Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge examples for Sonic Heroes.
Fridge Brilliance:
- The reason Team Rose has easier levels, with less enemies etc, is because they're the slowest, and the other teams have already gone through the levels before them, thus wiping out most of the enemies already.
- Team Dark seem to get the most enemies coming for them, while Team Sonic's in the middle and Team Rose doesn't have too many. This may seem odd at first, until you realise this: Let's say you had some hidden treasure in your base that you don't want stolen, and a professional thief just so happens to find a way to break in and take away what you had in there. Of course Eggman's going to send more troops after Team Dark! He's trying to take back what (or rather, who) Rouge stole. Team Sonic's got the next most enemies because... well, it's Sonic. Team Rose are just looking for their pets or trying to impress Sonic, so Eggman's not going to care too much. And the Chaotix... well, they are caught in the middle of the crossfire while doing their own thing.
- The game has plenty of Foreshadowing to Eggman's true identity as Neo Metal Sonic:
- When Team Dark fights Egg Hawk, 'Eggman' says "you must be Omega" as if he's never met his own creation. That's because this isn't his creator; Metal Sonic never met Omega, since he was locked away with Shadow.
- When Shadow asks Eggman about his past before Robot Carnival, 'Eggman' plays dumb and avoids the question - or more accurately, Metal Sonic has no idea who Shadow is either.
- The brief appearance of Neo Metal Sonic from the Egg Albatross decoy is clearly intended to tip the player off that something is amiss, and that Eggman may not be as in control as it seems.
- In Team Sonic/Dark's Hang Castle, there's the segment with the Eggman statue that resembles Neo Metal Sonic when flipped upside-down.
- Before Team Dark's Robot Storm, Omega tries to scan 'Eggman' to see if he's a decoy, but his sensors are jammed. The jammers aren't just hiding a decoy, they're hiding Metal Sonic.
- As for Team Chaotix's Robot Storm, Vector calls Eggman a "mustached moron" and their client rages over the radio, nearly giving away his identity before stopping himself. Meanwhile, the 'Eggman' in front of them has no reaction whatsoever. Vector already implied after Egg Albatross he knew their client's identity, and in the ending he revealed he knew all along, so it seems this was a calculated attempt to stir the pot.
- Conversely, in Team Sonic's Robot Storm, Sonic calls Eggman a "joke" for trying to stop them so late in the three days. This makes 'Eggman' so angry he pounds his console - Metal Sonic can take a diss from Vector, but never from his loathsome copy.
- The 'Eggman' line before the Egg Emperor fight — "I'll show you what real evil is!" — makes more sense with the context of Metal Sonic. It's a boast that his creator wasn't nearly ruthless enough, and he's going to show the heroes what a true evil mastermind can do.
- If left idle in Frog Forest, after finding the Shadow Android in the remains of the Egg Albatross, Omega may say: "Shadow, that android must be an alien. Unable to analyze." Omega, you're much closer to the truth than you could have ever imagined.
- Metal Sonic copies Chaos' data from Chocola and Froggy. Chao are very closely connected with Chaos, and Froggy was once possessed by Chaos. When Metal Sonic enters his One-Winged Angel transformation, he does so by merging with one of Eggman's battleships. This is because he copied Chaos's shapeshifting powers, but while Chaos is made of water, and thus merged with Station Square's reservoirs, Metal Sonic is made of metal, so he used a battleship to gain mass.
- Omega wanting revenge on Eggman but temporarily gives it up against Metal Sonic/Madness/Overlord. It makes sense given he wants to prove himself superior to the rest of Eggman's robots, and even though he betrayed Eggman at the moment, Metal Sonic was still made by Eggman, giving one more Eggman robot for Omega to defeat. Plus, Metal Sonic wants to have a robot kingdom with himself as ruler. Omega, not wanting to take orders, is most likely to rebel.
- The name of the final boss in all four main stories, Egg Emperor, is in keeping with the bird theme of the other two Eggman bosses' names: hawk, albatross, and emperor penguin.
- The bonuses and moves the various formations bestow on all teams is fitting for how they were used for their titular characters.
- Speed Formation, represented by Sonic, grants access to abilities he had in previous games. The Rocket Accel is similar to the Spin Dash in how it functions (blasting through obstacles and enemies), and of course all teams inherit the Homing Attack.
- Flight Formation, represented by Tails, grants access to abilities he had in previous games. The formation functions by having Tails carry Sonic and Knuckles in his arms below him, referencing how he could carry Sonic in the air in the classic games.
- Power Formation, represented by Knuckles, grants access to abilities he had in previous games. The Triangle Dive and Umbrella/Bubble Descent is similar to how Knuckles could glide in previous games and cling to walls, though only able to do the former because the Power characters' hands are too full carrying their comrades to climb anything!
- The incredibly catchy theme song that Team Chaotix has makes more sense when you realize that the song is an advertisement for their detective agency. They're trying to make a memorable impression on potential customers.
- Consider the following lyrics from "Team Chaotix": "A challenge has been issued by the Eggman; This mission's gonna need them all!" While at first it seems like a generic lyric that boasts that Eggman's robots and traps are merely just a challenge for the team, it takes on a different meaning in hindsight after completing Team Chaotix's story: Eggman, as the person who hired them, quite literally issued the challenge to them. Reinforced by the following lines: "And though his hopes grow thin and the outlook is grim; These three are gonna heed his call".
- "Follow Me," at first brush, seems to only deal with Amy's crush on Sonic, but when looking deeper into the lyrics, nothing directly indicates that it's about Sonic — the song is more generally about loving someone and trying to find them. This fits with Team Rose as a whole, since in this game, they're all looking for someone they love (Amy and Sonic, Cream and Chocola, Big and Froggy).
- Why weren't Team Rose more concerned to see Eggman's body melt into liquid metal and regurgitate Chocola and Froggy? They're all too relieved to have their friends back to question anything, blindly assuming it's another of Eggman's inventions going over their heads.
Fridge Horror:
- Metal Sonic is a robot with one specific purpose: eliminate Sonic. If his finger wag right before the race with him in his debut is any indication, he also has Sonic's cocky attitude. He's perfectly confident in his abilities. And then he slams face-first into a wall. As time goes on, he keeps losing over and over again. It's no wonder he snapped in Heroes: his constant failures completely shattered his ego.
- There's also something disturbing about Metal Sonic's insistence that he is the original Sonic. Even after turning into a gigantic dragon monster, Metal Sonic insists that he is the real one. It's become the only thing that gives him identity, and so he clings to it even when it no longer makes sense.
