Metarex

The Metarex are a fictional army of cyborgs and robots in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe, appearing in the television series Sonic X. They are led by the villain, known as Dark Oak and have one motive: to dominate the galaxy (or so it seems). They are similar to the Black Arms and Dark Oak is similar to Black Doom from Shadow the Hedgehog. The regular soldiers look like the common Black Arms soldiers. The Metarex serve as the main antagonists in the final season Sonic X, almost replacing Dr. Eggman.

History
The Metarex's origins are as mysterious as their motives. They have traversed the galaxy, stealing the so-called "Planet Eggs" and objects of great power, leaving whole worlds dead or dying in their wake. Among their victims are Cosmo's homeworld, along with every member of her species except her. They also implanted Cosmo with a hidden sensor in her brain, turning her into an unwilling spy.

The Metarex have a plan known as Operation Duplicate. A large part of this plan involves creating Chaos Emerald duplicates, with the power of the originals. These copies, however, seem to phase out after use. This plan also involves using Chaos Energy to mutate Planet Eggs, growing them to unusual sizes. Their plans also include wiping out non-plant life in the universe, leaving plants to rule. The leaders of the Metarex are, in truth, male Seedrians, which means that they are of the same species as Cosmo. Their robotic-like shells were created by using Planet Egg energy, from their own planet, for the result of a crystallized evolution. Dark Oak and his commanders are the only Metarex who are not entirely mechanical; while their soldiers are automatons, the commanders are simply encased in thick armor.

Ultimately, the Metarex goal is the galaxy's Forestation--the eradication of all life except that of plants. To achieve this, the Metarex need the Planet Eggs and Chaos Emeralds to supply water and light. So nourished, they require the power of an event that occurs once every hundred years in the center of the galaxy. With the energy, the Metarex would be able to wipe out all non-plant life.

Some Metarex are very powerful, too strong for Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies to defeat without assistance from either an ally, some sort of device, or a Power Ring. There are multiple types, and they appear in every environment. Many Metarex wield a blade weapon of some type, and most come equipped with missiles as well. More powerful Metarex are in possession of a single eye.

Dark Oak
Dark Oak is the powerful leader of the Metarex, an army of bio-robots that scours the galaxy for the Planet Eggs, jewels that contain the life energies of the planets. Dark Oak has one large, green eye and carries a golden sword. His armor is composed of varied shades of purple, with a large green orb on his chest and two tattered halves of a black cape hanging from his shoulders. He is be far the most powerful of the cyborg aliens whose power is comparable to that of Super Sonic's, but his abilities are mostly unknown since he's never done much fighting onscreen. Aside from his weapon, all that's known about how he fights is that his speed is at-least on a level comparable with Super Sonic's.

Dark Oak first appears to challenge Super Sonic in orbit around Sonic's planet. Despite Super Sonic's seeming invincibility in his previous battles (Perfect Chaos, The Finalhazard etc.), he is unable to defeat Dark Oak. In order to prevent Oak from stealing the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic uses Chaos Control to send them away. As Sonic falls toward the planet, Oak departs for space, revealing injuries Sonic hadn't noticed. His final act in that incident was to alert his forces to search for the Chaos Emeralds and to send a Metarex to remove the Planet Egg of Sonic's world.

Later, Oak appears behind the scenes, scheming his enemies' downfall in secret. He dispatches Scarship, the spacefaring Metarex, to kill them. After this fails, Dark Oak confronts Sonic and co. in a battle over the seven Chaos Emeralds. After the fortress where he was keeping the last two Chaos Emeralds was destroyed and the jewels scattered, Dark Oak declares that it was only a test. From that point on, Oak stays out of the limelight, dispatching his Metarex commanders in various attempts to kill Sonic and co. He also recruits Dr. Eggman as an ally, though Eggman later proves traitorous.

Amy Rose and Rouge the Bat later discover the true identity of Dark Oak and the origin of the Metarex through a holographic account left by Cosmo's mother Hertia (alias Earthia in the dub). It seems that Dark Oak was once a male member of Cosmo's species named Lucas and their planet was ensnared in the turmoil of war. Hertia wanted to leave the planet behind and start a new life, retreating from their enemies. Lucas didn't agree and did not want the soldiers to die in vain. Hertia/Earthia told him if he didn't like it he could stay and fight the enemy himself, and Lucas agreed.

Later Hertia was alerted to the plants outside her palace dying and came to find Lucas stole the Planet Egg from his own planet to try and harness the power to attain their "beast form" for longer periods of time. Hertia called Lucas a traitor for destroying his own world to fight the enemy, and Lucas called Hertia a traitor for wanting to abandon the war entirely. Lucas vowed to crystalize the life force of all planets to build an army to combat their enemy and Hertia left him and his fellow rebels to fight for their lost cause.

With a final act, Hertia ordered the remaining beasts killed along with the planet, and unleashed a nuclear strike that devastated their world. But unknown to her, Lucas survived, and he and his rebels became the Metarex. It was then that they vowed to fulfill the destiny of the universe by eliminating all life except plants and plant based creatures. His plan to do this is later revealed at galactic coordinates 000. At the end of a 1000 year period, Dark Oak arrives in time for a time/space anomaly to open. Using the energy released from an alternate dimension, he begins to construct a massive plant which will aid in the Forestation process. Using the Planet Eggs as a source of water and the Chaos Emeralds as a source of light, the two things most essential to plant growth, Dark Oak combines with his last two commanders to form a dragon-like plant entity with three heads. He then absorbed all the power of the Chaos Emeralds, and supposedly grew even more powerful. Sonic loaded himself into the Sonic Driver, and killed 2 of the 3 heads that the beast had, but Dark Oak was still alive. Cosmo's mother, Hertia, told her that this was her time to act. Though Dark Oak made an attempt to suck the life out of everyone in order to make himself stronger, Cosmo was not affected because she and Dark Oak both came from the same species. She formed with Dark Oak and was able to immoblize Dark Oak with her power. Tails had no choice but to fire the Sonic Driver with Super Sonic and Super Shadow in it. The combined power of the hedgehogs killed the beast once and for all, and peace came to the galaxy once more.

Following Dark Oak's supposed death, Lucas was shown alive in a mysterious location, seemingly reformed and repentant. There, he was greeted by and departed with some form of Hertia. It is unknown if he will appear again, but it is implied he is happy now because he is reunited with Hertia.

The Planet Egg then threatens to explode, killing all of the others within close range. Sonic attempts to use Chaos Control, but Shadow suddenly punches him in the stomach, causing Sonic to faint. Shadow then uses Chaos Control himself removing himself and the Planet Egg from the vicinity. He disappears and is presumed dead by everyone, considring Shadow's immortality and frequent habit of almost dying and then returning this is unlikely however.

Scarship
A space-faring Metarex of great power, Scarship was assigned to kill Cosmo's clan. He later decimates a fleet of anti-Metarex forces when Dark Oak commissions him to kill Sonic and Eggman. Seemingly destroying Eggman's spaceship, he engages Tails' Blue Typhoon. However, the combined efforts of Sonic and company, and some unforeseen help from Shadow the Hedgehog, destroy him. Scarship also appeared in a number of flashbacks, having destroyed the ship carrying Cosmo's family.

Scarship is equipped with many varieties of missiles and lasers. His armor is almost impenetrable, requiring the full power of the Sonic Driver, the Blue Typhoon's main weapon, to pierce. Sonic, Amy Rose, and Knuckles the Echidna clog its weapon outlets. This causes each of Scarship's attacks to backfire and destroy himself, piecemeal. Scarship eventually attempts to self-destruct in a last ditch effort to kill the blue hedgehog. Luckily Shadow uses Chaos Control to freeze time, allowing Sonic and Tails time to safely contain Scarship's explosion within a magnetic field. As Chaos Control wears off, Scarship explodes and peace is restored, for the time being.

Red Pine
One of Dark Oak's four commanders, Red Pine commands a vast armada of Metarex. He has a single red eye and wears a flowing, crimson cape; his body is also red. Pine shows up to attack Sonic and co. when they invade a Metarex fortress looking for the remaining Chaos Emeralds. When the fortress is compromised, Pine orders his fleet to destroy it. However, a gravity field appears and draws both commander and fleet to their presumed end. Oddly, this fate is not shared by any of the other combatants drawn into the gravity field, likely due to the other forces being aided by Super Sonic and Super Shadow. Red Pine is also the only Metarex leader not to have engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Sonic and co.

It's implied by Pale Bay Leaf that Red Pine was similar to Yellow Zelkova in that he favored brute force over strategy. However, given that he was placed in command of an entire fleet, this is probably an exaggeration.

Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus wears a black cape and has an insectoid head with a purple eye. His body is composed of black armor, with a glass orb matching his eye on the chest. A Metarex commander, Black Narcissus is fascinated by Sonic's speed, and determined to learn its origins. Scheming and manipulative, his opinion is that understanding an enemy is the key to defeating them. However, he is ill suited for personal combat, being unable even to defeat Dr. Eggman's weakest robots when he first appeared. However, when he joined the battle at galactic coordinates 000 some time later, he demonstrated increased fighting ability, equaling Rouge and Knuckles without assistance.

After Yellow Zelkova's initial defeat, Dark Oak commands Narcissus to kill Sonic and co. with warships. However, Narcissus wants to test Sonic's abilities. He sends a message to the Blue Typhoon, luring Cosmo and Chris Thorndyke to his base. There, he stabs Chris (in the dub, he simply knocks Chris unconscious) after Chris tried to escape with Cosmo, and holds both of them captive, using them as bait to draw in Sonic. When Sonic arrives, he is enraged by Narcissus' treatment of his friends. Powering up into Dark Super Sonic with the power of the fake Chaos Emeralds everywhere in the base, he destroys Silver and Gold, the prototype Metarex designed by Narcissus to test his speed and strength, respectively. Sonic and co. then escape, while Narcissus is subdued by Dr. Eggman, who then offers to help the Metarex.

This forced him to team up with Pale Bay Leaf and Yellow Zelkova to attack Sonic and co. Together with Dr. Eggman, the trio led a large Metarex fleet attack on Sonic and his allies. He later teamed up with Pale Bay Leaf to attack the Blue Typhoon, wielding a staff with a large mirror on the end. He also showed himself to be extremely vain, as evidenced by the mirror. Following his initial assault, Narcissus became fused together with Pale Bay Leaf and Dark Oak, becoming one of three heads on a giant, dragon-like plant monster. Despite the power wielded in this form, Black Narcissus was eventually killed.

Pale Bay Leaf
Pale Bay Leaf is an insectoid Metarex with three eyes and a light blue cape. His armor is a slightly lighter color. Of all the Metarex commanders, he is the most tactical, seeking intelligent methods to his problems. He is also unintimidated by Sonic and co., and after the Chaos Emeralds are scattered by a gravity field, he is the first to recover one. Later, Pale Bay Leaf makes a deal with the planet of Cascade, promising to spare them if they hand over Dr. Eggman. However, his fleet is decimated by the attacking Shadow. Despite this, Bay Leaf continues to survive, and later forms an alliance with Eggman to launch a massive attack on Sonic and co. Due to a ruse by Eggman, he temporarily thought that he had destroyed the Blue Typhoon. He later imprisons Dr. Eggman for stealing secret information.

Following this, Pale Bay Leaf teams up with Black Narcissus to attack the Blue Typhoon during the final battle. He wields a pair of swords, which he can apparently either call back to him or conjure as many as he wants, similar to Amy Rose's Piko Piko Hammer. He later fused with Black Narcissus and Dark Oak to become a three-headed plant dragon monster. However, he was killed by the Blue Typhoon.

Yellow Zelkova
Yellow Zelkova is a bulky Metarex commander with no visible eyes and a yellow cape. He also has thick yellow armor and a long green cape. Zelkova considers himself the (physically) strongest Metarex commander, and brute force is his answer to everything. Zelkova's height seems to change throughout the anime. At one point, he is about that same size as other Metarex, and would be about twice Sonic's height. However, in his final fight against Knuckles, his foot is large enough to crush Knuckles and hide him from view.

Zelkova first engages Sonic and co. when Dark Oak dispatches him to the Intergalactic Cloister to get rid of Sonic and co. He put up a good fight, however he proved too slow to defeat Sonic and Knuckles, the latter of whom he formed a rivalry with. However, he was the first Metarex to survive a direct hit from the Sonic Driver on the Blue Typhoon. He swore vengeance, vowing that the Metarex would destroy them. He later joined up with the other commanders to attack the Blue Typhoon, though he strongly disapproved of Dr. Eggman's joining forces with them.

He later attacked the Blue Typhoon again, equipped with a special shield pack that blocked all of his enemies' attacks. However, his shield proved ineffective against his rival Knuckles, who smashed Zelkova's knee, though it broke two of his fist spurs. Sonic and co. then used collected lightning to overload Zelkova's generator, destroying his outer shell and revealing Zelkova's true form: that of a massive male specimen of Cosmo's species. Zelkova was then knocked into a nearby lava pit by Knuckles' punch. Knuckles jumped into the pit to try to save Zelkova, but Zelkova refused, slid into the lava, and died (ala Sonic OVA). However, the dub cuts the part where Knuckles tries to save Zelkova, and makes it seem like Knuckles let him die.

Yellow Zelkova is not the brightest in the bunch, considered an invalid by both Dark Oak and his comrades Narcissus and Leaf. His gullible nature can be seen when he shows his shield pack made by Eggman, as after he finishes bragging about it, he adds "And that's not all! As a bonus, I get this Eggman temporary tattoo!" (this line is only in the dub, not the original) Unlike most Metarex, he uses no weapons, relying on his fists and head to attack enemies, as well as anything that he can throw at his enemies. However, he has far physical strength then the other Metarex commanders, and he's body is extremely well armored (how strong his shell is a-bit inconsistent, in his debt his survives a hit from the Sonic Driver, but his final battle Knuckles able to destroy his outer shell). Zelkova was also shown among the leadership council that was present when Hertia declared that they would be abandoning their homeworld, and was alongside the revolutionary Lucas in refusing to depart after fighting so long, possibly implying he was of high rank on the planet.

Minor Metarex
In addition to Dark Oak, the Metarex commanders and Starship, numerous other Metarex were featured in the course of Sonic X. Most of these are nameless, but a number have designations.
 * Metarex Elites - Humanoid Metarex with insectoid heads who serve as the standard troopers of the Metarex. They are capable of flight, but are otherwise unremarkable.
 * Metarex who attacked Angel Island - The first Metarex besides Dark Oak to appear, this Metarex had a mostly triangular appearance. Appearance: single dark blue eye, with a matching orb on the chest. Equipped with pincer - ended tentacles and electrical blasts. Later showed up to escort Monkey Metarex, but was irrepairably damaged by the Blue Typhoon.
 * Blue Typhoon attacker Metarex - A boxy Metarex dispatched by Dark Oak to destroy the Blue Typhoon. Had an array of missile launchers built into his chest. Destroyed by the first use of the Sonic Driver.
 * Fish Metarex - Amphibious Metarex troops resembling brown pirahna with arms and legs.
 * Big Fish Metarex - A larger, blue version of the Fish Metarex who served as their commander; destroyed through use of the Sonic Driver.
 * Frog Metarex - Metarex in the shape of a gigantic frog with a razor - tipped tongue. Destroyed the Egg Mars, but was defeated by the Blue Typhoon.
 * Ice Metarex - Boss resembling Dark Oak with a body made of inorganic ice. Capable of extending limbs to form razor - sharp ice spikes and growing more powerful through the use of an artificial Chaos Emerald.
 * Monkey Metarex - A rather unimpressive, cowardly Metarex in the form of a large monkey. Dispatched by Dark Oak to retrieve a Planet Egg, which resulted in the planet becoming a jungle. Robbed of his bodyguard, the Monkey Metarex attempted to defeat Sonic and co. with a series of traps. After numerous altercations, he was destroyed by an angry Amy Rose.
 * Nanite Metarex - One of the more powerful Metarex; was composed of a mass of nanites. Using it's ability to alter its form, it created a haunted castle and nearly succeeded in defeating Sonic and co. Destroyed by Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * Naga Metarex - Numerous Metarex with humanoid torsos and snake - like tails. Utilized in the operation of an artificial Chaos Emerald manufacturing plant. Defeated by the combined efforts of the crew of the Blue Typhoon. Have a resemblance to the Hydralisks of Starcraft
 * Dragon Metarex - Giant, dragon - like Metarex with spiked balls on the end of their tails.
 * Dinosaur Metarex - These kinds of Metarex patrol the first Metarex base that Sonic and friends come across in Sonic X Season 3. There are two kinds; giant, blue tyrannosaurus rex-like Metarex with clamper-like feet and mouths, and black pteranodon-like Metarex.
 * Silver - Prototype Metarex Elite created by Black Narcissus to test Sonic's speed; destroyed by "Dark Super Sonic".
 * Gold - Prototype Metarex Elite created by Black Narcissus to test Sonic's strength; destroyed by "Dark Super Sonic".

Voice actors

 * Dark Oak & Red Pine are both voiced by Jonathan Todd Ross in English, and Dark Oak is voiced by Jouji Nakata in Japanese.
 * Yellow Zelkova is voiced by Ted Lewis in English and Takeshi Watabe in Japanese.
 * Black Narcissus is voiced by Sean Schemmel (who also is the voice of Black Doom) in English and Ken Narita in Japanese.
 * Pale Bay Leaf is voiced by Jim Lante in English.

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