Neo Metal Sonic

"All living things kneel before your master!"

- Neo Metal Sonic

Neo Metal Sonic is one of Metal Sonic's transformations seen in Sonic Heroes. He takes this form throughout most of the game in which he uses to disguise himself as Dr. Eggman and to copy the data of whom he fought against in order to make himself more powerful.

Appearance
While Neo Metal Sonic shares some distinctive traits with his normal form, such as black eyes with red irises, similar torso with rocket engine and the primary blue color with red shoes, there are a number of differences as well. His head has now five long quills as opposed to his regular three, with white stripes and markings around his eyes, similar to that of Shadow's. The yellow color in his ears has been replaced with red and his nose is now black.

He has also gained a more pronounced body armor, with black and curved shoulder plates, larger gauntlets and leg armor with pointy knee caps that has white outlines, a plate covering his pelvis and elf-like shoes. He also spots a spiky belt with a black cape that protrudes out of the back of his waist.

History
While it currently remains unknown how Metal Sonic was able to achieve his Neo Metal Sonic form, it is possible that it was either given to him by Dr. Eggman in the doctor's attempt to upgrade Metal Sonic, or that Metal Sonic himself provided the upgrades essential to achieve this form. Eitherway, Eggman knew of his ability to become Metal Madness because after Neo Metal Sonic's change into Metal Madness, he said, "Metal Sonic has finally transformed!"

As a result of Metal Sonic suffering several defeats at the hands of Sonic the Hedgehog over the years, the metallic hedgehog decided that he would take the matter of defeating Sonic into his own hands, and eventually wanted to conquer the world himself. To this end, Metal Sonic betrayed his creator Dr. Eggman, took control of the Eggman Empire and began seeking out the combat data needed for him to transform into his most powerful form to date: Metal Overlord. Somewhere around this time, Metal Sonic assumed the form of Neo Metal Sonic.

To get the data he needed, Neo Metal Sonic elaborated a plan where he would send Team Sonic on a wild goose-chase to destroy "Dr. Eggman's" newest weapon. Then, by using his new form's ability to shapeshift, Neo Metal Sonic masqueraded as a robotic Dr. Eggman copy to work behind the scenes, and fought Team Sonic on various occasions, while he was actually copying their combat data without them knowing. At some point, Neo Metal Sonic used his shapeshifting abilities to pass as the real Sonic, and kidnapped Froggy and Chocola in order to obtain the data from Chaos, which they were in possession of.

While Neo Metal Sonic only intended to involve Team Sonic, Team Rose, Team Dark and Team Chaotix entered the conflict as well. This proved however to work in the favor of Neo Metal Sonic, as he continuously faced the teams while masquerading as Dr. Eggman, and began copying their data as well, making himself even more powerful than he planned to.

At the time Team Sonic and Team Dark defeated the Egg Albatross, Neo Metal Sonic had successfully copied Team Sonic's and Shadow's data, and when Team Rose defeated Neo Metal Sonic in the Egg Emperor, he had copied Chaos' data as well, and released Froggy and Chocola from captivity.

The first time Neo Metal Sonic revealed himself to the heroes was in the last story of Sonic Heroes. Having gained all the data he needed, Neo Metal Sonic began destroying the Final Fortress' tower with a large bolt of lightning and then uses the debris to transform into a stronger form, Metal Madness and later Metal Overlord. He was later defeated by Team Super Sonic and as a result, he reverted to Neo Metal Sonic. As he slowly reverted to his original Metal Sonic form, he asked Sonic why he could never defeat him, who told that was because they were heroes and promised Metal Sonic a rematch before he finally deactivated.

Powers and abilities
Due to his limited appearances, most of Neo Metal Sonic's powers are unknown. What is known, however, is that he, like his normal form, is able to scan the life data of other life forms, and can thereby copy and replicate their attributes and abilities flawlessly, which is his main goal in the game. Due to his actions throughout Sonic Heroes, it can be assumed that, by the beginning of the last story in the game, he possessed the abilities of all the teams, plus those of Chaos itself.

Neo Metal Sonic also has the power to shapeshift and can therefore change his appearance and body structure. When shapeshifting, he usually turns into a puddle of liquid metal and then emerges in a new form. This allows him not only to perfectly imitate the appearance of organic creatures, but also the appearance of robots as well, such as the fake Dr. Eggman copies that are encountered throughout the game, though Tails could tell it was not an Eggman robot. He can also safely contain creatures such as Froggy and Chocola inside of himself until he had copied Chaos' data.

As demonstrated when he first revealed himself, Neo Metal Sonic can create lightning bolts from his hands, launch them into the sky and then bring it back down with enough power to blow up the Final Fortress' largest tower. He can also manipulate outside elements through unknown means to rebuild himself, such as when he used the debris of the destroyed Final Fortress tower to rebuild himself into Metal Madness.

Metal Madness
By combining the data from Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose and Team Chaotix with the data from Chaos, Neo Metal Sonic is able to rebuild himself into a much stronger form called Metal Madness. This form does not only increase Neo Metal Sonic's strength and power, but also gives him new abilities and weaponry, such as launching the spines on his back as missiles which will sprout into a sharp spike formation, a large flamethrower, missiles which can trap his enemies in crystal cages and a powerful sweep with his tail which can knock his enemies off their platform.

Neo Metal Sonic briefly assumed this form when he tried to transform into Metal Overlord. During this time, he fought Team Rose, Team Dark and Team Chaotix, before he finally transformed in Metal Overlord.

Metal Overlord
Metal Overlord is Neo Metal Sonic’s final and strongest form. After completing his transformation as Metal Madness, he grows a pair of mechanical wings on his lower body, becomes Metal Overlord. In this form, Metal Overlord is nearly invincible and can fight on par with par with Super Sonic, Knuckles the Echidna and Miles "Tails" Prower where the two latter has been granted Super Shields. He is capable of flight and is strong enough to throw entire battleships. As Metal Overlord, he can fire a barrage of crystal pillars from his torso, launch the spikes on his back as homing missiles, crystal encagíng missiles and perform Chaos Control.

After Metal Overlord had finished his transformation, he flew into the skies, but was pursuited by Team Super Sonic. Despite his overwhelming power however, Metal Overlord was defeated by Team Super Sonic and reverted to Neo Metal Sonic, and then his original form.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)
An army of robots resembling Neo Metal Sonic appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog, published by Archie Comics. These robots were created by Sir Charles Hedgehog and Rotor to serve as protectors of Knothole after Sonic was lost in the battle with the Xorda. While they were never activated by their creators when Sonic returned, A.D.A.M. managed to assume control of them and send them on a rampage against Knothole and Dr. Eggman. The entire army was destroyed however, when Shadow the Hedgehog used Chaos Control.

Memorable Quotes

 * "All life form data... successfully copied." - After Team Sonic runs to Eggman's air fleet.
 * "Ultimate life form data... has been copied." - After Team Dark runs from Egg Albatross.
 * "Chaos data... has been copied." - After Team Rose reunites with Chocola Chao and Froggy.
 * "All living things kneel before your master!" - Before Neo Metal Sonic strikes an energy bolt to transform himself.
 * "It's no use... but why can't I defeat you?" - Neo Metal Sonic's final words before he deactivates.

Trivia

 * Neo Metal Sonic's design was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino, the original designer of Metal Sonic.
 * In Sonic Heroes, in the Hang Castle level, when the player looks at the Eggman statue upside-down, he can see Neo Metal Sonic, giving him away as the main villain.
 * Another hint is in Team Dark's Egg Hawk level. When "Eggman" saw Omega, he said, "You must be Omega...".
 * And when Team Chaotix is about to fight the Robot Storm, Vector refers to "Eggman" as a "mustached moron", their "mysterious client" becomes enraged and says "I'm the world's greatest..." before catching himself and telling the Chaotix to defeat him.
 * Neo Metal Sonic deeply resembles Rocket Metal Sonic from Sonic the Fighters.
 * The only game that featured Neo Metal Sonic's name was Sonic Rivals. He was a collectible card.
 * Despite Neo Metal Sonic's large role (albeit behind the scenes) in Sonic Heroes, the player never actually fights him in this form.
 * Neo Metal Sonic is perhaps the least depicted villain in the series. The player does not get an especially good look at him in Sonic Heroes, and he has not appeared since.
 * However, the Metal Sonic Troopers give an almost clear look at Neo Metal Sonic.
 * Metal Madness's (Neo's second form) name may have been based on Metallic Madness, which is the final level of Metal Sonic's debut game, Sonic CD.
 * Neo Metal Sonic is the first form of Metal Sonic that could actually talk.
 * Also, this is the first game in which Metal Sonic could actually talk.
 * The Metal Sonic Troopers of the Archie comics are almost identical to Neo Metal Sonic. However, as Neo Metal Sonic seems to be more powerful than regular Metal Sonic, the Metal Sonic Troopers are less powerful than him, as Sonic is able to battle multiple Troopers at once, but can be defeated by one Metal Sonic.
 * It is a common misconception that Neo Metal Sonic got his shapeshifting abilities from Chaos' data. In truth, however, his shapeshifting ability is one of his own, as he was able to turn into Sonic when he kidnapped Froggy and Chocola, prior to copying Chaos' data.