Shadow's restrictor rings

[Shadowisfaster!]

what exactly do they restrict?

Oh, and also, this would seem not to fit in the category it's in, but trust me, with my logic, and my odd patheticness, this is where it goes.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Shadowisfaster!

[TheOcelot]

It's something to do with his chaos energy. If he removes the ring inhibitors then he becomes incredibly powerful. So they restrict just how distructive his chaos energy is. 

 

Check out this Sonic 06 cutscene from approx 1:50

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65SVyXgjqcA&feature=player_detailpage&t=103

 

You see how destructive he can become.

Edited August 19, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[t0ms0nic]

It's also the strangest case of something from the Sonic X anime working it's way into the games, besides the voice actors being changed in Shadow's game to keep things more consistent, where Super Shadow's rings just pop off, seemingly as a result of overflowing chaos energy.

 

Quite curious as to why they deemed that as adaptable... but then again, Sonic 06 seemed to be everything recent about Sonic tossed into a crooked blender! We haven't seen it used besides then, so...

 

Just one of my stupid fanon theories, but I like to think the rings are also to keep his Black Arms blood intact and stop him mutating into an unholy Mobiananimal and Black Arms mix. Since I imagine that as Black Doom's 'heir', created with his personal blood, he's going to eventually become something like him across his immortality.

[The Tenth Doctor]

From my point of view, Shadow cannot use his full Chaos powers with the rings on. Every time he releases them, he can use a massive amount of chaos energy (either a giant chaos control like Sonic X, a massive attack like Sonic 06 or a huge powerup to all abilities like the comic). Some conyinuities have it that he cannot do this for long, otherwise he's drained of energy for a while (Sonic X hammered this one).

[Emmett L. Brown]

Since we're on the subject, I always wondered how Sonic got Shadow's bracelet at the end of Sonic Adventure 2. Did it pop up when they went Super? Did it fall off before he plummeted to his untimely demise?

[Blue Blood]

I'm not really inclined to believe the rings serve any real purpose outside of X and the Archie comics. Even in '06 I don't see them as inhibitor rings. It's much more likely just to be for dramatic effect, ala "the gloves are off".

[FromASloth]

It's supposed to be a super-charged attack. If he removes them, he can send of huge blasts of energy at a time using Chaos energy, for example. If he uses too much, however, it could be detrimental. He uses it from creating a huge Chaos Control to just blasting away enemies.

 

Y'know Shadow, that would've been helpful to use in Sonic Adventure 2. Just sayin'.

[JonoD]

I've always seen the inhibitor rings as Shadow's own little safety measure to make sure that he doesn't completely burn himself out when attacking. So the way I see it, Shadow can fight comfortably as long as he keeps the energy he's got under control. If he uses any more, then the amount of power he can use will start to become a risk to himself.

 

When he encounters a larger threat, he'll remove the rings, enabling a substantial increase in power to try and destroy the threat quickly/outright.

 

This leads to one question: If Shadow has all this power at his disposal, then why does he bother inhibiting his own power?

 

It's been shown that Shadow can dish out a whole load of punishment when the rings come off, but yet for some reason, he's always quick to replace them once whatever the threat is has passed. This tells me at least that somehow, using all the energy is detrimental to Shadow if he uses his full extent for too long. I imagine it to be like overclocking a computer's processor. You ultimately get a better performance in the short term, but overdoing it will ultimately cause the system to fail and burn out.

[ultim8life4rm]

When he takes off the rings in Sonic X and uses his Chaos Power, he is completely wiped out afterwards, and is drained of all his power. After some rest, though, he is good to go. The rings keep him from using up too much energy and exhausting himself in the middle of a fight, and to give him a boost when he really needs it.

I think it happens at least twice in the series (where he takes off his inhibitor rings, gets a massive boost, and then passes out until he can be rescued by Eggman or Sonic). It happens in the SA2 saga when he goes super, and then a few times in the Metarex saga.

[Diogenes]

It restricts his Sue-per powers to more acceptable levels.

Whose idea was it, exactly, to give one of the most powerful characters in the series a way to get even more powerful?

[Vertekins]

It restricts his Sue-per powers to more acceptable levels.

Whose idea was it, exactly, to give one of the most powerful characters in the series a way to get even more powerful?

 

The Sonic X writers who already had a boner for Shadow's power level to begin with as indicated by the way that he has Sonic on the ropes the overwhelming majority of the time in a very unbelievable fashion and can take on Metarex with very, very little problem.

[Badnik Mechanic]

They don't do a thing except add for dramatic effect at the end of a terrible game.

 

No really, thats all they're there for. We've never seen him use this ability in any other game or even have it mentioned that he can do this within the game series.

 

Theres even events in Sonic 06 that suggest he can't actually do this ability and that it was just added for dramatic effect... that being Omega. Omega defeats shadow in the bad future, yet shadow has this ability to melt the faces of anyone he likes ala Indianna Jones style? Well why didn't he use that in the fight with Omega?

[GOAT]

Never saw Sonic X but I like the fact that he takes them off to use chaos energy. In the Archie Comics (Currently on Issue 169) I've yet to see anything happen with his rings, but I was thinking about it at one point while reading.

 

I think the original design was just for show in the video games. But it can definitely evolve into something of a cool idea. Like what Sonic 06 did.

[Blacklightning]

Omega defeats shadow in the bad future, yet shadow has this ability to melt the faces of anyone he likes ala Indianna Jones style? Well why didn't he use that in the fight with Omega?

The same reason Sonic didn't to Mephiles - knowing '06, they probably implied it to be a cheap shot. Omega and Shadow get along well with each other at least until then, so it wouldn't be unlikely that Omega could've exploited their relationship under GUN's orders and shot him in the back or something before he suspected anything was up.

[Diogenes]

It's also possible Shadow held back because it was Omega, one of the few people he considers a friend.

[Kuzu]

They restrict his spotlight stealing, when he takes them off the spotlight is so much on him that it manifests as a glow.

 

 

I dunno, his overwhelming power I guess. I know everyone hates that they grant him more power, but I don't think its that out there. Remember how the Biolizard went berserk after being infused with Chaos Energy? Well if Shadow is the finished product, how else would Gerald have been able to contain all of that power in a much smaller package?

 

Those rings probably keep Shadow from going on a rampage like the Biolizard did...at least they're supposed to, but that's my personal headcanon.

[Jet Prower]

As everyone else said, its pretty much the limiter on Shadow. If he takes them off, he can use alot more power than he could before, but at the risk of using all his power and leaving himself vulnerable if he doesn't take out the target before all his energy is used up. If he used all his energy after taking the rings off his arms, he is there on the ground too tired to fight back and is now a super easy target. It is pretty much a give and take thing. Does he keep the rings on and fight at a lower power but still have energy to spare to escape if he needs to, or does he take the risk of taking them off to try and finish the target with lots of energy at once but risk not being able to escape anymore due to being too burned out afterwards.

[Tani Coyote]

The technical term is inhibitor rings as memory serves. As the name suggests, they keep his power to reasonable levels; it seems that he will burn himself out if he uses his unrestricted power for too long. I guess it's a case of tortoise versus hare; he can basically gain enormous power on par with a Super form, but will be vulnerable afterward.

The way I see it? It strikes me as if Shadow isn't as perfect as he'd like to think; it seems he still has a flaw of exhausting himself quickly in his natural state, hence the rings. I guess Gerald wasn't able to iron that out before he was executed.

However, there's another angle. Theoretically, had Shadow never worn the rings at all, I suspect he might be stronger than he right now. However, his power would not be explosive; keeping the rings on, I figure, allows his power to build up over time, so when he takes them off, it results in quite a bit of fireworks. It's basically like allowing pressure to build, and when he decides to release it...

Also, that they look akin to the common rings also suggests further connection between chaos energy and the rings around the world.

[Blue Blood]

I'm kind of surprised that most people are taking X and Archie as verbatim because of a completely off the wall, stand-alone event in just one game. Shadow removing his rings doesn't bear any likeness to anything in the other games, and isn't even mentioned or made clear when it does happen in '06.

 

If they actually are 'inhibitor rings', designed with a purpose in mind and not just used for dramatic effect in '06, then what horrors await Sonic when Amy removes hers?

Edited August 19, 2013 by Blue Blood

[Indigo Rush]

I always thought the removal of the rings in Sonic X was just the anime's way of explaining why Sonic was holding one of Shadow's cuffs at the end scene in SA2. How did he get a hold of that when Shadow was plummeting to Earth? He blew them off when he unleashed all of his energy, says Sonic X.

 

I like Ogilvie's theory best, though. Shadow's inhibitor cuffs prevent him from burning himself out, but had he never been given them in the first place, he may have adapted to his strength but would be unable to unleash large bursts of power like he did in 06.

[Victoes]

I'm kind of surprised that most people are taking X and Archie as verbatim because of a completely off the wall, stand-alone event in just one game. Shadow removing his rings doesn't bear any likeness to anything in the other games, and isn't even mentioned or made clear when it does happen in '06.

 

If they actually are 'inhibitor rings', designed with a purpose in mind and not just used for dramatic effect in '06, then what horrors await Sonic when Amy removes hers?

In Sonic battle Amy removes them and it's discovered that they are in fact weights for training. 

Edited August 19, 2013 by Da Victoes

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Explains how she's able to throw that hammer around with ease.

[Kuzu]

Explains how she's able to throw that hammer around with ease.

 

Considering it makes a Piko sound, pretty sure its not that heavy....yet she at times hits harder than Knuckles.

[Jet Prower]

Considering it makes a Piko sound, pretty sure its not that heavy....yet she at times hits harder than Knuckles.

 

I'm pretty sure even a semi light hammer, if you hit someone hard enough with it, it will still hurt quite a bit. The fact it still makes that tick sound when you hit something with it, still shows her hammer does have some stiffness to it. if you hit someone in the head or face with that, I'm sure it would either hurt them or at least leave a good little knot on their head.

[Darth InVaders]

Shadow's rings are mostly unexplained in Sonic X, with the exception of being called "limiters" in the Japanese version - however they are only removed when Shadow is close enough to a Chaos Emerald to draw power from it - perhaps drawing and using too much of its energy burns him out so they limit how much he can draw and use

Shadow's rings are completely unexplained and unnamed in the games and their use as anything other than decoration came out of nowhere in 06 - most likely they work similar to their Sonic X counterparts since the rules of the 2 Sonic universes are nearly identical - but Shadow does not appear to burn out after use like Sonic X, so perhaps they are to prevent him from becoming too destructive

The rings are called "Inhibitor Rings" in Archie's comics, not much explanation here either but he seems to only be able to get so much energy at a time from the Archie universe's exclusive Chaos Force (the rules of Archie's universe differ more from the other 2: Archie Emeralds get their power from Chaos Force and Shadow can draw directly from the Force too, games and X Emeralds make their own by turning thoughts into power, Shadow draws from the Emeralds) so they appear to inhibit overuse

Edited August 20, 2013 by Darth InVaders