General Armand D'Coolette (born 3180s - died 3237), also known as High Sheriff as a Robian, is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. He was a mobian coyote who was the highest-ranking officer in the Acorn Kingdom Army, the father of Antoine D'Coolette and the husband of Marie D'Coolette. He taught his son the art of sword-fighting, and Antoine's uniform once belonged to his father. Sadly, the General was abducted by SWATbots and disappeared, presumed to be dead.

Armand had been a widower for quite some time (the exact number of years is not given, but considering Robotnik’s coup was 11 years ago from canon, it may have been over a decade) and expressed faith that he would be reunited with his wife in the afterlife.

Appearance

Armand was an aging brown mobian coyote with a lighter brown patch on his face, in which his large blue eyes settled. He has thin eyebrows, a split moustache, a beard, and sideburns, all gray. For attire, he wore a Royal Army uniform which consisted of a red cape, a blue jacket with yellow trim and red boots.

History

Army General

During the Great War, Armand was King Maximillian's top general and advisor. When the king brought Julian Kintobor (who would later become Dr. Ivo Robotnik) onto his side, Armand spoke against it, unable to believe the king would trust an overlander during an open war with their race. However, the king was adamant to give Julian the benefit of the doubt, feeling guilty for what happened with Nate Morgan years earlier.^[1]

Armand had high hopes for his son Antoine, enlisting him in the army as a cadet-in-training and teaching him the art of sword-fighting.^[2] The pair, along with Armand's wife Marie, relocated from Mercia prior to the war. The move was a source of disagreement between Armand and his wife, and while Armand taught Antoine English in an effort to help him become accustomed to their new home, Marie was adamant in teaching him French.^[3]

At some point, Armand had discussed with Maximillian the necessity to establish a Rebel Underground should enemies from outside or within strike at the kingdom. However, the Rebel Underground was not properly formed in time as Armand seemingly perished during Robotnik's coup d'état, having led the Royal Army remnants in resistance against it.^[2] Marie died of an illness sometime afterwards, never learning that her husband was still alive.^[4] Antoine, as a testament to his father, took up his old uniform and sword and fought with the Knothole Freedom Fighters in his name.^[3]

The High Sheriff

During the aftermath of Robotnik's death at the hands of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic, seeking to defeat Robotnik's sub-bosses before they became a threat by establishing their own fifedoms, went to the forest Kingdom of Mercia, where it was here Armand's fate was revealed; Armand had been captured and roboticized the day he went missing, and served as Robotnik's highest-ranking and one of his most dangerous sub-bosses - the High Sheriff. Having had his memories of his past life suppressed, Armand commanded a large battalion of Robians to enslave the local population and quell any rebellions, thus becoming the nemesis of the Crazy Kritter Freedom Fighters' leader Rob O' the Hedge. Sonic engaged Armand in combat while freeing many of Armand's prisoners, trying desperately to jog his memory, especially that of his son. This, however, failed, as Sonic and the others escaped while Armand remained a tyrant of the land. Sonic later revealed what he had learned of Armand to Antoine upon his return to Mobotropolis.^[4]

Free Will Restored

After Antoine, Bunnie and Amy retrieved the roboticized Armand from Albion they brought him back to Knothole and placed him in prison until they found a means to restore him to his former self.^[5] Antoine was forced to leave Armand in Knothole's jail for weeks until Sally restored Armand's free will and memories using the Sword of Acorns. Armand reunited with Antoine and returned to his old home.^[6]

Rob o' the Hedge, having been Armand's arch-nemesis during his time as High Sheriff, wasn't convinced Armand had changed, and remained in Knothole for some time to see if it was true. Armand proved himself after spending two days with Rob however, and Rob even departed on good terms with him.^[7] Sometime later, Armand, along with the rest of the Robian population, was de-roboticized by the Bem.^[8]

Sometime after, he would be among many of the Freedom Fighters and Mobius' inhabitants to stop the Xorda from attacking the earth.^[9]

Fighting the Eggman Empire

During Sonic's year-long absence in space following the Xorda's attack, Armand resumed command of his Mes Braves Battalion.^[10] When Sonic returned, Armand was stationed at Fort Acorn near the ruins of Robotropolis, protecting the dome shield which contained deadly radiation.^[11] When Dr. Eggman launched a three-pronged offensive targeting the Kingdom of Acorn and the Republic of Station Square, Armand and the Mes Braves Battalion defended the dome shield against a horde of Eggman's SWATbots with assistance from the Chaotix, Amy Rose and G.U.N., successfully pushing back the assaulting army of robots through teamwork.^[12]

Ailing Health and Death

In the next few months following this, Armand began suffering constant declining health problems that eventually forced him to give up fighting, with Dr. Quack clueless to explain it, apart from it may be some form of poisoning, possibly from years ago and was just beginning to affect him. Armand helped the war effort any way he could, and during the first Battle Simulation with between the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Chaotix, Armand apologized for ever putting pressure on Sally to marry Antoine, but suddenly collapsed and remained at Julayla Memorial Hospital, seriously ill.^[13]

After Patch (Antoine's counterpart from Moebius) was discovered trying to usurp the Kingdom from Max, Dr. Quack discovered that Armand's health problems were being caused by the same poison as what Patch used on King Max. Since it was being given to Armand via laced food, Armand's dose was far heavier, and was declared terminal.^[14] Antoine came to his father on his deathbed, where he re-assured the morally-weak Antoine that he wasn't a failure in his eyes, and instead viewed him as a far greater warrior than he, and implored Antoine to cherish his relationship with Bunnie. Armand, succumbing to the poison, died with a smile on his face, his last words saying he would tell Antoine's mother he was doing okay, and that she would be as proud of him as he was.^[15]

Legacy

After Armand's death, Amadeus Prower took over command at Fort Acorn, and fought in General D'Coolette's name when the Iron King attacked in the hope of ridding New Mobotropolis of its power supply.^[16]

Relationships

Friends/allies

• Alicia Acorn
• Amadeus Prower
• Athair
• Big the Cat
• Echidna Security Team
  • Remington
• Elias Acorn
• Freedom Fighters
  • Arctic Freedom Fighters
    • Augustus the Polar Bear
    • Erma Ermine
    • Flip Penguin
    • Guntiver the Arctic Wolf
    • Sealia Seal
  • Chaotix
    • Charmy Bee
    • Espio the Chameleon
    • Julie-Su
    • Knuckles the Echidna
    • Mighty the Armadillo
    • Vector the Crocodile
  • Downunda Freedom Fighters
    • Barby Koala
    • Duck "Bill" Platypus
    • Guru Emu
    • Walt Wallaby
    • Wombat Stu
  • Knothole Freedom Fighters
    • Amy Rose
    • Antoine D'Coolette (son)
    • Bunnie D'Coolette (daughter-in-law)
    • Dulcy the Dragon
    • Fiona Fox
    • Miles "Tails" Prower
    • Mina Mongoose
    • Rotor Walrus
    • Sally Acorn
    • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Mercian Freedom Fighters
    • Friar Buck
    • Mari-An
    • Rob o' the Hedge
  • Wolf Pack
    • Canus
    • Leeta Wolf
    • Lobo
    • Lupe Wolf
• Froggy
• Geoffrey St. John
• Hershey St. John
• Isabella Mongoose
• Marie D'Coolette (wife)
• Maximillian Acorn
• Team Dark
  • Rouge the Bat
  • Shadow the Hedgehog
• Zonic the Zone Cop

Enemies

• Dr. Ivo Robotnik
• Eggman Empire
  • Dr. Eggman
• Suppression Squad
  • Patch D'Coolette (killer)
  • Scourge the Hedgehog
• Xorda

Personality

Though he was fearsome in battle, Antoine described Armand as "the kindest soul who ever lived". He is shown to be cordial and kind to those around him, and even after being harassed by Rob O’ Hedge, he suggested for the latter to give him company so that he may know him better.

Armand has a fondness for retelling his experiences from the Great War. He is also seen fishing. He is shown to have a strategic mind, foreseeing the threat of Robotnik and developing blueprints for a “Rebel Underground” that would ultimately be stolen by Geoffrey.

Trivia

• In the Sonic the Hedgehog animated TV series episode "The Odd Couple," there is a portrait of a figure resembling Antoine that hangs over Antoine's bed, which one could presume is meant to be Antoine's father. It is not known whether this background detail influenced the creation or design of Armand D'Coolette.
• The nickname "High Sheriff" is based on Sheriff of Nottingham from the Robin Hood folklore.

Gallery

Concept artwork

External links

• Armand D'Coolette at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.

References