| |||||||||||||||||||||
Kodos the Lion was a powerful Mobian warrior who once served as the Warlord for the Kingdom of Acorn. Generally xenophobic towards Overlanders, Kodos was responsible for causing the Great War between the Mobians and Overlanders. During the Great War, Kodos took Julian Kintobor, an Overlander who defected to the Mobians, under his wing and informed him of his plans to take over the kingdom. Julian, who had no desire to share power, knocked out Kodos and sent him to the Zone of Silence however, and took over Kodos' place as Warlord. Years later, Kodos managed to escape, along with Ixis Naugus and Maximillian Acorn. He served Naugus for some time after his escape, though eventually he worked only for himself. Kodos died after prolonged exposure to radiation poisoning from Robotropolis and from falling into a crevasse.
History[]
Disposing of Nate Morgan[]
Kodos and his troops fighting a contingent of Overlander forces, later to be blamed on Nate Morgan
A native of Efrika who migrated to the Kingdom of Acorn seeking greater opportunity, Kodos was known to have a long standing grudge against the Overlanders. Seeing the danger in having him remain a member of the royal court, the then director of the Royal Secret Service, Harvey Who, voiced his concerns about trusting Kodos to King Max, but Max instead promoted Kodos to the position of Warlord. When Nate Morgan became a close friend of King Frederick and later Maximillian, it completely bothered Kodos to the point that he readily agreed to an alliance with the Kingdom's magician, Ixis Naugus, to get rid of Nate. The pair also worked hard to insure that Max trusted no counsel but their own. (StH: #65, #233, CSE)
Kodos had arranged for Nate to follow him to the Great Forest with a group of students, while Naugus used his magics to control of group of Overlander soldiers. The two sides met and ended up fighting, which resulted in Kodos having to be hospitalized. While there, Naugus and Kodos both blamed Nate Morgan for the incident. Although Nate was acquitted at his trial, the Overlander scientist imposed exile on himself and left the kingdom. Following this, Kodos attempted to kill Naugus as well, though the wizard managed to fool Kodos with an illusion of himself and take haven in the Zone of Silence, claiming to return when the Great War ended. (StH: #65, #73)
Starting the Great War[]
Still holding strong feelings of speciesism towards the Overlanders, Kodos was furious when he found two scouts, one for the Kingdom of Acorn and one for the Overlanders, conversing with one another. Desiring a war with the Overlanders, Kodos executed both by snapping their necks and had a message sent back to both sides with the bodies saying "this is what happens to all who oppose us". Since both sides now believed they were dealing with barbarians, war finally broke out. (StH: #73)
During the Great War, Kodos lead numerous attacks against the Overlanders. Despite his ferocity in battle, the Mobians were consistently forced back and often defeated as a result of their relatively primitive weaponry. When a second Overlander defector, Julian Kintobor, was taken in by the Kingdom of Acorns, Kodos took him under his wing, teaching him everything about milltary tactics, while Julian would talk of his own peoples' strategies in exchange. While explaining his plans to take over the Kingdom, Julian knocked Kodos unconscious with the Atomic Mace created by Naugus and threw him into the Zone of Silence. Somewhere around this time, Commander Ian St. John had also begun an investigation of Kodos, and confiscated a number of Kodos' belongings before being killed in action during the war. (StH: #74, #233)
Exile in the Zone of Silence[]
Once in the Zone of Silence, Kodos found himself barely able to survive the harsh conditions. While there, he encountered Naugus once more and explained how he became trapped there while also telling the wizard of the threat to the kingdom by the Overlander who turned on him. Like numerous other prisoners of the zone, Kodos eventually broke down and became Naugus' servant in exchange for him turning them into crystal to survive in the zone. Some time after this, Dr. Ivo Robotnik entered the zone and was brought before Naugus, which reunited Kodos with his treacherous pupil, but instead of seeking vengeance Kodos simply let his master do with Julian as he pleased. (StH: #66, #234)
When Sonic the Hedgehog used Dr. Quack's device, the Dream Watcher, in order to contact the king, who had been rescued from the Zone of Silence but was turning into crystal, a dream version of Kodos first attacked Sonic and then charged a dream version of Feist before being subdued. (StH: #43)
Escape and Working with the Convicts[]
Kodos leading the escaped convicts during a raid on Mobotropolis
Kodos escaped the Zone of Silence along with Uma Arachnis and Naugus. The trio immidiately engaged in a battle against Sonic and Geoffrey St. John. Kodos and Uma gained the upper hand when Naugus transformed them into crystalline warriors, but this prove disastrous when Naugus' staff was destroyed, which left Kodos and Uma petrified and immobile. (StH: #53)
Kodos and Uma's frozen forms were sent to Devil's Gulag. However, their crystal forms were taken with the Fearsome Foursome and Snively when the convicts escaped from the prison island. Kodos and Uma mysteriously regained their organic forms while the convicts were debating how best to attack Mobotropolis. The duo joined forces with the convicts, and Kodos led the raid on Mobotropolis that ended with the successful capture of Nate Morgan. Kodos had a re-match against Sonic when he and the Royal Secret Service launched a counter-attack against the convicts on Big Kahuna Island. When the tides of battle clearly turned against the villains, Kodos and Uma slipped away and stole Sonic's biplane, the Winged Victory, carrying with them the remains of Crocbot as they made their escape. (StH: #54, #63, #68, #69, #70)
Madness and Death[]
Kodos chose to remain hidden for some time beneath the ruins of Robotropolis. While in hiding, Kodos had Uma retrieve the Sword of Acorns after it had fallen into the hands of Dr. Eggman. Kodos planned to use the sword as a bargaining chip against both Eggman and Sonic. However, when Uma realized his plans, which no longer included her, she stole the Sword of Acorns while Kodos slept and hid it so it would not fall into the wrong hands. (StH: #91, #93)
Kodos's prolonged stay in the sewers of Robotropolis left him exposed to lethal toxins and radiation. Their effects began to take their toll and Kodos was driven to insanity once he realized the Sword of Acorns was missing. He began attacking everything in his path in Robotropolis, only to be chased out of the city by Shadowbots. He eventually tracked down Uma Arachnis in the forst and attacked her. However, the brawl was distrupted when Sonic and Bunnie Rabbot arrived and got involved. Kodos was eventually subdued by Uma Arachnis, and left unconscious for Sonic to drag back to Knothole. While in Knothole's hospital, Kodos was treated for his radiation poisoning by Dr. Quack, but the former warlord remained mentally unstable. When he finally awoke, he broke out of the hospital and resumed his search for Uma and the Sword of Acorns in a crazed frenzy. (StH: #95, #96, #99)
Kodos is struck down by the Sword of Acorns and falls to his death
Kodos managed to locate Uma and fatally wounded her, but was unable to extract the location of the Sword of Acorns from her. When Sally, Tails and Rotor arrived on the scene, he subdued the latter two before chasing after Sally, who had been given the sword's location by the dying Uma. The chase eventually led Kodos and Sally to a fissure, and Kodos' attack caused Sally to seemingly fall to her death. Kodos was then temporarily subdued by Sonic, Tails, Bunnie and Rotor. When Sally emerged from the fissure with the Sword of Acorns in her possession, Kodos launched one final attack in his bid to retrieve it. He was ultimately struck down by the sword's powers and fell to his death in the fissure. (StH: #99, #100)
Personality[]
Though a cunning warrior, Kodos was arrogant in the extreme, and came to consider the very rulers and kingdom he served to be beneath his own interests. Sadistic and scheming, he was willing to commit murder to see his plans carried out. Kodos was known for being violent beyond reason, attacking enemies without thought for strategy or future plans. This berserker method made him a dangerous foe, but it was also his most flawed trait. As one of Naugus' minions, he was given the ability to shift back and forth between his Mobian form and that of a crystalline being, the latter of which gave him greater fighting strength and protection from the effects of the Zone of Silence. In addition, the combined effects of years spent in the Zone of Silence and exposure to Robotropolis' poisons made him a dangerously unpredictable attacker. (StH: #53, #95, CSE)
Abilities[]
Though not known to possess any above average abilities, Kodos was seen to be a skilled combatant, notorious for his skill with a battle axe. Due to his great size and training, he also had a good deal of strength. He was also a clever tactician and a shrewd fighter, smart enough to recognize when he was outmatched.
Background Information[]
- Although Kodos wasn't seen actually dying, current writer Ian Flynn stated that Kodos died either from the fall into the ravine or from the radiation poisoning or both. Flynn has said that he would enjoy bringing back Kodos, but chooses not to revive the character due to his personal policy on character deaths.
- It is possible that the character's name comes from the character Kodos from the original 1966 Star Trek television series episode "The Conscience of the King".