You know how in older stuff like the OVA metal sonic was implied to believe himself to literally be the orignal sonic, while in the modern era it's sorta been change into metal not necessarily believing himself to be the original sonic, but wanting to surpass him? ("I am the real Sonic" being less about being the original and more about being more deserving of the title of sonic?
Of course, from a series perspective, this is caused by retcons and changes in the characters and the focus of the series as a whole, but it just so happens to also be compelling if you try to frame it as an actual change the character goes trough
Your creator told you there's someone impersonating you, he is everything you are but he's also more, so he's Better, in a way. you hate him, you must defeat the impersonator, you must defeat him and prove you're the real you, even if everyone treats you like a copy, you must be real, it's one of the few thing you know. You do the same things he does but there doesn't seem to be the same treatment, it doesn't matter, you'll prove it, you're real, you're real.
You're the the original, the only one worthy of being called Sonic.
You hate your copy, you hate your impersonator, you hate everything that makes him himself and not you, no matter what you do you cannot defeat him, everyone treats you like the copy, even your creator treats you like a copy. But you cannot be a copy, you are the real sonic, you're real. Aren't you?
At some point, after trying and failing so many times being rebuilt, being punished for doing what he does, you have to face it; if you're not the original you must be the impersonator, not the other way around. You must defeat him to prove you're all that he is and more, that you're Better.
You're better than him, the only one worthy of being called Sonic.
You accept this as truth, you're not him, but must be a better version of him, you become ruthless, you stop doing things he does because That Isn't You, the rare spark of empathy you saw in his allies is not there anymore, but you don't need it, You're Better. You're better. You better be.
He keeps defeating you, he's increasingly less amused by it, you think that's better, to be taken like a threat rather than an amusement, but soon he treats you like a nuisance. He grows, you cannot grow, you cannot change the way he does, you adapt, but at the end in his body you can see the passage of time while on his own all that is seen is eggman's engineering
You hate the original, but you also hate the copy, you hate everything that makes you yourself and not him, trying to change doesn't work, being more like sonic gets you reprimanded, being less like sonic got you controlled and feared.
You're supposed to be exactly what you are, not more sonic, not more himself, just a machine that is gonna beat sonic, it's the only purpose you have that is your own, so far, your existence is a failure. You're robotnik's favorite weapon, the less you try to be something beyond his programing the nicer he treats you.
You've been THIS close, he can destroy you a thousand times but all you need is to win once. You want to win. Until you win you're gonna have this horrible itchy emptiness in your chest—beyond the literal one where your turbine resides. Every time you burn out just to be repaired by eggman it's a reminder of your failures. Everyone threats you as a weapon and you cannot even do that.
You cannot defeat him, you cannot act like him, you cannot live like him, you cannot even die like he can.
At the end, maybe you're not anything at all
