Super Sonic

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Super Sonic is a powered up version of Sonic the Hedgehog that can be obtained through collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds and usually 50 rings. In the 2D games he plays like Sonic but he can jump higher, is faster and invincible, although he could still drown or die by falling off screen. In his first appearance Super Sonic bears no impact on the games story but would give the good ending if achieved. However, in most later games Super Sonic is usually a greater impact on the story and is often part of the true ending, or "Last Story". Instead of touching the floor, Super Sonic can go higher than 9,607 miles. Sonic has golden yellow fur and hair and red eyes.

Appearance of Super Sonic
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - When Super Sonic first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 he was almost the same as Sonic but he was yellow instead of blue and his spikes pointed upwards slightly. Sonic 3 & Knuckles - Super Sonic's appearance was slightly altered so that his eyes changed from black when Sonic to green when Super Sonic. Sonic the Fighters - Super Sonic appearance was very close to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 but in 3D, he had yellow upturned Spikes and black eyes. Sonic R - Super Sonic had the same appearance as in Sonic the Fighters, but in the graphic style of Sonic R. Sonic Adventure - Since Sonic had an updated character design Super Sonic was also changed. Apart from the design changes shared with Sonic, Super Sonic now also had red eyes because Sonic's eye colour was now green. This is also the first game Super Sonic had a yellow aura. Sonic Adventure 2 - In this game Super Sonic was mostly the same as his Sonic Adventure appearance except he was a metallic gold instead of yellow, but his aura was still yellow. Sonic Advance series - This was the first 2D games to have his Sonic Adventure design of red eyes and a yellow aura. This design has remaind unchanged in the Sonic Advance series Sonic Heroes - In this game Sonic again had a metallic gold colour like Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic Rush series - Sonic Rush's design for Super Sonic very close to the Sonic Advance version, but of course in 3D. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) - In this game Super Sonic's appearance had again become yellow instead of metallic gold. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - In this game, Super Sonic appears as Sonic's Final Smash. It looks exactly like Sonic Heroes only plain yellow, has a spark to pop up once in a while, and in 2006(Next Gen) style. Sonic Unleashed - An early cutscene screenshot shows Super Sonic with a sparky lightning like golden aura but the same color and spine(hair) as Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Conditions for Super Sonic
In the actual story canon Sonic only needs to use the power of the 7 Chaos Emeralds to turn into Super Sonic, it is unlikely he needs 50 rings to trigger the transformation since, for most games, after Sonic Adventure he has automatically started with 50 rings after getting the Chaos Emeralds and turning into Super Sonic. However, rings are required to power and sustain the super form as they slowly deplete, once Super Sonic is out of Rings he will revert to Sonic.

In the MegaDrive/Genesis games that Super Sonic appeared in he could only be activated by first collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds from the Special Stages, if this condition was met then Sonic could simple transform into Super Sonic by jumping, or in Sonic 3 & Knuckles double tapping jump, as long as he had at least 50 rings(and no shield in Sonic 3 & Knuckles).

In the Sonic Adventure series the Chaos Emeralds are an esential part of the plot and as such are already collected at the end of the game as part of the story. Super Sonic is only playable for the final boss, the final stage was unlocked by clearing all the other characters missions.

In the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush series, the Chaos Emeralds have to be collected throughout the game by clearing Special Stages, but unlike the MegaDrive Genesis games, Super Sonic is only playable for the final boss.

In Sonic R Super Sonic can be played after finding all 7 Chaos Emeralds in the game, he can then be selected to be used on any track.

In Sonic the Fighters Super Sonic can be played but only for the second match against Metal Sonic and the fight agaisnt Eggman. To play as Super Sonic the player must not lose and enter hyper mode, the Chaos Emeralds are automatically collected each fight.

In Sonic Riders Super Sonic is obtained by achieving gold emblem for all Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross missions. Then the Chaos Emerald extreme gear is unlocked and when used by Sonic he will become Super Sonic while he has rings.

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Super Sonic is unlocked in the same way as the Sonic Adventure Series, and again is only playable for the last boss.

Homage to Dragonball Z
Super Sonic is widely believed to be homage to Akira Toriyama's very succesful manga Dragonball Z. Super Sonic bears many similarities to Super Saiyans from Dragonball Z, such as when a Saiyan becomes a Super Saiyan, their hair stands up and turns yellow, similar to Super Sonic's spikes. Another point is the fact that a Saiyan's eyes become green when they turn Super Saiyan, much like Super Sonic's in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Also the fact that a 7th Chaos Emerald was added when Super Sonic first appeared similar to there being 7 Dragonballs in Dragonball. Yuji Naka is a well known fan of Dragonball, and was once asked in an interview if Akira Toriyama had ever approached him about Super Sonic, to which he smiled and replied, "no." Yuji Naka DID admit that he took the idea from Dragonball Z though.

Sonic X
Sonic X is the only Sonic anime/cartoon to feature Super Sonic. Super Sonic is very similar to how he is in the games (Sonic Adventure design), except that he only needs the 7 Chaos Emeralds to achieve Super Sonic, rings serve a different purpose.

Archie Comics
Super Sonic's first Archie Sonic appearance was in issue 4 to battle a giant mecha-newt. His latest appearance was when he fought Enerjak in issue 184.

Fleetway
In Sonic the Comic (StC), Super Sonic was a more powerful from of Sonic created from absorbing too much chaos energy, however unlike in the games Super Sonic was originally evil. In Sonic the Comic the Chaos Emeralds absorb negative energy so this is presumably why Super Sonic was evil. Super Sonic later became a seperate entity from Sonic after Super Sonic almost killed Sonic's friends but Sonic will prevented him from doing so, they were then split into two seperate beings. Shortly after being seperated Super Sonic lost his memory and became a peacful person who soon after made friends with a cat called Ebony and Pijamas. They attempted to help Super Sonic recover his memory before finding the truth behind his identity. Every time Super Sonic regained his memory he reverted back to the evil being he was and went on a rampage but each time he was made to forget his evil personallity. When the Sonic Adventure story was adapted into the comic Sonic and Super Sonic again became one entity so they could be powerful enough to battle Chaos. In the fan contnued version called Sonic the Comic - Online (StC-O), Sonic and Super Sonic are still one entity however Sonic is still not in control when Super Sonic.