Wispon

The Wispon is an object that appears in Sonic Forces. Contrary to its name, it is a series of different weapon gadgets that are used by the Resistance's soldiers for harnessing the Wisps' Color Powers, without inducing an actual transformation in the user.

Concept and creation
As a part of the storyline for Sonic Forces, the Avatar was intended to be a regular citizen with no special abilities, like Sonic's speed. To compensate for that, Sonic Team created the Wispon for the Avatar. The Wispon was also given a multitude of applications in gameplay so that the Avatar could have a moveset that offered a gameplay style different from Sonic's.

Appearance
The Wispon is a gadget-like weapon that comes in a number of distinct models, all of which are based on individual Wisp breeds.

Features and abilities
The Wispons can harness the Hyper-go-on from Wisps and use it to channel the properties of their respective Color Powers without causing the user to transform. Each Wispon model also possesses an offensive function that matches the respective Wisp used to power it, such as the Burst Wispon functioning as a flamethrower.

Overview
In gameplay, the Wispon is used by the Avatar, where it serves two primary functions: offense and movement controls. When using its offensive power, the Wispon creates a long-ranged attack that can take out multiple foes at once. When using its movement ability, the Wispon triggers an ability reminiscent of a Wisp's Color Power; using the Wispon with a Red Wisp, the player can create bursts to jump through the air (like the Red Burst). The offensive power and movement ability depend on the Wispon model. To use a Wispon in gameplay, the player must press to trigger its offensive power and  to trigger its movement ability.

Before a level, the player can choose different Wispons to customize how the Avatar controls, thereby allowing access to different parts of the levels. The Wispon the Avatar possesses is displayed on the HUD in the lower left corner of the screen during Stages.

To use the Wispon's movement ability during Stages, the player must obtain the Wisp matching the Wispon in use (like a Red Wisp for the Burst Wispon), which will fill up an energy gauge surrounding the HUD's Wispon; obtaining any other Wisp yields no effect. Using the Wispon's movement ability drains the energy gauge, and once it empties, the Wispon's movement ability become unusable (like Color Powers and the Wisp Gauge).

List of Wispons
Additionally, several Resistance soldiers can be seen wielding Wispon-like weapons that resemble the White Wisp. This weapon cannot be used by the player, but it is shown to fire blue energy beams.

Trivia

 * "Wispon" is a portmanteau of the words "Wisp" and "weapon".
 * Interestingly, the Wispons share a few similarities to the Dark Arms used by Eclipse the Darkling in the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic series:
 * They are both based off the Wisps (though the Dark Arms are actually a living sub-species of the Black Arms that were "harvested" from the Wisps).
 * Both weaponize the Color Powers of Wisps.
 * Both do not cause an actual transformation in the user (though the Dark Arms do cause partial physical transformations in Eclipse: for example, Cyzer turns his hands into cyan-hued gloves, while Cregal converts them into crimson-hued wings).