The Death Egg (デスエッグ Desu Eggu?) is a massive orbital fortress, constructed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. A true study in evil mega-engineering, the spherical spacestation resembles the face of Dr. Robotnik himself, with concave eye-sockets and a mustache rendered in kilometers of vacuum-hardened plasmasteel. Hosting some of the Doctor's most deadly creations of all time, this vast stronghold serves as the scientist's final base in the early Sega Genesis-era games.
Game Appearances
The whole plot of Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles is driven by Sonic and Tails' efforts to destroy the original version of this space station and preventing the mad scientist from using the Chaos Emeralds to power it[1]. Eggman's greatest work is, however, robust stuff - over the course of those three games, the Death Egg survives a fall from space[2] and a failed launch,[3] yet still makes it back into orbit eventually.[4]
Although the original battlestation is destroyed during Sonic & Knuckles's Death Egg Zone, Dr. Robotnik has created new iterations of the facility in later games; Sonic Battle being the most recent.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
<< Previous level — Sonic 2 (Mega Drive) — Next game: Sonic 3 >>
The first iteration of the Death Egg comes in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, as the eleventh and final level of the game. After Wing Fortress Zone's destruction, and hitching a ride to space aboard Robotnik's fleeing rocket, Sonic makes his way inside the battlestation - to be greeted immediately[Note 1] by the two final bosses in the game. There are no rings in the entire zone.
Silver Sonic
Silver Sonic[Note 2] is perhaps the Sonic robot which bears most resemblance to our spiny hero - apart from being a little taller, and steel. Since there are no rings, just one slip-up is deadly. Silver Sonic has many different attacks that are mostly similar to Sonic's, such as the turbo-dash and spin-jump. However, the most challenging move of Silver Sonic's is his jump-and-spike-launch-attack. The best way of avoiding this is to kill the robot before he gets a chance to use it; spin dashing Silver Sonic the moment his jet-boots touch the decking. Sonic can hit him 4 times in one bout if one times it right. Then accrue another 4 hits (total of 8) to the robot's head to defeat him.
Once Silver Sonic is vanquished, Sonic enters a quick chase scene with Dr. Robotnik, before the Eggman jumps into the final boss robot.
Final boss
The final boss of Sonic 2
This mecha towers over twelve feet tall (about four times Sonic's height), bristling with antennae and sensor dishes. Its torso is spherical, with red and yellow paintwork mimicking the Doctor’s own jumpsuit. Immense robotic limbs branch from the central mass, secondary motors roaring as the arms swing and titanic feet ram down one in front of the other. A pink dome of a head bulges out from the top of the central sphere; vast metallic mustache twitching back and forth beneath its pointed nose.[5]
It's the final battle. With no rings at all, one hit will be instant death. Robotnik's attacks include launching his arms like rockets, trying to stamp on Sonic, and dropping right on his head with his targeted slamdown. Also, don't get caught behind the robot - Dr. Robotnik launches a pair of grenades which almost guarantee death. Just be patient, and attack the head only when the mecha bows its feet after landing from one of its jetpack flights.[6]
After 12 hits the boss is defeated. If the player defeats this boss, the Death Egg explodes, and Sonic just about survives by hurling himself out of an airlock into space. Looking like the end for Sonic as he descends through the Earth's stratosphere, Tails appears and catches Sonic on the Tornado, thus ending the game, but if the player has all 7 Emeralds, Tails doesn't catch Sonic, instead Sonic flies next to the Tornado in his Super Form.
Music
thumb|300px|left|Death Egg Zone
thumb|right|300px|Final Boss
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Death Egg, slowly floating above the clouds, begins a gradual decent towards Earth, eventually crashing into the floating Angel Island, forcing it into the ocean. In an attempt to repair the Death Egg, Eggman tricks local guardian of the Master Emerald, Knuckles, into collecting the Chaos Emeralds (currently in the possession of Sonic and Tails) for him, to use them to power the ship. This plan fails, as on the Death Egg's re-launch, Sonic sends it plummeting back to the island. Rocket engines were seen attached to the Death Egg during its launch, which apparently helped it with its launch. These engines were presumably jettisoned when it reached a high enough altitude.
Sonic & Knuckles
The Death Egg's destruction
The Death Egg is sent crashing into the top of the Lava Reef Zone in the events of Sonic & Knuckles (or in the second half Sonic 3 & Knuckles for those playing it locked on). In a last ditch-effort to fix the Death Egg, Eggman hatches a scheme to steal the Master Emerald from Knuckles. He does so, and Knuckles finally sees Sonic and Tails as the good guys and Eggman as the bad guy. The three of them set off to catch Eggman, and Sonic and Tails leap onto the now-rising Death Egg from a tall pillar in the Sky Sanctuary. Sonic battles his way through a horrendous zone, full of rocket launchers, electrical hazards, and some very mean badniks. Instead of a single mini-boss, as in the rest of the game, Sonic has to face two. Firstly Red Eye, then after act two, the Death Ball, controlled by Eggman, who stands out of harms way, controlling his latest contraption with a control board of sorts. after this, Eggman flees, leading Sonic into Act 3.
Great Eggman Robo
Sonic then faces off against a giant mech named Great Eggman Robo. This giant robot looks like an EggRobo for the most part, except for its staggering size; its eye is as big as Sonic! The Robo attempts to squish Sonic with its 3-fingered hands, of which each finger can be destroyed with 3 hits. After destroying the robot's hands, the mech stomps after Sonic, shooting flames from its nose. A quick bop on its nose tempts Eggman to open the robot's large chest, where the Master Emerald can be seen. This huge compartment also contains a weapon powered by the emerald; a sort of magnifying glass, which uses the emeralds power to shoot a laser beam at Sonic. Although dangerous, this cannon is the only weak point on the entire robot. Sonic destroys it, and the gargantuan robot falls for good. Eggman flees the scene in his Eggmobile with the Master Emerald, but is quickly stopped by a few hits from Sonic.
Destruction of the Death Egg (Doomsday Zone)
If, over the course of the game, Sonic obtains all the Chaos Emeralds, he then transforms into Super Sonic and has the final showdown with Eggman in outer space, against a blue ship known as the Egg Missile. Super Sonic destroys the mech by making it hit itself with its own missiles. Sonic continues to chase Eggman through space, who is now in the Egg Bomber, an Egg Robo similar to the Giant Mech from Sonic 2. After it's destroyed, Sonic pulls the Master Emerald back to the planet, drops it safely on Angel Island, and restores peace and harmony. The Death Egg was destroyed in the final fight against Eggman.
List of enemies
- Spike Bonker
- Chain Spike
Sonic the Fighters
Death Egg in Sonic the Fighters
Main Article: Death Egg II
Sonic the Fighters features the appearance of the Death Egg II. Sonic and friends have a tournament to see who gets to fly up to it and destroy it. The player's character of choice flies up and has a fight with Metal Sonic, followed by Eggman. After defeating Eggman, the Death Egg II explodes, and the game ends. It seems to have an EggRobo face rather than Eggman.
The stages Death Egg's Eye and Death Egg's Hangar both take place aboard the Death Egg.
Sonic Battle
In Sonic Battle, another Death Egg makes a brief appearance at the end, although it is just a small arena for the
The Death Egg in Sonic Battle.
game's final bosses, Doctor Eggman himself and then a berserk Emerl. The arena is completely open, and requires strong attacks to compensate for the lack of shelter. This is most likely its strongest incarnation as it is shown to have the ability to destroy stars using its "Final Egg Blaster". Strangely, it was never shown to have been destroyed.
Sonic Drift 2
The Death Egg serves as the final racecourse in Sonic Drift 2 for the Sega Game Gear. This stage is the sixth track of the Blue Grand Prix (Blue being the hardest of the three available tournaments), coming after Milky Way, and also serves as the venue for the Final GP, a two-car battle around just this one course. As with most other races in the 2nd Chaos Grand Prix, you have to complete three laps of the track to finish, and the fastest racer gets a Chaos Emerald.
The Death Egg racetrack appears to be constructed on the outside of Robotnik's battlestation, if the starry sky is any indication. Mirrored surfaces line the track, reflecting the starlight back off the metallic ground, and in the distance, massive steel facilities and megawatt spotlights crowd the artificial horizon.
From a practical racing standpoint, Death Egg is a cornering nightmare, with straight sections of track few and far between. On the plus side, you can't fall off, but the sparking electric pylons scattered around the sides of the course will zap the rings right out of you if you slam into them.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, there is a track called Egg Hangar that is based on the Death Egg. Ristar also makes a cameo appearance as seen on the picture on the left.
Sonic Generations
There will be a boss in Sonic Generations called "Death Egg". It is unknown how this boss will work, but it is assumed that it will be fought inside the Death Egg.
"Sonic SatAM"
Death Egg appeared in the episode "Harmonic Sonic." It was nicknamed the "Sky Spy." It was used to spy on the Freedom Fighters and it was later destroyed by Sonic when he took out the sensor tube and threw it at the ground which caused the Sky Spy to crash into the Great Forest.
Other Space Stations
Although they don't take the name "Death Egg", several of Robotnik's other orbital facilities are clearly designed along the same lines as the original station. See the main articles for more details on:
- Silver Castle, which looks a lot like the Death Egg when falling in the ending, is the final zone in Sonic Blast.
- Dead Line, in Sonic Rush.
- Egg Utopia, from Sonic Advance 2.
Space Colony ARK
The ARK as seen in Sonic X.
While Eggman may have been taking inspiration from his initial space station in designing the cosmic fortresses mentioned above, it seems that even the first Death Egg wasn't entirely Robotnik's own idea. In Sonic Adventure 2 we are introduced to the Space Colony ARK, an orbital research facility built over 50 years ago by Ivo's grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. The ARK is fairly similar to the Death Egg(s), with the exception that the actual structure is a hemisphere as opposed to the Death Egg's full sphere. On the 'face' of the ARK lies a superweapon called the Eclipse Cannon, which, when viewed from below, makes the space station resemble Professor Robotnik's face in the same manner as the Death Egg resembles his grandson.
Archie Comics
The Death Egg from Sonic Quest #1. Art by Manny Galan.
In the Archie Comics, the Death Egg has a three-issue story, fitting titled the "Death Egg Saga".
The Death Egg was a massive airborne weapon created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik in 3235. Its difference from the games in shape is that the Death Egg is actually is shaped more like an egg than a sphere. While the games were at best vague about what exactly it was the space station was supposed to do, the Archie storyline specified it as a mass-roboticizer, capable of converting all life on Mobius. Although it successfully made it airborne, the Death Egg met with destruction when Tails set it to self-destruct while Robotnik was distracted battling Sonic.[7]
The Death Egg's development began some time in mid-3235. Production of the super weapon fell behind schedule when Robotropolis was struck by a massive earthquake. Shortly afterwards however Robotnik ensured that his SWATbot work force picked up the pace and completed the Death Egg on schedule. Following the Mecha Sonic fiasco, the Death Egg was ready to ascend into the sky. Dr. Robotnik left his nephew Snively in charge of the city's reconstruction efforts (the city was almost completely destroyed when Mecha Sonic and Mecha Knuckles smashed into it causing a mini nuclear blast) while he personally oversaw the Death Egg's launch.[8]
Dr. Eggman been in hiding for the past many issues of the comic book series, but it is revealed that he is working on the latest Death Egg in issue 224. It is all part of his plan to defeat Sonic.
Fleetway Comics
The Death Egg from Sonic the Comic #45. Art by Richard Elson.
The Death Egg appears in the UK Sonic the Comic, which remained mostly true to the game portrayal, apart from specifying the Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 space-stations as seperate entities (a necessary plot device, as the total destruction of the Sonic 2 iteration had been shown in some detail within the comics). Also, the Death Egg's impact did not cause the Floating Island to splashdown into the sea.
History
The station's backstory is the same as that which appears in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the events of which occurred some time before the first issue of the series. The events of the game are alluded to in Sonic the Comic #27, "Part 2: A Tale of Tails". In particular, the Silver Sonic and Robotnik mech are known to have existed on the satellite. After Sonic defeated Robotnik in this game, the space station was abandoned.
Some time later, the Death Egg's orbit began to degrade and the Kintobor Computer projected that it would crash in the Emerald Hill Zone. Sonic and Tails returned to the space station, which was in a state of great disrepair. They also encountered a heavily damaged (but still functional) Silver Sonic, which Sonic destroyed by kicking off its head. Sonic was able to pilot the Death Egg to crash in the ocean, and the two escaped in an escape pod.[9]
Eventually, Robotnik constructed a new space station, called the Death Egg II, but it fell out of orbit on its first flight (while Robotnik was still aboard) and landed in the Ice Cap Zone on the Floating Island. The crash site was discovered by Knuckles the Echidna, whom Robotnik tricked into believing that he was a humble scientist and that Sonic was the true threat.[10] Knuckles allowed Robotnik to set up his Launch Base Zone on the Floating Island, but after discovering Robotnik's true nature[11] he sought to destroy the base, the Death Egg, and everything else Robotnik had brought to the island.[12]
Nevertheless, Robotnik continued to rebuild the Death Egg, even transporting a new thruster from his bases on Mobius.[13] This new version of the Death Egg was also able to hover at relatively low altitudes over Mobius, and was equipped with Death Rays in its eyes.[14]
When the repairs were complete, Robotnik sent Metallix to steal the Master Emerald for him to use as a power source.[15] Although Metallix was destroyed by Super Sonic, it nevertheless succeeded in delivering the Master Emerald, allowing the launch to proceed.[16] Robotnik planned to use the ultimate weapon to destroy the Emerald Hill Zone. In an attempt to stop him and recover the Master Emerald, Sonic infiltrated the Death Egg, destroying an army of EggRobos and smashing in through a window. Meanwhile, Knuckles activated the Floating Island's ancient control systems, using its limited remaining Chaos Energy to pilot the Floating Island towards the Death Egg,[17] and then fire a succession of powerful energy blasts into the space station's hull. These attacks crippled the station, and gave Sonic the distraction he needed to recover the Emerald, thereby also depriving the Death Egg of its power source.[18] The Death Egg, utterly finished, plummeted back down to the surface of Mobius, although Robotnik and his armies were able to escape.[19]
Gallery
Trivia
- The Death Egg is a blatant reference to the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's giant planet-destroying battle station from three movies of the Star Wars series: Revenge of the Sith (at the end), A New Hope, and Return of the Jedi (the incomplete second Death Star). Unlike the Death Egg, which smaller and not as armed, the Death Star is equipped with a colossal amount of weaponry, including a single superlaser capable of destroying an entire planet.
- In Sonic 2 through Sonic 3, the Death Egg's real purpose was never actually revealed until Sonic 3 and Knuckles.
- When Knuckles attacked Sonic in the Lava Reef Zone, the next act shows Sonic on a platform with the Death Egg in the background where its eyes light up and the whole place becomes covered in a white flash. When everything becomes visible again the whole Volcano is shown to be mildly active again, with pieces of the Zone becoming fragile and floating among the Lava and effectively making the Boss fight with Eggman more difficult. This suggests the Death Egg is a World Devastator and may have been used to strike fear of rebelling against Eggman. This would seem to parody the Death Star, which was made for the same purpose of striking fear in the Galaxy.
- In the boss battle of the Lava Reef Zone, and just in the Hidden Palace Zone, you can see the Death Egg in the background. It was also seen after the boss battle at Launch Base Zone.
- In Sonic X, an object called the Egg Moon resembles the Death Egg, except it's only half mechanical and it doesn't have Eggman's face.
- In Sonic OVA the Egg Generator looks kind of like the Death Egg.
- In Sonic Battle, the new Death Egg has been equipted with a Final Egg Blaster, which was used to destroy stars, but when Emerl uses it, he was going to use the laser to destroy the planet. This further shows how the Death Egg is based off of Star Wars' Death Star, which had a laser that could destroy a planet.
Notes
- ↑ The shortness of the Sonic 2's Death Egg Zone has puzzled many, particularly given that it had a full length background music programmed in, which most players get to hear for roughly four seconds before one runs into the battle chamber and the Silver Sonic boss music begins. ROM hackers allege that the Death Egg was originally planned as a full-length level; hence the full-length music. See Sonic 2 Beta for more information.
- ↑ This robot goes by many names amongst fans; Silver Sonic, Mecha Sonic, Bionic Sonic, Metal Sonic. Not helped by the fact that the US and Japanese manuals used Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic respectively. See Other Sonic robots for more details on the naming acrimony.
References
- ↑ http://www.sonicthehedgehog4.com/us/ “Sonic embarks on a new mission through West Side Island in an effort to free his friends and ensure Eggman does not obtain the 7 Chaos emeralds to fuel the Death Egg.”
- ↑ The Death Egg plummets all the way from orbit to the Floating Island after the end of Sonic 2
- ↑ End of Launch Base Zone, Sonic 3
- ↑ Sky Sanctuary Zone, Sonic & Knuckles
- ↑ Descriptive prose ripped with permission from Frozen Nitrogen's Wing Fortress Zone fic Ch3.
- ↑ Sage advice from the Sonic Retro article.
- ↑ Text reproduced from Mobius Encyclopaedia under the terms of the GFDL.
- ↑ See Archie Sonic the Hedgehog #37; Sonic Mecha Madness #1, SonicQuest Miniseries #1
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #6, "Attack on the Death Egg"
- ↑ Sonic the Summer Special (1994), "Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds", and Sonic the Comic #33, "Enter Knuckles, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #36, "Power of the Chaos Emeralds, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #37, "Robotnik's Revenge, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #43, "Badniks Bridge, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #45, "Day of the Death Egg"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #49, "Count Down to Disaster, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #50, "Count Down to Disaster, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #51, "Disaster! Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #52, "Disaster! Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #53, "Disaster! Part 3"
External Links
- Death Egg at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.
- A blow-by-blow guide to defeating the final Sonic 2 boss mecha can be found on Sonic Retro: Giant Mech.
- Sonic Drift 2 page at The Green Hill Zone has more information on all the Sonic Drift 2 tracks.
- Sonic Drift 2 page at Sonic Retro also hosts useful Drift-based factoids.
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