The Many Worlds of Sonic

[Sonic Fan J]

Was bouncing around topics for a bit and started thinking about the surprising number of worlds that exist in the Sonic Franchise. While I know there are already threads covering all of the possible timelines that the series is over saturated with I thought I'd start a thread to get some discussion going about the actual worlds that appear in the franchise. Of course when I say discussion that means conjecture, hypotheses, personal interpretations, and just about anything else is on the table. So before getting started let's try to but to together a list of all of the worlds we know have appeared , and please note that while some of the ones I will be listing can be considered alternate dimensions they are still worlds enough in the sense to be mentioned here.

 

Sonic's World

Earth

Mobius

Blaze's World

Little Planet

Lost Hex

Maginaryworld

Planet Wisp

The Special Zone (added)

Planet Freedom (added)

 

All right those are all of the ones off of the top of my head but feel free to add in any I missed.

Now, to get the ball rolling here, let's start with a simple set of questions; which of these worlds are your favorite and why? Would you prefer any one of these worlds, a combination of them,  or a new comprehensive world as the main setting for the games and alt.media content in the future and why.

 

While I can easily see Mobius receiving a big push from my initial question I'll have to say that I would prefer a new comprehensive world partly because I would like a world that actually implements anthros, humans, and the in-between kemonomimi that appear in the OVA (in the form of Sera) and certain other Sonic media so that way I feel like the world I'm in actually feels complete. I could probably describe what I mean better but my thoughts aren't too organized right now so maybe hearing some other viewpoints will help clear my head.

 

EDIT

 

So just got directed to SNN's list on the planets here http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Planets  and there are way more than I realized (not surprising since I was never into the comics back in the day). Even with this listing added here though the point of the thread hasn't changed; to talk about the various worlds, our favorites and least liked, and to discuss which ones we feel work best for the setting of the Sonic Franchise. This should just make it easier for those of us less informed about the sheer amount of planets used in the franchise (like me) to be able to get the information we need to have an idea what some of us will be talking about in this thread if anyone has a favorite planet that is less known. Anyway, have fun discussing XD

Edited April 22, 2018 by Sonic Fan J
Adding link

[Big Panda]

What about the Special Zone?

Also Planet Freedom.

[Sonic Fan J]

1 minute ago, Ernest-Panda said:

What about the Special Zone?

Also Planet Freedom.

I totally forgot to add both of those and can't believe I actually forgot to add Planet Freedom since thinking about the warp tunnels between the Land of the Sky and Land of Darkness is part of why I started up this thread since I could see those warp zones being used to allow Sonic and everyone else who populates the worlds in the franchise to travel freely between them (there's also the fact that I even mention Sera in my initial post and still managed to forget Freedom Planer - for shame, for shame).

 

Anyway, got those added now but if you or anyone else can think up any other major worlds feel free to let me know and I'll update the list accordingly. Meanwhile, feel free to share your thoughts on these worlds.

[Big Panda]

If we’re also counting alien planets, there’s a bunch in pre-SGW Archie: http://archiesonic.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Planets

EDIT: and in Fleetway: http://stc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Planets

Bare in mind some of those may be StCO-exclusive, if you only want to count stuff from official media.

[Sonic Fan J]

1 minute ago, Ernest-Panda said:

If we’re also counting alien planets, there’s a bunch in pre-SGW Archie: http://archiesonic.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Planets

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to scour that link when I have a little more time and then update this thread appropriately. Meanwhile, I'll let the thread stew a little as I'm actually rather busy and am mostly keeping this tab open while I work in case some unexpected Sonic news comes up.

[Big Panda]

Even better, SNN has a list of all the planets already: http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Planets

[Sonic Fan J]

9 minutes ago, Ernest-Panda said:

Even better, SNN has a list of all the planets already: http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Planets

Major thanks for that. Have updated the op so now there should not be anything holding us back from discussion beyond time, lol.

[Salamander]

Have the games ever done anything, lore-wise, with the Special Zone?  Maybe they should.  I could've seen that as a direction to take for a classic game, for instance; maybe bring in the CD UFOs...

Other than that, I could probably live without a proliferation of planets in the series, but the Little Planet and Planet Wisp worked as quirky satellites which had just enough lore, neither too little nor too obtrusive.  Lost Hex, on the other hand, has absolutely nothing; and we probably shouldn't get started on Two Worlds...

[Eurisko]

I’ve always thought of the Special Zone to be like some kind of Limbo dream state , which is why they are all so ‘Out there’ and make little sense in relation to the rest of their respective games.

[Osmium]

I was always convinced Special Zones were self-generated by the chaos emeralds themselves; perhaps from perturbation or disturbances of several kinds. 

[Sonic Fan J]

3 minutes ago, A crocodile said:

I was always convinced Special Zones were self-generated by the chaos emeralds themselves; perhaps from perturbation or disturbances of several kinds. 

Now that is one very distinct way of looking at the Special Zones. It rather much makes me wonder if the Phantom Ruby works in a similar vein.

[Osmium]

12 minutes ago, Sonic Fan J said:

Now that is one very distinct way of looking at the Special Zones. It rather much makes me wonder if the Phantom Ruby works in a similar vein.

One of the reasons for this has to do with the Sonic 3 backstory; it is told that when the Death Egg crashes on Angel Island the emeralds on the separated outside pillars all disappeared. This to me means they had to have generated special zones from the massive disturbance created by the crash and left this dimension.

"When Knuckle regained consciousness, his body was thrown out of the altar.
As he slowly rose his body and looked around the vicinity, a partially destroyed emerald altar came into Knuckle's view.
Knuckle hurriedly leaped into the altar.
However, the Chaos Emeralds that should have been in there had vanished, without leaving a single fragment behind."

This only becomes more clear when it's remembered that Knuckles may think Sonic is responsible for the disappearance of the emeralds in this fashion. 

"That man, who called himself Dr. Eggman, was told that Knuckles is the Chaos Emeralds' guardian.
'I am a scientist who came to investigate that egg. Hmmm, if you are the Chaos Emeralds' guardian then I have to tell you this. The truth is, you see, I'm followed by an evil hedgehog named Sonic who is disturbing my research, and he seems to be targeting the Chaos Emeralds on this island."

"Targeting the Chaos Emeralds...!'"

This means that when Knuckles hits Sonic at the beginning of Sonic 3, Knuckles believes those were his emeralds but in fact they were really the ones from Sonic 2, the ones that changed Sonic into Super Sonic in the first place. Knuckles takes those emeralds and places them into the Hidden Palace. These are the gray emeralds we see when Sonic enters the Hidden Palace the first time in Mushroom Hill. Perhaps the reason for their greyness is that they are not built to be harnessed by the altar as this is indeed a different set than the ones Knuckles originally had (I have a whole reason why this set isn't initially adapted for the altar but that's another story).

The emeralds that Sonic collects in the first half of 3K are really the ones that Knuckles had before all this had happened, so Sonic infiltrates the special zones created by the disturbance of the Death Egg. When Sonic enters Hidden Palace for the first time and stands on the green half sphere the emeralds that he has (really Knuckles' emeralds) activate the altars and the shadows of Sonic's original set are shown. The special zones for the "Super Emeralds" are really allegorical for combining the two sets' powers together into one and the altar recognizing their power (once again I have reasons for why it takes outside energy for the altar to recognize the emeralds in this form). 

[Sonic Fan J]

18 minutes ago, A crocodile said:

One of the reasons for this has to do with the Sonic 3 backstory; it is told that when the Death Egg crashes on Angel Island the emeralds on the separated outside pillars all disappeared. This to me means they had to have generated special zones from the massive disturbance created by the crash and left this dimension.

"When Knuckle regained consciousness, his body was thrown out of the altar.
As he slowly rose his body and looked around the vicinity, a partially destroyed emerald altar came into Knuckle's view.
Knuckle hurriedly leaped into the altar.
However, the Chaos Emeralds that should have been in there had vanished, without leaving a single fragment behind."

This only becomes more clear when it's remembered that Knuckles may think Sonic is responsible for the disappearance of the emeralds in this fashion. 

"That man, who called himself Dr. Eggman, was told that Knuckles is the Chaos Emeralds' guardian.
'I am a scientist who came to investigate that egg. Hmmm, if you are the Chaos Emeralds' guardian then I have to tell you this. The truth is, you see, I'm followed by an evil hedgehog named Sonic who is disturbing my research, and he seems to be targeting the Chaos Emeralds on this island."

"Targeting the Chaos Emeralds...!'"

This means that when Knuckles hits Sonic at the beginning of Sonic 3, Knuckles believes those were his emeralds but in fact they were really the ones from Sonic 2, the ones that changed Sonic into Super Sonic in the first place. Knuckles takes those emeralds and places them into the Hidden Palace. These are the gray emeralds we see when Sonic enters the Hidden Palace the first time in Mushroom Hill. Perhaps the reason for their greyness is that they are not built to be harnessed by the altar as this is indeed a different set than the ones Knuckles originally had (I have a whole reason why this set isn't initially adapted for the altar but that's another story).

The emeralds that Sonic collects in the first half of 3K are really the ones that Knuckles had before all this had happened, so Sonic infiltrates the special zones created by the disturbance of the Death Egg. When Sonic enters Hidden Palace for the first time and stands on the green half sphere the emeralds that he has (really Knuckles' emeralds) activate the altars and the shadows of Sonic's original set are shown. The special zones for the "Super Emeralds" are really allegorical for combining the two sets' powers together into one and the altar recognizing their power (once again I have reasons for why it takes outside energy for the altar to recognize the emeralds in this form). 

That's a very interesting take on the Chaos Emeralds and the Special Zones. It also gets me thinking for the first time in a while about the fact that the Japanese lore used to imply that there were multiple sets of Chaos Emeralds and gods that interacted with them and the civilizations that tried to use them (Westside Island and the Echidna Culture). Running this thought to an extreme, if one considers that Chaos Emeralds supposedly can control time and space (Chaos Control being the primary in game example) then perhaps Little Planet and the Sol Dimension are also Special Zones whose formation weakened their respective emeralds (Time Stones only able to manipulate time and the Sol Emeralds only dimensional space). Considering the Master Emerald's ability to control the Chaos Emeralds, it could be hypothesized that the Jeweled scepter is influenced by it and was used by someone who purposely created the Sol Dimension in times past (whether deity or mortal). Additionally, the Precious Stone of Sonic Shuffle could also be considered a Chaos Emerald that sustains Maginaryworld, the Special Zone in this case. That could also mean that the Phantom Ruby is also a Chaos Emerald but one that is likely damaged as it does not seem to be able to create a true Special Zone but rather only force the rules of one onto the present world.

Back on the Time Stones, if Little Planet is the Special Zone itself then the bonus stages are not Special Zones but rather bubbles in Time from throughout Little Planets peculiar timeline. In that way it could even explain the oddity of a certain ring fountain in the past of Wacky Workbench since it could match some of the bonus stages design wise but not really any of the regular stages in the game.

Regardless, it provides a very different way to look at least at some of the satellite worlds of Sonic's own and has got my creative juices flowing.

[Razule]

Oh the idea of multiple Emeralds is confusing..

[Salamander]

All the contradictions around the Chaos Emeralds which suggest like a multi-Emerald situation just look like continuity errors and lack of thought to me; the games have always treated them as just a single set.

[Multikaris]

Let’s not forget the Classic World! Oh, and the Storybooks. 

[Sonic Fan J]

On 4/23/2018 at 2:51 PM, Miragnarok said:

Let’s not forget the Classic World! Oh, and the Storybooks. 

No matter how it's broken down to me the Classic World classifies as Sonic's world/Earth/Mobius depending on whose argument you're listening to. As for the Storybook worlds I guess they would count but like most of the alien worlds I could not see them really being used as a primary setting for the games on a regular basis.

 

So though my thoughts are still not fully put together and I'm short on time I thought I'd say that I would rather go with a conglomerate world which includes Blaze's and Little Planet, and if the two worlds thing has to be a thing then there should exist a public gate system set up like airports/docks/train stations/etc that allows anyone to jump between worlds so the worlds feel like a cohesive and whole setting.

[TwinbeeMkII]

This just goes to show that no franchise is totally free of the Multiverse concept. Sonic just seems to have gone more 'whole hog' than most.

On the topic of special stage lore, wasn't there that tidbit about Fang supposedly being from there? Not sure how accurate that is as it was translated from an old site blurb or something like that, but I always found that concept interesting.

As for my favorite world? Anti Mobius (or Moebius) would rank up there, if only because Scourge is still among my favorite characters, as well as just having a soft spot for twisted parallel universes in fiction in general.

[AzureLakeSanic]

I like the Classic world, if we're talking official/canon. As for my actual favorite, it's THIS! http://sonicfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Mobius/Mobius_Redrawn

[BaronGrackle]

I'm not sure if I'd count Little Planet as another "world". I think it has more in common with Angel Island than Planet Wisp.

[Multikaris]

23 hours ago, BaronGrackle said:

I'm not sure if I'd count Little Planet as another "world". I think it has more in common with Angel Island than Planet Wisp.

Maybe not lost hex either. Also, we seem to be finally getting that gate between worlds in Team Sonic Racing. 

[big_smile]

On 6/11/2018 at 8:54 PM, Miragnarok said:

Also, we seem to be finally getting that gate between worlds in Team Sonic Racing. 

Do you have a link that shows this? Thanks!

[Multikaris]

1 hour ago, big_smile said:

Do you have a link that shows this? Thanks!

Near the end of the trailer. 

[Salamander]

There appears to be nothing resembling a gate between worlds in that trailer.  I notice several rings of clouds stylistically demarcating the skies of Spagonia and the ground of Spagonia, both visibly the same location owing to the presence of the clock tower, and I notice a cut from footage of Spagonia to footage of Wisp Circuit used to bring the trailer to a dramatic close without revealing more than a sneak peek of Spagonia, but there is no gate.

[Multikaris]

1 hour ago, FFWF said:

There appears to be nothing resembling a gate between worlds in that trailer.  I notice several rings of clouds stylistically demarcating the skies of Spagonia and the ground of Spagonia, both visibly the same location owing to the presence of the clock tower, and I notice a cut from footage of Spagonia to footage of Wisp Circuit used to bring the trailer to a dramatic close without revealing more than a sneak peek of Spagonia, but there is no gate.

I did not mean a literal gate. I meant the glass bridge surrounded by rings of clouds as the portal between worlds