Ark of the Covenant

"*The Bible speaks of the Ark leveling mountains and laying waste to entire regions. An army which carries the Ark before it is invincible.*"
―Tails[src]
The ''**Ark of the Covenant**'' or ''**The Ark**'' is a Biblical artifact. According to the Bible, the Ark was a wooden chest used by the ancient Hebrews to carry the Ten Commandments, the budded staff of Aaron, and a pot of manna.

Long sought by archaeologists and treasure-hunters, the Ark was rumored to possess great supernatural powers that caught the interest of The Dark Lord The Unknown Enemy and HYDRA leader Red Skull, who was willing to overlook its Jewish origins to take control of the relic's abilities.

## History

"*The Ark. If it* is *there at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb. Death has always surrounded it. It is not of this Earth.*"
―Barney to Daniel[src]
### Early years

Around 1400 BC, after the Ten Commandments were smashed by Moses, the pieces were collected in the Ark of the Covenant, a gold-gilded wooden chest constructed under instruction from God and carried before the Hebrews on their march towards the Promised Land.

When the Hebrews settled in Canaan, they placed the Ark in the Temple of Solomon where it stayed until around 980 BC when the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak raided the Temple and took the Ark with him to the city of Tanis. Following a series of dreams in which he was visited by Osiris urging him to hide it from the eyes of the sun god Amun-Ra, Shishak had the Ark placed inside the Well of the Souls. A Map Room was built so that only Ra could know the Ark's whereabouts but a year later the Israelites' God saw to it that Tanis itself was buried in a sandstorm and the Ark was lost to the passage of time.

### ***Before Raiders of the Lost Ark***

After the events in Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. The Unknown Enemy and Red Skull became interested in acquiring the Ark and its fabled powers to achieve each of their goals about world domination. TUE (use the ark to win the war between the Kung Fu Warriors, Team Sonic and the Mane Six). RS (defeat S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers).

### *In Kung Fu Panda and the Raiders of the Lost Ark*

When the pony guards Flash Sentry og Spearhead discovered Red Skull and The Unknown Enemy's plan through an intercepted German communique sent from Cairo, the nexst morning the Mane Six consulted master Daniel and his brother in arms Sonic the Hedgehog and his team about the artifact. Daniel and Team Sonic explained some of the history of the Ark to the government men, showing the Mane Six a depiction of the Ark's destructive power after which Tails noted that any army which carried the Ark before it would be invincible. The Kung Fu Warriors, Team Sonic and the Mane Six decides to find the Ark before the Dark Empire and Hydra. Although the heroes managed to acquire the Ark out from under the German expedition, it was later captured by the Empire and Hydra nonetheless.

The Ark changed hands between the heros and the villains several times before Hydra took the Ark to a secret island base near Crete. After René Emile Belloq performed a Hebrew ritual, the Ark was opened. Inside was sand, all that was left of the Ten Commandments. While Belloq looked upon the sand with an anguished expression on his face, a sudden screeching noise drew his attention. Moments later, a power surge from the Ark disabled all the lights, electronics and weapons in the vicinity, some blowing up in the soldiers' hands.

Ghostly apparitions emerged from within and swarmed playfully about the Nazis before adopting a more sinister tone; the spirits transformed their appearances from angelic beings into monstrous abominations. Rooted to the spot with fear, the Nazis beheld a pillar of holy fire rising from the Ark and coalescing around Belloq before shooting bolts of fiery energy through the assembled soldiers, killing them. The Ark then turned its full and terrible wrath onto Belloq and his cohorts: Colonel Herman Dietrich's head imploded, Major Arnold Ernst Toht's face melted off his skull and Belloq's head exploded. The Ark then swept their remains into the air to have their souls judged, then fire shot the cover into the sky before it fell back onto the Ark. The captured Daniel, witnessing energy beginning to come out of the Ark, realized what was about to happen. Warning Po, the Furious Five, Team Sonic, the Mane Six and Princess Celestia, they closed their eyes and looked away from the Ark, symbolically showing proper respect, and were spared from the wrath of God. (While The Unknown Enemy, Tai Lung and Tiger Claw escaped from the island just before the Ark showed its full power).

Afterwards, instead of giving the Ark to the National Museum as agreed, Daniel sent Blue Ship to deliver the Ark to the US government, and they took possession of it. Though the kung fu warriors and their allies were told by Blue Ship that it was to be studied by higher authorities, the relic was simply nailed inside a wooden crate numbered 9906753 and placed inside a gigantic warehouse among hundreds of similar crates.

### *In Kung Fu Panda and the Last Crusade*

In Kung Fu Panda and the Last Crusade, Daniel uncovered a wall painting depicting the Ark in some tunnels beneath the Biblioteca di San Barnaba in Venice. When Elsa Schneider asked what the image was, Daniel confirmed that it was the Ark, mumbling that he was "Pretty sure..." given past encounters.