Mephiles (Archie)

This character exists primarily or exclusively within the Pre-Super Genesis Wave continuity.

Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity.

Mephiles^[1] is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. He is an evil smoky spirit and the power and intelligence of Solaris who took the shape of Shadow the Hedgehog. After being split from his original form, Mephiles sought to end all existence, but was erased from the timeline.

History

Mephiles was born during an experiment with Solaris conducted by the Duke of Soleanna and his researchers in an attempt to harness Solaris' time-warping powers. The resulting experiments split Solaris in two, creating Mephiles and Iblis, Solaris's fiery power and destructive nature. After his birth, Mephiles was trapped inside a device called the Scepter of Darkness by Shadow the Hedgehog.^[1]

Years later, Mephiles was released and stole Shadow's shape and abilities by merging with his shadow. Planning to rejoin with Iblis, Mephiles created a plan that spanned over two hundred years, brought him the seven Chaos Emeralds, saw the death of Sonic the Hedgehog and the release of Iblis from within Princess Elise. With the power of the Chaos Emeralds, Mephiles rejoined Iblis and Solaris was reborn. Before Solaris could destroy all of time, however, it was defeated by an alliance of villains, heroes and a revived Sonic. Mephiles' existence was then fully erased from the timeline when Sonic and Elise traveled back in time to the days before Solaris was experimented upon where Elise snuffed out the tiny white flame that was Solaris.^[1]

Despite this time paradox that seems to have safely dealt with Mephiles, it is suspected he could have slipped through a crack in time.^[1]

Personality

Mephiles was described as a brilliant and cruel individual, perfectly willing to kill others for his own gain.^[1]

Powers and abilities

Mephiles possessed both the power and intelligence of Solaris. He was very intelligent and cunning, orchestrating a successful plan spanning two hundred years that brought him the seven Chaos Emeralds, the release of Iblis and the death of Sonic, all according to his design.^[1]

Mephiles had the ability to copy a person's shape and abilities by merging with said person's shade, like what he did to Shadow to gain his appearance and powers.^[1]

Trivia

Mephiles was first hinted to have existed within the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book universe when Ian Flynn confirmed that the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) had occurred in the comics on the Ask Ian discussion board. It was first later in the Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia that Mephiles was officially revealed to have existed, along with details about his history.
Mephiles, or possibly an alternate version of Mephiles, appeared in Sonic Universe #29, marking Mephiles' first appearance in the comics. This Mephiles was imprisoned in the Zone Jail and appeared during Scourge's time at the prison claiming he needed to "lighten up". During the riot, this Mephiles was seen attempting to escape.
In the games he had no feet but in one of his cameos in the Zone Jail and in his artwork he has feet.
Ian Flynn made plans to bring Mephiles back thanks to his popularity, but he stated that Mephiles is currently off limits for use.
According to Ian Flynn on the Bumbleking forums, he believes that Sega intended to imply that the Time Eater was leftover matter of Mephiles. As such, he stated that the Time Eater is an alternate state of Mephiles that "slipped through a crack in time". This could explain their purple aura and similar ability to travel through time.^[2] However, this has yet to be confirmed in-universe or by any material produced by Sega.
Ian Flynn intended for Mephiles and Black Doom to be the main villains for the "Shadow Fall" story arc, with Mephilies taking on an organic form.

Gallery

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Iblis, Mephiles & Solaris"
↑ Ian Flynn (14 November 2012). Seven Master Ixis Works and the Forgotten War. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015.

[SCE-0] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Iblis, Mephiles & Solaris"

[1] Ian Flynn (14 November 2012). Seven Master Ixis Works and the Forgotten War. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015.

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