#that have a different take on the werehog and how it affects sonic and how he deals with it all are fine

[sonknuxadow]

i have to wonder if the people who treat werehog as sonics bloodthirsty evil dark side whos practically a completely separate person even played and understood unleashed or if they just saw that sonic has a werewolf-like transformation and made their own assumptions about it without looking into it much . because i dont really get. how you can miss the point that badly ?

[spiinsparks]

spiinsparks easy-plotting post !

the tl;dr of this post is that i saw this awesome idea for a personalized meme post. the idea is to provide a general list of some scenarios/settings/questions/wishlist items that the mun of a blog would love to write, or get asked, or see happen. as a way to generate ideas for starters to me, and push out the brainworms for easy-pickins too. you can find that post (here.) so, under the read-more, you'll be able to find a couple of ideas to bounceboard off of!

sonic media to explore!

sonic unleashed (werehog!)

sonic idw (the metal virus arc, and the surge/kit arc come to mind)

sonic frontiers (give me cyber-corruption repercussions and 'his fam going on their own ways for a bit' for days)

sonic the hedgehog 1-2 (little sonic ages 7-11)

a study in freedom , heroism , & putting down roots.

(freedom) / conflict of ideologies ! —  sonic's life philosophies of freedom, living day-by-day, and the different ways that takes shape can cause some massive conflicts with those who don't understand his freebird mentality. (and tbh even with his friends who DO understand it.)

(heroism) / honestly ? sonic sees himself as 'just a guy' — and he is! he's just a dude living free as the wind. we all love him for it. but he's also a hero in heart as well as to the world, so the push-pull of those two sides of him when one takes precedence over the other, and why, and how, is fascinating to me — absolutely something i'd love to explore more of.

(roots) / anything to do with his friendships with amy, knuckles and tails! be it talking about them, adventuring with them, expressing his thoughts/opinions/concerns about them, so on. there's more on this below regarding post!frontiers, but honestly any verse + game can be used to explore sonic's deep and loving attachments, and how that affects his choices, his moods, perceptions, etc.

asking for sonic's opinions on:

being a celebrity-hero, and/or how this contrasts with his origins.

surge and kit — what he wants to do about them, hopes for their future, the lengths he's willing to go to try and get them to see a better tomorrow... and how that process is harder than he wishes it would be; how frustrating it is.

any of his friends! obviously, knuckles, amy and tails are REALLY great options. he could go off about different aspects about them for hours. (ie: knuckles and his leadership qualities/how much sonic low-key looks up to and respects him, tails and his gizmos, amy's strength or her unbridled love and hope, etc.)

anything to do with his personal philosophies. (re: freedom, friendship, familial love in particular.)

favorite books/movies/music

locations he travels to and tends to come back to and why

eggman

tails!! how he found tails, all about raising tails, the weird things tails does, his favorite stories about tails, favorite adventures with tails. get him talking about his favorite person in the whole wide world and he won't shut up for days. that's his buddy!

vi's personal wishlist:

sonic taking your muse out of an adventure ! — a general focus on sonic's levity, adventure-lust and good attitude.

your muse helping sonic during a time he freezes, either because he's dealing with the ocean, or because he's having an episode from his time during FORCES.

sonic in a scenario where he can eventually give your muse a pep talk! a hope speech! let him be corny but uplifting.

dark sonic. him turning into dark sonic, exploring the origin of dark sonic, having him struggle with wrestling down dark sonic. ... dark sonic.

threads set during sonic unleashed! chip is a sweetheart, and the werehog and sonic's complex feelings about it are SO interesting to me. (also, an aside for ppl willing too write son/amy with me... ;;4;; the birth of his more romantic feelings here thank you.)

related to the end of frontiers/sonic's 'canon point' of sorts: but sonic having to struggle with not having 2/3 of his best pals immediately on call, or somewhere he can consistently book it to! he's happy for them, of course, but he was also just starting to realize how much he misses them even when they're right in front of him... so imo this totally messes with him every now and then.

sonic experimenting with his powers! can include his natural abilities (re: spin dash, everything in sonic frontiers that does not include the cyloop, his colours powers with the wisps, so on and so forth.)

vi's personal whumplist:

the emotional whump of realizing being a hero means having great responsibility ( you know the spider-man quote ) &. sonic having to contend with that, thank you

...forces but specifically when he was in captivity...

exploring more of the metal virus arc. his sickness with it, pushing himself past that.

(also related to the metal virus arc but) sonic's slowly growing guilt that's nagging in the back of his head. in my personal hc it started around forces (with inklings of it in sa2 when shadow 'died' and in unleashed with his immense dislike of the werehog form) but nothing that happens in IDW helps him learn to process any of it, at all.

sonic frontiers !! sonic's amnesia, and how he's dealing with that. (it still affects him off the island.)

also threads set DURING frontiers as he's slowly ... losing himself to the cyber-erosion, please, please, please and thank you.

sonic pushing himself well past his breaking point to keep your muse safe. ...feel free also for the vice versa.

.......visiting.... christmas island...

[laincelebi]

I started playing sonic frontiers and so far it's fun I am enjoying it a lot. Though I guess it's clear that the story suffered from last minute changes and cuts. And that messes a bit the story pacing in some parts, but I can still see glimpses of what it might have been and I hope people can too and use it as fanfic fuel cause it sure has some interesting stuff.

So far I have my own theories of what it could have been and it contains spoilers so it's after the cut. these are just for fun, things that I thought while playing it so don't take it too seriously.

Characters would have issues with memories

Maybe not exactly losing all their memories but being confused, having certain gaps in their memories. Or even being mixed up with the ancient civilization memories.

Already entering fanfic territory but i think it would be cool if each of the sonic friends was tied to a titan pilot remembering things about them. Maybe the kocos they try to help is tied to the pilots. As there is a lot of story repeating and parallels between each character pilot and Koko.

Another point would be the memory tokens, we grab them but they have no impact on the story, it only unlocks conversation i believe we would have seen characters reacting to those much more, maybe referencing older games. A curious thing is that in the Brazilian Portuguese translation memory tokens are called mnemonics which can be understood as a memory device or cue that helps you remember something. Makes me wonder if we would have some flashbacks like in breath of the wild where link remembers something by looking at certain things.

Sonic corruption would corrupt his memories also

While the corruption affects sonic a lot, There are some unused (or maybe just very hard to trigger) dialog that hints it would also corrupt his memories. With him not even remembering his name.

here is the video.

I also wonder if the line about how he should have made up his mind sooner about Amy is he regretting he might not get out of this one as corruption continues and so wouldn't have much more time with her.

Sage role would be different

I do think sage would be way more mysterious, we know right away she is Eggman's creation but the way she is described and trailers before makes me think that this would be a much later reveal...maybe that she would be something else, or just left ambiguous.

Corruption on sonic may would work differently

Not gonna lie, when i first saw the story trailer where we see the corruption on Sonic's arm my mind went to the legend of Zelda tears of the kingdom trailer. and immediately thought that he would get some fighting power from it, like don't know he being able to form an energy sword like Nahobino in smt5 or something else maybe similar to the werehog form in sonic unleashed

the more I play the more i feel like the game is unfinished, doesn't mean its a bad game, i am having a lot of fun with it so far....minus some enemies fights (squid....) I just find fascinating when you look at something and can tell something was supposed to be different even without knowing the original intentions, i would love to know what that was for this game.

[lea-andres]

Guess who plotted out an entire Werehog fic TWO MONTHS AFTER HALLOWEEN AND THEN LOST MOST OF IT THANKS TO MY DUMB BRAIN WHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...

Here's what I remember:

So Eggman figured out a way to use the Chaos Emeralds to cause the Werehog transformation again without splitting apart the planet and awakening Dark Gaia. So he tricked Sonic, Shadow, and Silver into coming and facing off with him, trapped them, and successfully turned the three into Werehogs. And this time, unlike in Sonic Unleashed, they lose themselves to the transformation and become brainless rampaging monsters.

Eggman was prepared for Sonic and Silver, but he had failed to take into consideration what affect the Black Arms DNA in Shadow might have on his Werehog form.

Werehog Shadow turns out to be way stronger and WAY MORE AGGRESSIVE than Sonic AND Silver combined, and Eggman very quickly loses control of him and Shadow is able to escape. Sonic and Silver also get loose during the mayhem, and because Werehog Shadow's an aggressive and territorial piece of shit that will fight anything that as much as looks at him funny, and Werehog Sonic and Werehog Silver only get violent when provoked, the three end up destroying Eggman's lair fighting each other before escaping out into the world.

By day, Sonic, Shadow, and Silver are back to normal. They can't remember going to confront Eggman, and they can never remember the nights they spend rampaging around as Werehogs.

Reports of Werehog attacks start to spring up all over the place, cue the Restoration and GUN scrambling to remedy the situation.

(Note: This is NOT the catalyst for CS91. Trust me, that event is SO MUCH WORSE. But this is the event that caused GUN and the Restoration to hate each other. GUN wanted to shoot the Werehogs to solve the problem, Jewel was adamant [once it was discovered the Werehogs were Sonic, Shadow, and Silver] that shooting them would NOT be considered until all other possible solutions were attempted and failed. So the two groups started sabotaging each other's attempts to capture (Restoration) or eliminate (GUN) the Werehogs, and caused YEARS of business professional passive aggression between the two groups.)

Shadow was the first one discovered, but it took several attempts to successfully capture the guy because he was too strong and angry. I had how the Restoration finally got him under control, but sadly lost it to the void. 😭

Silver actually flew under the radar for a long time, because half the people trying to round up the Werehogs didn't even realize he was in the present until halfway through the whole thing, and he was the least aggressive of the three Werehogs to the point that his few attacks were being mislabeled as Sonic's. The Restoration didn't realize they were dealing with *3* Werehogs until Jewel and the Chaotix realized on one night three different attacks happened at almost the same time, so there HAD to be 3 Werehogs (Then Espio realized SECONDS before disaster struck that A: The third Werehog HAS TO BE Silver, and B: OH GOD SILVER'S IN THIS BUILDING WITH US AND THE SUN'S SETTING-

That goes kinda poorly, but they do successfully contain him in the end.)

That's all I got, the rest is just fragments that don't make sense without their context, and the context has been yeeted into the void by my dumb brain getting overwhelmed today. 😒

[lyrazehedgieboiii]

Wedding Disaster!

Another crappy story I made long ago. Original is on Wattpad under Lyra_ze_hedgie. Both part 1 and part 2 is on this.

 ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy= 19 years old

Sonic= 21 years old

Lyra 18 1/2 years old

Blaze= 19 years old

Cream= 18 years old

Rouge= 19 years old

Maria= 19 years old

Silver= 21 years old

Knuckles= 21 1/2 years old

Shadow= 22 years old

Tails= 20 years old

It was 7 in the morning, and the Sonic Team girls were wide awake. As you can see in your brain, the girls are at Amy's house, sneaking through the door. They were about to wake up Amy and get her ready.

Cream, Amy's self proclaimed little sister, did the honors of waking the sleeping beauty. "Amy, wake up! You got to get ready for the happiest day of your life!" Cream squealed with excitement.

"I'm gonna give birth..?" Amy said dozily. She was 1/2 asleep, if you were wondering. Rouge and Maria were holding their chests from trying not to snort and laugh.

"Out of the way everyone! This is sure to wake Rosy Posy up!" Lyra yelled as she carried a 3 gallon full bucket into Amy's bedroom. She sprinkled a few drops onto Amelia's face. She still isn't up. She spills a little on to her face. Amy got up immediately.

"I'm up, let's get ready! Lyra water the plants with that, and make me look like a goddess, girls!" Lyra opened Amy's window and dumped the water close enough to the plants. The girls all dragged Amy to Rouge's mansion because her wedding dress was there. They had her take a shower, and while Amy was doing that, the girls took all the make-up out.

"This is going to be amazing! Sonic and Amy getting married! Amy will be my sister-in-law! Girls, she has to look perfect!" Lyra said. Lyra is Sonic's little sister.

"Amy, are you done yet?" Maria asked from outside the bathroom door.

"Yes!" A muffled voice answered from the other side of the door.

The girls all shoved Amy into a chair in front of Lyra's vanity table, and began to look at Amy and thought of what to do.

"Oh shoot! I forgot the curling iron! My 20 others are broken." Rouge realized.

"It's alright, Rouge. Besides, I have fire powers, so watch what I can do. Oh wait, first dry Amy's hair." Cream quickly did that with the blow dryer. Blaze wrapped sections of Amy's quills around her finger and warmed it up. She let go, and made luscious curls. "There, perfect. Amy, you look like an angel."

"She'll look more like an angel once she wears her wedding dress!" Lyra said, while bringing in the wedding dress. (It was a long white gown with red petals all over the bottom hem and along the chest.           

"Oh Lyra, it's beautiful." Amy said with tears in her eyes.

"Don't cry, Amy, or else you'll ruin your makeup!" Cream yelled.

"Okay, okay!"

Amy put on her dress, and it fit perfectly on her. It made her look like a princess. While admiring her wedding dress, Rouge and Lyra put some eyeliner and some blush on.

"Perfect! Now let's go, or we'll be 5 minutes late to being early." Lyra said.

"You sound like Spongebob, Hun." Rouge stated.

"Point is, we should be out now!" Blaze said, in an impatient tone. "I want to see some SonAmy smooching!" Amy blushed in embarrassment.

"Amelia! Now I can't tell if you're blushing, or if that's your blush making you look pink on the muzzle!" Cream said. Everyone laughed.

As the girls went out, something totally unexpected happened...

Hey, it's chapter 2. (Cream's POV)

Oh no. Eggbots. They're going to ruin Amy's wedding day, and her dress! Everyone immediately gets into battle stance, and takes out their weapons, or show their powers. Me? I stayed in front of Amy to guard her. Lyra, who's still learning to use her scythe, has formed a somewhat big shield around Amy and the girls. I was scared, was Amy going to be kidnapped by Eggman? That bastard! He's in his 70's or something, and he's still trying to kill Sonic! Then, Lyra moved a little, she could only protect me and Amy. The girls started to fight the crab-bots, and bee bots, whatever they're called. I heard some short battle cries. "Cream! Run Amy over to the limo!!!" Maria yells.

"Okay!" I take the hem at the back of Amy's dress, and raise it up, so it doesn't get dirty. I didn't really care about my dress getting messed up, it's Amy's that mattered. We suddenly see all the girls get thrown back. Oh, no... Amy hates when any of her friends get attacked, so in a snap, her piko-piko hammer comes out of nowhere, and Amy makes pissed off look at the robots. I don't want to interfere, but this is her wedding, I don't want her beautiful image get ruined! "Amy! Don't! You'll ruin your dress!" I shouted, but she ignored me. 

Oh no. 

It's the hammer of doom! Amy's hammer evolved and she was swearing like there was no tomorrow. Hey, I'd be doing the same thing if it were my wedding. Amy suddenly smashed all the bots, and strutted her way to the limo, all the girls watching her with shocked faces. She didn't even ruin anything! We all ran to the car, me going first. Not to brag, but I'm the maid of honor!!! Everyone expected Rouge, but I was chosen. I'm the most like her sister! Suddenly, Maria kicked the driver out of his seat.

"We are supposed to be at the altar by now!" Maria stepped on the peddle, not caring whether she got a ticket or not. Within minutes we were here. Lyra checked to see if everyone was there, and they were. First the ring bearer, and flower girl, which were Sonia's kids, Cecilia and Carlos. Then came in Amy, arm in arm with Shadow, since Amy had no father figure in her life. Behind her was the maid of honor. Which happens to be me. Then, came in Rouge, Sonia, Blaze, and Maria. Lyra was going to be the person that recited the vow things. On the side were Sonic's groomsmen, Shadow, Silver, Knuckles, and Manic. The best man was my boyfriend, Tails. We lined up beside Amy, and watched everything.

"How come the girls look like they were ambushed?" Tails asked.

"Amy looks like an angel."

"And in a few minutes she'll be my sister in law!"

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today on this momentous occasion, to witness the joining together of Sonic Ogilvie Maurice the Hedgehog, and Amelia Lynn Merica Rosette. Now, before we begin, is there anyone who rejects this proposal?" We looked around. "Thank Chaos, no one. Sonic, do you take Amelia to be your wife, through life and sickness, and til death do you part?" Lyra looked at Sonic, who was smiling, a few tears falling down his face.

"I do." Sonic responded. Amy was crying heavily, and so was I, it was beautiful!

"And Amy, do you take Sonic to be your lawfully wedded husband, to protect you, to love you, through life and sickness, and til death do you part?" Lyra looked in Amy's direction.

"I do."

"A good marriage is created. The little things in your life will become the big things. You will never be too old to hold hands, never be too old to say good night or for a gentle kiss.

A good marriage is remembering to say "I love you" on a regular basis. It is never going to sleep angry. It is standing together, on each other’s strength and support.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is providing an atmosphere in which each of you can grow.

It is finding room for the fruits of the spirit; which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

You will have this kind of marriage if you continue to Chaos as the source of your romance, love, and affection. Now, say your vows." Sonic started first.

"Ames," everyone 'aww's when he said 'Ames.' "When I first saved you from Metal Sonic, I was surprised to see someone as brave and courageous as you. You were as cute as a button, but fierce with that hammer, and I wouldn't marry anyone else. You are the only thing that keeps me happy. You were the only person I noticed, the only person who could turn me on. You were different from those other fan-girls. You were always by my side, even if I lost a battle, you still loved me, even if I was a werehog!" He chuckled. "And since I met you, every time you talked to me, my heart beat in my chest, and only you made me feel like that. I love you Ames." Amy was crying heavily. She sobbed, and gave him a quick hug, before beginning. (Lmao so uncharacteristic)

"Sonikku, before we met, I had a thing for tarot cards, it would say we will meet, it would say you are my perfect soulmate. I believed all of that, in fact, it's one of the things that got us together. And when I got kidnapped by Metal Sonic unexpectedly, you saved me. You were exactly everything I imagined. You were brave, courageous, loyal, smart, strong, loving, and experienced, if you know what I mean." Insert a dirty smirk and wink amen. "You're also very confident, and knew when pride got in your way. I wanted to always be beside you, to love you, to make you happy, to stay with you for all eternity. And now you made my dreams come true. And you have my near all to yourself, until our futures children are born. I love Sonikku."

"With the power bestowed upon Chaos, I pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride." Lyra said. Sonic picked Amy up and spun her around before kissing her gently. She kissed him back, hands never leaving each other.

"Hey, Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I caught you."

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. DE END.

[skizzlers]

A list of every Sonic game I've played in the order I like them because I couldn't sleep at 3am. (Didn't include Sonic Advance 1-3 because it's been too long since I've played it. Also 90% of these have good soundtracks so I didn't really touch on it.)

1. Sonic Mania

All time favorite because I'm a very nostalgic person and this game feels like a love-letter to my childhood. Every detail is thought of, it feels like you're playing every side-scrolling Sonic game at once!

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

First Sonic game I really remember playing. I adored Tails (still do!) And I used to fly around all the levels to see what Sonic couldn't reach. Also the save feature and ability to re-visit levels was super sweet!

3. Sonic Adventure 2

My favorite 3d Sonic game. I love the different gameplay styles that come with the different characters, and THE CHAO GARDEN!!! The bosses are a little weird, considering you're kinda beating yourself when you switch sides? (Knuckles vs Rouge, Shadow vs Sonic) Also this game has a sick soundtrack!

4. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This game was much easier for me to get the hang of as a kid compared to the original. Took me years to beat because of the lack of a save feature though, and I never got past the third special stage. Overall just generally fun to play! You really feel like a speedy blue hedgehog, and the stages are memorable.

5. Sonic CD

Never really got to play this one until my teens. Haven't beat it yet, haven't had the time. I like the added challenge of making good futures too instead of just g o f a s t. The levels are a bit more complex and more puzzling than your other 2d Sonic games, but not frustratingly so like in the original.

6. Sonic Generations

Ironicly enough this was my first introduction to the modern boost mechanic. I liked how the stages worked in both styles, and the hub-world is fun to jump around in and isn't confusing at all. Also, I like collecting things in videogames, and there is a bit of that required to progress, although Cream beating my ass in the chao levels is frustrating to say the least.

7. Sonic Adventure

I understand this is an old videogame but the graphics make it a little hard to take seriously. When I know where I am supposed to go the stages are fun but who the fuck thought fishing would be fun in a Sonic game? Big's entire character is like someone sat down and said, "do you know what Sonic isn't? Slow and tedious! Let's add that to the game!" Also I like the variety in character options and story perspectives. (Not to mention classic memes like Knuckles' oh no)

8. Sonic Spinball

Another classic! Few but interesting levels. Not much else to say really, I liked the text commentary.

9. Sonic 3d Blast

I've noticed a lot of people say this is one of the worst Sonic games but I enjoy it! Like I said earlier, I like collecting things though.

10. Sonic Riders

I always kinda sucked at this game. Might've been more fun if I wasn't a solo gamer however. I liked the battle royale mode better than the main game to be honest. I like the character variety and the differing skill sets, and the stages themselves are fun to ride through and mess around with but the cpus are t o u g h. I would like this game a bit better if you could adjust the difficulty.

11. Sonic & Knuckles

I loved Mushroom Hill Zone and how it phases through the seasons, but I always died in Flying Battery Zone, and if I didn't Sandopolis zone would usually drain my will to go on with it's looping segments and light gimmik. I really enjoy being able to climb walls and access different spaces with Knuckles though! And the special stages were pretty fun.

12. Sonic the Hedgehog

Ah, the game that started it all. Classic. Green Hill Zone is fun as can be even without the spindash, but Marble Zone really takes all of that speedy fun to a halt with its small spaces and lava pits. Don't even get me started on goddamn Labrinth Zone... nothing kills my drive to continue the game than that zone. Aside from the two afformentioned zones, the rest are pretty fun!

13. Shadow the Hedgehog

I feel like this game is a bit underrated because it stars Sir Edgelord, but I enjoyed it a lot! The style and feel reminded me a lot of Sa2, and I like how your actions can affect your alignment and your ending. Unfortunantly my copy was badly scratched and I could only achieve a handful of the endings.

14. Sonic Unleashed

I only recently got this game. It's ok. I liked playing the normal stages as Sonic, but I wasn't a huge fan of the werehog stages, they just don't feel like Sonic to me. They're growing on me a little but that goddamn fight music is annoying as fuck. Sonic games are known for good music, but what do we get anytime you touch an enemy at night? Bland generic fight music that sounds like it belongs in the Incredibles or James Bond. It doesn't fit sonic at all. If something as simple as the battle music was better, I'd like this game a lot more. The werehog stages in general just don't feel like Sonic. They're slow and focus on brute strength. They could have just had Knuckles fill that role. I like a little-bit of the puzzle solving but again - Tails. Sonic doesn't need to do everything.

15. Sonic Heroes

Wow, Heroes at the bottom of my list? Shocker! I know this is a more popular one but I'm just not a fan. In theory it sounds like a good idea to handle teams of characters with different abilities, but I prefer to control these characters one at a time. I don't like constantly needing to shift between characters just to progress in one stage. I must confess, the game is growing on me however.

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 12: THE HARD-BOILED HEAVIES

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 mini-series of mine, in which I’ll be going 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 covering the rotund oppression squad of Sonic Mania, and celebrated improv artists among the Badnik community: the Hard-Boiled Heavies.

The Gist: Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower were heading to Angel Island in pursuit of a mysterious new jewel that their nemesis, Dr. Eggman, was on the hunt for. Unfortunately for them, a squad of Egg Robos had already beaten them to the punch, because literally everyone in the Sonic universe is faster than Sonic. Upon being unearthed, the jewel in question - the Phantom Ruby - wasted no time in working its magic, and with its unexplained distortion efforts, it sent Sonic and Tails (and Knuckles) to Green Hill.

Also, it gave the Egg Robos more than a few nifty accessories.

The king was on his own with finding the tip of his scepter though.

Thus began a new adventure that proved to the non-believers that this franchise can in fact work beautifully when the characters have gameplay mechanics in common with each other and aren't going around picking up guns and turning into werehogs. Sonic was on a mission to get to the bottom of the Phantom Ruby shenanigans, but his upgraded opposition, dubbed the Hard-Boiled Heavies, did whatever they could to stop the hedgehog's pulse, which largely involved making use of old Badniks in refreshing and exciting new ways... much like themselves.

This is a more compelling take on Arthurian legend than the entirety of Black Knight.

All the while, Eggman carried on using the Phantom Ruby to his heart's content to make things even more difficult for our heroes, like teleporting them away as often as a Kirby final boss, and giving Metal Sonic a brand new Final Smash. Eggman planned to use the Titanic Monarch, a giant robot that made the monsters in Shadow of the Colossus look vertically challenged by comparison, to achieve his lifelong dream of taking over the world. Complications arose however, when the leader of the Heavies decided he wanted the Phantom Ruby for himself. Sadly for him, this was not an Adventure Era title, meaning Eggman actually fought back, and on equal terms at that. Sonic, with his super form, was forced to take on Eggman and the King at the same time.

In a stunning revelation, Sonic defeated them both. But not before the Phantom Ruby itself teleported the hedgehog away one last time, to a different time completely, where he would experience a different journey altogether... Then he came back, did the whole thing all over again, and now he's cracking a cold one with the boys (and King, for some reason).

Fucking 4Kids censors at it again.

The Designs: The Heavies are still Egg Robos at their core, so they share the same general body structure. Don't assume that makes them indistinguishable however, for they've been given a lot of bells and whistles that play to each of their thematic motifs, right up to their weapons of choice.

Heavy Gunner is a robo-bobby:

"You're nicked, hedgehog... But before you're sent to the chair, are there any pencils you'd like me to sharpen for you?"

Heavy Shinobi is a stealthy ninja, despite being neon green:

He speaks entirely in fortune cookies.

Heavy Magician is always dressed to impress:

These guys certainly do make me feel like magic.

Heavy Rider is a rough n' tough knight of the round table... if that table was Eggman's:

She dances when'ere she's able.

And the top dog, Heavy King, is suitably imposing without trying too hard and looking accidentally hilarious in the process, unlike certain other villains in this very series:

Why did he watermark his chest hair?

His Majesty also gained a second form during his final battle, which sacrificed his legs for size, power, and high quality Tee Lopes rips.

And a chimney for his head.

These designs already go far to give the Heavies their own sense of individual character. As you'll soon notice however, that's only half of it...

The Personalities: You can laugh all you want, but these Egg Robos in a game with no dialogue whatsoever managed to show vastly more personality than many of the villains in this franchise WITH dialogue. Look at this shit right here, and tell me they don't immediately ooze charm like it's nothing.

Pictured: Love at first sight.

And this extends to your confrontations with each of them. Gunner is crafty, and willing to sacrifice his own men to cover his ass, but the panicked look on his face when things go south for him is very relatable.

"Wait... I'm in a Sonic game...? ...For Sonic fans...? ...Oh god..."

Meanwhile, Shinobi puts up a cool and suave front, and never hesitates to go in for the kill, but he's not above playing around for the sake of his own cockiness.

Magician is a bubbly showoff, always popping up to mess with the heroes at a moment's notice. But she's also rather affable, and well-mannered to her mortal enemies.

Almost makes up for the Strangelove hands.

And Rider is perpetually in the midst of a cocaine rush, as her thirst for thrill and fun never sleeps. Yet she appears to have great affection for her pet Motobug, Jimmy.

Finally, King is a no-nonsense frowny face with a Sean Connery accent who is sick of his fellow Heavies' shit, who can nonetheless back himself up as the group's undisputed leader.

They may be fairly straightforward, but through the subtleties of their animations, there's a lot of life put into these guys, and their characters don't start and finish with their default trait like so many before them. You don't need to be Shakespeare in a Sonic game. You just need to be memorable and entertaining while fulfilling your role. And the Heavies do that with considerable ease.

The Execution: This might come as a surprise to you, but I love the shit out of the Heavies.

How can you hate this???

You have to understand that an overwhelming number of villains in this franchise not named Eggman have not only ranged from mediocre to terrible, they've also had a tendency of feeling the same as each other. When it's not a giant monster with little backstory of genuine interest, it's a guy dressed in all black who does evil for evil's sake. And that's without adding the recolours and their penchant for gaining disproportionate fandoms simply for being recolours.

Why is it, then, that a group who are all based on the same robot succeed where those villains fail?

Well, I'd argue there's a few elements at work there. The obvious one is that they're simply better implemented, and they leave an impression through their boss encounters and animations rather than whether or not they played tonsil hockey with Shadow or Amy in a fanfic. Another factor is that unlike other villains, they were never hyped up to be the Raddest, Baddest, Greatest Enemy of All Time for Sonic, and thus they didn't run the risk of not being able to live up to that claim. They were allowed to simply exist and do their own thing, as one addition to help compliment an overall package.

You could also argue that their status as a group works in their favor too, as it helps to make each of their traits pop out that little bit more. And they're honestly really clever with their strategies, like how Magician transforms into forgotten characters to spice things up, or how Shinobi's shurikens aren't actually shurikens, but rather Asterons, one of the most notorious enemies in the series. And need I mention Rider using a goddamn Motobug like it's a steed? These characters could have been very throwaway, but there's a surprising level of thought put into how each of them work, and giving them a characteristic spin that works to Sonic's tastes, and considering this is the same franchise that gave us a bad guy named Black Doom, I'd say it's worth noting.

"...Please explain why Boobie Bots Weekly is in my search history."

So yes, in this world where Dooms and Mephiles's's's's's's have been running rampant, the Hard-Boiled Heavies share their creator's honor of making a name for themselves. And as much as I have a fondness for the Deadly Six in spite of their issues (Zazz and Zor are still hilarious, fight me), I will agree without argument that the Heavies are a much better execution of the quirky boss group format on the overall side of things. And I swear to GodJesus and the Bear, if they never make a single appearance past their debut, I will be a very sad panda. If they can give Silver and his tiresome schtick countless second chances (and failing to make it interesting every single time), they can sure as hell give these juggernauts another go.

But until then, at least we still have Mania. Now if you'll excuse me, Shinobi's about to teleport behind me. Hope it's nothing personal.

Crusher Gives the Hard-Boiled Heavies a: Thumbs Up!

[crusherthedoctor]

The Werehog is good and pure, how could you hate him? Unless you hate on him to be cool.

No, actually. I have genuine reasons for why I don’t like the Werehog that much.

I don’t like his design. I can respect the creativity and thought that was put into it, but it just looks goofy to me, and NOT in a good or cute way. I can’t take the Werehog seriously when he���s running around like Donkey Kong with his giant quills flopping about.

I don’t like his gameplay. It goes on for too long even if you’re good at it, and it’s largely tedious IMO. And it takes up a great majority of Unleashed’s gameplay time, in both versions of the game.

I don’t think he’s interesting. The only thing I find slightly intriguing about him is how Sonic wasn’t mentally affected by Dark Gaia’s corruption. But even then, he unintentionally comes off as a special snowflake given the praise Chip places upon him for it, and how he was the only person who resisted it.

And those are just a few.

I can’t help but notice how the people on this site who go on about how “pure” their favourite character/ship/etc is are usually the same people who can’t tolerate different opinions.