The Dark Legion is an order of technocratic zealots from Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics.
History[]
Foundation[]
The organisation was founded on Angel Island, originally consisting solely of the island's native echidna people. Early echidna society had outlawed excess technology and the Legion was formed as a rebellious technocracy that called for the re-instatement of advanced technology. All Dark Legionnaires underwent cybernetic augmentation and called for the removal of the Echidna Council, instigating a civil war that would last for hundreds of years. The war would be brought to an end by Angel Island's then-guardian Steppenwolf, who used his Chaos magic to banish the Dark Legion to the Twilight Zone, a prison dimension where time passed much slower than on Mobius.
The Twilight Cage[]
The Dark Legion would find themselves trapped within the Twilight Cage for centuries. There were a number of occasions, however, when Legionnaires managed to escape and continue their attempts at conquering Angel Island. These attempts, of course, would always end in failure. Also, the Legion were forced to share the Twilight Cage with another ancient echidna clan: the Nocturnus. The two groups would regularly engage one another in battle over the meager resources available in the Twilight Cage.
Return to Mobius[]
After Dr. Robotnik's Ultimate Annihilator weapon backfired, the dimensional barriers between Mobius, the Twilight Cage and the Pocket Zones containing the Echidna settlements on Angel Island were shattered. This allowed the Dark Legion to escape the Twilight Cage and return to Angel Island, where they rallied under the Grandmaster Kragok. Kragok's leadership did not last long since his ancestor Dimitri returned as the demi-god Enerjak, who assumed command of the Legion from then onward.
Decline[]
Dimitri would eventually be stripped of his Chaos powers and reduced to a mere mortal again. With time catching up to him, his body was ravaged by rapid ageing, but he managed to preserve himself by undergoing extensive cybernetic augmentation, just like so many of his Legionnaires. Eventually it became clear to Dimitri - whose sanity slowly reformed after the loss of his Enerjak status - that the Dark Legion's attempts at conquest were fruitless and that they could better influence Echidna society through diplomatic means. Not all of his followers agreed with his proposal of peacefully reintroducing the Technocracy and some attempted to thwart him by assassinating Knuckles, the current Guardian of Angel Island. The assassination failed, but the attempt only re-affirmed the public's mistrust of the Dark Legion.
Civil War[]
After the Xorda invasion of Mobius, the Dark Legion became divided. Split into two factions - the Flame Legion and Frost Legion - the Legion fell into civil war, while at the same time, Angel Island was conquered by the Eggman Empire. The Flame Legion worked with Knuckles, Sonic and the Chaotix to try and liberate the island while the Frost Legion went into hiding. After Dr. Eggman's forces on the island were defeated, the two factions continued fighting each other. Their squabbles were brought to an end many months later when Knuckles became the new Enerjak and used his powers to strip all of the Legionnaires of their cybernetics, restoring them all to normal flesh and blood. With the Dark Legion in shambles, Lien-Da - leader of the Flame Legion - rallied all members of both factions together and made a deal with Dr. Eggman, offering their allegiance to him in return for the cybernetics that Enerjak had robbed from them. With his own Badnik Horde depleted during Enerjak's rampage, Eggman welcomed the Echidnas with open arms, and thus the Dark Legion became the Dark Egg Legion.