Dark Master

"These wizards are easily recognized for their pointy blue hats."

- Description of the Dark Master in Sonic Unleashed (Wii)

The Dark Master (ダークマスター) is one of the types of Dark Gaia's minions that appears exclusively on the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. While the most basic of the Master variant, the Dark Masters are one of the more skilled members of Dark Gaia's minions. They only appear during the game's nighttime stages.

Overview
The Dark Masters were first created alongside all of the other members of Dark Gaia's minion when their namesake Dark Gaia fell apart at the beginning of Sonic Unleashed. The resulting fragments from the great beast then formed Dark Gaia's minions, with the Dark Masters some amongst them. They first appear in Rooftop Run Night Act II: Jet Black Back Streets.

The Dark Masters usually appear alone, but can appear in pairs as well.

Upon the recreation of Dark Gaia, all of the Dark Masters were returned to the beast, who was later defeated and sealed within the planet's core.

Physical Appearance
The Dark Masters appear as humanoid phantom-like wizards. They are dressed in dark purple clothes which have pointy hats and capes, and are decorated with yellow symbols. The only things on their body that are revealed are their yellow eyes and parts of their back faces. They are also always carrying a cyan colored, hook-shaped staff with several thin spikes.

Powers and Abilities
The Dark Masters are able to move around by teleporting into an area in a puff of purple smoke. As a Dark Gaia minion, the Dark Masters can possess people by latching onto the deepest, darkest part of the heart, and generate despair, negative emotions or even erratic behavior that are completely opposite to the person's personality.

The Dark Master are born with exceptionally high intelligence, allowing them to take on a near-perfect humanoid appearance and utilize Dark Gaia's power in a more refined way, similar to that of magical spells. As such the Dark Masters are capable of instantly teleporting themselves over short distances.

The Dark Masters are able to levitate above ground and can move through mid-air rather quickly.

The Dark Masters possess as well profound skills in advanced stick fighting, being able to use their staffs in close combat to hit theirs opponents using quick and swift movements.

Attack Patterns
In battle, the Dark Masters attack by hitting the player with their staff. When the player attempts to attack the Dark Masters, they will try avoid damage by either floating out of the player's attack range or by teleporting short distances away, making it rather difficult for the player to target them properly.