Super transformation (2024)

"Super Form" redirects here. For the power-up, see Super Form (power-up).

The super transformation^[3] is a technique that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a transformation that an elite few can undergo when exposed to vast amounts of Chaos Emerald energy or similar forces, usually via the seven Chaos Emeralds. This lets its users enter a Super State^[4] or super form^[5] (スーパー化^[6] Sūpā-ka^?, lit. "super-ification"), which bestows them with increased innate talents while usually granting them virtual invulnerability and new abilities.

Description[]

A super transformation is achieved by harnessing the Chaos Emerald energy from objects that radiate it, most commonly the seven Chaos Emeralds, but can also include the Master Emerald. However, users can be limited to assume their Super State from one of these requirements; notably, Metal Sonic can allegedly only enter a super transformation by harnessing the energy of the Master Emerald, while the Chaos Emeralds would only power him up.^[7] Super States generally grant their users a new appearance that is very diverse and varies depending on the subject. This most commonly includes a change in the subject's body color, typically into a golden one;^[8] but can also make all or part of their body glow, increase their size to a colossal scale, or summon a golden shield that protects them.

The Super Transformation generally gives the user enhanced innate abilities that far surpass their normal ones,^[9] such as increased speed and other abilities, such as Shadow's chaos powers and Silver's psychokinetic abilities. Additionally, due to the amounts of Chaos Emerald energy they are infused with, all Super States accordingly command unlimited power^[10] and have access to unlimited energy.^[11] Though not normally displayed in gameplay, super transformation also grants users super strength, allowing them to perform colossal feats of physical capabilities.

In addition to the user's already enhanced abilities, super transformations grant them a variety of new moves and skills, most commonly flight. They are also granted virtual invulnerability, thus allowing them to resist lethal attacks and survive in environments such as space.^[12][13] Despite this, however, Super States are, for the most part, vulnerable to drowning, and can still take damage/flinch from powerful, deadly foes like Phantom King, Black Dragon, Solaris, Perfect Dark Gaia, The Titans, The End and several Eggman mechs. In some cases, users can be knocked out of a Super form if they get hit by strong suprise attack, Like how Knuckles knocked Sonic out of his Super Sonic transformation when he was caught of guard in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

It is possible to share the ability of super transformation, allowing the Super State user to let others achieve a Super State of their own by passing their power onto them, while still maintaining their own Super Transformation.^[14][15] It should also be noted that Super State users appear to be able to also use their energy to empower machinery, such is the case of Super Sonic, can grant Extreme Gear unlimited fuel and maximum stats.

For all its clear benefits, the Super Transformation has its cons and flaws; most notably, Super States are usually short-lived, as most consume tremendous amounts of energy in short periods of time,^[16][9] though their longevity can only be extended by harnessing Ring Energy. Additionally, Super State users can be stripped off their transformation if they are forcibly extracted from their power source.^[17]

Gameplay[]

In most cases, to achieve a Super Transformation, the player must obtain the seven Chaos Emeralds alongside fifty Rings for the transformation to activate. The Rings, serving as a gameplay mechanic to limit how long the form will last, like a timer, will decrease one every second (some games like Sonic Heroes decrease Rings in a slower pace), and upon reaching zero, the user will revert to normal. In the original Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games starting with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, super transformation, once unlocked, can be used in regular levels to give the player advantages through Zones (combining the power-up effects of Power Sneakers, invincibility, and in some cases, jumping higher), by obtaining all the Emeralds in Special Stages and then jumping into the air with at least fifty Rings. However, starting with Sonic Adventure, as the Chaos Emeralds are usually simply given to the player through the game's story instead, the super transformation is saved only for final boss battles in the games' climax, where, should the player's Ring count reach zero, they will lose a life, due to the otherwise unsurvivable environments the users are in.

In games like Sonic R and the Sonic Riders series, Super Sonic is available as a playable character that can be unlocked under certain conditions. Starting with the 2010s, games like Sonic Colors, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, or Sonic Mania/Sonic Mania Plus return the super transformation to be allowed in normal levels once again like the classic 16-bit games. In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, the super transformation is only initially used during the final boss battle and then can be enabled in the normal levels. In Sonic Forces, the Super State is unlocked upon downloading a free DLC that allows the player to use it in regular stages. Sonic Frontiers features boss battles at several points where Sonic becomes Super Sonic to defeat the Starfall Islands' Titans.

In the early 2D games, despite their invincibility effect, Super State users can still die by being crushed, falling into a bottomless pit, drowning, or if the player receives a Time Over. Also, although many final bosses' attacks in later installments of the Sonic series can only momentarily stun playable Super State characters, a few such as Solaris, Perfect Dark Gaia or the Egg Salamander, are powerful enough to bypass the invulnerability of super transformation through sheer force, and if hit, will cost the player a few Rings.

List of Super States[]

• Burning Blaze: Blaze the Cat's Super State.^[2][18] She can attain this form through the power of the seven Sol Emeralds, which radiate similar forces to Chaos Emerald energy. In this state, Blaze commands abilities like increased strength, enhanced pyrokinesis, flight, and virtual invulnerability.
• Devil Doom: Black Doom's true form, a giant two-headed gargoyle-like state achieved via the Chaos Emeralds.^[1]
• Dragon Form: Trip the Sungazer's Super State. Trip can attain this form using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. In this form, she turns into a large golden-scaled dragon.
• Flicky's Super State: The Super State of the Flickies. They can attain this form indirectly through the Super Emeralds' power. In this form, the Flickies gain a pulsating golden plumage. Abilities they command include increased power and virtual invulnerability.
• Perfect Chaos: Chaos' Super State. He can attain this form with the negative energy of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Instead of turning golden like the traditional Super State when transforming, Chaos gains a gigantic, more monstrous appearance with reptilian eyes, a wide mouth and tentacles. In this form, Chaos' hydrokinetic abilities are enhanced to the point that he can control floods. He can also project destructive energies.
• Super Amy: Amy Rose's Super State. She can attain this form using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. While transformed, Amy's pink fur gains a pulsating white glow.
• Super Eggman: Doctor Eggman using the Phantom Ruby to emulate a Super State, though Eggman still has very lacking skill in combat.
• Super Knuckles: Knuckles the Echidna's Super State. He can attain this form through the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. This form initially changed Knuckles' fur from red to pink, but later gave him a golden shield instead. As Super Knuckles, Knuckles commands abilities like increased strength and speed, flight and invulnerability.
• Super Mecha Sonic Mk. II: Mecha Sonic Mk. II's Super State. He can attain this form by tapping power directly from the Master Emerald. While transformed, Mecha Sonic turns from blue to golden-orange and is capable flight and firing energy weapons.
• Super Mighty: Mighty the Armadillo's Super State. He can attain this form using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. While transformed, Mighty's red shell gains a pulsating pink glow. As Super Mighty, Mighty commands abilities like increased speed, flight and virtual invulnerability.
• Super Neo Metal Sonic: Neo Metal Sonic's Super State. He can attain this form by tapping power directly from the Master Emerald. While transformed, Neo Metal turns from blue to golden-orange and is capable flight and firing golden energy bolts.
• Super Powers: The super transformed state of Tails, Knuckles and Amy in Sonic Superstars.
• Super Ray: Ray the Flying Squirrel's Super State. He can attain this form using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. While transformed, Ray's yellow fur gains a pulsating yellow glow. As Super Ray, Ray commands abilities like increased speed, flight and virtual invulnerability.
• Super Shadow: Shadow the Hedgehog's Super State. Shadow is able to attain this form using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. In this form, Shadow's black fur turns a shiny lemon chiffon color and his orange-red eyes become completely red. While transformed, he gains an increase in speed and power, along with the ability to fly and virtual invulnerability. His Chaos powers are also enhanced to their full limit.
• Super Silver: Silver the Hedgehog's Super State. Silver can attain this form by harnessing the seven Chaos Emeralds' power. In this form, Silver's fur becomes a golden white, his chest fur turns dark gold, the cyan markings on his attire turn golden, his yellow eyes become red, and his rear quills float upward. As Super Silver, Silver's innate talents are greatly increased, including his Psychokinesis abilities, and he gains the power of flight without the usage of his psychokinesis and virtual invulnerability.
• Super Sonic: Sonic the Hedgehog's Super State and his most frequently-used transformation. He attains this form with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. In this form, Sonic's fur changes from blue to gold, his eyes turn from green to red, and his quills stand up. He gains increased speed, strength, agility etc. in this State, along with the powers of flight, virtual invulnerability and different chaos powers. His positive energy can also neutralize negative energy and calm people possessed by rage.
• Super Tails: Miles "Tails" Prower's Super State. He can attain this form with the seven Chaos Emeralds. Originally, his fur would gain a pulsating glow in this form, but he would later get surrounded by a golden sphere instead. His abilities in this form consist of increased innate talents, flight without using his twin-tails, and near-invulnerability.
• Ultimate Gemerl: Gemerl's Super State. Gemerl can attain this form using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. In this form, he turns into a disk-shaped version of himself with four extendable arms with claw-like hands that can fire different kinds of energy beams and missiles.

Advancements[]

Hyper transformation[]

The Hyper transformation is a form achieved by collecting all seven Super Emeralds, powered up versions of the Chaos Emeralds. Like the Super transformation, these forms grants the user increased speed, strength, invulnerability, and flight, although the enhancement is even further than the Super transformation and has unique new abilities. Also like the traditional transformation, the forms require Ring Energy in order to be maintained. This particular type of transformation is only seen in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, including the Sonic Origins version.

The only four known Hyper States so far are Hyper Sonic, Hyper Tails, Hyper Knuckles, and Hyper Amy.

Cyber corruption[]

Super Sonic 2 is the advanced state of Super Sonic that Sonic achieved after completing Master King Koco's trial to temper his cyber corruption into newfound power. During the final battle against The End, Sonic transformed his super form even further into this state.

By fully utilizing his cyber corruption to its utmost limits, Sonic can achieve the full potential of the form. After using it in this one occasion, Sonic lost the form permanently after using the full extent of his cyber corruption as Super Sonic Cyber in order to destroy The End.

Jingles[]

In other media[]

Books and comics[]

Archie Comics[]

Main article: Super State (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

Main article: Super State (Archie)

Sonic Adventures[]

Main article: Golden Armor

The Golden Armor appears in the Sonic Adventures comic series published by Sirène. It is a technique granted to those that have passed the "Challenge of the 7 Emeralds".

In this continuity, the "Golden Armor" is a super transformation that anyone can access but only if they are skilled to score high in the Special Stage as the greatest echidna warriors of old. Gifted by the Magical Emeralds, the user is enveloped in a golden aura of light. They gain the ability of flight and can teleport anywhere with a thought. Sonic Adventures seemingly has more than 7 Emeralds but users of the Golden Armor is recognized by the planet's inhabitants, like Tails, a recent hero on Mobius, as having completed the "Challenge of the 7 Emeralds".

Trivia[]

• Using Debug Mode in most of the "classic" games, the player can break an Item Box with an "S" on it in order to immediately use a super (or hyper) transformation.
• Super Sonic is by far the most commonly used super transformation, followed by Super Shadow.
• The sound effect used for activating a super transformation in Sonic 3 & Knuckles is shared with Kaiser Greedy's Black Hole attack in Ristar.
• It was said by Sonic in the final battle against the Finalhazard in Sonic Adventure 2 that continuous usage of super transformation will cause the user to disappear.^[19] This was a translation error, as the Japanese version of the fight had Sonic mentioning to Shadow that it would eventually damage him.
• The Chao protagonist in Chao In Space undergoes a similar transformation using seven Chaos Drives, alongside a Penguin to give them angry eyebrows.
• Although in most cases the player uses one Super State character (usually Super Sonic) to defeat the end boss in many games, some particularly powerful foes such as the Egg Salamander, Egg Wizard, Solaris, Metal Overlord, or Time Eater required two or even three Super States to face them.
• Blaze, Amy, and Trip are the only female characters in the Sonic series so far to have a Super State, though Blaze uniquely achieves hers via the Sol Emeralds.
• Many games in the series from Sonic Adventure onwards only feature super transformations in the final battles of the game, as opposed to the form's usage in older games where it was accessible during regular gameplay. However, some more recent games, such as Sonic Lost World, Sonic Mania (Plus), Sonic Forces, and Sonic Superstars have included a more traditional implementation of the super state.
• In the 2D games such as Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the music used for super transformation during gameplay is often simply the invincibility jingle (or a variant), though there are exceptions such as Sonic Mania, which has its own theme specifically for the transformation. In the 3D games, final boss battles each have their own unique music, at times the game's main theme, such as Sonic Adventure.
• Metal Sonic^[20] and the Biolizard^[21] have both used the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds to empower themselves without undergoing a super transformation.
• Sonic assume his Darkspine and Excalibur forms in the final battles of Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight respectively and Burning Blaze from the Sonic Rush' duology follow similar principles to Super States, but at the same time work very differently from them, particularly in how they were achieved. The Darkspine form was attained by Sonic absorbing the negative emotion-based World Ring having felt those emotions at the time, while intensifying those emotions simultaneously. Excalibur Sonic, on the other hand, which was attained from the combined power of the Sacred swords of the Knights of the Round Table, did not physically transform Sonic at all and gave him golden armor instead whilst restoring Caliburn and subsequently turning him into Excalibur. The Darkspine and Excalibur forms also both lack virtual invulnerability. On the other hand, Burning Blaze was achieved by Blaze harnessing the power of the seven Sol Emeralds, which are the Sol Dimension's equivalent of the Chaos Emeralds and likewise possess very similar powers to that of Chaos Energy.
• Sonic, Shadow, and Silver's respective Super States heavily resembles the Super Saiyan transformation from the Dragon Ball franchise in appearance, and likewise have similar powers. Because of this, they are widely viewed by fans as a homage.
• In both 2015 and 2020, Ian Flynn, a major writer for Sonic's narrative in the series, claimed that "only male hedgehogs" (Sonic, Shadow and Silver) were allowed to assume super transformation, despite Sonic Mania Plus in 2018 giving other characters like Mighty and Ray's Super States of their own.^[22][23] However, in early 2023, Morio Kishimoto, who has directed most of the major games developed by Sonic Team in recent years, said that he had never heard of such rule, assuming that the Super State users in each released title depended on the games themselves instead.^[24] In Sonic Superstars, Tails, Amy and Knuckles' super states are treated differently from Super Sonic, now being broadly referred to as just "Super Powers".^[25] Furthermore, Trip's super state is referred to as "Dragon Form" instead of "Super Trip".

References[]