Doctor Zachary
From the Sonic News Network, the Sonic Wiki
| Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
| This page started life as the Wikipedia article "List of characters in Sonic the Comic", by these guys. Don't be afraid to rewrite sections in a more Sonic-y style! |
| Doctor Zachary | |
|---|---|
 Zachary's first appearance | |
| First appearance | |
| Appears in (other media) | |
| Creator (real-world) | |
| Species | |
| Gender |
Male |
| Fur |
White |
| Eyes |
Purple and Red |
| Alignment |
Evil |
Doctor Zachary is an elderly, white-furred male echidna, and an enemy of Knuckles the Echidna. He first appeared in Sonic the Comic #65. Within the Sonic the Comic continuity, Zachary is one of only two Echidnas known to still be alive. He has secret knowledge of the Echidna people, and may even know where they went.
Contents |
[edit] History
When he first returned to the Floating Island, he claimed he was being hunted by a dangerous robot (in actuality an Echidna Guardian robot he had reprogrammed);[1] the surprised Knuckles was tricked into taking him to the Emerald Chamber. Zachary then had the robot invade the Chamber and destroy the Master Emerald,[2] absorbing its Chaos Energy into itself. He then boarded the super-charged robot and set off to devastate Mobius and get an unknown revenge on the other Echidnas, leaving the Floating Island to crash. However, Knuckles caught him before he could escape[3] and decapitated Zachary's robot.
However, before Knuckles could take him prisoner, an inopportune quake threw Zachary from the island, sending him plummeting towards Mobius.[4] While airborne, Zachary was able to use the robot's body to soften his landing, but the impact left him horribly injured. He would have died if not found by a Badnik patrol.
Dr. Robotnik took a special interest in Zachary, previously believing that Knuckles was the only Echidna on Mobius, and saved Zachary's life by integrating him with Badnik technology, replacing his right arm with a laser cannon and the entire right side of his head and face. In return, Zachary was able to provide Robotnik with important information, namely that the Emerald Hill Folk were hiding out on the Floating Island. The pair attacked and successfully took control of the Island, using a gang of reprogrammed Guardian robots and planning to use the Emerald Hill folk as organic components in a vast supercomputer. However, an electromagnetic pulse caused by Super Sonic surged across the planet shutting down all of Robtonik's computer networks and Badniks. The Guardian robots, products of ancient echidna science, were unaffected, but the software that Zachary used to control them was destroyed and they ceased obeying him. Knuckles fought Zachary one-on-one, though halfway through Sonic the Hedgehog suddenly intervened and knocked the villain out. In the ensuing confusion over arresting Robotnik, Zachary burrowed into the heart of the Floating Island to escape. Due to STC's cancellation, his fate remained a mystery.
On the sonicthecomic E-group, Nigel Kitching revealed that an unused plan for Zachary was that he was still on the Island when it sunk (during the last storyline), and was trying to release a gang of Echidna criminals that had been placed in suspended animations.[5] (Kitching admitted elsewhere that he hadn't taken Zachary into consideration when he wrote the island's submergence.)
[edit] Sonic the Comic Online
In Sonic the Comic Online, Zachary resurfaced and attempted to take control of Super Sonic. When that failed, he assembled a gang of supervillains called the Syndicate and brought to life a dormant Shadow the Hedgehog, with the intent of using the Chaos Emeralds to ignite all of Mobius' residual Chaos Energy and literally blow up the planet. The plan failed and Zachary's mysterious ally Vichama betrayed him; Knuckles was able to capture him and took him to the Floating Island for questioning. This has not gone well, with Zachary refusing to answer questions and instead taunting Knuckles over the death of the Special Zone.
[edit] Production Background
The concept of Doctor Zachary and the story in which he first appeared ("The Homecoming", from Sonic the Comic #65 to #68) was created by artist Richard Elson. Elson also did a design for the character. The plan was that Elson would draw the strip, which would be written by Nigel Kitching, but because of Elson's other work commitments, it was drawn by Nigel Dobbyn instead. Elson did not show Dobbyn his original sketches, but did specify that Zachary should have white fur, because of his great age. In Elson's original design, he looked a lot older, more wrinkled and evil.[6]
Doctor Zachary was named after the character Doctor Zachary Smith, from the TV series Lost in Space. Though both have villainous tendencies, they are otherwise dissimilar.
[edit] Trivia
- Archie comics echidna villain Dr. Finitevus, introduced almost a decade later, has a similar look to Zachary. Certain characters from Archie's Dark Legion also resemble Zachary, as cyborg Echidnas that are skilled in programming and dedicated to Mobius' subjugation.
- Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood later introduced Imperator Ix of the Nocturnus Tribe; another technophilic albino echidna, suspected by fans to be partially based on Zachary and / or Finitevus.
[edit] References
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #65, "The Homecoming, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #66, "The Homecoming, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #67, "The Homecoming, Part 3"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #68, "The Homecoming, Part 4"
- ↑ sonicthecomic Yahoo! Groups
- ↑ Interview with Richard Elson at Sonic the Comic - Online!
