Moritori Rex

Moritori Rex is a former Grandmaster of the Dark Legion and grandson of the infamous Dimitri. Moritori Rex found himself becoming a spy for the Dark Legion when he was mistaken for the Guardian Tobor and brought to the Brotherhood of Guardians's secret base Haven. For many years, Moritori Rex managed to pass himself off as Tobor until his true identity was revealed by Knuckles the Echidna. Following this, he rejoined his fellow Dark Legion members and served under Dimitri, who had taken command of the Legion. After the Dingo takeover of Angel Island, Moritori Rex was captured and studied by Dr. Finitevus and tossed into the Twilight Zone along with the rest of the surviving Brotherhood members when the mad scientist had completed his studies.

Grandmaster and Infiltration of the Brotherhood
Following the death of his father Menniker, Moritori Rex assumed command of the Dark Legion. Although they were trapped in the confines of the Twilight Zone, Moritori Rex had found a way to spy on other dimensions, including Mobius Prime and the pocket zone where Echidnaopolis was located. Eventually, Moritori Rex created a device which allowed him to breach the dimensional barrier and invade the pocket zone Hawking had transported the echidnas to. Leading the Dark Legion in an all-out offensive against Echidnaopolis, the real reason for his attack was to lure in the inexperienced Guardian Tobor. While he and Tobor were locked in mortal combat, Moritori used the same device used to get to the pocket zone to teleport them both to another part of the Floating Island in Mobius Prime. Once there, the two were buried under the rubble of an old structure. Tobor's father Hawking arrived on the scene, and as planned he mistook the severely wounded Moritori Rex as his son, bringing him back to Haven for healing. (KtE: #17, #18)

Spy and Saboteur
How Moritori Rex was able to to masquerade as Tobor is largely unknown, but he used it to his advantage. With the Brotherhood of Guardians believing him to be one of their own, and Tobor having left Angel Island out of shame for his failure, Moritori was in the perfect position to act as a spy for the Dark Legion and eventually destroy the Brotherhood from within. For many years, Moritori assumed the role of Tobor and worked alongside the Brotherhood while reporting back to the Dark Legion. While carrying out operations in Mobius Prime, Moritori still had a small influence on events back in the Twilight Zone. His grandchildren Kragok and Lien-Da considered him far more of a father figure, and he encouraged the two to sieze power from Luger when they were teenagers, feeling their time as Grandmasters was "long overdue". (StH: #205, KtE: #17, #18)

As a Brotherhood member, Moritori assumed responsibility of watching over the Dragon Kingdom even during Dr. Ivo Robotnik's occupation. After the despot's demise, Moritori had to undo the "damage" done to the area caused by the actions of Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, and Monkey Khan confronting the Iron King and Iron Queen at Mount Stormtop. Eventually however, his schemes were compromised when Tobor returned to Angel Island. Moritori Rex managed to sabotage Haven's power generator and spy network long enough for Tobor to disappear from the scene, thus preventing his true identity from being discovered. (StH: #60, KtE: #16, #17, #18)

Not long after, Knuckles found himself transported into Haven, surrounded by his forefathers. Knowing Moritori Rex was an impostor, Knuckles played along until he was alone with him. Moritori Rex led Knuckles into the medical room, hoping to inject him with a toxin that would kill him. Before he got the chance however, Knuckles stopped him. The two fought in hand to hand combat until Moritori was forced to flee. Although Moritori was trapped in a locked-down room within Haven, he managed to teleport out to freedom. He left behind a message in ancient dialect which promised they would "all make friends with death". (KtE: #21)

Reunited with the Legion
Following his escape from Haven, Moritori rejoined the Dark Legion. During the Legion's attempt to take over the High Council of Echidnaopolis by having their cyborg Benedict run in the elections, Moritori contributed to Dimitri's plans considerably. Prior to his escape of Haven, Moritori managed to secretly sabotage Haven's defences, which allowed Dark Legion troopers to break in and capture Sojourner, Thunderhawk and Sabre, as well as take control of Haven. This prevented the Guardians from acting against Dimitri and the Dark Legion in their attempts to rig the election. However, the Legion failed to capture Knuckles' father Locke or Tobor's son Spectre, which Moritori knew was a problem. When Locke and Spectre disabled the power systems in Haven, Moritori assured Lien-Da that he had the situation under control, as he both knew the secrets of Haven and was still able to see through his visor. Soon however Spectre blinded Moritori with a flare, and Haven was successfully retaken. (KtE: #23, #24)


 * How Moritori Rex and managed to escape captivity after the Brotherhood retook Haven is unknown.

Weeks later, after the Dark Legion's failure to rig Echidnaopolis' politics, they used their massive Battle Cruiser to fire the Quantum Beam which sent all life on Angel Island into another zone. Moritori Rex, equipped with a new set of eyes that looked astonishingly organic, was on board the cruiser and the helm, where he shared in granddaughter Lien-Da's sentiments that Julie-Su should have been left behind and banished to the alternate zone with the others. (SSS: #14)

Captive and Banished
Some time later, Moritori Rex was captured by Dr. Finitevus along with the rest of the surviving Brotherhood. For months, Finitevus studied them in order to see how they were able to tap into the Chaos powers. Finitevus was also particularly interested in discovering how Moritori managed to pose as Tobor for so long without being discovered. When Finitevus had completed his studies, he disposed of the Brotherhood and Moritori Rex into the Twilight Zone. (StH: #183)

Personality
Moritori Rex is both devious and malicious. Willing to use any means at his disposal to win in a fight, even if it requires him to "fight dirty", Moritori will use it. He is loyal to the Dark Legion cause and willing to betray the Brotherhood without second thoughts to further the Legion's goals. Additionally, Moritori shared Kragok and Lien-Da's sentiments that Julie-Su was not part of their family, as she was the daughter of Luger's second wife. (KtE: #21, #23, SSS: #14)

According to Lien-Da, Moritori Rex felt her and Kragok's time as Grandmasters was "long overdue", which gave the twins further reason to plot the assassination of their father. Kragok however felt Moritori was simply being ambitious, and that his time in Mobius Prime had made him forget the situation of the rest of the Dark Legion. (StH: #205)

Powers & Abilities
Moritori proved himself a decent combatant, able to keep up with Knuckles for a relatively long time (despite the age difference). Also, given that he was able to deceive the Brotherhood for so long, and given Dr. Finitevus' intrest in studying him, it is likely he possesses the ability to channel the Chaos Force like the other Guardians.

Background Information

 * Moritori's name is similar to the latin word morituri, which means "those who are about to die" and the word rex means "king", thus his name may mean "the king of those who are about to die."


 * In a Q&A, when responding to a question regarding how Moritori Rex viewed his son Luger, writer Ian Flynn said: "In a word: dissatisfied. I don't think Rex outright hated his son; I think there was still a small, "human" part of him that felt at least a responsibility to acknowledge him. But I don't think he lingered on the news of his death. While Rex was busy scheming in the Primeverse, Luger achieved very little in terms of returning to Angel Island. I see Rex as being disappointed with Luger's apparent lack of drive or viciousness, which is why he turned his attention to the next generation." (1)

Posing as Tobor
The topic of Moritori Rex posing as Tobor has been the subject of serious debate amongst the Sonic fan community. Numerous ideas have been posed as to how he could have got away with it, and others have pointed out how it would be nearly impossible. Writer Ian Flynn made a reference to this in StH #183, having Dr. Finitevus note he was particularly interested in Moritori's ability to pass himself off as Tobor, suggesting he had a similar link to the Chaos Force as the Guardians.