Shield

The Shield, also known as Barrier (バリア) in Japan, Normal Shield or Barrier Shield, is a power-up item, first introduced in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. It is obtained by breaking an Item Box with a blue or dark green circular symbol on the monitor. It is the first and original of all shield type power-ups.

The power-up itself envelops the playing character in a spherical barrier which protects the wearer from attacks or damage so that the player would not lose collected Rings or a life if they are hit without rings. Its color varies from blue, green and grey depending on what game it is in. Unlike its successors, it does not have any additional abilities to grant to the wearer.

Description
The protection of Shield varies on certain forms. It is able to negate damage taken from enemies, spikes and some other level hazards. After hitting one of aforementioned alternatives though, the Shield disappears and the player is usually seen flying slightly backwards without losing Rings. However the Shield is not able to protect from falling into the bottomless pits or being crushed with spikes or in some cases, the time limit of completing the stage has been exceeded, which is the instant death. If the player also enters to the underwater sections, it doesn't disappear like elemental shields do, but neither it does protect from drowning.

The Shield's color has been varied thought the series without any logical reason. As the Shield is originally known being colored as blue, while since Sonic Adventure, it changed its color to dark green. However one time in Sonic Generations, it is simply illustrated as transparent white bubble, but in most appearances it is transparent with a shade of either blue or dark green.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
The original 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog marked the first appearance of the Shield. In the game, it can be collected from normal Monitors with a blue orb icon in it. The Shield is colored a washed-out blue and flashes around Sonic. Because the game is known to have a "Spike Bug", the player is able to lose the Shield, Rings and even life directly at a time when getting hit multiple times by spikes, despite few seconds flashing and invulnerability.

The 8-bit version of the game with the same name also features Shields. These Shields are somehow smaller and more brighter blue comparing to their 16-bit counterpart. They are also spinning around the player, and like in 16-bit counterpart, they do not protect from drowning in the underwater sections of Labyrinth Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Shields have a darker tint of blue than of that in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Despite the sprite being changed slightly, the Shield otherwise retained its mechanics from previous titles. The Shield also appears in the two player mode of the game as a random power-up. Also, in Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Shield is colored grey instead of blue.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, the Shield's appearance is identical to that of the original Sonic the Hedgehog and it abilities remain identical to that of those in the previous installments.

Knuckles' Chaotix
In Knuckles' Chaotix, the Shield is a generally encountered power-up. This blue Shield has similar effect from previous games, although it is only given to one of the two playable characters the player controls that breaks its Monitor. The other playable character in this case gets hit and falls ooff the screen, but comes back after for while. The Shield has flipping coin effect when the playable character is using it.

Sonic the Fighters
In Sonic the Fighters, the traditional Shield does not appear, but the game does feature the Barrier mechanics that the characters can use to protect themselves from attacks, though several hits against the Barriers can eventually break them. To use them in gameplay on the original arcade version, the player must hold down B button. At the beginning of arcade mode of the game, the player is given five Barriers in total to use for the duration of the match.

Sonic 3D Blast
In Sonic 3D Blast, three types of Shields are featured. First, there is the Blue Shield whose functions identical to the Shield in previous installments, but with the additional effect of negating electrical attacks and obstacles, similar to the Thunder Shield. The second is the Red Shield which works like the Flame Shield by negating fire attacks. The last is the Gold Shield which enables the player to perform the Blast Attack which is similar to the Homing Attack.

It is worth noting, that the Flickies that follow the player also receive a small Shield when the player obtains one, and they do not fly away by hitting obstacles, if the player themselves do not.

Sonic Blast
The shield makes appearance in Sonic Blast, as being found from monitors. It is small comparing to the playable character, but works similarly like in previous appearances. However some of monitors with question marks are randomized, which may contain one of eight power-ups of the game, including the shield.

Sonic Adventure
The Shield makes its first appearance in a 3D title of the Sonic franchise in Sonic Adventure (and its later iteration Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut). The color of the Shield is now dark green instead of blue but its function from previous installments still remains unchanged.

Sonic Pocket Adventure
Shield becomes one of general monitor items once again in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, where it is now seen colored as light blue. Shield have the same method from previous games, as by hitting Badniks, spikes or other obstacles once makes the shield disappear around the player. The Shield is also seen in multiplayer mode of the game as well.

Sonic Adventure 2
The dark green Shield is once again seen in Sonic Adventure 2, as being included in item boxes, that can be seen with foot-sets or floating in the air. Shield has the same method from Sonic Adventure, while the game also features Lightning Shield as well. However if the player has ninty Rings on hand and run past one of Point Markers, the player will earn the Shield automatically.

Sonic Advance series
The dark green Shield, now called as Barrier, is also seen in all three Sonic Advance games. In all three games, it can be found at normal or floating Item Boxes and protects player until hitting to the enemy or any hazards on the way without losing Rings.

Sonic Heroes
The dark green Barrier is once again been featured in Sonic Heroes, as it can be found at Item Boxes or floating balloon variants of them. It works similarly like in Sonic Adventure titles, as getting hit once makes the Barrier disappear, but check points don't give shields anymore. The appearance of Barrier in the game is smaller and more colorful, even sometimes being nearly invisible around the playable character. The Lightning Barrier is not featured in the game.

Sonic Rush series
Dark green Barriers are also seen once again being featured in Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure, as these power-ups are once again included in item boxes and balloon variants as well. It works similarly like in Sonic Advance games without any differences.

Sonic Rivals series
In Sonic Rivals and its sequel Sonic Rivals 2, the Shield reappeared under the name "Fire Shield". As its name states, it creates a barrier of fire around the user when used which can protect the user from one attack just like the previous games' Shield but even when not attacked, the shield will eventually disappear after being used. In order to use it, the player must have obtained a Fire element Power-Up and must be ahead of his/her rival in the stage.

Shadow the Hedgehog
The normal, dark green Barrier has also make appearance in Shadow the Hedgehog, where it is found at item boxes like in previous titles. Like always, it protects the player in the action until it lost by hitting the enemy once. In addition to the normal Shield, the game also has two variants of the Shield: Heat Barrier, which hurts surrounding enemies while using it, and Lightning Shield, which attracts nearby Rings.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
The Shield was originally supposed to appear in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (as it was mentioned in the game's manual), where it would function similarly to that in previous games such as Sonic Adventure. Possibly due to the game's rushed development, the Shield is nowhere seen in the game.

The game does feature a Lightning Shield, but it is featured in the form of an ability called Thunder Guard, that can be activated by obtaining the Yellow Gem. In stages such as Dusty Desert and Tropical Jungle where Sonic has to escort Princess Elise, the player can use their powers to create a yellow shield that prevents them from sinking down into the quicksand/the lake but it cannot protect Sonic from enemy attacks and obstacles. This will use up Sonic's Action Gauge on the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
The Shield power-up only appears in Survival Battle of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. Its purpose remains the same like the past Sonic games; the Shield protects the player from one attack, preventing the user from losing Hit Points (in Sudden Death mode) or allowing an opponent to gain a point for hitting the player (in Points Battle). The Shield will instantly dissipate if the player falls off the field, however.

Sonic Unleashed
A different type of Shield is featured in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Sonic Unleashed, which the player is able to use when performing Guard when Sonic is in his Werehog form. This energy shield guards Sonic, as he pulls his arms in front of his face by holding LB/L1 button and Sonic forms a shield around him. This energy shield neutralizes all damage Sonic will receive from certain attacks. For as long as Sonic has energy in his Shield Gauge, he can put a Shield. However, every time the Shield blocks an attack, Sonic's Shield Gauge is consumed, and if it drained completely from an attack, the Shield will break and Sonic will receive the attack.

The player is able to increase the size of Shield Gauge by collecting Chaos Orbs after destroying enemies and use the EXP they grant to increase its level. The highest level where the player is able to power-up shield at its status is to level 10.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing series
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, one of the Item Box power-ups is a dark green Energy Shield, that can be activated after obtaining it. When activated, the Energy Shield works the similarly to the previous games: after being hit once, the Energy Shield disappears but the user doesn't take any damage.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4
The Shield makes a appearance in both episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, although still being colored as dark green. It works identically to that of previous installments. If Sonic transforms into Super Sonic while the Shield is active, the Shield still stays with Super Sonic.

Sonic Colors
The Shield made a reappearance in the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors and functions identically to that of the past installments.

Sonic Generations
The normal Shield makes a reappearance, along with the Elemental Shields (Flame Shield, Lightning Shield and Water Shield) in Sonic Generations. They can only be obtained if the player buys all the shields as Skills from the Skill Shop. The player can then equip their respective Skill in gameplay, the player can activate the Shield manually whenever desired. They can only be used by Classic Sonic playing through Act 1 of any level.

In the console version the Shield looks like a completely white orb like the Bubble Shield, but the icon of the item shows the Shield to being normally dark green. In the Nintendo 3DS version, it can be found normally on Item Boxes, as well as the Thunder Shield (Emerald Coast only) or get either of them as an extra skill after playing Versus Mode online.

Sonic Jump games
Dark green Shields are featured in Sonic Jump, Sonic Jump 2, the 2012 remake of Sonic Jump and Sonic Jump Fever as collectible power-ups from Item Boxes and disappear once after getting hit by enemies and other obstacles. The 2012 remake includes different Shields as well.

Sonic Dash
Dark green Shields are included at Item Boxes in Sonic Dash. When the player gets the Shield, it protects him from crashing the Badniks of the game without losing rings. However the Shield will disappear after for while and the player has to get another one from other Item Box.

Sonic Runners
Shield makes an appearance in Sonic Runners, where it retains its light blue color scheme from earlier games and functions normally from previous titles. Shield can be found at Item Boxes as regular power-ups, but they are also available as Equitable items, costing 1000 Rings.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
In the episode "Robotnik's Pyramid Scheme" the Mummified Hedgehog gave Sonic a necklace that creates a Blue Shield, protecting him from Robotnik's immortality.

Sonic X (comic)
In Archie Comic's Sonic X #10, Sonic finds shield monitor on the top of large loop at Green Hill Zone in issue 10. He first felt hesitated after getting it around and tries to outrun the shield, which doesn't work. After that, he proceed his journey until he comforts Doctor Eggman on his Egg Mobile with a checkerboarded wrecking-ball. He loses the shield after getting attacked.

Archie Comics
In Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics, Sonic is seen using sort of similar shield at issue 227, during the Genesis arc.. When Sonic, Sally and Boomer have entered inside of the Scrap Brain Zone and come across Doctor Eggman with large mechanic pillars, Sonic suddenly got trapped of blue forcefield around him. He uses it during the fight against Eggman's machine and as Antoine arrives into the Eggman's machine, Sonic finishes the battle and after that, the shield disappears.

Trivia

 * In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, while playing as Super Sonic, it is noticeable that, the Shield's icon in the monitor changes to a golden yellow (matching Super Sonic's color scheme) and the player is then able to pick up the yellow shield around. This is due Sonic and shield sharing the same color palette in the game. The same thing can happen in Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where the shield starts glowing pink just like Super Knuckles does.