I decided to redesign Maia once I had watched the second Sonic movie, as I wanted her style to be more traditional, and closer to the designs of the echidnas within Knuckles' tribe in the movie.
Name: Zyanya Tessay (Zyanya Karok, after her marriage to Knuckles) Nickname/s: Zya/Zyan (by Knuckles and her father, Chimali), Zyanya (by her mother, Anyi) Birthdate/Place: 29th November/on Angel Island, within The Echidna Tribe settlement Family: Chimali Tessay (father), Anyi Tessay (mother), Knuckles Karok/The Echidna (formerly, her best friend; now, her romantic partner) Personality: Zyanya is a kind-hearted, nature-loving echidna, who enjoys exploring the nearby caves and forests for artefacts
Story: Zyanya was born to two echidnas, named Anyi and Chimali, from within The Echidna Tribe settlement, on Angel Island.
From a young age, Zyanya was taught the traditional ways of being a provider for others; a tradition in which all of the female echidnas within the tribe followed. Finding the traditional ways of her tribe boring, however, Zyanya would often wish to join her father in battle, but whenever she asked, he would constantly reject, stating that she was just too young and inexperienced.
After confiding in the tribe's elder about her troubles, he told her that, given her echidna heritage, she had inherited her parents' chaos energy, which had given her special abilities that she was unaware of.
He also explained that as Zyanya's parents were part-echidna and part-bat, she had also inherited the ability to fly, which she fully embraced at her third year.
During her teenage years, Zyanya discovered that she had also inherited her father's earth-bending powers of Geokinesis. She discovered this ability as she was practising sparring with her best friend, Knuckles.
Once he had heard about this, the village elder trained Zyanya in order to be able to better control her powers, despite her mother's dismay, wanting Zyanya to continue to follow in her traditional ways.
As a young adult, Zyanya decided that she wanted to become an archeologist, so that she could combine her love of exploring, her powers, and the history of her distant ancestors. She would often join her best friend, Knuckles, whenever it came to searching for the pieces of the Master Emerald, locating the Chaos Emeralds, or any other quest that involved exploration.
Zyanya will also often help out Sonic and his friends, by using her powers, whenever Dr Eggman was causing trouble.
In adulthood, both Zyanya and Knuckles developed romantic feelings for one another and were wed within the tribe's settlement. A year passed by and the couple were blessed with a daughter, named Zirconia, who shared Zyanya's passion for exploration. The year after, their son, Aleckay, was born.
Likes: Experimenting with her powers, hanging out with her best friend Knuckles, being in nature and archeology Dislikes: Being forced to follow traditions, not being able to join her father in battle Powers/Abilities: Flight (from her grandparents) and Geokinesis (from her father)
