within the secret base of Haven. Year later, after Haven was discovered by Knuckles, Locke took a more active role in his son's life. When the Brotherhood of Guardians went missing and Knuckles refused to return to Angel Island, Locke took up position of Guardian once more and protected his fellow Echidnas. Locke fell in the line of duty, sacrificing his life to free Knuckles from Dr. Finitevus' Hex and restore his free will, bringing an end to the threat of Enerjak.

Early Life and Raising Knuckles
Having married Lara-Le of the House of Arian, the two consummated their relationship with the birth of their son Knuckles. Before Lara-Le laid Knuckles' egg however, Locke was shown a terrible vision of the future by the Ancient Walkers, where he witnessed his son defending the world from an incredible foe. As the nightmares persisted, Locke sought out the advice of his grandfather Athair, who was known to commune with the Ancient Walkers themselves. Acting in Athair's adivce, Locke decided he would genetically alter his son to prepare him for the threat shown in his nightmates. After performing biological experiments on himself as practise first, Locke then took the unhatched egg of Knuckles to Haven where he basked it in pure chaos radiation. Days later Knuckles hatched a healthy baby, and his wife Lara-Le remained unaware of these experiments. (KtE: #25)

From the time he was an infant however, Knuckles displayed signs in intelligence and far more advanced than those his age should normally be capable of, and Lara-Le soon realized something was amiss. By the time Knuckles was only three years old, Locke had already begun training him in rigorous mathematics and sciences, much to the dismay of Lara-Le, who felt Knuckles was too young to begin Guardian training, and felt he should have more freedom. As time went on, Lara-Le could not put up with the hardships of being the wife of a Guardian, nor could she stand to watch the manner in which Locke trained him. Thus, Locke and Lara-Le divorced, though Locke had custody of Knuckles, as he needed to be trained in the ways of the Guardians. (KtE: #16, #25)



Over the next few years, Locke raised Knuckles alone, instructing him in such subjects as self defence, advanced mathematics, and other Guardian requirements. When Knuckles was eight, the two encountered a group of Robians who were seeking to obtain Floating Island's Chaos Emerald for Dr. Ivo Robotnik. While Locke dealt with the matter in the Chaos Chamber alone, the young Knuckles attempted to surprise the Robians and aid his father. After Knuckles was injured by the Robians, Locke used his mastery of the Chaos Force to disable them, after which he tended to his wounded son. Two years later when Knuckles was ten, Locke had felt he'd passed on enough knowledge to leave Knuckles to fend for himself, as was customary in Guardian tradition. He took his son to the edge of the Forbidden Zone where he explained to Knuckles he would be leaving. Instructing Knuckles not to follow him, Locke disappeared behind a mysterious wall of fire, leaving Knuckles to fend for himself as the new Guardian of the Floating Island. Unbeknownst to Knuckles, the wall was in fact the concealed entrance to Haven, and Locke joined the Brotherhood in observing Mobius in secret. (KtE: #25, SvK)

Member of the Brotherhood
Despite their separation, Locke continued to watch from afar, aiding his son from Haven numerous times. When Enerjak first emerged from his burial under the ruins of Mount Fate, Locke helped to provide Knuckles with a hidden oasis of water after he was banished to the Sandopolis Zone. Afterwards, Locke helped his son and the Chaotix to defeat the Chaos-demigod by exiling him into space. (KMS: #1, #2, #3)

After the firing of the Ultimate Annihilator weakened the dimensional barriers and returned Echidnaopolis, the echidnas and the Dingoes from their mutual pocket zones, Locke focused primarily on overseeing how events played out, allowing his son to demonstrate his skills as acting Guardian. As soon as he learned of the Dark Legion emerging from their imprisonment in the Twilight Zone, Locke contacted Archimedes to help prepare Knuckles for the coming battle. When Knuckles and the Chaotix managed to penetrate the Dark Legion's base, Locke used his chaos powers to disable the Dark Legion's weapons, allowing for the Chaotix and Knuckles to succeed in forcing the legion to flee. (KtE: #1, #3)

Locke helped his son again during the battle against Master Mogul. As Super Sonic, Hyper Knuckles and Turbo Tails engaged against Master Mogul, having transformed by stealing the Chaos powers from Enerjak via the Sword of Acorns, Locke and Sabre channelled their Chaos powers and helped create the new Master Emerald, with Mogul trapped within. (StH: #56, KtE: #9)



When all of the active Brotherhood members assembled in Haven to discuss various matters, Locke was present at the discussion table. When the issue regarding his son was raised, Locke angrily criticized Spectre when the latter reminded Locke of his objections of Locke's genetic tamperings with Knuckles' egg. Locke reminded Spectre he had not been as loud in his objections at the time, though Spectre retorted his earlier objections were based on intuition while his present concerns were based on knowledge. Locke was still skeptical, though Sojourner pointed out if Spectre was concerned it gave reason for further investigation. The following day, after Haven's power blacked out, Locke discovered the cause was due to a fried circuit. He later set to work on constructing a replacement circuit. During the repairs, he informed his father it was possible someone had sabotaged the circuit, as only someone with a thorough knowledge of Haven would know which circuit could disable all of Haven. Sabre was shocked at such a notion, though Locke stated he was simply not ruling out any possibilities. After Haven's power was restored, Locke was happy to the peaceful status quo had been maintained during the blackout. (KtE: #16, #17, #18)

During the most recent Day of Fury, Locke embarked on a solo mission to rescue his ex-wife Lara-Le, who had been trapped in a snow storm while attempted to get to Haven to speak to Locke about their son. Once he arrived, Locke explained he didn't want to fight with Lara-Le and that he wondered if she truly knew him at all before kissing her in an attempt to win her back. Following this, while flying back to Haven with Lara-Le, Locke rescued Geoffrey St. John and his expeditionary force from the Royal Secret Service, who had been caught up in the storm caused by the Day of Fury as well. Locke explained to St. John what had happened to Queen Alicia and Prince Elias during the Great War before dropping him off at Haven to retrieve the comatose queen. From there, Locke flew Lara-Le to rescue the crashed Echidna Security Team ship carrying Wynmacher, reuniting his ex-wife with her current love interest. (KtE: #19, #20, #21)

Not long afterwards, Locke and Spectre remained the only two Brotherhood members who had not been captured in the Dark Legion's sneak attack on Haven, Locke having been in the Master Emerald chamber at the time. The two proceeded to free their fellow Brotherhood members. (KtE: #23, #24)

During the aftermath of the Dark Legion's failed scheme, Knuckles noticed Locke in the distance. Unable to out-run his son, Locke turned around and faced Knuckles in person for the first time since the latter was ten years of age. Locke proceeded to give Knuckles a detailed history of the formation of the Brotherhood of Guardians, his premonition of the future granted by the Ancient Walkers, and the subsequent Chaos-experiments he performed on himself and later on Knuckles' egg before his hatching. The following day, Locke provided his son information on girls and the Soultouch to help his son develop a relationship with Julie-Su. He then attended his son's surprise birthday sixteenth party. (KtE: #25, #26, #27)

After the Chaos Chamber was penetrated by the forces of Dr. Eggman and the Master Emerald shattered, Locke brought Knuckles to the control room of Haven where the Brotherhood was informed what had happened by Thunderhawk. After Knuckles left to restore the Master Emerald, Locke went to the Mysterious Cat Country to rescue the Chaotix, who had been taken captive by the local Cat people. Confronting the Cat Queen, Locke attempted to resolve things peacefully, but when he could not persuade her of his peaceful intentions, he fought against the cat's champion Razorklaw, easily defeating him. After this he managed to work things out peacefully and have the Chaotix set free. Before departing from the Mysterious Cat Country, Locke showed Knuckles the still-standing statue of Pachacamac, also revealing how he'd chosen Knuckles' name based on the Knuckles Clan. (StH: #80, #82, #84)

Some time later, Locke and the rest of the Brotherhood were visited by Mathias, who predicted a serious attack about to occur from the Dark Legion. Locke participated in the Brotherhood's attack on the Dark Legion's stronghold at the Grand Conservatory, only to be sent to another zone when the Quantum Beam was fired at Angel Island from the Dark Legion's Battle Cruiser. (SSS: #14)

Upon their return to the prime zone due to Chaos Knuckles reversing the effects of the Quantum Beam, Locke was shocked to hear from Spectre that both Hawking and Mathias were no longer amongst the living. When Spectre mentioned the death of another unknown Guardian, Locke feared it was Knuckles, though his son soon contacted him via telepathy to inform him he was alright. Later, Locke, Sabre and Thunderhawk received a message in Haven II from Mammoth Mogul that he was holding Dimitri hostage. Locke filled Knuckles in on the situation when he and the Chaotix arrived at Haven II. (StH: #107, #116)

After the death of Knuckles due to Mammoth Mogul's schemes, Locke attended his son's funeral, aware he had moved on to another level of existence but still deeply upset at his son's death. Locke later informed Princess Sally and the others about Knuckles' death during the arrival of the Xorda. (StH: #118, #121, #124)

Resuming Mantle of Guardian
After the rest of the Brotherhood disappeared during a Dr. Eggman-backed Dingo Regime attack on the Island, Locke joined forces with Lien-Da and the Dark Legion to resist the oppressors. He alone acted as Guardian until shortly after Sonic's return from outer space, when he was subsequently captured. Prior to being taken captive, Locke entrusted the safety of the Master Emerald to the Dark Legion. Lara-Le, though happily remarried, refused to allow Locke to suffer and so called Knuckles for help. Aided by the Chaotix and Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles was able to free his father and regain his lost Chaos powers. Unfortunately for Locke, he found himself Angel Island's Guardian again when Knuckles, forced to choose between his duty as Guardian and his obligation to fight Dr. Eggman on Mobius, decided on the latter, leading the two to become estranged once again. (StH: #138, #139, #140, #141)

In addition to protecting Angel Island, Locke began a desperate search for the rest of the Brotherhood, refusing to believe that they had died defending the Master Emerald. This led him to briefly hold Shadow the Hedgehog captive for examination, apparently in the hopes that Shadow's unique nature held the key to finding his ancestors, but the Ultimate Lifeform escaped and attacked Locke before leaving. (StH: #145)

Following this, Locke led the reconstruction of Echidnaopolis. During this time, he ended up speaking with Rouge the Bat, unaware that her only intent in meeting with him was to learn a way to gain possession of the Master Emerald. Fortunately, Locke's old friend and mentor Archimedes teleported her to Knothole before she could take advantage of the Guardian, admonishing him and reminding the Echidna of his previous bad history with women. Shortly thereafter, Locke was once again distracted by Rouge, who attempted to lure him into a kiss while Evil Sonic stole the Master Emerald. Sensing danger when Sonic faced off against Evil Sonic near the Master Emerald, Locke left Rouge and saved Sonic during the fight. (StH: #150, #151)

Rouge and Evil Sonic would once again return in another attempt to steal the Master Emerald. While Locke caught them both, he proved unable to face them both at the same time. During the fight, Evil Sonic managed to absorb some of the Master Emerald's energy to become Scourge the Hedgehog, though Locke managed to knock him off in time to prevent a full super transformation, scarring Scourge's chest. With his new powers, Scourge managed to defeat Locke, but Rouge prevented him from killing the defeated Guardian The two then transported to Knothole so that Scourge could test his new powers against Sonic. (StH: #160, #161)



Following this, Locke became desperate to locate his ancestors, as the rebuilt Echidnaopolis had been destroyed and the Dark Legion split into two factions, resulting in a civil war. With the Dingo regime constantly pressing their attacks, and Locke prioritizing locating the Brotherhood over his people's safety, he contacted Knuckles through the Master Emerald, telling him to return to Angel Island and help him to protect their people. Knuckles refused however, as he believed his goal should be to help the Freedom Fighters defeat Dr. Eggman instead. This resulted in a grudge between the two, after Locke said he could not ensure the safety of Knuckles' mother. (StH: #165)

During A.D.A.M.'s attempt to summon all of the Chaos Emeralds in the galaxy, Locke cooperated with Dr. Finitevus, a mysterious albino Echidna who at one point served as Technomage of the Dark Legion, to keep the Master Emerald in its present location. (StH: #169)



Locke arrived too late to help Echidnaopolis (which by now had been reduced to a primitive collection of huts due to repeated attacks) during a Dingo raid, though thankfully, Lara-Le was saved when the Destructix, at Finitevus' behest, fought back and saved the village. Finitevus claimed he wanted to assist Locke in his search for the Brotherhood, even having Dimitri to back up his claims. To this end, Locke was provided with a Warp Ring to continue his search around Mobius, but now had the capability to do this and return to his Guardian duties when necessary. Locke, seeing the population was celebrating with the Destructix, agreed and departed, unaware he was tricked by Finitevus into leaving so he could carry out his plans for the Master Emerald; to utilize it to re-create Enerjak. (StH: #171)

While on his journey, Locke neglected to check in on Finitevus' activities as de-facto Guardian, and so remained unaware that Knuckles, having returned to Angel Island in an effort to patch things up with his father and work together to repair the damage done to their home, had fallen prey to the hex placed by Finitevus placed upon the Emerald, and was reborn as the new Enerjak. (StH: #171, #181)

Enerjak's Return & Ultimate Sacrifice
Locke, his search having taken him to Albion, finally learned the truth about Finitevus, when he witnessed a recording left by Albion's High Councilor Gala-Na (which was discovered by Constable Remington). Originally a promising Chaos energy scientist, Finitevus was part of Albion's efforts to drain Chaos Knuckles of his immense energies, but as a result of interference from members of the Chaotix was transformed into his current state. Finitevus, seeing the world as corrupt, resolved to wipe out all life, and, when Gala-Na ordered his euthanasia, helped an Eggman Empire get access to, and destroy the city. Following the recording, Locke left Remington in charge of the rebuilding efforts of Albion. (StH: #182)



Returning to Angel Island, Locke soon found out his son was the re-born Chaos demigod, but was powerless to reverse it as the hex placed on the Emerald blocked his access to it. Determined to fulfill his family's mission, Locke used the Warp Ring to abduct Sonic the Hedgehog and Julie-Su from New Mobotropolis shortly after Enerjak was captured by the Egg Fleet. His task for them was to get past the Destructix, whom Finitevus had commanded to guard a weapon created by the Brotherhood of Guardians in preparation for the possibility of Enerjak's return. Once in possession of the weapon, Locke had one intention: to end Enerjak's threat by destroying his own son. (StH: #182, #183)

Unfortunately, Locke's judgement proved poor once again, as even with Sonic and Julie-Su to aid him he was unable to get past the Destructix until Archimedes arrived to provide a brief moment of relief, and Sonic then destroyed the weapon, having never planned to go along with Locke's goals in the first place. Despite Archy's explanation that Knuckles' transformation was as much the Brotherhood's fault as Finitevus', Locke was unappeased and furious, but ultimately came to accept the truth. While Super Sonic did battle with Enerjak, Locke joined Julie-Su and Archimedes after they learned that someone would have to die in order to undo Finitevus' spell on the Master Emerald and free Knuckles. Determined to make amends for all that he had put his son through, Locke calmly walked to the Emerald, and performed the ceremony, causing the Hex upon the Emerald to break and Locke was consumed in energy from the Emerald, causing him to die, leaving nothing but smoke behind. His life-force sacrifice complete, Knuckles was returned to normal. (StH: #183, #184)

Personality
Locke was deeply rooted in the tradition of the Brotherhood of Guardians. At the cost of his own marriage and at the risk of damaging relations with his son, Locke raised Knuckles in the traditional manner a Guardian was trained since the time of Jordan. He rigorously trained Knuckles from an early age, and left him on his own to join the Brotherhood when Knuckles was only the age of 10. However, Locke still cared very much about his son. Locke had very little personal life once he became a member of the Brotherhood, as when he wasn't performing his duties he was watching over his son from Haven's monitor systems. (KtE: #16, #19, #25)

Locke loved history and in some regards had almost an obsession with it, in particular the history of the Knuckles Clan. After reasearching its history, Locke named his son after the clan. When he arrived in the Mysterious Cat Country to rescue the Chaotix, he fought on behalf on the Knuckles Clan against Razorklaw. Lastly, after the disappearance of the Brotherhood, Locke changed his attire from his lab coat to the Knuckles Clan-era tribal outfit. (StH: #83, #84, #139 KtE: #22)

Romance
Locke had a marriage to Lara-Le for some time and the two eventually producing their offspring Knuckles. However, despite his love for wife and son Locke's priority of family tradition and custom took precedence over even that of his family. Due to the manner in which he raised Knuckles, his wife divorced him. In 3236 he made an effort to reconcile with Lara-Le, but this failed as she was happily engaged to Wynmacher at the time. Locke apparently had a bad history with women in general. Archimedes once pointed this out, stating "You and women have always been a bad combination!". Even Deo Volente chastised Locke for being single for so long, claiming Archimedes was trying to hook Knuckles up with Julie-Su so he wouldn't end up a "swinging single" like Locke. (StH: #150, KtE: #16, #20, #21, #27)

Locke was twice distracted by Rouge's flirtatious advances. The first instance, she managed to persuade him that she was interested in him, though Archiemedes teleported her away when he felt Locke was getting too distracted. The next day, Rouge returned with Evil Sonic, and managed to distracted Locke again with further advances. However, as soon as he sensed danger to the Master Emerald, he left Rouge via the Zoot Chute. (StH: #150, #151)

Abilities
Like all Guardians, Locke possessed numerous abilities derived from Chaos energy. As a result of his genetic manipulation, he had enhanced abilities, both physically and in Chaos. He was also a skilled technician.

Appearance
Locke was a tall echidna with bright red fur, like some of his ancestors he also sported a small beard. For most of his life Locke could be seen in a white lab-coat that signified his scientific skills, during Sonic's year in space and Echidnaopolis's fall he changed his attire to an replica of the ancient Knuckles Clan's tribal garb consisting of a brown tunic and skirt with brown boots and spiked gloves. He also carried a shield on his back for combat.

Background Information

 * Cancelled storyline for issues after StH #134 included Locke somewhat renewing his relationship with Lara-Le to help her raise Kneecaps following Wynmacher's disappearance. However, the storyline is one of many that was abandoned and has been rendered impossible due to Locke's death.