Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Shadowlax]

3 hours ago, Celestia said:

I could see it going either way at this point, they established just enough doubt for me. Yeah it'd make sense if he's just lying low in the village (it's possible he found out someone's taken control of the Empire), but it'd be more interesting if it's legit and it took at least a while for him to go back to "normal."

No mater what's going on, I'd love to see an arc later on where Eggman, inspired by his sudden good PR, decides to ruin Sonic's reputation somehow. (...Yes, I'm still bummed that Man of the Year never got a part two, how did you know?)

If I may, I don't think it would destroy sonic's reputation in the way you are thinking first, but rather he would continue to destroy someone else. Shadows, shadow is someone who has literally been impersonated for months and no one knew where he was, what he was doing... I don't think we will ever really get an explanation for that. What you can do is use it now, shadow this guy that literally kind of looks like a demon, and has been as far as you know terrorizing the world, fighting an old man who fixes toys claiming he needs to be killed isn't the best look. And you could problably have the next story go in a way, where shadow does punch everyone real good and could strait up murder eggman, but he has convinced to not do that, probably with the help of crying children. And then shadow's like  " I'f you wrong i'm going to destroy you both " or some edgy shit like that. 

And then sonic is super wrong,and puts that village and a bunch of people in danger. Kinda messes up his reputation because others hear about who aren't from the village who go, " You bruh , why did you even trust that dude, dude " and then some people think sonic didn't dissapear for months he was conspiring with eggman. And bam that really messes up his rep , and then what's left of the Resistance is talking about how they should distance themselves from sonic and how that might be good. And when all this is going on and sonic is thinking to himself. Shadow breaks through a wall and is like " Remember what I said ? " 

[DabigRG]

I'm glad this book finally has something people can seriously argue and debate over from either stance. That's actually worth it too!

6 hours ago, dbzfan7 said:

I just don't see Shadow killing Eggman all willy nilly like this. Bring him in to custody sure, even if as an amnesiac sure, but straight out destroy? That feels wrong for him I think. I dunno I just can't see him killing the last Robotnik, even if he is evil. I mean Gerald went insane, and basically was gonna do horrible things too, but I don't think Shadow would harm him. Stop his plans sure, incarcerate Eggman despite being an "amnesiac" sure (Even if could be hypocritical XD), but not outright kill (I don't really count the non canon endings in ShTH).

I'm hoping this is Mr. Flynn taking the time to expand on what Shadow was doing and experienced during Forces for drama.

[Shadowlax]

6 hours ago, dbzfan7 said:

Eggman letting on that he does not have amnesia makes perfect sense honestly. He can play the amnesia card and act like a frail scared old man any time Sonic tries to call him out on his crap, and basically turn his friends against him by keeping up the good guy shtick. I would enjoy a good guy Eggman for a while kinda like when we had Good Guy Luthor, but I'm pretty sure he's faking it.

I just don't see Shadow killing Eggman all willy nilly like this. Bring him in to custody sure, even if as an amnesiac sure, but straight out destroy? That feels wrong for him I think. I dunno I just can't see him killing the last Robotnik, even if he is evil. I mean Gerald went insane, and basically was gonna do horrible things too, but I don't think Shadow would harm him. Stop his plans sure, incarcerate Eggman despite being an "amnesiac" sure (Even if could be hypocritical XD), but not outright kill (I don't really count the non canon endings in ShTH).

Shadow's the only one would do that. Shadow's he's tried to kill him before, shadow's the only character on the roster who can actually set his phazer to kill. And I mean on purpose, yeah sonic and crew have defeated monsters and saved the day but generall that's seen as like defending something and the monsters energies going out of wack or something like that, or its an eggman robot.Shadow is the only person will strait up try to kill you

[MetalSkulkBane]

Personally I think Shadow does has special respect for last of Robotniks. With that said Eggman went too far in Forces. Taking over the world, making evil copy of him, almost killing Sonic, etc. He was too close to winning and Shadow can't let his personal relations cloud his judgment any longer.

(that's how I guess his thinking process looks)

[DabigRG]

10 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Personally I think Shadow does has special respect for last of Robotniks. With that said Eggman went too far in Forces. Taking over the world, making evil copy of him, almost killing Sonic, etc. He was too close to winning and Shadow can't let his personal relations cloud his judgment any longer.

(that's how I guess his thinking process looks)

That's sorta my thought as well.

[dbzfan7]

26 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

I'm glad this book finally has something people can seriously argue and debate over from either stance. That's actually worth it too!

I'm hoping this is Mr. Flynn taking the time to expand on what Shadow was doing and experienced during Forces for drama.

It could be. Hope it's expanded upon.

8 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Personally I think Shadow does has special respect for last of Robotniks. With that said Eggman went too far in Forces. Taking over the world, making evil copy of him, almost killing Sonic, etc. He was too close to winning and Shadow can't let his personal relations cloud his judgment any longer.

(that's how I guess his thinking process looks)

I can buy into that if we get some drama on it. Though considering how poorly Shadow has been written before, all bets are off. Really do hope Flynn does something with this.

19 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

Shadow's the only one would do that. Shadow's he's tried to kill him before, shadow's the only character on the roster who can actually set his phazer to kill. And I mean on purpose, yeah sonic and crew have defeated monsters and saved the day but generall that's seen as like defending something and the monsters energies going out of wack or something like that, or its an eggman robot.Shadow is the only person will strait up try to kill you

I didn't say he wouldn't kill, just not the literal last member of the family he cherished, and wiping out the Robotnik line.

2 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

That's sorta my thought as well.

Glad to see more people like this idea. 

[Shadowlax]

14 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Personally I think Shadow does has special respect for last of Robotniks. With that said Eggman went too far in Forces. Taking over the world, making evil copy of him, almost killing Sonic, etc. He was too close to winning and Shadow can't let his personal relations cloud his judgment any longer.

(that's how I guess his thinking process looks)

Shadow tried to kill him in his own game. I don't think shadow was ever above killing anyone, even if he does respect you in any regard. And I don't think he ever repsected eggman

[DabigRG]

1 minute ago, Shadowlax said:

Shadow tried to kill him in his own game. I don't think shadow was ever above killing anyone, even if he does respect you in any regard. And I don't think he ever repsected eggman

What even is respect when it comes to Shadow?

[Shadowlax]

Just now, DabigRG said:

What even is respect when it comes to Shadow?

" You fight ok" 

" You have strength of character"

More so the latter than the former. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

21 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

Shadow tried to kill him in his own game. I don't think shadow was ever above killing anyone, even if he does respect you in any regard. And I don't think he ever respected eggman

Considering that Shadow think he's a robot in one route, it's clear he has amnesia, is very confused and probably those what-if scenarios are not perfect for judging his character.

 

[Shadowlax]

1 minute ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Considering that Shadow think he's a robot in one route, it's clear he has amnesia, is very confused and probably those what-if scenarios are not perfect for judging his character.

 

It isn't what if though, while there are plenty of non canon what if scenarios in that game. But that is one of the ones acknowledged by the true ending, I have always taken it as, that ending  , the good route that leads to the flash back, and helping every character is the canon route for that game because all that explains the true ending. While yes shadow thought he was an andriod, he still held enough vitriol for eggman inside himself to murder him. And I don't think finding out eggman is lying changes, that, in fact I think it makes him more angry. 

To add to this a bit, Ian was never fond of having team dark in the mix of mainline stories. While many have speculated, my belief is...well those stories kind of rely on your protagonist not wanting to murder the antagonist. Because a lot of the shit eggman was doing was a murderable offense for shadow. Its why they came up with his own murderable bad guy eclipse and more black arms. Not only are they alien monsters that want to eat people, they also come with a convenient shades of gray argument being " survival of the fittest " . Compare this to eggman, if shadow found out about that goat girl and her sister? Shadow would have had his hand around eggman's throat within the day. 

I bet the eggbosses had a goddamn manual, and there was a chapter called " shadow the hedgehog " and all it said was, " If you see him fucking run, he will kill you " 

Shadow, will actually murder you. He isn't the punisher where's he is just murdering criminals, but shadow is hella justice oriented. And murder isn't too far for him

[RedFox99]

@Shadowlax It sounds more like Ian doesn't want yo use Shadow because of how OP he is. Truth be told, I kind of wish that Ian could do more stories centered on Rouge or Omega without Shadow around since they both need some development and you don't need to worry about Shadow easily solving the problem.

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, RedFox99 said:

@Shadowlax It sounds more like Ian doesn't want yo use Shadow because of how OP he is. 

Eh, it's definitely some of both. 

1 hour ago, RedFox99 said:

 Truth be told, I kind of wish that Ian could do more stories centered on Rouge or Omega without Shadow around since they both need some development and you don't need to worry about Shadow easily solving the problem.

Same here.

[Shadowlax]

1 hour ago, RedFox99 said:

@Shadowlax It sounds more like Ian doesn't want yo use Shadow because of how OP he is. Truth be told, I kind of wish that Ian could do more stories centered on Rouge or Omega without Shadow around since they both need some development and you don't need to worry about Shadow easily solving the problem.

While I think that plays a part , him willing to murder along with him being strong is important to why he kinda didn't get to be around. This story seems to , literally directly addressing the issue. Welp, I guess we will see what happens, next month, or later this month?

[Dr. Detective]

Yeah, actually. If Ian wanted someone to come and murder Eggman, Omega would probably be like "Sign me up. I'm a fan of regular murder. Eggman murder sounds like it'd be the most fun kind of murder though."

[Sonic Fan J]

1 minute ago, Shadowlax said:

While I think that plays a part , him willing to murder along with him being strong is important to why he kinda didn't get to be around. This story seems to , literally directly addressing the issue. Welp, I guess we will see what happens, next month, or later this month?

Tonally I think Shadow is honestly difficult to use. Sonic is playful, adventurous, and forgiving. That plays nicely into allowing for continuous conflicts between him and Eggman but that goes against how Shadow is. As you say @Shadowlax, Shadow will not hesitate to permanently end a threat and that doesn't fit the tone of the series with Eggman's goofy antics which make his plans seem playful no matter how dangerous. Shadow's lack of playfulness and low capacity for forgiveness fits his role as a darker Sonic, but it surely makes him hard to write. Next month though we'll see how Ian addresses it though so...

On the comic itself, I really don't like amnesia plots with only body swap plots usually beating them out as my least favorite type of stories. To me it feels like a cheap way to force a moral conundrum out of characters when used in this way and in most other ways just comes along as a cheap way to make the main character an acceptable audience surrogate. I would honestly prefer if it turned out the whole village was Eggman robots n disguise and Eggman took the initiative to make himself appear harmless so that he would have time to recovery from his latest defeat without Sonic and company even worrying about him anymore. I'm hoping Ian Flynn will impress me next month and through the rest of this arc but we'll see.

[Shadowlax]

I might be wrong

I got the feeling sega gonna try to push omega out of the way

[Shadowlax]

Just now, Sonic Fan J said:

Tonally I think Shadow is honestly difficult to use. Sonic is playful, adventurous, and forgiving. That plays nicely into allowing for continuous conflicts between him and Eggman but that goes against how Shadow is. As you say @Shadowlax, Shadow will not hesitate to permanently end a threat and that doesn't fit the tone of the series with Eggman's goofy antics which make his plans seem playful no matter how dangerous. Shadow's lack of playfulness and low capacity for forgiveness fits his role as a darker Sonic, but it surely makes him hard to write. Next month though we'll see how Ian addresses it though so...

Eh, I don't think shadow wont hesitate. There's an entire arc where he tries to convince metal sonic to not be a dick. Doesn't work, but he gave it the old college try. I think with him, its more so, there's a point. Eggman is past the point. He might have been past the point, this might have just gone " waited to long to handle this shit " .

Though you are right, he's a weird guy with a weird tone. I wouldn't say hard to write for, he's weird though. 

 

Just now, Sonic Fan J said:

On the comic itself, I really don't like amnesia plots with only body swap plots usually beating them out as my least favorite type of stories. To me it feels like a cheap way to force a moral conundrum out of characters when used in this way and in most other ways just comes along as a cheap way to make the main character an acceptable audience surrogate. I would honestly prefer if it turned out the whole village was Eggman robots n disguise and Eggman took the initiative to make himself appear harmless so that he would have time to recovery from his latest defeat without Sonic and company even worrying about him anymore. I'm hoping Ian Flynn will impress me next month and through the rest of this arc but we'll see.

hmm, I get your gripes. Though I think the moral conundrum could be interesting this time because it could be layered. Because being like shadow , don't murder the guy that's bad... and then the guy who wanted to murder the guy turning out later to be right. Along with a lot of other side issues, like shadow.. being impersonated for months, might lead to an actually interesting version of this plot.

But I get your gripes

[PublicEnemy1]

34 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

I might be wrong

I got the feeling sega gonna try to push omega out of the way

Why would they?

[Sonic Fan J]

1 minute ago, Shadowlax said:

Eh, I don't think shadow wont hesitate. There's an entire arc where he tries to convince metal sonic to not be a dick. Doesn't work, but he gave it the old college try. I think with him, its more so, there's a point. Eggman is past the point. He might have been past the point, this might have just gone " waited to long to handle this shit " .

Though you are right, he's a weird guy with a weird tone. I wouldn't say hard to write for, he's weird though. 

I actually forgot about that Sonic Universe arc. Seeing Shadow plead with Metal was actually kind of a cool exploration of Shadow's character and his role as being a literal tool. Whether it be as a tool of destruction, salvation, or just a straight up weapon, Shadow is unfortunately a tool first and a person second in the eyes of most so seeing him argue for the humanity, for want of a better term, of another tool was honestly enjoyable. Doubly so for me since I prefer Metal when he has Sonic's personality save for his strong sense of justice and heart of gold.

[Shadowlax]

4 minutes ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

Why would they?

 I feel like omega was always a third, that continued to exist longer than sega really cared for, he doesn't have a lot of fans either. I dunno, I'm just saying. If omega is mysteriously gone, or is now an evil robot and shadow has to destroy him. I called it

3 minutes ago, Sonic Fan J said:

I actually forgot about that Sonic Universe arc. Seeing Shadow plead with Metal was actually kind of a cool exploration of Shadow's character and his role as being a literal tool. Whether it be as a tool of destruction, salvation, or just a straight up weapon, Shadow is unfortunately a tool first and a person second in the eyes of most so seeing him argue for the humanity, for want of a better term, of another tool was honestly enjoyable. Doubly so for me since I prefer Metal when he has Sonic's personality save for his strong sense of justice and heart of gold.

It was neat, never addressed again and now metal sonic is a dumb robot . 

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, Shadowlax said:

 I feel like omega was always a third, that continued to exist longer than sega really cared for, he doesn't have a lot of fans either. I dunno, I'm just saying. If omega is mysteriously gone, or is now an evil robot and shadow has to destroy him. I called it

I don't necessarily agree. It feels more like they want to do stuff with him but don't entirely know how because they're not good at handling the cast they've created. His appearance in Forces made this feel a bit more apparent to me. He's one of the only characters in that game with any semblance of an implied arc. He goes to fight Infinite, gets fucked up, is used as a red-herring at the beginning of the game when Tails is fixing him, and then shows up later to impose a botched "big damn hero" moment. It doesn't work because the writing is so shit though. 

He shows up in a scene that was specifically designed to emulate him saving everyone at the last second but none of the characters were currently in any notable danger at that specific time. All of his shots either miss or get knocked away by Infinite. Then when Rouge exclaims how happy she is that he's joined them, the scene just... immediately forgets about it and Infinite suddenly does the sun thing. Then at the end Rouge points out that Omega was acting like a hero, pretending to show up to save the day at the last second in a line that makes it seem like they're aware that it was a botched attempt to make his contribution stand out... It's very strange. I've never seen a set-up and pay-off done so weirdly.

There's other stuff like how he was also one of the few characters in 06 to have an arc too. He wasn't just there for decoration like Tails and Knuckles were. It, again, wasn't written as well as it could have been (though shockingly it was written far better than his thing in Forces was).

Then there's the extraneous stuff like the fact that he's always been a boss character in the Olympic games and wasn't relegated to being an referee like Cream, Charmy, and Espio were. The stories for those games on the handhelds always gave him some really important thing to do that changed the flow of the plot. He wasn't in Generations but they still bothered giving him a trophy. They were apprehensive about using him in the comics for a long time but they still ultimately said yes.

I feel like if they were trying to push him out, he'd be treated a lot worse than this. 

Like how they treat Big maybe. They even came out and said years back that Big was being put on the back-burner and people took that to mean he was being cut entirely from the series... but it mostly just meant he was going to be a meme sponge. Aside from that trophy in Generations and his appearance in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and the two Runners games, they haven't touched him. 

[Big Panda]

I just noticed Sonic says that Eggman can “threaten whole worlds at a time”.

Did he just mean, like, Planet Wisp, or was that a two worlds nod?

[Shadowlax]

I don't think that rouge line indicates importance but rather was put there to make her seem like she cared, given her and shadow left their friend out in ... the dust for several months doing nothing. I don't think omega is big status, where if it wasn't for him being memed he would just kinda nothing. But he's kinda nothing, and can totally see sega ignoring him or trying to get rid of him  or continuing to use him as a robotic damsel in distress so they don't have to use him

 

 

[Sonic Fan J]

6 minutes ago, Ernest-Panda said:

I just noticed Sonic says that Eggman can “threaten whole worlds at a time”.

Did he just mean, like, Planet Wisp, or was that a two worlds nod?

Well, two worlds or not he has split the planet, converted Little Planet into a base like three times now (CD, 4, Mania), threatened Blaze's world, and captured Planet Wisp. That's four worlds right there even without the two world setup. I find Sonic's line is pretty accurate.