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 monster of mass destruction. Iblis was born during the Solaris Project when the experimentations on Solaris split him into Iblis and Mephiles the Dark. Iblis was sealed inside the soul of Princess Elise by the Duke of Soleanna.

Ten years later, Iblis became 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, where it became the enemy of Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat. This future was averted when Sonic the Hedgehog ensured Elise's safety while Silver and Blaze stopped Iblis permanently in their time. Regardless, Iblis was released from Elise in the present by Mephiles and rejoined with Mephiles, remaking Solaris, but he was defeated by Sonic, Shadow and Silver. Iblis was then completely erased from the timeline when Elise and Sonic traveled back in time to before the Solaris Project and brought an end to Solaris.

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 to become strong and to not 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, though nobody in the world knew precisely what the Iblis Trigger was. 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 then warped back to their present.

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, being trapped 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' only known weakness, especially evident in his second and final forms, is his third, vulnerable eye on his forehead. When struck, it will cause him to reel back in great pain.

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

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

Iblis Phase One
Iblis' primary form serves as the first boss in Silver's story. In this battle, Silver has Blaze for a guide and ally. The player must remember that unlike Sonic, Silver specializes in psychokinesis. In this form, Iblis will mainly attack by releasing fireballs from its body and grabbing a building and smashing it down on Silver and Blaze. Silver must use his psychokinetic powers to launch debris and the fireballs at Iblis' armored head. The player must repeat this strategy until Iblis' armor is completely off. But the player must be cautious as once the armor is off, Iblis adds a new attack to his arsenal: breathing a torrent of fire on Silver. So long as the player collects rings and avoids Iblis' attacks, Iblis should not be a challenge to defeat.

Iblis Phase Two
Iblis fights both Sonic and Shadow in their respective stories in the form of a serpent with a ripped up face. The strategy for both characters is identical. Iblis, for the most part, keeps his distance from the player, bombarding them with lava rocks. Iblis may also dive at the player, destroying the foothold in the process. To lure Iblis into attack range, the player must perform a homing attack on the glowing orbs. The player must first wait for Iblis to call down stalagmites to create platforms to get near the orbs, then homing attack them (you just need to hit one orb). Once the orb starts glowing, Iblis will be attracted to the light and ram it, leaving him dazed long enough for the player to land a homing attack on his vulnerable eye. The pattern is repeated until Iblis is damaged three times. For the last hit, he dives into the lava, and charges at the player, but is dazed right in the middle of the footholds, allowing the player the advantage of homing attacking his eye one more time.

Iblis Phase Three
Iblis' most powerful form serves as the final boss in Silver's story. Like the first battle, Silver has Blaze as a guide and ally. Blaze will tell Silver to keep Iblis away from the foothold (though you really can't stop him from coming towards the foothold). Iblis will open the fight by telekinetically bombarding Silver with large molten fireballs. Silver can use his telekinetic powers to launch the fireballs back at Iblis to damage him. Iblis will slowly walk toward the foothold, stopping midway to perform a new attack: sending out waves of flames, one after the other. To avoid them, you must predict the next wave (low waves mean jump, high waves mean stay on the ground). Once Iblis is near the foothold, he will slam the ground with his hands, breaking parts of the foothold. This attack can be avoided by staying in the middle. When Iblis lowers his head, Silver must levitate over to Iblis' head and use his ESP powers to damage Iblis' eye, causing the boss to reel back in pain. While retreating, Iblis releases more fireballs for Silver to throw at him. Once Iblis recovers, he will become enraged and summon a large meteor to destroy the foothold from a distance. Once Iblis throws it, Silver must time it carefully to grab the meteor with his psychokinesis and hurl it back at Iblis to damage him. By following this strategy, Iblis will be defeated.

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, due to the events at the end of the game story, Iblis was erased from history. But, he was subsequently listed in an entry in The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.

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 Devils" in Islam, this could be a reference to both the religion and the game.
 * In the Japanese version, Silver calls it the Flames of Disaster "炎の災厄 (Honoo no Saiyaku)" which translates as "Disaster of Flames".
 * Strangely, Iblis' minions exist in the present time of Sonic '06, despite Iblis still sealed within Princess Elise in that time. It's possible since Mephiles can open portals from the future, he could have brought Iblis' minions to this time.
 * Iblis is stronger than Mephiles but Iblis' monsters are weaker and take less damage than Mephiles' monsters
 * Iblis seems to be the fire counterpart of Perfect Chaos (which is composed by a watery substance).
 * Iblis's minions return in Sonic Generations, in the re-imagined Sonic 06 stage, Crisis City.
 * 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 need to combine to form 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.
 * Iblis has a large resemblence to Dark Gaia from Sonic Unleashed. Both of them pursue the same dream.

Etymology
Iblis, or Shaytan (الشيطان), is a figure 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.

In general, it is the name of Satan in Islam.

Minions Art
Iblis Iblis