Avatar


 * For the Avatar used to represent users in Xbox Live, see Xbox Live Avatar.

The Avatar (アバター), also referred to as the Custom Hero (カスタムヒーロー) and the Custom Character (カスタムキャラクター), is one of the protagonists in Sonic Forces, and a customized character whose appearance is dictated by the player.

An ordinary citizen, the Avatar took part in the war against the Eggman Empire after it began gaining ground. After months of service in the field, the Avatar joined the Resistance as the group's newest recruit. Although initially lacking in courage, their burgeoning sense of heroism allowed them to rise to prominence among heroes like Sonic the Hedgehog, and, in the final days of the war, be a crucial element in helping the Resistance reclaim the world from Dr. Eggman’s domination.

Concept and creation
According to Takashi Iizuka, the idea for the Avatar came about to make a character with a unique gameplay experience to differentiate them from other characters in the Sonic series. While a lot of fans wanted more gameplay variety too, however, they still wanted to play as Sonic, so the designers gave this character (which would become the Avatar) the Wispon to give it a unique gameplay style, and movements with emphasis on high-speed running and jumping that made it feel similar to Sonic. The idea for the Avatar to be a customizable character first began over twenty years ago when Iizuka took notice of all the Sonic-type characters the fans (especially Americans) were creating and sending him via fan-mail. Iizuka wanted to let people do that to some extent, but it was only until Sonic Forces that Sonic Team acquired the skills, people, and technology to make this possible in a Sonic game.

In the opinion of Iizuka, some the hardest things when designing the Avatar were "realizing what kind of characters [they] want to portray in the world." Because the Sonic series already had a lot of animals, the team needed to stay true to that representation, yet make the Avatar unique enough to stand out on their own without alienating them from the existing Sonic cast. The team wanted in particular for the Avatars to have a "plainer" and "unified" look, yet be identifiable with their distinct species and still feel like different, appealing, unique characters, all while looking cool with their customizable accessories. Another rule was that the Avatar could not look cooler than Sonic. The Avatar was originally intended to have an option for their species to be a Dragon, however the option was cancelled.

Appearance
As a custom character, the Avatar's appearance is entirely dictated by the player. While an anthropomorphic animal by default, their species can be one of seven options: bear, bird, cat, dog, hedgehog, rabbit, or wolf. So far, the following can also be customized: upper headgear, middle headgear, lower headgear, gloves, shoes, accessories, bodysuit, and skin color. A multitude of options is given for the player to customize the Avatar in any fashion.

In most promotional material, the Avatar is depicted as a male wolf with red fur and peach skin for his muzzle and the inner portion of his ears. He has four small tufts of fur protruding from both sides at the back of his head, a short bushy tail, pointed ears that curve upwards, orange eyes and pointed fangs. For attire, he wears thick-rimmed black glasses, a military green dome-shaped headset with a black rim and a small black circular-shaped microphone attached to right side of his head. He also wears a three-pouched tan utility belt around his waist, supported by a strap with a black buckle over the abdomen. On his hands, he wears military green gloves with medium-sized cuffs, a black inverted chevron on the front and tan patches on the back. His boots are military green with black tips and tan padded patches on the back. Much like his gloves, the boots are adorned with a black inverted chevron on the front.

Past
The Avatar started out as an ordinary citizen of Sonic's world. Throughout their life, they would hear stories about the adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, whom the Avatar wanted to be like despite their own cowardice.

Sonic Forces
In Sonic Forces, the Eggman Empire began gaining dominance across the world after Dr. Eggman seemingly killed Sonic the Hedgehog in their last battle. At some point during the subsequent six months of war between the Eggman Empire and the Resistance, the Avatar joined the war, fighting for the Resistance.

Being too afraid to fight on the front lines, the Avatar took up look-out duty in the City. When the Chaotix arrived, the Avatar would observe their organization of the City's defenses for the next few days. When the Avatar considered quitting the fight however, he had to alert the City to an attack from Dr. Eggman and his legion of Egg Pawns. With the Chaotix needing aid with the defenses, the Avatar hoped to be of use. However, they could not do any good. When the Egg Pawns then broke through the defenses, the Avatar hid, too afraid to fight. When the Chaotix needed to take down the Egg Pawn's battleship, the Avatar, seeing a way to be of use without fighting, grabbed a bomb and fired it, hitting the battleship so that it had to retreat. After that, the Avatar was congratulated for their efforts by the Chaotix. From then on, the Avatar promised to do even better and become a real hero.

Later on, the Avatar and their squadron got attacked by Infinite, the commander of Eggman's army, who killed all their friends. The Avatar tried standing against Infinite despite their anxiety and doubt, but Infinite saw through their facade. Wanting to enjoy their fear however, Infinite allowed the frightened Avatar to live after they ran away in fear. The Avatar eventually made it to the Resistance's HQ in one piece. A couple of months later, they joined the Resistance in spite of the terrified tension among the population. After being introduced to the members the Avatar received a Burst Wispon from Knuckles.

On their first mission, the Avatar helped steal a space shuttle to reach Sonic with, who turned out to be imprisoned on the Death Egg before joining the Resistance on their rescue mission. Onboard the Death Egg, they managed to instigate Sonic's release. Their fear nearly got the better of them when Egg Pawns came however. After Sonic saved them though, the two returned home in a shuttle. Although their cowardice on the rescue did not sit well with the Resistance, the Avatar was nonetheless send along with Sonic to destroy Eggman's weapon factory. After that, the Avatar was sent by Knuckles to rescue civilians from an attack from the Eggman Army. Having grown more skilled, they were able to make the enemy forces retreat, earning them praise from the Resistance. Soon after, the Avatar was sent to investigate Mystic Jungle. There, they found a Phantom Ruby prototype. They also found Tails and Classic Sonic, who were brought to the Resistance and revealed that Eggman would have a plan for wiping out the Resistance ready in three days.

When Operation Big Wave began, the Avatar joined the Resistance's attack on Metropolis. However, when Infinite turned the fight around with the Phantom Ruby (the Eggman Empire's secret weapon), the Avatar scrambled to retreat. Along the way, they met Infinite, who tried intimating them. Remembering Sonic's words however, the Avatar found the resolve to fight Infinite. During the fight, the Avatar's Phantom Ruby prototype gave them some protection from Infinite. Once again though, Infinite allowed the Avatar to live so they could swelter in fear. After that, the Avatar joined Sonic on a mission to defeat a Metal Sonic replica. In the aftermath, the Avatar found new resolve in Sonic's confidence in them. When the heroes then needed to destroy the Phantom Ruby's power source, the Avatar provided a distraction while the Resistance destroyed the power source. Joining then the Resistance on an attack on Eggman, during which they learned that the Phantom Ruby had another power source underneath the Eggman Empire Fortress, the Avatar tried to save Sonic when he was getting pulled into Null Space, only to get pulled in with him. Together however, the two broke out and rejoined the Resistance.

The Avatar and the Resistance eventually confronted the Eggman Army in an attempt to break into the Eggman Empire Fortress. It was then that Eggman revealed his endgame: having Infinite drop a sun on them via the Phantom Ruby's power. Tails however, noticed the Avatar's Phantom Ruby prototype, and deduced that they could use it to neutralize the sun. Since the prototype's design only let the Avatar use it, they made their way to the sun and wiped it out, giving the Resistance a fighting chance. The Avatar then joined Sonic when he fought Infinite, and together they beat him for good. The two then made their way to the Phantom Ruby's power source and destroyed it, seemingly winning the war. However, it was then that Eggman revealed that the power source was a decoy and that the real Phantom Ruby had been incorporated into his triumph card: the Death Egg Robot. With the Eggman Army on the rise thanks to the Ruby, the Avatar, Sonic and Classic Sonic fought Eggman. Destroying the robot and the Ruby, the trio ensured the Resistance's victory over the Eggman Empire.

After saying goodbye to Classic Sonic as he returned to his dimension and cleaning up Eggman's remaining forces, the Resistance disbanded. Believing others needed their help, the Avatar took their leave as well, with his teammates praising their growth. The Avatar later shared a goodbye with Sonic before he left. Following his example, the Avatar went in pursuit of new adventures.

Personality
Early on, the Avatar was a coward with low self-esteem. Even after joining the war against the Eggman Empire, the Avatar chose duties that would keep them away from the fighting and allow them to save themselves when danger arrived, believing on the most part that they would only get in the way of the real heroes. Also, when finding themselves caught in the middle of a life-or-death situation, the Avatar would get overwhelmed by anxiety and self-doubt, eventually to the point where they would give into their fear and allow their actions to be ruled by it. Aware of their own flaws, the Avatar was not proud of their own cowardice and would constantly chide themselves for being a failure. Probably the biggest instance of their cowardice was with their initial encounter with Infinite at the City. They primarily hid behind rubble, and, although they attempted to point their Wispon at the enigmatic warrior, they were seen wimpering in fear and quaking as they did so and also struggled to pick up the wispon beforehand, and were then ultimately forced down by Infinite's warning shot before being forced to flee at Infinite's insistence.

Regardless of their shortcomings, the Avatar is an individual with a strong admiration for heroes and a desire to accomplish good things. Even before becoming a soldier, they looked up to heroes like Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose, and wanted to be as heroic and cool as them. Also, early on during the war with the Eggman Empire, the Avatar wanted repeatedly to be of use to the Resistance, although they mainly stuck to assignments that did not had them confronting enemies head-on.

Eventually, due to Sonic's influence, the Avatar ultimately found the inner courage to not give in to fear, especially to the likes of Infinite. Their newfound courage was such that they willingly tried to save Sonic from being sucked into Null Space, despite Sonic's insistence that they not do so due to it running the risk of them being sucked in as well, and later them infiltrating the fortress's Empire Tower to use their Phantom Ruby prototype to cancel out Eggman's artificial sun.

Powers and abilities
The Avatar is able to run at super speeds, enough to keep up with Sonic the Hedgehog, and has immense jumping skills that rival those of Sonic's too. Extremely acrobatic and agile, they have proficient grappling skills, being able to expertly use grappling gear to latch onto targets and swing around. They are also skillful enough to use grappling to latch onto foes and pull themselves in for an attack, dodge attacks, make sharp turns at high speed, and safely tie up foes as large as a Death Egg Robot sentinel.

Equipment and weapons
The Avatar wears a wrist-mounted grappling hook which can detach its rope at command. This gear's rope is both long and strong enough to tie up three Death Egg Robot sentinels at once. They also carry the Wispon, a customizable gadget that can harness the power of Wisps and channel their respective Color Powers without causing the Avatar to transform.

After coming into possession of a Phantom Ruby prototype, the Avatar gains a degree of immunity from attacks by Infinite's virtual reality creations, and also gains the ability to dispel them. As a result of the Ruby's defects, only they could use it, as the prototype only recorded the DNA of the one who activated it.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is the Avatar's partner. They met when Knuckles told them to rescue Sonic. When Infinite tried to intimidate the Avatar in Metropolis, they followed Sonic's advice that it was their great moment of no surrender. This inspired the Avatar to finally take a stance against Infinite instead of being afraid. Ultimately, the Avatar, along with Sonic, ended up being the champions that would end the war with the Eggman Empire.

Infinite
The Avatar and Infinite had a personal connection, since Infinite was the one responsible for murdering their friends during one of his attacks. Infinite spared the Avatar however simply to satiate his sadistic nature by watching them flee in terror. They later met again in Metropolis, with Infinite trying to intimidate the Avatar, although, due to the word of encouragement from Sonic, they finally chose to fight Infinite instead of giving in to fear. Infinite then tried to kill the Avatar, although due to the Avatar's possession of a Phantom Ruby prototype, they managed to evade the attack, leaving Infinite shocked before finally dismissing the Avatar and leaving them alone. Ultimately, the Avatar along with Sonic, ended up being Infinite's downfall.

Friends/Allies

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (partner)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Chaotix
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Team Dark
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Infinite

Theme songs
All the Avatar's levels in Sonic Forces feature vocals with electronic, synth instrumentals and lyrics that describe the stage or the Avatar's thoughts, possibly to make up for the character's lack of true dialogue.
 * "Fighting Onward" - Space Port
 * "Nowhere to Run" - Prison Hall
 * "Justice" - Park Avenue
 * "Moonlight Battlefield" - Aqua Road
 * "Virtual Enemies" - Capital City
 * "Set in Motion" - Guardian Rock
 * "Fading World" - Imperial Tower

Trivia

 * During cutscenes, the Avatar can be heard speaking. However, it is only in grunts.
 * Despite having red fur in most promotional material, the wolf type Avatar has teal covered fur in the box artwork of Sonic Forces.
 * As shown in the TwitchCon 2017 stream, any accessories can be chosen for the Avatar no matter the gender.
 * The Avatar is referred to as a "child" several times by Infinite, implying they are meant to be quite young.