Why Metal Sonic Was A Brilliant Rival And How He Was Ruined 

Fun fact: Metal Sonic in Sonic Heroes was also voiced by Ryan Drummond, much like the real Sonic.

If we could look at this metaphorically, he went from a robot Sonic to just a robot.

I always had a theory that Metal Sonic’s perception was warped, like when he captured Amy I imagined he viewed it as her being saved from Sonic, who he would likely perceive as a sort of Metal Sonic, and he genuinely believed he was the real Sonic and went mad because he didn’t know why all his friends were so scared of him edit: looking back this shit was so obvious I didn’t deserve 800 likes on this

I honestly love the IDW comics so much. They truly preserve that great Sonic storytelling and the writers actually understand these characters well.

Hot take - Neo Metal Sonic should have been the default design from Heroes onwards. Maybe the leather cape is a bit tacky, but the design is badass as hell

The crucial thing that made Metal Sonic so memorable in CD was that he was a perfect *thematic* foil, rather than just narrative. The whole game was about exploring the dichotomy of nature and technology and how they can manifest in positive and negative ways for the planet. Metal Sonic is sort of a bizarro reflection of the real thing; a “bad future” Sonic, if you will. Sonic is a champion of nature and has to fight Metal’s influence in every stage. Even tho his appearances are limited, his presence is felt throughout the title because the core themes are always at the forefront of the player’s mind. Even the marketing was careful to frame them in perfect opposition to each other; you could draw a line down the Japanese and European boxart and they’re pretty much a perfect mirror image of each other. Equal and opposite in terms of power, but with Sonic being fundamentally *good* and Metal being fundamentally *bad.* They’re not just fighting each other but also fighting for the future of the planet and it’s aesthetic ideology. There’s a effortless genius to Metal Sonic’s sleek, sharp, heartless design, compared to the softer, rounded and personable look of Sonic. In that sense, Metal Sonic was *made* for Sonic CD, in the same way that Knuckles was made for Sonic 3 and Shadow was made for SA2. When ripped away from his original context, SEGA is forced to actually create a new motive or emotional hook, which they did with Heroes but couldn’t be bothered to do ever again. If you can’t justify the prolonged use of a character that’s already served his purpose, it comes off as cloying and unsatisfying.

I think metal sonic had various forms because he wanted to surpass sonic’s super form. Sort of like a “ anything you can do, I can do better “ type of mindset that he has.

Metal Sonic's characterization in one of the Sonic Mania animated shorts where he is rescued by Amy is pretty darn adorable and one of the best things they did with him sinced Heroes and the IDW series.

The true doppelgänger I never thought of Shadow as that, he is less of a doppelgänger and more of a powerful enemy/alley that just so happens to also be a Hedgehog. But people keep saying Shadow is like the venom of Sonic when it’s actually Metal Sonic

A question I have for Metal Sonic’s character is that one of Metal Overlord’s voice lines, he says “he is no longer afraid of anything.” The question is what was he afraid of? I personally think he was afraid of facing that fact that he is not the real Sonic.

I’d like to mention that the rings in the walls in cd are actually tied to the time travel mechanic, in other time periods those walls aren’t there, meaning you can grab the rings.

One thing I wish they had done that might have prevented Metal Sonic from becoming stale was after Sonic Heroes, make his defection permanent and have him be a villain on his own. I think that idea has potential for new and interesting stories for Metal Sonic, like him trying to create an army of his own or something.

My headcanon is that after Heroes, Eggman placed further safeguards in Metal Sonic to prevent him from rebelling again. The Doctor thought this would turn his creation back into a mindless lackey again, and it sure seems like it sometimes. Yet somehow, Metal Sonic still retains consciousness, and is pissed (think of Blade Wolf from Metal Gear Rising). The events of Heroes have become a distant memory and just another adventure to every other character, even Eggman, but not Metal. Oh you think that you're mad this cool robot has become a mere puppet? Imagine being that puppet, and remembering what it was like to have autonomy. This silenced rage will someday boil over and break the restrictions placed upon him. And when that happens, the real superpower of teamwork will not be enough to stop him.

I’ve absolutely loved Metal Sonic for years now, he’s my favourite character behind Sonic himself, and it genuinely sucks how much he’s been downplayed into what’s basically just a more dangerous badnik. The idw comics definitely gave me hope that he’d go back to how he once was, especially after Reflections, and given that Ian Flynn is seemingly becoming the new main writer for Sonic, I hope he can incorporate Metal into a game that justifies his inclusion, and properly brings back the character so many people love

Heroes version of Metal Sonic was by far my most favorite because it was MS at his peak in my opinion! Also that transformation scene had me dying! I forgot how overly long that scene was, but I still love how epic it is.😆 Such a shame that he's been treated as nothing more than a side villain! If he's somehow the final boss in Frontiers I'd be happy!

My vision of Metal Sonic is Robotnik's greatest invention. Sonic's first actual perfect doppelganger, matching his speed and agility. Being an actual challenge for Sonic. Okay, maybe Mecha was more of a challenge but he is more of a upgrade than an invention. Shadow was just Sonic's...well shadow, he really didn't have a purpose, only SA2, Sonic Heroes and Shadow The Hedgehog gave Shadow an actual backstory than just a side story. Out of all the inventions Robotnik's made I'd say Metal is the best machine he has ever built. Once was a challenger, proving to Sonic that he was the true Sonic, now being just a mini-boss, no meaning or use for him at all.

In the IDW comics it actually explains why they used a illusion Metal Sonic, he was being transformed into Neo Metal Sonic but was completed too late. By the way, I loved this video, also thanks for talking about that comic with Metal Sonic.

Both Sonic Heroes, The OVA, and the comics fully fleshed out his character and personality, anything after those games he became a nostalgia object with no purpose, nice analysis PJ

Actually, on the Eggman bit, it can also be seen as feeding into his ego. He built it, so he may have an inflated sense of how dangerous Metal was.

Another thing I love about Metal Sonic is he’s also a representative of how Eggman sees Sonic, that’s his interpretation of him, cold, angry, red eyed with a gaping void of a monoeye, spikes, and a jet engine for a chest, I like how these evil metal robot copies of characters are a subsequent reflection of how their creator views them, like Toc-Man from Pac-Man World having big sharp teeth as the ghosts from their perspective see Pac-Man as a hungry monster ready to devour, character design details should be able to convey such wordless conclusions and narrative characterization

Metal Sonic was definitely a great rival that unfortunately had his similar traits create more rivals being Knuckles, Shadow and more.

If Metal comes back in Frontiers I think it would be cool if he was voiced by Ryan again since he did such an amazing job in Heroes, kinda like how they got Vegeta's Ocean dub voice actor Brian Drummond for Copy Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super.

I think I thought about a small theory while watching the video. That theory being that Eggman purposely resets Metal Sonic after every encounter with Sonic. After the events of Heroes, Eggman now has control over Metal once again and, being the control freak that he is, ensures his control over him by any means necessary. For most of the series after this game, Metal is mostly silent and just there to race against Sonic, like how he did in CD, his first ever outing. Thanks to the reset, Metal only knows the doctor and his mission, but not his countless failures, which was the cause of his actions in Heroes. Rather than choosing to scrap Metal, Eggman still uses him because of how close he is to Sonic, both in appearance and ability. The resets just tighten the proverbial leash onto Metal. I will say that I’m not all too familiar with the games he appears in, since my only involvement is watching people talk about them, so there may be some obvious holes in the theory.

The IDW comic also explained why Metal wasn't actually present in Forces. Eggman was basically running updates on Metal so he could become Neo Metal Sonic without rebelling against Eggman, which worked. The updates didn't finish until Forces was over and in the beginning of the IDW comic Metal's goal was now to take over the world so that he could hand it over to his master on a silver platter.

Metal sonic was my favorite character for the longest time. But over time, I've realized that I don't want him in the games anymore. If he's just there to be there for sales, and have metal sonic fans have hope he'll do something, I don't want him there. Either do something with him, and treat him like a character, or don't have him in the game in the first place. It sucks for me to say that, but it needs to be said I want metal sonic the character, not metal sonic the jobber

What an awesome analysis of Metal Sonic, I really wish that many of the characters, including Metal, get improved portrayals in the future, but sadly, their former glory doesn’t seem to be coming back soon.

The text on the thumbnail should've been "From overpowered to overused"

My favorite journey for him was Shard. He works shockingly well as a redemption villian to hero.

Honestly I'm just glad that they kept him silent. It's a small trait of his that really keeps his character cold and imposing. That being said, I can't wait for Chris Pratt to voice him 10 years from now.

Honestly, the Forces inclusion makes some sense to me, since Metal is already Eggman's strongest creation, and the Phantom Ruby can mass-produce that and upgrade said copies endlessly with no real effort. It beats having only one Metal with no upgrades. That said I admit I don't know why Metal wasn't there, aside from Eggman maybe considering him obsolete at the time.

I’m gonna give the sonic mania episodes some credit for metal sonic. While they didn’t really use that whole rival thing for sonic, I really like how they made him actually threatening and pretty cool.

19:32 Ngl this image is cute, it makes Eggman look like a dad and I find that both funny and adorable

I can imagine Eggman being scared or paranoid to include Metal Sonic into his plans in Forces after what he was capable of in the events of Heroes. Opting for a mindless duplicate than the unstable original, although he could have attempted to build a new metal sonic to aid infinite or maybe he was finished with Metal Sonics in general

Metal Sonic is a character I prefer to be mostly silent, I feel his actions show his character the most Most of his actions alone show how much he despises and wants to surpass Sonic, especially in the Metal Virus arc in the IDW comics in where he touches the Metal Virus and it simply slips off of him while he on looks at Sonic trying to speed of the Metal Virus, he’s just a copy and he’s coming to terms with that. Yet he still wants to overcome Sonic I guess me and you have some similar views on Metal Sonic

I remember growing up on Metal Sonic. All the drawings, all the badass moments, just for Sega to overuse him for “Marketing Values”. I truly love what IDW did with “Reflections”. It shows that Metal is self-aware in this scenario. Him realizing that he’s copy. The fact that there aren’t any moments of dialogue, and just the imagery can set up a good example for telling an awesome story. It made me feel bad for him, I think he dipped his finger into the Metal Virus, hoping it might’ve transformed him into something…different, but to no avail. Him walking away so solemnly is a reminder of that.

Sonic: *tries to save Metal Sonic from being melted down in a magma pit* Metal Sonic: *slaps Sonic's hand away* "THERE... IS ONLY ONE SONIC."

It's sad that characters like Metal Sonic and Shadow were ruined by lazy writing, although I do have hope that the newer games can improve that. Also hoping we get Metal Sonic in the Sonic movies, maybe as a rival built by Eggman to beat Sonic. Just a thought but nevertheless, good video.

I really do feel bad for Metal Sonic. After he's been overused, I'm glad he might be getting a break in Frontiers. He definitely deserves it. Though for Forces, I always like to imagine that Eggman didn't want Metal Sonic there because he was actually scared of Metal. He remembered everything that happened and that if Metal Sonic betrayed him, he could take the Phantom Ruby and transform into what he did in Knuckles and the Chaotix. Or even worse, Metal Overlord. And I can also excuse the Generations thing as well, due to that being Classic Metal Sonic. You can tell he has shorter and stubby limbs. So he has to be the Classic version. But the Sonic 4 appearances always confused me and the Mania boss fight always felt lazy to me (Still is a great game, don't get me wrong). But Metal Sonic is still the best rival in my opinion for Sonic. This may be a bit of a hot take but I prefer him being the rival over Shadow. I just hope that one day, Sega can see his true potential and stop using him as a game seller. Good luck to the metallic hedgehog.

Metal Sonic: "I've been reduced to just a boss fight for nostalgia bait" Meta Knight and Galacta Knight: "First time?"

Honestly I agree. Metal Sonic has always been my favorite and while I didn't mind his Sonic 4 appearances, Sonic Forces is where it really it the fan for me. I remember going through that boss fight on the bridge and thinking "Where is the real Metal Sonic?". However I have high hopes for Metal. If Frontiers goes well maybe Sega will keep Ian Flynn writing for future Sonic games. If there is one thing Archie and IDW have taught me about Ian Flynn it's that he can write Metal Sonic like no other.

Can we just have metal be a real threat like in Heroes and ill even say IDW.

At the first time when I saw Metal Sonic I fought,"This is gonna be a 2D character without personalitty" and was shocked when they were able to make a robot with actual personalitty

I think I know why Metal Sonic was created as an illusion by Infinite. Maybe Eggman thought since the original failed to beat Sonic so many times, and since Infinite had the power to create illusions, and he COULD defeat Sonic, that maybe he could create a better and stronger Metal Sonic, but as an illusion. Or maybe because Eggman doesn't want everything that happened in Sonic Heroes to happen again.

Metal sonic is one of my favorite characters. I still like Metal sonic, a perfect enemy, he is able to keep up and fight! Thanks for the video!

Metal Sonic's flanderization reminds me of Shadow's. Both were once good characters early on, but as the years went by, they had no fuckin' clue what to do with them. And then resorted to simplifying them to certain traits that make them shadows of themselves.

In conclusion, Metal Sonic wasn't just another robot, it was something more

12:02 ah yes sonic morbius

The mobius joke is too good

Since you mentioned the comics, I like how they explained why Metal Sonic, despite being willing to betray Eggman in the past for his own ends, has become more loyal to him since Heroes because Eggman stopped treating him like a mere robot and more like a son. That makes the dynamic between IDW Metal and Eggman interesting because they might be the only beings that the other truly cares about… if only the games could explore that to make game Metal as fleshed out as IDW Metal.

I feel like free riders originally was going to be more focused on Metal sonic.With how simple the story is and how a lot of character dialogues feel out of character, Metal's sudden reveal at the end and the fact that he can still shape shift,collect data and how he keeps the collected data for himself(disobeying eggman) I feel like they changed the story last minute to fit the new voice cast and the tone of the meta era. I also think the theme song fits metal sonic especially the crush 40 and the beta version with lyrics like "felt so refrained, felt so constrained-but now I'm breaking out " and "Wants to be free, wants to be me, want to be everything that you see, wants to be heard, wants to be known, wants to be high". What do you think? I found this out from a comment on the beta version of free and can't stop speculating lol

I think the best thing about Metal Sonic is always that you might know everything that he's going to do, but that won't help you because he knows everything that you're going to do. Strange, isn't it?

Oh nice. Appreciate the shout out. We're completely agreed on Metal. Here's hoping Ian Flynn fixes him and/or he's the main big bad for Sonic 3.

I think this isn't a problem just for Metal Sonic, it's for just about almost any Sonic character. The team behind Sonic's story didn't understand why we loved these characters, so they just pop up randomly for fan service. What I think they should've done was go back and do an analysis on the characters to prove why we loved them a lot and wanted them back properly. This is why I'm glad Ian Flynn is writing the story for Frontiers since he's a long time Sonic fan, published Sonic comics and understands the characters.

I’ve loved Metal Sonic since Adventures but it’s sad to see him reduced to a generic boss I loved this video! Thanks a lot for making it!

Lol I like how the thumbnail says,"From powerful to pointless". Sounds like something eggman would say after metal failed too many times.

I know he *very* rarely gets any voiced dialogue, but it's always felt like a missed opportunity to me to not give Metal Sonic the same voice actor as the real Sonic but filtered, to further emphasize the metallic copy aspect. Also, I saw that Morbius edit you bastard.

I love Metal Sonic, I recently replayed Sonic Heroes, and I consider this was the peak for Metal, but after 2003 there was no idea for him. Notice how in Dark Age he wasn't in games, and then in 2010's was just put in there for no reason with no purpose. After Heroes there's so much potential, like for example, they could have made story arc about Metal based on Amazo from Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, a artificial metal being that was created by super-villain for copying heroes abilities, and then he grows sentient and even starts to becomes more human and a good guy. I'm sad that we will never got this kind of story. Emerl from Sonic Battle is the closest we got for after-Heroes Metal.

Great analysis as always, PJ! Metal Overlord is one of the most epic and badass final bosses in the whole series.

Metal Sonic was used amazingly in the comics! I loved the redemption arc he had, him playing chess with Nichole was such an iconic image to me! 😄😃

I think the only good thing about Metal Sonic in Forces is the music when you fight him. It sounds very cool. But that's it.

Metal needs to be remade honestly. I love him so much but like every other character in the series he’s just been butchered over the years. I think bringing something back like mecha sonic will work

I love how in the comics Metal Sonic acts more like a son for Eggman than a simple robot creation. I hope he eventually encounter Belle.

16:05 I’m betting Metal Sonic (the real one) is on some sort of training arc, doing his best to get stronger so that he can defeat Sonic to prove he’s the real one. Infinite saw him as just another villain, and Eggman probably overlooked Metal’s reasons for what he did entirely. Infinite just summoned Sonic’s past enemies, and to him, Metal was just another antagonist. That’s why I think he showed up the way he did in Forces. I also want to thank you. I started with the newer Sonic games, and didn’t know of Metal’s crazy backstory, so thank you for rectifying that

I would have loved it if metal sonic had a boss fight where he is tough as balls, testing everything in your moveset by matching it blow for blow, along with a few extra moves just to be evil.

really good analysis as always, I really agree with the sentiment that metal shouldn’t be in the sonic media unless they actually need him there (this goes for knuckles too) because metal being overused makes him less cool, which is definitely not (at least i hope not) what sonic team wants

You just keep surprising me with how accurately you hit the nail on the head with these character essay videos. Sonic Team has neglected and forgotten to actually write these characters for far too long now, and it's a damn shame. I never would have become a Sonic fan as a kid if these characters were as empty back then as they are now. I really hope that Frontiers will be the end of this dark age at least story-wise, and we can start to look forward to these characters being actual characters again.

I definitely agree with you with metal sonic needing to be more of a character rather than a lackey. Heck, why not even have an entire game deticated to him.

I'm hoping to see him in the movies. They've did a great job with Knuckles and looks to knock it out of the park with Shadow so it can be the same for Metal Sonic.

16:01, yeah you are right. Why make an illusion of a weaker version of Metal Sonic when you already had the original? Even sonic points this out, as if SEGA knew what they did with Metal was stupid.

I feel that Metal Sonic Needs a new Look. Make him Sharper and more Metal Lookin, he doesn’t look that cool with his modern design.

What the next game should be: -Eggmans robots evolve and terrorise -Sonic hunts down Eggman -Eggman boss -Shadow showed to be mind-controlled -Few more areas -Shadow 'final' boss -METAL SONIC PLOT TWIST WITH EVEN MORE LORE

I personally feel that Neo Metal Sonic should practically be seen as a completely different character to normal Metal Sonic, considering how different the two are.

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I still enjoy seeing him in things like colors ultimate and generations where his lack of character is understandable as he’s just an extra thing. Forces kinda gets a pass for me too since it wasn’t even him to begin with (though that begs the question as to why phantom Zavok actually had character when compared to every other phantom). I do hope we get another game with Metal Sonic as the main villain, though. He’s great in IDW and I’m hoping that translates over to the games with Ian now doing the writing.

I wish you talked about other versions of Metal Sonic like Archie or Fleetway. Fleetway my opinion may be the best interpretation of the character. This is still great video

the reflection story makes me cry. seriously though great video! I love metal sonic and I really want him to be done justice soon!

“I don’t have to criticize sonic heroes” Shadow episode “Am I a joke to you?” Kind of

Finally I’ve been waiting so long for this video definitely my fav character.

I agree with most of this video, Metal Sonic's potential has been absolutely wasted in the series more recent games... but I have to say I actually liked Metal Sonic in Sonic 4 and *kinda* liked him in Sonic Rivals. (But not really.) (I have a lot to say about Sonic 4, but not so much Rivals. Regardless there's a decent amount of text below, so it's a bit of a read.) In Sonic 4, him destroying badniks in his stages and constantly showing up to challenge Sonic on various fronts in the game and not just races made him feel less like a lackey or throwaway boss fight to me and more like a vengeful rival who was acting on his own. One who was more desperate and more determined than ever to beat Sonic after failing to in Sonic CD. Metal Sonic is fought 5 times in Sonic 4, and each time he tries something different. The first time he tries to overpower Sonic with his newfound power gained from the artifact he uncovered on his own in Lost Labyrinth. (which has the same glowing effect as Super Sonic in the game. Even Super Sonic can't damage Metal Sonic in this state) The second time he tries to shoot down the Tornado from a distance with his own all new aircraft. (with Sonic mostly focusing on avoiding Eggman's aerial fleet to chase down the flying fortress) The third time he challenges Sonic and Tails to a aerial showdown. The fourth time he tries to team up with Eggman and perform similar tag team attacks that Sonic and Tails use during the game. The final time, after all else fails, he finally challenges Sonic to another race, a rematch essentially, only to fail once again. *Essentially in Sonic 4, Metal Sonic tries to outdo Sonic on every front, not just raw speed, but combat, aerial skill and Tag team attacks* This is exactly what I wish the series had done more with Metal Sonic, it's just a shame it's in Sonic 4, as Sonic 4 absolutely sucks at conveying any story without dialogue unlike the Classic games. To me, Metal Sonic in Sonic 4 actually perfectly sets up the villain he becomes in Sonic Heroes, in Sonic 4 Metal Sonic pushes his normal body to the very limit, trying countless different approaches to best Sonic, and fails every single time. I can easily see this furthering his obsession with defeating Sonic, to the point he alters his own body beyond recognition and is willing to overthrow Eggman and create his own plans in Sonic Heroes. *Every Sonic game after that though, screws up Metal Sonic and uses him as a throwaway boss in the exact same setup every single time. It's so stale.* Now Sonic Rivals, the only reason I like what they did to Metal Sonic there, is because I like to think Eggman would have put stricter restrictions on Metal Sonic after Heroes, which prevent him from acting as independently as before. Can't have your most powerful robot turning on you on a whim after all, but at the same time he's too powerful to simply never use again. But this is admittedly just my own take on Metal Sonics lack of personality or purpose in that game. To close off, I think Metal Sonic has just been used the same way in too many games now, and he's never used in creative ways. Perhaps if they gave him an actual story again, he'd be better, but I'd honestly rather see someone else get a random throwaway boss fight for a change if that's all these old villains are worth. (But oh well, I'll take Metal Sonic over a Zavok Boss any day of the week, no matter how disappointing it is.)

12:01 ah yes my favorite sonic game morbius with my favorite catchphrase "its morbin time."

I'd be interested to see how the films handle him. I'd tease him as a Thanos-level villain. It actually would be pretty easy (in theory) since he has so many forms.

Once you are done with the character analyzes (or if you want to take a break from them), it would be cool if you did a tier list of all the Sonic games and discuss their pros and cons (you mention tidbits throughout your videos but it would be nice to have it all in one).

heres an idea: sonic heroes gets a remake. this time with a bonus episode after beating the true ending where you are metal sonic. this is framed like a prequel. it opens with eggman writing a letter (the same letter shown in team sonics story, showing he was indeed going to do everything as intended) and metal sonic is a three-in-one, able to shapeshift into the forms of tails doll and metal knuckles to act as flight and power. the first mission has metal sonic carry out a routine mission in stage 1 for eggman. only... he stumbles upon something that gives him sentience by the end. then he singlehandedly takes eggmans entire fleet down, fighting many of the same battles as in the vanilla game, but with the real eggman furiously trying to get metal back in line. as the game goes on, metal gets more and more unique sections which are much harder than the vanilla ones. along the way he sets up the conflict, disguising himself as sonic to take cheese and froggy, tipping rouge off about a secret weapon that would fetch a high price (being shadow and omega). finally, once metal destroys egg emperor, eggman begins to laugh. one final trump card: he explodes, revealing to have been a copy all this time. while the true eggman was piloting the egg overlord - which looks similar to metal sonic. metal sonic screams that he is the true sonic, having lost his mind due to the new power source driving him mad, revealed to have been a shard of the master emerald. he transforms into neo metal sonic, and once eggman is finally defeated, metal sonic takes complete control of his armies, unable to bring himself to kill his creator, he locks him up. but eggman was able to come up with components to send communications to the chaotix. and thus, sonic heroes begins.

the comics also gives an excuse as to why the real one was not utilised, he was being upgraded to neo. this was not extended to the duplicates either because eggman wanted him to at least have a semblance of individuality or because the devs forgot about him (pick what you will).

Metal Sonic from 1993 to 2009: Copy robot with a desire to be the real Sonic. Metal Sonic in 2010: Sonic robot

I have a soft spot for Metal Sonic. Even if I haven't played very many of the games that he's in, CD was my introduction to the Sonic series.

Metallic madness did get us a reveal of metal sonic's voice, the JP bad future version you hear a voice saying to US: "You can't do anything so don't even try it get some help" "Don't do what sonic does" "Sonic, Dead or alive, is mine" those words actually gave me chills

I actually wish Metal sonic was in Shadow. It could have been awesome to see metal sonic duke it out with another rival of sonic or even be a partner as “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Geez, Metal Sonic was brutal. Sure, Eggman practically abused animals by using them to power his badnics, but Metal Sonic physically hurt them. I think his motivation as a villain is also good. He isn't able to accept that he is just a robot doppelganger, so he tries to blow Sonic off the face of the earth just to prove he is the better Sonic. Or, in better terms... The REAL Sonic.

i miss when metal sonic was an actual threat

When Eggman is out of character for Metal Sonic to copy Chaos during Sonic Adventure and all of Sonic Adventure 2 and this game, it is deadly serious. Even Eggman cannot stop his creation from bringing more destruction than he ever could.

i swear neo metal sonic transforming into metal madness is like the power ranger introducing themselves to the villain while they just, stand there

Metal Sonic definitely peaked in Heroes. Heroes was what made me love Metal Sonic, and i will always love Heroes for that reason.

I never took much interest in metal sonic as much as the others. Maybe because of all the inclusions he had I just thought he was another robot that is a generic boss fight. I haven’t played all the games and my first was unleashed after sonic rush and the original sonic platformers. Metal sonic has just been there as a side character so this analysis is like super different to my own experience

In my opinion, Metal Sonic was one of the best characters in the entire series. I've been a Metal Sonic fan since I first played the full version of Sonic 4 EP 2. I enjoyed his backstory so much that I actually made my OWN metal character. Metal Orion. Unstoppable and chaotic. Much like Metal Sonic, he was a metallic copy, but Metal Orion didn't see himself or Orion as a copy. He saw Orion as a destructive enemy. Metal Sonic was only made to surpass Sonic, but Metal Orion was meant to KILL Orion or anybody standing in his path. He was merciless, and unstoppable. Sonic could defeat his copy, but Orion never even made a dent on his copy.

I wanna copy and paste an idea for Metal Sonic and how he should have been the main villain of Forces. I think each of those prisons should be guarded by a version of Metal Sonic. For example, a prison near Green Hill could be guarded by Silver Sonic from Sonic 2, one could be guarded by Mecha Sonic, and Neo Metal Sonic, and so on. All of them are hooked up to a central network, a sort of hive mind setup where they will all adapt to your play style as you defeat each one. It would encourage variety with the Wispons being crafted. Then the final prison to take over is the real Metal Sonic and he’s white and more advanced than any of the forms since he’s powered by a version of a super form but still distorted in some twisted kind of pure hatred like Dark Super Sonic from Sonic X. Like all of them will be optional to fight, and if you don’t go for the prisons and just go for the missions, then you fight all the Metal Sonics you didn’t destroy in each of the prisons. Sorta like BOTW with having to fight the Ganon forms and all. However, this version of Metal is really dipping into the existential nightmare of his very being that the IDW comics touch on and him going to huge lengths to truly show what he can do with his idea of carrying out his reason for existing.

I think that metal sonic would be a lot more interesting if he left Eggman entirely and became a villain himself kinda like in heroes. This way he could be able to focus entirely on becoming superior to sonic. He could even perhaps have his own versions of the badniks like the silver sonics from the metal sonic bossfight in Sonic Mania. Perhaps he would rival Eggman as well as Sonic.

Before video: I hope he makes an appearance in the third movie, not as the main villain but as a side villain. Half way thru the video: Forget the movie, He should be the main villain of the Knuckles series so he has more screen time and development.

I had an idea for bringing him back as his own character... I saw there was a line during the Metal Madness fight where he says something like "A robot overlord for a robot empire, how fitting." Older Sonic games had the badniks, animal-styled robots with animals inside. Modern games have replaced them with more generic-looking Egg Pawns. Add to that the whole Metal Virus and Sega CD's bad future... Concept : While Eggman has gone completly self-absorbed and is following his ego, Metal Sonic can return with the goal of turning everything metal. Sonic of course will try to stop this, garunteeing Metal a chance for a rematch, while also establishing that Metal is already making plans for after his victory. Delivery : We start with a generic-seeming VS Eggman story, only Eggman seems impatient and reacts to Sonic's appearance with "Go away I'll deal with you later." Sonic fights anyway, and we soon learn that was according to Metal's plan - Eggman and Metal were fighting for control, and Sonic's arrival just tipped the scales. Metal Sonic then becomes the chief antagonist for the remainder of the game.

Metal Sonic (especially Neo) was my favorite video game character for a long while. The design and evil plot in Hero’s was just so well pulled off.

The best way to improve Metal's character would be "experimenting" with a voice chip?