Haven & the Brotherhood:
Knux's Family History
Let's face it, Knuckles has an amazing family history that can be traced back to the origin of the Floating Island itself! Please enjoy these wonderful tales of the Floating Island's most prominent family.
The Origins of the Floating Island: The Scientist who Discovered the End of Echidnapolis
Brothers Edmund and Dimitri: The Birth of Enerjak
Steppenwolf, Menniker, and the Dark Legion: A Family Divided
Hawking: Savior of the Warring Races
The Origins of the Floating Island: The Scientist who Discovered the End of Echidnapolis
It is unknown what the scientist's name was, but if it were not for her, neither the Floating Island nor Echidnapolis would exist. She discovered a huge white comet that was heading directly for the area that is now the Floating Island. With her forewarning, echidnas were able to save their city from complete annihilation. I think we all owe her a big thanks, don't you?
Brothers Edmund and Dimitri: The Birth of Enerjak
Several generations after the Floating Island was created, two brothers, Edmund and Dimitri, sought a way to return their island to the ground. Their creation, the Chaos Siphon, was designed to drain the energy from the 12 Chaos Emeralds that were keeping the Floating Island in the air at that time. Even after showing their plans to the High Council, the petition was denied. Furious with the council's decision, Dimitri went ahead with his and Edmund's plan anyway in an attempt to prove that their invention would work. He pushed the Chaos Siphon past it's limits, completely shattering 11 of the 12 Chaos Emeralds and absorbing their energies into himself. From that point on, he called himself Enerjak, and raised a Dark Tower from the ground with his new power as a tribute to himself.
However, a curious thing happened. While Dimitri's Dark Tower was immune to harm from attacks on the outside, it was not immune to the fire-ant's munching at the base of it. It collapsed in on Dimitri while his brother Edmund and the High Councilor escaped. In compensation for his brother's actions, Edmund allowed himself to be appointed Guardian of the Floating Island, protector of all its inhabitants.
Steppenwolf, Menniker, and the Dark Legion: A Family Divided
It should be noted right now that the brothers Edmund and Dimitri had sons. Edmund's son was named Steppenwolf, and Dimitri's son was named Menniker. These two cousins, like their fathers, got along really well. Yet with the collapse of Dimitri's Dark Tower, also went Menniker's compassion for his uncle, since he believed Edmund could have saved Dimitri. At this time, a movement was underway to abandon echidna society's advanced technology in favor of the greater good, since it was state-of-the-art technology that ultimately destroyed Dimitri.
Outwardly, Menniker appeared to cooperate with his cousin's job of helping Edmund; but he was secretly gathering both the latest technology and support for his cause. Many echidnas were against the recent reforms, and joined Menniker readily. When Steppenwolf followed one cloaked echidna in secret, he discovered what the group's ultimate motive was: to overthrow the established government and reinstate the development of new technology.
Steppenwolf was discovered, and in fleeing, he unknowingly lead a couple of the rebels to his father. Edmund, the first Guardian, was also the first Guardian to die before his time. Steppenwolf vowed revenge for the death of his father, not knowing that his enemy would be his own cousin. However, a fire-ant by the name of Christopheles advised and trained Steppenwolf physically, mentally, and even taught him how to harness the limitless power of the Chaos Emerald itself. Finally, Christopheles showed his disciple the wonder built by the fire-ants for the Guardians of the Floating Island: HAVEN.
Steppenwolf confronted the Dark Legion, as the group called themselves, and was allowed to pass straight through to Menniker. While talking to his cousin (who was in fact wearing a mask), several Dark Legionnaires were aiming to kill Steppenwolf. When the blasters failed to fire, Menniker attacked his cousin directly, promising his payback just seconds before Steppenwolf pulled off Menniker's mask. After Menniker explained that he believed he should continue what his father had started, Steppenwolf used the powers of the Chaos Emerald to send Menniker and the Dark Legion to another dimension. While he did not want to do this, Steppenwolf knew he had to. Edmund and Dimitri's ancestors have been on opposite sides ever since.
Steppenwolf, his son Moonwalker, grandson Harlan, and great-grandson Rembrandt formed the first Brotherhood. (I might note here that echidnas have a pretty generous lifespan, seeing as how Hawking was probably between 20 and 30 years old over 200 years ago!) In fact, it was Rembrandt that first called the assembled members of the family the 'Brotherhood.' Current methods of training and initiation were put into place when Rembrandt's older son Aaron was killed on a mission, and Aaron's younger brother Jordan wanted to become Guardian. Those methods include introducing the Guardian-in-training to unknown objects to see their reactions, and leaving them on their own (still under the careful supervision of their elders) to succeed and fail in certain missions, increasing the student's responsibilities gradually. These were the very same methods used on the most unusual and powerful of all the Guardians: Knuckles.
Hawking: Savior of the Warring Races
Echidnas have always been at odds with dingoes, with minor scuffles often escalating into all-out battles. Yet one time, dingoes started stealing echidna technology of the very worst kind. Hawking prepared to defend Echidnapolis by setting up a shield to protect their city from the nuclear missiles and debris. However, it soon became clear that the radiation would completely ruin the Floating Island, and kill both echidnas and dingoes. Since the whole island was going to be effected, evacuation was out of the question. So, Hawking looked back on some of Dimitri's plans and theories. From those papers, he started construction on the Hyper-Zone Projector, which would transport the echidnas to one plane of existence, the dingoes to another, and the rest of the island's inhabitants to yet another plane, where the races would mingle. It took a century to restore the Floating Island to the way it once was, and it proves to be very difficult for Knuckles when Echidnapolis and the dingoes return back to the Floating Island on a collision course in which only one city will survive.
The current Brotherhood will be listed in order of seniority (not counting Hawking, who is on life-support).
Spectre
Sojourner
Thunderhawk
Sabre
Locke
Knuckles
I would like to mention that two members that would otherwise be in the current Brotherhood are not listed above. First, there is Tobor, Hawking's son, who for a long time was impersonated by a Dark Legionnaire called Moritori Rex (A descendent of Dimitri). Secondly, there is Knuckles' great-grandfather, Athair, who does not want to be part of the Brotherhood. Also, it seems that Thunderhawk's son (Athair's father) is never mentioned in the series. And so, if I am correct in this, from Hawking down to Knuckles, the family goes as follows:
Hawking
Tobor
Spectre
Sojourner
Thunderhawk
???
Athair
Sabre
Locke
Knuckles
Members of the Brotherhood in clockwise order starting in the lower left corner:
Thunderhawk, Sojourner, Moritori Rex posing as Tobor, Sabre, Locke, and Spectre