Scourge the Hedgehog

"...It's that all it takes is one bad day you'd be just like me."

- Scourge the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog #172

Scourge the Hedgehog, formerly known as Anti-Sonic or Evil-Sonic, is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. In the Pre-Super Genesis Wave timeline, Scourge is the Mobius counterpart of Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as the ruler of Mobius.

In his earlier years, Scourge was little more than a rival to Sonic, with occasional fights between the two hedgehogs. However, Scourge attempted to steal the Master Emerald along with Rouge the Bat. Scourge used the Chaos energy of the emerald to intentionally become stronger than Sonic, but after Locke punched the hedgehog while absorbing energy from the emerald, Scourge transformed into a green-hued individual that could be finally distinguished from Sonic.

Early life
At about seven years old, Scourge's father, Anti-Jules Hedgehog, had promoted greatly of the Great Peace on the dimension known as Anti-Mobius. Because of this, Scourge had barely any interaction with his father, calling his father "a man with empty words". Ten years after the beginning of the Great Peace, the dimension stagnated, giving the perfect chance for Scourge to seize control of the dimension. It is assumed Anti-Jules was assassinated by Scourge. Scourge along with Anti-Sally then threw Anti-King Max into their version of the Zone of Silence, and following that, took over the Anti-Mobius version of Mobotropolis. The only resistance of the Anti-Freedom Fighters was the kind Julian Kintobor, to which the veterinarian's SWEEPbots would clean up the trash and pollution of the Anti-Freedom Fighters.

Taking Over Anti-Mobius
After ten years passed following the beginning of the Great Peace, Anti-Mobius fell into a state of decline and stagnation and when it reached rock bottom, Evil Sonic was ready to seize power. He presumably killed his own father. Following this, Evil Sonic along with Anti-Sally threw King Anti-Max, the evil alter ego of King Maximillian Acorn into the Zone of Silence, taking control of Mobotropolis and ruling it with an iron fist. Their only opposition was the kindly veterinarian Dr. Julian Kintobor whose units of SWEEPbots would clean up the litter left behind by the Anti-Freedom Fighters.

Interactions with Alternate Zones
Evil Sonic first encountered Sonic the Hedgehog from the prime universe while the latter took a detour through the Cosmic Interstate. After getting lost along the way, Sonic wound up in the Anti-Mobius universe. The two briefly fought one another until Dr. Kintobor helped Sonic apprehend his evil self. Sonic then continued his trip along the Cosmic Interstate back to Mobius.

Later on, he was summoned by Robo Robotnik with the task of stopping all of his counterparts from guarding a giant hand which would activate the Giant Borg, a mission he gladly accepted, and accomplished, as Robo Robotnik teleported the hand to his base while Evil Sonic distracted the other Sonics.

Later still, Evil Sonic travelled to Mobius Prime, this time accompanied by Anti-Sally, Anti-Tails, Anti-Rotor and Anti-Antoine, all dressed like their Mobius-Prime self. While Sonic, Tails and Antoine were absent in the Negative Reality trying to get to the Zone of Silence to rescue King Max, and Sally was occupied training the Substitute Freedom Fighters, the gang's evil counterparts began terrorizing the locals. Sonic and the others eventually showed up and confronted their evil selves, eventually sending them back to Anti-Mobius. Evil Sonic would afterwards return acting as Dr. Robotnik's ally, fooling Anti-Knuckles into helping him steal the Chaos Emeralds from the Floating Island on Mobius Prime. Though the plan seemed feasible at first, Anti-Knuckles' overall good nature and the aid of the Freedom Fighters enabled Knuckles to trounce Evil Sonic, leaving him in his counterpart's care.

After Robotnik-Prime's demise, Robo Robotnik recruited Evil Sonic to help him locate the fragments of the Giant Borg battle-suit, having called upon him once before to thwart an army of good alternate versions of Sonic in their quest to stop that same weapon. Defeated the first time, Evil Sonic proved somewhat more competent on the second try, successfully amassing all but one of the Giant Borg components. Unfortunately, he mistook yet another alternate Robotnik for his current employer, and was thus trapped in the Mobius of Sonic Underground. Freed from prison by Sonia the Hedgehog and Manic the Hedgehog, siblings to the Sonic from that dimension, Evil Sonic was caught yet again, this time by Zonic the Zone Cop, who imprisoned Evil Sonic in the No Zone and then revealed to him that his old gang had replaced him with Evil St. John.

Evil Sonic also appeared in the dimension of Litigopolis, a city ruled by a computerized version of Dr. Robotnik known as J.U.D.G.E.. As usual, Evil Sonic amused himself with random acts of vandalism, and J.U.D.G.E mistook him for Sonic Prime and thus took that Sonic prisoner to punish him for the crime.

Escaping and knocking out Zonic, Evil Sonic made his way to Mobius Prime once again, only to fall in battle against Antoine D'Coolette, who mistook him for a disguised Sonic trying to help him impress his father. He was then taken back to the No Zone again, only to escape and return to Anti-Mobius.

Impersonation
Back on Anti-Mobius, Evil Sonic was confronted by Patch, the Anti-Freedom Fighter version of Antoine and his long-time rival. Handily defeating his nemesis, Evil Sonic hatched a scheme for revenge, knocking out Antoine Prime and bringing him back to Anti-Mobius while leaving Patch in his place to torment them both. Patch's quick adaptation and moves to seize power inspired Evil Sonic, who performed a similar switch with his own counterpart. While impersonating Sonic, Evil Sonic made advances on Bunnie Rabbot (who at the time was trying to inspire jealousy in Patch, not realizing that he was not the Antoine that she loved), Amy Rose, and a number of other girls in Knothole. However, he soon focused his designs on the most attractive looking, in his superficial opinion, girl he had yet met on Mobius Prime: Rouge the Bat.

Not as easily taken in as some of Evil Sonic's other targets, Rouge was just as willing to manipulate Evil Sonic as he was to use her, and wanted his help in stealing the Master Emerald from Angel Island. Ready to do anything to satisfy his own desires, Evil Sonic agreed, sneaking in while Rouge distracted Locke, the current Guardian at the time. However, Sonic proved more resourceful than Evil Sonic had anticipated, and returned to Mobius Prime to engage his counterpart in battle. The two struggled briefly before Locke, realizing Rouge's deception, appeared and used the Master Emerald to teleport Evil Sonic away. Found by Rouge, the Hedgehog managed to appease her disappointment with a smaller gemstone, and their partnership continued.

Revealed as Scourge
Evil Sonic and Rouge's next plan to lay hands on the Master Emerald appeared as though it would be similarly disastrous. Both thieves, their interest in each other obviously surpassed by their greed, planned to have the other get caught by Locke, and in the end were both found by him on the Emerald Shrine. They ended up fighting him, with Rouge taking most of the heat from the angry Guardian. Instead of assisting her, however, Evil Sonic made for the Emerald itself and attempted to go Super using its energy, declaring it a birthday gift for himself. His exact quote is "Sorry Rouge, but the birthday boy gets dibs on the goods!" Locke intervened, striking the hedgehog with a Chaos-infused punch just before he could attain full Super status. However, the hedgehog soon recovered and revealed himself as having attained some transformation; bearing twin marks from Locke's attack, his fur was now permanently green and his strength was enhanced considerably.

Declaring himself a "real Scourge" and claiming that the "evil-twin shtick" was over, he brutally beat Locke into submission. Rouge prevented him from doing more, saying that by her rules they wouldn't kill, so Scourge decided he should use his newfound power to get revenge on someone else: Sonic. Working by intuition, he invoked Chaos Control with the Master Emerald and transported both himself and Rouge to Knothole. Fueled with arrogance, though he briefly helped Sonic defeat the Croctobot - Eggman's birthday present to Sonic - he soon turned on him. However he then made the mistake of attacking Shadow, and the two teamed up on him. He then became overwhelmed when the other Freedom Fighters joined in. In this, he also learned that Shadow was considerably more violent and angry than Sonic, and was pursued by the enraged hedgehog. Rouge told him to teleport them back, but he replied that he couldn't without an Emerald. She then told him to go faster and he replied "Maybe if I didn`t have this dead weight to tow." They escaped Shadow's wrath when an unknown Warp Ring portal appeared and the two jumped through it.

Working with Finitevus
Not long after Scourge had escaped Shadow's wrath along with Rouge, a warp ring supplied by Doctor Finitevus led the duo to an unknown location where Finitevus stood asking if they were interested in joining him in his goals. Scourge was quick to oblige so long as it involved harming Sonic in any way, shape or form. Thanks to his power, Scourge served as Finitevus' right hand man, teaming up with the Destructix on various occasions. His most scathing blow to Sonic and the others came when he revealed that he had become romantically involved with Fiona Fox, who then left with him after they briefly did battle with Sonic, Amy Rose, and Tails.

Scourge would remain on Finitevus' side despite Fiona's misgivings and his own doubts about Finitevus' plans. Fearing that Finitevus' plan might fail, he charged up his Warp Ring with energy from the Master Emerald, and was witness to Finitevus' tirade on how "corrupt" the world had become and his plan to "cleanse" (exterminate) all life in a wave of Emerald fire.

Scourge's fears reached their breaking point during the fight between Super Sonic and Enerjak. Scourge recognized that with Enerjak on the loose, nowhere on Mobius would be safe, so he convinced Fiona to leave Mobius altogether. Scourge admitted that ever since his battle with Sonic, he had been deeply considering Sonic's comments that he and Scourge weren't so different. Knowing he had changed since his transformation, Scourge resolved to find answers to who he was now, and left with Fiona through the enhanced Warp Ring, to the places he could find them. Scourge promised Fiona, however, that it would be fun.

The Suppression Squad
Scourge, shocked at the realization that he and Sonic truly weren't so different, returned to Anti-Mobius, intent on distinguishing and separating everything from their Prime Mobius counterparts. Within a matter of days, Scourge took control of the entire planet, crowning himself King and making Fiona his Queen, and took back control of the Anti-Freedom Fighters, renaming and reshaping them into the Suppression Squad. Upon stealing a pair of Globe Posts, Scourge plotted, with Fiona's aid, to launch an assault and invade Freedom HQ. When the Posts were repaired and reactivated, Scourge sent the Squad ahead, who found the base's defenders surprised and unprepared. A pitched battle ensued, until Sonic returned from his duties with the Chaotix in New Megaopolis to turn the tide, only for Scourge to make his grand entrance and appear before them. Scourge then proceeded to battle Sonic, and in the midst of the battle, it was hinted he holds some unknown incentive that keeps the Squad loyal to him. Eventually the pitched battle between the two groups led the base dangerously close to collapse, forcing the Freedom Fighters to retreat, leaving Scourge victorious, though his taunting towards Sonic enraged him to the point he vowed to return for revenge.

Time in Mobius and the Suppression Squad's Betrayal
A couple of days later, Metal Sonic, under the direct control of Dr. Eggman, arrived and told Anti-Miles he was here to see Sonic. Anti-Miles, instead, summoned Scourge to inform him Metal Sonic had arrived on the scene. Instead of leaving, Eggman had Metal Sonic attack Scourge, saying "Why pass up one uppity hedgehog for another?" As they battled, Sonic himself arrived, intent on battling Scourge and re-taking Freedom HQ on his own, as the Council of Acorn opted to focus their attacks on New Megaopolis and they doubted Scourge would make his gains on Mobius as easily as on "Moebius". Scourge was manipulated by Miles into ordering the Suppression Squad to allow himself to battle Metal Sonic, but soon found himself out-matched. Sonic saved him at the last second, and offered another temporary truce. Scourge told Sonic to save his sympathy, as he was happy to bust two Sonic heads. Metal Sonic felt the same way, and Sonic found himself battling both. During the fight, Scourge suggested that Sonic join him and conquer Mobius, and then they could work together to conquer the Multiverse. Before Sonic could give his answer, Eggman dispatched reinforcements to deal with both hedgehogs in the form of Metal Scourge.

The battle started up again, with the robotic duplicates quickly holding their own. Sonic asked Scourge to reconsider a truce, but instead Scourge pointed out Sonic hadn't answered his question about conquering Mobius and then the Multiverse. Sonic didn't refuse, as such, instead insisting he was too preoccupied with the present right now. Grinning evilly, Scourge took that as a "yes". As the battle amplified, Scourge's temper began to flare, refusing to give the robotic duplicates any ground when the battle began damaging Freedom HQ. Scourge also arrogantly insisted to Fiona that he could handle them, when she asked if she and the Squad should step in. In the end, however, he broke down and asked the Squad for help, leading to Metal Sonic and Metal Scourge's destruction.

Not long after, Scourge sent Anti-Miles to bomb New Mobotropolis. But when Anti-Miles returned, apparently being chased by the Freedom Fighters, he and the rest of the squad, except Fiona, revealed their planned betrayal. Angry at Scourge for constantly abusing them, they attacked him alongside the Freedom Fighters. At first, Scourge and Fiona were getting the upper hand against both teams, but Sonic returned from his trip to Moebius and attacked Scourge. However, Boomer then blasted both hedgehogs and Anti-Miles threw them into the portal leading back to Moebius before it was closed. Scourge, now trapped on Moebius with Sonic and Amy, promised to get revenge on his team, but then looked in fear at his old stalker, Rosy the Rascal, who told Scourge how she had an "extra-special smash" for him.

Super Transformation and Defeat
The fight was interrupted when Shadow arrived when using Chaos Control. Though he was actually looking for the Special Zone, Sonic asked if he wanted to destroy Scourge, to which Shadow agreed. Metal Sonic arrived later, followed by Silver and Rob as well as Amy and Rosy. A confused Silver was unable to determine which one was Sonic, and attempted to ask the others as they fought. Because they ignored him, he got angry and impatient and captured them all with his psychic powers. Silver stated that he had come from the future to destroy Sonic, and then attacked Sonic. Rob O' threatened Silver for an explanation, and Silver stated that during this point in time one of the legendary Freedom Fighters betrays and destroys them, dooming the future. He then stated that only Sonic was remembered to have had that kind of power. However, Scourge jumped in and attacked both of them, claiming that Silver should use his powers to give himself "a less-stupid haircut". Shortly afterwards, Sonic made a proposal to everyone to stop attacking each other and strictly finish off Scourge. But Scourge didn't give up. He rushed to the throne room, followed by Sonic and Shadow. Scourge turned the tables on everyone, claiming he placed Anarchy Beryl in his throne. This managed to turn Scourge into a stronger, even more evil form: Super Scourge.

Despite their efforts, the numerous hedgehogs were no match for Super Scourge, who defeated all of them. Super Scourge then proceeded to defeat the combined might of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Suppression Squad (minus Rotor and Fiona), who had returned to Anti-Mobius expecting Scourge to be defeated. While he seemed to be unbeatable, Sonic eventually realized the Anarchy Beryl would have a different (and negative) effect on Scourge to contrast the positive effect the Chaos Emeralds had on him once the transformation ended. Luring Super Scourge away from the others, Sonic managed to trick Scourge into de-transforming. As Sonic speculated, the Anarchy Beryl drained him of what energy he had left in his normal form, leaving him vulnerable. Sonic subsequently easily defeated Scourge and captured him.

Zone Lockdown
While Sonic was taking Scourge to the Zone Cops via the Cosmic Highway, Scourge broke loose and tried to escape, but he and Sonic were then arrested by Zone Cops Zector and Zespio for going through zones during a zone lockdown. The cops then took Sonic and Scourge to see Zonic via a Warp Ring. They arrive in a ruined No Zone and Scourge manages to escape by kicking the others out of the way and attempts to fully destroy the No Zone before moving on to Sonic's world. Sonic and the Zone Cops then meet up with Zonic and they battle Scourge. They quickly capture him thanks to Sonic's skills and Zonic's special control collar. Because of Scourge's mutation, he has now become a wild card in the "cosmic scheme of things." Scourge then said that he was "Sonic the Hedgehog at his full potential." before being taken to jail.

Busting Out of Prison
Thanks to his Control Collar and his spikes being pruned, Scourge was now the bottom of the food chain at the prison and was bullied constantly. Fiona and the Destructix arrived to bust him out. Scourge was furious, convinced that he would be beaten up further for trying to form a gang, but Fiona convinced him to help make a plan to bust out. After winning the Destructix back, the six then broke out of prison. Fiona then says they have to work for Dr Finitevus, but Scourge tosses the idea aside, saying he's the leader now. With that, he and his new gang start making plans on Moebius and Mobius.

Appearance
Before becoming Scourge, Anti-Sonic (or Evil-Sonic, as he was called) was essentially the exact same appearance as Sonic; blue fur, black and then green eyes, and six spikes on his head, but Anti-Sonic had a black leather jacket and black leather boots. Anti-Sonic also had vintage-styled shades that he wore most of the time. He was also the same height as his Mobius counterpart.

However, when Anti-Sonic became Scourge, he was changed into a green-hued fur color, most likely because of the Chaos energy being depicted as green. Scourge had received a pair of slash marks on his torso from Locke when the Guardian attacked the hedgehog. Scourge's eye color was changed from green to blue, and his leather boots were changed to green sneakers. For a short time, shortly before being thrown into the Zone Jail, Scourge wore a crown-like object on his head, which was gray with three spikes rising on it.

Personality
Since he is an evil alternate version of Sonic, Evil Sonic/Scourge has all of Sonic's traits, just darkened and at times, turned on their head. While Sonic enjoys the company of his friends, Scourge has none, and sees his allies as pawns to help him prove he's the best; Sonic's respect for women is flipped in Scourge's status. In addition, where Sonic often considers his battles as sport, Scourge fights to prove that he is the greatest by introducing his opponents to excruciating pain, and, if given the chance, killing them. However, his arrogance, amplified from Sonic's usual cockiness, makes it easier to defeat him. Though he and Sonic have nothing but hatred for each other, due to their identical abilities they do occasionally find themselves working together, such as when the pair and Shadow battled the sub-boss Croctobot (though afterwards, Scourge immediately and single-handedly defeated Sonic and Shadow, who left in a huff).

Scourge thought he figured out why Sonic didn't like him: all Sonic needed was one bad day, and he'd be just like Scourge. Sonic stated the exact opposite, saying that all Scourge needed was some good qualities and he'd be just like Sonic. This gave Scourge a brief moment of self-doubt before Sonic got knocked down by Fiona. As a result, he later decided to leave Mobius to find out the truth about who he was.

When he was imprisoned in the No Zone, he was given a collar that suppressed his speed and stamina, and his quills were trimmed. Without these abilities, Scourge is almost helpless. He became nothing more than a common punk, right at the bottom of the convict food chain. During this period, Scourge became constantly scared and paranoid, a shadow of his former self.

Abilities
Scourge is a version of Sonic from an alternate universe and so his abilities are essentially the same as Sonic's. The hedgehogs can achieve the same speed of 760 mph and both can perform such feats as spin dashes.

Following his transformation, Scourge seems to have acquired much greater strength and stamina than he had previously, as seen in #161, where he single-handedly defeats Sonic and Shadow at the same time. However this may be attributed to the fact that he is more ruthless than both. Scourge can also teleport using Chaos Control, though he requires an Emerald to do so. Scourge is also capable of transforming into a Super form like Sonic's, but Scourge's changes in appearance are, predictably, the Anti-Verse equivalent of Super Sonic's: his skin becomes a dark purple, the sclera of his eyes change from white to black, and his irises become red. His clothes take on a similar color reversal, with his sunglasses becoming clear with blue frames, his shoes becoming purple and black, and the flames on his jacket becoming blue and white.

Anti-Jules
Scourge had a difficult relationship with his father, Anti-Jules. When he was only seven years old, his father contributed greatly to the Great Peace. However it seems he made little time for his son. While he seems to have some mocking respect for how Anti-Jules "brought everybody together in one big group hug", he also complains that his father was full of empty words, and the peace was nothing but stagnation.

Scourge told Jules Prime that Anti-Jules is dead, and gleefully implied that he doesn't care and may even have had a hand in it, but as this was said in an attempt to intimidate Jules in a "surprise late-night pummeling", it can't be known just how true this is. When Jules gave him a lecture over how "You may not care about the loss of your Jules", Scourge took the words to heart and left the hut in tears rather than furthering his attack on Jules or Sonic, suggesting that deep down, Scourge regrets the loss of his father and misses his family, but doesn't dare to admit it.

This may be another reason he dislikes Sonic; because he had a more attentive and caring father.

Romance
As Sonic's Anti-Mobius counterpart, Scourge is very similar to him but lacks a number of his more refined qualities. One of these happens to be a respect for women: while Sonic has had multiple relationships with girls, he will nonetheless settle on one girl at a time and treat her with the utmost respect; Scourge has always attempted to satisfy his desires by shamelessly going after several females at once. This has gotten him into trouble on several counts, the first ending with his banishment from the Anti-Freedom Fighters after he was caught cheating on Anti-Sally with Anti-Bunnie and Anti-Penelope. Despite impersonating Sonic on Mobius Prime, Scourge couldn't overcome this habit, and made blatant advances on Bunnie Rabbot, Amy Rose, Rouge the Bat, and Fiona Fox.

In that last, however, Scourge found the first female partner he has ever come close to having genuine feelings for. The way he puts it, most of the girls he liked on Anti-Mobius were of a dark nature from the very beginning, but Fiona chooses to be so, which he finds appealing. He has demonstrated this added measure of attraction by staying loyal to her even when it would have been more profitable to save his own skin, and their relationship is a dark mirror to that of Sonic's and Sally's - though of course with the differences that come with their personalities. Scourge, upon returning to his old dimension and invading his home world, announced he made Fiona his Queen. Although she fled from the battle before Scourge was captured, Fiona returned to break Scourge out of prison. She claimed that she ran to get help from the Destructix. It's not clear how true this is, but considering their relationship, it's not unlikely.

Scourge was irritated by Fiona's perceived desertion, but he was more concerned that he would get into trouble with other convicts for trying to form a gang. He had been close to having his ego broken, but Fiona managed to cheer him back up into being villainous, and then helped break him out of prison. It's not verified that they are back together already but it's quite likely.

Trivia

 * Scourge is green, like Manic from Sonic Underground, however this is their only true similarity - Manic has additional shaggy spines on his forehead, while Scourge's attire is considerably different and his teeth are much sharper than Manic's.
 * The end of Sonic Archie Comics Issue 195 marks the first time Scourge's Super form appeared.
 * King Scourge's crown gives him a resemblance to the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 glitch, Ashura.
 * The line Super Scourge uses - "Hail to the king, baby!!" - was used by Ash in the original ending of the film Evil Dead: Army of Darkness, and also by Duke Nukem as one of his catchphrases.
 * Scourge's eyes are the color of Sonic's fur, whilst his fur is the color of Sonic's eyes. He shares this look with another rival of Sonic, Jet the Hawk from the Sonic Riders Trilogy.
 * Also, Scourge's super form is purple, the contrasting color to Super Sonic's yellow.
 * On the side of Scourge's shades, the reader can see the word "SEGA" (as seen in STH #160 and STH #192).
 * Scourge has been seen saying censored cuss words on some occasions - he is one of the few characters to 'swear'.
 * Similar to how Amy's rage is the one thing Sonic is truly afraid of, Scourge has shown to only really fear Rosy's insanity.
 * His suggestion to Sonic that their only difference is 'one bad day' is a reference to a line said by the Joker in The Killing Joke, where the villain states that all it takes to drive a man to insanity is 'one bad day'.