E-123 Omega/Miscellaneous

In other media

Archie Comics

Main articles: E-123 Omega (Archie) and E-123 Omega (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

Omega appears in the continuity of Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. He first appeared in issue 3 of the spin-off comic Sonic Universe in February 2009. This version of Omega was activated by Dr. Eggman in order to track down and destroy E-102 Gamma. Omega, the "walking arsenal", battled Gamma's sleeker "assassin" model. Before Omega destroyed Gamma, Gamma uploaded some computer code to Omega that Gamma referred to as his "soul". The feedback from this transfer made Omega uncertain of his purpose. He subsequently joined Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat as members of G.U.N.'s Team Dark, dedicating himself to battling the Eggman Empire.

Reception

Omega has a mixed reception from fans. Some see Omega simply as a bad remake of E-102 Gamma, that he is just a filler for Team Dark, saying that both Gamma and his story are much more complex than Omega, although some like that because they think quite a few Sonic characters are too complex, like Shadow the Hedgehog for example. Some see him as a fun character not really needed to the plot and acts as a sort of comedy relief to the games he's in. Fans also think of Omega as not being very developed because he seems to add nothing to the series besides trying to kill Eggman endlessly.^[7] Others point out that this is realistic since he has little history and a lower capacity for personality than other characters because he is a robot.

After his debut in the Archie Comics, some criticized Omega seeming too human and less robotic and felt him gaining a "soul" was rather cheesy, but others felt that it was better than how he got his sentience in the games and made him actually have an appreciation for the feelings he had, rather than just gaining them out of anger.^[8] It should be noted that this criticism is slightly hypocritical, seeing as Omega was criticized for lacking a personality in the games and then for gaining one in the comics.

All in all, Omega is a character who has a little fan base, but few people view the character in a negative manner.

Performances

The recordings of Omega's voice actors are all edited with audio programs to give him a more robotic voice, but the performances are different and sometimes the program used on his voice is changed.

When Taiten Kusunoki voices Omega, he does it in a deep, monotonous voice that sounds even more robotic and distorted than the English voice actors. The only exception to this is Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), where his natural voice comes through much more strongly due to the change in audio editing and the only difference is that his voice is echoed. He talks more slowly in the game, most likely to better sync with Omega's slower movements.

Omega's first English voice actor, Jon St. John, gave Omega a deep, monotone yet naturally paced voice (some of his clips were later recycled for Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games).

When Jeff Kramer briefly took over for Shadow the Hedgehog, he spoke slower as Omega, presumably to make him sound more robotic, and has a slightly more aggressive tone.

Maddie Blaustein's performance in Sonic the Hedgehog incorporated the use of a different voice program, so Omega's voice was high-pitched and echoed instead of deep and layered. When she voiced him in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, the original voice program was put back in to use and her performance closely mirrored that of Jeff Kramer (whose recycled voice clips made up the majority of Omega's speaking lines).

Vic Mignogna assumed the role in 2010, debuting in the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, where he gave Omega a slower-paced performance similar to Kramer's using a slightly different version of Omega's voice program. In Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, his performance was radically different: he spoke in a faster-paced manner, but with a much deeper and more robotic tone of voice than any of his previous English voice actors. As of Sonic Forces, though, his performance is much different: In Episode Shadow, he speaks in a faster-paced manner like Jon St. John, but with a lighter tone of voice than the one in the Olympic Games. In the main story, when he reappears against Infinite, he once again speaks with a slower-paced voice.

Aaron LaPlante has assumed the role of Omega in Team Sonic Racing. His performance uses Omega's voice program from Sonic Forces, and features a normal paced voice with an aggressive tone.

Theme songs

• In Sonic Heroes, Omega's theme song is called "This Machine". This theme is shared with Team Dark.
• In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Omega's theme song is called "Rival: Omega".^[9] This theme is played while going against Omega.
• In Team Sonic Racing, Omega's theme is "Team Ultimate: Omega", a remix of "This Machine" that plays during his Team Ultimate.

Quotes

Trivia

• In Sonic Heroes, Omega has a purple aura around him while jumping. In Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Runners and Sonic Runners Adventure, it is red. In all his other playable appearances, he has no aura and simply jumps without spinning, some times by using his jets.
• In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Omega's hover ability can be exploited to fly without descending by repeatedly tapping the jump button instead of simply holding it, though this could be due to a glitch.
• Omega is the only playable character in Sonic Heroes to not have appeared in the anime Sonic X or its comic spin-off.
• It is possible that Omega is not powered by an animal like the rest of the E-Series robots (with the exception of E-121 Phi and E-100 Alpha) as he was in standby mode for over two hundred years in Sonic the Hedgehog, therefore any normal animal would have died (although he does mention something about a back-up power source).^[10] Archie Comics writer Ian Flynn has speculated that Omega's power comes from the Power Cores featured in Sonic Heroes.
• In the Xbox 360 version of Sonic the Hedgehog, in the scene where Shadow and Omega return from the future, if the player looks closely above the purple portal he/she can see Omega on top of it before he comes out of it. This is one of the numerous glitches found within the game.^[11]
• Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood marks the first time he's ever been playable on a handheld Sonic game, the first time he has not had a voice actor in a game he's playable in, the first time he's ever been playable outside a main series console game, and his first appearance on the Nintendo DS.
• After the player wins a battle with Omega in his/her team in Sonic Chronicles, he turns his upper body around and the stripe on his torso is replaced by a thin line.
• The position of the capital Omega symbol (Ω) on Omega's shoulder has changed throughout the series. In Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, the symbol is on the front of his left shoulder and back of his right,^[12] in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) only one is on the front of his left and in Sonic Chronicles it's on both sides of his left and right shoulders.^[13] As of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Omega's symbols have been returned to their original place, but in Sonic Colors it keeps moving due to Omega only having a single still image that is paralleled to represent him facing an opposite direction. Most of the time, he faces to the left, however, and on that side his symbol is in the correct spot.
• During any battle in Charyb's lair when it's flooded, the player can see air bubbles coming out of Omega even though he does not breathe. It is possible that he is treated as a living thing.
• The term "meatbag", one that Omega used on several occasions in Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood, is well known for being used by HK-47 who debuted in the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in 2003, another game developed by Bioware. Coincidentally, Omega and HK-47 made their worldwide video game debuts in the same year. They also believe themselves superior to other robots and like to participate in acts of violence. It should also be noted that since 1999, "meatbag" has been used repeatedly by Bender, another robot, of the sci-fi animated sitcom Futurama.
• Omega's first English voice actor, Jon St. John, was also the voice of Big the Cat and Duke Nukem from the series of the same name. By coincidence, Duke Nukem is yet another "gun toting" and destruction loving character.
• Omega is the only "Amigo" character in Sonic the Hedgehog to fight in a boss level (Mephiles the Dark in the Flame Core level along with Shadow and the Egg Genesis in White Acropolis in Team Attack Amigo).
• Omega, Cream the Rabbit, and all three members of Team Chaotix are the only recurring playable characters to not get their own personal theme song.
• Omega was featured in Sonic and the Black Knight on three pieces of winning artwork made by fans.^[14]
• In Sonic Heroes, Omega is the only Power Type character who is not organic, as well as the only playable character who was introduced in the same game.
• In Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood, Omega is one of the four characters to not be affected by the brainwashing of the Voxai Overmind, most likely because he is a robot.
• Omega is the only ally in Shadow the Hedgehog which does not appear in the final story or the intro of the game. Subsequently, he is also the only companion character not given computer generated character art.
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games was Omega's first appearance on a Nintendo Wii game.
• While Omega is not playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, the Mii suit designed after him (which mimics Omega's stats) reveals that Omega would, surprisingly, be classified as a Skill type, despite Omega being faced in a speed-orientated event and being classified as a power character in Sonic Heroes. Interestingly, Omega's stats are the same as Eggman.
• In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Omega is the only character with equipment unique to him.
• In the Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, when Omega runs low on stamina, he can be seen sweating despite being a robot and therefore not having sweat. It is most likely used for casually reference, or comic relief.
• Omega seems to have significant knowledge of the Shadow Androids Eggman was employing, as he immediately assumed Shadow was one of them when first laying eyes on him and also told Rouge that they were made through cloning when she discovered a room full of them.
• Omega seems to speak differently in the games. In Sonic Heroes, Omega could speak in complete English. In Sonic the Hedgehog, he could speak English, but mostly said computer commands. In Sonic Colors, all he said was computer language or incomplete English.
  • Omega's voice was also significantly different from his previous portrayals in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, sounding much more high-pitched and robotic, relying on echoing filters rather than ring modulation and flanging. Many of the Western players of Sonic the Hedgehog blamed this on Omega's new voice actor, the late Maddie Blaustein,^[15] and criticized her performance.^[16][17] Maddie Blaustein later clarified the portrayal change was according to SEGA's direction.^[18] Blaustein would later posthumously voice a few select lines of Omega's in Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games with the rest of his voice lines provided by an uncredited Jeff Kramer, whose lines were recycled from Shadow the Hedgehog. Blaustein's lines in this game were much more accurate to the sound of the voices from the previous English voice actors.
• While using a glitch, the player can get Omega into Shadow's section of Wave Ocean, and even complete the stage as Omega. Sonic and Tails can get there also, using various glitches.
• Based on Omega's statement in Shadow the Hedgehog, on Expert Mode in the stages Mad Matrix and Lava Shelter, he appears to have a strong desire to prove that he is stronger than Shadow.
• Omega has the capital Omega symbol (Ω) painted on the front of his left shoulder, in contrast to all the other E-100s, which had lowercase Greek letters.
• Omega is one of two characters who have Sonic Channel artwork identical to their first renders, the other one being Gamma. Coincidentally, both characters are robots who were created by Dr. Eggman and then turned against him.
• When Omega talks in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, his text is all in uppercase letters to convey robotic speech. In other games such as Sonic Heroes, Sonic Colors and the Mario & Sonic franchise, Omega's speech is written in standard text.
• Omega is the character in the Sonic series with the highest revealed weight.
• When looking at the Speed Highway in the White Space in Sonic Generations, there is a sign saying "E-123 Omega Road".

• Omega's rotary cannons are often presented inconsistently. In Sonic Heroes, they are depicted as being silver and short with six barrels. In Sonic the Hedgehog (if they are meant to be the same weapon), they are depicted as being much longer, black with a green stripe and now have only four barrels. In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, they are back to their original length but are now gunmetal grey and only have five barrels. Whether all these depictions are meant to be different weapons or it is simply artistic error is yet to be seen.
• In Sonic Heroes, Omega's armor has a reflective gloss finish to it during the pre-rendered cutscenes and in his official artwork. If one looks closely, they will notice what appears to be a surgical lighthead reflecting off of his chassis. This is likely a model used by the animation team to represent the light sources and was never meant to be viewed on screen.

References