Master Emerald (Archie)

The Master Emerald is an object that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. It is a massive green emerald and a mystical relic of immeasurable power from the forgotten past. Created by the gods, the Master Emerald acts as a counter to the Chaos Emeralds. The one who controls the Master Emerald can nullify and control the Chaos Emeralds, making the Master Emerald a very valuable gem.

The Master Emerald rests on Angel Island, located on the Shrine Isle, where its power keeps the island afloat in the sky; without it, the island will fall down. It is currently protected by Knuckles the Echidna, the last in the long line of guardians who have safeguarded it for about 4,000 years.

Ancient Times
The Master Emerald has existed since well before historic record keeping had began. Where the gem came from is shrouded in mystery, though it is said that it was created by the Gods to balance out the seven Chaos Emeralds and neutralize their power in the event that anybody attempted to use them for evil. Roughly 4,000 years ago, the ancient Knuckles Clan, an Echidna clan led by Pachacamac, residing in what is known today as the Mystic Ruins, attempted to seize the gem to obtain ultimate power. The gem was, at that point, located at a shrine on the outskirts of their village, where a colony of Chao played peacefully, guarded by the mystical water beast Chaos. During this time, Pachacamac's daughter, Tikal, discovered the shrine and the Chao colony herself and, when the time came to raid, Tikal begged her people to leave the creatures, and the Master Emerald, in peace, but her pleas fell on deaf ears, and the tribe forced their way past the Chao, prompting Chaos, to appear and wipe out most of the tribe in a fit of rage. The creature out of control, Tikal prayed to the emerald to calm Chaos down, in which the gem absorbed both Chaos and Tikal into itself, in the process continuing to surge energy into a large part of the continent, causing it to break away from the rest and float into the sky with the remaining echidnas, creating Angel Island.

Sought by Eggman
In the present day, Angel Island and the Master Emerald remains guarded by one remaining echidna, Knuckles the Echidna. Spending a solitary life alone in his duty, the emerald came under threat when the Death Egg crashed onto the island. Knuckles encountered the ships creator and pilot, Dr. Eggman, who convinced the somewhat guidable echidna that Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower, both on the doctors tail, where on their way to the island to steal the Master Emerald. As Knuckles went on to confront the duo, the doctor took the opportunity to steal the Master Emerald himself as a power source to relaunch the Death Egg, much to Knuckles' humiliation at realizing he's been tricked. With Knuckles' help, Sonic managed to get on board the Death Egg as it launched and returned to the surface, Master Emerald in hand, and returned it to Angel Island, allowing it to arise once again.

Shattering
During the Shattered World Crisis, the Master Emerald became the object of conflict between three opposing sides. Shadow the Hedgehog of Team Dark were sent by G.U.N. to recover the emerald and keep it in a secured location, while Knuckles stood his ground in guarding its location. Meantime, Shadow's new rival Eclipse the Darkling, who crash-landed on the island, sought the emerald's power to help him and the remaining Dark Arms conquer their enemies. In the chaos of it all, having fought both Shadow and Eclipse, Knuckles recited Tikal's Prayer and shattered the emerald as a last resort.

Powers and traits
The Master Emerald is renowned as the most powerful relic on Sonic's World, surpassing even that of the Chaos Emeralds which are said to bestow ultimate power. It holds unbound and infinite power in the form of extremely potent and raw chaos energy which can harnessed from it to power machinery or potentially initiate a super transformation into a Super State, a form that grants flight, invulnerability, different Chaos Powers, and greatly increased innate talents. Like the Chaos Emeralds, its power can also be harnessed to perform certain reality-warping feats.

As its primary function, the Master Emerald contains special powers that lets it nullify and control the Chaos Emeralds' energies. This grants it the ability to either completely shut down the Chaos Emeralds' chaos energy or potentially amplify their power. However, it is only those from the Knuckles Clan, such as Knuckles and Tikal who are able to use the full potential of the Master Emerald and communicate with it. To unlock its power, these guardians must on most occasions recite Tikal's Prayer.

Like the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald seems to possess some sort of sentience. In addition, if the Master Emerald is shattered into several pieces, it can repair itself if its shards are brought back together. However, shattering the Master Emerald seems to give the shards an explosive trajectory, causing them to fly a great distance which makes the task of gathering them rather painstaking.