User:Ultrasonic9000/Sandbox

Invincible (無敵), also called Invincibility (無敵), Invincible Protect (無敵) and Invincible Barrier (無敵), is an Item Box power-up that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. When the player obtains this power-up, the playable character becomes immune to most damage-causing hazards for a short period of time.

Since its introduction, Invincible has become one of the most recurring Item Box power-ups in the Sonic series. The effects of Invincible have remained mostly untouched, like the Super Rings and Power Sneakers. In several games though, it has possessed different features.

While Invincible has not been as generally featured as it was in the earlier Sonic games, it is occasionally used in the latest entries as well, mostly appearing in 2D titles as well as 3D games that do not make use of the Boost mechanic.

Description
Item boxes containing Invincible either contain or display an icon depicting four-pointed white stars or a colorful, sparkling shield. Since this power-up's introduction, when the player obtains Invincible, the playable character can destroy or damage enemies upon physical contact, even when not attacking. In addition, the playable character cannot take damage when touching enemies and obstacles. This allow, for example, the playable character to walk on spikes without any ill effects. However, the player can still lose a life should they get crushed under objects, drown underwater, fall into a bottomless pit or get a Time Over. Also, whilst Invincible is in effect, the background music for the level changes to a dynamic-sounding theme or fanfare, which is usually either a rendition of the game's main theme, or another track exclusive to Invincible.

The duration of Invincible usually lasts about 15–20 seconds before it fades out, though the length of Invincible can differ between certain games; breaking another Invincible Item Box while already under its effects can prolong the status and sometimes reset the fanfare related to this power-up as well. After the time runs out, Invincible will disappear and the player becomes vulnerable to enemies and obstacles once more.

When using Invincible, the playable character get surrounded by a sparkling effect, which is used metaphorically to show when Invincible is in effect. The visual aura effects from Invincible varies in appearance from game to game; in some games, like the 2D games from the Sega Mega Drive era, the player is surrounded by a cloak make up of countless sparkling white stars. In other games, like in 3D games like Sonic Adventure, Invincible's visual effects tend to take the form of a sparkling rainbow aura. Also, in Sonic Heroes, the effects around the player are glowing lines.

Invincible was a fairly common power-up in the early Sonic games, but it has since become rarer in later instalments in the series. Though it seems to appear more often than 1-Up Item Boxes, this is not always the case.