Darkspine Sonic

"If this is your world, then it's a world that I don't want any part of!"

- Darkspine Sonic

Darkspine Sonic (ダークスパインソニック) is one of Sonic the Hedgehog's super transformations, appearing in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Rather than using the Chaos Emeralds, he uses 3 of the World Rings to transform. In this form Sonic's personality is slightly more sinister and violent due to absorbing the World Rings of Rage, Hatred, and Sadness, which are all negative emotions. He is playable in the final battle against Alf-Layla-wa-Layla, an enhanced form of Erazor Djinn.

Appearance
In this form, Sonic's fur and his arms become an indigo blue and his quills hang lower than in his usual form. He gains two golden rings around his wrists and two around his ankles, and his gloves and shoes seemingly disappear. Two white vertical lines come down from the middle of his forehead and runs up his upper and lower middle quill, and one white, wide line runs across each of his feet. His skin turns pale white, and his irises, pupils and mouth disappear. Also, his voice has a slight change, becoming more demonic, but maintaining Sonic's pitch. He is also constantly surrounded in a flaming aura.

Powers and abilities
In this form, Sonic has increased strength, enough to send Alf-Layla-wa-Layla's strongest attack back at him with brute force alone, the ability to fly at high speeds, and is able to perform his ring powers Time Break and Speed Break without the need of Shahra's ring itself. His attacks are also more close-combat based, as opposed to the boosting and energy moves that Super Sonic uses. He does not lose rings gradually like Super Sonic, but he can lose rings from being hit. His Soul Gauge and Ring Counter are upgraded to the maximum, and he is able to fill up his Soul Gauge by spinning around in a manner similar to his Spin Dash.

As Darkspine Sonic it is possible that Sonic has the power to control fire or something similar, given his fiery aura and that his fists and feet burst into flames when he attacks Alf-Layla-wa-Layla.

As the World Rings are what keep the world of the Arabian Nights together, it appears that Sonic is granted a unique connection to the Arabian Nights themselves in this form, and possibly the ability to alter it. For example, during the fight with Alf-Layla-wa-Layla, he can hear an "echo" of the deceased Shahra's life and after the fight, Sonic is shown to be able to revert Erazor Djinn's apocalyptic world - and himself - back to normal.

Trivia

 * This form seems to resemble Dark Sonic from Sonic X. Both are darker, more sinister forms provoked by negative emotions. Due to these similarities, Darkspine Sonic is considered to be the Arabian equivalent of Dark Sonic (similar to Super Sonic and Excalibur-Sonic).
 * Darkspine Sonic is one of three forced Sonic transformations, the others being Sonic the Werehog and Excalibur Sonic.
 * Darkspine Sonic can be considered the second form of Sonic that was not attained using regular Chaos Emeralds and the first in-game transformation that uses negative energy.
 * It can be believed that Darkspine Sonic is currently the only incomplete super form, as he only used three of the seven World Rings. Thus, it can only be assumed that by using all 7 world rings, Darkspine Sonic will be at his strongest (and maybe even gain invincibility).
 * It is possible that Darkspine Sonic's pyrokinetic powers comes from the fact that the original title of the game is 'Sonic Wildfire' and Sonic used fire based techniques.
 * Additionally, in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, if the answer to one of Shy Guy's questions is Darkspine, he says that Darkspine controls fire.
 * Darkspine Sonic seems to be more popular than Excalibur Sonic, which is the form he takes in Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * Darkspine Sonic's voice seems to be the inspiration for the voice of Sonic the Werehog in Sonic Unleashed, as both grunt when they are speaking. His voice also sounds identical to Jet the Hawk at times.
 * When transforming, Sonic was shown to be in pain, making this the first time Sonic has been in pain while undergoing a transformation (The second one being Sonic's Werehog transformation). This is probably because the World Rings he absorbed were green (hatred), red (rage) and purple (sadness).
 * Despite this transformation being made out of negative emotions, Darkspine Sonic seems to have the same attitude as regular Sonic. An example of this is when he says to Alf-Layla-Wa-Layla "HA! How's that for an introduction?"
 * This is the first form in which Sonic has no gloves. This is also the only in-game form without shoes.

Memorable Quotes

 * "We've got to... stop him! Shahra...please! Lend me your... POWER!" - Darkspine Sonic before the final fight.
 * "If this is your world, then it's a world that I don't want any part of!" - Darkspine Sonic, just before the boss fight.
 * "Shahra!" - When Darkspine Sonic hears Shahra during the boss fight.
 * "HA! How's this for an introduction then?" - Darkspine Sonic deflecting Alf-Layla-wa-Layla's giant sphere attack.
 * "Your tale is finished, Erazor! Next time, try writing a better story!" - Darkspine Sonic after defeating Alf-Layla-wa-Layla.