Angel Island



Angel Island (formerly called and also known as the Floating Island) is an island floating high in the air. It was first introduced in the video game Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

The island is the home of the Master Emerald, which keeps the island suspended in the sky. The emerald is protected by Knuckles the Echidna, an inhabitant of the Island, and only surviving member of an old society that once inhabited the island. In some continuities, there is a selection of Chaos Emeralds on the island itself. In the anime series Sonic X, Angel Island is also the location of the Planet Egg, which is the planet's life source.

History
Several thousand years prior to the games, Angel Island was part of the Echidna city now known as Mystic Ruins. It was the location of the shrine containing the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds, but when their chief, Pachacamac, tried to steal the Chaos Emeralds, Chaos appeared, used the Emeralds to transform into Perfect Chaos, and destroyed most of the Echidnas. The peaceful Echidna Tikal managed to seal Chaos inside the Master Emerald, but without the Chaos Emeralds neutralizing the Master Emerald's power, the energy surged through the island, making it float high into the air and taking the surviving Echidnas with it. The Echidnas then tried to rebuild their shattered civization on the island, but at the time of the games, Knuckles the Echidna is the only surviving inhabitant of the island.

The idea of a levitating island goes back at least as far as Nephelokokkygia ("Cloud Cuckoo Land"), the airborne city of birds from Aristophanes' play The Birds; another example is Laputa from Johnathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels. The Angel Island is likely to have been inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's interpretation of Laputa - a lost city, like a flying Atlantis - seen in his animated movie Castle in the Sky. Similarities between Laputa and Angel Island include their dependancy on a giant green gem to stay aloft, in Laputa this was called a Levistone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower destroyed Dr. Eggman's large space station, the Death Egg. After entering the atmosphere, the Death Egg crashed onto Angel Island, pressing it down into the ocean. While repairing it, Eggman met Knuckles, and managed to trick the Echidna that Sonic was coming to steal his Chaos Emeralds (this apparent second set of Emeralds is still some source of confusion among fans). In the beginning of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic and Tails arrive at the island looking for Eggman. Knuckles attacks them and steals their Chaos Emeralds, and hides the gems in Special Zones. Sonic and Tails continue through the island and eventually board the re-launched Death Egg, which then crashes into a volcanic crater.

In Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic and Tails travel to the crater, where they discover the Hidden Palace and battle Knuckles. After Knuckles is defeated, the three hear some ruckus further away in the palace, and they run off. Sonic and Tails discover the Master Emerald, and Knuckles discovers that Eggman is stealing it. Knuckles tries to stop him, but he gets electrocuted. Sonic and Tails try to help, but Eggman gets away with the Master Emerald, and the Death Egg is relaunched with added power boost from the Master Emerald. Knuckles, after regaining consciousness, takes Sonic and Tails to a special room with a teleportation device that sends them to an ancient floating city. There, the trio try to go together, but Knuckles is too tired from his fight with Sonic & Tails and from being electrocuted by Eggman. So he stays behind, while Sonic & Tails infiltrate and destroy the Death Egg. Once the Death Egg is destroyed, they return the Master Emerald to Knuckles, and fly away as the island goes airborne again.

In Knuckles' story of the game, the Master Emerald is stolen again by Mecha Sonic, and the floating island starts wobbling. Knuckles goes through the island and eventually clashes with an Emerald-powered Mecha Sonic. After defeating him, the area they were on begins to crumble, but Knuckles and the Master Emerald are saved by Sonic.

Areas
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Sonic & Knuckles 2-player Race Mode
 * Angel Island Zone, a tropical paradise filled with lakes. The jungle is subjected to a firestorm halfway through the first Act.
 * Hydrocity Zone, an underwater city.
 * Marble Garden Zone, ancient ruins prone to earthquakes.
 * Carnival Night Zone, a theme park area with multiple colours and bumpers.
 * Icecap Zone, a frozen mountain rife with caverns.
 * Launch Base Zone, a fortified construction site for the Death Egg.
 * Mushroom Hill Zone, a huge mushroom forest.
 * Flying Battery Zone, one of Robotnik's flying bases.
 * Sandopolis Zone, an Egypt-like desert area with a ghost-filled pyramid.
 * Lava Reef Zone, a subterranean region deep within a volcano with an ocean of magma.
 * Hidden Palace Zone, an ancient temple of the Echidnas where the Master Emerald is hidden.
 * Sky Sanctuary Zone, ancient ruins that somehow float above the island, accessible via teleports in the Hidden Palace. It is demolished after Sonic & Knuckles.
 * Azure Lake, a crystal clear lake in a forest.
 * Balloon Park, a circus like place much like Carnival Night.
 * Desert Palace, an oasis in the desert.
 * Chrome Gadget, a high-tech Eggman-looking place.
 * Endless Mine, an old dark mine.

Sonic Adventure
In Sonic Adventure, Knuckles story begins with him lamenting his destiny next to the Master Emerald, when it is suddenly shattered, revealing Chaos. Knuckles attacks Chaos, but is swiftly defeated, and Chaos melts away. Due to the pieces of the Master Emerald flying away everywhere, the island crashes. Knuckles goes on a quest to find the all the pieces, which he eventually does.

Areas

 * Angel Island Adventure Field, an area part of the Mystic Ruins Adventure Field. Going through a windy cave in Mystic Ruins leads a long cave tunnel inside Angel Island, which leads to IceCap and a large open area where the Master Emerald shrine and a path to Red Mountain are located.
 * IceCap, the same arctic mountain as the one in Sonic the Hedgehog 3
 * Red Mountain, a volcanic mountain. Possibly the same as Lava Reef from Sonic & Knuckles. If this is true, this is the first time that Sonic and his friends got to explore the exterior of the volcano.

Sonic Adventure 2
In Sonic Adventure 2, Rouge the Bat steals the Master Emerald, which is shattered by Knuckles himself due to Eggman trying to steal it while Knuckles and Rouge were argueing) as only he can put it back together. It is unknown if the desert area that the Master Emerald is seen in during the first cutscene is located on the Angel Island, or if Rouge had taken the Master Emerald with her, and that Knuckles had chased her to the current location. The "Wild Canyon" stage may also be located on the island, as there are several Echidna murals on it, and the lyrics to the music (which is assumed to be Knuckles' thoughts), contains "I've gotta protect this place, I'll do it for my race".

Others
In Sonic Advance, Angel Island is simply a stage in itself. It is filled with ancient ruins and some sand, and the boss is a robotic Knuckles.

In Sonic Pinball Party, there is an Angel Island board based on the stage from Sonic Advance. Tikal the Echidna makes a cameo there as a stone carving.

In Sonic Advance 2, a floating island assumed to be Angel Island is seen on the stage select map. Upon selecting the island, the player enters the "Sky Canyon" stage, which is seemingly set on a cloudy, canyon-filled mountain. When you first finish the level in story mode, the boss is Knuckles himself, who has been tricked by Eggman.

In Sonic Battle, Knuckles lives on a mountain known as "Holy Mountain", an area that resembles the Sonic Adventure Adventure Field. Some ruins and the Master Emerald's altar is nearby, and Chaos can be fought on the "Holy Summit" of the mountain. While it is possible that this is indeed Angel Island, it is unknown why it would be part of the mainland again.

In Sonic Advance 3, Eggman uses Chaos Control to split the world in seven pieces. The seventh piece is "Chaos Angel", a large amount of floating ruins set in a semi-apocalyptical theme. The ruins are assumed to be part of Angel Island, as the boss of Chaos Angel is fought right at the Master Emerald altar.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)
The Sonic the Hedgehog comics have a more developed storyline on Angel Island. According to history, the Island was once a part of the continent of Downunda, and home to the Echidna city of Echidnaopolis. However, a massive body known as the White Comet came towards the area on a collision course. (This differentiates it from the Black Comet, but the Black Comet is much smaller, and its velocity is much lower; it wouldn't have been a threat, as it can't pierce a planet's atmosphere under its own power.) In order to save themselves, the Echidnas used 12 Chaos Emeralds to raise their city and a portion of the surrounding area into the sky, thus creating the Floating Island and the Great Crater. The Island was renamed Angel Island after the Echidna Angel-La, mother of Edmund the first guardian. According to a map in the first Knuckles mini-series, there is also a place called Angel Island within the island itself, which was meant to explain an apparent naming discrepancy between the names "Angel Island" in Sonic 3 and "Floating Island" in the comic at the time. However, the discrepancy in the number of emeralds (one in the comic compared to the seven in the video games) was not addressed for much longer, in issue 56 where the "Master Emerald" was introduced into the continuity.

Angel Island serves as the battleground between the Brotherhood of Guardians and its allies against the Dark Legion. The battle has raged for centuries, beginning after Dark Legion leader Dimitri absorbed the energies of eleven of the Island's original emeralds and became Enerjak. After Enerjak's defeat, Dimitri's son Menniker founded the Dark Legion in opposition to technology bans, resulting in the Legion becoming a sort of technocratic cult. The battles have had many catastrophic effects, and the island was rendered uninhabitable for a time in response to a nuclear attack by the Dark Legion. In order to protect the citizens, the Guardian of that period transported the city of Echidnaopolis into another zone.

The Island is also home to the Dingoes, a race who by and large despise their Echidna neighbors. This has led to them being minor antagonists in the series. (This is a nod to the relationship between real-world dingoes and echidnas, in which dingoes are efficient echidna hunters.) Eventually, this led to the Dingoes siding with Dr. Robotnik, taking over Angel Island before being defeated by the joint efforts of the Chaotix and the Dark Legion. The Dingoes continued to menace the island, but eventually found themsleves facing a new adversary in the form of the Destructix. Because of their efforts, the group of escaped criminals earned their leader, Dr. Finitevus, the position as Angel Island's caretaker from Locke.

Sonic the Comic (Fleetway)
In the Fleetway-published Sonic the Comic continuity, Angel Island remains largely the same. However, it is never referred to as 'Angel Island'; instead, the comic uses the name 'Floating Island'. The island was temporarily used as a base by Doctor Robotnik, and it was during this time that he tricked Knuckles into becoming his bodyguard by claiming that Sonic and his Freedom Fighters sought to steal the Chaos Emeralds.

Later, Robotnik would return to the island, building his battle station, Death Egg II in the crater of a volcano. During this story arc, Knuckles reveals the true power of the island using a set of ancient texts, and is able to activate the island's propulsion system and energy weapons. Where these weapons come from and who built them remain a mystery. However, the Ancient Echidna race (of whom Knuckles was a member) and their enemies, the Drakon Empire have been seen using similar technology. At around the same time as this revelation, Robotnik's cronies the Marxio Bros. had set up the Carnival Night Zone on one end of the island. Though wary of the area's garishness, Knuckles agreed to let them stay when it was pointed out the tourism revenue could be used to fix up the Island. However, once he discovered their employer, he separated the Zone, and the entire edge of the Island, from the main landmass via one punch to a faultline, sending it plummeting to the planet below.

When Robotnik managed to ravage the Emerald Hill Zone, Sonic called in a favor that Knuckles owes him, and the echidna permitted the Emerald Hill Folk (as the Emerald Hill residents are known) to take up residence in the Island's Mushroom Hill Zone. After a lengthy time away from the island, Knuckles returned to find that Robotnik was back again, this time linking the populace of the Floating Island to a machine that would use their brain-power to fuel Robotnik's computers. This plan was quashed by Sonic, Knuckles and the Omni-Viewer, and Robotnik was defeated once more.

During the last arc of the comic, the Chaos Creature attacked the Emerald Chamber and managed to absorb the Blue Chaos Emerald. To stop the creature, Knuckles had no choice but to scatter the gems to the four corners of Mobius, thus removing the island's buoyancy and sending it crashing into the ocean below, where it sunk.

One of the first stories for the STC-Online continuation of the comic involved the recovery of the Floating Island from the bottom of the Mobian Channel.