Drakon Empire

The Drakon Empire are a group of fictional antagonists from the British publication, Sonic the Comic. They fought against the Ancient Echidnas of Mobius (including Knuckles the Echidna), Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower, as well as working alongside Doctor Robotnik and Grimer.

Society and military
A race of alien fish, the Drakons developed humanoid robot exoskeletons in order to operate on land. They have established a brutal galactic empire from their homeworld of Drak. Leadership is split between multiple Great Houses, with the mightiest being the Houses of War, Magic and Knowledge, headed by Emperor Ko-Dorr, Sister Haggra and Master Scholar respectively. The Houses of Knowledge & War possess far more ornate exoskeletons than the rank-and-file citizens; the House of Magic doesn't use exoskeletons at all, having gained fleshy humanoid forms by magical means.

Drakon society is highly militaristic and their justice system is entirely based around trial by combat - if the defendants kill the Prosecutor, they're considered innocent. Sonic was put on trial by combat (against a Knuckles Metallix) and was one of the very few defendants in history to actually win. The Drakons view this system as showing their strength as a society, and genuinely believe it proves guilt & innocence.

The bulk of the Drakon army, which is run by the House of War, is composed of powerful stone robots called Sentinels. They come in a variety of sizes, the largest being the towering 'Master Sentinel'. The Sentinels are led by Drakon Prosecutors, who sport bulky armoured exoskeletons and wield weapons known as Drakon Swords. These weapons are roughly three feet long and are shaped like a crowbar, with the ability to fire energy bolts, cut through metal, shatter stone and manipulate the gravity in a localised area. The Prosecutors one weak spot is the head, as this is where the Drakon fish controls the armoured suit.

History in STC
8000 years ago, the Drakons invented the highly powerful Chaos Energy, but were unable to control it due its instability. They invaded Mobius, then ruled by the Echidnas, and raided the Echidna's sacred Emerald Mines after discovering the emeralds could safely store Chaos Energy. Seven Chaos Emeralds were created before the Echidnas stole them, refusing to let the Drakon's to wield such power. The Great War erupted between Echidna and Drakon; Sonic the Hedgehog was transported to the ancient past to witness some of it, and saw the creation of Chaos.

Through means unknown, the Drakons never regained the Emeralds (six of which were split in two) and the Echidnas completely vanished. The Drakons left behind two outposts, the Aquatic Ruin Zone and Flickies' Island,

Both the Aquatic Ruin Zone and Flickies' Island were Drakon outposts during the War that were left to rot; Sonic briefly encountered a reactivated Sentinel at Aquatic Ruin, which self-destructed. The Drakons, however, reckoned that one day the primitive Mobian tribes may advance to the point where they could be a threat to the empire. To test this, they left a Mobius Ring on Flickies' Island - a giant golden ring that served as a dimensional gateway. Every so often, this Ring would let the Flickies migrate from Drak to Mobius. As intended, this Ring was eventually found and experimented with by Mobians (specifically Robotnik). The Drakons responded immediately, sending in a Prosecutor to abduct Robotnik and close down the Mobius Ring.

Emperor Ko-Dorr realised that Robotnik could help him locate the legendary Chaos Emeralds and use their power to overthrow the other Houses. As part of this deal, Sonic was captured and put on trial for destroying the Sentinel (with a verdict of innocent). While Robotnik agreed to the alliance, he was swiftly ousted by Grimer as planned to betray Ko-Dorr. This was all a manipulation by Robotnik, who let the Drakons take out the Floating Island's security systems for him and then had Grimer teleport back to their home without warning so he could get the Emeralds for himself. After that heavy setback, Ko-Dorr was never seen again.

Chaos
For more detail, see Chaos (Sonic the Hedgehog). In this continuity, Chaos was a Drakon Prosecutor transformed by an explosion of Chaos Energy. He was imprisoned by the Echidnas in a mystic container of some sort (showed fairly briefly). In the final STC story, he was unleashed by Grimer in the hopes of pulling Robotnik out of a depression. In the final issue, Super Sonic absorbed all of Chaos' energy and he reverted to his original Drakon fish state and was thrown Robotnik's mountain base and may or may not have been eaten by crocodile like creatures living in the waters below.

In Sonic the Comic - Online, this Drakon Prosecutor had been saved by Big the Cat (who had been fishing nearby) and was renamed "Buddy"; attempting to regain his powers, he was forced to endure and work with Big in his mission. In his last story, it was implied Big may have eaten him.

STC-Online
In the STC online continuation, Sonic went to the Drakons for help in stopping Dr Zachary and the Syndicate, reasoning that if they wanted the Chaos Emeralds it was in their best interests to ensure Mobius wasn't destroyed. It was revealed that Sister Haggra and Master Scholar had discovered Ko-Dorr's plot and removed him from power, putting a puppet ruler in his place. Master Scholar does decide to help Sonic by giving him the Chaos Tap he needs to prevent the Syndicate from igniting residual Chaos Energy, but secretly he plans to use the threat of deactivating it as leverage in a future invasion of Mobius.

Drakon society was fleshed out as well. Enforcers for the House of Magic - the Scarlet Sisters - were introduced, and Sonic discovered that he'd become a celebrity on Drak, famous for being one of the few proved innocent in a trial.

The Drakon Empire also created the STC-O version of Shadow the Hedgehog as a weapon during the Great War, or so Doctor Zachary claimed. Originally an incomplete being made of chaos energy, he was discovered by Professor Kintobor in an abandoned Echidna bunker; he was only given physical form due to Sonic's DNA. Everything about his origins beyond this is unknown, and as Shadow died in #238 it is unlikely anything will be revealed.

Trivia
Giant robots called Sentinels also appeared in the X-men  cartoon episodes 'Night of the Sentinels' and 'Days of Future Past'.