Comic Book / Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man: Worlds Collide

At long last, the Blue Bomber meets the Blue Blur.

Doctor Wily: I don't suppose you know anything about bringing order and a better way of thinking to the world with your machines, Doctor?
Doctor Eggman: Oh, I do! And I don't suppose you have some young upstart who gets in your way and ruins everything, do you, Doctor?
Doctor Wily: Oh, you can't begin to imagine! ...Or perhaps you can!
Doctor Eggman: Quite right! We need to meet, and I have an idea as to how...

For nearly twenty years, Archie Comics had published the comic adventures of one Sonic the Hedgehog. Likewise, they had similar success bringing Mega Man, the Blue Bomber, to the printed medium. Thus, it was only a matter of time before both titles, which were penned by Ian Flynn, came together in the form of a crossover — the first Capcom vs. crossover to be produced in a medium other than video games.

The story begins when, by chance, the blue Chaos Emerald — thought to be gone missing in Sonic's world after the events of the Sonic Genesis storyline — is thrown through time and space into Mega Man's, where it is discovered by Dr. Wily and his forces. In an attempt to analyze its properties, Wily accidentally contacts the original owner of the emerald... Doctor Ivo Robotnik, aka "Eggman." Instantly sensing a connection, the two scientists conspire to use the Genesis Wave to rewrite both their realities and prime them for conquest, which they then intend to conquer together. Eager to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, they manipulate Sonic and Mega Man into fighting one another. Can the two heroes come together in time to stop the evil doctors and set both their worlds right?

Beginning in April, 2013, Worlds Collide is a twelve-part Crisis Crossover epic spanning the pages of Mega Man #24-27,^note Parts 1, 4, 7 and 10 Sonic the Hedgehog #248-251^note Parts 3, 6, 9 and 12, and Sonic Universe #51-54.^note Parts 2, 5, 8 and 11

In 2015, Archie published a sequel, Worlds Unite. It involves the worlds of Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, Sonic Boom and Mega Man X.

The 2004 fan-made Sprite Comic Two Evil Scientists had a similar premise, but as far as we're aware none of the companies involved in this had any idea Two Evil Scientists existed.

Has nothing to do with the 1950s sci-fi film When Worlds Collide nor the DC Comics/Milestone Comics crossover.

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Tropes found in this crossover:

• 11th-Hour Ranger: The MM1 Robot Masters are absent until the final battle, where they show up to help Sonic and Mega Man's friends to defeat the large wave of other Robot Masters.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Of the Golden Super Mode variety. Sonic as usual becomes Super Sonic and Mega Man becomes Super Armor Mega Man. Notably, Mega Man is the only non-Sonic character to get a Super Form with the Chaos Emeralds in any form of official media.
• Advertised Extra: Air Man appears on the cover for the series alongside all of the other main characters. His only role in the crossover is appearing alongside all the other Robot Masters in the big final battle.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Consciously averted with the Roboticized Masters. Probably because Eggman does not have a good track record with complex A.I.s.
  Dr. Wily: [in reference to the newly-roboticized Tails Man] Doesn't seem to have much of a personality, though.
  Dr. Eggman: All part of the process, Al. You get less sass from your minions that way.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: The "Rivals" variant covers feature Sonic and Mega Man, Proto Man and Knuckles, and Bass and Shadow. In the comic itself, Metal Sonic is paired off with both Bass (as The Dragon to their respective doctors) and the Copy Robot (as Evil Knockoffs).
• Anime Hair: Proto Man's pompadour. Especially if one considers how the heck it fits under his helmet in the first place.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: These lines during the final battle:
  Dr. Eggman: FIRE EVERYTHING! LAUNCH IT ALL!
  Dr. Wily: [a few pages later] Ahhh! Abandon ship! Eject! Eject!
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Rouge the Bat vs Jewel Man, where the former was infatuated with his jewel-based body and attempted to pull off the large jewel on top of his head instead of fighting him.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Inevitable when you get two or more heroes together to face overwhelming odds.
• Badass Army: The Robot Master army.
• Badass Crew: Sonic and Mega Man's allies.
• Bank Robbery: The Roboticized Masters perform one to get their hands on the Silver Chaos Emerald and draw Mega Man out.
• Bash Brothers: Mega Man and Sonic for the duration of the crossover.
• Beat the Curse Out of Him: In a way. The key to curing the Roboticized Masters involves hitting them with a Charge Shot and a Spin Dash. Later on, this process is combined into hitting them with the Spin Dash Blast.
• Berserk Button: Bass does not like it when Treble gets hurt.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: Almost all of Sonic the Hedgehog #250 is this.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Eggman and Wily.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Duo saving Mega Man and Sonic from the Chaos Devil.
  • There's also the MM1 Robot Masters saving Sonic's and Mega Man's friends from the endless hordes of Wily Robot Masters.
  • The above frees up Knuckles, Proto Man, Dr. Light, and Rush to do the same for Sonic and Mega Man.
• Bittersweet Ending: The heroes manage to beat Wily and Robotnik, though they find out that their worlds are already rewritten. Luckily, they use Chaos Control to undo the changes before heading home.
  • Unfortunately, an enraged Eggman interferes with Sonic's attempt. Returning to the main series, the world is still free, but the clash leads to a Cosmic Retcon that changes everything in Sonic's world and leads to some cataclysmic consequences for the multiverse. And even you'll forget about Mega Man successfully restoring his world when you witness what Ra Moon has in store for him upon his return.
• Blob Monster: Chaos and the Yellow Devil get combined into the Chaos Devil. It's also a dangerous opponent, easily defeating Rouge, nearly overpowering Bass and Metal Sonic, and was gaining the upper hand against Sonic and Megaman before Duo stepped in.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Eggman and Wily firmly grasp the Villain Ball between Part 11 and Part 12 by locking up the defeated heroes instead of finishing them off. Why? Because their egos demand they indulge in some Evil Gloating first.
• Bookends: Interestingly enough, the entire thing is split up into three acts, and each one begins and ends with an issue of the same comic brand, act 1 begins and ends with Mega Man, act 2 begins and ends with Sonic Universe and act three begins and ends with Sonic the Hedgehog.
• Boss Rush: Practically the whole crossover. Mega Man and Sonic continually go straight from one boss fight right into another. By the time they actually end up facing the usual fortress traps and army of Mecha-Mooks, they seem to treat it as a well-deserved break more than anything else.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The effect of plugging a Devil Core into Chaos.
• Brick Joke: In Mega Man #24, Wily is demanding that Ra Moon make him a Met that's part rice cooker. Several pages later, he and Eggman are happily eating from one together.
• Calling Your Attacks: Invoked by Mega Man with Chaos Cannon and Chaos Control.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A Galoomba appears beside the Motobug in the scene where Duo crashes through the Wily Egg◊.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Mega Man and Sonic inside the Wily Egg whenever they aren't facing a boss-class foe.
• Catch a Falling Star: Shadow uses Chaos Control to snag a falling Dr. Light in part 10.
• The Cavalry:
  • After Sonic disarms Mega Man in his home universe, Mega Man lures him back through a portal to his home city where he then summons Rush, Tango, Beat, and Eddie as backup.
  • At the end of Part 11, Sonic's and Mega Man's friends are cornered by the Robot Master horde and seem on the losing side. Then in Part 12, the MM1 robot masters enter the fray and turn the tide, courtesy of Roll.
• Chekhov's Skill: The "Sonic Shot" was vital in restoring the Robot Masters. A Chaos Emerald-powered version where Megaman uses Sonic as a projectile defeats the Egg-Wily Machine X in one shot.
• Child Prodigy: Tails is good enough to sub for Dr. Light after the latter is kidnapped by Bass and Metal Sonic.
• Clueless Detective: Played with in the case of the Chaotix. They seem to need help finding the blatantly obvious at first, but they do manage to track down Proto Man before Wily or Eggman can do so with far greater resources.
• Combat Pragmatist: In his duel with Sonic, Mega Man's first action upon returning to his home dimension is to call for backup.
• Combination Attack: Used very often between Sonic and Mega Man. The first one manages to restore Tails Man back to normal. The final one (between Super Sonic and Super Mega Man) destroys the Chaos Emerald-powered Egg-Wily Machine X in one hit.
• Company Cross References: Sonic mentions that the name "Vector Man" makes him think of a trash collector for some reason.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: The big Robot Master battle. Subverted in that it continues on long after the heroes have gone on ahead, and by the end of Part 11, the Robot Masters are clearly winning. Then subverted yet again in Part 12 when the MM1 robot masters enter the fray and even things out.
• Continuity Cameo:
  • Imprisoned next to Doctor Light in Sonic The Hedgehog #249 is Snively, still locked up in a capsule by Eggman after his ruinous defeat in the Sonic Universe "Scrambled" story arc, though his face is obscured by a glass glare.
  • Crabmeat and Reggae appear on page 9 of Mega Man #25 playing Go Fish with Orbot and Cubot.
  • Mad Grinder, Big the Cat, and Quint in Part 10.
  • Mook cameos from both Mega Man and Sonic game franchises are scattered throughout the crossover.
  • Mecha Sally appears in a total of three panels, two of them in the final part.
  • Compas(sic) Man is the only Robot Master from the obscure Mega Man game Challenger from the Future, as an unnamed silhouette in a single panel.
• Continuity Nod: Several, to both the comics and the two heroes' respective game universes:
  • In Mega Man #24, Sonic experiences "deja vu of deja vu", referencing how he felt at the start of the Sonic Genesis storyline.
  • Numerous locations from the Sonic games are referenced, including the Mystic Ruins, Station Square, Central City, and Westopolis.
  • During their battle in Sonic the Hedgehog #248, Mega Man compares Sonic to Quick Man and Nitro Man, two other speedy Robot Masters. Meanwhile, Sonic talks about all of the robots he's trashed in the Green Hill Zone, Doctor Light references the Chronos Institute, and Wily talks about his dozens and dozens of evil fortresses. Mega Man also references Bass, when recalling that Wily has developed rebellious robots before.
  • Mega Man #25 has a scene where Mega Man is worrying about Dr. Light who was just kidnapped and Sonic is telling him to relax. Mega Man shoots back with "If it was your dad would you—?" before being cut off. Sonic has indeed spent many a past issue worrying over the fate of his own father.
  • In Sonic Universe #52, Sonic gets deja vu from fighting Buster Rod G, implying that he's halfway remembering Monkey Khan —- both characters are Monkey King Lite. He also derisively refers to Buster Rod as a Kiki, a kind of Badnik from Sonic Adventure.
  • During part 5, Sonic mentions being annoyed if he got jumped by a whale. While this is a reference to Sonic Adventure, it's also a hint that Sonic's remembering Akhlut, one of Eggman's henchmen from the regular comic.
  • In Part 9, after Wily gloats about the power of the Genesis Wave, Dr. Light reminds the two doctors of all the moments they have endangered or were potentially endangering themselves and/or the world. In Wily's case, he mentions Ra Moon, Gamma^note Who Wily did keep control over, Gamma was still a possible threat to the world., King, the Stardroids, the Roboenza virus, and Bass. For Eggman, he refers to Chaos, the Space Colony ARK, Emerl, and the Time Eater^note Despite the fact that the Time Eater is one of the few monsters to not turn against Eggman and its destruction of the time-space fabric was exactly what Eggman wanted it to do.
  • In Part 10, Mega Man asks whether Sonic had met with anyone from outer space, in which Sonic tells him about his experience with Wisps.
  • Earlier in Part 10, upon meeting the Mega Man Killers, Sonic mentions that all they need now is Silver Sonic.
  • In Part 11, Sonic reminds Metal Sonic of the time he "turned into that stupid dragon-thing."^note Indeed, Metal Overlord is one of Flynn's least favorite Sonic characters.
  • Later that same issue, Mega Man mentions how he's glad that Bass and Treble don't have the energy left to combine.
  • In the Dénouement of Part 12, we're reminded that Eggman has tried the Genesis Wave before when he refuses to give up and causes unknown damage to Sonic's home universe as a result.
  • Completely out of left field, we also have Xander Payne having learned of the crossover event during his out-of-control time skipping during the "Dawn of X" mini-series, which cements the events as part of the canon future of the comics... and results in Payne becoming more than a little unhinged...
• Cosmic Retcon:
  • The crossover is facilitated by Eggman and Wily using the Genesis Wave from the Sonic Genesis storyline to rewrite both their realities. In-universe, it allows them to prepare both their worlds to their liking, with the side-effect (as Word of God says) of shifting the Mega Man timeline (along with Wily's memories) forwards to the time gap between Mega Man 10 and (the then-not-even-in-pre-production IRL) Mega Man 11.invoked Out of universe, it allows Archie to suspend all currently-running story threads, temporarily exile nearly all comic-original characters on both sides^note It should be noted that both doctors state that they can't use the Genesis Wave to wipe someone out of existence or fundamentally change who they are, so it can be assumed that they still exist in the altered timelines and simply won't be getting involved in the events of the crossover. (which new readers that are picking up the book for the first time would be not familiar with), make the world of Sonic be closer to the games (which new readers that are picking up the book for the first time would be more familiar with) and use Mega Man characters that haven't had a chance to appear yet in the main storyline.
  • It seems to have some strange (and rather creepy) effects in-universe. For one thing, most people are now suffering feelings of amnesia. Both Dr. Light and Silver note that they can physically tell that they're missing memories but can't discern why.
  • Duo reveals in Part 10 that the effect is growing and could have dire consequences if not stopped.
  • The crossover ends with the two heroes Chaos Controlling their respective worlds to restore them. The Mega Man universe more or less returns to its original status quo, with no one able to remember the crossover beyond vague recollections. The Sonic universe, meanwhile, undergoes its Continuity Reboot. The Mega Man "Dawn of X" arc reveals that the reason they don't remember is that it happens in their future.
• Crazy-Prepared: A meta example. After he began writing both comics, Ian Flynn went ahead and wrote up an outline for a crossover, just on the off-chance that he got to do one.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Round 1 with the Egg Wily Machine X after Mega Man and Sonic have exhausted themselves fighting Bass and Metal Sonic.
  • Knuckles and Proto Man versus the Egg Wily Machine X due to all its weapons being offline from sabotage by the doctors themselves.
  • Finally Super Mega Man and Super Sonic against the fully powered Egg Wily Machine X. It's not even a contest.
    Dr. Wily: System overload! Do something about that hedgehog you lazy—!
    Dr. Eggman: Your nemesis shot a sun at us! You do something about him for once in your life you—!
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Mega Man and Sonic manage a decent blow against the Chaos Devil before getting completely pummeled and rescued by Duo.
• Death Is Cheap: Because of the loose space-time laws of the Skull Egg Zone, Dr. Wily is capable of reviving all of his past Robot Masters, even the ones who were Killed Off for Real. And he can continue to revive them without end no matter how thoroughly they are destroyed.
• Deflector Shields:
  • Metal Sonic has the Black Shield, which helps him deflect Mega Man's attack.
  • The Egg-Wily Machine X also has one, able to deflect repeated attacks from Super Sonic. But not enough to take a Super-Charged Shot from Super Mega Man.
• Deus ex Machina: The Spin Dash Blast, which restored Sonic's friends from roboticzation with one hit.
• Didn't See That Coming: Copy Robot, fighting Mega Man to a stalemate, gloats about how he can predict Mega Man's moves and tells him that MM has nothing new to bring to the table. However, he didn't know that Mega Man copied a new weapon from Tails Man...
• Dynamic Entry:
  • Duo in part 10.
  • The Egg Wily Machine X in part 11.
  • All of the MM1 Robot Masters in part 12.
• Easter Egg: Aside from cameos galore, the Skull Egg Zone is littered with references to stages from numerous Mega Man (Classic) and Sonic the Hedgehog games.
• Easy Impersonation: A rare justification. Eggman and Wily use doppelgangers of Mega Man and Sonic in order to pit the two against one another. What justifies it is the fact that Mega Man never gets a good look at Sonic's double (Metal Sonic in this case) due to him moving so fast - all Rock sees is a fast moving blue blur - and Sonic has to deal with the Copy Robot, who looks just like Mega Man to begin with.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Just like in the Mega Man series, one Robot(icized) Master is weak to another one's weapon. Charmy Man is weak to the Acoustic Blaster, Vector Man's weapon. This weakness is also lampshaded by Mega Man.
  Mega Man: It's a long story, but Wily does it out of habit by now. Believe me, it comes in handy.
• Energy Ring Attack:
  • Rouge Woman's "Black Wave" attack is a pink energy orb fired from her Arm Cannon. The orb produces growing and disappearing purple rings as it moves forward.
  • During the fight with Eggman and Wily's forces in part ten, Dr. Light gets ahold of a laser gun and blasts Gemini Man with it. The beam traps Gemini Man in a containment field made of four rings.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog #248. Hearing that Mega Man has a "father" is the first sign that makes Sonic realize the strange blue robot he's fighting might not just be another one of Eggman's robots.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Subverted. Dr. Wily doesn't seem to agree with Tails lacking a personality after he's roboticized into Tails Man, but he doesn't care since he's more Eggman's minion than his. He presumably feels the same way about the other Roboticized Masters.
  • Later played straight in the third act as Wily is completely horrified that Eggman tried to outright kill Dr. Light, sowing further distrust between the two.
• Evil Gloating: Eggman and Wily love this trope.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Discussed; while held captive, Dr. Light reminds both Eggman and Wily of the numerous times the two have toyed with forces they thought they could control, only for it to blow up in their faces and result in Sonic and Mega Man having to save them from their own stupidity, stating that their plans to rewrite reality with the Genesis Wave will undoubtedly end the same way:
  Dr. Light: Albert... You thought you had complete control of Ra Moon, Gamma, King, the Stardroids, Roboenza, and Bass. You've toyed with things you cannot handle for years, and Mega Man had to save you from yourself. And from what I've heard, you're no different, Doctor Eggman. Chaos, the ARK, Emerl, the Time Eater? If not for Sonic, you wouldn't have a world to conquer.
• Evil Knockoff: In addition to Bass and Metal Sonic, the Copy Robot from Mega Man Powered Up is featured in the crossover.
• Expy: The Genesis Unit are all this for characters from Journey to the West.
• Faceless Goons: Amazingly averted considering the sheer number Wily and Eggman have available to them. While such foes are seen facing the heroes, more than 90% of the combat in the comic is against Boss-level foes.
• Fastball Special: The final attack against the Egg-Wily Machine X has Super Megaman fire Super Sonic at the doctors as a supercharged shot. This destroys the machine in one hit.
• Foil: Mega Man and Sonic. Mega Man is more of a straightforward and traditional hero, being serious about a threat and completely altruistic in his goals. Sonic by comparison is far more cynical and ego driven despite being just as heroic. Tails even jokes at how Sonic is somewhat jealous in how Mega Man thinks about saving their friends first when he gets a new power. Sonic is not amused.
• Forced to Watch: As they have Sonic and Mega Man incapacitated, Eggman and Wily state their intent to force their trapped nemeses to watch as they use the Genesis Wave to destroy all they know.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In Part 10, Dr. Light mentions the one name that causes Dr. Wily to go into a panic: Ra Moon. He's the subject of the next storyline for Mega Man following this one and what he does just proves as to why Wily wants to wet his pants.
  • In the final part, as our heroes are getting ready to fix the worlds, Wily muses if they'll remember the events. So far, neither Wily nor anyone else in the Mega Man universe remembers.^note aside from Wily having an urge to smash an egg carton and Mega Man having momentary concern for his world as he notices that the damage Break Man did was undone. On the other side, it seems that Sonic remembers the events, but no one else does.
  • Sonic Universe reveals that Blaze remembers the events for some reason, likely because she's from a different world than the rest of the cast, and Ixis Naugus is having violent flashbacks to the world as it was before the crossover.
  • We can also add Emerald Spears founder Xander Payne to the list who know about the crossover, due to his improper use of the Time Skimmer. It left him more than a little mental, and could theoretically be a setup for a sequel crossover...
• Frame Break: Duo does one in part 10 when he flies off to fight the Chaos Devil.
• Funny Animal: Most of the Sonic characters. It gets a couple of odd looks early in the crossover, but is otherwise not even commented on.
• Funny Background Event:
  • In one scene while Eggman and Wily discuss a development, Orbot and Cubot are playing cards. Orbot tells Cubot to Go Fish and Cubot hops off with a fishing rod, and hops back dragging a large fish.
  • In Part 7 (Mega Man #26), when the heroes get ambushed by Blaze Woman and Silver Man and knocked down a waterfall, Tails has the unfortunate luck of crashing into a disappearing / reappearing platform before falling into the water.
  • In Part 8, after Knuckles and Amy are restored, a Met and a Chao-Met try to dig up a Burrobot who then dives back down. Rush and Tails even spot the event and go investigate the hole.
  • There's a nice little visual gag involving Sonic and Ring Man's Rings on one page in Part 9.
  • Part 9 has numerous funny background events involving the Robot Masters.
  • In Part 10, there's a point where Mega Man and Sonic are arguing over which doctor had more influence in building the Wily Egg where Rush and Tails look at each other with expressions of "yep, they're gonna keep this up for a while".
  • In one panel in Part 12, you can see Orbot writing out his Last Will.
  • During the climax in Part 12, there's a spot where you can see Knuckles desperately grabbing Proto Man's scarf.
• Fusion Dance:
  • The Chaos Devil is a combination of Chaos and the Yellow Devil.
  • The Egg Wily Machine X is a combination of the Death Egg Robot and Wily Machine 9.
• Godhood Seeker: Wily and Eggman are trying to achieve this.
• Handshake Substitute: In Sonic the Hedgehog #248, Drs. Eggman and Wily do an Evil Bro Fist. In Sonic Universe #52 and Sonic Universe #54, their blue nemeses do the the same, but without the "Evil".
• Happy Ending Override: While Mega Man gets his happy ending in fixing his universe, Eggman interferes with Sonic's attempt to fix theirs, with very serious, but not completely destructive, consequences when they finally return in their continuity.
• Hero Killer: The Mega Man Killers' team name is meant to invoke this. It works about as well as usual.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Rouge during her sneaking around the Wily Egg. She set about sabatoging the place with the help of Dr. Light. But in releasing the Chaos Devil to cause a distraction. It winds up attacking her while she fighting Metal Sonic which leads to her getting captured.
  • Both the doctors do this to each other in trying to sabotage the other during the battle against Knuckles and Proto-Man. Since they tampered with each others controls for the Egg Wily Machine X. It leaves them vulnerable to attacks and they quickly have to work to fix their sabotage as the heroes chip away at them.
• Homefield Advantage: During their fight, Sonic manages to get the up on Mega Man when they're fighting in his world due to the geography. When they end up in Mega Man's world, he suddenly has access to all his allies, turning the battle in his favor.
• How We Got Here: Mega Man #24 begin with Sonic and Mega Man about to throw down, and the rest of the issue and Sonic Universe #51 are dedicated to showing how they got to the point where they're at each other's throats.
• Healing Factor: The Egg-Wily Machine X apparently has one, as all the damage done by Proto Man and Knuckles vanishes once the doctors reverse each others' Vehicular Sabotage.
• Healing Shiv: As of Part 6, Mega Man has a weapon that reverses Robotization.
• Hilarious Outtakes: The Off Panel and Short Circuits sections are meant to invoke this.
• Hypocritical Humor: Wily's gem of a line upon defeat considering how he grovels in the games.
  Dr. Wily: Ivo, it's over. I know it's a challenge for you, but show a little grace and dignity.
• If I Had a Nickel...: Dr. Eggman's reaction to a comment made by Dr. Wily.
  Dr. Wily: There's no way Mega Man or his friends will reach us in time!
  Dr. Eggman: If I had a nickel for every time I said something like that...
• Imagine Spot: Eggman imagines a universe at his command when the Super Genesis Wave is activated, with a roboticized Sonic and Sally leading his new empire.
• In Medias Res: How the crossover starts.
• Innocuously Important Episode: On Sonic's side, at least; while Mega Man's side of things go more or less back to normal after the crossover, the Cosmic Retcon ends up affecting the Sonic comics for the entire remainder of their run.
• Insistent Terminology: Sonic repeatedly calls Mega Man's Mega Buster a "lemon shooter," much to the latter's annoyance.
• Insufferable Genius: Wily and Eggman. As generally egotistical villains, they fit several of the classic Ego Tropes, but this is the one they show the strongest.
• Internal Homage: The ending scene of Metal Sonic throwing Dr. Light off the Wily Egg in Part 9 is a panel-by-panel recreation of Mecha Sally throwing Sonic off the Death Egg Mark 2 in Sonic the Hedgehog #231. Eggman even remarks "Hmm... familiar." It helps that Ben Bates drew both issues.
• Item Get!: Naturally, since Mega Man is involved. Whenever he and Sonic defeat a Roboticized Master, a caption with "Weapon Get!" and the weapon's name appears to signify the upgrade.
• It's Personal: The reason Rouge gives for infiltrating another dimension: The doctors kidnapped and roboticized her teammate, Shadow.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Sonic. He's an overall decent guy, but he enjoys getting under the skin of both friends and enemies with equal fervor. At one point he takes out a Robot Master that Shadow is fighting. Not because Shadow was in trouble, but because he knew it would piss him off.
  • Shadow counts too. He was originally all too willing to slay a downed opponent and leave the two heroes to their own devices, but when the need arose he stepped up and saved Dr. Light without hesitation.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Shadow destroys Shadow Man after Mega Man pins him with the Chaos Cannon, to everyone's shock.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: After they're defeated by Sonic and Mega Man, Wily accepts that they've lost and encourages Eggman to do the same. Eggman refuses, leading to a...
• Last Villain Stand: Eggman tries one towards Sonic and Mega Man. Amusingly, while he does so, Wily just gives up and lays on the ground.
• Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Despite characters from Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha being barred from use in the Mega Man comic, Compass Man appears as a blacked-out silhouette when the original Light Robot Masters make their entrance in Part 12.
• Let's You and Him Fight: The first act of the crossover is dedicated to setting up an epic brawl between Sonic and Mega Man. It gets lampshaded in Mega Man #24's "Short Circuits" segment, where both title characters are eager to work together before being informed by Orbot that they have to follow the "crossover by-laws" and fight each other first.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Wily turns out to be this to Eggman. Both team up to conquer their respective worlds together, but Dr. Eggman is revealed to be highly unstable and violent, at one point jettisoning Dr. Light from a floating fortress. When Wily found out, he was appalled: he wanted his intellectual rival defeated and humbled, not killed. In the end, when Sonic and Mega Man defeat them, Wily accepts his defeat and allows their universe to revert to normal. Eggman, however, directly attacks Sonic in the midst of his attempt to restore their own universe out of spite, ranting that if he can't have their universe remade in his image, then he'd rather doom all of reality than let Sonic restore it.
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Subverted. Dr. Light is locked in a room with a Motobug and a Met which he uses to build a communicator. It doesn't have enough range to contact anyone outside the Wily Egg though.
• Loophole Abuse: Mega Man does one on himself that is at least within spitting distance of Ass Pull territory in order to justify fighting Sonic before the two realize they are on the same side. Justified in that Mega Man's programming forbids him to harm life, so without the conclusion that Sonic's super-normal abilities mean he can't be biological (making Sonic fair game), there wouldn't be a throw-down between the two heroes in the first place.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Proto Man's iconic shield.
• MacGuffin: The Chaos Emeralds, in fine Sonic tradition.
• MacGyvering:
  • Tails is in fine form in Part 6 when he jury rigs Mega Man's Mega Buster with the properties of Sonic's Spin Dash so he can fire the Spin Dash Blast in place of his usual charged shot in the middle of combat versus three Roboticized Masters. In less than three pages.
  • Dr. Light could probably give MacGyver himself lessons. In Part 9 he builds a radio communicator from the guts of a Met and a Motobug that had been (ineptly) trying to kill him and in Part 10 he builds a fully functioning Mega Buster from damaged Robot Master parts. In less than a minute. While in the middle of a war zone. And holding a conversation at the same time.
• Magitek: The Chaos Devil is a "Fusion of Magic and Machine".
• Mathematician's Answer: In Part 7.
  Orbot: We've lost Shadow Man.
  Eggman: (to Wily) Wait... my Shadow Man, or your Shadow Man?
  Orbot: Yes.
• Mecha-Mooks: In fine Wily and Eggman tradition, there is no shortage of these. Game staples and more obscure foes from both franchises are present in various issues.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Eggman and Wily toast their own brilliance with champagne. With proper etiquette no less.
• More Dakka: E-123 Omega, who shows the heavily armed Napalm Man what this trope truly means.
• Murder Water: The Chaos Devil.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Sonic nearly calls Charmy Man and Espio Man "Blast Hornet" and "Sting Chameleon".
  • Then there's this little gag in part 8:
    Vector: Try red-blue blue-red-red.
    Charmy: No! One on the top row, two on the third row!
    Espio: Who uses colored dots as a passcode system?
  • Quick Man says "HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" after getting tripped over by Sonic.
  • A variant from Eggman in Sonic The Hedgehog #251: "I Hate That Robot!"
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog #251, the doctors' mutual betrayal takes the form of the 'B' and 'C' relays for the "Battle" and "Chase" programs on Wily's side and the circuit board marked "M.B.M." on Eggman's side.
  • Sonic teases Amy about the time she mistook another hedgehog for him.
  • Mega Man tried to remind Ballade of his Heroic Sacrifice at the end of Mega Man IV. Due to the Timey Wimey nature of the plot however, Ballade hasn't done it yet.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling:
  • Silver senses a major time shift (see Cosmic Retcon) in his timeline and comes to the past to investigate. Likewise, Dr. Light senses that something's amiss when reality shifts.
  • Part three (Sonic the Hedgehog #248) reveals that it's not just the two of them, as reports of amnesia and missing memories have been reported all across Mega Man's world.
• Never Say "Die": Subverted in part 10 with the Mega Man Killers. Not to mention the argument between Wily and Eggman over the latter's attempt to kill Dr. Light.
• No Ending: Halfway. After Sonic and Mega Man beat Wily and Eggman, Mega Man's part in the storyline resolves nicely with the restoration of his universe. However, thanks to the Eggman's last ditch attack, Sonic's reality is irrevocably altered, thus forbidding any proper conclusion to the story arc for him. Still regardless, the story just kinda stops abruptly after the final battle.
• Non-Indicative Name: Rouge Woman's "Black Wave" attack is named after an ability Rouge could use in Sonic Adventure 2 which fired a series of black ripples at the enemy. The Black Wave attack in this comic, however, is neither black nor a wave — it is a pink Energy Ball that leaves a trail of rings behind at it is propelled forward.
• Not the Fall That Kills You…: Shadow catching Dr. Light. Possibly justified in that Chaos Control warps space so it could conceivably negate his momentum.
• Offstage Villainy: How the doctors acquire most of the Chaos Emeralds.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Sonic gradually realizing he's lost the home field advantage to Mega Man.
  • Sonic, Tails, Mega Man, Proto Man, and Rush when the evil doctors present the Roboticized Masters.
  • Rouge gets a minor one upon finding herself cornered by the Chaos Devil.
  • The full-on panic-attacks the blue heroes and their sidekicks have when they see Dr. Light falling from the Wily Egg.
  • When Ballade misfires a bomb at Tails, the latter has just enough time to see it coming before he gets blown up and KO'ed for the rest of the crossover.
  • Eggman and Wily get an epic one at the climax when they see Super Sonic and Super Armor Mega Man.
    • Even before this, coming under attack from Proto Man and Knuckles sent the evil doctors into Freak Out mode, especially when they discover each other's sabotage of the Egg-Wily Machine X.
• Ominous Floating Castle: The Wily Egg.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Sonic won't ever let Amy forget the time she mistook Shadow for him. Amy claims that at the time, the sun was in her eyes.
• One-Hit Kill:
  • Played With as Mega Man's Spin Dash Blast is quickly shown to be able to restore the Roboticized Masters to their normal selves in one solid hit, and is the only thing that can, but landing that hit is often another matter entirely.
  • Played straight against the Egg-Wily Machine X. It's armor is too tough for even Super Sonic and Super Mega Man to do more than superficial damage against something that's already shown it can restore itself, but their Super Sonic Shot obliterates the machine completely.
• One-Man Army: Sonic and Mega Man both qualify. As do their counterparts Metal Sonic and Bass.
• One-Steve Limit: Subverted. There is Mega Universe's Shadow Man, and when Shadow The Hedgehog gets roboticized, his name also becomes Shadow Man. Played for Laughs when they both get sent out at the same time.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Tails is incapacitated by a Ballade Cracker to the face and says he's had worse and pulled through okay.
• Opponent Switch: Mega Man and Sonic realize that fighting Bass and Metal Sonic is a delaying tactic and try to speed things up by doing this. Promptly subverted in that they get their asses kicked even harder when facing the other's usual opponent, forcing them to focus their efforts on one at a time instead.
• Original Character: Completely and deliberately averted on both sides of the equation so as not to confuse newcomers to either series, with the sole exceptions of a single Off-Panel section in Part 6, a partially obscured cameo of Snively, and two cameo appearances of Mecha Sally. Look really close and you can see Quake Woman on the cover of the first issue of the crossover on Megaman's side of the picture.
• Overdrive: Metal Sonic has the V. Maximum Overdrive attack.
• Patchwork World: The "Skull Egg Zone" is revealed to be this, in that it is a fusion of various Sonic and Mega Man stages/environments.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Duo.
• Pocket Dimension: Wily and Eggman create one in order to facilitate their plans and, after arguing about it for a while, decide to name it the "Skull Egg Zone."
• Power Copying: In fine Mega Man tradition.
  • Blow You Away - Tails Man's Tail Wind.
  • Humongous-Headed Hammer - Rose Woman's Piko Hammer.
  • Power Fist - Knuckles Man's Sharp Knuckle.
  • The Paralyzer - Shadow Man's (Not that one) Chaos Cannon.
  • Mind over Matter - Silver Man's Psycho Burst.
  • Kill It with Fire - Blaze Woman's Fire Tornado.
  • Spike Shooter - Charmy Man's Rapid Stinger.
  • Visible Invisibility (type 1) - Espio Man's Chroma Camo.
  • Loud of War - Vector Man's (not that one) Acoustic Blaster.
  • The Paralyzer - Rouge Woman's Black Wave (according to Word of God)
• Race Against the Clock: The battle against Knuckles Man and Rose Woman as they try to pull a Taking You with Me on the heroes by initiating their self destruct sequences. Meaning they need to be stopped fast.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: The reason for the Cosmic Retcon of Sonic's world. Ian Flynn's immediate predecessor as head writer, Ken Penders, successfully won Archie Comics' lawsuit against him over the characters Ken made. Thus, Flynn used the crossover as a convenient way to explain all the changes in Sonic's world at the end of the crossover.
• Recoil Boost: One comedic strip has Eggman replace Metal Sonic's chest engine with a Mega Buster for propulsion. It doesn't work.
• Red Herring: Mega Man doesn't fire Rouge Woman's Black Wave weapon at all during the crossover. It was supposed to be used to defeat Metal Sonic and Bass after the two fused together to act as a fight to weaken Sonic and Mega Man before the fight with the Egg-Wily Machine X, but Sega and Capcom vetoed the whole idea.
• Remember the New Guy?: Due to Eggman and Wily's Genesis Wave rewriting history, Mega Man's dimension is moved from their current time to a time between Mega Man 10 and Mega Man 11. Because of this, characters like Duo^note Who had yet to debut and Bass^note Who had only made cameos in Short Circuits are treated as if they had known Mega Man for a while. It also spoils that Proto Man^note Who was working for Wily, under the name Break Man becomes a good guy and that Ra Moon betrays Wily. Which it does after the crossover ends.
• Revenge Before Reason: At the end of the crossover, Eggman is so pissed that he's been beaten again that he deliberately interferes with Super Sonic's attempt to restore their world, shouting "If I can't have the universe my way, then you won't have it at all!!"
• Right-Hand Attack Dog:
  • In Part 11, Bass' Robot Dog Treble actually attacks the heroes, unlike the games where it is never fought.
  • Tango counts as a feline version for the little we see of him.
• Robot Master: The crossover gives us three of the most iconic examples on panel at the same time, complete with ethics debate over the use of their knowledge and skills.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: Shows up twice — once in Mega Man #24 when Eggman and Dr. Wily are arguing over the name of their lair ("Death Egg Mark 3" vs. "Wily Flying Fortress"), and again in Sonic Universe #54 when Sonic and Mega Man determine who to team up against first in their battle against Metal Sonic and Bass.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Shadow, who decides to go after vengeance on his own after he gets restored rather than work with Sonic and Mega Man.
  • Mega Water S. attempts this when the Genesis Unit begins losing to Mega Man and Sonic in Part 5. Proto Man promptly shoots him in the back.
  • Proto Man's reaction to the doctors trying to goad the heroes into a survival contest. Amusingly enough, this action is probably what saves everyone's lives as he draws more than half the Roboticized Masters after him on a Wild Goose Chase.
  • It's also shown that Eggman and Wily both know that the heroes will win eventually and have plans to leave the other behind and take with them a Consolation Prize: A massive Death Egg-like machine to terrorize their respective universe.
• Second Hour Superpower: The Spin Dash Blast, also known as the 'Sonic Shot', which is instrumental in restoring the Roboticized Masters to normal, isn't given to Mega Man until part 6 of the crossover.
• Shout-Out:
  • The cover of Sonic Universe #51 is a take on the character select screen of Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Superheroes (which, fitting this crossover's medium, is also the one involving one of the Big Two of the comic industry).
  • Part 3 ends with the narration: "Say hello to Mega Man's little friends"
  • Part 4 has Sonic with this gem of a line:
    Sonic: At what point... did I lose... control here?
  • Part 5 (i.e: Sonic Universe #52) had Copy Robot spouting...
    Copy Robot: It's useless, Rock! I'm your perfect copy! I know everything you're about to do before you even do it! Strange, isn't it?
  • Part 6 (Sonic the Hedgehog 249), Sonic tells Tails to mess around with Mega Man's "lemon shooter", prompting Mega to shout "FOR THE LAST TIME - THEY'RE NOT LEMONS!"
  • The way Sonic hops on Mets in Part 10 seems a little familiar...
  • One towards the Pirates Vs. Ninja meme in Part 4's "Short Circuits", with Espio and Shadow Man vs. Captain Whisker and Pirate Man.
  • In Part 11, when he was about to be defeated, Metal Sonic used the "V-Maximum" system. An identical system with an identical function was used in Blue Comet SPT Layzner.
• Spanner in the Works: Rouge the Bat manages to pull off some spectacular sabotage, but is unfortunately caught.
• Spikes of Doom:
  • Referenced in Sonic the Hedgehog #248, when Wily assures Eggman that, as a veteran of dozens of trap-filled fortresses, Mega Man definitely has a problem with spikes... meaning that he's sure the spike covered Sonic will successfully do Mega Man in.
  • Seen straight up on one panel in Mega Man #27
• Stealth Pun:
  • The Chaos Devil is pretty much both god and devil. Duo even senses a combination of Evil and Nobility inside it. To be specific, it's a mechanical Devil Core plugged into an ancient Water God.
  • The fight against Metal Sonic and Bass. Metal and Bass. Sonic Universe #54's Off Panel even lampshades this.
  • And of course Eggman and Wily are a... 'pair o' docs'.
• Stop Copying Me: Sonic has a moderate case of this.
  Sonic: [to Tango in Part 4] ...That's my move!
  Sonic: [to Punk in Part 10] STOP! STEALING! MY! MOVES!
• Strolling Through the Chaos: Sonic Universe #51 features the Roboticized Master Shadow Man calmly walking through the battlefield, carrying a Chaos Emerald and barking orders while the other three battle Proto Man and Mega Man.
• Super Mode: Sure, Super Sonic was a gimmie, but who expected a Emerald-powered Super Adapter Mega Man◊?
• Taking the Bullet: While it wasn't exactly a voluntary case since neither of them saw it coming, Copy Man's shot would have hit Sonic in Sonic Universe #51 if Silver hadn't been floating in Copy Man's line of fire.
• Teleportation Sickness: Sonic gets this when arriving at Dr Light's Lab with Mega Man via Mega Man's method of teleportation.
  Sonic: I... I never want to do that again...
• Teleport Gun: The Copy Robot uses this to take the Chaotix and Silver captive in Sonic Universe #51.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Standard operating procedure when you get egos as big as Dr. Wily's and Dr. Eggman's in close proximity really.
  • Inverted with Dr. Light in part 12 when he's discussing the group's hopeless situation against the Robot Master army.
    Dr. Light: ...but right now we need a miracle.
    *Dynamic Entry by the MM1 Robot Masters*
    Cut Man: Mind if we cut in?
    Elec Man: One miracle, coming right up.
• Ten Paces and Turn: Mega Man and Silver Man blast each other at the same time. Mega Man is immobilized by the psychokinetic blast of his opponent, but Silver Man is restored to Silver the Hedgehog by Mega Man's Spin Dash Blast and immediately frees the blue bomber.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Dr. Wily has a very clear vision of the world he wants under his thumb, and above all else, he wants to subjugate Dr. Light to it to prove once and for all he's better than him. Which causes him to go berserk when Eggman nearly kills Light and consequently nearly destroys that angle.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dr. Light gives one to Eggman and Wily, calling them out on the fact that they have failed time and again and meddled in forces they couldn't control, almost destroying the worlds they sought to conquer.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill:
  • Eggman and Wily attempt this against the heroes. Multiple times. One actually works. Then they blow it by not finishing the job so they can gloat instead.
  • The Super Sonic Shot used to One-Hit Kill the Egg-Wily Machine X. The blast is bigger than the target.
• Three Laws-Compliant: Mega Man, as shown when he discusses his Thou Shalt Not Kill (biological lifeforms) protocols.
• The Unfought: Quint is in the crossover. While the Mega Man Killers and the Chaos Devil are trying to waylay Sonic and Mega Man, he's in a different room entirely playing cards with Big the Cat.
• Two Words: Added Emphasis: Sonic does this after Mega Man asks if he's impressed.
  Sonic: By that little robo-snake? Two words, kid:Egg. Viper.
• Unusual Euphemism: Wily has an interesting one for him.
  Dr. Wily: Sweet mother of Edison!
• Unwilling Roboticisation:
  • Due to not being able to send something from one world to the other without something from the target world, Eggman and Wily combine their technology and subject Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Shadow to this, creating the "Roboticized Masters." The key to curing them seems to involve Mega Man's weapon copying system, as shown when Mega Man accidentally restores Tails after trying to copy his weapon data.
  • In Sonic Universe #52, the classic set of eight is complete with the addition of Vector Man, Espio Man, Charmy Man, Blaze Woman, and Silver Man.
  • In Sonic Universe #53, Rouge the Bat is incapacitated by the Chaos Devil and sent to be roboticized into Rouge Woman.
• Villain Ball: If Dr. Eggman had let Proto Man go temporarily rather than sending over half the Roboticized Masters after him, then events might have gone rather differently. Justified in that it was a split-second decision.
• Villainous Breakdown: Both Eggman and Wily both from Sonic and Megaman on the edge of stopping their plan when it's on the verge of completion and the breakdown of their partnership following Eggman's attempt at trying to kill Dr. Light.
• Villainous Friendship:
  • The trope picture for the page, Wily and Eggman are Type I. Despite the occasional argument, they get along quite well, and seem to genuinely enjoy the other's company. But not enough to keep from backstabbing the other if things go wrong. Heck, some of the variant covers display the two as "E.F.F.s" or "Evil Friends Forever"
  • As of Part 10, the fact that Dr. Eggman is over the Moral Event Horizon and Dr. Wily has standards has irrevocably cracked their friendship, making it a Type IV.
• Villains Act, Heroes React: Justified in that it's hard to be proactive when the villains are plotting from a different plane of existence.
• Villain Team-Up: Eggman and Wily. And unlike most examples of this trope, they get along surprisingly well.
• Walking Tank: The Egg Wily Machine X
• Weapon Specialization: As is Mega Man tradition, the Roboticized Masters each have one that Mega Man can copy and later equip:
  • Blow You Away: Tails Man's "Tail Wind", which generates a whirlwind.
  • Humongous-Headed Hammer: Rose Woman's "Piko Hammer" switches her hands out for two hammers. Coincidentally, her Metal Series counterpart in the main Sonic book had the same kind of weapons.
  • Invisibility Cloak: Espio Man's "Chroma Camo", which turns the user invisible.
  • Musical Assassin: Vector Man's "Acoustic Blaster", which fires note shaped beams.
  • Playing with Fire/Spectacular Spinning: Blaze Woman's "Fire Tornado", which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
  • Psychic Powers: Silver Man's "Psychic Burst".
  • Time Stands Still: Shadow Man's "Chaos Cannon", a weaponized form of Chaos Control which freezes its target in time.
  • Spike Shooter: Charmy Man's "Rapid Stinger" shoots pointy projectiles.
  • The Paralyzer: Rouge Woman's "Black Wave" will stun a foe for a few seconds.
  • Megaton Punch: What Knuckles Man's "Sharp Knuckle" does.
  • Furthermore, Mega Man gets a new weapon in the form of the "Spin Dash Blast", an Energy Ball that uses the unique properties of Sonic's Spin Dash attack.
• Wham Episode:
  • For both series once the crossover is done. For Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog, he suddenly finds himself in an altered Mobius where a lot of things have been re-written. For Blaze in Sonic Universe, not only have a bunch of characters from said altered Mobius been washed ashore onto the Sol Dimension as an aftereffect of the rewriting, but so has the Wily Egg, which her enemies have taken control of. For Mega Man, his world is back in working order but now a new nemesis looms on the horizon, Ra Moon.
  • A related Wham Episode shows up in Parts 2 and 4 of the "Dawn of X" mini-series: Xander Payne's time-travelling shenanigans have revealed that the crossover is a canon part of the Archieverse Mega Man's future, and that Sonic himself may now be on Xander's updated hit list.
• Wham Line: In part nine, Dr, Light drops a name that causes Dr. Wily, in the throes of megalomaniacal gloating, to lose some color, his eyes to shrink to pinpricks, and his hair to wilt instantly. Suffice it to say, the very next arc in the Mega Man comic established, very firmly, why this drew such a reaction from Wily.
  Dr. Light: Ra. Moon.
• Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him?: When Dr. Eggman realizes Dr. Light has been aiding Rouge, he decides to just throw him out of the ship. This upsets Wily, who wanted Dr. Light to see his ultimate triumph.
• Worf Effect: Shadow, Knuckles, Silver, and Blaze being robot masters. Shadow suffered it the worst, too the point Sonic picked on him for falling dispite Shadow being equal to Sonic and slightly stronger with chaos powers.
• Worf Had the Flu:
  • The fight between Sonic and Mega Man at the beginning is supposed to show them as equals in a straight fight. However, Mega Nan went into that fight after battling the Roboticized Masters at the bank. He also had no special weapons or upgrade parts, so it was a fresh Sonic at full strength against a fatigued Mega Man at his base strength.
  • Blaze's arc before and after the crossover revolved around getting the Sol Emeralds. Once she got them all in Treasure Team Tango she used her Super Mode to shoot down the Egg O'War in panels, something Duo couldn't do after two and half issues of fighting the Chaos Devil. Although, admittedly, Duo was actively trying to beat the curse out of Chaos 0 rather than kill his corrupted form and so may have been pulling his punches a bit. He also wasn't directly targeting the Wily Egg and yet the doctors were still afraid it would become collateral damage.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Many assumptions made by the two doctors regarding Dr. Light's importance and how to deal with it. Wily thinks that with Dr. Light captured, Mega Man's safety net is gone, but he didn't count on Tails being able to fill the gap. Eggman thinks Dr. Light is too clever to let live, but his attempt to kill him doesn't go over well with Wily.
• Writing Around Trademarks:
  • The issues preceding and following the crossover employ this when referring to the other series: Eggman calls Wily "Albert" and refers to Bass as "a base villain," Wily calls Eggman "Ivo," Sonic refers to Mega Man as "the kid" and in the Sonic Universe "Pirate Plunder Panic" arc, the Wily Egg, which has fallen into the hands of the Sol Dimension's Metal Sonic, was re-christened by him as the "Egg O'War" (though its Wily skull motif is retained, because said Metal Sonic has remodeled himself into the pirate Captain Metal).
  • A related instance shows up in Part 2 of the Dawn of X miniseries, in which Xander Payne is seeing Mega Man working alongside an indistinct blue blur who speaks off-panel to stop a robot using whirlwinds to hurl cars around. In a (somewhat disturbing, given the implications) subversion, Part 4 of the same series shows a quite mad Xander in his new jail cell, carving out symbols and drawings with a sharpened toothbrush shiv... including what is unmistakably Sonic's face.
• Wronski Feint: Sonic beats Enker by making Punk (in ball form) chase him while he heads towards Enker, dodging at the last second to make Punk crash into Enker. "Follow the bouncing hedgehog", indeed.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: The "Skull Egg Zone" created by Wily and Eggman has this, allowing them to prepare their scheme while very little time passes outside the zone itself.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Aside from building an entire Pocket Dimension and Ominous Floating Castle unnoticed, Eggman and Wily acquire all seven Chaos Emeralds with so little interference that it mostly happens off-panel. Of course, the two doctors know smooth sailing in the early stages of their plans is no guarantee of victory, especially when their enforcers are getting trashed by the heroes.
• Zero-Effort Boss: In the Short Circuits of Part 10, Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily roboticize Big the Cat into Big Man, and he promptly begins fishing for robotic fish.
• Zerg Rush: One with dire consequences. In the big finale Sonic, Mega Man, and most of their allies face off against every single Robot Master except the original line. The fight begins... and soon the heroes are getting overwhelmed by the Robot Masters. Mook Chivalry is completely averted and the heroes start getting swarmed, especially after Sonic, Mega Man, and Duo go ahead to stop Wily and Eggman. They're nearly overpowered until the original Robot Masters arrive to back them up. In addition Tails ends up severely injured after taking a Ballade Cracker to the face while infiltrating the Wily Egg.

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