Sonic the Werehog

"So when the sun goes down, I turn into...this?!"

- Sonic the Werehog, Sonic Unleashed

Sonic the Werehog (ソニック・ザ・ウェアホッグ) is Sonic the Hedgehog's bestial werewolf-like form in Sonic Unleashed. This form was created when Sonic accidentally absorbed a large dose of Dark Gaia's energies, though the transformation would be triggered when nighttime came and remain active until daytime began. Due to this form's unique traits, Sonic the Werehog is essentially a hedgehog/Dark Gaia's Minions hybrid. Sonic later lost this form permanently when Dark Gaia reclaimed the energies that caused the transformation.

Concept and Design
Early art of the Werehog was made by a SEGA member named Tanahashi. He changed Sonic's general form into something more strong looking. The shoulder and the head are connected by a single line, and his chest is much more broad, giving his body the appearance of an inverse triangle. The final design, he said, was a "silly design"; it was made when he was getting started with the Werehog. He based the design to that of a Yeti.

Appearance
Following the theme of the werewolf, Sonic receives more bestial traits in this transformation. When transformed, Sonic grows slightly taller and he gains much more muscle mass and weight. As a result, his chest gets broader, and his arms grows larger and out of proportion. His hands also get bigger and his nails become claws that he can use offensively. His muzzle grows larger as well and his teeth become sharp and pointy, making him resemble more that of a wolf. His ears also become more curved.

In this form Sonic's skin turns light blue and his fur turns gray/dark blue and becomes much longer, thicker and grows out in places where he would not have fur, such as his arms and chest, with traits of white fur on his wrists, the end of his quills and on his chest. As a result of the increased fur, his neck becomes even less visible.

While as a Werehog, Sonic loses his gloves, exposing his hands and his socks becomes slightly frilled in the back. The white stripe on his shoes is replaced with grey metal that has three spikes on the surface, and the bottom of his shoes becomes covered with small metal spikes.

Overview
Sonic was transformed into this form for the first time when Dr. Eggman used a machine to painfully extract the power of the Chaos Emeralds from Super Sonic, with which Eggman would fire a specialized laser weapon at the planet, releasing and awakening the creature known as Dark Gaia from the core of the planet. In the process, due to his close proximity to the Chaos Emeralds, some of Dark Gaia's energy infested Sonic's body, causing his transformation. Sonic only transforms at night because that is the only time of day when Dark Gaia can move about and affect people. When transforming into the Werehog (or transforming back to normal), a light and a cloud of purple smoke envelops him.

Sonic the Werehog features a different gameplay than Sonic's normal form. He attacks with his arms and fists, which can stretch out and punch his foes. In Werehog Stages, Sonic loses his speed and must fight through swarms of enemies with his new fists. Rather than using a counted number of rings, Sonic uses a health bar, where collecting rings refills the bar. Aside from the usual ability of Sonic being able to race down ramps throughout the levels, in Werehog form you must get across gaps in a tightrope walking fashion.

Sonic retains most of his normal abilities and personality in this form as well as the ability to speak, though with more of a growl than normal. It appears, however, that Sonic gains some minor bestial behavior while in this form, as he howls like a real werewolf at the start of a night stage, during the Dark Gaia Phoenix boss fight, or upon getting an A-rank or S-rank. He can also run on all fours like a real wolf and fight in a more ferocious way than his normal self. Therefore, it can basically just be considered a darker, more feral form of Sonic rather than as a split-personality monster like other interpretations of werewolves. Despite this, however, Sonic the Werehog still has Sonic the Hedgehog's good heart. This is primarily due to his will, which is too strong for Dark Gaia to affect in any way.

Before the final showdown with Dark Gaia, Dark Gaia re-absorbed its remaining power that Sonic had incidentally taken at the start of the game, stripping Sonic of his Werehog form for good.

Physical Abilities
Due to his transformation giving him increased muscular density, Sonic gains a noticeable increase in physical strength, allowing him to open sealed doors and entrances, effortlessly pick up, throw and swing larger enemies and objects, destroy metal vaults with one hit and even topple creatures several times his size, such as the Titan and the Dark Gaia Phoenix.

In this form, Sonic is able to stretch his arms over long distances in an instant. It is unknown how far he can stretch his arms, however. Sonic mainly uses this ability in combat, allowing him to increase his attack range, grab enemies from long distances, build momentum for his attacks and create various forms of combat moves with the energy of Dark Gaia. He can even enlarge his arms and hands to increase the power and range of his attacks even further. Besides combat, Sonic can also use this ability to travel around, such as grabbing onto ridges, stretching his arm out to the nearest pole, swing over there, then stretch out to the next pole, etc.

As a Werehog, Sonic loses his trademark speed, though he is still faster then the average human. He is, however, able to run faster by dashing on all fours, making able to run past enemies or launch quick strikes and assaults. Despite his decrease in speed, however, he still retains his normal lightning fast reflexes and agility.

In this form Sonic is also shown having the ability to use a form of dark energy, possibly due to Dark Gaia being the source of Sonic's Werehog form, which he applies in hand-to-hand combat, or uses to charge up his attacks. He can also put up a powerful energy shield when guarding, and can even pick up the Dark Gaia Force which is left behind by Dark Gaia's Minions when they are defeated. By harnessing Dark Gaia's energies Sonic can enter his Unleashed Mode, a temporary enhanced state that increases his strength, speed and durability.

Techniques and Moves
Sonic the Werehog uses a type of feral hand-to-hand combat to fight his enemies. Basically, when using his fists, Sonic can deal greater damage, but only in a focused area and when using his claws, he can attack several opponents at once, but the damage will be much less.

Weaknesses
In this form, Sonic is slower compared to his normal form, which makes him less able to outrun his foes and forces him to adapt a new fighting style. Sonic is also unable to control this transformation, since it automatically activates and ends according to the sun. The Werehog also often fails when trying to communicate with humans, since people usually are afraid of him because of his appearance, and therefore he cannot be very social. This takes a toll on Sonic, making him feel depressed and somewhat unable to face those he knows, as seen when Amy does not recognize him while he was a Werehog. Sonic also gets a more ill temper in this form, as seen in Night of the Werehog.

Archie Comics
The Werehog form appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog #193 as part of the comic's Sonic Unleashed adaptation, The setting was in another zone, so it didn't completely happen in the Prime universe.

The Werehog appeared again unofficially in the Sonic Universe #29 Off Panel, he is another alternate reality version of Sonic, he appeared when Scourge the Hedgehog stated he was tired of being picked on in Zone Jail. When he asked himself if there were any other alternate Sonics in the jail, Sonic the Werehog appeared behind him, sitting on a bench, saying there's only one, and he was it. Scourge then stated it was unfair.

Memorable Quotes

 * "Oh yeah! That's right baby!" - Sonic after getting an S-rank in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "How do you like that, huh?" - Sonic after getting an S-rank in the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "You've really... gone and done it this time, Eggman!" - Sonic after being transformed into a Werehog.
 * "I know little girls who are better with a hammer than you! Well one, anyway." - Sonic after defeating the Dark Guardian in Shamar in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "G-geez, Eggman! Simmer down!" - Sonic falling midway through fighting the Egg Dragoon.
 * "Wow! I rule!" - Sonic after getting a B-rank in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed and after getting an A-rank in the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Do I need a reason to want to help out a friend?" - Sonic after Chip recovers his memory and tries to leave to fight Dark Gaia on his own.
 * "Strike three monster, that's enough out of you!" - Sonic after defeating the Dark Gaia Phoenix in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "I'm fine. I just need to be careful who sees me like this!" - The second time Sonic turns into a Werehog.
 * "Uh oh! Did I fall on him?" - Sonic believing that he fell on Chip, causing him to lose his memory.
 * "Mister Monster Guy?! Looks like things have gotten pretty ugly." - After Chip called him "Mister Monster Guy".
 * "Aww, can I start over?" - After getting a D-rank on the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed and after getting a B rank on the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Hmm, not so bad!" - After getting a C-rank on the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Hmm, not so hot." - After getting a C-rank in the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Darn!" - After getting an E-rank on the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.

Trivia

 * Sonic's gloves were torn apart during the first transformation. Because of this, Sonic the Werehog is one of the few non-robotic characters to not wear gloves. Oddly, when he turns back into normal Sonic, his gloves magically repair themselves. In the Xbox/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed, Chip will even acknowledge this if the player feeds him enough food by asking, "Where do you put your gloves at night?"
 * The term "Werehog" is derived from the words "werewolf" and "hedgehog." However, this is a misnomer, considering that the "were" in "werewolf" derives from the Old English "wer", meaning "man", which means he is incorrectly referred to as a "Manhog".
 * Sonic's ability to stretch and extend his arms in this form is a trait that several of Dark Gaia's Minions possess, especially the Nightmare variant. This might be due to Dark Gaia's energy being the source of both Sonic the Werehog's and Dark Gaia's Minions' powers.
 * Additionally, the Nightmares are shown to guard like the Werehog, as well as execute the Wild Whirl.
 * Sonic the Werehog is the second of Sonic's transformations to have a profile on Sonic Channel, the first one being Super Sonic.
 * In the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed, if a player would press the jump button just as he/she grabs a ledge, the Werehog would perform a spin jump similar to Sonic's.
 * Sonic is shown to be more violent in this form, due to his more brutal way of fighting.
 * Sonic the Werehog is not the first character created by Sega to have elastic/stretchy arms: Ristar, another character conceived around the time of Sonic the Hedgehog, was the first in his 1996 debut Ristar the Shooting Star, along with Chaos from Sonic Adventure.
 * In 2009 a Sonic costume pack for Little Big Planet was released with a Werehog costume along with the Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman costumes.
 * The Werehog bears some resemblance to Darkspine Sonic, as both of them are more violent than Sonic in his usual form and use punches and kicks rather than energy and spinning attacks. Both of them are also powered by some kind of dark energy. In the Werehog's case, Dark Gaia energy powers him; and in Darkspine Sonic's, the World Rings of Hatred, Rage and Sadness, which are negative feelings.
 * In the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, Sonic the Werehog's Skill´, Aerial Piledriver, looks similar to Zangief's signature move Spinning Piledriver from Street Fighter.
 * Most of Sonic's stretching punch mannerisms are similar to Monkey D. Luffy's from the manga One Piece.
 * The Werehog shows up in the Off-Panel comic of Sonic Universe #29. After Scourge is tired of being picked on, he asks out loud if there are any other alter-Sonic's in Zone Jail, hoping to be able to at least beat someone else. The Werehog is seen right behind him sitting on a bench and answers "Just one", causing Scourge to angrily state how unfair it was. It is unknown how and why the Werehog is in Zone Jail, or how he exists separately from Sonic at all.
 * However, judging from the context of his reply, it's possible he's from an alternate zone where he is either indeed separate from that Zone's Sonic or that that Sonic is permanently a Werehog.
 * Sonic Unleashed marks the second time that Sonic has used dark energy in a game, the first was Sonic and the Secret Rings.
 * Sonic fought the Egg Dragoon as the Werehog at night. But moments later, when Dark Gaia becomes Perfect Dark Gaia, Amy states, "It was broad daylight a minute ago!", implying that it had been day for several hours. Amy was in Shamar, which is east of Eggmanland on the map screen, so it was at least sunrise in Eggmanland. If this is so, Sonic probably should not have fought the Egg Dragoon at night.
 * Granted, he was far underground, away from the sun, and near a large amount of Dark Gaia energy.
 * The Werehog is very similar to Dark Jak from Jak II: Renegade as they are both powered by dark forces (Dark Gaia/Dark Eco) and both can have upgrades to expand their attacks.