Phantom King

The Phantom King is the Super State of Heavy King and one of the two final bosses in Sonic Mania. He attained this form upon gaining complete power from the Phantom Ruby.

Appearance
The Phantom King, now bigger and stronger than his previous form, still retains the same red, gold, and white color scheme he sported before. Losing his legs, he gained purple, square-like legs that dangled from his bottom. His shoulders and collars became more pronounced and the crown on his chest became red, though at the cost of his cape. His bronze-colored armor-plating also turned yellow and became more pronounced, covering most of his body. The Heavy King, as this new form, is the size of the Kleptomobile.

History
When Sonic and Eggman were sent to Egg Reverie Zone with the Phantom Ruby, the Phantom King swiped the Phantom Ruby and used it to power himself. However, the Phantom King met resistance when Eggman (with the Kleptomobile) and Super Sonic fought him separately for ownership of the Phantom Ruby. At the end of the conflict, the Heavy King was seemingly destroyed by Super Sonic, failing at his goal at harnessing the Phantom Ruby.

Powers and abilities
In his new form, the Phantom King became powerful enough to bypass a super state user's invulnerability with his most powerful attacks. His energy manipulation abilities also increased to where he became able to manifest and control energy spheres without his scepter.

Battle
In the Egg Reverie Zone, the Phantom King is one of the two opponents who make up the overall twenty-fifth and final boss of Sonic Mania. He is fought alongside the Kleptomobile with Super Sonic after the player has defeated the Phantom Egg with Sonic the Hedgehog while possessing all seven Chaos Emeralds. Alternatively, the player can use the Level Select to fight this boss as Super Tails or Super Knuckles.

This boss battle takes place across the Egg Reverie Zone.

Boss guide
The fight is tricky at first glance, but it can be a relatively easy finale for a seasoned player. Rings fly aimlessly around throughout the Zone and can be used to refill the player's Ring count, which needs to be kept with at least one Ring in order to keep the hero's Super State: if the player's Ring count hits zero, the fight will end, and the player will lose a life.

The key to defeating the Phantom King is patience: the Phantom King is surrounded by impenetrable spheres that can make the player lose ten Rings when they are fired at the playable character. The player can either find an opening or wait until the Phantom King no longer has a shield to strike. Hit the Phantom King eight times and he will be destroyed.