Ancient


 * For developer company behind Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit), see Ancient Corp.

The Ancients (古代) are a group that appears in the Sonic Boom franchise. They were a long-lost benevolent race /civilization from several centuries ago who worked for the benefit for the world. However, they were betrayed by a rogue Anicent named Lyric, whom they imprisoned after a costly war.

Over the following centuries, the Ancients would go nearly extinct, with the exception of Lyric. In modern times, much of what remains of the Ancients' legacy include their old ruins and countless scientific creations.

Anatomy
The Ancients' true anatomy is unknown and ambiguous at best. In most of their depictions, their figures are hidden and illustrations of them are up to interpretation. What can be conclude is that the majority of them resembled bipedal anthropomorphic animals with medium-long muzzles. Members like Lyric however, are much different, resembling giant and monstrous snakes.

Characteristics and culture
The majority of the Ancients were a good-natured and noble race who strived for peace and the greater good. They were devoted to peacefully controlling the world's resources and would willingly sacrifice their most previous and vital relics to protect the earth from villains seeking to abuse them.

It is hinted that the Ancients deeply respected the natural world, having lived in perfect harmony with nature despite their advanced technology. However, not all Ancients were inherently good. Lyric the Last Ancient for example, went mad with power and turned on his own kind to destroy all organic life in the world.

Different depictions have shown that the Ancients had their own writing system. In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, it is shown that the Ancients utilized a form of runic alphabet and/or glyph symbols. In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, the Ancients also used a secret, but similar system with emphasis on circles, arches and lines which even certain Ancients did not know about. This secret language has since seemingly been abandoned and only history buffs like Amy can translate it.

The Ancients were a highly developed people in terms of technological prowess. Even centuries ago, they knew how to construct high-tech robots, mechs and facilities, develop time machines and energy shackles, and accomplish immense feats of construction like floating cities. Despite the time that has passed since then, the Ancients' technology remains virtually unsurpassed by anything else in the present. Even Dr. Eggman had a hard time figuring out their more rudimentary machines. Also, many of their creations have remained functional despite having been unattended for centuries, showing they were made to last.

The Ancients were a widespread civilization, having established several outposts and colonies across the seas and on Seaside Island. In addition, their architecture often incorporated their signature runes.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
A millennium ago, the Ancients were an advanced civilization whose race was devoted to peacefully controlling the world's resources. Back then, they harvested all the energy they needed from their Chaos Crystals and lived in perfect harmony with nature. This era ended when an Ancient named Lyric got sick from experimenting on the Chaos Crystals and had to turn himself into a cyborg to survive when the Ancients' medicins failed. Blaming his peers for his condition, Lyric devoted himself entirely to technology. Going mad with power soon after, Lyric turned on his fellow Ancients and took control of their resources. Building an army of robots programmed to obey his every command, Lyric set out to destroy everything organic and create a world of metal and robots. This supposedly led to a great war which the Ancients were involved in. In the ensuring conflict, the majority of the Ancients died.

To stop Lyric's plan to power his Sentinel army with the Chaos Crystals, the Ancients hid their Crystals away in distant outposts and made a map to them, which Lyric later found. However, just before Lyric could successfully take over, the last surviving Ancients attacked Lyric after he got trapped in his weapon facility thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails during the duo's trip back in time, and imprisoned Lyric in a tomb where he was to remain forever. In recognition of Sonic and Tails' aid, the Ancient depicted them on Lyric's Tomb and equipped it with a lock only Sonic could open.

In the centuries that followed, the Ancients would go extinct, the only exception being Lyric, and their once-great civilization ended up lost. However, the remains of their civilization would endure the test of time and become a source of interest for archeologists like Cliff, who would lead an excavation to uncover their history. When Lyric escaped a millennium after his imprisonment and resumed his plans, Team Sonic would get themselves acquainted with the Ancients' history and technology as they braved their forgotten outposts on their mission to stop Lyric. After Team Sonic beat Lyric, the fate of the last living Ancient remain unknown.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Five thousand years ago, the Ancients were an advanced civilization whose race was devoted to peacefully controlling the world's resources. Along with their technology, they possessed a crystal of unlimited power called the Lost Crystal of Power. However, a rouge Ancient named Lyric the Last Ancient, who coveted the Lost Crystal for himself, went mad with power, turned on his peers 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 metal and robots. In the ensuring conflict, the majority of the Ancients perished.

Just before Lyric could successfully take over, he and his army attacked the last surviving Ancients to seize the Lost Crystal. However, the Ancients broke the Lost Crystal and used its shards to imprison Lyric forever. The Ancients knew Lyric would one day be free however, and so used this opportunity to hide the Crystal Shards.

Over the next five thousand years, Ancients would die out, the only exception being Lyric, and their civilization fell into obscurity. However, the remnants the Ancients, like their ruins and abandoned tech, would become a source of interest for history buffs like Amy, who discovered an encrypted Ancient manuscript detailing the Crystal Shards' whereabouts while investigating their ruins. When Lyric finally escaped in the present to find the Lost Crystal by kidnapping Amy for her knowledge on the subject, he was defeated by Team Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog, the former who would get acquainted with the Ancients' locals and technology during their mission. Lyric's ultimate fate remains uncertain however.

TV series
The Ancients were a highly advance group and are said to have existed at the same time as the Granifer Giganticuses. Under unknown circumstances however, their great civilization ended up almost forgotten.

Some of the Ancients' legacy that would withstand the test of time would be remnants of their technology and ruins. After getting fired as an archaeologist, Charlie would steal a weapon he discovered at a dig site of an Ancient ruin for his own use. Team Sonic would also find an Ancient mech suit which Sonic would keep after getting it under control.

List of creations by the Ancients

 * Angler
 * AVA
 * Charlie's Mech Suit
 * Crab Excavator
 * Crystal Lock
 * Cyclone Blaster
 * Driller Worm
 * Enerbeam
 * Explosion Switch
 * Destruction Troops
 * Hydro Gate
 * MAIA
 * Mind Control Device
 * Q-N-C
 * Riptide
 * Sentinel
 * Sonic's Mech Suit
 * Swarmer Hive
 * Tornado
 * Tunnel-Bot

Trivia

 * Given that Lyric has been identified himself as a snake while other Ancients were revealed to look more like different anthropomorphic animals, it is possible that the Ancients as a race were actually constituted of multiple races of anthropomorphic animals. However, Steven Frost has stated that whether if the Ancients were a race or just a civilization is up to interpretation until the cartoon or future games would go into more specifics.