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The Flame Shield (フレイムバリア Fureimu Baria?, lit. "Flame Barrier"), also known as the Fire Shield, is one of the shield power-ups that appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It can be obtained by breaking item boxes with a flame or red shield symbol on them, which will then surround the playable character with a sphere-shaped bubble of flames.

With a Flame Shield, the playable character can take damage once without losing Rings or a life, perform a fast Fireball Spin Dash in the air, and not take damage from fire-based attacks and hazards, or from walking in lava pools. However, it vanishes automatically once the player enters water.

The Flame Shield was first introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. While the Flame Shield has not become as recurring power-up like the Thunder Shield, it has made some noteworthy appearances throughout the series.

Game appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

Fire Shield Thumb

The Flame Shield made its first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, its add-on continuation Sonic & Knuckles and the locked-on version Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles along with the Water Shield and Lightning Shield. In all three of the games, the Flame Shield can be obtained from Monitors with a flame mark on them. The player can also get Flame Shields from Bonus Stages by collecting an orange gumballs with a B-letter on them.

Like other shield type power-ups, when a playable character is equipped with a Flame Shield, it will protect the player from one hit worth of damage from enemy attacks and/or contact, spikes, and other environmental hazards in the Zones by keeping the player from losing Rings or a life. After blocking a damaging blow however, the Flame Shield will disappear, and the player is usually knocked slightly backwards. However, the Flame Shield is not able to protect the player from falling into bottomless pits, being squeezed by Crushers, or the time limit of completing the stage running out, all of which give an instant death. Also, if the playable character makes contact with water while equipped with the Flame Shield, the Flame Shield will automatically disappear.

While equipped with a Flame Shield, the playable character becomes invulnerable to any form of fire-related damage, such as fire-based attacks from enemies, flames from fire-spewing obstacles in the environment, and even prevents damage when walking over pools of lava.

When Sonic is using the Flame Shield, it exclusively allows the player to do a forward Fireball Spin Dash by pressing Sega Genesis A Button, Sega Genesis B Button or Sega Genesis C Button after jumping.

Besides blocking damage and granting invulnerability to fire the Flame Shield can also deflect regular energy projectile shots from Badniks, such as Bloominators, Blastoids, Spikers, and Clamers.

Sonic Generations

In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, the Flame Shield is both an equipable Skill for Classic Sonic that creates one Flame Shield once each Act, and an Item Box power-up. In this game, the Flame Shield retains the effects it had in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

The Item Boxes with the Flame Shield appear exclusively in the Challenge Acts "Flame Shield Challenge" and "With Your Powers Combined" where the player has to use it to clear the Acts. The Skill for the Flame Shield can be bought from the Skill Shop for 300 Skill Points after clearing the "Flame Shield Challenge" and costs 70 Skill Points to be equipped. To activate the Skill in gameplay, the player has to press XboxY/PSTriangleButton. After losing the shield by being attacked, the player can utilize it once again if they lose a life.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

The Flame Shield appears in the 2013 re-release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. To obtain it, the player must access the Level Select and in the "Items" category, they must switch to either "S1+S3" or "S2+S3". Some of the original Shield Monitors will then be replaced by the Flame Shield. It also appears as one of the objects that can be placed freely in Debug Mode. Its functionality remains identical to that in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles.

Sonic Lost World

The Flame Shield made another appearance in both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost World. In this game, it is called the Flame Shield.[1] In Wii U version, the Flame Shield is a power-up that can be obtained from the Miiverse, where players can share power-ups and items with one another via Miiverse.[2] In Nintendo 3DS version, it can be found in Item Boxes with a red shield mark on them. In addition, the player can also make Flame Shields in Tails' Lab using twelve Black Materials and twelve Red Materials. Once made, these handmade Flame Shields will be stored away for the player to use later in the Zones. During these Zones, the player can look up the Item Bag and select the Flame Shield to instantly bestow it onto the playable character.

It does not allow the Fire Dash, due to the Homing Attack being mapped to the same button that the Fire Dash was initially. However, it does protect against lava fountains and fireballs that are not part of an Orbinaut.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

The Flame Shield appears in the 2013 re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 where its purpose is near-identical to that in the 2013 re-release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. To enable the Flame Shield in gameplay, the player must first open the Game Config menu in the Level Select. In the Items category, the player must either highlight the second (the icon displaying the Shield with the three elemental shields) or fourth option (icon displaying Random with the three elemental shields) before starting a stage.

Sonic Mania

SMFlameShield

The Flame Shield returns in Sonic Mania, and its expansion Sonic Mania Plus, where it is referred to as the Fire Shield.[3] In this game, it retains its function from its original appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (making the player character impervious to fire and lava and enabling Sonic to perform a Mid-Air Dash).

In Green Hill Zone, should the player run over a rotating spiked bridge with the Fire Shield equipped, the bridge will burn away and allow the player to explore the area below, which can contain a helpful secret. The Fire Shield also has effects in Oil Ocean Zone, where entering a pool of oil with the Fire Shield equipped will cause the oil to catch fire. As long as the player is protected by the Fire Shield, the fire will not hurt them; without protection however, the fires will inflict damage like any other fire. Also, when using the Fire Shield in Press Garden Zone Act 2, simply touching the ice blocks will cause them to melt.

In other media

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

In the episode "Doomsday Project" of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, two floating robots use fire shields to attack Sonic.

Archie Comics

Main article: Flame Shield (Archie)
Fire Shield Archie

Hope using the Fire Shield.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Flame Shield was an invention of Hope Kintobor. When Snively Robotnik came to have Hope join his quest for world domination, Hope used the Flame Shield to make Snively leave.

Trivia

  • The Flame Shield disappears when making contact with water is similar to the Lightning Shield.

Gallery

Sprites

Gallery

Screenshots

Gallery

See also

References


Main article (Blue Sphere) · Staff · Manuals · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery · Pre-releases (prototype) · Re-releases (2001, 2005, mobile, GBA, iPod, 2013, 3D, Sega Ages)

Main article (Knuckles in Sonic 2) · Staff · Manuals · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery · Pre-releases (Nick Arcade, Simon Wai) · Re-releases (2006, Dash!, Crash!, 2013, 3D, Sega Ages)

Template:Sonic 3 & Knuckles info


Main article · Script · Staff · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery · Re-releases (Sonic X Shadow)

Main article · Script · Beta elements · Credits · Glitches · Gallery · Re-releases (PC)

Main article · Staff · Glitches · Manuals · Beta elements · Gallery · Re-releases (Plus)
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