Dark Guardian

"I know little girls who are better with a hammer than you. Well, one, anyway."

- Sonic making a reference to Amy after beating Dark Guardian (Xbox360/PS3 version)

Dark Guardian (ダークガーディアン) is one of Dark Gaia's minions, the third nighttime boss and the fifth boss overall to be fought in Sonic Unleashed. Following the dispersion of Dark Gaia's essence across the planet, its evil influence came into contact with the large amount of moon energies found inside Shamar's Gaia Temple and twisted it to form Dark Guardian. He serves as guardian of Shamar's Gaia Temple and is fought after completing Arid Sands Night Act IV: Altar of Oblivion on the PS2/Wii version and Arid Sands Night Act 1 on the PS3/Xbox360 version.

Appearance
Basically, Dark Guardian looks very much like a heavily armored Deep Nightmare. While not nearly as conspicuous as the Deep Nightmare, Dark Guardian mostly resembles a humanoid lizard, but unlike the Deep Nightmare, he has thin arms with four-fingered hands, no spikes on his back and a straight tail. He possesses a horn similar to the Deep Nightmare, but it is turned over the right side of his face, which is highly detailed with pointy purple and white streaks. He also have small white eyes and long green hair.

Unlike most other of Dark Gaia's minions, Dark Guardian wears non-organic body armor. He has gauntlets on his hands, upper arms, feet and lower legs, with a golden ring around his right wrist. He also carries a large war hammer with a flat - and a round end that is occasionally surrounded in purple electricity.

The size of Dark Guardian greatly differs between the versions of Sonic Unleashed. On the PS3/Xbox360 version Dark Guardian is about as tall as Sonic the Werehog, while on the PS2/Wii version he is almost as tall as a Titan.

Powers and Abilities
Dark Guardian's fighting style and basic abilities are very similar to the Nightmare variant's, but more powerful and brutal. He can both stretch and enlarge his right hand over long distances, and strike with such force that it can leave Sonic the Werehog dazed and immobilized for a short while as seen of the PS3/Xbox360 version. He also possesses similar defensive maneuvers, such as jumping back to avoid attacks and guarding against Sonic's assaults with his arms. His strength are on a much higher level that any member from the Nightmare variant however and can as such deal lethal damage. Dark Guardian is incredibly fast as well and is capable of nearly instantaneously movements. He can also use this speed to perform powerful charges.

Beside physical capabilities, Dark Guardian can also use his hammer, which is imbued with the power of thunder, to call fourth lightning bolts to strike Sonic from above, unleash a vortex of electrical energies as seen on the PS3/Xbox360 version when Sonic is too close, or simply hammer on Sonic with. On the PS2/Wii version, this attack can even leave Sonic dazed and immobilized. Dark Guardian is also capable of energy projection and can launch powerful purple energy balls. On the PS2/Wii version he can also teleport over long distances.

Dark Guardian's great power stems from lunar power which it draws from the Moon Altar. With this alter, Dark Guardian can summon orbs of energy to give him a power boost, or even rejuvenate himself, thus healing himself from the damage he had recieved from Sonic. On the PS3/Xbox360 this ability makes Dark Guardian nearly invulnerable as he keeps coming back up after taking a beating. The Moon Altar is however Dark Guardian's greatest weakness as well, since destroying the alter will cut Dark Guardian off from his power supply and thereby leave him weak and unable to heal himself.

Boss Guide
The strategy for this boss is completely different between the two versions.

Wii/PS2
This battle is like fighting a regular mini-boss (like a Titan). You simply hit him while avoiding his punch and hammer attacks. After a while, he'll teleport to the other end of the arena and slam his hammer causing lightning to strike various parts of the field, replenishing his health. If you hit him before he finishes the attack, this will trigger a quick time event where Dark Guardian will fly at you to punch you and you must press a button to stop him and knock him over causing a little bit of damage. He can also sometimes extend his fist to attack you.

Xbox360/PS3
The arena is between the Sun and Moon altars and you must use them to your advantage. Hit Dark Guardian a couple of times to stun him, then push crates over to the Moon altar to destroy it, which in turn causes damage to Dark Guardian. There are several obstacles preventing you from doing this. First, spiked fences randomly pop up and down, blocking your path. Second, Nightmares will spawn and try to hit you or push the crates the other way. Also, Dark Guardian will try to hit you or summon lighting (which is why it's recommended you take him out first). If part of the altar is destroyed and he is still conscious, he will rush at you and try to punch you. You will be prompted to press a button to block the attack and knock him over. Fail and the Dark Guardian will knock Sonic into the air where you are prompted to press another button avoid his hammer attack. If the Guardian hits him, he will knock him to the ground and shoot an energy blast at him where you are prompted to press another button to dodge or you will take massive damage. Do this three times, then hit him a few more times to finish him off.

Music
This music is repeated for every night boss (except the Egg Dragoon) in Sonic Unleashed.

Trivia

 * Dark Guardian is the only boss in Sonic Unleashed to differ in size between each version of the game; on the Xbox360/PS3 versions the Dark Guardian is about the same size as Sonic the Werehog, while on the Wii/PS2 version he is almost as big as a Titan.
 * On the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed, Dark Guardian is the only nighttime boss not to have a pre-battle cutscene.
 * Due to his many similarities with the Nightmare variant, it may be possible that Dark Guardian is simply a highly evolved Nightmare.
 * The boss fight in the Wii/PS2 version is easier and faster, while the Xbox360/PS3 versions takes a while to damage him.
 * This creature is is similar to Lizalfos and Dinolfos, armored lizards from The Legend of Zelda series wielding weapons.