Iron Dominion

"Swear fealty to me and my Iron Queen, and you may live to serve the Iron Dominion."

- The Iron King, one of the founding rulers of the Iron Dominion. "It won't be very long now. We'll crush the rebels in New Mobotropolis, dispose of my oaf of a king, and rule the world with an iron fist."

- The Iron Queen, one of the founding rulers of the Iron Dominion.

The Iron Dominion is a sinister monarchy-like dictatorship that is a gathering of Mobian clans under the command of it's 2 founding rulers with an iron fist known as the Iron King and the Iron Queen who both ruled over it with an iron fist, and an antagonistic faction of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series. They first appeared in "Sonic the Hedgehog #201 - Change In Management; Devotion" and they are the titular main antagonists of the 2-part "Iron Dominion" story arc of Sonic the Hedgehog. Including the Yagyu Ninja clan and others, this despotic, technocratic "kingdom" formed in the Dragon Kingdom and fought against Monkey Khan before relocating to New Megaopolis to usurp control of the evil Eggman Empire from the insane Dr. Ivo Robotnik (also known as Dr. Eggman) in their quest to bring all of the planet Mobius to its knees. Its rulers commanded the whole of the Eggman Empire until the Dominion's fall with the clans renouncing the Iron Dominion and the Iron King and Iron Queen's defeat in New Mobotropolis.

Formation
Years ago the young Regina Ferrum, traveling the world in exile, arrived in the Dragon Kingdom. Once there, she pledged herself to the local warlord Jun Kun, seeking a quick way to rise to power. They were faced with much resistance however, either being defeated by one of the warring clans or even the free people they sought to control. After a number of defeats they made contact with Dr. Ivo Robotnik. It is unknown who made contact with who but nonetheless Regina was able to persuade the despot to endorse them as regional commanders. Supplied with his equipment, they gained the much needed edge to compete with the clans. The two had a ceremonial marriage, becoming the Iron King and the Iron Queen. From there, they became powerful villains in the region, though the clans continued to oppose their regime.

In 3236, the Iron King and Queen ruled areas of the Dragon Kingdom from their Iron Fortress with an iron fist. When the residents of Stormtop Village refused to accept them as their masters, the Iron Queen set Mount Stormtop on fire, which lasted for over 100 days. Eventually, Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower arrived in the region during their world tour to track down Ixis Naugus, and with help from Monkey Khan, defeated the Iron King and the Iron Queen and put out the fire using the Fan of Fen Xing.

Defeating the Clans and Resistance
During the Clan Wars, the Iron Queen tried to buy off the leader of the Yagyu Clan, the Bride of Rich Nights, who insisted she could not be bought. In response, Jun Kun apparently crushed her but allowed Regina to take the credit for the kill. Following this she took the Yagyu Clan as her own vanguard and sent them on random missions to aid the other clans, starting a rumor that all other brides had sworn loyalty to her the other 3 clans surrendered to her, making her the Bride of Four Houses. Since then, all 4 clans have acted as her soldiers.

At some point, the Iron King and Queen returned and enslaved Stormtop Village. The Yagyu Clan also stole the Fan of Fen Xing and gave it to the Iron King, which he made it part of his personal collection once again. They also managed to wipe out any resistance and local Freedom Fighter groups, leaving only Monkey Khan as their opposition in the region.

Usurping Control of the Eggman Empire
While the Iron King and Queen served as Sub-Bosses to the Eggman Empire over in the Dragon Dragon Kingdom fighting the local resistance there, who were beginning to keep them at bay, the Iron Queen made romantic connections with Snively Robotnik over in New Megaopolis via the Egg Network. After the Iron King and Queen had finally managed to rid most of their oppressors, the leaders of the Iron Dominion, accompanied by the Yagyu Clan and Conquering Storm, arrived at the landing bay of the Eggdome via the Iron Blimp to usurp absolute control of the Eggman Empire following Dr. Eggman's recent descent into madness, and quickly began a search of the city to see if their were any other functioning buildings other than the Eggdome. They were then briefly challenged by Sonic the Hedgehog and Monkey Khan, but the addition of the Dark Egg Legion, Espio the Chameleon, and Lightning Lynx to their ranks proved too formidable for the pair.

The Iron Queen and Snively, acting alone, launched an exploratory assault against New Mobotropolis, the Queen using her powers to control first Bunnie Rabbot and then Monkey Khan to attack the city before leaving when Khan regained his free will. At the same time, the Shinobi Clan sent Espio to capture the Master Emerald, but he failed to do so because of "conflicting orders" and Knuckles the Echidna's interference and was called back to the Dragon Kingdom. Infuriated, the Iron Queen promptly sent the Bride of Conquering Storm to get the other clans in line. Dr. Eggman's escape soon had the Iron Dominion's forces massing for a battle with Sonic after failing to subdue the doctor. Their attempts were in vain, however as the Freedom Fighters were able take Eggman back to their city and then raised its shields to keep out the Iron Dominion. Refusing defeat, Jun Kun attacked Robotropolis, which was the source of New Mobotropolis's power, and would thus deactivate the shield. Due to Sonic's quick thinking Jun Kun was tricked to destroy the old power siphon. Remembering NICOLE and New Mobotropolis's technological origin, Snively told Regina, who was then able to take nearly-complete control of NICOLE and the nanite city along with her. Some time previously, the Iron Queen apparently contacted the Dark Egg Legion chapter in Downunda with orders to seize Angel Island, an effort in which they were assisted by the scientist Doctor Finitevus.

Disintegration
When the Iron Dominion invaded New Mobotropolis, several of the city's inhabitants (Sally Acorn, Sonic, Tails, and Monkey Khan) managed to escape from the city before it was locked down. Following this, the escapees regrouped at Freedom HQ. They then used a Digitizer to send Sonic and Sally into a digital world wherein they were able to regain control of NICOLE. During this, Sally and NICOLE came to the realization that even if they ousted the Iron Dominion from the city, the war would continue indefinitely so long as the Dominion still had a ready supply of reinforcements to draw from. It was then agreed that NICOLE would keep up her 'Iron NICOLE' guise and act as a double-agent while Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Monkey Khan would head to the Dragon Kingdom to destabilize the Dominion's power base at the source.

Once the foursome reached the Dragon Kingdom, they sought out the clans composing the Dominion. Meeting first with the Gossamer Clan, they convinced the Bride of Endless Reach to break away from the Dominion after she determined through her clan's Web of Fate that peace could achieved through other means. The Yagyu Clan soon followed as a Yagyu Lord was convinced to break away in favor of a less regimented system, which would leave them with greater freedom. The Bride of Conquering Storm, residing in the Iron Fortress which Sonic's team penetrated with help from the remnants of the Destructix-agreed to sever the Raiju Clan's ties with the Iron Dominion only after Sonic defeated Lightning Lynx in a battle of champions.

Following the encounter with the Raiju Clan and the departure of the Destructix, the protagonists were approached by Espio the Chameleon, who informed them that he would lead them to the secret location of the Shinobi Clan. The group was skeptical at first as to whether Espio could be trusted after his seeming betrayal; attacking Sonic, Monkey Khan, and Knuckles while under orders from the Dominion, but Espio proved to be true to his word and kept his promise. Upon reaching the cave that housed the Shinobi Clan and navigating the booby-traps and pitfalls within, the group met the Bride of Constant Vigil and after a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that the Shinobi Clan would also absolve their loyalties to the Iron Dominion, thus eliminating the last means of support for the Iron Dominion in their homeland and clearing the way for the final showdown as the protagonists headed for home.

After successfully neutralizing the Iron Dominion's power base, the group returned to the city and linked up with inhabitants of New Mobotropolis who had been conducting resistance attacks to hinder the Dominion's occupation of the city. The Knothole Freedom Fighters then launched a counterattack to retake the city, resulting in the Iron Queen being imprisoned and the Iron King being expelled with the Fan of Fen Xing.

Following this major defeat, the Iron Dominion was no longer a significant military and political power. The Iron Queen was relocated to a prison in the Dragon Kingdom, and the Raiju Clan took control of the Iron Fortress for themselves. They also subsequently became Eggman's local Dark Egg Legion chapter, apparently replacing the Iron Dominion.

Territories
The Iron Dominion consists of the Iron King and Queen's holdings in the Dragon Kingdom, which is the entire region as Monkey Khan explained there were no existing Freedom Fighter groups there. This would include Stormtop Village, Leung Kar and other villages. It also successfully annexed the region surrounding the Eggdome and the ruins of New Megaopolis. The Iron Dominion also took control over New Mobotropolis thanks to Snively's idea of using the Iron Queen's Magitek to control NICOLE, and thus control the city.

The Iron Dominion's occupation of New Mobotropolis was short-lived however, as the efforts of the Knothole Freedom Fighters led to the Iron Dominion being ousted from the city. Given that the four clans that composed the bulk of the Iron Dominion have renounced their allegiance, the scope of the Iron Dominion's influence in the Dragon Kingdom is presumably nonexistent, particularly given the Raiju Clan taking its place as the Eggman Empire's local standing army.

Members

 * The Iron King
 * The Iron Queen
 * Snively (former steward)
 * NICOLE (former stewardess)
 * The Bride of Conquering Storm (former lieutenant)
 * The Bride of Constant Vigil (former lieutenant),
 * The Bride of the Endless Reach (former lieutenant)
 * Lien-Da (former lieutenant)
 * Dimitri (former lieutenant)
 * Lightning Lynx (former minion)
 * Espio the Chameleon (former minion)

Trivia

 * Although the rulers of the Iron Dominion gained absolute authority over the Eggman Empire, it still existed as a separate entity from the Iron Dominion. It is unknown to what extent the other regions of Mobius accepted the leadership of the Iron King and Queen or if they ran independently by their local Sub-Bosses and had splintered into mere fiefdoms.
 * The Iron Dominion's alias is also the name of a power-mad coven of renegade spellcasters and other evil magical creatures known as The Dominion from Disney Channel's Return to Halloweentown.