Sonic Forces - Is INFINITE related to [SOMETHING] from Mania? [HEAVY MANIA SPOILERS]

[caitash]

8 hours ago, kadosho said:

Something I've thought about since we caught a bit of "Infinite". Being a longtime Sonic fan... here is my theory..
Tails is Infinite / somewhere in the universe Tails became affected by it "or he was badly injured during this war".
Its a darker timeline in Forces, and the possibility of a parallel universe is very likely. However during his fight to the last breath, he lost one of his tails (and also his sanity making a bargain with the Ruby Emerald) Or even the notion of giving up his soul to do as it wished, the things he never thought of doing before. But it also corrupted him altogether, and tapped into his memories of foes that he & Sonic have met in the past.

Also this version of Tails would be from a "altered timeline" But can cause & effect across this current universe that Modern Sonic is tangled within. 
The foes we meet in this teaser are manifestations of what they were in the past, present, and future. 

As of note, if you ever read Tails bio, his age, and weaknesses.. yeah there are clues scattered around since Sonic 2

I'm totally not ruling out Infinite being Tails, if it is then I suspect it's Classic Tails or some kind of Future Tails. I'm not sure they'll do that though considering 2 very recent games have teased a Sonic vs Tails scenario and immediately backed away from it. I'm not sure they actually want to allow it to happen (awesome as it would be). I think it more likely Sonic Team will go down the Avatar/Infinite link at the moment, though my opinion may change if more info comes out over the coming days

 

EDIT: My other half has his own theory that Infinite physically looks like a combination of Knuckles and Tails with the dreadlocks and tail style. 

I guess we only need to wait a little over a couple of months to find out

[Salamander]

8 hours ago, Cornelius Fudge said:

I honestly loathe the idea because it's insinuating that Eggman's victory of world-domination is an entire illusion even though the allure is found in the fact that Eggman's goal is finally made a reality when that was never the case before. I'd be so underwhelmed if we were led to believe that this is an entire illusion.

If they were to present it that way, then yes, it wouldn't be great, but I'm trying to take the clues we've been given and assemble a story that's a little more satisfying as well as being credible.  With Nakamura stating recently that the staff didn't think it would be believable for Eggman to take over the world on his own then the result is going to depend pretty heavily on Infinite no matter what; he's not in the story for no reason.  The bleaker and frequently monochrome colour scheme and numerous instances of cyclopic red eyes on Eggman's Forces-era machines are also styled after Infinite.  It's a shame for me to admit it, too, but it's not as if Nakamura didn't have a point; you have to ask why Eggman succeeded this time when he'd never managed to take over the world before.  Is it because he just tried harder?  Or did he instead add a new weapon to his arsenal?  The best I can do to redeem the situation is to propose that Infinite is essentially Eggman's creation, or had his power granted to him in some manner by Eggman, such that victory through Infinite is still Eggman's victory rather than a triumph outsourced; additionally, it seems evident that the Phantom Ruby's illusions are not really meaningfully different from the real thing except in being quicker to assemble and having a centralised weak point.

[Whatever the WhoCares]

29 minutes ago, FFWF said:

If they were to present it that way, then yes, it wouldn't be great, but I'm trying to take the clues we've been given and assemble a story that's a little more satisfying as well as being credible.  With Nakamura stating recently that the staff didn't think it would be believable for Eggman to take over the world on his own then the result is going to depend pretty heavily on Infinite no matter what; he's not in the story for no reason.  The bleaker and frequently monochrome colour scheme and numerous instances of cyclopic red eyes on Eggman's Forces-era machines are also styled after Infinite.  It's a shame for me to admit it, too, but it's not as if Nakamura didn't have a point; you have to ask why Eggman succeeded this time when he'd never managed to take over the world before.  Is it because he just tried harder?  Or did he instead add a new weapon to his arsenal?  The best I can do to redeem the situation is to propose that Infinite is essentially Eggman's creation, or had his power granted to him in some manner by Eggman, such that victory through Infinite is still Eggman's victory rather than a triumph outsourced; additionally, it seems evident that the Phantom Ruby's illusions are not really meaningfully different from the real thing except in being quicker to assemble and having a centralised weak point.

The ideal scenario would be that Infinite's illusions only go as far as the villains Sonic meets. The world around him is still real.