Locke the Echidna

Locke the Echidna is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books published by Archie Comics. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Guardians, and is father of Knuckles the Echidna.

Similar to his son, whom he bears a strong resemblance to, Locke is an anthropomorphic, red-furred echidna. Of all the Guardians, Locke is the only one to have changed his attire before reaching old age (for a Guardian). Originally, his outfit consisted of a hooded white robe and blue boots. Some time during Sonic's Xorda-induced exile in space, Locke switched out his wardrobe. He adopted a more tribal outfit, with brown boots and a ceremonial kilt. He was seen wearing similar style of pants underneath his kilt (in issues 139 to 141). He also has a shield that goes with this set of clothing.

The Past
Knuckles' father and Sabre's son, Locke is the most unpredictable Guardian after Spectre and the most powerful after his son. Locke and Knuckles don't exactly have a good relationship, as Locke lied to Knuckles about his mother and family. Locke was granted a dream by the Ancient Walkers, which showed him Knuckles in the future facing a terrible evil. Utilizing his technological genius, he subjected himself to genetic manipulation, enhancing his abilities and likely activating the genes that would reveal themselves in Knuckles. He later subjected Knuckles' egg to Chaos Energy, making him into a living Chaos Energy battery. Locke's decisions ruined his relationship with his wife Lara-Le., who divorced him and then married another Echidna named Wynmacher, the two of them going on to have a son named Kneecaps.

Over the years, Locke raised Knuckles, instructing him in such subjects as self defense, advanced mathematics, and other Guardian requirements. When the time came, he left Knuckles behind, seemingly dying when he walked through a wall of fire. Unbeknownst to Knuckles, the wall was in fact the concealed entrance to Haven, and Locke joined the Brotherhood in observing Mobius in secret.

The Present
Despite their separation, Locke continued to watch from afar, even assisting Knuckles and the Chaotix in exiling Enerjak into space. Eventually, the pair reunited, and Locke restarted his relationship with his son. It proved difficult, considering that Knuckles came to resent Locke for not giving him the choice to become a Guardian and by making him into a mutant. For all of that, Knuckles continued to look to his father for guidance.

After the rest of the Brotherhood disappeared during a Dr. Eggman-backed Dingo attack on the Island, Locke joined forces with Lien-Da and the Dark Legion to resist the oppressors, only to be captured and imprisoned. 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 loyalty to his friends, chose his friends. And so the gulf between father and son was renewed, and even Locke's demands for aid when the Dark Legion was divided by civil war did nothing to bring his son back.

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. Undaunted, Locke 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 conversation, admonishing him and reminding the Echidna of his previous bad history with women.

Shortly thereafter, Locke teamed up with Sonic to repel Evil Sonic, who later returned with Rouge in another attempt to steal the Master Emerald. While he caught them both, Locke proved unable to defeat Sonic's Anti-Mobius counterpart after Evil Sonic absorbed some of the Master Emerald's energy to become Scourge the Hedgehog. Surviving this encounter and returning to his Guardian duties, Locke cooperated with the mysterious Dr. Finitevus to keep the Master Emerald from responding to A.D.A.M.'s summons during the gathering of every Chaos Emerald in the universe. He later left the Emerald in the care of Destructix and Dr. Finitevus when the rogue Dark Legionnaire claimed to know the location of the Brotherhood, using a Warp Ring provided by the doctor to begin his journey. Locke was tricked, as the albino Echidna had plans for the Master Emerald, meaning to utilize it to recreate Enerjak. Worse, Knuckles disappeared while on his way to Angel Island, hoping to patch things up with his father and help rebuild the damage done to their home. As a result, Locke wasn't even aware until later that his son had fallen prey to a brainwashing spell to be reborn as the new Enerjak.

Enerjak Returns
Locke soon learned the truth about Finitevus from a recording left by High Councilor Gala-Na of Albion and 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. Setting out on a destructive agenda, the doctor helped reduce Albion to ruins. Not long afterwards, Locke learned that Finitevus had blocked his access to the Master Emerald, preventing him from undoing the spell on Knuckles. Determined to fulfill his family's mission, Locke used the Warp Ring given to him by Dr. Finitevus 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.

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 performed the ceremony and sacrificed himself, returning Knuckles to normal. Out of guilt for having lost his father and for making choices that led to Locke's death, Knuckles swore that he would carry out his father's duty and protect the Master Emerald alone.

Possible Future
According to the alternate future of Mobius: 25 Years Later, Locke died at a rather young age given Guardian longevity, having apparently developed cancer (possibly due to his experiments in radiation). Lara-Le and Knuckles visited him as he lay dying, and he confessed that he had realized the errors he had made during his life. He professed undying love for both of them, and told Knuckles how he regretted putting duty ahead of being a father. He died in his sleep in the middle of the night on the sixty-first day of the Mobian year 3246. Three days later, he was buried in a small, private ceremony, and as a result never met Lara-Su in that timeline. After Lara-Su's unveiling, Knuckles visited his grave, and came to realize that in denying his daughter the choice of becoming a Guardian, he was making the same mistake Locke had made with him. As Knuckles admitted his error, Locke was looking down on him in the company of Aurora, the goddess figure of Mobius.

Personality
Locke was a strong parent who cared about his son, but firmly believed that his affiliation with the Brotherhood and Knuckles' duty mattered more than his family, or even the possibilty of his son's happiness. This led him to clash on more than one occasion with Knuckles, and Locke also had choice words with his ex-wife. She has since found another husband, and with him is raising a new family that Knuckles is considered a part of, while Locke isn't. Locke's single-mindedness and secrecy made any relationships difficult.

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.