Lyric the Last Ancient

"I am going to rid this world of all organic life forms and rebuild it, piece by robotic piece."

- Lyric the Last Ancient, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

Lyric the Last Ancient is the main antagonist of both Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. He is the last of a benevolent race called the Ancients, but turned on his fellow kind and sought to create and strengthen a robot army using power crystals to destroy all organic life and built a world of twisted metal and robots. Before he could carry out his nefarious deed, however, he was imprisoned. A millennium later, Lyric was freed and resumed his plans, but met opposition from Sonic the Hedgehog and his crew.

Concept and Creation
Lyric is supposed to be an extreme embodiment of everything the Sonic franchise has come to stand for surrounding its central conflict of nature versus technology, with Lyric representing the love of technology. According to Bob Rafei, the CEO of Big Red Button Entertainment, the concept of the main villain involved many creatures until he decided that "the snake design really fit" and was compelling for Big Red Button Entertainment. Lyric parallels the role of the snake in the Biblical Garden of Eden, and it was then decided to make the villain of the Sonic Boom continuity a snake; it represented dark sides and evil things, the opposite of Sonic's can-do heroic attitude.

Appearance
Lyric is a giant and monstrous snake with green scales and brown spots in places. He wears a sophisticated brown robotic chest armor with a pair of three-fingered arms. He has a rattle-like object on the tip of his tail that is a gray claw, essentially resembling a hand.

Early Life
Lyric was originally a member of a race called the Ancients, who was devoted to peacefully controlling the world’s resources. However, Lyric was driven mad by power and turned on his fellow Ancients and took control of the resources. Building an army of robots programmed to obey his every command, Lyric set out to destroy everything organic and create a world of twisted metal and robots. However, just before he could successfully take over, he was attacked by the last surviving Ancients and imprisoned in a tomb where he was supposed to remain forever. With his army shut down and his plans ruined, Lyric waited in prison plotting his revenge, though as the years passed, he began to give up hope.

Personality
Lyric is described as darker, more foreboding and more power-hungry than Dr. Eggman. Having been driven mad by power, Lyric is a vile, devious and deadly villain and an extremely tech-savvy mastermind. He is also rather vengeful, spending his time in his prison to plan his revenge.

Powers and Abilities
Lyric is the strongest enemy Sonic and his friends have faced yet. He is described as a formidable enemy and a force to be reckoned with, suggesting he is very powerful. He has also demonstrated the ability to levitate in the air.

Lyric's body is merged with a robot armor of steel, giving him a sophisticated robotic body which he uses to carry out his own nefarious deeds. This armor also drastically increases Lyric's lifespan, allowing him to survive for over a millennium.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Lyric seems to have an unspecified relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog. He recognized Sonic upon his release, claiming that they both had unfinished business, even though Sonic had no idea of what he meant.

Dr. Eggman
In the present day, Lyric formed an uneasy partnership with Dr. Eggman, even though the doctor is less powerful than him.