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The Brotherhood of Guardians (or Brotherhood of Haven) was a secret group of older Guardians who protected Angel Island and other parts of Mobius. Operating from their secret facility Haven, the groups' primary aim was to protect Echidna interests on the global scale, while the present Guardian protected Angel Island and the Chaos Emerald. Generations of Guardians managed to fend off numerous invasion attempts by the Dark Legion, each time returning them to their imprisonment in the Twilight Zone. After Sonic the Hedgehog was sent off world by the Xorda's Quantum Dial, the Brotherhood found themselves defending the Master Emerald from a major assault by the Eggman Empire. Although they successfully defended the emerald, they were captured in their weakened state and secretly studied by Dr. Finitevus. Following his studies, Finitevus dumped the surviving Brotherhood members (except Locke) into the Twilight Zone, leaving Locke and Knuckles as the sole Guardians of their people. Later Locke perished while breaking a hex on the Master Emerald, leaving Knuckles the last active Guardian and the Brotherhood inactive.
History[]
Formation[]
Rembrandt christening the group "the Brotherhood" in Haven
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 Rembrandt 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. (KtE: #1, #2, #3, #25)
Activities during the Great War[]
The Kingdom 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. Ivo Robotnik. When Queen Alicia was evacuated from Mobotropolis and sent to Angel Island, her escape craft was shot down by an Overlander patrol. However, the Brotherhood arrived on the scene first, and upon discovering the Queen and infant Prince alive, they lied to the Overlander scout party and brought them back to Haven where they looked after the two. (KtE: #21)
Activities in Knuckles' Time[]
The Brotherhood standing watch as Locke prepares to subject Knuckles' egg to Chaos radiation
By 3220, the active Brotherhood consisted of Hawking, "Tobor", Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk, Sabre and Locke. When Locke brought up the issue of enhancing his son's egg by subjecting it to Chaos radiation, the Brotherhood debated the issue, though in the end the majority accepted the proposal. The entire active Brotherhood was present when Locke subjected Knuckles' unhatched egg to Chaos radiation. (KtE: #25)
Despite their usual missions of observing Mobius and protecting global echidna affairs, entire Brotherhood has gotten involved in personal matters as well. In the middle of the night, the cloaked Brotherhood threw Knuckles' childhood tormentor Monk off the edge of Angel Island into the ocean below, though Monk survived the encounter. (KtE: #31)
By 3235, Locke and Sabre were the main two Brotherhood members constantly residing in Haven. Locke assisted in Knuckles' first victory over Enerjak by attaching rocket boosters to Enerjak's Citadel and blasting the chaos-demigod into space. Later, Locke contacted the Knothole Freedom Fighters (scrambling the signal so he would appear as Knuckles) to assist in the fight against Mammoth Mogul, who had just stolen the powers of a returned Enerjak with the Sword of Acorns. As the fight turned against Master Mogul, Locke and Sabre used their control over the Chaos Force to transform the power of the twelve Chaos Emeralds powering the tyrant into the new Master Emerald, with Mogul trapped inside. (StH: #56, KtE: #4, #9, KMS: #3)
While Locke and Sabre operated in Haven, Thunderhawk looked after affairs in Downunda, "Tobor" looked after the Dragon Kingdom while Sojourner and Spectre tended to other regions. Following the demise of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, various attacks by the Dark Legion, and the return of Echidnaopolis and the dingoes to Mobius Prime, the active Brotherhood assembled in Haven to discuss global affairs, including the problem of dealing with Dr. Robotnik's left over Sub-Bosses, as well as discussing Knuckles' display of powerful abilities. After Spectre pointed out the group should be concerned about Knuckles' powers, the Brotherhood agreed to monitor the young Guardian for a while. Their observations were disrupted when Moritori Rex sabotaged Haven's systems, as the real Tobor had been found by Julie-Su and was about to be seen by Haven's spy cameras. By the time Haven's systems were repaired, Tobor had gone into the Twilight Zone with Kragok, and the Brotherhood remained unaware of his return. (KtE: #16, #17, #18)
Days later, the Brotherhood were shocked when Knuckles managed to locate and enter Haven. Though Thunderhawk and Sojourner wished to send him back to the Sandopolis Zone before he came to his senses, Sabre and Spectre decided it was better if he remained. After Knuckles defeated Moritori Rex and revealed his deception, the Brotherhood attempted to capture him, but he managed to escape. The Brotherhood then showed Geoffrey St. John and his Royal Secret Service team the cryogenitcally-frozen Queen Alicia, and allowed them to take her back to Knothole with Elias Acorn. (KtE: #19, #20, #21)
Sabre trying to explain why the Brotherhood kept Knuckles in the dark about his family history
Afterwards, the Brotherhood began to introduce themselves to Knuckles. Angry over being kept in the dark for so long about the Brotherhood's existence, Knuckles pressed his grandfather Sabre for answers. Before Sabre could fully explain everything, Constable Remington contacted Haven with regards to a riot outbreak between dingoes and echidnas. Knuckles and Archimedes quickly teleported to the scene, leaving Sabre to wonder how they would explain things when Knuckles returned. The following day, Haven was penetrated by Dark Legion shock troopers as its defenses had been compromised by Moritori Rex during his time impersonating Tobor. Sojourner, Thunderhawk and Sabre were all captured, and were held captive for several hours while Moritori Rex and Lien-Da held control of Haven. Eventually Spectre and Locke managed to use their knowledge of Haven to their advantage, and managed to rescue the other three Brotherhood members while retaking Haven as well. (KtE: #22, #23, #24)
Because of political differences, the Brotherhood never truly aligned with the Kingdom of Acorn, not even against the threat posed by Dr. Eggman. When Sally Acorn met with the Brotherhood to discuss their providing support to the beleaguered 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. Shortly after this disagreement, the Brotherhood found themselves menaced by an entirely different threat: an Overlander known as Hunter. This invader managed to sabotage the Brotherhood's defense systems, preventing them from interfering as he forced Knuckles and the recently returned Monk to play the prey in a dangerous hunt. Knuckles eventually defeated him and turned him over to his ancestors, who imprisoned him inside Haven-though not before he managed to kill Monk. (KtE: #29, #30, #31, #32)
Following this, the Brotherhood found themselves unprepared for a surprise attack by Dr. Eggman and an assault force of Shadowbots. Due to Hunter's tampering with their security system and the Brotherhood being unable to restore their fail-safes soon enough, defense of the island was left to the Echidna Security Team but the Chaos Chamber was breached and the Master Emerald shattered. The Brotherhood would later create a new chamber for the restored Master Emerald which would better harness its powers and allow it to keep the island afloat once again. (StH: #80, #84)
The Brotherhood, including Mathias, assembled in Haven
Some time later, members of the Brotherhood led by Guardian Mathias attacked a Dark Legion stronghold at the Grand Conservatory, but were transported to an alternate zone by the Quantum Beam along with the rest of Angel Island's inhabitants. They were freed weeks later by Chaos Knuckles. Following the return, the Brotherhood established Haven II as their new base of operations, as their old one was completely destroyed. Mammoth Mogul later sent a message to Haven II informing the Brotherhood he had Dimitri captive and wanted to meet with Knuckles. (StH: #107, #116, SSS: #14)
Knuckles with the deceased Guardians at his funeral
Unlike the other species and peoples of Mobius, members of the Brotherhood do not simply "die". Instead, due to their link with the Chaos Force, they evolve to a higher level of existence, and continue to watch over the events of Mobius, unseen by its inhabitants. Brotherhood members also eventually become one with the Chaos Force itself, once they are chosen by Aurora and the Chao to evolve to an even higher level. All of this was discovered by Knuckles during his brief time in the afterlife, following his death at the hands of Mammoth Mogul. Watching his own funeral, Knuckles found himself conversing with the other deceased members of the Brotherhood, particularly Steppenwolf, Harlan, Hawking, Tobor and Janelle-Li. After this, Knuckles was chosen by two Chao to evolve to a higher plane of existence, leaving the other Brotherhood members to wait for their turn. (StH: #121)
The Brotherhood's last stand defending the Master Emerald from an army of robots
Shortly after the battle with the Xorda and Sonic's mysterious disappearance, Dr. Eggman's forces invaded Angel Island. The Brotherhood of Guardians, with the exception of Locke, valiantly fought to prevent the Master Emerald from falling into the hands of Eggman's armies, and although they succeeded, they were easily captured in their weakened state by Dr. Finitevus. In Finitevus' plot to make a new Enerjak, he captured the battle weary Brotherhood members and studied them, trying to learn how their bloodline could channel Chaos energies. The doctor had also captured Moritori Rex due to his time as pretending to be the Guardian Tobor. After Finitevus learned all he could, he sent the Brotherhood and Moritori into the Twilight Zone, finding it a fitting prison as the Dark Legion had been exiled there early on and been forced back after every escape attempt. (StH: #125, #139, #183)
Some time later, Dr. Finitevus convinced Locke to search for his missing family, tricking him into passing on the Guardian duties to him and sending him off with a Warp Ring to undertake his search. Later, Locke's death in stopping the new Enerjak (a brainwashed Knuckles) left his son as the only Guardian remaining on Mobius. (StH: #171, #184)
Espio the Chameleon later revealed that members of the Shinobi Clan had been observing the Brotherhood for generations, Espio being the latest to do so as Knuckles' teammate. (StH: #212)
Status of the Guardians[]
All of the Brotherhood of Guardians, along with the Grandmasters in the middle and Finitevus in the centre
Active[]
Status Unknown[]
Inactive[]
Deceased/Evolved[]
Guardian Relatives[]
Knuckles's family tree, showing all the Guardians, Grandmasters and their family members (that appeared in the comics). Byron and Angel-La not listed however.
- Jordann and Kayla-La: Parents of Spencer, great-great-grandparents of Edmund and Dimitri
- Spencer and Rosa-Lyn: Parents of Jeffrey, great-grandparents of Edmund and Dimitri
- Jeffrey and Dian-Na: Parents of Angel-La, Grandparents of Edmund and Dimitri
- Byron and Angel-La: Parents of Edmund and Dimitri
- House of Dimitri
- Guardian's Spouses
- Siwa-Ra (Edmund's wife)
- Eri-Ka (Steppenwolf's wife)
- Lunama-Re Moonwatcher's wife
- Dawn-Na (Harlan's wife)
- Sasi-Ka (Rembrandt's wife; only woman to marry a Guardian and produce more than one child)
- Kann-Di (Jordan's wife)
- Jai-Na (Mathias' wife)
- Sonja-Ra (Hawking's wife)
- Voni-Ca (Tobor's wife)
- Kali-Ka (Spectre's wife)
- Wanda-Ra (Sojourner's wife)
- Shazi-Ah (Thunderhawk's wife; curiously, their daughter Janelle-Li did not share her name suffix)
- Nemo (Janelle-Li's husband; only male to marry into the Guardian family)
- Crystal-La (Athair's wife)
- Jenna-Lu (Sabre's wife)
- Lara-Le (Locke's ex-wife and Knuckles' mother)
- Wynmacher (Knuckles' step-father)
- Knecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace (Knuckles' half-brother)
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. (KtE: #3)
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 Tribe, whose members include Tikal and her father Pachamac. Knuckles is the only Guardian whose knuckle spikes are actually part of his hand. (StH: #82, #90, #91, #122 KtE: #25)
Another noteworthy ability is the longevity offered by their connection to the Chaos Force, resulting in an expected lifespan of well over a hundred years for the average guardian.
Background Information[]
- It is possible Mathias had evolved to an even higher plane of existence like Athair, or he simply was not present at the time when Knuckles met the other deceased Guardians. In a non-canon Q&A session with writer Ian Flynn, "Harlan" stated "We are concerned that Brother Mathias was displaced by the effects of the Quantum Beam the Dark Legion used on the island. The nature of its energies and its interaction with the Chaos Force is unclear to us. Hopefully Brother Mathias is well and will find his way back to us." (1) Although not canon, this may indicate writer Ian Flynn does not consider Mathias "dead" as the rest of the Brotherhood, but merely displaced. However, in The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, Mathias is listed as deceased.
- It is possible for people to distinguish Guardians from other Echidnas due to the white crest on their chest as a birthmark dating back to Edmund. But somehow, Moritori Rex was able to disguise himself as a Guardian despite not having the birthmark on his chest.
- The alternate/possible futures of Light Mobius, 3437 P.X.E., and Dark Mobius have introduced two possible generations of the Brotherhood beyond Knuckles: Lara-Su/Jani-Ca and Edmund (P.X.E.). Lara-Su and Jani-Ca are the daughters of Knuckles and Julie-Su, who in the present is Knuckles' girlfriend. It is also possible, as construed from a remark regarding Prelate-V made by this future Edmund in SU #25, that a version of Argyle the Crocodile married a version of Lara-Su in the 3437 P.X.E. timeline.
- With the Archie/Ken Penders lawsuit settled and all Penders-made characters removed from the comic, the Brotherhood and all members save for Knuckles will never make another appearance in the comic.
Relative Trivia[]
- Rosa-Lyn is unique among Archie original Echidna females in that, while she has a suffix joined to her name by a hyphen, the suffix contains three letters instead of two.
- Rosa-Lyn's name is an "Echidna-ized" version of a real name, Rosalyn. Similarly, Dian-Na's name resembles the real name Diana.
- Byron was never seen in the comics. His name was only provided in Dimitri's Data File in StH #105.
- Byron's name may have been based off of George Gordon Byron, otherwise known as Lord Byron.
- Byron was identified as Jordann and Kayla-La's grandson in Dimitri's data-file and The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, but Angel-La was identified as their granddaughter in the Sonic Super Special Magazine timeline.
- Several of the Guardians' spouses have names related to the Guardian to whom they are married or to other media:
- Eri-Ka's name is similar to the real world name Erika, a feminine form of Eric that is often translated to terms implying rule or leadership. Coincidentally, it is also the name of a gym leader from the Pokemon series.
- Lunama-Re's name includes the word luna, meaning moon, and thus may be a play on her husband's name. Luna mare is also a term describing plains on the moon.
- Wanda-Ra's name is phonetically similar to the word wanderer, a synonym with the name of her husband Sojourner.
- Nemo's name has been used for a number of fictional characters, most notably Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the fish Nemo from the Disney film Finding Nemo.
Continuity Errors[]
Back in the letters page of KtE #21 a fan asked a question about listing Knuckles' relatives in order up to Hawking. The response was: "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." Evidence to support this appeared in the comics in KtE #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. This new order was also shown on Knuckles family tree.
Confusion once again arose in the letters page of StH #193. When asked the order of birth, the editor responded: For the record: The order goes Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk, then Janelle-Li, Athair, Sabre, Locke and Knuckles, for those of you keeping track at home.". When asked about this, writer Ian Flynn responded: I'm going to have to go over it all again to see if there's a nuance somewhere that can nail it down. We will eventually be setting it in stone. Officially. In print. That's more official than what's come before.(2)
Given the recent note by the editor, confirmation by the lead writer this is more canon than what has come before, as well as evidence from dialogue in the comics, Mobius Encyclopaedia recognizes the order as: Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk.
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