Iblis

Iblis (イブリース), also known as the Flames of Disaster (炎の災厄), is one of the primary antagonists in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). He is the raw power of the sun god Solaris and an immortal energy-based being of mass destruction. Iblis was born during the Solaris Project when the experimentations on Solaris split him into Iblis and Mephiles the Dark. Following its birth, Iblis was sealed inside the soul of Princess Elise by the Duke of Soleanna.

Ten years later, Iblis was targeted by Dr. Eggman, who sought its power for world domination. In the main timeline, Iblis was released and ravaged the world far into the future. However, this future was averted thanks to Silver, Sonic and Blaze. Regardless, Iblis was still released by Mephiles and the two rejoined and remade Solaris, only to be defeated by Sonic, Shadow and Silver, and subsequently erased from existence

Appearance
Iblis' body is composed entirely of magma and rock armor that varies between its forms. His original form was a giant, swirling ball of flames. After being released into the world, Iblis' primary evolved form grew tremendously and sprouted four arms with an armored head of molten rock, appearing to be a lava-like version of Perfect Chaos. His second form consisted of a giant serpent-like body while retaining the armored, ripped up head. His final and most powerful form appears to be larger than the previous forms, but has a more human-shape; he has two arms, legs (which have no feet, similar to Mephiles' crystalline form) and his head becomes less armored. However, he grows horns on both sides of his head and back, where he also grows a tail.

In all of his forms apart from his original, Iblis has green reptilian eyes. In his second and final evolved forms, he also had a third eye placed on his forehead.

History
Ten years before the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Iblis was accidentally created during one of the Solaris Project's experiments. In the experiment, a spatial meltdown caused Solaris to become unstable and split into two parts: Iblis (the raw power) and Mephiles (the cunning mind). Iblis was originally sealed inside Princess Elise by her father, the Duke of Soleanna, who, before dying of his wounds caused by the accident, told her not to cry no matter what happens (as her tears would release Iblis). However, Iblis was inadvertently released by the "Iblis Trigger" with the death of Elise ten years later under unknown circumstances. As a result of Iblis' release, humanity blamed Shadow the Hedgehog for the world’s devastation and sealed him away in an energy prison for eternity. Despite this, Iblis continued to devastate the world up until, and including Silver the Hedgehog's time period in the future.

In Silver's story, he and Blaze the Cat continuously battle Iblis, but he ended up proving too powerful for either of them to defeat, since he had the ability to constantly resurrect himself from his ashes. Thus, Mephiles appeared and advised Silver and Blaze to depart to the time period right before Iblis' transformation to stop Sonic the Hedgehog, referred to as the "Iblis Trigger", from releasing Iblis and destroying the world. However, Mephiles' advice was misleading - the Iblis Trigger was not Sonic, but rather Sonic's death at the hands of Mephiles, which caused Princess Elise to shed tears and thus release Iblis from within her. Nevertheless, Silver learned how to defeat Iblis when going back to the accident of the Solaris Project ten years prior to the present, and returned to the future with Blaze to face him.

Sonic and Shadow also encountered Iblis in their respective story arcs while searching for a Chaos Emerald to warp back to the present, having been sent to the future by Dr. Eggman and Mephiles, respectively, with Shadow also sensing its approach and warning Rouge not to touch the Emerald. After they defeated it, they warped back to their own time.

Silver and Blaze confronted and defeated the monster, but in order to stop Iblis permanently, Blaze was forced to seal him within her using two Chaos Emeralds, trapping herself in another dimension.

Personality
Iblis is a mindless creature without a consciousness trying to regain its wisdom, since it was split from Solaris (that is, Mephiles) during the Solaris Project. He only seems to be interested in wreaking havoc and creating destruction, as he continued to devastate the world in Silver's future. However, in Phase 3, he showed some amount of focus and concentration while battling Silver and Blaze.

Powers and abilities
Iblis possesses the raw power and strength of Solaris. Fitting its appearance, Iblis' attacks are lava-based. Its main attack, which was available to all forms, was releasing molten fireballs from its body at enemies. By forming a specific hand sign, Iblis can summon a huge meteor and launch it at the enemy. Another similar power Iblis has is pyrokinesis (the manipulation of fire). With this, it could breathe large streams of fire and shoot waves of flames one after another.

As clear from its enormous size, Iblis has great strength and durability, being strong enough to lift large buildings and smash it down on enemies. Its size enabled it to destroy several footholds when diving at Sonic and Shadow during Phase 2. In Phase 3, Iblis could even break parts of Silver and Blaze's foothold by simply slamming it with its hands. Its strength was also shown even in its original form, where it was able to resist Silver's psychokinesis prior to being sealed inside Elise.

Iblis also possessed shape shifting powers; it can change its form at will, ranging from a swirling ball of fire to a giant, monstrous creature of destruction. He can use these different forms to adapt to the environment when fighting. Like his other half Mephiles, Iblis possesses the power of immortality and can resurrect itself after being defeated.

Iblis can also create various monsters, which can be evidenced by the various monsters that attack Sonic, Shadow, and Silver.

Weakness
While Iblis' body constructs vary greatly, they each have a green eye on their forehead which is a highly sensitive weak spot, as attacking it will cause him to reel back in pain. Also, when Iblis' body is destroyed, he will be reduced to his original energy form before regenerating. While still indestructible, Iblis is almost helpless in this state and susceptible to being sealed.

Battle
Iblis serves as a boss in the Sonic Episode, Silver Episode and Shadow Episode storylines. Each character fights one of Iblis' three main forms. The strategy for each form is below.

Iblis Phase One
When the battle begins, Silver must collect Rings and fast. There are four lines of Rings in the arena: two in the air near the center of the platform and two on the extreme edges. While getting the Rings, use PK to pick up the nearby debris and start hurling it at Iblis. The monster has a signiﬁ cant amount of armor made out of cooled molten earth. However, the armor falls away as you launch repeated attacks on Iblis, exposing its pure ﬂ ame interior. To make an accurate volley, Silver must be pointed directly at Iblis in order to ﬂing the debris at the beast. Iblis won’t simply weather your attacks. The monster will raise its arms from time to time, blocking his face. When Iblis is guarding itself, don’t bother throwing any debris at it. You can’t waste any readily available projectiles. Even though debris does appear as you ﬁ ght, thanks to Iblis’s attacks, you actually have enough potential weapons at the beginning to do extensive damage. Watch for when Iblis raises all four arms and then run away. When Iblis exposes its chest, a torrent of molten rock explodes forth, peppering the platform. Some of the ﬁreballs actually remain on the ledge, though, which you can pick up with PK and ﬂing back at the beast. When the player see Iblis lower its upper arms into the lava, expect it to pick up a skyscraper. The monster raises the building high above the platform before bringing it down, casting a large shadow. Get out of the shadow to escape damage. The smashed building leaves behind debris the player can use against Iblis. After the player whittle down half of Iblis’s health and chisel away all of its armor, the monster resorts to breathing ﬁre on the platform. The sweeping ﬁre attack cannot be deﬂected in any way, so head for the sides of the platform to avoid getting burned to a crisp. Keep hurling debris at the titanic Iblis to bring it down. When the monster either raises its chest up or lowers its head, you have the best chance of striking the ﬁnal blow. When you do ﬁnally drain all of Iblis’s health, the monster sinks back into the inferno, leaving Silver and Blaze to ponder what to do next to save their ruined world.

Sonic
When the battle begins, the player have a few seconds to seek out Rings on the stone platforms in the lava. (The platforms are really fallen stalactites that were shaken loose from the lava dome’s ceiling.) Collect some of the Rings for safety, but leave behind as many as possible so that the player has a back-up supply in case Iblis nails the player with one of his ﬁreball attacks, or if the player accidentally fall from a platform. After the ﬁrst volley of ﬁ eballs, Iblis brings down another batch of stalactites. This creates a make-shift bridge to the three purple orbs in the center of the chamber. Make haste to the orbs, and avoid giving Iblis another opportunity to ﬂing more ﬁreballs at you. Use a Homing Attack to slam into an orb and make it light up. The illumination attracts Iblis, and the monster clumsily lunges for the orb with its pincers. If you’re standing underneath the orb when Iblis arrives, you’ll be knocked off the platform. After lighting the orb, jump back one row of platforms to give the brute ample clearance to investigate the orb. When the player see the green eye in the middle of the worm’s forehead open up, jump forward and use a Homing Attack. the player automatically drawn to the eye, and the attack results in a loss of one-quarter of the monster’s health. After the player hit the monster three times, its armor falls away. A successful attack on Iblis launches the player back to the chamber’s far side, near where the player started. If the player lost any Rings during the attack, pick up some replacements now. Iblis drops more stalactites into the lava, but these don’t create a path to the orbs. These break the existing bridges, leaving the player stranded at the rear of the chamber and vulnerable to a far reaching ﬁreball attack. Jump back and forth around the remaining platforms to avoid the incoming blasts. Note: Iblis never creates the same path to the orbs sometimes only speciﬁc orbs will be available, such as the central sphere. Don’t get greedy about inching close to the orbs after a successful attack. The living ﬂame destroys platforms with raining stalactites and ﬁ reballs, leaving the player in the middle of the lava. If the player cannot reach high ground before you lose all your Rings, you’re cooked. When Iblis has only a quarter of its health remaining, it changes its tactics. The monster now knows that the orbs aren’t lighting up on their own the player causing the illuminations. After the player light one of the orbs, the worm sinks into the lava, swims behind the platforms, and surfaces under thenplayer feet. While the worm is out of sight, jump around if the player stay still, the player will get killed. When Iblis surfaces, use a Homing Attack to zero in on its green eye one last time.

Advanced User Tactics :  The user can speed up the battle by gaining some Rings and jumping into the lava, then heading to the orbs on the solid footholds lowest to the ground.

Shadow
When the boss battle begins, Shadow is separated from Iblis by a massive pool of lava. There is no way across just yet, but the jarring movements of Iblis’s worm form rattle loose enough rocks from the chamber’s ceiling to build a makeshift bridge. Just keep an eye on the ceiling to make sure none of the rocks fall directly on the player Several circles of Rings grace the chamber. While Iblis ﬁlls in the pool with new rocks, pick up all the Rings as you make your way across. When the worm stands straight up in the lava and throws its head back, look out for a fat volley of ﬁreballs to erupt from it. The ﬁreballs ﬂy through the air and slam into the rocks, doing serious damage to Shadow if he is clipped by one of them. Minimize the player chances of being struck by jumping into the air as the ﬁreballs come down; the molten magma balls have small blast radii when they hit the rocks. Iblis eventually jars loose enough rocks that the player can run across the chamber to the three purple spheres in the room’s center. These spheres are the key to defeating Iblis. To illuminate a sphere, strike it with a kick or a Chaos Spear. The sphere begins to glow, and then it’s only a matter of time before Iblis has to investigate. Get ready for the attack by dropping back down to the rock below the sphere and stand back, away from the open ﬁeld of lava where Iblis plays. When Iblis slams its head into the sphere to get a closer look, jump forward and use a Homing Attack to strike the green eye in the middle of its head. Each attack carves off one fourth of his health meter. As soon as you knock out the eye, Iblis retreats back to the center of the room and he’s angry. He shakes and disturbs the lava, destroying many of the rocks. Retreat to the rear of the chamber and ﬁght your way back to the spheres as Iblis rebuilds the bridge by shaking more rocks loose from the ceiling. If the player reach the sphere when Iblis is in the middle of one of his attacks, such as unleashing ﬁreballs or shaking down stones, retreat immediately even if you have already activated a sphere. You’re especially vulnerable in the middle of the chamber and you cannot afford to be knocked into the lava and lose all of your Rings. When 25% of its health remains, Iblis charges at you, breaking the footholds Similar to the battle with Sonic.

Iblis Phase Three
When the battle begins, Iblis raises his arms to issue forth his initial salvo of ﬁreballs. Silver’s platform is long enough to run to either extreme and avoid the volleys. Pick up Rings as you move. Several cooling balls of lava are sitting on the platform and the start of the ﬁght. Lift them with PK and hurl them across the molten ocean to chip away at Iblis’s armor. After the ﬁrst batch has been exhausted, the player must wait out Iblis’s ﬁreball attacks to replenish the supply. Do not throw lava balls during an attack, as the player risk hitting only one of Iblis’s projectiles instead of the lava leviathan itself. After he withstands several of your attacks, Iblis moves in for the kill. The living ﬂame slams its arms down on the platform, shattering the edges and making it smaller. When it lowers its head, you can spy its weak spot: the green eye in the middle of its forehead. A PK marker appears on the eye, signaling that you can attack. Levitate over to Iblis’s head and stand on the marker. Unleash a blast of PK to damage the living ﬂame, forcing it to recoil back across the sea of lava. Iblis unleashes a series of shockwaves that speed across the lava toward Silver’s platform. You must either jump over or duck under the shockwaves as they roll into range. If you’re struck by a shockwave, you’ll lose your Rings, and there’s a good chance the ripple will wash them right off the platform. After you attack Iblis with several lava balls and at least two PK attacks to the green eye, Iblis resorts to one ﬁnal attack. The living ﬂame raises its arms and conjures up a massive lava sphere. You have a few seconds to watch Iblis gather up the lava before it catapults the sphere across the arena. When the lava sphere is almost upon you, use PK to take control of it, just like you would a ﬁreball from a worm. Still facing Iblis, throw the sphere back. This is the death blow that ﬁnishes off Iblis. If the player miss the sphere as it descends on the platform, the player will be knocked into the lava there is no escape; it’s a one-hit kill.

Biters
Biters are fire-beasts, conjured and controlled by Iblis out of the Flames of Disaster. They possess a dog-like lizard structure. They have simple methods of attack: breathing fire, jumping with claws outstretched or lashing their tails. Biters have absolutely no armor, so a single hit is sufficient to destroy them.

Golems
Golems are lava giants, encased in cooled molten earth that acts as armor. The armor deflects most attacks and they can only be damaged once they are dazzled (by Silver) or with a homing attack to the head. Golems have two attacks: they can throw large lava balls at enemies or smash their fists into the ground, releasing a small shockwave. Four direct hits are required to take these beasts down.

Takers
Takers are phoenix-like birds that burst into action when an enemy gets too close. Once their wings unfurl, Takers can either attack with small fireballs or dive bomb for a melee strike. Takers often hover over wide-open spaces, making them perfect “stepping stones” for crossing gaps by means of homing attacks. They each take one hit to kill.

Worms
Worms are fire monsters that look similar to Iblis' second form, but are noticeably smaller with a simpler head. Their method of attack consists of bursting from the ground, walls or ceilings, before shooting a spiked ball of energy from its mouth. Sometimes, they burrow back underground and appear elsewhere, or sweep their bodies around in an attempt to hurt their enemies. They can be taken out in three hits.

Archie Comics
Iblis appeared in the continuity of the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics in similar fashion to his game counterpart. However, like in the game, Iblis was erased from history. But, he was subsequently listed in an entry in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.

Etymology
Iblis, or Shaytan (الشيطان), is a figure in Islam, which in general is the name of Satan in Islam. Iblis is referred to as a Jinn, a spirit that exists in another plane of existence, who has the ability to cast evil suggestions into the hearts of men, women, and other Jinn (which may be paralleled by the fact that he is sealed within Elise and her despair is one of the ways that he can be released into the world.) A Jinn is also a creature of fire, which could possibly be the reason behind Iblis' fire-based forms.

Trivia

 * Iblis is the only boss in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) that is fought with all three main characters.
 * As he summons the Ifrit Golem in Sonic and the Secret Rings, Erazor Djinn invokes Iblis' name as part of the incantation. Since Iblis means "The King Of Devils" in Islam, this could be a reference to both the religion and the game.
 * Elise and Dr. Eggman always calls Iblis the "Flames of Disaster", unlike Silver, who usually calls him Iblis. This might suggest that Iblis got its name after it was released from Elise and began ravaging the world.
 * Strangely, Iblis' minions exist in the present time of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), despite Iblis still sealed within Princess Elise in that time. Its possible that Mephiles may have brought them to the present from the future or that Iblis' power may have leaked out.
 * Iblis seems to be the fire counterpart of Perfect Chaos (which is composed of water).
 * It seems some of Iblis' minions are based on Iblis' forms, like how Iblis' Biter can look slightly like his first form, Worms look like his second form, and Golems look like his final form.
 * It can be noted that, in his third form, Iblis has crude stumps where his feet should be, similar to Mephiles, perhaps further signifying their relationship to Solaris.
 * In the Silver's story line, Silver only fights Phases that are an odd number, while in Sonic and Shadow's story line, they only fight the Phase that's an even number.

Gallery
Iblis Iblis