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The Final Weapon[1] (ファイナルウェポン[2] Fainaru Wepon?) is an object that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a large battle mech/spacecraft created by Dr. Robotnik. At the climax of the Angel Island incident, Robotnik used the Final Weapon to escape the crumbling Death Egg with the Master Emerald, as a last resort. However, he was pursued by Sonic the Hedgehog, with the power of the Chaos Emeralds (or Super Emeralds) in his possession, who managed to destroy the Final Weapon and take back the Master Emerald.

Description[]

Appearance[]

The Final Weapon consists of a streamlined blue and gray spacecraft. On its rear it has three rocket exhausts, with the top and bottom ones being black-orange and the one in the middle being orange-gray. The top and bottom exhausts are connected to a large and thick body each, with each of them having a gray stripe down its midsection. Further ahead on the sides of the Final Weapon are three spherical attachments with adjustable turrets protruding from them. On the front, the Final Weapon also has two thick blue layers of armor covering the midsection and bottom of the front respectively. On the front of these two armor platings are also gray-mouthed launch tubes from where missiles are deployed. Lastly, sitting on top of the front of the Final Weapon is a dome-shaped gray metallic head with a reasonably long red nose that resembles the head of Dr. Robotnik.

Doomsday2

The Final Weapon with its outer casing shed, from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

When its blue casing is shed, the Final Weapon resembles a smaller version of the Death Egg Robot. As such, it looks like a robotic version of Dr. Robotnik, possessing a head and body that come together in an egg-shape form. Its head is gray and metallic and possesses a reasonably long red nose while its torso is red with yellow triangles on the chest and black on the bottom. It also has a pair of red and orange-black rocket attachments on its back. spherical thighs, red-armored lower legs and kneecaps and boot-like feet with gray soles. Lastly, it has a pair of arms with red-plated shoulders, gray arms, red forearms, and five-fingered gray hands with orange fingers.

Powers and abilities[]

The Final Weapon is capable of high-speed flight through space, but is not fast enough to stay ahead of Super Sonic/Hyper Sonic. In its pristine state, the Final Weapon is equipped with missile launchers, a sturdy casing that can take several of its own missiles before being blown apart, and turrets that can fire energy bullets. When its casing is shed, the Final Weapon loses many of his aforementioned armaments, but becomes able to deploy Robotnik-shaped bombs and little blue mines from its underbelly.

While all its weapons are unable to actually damage Super Sonic/Hyper Sonic, they pack enough power to at least stun him for a few precious moments.

History[]

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles[]

In Sonic & Knuckles, and the full lock-on game Sonic 3 & Knuckles, when his Death Egg battlestation was ultimately falling apart around him and on the verge of exploding, Dr. Robotnik fled from the Death Egg Zone onboard the Death Egg in the Final Weapon with the Master Emerald stored away in it, after a previous battle with Sonic. As the Final Weapon made its way through The Doomsday Zone however, Robotnik noticed Super Sonic/Hyper Sonic pursuing him. Robotnik tried to keep Sonic at bay by firing the Final Weapon's missiles at him, but Sonic soon caught up to him and began redirecting the Final Weapon's missiles back into it. When the Final Weapon could not take more hits, it seemingly began to crash and explode, only to shed its protective armor and resume its escape with the Master Emerald in its clutches. Despite this, Robotnik suffered another humiliating defeat when Sonic destroyed the unprotected Final Weapon, thus allowing the hero to reclaim the Master Emerald.

Other game appearances[]

Sonic and the Black Knight[]

In Sonic and the Black Knight, the Final Weapon appears among the winning fan art presented in the game.

Battle[]

The Final Weapon is the boss of the The Doomsday Zone in Sonic & Knuckles and the locked-on form Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It is the fifteen and final boss of Sonic & Knuckles and the twenty-seventh and final overall boss of Sonic 3 & Knuckles in Sonic's playthrough of said games. It is encountered in the The Doomsday Zone, and is fought only with Super Sonic/Hyper Sonic. If the Level Select and Debug mode cheats are enabled, it is possible to battle the Final Weapon as Hyper Tails or Super/Hyper Knuckles (though sprite graphics may glitch). In Sonic Origins, it can be fought with Super Tails with the same codes used in the original game and Sonic Origins Plus allows Super/Hyper Amy to battle the Final Weapon as well.

Boss guide[]

The Final Weapon is the final boss of the game. When beginning the battle, Sonic starts out with fifty Rings and instantly transforms into Super Sonic/Hyper Sonic (the latter's case is if all seven Super Emeralds are acquired). Because of his Super/Hyper State, Sonic's Rings steadily deplete by one Ring every second, so the player must keep picking up Rings scattered around The Doomsday Zone during the fight in order to maintain Sonic' Super/Hyper State. Pressing Sega Genesis A Button/Sega Genesis B Button/Sega Genesis C Button will make Sonic fly faster in any direction however. If Sonic's Ring count hits zero, he will lose his Super/Hyper State, plummet down the screen, and immediately lose a life. Sonic will also automatically move forward for the entire boss battle, though the player can still make him move everywhere on the screen.

During the fight, the player must be wary of asteroids, which will shatter if they Sonic touches them and can slow him down to a near halt, and missiles from Robotnik which render Sonic unable to move or collect Rings for a few moments if they hit him, as they also knock him back. Although few strikes from the missiles are unlikely to jeopardize the player's chance of success, even a slight lack of concentration can cause Sonic to collide with many obstacles and get pushed dangerously far behind. Also, the player should not delay in obtaining Rings throughout the chase.

The first section of this level prompts the player to dodge an obstacle course of asteroids. About twenty seconds into The Doomsday Zone however, the player also has to dodge an onslaught of missiles fired into Sonic's way from the right side of the screen in barrages. These missiles must be dodged in a slalom-like fashion. Sonic can also stay between the pairs of missiles (or avoid them completely) as he moves up and down. Rings occasionally show up in groups of three or six, buying Sonic valuable time if any are collected, although groups of eight to twelve Rings may appear at the top and the bottom of the Zone.

After chasing after the Final Weapon for about a minute, the player will catch up to it. Once there, the player will engage it in a patch with no asteroids or Rings floating about. While Sonic flies around it, the Final Weapon makes use of its launcher on its bottom, which constantly fires three homing missiles at Sonic at a time, and its turrets, which fire unguided bullets in straight lines rather often. Neither of these weapons will cause Sonic harm, but they can each temporarily immobilize him if they hit him, thus hindering his efforts to destroy the Final Weapon and make him vulnerable to more attacks. The Final Weapon itself is completely impervious to any direct attacks by Sonic's Super/Hyper transformation. Instead, the player must guide the homing missiles into the face on the Final Weapon, all while avoiding the heavy ammunition it shoots at a constant pace. To do this, the player must maneuver properly and quickly, since Rings do not appear in this phase. Also, whenever the Final Weapon takes a missile to the head or loses all three missiles, it will fire more missiles to replace them. Once the Final Weapon has sustained eight of its own missiles to the head, it will burst into flames and fall off-screen before exploding, initiating the second phase of this boss fight.

Soon after exploding, the Final Weapon will return to the screen in its Death Egg Robot-based form, clearly carrying the Master Emerald in its hands, but will also now be vulnerable to direct attacks from Sonic. In this phase, floating asteroids and Rings will also begin appearing in the Doomsday Zone again. From here, the player must continue to follow the Final Weapon. However, it will not be easy, as the Final Weapon will use the environment and attacks to defend itself: in addition to having asteroids to avoid again so not to be slowed by them, the Final Weapon will also release Robotnik-shaped bombs if overtaken from above, and spiked blue mines from its belly if approached from below. Both of these attacks will immobilize and slow down Sonic for a few moments if they hit him, as with missiles. To defeat the Final Weapon in this phase, Sonic must once again catch up to the Final Weapon and touch its body eight times. This task should be done quickly, as the player may have trouble regaining Rings faster than losing them, especially while avoiding another wave of asteroids and the Final Weapon's explosives while trying to catch up and attack it. Whenever Sonic hits the Final Weapon in this state however, he will bounce back and become immobilized for a few seconds.

Upon being defeated, the Final Weapon will ultimately explode and release the Master Emerald. Immediately after that, Sonic will take the Emerald and the game will end. Completing this boss as Super Sonic will unlock the Good Ending, and Hyper Sonic will unlock the True Ending.

Trivia[]

Hiddenpalacesk

The mural in Hidden Palace Zone, from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

  • Interestingly, within Hidden Palace Zone, a mural in the background during the duel with Knuckles depicts an abstract version of the Final Weapon battle in Doomsday Zone, foreshadowing it.
  • The battle with the Final Weapon in Sonic 3 & Knuckles marks the first time super transformation is required to defeat a Sonic series game's final boss, starting the trend of its usage that occurred since Sonic Adventure.
  • In the 2022 remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles in Sonic Origins, if playing as Hyper Tails, the Super Flickies are actually able to automatically attack and damage the second form of the Final Weapon, although Tails will still get knocked back even when attacking the Final Weapon this way.
  • The Final Weapon, alongside Sonic/Tails' versions of Mecha Sonic Mk. II's battle, are the only major bosses in Sonic 3 & Knuckles that are not present in Boss Rush mode on Sonic Origins.
  • The music theme of the Final Weapon battle is shared with Knuckles' second phrase against the final battle with Mecha Sonic Mk. II.
  • In the original release, if Super/Hyper Knuckles defeats the Final Weapon via Debug Mode, the screen will immediately end and show the "SEGA" logo, as Knuckles was not originally intended to battle it in his playthrough.

Music[]

Name Artist(s) Version Length Music Track
"Last Boss" Sega Sonic & Knuckles/Sonic 3 & Knuckles 2:01
Sonic & Knuckles Collection "FM Synthesizer" 1:54
"General MIDI" 1:51

Video[]

Sonic_&_Knuckles_The_Doomsday_Zone_Final_Boss

Sonic & Knuckles The Doomsday Zone Final Boss


In other media[]

Books and comics[]

Sonic the Comic[]

Doomsday Zone Mech in STC

The Final Weapon, from Sonic the Comic #53. Art by Richard Elson.

In the Sonic the Comic series and its spin-offs published by Fleetway Editions, the Final Weapon appeared in Sonic the Comic #53. In this media, Dr. Robotnik used it to confront Sonic on the Floating Island and get back the Master Emerald following the destruction of the Death Egg II. However, Sonic savagely beat the Final Weapon and managed to push it off the Floating Island. However, the mech's jet pack ensured Robotnik survived his crash-landing on Mobius.

IDW Publishing[]

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing, a shuttle closely resembling the Final Weapon is hijacked by Miles "Tails" Prower and Belle the Tinkerer. Found in the hangar of Eggperial City and guarded by group of Guards Badniks, Sonic, Tails and Belle attempt to use it to escape from Dr. Eggman's city through the upper air. Much for his frustration, Eggman sends Metal Sonic intercept Sonic and his friends and succeeds of damaging the shuttle severely and sending it crashing back into the city. Despite this though, Sonic and his friends survived from the crash.[3]

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. Flynn, Ian; Sega (8 December 2021). Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia. Dark Horse Books. p. 55. ISBN 978-1506719276. "Boss: Final Weapon. First you must chase down the outer ship housing while dodging a barrage of missiles. Guide these back to strike the cockpit while avoiding a hail of laser fire."
  2. (in Japanese) ソニックメガコレクション最強攻略ガイド. Shogakukan. 1 March 2003. p. 189. ISBN 978-4091060907.
  3. Sonic the Hedgehog #51, "Escaping the Empire"

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