Metal Sonic
From Sonic Earth
Metal Sonic (メタル ・ソニック , Metaru Sonikku?) is the fictional "robotic counterpart" and a rival of video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. Being a robot, Metal Sonic has no gender; however, Metal Sonic is referred to as being male, since he is a robot based on a male character, as well as having seemingly masculine programming. According to official polls, Metal Sonic is the most popular villain in the series, and the second most wanted character for future appearances, beaten only by Shadow the Hedgehog. (and requested in one part of the poll coming ninth in the top ten of which character people would want to have their own game) His appearances since the 16-bit games have mostly been reserved for big events, such as Sonic Heroes, where he is the main villain. However, he is also a playable character in some of the new games, but with little or no part in the games' stories.
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[edit] Game History
The first appearance of Metal Sonic was in Sonic the Hedgehog CD. He is considered the successor of the robot known as Silver Sonic or Mecha Sonic, who originally made an appearance in both Sonic the Hedgehog 2 games (see below). In this game, he is created and controlled by Eggman and is sent back in time to change the past so that Eggman can rule the future. Later, he kidnaps Amy Rose, who had been following Sonic. In Act III of the Stardust Speedway Zone, Eggman forces Sonic to race Metal Sonic in order to save the girl.
Metal Sonic's second major appearance was in Knuckles' Chaotix, where he attempts to absorb the Chaos Rings' powers to wreak havoc in Newtrogic High. However, he was defeated by the Chaotix before he could. This occasion also featured a massive, red Sonic robot that is speculated to be Metal Sonic, but lacks a transformation sequence to directly indicate as such.
Metal Sonic was the second to last boss in Sonic Triple Trouble, and had a "true" fight instead of the race previously held in Sonic CD. Metal Sonic also had appearances in Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R as a racer. In the former, he raced in his "Blue Devil" vehicle, and the latter had him using his engines. In Sonic the Fighters, he was the second to last boss where he used the moves of all previously encountered characters within the game, in addition to his own. If Sonic is the character and has not lost a single round up to this point, Super Sonic can be secretly unlocked during his fight. Metal Sonic was also going to appear in Sonic X-Treme.
Metal Sonic then had two cameos in Sonic Adventure. One was in Amy Rose's flashback to the events in Sonic CD, and the other one inside a tube in one of Dr. Eggman's hideouts, opposite of another Sonic robot.
His next appearance was as an unlockable multiplayer character in Sonic Adventure 2, and subsequently a standard multiplayer character in the GameCube remake, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. He can project a black shield to protect himself from the attacks of other characters, but has no special attacks of his own. An Action Replay code allows the player to use him in single player stages and Chao Gardens. After that, he had a cameo as an opponent in Sonic Pinball Party's Story Mode. He then appeared as a reward for getting all of the Emblems in the GameCube and PC remake of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure DX: Directors Cut. The player could then play time trials as Metal Sonic in Sonic's stages. Metal Sonic essentially acted as an alternate skin for Sonic. In the trial mode menu screen, he fills the slot that is used by Super Sonic in "Adventure" mode.
His official return to the games was as the main antagonist in Sonic Heroes, where he transformed himself into Neo Metal Sonic. Neo Metal Sonic has elf-like shoes, shoulder blades, gauntlets, body armor, a large spike at the top of his back jet, a cape (which actually protrudes out of the back of his waist, hence, a side-skirt), longer spines on his head, a spiky belt, and white stripes similar to Shadow's design. A common misconception is that Metal Sonic gained his upgrade and shape shifting abilities via the data of Chaos. This could however be incorrect, as Metal had shape shifted into Sonic in order to steal Froggy and Chocola, which had the data of Chaos.
Metal Sonic's appearance in recent games.Past failures have made Metal Sonic more ambitious; After turning against Doctor Eggman and assuming his guise, he copies the physical data (and/or abilities) of teams Sonic, Rose, Dark, and Chaotix along with Chaos, and transforms into his ultimate form, Metal Madness, and finally Metal Overlord. After he is defeated by Team Sonic in his Metal Overlord form, he reverts to his original form. A powerless Metal Sonic questions why he cannot beat Sonic, and Sonic then tells Metal Sonic that he'll accept any future rematch and races away. Metal Sonic shuts down and is picked up off the ground by Omega, who exchanges a glance with Shadow.
Recent data from Sonic Team of Japan's official website Sonic Channel reveals that after Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic was reset by Eggman, and returned to his role as a mindless servant.
In Sonic Riders, E-10000R is said to be made using the same engine type that Metal Sonic was built with.
In Sonic Rivals, Metal Sonic is the 5th playable character. He appears working with Eggman Nega, trying to stop Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver from foiling Eggman Nega's plans. It is unknown why Metal Sonic is working with Eggman Nega. Metal Sonic (in various forms) also appears on 7 of the 150 collectible cards in the game.
Metal Sonic is confirmed to appear in the upcoming Sonic Rivals 2.
[edit] Personality
Prior to Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic just seems to be a mindless servant to Doctor Eggman. However, it is revealed in Sonic Heroes that he does have an intellect of his own, and is aggressive, dominating, ruthless and power hungry. He was once completely obedient to Eggman, but in Sonic Heroes he betrayed his creator, (the same thing that E-123 Omega and E-102 Gamma did) and took the task of trying to achieve world domination into his own claws. He is considered one of the few truly evil characters in the series.
Metal Sonic is absolutely determined to defeat his namesake, Sonic the Hedgehog. He may actually believe that he is in fact the true Sonic, and that Sonic is his copy, as suggested by some of his quotes from Sonic Heroes, including: "Long time no see, Sonic, my loathsome copy..." and "I am the ultimate overlord, Metal Sonic! I am the REAL Sonic!". However, in the final battle, he also says "I was created for the sole purpose of destroying you". This creates a mental paradox: If Metal Sonic truly believes himself to be the original Sonic, yet he also believes that he was created for the purpose of destroying Sonic, then he could probably be considered insane. It could also suggest that his goal is to defeat Sonic and thus, become the "true" Sonic by doing so. Also during this final battle, Metal Sonic reveals a tormented side to his personality, explaining that he could not even succeed in what he was designed to do (defeat Sonic) and was left with no purpose.
[edit] Abilities
Metal Sonic's engine enables him to hover slightly above the ground while moving at higher speeds. As a duplicate of Sonic, Metal Sonic can match or even exceed Sonic's speed. He generally has better acceleration compared to other characters, but this is countered by his poor braking ability. Although he possesses many of Sonic's abilities including the homing attack, he is capable of higher and longer jumps than his rival, as well as incredible physical strength and endurance.
Metal Sonic's offensive capabilities include being able to shield himself from attacks in the form of lightning, or a "Black Shield". He is also able to encase himself in a fireball and accelerate in a move similar to Super Sonic's powered dashes. As seen in Sonic the Fighters, Metal Sonic can fire a laser beam out of his torso intake, and fights using his sharp fingers in a stabbing motion.
Another of Metal Sonic's primary tactics is his ability to copy genetic data from his opponents. This usually results in him being able to use his opponent's attacks. He is also shown to be able to shape shift into forms resembling others in a similar fashion to the T-1000 from the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Whether his ability to shape shift was a one time deal remains to be seen. In Sonic Rivals he displays Chaos Control for the second time (the first being in Sonic Heroes), and can also use Knuckles' strength and Silver's psychokinesis powers due to copying the other characters in the game (whether he retained these abilities and can use them in any future games is unknown. If Metal Sonic does indeed retain these powers, he could very well become a foe even more fearsome than Mephiles and Black Doom.
Metal Sonic's copying ability has differed between games. In the first games, he could only copy Sonic's abilities and speed. In Sonic the Fighters, his move set was assembled from some of the other fighters in the game, but with a higher level of strength. He showed his real talents in Sonic Heroes where he could perfectly copy data and abilities and also morph into other forms. In Sonic Rivals, Metal Sonic could copy the signature move of the character he's facing (Sonic Boom, Chaos Control etc.) and some of his rival's attributes (strength/speed) were carried on to him.
Metal Sonic has a greater speech range compared to other robots built by Eggman, most of whom are mute or speak in monotone. His voice in Heroes was created by having the respective voice actors (English and Japanese) for Sonic record Metal's dialogue in a gruff tone and then applying further digital effects to these recordings. In most games released before Sonic Heroes however, Metal Sonic's voice is simply electronic noises.
In Neo form, in Sonic Heroes, he demonstrated that he is able to shoot super powerful beams of lightning from his hand, as he shoots one up and it comes back down, destroying the entire tower of the Final Fortress.
In Metal Overlord/Metal Madness form he is able to shoot crystal beams from his torso, fire capture type missiles from his hands, explosion type missiles from his back, and shoot a large continuous stream of fire from his other hand. He also has the endurance or shielding to withstand any attack available in the game which is made against him by Team Super, except for a Team Blast. He also demonstrates enough physical strength to lift and throw an Egg Fleet battleship with one hand.
[edit] Transformations
[edit] Mega Metal Sonic
An unnamed giant red Sonic robot sometimes referred to as "Super Metal Sonic" or "Mega Metal Sonic" appears at the end of Knuckles' Chaotix, although it is not a true super form. It is generally thought to be an enhanced form of Metal Sonic, but its actual status is unknown. Prior to the fight with it, Metal Sonic is seen badly damaged and flying off together with Eggman in a giant ring, and out of nowhere the giant red robot appears. Its equipped with massive limbs, which can separate from the torso, and also a Pulse Cannon, a giant laser built into its torso. Despite its power, it was defeated by Knuckles and company.
[edit] Metal Overlord/Madness
At the climax of Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic sends a bolt of lightning to the sky which destroys a large section of Eggman's flagship, creating a powerful vortex. The vortex sucks up several of Eggman's robot parts, which Metal Sonic absorbs. He then transforms into a giant, robotic dragon-like form (something similar to a metallic Perfect Chaos) known as Metal Madness. Metal Madness resembled Metal Sonic slightly, with the same blue coloring and head spikes. It had two eyes, one on top of the other, its right hand converted into a flamethrower and its left could fire its fingers like missiles. It could also project its spines at enemies. The only spot where Metal Madness could be attacked was a spot on its torso, which changed color. If it was blue, speed could not attack it, if it was yellow, flight could not attack it, and if it was red, power could not attack it.
Team Rose, Team Chaotix and Team Dark fought Metal Madness, who then completed his transformation by sprouting a pair of wings, lengthening his claws and flying away into the sky. He had now become Metal Overlord. In addition to his other attacks, he could fire crystals, use Chaos Control to freeze time temporarily, and pick up Egg Fleet battleships to throw. He was quickly followed by Team Sonic, who used super transformation to pursue him. The heroes fought and defeated Metal Overlord, who tumbled down to the flagship and reverted to his original form.
It is believed by fans that the name "Metal Madness" is a reference to "Metallic Madness", the final level of Sonic CD, the game in which Metal Sonic first appeared. In fact, in the beta version of Sonic Heroes, Metal Madness once had a different color scheme; he was a metallic purple/silver color, which were striking similar to the color palette designs from Past and Good Future versions of the aforementioned level.
[edit] Voice actors
- In Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle), Sonic Adventure DX, and Sonic Rivals, Metal Sonic does not speak. Instead, a series of computer-generated sounds are used (similar in all games), and thus Metal Sonic has no voice actor.
- In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Metal Sonic was voiced by Gary Dehan.
- In Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic was played by Ryan Drummond (with some computer distortion effects added to his voice) in English, and Junichi Kanemaru in Japanese. This is so far the only game where Metal Sonic has had audio speech.
