Chaos Emeralds

[Spin Attaxx]

No, I mean that, if Iizuka's statement of Super Tails being "a one-time only" thing and the lack of references or appearances by them are anything to go by, the Super Emeralds are non-canon. Like how all those times you died fighting the Death Egg Robot in Sonic 2 are non-canon.

 

As such, if Super Emeralds are non-canon, Sonic must not have gone to HPZ until after Lava Reef.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Spin Attaxx

[Indigo Rush]

No, I mean that, if Iizuka's statement of Super Tails being "a one-time only" thing and the lack of references or appearances by them are anything to go by, the Super Emeralds are non-canon. Like how all those times you died fighting the Death Egg Robot in Sonic 2 are non-canon.

 

As such, if Super Emeralds are non-canon, Sonic must not have gone to HPZ until after Lava Reef.

 

Then neither is the "multiple set of emeralds" shindig canon.

 

By the way, being "one-time-only" doesn't mean it is no longer canon. If this were the case, then the appearance of the Black Arms didn't happen, because it only happened once. You can't just pick and choose what happens and what doesn't - unless there's an obvious retcon from the developers, we're left to speculate what really occurred. If you can provide a statement (something a little more than "I read this somewhere once," eh?) indicating this, then I have no problem with the Super Emeralds being canon, if only for one game.

 

(by the way, super-sized Emeralds make an appearance in Sonic Adventure, so make of that what you will)

[Spin Attaxx]

I KNOW that the "multiple emeralds" thing isn't canon.

[Indigo Rush]

Oh. Then... why are we even talking about it if we both know it doesn't apply anymore?

[Spin Attaxx]

Just wanted to point out that bit of (apparant) EAW.

[Tani Coyote]

I really wanted them to detail Chaos Energy some more in Shadow's game. Instead they chose aliens. I wanted to see their limits, what the counters against them are, their origin, etc.

 

I've always liked how the Chaos Emeralds are able to walk the thin line between magic and science, however. Their powers are often so great they appear completely supernatural, when one can really just interpret them as a science that is poorly misunderstood.

 

Their nature has many questions. How can they have positive and negative energy? They must clearly interact with people's hearts/souls if they can have energy be "charged" in some manner.

 

Really there's a lot of questions to be asked about the Emeralds, and I'd really like if Sega started releasing booklets that detail this more obscure stuff.

[Spin Attaxx]

I'd personally have the limits of the emeralds explained (because what CAN'T they do?) and leave it at that. Explaining too much takes away from the mystery they're supposed to have (like where they came from, can we say with 100% certaincy that they're sentient etc.)

Edited January 21, 2013 by Spin Attaxx

[Tani Coyote]

It doesn't seem like they have a limit when they're brought together, barring that they disperse after a short time. Theoretically a person could remake the universe with their power...

 

Really they seem like something to give mortals a very brief taste of what it is like to ominpotent and the like. However, unlike a diety, the person who uses them is still within the span of time and space, which limits what their power can be used for by a HUGE margin.

 

Needless to say you can see why Eggman focuses less on gathering them like a set of Dragon Balls, and more on using them as the ultimate power source.

[Diogenes]

Really they seem like something to give mortals a very brief taste of what it is like to ominpotent and the like. However, unlike a diety, the person who uses them is still within the span of time and space, which limits what their power can be used for by a HUGE margin.

So not actually omnipotent at all.

[Tani Coyote]

So not actually omnipotent at all.

 

Semantics.

 

A very brief taste of omnipotence.

 

Divinity and mortality are apart for a reason I suppose.

[Salamander]

Chiefly this reminds me that I thought that the Egg Wizard and the Power of the Stars or whatever from Rush Adventure were taking the Sonic series too close to actual magic as opposed to just fantasy science.  I recognise that the distinction between science magic and magic magic is a bit of a blurry one, but overall I think we'd rather the series was about mad scientists rather than evil wizards.

[Tani Coyote]

Ultimately the divide is how pseudosciencey you get to explain the magic. All magic is, really, is something that appears to defy our established scientific laws. If you can reconcile the laws and the "magic," it loses its magic. Clarke's Third Law and such.

 

Overall the emeralds come across as a poorly understood science. Eggman and Tails are able to harness them like any other energy source, but it appears their power can also be conducted by certain genetic codes. Like radiation, sans the long and painful death.

 

Well. That we know of.

 

For all we know Sonic could have some serious Chaos poisoning and won't find out about it until later in his life.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[Jolt_TH]

For all we know Sonic could have some serious Chaos poisoning and won't find out about it until later in his life.

Ironically I bet the chaos emeralds would be collected and used to heal sonic!

[tenchibr]

I personally wish the Emeralds each carried an individual power; I mean, sure you can have all 7 and go Super, but if you allowed to "toggle" Emeralds ON and OFF for different skills, it could add more variety to the gameplay, especially if each Emerald has something that having all 7 wouldn't allow.

 

Example:

 

- Blue Emerald allows underwater breathing;

 

- Yellow Emerald gives a Pikachu-like Teleport (Smash Bros-like);

 

- Red Emerald makes Sonic resilient to fire.

 

You probably have seen this before; this was intentional. I really MISS power-ups from Sonic 3, and if they won't come back properly, SEGA should allow some variations in those toggles; placing the Emeralds in zones past where using the Emeralds make them a cheap ride, forcing players to go through a zone as it was meant to be played at least once.

 

Another thing also is to add negative side-effects to toggling Emeralds (for example, enabling Underwater breathing makes Sonic die instantly from fire). I am sorry if I am fanfic'ing, I just want to emphasize that Emeralds' colors should mean more than just cosmetics.

[Salamander]

It is a bit off that these extraordinary vessels of unlimited power, despite being shown to be individually desirable in numerous plotlines, are absolutely useless to the player unless all possessed at once.  If their acquisition is going to be linked to the plot rather than being something optional, it'd be nice if they made a difference.

 

That said, the idea of giving them all individual powers just makes me think that the powers should, in fact, stack, and that's why Super Sonic is so powerful.  For standard gameplay that would be pretty ludicrously overpowered unless you found some way to limit it, though

[Supaidaman]

The only that bugs me is... what the main characters do with the Emeralds after the games? In Sonic 2, Sonic keeps the Emeralds and go right to Angel Island. He only loses them because of Knuckles. Makes sense. But, what about the other games? How are those emeralds in museums or just lying around the ground?

 

Are Emeralds like Dragon Balls but they scatter after a given amount of time?

[Potada]

^^

According to Smash Brothers Brawl, they are, but you kinda have to wonder about that game's canon. :3

[Jolt_TH]

The only that bugs me is... what the main characters do with the Emeralds after the games? In Sonic 2, Sonic keeps the Emeralds and go right to Angel Island. He only loses them because of Knuckles. Makes sense. But, what about the other games? How are those emeralds in museums or just lying around the ground?

Are Emeralds like Dragon Balls but they scatter after a given amount of time?

I read somewhere that the emeralds scattered when they were used. If that's the case then in Sonic 2 you don't use them in the story, hence why sonic has them at the beginning of Sonic 3

[Salamander]

It sometimes seems as if the present owners of the Chaos Emeralds each game have had them for a while.  Maybe they scatter themselves through both space and time after being gathered, and whilst there are only truly seven in total, due to their cross-temporal existence they can be in several places at once?

[Semi-colon e]

They didn't scatter in Unleashed though, maybe that's because they were depowered? Nah, probably just coincidence.

 

Then again, if two were in one level in Shadow they don't scatter properly, or they scatter in places they will be found as intended, like the one ring...

[Jango]

Just a curious thing: where Sonic (and his friends) keep them? Several times he just pull them out of his... back.

In Unleashed, Sonic apparently keep the CE inside him, but does that oly happens when you already have all of them? Also, how he went Super in Unleashed's intro without 50 rings, or does he got some before reaching Eggman's fleet? Ah, forget about it, he can turn Super without 50 rings long time already.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Jango

[Jolt_TH]

They didn't scatter in Unleashed though, maybe that's because they were depowered? Nah, probably just coincidence.

Then again, if two were in one level in Shadow they don't scatter properly, or they scatter in places they will be found as intended, like the one ring...

Probably because they were depowered, maybe because sonic didn't finish using them (he still had rings ect.) and he was forced out of super?

I think the scatter is entirely random, they could go anywhere, dont thunk they transcend time though, that'd be a pain colecting them! coincidence maybe?

[tenchibr]

I want to see Eggman try to use them, and turn into some evil monster. I think that's the only way Sonic will get to actually punch him in the face. Sonic Colors and its empty promises...

[Tani Coyote]

Ironically I bet the chaos emeralds would be collected and used to heal sonic!

 

Sounds like they're basically the result of mixing fusion power with cocaine in that case!

 

That'll end well.

 

I personally wish the Emeralds each carried an individual power; I mean, sure you can have all 7 and go Super, but if you allowed to "toggle" Emeralds ON and OFF for different skills, it could add more variety to the gameplay, especially if each Emerald has something that having all 7 wouldn't allow.

 

You probably have seen this before; this was intentional. I really MISS power-ups from Sonic 3, and if they won't come back properly, SEGA should allow some variations in those toggles; placing the Emeralds in zones past where using the Emeralds make them a cheap ride, forcing players to go through a zone as it was meant to be played at least once.

 

Another thing also is to add negative side-effects to toggling Emeralds (for example, enabling Underwater breathing makes Sonic die instantly from fire). I am sorry if I am fanfic'ing, I just want to emphasize that Emeralds' colors should mean more than just cosmetics.

 

Oh I always liked this idea; it's why I used it in my webcomic.

 

I really think Sega should consider giving each emerald some sort of individual power. As it stands they can power machinery and enable some chaos-based abilities, but overall they're basically all the same.

 

That said, the idea of giving them all individual powers just makes me think that the powers should, in fact, stack, and that's why Super Sonic is so powerful.  For standard gameplay that would be pretty ludicrously overpowered unless you found some way to limit it, though

 

I'm partial to the idea they "amplify" eachother.

 

Say each emerald has a value of 2. On their own they're pretty weak, if still potent. But as you amass them, you end up with an insane amount of power, 2^7. As such, their miraculous powers only come about when they're all together, even if they can still have some power when apart.

 

Though yes, integrating them into gameplay would need to be done very carefully...

 

Fortunately a lot can be explained by Sonic's non-technical nature. He seems easily bored by detailed explanations, so he certainly doesn't know much about them. On top of that, I like to think he prefers a challenge over anything else, so if he uses the emeralds for recreation, it'd be solely to make things more fun, rather than have any sort of overwhelming power.

 

After all, a bunch of chaos-based powers is who he calls "Prince of Angst" 's schtick.

 

I want to see Eggman try to use them, and turn into some evil monster. I think that's the only way Sonic will get to actually punch him in the face. Sonic Colors and its empty promises...

 

Sega do this do this!

Edited January 23, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[Spin Attaxx]

Ultimately the divide is how pseudosciencey you get to explain the magic. All magic is, really, is something that appears to defy our established scientific laws. If you can reconcile the laws and the "magic," it loses its magic. Clarke's Third Law and such.

 

The magic part of the emeralds comes from their unlimited energy (BIIIIG physics breaker there) and their ability to do pretty much f*cking anything. Up to and including time travel and raising the dead (as stupid as it is).

Edited January 23, 2013 by Spin Attaxx