The Sonic the Hedgehog Continuity Thread of Love and Timelines

Which means Tails is also using the Tornado-II in Sonic Heroes' opening, not the Tornado-III (my bad):


Then goes back to the Tornado-III for Shadow the Hedgehog:

Be careful, apparently people are mistaking speculation such as this as canonical lore.

Also, further point of orders:



The Tornado-II is used in Sonic Riders and Sonic Advance 3.

So it does seem to be Tails is swapping them around for usage for some reason. I would further note that the Tornado 3: Cyclone is also labelled P-3a:



Maybe that Tornado 03 is simply one of many Tornado 3's? And he made a couple of backups in case one of them gets shot down again, so he can get right back into action. So the Tornado 03 is simply the Tornado 03b? THIS IS SPECULATION.

 

It makes sense that Tails was using the Tornado II in those games. If it had been the Tornado III, he would have transformed it into the Cyclone when he needed to fight baddies.

 

I mean the way the Tornado transforms doesn't make much sense to begin with, is there really any reason that the Tornado III can't have the mode we see in Tails' intro in SA2, the walker mode and the Tornado II-esque mode in Sonic Heroes (which itself looks pretty similar to the model seen in Unleashed). Each one of them serves a different niche and Tails' tinkering seems to be more in the vein of constantly iterating, rather than being like Iron Man suits, many of which have specific purposes due to their attributes and designs.

 

Did you see the pics I posted? The Tornado II can change into that X-wing form because it basically has double wings (a biplane). As does the Tornado 03. The Tornado III doesn't have those.

Plus the Tornado III has three forms already (plane, walker and car).

 

Just gonna step in and suggest we call the 'Tornado III' the 'Cyclone', since it's otherwise named that ('Tornado III' comes off as a designation, like 'Tornado III: Cyclone') and saves confusion with Sonic Unleashed's 'Tornado 03'.

Still discuss the naming and usage of the planes, though.

 

Isn't the Cyclone just the name of the walker form?

 

I love how Tornado's designs are the most redundant thing ever because they just keep randomly changing which plane is being used and creating new ones without explaining it properly. Like, there's AT LEAST 3 different red planes in canon and most people never noticed it, geez

 

Why would the name be limited to a single form?

 

Three? Are you counting the classic Tornado and the SA1 design as separate? Because I'm positive they're supposed to be the same, otherwise the plane Tails creates in SA1 wouldn't called the Tornado II.

I chalk up the fact it reverted to its classic design in Sonic 4 and Lost World to those games games having retro-inspired aesthetics. Plus Lost World started as a Classic Sonic game.

Why not? The Egg Fort II in Sonic X was called Egg Emperor in its mech form.

 

Considering the Tails logos on the wings and tails, could be Tails was upgrading it as well, leading to the Prototype he crashes and the Tornado 2 when he found the old plane couldn't be upgraded further? THIS IS SPECULATION, NOT CANON.

Ah, fair counterpoint. Still, I would assume it to be the name of the plane entirely.

Also, I can't help but notice text on the Cyclone: "Prower's Projects", that's adorable and would not surprise me if that, in-universe, is an umbrella company where Miles Electrics sits.

 

I don't know why you suggested that I could be counting the one from Adventure as separate and almost imediately brought up the one from Lost World. Yes, I'm talking about the one in LW, it looks nothing like Unleashed's Tornado 3 and it also isn't the same as the classic Tornado or Sonic 4's Tornado, most noticeable if you look at the wings. The one in Frontiers is also different, including an extra seat, but it might just be an altered version of the one from LW, so that's why I said "at least 3". I'm convinced that the one from Lost World is a different plane from the one in Unleashed because they're too different to be justified as simply an artstyle change and that they made this new plane specifically to have a Tornado that looks similar to the original one, but it's very clearly a new design

 

Unless this new Tornado in Rivals 2 is supposed to be Unleashed's Tornado 03.
Then we would still need a Tornado 02 somewhere.

Lost World's Tornado could be retconned to Tornado 02 and also could be that one Tails mentioned in Rivals 2. I think it would be nice.

 

Does the Japanese script for Rivals 2 indicate that Tails has a “new” Tornado, or is that another localization change?

 

I think the Rivals series is English-only.

 

Quite right, thanks.

 

I want to be more thorough in my speculation (not canonically confirmed):

Tornado (01) - from Sonic 2, Sonic 3K, Sonic Mania, Sonic 4
Tornado 02 - from Sonic Spinball
Tornado 03 - from Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic Unleashed
Tornado 04 - from Sonic Lost World, Sonic Frontiers
Tornado (I) - from Sonic Adventure, Sonic Advance, Sonic Rush Adventure
Tornado II - from Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 3, Sonic Riders
Tornado III - from Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog

 

Indeed, Sonic Rivals never got a Japanese release. Kinda curious what the Japanese side does for Silver's lore, since they never got his return: he just kinda turned up one day.

Alternatively, Tails built a replica out of nostalgia and used it for Sonic Lost World and Sonic Frontiers, since the latter has a similar design but new wings.

 

Let me change that. I think it can work out nicely.

Tornado (01) - from Sonic 2, Sonic 3K, Sonic Mania, Sonic 4

After the severe damage Tornado had suffered, Tails decided to create a new Tornado to preserve his best friend's plane.

Tornado (I) - from Sonic Adventure, Sonic Advance, Sonic Rush Adventure

During the events of Sonic Adventure, Tails had to create another plane.

Tornado II - from Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 3, Sonic Riders

And during Sonic Adventure 2, a new version was created.

Tornado III - from Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog

Since Tornado III was lost in Shadow the Hedgehog, Tornado II was lost in Sonic Riders, and ultimately Tornado (I) was lost at the sea in Sonic Rush Adventure, Tails decided to create planes closer to the original model.

Tornado 02 - from Sonic Rivals 2
Tornado 03 - from Sonic Unleashed
Tornado 04 - from Sonic Lost World, Sonic Frontiers

 

Does the Tornado show up in the Rivals games, or is it only mentioned in dialogue?

That seems to be the case. The manual calls the walker "Cyclone", but at the start of the game when it's in its plane form Tails says "Tornado... Transformation!" ("Tornado... Mode change!" in the Japanese version).

I don't think the car form is referred to as Tornado or Cyclone in the game itself. Someone would have to refer to the Route 101 section of the Japanese SA2 guide book (has anyone scanned it?).

 

I opted to have my translator friend check the Japanese manual:

And confirmed that, yes, the Cyclone is the Walker Mode only, the plane is still the Tornado.