- This article is about the video game transformation. For other uses, see Metal Overlord (disambiguation).
Metal Overlord (メタルオーバーロード Metaru Ōbārōdo?) is a transformation that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is the finished transformation of Metal Madness, which Metal Sonic attained in order to annihilate his arch-rival, Sonic the Hedgehog, and conquer the world. However, the metallic tyrant was defeated by Team Sonic and stripped of his power.
Quick Answers
Who is the arch-rival of Metal Overlord in the Sonic the Hedgehog series?
How was Metal Overlord defeated in Sonic Heroes?
What transformation does Metal Sonic undergo to become Metal Overlord?
What is the physical appearance of Metal Overlord compared to Metal Madness?
Who is the final boss in Sonic Heroes?
Appearance[]
Metal Overlord's physical appearance is nearly identical to that of Metal Madness, meaning he resembles a large, blue, heavily-armed mechanical dragon, with two eyes lined up vertically on his head. He has several long spikes on his upper body and many smaller ones running down his back and his long, curved tail. He has a flamethrower as his right hand (though he is not seen using it), and his left hand has four fingers with claws that can be launched, but he has no legs. The only physical difference between Metal Overlord and Metal Madness is that he has grown a pair of mechanical wings on his lower body and detaches himself from the fleet, leaving several cables hanging from the bottom of his body.
History[]
Sonic Heroes[]
When deciding to take the matter of defeating his rival, Sonic, and conquering the world into his own hands, Metal Sonic had the idea of becoming Metal Overlord, a form with the power necessary for both tasks. To achieve this form, Metal Sonic needed data from sufficiently strong people, and as such lured Team Sonic to the Egg Fleet to distract Sonic for good while he would copy the team's data along the way. Additionally, he needed Chaos' data and kidnapped Froggy and Chocola. When Team Dark, Team Rose and Team Chaotix joined the adventure, Metal Sonic copied their data as well.
After getting the data he needed, Neo Metal Sonic transformed into the early stage of Metal Overlord, Metal Madness, by using debris from the Final Fortress. Despite interference from Team Rose, Team Dark and Team Chaotix, Metal Madness completed his transformation and finally became Metal Overlord, who then flew into the skies, intending to make his ambitions reality, but was pursued by a super transformed Team Sonic. Confident, however, that even Super Sonic was no match for him, Metal Overlord fought the team without hesitation. During the battle, Metal Overlord ranted about his intention to rule over a robotic kingdom and his belief that the real Sonic was his copy. Eventually though, Metal Overlord was ultimately defeated and he fell down from the sky in agony, unable to understand how he could lose, before landing on the Final Fortress and reverting back to Metal Sonic.
Shadow Generations[]
Metal Overlord reappears as a boss in Shadow Generations, where an incarnation of Metal Overlord from somewhere in spacetime was fought by Shadow the Hedgehog in the ruins of the flooded Final Fortress.
Other game appearances[]
Sonic Rivals[]
In Sonic Rivals, Metal Overlord appears on the 149th collectible card in the game.
Sonic and the Black Knight[]
In Sonic and the Black Knight, Metal Overlord appears among the winning fan art presented in the game.
Powers and abilities[]
Being one of Metal Sonic's strongest transformations, Metal Overlord is one of the most powerful foes Sonic and his friends have ever faced. In this form, Metal Overlord is strong enough to fight on par with Super Sonic, Super Knuckles, and Super Tails teaming up, and even then, the trio only had a slim chance of defeating him, if not even less.
Due to him having grown wings, Metal Overlord is capable of flight and can fly at incredible speeds likely due to copying the data of Tails and other Flight Type characters, but is still slower than Super Sonic. He is also capable of enormous feats of strength due to copying the data of Knuckles and other Power Type characters, as he can easily pick up ships from the Egg Fleet with just one hand and throw them. Additionally, Metal Overlord has proven himself to be highly physically durable in this form, nearing that of invincibility. Normal attacks from even Super State characters cannot hurt him, and he does not appear to have any weak points in this form. The only known attack capable enough to inflict damage on him is Team Sonic's Team Blast, Super Sonic Power, though in the iteration of this fight in Shadow generations, he can be harmed through other means, such as using Chaos zip to strike him at high speed.
Metal Overlord can fire rapid barrages of crystal pillars and launch the spikes on his back as homing missiles, much like in his previous form. This time around, however, he can fire them at a much faster rate. He can also fire his left claws as missiles that can trap his target in a crystal cage which is strong enough to trap even a Super State user.
Metal Overlord can also perform Chaos Control, due to him copying Shadow and Sonic's data, which allows him to freeze time temporarily. It is unknown if he can perform it for longer periods of time, or if he has the skills to further manipulate time and space. In Shadow Generations, it also allowed him to resist Chaos Control used by other users, being unaffected when Shadow used it to freeze time.
Battle[]
| << Previous battle | — | Sonic Heroes Metal Overlord |
Metal Overlord is the second phase of the boss of the Last story of Sonic Heroes, and the actual final boss of the game. He can be fought directly after defeating Metal Madness, and is fought with Team Sonic under super transformation.
Boss guide[]
Metal Overlord attacks by shooting out crystal pillars, which Super Sonic can destroy with Homing Attack, Rocket Accel, Tornado Jump, or Light Attack (the Light Attack will consume five rings when used, and as such, is not recommended), shooting out missiles that can trap the player's teammates with crystal cages (which Tails can Thunder Shoot for Team Blast charge), and by throwing large ships at the player, which can be destroyed by Knuckles (done by using his Volcanic Dunk to create fireballs and directing them at the craft which also fills the Team Blast Gauge faster), though the player can simply maneuver around the craft instead.
The player should repeatedly counter his attacks to fill up and use the Team Blast, Super Sonic Power, which is the only way to damage Metal Overlord as regular attacks are useless in damaging him. After five Team Blasts, Metal Overlord will be defeated. Should the player stall too long, he will use Chaos Control to freeze time for twenty seconds and gain some time to launch a counterattack. Rings are still consumed while time is frozen, but the effect can be countered using Team Blast.
The player will lose a life if their Ring count reaches zero or if Metal Overlord successfully traps all three characters, including Super Sonic, under the crystal cages.
Ranking[]
After defeating Metal Overlord, the player will receive a Rank based on the time taken to defeat it. The time spent on battling Metal Madness with the other three teams is carried over to the Metal Overlord fight, as the Metal Madness phases and Metal Overlord phase are technically part of a single stage shared by all four teams. The time thresholds for each Rank is shared:[1]
| Rank | Time |
|---|---|
|
<7:00 |
|
7:00-8:00 |
|
8:00-9:00 |
|
9:00-10:00 |
|
>10:00 |
Music[]
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "WHAT I'M MADE OF... / LAST BOSS ver. 2 : METAL OVERLORD" | Crush 40 | 3:44 |
Video[]
In other media[]
Books and comics[]
Archie Comics[]
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Metal Overlord is mentioned several times, although he does not make an appearance. He first surfaced in the reality created by the second Genesis Wave where his history was identical to his game counterpart. After the universe was rebooted by the Super Genesis Wave, Metal Overlord became a part of the main timeline, although his history remained the same as his game counterpart.
IDW Comics[]
Quotes[]
- "Long time no see, Sonic, my loathsome copy..."
- —Metal Overlord greeting Sonic, Sonic Heroes
- "Sonic... I was created for the sole purpose of destroying you. But I could never seem to defeat you! That is why I transformed my own body with my own hands."
- —Metal Overlord explaining his transformation, Sonic Heroes
- "Take this!"
- —Metal Overlord's Crystal Attack
- "I'll crush you!"
- —Metal Overlord, Sonic Heroes
- "But that was the past! Now you're nothing but a speck of dust to me!"
- —Metal Overlord's response to Super Sonic's taunts, Sonic Heroes
- "Chaos Control!"
- —Metal Overlord controlling time and space, Sonic Heroes
- "GUOOOOO! WHY?! I HAD IT ALL! I AM THE ULTIMATE OVERLORD, METAL SONIC! I AM THE REAL SONIC!"
- —Metal Overlord after being defeated, Sonic Heroes
- "You can't hope to defeat me! Accept your fate, you fake hedgehog! I am now the true Sonic! The true Ultimate Life Form!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "Trying to use Chaos Control? Ha! That power already belongs to me!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "I'll skewer you!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "Stop scurrying around!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "BEGONE!!!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "Let's see how long you last on such unstable terrain."
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "I am the King of all Creation! Nobody can defeat me! Not you! Not Sonic! Not ANYONE!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
- "As if I could be challenged by an imposter like YOU!!!"
- —Metal Overlord, Shadow Generations
Trivia[]
- Though the battle employs three characters, the player only requires at least one to defeat Metal Overlord.
- The subtitles for Metal Overlord's line about Team Super Sonic being a speck of dust to him appears to have a grammatical typo in some versions, reading "But that's was the past" as opposed to "But that was the past".
- In the Japanese version, Metal Overlord replies to Super Sonic's boasts with a reference to the Bible. When translated, he says: "Show me then! Look at me! I am no longer afraid of anything. I am the king of all things, who looks down on all proud creatures, and reigns over all proud beasts."[2] Writer Shiro Maekawa has stated that it references Job 41,[3] in which God describes a sea monster called the Leviathan: "Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride."[4] Metal Overlord is comparing himself to the Leviathan, as he fears nothing and will put the proud (i.e. Super Sonic) in their place. This is ironic, as some Christian theologians identify the Leviathan with the deadly sin of envy, and Metal Sonic is known to deeply envy Sonic.
- The tie to Leviathan was later made more explicit in Shadow Generations due to his boss fight occurring in the flooded remains of the Final Fortress.
- Metal Overlord's defeat animation was later reused for Black Doom's final form, Devil Doom's defeat in Shadow the Hedgehog.
- Like Metal Madness, in the Xbox and PC versions of Sonic Heroes, Metal Overlord is in a shiny blue color instead of his normal blue. This is only present in gameplay, however.
- Metal Overlord is one of the only two final bosses in the franchise, so far, to require three super transformed users to face the foe. The other is Solaris, from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Both are capable of defeating Super States, but Metal Overlord can only do so by trapping them under crystal cages, while Solaris can directly injure such characters by sheer force.
- In Sonic Heroes, like Neo Metal Sonic, Metal Overlord is actually voiced by Ryan Drummond with voice filters to sound robotic and distorted.
Gallery[]
Concept artwork[]
Artwork[]
Models[]
Sprites[]
.png "Card 149 (Sonic Rivals).png (16 KB)")
Screenshots[]
| Gallery |
|---|
References[]
- ↑ Guess, Gerald (January 6, 2004). Sonic Heroes: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games. p. 159. ISBN 0761544496.
- ↑ Sonic Team (December 30, 2003). Sonic Heroes (in Japanese). PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/level: Metal Overlord. "Metal Overlord: みるがイイ！オレの姿を！オレはもはやナニモノをも恐れない。オレこそが驕り高ぶるもの全てを見下ろし 誇り高き獣全ての上に君臨スル万物の王ダ。"
- ↑ @mizuhano on Twitter. https://x.com/zegahidemox2/status/1090235250574147584?s=21 (broken link; context)
- ↑ "Job 41:33-34" (in English). King James Version Bible. 1985 [1611]. "33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. 34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride."
| V·T·E · Category |