Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
Lyric the Last Ancient[2] (リリック Ririkku?) is an antagonist in the Sonic Boom series. He is the last of a benevolent race called the Ancients, but went mad with power and turned on his peers to create a world of twisted metal and robots using the power of his people's crystals.[2][3] Before he could carry out his nefarious deeds, however, he was imprisoned. Centuries later, Lyric was freed and resumed his plans, but was defeated by Sonic and his crew.
Concept and creation[]
Lyric is supposed to be an extreme embodiment of everything the Sonic franchise has come to stand for surrounding its central conflict of nature versus technology, with Lyric representing the love of technology. According to Bob Rafei, the CEO of Big Red Button Entertainment, the concept of the main villain involved many creatures, including an owl and mechanized owl, until he decided that "the snake design really fit" and was compelling for Big Red Button Entertainment. Lyric parallels the role of the snake in the Biblical Garden of Eden, and it was then decided to make the villain of the Sonic Boom continuity a snake; it represented dark sides and evil things, the opposite of Sonic's can-do heroic attitude.[4]
Appearance[]
Lyric is a giant and monstrous rattlesnake with olive green scales, a light green jaw and a pointy snout with two prominent nostrils. He also has several sharp teeth, unlike real snakes, and eyes with black round irises and light green sclera.
Lyric wears a sophisticated[3] reddish-brown body armor on the upper section of his body which provides him with a torso. It is spherical in shape with three ring segments on the lower section, a glass sphere around Lyric's head with a silver frame that connects on his back by three thinner frames, two round antennas on his back, a blue button on the chest, and a pair of arms with ball joints and three-fingered hands. He also has a grey rattle-like object on the tip of his tail that resembles his hands.
History[]
Games[]
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric[]
In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Lyric was a member of the Ancients, a group who are devoted to peacefully controlling the world’s resources.[2] At that time, Lyric worked to unlock the power of the Chaos Crystals, but his experiments made him sick, and the Ancients' attempts to heal him with organic medicines had failed, forcing Lyric to build a robotic suit for himself to survive. Blaming the Ancients for his condition, Lyric grew convinced that only technology could be trusted and that it should be the dominant force in the world. Soon driven mad by power, Lyric turned on his fellow Ancients and took control of their resources. Building an army of Destruction Troops and Sentinels programmed to obey his every command, Lyric sought to destroy everything organic on the planet and create a world of metal which he would rule,[2] sparking a war against his peers.
Just before Lyric could successfully take over,[2] he found the Ancients' map to the hidden Chaos Crystals which he needed to power his army. However, as Lyric reviewed his plans with his creation Q-N-C, a rogue MAIA unit hijacked a Sentinel and trashed his facility. Lyric was then confronted by Sonic (who had come from the future) who trapped Lyric in his own base, allowing the last surviving Ancients to imprison him in a tomb where he was to remain frozen forever, though not before Lyric left his Destruction Troops behind for someone to find and thereby set him free to learn their secrets.[5] Lyric thus waited in prison plotting his revenge, though he began to give up hope as the years passed.[2]
A thousand years later, Lyric was accidentally awoken by Sonic (who had yet to meet Lyric at that point) and his crew. Knowing Sonic's tricks, Lyric made him break his restrains which he used to briefly constrict the crew. Fleeing his tomb, Lyric escaped Team Sonic to look for his map to the Crystals and continue his plans. When his search proved fruitless, Lyric came face-to-face with Dr. Eggman, who tried to make him hand over his technological secrets with Lyric's own robots. However, Lyric overrode Dr. Eggman's controls over his troops, forcing Dr. Eggman to offer him a partnership and help stop Team Sonic. Despite his infuriation with Dr. Eggman, Lyric allowed this and sent him out to find his map, which he suspected Team Sonic withheld.
When Dr. Eggman reported to Lyric that Team Sonic had seemingly died, Lyric had anticipated his failure and sent Driller Worms to find the Crystals. When he found one destroyed by the still-living Team Sonic, Lyric decided to look for Sonic instead, knowing that since he sought the Crystals, he just had to wait for him to find them. During Dr. Eggman and Lyric's search, they found Team Sonic and chased them down. Losing them thanks to Dr. Eggman, Lyric decided to dissolve their "partnership." Dr. Eggman, seeking to betray Lyric, called in Metal Sonic, but Lyric took control of the robot and had him drive Dr. Eggman off before upgrading Metal Sonic and making him search for the Crystals. Later, while salvaging components, Lyric faced Dr. Eggman in his mech which Lyric could not control. When the mech failed to hit him though, Lyric mockingly left Dr. Eggman.
Eventually, Lyric ambushed Team Sonic with his troops after they got all the Crystals and made them surrender them when he threatened to kill Sonic. Regardless, Lyric still attacked Sonic, leaving him buried in rubble. At his lair, Lyric activated his Sentinel army with the Crystals when Sonic arrived, having survived the onslaught, with his team. Failing to taunt Sonic with his reliance on his team, Lyric fought them. As he was losing, Lyric trapped Team Sonic with their Enerbeams, but got distracted by a shot from Dr. Eggman in his mech. Lyric still proclaimed victory, but was wrapped by Sonic with an Enerbeam, who then disposed of his control device, thus ruining his plans for good. Lyric has not been seen since then.
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal[]
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Lyric was a member of the Ancients, a race devoted to peacefully controlling the world’s resources. Driven mad by power and obsessed with the Lost Crystal of Power, Lyric turned on his fellow Ancients and took control of the resources. Building an army of robots programmed to obey his every command, Lyric set out to destroy everything organic and create a world of twisted metal and robots, with him as its ruler.[2] Just before he could successfully take over,[2] Lyric launched an attack on the last surviving Ancients to seize the Lost Crystal and gain omnipotence, but the Ancients shattered the Crystal and using its fragments to imprison him. Lyric thus waited in prison plotting his revenge, though he began to give up hope as the years passed.[2]
5,000 years later, Lyric escaped and began searching for the Crystal Shards after retrieving his Destruction Troops. During this, he met Shadow the Hedgehog whom impressed him so much that he made Shadow his slave using a Mind Control Device when he refused to serve him. Not long after, Lyric learned Amy Rose had invaluable knowledge about the whereabouts of the Crystal Shard. In his eagerness, he ambushed her in some ruins.[6] When Amy refused to help, Lyric disabled her with a Mind Control Device. As he took his leave, Lyric saw Sonic on Amy's AVA where he introduced himself and his plans to rip Amy's knowledge out of her before leaving, certain Sonic was no threat.
While peeling Amy's mind, Lyric sensed he lost control over Shadow to Team Sonic and contacted them over a hologram, warning them that he would be a god once he got the information he needed from Amy and destroy them. However, as Sonic continued to persist, Lyric grew increasingly infuriated with him, something he told Amy as he worked on her. Not long after, Team Sonic freed Amy and they cornered Lyric for a final showdown on his fleet where Sonic announced that he was unbeatable with his team behind him. Lyric thus trapped Sonic's friends and faced Sonic one-on-one but was defeated. Regardless, Lyric summoned a cannon to kill the heroes, only for it to get destroyed by Shadow. As Lyric was sent flying by a vengeful Shadow, Sonic opened a hatch on the fleet, making Lyric fall down from the sky.
Personality[]
Lyric is an ruthless, short tempered, dangerous, pitiless and remorseless snake that is devoid of any sense of compassion and will do anything to accomplish his goals, even if it means taking the lives of countless innocents. At his core, Lyric is one who relishes death and destruction as he would slither in glee at the prospect of destroying everyone on the planet.
Lyric's most prominent traits are his deep-seeded hatred for organics and love of technology. Extremely tech-savvy,[3] he loathes organics for their unreliability and considers them no more than useless wastes of carbon. This has lead him to adopt the philosophy that technology is the only thing that can be trusted. As his hatred evolved into rage, Lyric became a strict person of technology with no care for the environment or other living creatures, and made it his mission to wipe out all organic life and remake the planet into a "glorious world of metal", completely blind to the balance needed between technology and the environment.
Lyric is usually very serious and threatening, yet composed and collected, and has almost no tolerance for failure. Rather than relying on trust, he rules his minions by fear and only has them around for as long as they serve his interests; after that, he will dispose of them without mercy. While he is willing to make deals with others lower than himself, Lyric has no trouble breaking his promises or lying about them, like when he had his troops attack Sonic despite promising not to if he got the Crystals, showcasing a complete lack of honor. Likewise, Lyric has also some sardonic and sarcastic wit, taunting Sonic with his predictability following their second encounter and calling the Eggman Mech "impressive" after it failed to hit him. Lyric is also an intelligent mastermind[3] and schemer, setting up a contingency plan for his imprisonment and letting Team Sonic collect the Crystals for then to steal them. When pushed to the edge however, he will snap into a savage rage and respond with animal-like ferocity.
Lyric is extremely power-hungry, more so than Eggman, and his lust for power has driven him to insanity.[2] He will not settle with anything less than absolute control over the world or even nigh-omnipotence and will go to any lengths to achieve it. Obsessed with the power of his people's Crystals and convinced that they are his by right, Lyric is incredibly arrogant, so much that he thinks himself unstoppable, even when on the verge of defeat. Lyric has also proven himself very vengeful, spending his several centuries in his prison to plot his revenge,[2] and will not consider his business with others to be over before he has personally annihilated them and everything they care about.
Powers and abilities[]
Described as a formidable enemy and a force to be reckoned with, Lyric is the strongest enemy Team Sonic have faced to date.[2][3] Additionally, he was the first person to dodge Sonic's spin attack, suggesting a high level of fighting skill. However, this feat is somewhat downplayed as he was already familiar with the attack when Sonic first used it on him.
Lyric's body is fused with a sophisticated robotic body armor of steel, which allows him to him carry out his nefarious deeds. Physically, it has enough strength to create shockwaves by hitting the ground. It also contains a computer-like device that grants Lyric limited technopathy; with but a press on the button on his torso, he can take control of anything electronic around him, as long as it is not manually controlled. He lost this ability after Sonic discarded the device behind it. Additionally, Lyric's fists can be dethatched to fire them at his foes, his armor's antennas can generate a protective force-field and shoot electrical bolts, and his helmet can show detailed heads-up displays for operating his robots. Due to being merged with Lyric's body, his armor also drastically increases Lyric's lifespan, allowing him to stay alive for several millennia.[3][4]
Lyric is able to emit lasers[1] in various ways which are powerful enough to blow a large hole in a stone wall. He can shoots blasts from the palms of his hands, summon pillars of beams from the sky, release energy bombs and beams from his tail tip, and even generate a barrage of lasers in midair. He can also use an ability similar to telekinesis which lets him move boulders at the size of large houses, and he is capable of levitation that lets him move around at speeds rivaling Team Sonic's running speed. It is unverified if any of these skills are due to Lyric's cybernetic armor or natural powers that he already possesses.
Lyric has a genius-level intellect, having proven himself a technological mastermind and a master of robotics.[1] His remarkable skills as an engineer are best evidenced by the armies of robots he has made for himself, the basest of which were so advanced that even Dr. Eggman had a hard time figuring them out, and his own cybernetic armor which he invented to keep himself alive, ironically implying some biological knowledge as well. He also has good deduction skills, able to quickly figure out that it was Sonic who stole his map. Also, as a reptile, he has the natural ability to regenerate his body parts. Also, even without his cybernetics, Lyric has impressive physical strength; with a single swipe of his tail, he could shatter a stone wall.
Equipment[]
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Lyric has a number of Mind Control Devices on him. When put on a victim, this device allows Lyric to control the mind of a person by will alone and reveal their thoughts. This gives his victims a somewhat robotic behavior.
Relationships[]
The Ancients[]
Some of Lyric's oldest and most hated foes are his own race, the Ancients. In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, when he fell ill from his experiments and had to turn himself into a cyborg, Lyric blamed the Ancients for not warning him and being unable to help him. This set him on his path to destroy the planet. As the Ancients tried to stop him, Lyric turned against his peers and began a war with them, dead-set on annihilating them and everything they held dear. While Lyric managed to destroy most of them, he was trapped by Sonic, allowing the last Ancients to imprison him.
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Lyric hated the Ancients for their refusal to use the limitless power of the Lost Crystal of Power, making him view them as frightened and weak old fools. Believing the Crystal was his by right, as he dared to use it otherwise, Lyric betrayed his fellow Ancients and almost wiped them out. However, before he could achieve total victory, the last surviving Ancients destroyed the Crystal and imprisoned him, an act that Lyric would curse them for even five thousand years later.
Sonic the Hedgehog[]
In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Lyric had a very antagonistic relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog and considered him the one true thorn in his side. Lyric first met Sonic in his facility, where Sonic went back in time after meeting Lyric in the present. Telling Lyric they had "unfinished business", Sonic trapped him for the Ancients. His plans ruined; Lyric developed a deadly grudge at Sonic which would fester for centuries.
After Team Sonic accidently released Lyric, Lyric claimed they both had "unfinished business" (though Sonic had not met him at this point) and mocked Sonic as he predicted his attack and left him and his friends to rot in his tomb. However, Team Sonic escaped, and Lyric would grow more infuriated with him as he kept disrupting his plans. When he thought he had killed Sonic, Lyric would finally deem their business finished. When Sonic returned though, Lyric tried to taunt him with his weakness, but failed and was taken down by Team Sonic, with the final blow being dealt by Sonic, leaving his plans ruined once again by the hedgehog.
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Lyric's relationship with Sonic was much less prominent. As he kidnapped Amy, Lyric first met Sonic over Amy's AVA where he briefly revealed his plans to him, certain that Sonic was no threat. However, Lyric soon saw him as growing nuisance as he continued to overcome his forces. Eventually, he saw Sonic as the only real threat to him. Once they finally met, Lyric acknowledged that Sonic had proven himself surprisingly troublesome for someone inferior to him, before trying to crush him himself. However, Lyric still lost to Sonic, who later ensured his doom.
Dr. Eggman[]
In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Dr. Eggman was a temporary ally of Lyric's (although the snake-like villain was more powerful than the doctor) before he became a minor enemy. While Dr. Eggman feared Lyric and tried to get rid of him, Lyric looked down on the doctor with contempt, considering him a pathetic waste of carbon and even more infuriating than Sonic.
Lyric's release was staged by Dr. Eggman to gain his technological secrets. Once they met however, Lyric was just annoyed by Dr. Eggman. Rather than killing him though, their common hatred for Sonic convinced Lyric to let Dr. Eggman live so he could help him. While the two formed an uneasy "partnership", Lyric never acknowledged Dr. Eggman as his equal, but rather as a useless minion. Eventually, Lyric had enough and got rid of Dr. Eggman. Though Dr. Eggman returned to defeat Lyric, the snake hardly considered him a threat and would ignore him rather than wasting time on him. In the end though, Dr. Eggman ensured Lyric's downfall by distracting him in the final battle at a crucial moment for Team Sonic.
Shadow the Hedgehog[]
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Lyric took a liking to Shadow's style when he first met him, which made him decide to make Shadow his slave.
Allies[]
- Destruction Troops
- MAIA (formerly)
- Q-N-C (formerly)
Neutral[]
Enemies[]
- Team Sonic
- The Ancients
Quotes[]
- "You! You and I have unfinished business."
- —Lyric, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "The Ancients will rue the day they dared to hide my Crystals from me. Now that I've found their map, those Crystals will be mine once again. And then I will annihilate them and everything they hold dear."
- —Lyric to Q-N-C, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "Who do you think made these robots and left them for you to find, you pathetic waste of carbon!"
- —Lyric to Dr. Eggman, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "He trapped me on the eve of my triumph. Because of him, the Ancients were able to put me in that prison. And now, I suspect he has my map. If you can get it back for me, I'll let you live."
- —Lyric to Dr. Eggman, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "You fool! You've failed me yet again! It's time to dissolve this 'partnership.'"
- —Lyric having enough of Dr. Eggman, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "The time has come to finish what we started one thousand years ago. Now go forth, and destroy every plant, every animal -- everything that lives and breathes. Then, together, we will build a glorious world. Rise, my warriors!"
- —Lyric to his Sentinel army, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "Did you really think you could defeat me?"
- —Lyric, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
- "You can call me "Lyric". Or "Master". Honestly, once I read the locations of the Crystal fragments from Amy's brain, I don't care what you call me!"
- —Lyric to Sonic over the AVA, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
- "After this weapon turns you meddlers into abstract art, I'll gather the crystal fragments and build my empire!"
- —Lyric as he prepares to destroy Team Sonic, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Trivia[]
- Steven Frost has stated that what happened to Lyric at the end of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric may be revealed in the future.[7]
- Due to mandates placed by Sega, Lyric was not allowed to appear in the Archie Comics.
- After the release of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, Lyric's profile on the offical Sonic Boom site was deleted.
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 File:Lyric Profile.png
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 SONIC BOOM. Characters: Lyric the Last Ancient. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved on 25 July 2014. "As seen in the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games, Lyric is the last of his kind from an ancient civilization who lived a millennium ago. His race was devoted to peacefully controlling the world’s resources. Driven mad by power, Lyric turned on his fellow Ancients and took control of the resources. Building an army of robots programmed to obey his every command, the deadly snake-like villain set out to destroy everything organic and create a world of twisted metal and robots. However, just before he could successfully take over, he was attacked by the last surviving Ancients and imprisoned forever. With his army shut down and his plans ruined, he waited in prison plotting his revenge. Years passed and Lyric began to give up hope. That is, until Sonic comes across him. Now with his army rebooted, and his plans in place, the only thing stopping Lyric from total victory is Sonic and his friends."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Kellie . Sonic Boom Games at E3 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014. Retrieved on 2 June 2014.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alexa Ray Corriea (12 June 2014). Sonic series' nature-versus-machines struggle is heightened in Sonic Boom. Retrieved on 13 June 2014.
- ↑ Big Red Button Entertainment (21 November 2014). Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. Nintendo Wii U. Sega. Area/Level: Abandoned Research Facility. "Dr. Eggman: Eggman. Dr. Eggman. But you can call me Dr. 'the guy who set you free so you can give me the secrets of your technology so I can be even more powerful than I already...' you know what? Just call me 'boss.' / Lyric: Who do you think made these robots and left them for you to find, you pathetic waste of carbon!"
- ↑ Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. "In Sonic Boom™: Shattered Crystal, Amy discovers a secret ancient language and manuscript detailing the history and whereabouts of a Lost Crystal of Power. The evil and vile villain, Lyric, kidnaps Amy in his eagerness to get his claws on this long-forgotten power that has been hidden throughout the jungles and canyons of a mysterious new island."
- ↑ Steven Frost on Twitter. Twitter (21 December 2015). Retrieved on 21 December 2015. "Alexander Soerensen: Exactly what happened to Lyric after he was defeated in Rise of Lyric? / Steven Frost: That's probably something to be answered sometime in the future."