The Trolls

 are a faction of beings comprising of "biological" Trolls and Mobian converts with unclear goals, resulting in many believing that the group is simply a conglomeration of stupidity.

Origin
Nobody knows for sure where the original entities known as The Trolls emerged from or why they emerged on Mobius; though there is large amounts of evidence pointing at both extraterrestrial and extra-dimensional origins. These beings made numerous incursions to Mobius, even establishing colonies on the moon and within asteroids in the solar system over thousands of years, but for a long time these colonies simply fizzled out; nothing but the ruins of their bases remaining. However, fifty years ago, there was an event, deep within the wastelands of Mobius; and an entirely new region was born - Rainbow Hill Zone, and with it came the first intrusion of Trolls.

These Mobian-like beings had genetics similar to Mobians as well as other Mobianoid species, so the two races proved to be compatible. Most governments covered up this arrival but as the word leaked about it, people flocked to see this "alien zone" upon hearing it was a paradise. At first, things were peaceful, the Mobian-like entities seeming relatively normal if a little lacking in mental capabilities. Without warning, these Trolls became hostile with an unintelligible war cry and turned upon their Mobian visitors with powers that ranged from the obscure to the obscene. Blockades were built to contain the threat, but extermination proved worthless as every time a Troll died, they would simply reappear within Rainbow Hill. The United Federation and Eggman Empire signed a treaty, and the Trolls were simply left to their own devices within their zone, constantly under observation despite their seeming stupidity and unpredictability.

Rise of the Dark Council
Things have remained the same, but military documents obtained more recently shows that the Troll forces have become more coordinated, somehow bypassing these blockades through uncertain magical means to ineffectually probe Mobian defenses and interfere with day-to-day events of Mobius. There is the finger pointed at the known group of ancient beings referred to as the Dark Council as instigating this, the proclaimed True Lord of Mobius and his wife among these noted entities.

Expansion
Despite the routine observations of Rainbow Hill Zone and the moderate blockade; many young Mobians appear to be joining the Trolls for reasons unknown. Alarmingly, a large number of these beings appear to be royalty, while others are defectors from military organizations, scientists and technologists, criminals and more. This expansion of numbers coincides with the normal Troll expansion due to reproducing as fast as a colony of rabbits. There is even signs of activity within the site of the ancient ruins upon the moon. This has alarmed many Mobians in the know; but popular consensus is that there is no true threat and that the Trolls are too stupid or ineffective to survive.

Biology
What makes the Trolls such an unusual faction is the fact that they function with what they refer to as an overmind, essentially making every member of their faction part of a hive-mind and under the sway of what they think of as a super-mentality. If enough Trolls believe it, it will happen.

The problem with The Trolls is tied to this overmind; as each band of these annoyances will form smaller hives, which will in turn create more hives, and so on. A group of as few as five low-grade Trolls will have its own small hive mentality, which will expand as more join, and shrink as they leave. Each hive is capable of being swayed by a simple thought, which in turn can be converted from thought or joke into power. Any idea that enters a low-grade hive is rapidly reproduced and is replicated incredibly quickly, allowing for a larger group to replicate these powers. What makes it frightening is that the more low-grade Trolls are part of a hivemind, the more powerful the techniques performed by the hive are. However; low-grade trolls rarely lack the ability to focus for more than a few moments, meaning that while the memes are remembered and reproduced among the entire race, it is rare for groups of nothing but low-grade trolls to be considered a threat.

As low-grade trolls gain in experience, they become more and more aware of the truths of their existence, revealing the ability to actually control small hives of Trolls. These mid-grade trolls; often called Troll Captains, function as hive commanders and can sway groups to do as they wish. These goals are similarly redundant and rarely threaten Mobius, with these beings just as likely to command the hives they command to attack other Troll hives for the sake of personal gain.

It is when a Troll seems to gain full sentience that things get frightening. Ascended in thinking; these full-blooded Trolls will often submit to major surgical procedures to alter their physical appearance, or resorting to stealing large amounts of clothing to continue that passage to show that they are superior to the unwashed, idiotic masses. These beings are often referred to as Troll Generals; and by creating hives connecting many Troll Captains, a General can create an army of hundreds of Trolls, moving them with more strategic knowledge and planning than many would believe possible for these idiotic beings.

Practical Immortality
The true threat of the Trolls is the fact that they respawn, rather than die. On the plus side, the more powerful a Troll is; the longer it takes for them to respawn, and the respawn zones are rarely ever regarded as targets. However, the longer a General stays alive, they can simply continue to have low-grade Trolls continue to “summon their brothers” for an unlimited supply of fodder soldiers. Kill the General? The Captains theoretically might continue the attack; they might turn on each other, or they might lose interest and start doing something else. Without the key mind controlling them, the Trolls often return to their unpredictable ways.

Mobian Conversion
When a Mobian joins The Trolls; they are given a choice of two pills by either an inducted Mobian or a higher-level pureblood; these tablets are red and blue. The blue pill contains a viral agent that converts the Mobian into a hybrid of the two species in order to access the hivemind. In many cases, Mobians that take the blue pill do not get fully inducted into the hivemind and retain at the very least a captain-level of individualism, with Mobian low-grades an incredibly rare exception.

To contrast this, the red pill conveys the functional immortality of the Trolls, but was designed by the virologist Bubonic the Hedgehog in an attempt to protect the intelligence and sanity of the beings that take them. However, while the red pill does not create the connection to the Troll hivemind; it has been observed that these pills can have other unwanted side-effects that vary depending on the biochemistry of the Mobian that takes them, ranging from psychological to physiological.

Society & Culture
Troll society is only just barely functional. Each general or high lord has their own sway, and there is highly severe factionalism, with many taking on radical points of view that in turn influences the lower grade Trolls beneath them. Some are radical in their beliefs about gender and inequality both real and perceived, while others are far to the political right in the spectrum with associated beliefs. With each general swaying their forces, factional warfare is a reasonably common outcome that always leads to no true result due to the respawning immortality. In an attempt to counter this, the Dark Council typically tries to keep these beings busy with missions or distractions.

Religion
There are a number of deities heralded by the Trolls in their religion, each of them fairly unconventional in their own right. Troll priests typically work from their holy texts to try to find meaning in life; with the generals in command enjoying the presence of their own greenseers divining secrets from the great greentexts of their gods.
 * The All-father Plegis - the "great creator" of Troll myth, Plegis is regarded by many, including other deities, to be a myth or a joke. He is heralded to be the source of the Troll hivemind and the one behind his people; he is also believed to be omniaware. None have any idea what Plegis would look like; only that he exists.
 * Ev-Garm, Lord of War - the Trollish god of war is believed to have had his name corrupted to be over the years, with an ancient Mobian text referring to a vicious, combative figure known as Evilagram. The word of Ev-Garm is enough to cause Trollish crusades and religious fervor in combat.
 * Null, Lord of Journeys - The third major lord of the Troll pantheon is the only one confirmed to be an active part of the mythos of Mobius; with Null being confirmed as another title for Nihlus; Elemental God of the Void. Nihlus is also noted to actively avoid the Trolls; going out of his way to keep them out of his realm when they look to "Null" to help "show them the way" for teleportation-like transport. While the Nihlic Clan has shown a fairly supportive stance towards the Trolls due to their shared recognition of the deity, it is questionable whether or not that is something Nihlus himself actually wants.

Technology
While many write the Trolls off as a joke because of the innately random functions of their technology, the truth of the matter is that many of the Mobians that have found their ways to the chaotic Trolls are highly intelligent and capable in their own fields. One key example of this comes in what has become one of the key weapons of the Troll forces; the Troll Biochip Launcher. Shaped and stylized in a manner highly similar to firearms and coming in a wide range of colors and styles, Biochip Launchers fire - as the name suggests - biological microchips encoded with a variety of viral payloads. These chips can be loaded with diseases and ailments both physiological or psychological; they can be loaded with power enhancers and positive biological augmentations, or it could be loaded with neutral physical or psychological effects to the degree of a payload that changes the target's fur color or even gender. While powerful and highly effective in the hands of the designers utilizing the prototypes with handmade ammunition; the effect of low-grade Trolls in packing ammunition resulted in every trigger pull launching a chip of uncertain power. However, the basic idea itself is highly effective, and certain variations of the biochips can even affect robotics.

Similarly, Trollish bioengineering is remarkably advanced between access to ancient knowledge banks and the outright talent of Bubonic the Hedgehog; aided by the fact that if a Troll dies during a procedure, they can simply respawn for the next variation of the same technique. Indeed, Bubonic is listed as the reason why at least one species of genetically mutated Mobian exists. While less advanced, The Trolls also have access to specialists in information technologies, mechanics and chemistry alongside masters of elemental magic.

Powers
In the same vein as many Mobians; a lot of Trolls have a very wide range of elemental affinities and powersets; but unlike Mobians, Trolls have access to what is basically an unpredictable draw power of so-called "Troll magic". These powers often manifest as psychological attributes of low-to-mid grade trolls; and even for a Troll General still makes up a portion of the general's psyche.

The best-known example is that of the Troll Wayseeker, a sort of living teleporting beacon with a single track mind, a focus on simply “finding the Queen”. When a Wayseeker utters the words “Let me show the way”, this creates a portal between the Wayseeker's current position and their desired one that allows them to teleport their entire hive. The mechanism for this is identical to the Nihlic Clan's "bridging" technique with one key difference - unlike the Nihlic Clan members, Nihlus simply creates a tunnel between the two points to allow the Trolls immediate access between zones A and B; preferring to keep them away from himself as much as possible.

Notes & Trivia

 * The inspiration for The Trolls should be fairly self-evident as a critical parody of the internet and the wide variety of subcultures that dwell upon there.
 * Troll powers are directly meme-related and as such evolve faster than this page can keep up.