The Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise has an interesting relationship with its source material. They aren’t faithful adaptations, but they liberally borrow concepts to serve as fun references and callbacks. The characters feel note-perfect, but the story has next to nothing to do with that of any particular game. As it goes on, the franchise will pull more and more from the games while maintaining their distinct storyline. The games introduced the E-100 series of robots, which evolved through several entries. The same gimmick could add a lot to the films.
It’s hard to imagine a version of the Sonic film saga that includes the massive cast of characters that gradually filled the game series. In the opening of Sonic Generations, Sonic arrives at a party with nine of his closest friends and six multicolored Chao. Imagine that with the multimillion-dollar VFX of the feature film franchise. The films are gradually building Sonic’s entourage, seemingly using each new character as a selling point. It might take a while, but fans could still see that scene yet.
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Who were the E-100 models?
Like a lot of elements of the Sonic franchise, the tale of the E-100 series sounds like a very different type of story when described in simple terms. There’s a pretty good dark sci-fi horror epic buried in this aspect of the narrative. The E-100 series is a group of “Badniks,” military robots designed and weaponized by Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik. They’re vaguely humanoid robots capable of a variety of tasks. The E-100 series is primarily designed for combat, with the first few examples carrying massive laser rifles. Later models were armed with a massive selection of hidden weapons and tremendous physical strength. Robotnik’s first series followed his usual design philosophy: putting live animals inside killing machines as a power source and a basis for their internal AI.
Where did the E-100 models appear in Sonic?
The original series of E-100 robots popped up in Sonic Adventure. They were the newest state-of-the-art development out of Robotnik’s lab, charged with destroying a major city so that the mad scientist could erect a massive theme park/evil base on its ruins. Eggman built five E-100 models (not counting the E-100 prototype), dubbed E-101 through E-105 and labeled with a Greek letter. His second official entry, E-102 Gamma, developed a perplexing internal flaw, which eventually granted him free will. Eggman’s plan involved capturing a frog who’d mistakenly swallowed a Chaos Emerald. Gamma established himself as the best of the bunch by successfully finding the right frog, prompting Eggman to disassemble the other E-100 units. His mistake was disassembling them in front of Gamma, who experienced a sudden awakening after seeing his cohorts torn apart.
Eggman then sent Gamma after Amy Rose and her pet bird, Birdie. In their first confrontation, Amy attempted to push Gamma to escape Eggman’s control. Prolonged eye contact with Birdie also awakened something in his “organic battery.” The bird that powered Gamma seemed to become aware of his situation and take some form of control, forcing Gamma to free Amy and Birdie. Gamma’s mission changed. He spent the rest of his short life actively hunting his reassembled siblings one-by-one so that he could kill them and free the living creatures trapped in their artificial bodies. This is, again, the plot of Sonic Adventure, a game that is also partially about a large purple cat repeatedly fishing for his pet frog. Free from his original programming, Gamma used his advanced military technology and newfound empathy to hunt and destroy the other E-100 models, ending his quest with a battle against E-101 Beta. Though Gamma won the fight, he suffered a mortal wound. Aware of the bird’s desire for freedom, Gamma chose to allow himself to die, freeing the final trapped animal at the cost of his own life. Gamma’s story may be the most explicit version of Sonic’s pro-nature and anti-technology themes in the franchise.
Eggman didn’t stop the E-100 line after Gamma’s betrayal. Prior to Sonic Heroes, he designed E-123 Omega, the apex of the E-100 series. The mad scientist had finally grown beyond wedging small animals into his robots, granting Omega a stellar internal energy source. Unfortunately, Eggman then decided to deactivate his most powerful E-100 model and leave him as a security system guarding Shadow the Hedgehog’s suspended animation chamber. When Rouge the Bat broke into Eggman’s base in search of treasure, she accidentally woke both Shadow and Omega. Omega became furious that his creator would waste his talents by leaving him deactivated, prompting him to join Shadow and Rouge on their quest to find Eggman. Omega would be a regular companion of Shadow’s, appearing again in Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Sonic Forces in helpful roles.
Could the E-100 models appear in Sonic the Hedgehog 3?
|
Director |
Jeff Fowler |
|---|---|
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Writers |
Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington |
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Stars |
Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey, and Keanu Reeves |
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Release Date |
December 20, 2024 |
Could they? Technically, yes. Will they? Almost certainly not. The trailers for Sonic 3 depict Eggman joining forces with Team Sonic to face the new threat, Shadow the Hedgehog. Many fans believe that Shadow will eventually switch sides and become an anti-hero, as he almost always does. That leaves the final villain’s spot open, and most think that whatever Eggman creates to beat Shadow will fill that role. Still, Metal Sonic is the go-to guess as to what Eggman might throw at Shadow. Similar theories surrounded the previous film, though they didn’t come true at the time. Eggman’s robots in the Sonic film series tend to be a bit blander, save the massive Death Egg Robot from Sonic 2‘s finale. While the E-100 series will almost certainly not join the franchise in its third entry, they could still be a concern in a future feature. If they do show up, they likely won’t have the same depth or prominence as they did in the games. Fans should expect to see them as one-off antagonists if they see them at all.
The story of E-102 Gamma could be one of the most theoretically compelling concepts in the Sonic the Hedgehog game franchise. In execution, it’s a lot less impressive. If they somehow push Sonic into MCU territory and wind up digging for new characters and stories, a cinematic take on Gamma would be a bizarrely good idea. Instead, they’re likely to stay out of the franchise. Like in most blockbuster series, the main villain comes with a massive army of personality-free minions that the heroes can easily destroy. While the games managed to give a handful of those some attention, the movies aren’t likely to do the same.
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