Super Sonic

"Behold, the power of the Chaos Emeralds!"

- Sonic

Super Sonic (スーパーソニック) is a super transformation and powered up version of Sonic the Hedgehog that can be activated through collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds and usually fifty rings. In the 2D games, he plays like Sonic but can jump higher, is faster, and is invincible. Nevertheless, he could still drown, die by falling off screen or get crushed against a wall. In his first appearance, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Super Sonic bears no impact on the game's story, but would give the good ending if achieved. However, in most later games, he usually has a greater impact on the story and is often part of the ending, or secret ending. Super Sonic has golden peach skin, golden spines and quills and red eyes. Sonic also has an extended form of Super Sonic known as Hyper Sonic, which was only used in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Appearances of Super Sonic

 * Sonic the Hedgehog 2: When Super Sonic first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, he was almost the same as Sonic but he was yellow instead of blue and his quills pointed upward.
 * Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Super Sonic's appearance was slightly altered so that his eyes changed from black to green.
 * Sonic the Fighters: Super Sonic appearance was very close to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but in 3D, and he had yellow upturned quills and black eyes.
 * Sonic R: Super Sonic had the same appearance as in Sonic the Fighters, but in the graphic style of Sonic R. Also, instead of having upturned quills, he received longer quills locks.
 * Sonic Adventure: Since Sonic had an updated character design, Super Sonic was also changed. Apart from the design changes shared with Sonic, Super Sonic now also had red eyes which were pointed at the corners similar to Shadow's. This is also the first game Super Sonic had a yellow aura. Note that his head spines tilt upwards a bit, similar to Shadow's, and the spikes on his back become longer.
 * Sonic Adventure 2: In this game, Super Sonic is mostly the same as his Sonic Adventure appearance, except he is a metallic gold color, but his aura stays yellow. The spikes on his back also do not change size, but are lifted up a bit. This is the last main series 3D Sonic game where this apperance is seen, as all other ones after have Super Sonic's cranial quills turned completely upwards.
 * Sonic Advance: The design of Super Sonic is mostly the same as in Sonic Adventure 2, for the entire series. Also, when he moves he leaves behind red afterimages similar to Hyper Sonic in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
 * Sonic Heroes: In this game Sonic again had a metallic gold color like Sonic Adventure 2. His quills also lifted entirely over his head.
 * Sonic Rush series: When Super Sonic doesn't move, his design is the same as in Sonic Advance.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (2006): In this game, Super Sonic's appearance had become brilliant gold instead of metallic gold. The design of his quills is the same as in Sonic Heroes on his head, but with Sonic the Hedgehog 2's design for his back.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: In this game, Super Sonic appears as Sonic's Final Smash. He looks exactly like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) except that his back's spikes are in Sonic Adventure 2 style.
 * Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood: Super Sonic's design in this game appears as a cross between his Brawl and Adventure appearance.
 * Sonic Unleashed: Super Sonic looks similar to his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but has a flaring fire-like golden aura. Super Sonic's fur has become a glossy gold.



Conditions for Super Sonic
In the actual story canon, Sonic only needs to use the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds to turn into Super Sonic. While he doesn't need to collect fifty rings to trigger the transformation because, for most games after Sonic Adventure, he automatically starts with them. The rings slowly deplete as they sustain the super form. Once Super Sonic is out of rings, he will revert back to Sonic. Though, it is possible for Sonic to indefinitely hold his transformation-- in Sonic Advance, he kept it for almost a week. Reasons for this are most likely because when Super Sonic is fighting in the extreme conditions that he does, he is using more energy, which causes him to have to rely on ring energy to sustain his form, however when he is done fighting, he does not need ring energy anymore, allowing him to sustain his form for extended periods of time as mentioned above. It is shown that Super Sonic is faster than the speed of light in Sonic Rush. In the MegaDrive/Genesis games that Super Sonic appeared in, he could only be activated by first collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds from the Special Stages. If this condition was met, Sonic could simply transform into Super Sonic by double tapping jump, as long as he had at least fifty rings.

In the Sonic Adventure series, the Chaos Emeralds are an essential part of the plot and as such are already collected at the end of the game as part of the story. Super Sonic is only playable for the final boss, with the final stage unlocked by clearing all the other characters stories.

In the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush series, the Chaos Emeralds have to be collected throughout the game by clearing Special Stages, but unlike the MegaDrive Genesis games, Super Sonic is only playable for the final boss.

In Sonic R, Super Sonic can be played after finding all seven Chaos Emeralds in the game. He can then be selected to be used on any track. Unlike most of his other appearances, Super Sonic is not limited by a ring count and can even race alongside Sonic, as the two are considered separate characters in this game.

In Sonic the Fighters, Super Sonic can be played but only for the second match against Metal Sonic and the fight against Eggman. To play as Super Sonic, the player must not lose and enter hyper mode. The Chaos Emeralds are automatically collected after each fight.

In Sonic Riders, Super Sonic is obtained by achieving gold emblem for all Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross missions. Then the Chaos Emerald extreme gear is unlocked and when used by Sonic, he will become Super Sonic while he has rings. He is unlocked in a similar manner in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity by clearing all missions with the Extreme rank.

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Super Sonic is unlocked in the same way as the Sonic Adventure series, and again is only playable for the last boss.

In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Sonic again becomes Super Sonic for the final fight. Due to the RPG nature of the game, Super Sonic is not bound by a ring count. Sonic gains a vast increase in HP as Super Sonic (several thousand compared to the several hundred or so of his regular form) and only attacks with the Super Sonic POW Move, which requires a long series of stylus commands, but can inflict over 9999 damage.

In Sonic Unleashed, Sonic becomes Super Sonic in the game's opening, demolishing Eggman's armada and cornering the scientist. Unfortunately, Eggman traps Super Sonic and uses his power to awaken Dark Gaia. When all the Chaos Emeralds are empowered again, Super Sonic reappears for the boss fight against Perfect Dark Gaia. For the Wii and PS2 versions, Super Sonic starts with only 12 rings, requiring the player to gather them to fill the boost gauge. In the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions, he doesn't lose rings, but possesses a life gauge in that form and uses rings to fill it.

In Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Super Sonic appears as Sonic's All-Star move, giving him super speed.

Theme Songs

 * "Open Your Heart" by Crush 40 - Played during the final battle of Sonic Adventure against Perfect Chaos. The song describes the rage of Chaos.


 * "Live and Learn" by Crush 40 - Played during the final battle of Sonic Adventure 2 against Final Hazard. It can also be described as the shared theme of both Super Sonic and Super Shadow.


 * "What I'm Made Of..." by Crush 40 - Played during the final battle of Sonic Heroes against Metal Overlord, Although considered a theme for Metal Sonic, the song clearly references both characters. Such lines as "my energy" refers to Metal Sonic copying Sonic's (as well as the other members of each teams in Sonic Heroes) energy and transforms into Super Sonic to show Metal Sonic, exactly what he is made of, hence the title of the song.


 * "Endless Possibility" (instrumental version) by Bowling for Soup's lead singer Jaret Reddick - Played during the final battle of Sonic Unleashed against Dark Gaia. It can also be described as Sonic's view on the world.

Sonic X
Sonic X is the only Sonic anime to feature Super Sonic. Super Sonic is very similar to how he is in the games (specifically the Sonic Adventure design), except that he only needs the 7 Chaos Emeralds to achieve Super Sonic, rings serving a different purpose. It can also be noted that from the front, it seems that all of his hair locks are sticking straight up, giving him a more Sonic 2 appearance. Only from a side or back view does it reveal that he really has the Sonic Adventure look. He also has orange eyes instead of red. He transforms in order to defeat Perfect Chaos and the Biolizard. He also battles Dark Oak (twice), the Eggstirminator, and even Super Shadow. Super Sonic also destroyed Eggman's battleship, the Grand Egg Imperial, in order to save Tails making it a total of 7 appearences in the series.

Archie Comics
Super Sonic's first Archie Sonic appearance was in issue 4 to battle The Universalamander, a giant roboticized salamander. Earlier comics had him collecting 50 rings to access the special zone, wherein collecting 50 more rings would allow him transform, but that was eventually phased out to just the requirement of Chaos Emeralds.

In the fight against Master Mogul, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were able to combine the energies of the rings they had previously gathered with the energy of Mogul's attacks to achieve their super transformations. This was the first instance of Sonic transforming without the use of a Chaos Emerald.

In the recent saga where Sonic was thrust into deep space, he mentions that he is able to transform into Super Sonic using only six green emeralds, and is able to do so on an alien planet that also plays host to Chaos Emeralds, only these alien emeralds are red. His transformation when using red emeralds, however, has a very different outcome. Rather than transforming into Super Sonic, his powered-up form exists as a separate entity, and his actions are unpredictable because this Super Sonic doesn't believe in "good or evil," only "power" and the acquisition of such. His time, however, just like the green emerald Super Sonic, is limited, and he vanishes before he causes any real damage. The red emerald version of Super Sonic has not been seen since.

Super Sonic's latest appearance was when he fought the new Enerjak in issue 184. This transformation was accomplished in another unusual way, as Sonic transformed by standing atop the Master Emerald and absorbing his energy, much in the same way as Mecha Sonic transformed by standing atop the Master Emerald in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Sonic the Comic (Fleetway)
In Sonic the Comic (STC), the UK publication by Fleetway Editions, Super Sonic was again a powered-up form of Sonic's, but in this series he was also portrayed as an evil entity, bent on destruction. Sonic frequently battled to prevent his transformations into Super Sonic, since this put innocent people (including Sonic's friends) in great danger. Sonic is able to transform into Super Sonic when he's either exposed to Chaos Emergy or when he's under extreme stress.

During the series, Sonic was separated from Super Sonic, who unwittingly contributed to the downfall of Doctor Robotnik in issue #100. Shortly after this, Super Sonic lost his memory and his powers, becoming peaceful for a time. Eventually, however, he regained his memory and powers again, and returned to his evil self. Sonic was forced to re-merge with Super Sonic in order to keep the demon under control.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Sonic is Sonic's final Smash attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In addition, Super Sonic as available as a collectible Trophy and Sticker.

Trophy Description

Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games
Although Super Sonic himself doesn't appear, there is a suit of him for your Mii to wear. It has the same stats as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Trivia

 * Super Sonic is believed by some to be a homage to the Super Saiyans in Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. Yuji Naka is a self-confessed fan of the Dragon Ball series.
 * In the video games, Sonic usually needs the 7 Chaos Emeralds to reach into a super form. However in Sonic The Fighters, he needed all 8 emeralds, and without losing a fight until the start of the 2nd round when facing off against Metal Sonic.
 * In Sonic Riders, and its sequel, Sonic could transform into Super Sonic with only one emerald and one ring.
 * In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, when you collect 60 rings, Super Sonic will go into attack mode until his rings run out. Additionally, his attack seems to be the same he used in the battle against Perfect Chaos once he reached full speed.
 * In the Archie Comics, Super Sonic appeared as a seperate entity by use of Red Chaos Emeralds on an alien planet named Thoraxia. This Super Sonic battled the original Sonic while he was helping an alien race there, mimicking the Super Sonic in Sonic the Comic.
 * In Sonic X, Super Sonic does not need rings to stay in super form. It is unknown how long he can maintain his super form. (This is also the same for every other super transformation in the series.)
 * Though Super Sonic is usually dependent on rings to maintain this form, Sonic Chronicles and Sonic Unleashed (PS3/Xbox360) give Super Sonic a life bar and do not have his rings gradually drain with each second.
 * In the Wii and PS2 versions of Sonic Unleashed, Super Sonic starts off with twelve rings, making it one of the only times Sonic has transformed without the usual requirements (50 rings).
 * Even though it was stated earlier that Sonic merges with the Emeralds, in the introduction to Sonic 3, Sonic drops the Emeralds and Knuckles takes the chance to steal them.
 * Super Sonic is due for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 because an achievement (called Golden Flash) requires all Zones completed with Super Sonic.