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Mega Central, the former capital of the Overland, from Sonic the Hedgehog #202.
The Overland is a nation that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. It was a nation comprised of Overlanders that held several territories on Mobius prior to the First Robotnik War. Following the end of the Great War, however, the Overland was effectively disbanded[note 1] as a result of the mysterious disappearance of Overlord Charlemagne , and many of its members choosing to leave the planet to explore space. The remaining members of the Overland were either captured by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, or integrated themselves into the United Federation through the Heritage Project.[1][2]
Description[]
The Overland bordered the Kingdom of Acorn, and had many cities within its territory, such as Mega Central and Megapolis. Following the Great War, the majority of these cities were abandoned due to lack of resources.[note 1]
History[]
Distant past[]
The Overland was first defined as a nation during the time of Alexander Acorn, and quickly appointed Magistrates and the first Overlord. They also made efforts to clearly establish their borders so as to distance themselves from the newly-formed Kingdom of Acorn in the south. When the Overland received an invitation of unity from Alexander, they chose to respond with violence, deeming the animals hostile.[3] The Overland continued in this way for hundreds of years, tearing into their territories for resources needed for their military and technology, and generating tension with the Mobian populace all the while.[4] A notable expenditure of the Overland during this period was the "Hundred Moons of Mobius" project, where the nation squandered their remaining resources to create a series of orbital stations, including the Space Colony ARK.[5]
Mounting tensions[]
The Overland's relationship with the Kingdom of Acorn only worsened when one of their nobles, a boy named Paladin, accidentally killed the prince Emerson Acorn when playing with a firearm at the Roundabout Creek. Although the current king Theodore Acorn chose not to retaliate, he responded to the incident by forbidding citizens of the kingdom from interaction with the "violent" Overland.[6][5]
As a result of their projects, the Overland also began to lack resources, and in response shifted their strategies to more aggressive ones. During one such incident, the Overland allied itself with the escaped Grandmaster Menniker, and plotted conquest of the floating Island by threatening it with a nuclear missile. Although the scheme was ultimately thwarted by the Guardian Aaron's sacrifice, the Overland refused to stray from its violent ideals.[7]
Despite the mounting hostilities between the Overland and the Kingdom of Acorn, neither side wished to go to war with the other, and as such, any subsequent conflicts along the bordering areas were small, and were resolved quickly.[8] The Overland was ultimately drawn into battle, however, when the self-righteous king George Acorn declared war on them. The Overland retaliated with full force, and the war, later known as "King George's Folly", resulted in great loss of life for the Kingdom of Acorn. The war ended when the Kingdom's court sanctioned George for his reckless actions, leaving the Overland victorious. Despite continued aggression from the Overland during the reign of Silvanus Acorn, his son, Sebastian Acorn, later brokered peace with the Overland, albeit only so he could freely adventure the world.[9]
During the period of peace, the Overland made efforts to find solutions to the pollution harming their territories. A team of Overlander scientists within Megapolis was commissioned to develop an alternative energy source to fossil fuels, leading to the first prototype Power Rings. The project never came to fruition, however, as the head scientist Nate Morgan was deceived by his assistant Julian Kintobor into testing the results prematurely, resulting in an explosion. Morgan was blamed for the incident, and subsequently exiled from the nation by the Overland court.[10] Within Mega Central and its other cities, the Overland also began strictly enforcing a ban on the Magitek practiced by Technomage cults, arresting anyone found practicing it.[11]
Although the Kingdom of Acorn made further efforts to reach out to the Overland under the rule of king Frederick Acorn, these efforts were wasted when Warlord Kodos and royal wizard Ixis Naugus manipulated a lost Overland scouting party into battling a research party from the Kingdom of Acorn, which both villains planned as an excuse to have the Overlander Nate Morgan (who had been accepted by the Mobians in the interim) exiled from the Kingdom. As intended, the skirmish resulted in the deaths of everyone involved, save for Ixis, Kodos, and Nate.[10]
The once-more rising tensions between the Overland and Kingdom of Acorn were taken advantage of by Kodos, who had a personal hatred of Overlanders, and wished to slaughter them all. When an Overlander scout and a Mobian scout met in an attempt to secretly defuse the hostilities between the nations, they were ambushed by Kodos, who murdered both of them, and sent the corpses back to their respective nations with notes that characterized the opposing side as heartless monsters.[8] The Overlord Charlemagne reacted by proposing a full plan to conquer the Kingdom for the glory of the Overland, which received full support from the Magistrates as a result of the recent deception.
The Great War[]
Making use of their superior technology, the Overland was able to swiftly sweep through the Kingdom of Acorn, capturing the capital city of Mobotropolis by the end of the war's first year (3220), and transforming the Castle Acorn into a command post for their forces.[12][13] As a result of the Overland not valuing the establishment, however, the Kingdom of Acorn under the rule of Maximillian Acorn was able to eventually retake the damaged castle from their positions in the sewers, and from there, began pushing back the Overlanders in the city.[13]
As the Overland began bombardment on the city, the Kingdom launched an escape craft for the Floating Island containing Queen Alicia Acorn, Prince Elias Acorn, and several agents of the Royal Secret Service. This craft was discovered by Overland scout ships near its destination, which shot it down out of suspicion. The Overland pilots in charge of the ship later landed on the Island and demanded the Brotherhood of Guardians give them the rights to inspect the crashed vessels, which they were refused, claiming that everyone on the craft had died. Because the Brotherhood had previously vowed to remain neutral in the war, the Overlanders accepted the explanation, and left the island.[14][15]
As the war raged on, the Overland found unlikely allies in the form of the Southern Baronies, some of which conspired with the Overlanders to battle the Kingdom of Acorn and its "oppressive" control.[12] The Overland's Ministry of Conflict also called upon every scientist in Megapolis to develop weapons of mass destruction for usage against the mobians, prompting Julian Kintobor to reveal his work: A massive laser weapon which he christened the Ultimate Annihilator. However, his plans to test the weapon on other Overlanders drew the attention of the Overland courts, particularly the Minister of Justice Colin Kintobor, who was also Julian's brother. Colin sentenced Julian to 10 years in prison for his actions. Julian had no plans to serve his sentence, though, and orchestrated an escape from the city, running across the Mobian Badlands with the Overland scouts Jakkar & Londo in hot pursuit.[16][17]
Surprisingly, Julian found safety in the form of Charles Hedgehog, and his brother Jules Hedgehog, who brought him back to the Kingdom of Acorn before the Overland could recapture him. He was accepted into the Kingdom out of desperation, with his knowledge of Overlander battle strategies being particularly noted as useful. Through a series of underhanded schemes involving the banishment of Kodos, Julian rose to the position of Warlord within the Kingdom, and led the mobians to push the Overlanders out of Mobotropolis, while also actively worsening ties between the two sides whenever possible.[16][17][18] As part of his plan to end the war, Julian organized a single-combat sword match between Overlord Charlemagne and Maximillian Acorn, under the conditions that the loser would leave the area forever. After the intense battle, Maximillian stood as the victor, and, much to Julian's anger, spared the life of Charlemagne. Thus, the Overland had officially lost the great war, and left the Kingdom in humiliation.[12][19]
Aftermath and decline[]
Having suffered heavy losses from the war[3], the Overland soon became divided, a problem only accelerated by the mysterious disappearance of Overlord Charlemagne. Some parties chose to continue maintaining the nation's resource-deprived cities, while roughly one third of the Overland resettled in the United Federation through the Heritage Project.[12][1] Under the supervision of Colin Kintobor, the remaining Overland citizens in Megapolis chose to lead a space colonization effort away from Mobius, leaving the city abandoned.[20][12][16] As the years passed, the Overland itself gradually declined until it was formally disbanded.[note 1]
See Also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 In the map of Mobius featured in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, any territories previously established as part of the Overland are categorized as "Former Overland", confirming that the nation is no longer active.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "United Federation"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "New Megaopolis"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ian Flynn (7 July 2010). Sonic the Hedgehog: July 2010 Archives. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Mobius Timeline Act 11: My Kingdom for an Acorn"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Mobius Timeline Act 12: In the Name of the Overland"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #72, "Tales of the Great War Part One: The Shot Heard 'Round the World!"
- ↑ Knuckles the Echidna #25, "Childhood's end"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #73, "Tales of the Great War Part 2: The Big Bad One"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Acorn Lineage"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #65, "The Fellowship of the Rings"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #202, "Dangerous Territory"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Mobius Timeline Act 13: Tales of the Great War"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 From the Journal of King Maximillian Acorn, "Part 1"
- ↑ Knuckles the Echidna #20, "The Forbidden Zone Part Two of Three: Once upon a Time in Mobotropolis"
- ↑ Knuckles the Echidna #21, "The Forbidden Zone Part Three of Three: The Many Facets of the Truth"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Sonic the Hedgehog #72, "I, Robotnik!"
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #50, "The Big Goodbye"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #74, "Tales of the Great War Part III: Enter... Robotnik"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #78, "Tales of the Great War Part 6: What Really Happened"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #94, "New Order"
External Links[]
- Overland at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.