You see, Sonic - I have finally learnt what it was. The reason I kept failing time and time again! It was you, it was always you. You set this all in motion - you were the first to rise against me, you brought to together your rag-tag merry men bunch - and you have wielded the emeralds and brought me down!
And if I can't kill you, then it was only plain what I would have to do. I would have to erase your pitiful existence! Make it so that you were never born! And so be what we have here... the Time Eater, that will bend this timeline anyway I want - and alter history!
— Eggman, Chapter 1
The Butterfly Effect is a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic by Caffeine Clouds
, centered around an Alternate Timeline where Sonic never existed and Eggman was free to conquer the world.
The fic can be read here on Archive of Our Own and here on FanFiction.Net
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Most of the characters go through some level of this due to the timeline being Darker and Edgier.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Zig-Zagged. By virtue of being an altered timeline, most if not all of the characters go through varying degrees of changes in their personality, ranging from Rouge the Bat, who is considerably more pessimistic and cold-hearted than her canon counterpart but still recognizable, to Tails, who acts downright malicious at times and is actively working as a villain alongside Eggman
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. So far in the story, Tails, Amy, The Babylon Rogues, and the Chaotix have all been revealed to be working under the Empire in one way or another, yet they still remain sympathetic because they are all given justified in-story reasons to be doing so.
- An Arm and a Leg: In chapter 6, it's revealed that Rouge lost her right arm during Eggman's first attack on Mobius and had to get it replaced with a metallic component to compensate.
- Chapter 17 contains a flashback that details the exact event that caused Rouge's disability.
- And I Must Scream: One of the consequences for being caught rebelling against the Empire. This is played seriously to the point where simply being killed is considered a "lucky" fate in comparison.Wave: They get their hands on you... And if you're lucky, you'll never be seen again. If you're unlucky - you'll be turned into a metal shell of your former self.
- Ascended Extra: Fans of the IDW comics will be delighted to know that some exclusive characters such as Tangle and Whisper make appearances in this fic.
- Bad Liar: Sonic proves to be this when questioned by Rouge in chapter 3, which is part of the reason why Rouge initially doesn't trust him.Rouge: He also has some convenient gaps in his memory, so he claims. 'Selective memory' if you will. He spoke of this all powerful gem on Angel Island, yet can't tell me the reason why he wants to go there... what a terrible liar. He's trying to lure me into something.
- But Now I Must Go: After Tangle harshly reprimands Rouge for her selfish motives in only wanting to kill Eggman and not caring about the victims who suffer in the process, Rouge decides to leave the rebellion for good
- Butterfly of Doom: Essentially the story's premise. One small change in the timeline (In this case, Sonic never existing and never meeting his friends) causes a terrible future to come to light.
- Call-Back: Sonic's plan to steal an airship for their mission involves him and Knuckles causing a commotion and alerting authorities by cruising through the city streets on metal boards.
- Deal with the Devil: Chapter 33 reveals that Amy agreed to be a part of the Eggman Empire in exchange for Cream and Vanilla's safety.
- Death by Adaptation: We learn in chapter 7 that Mighty the Armadillo, one of the members of the rebellion, had gotten killed in the aftermath of a previous sting operation from a Mercenary Group with the intention of disbanding the rebellion.
- For Want Of A Nail: There are many instances of this due to the fic's premise. Some of the most significant examples are listed below.
- Thanks to the alterations in the timeline, Tails never met Sonic and was instead taken in by Dr. Eggman, who effectively brainwashed him into becoming his loyal pawn.
- Because Knuckles never met Sonic and was never directly confronted by Eggman, he was never given a reason to leave the Master Emerald Shire and spent all of his time there, completely unaware of the Empire's takeover. It's implied in Chapter 32 that this is the reason why he was deemed worthy of the powers of the emerald in the alternate timeline
Knuckles (From the Original Timeline): The day I became an adult, the day I tried to claim my powers... I was rejected. I don't have any Guardian powers... because I was deemed unworthy.- Shadow was completely never freed by Eggman from his prison, and was instead kept as a prisoner to be experimented on.
- Heroic BSoD: Sonic has one of these in chapter 12 after witnessing first-hand what became of Tails in the alternate timeline
- In Spite of a Nail: Although the circumstances are vastly different, Sonic and Shadow still end up confronting each other while one of them has a chaos emerald
- No Guy Wants to Be Chased: While helping him reach the Space Colony Ark, Rouge makes her affections for Shadow painfully obvious with how frequently she tries to flirt with him. He usually chooses not to respond
- Parental Neglect: Eggman is shown to be emotionally distant, neglectful, and sometimes even abusive towards his son Miles
- Poor Communication Kills: Invoked. The reason why Sonic can't tell his allies he's from an alternate dimension is because the Time Eater recognizes that doing so would further damage the already unstable timeline. This is why it always turns back time whenever Sonic so much as alludes to his predicament.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tangle gives one to Rouge after learning that she only formed the rebellion with the sole purpose of killing Eggman and had no interest in helping innocent people.Tangle: I used to- I-I admired you, you know that? I thought you were so cool... and strong... that you never let anything get to you, now I realise you just don't care at all.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Tangle and especially Rouge were initially skeptical of Sonic's claims of wanting to join them due to past experiences with enemies pretending to be members of the rebellion. However, after being saved from a vicious creature by the Hedgehog in question, Tangle realizes they were wrong about him while Rouge still remains doubtful.
