Silver Sonic

The Silver Sonic (as named in the English manual; also referred to as Bionic Sonic in certain western materials and as Mecha Sonic in the Japanese version ) is the robotic version of Sonic the Hedgehog that appeared in both the Master System and Game Gear versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit).

History
In his 8-bit debut, the Silver Sonic is Dr. Robotnik's super-secret weapon which resembles the original hedgehog, although he is slightly taller and a bit low-tech. He has a metallic grey color scheme and possesses many of his organic template's own moves, including the ability to roll up into a ball and spin, though has a few abilities of his own. Thankfully, Sonic is more nimble and can guard against most of its attacks. If Sonic held five of the Chaos Emeralds, it would also relinquish one upon defeat which would grant Sonic access to Crystal Egg; otherwise the game ends here.

A more well-known silver-like robot was featured in the 16-bit version of Sonic 2, which was released later than the 8-bit game. While he was never officially referred to as the Silver Sonic and was instead known as Mecha Sonic in Japanese-exclusive materials, he is very similar to the 8-bit robot and its name was adopted by Archie Comics. As such, western fans usually dub this robot Silver Sonic to differentiate it from the radically different design of Mecha Sonic seen in Sonic & Knuckles. In this appearance, he is the first line of defense aboard the Death Egg, and the first boss of the Death Egg Zone. He has a sturdier form, is extremely bulky and may have been remote controlled by Doctor Robotnik, but is more combat-capable and would be able to shred Sonic with its saw-blade spikes. In order to defeat him, Sonic must strike him eight times while avoiding his spikes (not easy considering there are no rings in this zone unless playing an alternate difficulty in Sonic Jam).

In Sonic Pocket Adventure, that model returns to reprise its battle from its first appearance, only once more in a different location.

In Sonic Adventure, it appeared that Eggman had at one point been working on another robotic Sonic model, which could be seen in a storage tube next to Metal Sonic in his laboratory.

Abilities
The Silver Sonic models possess many different mechanisms along their bodies. The first one could speed across the room, spin-jump, and shoot small spikes in mid-spin jump. The model in the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had similar powers, although it was less sharp and contained a bionic arm.

Archie Comics
In the Archie Comics continuity, Silver Sonic appeared in the miniseries Sonic Quest, a loose adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. This version of Silver Sonic was much larger and slower than the version in the games, standing about ten times the size of Sonic the Hedgehog.

History
Sonic and Tails encountered Silver Sonic during their mission to destroy Robotnik's new Death Egg space station, which despite its speed proved to be a formidable opponent. Silver Sonic's exoskeleton was invulnerable to Sonic's best hits. With a single powerful punch, it nearly knocked Sonic unconscious, but in the process it exposed electrical wires from inside the Death Egg. Before Silver Sonic could crush Sonic to death beneath its foot, Sonic used the cables to send thousands of volts of electricity into Silver Sonic, destroying its primary brain circuits and rendering him inoperable.

Robotnik, having witnessed the defeat of his creation, put on his Eggs-O-Skeleton armor so he could battle Sonic himself. However, Sonic was able to climb inside Silver Sonic's head and control the robot's body manually. Silver Sonic was so strong that Sonic was able to send Robotnik flying out of the Death Egg. Shortly afterwards, Tails activated the station's self-destruct sequence, and Sonic and Tails used Silver Sonic's body to escape safely back to Mobius.

Almost a year later, he was rebuilt by Doctor Eggman into Silver Sonic II, loosely based on Silver Sonic's design but much smaller. Sonic managed to reprogram Silver Sonic, and the robot became Station Square's protector until he was destroyed by Shadow.

Silver Sonic returned in Issue #225 in a new and much bigger form, to battle and distract Sonic while Dr. Eggman's gun came up and shot down Sally Acorn, killing her while Sonic runs from Silver Sonic to try and rescue Sally.

After reality had been set back to normal, Sonic went in to save Sally from Eggman's turret, ignoring Silver Sonic. When Silver Sonic attempted to pursue, the turret fired at him, causing its supposed death. However, when Sonic and Sally confronted the doctor, a new version of Metal Sonic and a heavily damaged Silver Sonic appeared and began to attack Sonic. Once the backfire of the World Roboticizer was completed, both robots were destroyed in the rubble.

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, Sonic and Tails return to the Death Egg some time after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to find that Silver Sonic is still functional (barely). Sonic defeats it for good by kicking off its head.

Jazwares
Jazwares designer Joe Amaro designed this Silver Sonic action figure which is just a simple re-paint of Metal Sonic, similar to the Metal Sonic 3.0 proposal. SEGA did not approve this idea, however, so this figure will never be manufactured.

Trivia

 * A glitch may occur in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive/Genesis) in which its defeat will glitch into a floating frozen flame, making the player stuck until time runs out.
 * The Silver Sonic is the first Sonic robot in the franchise since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released before Sonic the Hedgehog CD, although Metal Sonic is chronologically the first to exist.