U78-X/Diablon is a vehicle that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is the prototype[1] of an energy-charged weapon[2] built by the Guardian Units of Nations and is one of the mini final bosses after the last dark mission in Shadow the Hedgehog. It took the form of a large red mecha that was directly or remotely piloted by the Commander and fought alongside Sonic against Shadow in possible outcomes of the Black Arms' invasion.
History[]
The Commander used Diablon to try and avenge those who died on the Space Colony ARK (Including Maria Robotnik and his family)[3] by fighting alongside Sonic in the hopes of taking down Shadow, whom he viewed as responsible for the incident on the ARK and a death of his sister Maria and his family. The duo fought well, but they were both defeated at the Ultimate Life form's hands by Shadow's exploitation of Diablon's weaknesses.
GUN Fortress[]
After destroying the three Mother Computers in GUN's last stronghold on the entire planet, Sonic and Diablon confront Shadow in one last attempt to stop him from fully realizing the Black Arms' ambitions. After Sonic refuses to let Shadow go any further and the Commander blames Shadow for the ARK incident and a death of his sister Maria Robotnik and his family and vows to destroy him, Shadow simply smirks and states his intentions to bring order to humans, and to make them "pay with their lives" for their crimes.
After Shadow defeats the duo, his inner turmoil drives him insane, and he regresses into the living weapon of mass destruction that Professor Gerald Robotnik reprogrammed him to be. He vows to use the Chaos Emeralds to destroy the Earth and laughs maniacally as he stands over a beaten Sonic.
Black Comet[]
Sonic and Diablon confront Shadow after he fights off GUN's counterattack on the Black Comet. Like in GUN Fortress, Sonic refuses to let Shadow go any further and the Commander blames Shadow for what happened aboard the ARK; the death of his sister Maria Robotnik and his family 50 years ago, but Shadow smirks as he prepares to serve "justice" to humanity.
After the duo fail to compensate for the counterattack's failure, as Shadow stands over beaten Sonic, he becomes Black Doom's second-in-command, believing Black Doom's views that humans are evil. He vows to use the Chaos Emeralds to conquer Earth and turn it into a dark empire, before laughing maniacally.
Final Haunt[]
Shadow is confronted by Sonic and Diablon after turning on the Black Comet's Defensive Energy Shields, sealing off Black Doom's inner sanctum from the impending counterattack by GUN, with Sonic questioning Shadow on why would he turn against Earth at the last minute and help the Black Arms when their defeat was seemingly imminent. Shadow then replies that he was not necessarily "siding" with the Black Arms, but is doing this to oppose Sonic himself to prove his superiority by defeating both him and the Black Arms.
After battling the duo and emerging victorious, Shadow stands over a defeated Sonic, who in turn muses that he "didn't think [Shadow] had it in him". With the Chaos Emeralds in tow, Shadow proclaims himself to be the strongest hedgehog in the world, and laughs triumphantly.
Powers and abilities[]
Diablon was fitted with an electromagnetic barrier that, when activated, deflected most projectiles, including firearm shots,[4] laser blasts and even physical blows. In terms of weaponry, it had a laser cannon secured on its forehead that could fire long-ranged laser beams in any direction,[5] and also had a chargeable Antimatter Cannon[6] (反物質粒子砲 Hanbusshitsu Ryūshi Hō?, lit. "Antimatter Particle Cannon") which could destroy easily damaged objects in a large dome-shaped radius around Diablon after charging up enough energy.[7] Apart from that, the only other abilities Diablon was seen to use were hovering and moving around in the air by using its jet boosters, and swiping at enemies with its hands. It is stated in game that Diablon was a prototype and possibly not yet fully equipped for combat before being called into action against the Black Arms and Shadow.
Weaknesses[]
Though Diablon's electromagnetic barrier could deflect various assaults, when the barrier was shut down so Diablon itself could strike its foe, it was considered "nothing but mere scrap iron",[1] leaving it wide open to firearm and physical attacks. The head appeared to be its weak point, as Black Doom ordered Shadow to strike it.[8] It was also vulnerable to Chaos Blast attacks, even with its barrier in place. However, at the beginning of the fight, the head is too high to reach by simply jumping, so players must try and use the Homing Attack when Sonic jumps to propel Shadow high enough to hit the robot's head.
Battle[]
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Diablon, accompanied by Sonic himself, is one of the three main final bosses, alongside Black Doom and the Egg Dealer. It is fought at the end of GUN Fortress, Black Comet, and Final Haunt after completing the Dark mission in any of these as Shadow. The player's guide during this battle is Doom's Eye.
Boss guide[]
The player must use the Homing Attack on Sonic while Sonic is jumping to bounce off Sonic to reach and attack Diablon for the first quarter of the fight. Once around 25% of Diablon's health is depleted, its repulsers will fail, allowing the player to attack without having to hit Sonic first. Diablon will use more attacks once on the ground either by grabbing at the player at close range or firing a laser and will still have its electromagnetic shield around it to protect it when it is not attacking. It is vulnerable as it attacks, so the player must Diablon while it is attacking. When the Commander says "Charge complete," it will prepare to use the antimatter cannon, which the player can avoid by running out of the indicated area representing the attack's range. Sonic will try to use the Homing Attack on the player in the meantime which the player can jump to repel this. When the Dark Gauge is full, the player can either use the Chaos Blast can pierce Diablon's shield, or if the player has a weapon, they can make use of Dark Shadow's invincibility and unlimited ammunition to quickly damage Diablon the moment it lowers its shield to attack.
Ranking[]
Rank | Time |
---|---|
≤ 4:00 | |
4:30 | |
5:00 | |
6:00 | |
> 6:00 |
Music[]
Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
---|---|---|---|
"Boss: Diablon" | Jun Senoue | 1:52 |
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The pre-battle cutscenes in the GUN Fortress and Black Comet versions are almost exactly the same. The only differences between them are the location and characters' voice delivery.
- The English localization of Shadow the Hedgehog leaves it ambiguous whether the Commander directly pilots Diablon or not. In the original Japanese, he states that he will board it in the cutscene before GUN Fortress.
- In all three endings in which Diablon was defeated, it was seen disabled but intact.
- If the player attempts to shoot Sonic, he will strafe to avoid the gunfire.
- Sometimes near the end of the battle, Sonic will "hide" under Diablon and not attack any longer. This may explain why he is seen lying barely underneath it in the ending cutscenes.
- Diablon's name is derived from the Spanish word for devil, diablo. Coincidentally, whenever Diablon takes a swipe at Shadow, the Commander says "Hold still, you devil!"
- This is the second final boss in the series to be comprised of an upper torso and arms, as the first was Big Arms from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
- In Final Haunt version of the boss fight, when the Commander says, "Energy charge commencing!" the subtitles read "Beginning energy charge!"
- The Final Haunt version of the fight is the only time in the game Shadow has dialogue at the beginning of the fight.[9]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon. "Black Doom: Without the electromagnetic barrier in place, the prototype weapon is nothing but mere scrap iron."
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon. "Black Doom: That energy-charged weapon is something of a nuisance."
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Black Comet (Dark). Cutscene: After Black Comet. "Commander: YOU! You're the one that destroyed the ARK and killed everyone on it! It's time to settle this once and for all!"
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. "Black Doom: That weapon has an electromagnetic barrier that deflects firearm attacks."
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon. "Black Doom: The laser weapon can fire in any direction."
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon. "Commander: Antimatter cannon, fire!"
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon. "Commander: Energy charge commencing!"
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon. "Black Doom: Disable the barrier's generator, and aim for the head!"
- ↑ Sega Studio USA (15 November 2005). Shadow the Hedgehog. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic and Diablon (Final Haunt). "Shadow: Alright, Sonic! Defend yourself!"
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