#so he keeps the half elf look he’s had since inception

[ranger-danger]

Look at the private investigators I hired, this case is not getting solved 💀💀💀

[lairofsentinel]

Aaravos the biggest manipulator and the secret related to Zym

I always thought that the line "How I may serve you" is the best line to introduce a super manipulator char that knows what's doing and makes sure to put his victim in a less defensive attitude. When Viren listens that phrase, he doesn't doubt about it, he relaxes a bit. But Aaravos is half-smiling. He knows the effect of that line in a human mind [there is a strong parallel with Harrow telling Viren that he is a servant too]. Aaravos has just started the process of “touching” Viren’s mind.

We also saw his incredible manipulative skills in the scene of the horse, heading to Lux Aurea. Viren doesn't know about the "plan" [nobody does except Aaravos], and Aarvos is insisting that what Viren truly needs is "to conquer Xadia". It's not Viren's first desire to come up. He says 3 times different desires all of them related to keep humanity safe. And Aaravos "convinces" him that such desire requires to CONQUER Xadia. And then he follows praising him for that thought that Viren did not have. “It’s a noble achievement”. 

Manipulation is all about this, about doing inception of ideas in the other, making them think they were the ones thinking about it first.  Aaravos is the biggest inception master ever. 

However, it’s true that such scene could be seen in two different ways: Aaravos revealing the true hidden desires of Viren, showing that he always was a damn corrupted Mage thirsty for power, or  the whole scene is a demonstration of how much effect Aaravos has on him. I prefer to see it as the last one, since in Season 1 we were witnesses of a Viren that he truly wanted to save Humanity, not always using the best means to do that and certainly not with the best plans, but his intention was more humanity-related. If we want to make another parallel, Viren used to be  towards humanity like Claudia is towards her family members. 

In those three times in which Viren rejects the idea of conquering Xadia, I think we saw the last bits of that old Viren of S01, to be completely eating up by Aaravos. From that moment on, the bug is bigger. 

The bug, which for the first time comes out from Viren's inside, is bigger because I think there is a symbol there: it ate the last bits of Viren's essence. That essence that keeps being hurt by Dark Magic [or maybe it just ate the light power hurting Viren?]. I always was mad with this scene because I never can find a coherent answer to explain why this bug got bigger here, before taking the light/fire power, before biting the light priest and possess him.

[I realised that the Touching power in Aaravos is also explicit since there is always blood involved. This bug comes from his own blood mixed with Viren’s, and when it bites this priest, Aaravos can take control of him, because now his blood is “touched” by him.]

What we can be sure with this scene, though, is that he thinks in Viren as a “Vessel”. Aaravos is not serving him in the slightest. Viren is a mean to him, and he is quite explicit in that scene. That’s exactly what he said to Kessha Queen.

If I risk a theory, I would not be surprised if Aaravos has a goal related to "destroy dragons", it’s obvious that something happened during the Sol Regem time that we don’t know. The Sun Dragon and the Sunfire elves [which I assume they serve that particular Dragon, and that’s why Aditi Queen related in all this] did something to him that requieres some kind of vengeance or “correction” in his eyes. But it's impossible to say it with a level of certainty.

Aaravos certainly has a deep interest in Zym. And Zym is special for something else, something more important than being a heir [they can always choose another family dragon to continue with the dragon kingdom, right? We got Sol Regem (Sun), then Luna Tenebris (Moon), and now Avizandum (Air) ]. When Rayla's parents defended the egg, and the Skywing elf told them to flee, they shared a strange dialogue: "He is the only hope" [hope for what?]

Since episode one we were told that the egg was the only chance to have peace, that’s why Rayla started her journey with Callum and Ezran. But during Rayal’s parents time, there was not a “war” in the same sense that there was in Rayla’s. 

So far we were told, Humans harvested a magical molten creature to prevent famine in Duren. That killed its queens and Sarai. Harrow then goes for vengeance and kills Avizandum and takes the Egg. 

I don’t know how a simple Egg could be hope of anything in that context when the situation of killing the molten creature was kind of “avenged” by killing 3 queens.

For some reason, Zym is destined to do something that any other Dragon could not do [and Rayla’s parents know this apparently], and THAT's what Aaravos is after. And since all this History content is most of the time narrated by Aaravos himself, we don’t TRULY know what’s so important about Zym, because he IS manipulating us too. He is feeding us a story with his half smile on his face. 

Also, not by chance the series is called "The Dragon Prince" XD. Zym is speshul somehow. 

P.D.

It also bugs [lol] me to no end that Moonshadows have not Queen/King [they are a pretty role-based society after all, they are not like the Skywings]. There is something we are not being told by Aaravos, we are losing a lot of information abut the true History context of all this mess by just looking at that screenshot we got in the first episode. 

Why Moonshadows lost their royalty family if they had it? why they started to serve the “air” dragons? Since the Sunfire priest is holding the same staff, should we assume that the one with the moon staff is also a priest? A Moon Nexus keeper instead a Queen/King? The guy behind this char is a moonshadow assessin, that’s pretty clear. And then we have a skywing without any kind of question, and then an elf we can’t place in any other race than Sunfire since they are wearing the same marks in their face. What happened with Ocean and Earth elves? They never appeared in the History, and Aaravos is not considering them either. So many questions.  

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 7: METAL SONIC

It's been a while, but it's time for another Crusher review and analysis.

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don't like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That's where this comes in.

This is a series of mine in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I'll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don't bite. :>

Anyhow, for today's installment, we'll be putting the Stardust Speedway saxophones aside for a moment to discuss Dr. Eggman's notorious robotic copycat, who desperately wants to show us what he's made of: Metal Sonic.

NOTE: While I will be taking several of Metal Sonic's non-game portrayals into account, this will NOT include his Sonic the Comic incarnation, as I feel that Fleetway's Metal - or Metallix, as he's called - is so vastly different in so many ways that I feel there's no point, whereas his other portrayals in non-game media are considerably more consistent for the most part.

The Gist: Being a criminal mastermind slash world conquerer in the making has its shortcomings, and for Dr. Eggman/Dr. Robotnik/The Bad Guy, that shortcoming came in the form of a plush-sized hedgehog who frequently wrecked his machines, foiled his plans, and - worst of all - talked back at him. This literal thorn on his side made the good doctor a very unhappy camper, but one day, his brilliant brain brought a brilliant breakthrough: Why not pit Sonic against himself?

During his then-new scheme to use the Time Stones of the Little Planet to conquer the world through time, Eggman worked tirelessly on his new idea to ensure it was just right. It couldn't be too slow. It couldn't be too bulky. It couldn't be too un-Sonic-like, for he vowed to assert his technological dominance by making a better Sonic than the real one. He wanted this to be his greatest creation yet, and he wasn't going to half-ass that objective.

The result was Metal Sonic, a marvel of industrial automation who established himself as fast as Sonic, as deadly as Sonic, and... not talkative, unlike Sonic. No wonder Eggman declared him the superior of the two.

Eggman loves his creation so much that he’s willing to let him die if this goes wrong. That’s how you know he’s his favourite.

Sure enough, Eggman's efforts were not entirely in vain, as the blue droid was more than a match for Sonic in the speed department, as well as the "What's the best way to make it clear to Amy Rose that I'm not interested?" department via snatching up Sonic's pink hedgehog acquaintance, leaving her as the doctor's captive. Unfortunately however, despite giving Sonic the race of his life, Metal was not yet as quick in his reflexes as the genuine article was, meaning his initial reign of terror came to an abrupt end when he flew head-first into a wall, George of the Jungle-style. Eggman was devastated, except he wasn't, because he knew he could just rebuild and upgrade him. Which he did. Constantly.

He also rebuilt these guys for some reason.

Since his debut in Sonic CD, Metal has went on to appear in a sizable number of games throughout the years, and he's made some personal appearances in a few other continuities as well. Most of these appearances simply have him show up, attack Sonic and other heroes for a bit, then get his ass handed to him. Some of those ass-kickings even came with a tasty amount of hue hues. But every now and then, they'll have him do something more, the most famous example being Sonic Heroes, in which he took over Eggman's army by force and went on his own little crusade to gain everyone's data and become Metal GodJesus, all the while proving himself the real Sonic the Hedgehog... by doing a lot of things the real Sonic the Hedgehog would never do. (This general concept would reappear in the IDW comics, though he did not betray Eggman that time around.)

Overall though, Metal is generally considered to be a welcome face whenever he makes an appearance... when he’s not dreaded for being the biggest roadblock in Fighters.

“Well that’s the end of the playthrough, make sure to like, comment, subscribe.”

The Design: What is there to say about Metal Sonic’s design? It’s cool, it’s ominous, it’s sleek, it’s stylish, and it holds a palpable aura of dangerous badassitude while still fitting perfectly with the design philosophy of this franchise. Truly, Metal’s design alone makes him one of the all-time greats of the Eggman repertoire, and it's easy to see why the scientist is particularly proud of this one.

He’s the robot your robot could crash into a wall like.

He’s had a few transformations over the years though. In Knuckles Chaotix, he turned into a ginormous monstrosity commonly referred to by fans as Metal Sonic Kai, who terrified many juniors back in the day due to making the inexcusable error of not being blue. The bad ending might have also affected them.

E for Everyone.

Luckily, Classic Metal got the right idea two decades later, and kept his blue colour scheme when the Phantom Ruby brought the form back in Sonic Mania Plus. As for Modern Metal, he had a brief life (or lives, if you count IDW) as Neo Metal Sonic, who - despite being made with the intention to be a darker, cooler, more serious iteration of the character - went the complete opposite direction by looking less like a frightening metal monarch, and more like a shonen anime’s midnight seizure.

Look at this fucking thing.

Elf shoes. Ripped skirt. Starfish haircut. Vaguely phallic strap in the appropriate area. Regular Metal may have a semi-cutesy look even in his more dangerous iterations, but at least he doesn't come off as a compensating son who doesn't quite know how to come out to his judgemental father, which is more than I can say for whatever the hell this is supposed to be. Is this really meant to be a more intimidating design? A more badass design...?

Then, as if this wasn’t ridiculous enough for Metal already, they had him transform even further into MechaGodzilla Metal Overlord, a goliath made from the remains of the Egg Fleet, with a side order of spikes and artist’s regret.

"Sonic, I was created for the sole purpose of destroying you... but I can never seem to defeat you... That is why I purchased Freddie Mercury's wardrobe with my own hands!"

Said form also returned in the IDW comic, rechristened Master Overlord, who traded the clawed wings and the flamethrower in exchange for symmetrical hands and a more simplistic body structure, at the expense of looking even more like a children’s toy.

Needless to say, Metal's had some... interesting transformations over the years. But his original look will always remain iconic, and rightly so.

The Personality: Metal Sonic's personality is harder to specify compared to other characters in the series, because his kill-first ask-later demeanour in tandem with his usual muteness means we see him most of the time as little more than a Sonic-shaped extension of Eggman's will. That said however, there have been deeper glimpses here and there into what makes his mechanical mind tick.

The most obvious thing to note is that Metal holds the very un-Sonic trait of not having time for nonsense. Sure, he might not be above taunting his organic counterpart in a likeminded way occasionally, but that aside, he's generally a pretty serious and humorless individual, a stark contrast to his creator and master that nonetheless works in the latter's favor, as the realisation that the goofy manchild Eggman of all people made this thing helps shoot down the myth that the rotund madman is all talk.

"He's behind you!" "Shut it wee man, this is a serious play."

Then there's his insanity, by means of identity crisis. It's not known if this was something that was there from the beginning, or if it's somethng that developed and worsened with each defeat, but at some point in his life, Metal convinced himself that despite literally being made with the intention of exterminating the actual Sonic, he himself was in fact the actual Sonic, and that the actual actual Sonic that already existed prior to his inception was in fact the actual Not-Sonic (or a faker, as would be used to describe a certain other lookalike). This belief has caused him to do a bunch of crazy stuff of dubious logic, and don't try to question him on his reasoning, lest you want him to cut you open like a Terry's Chocolate Orange.

His relationship with Eggman is something of an enigma. While his teenage phase betrayal in Heroes is probably the most mainstream evidence of how he feels about his master, it's easy to forget that this was the exception, not the rule. In nearly every other appearance before and since then, Metal has shown nothing but stone cold loyalty towards the doctor and his cause. Even in IDW, when he regained his Neo form and basically did everything he could to remind everyone that Heroes was a thing that existed, he did it that time around for the purpose of finding his master, and helping to restore his empire. A far cry from Neo's first attempt, when he was ranting and raving about how he should have the empire.

Thus, I can only conclude that while his Sonic-esque AI may cause him to get a little reckless, he remains genuinely devoted to his creator outside of his brief cocaine rush in Heroes... and Free Riders, but I don't think anyone knew what was going on in that one. I don't think he knew what was going on in that one.

But perhaps most surprisingly of all - according to the OVA at least - despite all his black-hearted ways, he is still capable of good, as evidenced when he saved the President and the legendary Old Man Owl from dying a fiery death. Whether it's an inherent part of his own nature, or whether it's a side-effect of his Sonic programming, isn't fully clear... but either way, he might want to make sure Eggman doesn't find out about it.

The Execution: Metal Sonic's execution is a complicated case, because there's a dissonance between when he's merely an obstacle for the good guys, and when they've tried to make him more than that.

When he's merely Eggman's instrument of evildoing, he does the job nicely. Sometimes his appearances can be underwhelming depending on the game (read: Sonic 4), but he usually provides a memorable scuffle when it's time for him to put up his dukes. Even if half of those are actually races.

When he aims for bigger, on the other hand? Well...

I've already joked about Neo Metal Sonic's design, but don't be fooled, for his ridiculous fashion sense is merely one part of my beef with the overall concept of Neo. Simply put, everything about Neo Metal Sonic goes against everything that makes this particular character work.

Ranting, monologuing, and running his mouth off does not work for Metal Sonic.

Gathering everyone's data with the intention of becoming Metal Everyone does not work for Metal Sonic.

Transforming into a goddamn dragon does not work for Metal Sonic. (I can let Metal Sonic Kai slide since despite being bigger and more monstrous, you can still recognise it as Metal Sonic specifically. Colour scheme aside, Metal Overlord/Master Overlord might as well be a random monster entirely.)

These ideas aren't necessarily bad on their own. They could work for another villain, or another Eggman minion. But for Metal Sonic specifically? It just doesn't work at all, and while some may be willing to handwave it as the result of Metal's insanity, I firmly believe it's more than possible to establish and delve into his inner madness in ways that DON'T contradict almost everything about him. A character being insane is not an excuse for turning them into a completely different character altogether, nor is it an excuse for just plain handling them in a shitty manner. By all means, I'm all for giving Metal a bigger role, and I'm all for expanding his character and his dynamic... just not like this.

Metal doesn't need to do all that in order to be effective and leave an impression. His portrayal in the OVA confirms that. OVA Metal was everything that Metal was known for at the time: straightforward, loyal, and silent, bar one line towards the end. And he still managed to be a very intriguing antagonist who served as a believably major threat, and who gave Sonic the fight of his life, and thus earned the hedgehog's disgruntled ire and his begrudging respect. That is the Metal that writers should aspire to. That is the essence of what makes that character.

So, despite everything, I still highly enjoy Metal Sonic when he's Metal Sonic, and not Something Vaguely Shaped Like Metal Sonic. He's stumbled a bit over the years, but when he's done right, he's always an eventful burst of fun, and ultimately, my fondness for those portrayals overrides my disgust towards elf shoes. And I'd love to see them expand on his dynamic with Eggman, which a certain well-liked series of shorts has thankfully given us a small taste of. Here's hoping the future will follow up on it...

“Now, if you may be so generous, hand over the Emerald slowly, or else I'm afraid your little friend will face the consequen-ooooowwwww my FUCKING wrist.”

Crusher Gives Metal Sonic a: Thumbs Up! (and Neo Metal Sonic a: Thumbs Down!)