Dingoes (Sonic the Hedgehog)

The Dingoes are a fictional race from the "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise. They are the second main population on Angel Island, the other being the Echidnas. They are a militant race, generally feeling outright racism towards the Echidnas.

History

Centuries ago, the Dingoes attempted to wipe out the Echidnas and their city of Echidnaopolis by using nuclear warheads provided to them by Overlanders. Although the missiles were successfully launched, the current Echidna Guardian at the time, Hawking, brought up a dome shield over the city, which destroyed the warheads. Unfortunately, the mass radiation from the weapons began to spread across Angel Island. To ensure the population of the Floating Island was safe from the radioactive waste, Hawking transported Echidnaopolis and its population to one zone, and the Dingoes to another, along with their city (referenced by Julie-Su in Sonic Issue 181 as "Cavem Canus", the Dingo City). The Dingoes remained in their zone as the Echidnas did in theirs for hundreds of years, while Hawking cleaned up the Island, until Dr. Robotnik fired the Ultimate Annihilator, which distorted the zones and caused both the Echidnas and Dingoes to be transported back into the prime zone. The results of the Ultimate Annihilator on the zones proved to be more beneficial to the Echidnas, restoring their city of Echidnaopolis to the prime zone, while leaving the Dingoes' city in their former zone.

When Enerjak returned to Mobius and began his invasion of Echidnaopolis, the Dingoes assisted the Echidna Security Team's defence of the city against him and the Dark Legion. Their efforts against the nearly omnipotent being proved useless, although Enerjak was quickly defeated by Mammoth Mogul who stole his Chaos powers for himself. However, he too was quickly defeated, by the trio Super Sonic, Turbo Tails and Hyper Knuckles.

The Dingoes, now forced to live in Echidnaopolis with the Echidnas, felt they were being treated like second-class citizens. The Echidna Council attempted to aid the Dingoes by constructing shelters and housing for them, but the process was far too slow for the Dingoes, who decided to protest against the Council. During their protest however, the entire city was transported to the Twilight Zone when the Dark Legion fired their Quantum Beam. The effects were later reversed by Chaos Knuckles, bringing the Dingoes and the Echidnas back to Echidnaopolis.

After the fight against the Xorda, when Sonic the Hedgehog disappeared and was presumed to have perished, Dr. Eggman offered the Dingoes a deal they couldn't refuse. In exchange for technological support and aid from the Eggman Empire, the Dingoes would act as Eggman's enforcers and regime on Angel Island. Now lead by Kage von Stryker (having apparently overthrown his father) and with their new-found resources and technology, coupled with the disappearance of the entire Brotherhood of Guardians (except for Knuckles and Locke), the Dingoes were able to overpower the Echidnas and install a fascist regime, oppressing the Echidnas and forcing them into slavery and concentration camps. The back of the Regime was effectively broken by the newly-returned Sonic and the efforts of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Chaotix, who successfully prevented the Dingo's efforts to secure the Master Emerald for Dr. Eggman and freed Locke from imprisonment. However, the Dingos remained a threat for some time, and with the Dark Legion caught up in its own civil war, was able to repeatedly attack the remaining Echidna population (now only 10% of its former size) and reduce the recently-restored Echidnaopolis to a primitive collection of huts and houses, open to attack. Initially, the Destructix at Dr. Finitevus's command beat back repeated Dingo incursions, they eventually began planning a massive attack to overwhelm the Destructix and wipe out the few remaining Echidnas.

Thankfully, this plan never reached fruition, as Finitevus was successful in creating a new Enerjak (from Knuckles), and direct him to attack the assembled Dingo population at their city of Cavem Canus. Enerjak promptly stripped the Dingos of their weapons, technology, and their pride, and condemned them to wander the desert region of Sandopolis (claiming there they would learn "humility") and killed the Dingo leader, Kage Von Stryker, in a brutal manner. This brought the Dingo Regime's hold on Angel Island to a crashing end forever.

During his time of reflection following his actions as Enerjak, the restored Knuckles used a Warp Ring to journey to Sandopolis's primary oasis and visited the Dingos, for the purpose of apologizing. Knuckles found the Dingos were doing well in the harsh environment, primarily because of the leadership skills of Helmut Von Stryker, their leader once again. Stryker warned Knuckles, before his departure, to expect his army to return to Angel Island.

Main Dingoes

General Helmut Von Stryker

Helmut Von Stryker is the violent, prideful, and fearsome military leader of the Dingo Regime, who have long been at war with the Echidnas on Angel Island because they strongly felt that the echidnas were prejudiced against the dingoes. Although most dingoes are savage-looking, Stryker is even larger and more muscular than the rest of his species. He sports a yellow crew cut hair style, and has a nasty scar on his right eye (possibly a battle scar from all the skirmishes he fought in). Because of repeated conflicts between the Dingoes and Echidnas a barrier was built to keep the species separate. Shortly after Knuckles discovered this fact the machine Hawking had engineered for that purpose (called a Hyper-wave Projector) began to malfunction, subsequently the dimensional barrier holding the echidnas and dingoes started to fade, and each species was slowly returning back to Angel Island on Echidnapolois.

Stryker assumed command of the Dingoes and amassed his troops to prepare for war once the Echidnas reappeared completely. But the Hyper-wave projector was unstable and was causing massive damage all around the city. Knuckles and Julie-Su arrived to talk the general into leaving the area before the Dingoes were killed by the damage from the projector's instability.

Stryker refused to heed the echidnas' warning and attacked Knuckles with his "power glove", demolishing his office before Knuckles knocked him unconscious. Stryker and the Dingoes managed to survive but their homes were destroyed in the process. Although the echidnas promised to rebuild the city and take care of the homeless dingoes, Stryker grew impatient. Stryker felt the echidnas were being racist towards the dingos by 'deliberately' taking such a long time to rebuild the homes. He organized protest rallies (and although they started out peacefully, these rallies grew progressively more violent after Remmington threatened to arrest the Dingoes for civil disobedience). Stryker also took this opportunity to visit an old comrade; Harry the Cab Driver, where it is clear they have had a strong friendship in the past (as mentioned in "the Chaotix caper").

During a corrupt election, the Dark Legion captured Knuckles, Julie-Su, and Stryker through the cybernetically enhanced legion warrior Xenin. Stryker was mocked and tortured along with Knuckles and Julie-Su from Dimitri the Echidna, head of the Dark Legion and formerly known as Enerjak. Stryker managed to escape the confines of his prison along with Knuckles and Julie-Su and vanished.

Stryker made his return during the Xorda attack. In an ironic twist, the Dingoes and Echidnas found themselves facing a common enemy and agreed to work together to destroy the Quantum Dial. Stryker was part of the first wave of attack.

During Sonic the Hedgehog's one-year-absence from Mobius, Stryker either deliberately ceded control of his army to his son Kage or was overthrown, it was never specified which. As a general, Kage commanded power through fear rather than respect, and he ordered the construction of prison camps to torture echidnas. Kage was known to become brutally violent when his troops displeased him (as evidenced in Issue 140 when he chokes Harry for dropping a breakfast tray and deems him unfit for military service). At some point Kage allied himself with Eggman and was given cybernetic implants to increase his strength. In return Kage was to secure the Master Emerald for Eggman's own use. Although Stryker seems to have disproved of the extreme measures his son took as leader of the Dingo Regime, he was powerless to stop him.When Enerjak was resurrected by Dr. Finitevus, Stryker was the first Dingo to be banished to Sandopolis, and was quickly joined by his former comrades following the Regime's destruction (revealed by Enerjak as he was about to kill Kage during the destruction of Cavem Canus).

When Knuckles, during his time of reflection, visited the Sandopolis Oasis, he found that Stryker had taken back control when the Dingo army was exiled, and has lead his people to adapt to the harsh environment they are in to become strong and self-sufficient. Stryker, having regained his arrogant opinions of Echidnas, warned Knuckles that he could expect his army to return to Angel Island. At this point, Knuckles revealed to his former-reluctant ally that "he" was Enerjak, and came, not to see if the Dingoes were suffering, but to apologize for what he did to Stryker's people and city, and to offer condolences for the loss of Kage. Upon mentioning Kage, Stryker looked for a moment that he might attack Knuckles, but instead turned his back on him, refusing to acknowledge Kage as his son, and instead denounced him as a traitor. As Knuckles departed, Stryker was seen to be crying, as privately, he still cared for Kage and mourned his death.

Harry

Harry is one of the few good Dingoes who does not hold racist feelings towards the Echidnas. After the Echidnas and Dingoes were brought back to the prime zone (where most of the comic series takes place), Harry was a cab driver in Echidnaopolis. His lack of hatred towards the Echidnas angered General Stryker, but this didn't bother him as he knew Stryker was no threat to him, despite the General's repeated visits. Harry assisted the Chaotix and Constable Remington locate and take down Downtown Ebony Hare, and often knew things that were supposed to be secret, such as the location of Dimitri the Echidna while he was hospitalized. Often Remmington would ride in Harry's cab, and would typically press him for answers he couldn't get elsewhere.

As an ally of the Chaotix, it seemed only a matter of time before Harry got caught in the crossfire between them and one of their arch-enemies, Mammoth Mogul. Hired by the deranged Mobian to drive him to Echidnaopolis General Hospital, Harry unwittingly played a role in helping Mogul take Dimitri hostage, which was part of the Mammoth's plan to trap Chaos Knuckles and drain him of his powers. Beaten by Mogul, Harry was in critical condition until Chaos Knuckles arrived and used his powers to heal him somewhat. Grateful and eager to see Mogul paid back, Harry told his story, only to send Knuckles off alone to confront Mogul in a battle that would lead to his temporary death. During the Eggman-backed Dingo occupation of Angel Island, Harry acted as a spy and informant to the Dark Legion. It was through him that Knuckles' father Locke was located and rescued. Afterwards, he either fully joined the Angel Island resistance or else remained amongst his "comrades" and was thus banished by Enerjak.

Harry was one of several characters seen in the "" story arc. He was still a cab driver, bringing Rotor to Angel Island and acting as his "beck and call". When Rotor asked if he had clearances to all the information he would need, Harry assured him he had "the best".

Gerbil

One of General Stryker's troops and right-hand man, he shares the common Dingo hatred towards the Echidnas. Little else is known about him. His name is likely a pun off Joseph Goebbels, the German Nazi propaganda minister. (The symbol of the Dingo Regime is said to resemble a swastika, and their actions under Kage are designed to be a moderate parallel to the Germans in WWII)

Kage Von Stryker

Kage Von Stryker was the only son of General Helmut Von Stryker, the former commander-in-chief of the Dingo Regime. Unlike his father, who was calm, calculating and in control of most situations, Kage was volatile, hotheaded and manipulative, and used his extremely violent nature and connections with his father to move up the ranks. During Sonic's one year absence, Kage somehow took over as General of the Dingo Regime, where he commanded loyalty through fear. Dr. Eggman, sensing an opportunity, offered Kage a deal too tempting to refuse: In exchange for the technological aid and support to conquer Angel Island and the entire Echidna population, Kage and his soldiers would act as his enforcers on Angel Island. Kage agreed.

Kage and his men conquered the Island, with him directing his troops from their city at Cavem Canus. Kage ordered the construction of multiple prisons and forced labor camp programs to enslave the Echidna population. Kage also forcibly conscripted his father's old comrade Harry back into service, likely because of the place Harry held in his father's eyes, and expressed frustration and disappointed when Harry proved to be an inadequate warrior. Later Kage, under pressure by Eggman to find the Master Emerald, personally interrogated Knuckles' father, Locke the Echidna, in hopes of forcing him to reveal the location of the emerald.

When Sonic, Knuckles, and the Chaotix embarked on a liberation mission at Angel Island, Kage ordered his troops to kill them. The dingo army was defeated, and Kage was left to confront Sonic and Knuckles personally. The two heroes defeated him quite easily and managed to rescue Locke. The prisoners were freed and the camps demolished, but Kage and his troops remained a threat for some time. The Dingoes made several attempts to wipe out the surviving echidnas and destroy their newly reconstructed villages, only to be hampered by the Destructix (who were pretending to have renounced their criminal ways in order to curry Locke's favor).

Kage's war on the Echidnas came to an abrupt end when Enerjak was 'resurrected'. Enerjak's first act was to disarm the Dingo Regime, destroy their stronghold at Cave Canus, and banish them to wander the desert wastelands of Sandopolis for their crimes against the Echidna population. Enerjak believed that this punishment would teach the dingoes humility. Enraged, Kage attacked Enerjak, taunting him with the promise to rally the Dingos to victory. "I've crushed more echidnas under my boot than I can remember! You'll be no different!". In response to Kage's defiance, Enerjak took Kage apart one molecule at a time, along with the Dingo City, in a similar manner to the way that the original Enerjak attempted to be rid of Knuckles..

When Knuckles later apologized to Stryker, who was now leader of the Dingoes once again and lead them to prosper in the harsh environment of Sandopolis Oasis, about what he had done to Kage, Stryker publicly refused to acknowledge his son and denounced him as a traitor. Privately, however, Stryker was seen to be crying, as he still cared about Kage despite his actions, and mourned his death.

References

*Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics
*Archie's Knuckles the Echidna comics