Dimitri


 * If you are looking for the Mobius: X Years Later version of Dimitri, see Dimitri (MxYL).

Dimitri is one of the oldest living Mobians, having been fused with the power of eleven Chaos Emeralds hundreds of years ago and becoming the functionally omnipotent being known as Enerjak. After the loss of his power, which was stolen by Mammoth Mogul, Dimitri had the majority of his body replaced with cybernetic parts, and was in control of the Dark Legion for some time; leading numerous failed schemes against Angel Island. This changed when he attempted to bridge the gap between the two Echidna societies peacefully. Soon afer this however, his health took a turn for the worse and during Sonic's absence in space, Lien-Da took control of the Dark Legion. His life was prolonged by Dr. Finitevus, at the expense of his entire body. He apparently reverted back to his villainous ways after Finitevus betrayed him, by allying with the Eggman Empire, becoming Grandmaster of the Dark Egg Legion. As it turned out, Dimitri did this so he could purposefully ruin the Eggman Empire from within, by constantly leading the Dark Egg Legion to defeat, revealing a true change from his former arrogance and evil. His tenure was short-lived however, as he was betrayed by Lien-Da and confined until he was found and rescued by Sonic and Tails. He later confronted Knuckles about his past deeds and apologized for them, after which he and Knuckles decided to work together to improve the situation of their people.

Early Life
The great-great grandson of Jordann and Kayla-La - the two Echidnas who originally came up with the plan to lift Echidnaopolis off the surface of Mobius to avoid the oncoming white comet - Dimitri was also the brother of the first Guardian. He and his brother Edmund were leading scientific minds in their time. The brothers devised a means to restore the Floating Island to Mobius' surface using Dimitri's creation, the Chaos Syphon, to slowly drain the power of the 12 Chaos Emeralds which held the island afloat, until it landed back in its original site on the planet surface. (StH: #34, #35, KMS: #1)

Before they would deliver their plan to the Echidna Council, Dimitri and Edmund confronted Menthor, the High Councilor (and the ancestor of future High Councilor Pravda) in an attempt to gain his support. However, Menthor realized that if the plan went through, Dimitri would be considered a hero, and this could upset his own plans and ambitions, thus he denounced the plan as "heresy" and denied the brothers' petition. Dimitri was shocked, and took his plan to the Council anyways, hoping he could win over the support of the rest of the Council. Without Menthor's support however, the plan was again denied. (KtE: #23)

Enraged by this, Dimitri decided to take actions into his own hands. Using the Chaos Syphon, the powers of 11 out of the 12 Chaos Emeralds were slowly drained, but an unforeseen effect occurred; the power of the Emeralds was sent into Dimitri. The result was the initial creation of the seemingly omnipotent being that would come to be known in the present day as Enerjak, after a legendary but otherwise unknown evil force. (StH: #35, KtE: #1)

Enerjak

 * See also: Enerjak

As Enerjak, Dimitri became an Echidna with a massive superiority complex and no remorse about harming others. Using his powers, he reprogrammed the echidna's Mechanauts to enslave the entire city. He then constructed the Dark Tower, the walls of which were apparently impervious to Chaos attacks and powers. However, the Fire Ants surprised Dimitri when they ate through the tower's foundations and freed both the High Councilor and Edmund. As the tower collapsed, Dimitri was buried under its rubble, trapped by his own creation. Edmund left the ruins (now called Mount Fate) with his son Steppenwolf and Dimitri's son Menniker. (StH: #35, #36, KtE: #1)

Despite being buried, Dimitri was still alive, and used a form of telepathy to communicate with his son, who visited the burial site frequently. Dimitri convinced him to follow in his footsteps and finish what he had started. Menniker went on to create the Dark Legion with the aims of restoring technology into Echidna society and returning their city to the surface of Mobius. While two Dark Legionnaires did kill Edmund, the first ever Guardian, his son Steppenwolf replaced him. After being trained by the Fire Ant Christopheles, Steppenwolf used his Chaos powers to transport the entire Dark Legion to the Twilight Zone. (KtE: #2)



When Dimitri's distant nephew Knuckles and his friends the Chaotix entered the ruins of the Grand Conservatory, they inadvertently ran into Dimitri, who had managed to escape. He recreated Nekronopolis and brainwashed the Chaotix, pitting them against Knuckles inside the Citadel of Darkness before facing his relative in a battle himself. With unseen help from his father Locke, Knuckles was able to launch Enerjak into space. Unfortunately, he was soon brought back by Mammoth Mogul and took over the Dark Legion. After another battle with Knuckles, in which he tried and failed to subjugate the younger Echidna, he led his new army in an attack on the city of Echidnaopolis, defeating both the Echidna Security Team and their Dingo counterparts. (KtE: #7, #8, #9, KMS: #1, #2, #3)

During his attack, Enerjak was caught off guard by Mammoth Mogul, who used the stolen Sword of Acorns to drain the power of the eleven Emeralds from him. Without his power, Enerjak vanished, leaving behind the frail old form of Dimitri while his conqueror briefly ascended to new heights of power as Master Mogul, only to be defeated by Super Sonic, Hyper Knuckles, Turbo Tails, and a number of other allies. Dimitri was avenged, in a roundabout kind of way, as Mogul's powers-including those stolen from Enerjak-were drained and used to create the Master Emerald. (StH: #56, KtE: #9)

Return as Dark Legion Grandmaster
To preserve him, the Dark Legion replaced most of his body with robotic parts. Having his life prolonged, Dimitri was placed in charge of the Dark Legion as their former leader Kragok had been transported to the Twilight Zone with Tobor. In an attempt to gain a political foothold in Echidnapolis, he had the Dark Legion capture and brainwashed the High Councilor Pravda and had him support Benedict. The plot was ultimately foiled by Knuckles. (KtE: #22, #23, #24)

Dimitri briefly joined forces with a robotic version of Dr. Robotnik in order to create the Chaos Cannon, a machine that would Roboticize vast areas of Mobius. In preparation for the scheme, the two attempted to erase the memories of Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog, but instead caused their minds to be switched. Despite this, the two heroes were victorious, and Dimitri fled while the robot Robotnik was destroyed. (SSS: #12)

Later, he transported everyone on Angel Island to an alternate zone using the Quantum Beam in order to retake the homeland without resistance or casualties. These effects were reversed however by Chaos Knuckles, who had temporarily aligned himself with the Legion in order to gain insight from Dimitri on how to use his powers. Initially, their plans involved sending Knuckles back in time to change history for the benefit of their race, but the attempted alterations resulted in catastrophe along their own timelines and had no impact on the actual present. (StH: #99, #100, #101, #102, SSS: #14)

Failing Health and Changing Policies
Shortly after this, Dimitri drastically changed his views, no doubt due to having been stripped of his Chaos powers and slowly regaining his sanity from the Chaos energy induced madness that made him Enerjak in the first place, as well as his realization his life was nearing its end. He tried to put an end to the long standing war between the Legion and the rest of Echidna society by proposing a reunification to the Echidna Council. Lien-Da, feeling Dimitri's choice was a mistake, hired the Dark Legion's High Councilor (who had taken the place of Benedict after the latter's demise) to assassinate Dimitri. The assassination attempt was foiled when Chaos Knuckles took the blast. A second assassination aimed at the Dark Legion Councilor was prevented by Lara-Su, Knuckles's daughter from an alternate future, when she knocked the assassin Syntar unconscious before he could fire his weapon. After this, Knuckles revealed he had survived the shot, and informed Dimitri there was a traitor within the legion ranks. (StH: #107, #108, #109)

When Dimitri's health took a turn for the worse, he was immobilized and connected to a life support machine to keep him alive. Lien-Da assisted him in a plan to convince Knuckles to use his immense powers to give Dimitri new life. Firm in his belief that the Dark Legion must reunify with the rest of Echidna society, he made Lien-Da promise to continue his policies should he die. The plan to use Knuckles' power to save Dimitri failed due to interference from Mammoth Mogul, who tried to steal Knuckles's powers for himself. Following a battle between the two that resulted in Knuckles's temporary death and Mogul's theft of the Chaos Force, Dimitri was found alive by Lien-Da and Constable Remington. Without Knuckles's assistance, however, he had no apparent way to keep himself alive for much longer. (StH: #114, #115, #116, #117, #118)

After Sonic's return from his exile in space, a result of the battle against the Xorda, Lien-Da stated that Dimitri "is no longer with us". (StH: #139)


 * It is unknown just how much Lien-Da knew about Dimitri's situation with Dr. Finitevus, though writer Ian Flynn stated she likely was aware of Finitevus' experiments, but unaware of his plans to revive Enerjak or her role as a possible candidate.

New Alliances and Hidden Motives
Lien-Da's words were proven false as Dr. Finitevus had secretly taken Dimitri's body apart and placed his head in a glass ball in order to preserve his life span. In addition to this, Finitevus kept Dimitri around as he studied the links between the Chaos Force and Dimitri's relatives, such as those of the surviving Brotherhood of Guardians as well as Moritori Rex. (StH: #183)

Dimitri resurfaced some time later, grudgingly tricked Locke into leaving the Master Emerald and all of Angel island in Dr. Finitevus's trust and that of the Destructix, despite his apparent dislike of Finitevus. There was also a deal between Dimitri and Dr. Finitevus, the latter apparently promising to use the energy contained in the Emerald to restore Dimitri to his status and power as Enerjak in the hopes of crushing the Dingoes and bringing the warring Flame and Frost Legions-one commanded by Lien-Da, the other by a Kragok lookalike who was in fact Kragok's son Remington-back into one group. However, Dimitri changed his mind, having fled from Finitevus and his lieutenant Scourge the Hedgehog and disappeared. Unfortunately, any nobility in this act was negated by Finitevus' intentions to recreate Enerjak with or without Dimitri, especially since the doctor actually hoped that Dimitri would change his mind about becoming Enerjak again. (StH: #171, #177)

The former Grandmaster's change of heart was made apparent when he arrived in New Mobotropolis in search of Knuckles, with a warning that Enerjak had returned. Unfortunately, Dimitri's news came after Knuckles had already left for Angel Island, unaware of the dangers awaiting him. Realizing he arrived too late, Dimitri went on to inform the Acorn monarchy and the newly created Acorn Council about the history behind Enerjak and why he posed such a threat. Later, Dimitri watched the new Enerjak's rampage through Angel Island, which included ridding the Dark Legion of their cybernetics. Getting more angry and impatient, Dimitri then argued with NICOLE about using the nanites that make up New Mobotropolis as a weapon against Enerjak. But Dimitri then decided that coming to the Freedom Fighters was a mistake and left the city, deciding to "throw in his lot with the more powerful side". (StH: #179, #180, #181)



It later turned out that Dimitri went to none other than Dr. Eggman for help. Eggman, however, had already captured Enerjak and sent him to his Egg Grapes. Dimitri tried to convince the doctor that this would be the perfect time to strip Enerjak of his powers, but Eggman thought everything was under control. This was disproven as Enerjak broke free and proceeded to destroy New Megaopolis and the Egg Fleet. Dimitri then suggested to Dr. Eggman and Snively that they get to Eggman's bunker, which they did. (StH: #183)

Following the defeat of the new Enerjak, Lien-Da, desperate to restore her power and the Dark Legion to its former state, went to Eggman to form an alliance. She was surprised and shocked to see that Dimitri had already aligned with Eggman and was promised Grandmaster status over the rechristened "Dark Egg Legion". Additionally, Dimitri was provided with bionic tentacles, removing his need to constantly float around. (StH: #184)



Sometime later, Sonic, Knuckles, and the Chaotix launched an attack on the partly destroyed New Megaopolis in an attempt to destroy a control tower of Dr. Eggman's. Lien-Da and the Dark Egg Legion troops tried to stop the group, but proved unable to do so. Dimitri decided to step in with a giant, robotic insect-like body that his tentacles had plugged into. He showed up at the battle in a pod of some sort, and took command of the operation from a resentful Lien-Da. Dimitri then told the Dark Egg Legion to not hold back against their foes as Knuckles and the Chaotix looked on, while Sonic left due to the fact that the Suppression Squad were attacking Freedom HQ. The Chaotix found themselves faced with breaking through the Dark Legion lines. After an exchange of harsh dialogue between Dimitri, Knuckles, Lien-Da and Julie-Su, Dimitri ordered the Dark Egg Legion to open fire, forcing the Chaotix to hide behind cover. However, they soon charged in and proved more than a match for the Dark Egg Legion. With their forces scrambling, Ray, Charmy and Saffron blew up the communications tower, at which point Lien-Da ordered the Legion to withdraw to the inside of the city. Dimitri remained at the scene however, and when Knuckles asked why he was trying to be a general when he was a scientist, Dimitri explained through sarcasm and insult that he was "purposefully weakening the greatest evil this world has ever known from within" before flying off. (StH: #189, #190)

Dimitri soon discovered a complication to his plans, however, when a confrontation between him and Eggman regarding Eggman's failure to create robots to support the Legion and his production of Metal Sonic and Metal Scourge to attack Freedom HQ revealed that Eggman had placed bombs in the Legion's implants. Recognizing that the Legion had no choice but to obey Eggman if they wanted to survive, Dimitri informed Lien-Da of their circumstances, and responded to her outrage and her snide suggestion of turning to Knuckles for help with assurances that he would concoct an alternate plan. (StH: #192)



Searching through the Egg Network for anything that might protect the Dark Egg Legion from Dr. Eggman, Dimitri stumbled across Snively's various conversations with Regina F. Later, Dimitri allowed Lien-Da to command the Dark Egg Legion's defense of the Eggdome during the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix attack on the city. Realizing they stood no chance, Dimitri once again asked Eggman if he had any reserve Badnik hordes available, which Eggman replied there weren't. Later, Dimitri went to watch the battle between the Freedom Fighter, Chaotix and the Egg Phoenix with Snively. When Dimitri pointed out to Snively that the Egg Phoenix nearly wiped out the Dark Egg Legion, Snively simply called it "collateral damage" and stated he didn't care. Dimitri quickly explained that he discovered Snively's treasonous plans and relationship with Regina, and that if Snively did not prioritize protecting the Dark Egg Legion he would expose this to Eggman. At this point, Snively offered an alliance, stating "You're an enterprising man, Dimitri. Why tattle on me, when we both can benefit from her arrival?" Dimitri accepted Snively's proposal, and the two continued to scheme behind Eggman's back. (StH: #198)

During the combined assault of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Chaotix, Dimitri told Lien-Da to follow the plan exactly. When Lien-Da commented that Eggman's plan made no sense, Dimitri specified, stating "No, not the doctor's plan. That's madness. I mean the real plan." He then moved to meet Knuckles and Julie-Su during their attack on the Eggdome. When he encountered the two, Dimitri reminded Knuckles that he was one of his last living relatives and that Knuckles had even saved his life once, and asked if he would force Dimitri to move if he did not on his own. When Knuckles bluntly replied "Yes", Dimitri stated his brother Edmund's convictions lived on in Knuckles, and moved. Dimitri then monitored Sonic's movement along with Lien-Da and Snively on a group of monitors. After Eggman finally snapped and went insane after too many defeats at the hands of Sonic, Dimitri supervised the landing of the Iron Queen's dirigible in order to greet their benefactor with precision. (StH: #199, #200)

Subject of the Iron Dominion
Once the Iron Queen seized control of New Megaopolis, Dimitri entered the throne room and requested for a means to be rid of the bombs implanted in his peoples' cybernetics in exchange for their services during the coup d'état. The Iron Queen instead gave Dimitri a case of microchips that would supposedly stop the explosive signal once installed, claiming that Dr. Eggman was too thorough with the implants and the explosives could not be taken out. Dimitri then left the Toom, bitterly disappointed, while realizing he had yet again been betrayed. Following Dr. Eggman's escape, the Iron Queen placed Dimitri in charge of the Eggdome's defenses while she went with her forces to recapture him - a task which he then deferred to Lien-Da while he returned to his lab. (StH: #201, #205)

Shortly afterwards Dimitri summoned Lien-Da to his lab, where he informed her that the microchips the Iron Queen gave them not only would make the legion immune to the detonator signal of the explosives in their cybernetics, but that they would also make them vulnerable to her magitek which would enable her to exploit the legion as her mindless slaves. He revealed that he had managed in his spare time to create a single modified chip which could resist the Iron Queens magitek, but that he still needed to upgrade the other chips to provide immunity to the whole legion. When Lien-Da realized she could use this to her advantage, she disabled Dimitri's hover bubble and bionic tendrils, leaving him immobile. After informing him of her plans to use the upgraded chip to control the rest of the Dark Egg Legion, she placed Dimitri in a box. Dimitri pleaded with her not to do this, trying to tell her something about the Iron Queen. Though she soon sealed him away in the box, informing him that his battery would run out within a few months and that he was unlikely to be found. (StH: #206)

Comfort and Courage
Dimitri was subsequently discovered by Sonic and Tails' with the help of NICOLE during one of their searches of the Eggdome. The two heroes returned Dimitri to New Mobotropolis, where Tails set about giving him an emergency power boost in order to restore his vitality. (StH: #212)

After hearing of how Dimitri had been left to die, Sally felt he needed to be shown mercy. What remained of his body was installed in a server room within New Mobotropolis' Science Center; his presence was largely kept secret as he recovered. However, he was eventually discovered by Espio the Chameleon, who had ventured into the server room hoping to speak with a distraught NICOLE; having been made the target of public fear and scorn because of Mina's concert, the A.I. had been crying in the server room while Dimitri attempted to comfort her. While Espio was shocked and angry to find the former villain here, Dimitri and NICOLE both tried to explain the situation. Dimitri showed great regret for his past actions, lamenting his current state, and while NICOLE explained that Dimitri had been preparing himself to speak with Knuckles, Dimitri admitted that he actually feared facing him at all. He explained that NICOLE and Espio had displayed something he should have never ignored: the love and support of friends. For the moment, though, he turned back to NICOLE to help her with her problems, and explained that she had grown well beyond being a mere program; he told her that she would need to stand up for herself and face the public's scorn. However, he also said that telling someone else to have courage wasn't the same as actually possessing it; knowing that he would never be "ready," and knowing that given his past actions he had no right, he nonetheless asked Espio to arrange a meeting with Knuckles so that they could finally talk. Feeling he was in no position to deny someone else a second chance, Espio agreed to do so with NICOLE's support. (StH: #221)

Espio and NICOLE then approached Knuckles and brought him to speak with Dimitri. Although upset, Knuckles listened as he let Dimitri apologize for all of his past failures and mistakes. After Dimitri's and Knuckles' discussion about the current state of the Legion in Lien-Da's control, Dimitri was then told by Knuckles that he was to be transferred to the remains of Haven and connected to its systems in order to start helping him "fix" their race's situation that he had created. The plan was more than Dimitri had hoped for and he readily complied, happily thanking his distant relative for the chance at redemption. (StH: #222)

Personality
Dimitri's personality was greatly affected by his long existence. Originally, he was an eager, confident scientist whose intellect sometimes gave him too much pride and a sense of self-righteousness. He also had a strong stubborn streak. As Enerjak, he was completely insane, making him dangerously unpredictable. Arrogant and cruel, he believed his actions irrevocably justified and had little regards for others, sometimes displaying sadistic tendencies. Stemming from his original pride, he was quick to anger and would greatly desire revenge and retribution should he feel wronged in any way.

However, after losing his power as Enerjak, Dimitri became a smoother operator and a more rational being; however, he still felt justified in many of his less-than-pleasant actions and sometimes showed ruthlessness, and he wasn't above using people as pawns if needed. Still, he generally retained a sense of respect for others, even his opponents, and a gentlemanly air. In time, he began to desire a more unified existence, from making peace in his own family to reuniting the Echidna people, a goal made difficult by opposition on both sides. As time went on, however, Dimitri abandoned his goals of world domination, and even became somewhat repentant. As his health degenerated, he still showed some desire to regain his former power, though when given the chance, he turned it down. He became increasingly concern for the safety of his people and went to great lengths to protect them. Ultimately, a final betrayal left him helpless and near-death, he realized that many of his past actions were horrific and had directly been the result of his stubbornness and ego. He realized that while he had always felt family was important, he had ignored outside help and support, and because of this, he had been left with nothing. With the admission of his past mistakes came fear of facing those he had wronged.

Abilities & Implants
Dimitri is a scientific genius rivaled by only a few others, a polymath with skill in numerous fields. Patient and charismatic, he knows when to play subservient and when to assert himself, allowing him to successfully deal with most individuals on a personal level. As Enerjak, he was essentially omnipotent, able to seemingly defy reality and even manipulate objects on a molecular level.

When his centuries-old body began to fail him, it was increasingly replaced with cybernetics. Eventually, this left him little more than a brain in a robotic head, equipped with tendrils able to interact directly with various computers and pieces of machinery.

Background information

 * In StH #199 and FCDS #3, Dimitri's age was labeled as over six hundred years old. This is an error, as most previous dialogue and narration throughout the Knuckles the Echidna series established his age as around 400 years old (though the original Knuckles Miniseries put it at a thousand).

Appearance
Dimitri is currently the remains of an ancient echidna kept alive through cybernetics; his visual appearance has changed multiple times, often drastically. His initial appearances were somewhat generic (featuring, oddly enough, one or two Guardian rings on the chest), but his design was eventually established as an echidna wearing a long shirt with a long, hexagonal front, white gloves, and boots; his dreadlocks were striped and partially wrapped around the others.

When he first gained his Chaos powers, he was depicted as a glowing green echidna, almost a silhouette. He later adopted the more well-known Enerjak appearance consisting of blue and gold Egyptian-themed armour. Losing his power, his face was revealed as that of an extremely old man with spotted skin, wrinkles and tattered, thin dreadlocks. In order to preserve his life, much of his body was replaced with cybernetics; initially, this complicated and detailed design featured somewhat haphazardly-arranged, mismatched mechanics. His right hand resembled three large clamps; one foot featured two long "toes." His left eye was triangular and protruded slightly from the face. Many of the numerous wires, panels and beads were dropped over time.

As his body and health further degenerated, he was reduced to little more than a head in a floating glass orb; the orb was eventually upgraded with dreadlock-like tentacles ending in small clamps, giving him extra mobility and dexterity. With these he was able to interact with various forms of machinery, at one point taking control of a massive, scorpion-like battle vehicle. Eventually, he lost the glass orb and was reduced to being installed atop a shelf-like structure.

Artist Tracy Yardley had created an alternate design for a cyborg body. This version retained the triangular eye but was otherwise much more simplified, streamlined and flexible; however, it was felt that this design was too predictable, and so the "glass orb" version was created in its stead.