Babylon Guardian


 * For the track, see Babylon Guardian (track).

"Greedy fools... Those who seek treasure will find only..."

- Babylon Guardian, Sonic Riders

The Babylon Guardian (called Angelus the Gatekeeper in Japan) is the final boss in Sonic Riders. He is a genie-like being originating from the ancient Babylonians and the guardian God of Babylon Garden, who is tasked with safeguarding the Treasure of Babylon from within the floating city's dimension-defying core.

The Babylon Garden and his nature is somewhat enigmatic. However, the digital distortions occurring in the Babylon Guardian's domain whenever he is injured implies that he is actually a solidified holographic security system created by the Babylonians' technology.

Appearance
The Babylon Guardian is a colossal giant, towering several meters over the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog. Being similar to the ancient Babylonians from legend, he resembles a humanoid genie with vague bird features. He is very broad and muscular, is covered in lavender feathers, and his lower torso resembles a twirling tornado. Possessing no visible neck, he has a broad mouth resembling a stubby beak with teeth and sharp canines, white eyes with no pupils and black rims, and prominent feather-like hair with darker purple points. For attire, he wears a magenta and orange vest with white-feathered shoulder rims, a necklace made of a threat with three yellow metal pieces strung on, golden armbands and fingerings, and a magenta and orange waist-cloth strapped on with a magenta sash.

History
Since the era of the ancient Babylonians, the Babylon Guardian has been assigned to guard the treasured Magic Carpet, the ultimate invention of the Babylonians, even after Babylon Garden was cast into the earth. When Babylon Garden was unearthed by the present day Babylon Rogues, the Babylon Guardian emerged from the darkness as the Babylon Rogues entered his sanctum to get the treasure, followed by Team Sonic and Amy, who were alarmed by his awakening roar. Believing them to be greedy thieves, the Babylon Guardian attacked the teams. After Sonic and his allies defeated him, the Babylon Garden disintegrated into sparkles in anguish and relinquished the Treasure of Babylon.

The Babylon Guardian's subsequent fate is unknown. He may have been entirely destroyed when defending his treasure or when Babylon Garden created a black hole, or he may continue to reside inside Astral Babylon.

Personality
Angelus regards those who seek treasure as greedy,

Boss guide
The guardian God is defeated by boosting into his bottle three times. His health is displayed at the top of the screen by three hearts. He occasionally throws energy balls at the player or shrinks into his bottle. The player has to successfully hit the bottle and cross the finish line to go on to the next lap; the lap counter will remain on Lap 1 until the player boosts into him and then crosses the marker. Once he is defeated, crossing the finish line first will win the race.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series and its spin-off comics published by Archie Comics, the Babylon Guardian is named Angelus. He was a hologram made by the ancient Babylonians used to protect the Key to Babylon Garden under the Gigan Mountains. He battled Jet, Wave and Storm when they came to take the key. However, the Babylon Rogues destroyed Angelus' projectors, causing him to disappear.

Trivia

 * "Angelus" is the Latin form of the Greek "angelos," meaning "messenger".
 * The Babylon Guardian is the only boss directly fought in Sonic Riders.
 * The necklace worn by the Babylon Guardian is similar to the one worn by Storm the Albatross. This would suggest that this is a traditional accessory for Babylonians.