"Fun is Infinite"-- Impressions, Predictions, and Ideas About Sonic Forces's New Villain

[Diogenes]

1 minute ago, Sega DogTagz said:

If you want to grasp at straws with me, we could call that a mute point. considering the original intent of the Eclipse canon, its likely that if Shadow hadn't been released or failed to acquire all seven emeralds necessary to start the doomsday sequence, then G.U.N. would have upon the return of the black comet. Which would have worked out as a simultaneous middle finger to both the humans and the black arms. Gerald would be smiling in his grave.

GUN clearly knew of the canon and even knew enough about it to fix the damage Sonic did to it. Gerald could have guesstimated their capabilities and banked on that. The Biolizard was free to wallow in its own filth. Someone, at some-point was going to bring it the emeralds it needed.

What could've happened doesn't matter. What did happen is that Gerald made plans for "Shadow" to carry out his revenge once he was released, and it only makes sense if it's the hedgehog and not the lizard, and then that's exactly what happened when he was released. So what part of this is still up for debate?

1 minute ago, Sega DogTagz said:

How he coordinated all that from jail is beyond my comprehension. He's an Eggman? He's got a master plan? Tails reprograms supercomputers with Dish Detergent and a toothpick. Maybe Gerald build a long distance hacking terminal out of his left molar and some nose hair.

F*ck if I know.

Or, y'know, we could look at what the game explicitly says instead of ignoring it.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

How did this topic shift from Edgy McVillain of the Week to Shadow?

EDIT: Incoming "Shadow is Edgy McVillain Prototype" jokes.

[KHCast]

It's not like SA2 is the pinnacle of story telling, so for me, most of this confusion I chalk up to the game being a bad story teller. To a lot of people, they got the impression Shadow was doing this of his own free will and wasn't brainwashed/mind controlled. Many were led to believe the lizard was shadows prototype that Gerald was referring to for his revenge. Whether or not that's the case, the message was poorly conveyed and delivered.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

"If you're messin' with me, I am a dangerous weapon. I am the sharpest of blades, I'll cut you down in a second, 'cause I was born in this pain, it only hurts if you let it..."

Wew. 

[A sonic fan]

Wow that was actually pretty good but would be dissapointed if all we got for forces news was a song.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Got ourselves a compilation of bits from cutscenes featuring Infinite.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

"Faster than Sonic"

Oh lord, he really might be the Avatar's dark counterpart. The God Mode Sue to  Buddy's normal everyman.

[SatAMhog]

You know, when I first saw Infinite...he gave more of a...SHE vibe.  The person who's voicing Infinite, Liam O' Brien, also voiced Endrance who was Elk in the dot hack and best friends with a giant purple cat named Mia, another hacked character in the game.  I know this would be a VERY long shot...but what if Infinite is a fully corrupted Blaze The Cat? We have YET to see Blaze in any of the Forces gameplay previews(heck, even Silver has shown up)  The long hair, the tail are similar to Blaze's...the hair is more elongated but it could be due to the corruption.  Heck, Blaze is AN alternate Sonic so this could be her version of the Werehog only it's the force of "Infinite" corrupting her kind of like Dark Gaia infected Sonic.  What's also fitting is that Infinite seems to have the power of altering dimensions and bringing others from alternate dimensions into this or Sonic's world...Blaze is an alternate dimension Sonic and as Tails put it in the trailer "he's faster than Sonic!"...well, an INFINITE power boost could do that.  Just a thought that occured to me.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Hmmm.

You know, I actually really dig Infinite's aesthetic, character design, the fact that he's a Sonic-sized animal rather than a huge monster. If I were to give my opinion on him before the recent trailer and theme came out, I would probably have mostly positive things to say. He actually seemed quite cool and intriguing. How powerful he is doesn't put me off in any way either, other than a tiny cringe about him being faster than Sonic simply because I know that's stereotyped as being an awful OC cliche, but it's not really that big a deal. We already know Metal Sonic can outspeed Sonic and Shadow seemed to outspeed Sonic via teleporting in his debut, so it's not that unprecedented.

But what little we know about his personality from these sources of information is what puts me off about him. I don't know why, but for some reason I envisioned him as more of a thoughtful, mysterious and even quiet villain. Now, he seems to be rather aggressive and egotistical. Meh, definitely not pulled in by that. Just seems generic and not compelling. The only saving grace is the hints of a troubled and pained backstory, which could suggest more depth and interest.

I'm still holding out some hope for him, but I'm certainly not as optimistic about the fluffy masked dude as before.

[JaidynReiman]

1 hour ago, SatAMhog said:

You know, when I first saw Infinite...he gave more of a...SHE vibe.  The person who's voicing Infinite, Liam O' Brien, also voiced Endrance who was Elk in the dot hack and best friends with a giant purple cat named Mia, another hacked character in the game.  I know this would be a VERY long shot...but what if Infinite is a fully corrupted Blaze The Cat? We have YET to see Blaze in any of the Forces gameplay previews(heck, even Silver has shown up)  The long hair, the tail are similar to Blaze's...the hair is more elongated but it could be due to the corruption.  Heck, Blaze is AN alternate Sonic so this could be her version of the Werehog only it's the force of "Infinite" corrupting her kind of like Dark Gaia infected Sonic.  What's also fitting is that Infinite seems to have the power of altering dimensions and bringing others from alternate dimensions into this or Sonic's world...Blaze is an alternate dimension Sonic and as Tails put it in the trailer "he's faster than Sonic!"...well, an INFINITE power boost could do that.  Just a thought that occured to me.

I've been thinking of Infinite being a corrupted female character as well, think it could be interesting. I wasn't thinking of Blaze but honestly that's brilliant. Blaze being gone entirely is also rather strange given Silver's prominence.

 

EDIT:

On 7/19/2017 at 4:55 PM, Diogenes said:

I mean, Shadow does cut through the bullshit and remember Maria's actual wish eventually, but he pretty clearly had his brain fucked with and wasn't just blinded by his own rage. Otherwise why did he do exactly what Gerald wanted?

It can be taken in multiple ways. It need not necessarily be the case that Gerald completely brainwashed him and only slightly alterred his perception of what happened. However, Gerald's diary does seemingly indicate he directed Shadow to do exactly what he wanted.

 

Now, I didn't respond to a post like this directly, but some people are wondering how Gerald had a chance to finish everything. Gerald personally was away at the time the arc was attacked. Gerald's diary itself says this, and he later learned of Maria's death. Eventually GUN catches up to him and finds him, but he's able to gain access to his research and make alterrations before he's captured. (Presumably, he also knew he'd be executed and rigged the ARK to record from the execution scene, though this is definitely a lot less believable he managed to pull such a thing off.)

[Azure P]

33 minutes ago, JaidynReiman said:

I've been thinking of Infinite being a corrupted female character as well, think it could be interesting. I wasn't thinking of Blaze but honestly that's brilliant. Blaze being gone entirely is also rather strange given Silver's prominence.

 

EDIT:

It can be taken in multiple ways. It need not necessarily be the case that Gerald completely brainwashed him and only slightly alterred his perception of what happened. However, Gerald's diary does seemingly indicate he directed Shadow to do exactly what he wanted.

 

Now, I didn't respond to a post like this directly, but some people are wondering how Gerald had a chance to finish everything. Gerald personally was away at the time the arc was attacked. Gerald's diary itself says this, and he later learned of Maria's death. Eventually GUN catches up to him and finds him, but he's able to gain access to his research and make alterrations before he's captured. (Presumably, he also knew he'd be executed and rigged the ARK to record from the execution scene, though this is definitely a lot less believable he managed to pull such a thing off.)

It could still be female. Perhaps the mask is also changing the voice of the one underneath?

[Kuzu]

It's really hard to be interested in him outside of Aesthetics because Sega are more than likely saving his motives for the actual game. But like Roger said, he has to share the spotlight with much more popular characters, so he might end up being overlooked in the end. When his initial trailer came out, everyone was more focused on Shadow joining the villains than him, which kind of speaks for itself. 

 

That said, there's nothing particularly wrong with him as of now. I don't think he needed to exist if this was meant to be Eggman's conquest however, because I feel like it undermines the whole "Eggman has finally won" premise if he didn't do it with his own resources, but rather because of the machinations of Infinite. On the flipside, if he just ends up being a lackey to Eggman, then he'll just feel like a throwaway character not worth the hype they've given him. So it's kind of lose-lose.

[Sega DogTagz]

5 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

because I feel like it undermines the whole "Eggman has finally won" premise if he didn't do it with his own resources, but rather because of the machinations of Infinite.

What if Eggman is twisting his arm, or holding something over him though?

The last time Eggy teamed up with other villains was LW, and that didn't come about until the Doctor really beat the Deadly Six into submission. Eggman doesn't exactly do "equal partnerships". If Infinite is the engine that helped Eggman "win" you can bet the doctor positioned himself to be the benefactor through some sort of manipulation, extortion or false truth.

Is that really so bad? Its just Eggy doing what Eggy does best.

[JaidynReiman]

7 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

That said, there's nothing particularly wrong with him as of now. I don't think he needed to exist if this was meant to be Eggman's conquest however, because I feel like it undermines the whole "Eggman has finally won" premise if he didn't do it with his own resources, but rather because of the machinations of Infinite. On the flipside, if he just ends up being a lackey to Eggman, then he'll just feel like a throwaway character not worth the hype they've given him. So it's kind of lose-lose.

This pretty much covers it. The problem is that this story is about Eggman finally having won and taken over the world. But if Infinite helped Eggman do it, then its not Eggman's accomplishment. If Infinite is just a lackey, Infinite loses any and all interest.

 

39 minutes ago, Azure P said:

It could still be female. Perhaps the mask is also changing the voice of the one underneath?

Oh yeah, totally. I don't EXPECT it, but I do think its possible and I'd love to see that twist being the case. Especially if it turns out to be someone we know, such as Blaze. That could be a solid way to make Infinite a good character while still not taking away from Eggman's trumph.

[Crazy_Diamond]

1 minute ago, JaidynReiman said:

This pretty much covers it. The problem is that this story is about Eggman finally having won and taken over the world. But if Infinite helped Eggman do it, then its not Eggman's accomplishment. If Infinite is just a lackey, Infinite loses any and all interest.

I wouldn't say that. If a dictator uses an army to take over the world, does that lessen his accomplishment? If Infinite really is the reason Eggman won, then him being able to utilize someone as powerful as Infinite is impressive in itself. Him being Eggman's lackey also doesn't mean he is not interesting. He could still be an interesting character with his own motivations and goals, even if he does work for Eggman.

[Multikaris]

1 hour ago, Azure P said:

It could still be female. Perhaps the mask is also changing the voice of the one underneath?

I was also thinking that Infinite was a corrupted Tikal, explaining why Chaos is evil again. 

 

Infinite apparently being faster than Sonic is only more evidence. 

[Kuzu]

36 minutes ago, Sega DogTagz said:

What if Eggman is twisting his arm, or holding something over him though?

The last time Eggy teamed up with other villains was LW, and that didn't come about until the Doctor really beat the Deadly Six into submission. Eggman doesn't exactly do "equal partnerships". If Infinite is the engine that helped Eggman "win" you can bet the doctor positioned himself to be the benefactor through some sort of manipulation, extortion or false truth.

Is that really so bad? Its just Eggy doing what Eggy does best.

I don't have a problem with that, but like I said, it would kind of undermine all of the hype surrounding Infinite as this "BIG DARK MYSTERIOUS" figure, but then he just ends up playing patsy to Eggman. It's incredibly similar to Shadow's introduction when you look at it actually.

[Sega DogTagz]

Just now, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

I don't have a problem with that, but like I said, it would kind of undermine all of the hype surrounding Infinite as this "BIG DARK MYSTERIOUS" figure, but then he just ends up playing patsy to Eggman. It's incredibly similar to Shadow's introduction when you look at it actually.

But despite that, it didn't do any damage to how the community accepted Shadow.

He's only the second most popular character in the canon.

 

 

[Kuzu]

Just now, Sega DogTagz said:

But despite that, it didn't do any damage to how the community accepted Shadow.

He's only the second most popular character in the canon.

Yea, because everyone thought he died a heroic death....oh man, imagine if Infinite dies in the end to mirror Shadow lol.

[JaidynReiman]

4 hours ago, Crazy_Diamond said:

I wouldn't say that. If a dictator uses an army to take over the world, does that lessen his accomplishment? If Infinite really is the reason Eggman won, then him being able to utilize someone as powerful as Infinite is impressive in itself. Him being Eggman's lackey also doesn't mean he is not interesting. He could still be an interesting character with his own motivations and goals, even if he does work for Eggman.

It depends on how they handle it. If handled right, it could be compelling. But with what we know of Eggman's storyline, its far, far more likely to go wrong. I WANT to believe it'll turn out well. But I'm not optimistic with SEGA's track record of late.

 

That being said, I'm still far more optimistic about this game than everyone else is. Just not about Infinite specifically.

[MudHunter]

Just wondering, how would you react if Infinite turned out to be a future version of the created character (or something similar)?

[HywelAtTheMoon]

8 hours ago, JaidynReiman said:

I've been thinking of Infinite being a corrupted female character as well, think it could be interesting. I wasn't thinking of Blaze but honestly that's brilliant. Blaze being gone entirely is also rather strange given Silver's prominence.

 

EDIT:

It can be taken in multiple ways. It need not necessarily be the case that Gerald completely brainwashed him and only slightly alterred his perception of what happened. However, Gerald's diary does seemingly indicate he directed Shadow to do exactly what he wanted.

 

Now, I didn't respond to a post like this directly, but some people are wondering how Gerald had a chance to finish everything. Gerald personally was away at the time the arc was attacked. Gerald's diary itself says this, and he later learned of Maria's death. Eventually GUN catches up to him and finds him, but he's able to gain access to his research and make alterrations before he's captured. (Presumably, he also knew he'd be executed and rigged the ARK to record from the execution scene, though this is definitely a lot less believable he managed to pull such a thing off.)

I have a strange feeling that Infinite could be a corrupt version of Rouge. My case? 

1. The hair could be part of the corruption. Normally, Rouge has shortish hair. Same colour though. 

2. Infinite does have some bat-like features. The ears namely. 

3. We've seen a few characters already as part of the resistance, and as Eggman's squad. Rouge has been notable by her absence. Either she's dead, or... 

I could be wrong, but her light fingers got the world in trouble before. 06 showed her stealing Mephiles' sceptre. She could get greedy again, but get possessed. 

[Azure P]

You all are focusing on the ears (which is apart of the helmet). But the tail is what you should focus on. It's a tail that either belongs to a fox or a cat.

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

I can't shake this funny feeling I got about infinite: something about him makes him seem like he's not truly that evil. I just got a feeling that

A: He's gonna do a heel face turn near the end of the game and he helps you fight eggman.

B: He sacrifices his life to save buddy 

C: sonic kicks his butt at the final boss but then he does a heel face turn after the end of the game like gemerl did.

He could have this tragic backstory about eggman manipulating him then sonic feels pity for him.

He might want sonic to defeat him.

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

I'm quite surprised no one made this connection with infinite's design yet:

The black color scheme, the single red eye, the dreadlocks and the pointy ears.

Looks like sonic team dug deep from the prototype bin to create this guy.