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The Sonic the Hedgehog Headcanon Thread of Lore and Time Stones

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by BlackHole, Aug 31, 2022.

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  1. BlackHole

    BlackHole

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    A spin-off of The Sonic the Hedgehog Continuity Thread of Love and Timelines: Headcanons are common in that thread due to the current uncertainty of the canon at present, as well as needing them to patch continuity issues. This is to separate them out so the continuity thread can better focus on said continuity, while allowing us to discuss the headcanons we have.

    I'll start with a few of the headcanons I've mentioned, but can catalogue here for discussion should it be wanted:
    • Knuckles may have been Tikal'd by the Master Emerald, dragged from a past point in time to better assist the Master Emerald in the present against the Death Egg. No longer really consider it though, but catalogued.
    • Sonic Shuffle leads into Sonic Advance, as the former ends with the four characters of the latter running along a beach, which it opens with.
    • The first Sonic the Hedgehog game alternates between the two version's Zones, so after passing through Marble Zone, Sonic crosses the Bridge Zone to reach Scrap Brain Zone, then enters the Jungle Zone to enter the Labyrinth Zone.
    • Eggman is a nickname derived from how Robotnik initially introduced himself to Sonic: Extraordinarily Gifted Gentleman.
    • The Phantom Ruby of Sonic Forces is a copy of the original found in Sonic Mania, which was otherwise lost. The Classic Sonic of Sonic Forces is subsequently actually a Phantom like Zavok and Metal Sonic, 'born' from Sonic's being in the original Phantom Ruby's illusions when Robotnik scanned it, and the power of friendship 'summoning' him when Tails needed him. The end of Sonic Mania instead leads straight to Encore Mode, no Sonic Forces for Sonic yet.
    • Sonic used Chaos Control at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 to repair the damaged Moon, which also distracted him away from Shadow, which is why Sonic was not able to catch Shadow as he fell.
    • The second moon sometimes seen in games like Sonic Riders is the back of the ARK, still in orbit around the Earth. Possibly made canon by Sonic Channel, but best kept here for now.
    • There's multiple Hidden Palaces: each contains an Emerald Pillar that acts as a relay for the Master Emerald, alongside one in the Emerald Altar, spreading the Master's power. Most are found on Angel Island, but there's a few elsewhere: one on Westside Island under the Mystic Cave Zone and one on the island of Chaotix. So long as the Master Emerald is in contact with one of these, the others distribute the energy. Most societies were able to access the Master Emerald's power through these emerald pillars, but they ended up buried after the Echidna attacked and arose Perfect Chaos.
    • South Island's reliance on the Chaos Emeralds during Sonic Chaos is due to damage sustained from Robotnik: the Emeralds are acting as stitches and repairing the island. When Robotnik took one and scattered the rest, it was like removing stitches early and South Island began to sink. Sonic returned them to the island, and when it finished being restored by the Emeralds, they scattered, leading to Sonic Drift and Sonic Triple Trouble.
    • During the Classic Era, Sonic would often keep a hold of one of the seven Chaos Emerald and collect the other six when needed, which is why we only see the six collected in most Game Gear games. This stopped when Robotnik shot him and caused the Chaos Emerald to break into pieces, during Sonic Blast.
    • The town in Ice Cap Zone of Sonic Adventure is not actually on Angel Island, instead it was a town that had an island drop right in front of it, coincidentally lining up with the mountaintops of snow that we consider as Ice Cap Zone.
    • The events of Perfect Chaos were depicted on the roof of the Emerald Altar, which is the mural of the Ancient Dragon Egg that Knuckles refers to during Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The depiction was destroyed when the Death Egg crashed into Angel Island.
    • Vector was fully aware of Robotnik during Sonic Heroes from the events of Chaotix, but was deliberately taunting him by not recognising him to get a reaction out of the scientist in their first combat, due to suspicions of their client. When he didn't respond as he should've, it confirmed Vector's suspicions were valid. Charmy is just an idiot, while Espio clicked but had already reacted with familiarity, so served to 'explain' to Vector who Robotnik was to continue the guise.
    • The powerups that Tails collects in the prequel Tails' Adventure, if considered as in-universe and not game trinkets, are Echidna relics depicting the cast, akin to the Hydrocity Zone statues of Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
    • Mobius of Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball is a planet found in Subspace, where Fang the Sniper hails from.
    • The Emeralds of Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball are Conduit Emeralds, not Chaos Emeralds, which are, as the name suggests, acting as conduits for the Chaos Emerald's power throughout Mt. Mobius. One is used later in Sonic the Fighters to focus all seven Chaos Emeralds into one point for the rocket, hence the mysterious eighth Emerald of that game.
    • Shadow is legally Shadow Robotnik. He can also legally go by Shadow Doom, Shadow Doom-Robotnik or Shadow Robotnik-Doom, but doesn't really like to talk about his family situation so just goes by Shadow the Hedgehog.
    • A common one, but the cast have aged over the events. Using the Adventure Era as a base, where Sonic is 15, minus 3-4 years for the Classic Era, and plus 2-3 for the Wisp Era (Current Era until Sonic Frontiers releases).
    • My major and favourite one: Metal Sonic is developed from Good Future Technology found on the Little Planet, but due to going to the past and attacking, Robotnik and Metal Sonic are now chronolocked into the Bad Future. Basically, no matter what, Robotnik and Metal Sonic will only ever see the Bad Future, even if Sonic creates a Good Future. As a result, Robotnik can not build another one, resulting in the Mecha Sonic line to try and built a suitable copy of Metal Sonic with modern technology and developments.
    • Related to the above, Metal Sonic has a nanite repair system, that repaired him over time after his defeat in Sonic the Hedgehog CD and allowed Robotnik to recover him even while missing some CPUs during Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode Metal. This was later soft-hacked by him to give him his liquid metal properties in Sonic Heroes.
    Alright, I think that covers my headcanons from the Continuity Thread. Anyone got any more?
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2022
  2. charcoal

    charcoal

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    Rouge's tits are fake. We have been deceived.
     
  3. raphael_fc

    raphael_fc

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    So this is not only for additional headcanons, but also headcanons that replace the official canon. Is that it?
     
  4. Snowbound

    Snowbound

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    I’ve heard that the Japanese manual for Spinball stated that mobius was another planet. Is that true? I haven’t heard anything about subspace so I’m assuming that bit is pure Headcanon. Correct me if I’m wrong.
     
  5. raphael_fc

    raphael_fc

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    Both Japanese and American manuals state it was another planet. In this new canon it's 99,99% confirmed it's not another planet anymore.

    Subspace is a thing in Triple Trouble. Something about the Special Stage.
     
  6. Blue Spikeball

    Blue Spikeball

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    Due to their similarities, Sky Sanctuary was possibly built by the same ancients as the Gaia Temples. It might even be a Gaia Temple itself and a piece of the Gaia Colossus. For anyone curious I did a comparison and analysis here.
     
  7. charcoal

    charcoal

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    Whoa, amazing writeup. I'd never even thought about it before but honestly it seems pretty plausible the way you've presented it.
     
  8. Blue Spikeball

    Blue Spikeball

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    Why, thank you :)
     
  9. saxman

    saxman

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    Some of these are pretty interesting. Some are completely bizarre to me. But it's a fun list regardless.

    On the Vector and Robotnik bit, the person (name?) who brought Vector over to Heroes made the conscious decision to basically erase Vector's 32X outing and make this appearance more or less a reboot. So I think it makes it impossible to connect these the way it is suggested in the original post.
     
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  10. Plorpus

    Plorpus

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    It’s never suggested to be another planet in the English manuals, just the Japanese one, which specifically says it takes place on the peaceful planet Mobius which was suddenly invaded by Eggman. In the Western canon that would just be the same planet the other games took place on, but in Japan those games took place on earth and the phrasing suggests that at the very least Eggman showing up there was a new development.

    And while there’s no official confirmation that they’re genuine, the earliest leaks on 4chan of the now infamous Sonic bible from 2010ish also mentioned that Möbius existed in the canon but was Sonic’s world’s equivalent of mars, which tracks with this.
     
  11. Chaos Rush

    Chaos Rush

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    Green Hills Zone in Sonic 2 8-bit is Never Lake from Sonic CD’s intro. No strong evidence for this other than the music being the same as the JP Sonic CD intro, but it’s fun to imagine lol
     
  12. BlackHole

    BlackHole

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    Headcanons can and often do replace canon for some people, so yes it can replace official canon.

    It's never said to be another planet, just that "this is the planet Mobius". It's basically a recap of Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)'s backstory:
    Subspace, as mentioned by raphael_fc, was mentioned in Sonic Triple Trouble. It's also mentioned in Sonic 3D: Flickies Island as where the Flickies travel through. I figured I'd make use of a location we know to have lifeforms coming in and out and from and otherwise residing to justify a Mobius.

    EDIT:
    Also
    Going to be honest, Team Chaotix make no sense connection-wise.

    Charmy and Vector do not know of Robotnik, despite him blowing up the Moon naught but a game ago. However, Espio is completely aware of him and honestly acts like someone with history with him.

    The other option is Knuckles and Espio ran through Chaotix of their own accord, meaning none of the others have met Robotnik, and also they somehow missed every TV on Earth announcing Robotnik's plan in Sonic Adventure 2 before blowing up the Moon.

    At least this way, Vector's ignorance of literal world-ending events is deliberate on his part, using it to further his investigation.
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2022
  13. Frostav

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    Oh man. This topic was made for me given that I am planning a fanfic and having to come up with a massive amount of shit just to fill in the gaps that Sonic Team never did! To start, I've decided that Little Planet was colonized by Mobians post the events of CD (which of course means every Zone is the good future variant). It serves as both a place to revere-engineer Robotnik's machines to see if they can be put to Mobian use and also as a place that's extremely secure from any kind of assault on Eggman (meaning that Little Planet was pretty much entirely safe during the events of Forces--to say that Mobians on Mobius (yes that's what I'm calling it because "Sonic's World" is duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumb) find this a bit of a sore point would be an understatement). Metallic Madness got renamed but literally everyone just calls it Metallic Madness anyway lmao

    Secondly, after Forces, Mobians set about clearing out Eggman's bases, destroying any of his remaining robots, and generally scrubbing the world of his influence, a thing they call the "Reclamation". GUN managed to squeeze themselves into being the head of this international operation, and have no problem exploiting Sonic, Shadow, and their friends for propaganda purposes, nevermind that GUN has tried to capture or just kill all of them multiple times! All's well that ends well, apparently.

    On a less serious note, mobians use rings for currency (i don't care what Iizuka says that "never show rings as currency" shit is straight bonkers), and they use ring-styled bracelets as a sort of credit card, using a system Tails devised. It's a lot more conveient than somehow carrying a shitload of rings around. The ring to USD exchange rate is 10 rings to 1 dollar by the way (so a ring is basically a yen).

    Chao gardens are in places where a chaos emerald once lurked. Prolonged exposure to chaos energy can make an artifical garden, but they aren't quite as resilient as the naturally formed ones that had hundreds of years to soak up the energy and purify their water.

    Chaos Drives are formed of some kind of chaos gem below the Emeralds in power. They are much more plentiful but much weaker--still good enough for GUN mechs, though.

    Some of the other "headcanons" are more me just making shit up that sounds good, and don't really have any basis in canon (I do try to make them make sense at least, though), so not really appropriate for here
     
  14. Beamer the Meep

    Beamer the Meep

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    I love the idea that Chao Gardens are places with prolonged exposure to the emeralds. It ties in very nicely to the idea that the Chaos Emeralds can amplify life like they did on South Island in Sonic 1's ending and it explains why the Emerald Shrine in SA1 had so many chao.
     
  15. BlackHole

    BlackHole

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    Some further BlackHole Brand BS Headcanons for you:

    • Maria sacrificed herself to save Shadow because she knew she was dead anyway, even before she got shot: due to her condition of NIDS weakening her immune system, the ARK had very strict sterilization procedures, but the G.U.N. Agents who attacked the ARK did not follow them as that would both delay and the intent was to execute everyone anyway, exposing Maria to pathogens her body could not handle. As Maria was aware of the threat of the Black Arms, she focused on getting Shadow to safety so he could protect the Earth from them.
    • Shadow is acting far more aggressive during the events of Shadow the Hedgehog due to the approaching Black Comet: as the Black Arms (appear to) have a hive mind, the approach is allowing Black Doom to subtly change Shadow to better serve his aims.
    • One I missed: Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) comes before Sonic Rush, so Sonic and Blaze have not met. Blaze, however, is well aware of Sonic, Robotnik and the Chaos Emeralds as she has been researching ways to destroy Iblis via accessing Robotnik's and any other surviving terminals for information, and has read about the blue hedgehog that has saved the world numerous times, which is why she could not believe Sonic was the Iblis Trigger. Silver is usually off actually dealing with Iblis: Blaze can bypass Iblis' fire infesting such ruins due to her own inherent power over flame, but fighting a fire god with fire isn't the best of ideas, so she is doing the research while Silver is doing the fighting, which is also why Silver is ignorant of aspects he really shouldn't be, such as the Chaos Emeralds.
    • G.U.N. salvaged the crashed Egg Carrier(s, if any of 2 survived Perfect Chaos) from the events of Sonic Adventure, leading to the G.U.N. Carriers seen during Shadow the Hedgehog. The tech also lead to massive developmental leaps such as the floating cars of Grand Metropolis of Sonic Heroes.
    • Related to the above, the floating cars and futuristic cities seen during Sonic Heroes and Sonic Riders are not commonplace due to the massive amounts of energy needed to sustain the cities. They are more experiments with recovered technology, and are uncommon. Gigaopolis of South Island, seen during Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos, is another futuristic city, but is not as advanced as the other two. Think I, Robot (2004 Movie) versus Star Wars' Coruscant.
    • Again related to the above: Gigaopolis is Star Light Zone, but deeper in the city as opposed to the rooftops.
    May supply more later, we'll see how people respond to this BS.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2022
  16. Shade Vortex

    Shade Vortex

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    Over the years, I've come up with many fanons, because I've never really thought SEGA has done a good job with the canon after I became old and aware enough to reflect upon it deeply, and I feel it's only gotten worse. The canon changes if and when it suits the games/the creators, and that will always be true. That said, I prefer to go by these over whatever the current or past canon dictates:

    -Chaos is not a unique mutation. A Chaos Chao will eventually become another Chaos if given the same impetus that caused Chaos' own mutation. I assume it had to do with prolonged exposure to the Master Emerald's energy.
    -Metal Sonic does not actually think he is the real Sonic, he is self aware about being a copy, but nonetheless wants to destroy and replace the original. (I have never liked the angle that he literally thinks he's the real Sonic, as a sophisticated and intelligently designed AI he absolutely should know better)
    -Eggman fixed the moon using the same technology that he uses to repurpose areas into his evil schemes (like Carvinal Night; there's no way Angel Island naturally had such a facility). I find the "it's the other side of the moon" too absurd to accept.
    -Sonic's Schoolhouse is an alternate timeline derived from Sonic Generations' ending where Classic Robotnik becomes a teacher after forgetting about his future self's plans.
    -GUN's reason for keeping the Chaos Emeralds on lockdown is to prevent Eggman from getting and misusing them, considering both what he's done in the Classic Games and also in Adventure 1. No logical explanation will ever reconcile the fact that labeling Sonic as a criminal and hunting him down for stealing them doesn't make any sense, since Sonic's a proven hero who's used the Emeralds for good many times, but I can only do so much. My best attempt anyways is to say they feared Sonic's powers, in a similar dilemma/sense that Shadow faces in the future of 06's world. I also concede that GUN was corrupt all the way from 50 years ago to ShtH, and they only seemed to redeem themselves somewhat in 06 (hence Shadow letting go of the past and joining their cause now that he could agree with it), but that future dilemma bit makes me think that they didn't learn their lesson even then.
    -Knuckles and Tails CAN go Super canonically, BUT: Sonic's the one who's truly mastered Chaos Energy manipulation and has taken his Super form to levels beyond anything that Tails or even Knuckles could manage, to Knuckles' chagrin considering his head-start knowledge on the Emeralds' powers being bestowed upon him by his ancestors. I think of it similarly to the Vegeta and Goku dynamic in Dragon Ball. Vegeta had knowledge of the Super Saiyan Legend and always hoped to become one to overthrow Frieza, but despite his preordained knowledge and stubbornness, Goku not only beat him to the punch, but far exceeded anything he could accomplish with that form.
     
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  17. BlackHole

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    This is actually a mistranslation or localisation thing. Metal Sonic actually refers to Sonic as his imperfect self, so it's more he considers himself the perfected version of Sonic.

    7:58


    "Long time, no see, Sonic! My imperfect self...!"

    He does later call himself the "true" Sonic, but again, that's more because he views himself as the "perfect" Sonic between them.

    This is why I always strive to use the Japanese canon and script for a primarily Japanese made series.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2022
  18. DefinitiveDubs

    DefinitiveDubs

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    I'm afraid of listing any of my headcanons out of fear of people going "lol look at this autistic cringe dumpster fire over here, can't believe this motherfucker is pushing 30".

    Sometimes I write fanfiction in a dark corner where nobody will ever know.
     
  19. Beamer the Meep

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    I guess I might mention my brother's take on Metal Sonic that he kinda sorta mentions on Dream Kittu's piano cover of What I'm Made Of (nice cover by the way).

    From our discussions on it, I see it as Metal Sonic thinks he's the epitome of "A Sonic", the perfected form of this kind of being. He surpassed everything that the real Sonic was and is trying to prove he is so much more than a metal copy of someone else, to justify his existence as my brother put it.

    In addition to the obvious comparison (which Eggman purposefully designed him for), Sonic also presents a threat to his continued existence. If he doesn't defeat Sonic, Sonic could destroy him or Eggman may trash him because he's ineffective. While it's not in the original Japanese version, the fact that he says he has nothing left to fear if he beats Sonic is very telling.
     
  20. Azookara

    Azookara

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    I have a lot. Hold onto your asses.

    - Dr. Eggman Nega is Eggman from the future. After failing to take down Sonic and friends for countless years, he goes crazy and goes all around time-space to cause anomolies and pure chaos, with no care whether he wins or loses. His hair is white, he's more cold and unpredictable than Eggman, he has no real plans beyond destruction, and knows exactly how to get on Eggman's side (after all, Eggman's worked with his past self before). He tells a different story of who he is every time he appears to someone new; a tactic he uses as intentional misdirection.

    - The Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald (and also, thus, the Chao) are alien life from a different dimension (the Special Stage). After crash landing on Earth, they scattered, with the energy from the impact absorbing into the world's crust, creating warped, loopy structures. Excess energy with nowhere to go seeped out of the soil in the form of Rings. When the Emeralds were found by various civilizations, they (as in the Emeralds) transmitted instructions to each inhabitant on how to build their sanctuaries; leading to the creation of the Gaia Temples and the Master Emerald Altar. The Emeralds also transmitted prophecy of the existence of other Emeralds, leading to wars between nations, and ultimately a conquest led by the M.E.'s guardians, the Echidna tribe. After their conquest was complete, they placed all the Emeralds around the Master Emerald Altar, where the mysterious Chao resided. Excess radioactive energy from existing in the same space caused a chosen Chao of legend to mutate, creating... Chaos.

    - The aforementioned "excess Chaos energy" that courses through the planet explains why Sonic's world features loops and sharp slopes even in man-made environments. Societies build roads, and then the planet just decides to bend it into a silly straw shape, because fuck you. The city just decides to try to build around it. Put a construction sign up, that'll do it.

    - The Emeralds all in one place with the M.E., as I mentioned, are incredibly radioactive when kept together and can cause great damage if left in close proximity for too long. This is the reason the Emeralds, not long after collection (and especially after use), immediately disperse as far away from each other as they can. These radioactive effects are also why Sonic can go Super, as he's one of the only characters to hold onto all seven for extended periods of time.

    - The Sonic Band is still part of Sonic's backstory. Sonic was the suave singer/dancer to his group, gaining him popularity as the "world's most famous hedgehog" (not a huge task when hedgehogs weren't necessarily popular before this point). Sonic and Vector are long-time buddies but hardly interact due to lives not crossing paths much anymore.

    - Speaking of that band, his popularity got him a particularly obsessive fangirl.. which explains Amy's whole infatuation with him.

    - Rouge and Nack used to be a "Bonnie & Clyde" duo. They broke it off when it became clear Nack wanted to use their thievery to become bloody stinkin' rich, while Rouge just wanted the jewels for their beauty. Her averseness to how violent and cruel he could be could maybe also be why she feels gravitated towards side-work as an agent for good.

    - Sonic's got a family but he never sees them. His mom and siblings are the Underground crew (lol) and his dad was a pilot that went missing. Yes, this is just that old "Christmas with Sonic" series's headcanon, and I'm hijacking it.

    - Blaze's kingdom is called Soleanna. The Jeweled Scepter holds Solaris, who is her world's parallel to Chaos. Sol Emeralds, fire princess, Soleanna, Solaris, in a scepter. Makes sense.

    - Before you ask about the last one: 06 never happened. It was made up. It wasn't real. A fabrication. Silver smoked his hair and dreamt it up.

    - Scratch and Grounder were real and after Eggman threw them out post 3K they aimlessly trek around the world like C3PO and R2D2.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2022