So, this is a theory I came across a few years back, and as time has gone on and the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense to me. Pretty much as the title of this entry reads, the core of this theory is that Metal Sonic is a version of Sonic who was Roboticized by Dr Eggman. People might point out that, the Roboticizer is an Archie Sonic Comic thing. Not entirely true, though not mentioned by name, one appears in Sonic Lost World, acquired by the Deadly Six after their brief enslavement by Eggman. So we have the concept and actual device appearing in canon in the Sonic game timeline. Moving on, in order to discuss this a bit further, I feel it should be discussed, where in the Sonic timeline does Sonic CD take place. Some will say it's non-canon simply because it was in development alongside Sonic 2, others will say it takes place between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. Others say between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. My personal conclusion, for the sake of this theory, is it takes place between Sonic 1 and 2. The primary evidence for my conclusion being, if it was after Sonic 2, then where is Tails? This is disregarding his inclusion in the 2011 re-release, which I feel is more of a playable cameo for Tails rather than meaning he was actually there.
Similarly, let's look at the intro for Sonic CD, it has Sonic running through fields and approaching Little Planet, which makes sense if he's in the transition between the islands Sonic 1 and 2 take place in. He finishes up in Sonic 1 and takes off, heading toward the West Side Islands, where Sonic 2 takes place and where he would first meet Tails. On his way, he comes across Little Planet. The events of Sonic CD take place, but in this scenario, with a bit of a twist. In the normal timeline, in Stardust Speedway, he becomes blocked by a door, with Eggman with a powerful laser and Metal Sonic waiting for him. Keeping in mind, the evidence points towards there being no way to get around this door until Eggman opens it for the race between Metal and Sonic.
Looping back to this, what happens in a timeline where Metal Sonic isn't there to be the one to confront and race Sonic, to be the one that beats him? It's only a trapped Sonic, Eggman, and his laser. And it's at this point, where this version of Sonic ceases to be basically, the heroic blue hedgehog is done for. And it's this very Sonic, that Eggman takes back after Sonic either surrenders or Eggman wounds him with the laser enough to drag him away. Eggman then uses Sonic's body as the core of what becomes Metal Sonic.
Looking further into this theory with what I said above. Metal Sonic is introduced in the very game where the concept of time travel is introduced into Sonic canon. With his greatest creation now finished, to ensure Sonic as a whole, any version of him can't interfere with his plans, he sends Metal Sonic back to assist himself in stopping his greatest foe, and to prove to not just himself, but also to Sonic, that he is in fact better than him.Which is also a fatal flaw of Eggman's, which we'll get back to. Metal Sonic, now assisting Eggman in the past, kidnaps Amy Rose, to ensure Sonic gives chase. Which leads use once more back to Stardust Speedway. This time, Eggman wants this new creation of a his, although the creation of an alternate version of himself, to be the one to put an end to Sonic, once more, a flaw of Eggman similar to the other Eggman sending Metal back to begin with.
So we have here basically, Eggman getting hoist by his own petard. Something we see Eggman do to himself more than once honestly. So his ego getting the best of him is nothing new in case people want to question why he made such silly mistakes. Anyway, back to the main point, Sonic and Metal race across Stardust Speedway, which Sonic ultimately wins and Eggman accidentally fries Metal Sonic instead with his laser, causing Metal to fall from where they raced. In canon timeline wise, Metal is stuck there until the events of Sonic 4, where Little Planet once again reappears and Eggman finally restarts his creation and gets him fixed up. And the rest is history pretty much. Metal has been a recurring villain in Sonic for years, has been the only one of Eggman's creations that has repeatedly stood against Sonic and matched him in speed, skill, and strength.
So one has to wonder, if Metal was simply a brilliant creation of the Doctor, why did he never make anymore of them? Or why did he never iterate further on Metal and create better versions. The simple answer is, he can't, he's missing the main component. This takes me to my placement of Sonic CD being between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. With the placement in mind, and all of this having taken place, we go back to my previous question about why Eggman never created more Metal's or tried to iterate on him and make better ones. That's because we have seen a couple of attempts for Eggman to recreate Metal in the forms of Silver Sonic from Sonic 2 and Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
Silver Sonic was just a total disaster, and Mecha Sonic, while a much better attempt, I mean, Mecha could even harness the powers of Chaos from the Master Emerald, to achieve a very brief super form. But in the end, Mecha still failed. So, why were Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic such failures in comparison to Metal? The Doctor did it once after all, right? To which I repeat, it doesn't matter how many times Eggman attempts to recreate or make a better version of Metal, it's impossible to do so, because at the end of the day, Metal is no simple robot. He is, at his core, an actual Sonic the Hedgehog. I've already presented some evidence to this theory, but there is still a bit more I want to add in to back up the theory a little more.
Let's first start with Sonic Heroes, in that game, Metal rebels against Eggman, and in the end, becomes known as Metal Overlord, and it's during this fight we get the evidence. During it, Metal specifically states "I am the real Sonic" and calls Sonic a loathsome copy. Why does Metal, who knows he's a robot, believe he's the real Sonic? And why does he think that the flesh and blood Sonic he's fighting, is a copy? Doesn't make a lot of sense. He also states during the fight "See me as I am, no longer afraid of anything". But Metal, once again, you're a robot? How do you have any feelings or emotions at all? Unless of course, Metal isn't purely a robot. I think you can see what I am getting at here.
Lastly, Metal can also use the power of Chaos Control, something we know that can only be done by living beings. Mecha Sonic I think being the only exception to being able to control any sort of chaos energy as a robot from what I can remember. And even then, as I mentioned earlier, even though he could, it was only very briefly before he needed to reattach to the Master Emerald to power up again. Contrast to Metal, who was able to use the power of Chaos Control perfectly. I mean, even Tikal from Sonic Adventure, her mantra in regards to the Master and Chaos Emeralds has this particular line in it, "power enriched by the heart". You can't really enrich power with heart if you don't have one to begin with no?
The next part of it I wish to go over, comes from the above mentioned Sonic 4, particularly Episode Metal. This is where Dr.Eggman is finally able to recover Metal from Little Planet after his defeat in Sonic CD. During this, we have a very specific musical motif to go with it. A lot of people may not take as much stock in this, but I personally believe, that sometimes, stories can be just as told through music as they can through lines of dialogue. In this case, while Eggman is reactivating Metal Sonic, a slower and more somber version of the song 'Sonic Boom' is playing, the American intro song for Sonic CD, but most importantly, a song that could be attributed as a theme song for Sonic himself. As the song plays on, it transitions into a slightly more upbeat version of 'You Can Do Anything' (more commonly called Toot Toot Sonic Warrior), which was the Japanese release intro song for Sonic CD, and again, could be attributed as a theme song for Sonic himself. So, why play a slower more somber, followed up by a slightly more upbeat but still remixed version of both of Sonic's theme songs for Metal? Why not give Metal his own musical motif's?
Now let's look at Little Planet itself. Stardust Speedway has had its share of revisits through out Sonic's adventures. Sonic CD, Sonic Generations, and Sonic Mania. It appearing in several games though isn't the point though, it's that in all of the appearances its had, it has always been its bad future, where the race against Metal takes place. Why though? I mean, this tells us a few possibilities. Sonic didn't collect all the Time Stones, or he forgot the Roboticizer in Stardust Speedway's past, which still indicates he didn't get all the Time Stones, and had to restore all the good futures by destroying all the Roboticizer's in Little Planets pasts. Either way, both of those options are totally out of character for Sonic. When it comes to hero-ing, he's never done it half-assed. Or, he did do one or the other of those things, but something keeps Stardust Speedway anchored to its bad future, despite Sonic having done the things that ensured a good future of everywhere else on Little Planet, and should have secured the good future of the speedway as well, but it isn't happening. Perhaps because some terrible significant event occurred there that keeps it locked in its bad future? Because the event that took place there can't be altered? And thus like I said, Startdust Speedway is just doomed to be forever anchored to its bad future because of it.
Lastly and the final piece of this, there is also the fact that Metal tends to rebel against Eggman from time to time. Could this be from Sonic's personality breaking through just enough to rebel a little against the Doctor? But not enough to full break the robotic programming he has as Metal? Thus while he's rebelling, he's still doing it in an evil and sinister way. It's ultimately the best he can do given his unfortunate circumstance.
Anyway, I'll leave it there and let you draw your own conclusions. I've presented my thoughts I've had over the years and combined it with other evidence provided by others to bring this all together. I am interested to hear what others think of the theory, if they have further evidence to add, or if people have things to the contrary that contradicts the ideas, theories, and evidence I have presented here.
Till next time my peeps!
