The Sega Scourge's
Sonic: What If? is a series of videos on YouTube, having taken some inspiration from certain other webseries.
As the title states, this "What If?" series focuses on scenarios in which certain events played out differently from the main canon of Sonic the Hedgehog and explores the results of the path not taken.
The series started off with What If Sonic Never Lost The Werehog Form? and continued from there. The series currently has five installments (playlists in the links):
- What If Sonic Never Lost The Werehog Form?: Dark Gaia never takes back his leftover power, and Sonic struggles to contain the beast within...
- What If Emerl Survived?: Emerl is saved from himself by Super Sonic, joining him on future adventures.
- What If Sonic Lost His Memory?: Instead of Shadow, Sonic falls to Earth and gets amnesia.
- What If E-102 Gamma Survived?: Through chance, Gamma avoids his death alongside Beta, and goes on a journey of self-discovery.
- What If Espio Was Trained By Master Zik?: Instead of joining the Chaotix, Espio is taken under a certain Zeti's wing...
- An unknown what-if involving Metal Sonic
A one-shot April Fools' video known as What If Sonic Met The Joker? has also been made, in which, yes, Sonic meets The Joker.
Additionally, Sonicomics: What If? is a supplementary webcomic used to flesh out some of these specific timelines, starting with the What If Espio Was Trained By Master Zik? one on June 9th, 2021. It can be viewed here on Webtoons.
The Sega Scourge's Sonic: What Ifs contain the following tropes:
The following "What Ifs" have their own pages:
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General
- Adaptation Deviation: Often, the presence of a changed element results in major changes for the following games.
- Adaptation Expansion: The stories from this series tend to be described in much greater detail in comparison to the games themselves (and to a lesser degree, one of its inspirations), often writing in explanations for any canon plot holes in order to allow for a more narratively cohesive story. One such expansion involves a fleshing out of the
confusing "two worlds" concept described by some SEGA employees: in this series, Earth and Sonic's world are two distinct planets that anyone can easily traverse between via giant portal rings, akin to how it was handled in the live-action film.- As of 2022, the 'Two Worlds' concept has been officially acknowledges as non-canon. The show follows suit, as only What If Sonic Lost His Memory? made heavy use of its intricacies.
- Alternate Continuity: Pretty much the concept of the series.
- Fix Fic: Heavily downplayed, but on occasion elements that fans may have disliked from the games will sometimes be tweaked or omitted. Case in point: What If Sonic Lost His Memory? shows the realistic consequences of Rouge not informing Shadow about his past in Sonic Heroes via an alternate Sonic, and What If Emerl Survived? writes out the kissing scene from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
- For Want Of A Nail: Appropriately, most what-ifs occur as a result of one major change occurring in the timeline.
- Narrator: The Sega Scourge himself, who after a few instalments implemented a greenscreen background depicting a space station that might be familiar to keen-eyed Sonic fans. From here, Scourge tells the viewers his tales from alternate timelines.
- What If?: The central premise of the series.
What If Sonic Never Lost The Werehog Form?
Sonic the Werehog. This fearsome form was lost permanently when Dark Gaia reclaimed the energy that caused the transformation at the finale of Sonic Unleashed.
But what if that never happened, and Sonic still had the transformation even after the world was restored?
In this timeline, Sonic has to deal with the Werehog on his future adventures to places like Camelot or Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park. Can Sonic save the day by himself like usual, or will the Werehog cause a few more problems? And if that's the case, could there still be another way that Sonic could cure himself of the transformation?
But what if that never happened, and Sonic still had the transformation even after the world was restored?
In this timeline, Sonic has to deal with the Werehog on his future adventures to places like Camelot or Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park. Can Sonic save the day by himself like usual, or will the Werehog cause a few more problems? And if that's the case, could there still be another way that Sonic could cure himself of the transformation?
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: While Sonic never completely loses his chipper attitude, he's notably less upbeat due to his curse and the effect it has on his psyche. His motivation for a good part of the series is trying to cure himself of the curse.
- And I Must Scream: The fate of the alternate Erazor Djinn as pointed out by Sonic: Remaining trapped within the empty White Space for all eternity, with no way out and no way to die. Sonic uses his Dark Gaia powers and speed to escape this fate, however.
- Bilingual Bonus: Alf Layla wa-Layla's name already means "one thousand and one nights" in Arabic, so his combined form with the Time Eater is "Alf wa-Mr'tan", meaning "one thousand times over" in reference to the monster's additional time powers.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- The ending to Sonic and the Black Knight: Sonic saved the kingdom and caused Merlina's Heel–Face Turn, but in the process he almost succumbed to his Dark Gaia essence and doesn't get named King Arthur due to the darkness inside him. Caliburn goes back to his resting place to wait for the true king, and Sonic doesn't get cured of his curse in the end.
- The ending to Sonic Generations is even more on the bitter side: while Sonic and friends have succeeded at restoring time and space, foiling the two Eggmans and defeating the time-displaced Erazor, Classic Sonic is still cursed with a Werehog form of his own, and Modern Sonic is stuck in his Werehog form during the day and night.
- The Corruption: Sonic's attempt to use Chaos Control with his Classic self goes awry, resulting in his Dark Gaia energy being transmitted to Classic Sonic, turning him into a Werehog as well, even if he surprisingly isn't as bothered by it. This leads to Sonic realizing that the negative energy of the Emeralds (and other sources of power) has been spurring on the negative energy powering his Werehog form, which culminates in his Shapeshifter Mode Lock upon him returning to the real world.
- Decoy Protagonist: Sonic himself in Black Knight: after being overwhelmed with dark energy and going rogue, Lancelot's the one to take up Excalibur instead and has to save the kingdom from him.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Classic Sonic's Werehog form is distinct from his Modern counterpart's, likely as a result of the White Space's properties: he's still the same shade of blue as before, but his design is more feral with pointed fingernails, sharper teeth and wilder fur, along with having dark blue circles around his eyes and a single gold spike on each shoe.
- The Dreaded: Dark Gaia and the Nightmare are this to Sonic, for obvious reasons. When given the chance to travel back in time to the point where Dark Gaia would've been able to take his energy back, Sonic declines as, beyond how risky a move that would be, he really doesn't want to see Dark Gaia again.
- Enemy Within: The Nightmare is the manifestation of the Dark Gaia essence within Sonic, appearing in his dreams and haunting his unconscious mind. With a piece of Dark Gaia essentially living on through the Werehog form, can the destructive deity really be considered defeated?
- For Want Of A Nail: Eggman's plan takes a different turn from canon, with him using the same electromagnetic waves he used to gather Dark Gaia's spawn together to control Dark Gaia itself via a head-mounted Mind-Control Device, ensuring it actually stays under his control. As a result of being under his control, Dark Gaia is unable to reabsorb its essence from Sonic, meaning it never reaches its Perfect form before its death and Sonic keeps his Werehog form.
- Minor example from the Generations arc: as a result of Eggman's banishment to the end of the galaxy by the Mother Wisp (as opposed to being thrown into space by a collapsing Hyper-go-on vortex), the events of the game occur slightly later than in canon, with Sonic's birthday party going uninterrupted.
- Fusion Dance: In the Sonic Generations adaptation, Alf Layla wa-Layla hijacks the Time Eater from the two Eggmen, becoming Alf wa-Mr'tan as a result.
- Godzilla Threshold: Despite having learned that his previous transformations have spurred on the unstable Dark Gaia energy in his body, Modern Sonic, knowing there's no Emeralds or other hope to stop Alf wa-Mr'tan, combines his Werehog form with that of the World Rings of Rage, Sadness and Hatred to become Darkspine Werehog—a mindless beast full of raw, uncontrollable power. Despite damaging the monster somewhat, it doesn't pay off.
- Mental Time Travel: A variation: Sonic's adventures in Generations seem to have him take the place of himself from whatever point in time he travels to. When he travels back to the Night Palace in Secret Rings at the point just after Shahra's death, he's tasked with needing to fight Erazor's One-Winged Angel form all over again.
- Off the Rails: Due to Sonic Generations having a very simplistic Excuse Plot, the Sega Scourge takes it in a completely different direction altogether: due to the Werehog's slow speed, Sonic is unable to completely restore any stages that take place at night like Chemical Plant or Speed Highway. He then gets the idea to return to the Arabian Nights...
- Partial Transformation: As a result of being outside of time, space and the influence of Chip or Dark Gaia, "Dusk Sonic" is a mixture of his normal and Werehog selves, with the overall physical structure of the former, the fur and feral characteristics of the latter, and his usual white shoe straps being replaced with gold spikes. When escaping the White Space, it's implied that a more complete fusion between his two forms comes into existence for a few moments.
- Shapeshifter Mode Lock: By the end of Generations, the effects of Sonic's multiple transformations have made him permanently stuck in his Werehog form during the day and night.
What If Emerl Survived?
Emerl, the skill-acquiring copybot... and focal-point of Sonic Battle. This cybernetic weapon of a bygone era was lost when he climatically ended his existence to save the lives of his dearest friends.
But what if the all-powerful Gizoid had avoided his fate, and lived to join Sonic's future adventures?
With his growing library of copied abilities—how much more powerful could he get? The lovable 4000-year-old Gizoid now stands aside Sonic against new adversaries, like the formidable Gemerl... and soon enough, Solaris!
But what if the all-powerful Gizoid had avoided his fate, and lived to join Sonic's future adventures?
With his growing library of copied abilities—how much more powerful could he get? The lovable 4000-year-old Gizoid now stands aside Sonic against new adversaries, like the formidable Gemerl... and soon enough, Solaris!
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Gemerl is created by Eggman to destroy Emerl the same way Metal Sonic was made to destroy Sonic, as opposed to the original series where he is a battle robot built based on Emerl's design.
- Adaptational Badass: With more abilities to scan and learn, Emerl is an even greater asset to the heroes.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: The altered ending of Sonic '06 catches the attention of a creature only known as Argus, who spirits the inert bodies of Emerl and Gemerl away to the Twilight Cage because of their exploits as the ultra-powerful Masterl. It's here that the two Gizoids encounter the Nocturnus Clan from Sonic Chronicles (Argus and the Twilight Cage also originate from that game), who appear at a point in their history way before they'd designed the Warp Belts that they used to temporarily return to Sonic's dimension during that game's events. Therefore, their plan to permanently escape the Cage hasn't been put into action... But that changes when Imperator Ix senses the Chaos Emeralds inside Emerl and eventually removes them from the Gizoid's body with his otherworldly abilities, the mystical gems being just what he needs to kick that plan into high gear.
- Back from the Dead: Masterl uses his healing powers to restore Sonic's life, as opposed to the original canon's Magic Kiss from Elise.
- Canon Immigrant: The Nocturnus Clan from Sonic Chronicles appears in this what-if due to their connection with the Gizoids, despite their game of origin having been considered a non-canon "alternate universe" by SEGA.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Charged up with three forms of energy and carrying all of Emerl's copied abilities, Masterl uses a combination of the time portal and Self-Duplication skills Emerl copied from Mephiles to utterly obliterate Solaris in the past, present, and future simultaneously with power far greater than the Super trio of Sonic, Shadow, and Silver used in Sonic '06's original events... combined. To quote the Sega Scourge himself, "This battle was over before it even started."
- Evil Knockoff: Gemerl. He was made as an answer to Sonic's surrogate son and possesses his own abilities that stack up to the original, even if those abilities aren't exactly the same.
- Fusion Dance: In order to subdue Emerl, who's rampaging in his Ultimate form as a result of absorbing energy from Solaris' core as well as the multiversal energy the Sun God is itself absorbing, Gemerl uses his ability to merge with machines on him. The result is neither Emerl nor Gemerl, but an entirely new being created from the amalgamated consciousnesses and bodies of the two, and one more powerful than any Gizoid before him. With the energies inside him— including those of the Chaos Emeralds— as well as the myriad of abilities Emerl has copied over time, this entity is easily able to revive a fallen Sonic, take down Solaris and restore the multiverse to the way it was. Not long after his resurrection, Sonic coins a name for the fused Gizoid, much like he did with Emerl. This name? Masterl. And considering everything he accomplishes in his first appearance, it certainly fits.
- Grand Theft Me: Gemerl, who was thinking of a way to the future to find Emerl and get payback, finds a shut-down Omega who, as per Sonic '06's original events, put himself into standby mode for 200 years in order to aid Shadow against Mephiles. Gemerl scans him to gain critical info, then merges with him, putting himself into standby along with Omega. Sure enough, "Omegerl"— a mishmash of the two robots with Gemerl in full control— shows up during Shadow and Emerl's battle with Mephiles, determined to mow Emerl down using every weapon the walking armory has. This is eventually undone when Emerl quite literally pulls Gemerl out of Omega's body (though not to the extent where he harms Omega, of course). Naturally, Omega's absolutely furious at Gemerl for taking control of him, as it means that an Eggman robot, and by proxy, the doctor himself, had him in his grasp.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sonic jumps in front of Emerl to save him from Mephiles' attack. Unfortunately, this kills him just like in the source material, which breaks Emerl's link and reverts the Gizoid to his default programming, giving Mephiles a new puppet to play with as he erases reality.
- Meaningful Name: Emerl's original name given to him by the Nocturnus Clan, Typhos, inspired by one of if not THE most deadly creature in all of Greek Mythology, Typhon, an entity said to be capable of challenging the gods themselves.
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Ix decides to get personally involved with the fight that ensues when Emerl refuses his orders to give up the Chaos Emeralds and renounces his past with the Nocturnus Clan, and the Gizoid, believing Ix to be an easy target due to his age, moves in to attack him... except the Imperator is barely even fazed by the blow and simply knocks him aside. This happens twice before Emerl realizes just how much of a serious threat the ruler is.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Thanks to Super Sonic, Emerl never self-destructs, thus allowing him to live past the events of Sonic Battle.
- World-Healing Wave: After erasing Solaris from existence, Masterl unleashes an unprecedented, multiversal-energy-fueled Chaos Control that repairs the destruction the Sun God caused to time and space, restoring everything to its regular state. Unlike the original ending of Sonic '06, the world isn't reset to before the game's events, so everyone retains their memories of the adventure.
What If E- 102 Gamma Survived?
The short life of an obedient Eggman badnik changed the day he encountered a pink hedgehog and a small blue bird. Through the unseen intervention of the imprisoned flicky inside of him, E-102γ (Gamma) of the “E-Series” broke free of his programming - deleting Robotnik's master-registration, and setting out on a mission to free the captured animals trapped inside his kin. In a final battle with his upgraded older brother, E-101β (Beta) Mark II, Gamma's existence quietly came to an end...and with his passing, a tiny family was reunited.
But what if "Mr. Robot" survived? What if his encounter with Beta had gone differently?
The Flicky inside Gamma is now catatonic, having given him its power one last time to allow Gamma to defeat Beta once and for all. With no safe way to remove it, Gamma and the two Flickies' new lives thus begin with finding the birds' original owner and, hopefully, reuniting with them.
But what if "Mr. Robot" survived? What if his encounter with Beta had gone differently?
The Flicky inside Gamma is now catatonic, having given him its power one last time to allow Gamma to defeat Beta once and for all. With no safe way to remove it, Gamma and the two Flickies' new lives thus begin with finding the birds' original owner and, hopefully, reuniting with them.
- Adaptational Villainy: Eggman eventually makes good on his threat to Gamma in episode one and sends in Omega. Unlike canon, Eggman didn't seal E-123 Omega away with Shadow. Instead, he sends him out to find Gamma. And combined with his canon ego, Omega is a great deal more ruthless towards Gamma and the islanders.
- Canon Foreigner: Aya, the owner of the three Flickies, is an original character created for this story. The same applies to Professor Tomo, her grandfather.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Gamma takes out ZERO with one shot.
- Death by Adaptation: Omega is completely obliterated by Gamma's last ditch attack.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In order to save the camp, Gamma manages to defeat Omega by overloading his arm cannon borrowed from Beta. Doing this results in blowing Gamma up.
- Hero of Another Story: Gamma's quest to reunite the Flickies with their owner takes place at the same time as Sonic Adventure 2.
- Named by the Adaptation: The three Flickies from Sonic Adventure are given Japanese names that correspond to their feather colors: the blue one who travelled with Amy is named Mi (as in mizu or "water"), the white one that was inside Beta is named Fu (as in fuyu or "winter"), and the pink Flicky that remains inside Gamma is named Ko (as in kokoro or "heart").
- Spared by the Adaptation: Gamma survives thanks to his Flicky willingly re-entering his body.
- Villainous Breakdown: Even as Gamma's final attack obliterates him, Omega still continues to rant about his superiority.Omega: Disappointing! Inadequate! Futile! I can take this! This is nothing to me! I am E-123 Omega! The world's most powerful—!
What If Sonic Met The Joker? (April Fools' 2020)
During the Sonic panel at SXSW 2019, an unthinkably brilliant question was asked to SEGA and Sonic Team: "If you were to have a crossover between the Sonic games and Batman, how would Sonic meet the Joker?"
While many have called this question mad and looney, many others were blown away by its pure, unadulterated genius. The Sega Scourge, being one of the far more sophisticated latter camp, tells the story of how Sonic could meet the Joker.
Sometime after Sonic Forces, Dr. Eggman has reclaimed the Phantom Ruby along with the seven Chaos Emeralds. With Sonic's friends as hostages, the good doctor has set up his plan to throw all the heroes into another world. However, when the hedgehog crashes into Eggman's terminal, things go awry, and a green-haired stranger soon appears out of the portal...
While many have called this question mad and looney, many others were blown away by its pure, unadulterated genius. The Sega Scourge, being one of the far more sophisticated latter camp, tells the story of how Sonic could meet the Joker.
Sometime after Sonic Forces, Dr. Eggman has reclaimed the Phantom Ruby along with the seven Chaos Emeralds. With Sonic's friends as hostages, the good doctor has set up his plan to throw all the heroes into another world. However, when the hedgehog crashes into Eggman's terminal, things go awry, and a green-haired stranger soon appears out of the portal...
- April Fools: Averted. This is a very serious story that is most seriously and definitely meant to be taken seriously.
- Denser and Wackier: Absolutely, compared to several of the other "What If" stories here. Examples include: Eggman becoming a muscular lumberjack complete with an axe, the Joker's colorful vandalism of Sonic's world and Eggman's army (including Metal Sonic), and not only Sonic activating his Super Mode, but Joker and Eggman turning Super as well.
- Egopolis: The Joker uses the Phantom Ruby to warp the world around him into his own personal Joker-themed playground.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: Between Sonic the Hedgehog and Batman, or more specifically, The Joker.
- Sanity Strengthening: Beyond just giving him a boost in power, the Chaos Emeralds manage to completely cure Super Joker of his insanity. Unhappy with this, the man proceeds to power down and intake Joker venom so that he can feel like his old self again.
- Sequel Hook: At the end, Eggman takes the last vial of Joker chemical and begins experiencing a Joker-like transformation. Whatever happens next will most definitely be told in a future video, at the same Egg time and same Egg place.
- Time Skip: Sonic spends six months in a coma as a result of falling into frozen water. During that time, the Joker has made a mess of everything.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: This happens to Super Eggman. Hooray for him!
What If Espio Was Trained By Master Zik?
Espio the Chameleon... a valued member of the Chaotix Detective Agency, and a paragon for self-discipline and ninjustu skill.
Not much is known about the training that led Espio to gain the creed that he has in the story today—but what if his training had taken a different turn? Instead following a strange portal to a bizarre, wonder-world? This is the story of Espio, the student... Master Zik, the teacher... and the birth of the Deadly Seven.
How will Espio's indoctrination change the Zeti's destiny? And more importantly... how will the Chameleon's training change HIM?
Not much is known about the training that led Espio to gain the creed that he has in the story today—but what if his training had taken a different turn? Instead following a strange portal to a bizarre, wonder-world? This is the story of Espio, the student... Master Zik, the teacher... and the birth of the Deadly Seven.
How will Espio's indoctrination change the Zeti's destiny? And more importantly... how will the Chameleon's training change HIM?
- Adaptational Badass: As a result of his Training from Hell, Espio is significantly stronger and more capable than he was in canon, gaining Nigh-Invulnerability and Super-Strength on top of the Super-Speed he canonically has.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Though the Zeti have very little in the way of backstory in official media, this story hints at an in-universe reason for why Zeena is the only of her kind to have one horn. In the second episode of the web series, Espio mentions knowing a 'secret' of Zeena's relating to something with her hair, and in the first issue of Comic-Book Adaptation 'Sonicomics: What If' we see this secret layed out: Zeena has a broken base of a horn hidden under her hair that Espio catches her holding the broken horn of a monster to. Given that she's so motivated by beauty and holding her image together, it's understandable that such a physical deformity would eat at her.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: The Deadly Six are now a major part of Espio's ninja training. In canon, none of them have directly interacted with him. As such, this is inverted with Espio's relationship with Vector, Charmy and the rest of the cast, having never met them in this timeline.
- In Spite of a Nail: Despite Espio not being a part of the Chaotix or having even met the rest of the cast in this timeline, the events of games leading up to Sonic Lost World proper still take place offscreen, with some Wisps settling on Sonic's world and the Lost Hex just as they did in the source material.
- Surpassed the Teacher: Espio manages to surpass Master Zik himself as a result of the Training from Hell the latter put him through.
- Team Member in the Adaptation: Espio is now a member of the Deadly Six, now called the Deadly Seven.
- Training from Hell: Master Zik puts Espio through four years of brutal training to bring him up to the level of the other Deadly Six members.
