The Heart of a Monster
is a Sonic the Hedgehog fan-comic by super-emeralds on DeviantArt and Tumblr. The comic is a remake of a previous comic of theirs.
The story is an adaption/expansion of Sonic Unleashed, changing some plot elements and adding characters that were absent in Unleashed, such as Team Dark and Knuckles.
This comic provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Sonic is much more traumatized by his werehog form than in the original game. Being a werehog just feels wrong to him.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The comic is a reworked version of Sonic Unleashed with more characters added in.
- And Then John Was a Zombie:
- In regards to his werehog form, Sonic desperately hopes he won't become this as his appearance grows more monstrous like the Dark Gaia creatures he's fighting and he begins exhibiting uncharacteristic anger and violent tendencies.
- Shadow plays this straight, with his exposure to Dark Gaia energy eventually causing him to transform him into a monster and viciously attempt to kill Sonic.
- Blah, Blah, Blah: In the third panel of page 41, Shadow hears Sonic's speech devolve into nothing as he stops paying attention to him.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: The comic adds in Funny Animal extras alongside the humans, making it clear that the various species co-exist together.
- Oh, My Gods!: Knuckles says "Chaos have mercy" at one point, with Chaos referencing the original guardian of the Master Emerald.
- Poor Communication Kills: Sonic refuses to disclose his predicament with his friends, causing confusion and worry as he starts avoiding them. Furthermore, it only damages his already poor emotional state as he tries to cope with his transformations.
- The Remake: The Heart of a Monster is a remake of a previous unnamed Sonic Unleashed comic by the artist.
- Secret-Keeper: After learning about it by accident, Shadow and Chip keep quiet about Sonic's transformations due to his unwillingness to share it with the rest of his friends.
- Slow Transformation: Sonic is slowly turning into one of the Dark Gaia spawn. It is only a matter of time before he either transforms fully or even turns into Dark Gaia itself.
