Stone Guardian

The Stone Guardian is a giant stone golem that appears in the classic Sonic & Knuckles video game, serving as the sub-boss at the end of Sandopolis Zone, Act One. When the Lost Pyramid of Sandopolis rises up from beneath the desert sands, the Guardian emerges from a doorway and attacks. Its only attack seems to be jumping towards the player. The player cannot defeat the Stone Guardian by attacking it; if hit, the creature breaks apart, but it will reassemble itself shortly afterwards. The only way for the player to defeat the Guardian is to lure it towards a pit of quicksand on the far left side of the boss floor. It is easy enough for the player to jump into the quicksand and jump out before sinking to their death. As for the Stone Guardian, it will perish as soon as it hits the quicksand pit. For some reason, the Stone Guardian explodes just like all of Dr. Eggman's machines when they are defeated.

Sonic the Comic
The Stone Guardian also appears in one of Sonic the Comic's S&K tie-in stories, "The Mystery of the Sandopolis Zone, Part Two" in the comic's 48th issue. The sky pirate Captain Plunder discovers the whereabouts of the Lost Pyramid of Sandopolis and raises it from beneath the desert. When the pyramid is raised, the Stone Guardian emerges and attacks the trespassers. Sonic tries to smash the Guardian, only to find that the giant reconstructs itself. Knuckles manages to defeat it by luring it into a quicksand trap.