Sonic the Werehog

"So when the sun goes down, I turn into...this?!"

- Sonic

Sonic the Werehog (ソニック・ザ・ウェアホッグ), is Sonic the Hedgehog's bestial werewolf-esque form in the game Sonic Unleashed. Sonic was transformed into this form for the first time when Dr. Eggman used a machine to painfully suck out the power of the Chaos Emeralds from Super Sonic, with which Eggman would fire a specialized laser weapon at the planet, releasing and awakening the creature known as Dark Gaia from the core of the planet and in the process, due to his close proximity to the Chaos Emeralds, some of the dark energy within the Emeralds infested his body, causing his transformation. It is stated that Dark Gaia's power is what causes Sonic's transformation into this form. Sonic only transforms at night because that is the only time of day when Dark Gaia can move about and affect people. When transforming into the Werehog (or transforming back to normal), a light and a cloud of purple smoke envelops him.

Sonic the Werehog features a different gameplay than Sonic's normal form. He attacks with his arms and fists, which can stretch out and punch his foes. Rather than using a counted number of rings, Sonic uses a health bar, where collecting rings refills the bar. Aside from the usual ability of Sonic being able to race down ramps throughout the levels, in Werehog form you must get across gaps in a tightrope walking fashion.

Sonic retains most of his normal abilities and personality in this form as well as the ability to speak, though with more of a growl than normal. It appears, however, that Sonic gains some minor beastial behaviour while in this form, as he howls like a real werewolf at the start of a night stage, can run on all fours like a real wolf and fights in a more ferocious way. Therefore, it can basically just be considered a darker, more feral form of Sonic rather than as a split-personality monster like other interpretations of werewolves. Despite this, however, Sonic the Werehog still has Sonic the Hedgehog's good heart. This is primarily due to his will, which is too strong for Dark Gaia to affect.

Before the battle with Dark Gaia, Dark Gaia re-absorbed its remaining power that Sonic had incidentally taken at the start of the game, stripping Sonic of his werehog form.

Early Concept & Design
Early art of the Werehog was made by a SEGA member named Tanahashi. He wanted to make Werehog to look wolf-like, so he removed Sonic's gloves so that his claws can be visible. He also said that he can't remove Sonic's iconic shoes. He first made the Werehog with chains.

He also said that he wanted to make Sonic look very strong, so he changed his general form. The shoulder and the head are connected by a single line, and his chest is much more broad, giving his body the appearance of an inverse triangle.

This one, he commented was a silly design, this was made when he was getting started with the Werehog. He said not to blame him, because he tried to come up with all of the designs he could come up with. It resembles Bigfoot.

Appearance
Following the theme of the Werehog, Sonic receives more beastial traits in this transformation. Here, Sonic grows slightly taller and he gains much more muscle mass. As a result, his chest gets broader, and his arms grows larger and out of proportions. His hands also get bigger and his nails become claws that he can use offensively. His muzzle grows larger as well and he teeth become sharp and pointy, making him resemble more that of a wolf. His ears also become more curved.

In this form Sonic's skin turns light blue and his fur turns gray/dark blue and becomes much longer, thicker and grows out in places where he would not have fur, such as his arms and chest, with traits of white fur on his wrists, the end of his quills and on his chest. As a result of the increased fur, his neck becomes even less visible.

While as a werehog, Sonic loses his gloves, exposing his hands and his socks becomes slightly frilled in the back. The white stripe on his shoes is replaced with grey metal that has three spikes on the surface, and the bottom of his shoes becomes covered with small metal spikes.

Powers and abilities
As Sonic the Werehog, Sonic gains a noticeable increase in physical strength, allowing him to open sealed doors and entrances, effortlessly pick up, throw and swing larger enemies and objects, and even topple creatures several times his size, such as the Dark Gaia minions the Titan and the Dark Gaia Phoenix.

In this form, Sonic is able to stretch his arms over long distances and can do so in an instant. It is unknown how far he can stretch his arms, however. Sonic accidentally discovered this ability after he tried to catch a falling ice cream cone. Sonic mainly uses this ability in combat, allowing him to increase his attack range, grab enemies from long distances, build momentum for his attacks and create various forms of combat moves. He can even enlarge his arms and hands to increase the power and range of his attacks even further. Besides combat, Sonic can also use this ability to travel around, such as stretching his arm out to the nearest pole, swing over there, then stretch out to the next pole ect.

As a Werehog, Sonic loses his trademark speed and can only run at the same speed as a "normal" person. He is, however, able to run faster by dashing on all fours, making able to run past enemies or launch quick strikes and assaults.

In this form Sonic is also shown having the ability to use an unknown form of energy, possibly due to Dark Gaia being the source of Sonic's Werehog form, which he applies in combat, or uses to charge up his attacks. He can also put up a blue energy shield when guarding, and can even pick up the Dark Gaia Force which is left behind Dark Gaia's minions when they are defeated. Once he has enough of it, Sonic can enter his Unleashed Mode. In that time, Sonic glows blue, his movements becomes faster, and the damage he deals doubles and the damage he receives halves (In the latter's case, it makes Sonic invíncible instead in the PS3 and X360 version of Sonic Unleashed).

When in this form, Sonic uses a type of feral hand-to-hand combat to fight his enemies. Basically, when using his fists, Sonic can deal greater damage, but only in a focused area, and when using his claws, he can attack several opponents at once, but the damage will be much less.

Straight attacks :  Hook attacks :  Aerial attacks :  Special attacks :
 * Were-Hammer: Sonic smashes an opponent with three straight punches followed by a massive overhead strikethat knocks foes backwards.
 * Double Kick Combo: Sonic delivers a roundhouse kick that briefly stunts an opponent.
 * Sho-hog-ken: A jumping uppercut that that knocks an enemy into the air. Allows Areal attacks into combos.
 * Donkey Kick Combo: Sonic balances on his arms and delivers a two-footed kick that knocks an enemy backwards.
 * Double Axle Combo: A pin wheeling aerial claw-strike that turns into a flurry of kicks upon making contact with the enemy.
 * Feral Were-Hammer: Hits the enemy with both fists simultaneously which knocks the enemy backwards.
 * Werewheel Rush: Sonic performs a series of cartwheels upon the foe which can stunt them and finishes with a fist strike from above.
 * Vertical Were-Hammer: Launches a large fist that hits directly from above, followed by a body press upon the opponents.
 * Knuckle Sandwich Combo: Sonic performs a single slash from above and follows up with a dual upper slash which knocks the foes into the air. Allows Aerial attacks into combos.
 * Unleashed Knuckle Sandwich: A rapid barrage of punches that ends with one final fist strike that can knock the enemy backwards.
 * Wild Whirl: Sonic flails around with his claws, dealing damage to anything inside their radius.
 * Rolling Kick Combo: A wide overhead kick that can knock back several surrounding foes.
 * Sho-claw-ken: Similar to the Sho-hog-ken; a jumping upper slash that knocks an enemy into the air. Allows Aerial attacks into combos.
 * Egg Scrambler: Sonic spins his claws like helicopter blades and dervishes through anything in front of him.
 * Wereclap: Sonic slams his hands together, dealing a crippling blow to anything caught in between.
 * Feral Wild Whirl: Sonic makes a spin on the ground, slashing everything within a large radius.
 * Earthshaker: Sonic pounds on the ground with both fists, creating a close-range earthquake.
 * Wild Whirl Were-Hammer: Same as Vertical Were-Hammer; Launches a large fist that hits directly from above, followed by a body press upon the opponents.
 * Ultimate Wild Combo: Sonic launches several vertical slashes while moving forward, slicing everything caught in it.
 * Unleashed Wild Combo: Sonic puts both his fists together, swing them around and hits the enemy, which is followed up by two simultanous punches from above.
 * Flying Double-Punch: Delivers a double punch to an enemy in the air.
 * Aerial Claw Slash: Delivers a double slash to an enemy in the air.
 * Diving Body Press: Sonic slams down to impact on the enemies below.
 * Aerial Piledriver: Sonic grabs an opponent in the air and slams them, while spinning, down on the floor head-first.
 * Flying Double-Punch Crush: An airborne double-punch combo that sends the enemy flying.
 * Aerial Claw Slash and Spin: An airborne double-slash combo that sends the enemy flying.
 * Shooting Star Combo: An airborne double-kick combo that sends the enemy flying.
 * Typhoon Combo: Sonic performs a vertical pinwheel in the air, punching an airborne enemy back down to the ground.
 * Crescent Moon Strike: An airborne spin that slashes any enemy knocked into the air, followed by a direct punch that knocks the enemy away.
 * Hurricane Combo: Similar to Crescent Moon Strike; an airborne spin that punches any enemy knocked into the air, followed by a direct punch that knocks the enemy away.
 * Were-Claw Charge: While dashing, Sonic rends the enemies in front of him with his claws, stunning them.
 * Triple Wild Claw: While dashing, Sonic performs a from left, then right and finishes with a x-shaped slash across the foe.
 * Spinning Needle Attack: While dashing, Sonic jumps into the air and launches himself towards the enemies, while spinning, knocking them away.
 * Were-Rush: While dashing, Sonic makes a large x-shaped across his foes, which stunts them.
 * Tricky Tornado Uppercut: While guarding, Sonic makes a dodge roll and launches a close, spinning uppercut which throws the enemy into the air.
 * Wild Werewhip: While guarding, Sonic brings down a massive slash from above.
 * Missile Punch: Charges energy in his fist and punches the enemy with greater force.
 * Comet Punch: Charges a large amount of energy in his fist and punches the enemy with an enlarged fist, causing massive damage.
 * Were-Tornado: Charges energy in his fist and spins rapidly around, while slashing.
 * Were-Cyclone: Charges a large amount of energy in his fist and makes a large, rapid spin, while slashing and finishes with a double punch in opposite directions.

Weaknesses
In this form, Sonic is slower compared to his normal form, which makes him less able to outrun his foes and forces him to adapt a new fighting style. When he falls in water he instantly drowns, like his normal form. Sonic is also unable to control this transformation, since it automatically ends when the sun comes up. The Werehog also often fails when trying to communicate with humans, since people usually are afraid of him because of his appearance, and therefore he cannot be very social. This takes a toll of Sonic, making him feel depressed and somewhat unable to face those he knows, but doesn't recognize him in this form.

Archie Comics
The Werehog form appeared in Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 193 as part of the comic's Sonic Unleashed adaptation. The setting was in another zone, so it didn't completely happen in the comic's actual universe.

The Werehog appeared again unofficially in Archie Sonic Universe Issue 29's Off Panel, when Scourge stated he was tired of being picked on in Zone Jail. When he asked himself if there were any other alternate Sonic's in the jail, Sonic the Werehog appeared behind him, sitting on a bench, saying there's only one, and he was it. Scourge then stated it was unfair.

Memorable Quotes

 * "Oh yeah! That's right baby!" - Sonic after getting an "S" rank in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed
 * "How do you like that, huh?" - Sonic after getting an "S" rank in the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed
 * "You've really...gone and done it this time, Eggman!" - Sonic after being transformed into a Werehog.
 * "I know little girls who are better with a hammer than you! Well one, anyway." - Sonic after defeating the boss in Shamar in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "G-geez, Eggman! Simmer down!" - Sonic falling midway through fighting the Egg Dragoon.
 * "Wow! I rule!" - Sonic after getting a "B" rank in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed and after getting an "A" rank in the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Do I need a reason to want to help out a friend?" - Sonic after Chip recovers his memory and tries to leave to fight Dark Gaia on his own.
 * "Strike three monster, that's enough out of you!" - Sonic after defeating the Dark Gaia Phoenix in the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "I'm fine. I just need to be careful who sees me like this!" - The second time Sonic turns into a werehog.
 * "Uh oh! Did I fall on him?" - Sonic believing that he fell on Chip, causing him to lose his memory.
 * "Mister Monster Guy?! Looks like things have gotten pretty ugly." - After Chip called him "Mister Monster Guy".
 * "Aww, can I start over?" - After getting a D on the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed and after getting a B on the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Darn!" - After getting an E on the 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed.

Trivia

 * Sonic's gloves got torn apart during the first transformation. Because of this, Sonic the Werehog is one of the few non-robotic characters to not wear gloves. Oddly, when he turns back into normal Sonic, his gloves magically repair themselves. Chip will even acknowledge this if you feed him enough by asking, "Where do you put your gloves at night?"
 * The term "Werehog" is derived from the words "werewolf" and "hedgehog." However, some have declared it a misnomer, considering that the "were" in "werewolf" derives from the Old English "wer", meaning "man".
 * Sonic the Werehog is the second of Sonic's transformations to have a profile on Sonic Channel, the first one being Super Sonic.
 * In the Xbox 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed, if a player would press the jump button while grabbing a ledge, the Werehog would perform a spin jump similar to Sonic's.
 * Sonic is shown to be more violent in this form, due to his more brutal way of fighting.
 * Sonic the Werehog is not the first character created by Sega to have elastic/streachy arms: Ristar, another character conceived around the time of Sonic the Hedgehog, was the first in his 1996 debut Ristar the Shooting Star, along with Chaos from Sonic Adventure.
 * In 2009 a Sonic costume pack for Little Big Planet was released with a Werehog costume along with the Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman costumes.
 * The Werehog "breaks the fourth wall" by addressing the camera when wondering if he fell on Chip.
 * The Werehog is the only playable character in the series to not release rings when damaged.
 * The Werehog bears some resemblace to Darkspine Sonic, as both of them are more violent than Sonic in his usual form and use punches and kicks rather than energy and spinning attacks, both of them are also powered by some kind of dark energy, in the Werehog's case, Dark Gaia energy, and in Darkspines', the world rings of Hatred, Rage and Sadness, which are negative feelings
 * In the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, two of Sonic the Werehog's abilities are the Sho-Hog-Ken and Sho-Claw-Ken, which are direct references to Ryu, Ken and Akuma's Shoryuken from Street Fighter.
 * The Werehog shows up in the Off-Panel comic of Sonic Universe #29. After Scourge is tired of being picked on, he asks out loud if there are any other alter-Sonic's in Zone Jail, hoping to be able to at least beat someone else. The Werehog is seen right behind him sitting on a bench and answeres "Just one", causing Scourge to angrily state how unfair it was. It is unknown how and why the Werehog is in Zone Jail.
 * Sonic the Werehog might return in Sonic Generations possibly during the Rooftop Run or the boss battle of the stage, the Egg Dragoon, since an life icon leaked from a Mat_comon_117.png