Metal Sonic
Metal Sonic is the "robotic counterpart" of video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. Being a robot, Metal Sonic has no gender; however, Metal is usually referred to as being male, since he is a robot based on a male character. As well as resembling Sonic, he can also perform Sonic's 'homing attack'. He stands at 3 feet, 3 inches (100 cm), the same height as Sonic, and weighs 257.4 lb.
Game history
The first appearance of Metal Sonic was in Sonic CD for the Sega CD. In this game, he is under the control of Dr. Robotnik and is sent back in time to change the past so that Robotnik 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 but 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 final boss (Eggman was not the final boss, but a "bonus stage"). If Sonic is the character, Super Sonic can be secretly unlocked during his fight. Metal Sonic was also going to appear in Sonic X-Treme.
Metal Sonic had two cameos in Sonic Adventure. One was in Amy Rose's flashback, the other one inside a tube in one of Dr. Eggman's hideouts.
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 would allow the player to use him in 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 gift for getting all of the Emblems in the GameCube remake of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure DX: Directors Cut, one could then play time trials as Metal Sonic in Sonic's stages; Metal Sonic essentially acted as an alternate skin for Sonic.
His next appearance was as the main antagonist in Sonic Heroes. After turning against Doctor Eggman and assuming his guise he copies the physical data (and/or abilities) of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Froggy and Chocola to assume his ultimate form, Metal Madness, and later Metal Overlord. This not only increased Metal Sonic's power, but gave him shape-shifting abilities and a new look (a skirt, elf-like shoes, shoulder blades, gauntlets, body armour and longer spines on his head and also white stripes similar to Shadow's design, which is quite popular among fans). He manages to achieve this through the use of Chocola, since Chao have a distinct connection to Chaos, the water monster from Sonic Adventure, and Froggy, who periodically had Chaos' tail in Sonic Adventure (although he has shape-shifting abilities before he acquires Chaos' abilities). After he is defeated by Team Super Sonic in his Metal Overlord form, he reverts to his original form. Metal Sonic questions why he can't defeat Sonic and lowers his head. Sonic then tells Metal Sonic that he'll accept any future rematches and races away. Metal Sonic passes out cold and is lifted off the ground by Omega, who exchanges a glance with Shadow. Metal Sonic has not appeared since.
In Sonic Riders, the E-10000Gs are said to be made using Metal Sonic's engine parts.
Personality
Prior to Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic just seems to be a mindless servant to Doctor Eggman. However, it is evidenced in Heroes that he does have an intellect of his own, and is aggressive, dominative and power hungry. He was once completely obedient to Eggman, but eventually betrayed his creator, and took the task of trying to achieve world domination into his own claws. Metal Sonic and the alien overlord Black Doom are often considered the most evil characters in the Sonic series, as neither one has ever shown any redeeming qualites.
Metal Sonic is absolutely determined to defeat his namesake, Sonic the Hedgehog, and he possibly believes that he is in fact the true Sonic, and that Sonic is his copy.
Abilities
- Being a duplicate of Sonic, Metal Sonic can match or even exceed Sonic's lightning speed, though in some games he is slower. He also possesses most of Sonic's abilities.
- Metal Sonic can copy genetic data from his opponents to use their abilities.
- As a result of absorbing the data of Chaos, Metal Sonic could shapeshift and turn into liquid.
- Metal Sonic was able to perform Shadow's Chaos Control by virtue of absorbing Shadow's data. It's uncertain if he's still able to perform it, or if he was indeed able to perform it before copying Shadow's data.
- In his original appearance in Sonic CD, Metal Sonic can shield himself in lightning, to destroy spikes, or superaccelerate to catch up to Sonic, becoming a fireball in the process.
- Metal Sonic can fire energy blasts that cause lightning (as seen in Sonic Heroes, possibly exclusive to his Pre-Madness form)
- In Sonic the Fighters, he can shoot a beam out of his torso.
- In Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Metal Sonic is not capable of special attacks, but is able to create a Black Shield to protect himself (except from time-stopping abilities).
- In Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Metal Sonic has higher acceleration than any other character on action race without a speed up.
- Metal Sonic possesses impressive speech capabilities, with pitch fluctuating naturally through speech, unlike most other robots, which tend to speak in monotone or with unnatural pitch fluctuation. However, in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Metal Sonic's voice is simply electronic noises. Since those games come before Sonic Heroes, where he first shows his speech capabilities, it is possible this was due to an upgrade, and Metal Sonic was not originally able to do such.
"Super" forms
Super Mecha Sonic
It was not Metal Sonic but Mecha Sonic who once used the Master Emerald to power up. Knuckles defeated his regular incarnation but there was some power left in him. His eyes glew yellow and he then boosted backwards. Knuckles followed him and the Master Emerald was revealed. Mecha Sonic then jumped atop the Master Emerald and charged up with the power held within. He then jumped and a similar transformation to Super Sonic's occurred. His blue metallic finish turned golden orange and his spines seemed to lengthen. His attacks included spin dashing toward Knuckles' current position and also firing three charged balls of Super Energy. Once these were fired, Mecha Sonic seemed to have lost his Super Power and needed to recharge atop the Master Emerald. It is in this stage where he was weak and could be attacked. Once certain damage was taken, Mecha Sonic could no longer absorb the power fully. His appearance was slightly weaker and he fired off energy rings in eight directions. This was his last transformation and the power seemed to flag every 5 seconds or so, allowing Knuckles to attack him and defeat him.
Knuckles' Chaotix Robot
A giant red Sonic robot appears at the end of Knuckles' Chaotix. Although thought to be an enhanced form of Metal Sonic, this is speculation. Prior to the fight with it, Metal Sonic is seen badly damaged and flying off together with Eggman in a giant ring. Out of nowhere, the 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. This robot is referred to by many fans as Mega Metal Sonic.
This robot is shown on the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog comic #159 with a flag that says "Go team!".
Metal Madness and Metal Overlord
At the climax of Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic fires a bolt of lightning into the sky and 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 something similar to a metallic Perfect Chaos, known as Metal Madness. Metal Madness resembled Metal Sonic slightly, with the same blue coloring. It had two eyes on top of each other. It had its right hand converted into a flamethrower and its left converted into a missile shooter (when using either weapon he'd say "burn to death" or "get away"). 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, etc. 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 Super Sonic, which consisted of Super Sonic, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna. The heroes fought and defeated Metal Overlord, who tumbled down to the flagship.
In the beta version of Sonic Heroes, Metal Madness has a color problem, thus his torso was white, as in the image.
Other Sonic robots
Sonic 2
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Another robot often confused with Metal Sonic is the Sonic robot from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, called Mecha Sonic in Japan and Silver Sonic in the western comics. There has been much confusion about whether the name "Mecha Sonic" really is an official name or not, but it was in fact mentioned in both the original Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog 2 manual, the Japanese version of Sonic Jam, and many official Japanese guides (though since "Mecha" is merely short for "Mechanical", it is questionable whether "Mecha Sonic" really is the robot's true name). This presumed prototype did not have Metal's painted blue color and was also very clunky compared to the sleeker and generally more Sonic-like Metal Sonic.
Sonic 2 (8 bit)
In the 8-bit version of the game Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a similar Sonic robot appeared. This robot was also called Mecha Sonic in the games Japanese manual, but referred to as Silver Sonic in the American manual.
Sonic and Knuckles
Later on in Sonic & Knuckles, a Sonic robot appeared in the Sky Sanctuary Zone and attacked both Sonic and Knuckles. It too was called Mecha Sonic in the Japanese version of Sonic Jam, but isn't referred to at all in American manuals, with many fans in the west choosing to refer to him as Mecha Sonic since it differentiates him from Metal Sonic. Against Sonic and Tails, he appeared three times in Sky Sanctuary — twice in machines Dr. Eggman had used in Sonic the Hedgehog (Green Hill Zone Act 3) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Metropolis Zone Act 3) and once in a one-on-one fight. Against Knuckles he fought one-on-one, as in the final fight with Sonic and Tails, but in the second phase of the battle he used the Master Emerald to turn invincible, not unlike Super Sonic, for brief periods of time.
Sonic Adventure
Another Sonic robot is seen in Sonic Adventure, inside a tube in one of Dr. Eggman's hideouts, right next to Metal Sonic. It looked like something of a cross between the previous versions.
Whether these Mecha Sonics are different robots or if they are one and the same that can transform or just always gets rebuilt whenever he is destroyed (like Metal Sonic) is source of much debate among fans, as there is no official material that states anything about this. There is also debate on the names, since there has not been a conclusive statement on them.
Sonic the Comic
In the United Kingdom's official Sonic publication, Sonic the Comic, Metal Sonic was introduced in the magazine's adaptation of Sonic CD, a story entitled "The Sonic Terminator." Relegating "Metal Sonic" to the character's title, Sonic's robot double was redubbed with the moniker of "Metallix" (hence, he was "Metallix, the Metal Sonic"). Metallix lured Sonic to the Miracle Planet, which Robotnik had Cyberformed to be used as a power source for the robot, by capturing Amy Rose. Unable to defeat Metallix, Sonic used the Time Stone to travel back in time to prevent the planet's cyberforming and thus erase Metallix from existence.
Writer Nigel Kitching's original name for the character was "Metallico"; Metallix was editor Richard Burton's suggestion.
Brotherhood of Metallix
A new model of Metallix, based on Mecha Sonic from Sonic and Knuckles, appeared during the comic's adaptation of Sonic and Knuckles, stealing the Master Emerald for Robotnik to use as the power core of his new Death Egg. Metallix drew power from the emerald and incapacitated Knuckles, but Sonic was able to destroy him by using the emerald's power to become Super Sonic. Before Super Sonic ripped him to pieces, the new Metallix revealed that both he and the original Metallix were members of an elite brotherhood.
This brotherhood soon revealed itself when Knuckles was accidentally transported into the Special Zone and encountered Chaotix. Operating out of Robotnik's abandoned Egg Fortress in the Special Zone, the Brotherhood of Metallix — innumerable Metallixes identical to the original, ruled over by a giant red and gold Emperor — had been charged with producing the ultimate badnik version of Sonic, but had developed their own plans and goals. With the help of the turncoat Chaotix member, Nack the Weasel, the Brotherhood of Metallix captured the Omni-Viewer, Chaotix's sentient, space-time transporter. With Knuckles' help, Chaotix were able to retrieve the Omni-Viewer and create a duplicate version in order to travel through time and space. It appeared that the Brotherhood had been destroyed by a neural disruptor cannon, but they had in fact faked their deaths in order to continue their operations unhindered.
Final battle
In their next move, the Brotherhood captured Grimer, Doctor Robotnik's chief scientist, who had created the Metallix design in the first place. They charged him with building the Alpha Device, a device that began to cyberform the Miracle Planet once again. Sonic's attempt to stop the plan apparently succeeded, but his ally, Porker Lewis, was trapped on the Miracle Planet when it vanished from Mobius orbit in its usual pattern. During that month, the Metallixes reasserted themselves, captured Porker and completed the cyberforming of the planet. A Metallix, disguised as Porker, was left to stand guard as the Metallixes departed into Mobius' past with their copy of the Omni-Viewer, and when they returned, they encountered Sonic and Chaotix, who had come to investigate. But then the terrifying truth became apparent - the Metallixes had changed history, and Mobius had become a city-planet, covered with filthy industry, where surviving Mobians lived underground.
The reason for the change soon became apparent, as Sonic and Chaotix attempted to fix the timeline by using the real Omni-Viewer - the Brotherhood of Metallix had traveled back in time to the point of Doctor Robotnik's creation, and removed from the fridge the rotten egg that would transform Ovi Kintobor into Ivo Robotnik. Kintobor never became Robotnik, and the Metallixes, created by Grimer alone, ruled the planet. Retrieving the egg, Sonic and Chaotix returned to Kintobor's lab and replaced it, and then, as Kintobor held it in his hand, Sonic yanked a cable to trip him up, triggering the chain of events that turned him into Doctor Robotnik. Despite the disturbing revelation that he was responsible for creating the greatest evil on Mobius, Sonic returned to the present with Chaotix, where the robots still held control of the Miracle Planet. Forced into an alliance with Doctor Robotnik, Sonic retrieved a device from the villain that deactivated all the Metallixes in a pitched final battle (Sonic later claimed that he found it anti-cliamctic that the Emperor Metallix and his army were defeated by a simple push of a button).
Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Comic
Though it was not his first true appearance in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic, a Metal Sonic-like robot appeared in issue #9. He was known as Pseudo-Sonic, and was destroyed by the end of the issue. Pseudo-Sonic also appeared in an episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Metal Sonic himself first appeared, albeit under the name Mecha Sonic, in the comic's 25th issue, which featured a Sonic CD adaptation. Here, he raced Sonic, like in the game, as part of Dr. Robotnik's trap, but was destroyed at the end of the issue.
Metal Sonic would later return in the series' Knuckles' Chaotix adaptation. Here, he would be transformed into a giant red version of himself by an item known as a Power Gem, before being destroyed by a similarly empowered Knuckles.
Metal Sonic's next appearance would follow the Sonic Adventure adaption, in a two-part story where he would ambush Sonic and Tails. He had rebuilt himself, using the power gem that had empowered him as a power source, and boasted a new design that included an arm cannon. After kidnapping Tails, Metal Sonic made Sonic race for his friend's life towards the Mt. Mobius volcano. However, ultimately, it was Sonic's concern for Tails that showed Metal Sonic that he was wrong, and ultimately saved the two of them from the erupting volcano, similar to the events depicted in the anime.
A new Metal Sonic created from scratch by Dr. Robotnik has appeared in issues #145-149, as part of a storyline involving a 3-way battle between himself, Shadow, and Sonic. Also featured in the battle was Shadow's robotic ally Isaac.
A group of Metal Sonic troopers made their appearance in issues #157-159. They had been created by Rotor and Uncle Chuck as a special defence force to replace Sonic after his disappearance in issue #125. Their appearance was based on Metal Sonic's "improved" design from Sonic Heroes.
Silver Sonic
Silver Sonic appeared as a separate robot in Archie's SonicQuest limited series. Here, he was portrayed as a gigantic lumbering robotic version of Sonic, but after defeating it, Sonic crawled inside and took control of it in order to battle Robotnik in his own battle armor. Sonic abandoned the shell when he escaped the Death Egg.
Robotnik would create a smaller, more individualized version of Silver Sonic following the Sonic Adventure adaption, where he would use it to attack Station Square. This version was again defeated by Sonic, but this time, he would be reprogrammed as Station Square's defender. Unfortunately, he would later be destroyed by Shadow in the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation (Issue #98).
This Silver Sonic known as Silver Sonic II, would have his own personality based on Sonic's completely even with the same attitude of Sonic. The robot would also be equipped with laser eyes, and a jet pack. One might notice on the front of the issue Silver Sonic II appears in (which the cover art is based on a fighting-style genre video-game), Silver Sonic II health bar would be labeled "Mecha Sonic". Also, Silver Sonic II and the robot in the second capsule in Eggman's base in Sonic Adventure would look almost identical, however the only difference is that the robot in the capsule is double Sonic's size whereas Silver Sonic II is almost exactly as big as Sonic.
Mecha Sonic
In the Archie comics, Mecha Sonic would refer to Sonic when he was roboticized in issue #39 and the following Mecha Madness special. After being captured by Nack the Weasel, Sonic would be roboticized and turned on the village of Knothole. Despite going up against both Bunnie Rabbot and Knuckles, Mecha Sonic managed to destroy large portions of the city, leaving the Freedom Fighters with only one choice. Knuckles roboticized himself, using a neural overrider to retain his will, and fought Mecha Sonic. Ultimately, the fight went to Robotropolis, setting off a nuclear explosion that Mecha Sonic saved Mecha Knuckles from at the last minute. Sonic would later be restored by the power of his one billionth collected Power Ring, and though he was put on trial for his crimes as Mecha Sonic, he would clear his name.
Mecha Sonic made a shorter appearance later on when he and Tails were transformed into robots by an alien race, to fight Dr. Robotnik and Snively (who had been transformed back into organics) in order to prove which was superior - robots or organics.
Animation
Metal Sonic starred in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie as Sonic's main rival. In the movie, they had a mindlink and were able to hear each other's thoughts. Near the end of the movie, Tails attempted to reprogram him to be on Sonic's side, but Metal ended up being knocked into a lava pit.
Throughout Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Metal Sonic was referred to as "Hyper Metal Sonic". Although the name implies that Metal Sonic is in Super form, this is not the case. All this robot really is in actuality is normal Metal Sonic with a few variations. The jet on his back has the strength of a tornado when used and the spines of Metal Sonic are a bit more streamlined towards the back, whereas Hyper Metal Sonic has his spined pointed upwards. Other than that, the word "Hyper" is the only thing separating the two. Constantly throughout the movie, they would refer to Hyper Metal Sonic simply as "Metal".
Metal Sonic meets his demise at the end of the movie, where Sonic attempts to save him from the lava pit but Knuckles holds him back expecting Metal Sonic to drag him under the lava. Metal Sonic gives himself up stating "There is only one Sonic" and melts. At the very last couple minutes of the movie, Dr. Eggman's CD with Sonic's data on it is destroyed by a "turtle" missile.
Metal Sonic is the only major Sonic character that did not make an appearance in the newer anime series Sonic X. He also never appeared in either of the DiC Entertainment Sonic cartoons, unless one counts a robotic Sonic piloted by a rat in the episode "Pseudo-Sonic" from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Trivia
- In Sonic X, there is a robot army called the 'Metarex' which is a similar name to Metal Sonic's nickname 'Metallix'. It was believed during pre-production that Metal Sonic would appear in Sonic X, which was later confirmed false.
- In Japan, his voice is done by Junichi Kanemaru, which is also Sonic's Japanese voice actor. In America, his voice was done by Ryan Drummond, which used to be Sonic's American voice actor. However, the Sonic X 4Kids Voice Actors are in the spotlight for now. Many fans believe that if Metal Sonic returns, then he would be played by Sonic's new Voice Actor Jason Griffith, in order to continue the fact that in Sonic Heroes, the actors for Sonic played both the real character and the robotic copy.
- Metal Sonic runs on foot at slower speeds but at higher speeds his engine lifts him up making him hover slightly above the ground. Interestingly, in Sonic Adventure DX, Metal Sonic switches back to running at top speed.
- It is believed that Metal Sonic's super form "Metal Madness" is a refernece to the final level of Sonic CD, "Metallic Madness", the game which he first appeared.
- In a CBBC show called Bamzooki, there once was a zook called Metal Overlord. This is a reference to Metal Sonic's ultimate form from Sonic Heroes, called the same name.
Voice actors
- In Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, and Sonic Adventure DX, Metal Sonic is voiced with a series of computer-generated sounds, and thus has no voice actor.
- In Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic was played by Ryan Drummond (with some computer distortion effects added to his voice), who also played Sonic at the time of the game.
- In Sonic Heroes (Japanese), Metal Sonic was played by Junichi Kanemara, who also plays Sonic.
- In Sonic Anime, Metal Sonic was voiced by Gary Dehan.