The Murder of Me is a Sonic the Hedgehog fancomic created by Gigi Dutreix (who now writes and illustrates for Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)) and featuring the hedgehog trio: Sonic, Shadow, and Silver the Hedgehog.
Many years ago, there were three brothers named Zielo, Heephis and Celios and they lived in the universe without any evil in their souls. But one day, the three brothers were corrupted by "sin" and it turned out that Zielo, the youngest of the three brothers, was the most corrupted. It was then that Zielo murdered his two brothers Celios and Heephis and he ended up absorbing their powers. Zielo then became the only god in existence and he went on terrorizing the world with his limitless powers.
But before Zielo had killed his brother Heephis, Heephis was able to breathe out three souls that would bring an end to Zielo's reign of terror and those souls turned out to be Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog and Silver the Hedgehog. It was then that Sonic, Shadow and Silver realized that they have godly powers and that they must stop Zielo's reign of terror.
The comic can be found on Gigi Dutriex's DeviantArt gallery
. The comic also has a YouTube channel, featuring comic dramas, in-character Let's Plays, reaction videos, and Q&A's, livestreams, and more, and a Visual Novel adaptation, which is a parody of the Dating Sim genre and titled The Lover of Me (yes, you get to romance Zielo!).
See also Ghosts of the Future which is another Sonic the Hedgehog fancomic with similar dark and supernatural themes (and also created by a red-headed Promoted Fan, albeit by the name of Evan Stanley; in fact she and Dutreix are the closest of friends!).
This series provides examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic: The story takes place in a world where Sonic, Shadow and Silver are brothers, created by a God in hopes of saving the world from annihilation at the hands of his youngest brother. Needless to say, this setting is heavily divergent from that of any of the canons of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
- Apocalypse How: Class X-5. The dimension in which the story takes place is the only one left in existence, with the rest of the multiverse having been consumed by Zielo.
- Big Bad: Zielo earns this honor by being the driving force behind most of the suffering that the main trio have to go through.
- Breaking the Fellowship: When Sonic finds his friends after having been separated from them for five years, he discovers they've gone their separate ways, and most of them aren’t very eager to reconnect with him. Only when they reappear in issue 14 do they truly reunite.
- Breather Episode:
- Issue 8, as it provides the protagonists a well-earned break from fighting for their lives. It largely consists of exposition and comic relief, as well as fleshing out the dynamic between the main trio.
- Issue 13 qualifies as well, as this issue gives Shadow and Silver time to reflect on recent events, allowing them to open up to one another.
- Character Development: Shadow starts off being emotionless and distant towards the people he meets, especially towards Sonic and Silver. But as the story progresses, he becomes much more open about his emotions and he starts being more protective towards others, especially towards Silver.
- Dark Fic: While the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise is no stranger to dark plot elements, The Murder of Me puts the protagonists in a consistently grim situation, saddles them with immense amounts of trauma without batting an eye, and mutilates characters in gory detail that would have the original material shaking in its boots.
- Despair Event Horizon: Sonic himself crosses the horizon when he accidentally kills his mother during his battle with Zielo. The look on his face when what he has done has sunken in says it all.
- Dress Code: The reason why the main trio wear a cape alongside their canonical garb, enforced by Sol. This is lampshaded in Episode 15.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Sonic, Shadow and Silver all display this whenever their god-powers are activated.
- Humans Are Bastards: Because of Dr. Eggman's actions against the Mobians in the last few years, many Mobians had distrusted humans. To fix this, the human government executed Dr. Eggman and start the Mobian/Human Treaty. But despite that, the human government is still seen in a horrible light since they forced Sonic to work for them and the soldiers would shoot at his feet if he tried to escape them.
- I Am a Monster: A version of this is uttered by Sonic in issue 14.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- Sonic may be cocky and over-confident at times, but he does try to help out anyone in need.
- While Shadow acts distant towards people and is prone to being temperamental, he genuinely wants to protect as many people as he can.
- Mature Animal Story: Even though it features the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the story is Darker and Edgier than the official franchise. There are many character deaths, too.
- Meaningful Echo:
- "You don't seem like a bad guy."
- A phrase said to Shadow by both Sonic and Silver at different points in the story, upon being asked by Shadow why they trust him to do something important for them. Their soul-connection makes them feel as if they can rely on one another, despite not knowing each other very well, and the repetition of this line implies that Sonic and Silver’s intuitive trust in Shadow is rooted in that same connection.
- "Monster! Demon! ZIELO!"
- These words crop up to indicate that a character is on the verge of becoming tainted with sin. It reinforces that Zielo is a major driving factor in the events and emotions that cause them to give in to sin.
- "It's okay. You don't have to say anything."
- This line is used by Silver to comfort Shadow when he expresses his discomfort and anxiety about his connection with his soul-brothers, and again by Shadow to comfort Silver after a nasty outburst born from the fear and anguish of being compared to Zielo. Both uses of this line are gestures of solidarity and mutual understanding.
- "You don't seem like a bad guy."
- Nice Mean And In Between:
- Silver the Hedgehog is the nice one; he is the most innocent of the three hedgehogs and is more willing to communicate with others.
- Shadow the Hedgehog is the mean one; he's the most distant of the three hedgehogs.
- And Sonic the Hedgehog is In-Between; he can be cocky at times, but does have a good heart.
- Nightmare Face:
- The Soulless usually sport a Slasher Smile with jagged teeth whenever they are approaching their victims. One notable example was from Soulless Amy Rose in Issue 6 when Sonic asks what she is, and Amy responds with "SOULLESS" while wearing a nightmarish smile.
- Zielo sports a horrific face in Issue 7 when he is about to suck in Sonic, Shadow and Silver alive
- Nightmare Sequence: Sonic has several nightmares. One includes him being recruited to the human government for the first time, whereupon they immediately start shooting at his feet when he tries to escape.
- Not So Invincible After All: Downplayed. Zielo had been thoroughly established as an all-powerful being, and explicitly stated to have remained untouchable by mortals for all of time. However, in issue 12, Sonic comes so close to landing a hit on him, that it actually causes the normally calm and collected Zielo to become noticeably uncomfortable.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Zielo destroys worlds with no remorse, and has no problems destroying his "soulless" servants if they have failed him.
- Slasher Smile:
- Tainted Sonic sports a bloodthirsty grin whenever he's fighting against Zielo.
- Zielo is a proud owner of some beautifully sharp chompers.
- They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: The reason why Sonic can't elaborate to his friends about the event that tainted him.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Tails and Amy are understandably angry and upset at Sonic for leaving them and his mom for five years; in his defense, the human government forced him to work with them and shoot at his feet if he tried to leave. Sonic tries to explain this to them when he meets them again, but they won't listen. Only Sonic's mother hears her son out.
