Soleanna, also known as The City of Water, is a coastal city-state within Sonic's world, and the main setting of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
The city is a constitutional monarchy, with an economy dominated by tourism and precision machinery[1]. Politically, it does not appear to be part of the United Federation, or under the protection of the Guardian Units of Nations[2].
The reigning monarchs apparently eschew the title "King" or "Queen"[3], and Soleanna's sovereign is generally known as 'Duke' if male or 'Princess' if female. The small nation is apparently wealthy and prosperous; with its urban environments bearing resemblance to modern Mediterranean cities. However, Soleanna is shown to possess highly advanced technology 'behind the scenes', as is evident in the Aquatic Base level, a research lab underneath the old Royal Palace.
The city worships a deity known as Solaris, "The Eternal Sun God", who is honoured during the Festival of the Sun. Soleanna's sovereign during the events of Sonic '06 is the young Princess Elise, introduced while presiding over this ceremony. In the game's timeline, the ancient castle that used to house the royal family in Kingdom Valley is revealed to have been abandoned after the Solaris Project accident. The new castle is on an island off of Castle Town near New City – although it is unclear if this remains true in the new timeline after the game.
Crisis City and Paradox
There are some hints that the Crisis City level of Sonic '06 is, in fact, Soleanna in Silver's future. The ruined buildings bear physical resemblance to those seen in downtown Soleanna during the main timeline. Further indications come in the form of Eggman's still-active base, and Elise's apparent hallucination of Soleanna in flames, with Iblis in the center, during the opening cutscene of Sonic's story.
Following the Solaris paradox at the end of the game, Soleanna's monarch is unknown; it may be the Duke or Elise.[4]
Trivia
- During the scene in Sonic's story after they come back from the future, Sonic picks up a newspaper. If you look closely at it, it's called the Daily 'Soreana'.
- Soleanna is based off the water city of Italy, Venice which may be the reason of how Silver got his original name.
Notes
- ↑ Most of the general socioeconomic information about Soleanna comes from Rouge's explanation to Shadow after they escape from White Acropolis.
- ↑ We see no GUN mechs in Soleanna at any point during the game, and the citizens rely on Sonic & co. to repel the invasions of Eggman's forces. However, GUN agents are shown operating (without much discretion) in downtown Soleanna during Shadow's story, so it seems likely that Soleanna is at least an ally or client state of the United Federation.
- ↑ Although the deceased Duke of Soleanna is referred to almost exclusively as a "Duke" throughout Sonic '06, Rouge does refer to him as "the former king" during a conversation in Kingdom Valley. The title "Queen" is not used at any point in the story, either in reference to Elise or her mother.
- ↑ The monarch may still be the Duke of Soleanna instead of his daughter Elise, since the Solaris Project never exploded and the Duke was accordingly never killed. However, Elise is still seen presiding over the Festival of the Sun in the revised timeline; as such, the ruler of Soleanna in the canonical history is unknown.