#Gala-na the Echidna

[lyllaotterofhalfworld]

I didn't want to do the full thing

Tried making it comic book-y though but I gave up and did whatever x'D

[solfinite]

idk the archies but do u have a favorite original echidna from there? would you draw them? :)

i drew this and completely forgot to respond

i don't really have any faves for the archie echidnas... but i asked my sister to pick one and she said i should draw gala-na

[btm-txt]

“Welcome to The Lost City of Albion! I’m Gala-na, and I have awaited your return to the Motherland!”

Mermaid Gala-na for MerMay 💖

[fyeahsonicthehedgehog]

[julie-su]

Will you be making a julie-su charm?

Humm. I would have to first clean stock of some other charms. Then, I would have to set the price for them at a premium, pricing it at £10 per piece before shipping. Then; I would have to take on paid preorders with a five-month turnaround - I would have to get a minimum of ten orders.

It's something I would love to do; however, to break even, I'd have to find ten different people who are willing to pay a premium, and wait a very long time. My girl just doesn't sell; that's why the only echidna I've got stock of right now is Tikal - and soon, Knuckles. Believe me; I'd love to do a full line of charms running through every single echidna - Lien-Da through to Teri-Lu, Rita-Le, Gala-Na; but, it's just not something I can responsibly afford to do as a small business owner.

Perhaps I'll put the call out if people respond to this with the anticipation of putting in the cash :P

[jakemorph]

theres really only been 2 echidna designs so far that have remotely caught my eye and theyre not even like hugely relevant main characters

[thankskenpenders]

In this issue’s backup story, Locke is here in the ruins of the echidna homeland of Albion, listening to Gala-Na’s Fallout audio log about our favorite echidna edgelord’s origin story

So yeah, remember aaaaallll the way back in Sonic #94, when I said that the random Albion echidna who got blasted with chaos energy when they tried to drain Chaos Knuckles would end up being real important? Well, here’s where Ian establishes that that guy turned into Bollers’ Dr. Finitevus! As always, Ian is great at tying together random little long-forgotten plot threads in unexpected ways to create a more cohesive story

It’s also kind of interesting how Finitevus is believed by the other echidnas to be like the karmic opposite to Knuckles, the fabled savior, especially since Finitevus was introduced in opposition to that very myth back in the Return to Angel Island arc. I do wish Finitevus perhaps had a bit more nuance in this arc instead of just wanting to burn everything to the ground, but eh. He’s a fun villain, and this arc has been more about Knucklejak anyway

Shortly after his former colleagues tried to have him "euthanized,” Finitevus escaped, then lead Eggman’s forces back to Albion, where they blew it to smithereens and stuck everyone in the Egg Grapes. Oops! Sucks for them, huh. Gala-Na and her crew always sucked pretty hard, though, so I can’t say I’m gonna miss ‘em

Knuckles did send all of the surviving echidnas back to Albion last issue, though, so Remington and the others are just hanging out in the rubble

[mobius-prime]

251. Sonic the Hedgehog #182

Fallen Angel

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

The familiar face of Knuckles addresses the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix as Enerjak, inviting them to follow him so he can lead them into a peaceful, happy new world free of technology. Sure, the whole "no more pain and suffering" thing sounds great, but Nicole rightfully points out that it was technology that allowed her to become a living being, and Julie-Su reminds him of how badly things went before when he had access to this much power, begging him to come back to her. Enerjak merely frowns in disappointment and informs them that he'll demonstrate his power to all of them to prove he's in the right.

So do you guys remember how, during the original M25YL arc, we learned that nearly everything in that future came about because Knuckles once again went all Chaos-y, and tried to "remake Mobius as he saw fit," which included forcibly taking away Julie-Su's cybernetics? And how for some unfathomable reason, after all that, she elected to stay with him and didn't seem to harbor him any ill will for essentially forcing his own bodily ideals onto her without her consent, literally changing parts of her body against her will? Yeah, this is precisely why I have such a problem with Kenders having made that the backstory for future Knuckles. Despite her distaste for the Legion, Julie-Su clearly has no intention of getting rid of her cybernetic parts, and in fact rather likes them. Here in this situation, she's rather traumatized by Enerjak's attempt to "liberate" her from her cybernetics, and has to be handed off to Mighty so Sonic can continue the fight against Enerjak. Before the fight can go much further, with Sonic calling Enerjak by all sorts of mocking puns on his name, none other than Shadow enters the fray! Turns out he's working for G.U.N. now, and is the agent that Rouge sent to help out. Enerjak is enraged as Sonic jumps back into the fight, calling him by yet another mocking nickname.

This page is one of my prime examples for exactly why I love Ian's writing of Sonic so much. Shadow begins unleashing ridiculous amounts of Chaos energy, making Nicole struggle to hold all the nanites in place so the city doesn't get destroyed by the raw power, and she points out worriedly that since she doesn't have enough power to maintain the energy shield, they're wide open for an attack from Eggman. Her fears aren't unfounded, either - at that exact moment, Eggman is watching the proceedings while Snively works on an "improvement" to his last few remaining Egg Grapes, surprised to see Shadow there. Apparently, it wasn't Enerjak scrambling New Mobotropolis' communications after all - it was Eggman, deliberately trying to make it seem like everyone has abandoned the fight for freedom and having outright lied to Sonic during the attack on Knothole about the world turning their backs on the Freedom Fighters. I mean, granted, we kind of knew that wasn't true already, considering the group we know as "the Freedom Fighters" are just the Knothole (now New Mobotropolis) chapter. As Eggman launches his fleet towards the city, Shadow continues his fight against Enerjak, but even his substantial fighting ability isn't enough to take him down. Somewhere along the line, Enerjak's helmet is knocked off, and Sonic is surprised and disturbed to see that Enerjak is in fact Knuckles, not having realized such until now. Despite his misgivings, he and the rest of the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix charge forward to take on Enerjak as one, but Enerjak, thoroughly angered by now, merely freezes everyone in place effortlessly with Chaos energy.

Oh boy, one of those "we must burn this world to make room for the new order" types! Sonic calls out to Enerjak, trying to reach the true Knuckles within, but Enerjak coldly insists there's nothing anyone can do to make him change his mind. However, Eggman would like to contest that statement! He shows up in his Egg Fleet and overwhelms Enerjak's attempt to resist with an extra-strong teleportation beam, taking him directly to the center of the Egg Grapes for energy extraction. Eggman, projecting a hologram of himself onto the ground, cheerfully reminds Sonic of their "deal," and is unfazed when Sonic angrily tells him that kidnapping Knuckles wasn't supposed to be part of that deal. As the Egg Fleet leaves the city, Sonic tries to rally everyone for a rescue plan, but Sally heads him off, saying that as much as they don't want to leave Knuckles in the hands of Eggman, rescuing him would only unleash Enerjak onto the world again. Before Sonic and Julie-Su can argue the point, a warp ring portal suddenly opens up and a hand drags the two of them through it, depositing them onto Angel Island with no warning.

Well, I suppose Locke isn't the worst person to be kidnapped by. He informs them that after Enerjak's last rampage, he and the rest of the Brotherhood designed a weapon to be used against him should he ever return. Sonic is eager to go get this weapon to turn Knuckles back to normal, but Locke clarifies - this is a killing weapon. If they use it, Knuckles won't survive the process. And he intends to use it anyway. …I take it back, there are definitely better people to be kidnapped by than Locke.

Albion's Shameful Secret

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

So, how did Locke find out about what was going on? Well, if his island suddenly blowing up wasn't enough of a clue, turns out he was visiting Albion not long ago, only to find it a ruined, abandoned wasteland. There, he watched a video recording by none other than Gala-Na, who explained the true nature of Finitevus. Once upon a time, he was an ordinary, promising young scientist within the city, and in fact was the one who came up with the technical side of the plan to contain Green Knuckles' power a year ago. He was the one in the suit that the Chaos Syphon was connected to, and received the full brunt of the energy wave that Knuckles unleashed that day.

Why am I not surprised that Gala-Na of all people would scoff at such a thing? Extremist one moment, slothful the next. Finitevus started going power-mad and using dark energies in his experiments, and eventually was deemed so dangerous that Gala-Na called for his execution. Goddamn, woman, you'd think she'd have learned from the last time she tried to "neutralize" someone imbued with insane amounts of power without their consent! Predictably, Finitevus escaped, and when he returned he had the entire Egg Fleet behind him, having betrayed Albion's location to Eggman. This is where the recording ends, as Gala-Na recorded her spiel during the invasion, and ended the video by begging whoever might find her message not to repeat her mistakes as her people were captured and killed around her. Great, even more systematic erasure of Kenders' echidna-related worldbuilding by Ian! Seriously, Ian, I know Kenders was kind of a dick, but you could at the very least not kill off 99% of the entire echidna population in the process of fixing his mistakes.

Well, good to know that the various ex-Legionnaires and Echidnaopolis refugees have come together, and that Remington is back in his right mind! And looks like Gala-Na is gone for good. Normally I might have said "good riddance," but the Egg Grapes are a torture I wouldn't wish on anyone, so, uh… bye then, I guess? Sorry, Gala-Na, but I really just can't bring myself to care that much about you.

[incorrectsonicquotes]

Gala-Na: “Quick! I need a mirror! Get me a mirror! What did they do to my fur?! I know they did something terrible to my fur!!”

Dimitri: “…Nothing!”

Tikal: “It’s fine!”

Rita-Li: “It’s gorgeous! “

Dr. Finitevus: “…It’s red.”

[robotnik-mun]

There's at least 4 coloring errors on that cover if you don't count Saffron's "whatever" design. Speaking of color errors, Lara-Le seems to have lost her brown hair and is morphing into yet another red echidna w/ purple eyes, aka another Knuckles.... iirc same thing happens to Gala-Na and Lien-Da....

You know, fun fact about the Gala-Na thing- evidently she wasn't meant to be purple, and that was something the colorist did. Which is why the next time she shows up, she's a bog standard red Echidna. Because you know, taking away the thing that made her stand out is totally a smart thing to do...

[nuttyrabbit]

Since echidnas seem to be bullshittingly OP, Gala-Na may not be the High Councilor for just political reasons. I wouldn't put her use and strength of Chaos Energy with the likes of Shadow or Archie Knux (seriously, he was stupidly OP) but with the way she's dressed may hint the possibility that she might be some sort of mage while hiding it due to the dress being formal attire.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she could use chaos to some extent, but not nearly to the extent that the Brotherhood can. Just enough to be able to defend herself

[sthcollectiontimemachine]

Headcanon time!

So, some Sonic headcanons. * Geoffrey’s musk eventually became so powerful it could melt its victims away. Marcel Skunk’s is powerful but not quite capable of melting targets. * Echo the dolphin is Bisexual. Can’t help it, she’s a dolphin after all. Will it be Undina or that cool ninja Bottlenose, or the roguish Razor. * Gala-Na and Rita-Le are lesbians. A lesbian couple in charge of the Echidna council. * Since Troll Publications Knuckles is from another dimension, it’s BLAZE who is the one with all the weird Cyborg relatives in that continuity.

EDIT: Razor has Coral, so he’s off Echo’s list. Bottlenose is also bi.

[fyeahsonicthehedgehog]

[julie-su]

can u seriously just kys already

That's not an echidna name the canon echidnas in Sonic are Knuckles, Tikal, Pachacamac, Shade, Tikal’s Grandma, Julie-Su, Lara-Su/Jani-Ca, Misty-Re, Tobor, Garek, Voni-Ca, Spectre, Kali-Ka, Soujourner, Wanda-Ra, Riki-Le, Thunderhawk, Shazi-Ah, Nemo, Janelle-Li, Athair, Xenin, Pravda, Crystal-La, Sabre, Iago, Jenna-Lu, Locke, Lara-Le, Doctor Zachary, Rutan, Perriwinkle, Cobar, Aurora, Wynmacher, Knecapceon, Constable Remington, Desi-Ca, Menthor, Doctor Finitevus, Darwin, Lien-Da, Kanewisher, Gae-Na, Arakkis, Kragok, Eli-Za, Komi-Ko, Princes Alucion, Eric, Merin-Da, Luger, Myokl, Jaker, Syntar, Pollu, Jon O'Hedge, Yanar, Dave, Mari-Su, Regi-Na, Imperator Ix, Pir'Oth Ix, Teri-Lu, Shockra, Moritori Rex, Menniker, Vera-Lo, Gala-Na, Dimitri, Zax, Cynthia-Wa, Nestor the Wise, Demi-Na, Angel-La, Byron, Officer Flint, Meri-ca, Jeffrey, Dian-Na, Ruta-Le, Spencer, Rosa-Lyn, Jordann, Jordan, Kayla-La, Sonji-Ra, Hawking, Jai-Na, Matthias, Aaron, Kann-Di, Sasi-Ka, Rykor, Rembrandt, Harlan, Holmes, Dawn-Na, Benedict, Moonwatcher, Lunama-Re, Eri-Ka, Steppenwolf, Edmund II, Siwa-Ra, Marta, Mr. Arrunda, Edmund, Simon, Floren-Ca, Raynor, other Raynor, Mari-An, AND Bimmy.

[jakemorph]

i'm curious since i see you've done it sometimes. what's your fav design/redesign of an official sonic character you've done???

hum good question... i think the echidna designs have the most potential so it would definitely be one of those. maybe tied between dimitri and thunderhawk with gala-na as a close third

[thankskenpenders]

While we still have three issues left featuring stories written by Karl Bollers, we’ve pretty much come to the end of his run as lead writer on Archie Sonic. As I’ve said many times, his work certainly had flaws, and there were stories of his that bored me. (I definitely could’ve done with less stories where Sally’s parents prevent her from joining the action.) But there were also many I quite enjoyed, and on average I’d say his stories were usually pretty okay. He definitely went out on a high note with Return to Angel Island, though. That’s for sure

In this post, I’d like to look over the list of scrapped story ideas listed on Bollers’ wiki page, and give some thoughts. Had he continued writing Sonic, this is what he would have done

Sonic and Amy becoming a couple after being stranded at sea together and keeping it a secret from Princess Sally.

Ehh... I’d have to see how this really played out. Sega was pushing SonAmy super hard at the time with Sonic X, though, and the Archie comics had barely even acknowledged Amy’s crush on Sonic, so I guess something like this had to happen eventually. I’m also sure it wouldn’t have lasted long, since it was obvious Bollers would have Sonic and Sally reconcile eventually

Tails reuniting with his parents by traveling into space on a modified Tornado.

This would’ve been pretty neat, honestly! I’d just hope that Tails wouldn’t stay out in space for too long

Amy's origins being explored in a fuller adaptation of Sonic CD.

Very cool! Definitely would’ve liked to see this. But Ian ended up doing more with Amy and incorporating the stories of the Genesis era games into the comics later on, so I guess we didn’t really lose much by not getting this story from Bollers

Knuckles departing Angel Island after learning that his presence exposes the location of the Master Emerald, going on a global pilgrimage to learn martial arts, and battling a Dr. Eggman controlled-Monkey Khan while under the control of the Iron Queen before discovering the Master Geode.

Now THIS sounds cool. While I’m not exactly a fan of Monkey Khan, I think sending Knuckles off on a big adventure and having him learn more fighting skills would be a great use of his character. Way better than having him sit around on Angel Island all day, that’s for sure. And after how great Return to Angel Island was, I would’ve loved to see more Knuckles stories from Bollers

Mammoth Mogul beginning to age rapidly due to his original Chaos Emerald running out of energy, forcing him to seek out alternative sources through illicit archaeological expeditions and hiring mercenaries like Nack the Weasel. The Master Geode, a powerful gemstone that would fulfill Mogul's needs, would be contested by him, the Iron Queen, Robotnik, and Rouge the Bat.

Also pretty cool. I’m assuming this is all part of the same overarching story as Knuckles’ martial arts training. It’d be fun to see this combination of new and old game characters as well as old Archie characters vying for power. I also love that all these forces would be vying for control of this powerful gem, but then Rouge is also there because... she just wants it. All of these characters would have their time to shine in Ian’s run, though

Sally being a pawn in a villainous plot by the corrupted Source of All and Ixis Naugus to prevent the future first previewed in Sonic In Your Face.

Antoine gaining his scar due to an accident with a knife and becoming a villain after allowing himself to be possessed by a corrupted Source of All in hopes of winning Bunnie back.

The Source of All surviving Robotropolis' destruction and reconstituting itself in a remote mountain range, beginning to exert control over King Max, brainwashing the Arachne and another group of Spiders known as the Strand, and possessing Antoine while under the control of Ixis Naugus.

We’ve already talked about this canceled subplot before, but oh man, I would’ve loved this. I always hated the concept of the Source of All, and the idea that Max’s actions were all justified by some sort of omniscient future vision. The Acorn family rituals surrounding the Source were also already extremely creepy, so turning their bonding with the Source into a bad thing would’ve been an incredibly easy pill to swallow

Bunnie and Antoine breaking up due to a change in Antoine's personality, with Bunnie's origins later being explored and her true name being revealed as Scarlette O'Hare

I mean, Bunnie’s last name being Rabbot (pronounced Rab-OH) was always silly, but I don’t know if we really needed this. Y’all know I’m down for more Bunnie, though

Rotor retiring from field duty in order to pursue a role analogous to that played by "Q" of James Bond fame.

They’d already been leaving him out of missions for years. I guess this makes sense, and at least turning him into the guy who makes the gadgets for everyone would give him a more clearly defined role

Locke and Lara-Le putting aside their previous disputes to help raise Knecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace after his father Wynmacher ends up in the Egg Grape Chamber.

I’ve talked about all this a bit before. Really not sure what to think of it. My gut instinct is that I don’t like the idea of Locke reuniting with Lara-Le at all. He hasn’t earned her forgiveness. But I’d have to see how Bollers wrote it, I guess

Robotnik kidnapping Hope Kintobor under the pretense that he is the only correct choice to be her legal guardian, while genuinely using her as bait to lure in Shadow the Hedgehog.

Not sure how I feel about Hope getting kidnapped, but the mental image of literal tyrant Dr. Eggman going to child protective services and pretending he’d be a good guardian for Hope as part of a scheme to get Shadow is really funny to me

Ixis Naugus attempting to return by transforming Max's body into a duplicate of his own, only to be thwarted by the destruction of the Crown of Acorns

I would’ve liked to see Naugus explored more, but hey! Ian sure used him a lot. So this is another case where we aren’t missing out on much

Nate Morgan surviving the destruction of Robotropolis, being De-Roboticized by the Bem, and returning as Coconuts' amnesia-addled ally, who creates a new Metal Sonic, Metal Amy, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll that are mistaken for Robian versions of the heroes.

This would’ve been a REALLY interesting development. Bollers was very open about how he hated the direction Nate Morgan had gone in and had some interesting plans to bring him back. And, well, this is it. Kind of reminds me of a certain subplot with Eggman in the IDW comics, except in reverse

I also love how this would’ve brought in Metal Knuckles, Tails Doll, and a new Metal Amy. Bollers really seemed to be enjoy bringing in elements from the older games in his later years at Archie, with much of the action in Return to Angel Island taking place in actual zones from S3&K. Getting Coconuts involved is also wild. This would’ve been a really fun story

Snively taking up a fifteen foot-tall mechanical battlesuit and the alias "Skarkus" in pursuit of revenge against Robotnik for leaving him alone against the Xorda, leading to an alliance between him and Shadow.

Yeah, this one sure is. Something. Honestly I have no idea how it would turn out. It’d be all about the execution

A.D.A.M. and NICOLE becoming romantically involved, leading to A.D.A.M. seizing control of the Shadowbot army and leading them from New Megaopolis to Knothole.

Okay I hate this one lol. But to be fair, I mostly hate it because the other writers ended up taking Nicole in a completely different direction and giving her her lynx form (and eventually pairing her with Sally). Bollers had no way of knowing that Nicole would become such a central character, so I can’t really blame him for having an idea like this, I guess

A new Dingo Regime leader named Colonel Mange being introduced, with Croctobot, Jack Rabbit, and Gala-Na being reintroduced as Robotnik Sub-Bosses over Downunda, the Great Desert, and Albion. This would have led to the disappearance of the Downunda Freedom Fighters and a confrontation involving the Mercian Freedom Fighters.

Ah, the beginnings of Eggman having Mobian sub-bosses working for him. I guess Kage in Return to Angel Island was really the start of this, but still. Gala-Na becoming a subordinate of Eggman actually makes a lot of sense to me. She was already an antagonist in the Chaos Knuckles arc, and it’s painfully obvious that the Albion echidnas are selfish pricks who only look out for themselves. If she thought that siding with Eggman would protect Albion, I totally think she’d sell out

Anti-Sonic coming to enjoy impersonating Sonic and enjoying the love of his parents and adulation of his people, leading him to plan to eliminate Sonic and permanently take his place.

This one’s also kinda interesting I suppose, although we definitely got no shortage of Anti-Sonic impersonating Sonic in the last year of Penders stories. Can’t say I’m dying to see this story told

---

So, all in all, definitely some interesting ideas! If there’s two major throughlines I see in this plans, it’s 1) bringing back forgotten elements from both the games and earlier comics and 2) reinventing Penders characters and concepts. Which makes a lot of sense, because that’s exactly what he was doing with Return to Angel Island

Part of me is sad that these stories were never told. The Source of All being evil and Knuckles’ martial arts training stand out to me in particular. But there are other ideas that are pretty similar to things Ian would do in his run, like Eggman having Mobian sub-bosses or Naugus coming back, so it’s hard to feel too sad. It’s also hard to know how good the execution would’ve been on these pitches

Of course, if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that these stories probably would’ve been better than the ones we actually got from Penders and Chacon over the next year and a half