WMG / Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)

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Confirmed

There might be some Canon Immigrants at some point.

So far, the comic seems to be following the games more faithfully (it helps that it takes place right after one of the games). So as long as a character's story doesn't clash with the games, said character may have a shot at appearing in a game (even if only as a cameo).

• Confirmed. Tangle and Whisper appear in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle as playable characters.

The main villain is Metal Sonic.

In Issue #2, his plan fails because he "underestimated how much Amy Rose has grown". Given he had no problems kidnapping her in Sonic CD, it would be the sort of mistake he'd make.

• Here's another observation: Since Metal is a mechanical being, he should have a text-box that is more robotic, like Orbot at the end of issue 2. The text box here, however, is normal, but with a purple font. Perhaps he is in his Neo form disguising himself as Eggman, as he did in Heroes?
• As of Issue #5, the text box is now more robotic, adding to the Metal Sonic theory.
• As of Issue #6, it's revealed to be Eggman, apparently. However, Ian said that there is more than meets the eye. Also, as mentioned above, Metal can shapeshift, so this isn't totally Jossed yet.
• As of Issue #7, Metal Sonic makes an appearance in his Neo form, having disguised himself as Eggman... but he's explicitly looking for the whereabouts of the good doctor, establishing himself as Eggman's Dragon-in-Chief for the time being.

Gemerl and Omega are immune to the metal virus.

Since they're already robots, to begin with.

• Confirmed.

Starline getting the Deadly Six involved will only make things worse for the Eggman Empire.

Considering what happened the last time Eggman dealt with them.

• Confirmed. The Deadly Six steal the conch that controls them, and take over the Eggman Empire.

Shadow is going to get called out for his arrogance and for thinking running is an act of cowardness.

Bonus points if Shadow gets told that he has no right to be called the Ultimate Lifeform for his idiocy.

• Semi-confirmed. Shadow lectures himself in his head for misunderstanding what Sonic meant by run, and that it was a shameful action of the Ultimate Lifeform.

Dr Starline will remain a Big Bad Wannabe in Bad Guys.

• He will be trying to lead a Legion of Doom featuring Zavok, Rough & Tumble who will have every reason to have a vendetta against him and even if they start out as Teeth-Clenched Teamwork, it would probably fail and Starline would have little ways to fight back even if he finds something in the lab the comic takes place. He would be out of his league against and even if he manages to get Mimic on his side, he was more of a psychological threat than an actual physical threat against Tangle & Whisper.
• Confirmed. The four pull a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on him after discovering his plans to do the same to them.

Belle is one of the last remnants of Eggman's time as Mr Tinker

• The fact she shares similar clothing and colour scheme as Mr Tinker, as well as having built-in tools for fixing things is pretty suspect.
  • The fact the base was near Windmill Village, where Mr Tinker set up shop, as well leads some credence to this.

• Somewhat confirmed. She is a creation of his but unknown if she was the only one.

Starline is the one in the hoodie during the "Chao Races and Badnik Bases" arc

Someone on Twitter noted that, despite being shadowed, the hooded figure's shoes are oddly similar looking to Starline's boots. Considering Rouge recognized and was surprised who it was (despite not seeing Eggman fire him), it's possible it's him. As for the power, either he found some new power source during the Bad Guys mini-series or he lost to Eggman and got robotized, with him being at White Park to steal whatever robotic stock Clutch has.

• A preview for the second issue of "Bad Guys" reveals that Starline plans to have his group steal certain orbs that'll grant speed, flight and power to the user. The hooded figure in Issue #33 could use all three. Hmmm. Also not helped that Issue 37 cover preview have him have a new gauntlet with three coloured orbs in it.

• Confirmed.

The hooded figure/SL hypnotized Rouge and is using her to carry out his plan

With more evidence mounting towards Starline being the hooded figure, why hasn’t Rouge told the others about him yet when he showed his face to her? Well, given that the Bad Guys miniseries established that Starline can hypnotize people, he likely hypnotized Rouge to forget about seeing him. But given that Rouge was possibly kidnapped by him at the end of 33, he might have had other motives for her. Case in point, after Clutch is knocked out, Rouge says she’s gonna call Tails to come over help pick out new parts for Omega. But given the framing of her last few panels◊ in 34, the 36 solicitation revealing that Tails is gonna get kidnapped by the hooded figure at some point, and one of the covers for 35 having both her and Tails tied up, I’m guessing Starline brainwashed her to try and lure Tails to Winter Park and bring him to Starline so he can use Tails for whatever he has in mind...

• Confirmed!

Shadow will end up adopting the Dark Chao that had failed Clutch after the Chao Races arc is over

Probably, at some point after all the failed Chao were rescued from Clutch, the Dark Chao will find Shadow because they want to be with him. Shadow, knowing how much the Chao probably has been through, trauma-wise, thus relating to them, agrees to take them in. Hopefully, the comic can redeem Shadow by showing his softer side when it comes to Chao.

• Also, in Sonic Channel artwork in the past, Shadow is always seen with a Dark Chao. The Dark Chao fits Shadow perfectly, and it's too much of an opportunity to pass up when there is a Dark Chao present with Shadow around.

• Jossed. Although it does find a new owner.
• Actually, confirmed according to Word of God. While Shadow didn't end up adopting him per-se as the Chao stayed with Cream, Evan Stanley states that Shadow will look after them in ocassions.

Surge and Kit's Nature.

• Surge and Kit are street kids/orphans abducted by Starline and experimented on, giving them their powers.
  • Starline has yet to show any indepth knowledge or involvement in creating artificial lifeforms; and since he studied Eggman, he likely wouldn't have the knowledge.
    • Confirmed.
• Surge and Kit are artificial lifeforms or clones of Sonic and Tails.
  • Sources refer to them as Starline's "creations", implying they're test tube babies grown in a lab.
  • Since they aren't the same species as Sonic and Tails, they're unlikely clones.
  • Alternatively, they could be his "creations" in the sense that he was the one who gave them their powers.
  • At the end of "Chao Races and Badnik Bases", Starline is shown to have acquired a sample of Tails' fur, saying that he would've preferred Tails himself, but was content with this. He likely needs a DNA sample to either create Kit or give the fennec Tails' intelligence by infusing him with his DNA.
  • Jossed.
• Surge and Kit are robots or cyborgs.
  • Starline needed tech from an Eggman base to complete his "personal enforcers". Eggman is a roboticist, not a geneticist.
    • If they're cyborgs, their tech is completely internalized, likely due to the apparent taboo on anything connected to the Archie comics.
    • Confirmed! They are Cyborgs.

Starline is going to temporarily depose Eggman as his empire's leader in Issue 50 or a little later.

Given that the upcoming arc is titled "Battle for the Empire", and Surge and Kit's next target is the old doc, it's a given something like that will happen. And with Sonic, Tails and Eggman replaced by newcomer villains, Enemy Mine ensues...Confirmed. His victory doesn't last and he winds up dead for his troubles.

How 50 will go down

Most of the issue will be battles between Eggman and Starline as well as Sonic, Tails, Surge, and Kit. The most likely result is the main characters winning, with Starline being imprisoned or killed, Surge down but not out, and Kit getting knocked out and winding up in the care/custody of the heroes. Later issue covers show Kit with the heroes, though it is unclear whether he is doing this because he has no other choice, needing their help to aid Surge, actually deciding to join them for real, or the blow having caused him to revert to his old personality.

• Confirmed. Dr Starline does up dead, Surge ends up trapped but manages to escape and Kit is rendered unconscious and is carried by the heroes to safety.

Either Starline or Surge are going to die in Issue 50.

It would be done in order to make the 50th issue a whammy like the previous comic by killing off a villain. Eggman and Kit are confirmed to live since they appear on 51’s cover. Starline makes more sense from both a Watsonian and Doylist perspective given that:

• Surge can regenerate with the Metal Virus and is implied to be self-resurrecting.
• Surge and Kit have come up with a solid plan to kill Starline.
• Surge’s character seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up for the comic.
• Surge is confirmed to survive 50, though likely in bad shape, thanks to 52’s solicitation. This means Starline is the only character viable to die.
• Confirmed. Starline get buried in rubble after being defeated by Eggman, Ian Flynn confirming his death.

The attack on Eggperial City during Issues 57-59 will re-introduce the Shadow Androids

There are a couple factors that potentially point towards this arc featuring the Shadow Androids again after only being shown once in the third issue of the Tangle and Whisper miniseries:

• Official solicitation for Issue 57 mention "unwanted reminders of the past" which tie into how the Shadow Androids murdered every single member of the Diamond Cutters that Whisper was once a part of.
• In the same vein, Issue 59's solicitation mentions "androids being everywhere" which is likely a big tip off to the Shadow Androids being a part of arc. It was implied in the miniseries that there were plenty of Shadow Androids, along with Shadow the Hedgehog also having a small army of Shadow Androids as well. Bonus points for Shadow himself being involved in this arc as well according to the same solicitation.
  • Seems like a soft confirm based on the Issue 59 B-Cover. Finally confirmed based on the preview pages of Issue 59 itself.

Jossed

Whisper is connected to Space Colony ARK in some form.

She has a dislike for both Eggman and Shadow, who both have their own connections to the ARK, and it's explicitly stated that her Wispon is more advanced than others. The ARK has had its fair share of contact with aliens, so it's possible that they would have the tech to make her more advanced Wispons.

• Jossed. Issue 3 of Tangle & Whisper reveals that one of her old teammates was a master tinkerer who designed the more advanced Wispon. Her reason for disliking Eggman is because he's responsible for the deaths of her former comrades, and her disdain towards Shadow is because it was Shadow Androids that killed them. Nothing to do with Space Colony ARK.

This new universe will be a hybrid of older Sonic continuities.

In the vein of IDW's Ninja Turtles comic, characters that originated from past Sonic media will be reintroduced. (Given that Sega allows the writers to) And this includes stuff OTHER than AoStH and SatAM. Such as,

• Sonic Underground: Sonia, Manic, Queen Aleena, Sleet, Dingo
• Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie: Sara, The President, Old Man Owl
• Sonic X: Topaz, Sam Speed, Scarlet Garcia, Cosmo, the Metarex
• Jossed. This continuity is almost exclusively based on the games, with any characters who don't hail from them being created specifically for the new universe.

This comic won't last 25 issues.

• So.... why would it not be able to last 25 issues, story-wise? It generally seems as though it's decently received currently.
  • It's possible, but perhaps not in the way the troper thinks. IDW has a nasty habit of taking books with falling sales and relaunching them with a new #1. 25 is a pessimistic guess, but it certainly something they may do down the road.
  • The first few issues sold out repeatedly upon release, so the sales figures are definitely favourable. Unless they really take a nosedive, chances are, this comic isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
  • Jossed. #25 of the comic came out in February of 2020.

Whisper has some relation to the Avatar

She uses a Wispon as her primary weapon like them, is the Resistance's "guardian angel" with a mysterious past, (like an original character with no pre-established backstory) and the version of the Avatar used in advertisement was a wolf. She is either related to the Avatar (the "not again" could indicate the Avatar met a bad end) or simply is this continuity's version of them.

• Jossed: Ian Flynn said in BumbleKast 100 that he's got no plans to use the Avatar in any capacity in the comics.
• Jossed again: Whisper is a former member of the Diamond Cutters, a mercenary group. The avatar, who is a rookie, has no ties with her.

Whisper was part of the Jackal Squad (Infinite's former team)

Her attire seems fitting for some kind of soldier/mercenary, her and Tangle's story from Annual 2019 implies that she may have lost someone in battle and a panel from issue #9 hints that she has disdain for Shadow. She survived Shadow's raid on Eggman's base, but lost contact with the rest of her team and became stranded, leaving her leader to believe that his entire squad was gone and go through the breakdown that would lead him to become Infinite. Whisper's hatred for Eggman stems from helping to turn her former boss/friend into this monster (and potentially for having more of a direct hand in her team's demise). The event also caused her to become far more introverted, for fear of losing friends again. All that plus potentially dreading the prospect of having to encounter Infinite and face her guilt is why she only helped the Resistance in secret.

• Jossed; it's been revealed that Whisper was part of an unrelated team called the Diamond Cutters.

Sonic putting out the fire those kids made in #18 is foreshadowing

This was written after #18 came out. If those kids had actually started a fire, a certain detail about the metal virus would've happened too early, and either fire cures them... or makes it worse...

• Most likely, it would exacerbate the problem. Zombots aren't aware enough to fear fire, and if they catch alight, then you've got flaming zombies
  • If the fire is intense enough, it would probably at least seriously disrupt their self-healing ability. Or just melt them.
• Semi-confirmed? The virus does meet its demise in fire, but it gets dumped into the sun.
• Jossed: Nothing comes out of it, and appears to be just a cameo.

The Babylon Rogues will break out the Magic Carpet to save themselves.

It's an extreme gear that doesn't have any tech to control. It's a fitting way for them to get air control back and be immune to the deadly six's technopath abilities.

• Jossed. Wave and Storm are unable to escape, and after sending the Chaos Emerald to Angel Island, Jet stays behind to help them out.

The cure for the Metal Virus is just water.

There have been no scenes of Zombots in water and there has been a suspicious lack of rain during the entire arc. Plus, since the virus is really microbots, water would short circuit them.

• Jossed. There was a small scene from #19 where a Zombot is thrown into the fountain by Omega and nothing happens.
  • Also, if microbots were such easy to short-circuit, they would not be able to survive in highly conductive blood at all.

This comic is going to get cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic before the Metal Virus Saga ends.

• Jossed. The saga has concluded with no cancellation insight.

Charmy will believe that Dr Eggman is still Mr Tinker and will go after him.

• Jossed. Charmy never tries to look for Mr Tinker, and by #32, is well aware that he's back to Dr Eggman.

Espio will turn to the dark side after the Zombot Apocalypse is over.

He was broken and incomplete despair after losing both his teammates to the Metal Virus. Likewise, even if Vector and Charmy will be saved by the end of it, it is more than likely that there will be consequences down the line. Espio will still be angry at Sonic for causing that Zombot Apocalypse to begin with, his anger over this will led to conflict between his teammates and will either be kicked out of the Chaotix or leave the team. Either way, it will be the start of a dark path for our ninja chameleon friend.

• Jossed. He's continuing to work at the Agency like normal.

Eggman will be Put on a Bus via getting infected with the Metal Virus

As a form of karma. The good doctor will be infected with the very virus he helped make. Regardless of if he helps with curing the virus. He'll be repaid by getting infected and possibly imprisoned only returning if Metal Sonic were to bust him out of jail with a cure. Though this will trigger a moment of What the Hell, Hero? from any of the characters.

• Jossed. He does get infected for a second, but he's cured shortly after.

The Chaos Emeralds are Sonic's ticket home.

They seem to have disappeared with him, after all. And while they seem to already have a habit of going off to Tikal-knows-where whenever Sonic exits his super form, it does seem a bit ambiguous this time around, especially since we don't know if that habit carried over to the IDW comics. As such, it's entirely possible Sonic has the Chaos Emeralds with him. Problem is, he probably needs to recharge them.

• Jossed. Blaze sents him back with the Sol Emeralds.

Theories on where Sonic disappeared to:

Classic Sonic's Dimension.

The Sol Dimension.

The Boom continuity.

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog continuity.

Some other video game's world/universe, like Ratchet & Clank, Spyro (either Classic/Reignited or Legend), Mario, etc.

The world of a piece of classical literature, but everyone looks like Sonic's friends and enemies, and Sonic himself taking the role of a major protagonist, a la the Storybook Series.

• It turns out he ends up in the Sol Dimension.

Sonic's amnesia will be one of the next overarching storylines.

• Extremely Jossed as Blaze fixes the problem in Issue #32.

The "Bad Guys" miniseries will end with Dr Starline and his team joining GUN and moving to Earth.

• Josssed, not only is GUN and Earth not even alluded to, none of the main cast of the comic has anything close to a Heel–Face Turn.

Shadow, and possibly Espio, will refuse to be grateful for Sonic saving the world from the Metal Virus crisis because Sonic is partially responsible for the whole thing, to begin with.

In #19, Shadow showed no sympathy towards Sonic when he tells him that he got infected and tells him that he deserves it, while in #24, Espio blames Sonic for causing all this to happen by allowing Mr Tinker to live.

• Jossed with Shadow. He payed his debt with Sonic, and has no hard feelings about the Metal Virus incident so far. Time will tell if this applies to Espio too.

Infinite will appear in a future issue of the IDW comics

Probably to explain whatever happened to him during the events of that game.

• Ian confirmed in a BumbleKast that he is not allowed to use Infinite for the time being, so for now, this is Jossed.

If Infinite does indeed return, he will have Took a Level in Badass.

This will serve as an Author's Saving Throw after the backlash of the fans who expected Infinite to be a much more powerful and threatening presence.

• He already was though? Other than the unsatisfying way he exited the plot he was perfectly threatening until we found out what his actual backstory was. I guess you could count his lack of creativity in the way he used the Phantom Ruby and how he arrogantly dismissed Sonic and the Avatar at crucial moments instead of killing them when he had the chance, and of course his disappointing final boss fight, but I dunno if he really needs to be more badass. What he needs is a better or more fleshed out motivation.
• Ian confirmed in a BumbleKast that he is not allowed to use Infinite for the time being, so for now, this is Jossed.

Zavok will end up taking control of the Shadow androids.

Zavok is on the loose, and he is determined to have his revenge on Sonic and Eggman. And for that, he needs his Zeti, but also fire power. And what better fire power than the Shadow Androids that killed the Diamond Cutters?

• Jossed.

Eggman's is going to be the "Zeti Hunt"'s Chekhov's Gunman.

He has to appear there for a reason other than getting thrashed by Sonic as usual. I believe he, in a turn of events, is going to play a major role in defeating Zavok. After he got upstaged by the Zeti not once, but twice, he has to give them some payback.

• Whoops. Looks like I was wrong...

Eventually, someone in the comic will exclaim: "Curse you, Starline the Platypus!"

Come on, you know this will happen.

• Due to how Starline is confirmed to be dead as of #50 and nobody said this line, Jossed.

Issue 50 will have Sonic and Tails team with Surge and Kit

It would be a Meta Twist concerning Sonic and Eggman teaming up to defeat a more powerful opponent. Possible scenarios include:

• The imposters exploiting the fact that (or that at least they think) Sonic and Tails know nothing about them to trick them into thinking they are good guys to defeat Eggman and Starline, then betraying the heroes once they are in their good graces.
• Kit pulling a Wounded Gazelle Gambit by outright telling Sonic about how he and Surge were brainwashed and experimented on by Starline and that it was his command to start the forest fire in an attempt to kill Amy and the girls. This would enrage Sonic, getting him to go all out on Starline and likely winning, but exhausting himself in the process-the perfect opportunity for Surge to finish him off.
• Surge and Kit having a Hazy-Feel Turn and decide to destroy Starline and everything he stands for, including Eggman and their own programming. They team up with Sonic and Tails to do this, still banking on the fact they do not know about them.
• Either Starline, Eggman, or one of his creations (probably Metal Sonic) becoming too powerful, forcing the duos to team up or die.

Jossed. No such team up occurs in Issue #50 though Kit does end up with the heroes for a bit.

Belle will let the girls know, during the Trial By Fire arc, that Metal Sonic helped Starline restore Eggman to normal. She will also tell them more of her backstory, as she told Starline in Part 4 of Zeti Hunt.

• Jossed. Belle doesn't tell them about Metal Sonic or her own backstory.

Metal Sonic will be the IDW Sonic version of Cell.

Much like Cell, Metal Sonic is capable of absorbing data (or DNA) from other living beings to make himself stronger. Combined with his identity issues, something in Metal Sonic will snap and he'll try to absorb Surge and Kit to make himself stronger. He'll then become the main antagonist of Battle for the Empire, transforming himself into the organic/metal hybrid known as Perfect Metal Sonic.

• Jossed, Metal Sonic is defeated in Imposter Syndrome #4.

Dr Starline will finally use the 7 Chaos Emeralds to become Super Starline.

Dr Starline must've been kicking himself for not using the Chaos Emeralds for himself back when he had all 7 of them. He'll make up for this mistake and to further stick it to his former idol, will do the one thing he hasn't done: Go super. Either Dr Starline uses the positive energy to become Super Starline, forcing Sonic to either use the negative energy to become Dark Sonic, use the Master Emerald for a temporary boost (as Starline will probably take it and the Warp Topaz with him) or he calls upon the Wisps because the Hyper-Go-On energy is stronger than the Chaos Emeralds.

Furthermore, if Super Starline then tries to absorb Hyper-Go-On Sonic's powers, it would shut off the Chaos Emerald and render Starline vulnerable to attack.Alternately, Starline messes up and uses the negative energy instead. Dr Starline transforms into an abomination known as Perfect Starline and decides to destroy everything, as perfect beings are wanton to do. Sonic fortunately uses the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and fights the now maddened doctor for the fate of the world. To further seal the deal, he'll even have to work with Dr Eggman again to take down an opponent far stronger.

• While the Warp Topaz isn't outright destroyed, it's still nowhere near Starline or any known person. So him using it would be impossible. Additionally, Starline shows no such compunction about nor using the emeralds. Finally, there's no way all this would happen in Issue 50 with the current solicitations. I doubt even Ian Flynn could do this insanity justice. Though maybe Sonic Paradox would.
  • So it appears with the way Imposter Syndrome #4 ended, Super Starline may not happen in Issue #50. Assuming that the Battle for the Empire arc will be lasting 10 issues and that #51's synopsis implies that Starline ends up losing, perhaps it'll give him and Surge time to regroup and get what he needs before becoming Super Starline at the end of the arc.
  • Dr Starline ends up losing and might be buried under rubble in Eggperial City. He could survive and get the Emeralds as part of his revenge against Dr Eggman though for now, his final fate is up in the air.
  • Jossed. Ian Flynn confirmed that he died in the building collapse and that this was the intended end to his story.

Dr Starline will survive and take revenge against Dr Eggman for rejecting him and continue Project Remaster without Surge and Kit.

• With his carefully made plans gone up in smoke and things looking bad for him, Dr Starline's hopes of a Big Bad Duumvirate go straight to hell as do his chances of being in Dr Eggman's good graces. Dr Starline retreats to his base, make a vlog ranting about how Dr Eggman is supposed be an impulsive moron who can't plan ahead and he should replace Eggman as top villain. He then decides to inject himself with his own custom strain with the Metal Virus and augment his body with cybertronics (much like his predecessors Dr Finitivus and Dr Zachery and his beta designs) to make himself stronger. The Dr Starline figurine foreshadows his final fate, in which his newfound modifications cause him to go further off the deep end like Baxter Stockman until the Metal Virus corrupts his body and transforms him into a monster. Worse still, he tries to use the Chaos Emeralds and absorbs the negative energy, further mutating him into Perfect Starline who then becomes a threat to the planet.
  • Jossed. Ian Flynn confirmed that he died in the building collapse and that this was the intended end to his story.

Dr Starline deliberately implanted a program in Surge and Kit that causes them to hallucinate his presence.

The program only activates if Dr Starline is in severe, life threatning danger or if he's dead. Worse still, it could potentially rewrite their personalities with a backup of his mind, allowing him to take over their bodies should his own expire. Dr Starline's one last act of evil against Surge and Kit ensures they can never escape him as long as they live, and even if they do, the trauma of what he did to them will stay with them. Forever.

• Jossed. Only Surge can see the hallucination Starline, as implied in Issue #55.

The sheep character will not be called Lanolin in canon.

This would be due to potential legal issues since there's already a sheep with that name in fiction.

• Jossed, the excerpt and solicitations promoting Issue #57 state that her name is Lanolin.

The original Mecha Sonic (from Sonic 2) will appear in the Scrapnik Island mini-series and end up being the main antagonist

This would be a fairly decent Bait-and-Switch to throw off readers who keep up with the solicitations for each issue, since they would assume that the Mecha Sonic being referred to is the prominently featured Mk. II from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

• Jossed, the silver Mecha Sonic never shows up in the mini-series and the focus is squarely on Mecha Sonic Mk. II from Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the antagonist.

Surge will use a device to corrupt Whisper's wisps into Nega Wisps.

This allows her to use them to transform into Nega Surge, allowing her to reference Super Scourge by also having a "Super" transformation that turns her purple. She could even have a Dark Final Colour Blaster that she uses to 1HKO the heroes during their first fight.

• Jossed

The hidden section of Surge's pose spreadsheet hides the form she gets from the Chaos Emeralds.

More specifically the form she gets from using their negative energy, her Perfect form. Yes, currently only male hedgehogs can turn SUPER with the Chaos Emeralds - with the possible exception of Metal Sonic - in the Modern Universe. But has anyone ever noticed that Super forms were always attained via the positive energy of the Emeralds? Super Sonic is even the most blatant example, and baseline for the phenomenon to boot. Chaos used the negative energy to become Perfect Chaos, Dark Gaia is a living negative energy organism whose complete form is called Perfect Dark Gaia, and Black Doom's Devil Doom form is presumably similarly attained.

There is a clear distinction between the Super and Perfect forms, and given that Surge is an electric bomb of negative emotions and murderous intent (much like Chaos was) it makes sense that this would be her work around the above stipulation as it's not technically "going Super". It would also highlight the dual nature of the Chaos Emeralds as miracle gems and destructors of civilizations again.

• OP: Additionally, the modified strand of the Metal Virus injected into Surge and Kit still increases aggression, a negative emotion that evokes the Negative Chaos Energy. Sonic was only cured of his infection by turning Super with the POSITIVE energy of the emeralds, which acted as an end-all vaccine. It'd only make sense for the negative energy to intermingle with or enhance the modified strand rather than destroy it. Leading to a new form for Surge (and maybe Kit too).
• Counterpoint: There is no sign of the Chaos Emeralds being relevant to this story based on solicitations. The hidden section could be hiding her in the hospital gown she was wearing while being brainwashed, as shown in Imposter Syndrome #3.
  • OP; Counter-counterpoint: I never said this would happen for this arc, just that this was what was hidden on thr spreadsheet. The look of her in her hospital gown was shown on it's own little page of concept art as well, so it can't be what's hidden.
    • OP: As of June 24th the solicitation for Issue 53 has just been posted on Twitter, and quote: "Surge is angry, and she's about to make it everyone's problem...At least everyone in Central City. Sonic's friends race to stop her rampage, but there's something different about her. Something...more powerful." Source: https://t.co/iMp3Z2K93O
    • At least during the Overpowered arc, the Chaos Emeralds aren't part of the arc and the new power Surge obtains during this is Eggman's Dynamo Cage device. Still kinda open on if Surge gets some sort of equivalent super mode later down the line.
  • Jossed. Surge doesn't use the Chaos Emeralds but does gain an new state from the Dynamo Cage. It involves using the Wisps along with a Chaos Drive to boost Surge's power.

The IDW universe was created because of the Genesis Wave.

This new reality was created by accident by Dr Eggman in the crossover with Megaman. This, in turn, affected the main Sonic universe, which is why Classic Sonic (who was supposed to be a younger Sonic) suddenly became an alternate counterpart in Sonic Forces and created the Sonic Boom universe. In simpler terms, the multiverse destroyed by Eggman wasn't really destroyed, Eggman just created new realities including the IDW one.

• Jossed. According to Word of God, the IDW comics are canon to the games.

Open theories

If the Freedom Fighters do reappear in the comic, their role will be heavily reduced to side characters or even cameos.

Their roles in the Archie comics have become rather heavily divisive as of late, and since this comic is going to be a fresh start, it can be assumed that if they somehow appear, they won't be anywhere near as important as they once were. If they aren't completely gone, that is.

• They won't appear this year, but the return of the Freedom Fighters is still possible in the future
  • This troper thinks the reappearance of the Freedom Fighters in some capacity, even if only in cameos, is a Foregone Conclusion. There's evidence in the Sonic Forces tie-in comic. Sally and Bunnie have cameos in issue 3, and there's a not-officially-named coyote Resistance fighter in issue 1 that closely resembles Antoine.
  • If the Freedom Fighters were to appear in the comic, there will be a few changes to them. For example, Sally may no longer be a princess.

At one point, someone will bring up the time Tails cowered in fear when a replica of Chaos appeared.

And Tails will react in embarrassment.

• So far, all we have is him cowering again because Ian likes to troll the audience sometimes.

More expies of Archie Sonic characters will be introduced.

Aside from Dr. Starline, (who is an Expy of Dr. Finitevus who is an expy of Dr. Zachary) there will also be characters that are spiritual successors to guys like Geoffrey St. John, Mina Mongoose, Lien-Da, Hope Kintobor, and so on.

• Some of those characters would be very unlikely since it could draw ire from Ken Penders (since he owns those characters now). It's more likely that new characters could be introduced that fit the current arcs better than any exact Expy from the Archie comics.
  • If they are different enough then he wouldn’t be able to sue and he doesn’t own Mina.
    • It probably still applies though since they're characters made by people who aren't working on this comic and/or not working at IDW. Not to mention that Sega's mandates can't allow certain roles anyway (relatives and love interests in particular).
  • While Starline has details in common with Finitevus, he's strictly his own character.

The Diamond Cutters had met and fought the Jackal Squad before.

Individuals affected by the metal virus are also programmed to thwart anyone attempting to find a cure.

In issue #21, a pair of Chao Zombots promptly go to cut the power to Tails' lab after seeing him gather a sample of the virus. After breaking in, another Zombot promptly smashes the server disk with information about the cure on it, just as Tails pulled it out of the computer. It could be a coincidence, but knowing Eggman he likely had that implemented as a safety feature in case someone tried to find a cure for the virus, forgoing the implementation of means to control the virus-infected individuals more directly.

• This could also explain, why the virus started to "mutate" out of control and why Eggman was so sure that finally found control frequency would not work for long. Viruses have no actual reason to "mutate" in this direction - the ability to disregard Eggman's order did not get it any advantages in terms of survival and/or spreading. But if resisting the attempts to override it is the programmed ability of the virus...
• Semi-confirmed?

The Variable Wispon is capable of the Final Color Blaster, and is, on a meta-level, the Wispon variation of said move.

Either taking the form of a powerful, fast, and target-tracking spear of Hyper-Go-On (as the Wii version of the FCB is built off of the Homing Attack), or an intense energy beam (As the DS version is built off of the Sonic Boost).

Also, Sonic will likely be the one to bring it up, due to his past experience with the technique.

Mimic contacted the Metal Virus at one point.

• Since pretty much the entire world was infected, it's possible that the plague reached the prison he was kept in and the treacherous merc got a little gift from his boss. Of course, given the events of Issue #29 and his Confirmed return in "Bad Guys", he must've gotten better.

Shadow will seek revenge on Eggman.

His pride wounded after being turned into a Zombot, Shadow wants Eggman dead for humiliating him. This ends up backfiring horribly and with Shadow having one hell of an emotional breakdown.

Many people will face some level of PTSD from the Metal Virus incident

Following the end of "Out of the Blue", things seem to be back to normal, with Omega and Gemerl suffering the worst of the aftermath. But people are still missing and there is a good chance many will deal with some level of trauma which may play into a future arc. Something like that just doesn't go away, especially for someone like Cream.

Other villains will bank on people's trauma over the Metal Virus incident

Some villains could take advantage of people being paranoid or untrustworthy to one another from risk getting sick or working with Eggman. They could even disguise as "Zombots" and pose an fake extermination racket for money.

• It does seem like something Clutch would've done if he hadn't been in retirement at the time.

The Metal Virus has some negative impact on the environment

The "Trail By Fire" arc reveals that the plants infected by the Metal Virus were unable to absorb water due to them becoming metal. With the world slowly recovering, the campsite missed its hydration season and has become too dry, eventually leading to a wildfire. Who knows what other environmental consequences are abound after the virus was destroyed.

There will be a Crisis Crossover some time in the future.

My guess is, it'll be a crossover with The DCU. With Darkseid as the Big Bad.

• Or, a crossover across the IDW comics universe, like TMNT, The Transformers, and My Little Pony.

One of the future villains will be a Satanic Archetype.

Sure, we already have Mephiles and Black Doom, but they're both dead therefore they can't be used. This villain will be a demonic entity with a vast, godlike power and is tormenting Sonic and his friends for seemingly no reason other than his own amusement.

Tangle will have somewhat of a Subverted Angst, What Angst moment when she sees how much the Metal Virus impacted her friends, badly

Tangle is a very cheerful and optimistic girl who doesn't get discouraged by anyone or anything. When Tangle sees how badly losing being lost to the Metal Virus affected people like Whisper badly, she'll begin to feel guilty for not being an emotional wreck like anyone affected by losing a loved one to the Metal Virus, such as Whisper, and even Cream, all because she can't remember what she did when she turned into a Zombot.

The Deadly Six will be written out of the comic permanently as a result of the "Zeti Hunt" arc.

Pretty much every fan wants them gone, but since Nobody Can Die in this comic, they will probably be Putona Prison Bus or sent back to the Lost Hex.

• Just when Zavok's reputation has improved because of the writing? Sounds unfair.
  • How much (and if) Zavok had improved is debateable. Besides, what's the point in keeping five characters nobody likes just because they are on one team with a character they tolerate slightly more?
    • They returned to the Lost Hex, and promised to return one day. So, there you go.

Junko Enoshima was in control of the comic for a time.

Specifically during the Metal Virus arc. She wrote a exhausting, dark plot to cause despair, but not to the point of everyone not caring. She got the manuscript by asking Toko and Hifumi for help during her time in Class 78. Fortunately, she was defeated by Ian Flynn after issue 27 was published. Flynn then finished the arc on a happy note.

Whisper and Shadow are going to have a direct confrontation.

I see it happening during Whisper's latest hunt for mimic. Maybe their missions intersect and tensions build. Maybe Mimic takes the form of a Shadow android or Shadow himself to try and get them to fight. Shadow's ego, Whisper's trauma and both their reluctance to communicate their feelings means a fight could feasibly happen.

It would eventually end with Tangle and/or Rouge defusing matters, Whisper's past revealed to Shadow, maybe possibly Shadow sharing some of his issues too and a team-up to capture Mimic. Shadow might remark on leaving him alive again, but knows that Mimic is Whisper's enemy so she makes the decision.

• And as an addition, Shadow, upon learning that Shadow Androids still exist, vows to destroy every last one. Having just had a war where phantoms of himself assisted Eggman in conquering the world, I see Shadow being furious that more doppelgangers of himself exist.

On the above note, Surge is Sonic's equivalent to Android 17 and Cell.

She's green, made to fight, beat, and surpass the main character, and as the above speculates, she might have her own powered up form.

Belle will summon the courage to tell Sonic and Tails about Starline admitting that Metal Sonic helped him destroy Mr Tinker. She will then be devastated, hurt and angry upon discovering that Sonic and Tails repairing and releasing Metal Sonic what was helped the evil robot find Eggman and restore him to normal, leading to every terrible thing happening to Belle and the world.

Kitsunami will become a Chessmaster Sidekick to Surge

Due to events in Imposter Syndrome story, what with him being the one to come up with the idea to kill Dr. Starline, Eggman, Sonic and Tails, it wouldn't be surprising if he slowly becomes able to form his own strategies outside of Surge or Dr. Starline, but would prefer to be by Surge's side.

Surge is related to Peter Griffin

Look at the sheer amount of Generation Xerox:

• Both are hardheaded, often ignoring their more sensible canine companion. (Kit and Brian)
• Both constantly desire to fight another for no good reason. (Sonic and the Giant Chicken)
• Both have a healing factor. (Surge with her Metal Virus strain and Peter can grown back his hand and both of his arms)
• Both treat their family like crap, even though they stay with them for no good reason. (Kit and Meg)
• Both are dickish versions of popular characters. (Sonic and Homer Simpson)
• And the most damming evidence of all: They have the same death pose.
• It is possible, given his modern characterization, that Peter drunkenly had a one-night stand with a tenrec who later gave birth to Surge and sent her to live with Peter when she died. Peter sold Surge to Starline to cover up his affair and afford some impulsive purchase.

Marine The Raccoon and Elise will feature in the comic at some point

Marine and Elise are the two biggest characters that have not featured yet

• Mighty, Ray, Bark, Bean, Fang and Honey currently cannot feature due to being tied to the classic timeline
• Black Doom, Mephiles, Infinite, Gamma, Chip?, Chaos? and Tikal? are currently dead and not allowed to be used
• Larger Characters from adaptations like Cosmo, Sally Acorn and Agent Stone are currently not allowed to be used per SEGA mandate (Sticks The Badger appears to be on the table due to being made by SEGA themselves but she needs express permission from SEGA to be used)

So Marine and Elise are the two biggest who are most likely next in line to feature.

• Marine will feature in the an arc where The Sol Dimension is featured prominently, as an ally to Sonic or as someone with her own agenda, other characters like Gardon and Captain Whisker may also return alongside her.
• Elise is the regent of Soleanna which is a foreign Kingdom, the current situation sees The Restoration struggling to gain footing after The Zombot saga, perhaps Elise may intervene with foreign aid in some form, possibly with an explanation of what she was doing when Eggman invaded. She would probably be changed in a way where any possibility of an explicitly romantic relationship with Sonic is non-existent.

The series will go through a soft reboot after Sonic Frontiers is released.

• A few months after the game comes out, the comic will jump to a setting shortly after the game and start telling stories using the game's new status quo as a partial backdrop.

A Spiritual Successor to Naugus will appear, and will be a Zeti

• The comic has already featured either Spiritual Sucessors or outright expies of previous important Archie characters (such as Surge, for a major example). While they likely can’t reuse the original backstory for Naugus or have him be a trolls, having a new more arcane focused villain be a Zeti would be a good fit for his replacement.

If the IDW team ever decides to bring Starline back, he will be forced to work for another Big Bad

Though it has been stated by Ian Flynn that Issue #50 is where Starline was meant to die, his fate is left ambiguous enough that he could come back if need be.If the writers ever decide to do that, he will have been saved (or maybe brought back to life) by another villain who needs him to fulfill their own plan. To this end, he will be manipulated, brainwashed, or threatened with death into compiling.

Dr Starline is resurrected and becomes part of a Legion of Doom.

Dr Starline's body is found by another villain and is revived. It turns out that this group, the Anti-Eggman Legion have found out about him and his plans and decide he'd be a major help to them. After all, Dr Starline has been wronged by his idol and wanted to take over the world himself and so do the other members of the Anti-Eggman Legion. The other members are:

• Infinite (who somehow survived and is now ruby-less)
• Dr Eggman Nega and Metal Sonic 3.0.
• Imperator Ix
• and several more villains who all have a grudge against the mad doctor.

Surge and Kit were homeless people before being brainwashed

• Between the events of Sonic Forces and the Metal Virus, it stands to reason that many homes were destroyed and many people were killed or displaced. Because of this, both Surge and Kit were among the lots of people with no homes and no relatives to take care of them. Starline kidnapped them specifically because they were able-bodied and would not draw too much attention due to the difficulty of accounting for homeless people.

Surge and Kit share traits with their pre-brainwashing selves

• Surge was resentful of Sonic because her friends or family died as a result of Sonic’s failure in Sonic Forces and Kit was very close to Surge because she was an older sister figure to him. Starline essentially reduced them down to these traits.

Tangle and Whisper will have their own ongoing series

• The two breakout characters already had their own miniseries, and made playable appearances in official Sonic mobile games, so the next step would be to have them get their own long-running series chronicling their own adventures. It could have Tangle and Whisper fight Mimic again after he went solo at the end of Bad Guys, and their adventures could tie in and even cross over with Sonic's own adventures.

Mecha Sonic will appear in the main comic.

He will be seen planting his sunflower in soil.

In addition, Mecha Sonic will be repaired, upgraded and become a Shard Expy, even gaining a new name in the process

First off, it's not the IDW crew are strangers to creating expies of Archie characters, Surge and Dr. Starline being major examples. Mecha and Shard already have similar backstories on the surface, being robotic hedgehogs that Dr. Eggman created, then abandoned for their failure, only to be rediscovered and repaired, though in Mecha's case, only to the point of functionality. It's made clear at the end of Scrapnik Island that Mecha Sonic wants to live for himself and to forge his own path in life. Pair that up with Belle's motivation of taking care of the robots that Eggman abandoned, it only makes sense that once Mecha does get off the island, that Belle and Tails would fix him and potentially other Scrapniks up, possibly even upgrading them in order to defend themselves from more dangerous Badniks like Metal Sonic. Since Mecha Sonic's main theme is moving on from the past, it's not a stretch to say he'll want to distance his new self from being a mere Sonic robot clone and escape the titular hero's shadow to become a hero in his own right, including changing his name and maybe even his color scheme to something more original and to his personal taste, solidifying himself as an individual.

• The main point against this is that unlike the other expies, Mecha Sonic originates from the games. It's one thing to give a game character development (which is already hard to accomplish due to SEGA mandates), but it's another to change them completely, which is unprecedented in a Truer to the Text comic like this, and may be something SEGA might not be too keen on. Still, there's a chance it may happen for two reasons:
  • Mecha Sonic's characterization is already drastically different than he originally was (though it's not like he had much in his debut game other than "another robot doppelganger that Sonic must destroy"), especially after he gets his subroutines removed.
  • SEGA doesn't really use this character much anyways, almost certainly because they have Metal Sonic as Sonic's go-to robotic rival. Because of this, Mecha is likely to have much fewer notes on how he's meant to be portrayed even when compared to more minor game characters.

Sticks will eventually make her comic debut, and it'll somewhat act as an Origins Issue for her

• She got a mention in Sonic Frontiers that confirmed she's now canon to the main Sonic timeline, but there's been no indication of anything saying she was canon until then. An appearance in the IDW comics could act as a way to explain how the rest of The Restoration met her and how she became part of the team. She must've hit it off with Amy pretty well considering she thought of taking Sticks for a road trip.

Kit's Pre-brainwashing self not only volunteered to be used by Starline, but helped him kidnap Surge as well

It only took 33 sessions for Starline to program Kit (as opposed to the 232 sessions it took for Surge) not because he had weaker will, but because he was actively willing to be brainwashed. Beforehand, he was a loner who wanted a greater purpose in life and/or to be closer to Surge. Realizing this, Starline approached him with the offer for him and Surge to become his creations (even being rather open about the details). Kit's former self agreed, and assisted the doctor in capturing Surge.

The Big Bad of the fourth saga will be Clutch the Opossum

So far, the comic had three sagas, each with their own main villains. The first saga (issues 1-12) had Metal Sonic, the second (13-32) had Eggman (with the Deadly Six taking over during the climax), and the third (33-61) had Starline (with Surge taking over during the climax). So, for the fourth saga, who could take the role that Metal, Eggman, and Starline all had? Perhaps Clutch. The biggest hint to him being the next big threat Sonic has to face was in issue 48, where he indicated that he'd be rebuilding his criminal empire so he could fight Sonic and his friends. And in a variant cover for issue 62, Clutch is seen observing Mimic, implying that Mimic's working for him now. Because of all that, Clutch seems the most likely to be Sonic's next big adversary.

If Clutch is the next Big Bad, Sonic and Eggman will pull an Enemy Mine to take down his empire

Eventually, Clutch's empire will grow to a point where it would threaten even Eggman's plans for the world. So, given that he returns in time for the climax, it's possible that he'll be forced to team up with Sonic and his allies to fight against Clutch and his rebuilt empire.

Dr. Starline only returned as a hallucination to Sega's Nobody Can Die rule

It was made clear that one of the rules Sega put in place for this comic is that no one, from game characters to comic newcomers, is able to die. Starline seemed to be an exception to this rule thanks to his death in Issue 50, but he soon returns as a recurring hologram that Surge sees on the regular. Perhaps Starline's return as a hallucination was part of a compromise for killing him off; if he returns as a hallucination, then he's technically still alive, as Sega mandated.

Clutch will resurrect Dr. Starline.

Due to the age old comic rule that nobody actually dies unless we see the body, it's possible that Clutch decided to find Starline after hearing mentions of him from Rough and Tumble, and later Mimic. Upon finding Starline's corpse, Clutch has the body sent off to a team who revive Starline despite the heavy disfigurements. Dr. Starline would then resemble his concept arts, due to his body being heavily damaged during his initial death.

Dr. Starline plays along with Clutch's plans due to a combination of having lost his will to live and because Clutch is threatening to kill him if he steps out of line. Overtime, Starline's personality begins to reemerge and he decides to backstab Clutch and take his revenge on both Dr. Eggman and Sonic for his previous death by stealing the Chaos Emeralds and using them to attain his own super form in a future arc.

If the Freedom Fighters return...

It'll be a Hero of Another Story type of deal. Sally Acorn is the leader of the Freedom Fighters who have been trying time and time again to overthrow a monstrous dictator who wishes to rule the planet. One day, Sonic and Tails end up travelling to the Kingdom of Acorn and they meet up with the Freedom Fighters. The dictator in question would be a Composite Character Expy of Archie Dr. Robotnik and Ixis Naugus, who doesn't take kindly to the new members of the Freedom Fighters and seeks to punish them severely for daring to make light of his authority.

The original Diamond Cutters (Smithy, Slinger, and Claire) will return

As mentioned during an above WMG theory regarding Starline's potential return, a mandate for the comic is that Nobody Can Die unless their corpses are shown. And when Whisper's old team were attacked and presumably slaughtered by the Shadow Androids, we never see their dead bodies. Because of that, this could allow the trio of Smithy, Slinger and Claire to return in the future. They could have either barely survived Eggman's attack, or been resurrected through unknown means. If the original Diamond Cutters do return, they could be working for Clutch, and they could eventually cross paths with the new Diamond Cutters (Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin), leading to a showdown between Diamond Cutters new and old.

The Warp Topaz time travelled backwards to the Fang the Hunter mini-series, and is still in Fang's possession

The gem's final surge sent it back in time to the Classic Era, where it was found by the Heavies and stolen by Fang. The reason why Fang hasn't been seen much after that time period is because he has been using the Topaz to evade the law (or perhaps he's ended up in a different world).

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