Doctor Finitevus

Doctor Finitevus is an anthropomorphic echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. He was formerly a part of the Dark Legion under the unofficial title of "Technomage", as well as being a "deputy Guardian", of sorts. Before appearing in his current incarnation, however, he was an unnamed scientist from the echidna city of Albion.

An anthropomorphic Echidna, Finitevus' skin was originally red like most echidnas but became entirely white after his transformation, except for the black collar on the chest similar to Knuckles the Echidna's symbol and Lara-Su's birthmark. Finitevus has dreadlocks like all echidnas, and on his forehead rests a swirling pattern. His eyes, originally purple, came to have black sclera and yellow irises and are not in any way unnatural despite their strange appearance. Dr. Finitevus wears a silver belt with a crescent moon symbol on the buckle and a black cape with horizontal white and black stripes on the inside, which is held by a golden clasp inscribed with an identical symbol. (The cape's design differs between the actual story and Finitevus' biography page. In Finitevus' story appearances, his cape is black inside and out and has a golden star surrounded by several rings on the front.) Unlike the rest of the Dark Legion he infiltrated for a time, Finitevus' forearms and lower legs are covered with black guards or sleeves adorned with Warp Rings, while his hands and feet are wrapped in bandages like a mummy rather than having mechanical parts. (Ian Flynn, the writer for the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, has stated on his website that for as long as he has creative control over Finitevus, he will remain completely organic.)

Early Activities
Dr. Finitevus, before joining the Dark Legion in resisting the Dingo/Dr. Eggman Robotnik occupation, was the top energy researcher in the echidna city of Albion. During the time when Chaos Knuckles was held to be a threat by High Councilor Gala-Na of the city, Finitevus volunteered himself and his Chaos Siphon suit to drain the Guardian of his energies. However, the process was interrupted by Chaotix members Charmy and Saffron Bee, and Chaos Knuckles escaped while Finitevus was mutated from an ordinary, red-furred echidna into his current white-furred form. He became a "photo-negative" version of Chaos Knuckles, powered by corrupted Chaos energy, and his transformation included a radical personality shift. Realizing that he was a danger to the city, the people of Albion attempted to euthanize him only to have him escape- though not before he sabotaged the city's defenses. The doctor would later lead an Eggman Empire invasion of the city, wiping out its inhabitants and leaving it a ruined shell. Already planning his next move, Dr. Finitevus then joined the Dark Legion.

Finitevus became the chief medical adviser to Lien-Da, during which time he secretly captured and experimented on both the Brotherhood of Guardians and Moritori Rex, also disassembling Dimitri in order to learn the secrets of their Chaos powers. While Dimitri remained with him, the Brotherhood and Moritori were condemned to the Twilight Zone. Dr. Finitevus was still serving in his Legion capacity when Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Chaotix arrived to liberate the island, and sneered at the people of [Echidnaopolis]] and their belief in the prophecy of the Avatar. He used the arrival of Dr. Robotnik's agent Hunter, who attempted to steal the Master Emerald, to mask his departure. This allowed him to create the illusion that, like Constable Remington, Dr. Finitevus had been seemingly overpowered and killed by the Overlander's Chaos Spear. Instead, he somehow eluded Hunter's senses and left his supposed allies behind, moving himself to a hidden stronghold with an ancient Egyptian look to it.

Dr. Finitevus later resurfaced, gathering an army of villainous criminals through the use of Warp Rings, among them the equally diabolical Scourge the Hedgehog. He has also targeted Scourge's former partner Rouge the Bat, whom he caught sabotaging missiles in his secret base. According to Rouge, he has stolen data from the ancient robot Isaac and rescued the Destructix from the Egg Grape Chamber. The albino also dispatched Scourge and Sleuth Dogg to recover a Warp Ring stolen from him by Rouge. This endeavor led to their kidnapping of Miles "Tails" Prower and Fiona Fox. Finitevus also aided Locke in keeping A.D.A.M. from summoning the Master Emerald, which he had plans of his own for, thus saving it from transportation to the Zone of Silence and subjugation to the will of Feist, who used the power of the other Emeralds gathered to reshape his domain into the Special Zone.

Dr. Finitevus later returned to Locke and set the Destructix on a pack of Dingoes who were attempting to kill some of the few surviving former residents of Echidnaopolis. He claimed to know the location of the missing Brotherhood of Guardians, and even gave Locke a Warp Ring so Locke could begin his true search. Locke left the Master Emerald and Angel Island in Dr. Finitevus's keep, making him a sort of temporary Guardian, unaware of the albino's real plan. Working together with Dimitri, he allegedly promised to restore the Grand Master, who was now reduced to a head in a floating glass orb as a result of Finitevus' own efforts to keep him alive, to his former glory as Enerjak. In addition, his plans for the future included reuniting the civil war torn Dark Legion, which forced him to deal with Flame Legion leader Lien-Da and the Frost Legion Grand Master who resembled her late brother Kragok, though the latter is actually Kragok's son and amnesiac former Echidna Security Team Constable Remington and crushing the Dingo regime. Fiona also joined Finitevus to be with Scourge after her relationship with him was discovered and they were forced to escape the Freedom Fighters through one of the doctor's Warp Rings.

Dr. Finitevus was also the one of the only renegade villains who were not fooled by a sting operation initiated by Rouge, which involved her fake claims to having stolen the Master Emerald. Already in possession in the Emerald, Finitevus would not have believed such a claim even if he heard it, and thus escaped the humiliation of Freedom Fighter-defeated villains Mammoth Mogul, Ixis Naugus, Nack the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear, and Bean the Dynamite. Shortly after their capture and the destruction of Knothole, Dimitri fled from Finitevus and Scourge. Finitevus was unconcerned, and was instead adamant that Enerjak would be reborn, one way or another. Even when Fiona reported that Lien-Da and Remington had joined forces to stop him and that the Dingoes were launching an attack on the people of Echidnaopolis, Finitevus never wavered, and he soon succeeded at last: Enerjak was restored through none other than Knuckles, who proceeded to revert most of the Dark Legion to their natural state and decimate the Dingoes.

Giving Rise to Enerjak
As it turned out, Finitevus had selected Knuckles early on to become the new Enerjak, and promised Lien-Da and Remington that they would possess the power of the Master Emerald, which had been his original intention: however, Lien-Da proved uncontrollable and his efforts with Remington were dismissed when he realized that, of all of Edmund and Dimitri's descendants, Knuckles had the strongest connection to the Chaos Force. Thus, Finitevus waited until Knuckles had been brought to him by the Destructix before revealing that Robotnik's machinations had wiped out all but 10% of the Echidna population. Motivated by the deep love he held for his people, Knuckles fell right into Finitevus' ploy and became Enerjak, having activated a trap set by the diabolical Echidna that brainwashed him when he drew in the Emerald's power.

When Sonic and Tails came to the Chaos Chamber looking for their missing friend, they left unaware that Finitevus remained with the Master Emerald. At the time that Enerjak arrived in New Mobotropolis, Locke was learning the secrets of Finitevus' origin thanks to a disc recorded by Gala-Na and found by Remington, who had regained his lost memories and like the other members of the Dark Legion, was made fully organic once again. He and all the remaining Echidnas, with the exception of Lien-Da, a handful of her loyal followers and Finitevus himself were then transported to Albion, where he found Gala-Na's last record shortly before Locke arrived to meet with him. Locke also learned that Dr. Finitevus had blocked the Master Emerald from outside usage, and thus prevented him from undoing the spell upon Knuckles, leaving the Guardian with only one option: to use a weapon crafted by the Brotherhood to kill Enerjak.

Prior to Sonic and Julie-Su's arrival on Angel Island courtesy of Locke, Finitevus found Scourge using the Master Emerald to charge a Warp Ring. Scourge claimed that it was a precaution against Enerjak failing, and the doctor took the opportunity to reveal the motives behind his plan to destroy Mobius and then remake it. After Sonic deliberately destroyed Locke's weapon, Enerjak arrived fresh from New Megaopolis, having lost a great deal of power due to having been drained by the newly-modified Egg Grapes and decimating Dr. Robotnik's forces. Obliging Enerjak's demand for more energy, Dr. Finitevus began a spell to recharge him, only to have Sonic interrupt. Sonic proceeded to drain power from the Master Emerald himself, using it to become Super Sonic so he could face Enerjak. Finitevus showed pleasure in seeing Sonic use the power of the Master Emerald. He had assumed that Sonic would be under his control just as Knuckles was, but Sonic was unaffected by the hex. However, Finitevus then figured that with two Chaos-powered beings fighting each other, they would still cause the destruction he desired.

Watching the two super powers fight, Finitevus was confronted by Julie-Su and Archimedes. Amused by Julie's demands that he put an end to his scheme, he refused and stated that he couldn't, because his spell on the Master Emerald had been keyed so that only a sacrifice of life could undo it. Julie-Su, Archimedes and even the repentant Locke wished to be the ones to give up their lives, shocking Finitevus, who seemed unable to understand such self-sacrifice. Enraged by their "foolishness" he attacked. However, Archimedes teleported Finitevus away, allowing Locke to undo the spell and free Knuckles before the doctor could return. Beaten and enraged, Finitevus was then set upon by a very angry Knuckles, who knocked him off the island's edge and demanded he get back up to face him for his crimes. Unfortunately, the villain let himself drop and escaped into one of his Warp Rings, fleeing to fight another day.

Echoes of the Past
In the third story arc of Sonic Universe, Knuckles, Julie-Su and Mighty traveled to Downunda at the request of General Helmut Von Stryker to find and capture Finitevus. After they searched his lab and wound up back outside, he revealed himself and was immediately attacked. However, he pointed out that Angel Island had been anchored over Downunda during the fight, convincing Knuckles that he was not behind it. The group was soon joined by Vector and Ray, who had been guarding the Master Emerald before being driven away by dingo-like robots; as well as the Downunda Freedom Fighters, and together the group planned to take back the island from the Downunda-based Dark Legion, a group of technologically-enhanced platypuses led by Duck "Bill" Platypus.

However, Walt Wallabee took Knuckles aside and revealed that Finitevus had been seen working with the Dark Legion. Therefore, they decided to send Finitevus with the Downunda Freedom Fighters to attack Bill (with the intention of the DFF overpowering Finitevus), while the Chaotix (with Guru Emu) destroyed the chains binding Angel Island, and Knuckles asked Julie-Su and Ray to return to Angel Island to guard the Master Emerald. Unfortunately this plan backfired as Knuckles' group was heavily outnumbered by Dark Legion platypuses, and Finitevus was too much even for the combined might of Walt, Wombat Stu, Barby Koala and Thrash the Tasmanian Devil.

Knuckles, having been stunned by several simultaneous lasers to the back, awakened to find himself, the Chaotix and DFF bound and at the mercy of Finitevus and Bill. Finitevus departed to Angel Island to take the Master Emerald, leaving Bill alone with the captives. Bill, however, surprised everyone by releasing them, revealing that he'd had little choice but to join Eggman and lead the Downunda Dark Legion, and had had no chance to tell the other Downunda Freedom Fighters of his plan to weaken them from the inside. All was forgiven, and the former prisoners charged out of the cell. Walt told Knuckles to go up to Angel Island, stating that the DFF would take care of their own homeland. Mighty hurled Knuckles into the sky where he landed on the island for the final confrontation with Finitevus. Finitevus' first reaction was to offer Knuckles knowledge of the Echidna people's history, trying to convince Knuckles to join him. Knuckles was unswayed and attacked Finitevus, pushing him toward the edge of the island. Finitevus pushed back before falling over the side, and they both invoked Chaos Control. Knuckles recited Tikal's Prayer, while Finitevus chanted his own demented variant, and after their Chaos energies clashed Finitevus trapped Knuckles in a Warp Ring, threatening to close the warp while Knuckles was only halfway through (presumably cutting Knuckles in half). Before he could, though, he was stunned by laser fire from Julie-Su, who'd been concealed behind the Emerald. Knuckles then threw the unconscious Finitevus over the edge of the island.

Finitevus was seen after the fight standing next to the ruined Eggman statue in Downunda, contemplating his disgust at what he perceived to be Knuckles' ignorance, stating that Knuckles' life was a worthy sacrifice, and likely plotting his next move.

Possible Future
In the alternate version of Mobius: 25 Years Later, it is revealed that Dimitri came to dislike Finitevus. This was revealed when he expressed shame at having worked with him, an event that was only outclassed by Lien-Da's conspiracy with Mobius' despotic king, Shadow the Hedgehog. Dr Finitevus himself did not appear in the possible future, most likely having been killed at some unknown time before the possible future of that story arc.

Personality
Finitevus is among the more audacious villains, having acquired his minions by rescuing them from the antagonism of some of his most dangerous possible opponents, such as Dr. Eggman. Finitevus varies in his involvement, only interfering in the schemes of others if his own are threatened. He also takes Dark Legion contempt of Angel Island Echidnas to the extreme, similar in fashion to the hatred of the Guardian Spectre towards members of the Legion. Finitevus is a master manipulator, having managed to send away Locke from the Master Emerald, trick Dimitri into believing he wanted to help him and trick Lien-Da, not to mention a corrupted Remington, into believing the same. Indeed, his plans advanced in the background for a whole year of comic issues without any third parties being any the wiser. Though originally he was fully dedicated to Albion's ideals, his transformation left him with a vehement hatred of Mobius' current state of society and an apparent wish to see the world demolished and rebuilt as he believes it should be. His reasons for recreating Enerjak are as follows: he feels that the Brotherhood and the Dark Legion have accomplished nothing in their generations of conflict, and that it is only fitting that Enerjak end the conflict since he was its progenitor.

It also seems that Finitevus was not honest with both his plans and his own allies, as Scourge was shown to be clueless about Finitevus' goals, even after a lengthy elaboration that culminated into a history lecture and only left Scourge even more bewildered.

Powers
Dr. Finitevus is an insane genius of a caliber rivaling that of Dimitri. Due to the accident involving Chaos Knuckles and his Chaos Siphon suit, which resulted in his transformation into a "photonegative" of Chaos Knuckles, he commands a corrupted form of Chaos energy that is black instead of the usual green and has possibly combined it somehow with another type of power derived from science or magic. Whatever the nature of this corruption, Finitevus can duplicate any ability used by a wielder of pure Chaos energy, as demonstrated by his use of Chaos Control to teleport to the Chaos Chamber and to help Locke hold the Master Emerald. He appears to have achieved incredible mastery of his powers, to the point where he can use the energies to create a brainwashing spell, like the one that persuaded Knuckles to become Enerjak, in order to render his victims docile and receptive to his commands. These powers were also put to use in a number of inventions, including the Warp Rings. Unlike most members of the Dark Legion, Dr. Finitevus has no cybernetic alterations, but he does have some sort of holder for his Warp Rings on his arms and legs. It has been seen that he can control his Warp Rings from these holders with a thought and he seems to also be able to activate them while they are still in the holder to allow him to use his hands on objects at a distance. He also seems to have a kind of enhanced endurance. As shown when he was thrown off Angel Island, he was shown to have survived with nothing more than a broken arm.

Trivia/References

 * Doctor Finitevus physically resembles Doctor Zachary, a major villain from Sonic the Comic who was created a decade earlier.
 * A number of fans portray Finitevus as being romantically involved with Lien-Da, and some think him to be the father of her son Rutan from Mobius: 25 Years Later. This is possibly evidenced by the white tips of Rutan's dreadlocks, but Lien-Da's partner has never been identified in the possible future.
 * It is possible that Finitevus may have been the inspiration of Pir'Oth Ix.
 * Despite his fur being white, Doctor Finitevus' eyelids are still red instead of white like the rest of him.
 * In the question section of Sonic Universe #15, Mari G. from California questioned as to what happens when someone is only halfway through a Warp Ring when it turns off. The response was, "The same thing when a toad gets struck by lightning. It ain't pretty."