Metal Virus

The Metal Virus is an object that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing. It is a synthetically concocted virus created by Dr. Eggman that transmutes organic matter into metallic matter.

Appearance
At a microscopic level, the Metal Virus consists of nanobots that resemble bacteriophages. As such, they appear as spheres with the Eggman Empire decal emblazoned on them and bodies with six legs each. When observed and contained on the other hand, the virus appears like a gray metallic liquid.

Powers and traits
When the Metal Virus makes contact with active organic tissue, be it either in flora or fauna, the virus will spread across the organic matter of the subject and transmute it into a metal-like substance.

In the case of fauna that have been transmuted by the virus, their bodies' organic matter will be fully transmuted into a liquid metal composition. This makes their bodies more durable than they were before. In addition, the subjects receive the power to manipulate their own liquid body composition, allowing them to instantly reconstitute and restore their bodies whenever they receive a damaging blow. Also, the virus will rob the subjects of their free will and any personality traits, essentially turning them into soulless machines that are programmed to be subservient to Dr. Eggman's orders. The virus also causes the infected subjects to display aggressive tendencies without direction. Faunas that have been fully converted by the Metal Virus are referred to as "Zombots".

The virus can make slight changes to a subject's anatomy. This includes making a plant's parts more mechanical in shape and granting Zombots sharp claws and red eyes.

Like an actual virus, the Metal Virus is contagious, and its infection can be transferred immediately through the slightest touch with subjects infected with the virus. The Metal Virus' rate of infection depends on the situation though. Full saturation in the virus causes an immediate and total transmutation, while infections received through touch from infected subjects will spread at a considerable slower rate. However, repeated physical exposure to Zombots will speed up the process.

Owning to its virus-like nature, the Metal Virus is capable of evolving through mutations in its coding, which are brought about by spreading through exposure. As shown so far, these mutations have caused the Zombots created from the Metal Virus to grow steadily more disobedient of Eggman's orders.

While no known cure for the Metal Virus has been currently discovered, speed seems to counteract it to a degree. Sonic the Hedgehog, for example, is able to drive the Metal Virus into remission by burning it off and keeping it in check by moving at super speeds while his infection is still underway. However, after he started to slow down, he had a relapse, with spots on his body starting to become metallic again.

The Metal Virus can only infect living flora and fauna. It cannot transmute processed or inorganic matter, such as food, processed wood, metal or stone.

Past
The Metal Virus was created at some point by Dr. Eggman. However, it was put on file for unknown reasons.

Battle For Angel Island
After having his memory restored, Dr. Eggman began his plans to synthesize the Metal Virus, with the intention of unleashing it upon the world to make an army for himself and make everyone suffer for the indignities he endured while he was an amnesiac.

Infection
After making his first Metal Virus batch, Eggman began experimenting with it to see the full extent of its abilities. The first test subject was a flower, which it successfully transmuted. The second test was with vertebrate specimens. Eggman covered a Pocky with the Metal Virus, causing an instant transmutation. For the next test, Eggman had the Zombot Pocky touch a Picky, causing the virus' infection to gradual transmute the Picky. After observing the behavior of the Zombot Pocky, Eggman moved onto test four, which involved having a Ricky pick up the transmuted flower and make it touch various objects. The Metal Virus showed no signs of transmuting the objects, but having touched the flower, the Ricky was infected with the virus as well. Deeming the Metal Virus a success, Eggman began implementing it into the next phase of his plan. However, Eggman soon noticed how slow the Metal Virus was to transmute subjects who had been infected with it through touch with infected subjects, which made Eggman worry that the Metal Virus could not be spread very far. As a test to see if greater exposure to the virus could move things along, Eggman had the Zombot Pocky touch the partially-infected Ricky repeatedly. As expected, this caused the infection of the Ricky to spread faster, which Eggman noted was beneficial and began planning to administer the Metal Virus in different locations. When Rough and Tumble then came to Eggman to demand new weapons to use for their revenge against Sonic, Eggman got an idea and told them that "his latest weapon just got out of beta".

Secretly plotting to turn the skunk brothers into Zombots when they faced Sonic, Eggman prepared backpacks loaded with the Metal Virus which he told Rough and Tumble were back-ups they should open when Sonic got the upper hand. Facing Sonic and Amy Rose in Echo Mine soon after, Rough and Tumble would open their backpacks, causing the Metal Virus to gush over them and turn them into Zombots. Although Sonic got rid of Rough and Tumble by knocking them into a refuse pit, he got infected with the Metal Virus in the process. Meanwhile, Eggman got ready to share the Metal Virus with the world. Sonic soon discovered though that he could burn off the virus and keep it in check with his speed. In the meantime, Eggman, Starline, Orbot, and Cubot took off in the Faceship. On the Faceship, Eggman had a room dedicated to creating the Metal Virus en masse. He had also dedicated a large hatch in the Faceship to distribute the Metal Virus from a high altitude. Soon, the Faceship arrived at Windmill Village. There, the Faceship dowsed the villagers in the Metal Virus, quickly turning the population in Zombots. Following up on this, Eggman sent the infected villagers and animals off to infect other people with the Metal Virus.

Crisis City
Eggman next went to Seaside City where he spilled the Metal Virus into the city with his Faceship, transforming many of the residents into Zombots. However, a small part of the population was saved by the Chaotix and escaped onboard a Rescue Shuttle with Vector and Espio. Charmy, on the other hand, tried to save a young woman who had been partially infected with the Metal Virus. However, he was caught by Zombots, who overwhelmed him with their numbers and infected him with the Metal Virus. Continuing onward, Eggman went to Floral Forest Village where he created another Zombot outbreak by pouring the Metal Virus agent into the village from his Faceship. However, when the new Zombots ignored Eggman's orders, Orbot revealed that there had been a steady decline in Zombots obeying Eggman's orders. This made Eggman theorize that the Metal Virus's coding had begun mutating due to the virus spreading through exposure. While Starline got worried, Eggman remained certain he could regain control of the virus. Meanwhile, the Metal Virus steady spread across the village. While keeping the Zombots at bay, Sonic's own Metal Virus infection grew stronger due to his exposure to the Zombots. Meanwhile, Cheese and Chocola got infected with the Metal Virus while trying to protect their family, and quickly became Zombots. Regardless, Sonic and Gemerl managed to get villagers like Cream and Vanilla to safety.

Trivia

 * The transmutation that the virus causes is similar to roboticization, a reoccurring process seen in the mainline Sonic the Hedgehog video games, the previous Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics, the Sonic the Hedgehog television series and Sonic Underground.
 * Ian Flynn later revealed that the Metal Virus was originally made for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series by Archie Comics as a replacement for the original Roboticizer in the reboot, and was going to be introduced in issue 300.
 * Although the Metal Virus is supposed to not infect processed matter, it is somehow capable of affecting people's clothes as well.