The council cannot see beyond their ambition, but she... she intends to live for something more. You may call her Gold.
Here’s another Sonic hero for ya. Archie Comics seem to be in a criminal lack of proposals for heroic characters, so I’m looking forward to changing it.
What’s the work?
Sonic the Hedgehog and its spin-off Sonic Universe are comic book series by Archie Comics, adaptations of the well-known Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. You probably know the story, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters fight against Dr. Robotnik, or the wizard Naugus, or whoever else is trying to cause trouble, and so on. After the Worlds Collide crossover with Mega Man, the series got rebooted and didn't last long after that, but the premise was largely the same, and it had time to tell us a new story about Silver's adventures, "The Silver Age", which is where today's hero originates from.
Who is Gold?
Believe it or not, Gold the Tenrec is Silver’s counterpart from an alternate dimension. A dimension that fell prey to the dreaded Second Devourer when she was just a kid. Escaping from the beast, she fell into a conveniently placed Genesis Portal and ended up in the Prime Zone. There, she was found by the Onyx City Council, who had this unpleasant habit of making anyone with psychokinetic powers (a group of Mobians Gold happens to belong to) disappear. The council wanted to make use of the girl’s powers, and thus made her one of them, and if she protested, well, she could kiss her free will goodbye.
The council was interested in the Genesis Portals, though pretended to be not when Professor von Schlemmer and Silver actually offered them their research. Gold decided to act, however, sending Silver a telepathic message, telling him to meet her at the council’s HQ this night. When Silver and Schlemmer arrive, she reveals her true identity, explains that the council are completely crazy (which wouldn’t be hard to guess, honestly), and you can probably guess the rest: the council captures the three, ties them up, forces Gold to open a Genesis Portal in spite of her warnings, Second Devourer escapes and starts petrifying the world.
Gold using her psychic powers to help Schlemmer.
The heroes need a solution, and Schlemmer has one: were Silver to be turned giant with the Bigger-Maker Machine, he’d be strong enough to take on the Devourer, but he has no time to recalibrate the device to make sure it works as intended. Gold offers her assistance, estabilishing a mental link between herself, the Professor, Silver and the Bit robots, allowing six minds to complete the calibration in no time. Silver fights the Second Devourer and defeats it. There was meant to be a continuation, with Gold likely involved as well, since the last we see of her is her, Silver and the Professor falling into another Genesis portal, but the series was cancelled before anything could be done,
Admirable standards?
Okay, I have to make a confession here: unlike the case is with Fleetway comics, I have yet to read all Archie post-reboot material. BUT, I did read many plot-crucial issues (including the Worlds Unite crossover, where the stakes peaked), so I do have a general understanding of the series’ Admirable Standards. While most of the Sonic games are canon to the comics, most of their events are kept off-page and thus don’t impact the narrative. In the comics proper, we have a number of heroes who saved the entire planet from destruction, like Shadow and Light Gaia, and a number of heroes who saved entire dimensions, like Sonic, Blaze and Silver. I believe, however, that while Gold, being a non-action girl, doesn’t technically defeat any villain directly, she helps Professor von Schlemmer turn Silver powerful enough to defeat the Second Devourer, who was explicitly endangering at least the entire planet by turning everything around to stone like the Time Eater did, given that Gold mentions that it took not only her city, but also her world, and it was up to its old tricks now that it ended up in Silver's, and since her help was most crucial to them, I think she barely, but meets the AS, especially since the reboot significantly cut them down. In regards to her resources: well, let’s be fair, estabilishing psychic links is about the most powerful thing she’s ever done, but she used it to the fullest. The only time where she confesses to be holding back her powers is when she is aware they may bring doom upon everyone instead, but that doesn't count.
I know, I know, you might say that Xander Payne (who's technically not even a Sonic character, but crosses into the Sonic universe during Worlds Unite, so her should count) tops her by undoing Sigma's damage to the multiverse and saving it (he may not be a hero, but said act appeared to be at least partially selfless), but let's be honest, do Gold's resources really compare to his? She was never seen opening Genesis Portals at will, only when the Council mind-controlled her, so I'm not sure she could have done the same thing as him. She doesn't have any projectile-based weapon like the one Xander used to kill Sigma either, so there you go.
Corrupting factors?
Nah, I haven't noticed any. She may have worked for the Onyx Council for years, but she never wanted to be a part of it, was blackmailed into it, and we don’t know if she actually engaged in any of their shady dealings and oppression of Onyx City people. In fact, she is very quick to apologize for nearly every inconvenience she causes to the heroes, like when her powers gave Silver a headache, so I bet there’s not a single mean bone in her body.
Verdict?
I’ll say yes.