Are the power rings made of chaos energy?

[Blazey Firekitty]

The rings have had a connection to super forms ever since Sonic first became Super Sonic in Sonic 2. Sonic would need at least fifty to use the rings, and even after transforming, he'd need to keep collecting rings to maintain the super state. The need to use rings to stay in super form has applied to every super form so far seen in the game series.

More recently, Sonic has been using rings to power up in normal form. The Sonic Boost was powered by the defeat of enemies and performance of tricks in its original appearance in the Rush games, but Unleashed allowed Sonic to collect rings to build boost power for the first time. When Sonic boosts, he covers himself in a field of energy that allows him to smash through enemies simply by running through them, much like he does in super form.

Given all this, would it be reasonable to to say that the rings contain the exact same energy that resides within the Chaos Emeralds?

[Winston]

I believe the rings are made of Chaos Energy, it's the only possible way the rings give Sonic a longer amount of time to stay Super when he transforms into Super Sonic. The rings couldn't transform Sonic into Super Sonic all by themselves though, because the Chaos Emeralds have a much stronger power, which is why you probably need to collect atleast 50 rings to become Super Sonic.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Future-Hedgehog

[Indigo Rush]

Well, considering all of what Blazey has said, as well as the necessity of rings to travel to the Special Stage as well as their usage in collecting the Chaos Emeralds (usually) I would assume that there's some mystical connection between the two. However, I don't think I ever want to see it explored for the same reasons I don't want to know who Sonic's parents are: the lack of information in these instances benefit by bringing an air of mystery and mythical wonder that we really don't have much of anymore.

[Diogenes]

Rings are made out of Gameplay. They serve whatever purpose they need to serve for the sake of the gameplay, and vanish when there is no gameplay.

It's probably best to not even acknowledge them as a thing that exists in terms of the story.

[Dr. Mechano]

It's probably best to not even acknowledge them as a thing that exists in terms of the story.

The problem is, rings are also the official currency of Sonic's world. You use them to buy things in more than one game, after all. So rings absolutely do exist as an acknowledged thing in the storyline.

Though it would appear that people buy and trade using small power-generators of sorts, which is kind of amusing.

[Blue Blood]

What Indigo and Dio said. Seriously, as plausible as your explanation is, I like the idea of lots of things being the way they are "just cause".

[Flyboy Fox]

I don't really have anything canonical to back me up, but I've always felt that pretty much all of the 'magical' artefacts in the Sonic universe are manifest chaos energy in one way or another. I kind of believe that chaos energy is basically equivalent to 'life force', and that it exists in everything and everyone... but some people are able to use it and manipulate it, and sometimes it physically manifests into solid entities, such as power rings and gemstones.

And as Mechano said, they're used as currency. I like to think that they occur naturally and are considered a valuable natural resource the way gold and silver etc are, to us. Only, they can also be returned to pure energy by anyone who has the ability to do so. After all, everything is made from energy when you break it right down. Perhaps Sonic's world has energy than manifests naturally in this way and can be used, absorbed, and manipulated by certain people. That's always been my theory.

I enjoy thinking about these kinds of things. It's fun. It's totally cool if some folks just want certain things to just 'be', but I really like at least trying to make sense of them.

[Badnik Zero]

They are not really used as currency guys. I think that part is strictly gameplay because it sounds dumb. But I will go beyond Diogenes and say yeah, I would like to consider them existing in some form in Sonic's world. Not all over aircraft carriers and jungles now, but somewhere out there you can find rings laying about. Not enough to pay for hot dogs with but whatever.

[Dr. Mechano]

They are not really used as currency guys.

Then why do shopkeepers charge rings for items?

It's very clearly depicted as money in the games. Tails even says, in a cutscene, that Eggman stole rings from all around the world to fund his Circus Park base in Shadow the Hedgehog. Rings are acknowledged as currency in the dialog of the series.

[Flyboy Fox]

Mechano is right. They've been shown as currency in the games quite clearly, and even acknowledged in the cutscenes. My personal favourite is seeing then used as currency in Sonic Shuffle's events, for example, when Eggman steals or tricks you out of your money (which is rings) by either swiping it in disguise or charging you for an event or betting with you (you can also win). Okay, so Shuffle isn't considered canon by most, but the ShTH example works, too.

[Sparky]

Then why do shopkeepers charge rings for items?

It's very clearly depicted as money in the games. Tails even says, in a cutscene, that Eggman stole rings from all around the world to fund his Circus Park base in Shadow the Hedgehog. Rings are acknowledged as currency in the dialog of the series.

Not to mention Classic and Modern Tails mentioning Sonic collecting tons of Gold Rings.

[Mangoaxe5]

Well in Satam the power rings were made by Uncle Chuck.

In Archie Sonic they are byproducts of chaos energy, but can be man made as well.

I have no idea what they are made of in Sonic X.

And I see them more as just a gameplay feature in the Sega Sonic canon even though they are used as money.

[azoo]

Chaos Emeralds are, according to the Sonic mythos of the original instruction manuals, the controllers of life energy all throughout the world. Rings are coorelated in the case that they help retain the Chaos Emerald energy as you use it in super form. And on that note, rings give you the health you need to survive; hence the concept that they actually give you life. So taking all this into consideration, yes. The rings and Chaos Emeralds I believe run off the same energy (which I guess you could say means they run off of "chaos energy").

Of course this doesn't make any less weird that they use rings as currency. You basically pay for things with life energy.

[Blazey Firekitty]

You know, I thought about Flyboy's notion that chaos energy is the life force that is in everyone for a bit, and I think it can be concluded that Eggman's Badniks, while not being "alive" in the sense that they are made of organic cells, are powered by the same energy that breathes life into the rest of the world's inhabitants. The best evidence I can think of for this is the way that Metal/Mecha Sonic was able to go super simply by standing on the Master Emerald and letting energy flow into him.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Blazey Firekitty

[Flyboy Fox]

Chaos Emeralds are, according to the Sonic mythos of the original instruction manuals, the controllers of life energy all throughout the world. Rings are coorelated in the case that they help retain the Chaos Emerald energy as you use it in super form. And on that note, rings give you the health you need to survive; hence the concept that they actually give you life. So taking all this into consideration, yes. The rings and Chaos Emeralds I believe run off the same energy (which I guess you could say means they run off of "chaos energy").

Of course this doesn't make any less weird that they use rings as currency. You basically pay for things with life energy.

It's not really that weird. Even in our world, if you break it right down to the subatomic level, everything in the known universe is made up of energy. The only difference seems to be that in Sonic's world people can manipulate that energy in different ways than we are used to.

[Badnik Zero]

Then why do shopkeepers charge rings for items?

How about they are the main collectible in the game so they'll be used in gameplay for unlocking and buying items. This is like saying soul orbs or whatever are liquid level up because they're used in every beat-em-up game.

It's very clearly depicted as money in the games. Tails even says, in a cutscene, that Eggman stole rings from all around the world to fund his Circus Park base in Shadow the Hedgehog. Rings are acknowledged as currency in the dialog of the series.

Fine, you got me but I'll still argue there's a difference between currency and materials of value. I think I'm going to go to the store and buy some donuts with this crude oil I have here. See what I mean? Anyways ShtH is dumb.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Dabnikz

[Dr. Mechano]

Anyways ShtH is dumb.

I agree, it may be the dumbest game in the entire franchise in fact.

But that doesn't change the validity of it presenting rings as money. Considering you win rings back from winning Eggman's carnival games- which is also a plot element if you pick Tails's mission- it's clearly portrayed as money and not just valuable resources that Eggman sold to fund his park.

I'm no fan of Shadow the Hedgehog, but it does present rings as money perhaps more clearly than any other game before or after, so I'm doing the unthinkable and actually coming to the game's defense regarding its story validity. What has this world come to?

EDIT: For a better game, see Sonic Adventure. Sonic gambles with rings (not unlike Sonic 2's Casino Night), but then dumps them all in the vault to create a physical slope of gold for him to climb on to reach the Chaos Emerald. The rings clearly were "really there" for Sonic to be gambling with in Casinopolis, and they must simply be money if Sonic can get them from pinball and slot machines.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Dr. Mechano

[Blue Blood]

Mechano is right. They've been shown as currency in the games quite clearly, and even acknowledged in the cutscenes. My personal favourite is seeing then used as currency in Sonic Shuffle's events, for example, when Eggman steals or tricks you out of your money (which is rings) by either swiping it in disguise or charging you for an event or betting with you (you can also win). Okay, so Shuffle isn't considered canon by most, but the ShTH example works, too.

Shop keepers using them as currency is arguably just for gameplay purposes, and Shuffles using them is definitely just for gameplay. I'm not sure how much water an off-shot cutscene in ShTH and Eggman's vault in Heroes hold either. It's very much an easy way to explain things. Regardless though, rings simply don't make sense. They're floating gold masses found everywhere that practically immortalise their bearer as well as being currency? It's just a matter of collectibles being needed. They could just as easily be watermelons.

[Flyboy Fox]

I don't see how using rare materials as currency is any different to how people in our world used (and still use, in some places) valuable spices and unrefined metals and gems as currency. We tend to turn metals into coins to make them more convenient, but when you have a material that manifests already in a convenient shape, why go to that trouble?

[Gamenerd]

Not to mention 'Got Ring?' and more recently, the signs in Speed Highway advertising 'Ring Coffee' or something along those lines. 'Large Rings' are specifically mentioned in the plot of Flickies Island (though how canon that is, is debatable) and Rings clearly have some larger plot involvement in Chaotix, though I'm not sure how important they are to the plot due to the ambiguity and regional issues that plague the pre-Dreamcast games. Plus, a ring with carvings on it is mentioned in the Japanese backstory of Sonic 3.

They certainly seem to exist in some canon capacity - it's just a matter of how important they actually are to Sonic's lore. Are they connected to the Emeralds, or just throwaway currency that has been around since ancient times?

[Nepenthe]

Not necessarily disputing the validity of the canon at work here, but would rings even make sense as a currency from an economical perspective? Rings not only naturally occur everywhere, even in the city streets for no discernible reason whatsoever, but they also possess regenerative properties. They're practically innumerable, which would in turn decrease their value. They're also solids, meaning you'd have to carry a ton of them on you. It's like using pebbles as a currency. Doesn't seem all that viable. xP

[Diogenes]

The problem is, rings are also the official currency of Sonic's world. You use them to buy things in more than one game, after all. So rings absolutely do exist as an acknowledged thing in the storyline.

I wouldn't call that story. Buying upgrade items, chao stuff, whatever, is gameplay, it's just dressed up a bit to fit the world rather than being just a sterile and boring menu. And I don't think buying things has ever been a plot point in itself, just something occasionally necessary to reach the next plot point. Hell, I wouldn't call upgrades themselves story either...

Tails even says, in a cutscene, that Eggman stole rings from all around the world to fund his Circus Park base in Shadow the Hedgehog. Rings are acknowledged as currency in the dialog of the series.

And I always found that really, really awkward.

I guess the way I see it is that there are rings, the gameplay element, and rings, the currency. The currency does not protect you from damage, and the gameplay element is not used as money in-story.

Not to mention 'Got Ring?' and more recently, the signs in Speed Highway advertising 'Ring Coffee' or something along those lines.

Yeah, but then you've also got posters for movies supposedly starring the characters, as well as various other products and/or businesses using their names. These are just references.

'Large Rings' are specifically mentioned in the plot of Flickies Island (though how canon that is, is debatable) and Rings clearly have some larger plot involvement in Chaotix, though I'm not sure how important they are to the plot due to the ambiguity and regional issues that plague the pre-Dreamcast games.

I would say that these large rings are definitely A Thing That Exists, but they aren't the same as the small collectable sort.

Plus, a ring with carvings on it is mentioned in the Japanese backstory of Sonic 3.

Again, not necessarily the same sort of ring as the ones you pick up.

[Indigo Rush]

Again, not necessarily the same sort of ring as the ones you pick up.

Then what other kind of ring would it be? It's Sonic. It's big enough to wash ashore and to have ancient carvings on it..

Well Dio, let me be the first to say, duh. rings are a gameplay and currency element and nothing more from that standpoint, however this should not prevent them from having any story significance.

The Chaos Emeralds are essentially bonus collectables to unlock the hidden ending of most (if not all) 2D Sonic games, yet they have story implications. The rings have some story implications, too, but we're not exactly asking for an in-depth explanation aside from a "connection to the Chaos Emeralds." If bonus collectables have significance in the mythos, and the rings interact with them in more ways then one, then they have significance as well.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Diogenes]

Ancient jewelry from the legendary long-lost culture?

I'm pretty sure he didn't spy the ring floating in midair and have it immediately *ting* into him when he touched it.

[Flyboy Fox]

For someone who initially seemed to be advocating simplicity and arguing against reading too much into the rings, you sure seem to be going out of your way to argue a way out of the surely most simple conclusion that the rings picked up (and referenced in other ways throughout the game canon) are the same as the canonical unit of currency used in Sonic's world, Dio.