A history of the Sonic Robots

[ToaArcan]

One of the most popular aspects of the Sonic franchise are the mechanical copies of the main protagonist, primarily Metal Sonic. However, the exact order of their appearances and the evolution of the concept is currently a less-than-clear thing, and I felt like going over them all. I'm putting this in the Mega Drive era folder, since the vast majority of their appearances were in those titles, with fewer appearing after that. I will not be covering the robots in other media like the shows and comics, though I will be discussing some of the discrepancies between the game lore and the comic stories, and I will use comic art for images because some of it looks better than the sprites.

 

Our long history of Sonic robots begins in Sonic 2 for the Game Gear/Master System, with the one and only Silver Sonic.

Yes, that is really what it looks like. 

Silver Sonic's role in the story differed based on the playthrough. If you hadn't collected five Chaos Emeralds, he would be the final boss. However, if you had found each of the Emeralds, hidden throughout the zones, his corpse would contain the sixth, and you would be able to proceed to the Crystal Egg Zone to rescue Tails from Robotnik's clutches. This particular robot appeared in the comic as part of a flashback during the "Champions" arc, heavily implied to be part of the comic's version of its game of origin. It received a slightly updated look, which made it a bit more dignified, and was labeled as a prototype, due to the comics creating the idea of a "Silver Sonic" series, and Ian needing to keep his own creation as the third model, even though the second model had been wiped from canon.

 

The second robot to grace our presence appeared in the Mega Drive version of Sonic 2, and is known as Mecha Sonic.

 

  

 

This robot is commonly mislabeled as Silver Sonic, or something to that effect, but its canonical name is Mecha Sonic. The misnomer was a result of Archie, who conflated it with its 8-bit counterpart during the Sonic Quest miniseries, and the name was later adopted by the fandom to differentiate it from the robot in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and Sonic's roboticized form. Nevertheless, its appearance in the non-canon Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, and the backstory for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, its name has been firmly established as Mecha Sonic.

Mecha Sonic appears to be a prototype of a later design, and is only the warm-up for the battle with the Death Egg Robot. 

 

Next up is the one robot that everyone is familiar with, Metal Sonic.

 

  

 

Metal's exact place in the timeline is uncertain, but I'm placing his first outing here. Unlike Mecha Sonic, he seemed to be designed more to match Sonic's speed than fight him in combat, though he has plenty of energy-based attacks of his own. Metal was initially little more than a mindless servant of Robotnik, though his AI would later evolve. He was initially seen kidnapping Amy Rose, and later raced against Sonic in Stardust Speedway, but upon losing, was disabled by Robotnik's own weapons and left to rust. An alternate version of this battle happened during the time paradox in Sonic Generations, where he displayed more aggressive tactics and was destroyed by Sonic. However, since this incarnation of Metal Sonic was reactivated in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, we can assume that the Generations version of the battle is non-canonical.

 

Following the loss of Metal Sonic, Robotnik brought another robot to Angel Island, the second Mecha Sonic.

 

 

Also known as that robot that curbstomped everyone in SMBZ. Confirmed to be an upgraded replacement for the previous Mecha Sonic, this particular robot guarded the Sky Sanctuary. It displayed the ability to drive vehicles, or at least Eggmobiles, and survived its defeat at the hands of Sonic and Tails. It later returned in Knuckles' story, having seemingly gone rogue after the defeat of Eggman, where it was revealed to be the one that stole the Master Emerald, destroying the EggRobo that had been hounding Knuckles by accident, then battling him by himself. During the battle, Mecha Sonic became the first antagonist to manifest a Super form, albeit a fairly unstable one.

 

Mecha Sonic MkII's exact fate is ambiguous. Since the Master Emerald is recovered, that would make the ending where Mecha Sonic self-destructs and Knuckles reclaims the Emerald canon. However, said ending is only seen if the player collects all of the Chaos Emeralds, something that would be difficult if they had scattered after Sonic used them in Doomsday Zone. Ultimately, it is most likely that Mecha Sonic was destroyed.

 

Following this, Eggman reactivated the damaged Metal Sonic, and repaired him in the Mad Gear Zone. After that, he was sent to recover an energy source from Lost Labyrinth Zone, which he absorbed, growing in power. Metal later opposed Sonic and Tails on his own in Episode 2, displaying several new abilities before ultimately being defeated and disappearing for a time.

 

Metal would next reappear in Knuckles Chaotix, where it appeared as a surprise final boss. Upon being separated from the Stage Select, it transforms into a monstrous red form, that had no thighs for some reason. THis design was labeled "Titan Metal Sonic" by Archie. The form was defeated by the Chaotix, but Metal Sonic was shown escaping with Robotnik, having survived its battle.

 

 

Metal Sonic would make a return in Sonic R, alongside EggRobo, and joined by the Tails Doll and Metal Knuckles, but the lack of story in the game beyond a plot intro in the manual meant that his exact role beyond being sent to join a race is unknown. 

 

Sonic the Fighters brought us a new robot, known as Mecha Sonic Model No.29, also known as Rocket Metal.

 

 

Rocket Metal's role in the game is incredibly brief. It only appears in the intro, where it transforms into a rocket and flies around the Death Egg II, before disappearing forever. Any elaboration on what this design actually is remains lacking. While Archie comics have made an adaptation of the game, it was incredibly loose- Neither Robotnik nor the Death Egg are important at all, and Rocket Metal did not appear outside of an off-panel that made jokes about his head being too heavy to move. Yes, really. In Arcade modeRocket Metal can be selected by hacking, and, like fellow "lost character" Honey the Cat, copies moves from other fighters. In what very weak meta the game has, Rocket Metal was considered the strongest character. However, unlike Honey, he was not added to the 2012 rerelease of the game.

 

In the game proper, Metal Sonic is the penultimate foe, and one of the few challenging opponents in the game. In fact, he's actually tougher than the final boss, Robotnik. However,he is ultimately defeated by Super Sonic, and left in the exploding Death Egg.

 

Metal Sonic next appeared in the lobby of the Final Egg, deactivated and in stasis. However, the more interesting robot in this case is the unnamed one in the second tube.

 

 

THe robot bears a distinct resemblance to the Mecha Sonic models from Sonic 2 and 3, almost a mix between their designs, possessing Mecha Sonic I's unpainted body and hand designs, along with Mecha Sonic II's visor, flight capabilities, and some semblance of its opening chest design. Archie labeled it Silver Sonic Ve2.0, while the game version would most likely be a Mecha Sonic model. 

 

Metal Sonic would finally make a major return to the main series in Sonic Heroes, with new abilities and a new form, known as Neo Metal Sonic.

 

 

The exact origin of Neo Metal's ability, copying powers, is unknown, but I would posit that it's Gizoid tech. We know that Eggman had access to Gizoids before the events of Sonic Heroes (Even though Battle is set afterwards because Shadow is there) because he built his own models of them before he built Omega: The Gizoids he built are designated E-121 Phi, while Omega is designated E-123. So, perhaps he upgraded Metal Sonic with Gizoid tech, but it caused him to gain full sentience and go rogue. 

Neo Metal locks Eggman up, and using his new power to shapeshift, takes on his form. He also briefly takes on the shape of Sonic to kidnap Chocola and Froggy, but nothing comes of this: When Team Rose encounters Sonic, Amy does all the talking and tries to force Sonic to marry her rather than asking him about her friends' missing pets, because Amy is a terrible friend. Sonic never actually finds out that he was implicated in the kidnapping. He spends the rest of the game disguised as Eggman, using his battles with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow to assimilate their data, allowing himself to gain full power, along with absorbing the data on Chaos from Froggy and Chocola, then uses this to transform into the enormous Metal Overlord. An attempt by three of the teams to hinder it before its transformation is complete fails, allowing it to assume the full form. In this state, Metal appeared to be developing some level of insanity, claiming to be "The real Sonic" and that Sonic was his "loathsome copy", while simultaneous acknowledging that his name was Metal Sonic and that he was "created for the sole purpose of destroying [Sonic]".

 

 

Despite being able to casually throw around battleships and possessing a host of other dangerous abilities, Metal Overlord was ultimately defeated by Super Sonic, Super Tails, and Super Knuckles, and reverted to its base Metal Sonic form upon defeat. The robot was last seen in the clutches of Omega. Following this event, Metal had a mere three more chronological appearances, in Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, and Sonic Free Riders. Due to the Rivals series appearances being devoid of personality, and one of them being controlled by someone else, it is my personal belief that the robot that appeared there was not the same Metal Sonic that had appeared from Sonic CD to Sonic Heroes.

 

The Metal Sonic that appears in the first Sonic Rivals title is a mindless drone that works for Eggman Nega. This Metal Sonic was unsuccessful in hindering Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and Silver as they rushed to stop Eggman Nega from transforming everything in the world into a trading card. Yes, really. That really is the plot to Sonic Rivals. In the sequel, Eggman has a Metal Sonic of his own, which is also a drone and is controlled directly by him. Nega returns as well, and this time brings with him a new Metal Sonic of his own. Really, it's just the one we're familiar with wearing a new coat of paint, and it's even destroyed by the one that Eggman uses. I would like to posit that this robot, Metal Sonic 3.0, is the same entity as the drone Nega used in the first game, only upgraded.

 

 

Metal Sonic's final appearance so far is in Sonic Free Riders. He once again appears in disguise, following Team Dark as E-10000B, and entering the races with them. He is revealed to be Metal Sonic after the disguise malfunctions and appears to explode.

 

Once again, Metal has a personality, is obsessed with defeating Sonic, and acts separately from Eggman. This is why I believe him to be the same Metal Sonic from CD through to Heroes, which would explain why he is following Team Dark, because he was last seen with them. Although Metal is defeated at the end of the story, he is not destroyed, and flies off. 

 

Metal Sonic is almost certainly going to appear in the 25th anniversary game, but given SEGA and Pontaff's lax attitude to continuity, it will likely be just as an Eggman minion. In that case, I'll treat him as the same robot from Rivals 2.

[WarTraveller]

So what you're suggesting is that, in theory, there are currently two main Metal Sonics; the original CD-Free Riders model, who has gone rogue, and the Rivals-Specific model that Eggman seems to control directly. Seems like a good idea. I just wish they did more with Mecha MKII and Rocket Metal, mainly because the former is badass and the latter has a cool design.

[F07E]

2 hours ago, ToaArcan said:

The second robot to grace our presence appeared in the Mega Drive version of Sonic 2, and is known as Mecha Sonic.

 

  

I'm really sorry for how unrelated this is:

I don't know if it was accidental or intentional, but barring the shoes and head, the designs have an uncanny resemblance to one another. aside from that mecha sonic 1 is my favorite.

[Wulfsbane]

IT was probably accidental

[Mike Arcade]

Interesting, very interesting topic here, I like it.

Though I would like to point out several things, it is true that the term Silver Sonic applies only to the Archie Comics, in fact the Sonic 2 GG Silver Sonic that is referred to in the international manual, in fact according to the original manual in japan he is referred to as Mecha Sonic, technically we have 4 Mecha Sonics in Sega Sonic, including Test Tube Mecha in SA1.

It's funny to me how Mecha Sonic from S3&K has the most prominent ability of using the emeralds to use a Super Form, you'd think SEGA would latch on to him but Metal Sonic just ends up being more popular, unless we're talking about the fanbase which could make that comparison more head to head. I mean I would like to see Mecha make a new appearance but that's highly unlikely.

Rocket Metal I believe is actually a robot Tails made to spy on The Death Egg II, but I can't remember where I got that info from, I'll have to fact check that.

I would like to point out that "Titan Metal Sonic" as he's dubbed in Archie Sonic is called Metal Sonic Kai when it comes to Sega Sonic, while Chaotix is somewhat unfinished if you ask me I think that's due to Robotnik using his Chaos Ring on him to undergo that...transformation? It's very unclear, much like Chaotix, and Sega Sonic in general. XP

I'd also like to say that Metal Sonic in Rivals 2 pulled something of his own "will" at the end of Rivals 2, that being using a Chaos Emerald he had on him the whole time to get himself and Shadow out of that Ifrit Dimension. It's speculated that Eggman wiped Metal's Memory after Heroes though unconfirmed, but I don't think there are 2 Metals running around, just one that keeps getting rebuilt, going rogue, and getting mind wiped.

You know Arcna, you just blew my mind a bit regarding the games, because I never presumed that Eggman could have had Emerl for who knows how long, and used him as a basis for Metal's Copy Ability. Actually, considering how Metal is similar to Dural in that game Robotnik might have had Emerl for years and used some Gizoid Tech on Metal around that time as early as that. I had a completely different thought process regarding the copy ability in Heroes, because it's never actually explained in the game. Thanks man, hope to see what other sort of Robots you have on this topic and your thoughts on them, though I would like to point out to go for either the Badniks next or The E-Series.