This started out as a canon divergent not-to-be-taken-seriously thing, but now I love them too much and it's my au so if I say they have mer kids then so it shall be 🌠
this might just be me talking nonsense but i was chatting with my bestie about this and. you really can get a good chunk of insight from the illusion that the phantom ruby cast when infinite touched it. we know that it essentially shows what a person desires, and what infinite desires... is just a wasteland.
infinite does not want to rule the world, at least from what i take from it – he wants to destroy it, to return it to barren earth and rebuilding it in his image was never even a consideration; while he wants his name to be known, leadership was never his intention. he wants to bring society down, to level everything and plunge things into a state of anarchy where there are no rules, no dictators, nothing. it's not so much that he wants to be the only one in control as he wants control to cease altogether, from my perspective.
i have a lot thoughts on as to why; his relationship with power is a complicated one and i love talking about it. for starters, i doubt he had a good life prior to becoming a mercenary – that isn't something people just do for fun, and while i won't go into too much of my own backstory for him, i think that would play a big role in his view of the world. he's seen more of the bad than the good, experienced it firsthand, fought tooth and nail and bled in the sand and built his name in theft and bruised knuckles. the world he sees is injust, unkind, survival of the fittest, and that has to be him.
to me, i think power itself isn't what drives him, which i know is a controversial take; it's not that i don't think he enjoys it, but that it's... complicated. infinite chases strength because he feels he has to – at least, to me, that's what i take from it. the world has said you're not enough, you have to be stronger, time and time over and infinite has burned that into his mind. he resents his weakness, he resents the status quo, but he abides it because he has to by way of pursuing strength.
he likes control in the sense that it makes him feel secure, i think, and comes to enjoy it because it's him spitting in the face of the world that tried to smother his fire. that satisfies him, being the one people fear, having the ability he once envied. but it wasn't power he wanted, at least originally, i think. it was freedom.
infinite shows not so much of a desire to rule as he does a desire to eradicate the system of rulership completely. society, money, law, leaders, and on a more personal level, responsibilities and expectations of him; he even states as much in that he is tired of the world as it is. he wants to prove himself worthy, and this is a win win, simultaneously showing he was always capable while tearing down all the things that bound him.
i've seen discussions on his freedom before and this is no shade to them whatsoever, but i don't think he's free; he's a wanted a man, and sure, he and his team can roam the regions but there's a target on his back at all times, he's responsible for not just himself but his squad, and... for him i don't think that's free. he's also trapped in his mind, by his mindset, but that mindset was formed by experiences, by his reality, so it's not like it's based in nothing, he can't argue or discard it.
if he wanted to quit being a mercenary, could he? has he ever had much choice? will he ever be able to rest without fear of ambush? to let his guard down knowing that with just one wrong move, he could die, or his teammates? when he fights, is he thinking about how he could easily be rendered completely blind, the first scar indicative of a weakness so blatant that his other eye is always where they aim? what is freedom? a feeling of safety, contentment, the absence of fear? what freedom means to him, i think, is a desire for total autonomy.
the thing is, to achieve autonomy, you need power, and in pursuit of power, you lose autonomy. to be powerful enough to be free, or to create a blank canvas wherein power doesn't matter. that's what i see in him. because maybe, if he strips all of this stuff away, he'll finally be able to breathe. to exist without fighting, or fulfilling expectations, not needing to be anyone or anything because he's tired. it's sort of like an escapism power fantasy. i don't know.
his name is infinite but he's always bound. by his allegiances, by wanted posters, by what he's supposed to be and especially by himself.
reposting my infinite is not weak essay because i got anxious and deleted the last one <3 i've been meaning to do this for months, but i'm not exactly the most functional person and i don't often put myself out there. in the process of rewriting it, i also altered the wording and added a few things, as you might notice if you've seen it before; and if you haven't, then welcome to whatever it is i'm doing here!
this is written with all my love, all my frustration, fueled by years worth of listening to a cycle of minsinformation that left permanent damage in the form of skewed perceptions – based in a false claim and the jokes that came with it – and a hesistance on sega's part to even address him save for a few tossed crumbs over the span of the last half a decade. originally i had an elaborate metaphor here, but there was no need for it and i'll cut right to the chase; there has always been good in infinite's character – but not everyone cares to look for it.
it's been six years since the release of sonic forces. which is insane! it's wild to me! as somebody who's been here since before the game even released, i've seen it all. to commemorate the occassion, when i wrote this originally, i thought that i would talk further about infinite's reception; in particular, the Weak thing. i've discussed it before in brief, and you can read that one here; this time though, i'm going to get more into dissecting the actual problem, and debunking arguments that supposedly prove infinite to be objectively weak and pathetic... when canonically, that isn't the case. i'd actually argue the opposite, but at the very least he isn't lacking strength – his skills are average at worst.
the first reason that i see, the one we're all plenty familiar with and the one i brought up previously, is that infinite is weak because he lost to shadow. once. that's it. do i really have to explain why this is stupid? yeah, he did lose, one time. even against a normal opponent, one defeat in comparison to what we can assume, based on his title, many victories, isn't much of an indicator toward being weak. shadow is also the ultimate lifeform, in case anyone has forgotten that detail, and bear in mind that infinite knows shadow to have just slaughtered his entire team – do you really think he would be at his best in that state?
there's also a fuckton of context clues implying that infinite had issues prior to this encounter, specifically inferiority issues. shadow literally told him, after having wiped his whole team out, to never show his pathetic face again. the face with the, you know. the big scar. the blind eye. (shoutout to the person who pointed this out in the tags in the "first part" of this, by the way! based for that)
this argument is so full of holes that it just drives me kind of bonkers how it can be used to claim infinite is weak and stupid. do i think that the scene is without flaw? of course not. if you want to say that the way they handled his breakdown wasn't the greatest, you can, you have every right to your opinion. but that's just it. we're talking about something else. i get it, the "i am not weak" was a memeable line, but it doesn't actually make him weak. people that reduce his reaction to "just" hating shadow because he got his ass beat, people who call it a "temper tantrum", i ... the context is right there. it was never "just" because shadow beat him up. would people say this about anyone else that shadow happens to beat up? that they're irrefutably weak? no. that's stupid. obviously. so why infinite? because it wasn't a strong enough spectacle. let me illustrate this more with another example;
another reason people say that infinite is weak is because sonic didn't need to go super in order to beat him. and... again, this one, too, falls apart pretty easily. sonic has beaten other characters without going super, and this includes shadow. the difference is the when, the how, the context. it's not that infinite is weak, but it was a weak final boss fight. do you get what i mean?
forces, in general, suffered a lot with this problem. it wasn't a problem that was exclusive to infinite. unfortunately, as the new character, he got the most heat. there was a huge amount of hype for him, so when the spectacle fell short, people were pissed. and i get it. but then that issue became, "infinite bad". that issue became "infinite's weak". it has never been that, though. this is why i personally hate weak jokes – because they're rooted in non-issue and misinfo.
a point i saw made once was that the characterisation of sonic and the rest of the cast are part of what made infinite's character hard to take seriously, and i'd agree! infinite actually fits the setting quite well; he has a mysterious, serious presence. he's harsh, he's edgy, but it's cheesy enough that it works in the typical style of the sonic franchise. the problem is, when the other characters aren't taking things seriously, it throws the whole thing off. we're being told this is a hard-hitting, high stakes plot, but how can we see it that way, when they're all just cracking jokes?
as a side-tangent of sorts, you know what's real funny? infinite's backstory, the one thing people use more than anything else to declare his obvious weakness, quite likely wasn't originally going to exist anyway, and he was instead going to be made by eggman. i say "quite likely" as, as i've stated, i don't like misinformation, and sega will probably never confirm this one-hundred percent, but this is something fans – myself included – have discussed a few times.
first, there's the odd dialogue and enviroment in stage 29. tails states outright, as you go through the fortress, where containment/test tubes line the walls in countless numbers, "so this is where eggman built infinite". the tubes do, in fact, appear to have low-res bodies inside them. this is also something they detailed in an early version of the script. infinite's remark on sonic's "data" also fits in with this idea of him being some form of android. prior to release, there was also a cryptic message that, when decoded, referred to infinite as "the fated son of daedalus"; in other words, icarus, who flew too close to the sun; his father being an inventor! that's really dope foreshadowing.
you can argue that tails and amy's commentary is speculation rather than solid fact and that they're mistaken, it's a possibility i definitely consider here, but given how rushed the dlc and prequel comics feel, the fact that there was a statement that big changes were made late into development... yeah. i'll buy it. i often find myself wondering what people would think of infinite had this been his story, whether they would view him differently. also, speaking of the dlc being rushed, there are actually unused lines for episode shadow implying that you would have fought the jackal squad; they were likely just unable to implement it in time. it's a shame, as it would have added to that spectacle factor i mentioned. but hey, gotta push for that holiday release!
what i find really interesting is that you can look at his character through either lense: the former mercenary turned war criminal, or the creation of our ol' doctor, and he still reads well! his behaviour makes sense in whichever context you choose to apply; what he thought he had to become, versus what he was made to be. it's cool and it makes me a bit insane. a lot of people criticise infinite for his one-dimensionality, but in my opinion, like... it's the point. he's meant to feel hollow. because he's masking; or because he wasn't made for feelings, but rather for destruction.
something that seems ironic is that many people attempt to "fix" him by... putting him into a box and inflating a single trait into his entire character and calling it "better writing". now, here's the disclaimer, okay: i'm all for people having fun and being proud of their work! i don't think that we should police what others can create. this is just about the phenomenon of watering a character down or changing them to fit ships and narratives rather than those characters being what shape the direction the story and their relationships take, things like that; which... i mean, i'm not a cop, you can still do these things even if i don't like them! i'm not saying it isn't allowed, but i think that you're kind of missing the point.
he never needed fixing. his story needed refinement. that's different. it's more about exploring what we've been given, looking below the surface; infinite is not just an evil, ruthless tyrant that deserves death nor a traumatised sadboy to be made good by the power of love and friendship – not to me. his trauma and anger are both part of him, and you cannot – or rather shouldn't – reduce him to one thing or another. it does him a major disservice, i think. there are good things there, things you can dissect, you just have to be willing to look.
in choosing to ignore what made him who he is, disregarding the loss of his squad and blatant insecurity unless it's funny, you're purposely looking at him through a faulty lense. bad writing doesn't mean that the intent isn't there. context is so important, and you can't analyse him or critique him with worth unless these things are acknowledged. it's like if you were eating a cake, avoiding the frosting and complaining it's not sweet enough. the frosting is there, not even being withheld from you. it has always been there. you decided not to eat it. sorry i'm making weird analogies again but hopefully this makes sense.
this has gotten long, wow. the point i want to highlight, overall, is that infinite is not nearly as awful as people make him out to be. it was never about his strength, it was about the limits and shortcomings of the narrative, a problem not exclusive to him yet one that has been pinned on him for so many years. i don't want it to sound like i'm saying he is immune to criticism, or that forces is, even though i've criticised forces during the creation of this post (and don't think that i think forces is terrible, either! it's my favourite game and i have lots of things i like about it as well! i've just been drawing attention to these parts to better explain what i want to convey lol); but i do hate how the wrong thing is being criticised.
this issue has been watered down into "infinite weak" when it's way more broad, way more complex than that, and i cannot stand it. it seems like such a trivial matter, like, oh, fandom is being mean about my favourite guy, but it did actual damage and forever altered people's perception of him. i am pissed about it! i'm mad! i don't care if you don't like infinite (because i can just block you as we will not get along!) but... it's about why people don't like him. they don't have to justify it, they can continue hating him, but it always bothered me that the reason is so often not a real problem. yeah.
okay, i think that's it. thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you made it this far, you're gay
I came up with a perfect story for a Sonic fan-comic, but I have the work ethic of a cat.
Please, someone hear me out.
(I spoil the story below.)
The story starts with Sonic waking up in Eggman’s captivity, where he finds he doesn’t remember anything before a pinprick from a badnik. He’s disoriented, stiff, and completely mute.
Eggman reveals that he created a robotic duplicate of Sonic to take his place and betray his friends, complete with a perfect copy of Sonic walking and talking with Tails (and maybe Knuckles or Amy).
While weakened, Sonic still manages to escape from Eggman with ease. It’s like the mad scientist wasn’t even trying to stop him. He doesn’t have time to think about it, rushing to catch his doppelgänger before any harm comes to his friends.
Sonic catches up to everyone, and when he goes to stop his doppelgänger, his friends team up on him. He can’t explain what’s going on since he can’t speak, nor can he get a moment to communicate nonverbally.
He hears comments like “What is that?” “It looks like you!” and so on.
He tries on a few more occasions to stop his doppelgänger, all ending in similar ways. Things are starting to get weird, like Eggman must’ve done something to Sonic, or maybe even his friends.
That is until he catches his reflection. It dawns on him: it was all a ruse. His reality completely shatters. He isn’t Sonic. He’s Metal Sonic.
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I thought it would be interesting if Metal Sonic operated like the Shadow androids, where he genuinely believes he is the real Sonic the hedgehog. Eggman would definitely pull a trick like this if given the opportunity.
Want to build a robot that thinks like Sonic? Give it Sonic’s mind. How to get it to fight Sonic? Convince him that the real Sonic is fake.
I hope this story concept interests people. I’d love to see it adapted into a comic.
I’m still hung up on this. I was thinking about it all day today.
You know the drill, I spoil it below.
I feel like a great title would be Sonic: Flesh and Blood, as it could either relate to the doppelgänger plot when the reader begins, or the fact that the protagonist finds out he isn’t flesh and blood at the end.
I now think the reveal shouldn’t be from a reflection. I feel like if just looking at himself breaks the illusion, then he could’ve just seen his hands or something and found out. Instead, he’d realize when receiving substantial damage and seeing all the mechanical parts within himself. It would be a literal illusion that breaks.
I thought maybe I could leave it less open-ended, with it not quite occurring to Sonic immediately that, despite knowing he’s made of robotics, he might not be the real Sonic. He has Sonic’s memories, after all.
He decides that the easiest person to explain the situation to might be Amy, so in his broken state, he writes a note for her. When he encounters her, she’s completely ready to smash him with her hammer, but he stops her with the hand wave of a defenseless individual. He hands her the note.
Either that or she does destroy him (either completely disarm him or knock him offline). In that case, she’d find the note afterwards.
Either way, the story concludes with Metal being fixed up by Tails while everyone figures out what happened. They know Sonic can’t be a doppelgänger because there hasn’t been an opportunity to replace him. That means it had to have been a trick to convince Metal to fight Sonic. To make the dialogue go more smoothly, Tails would probably install a voice modulator so Metal can actually talk.
“Testing, testing, one two three- Woah, is that my voice? It’s all weird.” and more annoying playing around with it ensues. One: because it’s funny, and two: because it’s Sonic (even if he isn’t actually Sonic).
I thought another interesting interaction would be if at some point before the reveal, they call him Metal Sonic, to his confusion, but I think that’d ruin the twist. But they could call him a Badnik, and that would probably be less of a spoiler.
“A Badnik? That guy’s the Badnik!”
“Metal? I’m not metal! I’m flesh and blood… right?” (He said the title 🎉)
I hope you enjoy my follow-up! Maybe if I think about it enough, I’ll actually be motivated to draw it.
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