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Nightmare Fuel / Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)

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As a Nightmare Fuel page, all spoilers are unmarked as per wiki policy. You Have Been Warned!

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic_pic_sonic_idw_zombots.jpg
"Can you see them from your hiding spot, Sonic? The faces of all the friends you've failed?"

"I'm officially upgrading this situation from 'weird' to 'super creepy'."
—Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) may be a more game-oriented Sonic comic, but Ian Flynn and his crew of writers are no strangers to bringing some horrifying elements into the normally colourful world of the blue blur. And when only the second major Story Arc of this particular comic series depicts a Zombie Apocalypse, you know you're in for pure terror.

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    General 

    Year One ( 2018 - 2019) 
  • Silver mentions his return back to the present day of the story was due to finding no one in his future around this time. No sign of life or anything. Just some metal bits here and there.
  • As Neo Metal Sonic has been pushed to the brink in his fight against Sonic and Shadow, the two managing to overpower his Super form, he's thrashed against the throne-shaped conduit he used to siphon power from the Master Emerald, head hung low as he steadies himself in his seat. However, he very quietly tells them exactly why he's not worried... before lifting his head to reveal his face half-transformed into its Metal Overlord form, with all the gusto of a typical Jump Scare as he bellows that all the pieces for his final plan are now in place.
  • Issue #11 marks the debut of Dr. Starline, a shady platypus scientist, who notes that he has been studying Mr.Tinker/Dr. Eggman quite intently. What's one of his methods of bringing back Eggman? Give Mr. Tinker electroshock therapy.

    Year Two (2019) 

The Metal Virus Saga

Infection Arc

  • In Eggman's first showcase of the Metal Virus, we get to see the first live test subjects endure Zombot-ification. Not to mention that look of utter glee on his face as he conducts the experiments.
    Dr. Starline: [after first test on a potted plant] Marvelous! Total and instantaneous transmutation!
    Dr. Eggman: Hmm. Of the active plant tissue, yes, but not the processed wood... I need more data. [sinister close up] Bring me the animals.
  • Dr. Starline decides to forgo theatrics and kill Sonic and Silver by tricking them into activating a bomb. He manages to get Sonic to go inside by telling him exactly what he's just made Silver do.
    • Eggman's response to this? Grab Starline through a portal by the throat and slam him against a case so hard it breaks, all the while ranting that the hedgehog is his to destroy, and that simply killing him isn't good enough — he has to completely break Sonic so he knows Eggman had victory over him.
      Eggman: There's a right way and a wrong way to dispose of your life-long nemesis, and you have done it very, very wrong!
      • This same exchange reveals that Eggman's obsession with Sonic is probably the only thing that's keeping the mad doctor in check. He casually reveals that he has the means, weapons, and resources to crush Sonic and any other resistance all at once in seconds if he chooses to (he outright mentions carpet-bombing as an option). The only reason he doesn't is that he wants a satisfying end to his nemesis rather than a quick one. Yeesh...
  • Eggman tricks the Skunk Brothers into using the Metal Virus and Zombot-ifying themselves in their third go-around with Sonic. Recovering from their initial horror, Sonic and Amy attack again, but Zombot!Rough and Zombot!Tumble No-Sell the hedgehogs' attacks: Amy hits Rough with her hammer and knocks off half of his body, including his left arm, while Sonic's spin-dashes on Tumble leave holes in his body, and yet said injuries regenerate almost instantly. And then there's the worst part: Sonic himself gets infected.
    • Not helping is the Five-Second Foreshadowing. You see the virus on Sonic's hand after his spur with Tumble before this revelation.
  • Issue #16 also shows how absolutely terrifying Eggman is when he decides that Windmill Village should be ground zero for the outbreak. Things play out like the horrifying hybrid of a natural disaster and a Zombie Apocalypse, as first, the liquefied virus runs over the place like a flood (including villagers desperately scrambling for safety on rooftops or in their homes), and then the few uninfected people find themselves hunted by the Zombots with no mercy.
    • Worse, a villager puts a handprint on a tree, with the virus spreading outwards. And in the span of one night, a bird gets sick with it and flies toward a major city.

Crisis City Arc

  • Issue #17 plays up the Zombie Apocalypse aspect, as the Chaotix's hometown gets infected and quickly overrun. Retreating after some Zombots break into their office, the Chaotix are greeted with the horrifying image of Eggman's ship dumping liquid Metal Virus on buildings as Zombots flood the streets and people run for their lives. And since the Zombots can't be fought without the infection spreading, there's no hope of fighting them off, with the only option being to run. And not even the Chaotix leave the issue unscathed. Charmy heads back to get someone who Vector was forced to put into quarantine (by trapping her in a circle of cars)... only to discover that she is now a Zombot. And is then himself promptly overrun by more of them.
  • Issue #18 shows that Eggman is starting to lose control of the Zombots, due to the virus mutating as it spreads. And unlike Starline, he's not even trying to figure out a solution, saying that he'll handle it later. This does not bode well.
    • We all know Eggman can be a sadistic cuss, but he goes a step further in this issue by willingly targeting Cream's village for no other reason just to see Sonic suffer.
    • Already the situation has gotten so out of control that two of the villagers in Cream's village try to burn the area in the hopes it'll contain the outbreak. Sonic quickly stops them stating fire will only trap those unaffected as the virus is more than resistant to heat.
    • Cheese and Chocola end up infected protecting Cream and Vanilla and quickly turn. Sonic tries to ground them using a glass jar, stating he has enough to deal with the ground forces and doesn't need them flying around. But the end of the issue shows the two starting to break through the glass after Sonic heads off.
  • In Issue #19, Shadow recklessly gets himself infected, but ignores Sonic's advice on how to resist infection and Rouge's retreat order. Consequently, Shadow gets Devoured by the Horde and becomes a Zombot himself. The issue ends with Sonic in a chokehold as Shadow and dozens of other Zombots stare daggers at him.
    • The horde becomes too much for Sonic and Omega to deal with in addition to the newly Zombot-ified Shadow. While they buy time for Rouge to get the non-infected away, Omega is utterly disembowelled by Shadow and Sonic ends up nearly pinned by him as well with the other Zombots closing in. Luckily Tails and Silver arrive to save the pair (Somewhat in Omega's case, Tails can only get his head plate away after his body is destroyed), though, by the time they do, the infection has nearly spread to all of Sonic's body leaving only his face and his shoes the last bits not covered. Shadow also nearly hits Silver in the retreat. Even Sonic notes that was way too close a call.
    • Sonic meets up with Amy who's trying to coordinate rescue efforts, at one point losing contact with a ship and trying desperately to get them to respond. The expressions of Sonic and her speak volumes.
    • It's pretty clear that Sonic's attempts to fight off the infection are taking a toll on his body and mind. He admits to Vector and Espio that he barely has any time for sleep. He can take naps, but they have to be very brief lest the infection spreads, constantly putting him on alert even in his down times.
      • Even his speed can't last forever. When he runs in excess, it wears him out.

The Last Minute Arc

  • It should go without saying that The Last Minute is the Darkest Hour of the entire arc, filled with nothing but bad endings, so many broken characters, and an overall feeling of lingering despair.
  • Issue #21:
    • The issue cover is a Zombot-ified Cheese smashing through the window to get at Tails◊.
    • The issue opens with Eggman targeting Central City, much to Tails' horror, since he was there in the midst of working on a cure to the Zombot virus. What's more, while going outside to get a sample of the virus, he suddenly sees some Flickies turned Zombots flying overhead.
    • Tangle and Whisper help with evacuations, but can't seem to get a hold of anyone. When Tangle contacts Silver, we see he's barely holding the line at Ice Paradise, with the city being on fire.
  • Issue #22:
    • The fall of Restoration HQ. A single Zombie Infectee, scared and not wanting to be alone, got into the base. They fully change into a Zombot, and all hell breaks loose. The situation escalates even further when the Zombot Charmy, who had been captured and contained by Vector and Espio earlier, escapes, allowing for the infection to spread even faster. Vanilla is infected, Cream screaming for her mother as she is dragged away, and Vector is infected as well after he is forced to tackle Charmy to prevent him from escaping the base. And with the Zeti on the way too, Sonic is literally the only hope these people have left.
    • Not just that, the sheer speed at which it happens is horrifying. Restoration was packed to the brim, there was barely enough space for anyone to walk around. When one person turned out to be infected, the entire crowd panicked, but because everyone was so tightly packed, they couldn't escape. Everyone was converted within minutes. Imagine, being stuck in a small room, in a crowd of panicking people, seeing people get squeezed and trampled all around you, and there's nothing you can do to escape as everyone around you is infected and converted.
  • Issue #23:
    • We see Eggman and Starline experimenting with finding a frequency to control the Zombots there. While discussing the matter, Eggman reveals that he didn't think to inoculate themselves from the virus, much to Starline's horror, and his solution to it is simply "just don't get touched". What's more, when Eggman suggests trying to use the Warp Topaz, even Starline firmly says no to him, telling him of the consequences of such due to its unstable nature of it. But even after hearing this, Eggman still insists. Mad Scientist to the core indeed.
      Starline: Then... But... How were you going to protect us from the infection?
      Eggman: By not touching the Zombots. Duh.
      Starline: What if there was a spill on the Faceship!? Or a mishap in the field!? Or it mutates and becomes airborne!?
      Eggman: You've exceeded my threshold for nitpicking, doctor.
      Starline: (seething with rage) It's not nitpicking! It's common sense!
    • Sonic hits his wit's end with Eggman to the point he even questions if it was worth it giving him another chance. When they meet up again, Sonic is in no mood for witty banter and demands Eggman make a cure. When he refuses, Sonic attempts to infect him with the virus out of spite, which forcibly knocks him out of his Eggmobile where the Zombots start to swarm the pair. Eggman's only saved due to Starline managing to find a frequency to control the Zombots, to which Sonic quickly destroys his flying craft before Starline has a chance to save it.
  • Issue #24 (The Last One Out):
    • The A cover◊ features the principal cast of the games (including Marine, Dodon-Pa, the various Chao and Wisps, and even Captain Whisker) and the comics side-by-side with their Zombot versions, which are all some type of terrifying. Special attention to Omega and Gemerl, who don't have Zombot forms (given that they are inorganic and can't be infected); instead, they're shown dead, cracked, and riddled with bullet holes.
    • Tangle, having been infected off-screen by a Zombot Jewel off-screen, doesn't despair over it and even gives Sonic some much-needed pep-talk, but her particular Zombot-ification is probably the most horrific, as it happens completely on-page and in full detail, with no Gory Discretion Shot(s). Flinching in pain as her infection spreads, she faces the oncoming horde and readies one last punch—and then she finally succumbs to the virus mid-motion. Whereas Shadow was at least swarmed, Tangle just...stops entirely once overcome. In the next instant, the comic's Plucky Comic Relief turns into a hideous, almost demonic version of herself wreathed in shadows: her fur and skin turn a sickly yellow, her tail resembles a warped cactus arm, and her gloves and sports tape make her hands look mummified. She then assimilates fully into the horde as Sonic helplessly watches from afar.
      Tangle: C-C'mon! I'm s-still standing! Still fighting! Still—! (Trails off, her infection complete)
    • Whisper's snarl as she screams in anguish and rage over the loss of Tangle.
    • The final shot as Starline presents the Zeti to Eggman.
      Starline: Doctor, I have found a solution to the ongoing problem of not being able to control the Zombots.
      Eggman: I told you I'd figure something out. Quit pestering me about it!
      Starline: (Beat) No, sir. (The Zeti come out of a portal behind him) I insist.
  • "Next Time: From Bad to Worse!"

    Year Three (2020) 

The Metal Virus Saga (cont.)

All Or Nothing Arc

  • Issue #25
    • The Retail Incentive B cover for this issue. Holy hell!
    • Eggman's arrival on Angel Island is not well-received by the heroes after what he's put them through, with Amy and Whisper prepared to flat-out kill him on sight. They're stopped by Sonic and Cream, respectively, although the former's threat to personally infect Eggman unless he cooperates shows the Blue Blur is equally done with the doctor's crap. Eggman, Starline, and Metal Sonic wisely surrender.
    • It turns out the reasons for Eggman's Suicidal Overconfidence with the virus and working on a cure were A) because everything was going to be dead eventually anyway, and B) because he was intending to evacuate to another planet once he was done infecting this one—and he'd have gone through with it if Starline hadn't broken ranks and screwed them both over. It goes to show just how self-centered Eggman truly is: he considers even the very Earth he treads expendable for the sake of his ambitions.
      • As mentioned below, "Eggman's Day Off" heavily implies Eggman continuously withheld these details to Starline, not out of carelessness like the latter believed, but because he intended to leave Starline to get infected. Adding to his double cross of Rough and Tumble, Eggman's plans only go down the toilet because he intended on zero survivors but himself, allies included, taking said self-centeredness to sociopathic levels (and hypocritical, given what he does to Starline after his actions sabotage his backstab).
    • Metal Sonic ringing Starline's neck as Eggman seizes the Warp Topaz gauntlet, which Starline's left hand revealed to be badly burnt and disfigured from frequent use of the gemstone. Eggman, grinning evilly, then fires Starline and has Metal Sonic unceremoniously throw him off Angel Island through his own portal. Sonic shows No Sympathy, since Starline caused the whole mess in the first place by helping to bring Eggman back to normal and now having the Zeti to deal with on top of everything.
    • The montage of the Zeti terrorizing the towns/cities they've taken over, with special mention to Zazz', Zomom's, and Zor's scenes.
    • The "Zombot Silhouettes Shot" at the end (pictured above). The infected cast's ghoulish mugs, the eerie mist at their feet, and the fact that all of them are facing directly toward the reader...yeah, Adam Bryce Thomas and Matt Herms held nothing back when illustrating this moment. Zavok's monologue as he watches from the Faceship doesn't help one freaking iota.
      Zavok: I will see to it we've infected everything from coast to coast by tonight... (Cut to the Zombot heroes) Tomorrow—the world!
      • Also, keep in mind that this is Big's first appearance in this comic! Heck of a way to finally join in on the story!
  • Zazz is shown forcing non-infected to fight the Zombots under his control for entertainment. When a camouflaged Espio tries to get the Chaos Emerald undetected, Zazz catches him in the act when he picks up his scent and throws him to the Zombots. Espio's reaction says it all.
  • Zomom promising to eat Tails and Amy. The two aren't even sure if that's an idle threat or not.
  • Cream and Gemerl's fight with Zeena is pretty brutal. When Cream finally snaps and attacks her, Zeena beats her down and holds her by the ears in front of a Zombot mob. Gemerl strikes back and throws Zeena into the horde, but it's too late: a Zombot slashes Cream's arm and infects her.
  • Zor's dialogue while fighting Silver is very unsettling. Upon defeat, Zor panics at first before welcoming his grim fate with open arms, lying at the Zombots' feet with a creepy grin.
  • The last page of Issue #28 has Sonic face-to-face with Zombots galore while a berserk, giant-sized Zavok rains fireball hell (and more Zombots) down on Angel Island from off-screen. To the survivors' horror, six of their infected allies—namely, Shadow, Tangle, Vector, Charmy, Cheese, and Chocola—are at the front of the pack, with Vector drooling as he roars at Sonic and Tangle giving off a Kubrick Stare.
  • Issue #29:
    • Cover-B for this issue has Sonic, Silver, and Metal Sonic standing amid an inferno while Zavok's demonic silhouette looms over them in the background.
    • Zavok's hellish visage in the second panel as he continues barraging Angel Island with fireballs.
    • The Slasher Smile Eggman sports before he kicks Amy into Big, infecting her.
    • Knuckles' Zombot-ification after he infects himself attacking Shadow. While he initially has the upper hand, Knux loses steam as his infection spreads, until finally he succumbs as Shadow grabs his fist. We then get a quick shot of Knuckles as a Zombot as a silhouetted Shadow rises in front of him. The two of them then look over at Tails, who can only cower in despair and tearfully beg Sonic for salvation as Cheese and Chocola pin him down by his tails and infect him, too.
Just how close Zavok comes to wiping out the heroes, Eggman, and Metal Sonic once and for all is worth several nights of insomnia. As it was, the survivors had nowhere left to run or hide if Angel Island was compromised, and Zavok happened to show up just as the Metal Virus finally overcame Sonic's Super Speed. Within minutes, everyone but Sonic, Silver, Zavok, Rouge, Espio, and Whisper has been Zombot-ified, is absent from the battlefield, or both. Sonic and Silver only go Super and turn the tide at the last possible fraction of a second.

Out of the Blue Arc

  • Issue #30:
    • Zavok tries to murder Cream when she tells him to screw off and go home. She isn't daunted, but if her friends hadn't come to her defense, things could've gotten messy.
    • While Zavok gets arrested, the other Zeti remain at large. Zor is hiding in the shadows wearing a Slasher Smile as the townspeople he terrorized search the woods for him. Intentional or not, that last scene resembles something straight out of traditional horror fiction. One of the villagers hunting Zor says some guy named "Glen" has gone missing, and Zor's dialogue indicates he had something to do with this.
    • When Gemerl finds Orbot and Cubot sending a distress call to Eggman, Metal Sonic suddenly appears from out of nowhere and plunges his hand through Gemerl's chest from behind, disabling him. Cream notices this and shrieks, while Metal flees after grabbing Orbot and Cubot. The heroes try to stop them, but in vain: Metal blocks Whisper's shots with his shield, Vector won't let Charmy endanger himself again to give chase, and Silver is preoccupied with holding Zavok down. Shadow gives chase, but Metal intercepts him before he can reach the hijacked shuttle; they fight on Angel Island's summit and Metal wins, leaving Shadow to silently clench his fist in anger as he watches Eggman and his hench-bots escape.
  • How Eggman's "Giga Omega" Humongous Mecha is presented at the end of Issue #31. Except for its claws, the whole thing is draped in shadow—although Eggman's glasses and Cheshire Cat Grin, as well as Omega's eyes, are visible in the darkness.
    • And then, when the heroes strike back, Eggman pulls a gun on them and aims straight for Tails, with one blast just barely missing the little guy's face. When Sonic finally arrives, Tails is down on his knees being helped up by Amy, indicating that one near-miss grazed him. And just when it seemed Eggman couldn't stoop any lower...
    • Worse, said gun is a veritable Hand Cannon despite its size, blowing a swimming pool-sized hole straight through a building in an earlier panel.

Chao Races and Badnik Bases Arc

  • The base Sonic and Tails raid for the schematics for Omega. No electricity, feels very foreboding, and the room the duo go into filled with the broken robots and training dolls of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles (from Sonic Adventure). Even Sonic is a bit off-put by it despite joking about it earlier. What's more, we see someone rushing past them in the shadows and one of the supposedly broken Badnik's eye lighting up.
  • The hooded figure that Rogue runs into. No fanfare or foreshadowing, they just show up to confront her and we don't see what happens other than that she recognizes them.
  • Clutch reveals himself to be more intimidating when Rogue's group comes to "trade" Cheese for the robot part. And, indeed, it's revealed he mistreats his Chao, having many of them locked into cages, including the one that was initially racing for him but lost to Cheese in the recent race.
  • Belle's introduction has Sonic outright attacking her despite only spying on Tails and him and it being very obvious she's not hostile. Normally Sonic attacking Badniks isn't bad, but he comes off as outright bloodthirsty as he tries to hit Belle with her barely able to dodge. When she accidentally donkey kicks Sonic due to him stepping on her tail, he looks like he's about to go all out until Tails has to finally jump in and call him off. Sonic awkwardly states his behavior was due to staying still for too long. While it is known for Sonic to get squirrely when being cooped up in one place for too long, it isn't a good enough excuse for outright attacking someone who wanted no trouble.
  • Eggman's trap, triggered when someone tries to hack his computer from his base, which is to activate all Badniks in the room and dogpile on the intruders, these particular ones being known to blow up if they managed to grapple their target. The lighting around the room makes this one particularly scary as it looks like something out of a monster movie and the three have to pry open the door if they hope to escape. What's more, one of the Badniks can capture them in a tractor beam. Belle gets caught once the trap is sprung pushing Tails out of the way but is saved by him in turn. She later returns the favor when the three are escaping out of the base and Tails get caught.
  • The hooded figure is eventually revealed to be Starline, who hypnotized Rouge into helping him lay a trap for Tails. With them both his prisoners now, he prepares to flee, while triggering an avalanche and telling Sonic to either save his friends or the denizens of White Park.
  • Clutch managing to recover from Shadow's surprise attack, neatly shooting Amy with his cane gun before siccing a polar bear Badnik at her group and fleeing. Keep in mind, Cream is with the group when he does this, and he has no qualms with putting a child in danger.
  • Sonic and Shadow trying to halt the flow of the avalanche with a makeshift dam of trees. Only for it to fail when the flow turns out to be much stronger then they realize. Their expressions just say it all.
  • Starline's rather creepy obsession with kidnapping Tails. So much so he follows him into the chateau and attempts to take him by force.
  • Starline getting buried by the incoming avalanche. Yeah, it's cathartic to watch for a villain (especially a villain at Starline's standards), but still not exactly a great way to go with the rush of tons of snow burying you in an instant. What's more, the ending shows he survived (likely having used his Tricore to dig himself out) and managed to grab a sample of Tails' fur, which he deems enough for his plans to go ahead.

    Year Four ( 2021 - 2022) 

Test Run Arc

  • Eggman's base in this arc: a tower out in the middle of the ocean that's causing freak storms, and within which is an Eldritch Location chalk-loaded with Mind Screw material.
  • Sonic, Tails and Amy arriving in a maze and finding Badniks lost in it trying to find a way out via using chalk on the walls. The trio attempt to do the same but realize they're getting nowhere till the discover it's a Mobile Maze and end up having to "break" it if they wish to get out. Eggman later tells Belle he deliberately left the robots in there for his test to see how long they'll last, citing with more tests, the maze would be too complex that even Sonic himself wouldn't be able to escape it.
  • After breaking out of the maze, Sonic, Tails, and Amy fall into an unknown space, which Tails flies them out of via a warp gate. On the other side, however, is an unsettlingly empty and quiet village populated by freakish hybrid Badniks and test dummies reminiscent of the FNAF anamatronics.
  • Sonic's "Now, that's more like it!" line is spoken when he hears Eggman's laugh echoing around him, almost as if the doctor were some omnipresent entity. Tails and Amy are understandably spooked by this.
  • Eggman coming severely close to killing Sonic, Tails and Amy with his elemental Egg Vipers. They only manage to gain the upper hand thanks to Belle distracting Eggman that he left the Vipers on auto-pilot, allowing them to counter their attacks without Eggman's coordination. And once they finally put them out of commission, he decides to self-destruct the bots and just blow up the entire dimension. If Tangle hadn't come when she did...
  • Eggman's disturbing exposé to Belle about the tower and his plans, made even worse by The Reveal that he created her under his Mr. Tinker persona.
  • After Tangle rescues Sonic, Tails, and Amy, the tower starting to implode on itself due to Tangle having left her tail in the warp gate for too long. Once she manages to pull Sonic, Tails and Amy out of the dimensions, Belle points out rocks starting to be pulled into the gate eliciting a Mass "Oh, Crap!" from everyone. Sonic immediately tells everyone to grab onto him as he races out of there back to the bi-plane so they can evacuate. Indeed, if they had waited a moment more, the pull would've been too strong even for his speed.

Zeti Hunt Arc

  • To say the arc truly emphasizes the "Deadly" in Deadly Six is an understatement. Yes, the Metal Virus arc showed how cruel they could be, but this arc goes into their motives more. Namely, they're in it for destruction and nothing else. Empathy, love and friendship? An absolutely utter foreign concept to them that they don't understand. To them, it's just a show of weakness to exploit in their quest to conquer. Fear, pain and despair are the only things they live for, and they will do anything to achieve that.
  • The Zeti Hunt arc starts with Zavok first rounding up Zazz and Zomom upon which they start attacking the nearby villages in earnest just for the sake of causing terror. Once the three meet up with the rest they decide to take the fight directly to Restoration HQ because as Zik states, the organization gives the people of the planet hope, so if they take that out, the world will fall into despair. Thus they continue attacking villages until some of the members call for help. The way the attacks are depicted is nothing short of frightening, sure no blood or gore but the implication what the Zeti did to some of the villagers is disturbing to say the least.
  • The Zeti starting off their invasion of the Restoration by ramming a flaming truck at the guard station. Seriously, do we need to say more?
  • Starline managing to get into the base and kidnap Belle. The orangutan foreman tries to defend her, only to be pricked by his spur toxin and taken out. With Starline threatening to outright kill him with another dose if she doesn't comply. Looks like our dear fanboy doctor is starting to step up his game a bit, which is worrying for future encounters.
  • The Zeti battle in Issue #43 is arguably the most violent action sequence in this comic yet. Sonic, Tails, and Tangle get the crap beaten out of them, while Whisper and the Zeti get electrocuted (the former when Zavok sabotages her mask while it's still on her face, and the latter by their own EM powers thanks to Tails' Zeti Zappers). By the end of the fight, Sonic and Tails are in really bad shape, and worse, it's at that moment they're alerted to Belle's kidnapping.
  • Zavok's Death Glare after learning he and his pack are to be spared and sent home. That, and his vow to make Sonic regret having mercy on them.
  • Starline's interrogation of Belle, which doubles as a Tear Jerker. Not only does it prove how thoroughly he's ruined the poor girl's life, but the whole thing plays out like a rape scene. Yeesh!
    • Belle waking up to find herself strapped to an operating table while Starline roots through her head. Due to her lifelike appearance, the procedure resembles a lobotomy. Worse still, he is also wearing her hat just to rub it in.
    • To replicate Belle's soul code, Starline mashes her Berserk Button to provoke an emotional reaction—including a casual exposé about how he and Metal Sonic erased Eggman's Mr. Tinker persona. Belle loses it upon hearing this and rages at Starline for a good page or two, marking the first time she's shown losing her temper. We even get an Extreme Close-Up of her face as she snaps, just for good measure.
      Belle: YOU TOOK MY FATHER AWAY FROM ME!!!
    • Then there's Starline's reaction to Belle's tragic backstory: he doesn't care. The only thing he's focused on is the data he got from Belle's emotions as she detailed what happened to her, and how he can apply it to his projects. The grin on his face at this moment is borderline deranged, reinforcing that he's just as psychotic as Eggman...if not worse.
    • To top it all off, Starline gets what he wants and escapes scot-free as the Chaotix come to rescue Belle, leaving the heroes no wiser to his broader schemes.
  • The final shot of Issue #44 has the Deadly Six looking down on Sonic's world from the Lost Hex, with Zavok declaring that, someday, they will indeed return.
    Zavok: Lost Hex will not hold us forever. We will return to the world below with a vengeance. Wiser, stronger, and even more ruthless than before.

The Imposters Saga

Trial by Fire Arc

  • Amy, Tangle, Jewel, and Belle's camping trip literally going up in flames puts all four girls at risk, but Belle most of all. When you're a wooden robot, the last place you want to be is in the middle of a huge wildfire.
  • Since the fire breaks out overnight (or more specifically, in the pre-dawn hours), the glow from it gives the campground and surrounding forests an eerie red hue.
  • The park ranger is shown earlier to have a son named Ashe (who also has a fire Wisp partner). Once the fire start raging through the camp ground, the ranger can't find him in the midst of the evacuation.
  • Issue #46 begins with Belle reactivating after the Motobug attack and seeing the huge inferno before her, along with the ominous, heat-distorted silhouettes of Kit and Surge. Not exactly the first thing you want to see waking up.
    • Belle's damaged glove catching fire and crumbling off, exposing her metal endoskeleton, before the Motobug puts the fire out and Tangle arrives. For reference, this is basically the robot equivalent of a third-degree burn. Tangle ultimately has to bandage it with some of her sports tape.
  • Naturally when a disaster occurs, you'll have people acting irrationally due to fear. An older camper starts arguing with the head ranger over how the evacuation is proceeding. Even when told the ranger's son is missing, the curmudgeon still refuses to let up. Even accusing the ranger's son's wisp of causing the fire. If Amy hadn't intervened, this likely would've lead to mob mentality which is the last thing you want in a forest fire emergency.
  • Ashe's eyewitness account of Surge and Kit, with the former having started the fire—a taste of how dangerous these two are. We also get a clearer silhouette shot of the two, both with glowing eyes and smirking menacingly. It's their first appearance in the core series, yet make their mark right from the get-go that they are not at ALL on the side of good.
  • As Tangle and Belle zero in on Ashe, the whole environment seems to want them dead. Tangle chokes on the smoke; she and Belle have to jump a gap and barely make it to the other side; a falling tree almost crushes the girls and Ashe; and finally, they along with the Motobug and Ashe's Red Wisp fall into a chasm after a Literal Cliffhanger.
    • They manage to survive by landing on the piece of tree that fell with them, but then have to contend with rapids for a bit with virtually no control. It's offset a bit by some humor but for someone of Ashe's age, it's no less frightening, especially when they go over a waterfall (that's mercifully not too big a drop).
  • If anyone needs a reminder of Surge's power, the end of the issue has the ranger find the tree that was struck by her lighting, near split down the middle and the fire still smoldering within it. This confirms to the ranger that the forest fire was deliberate.

    Year Five ( 2022 - 2023) 

The Imposters Saga (cont.)

Hit the Pavement (Issue #48)

  • Clutch returns and once more shows how intimidating he is by telling the Skunk Brothers how he hates to be disappointed and was likely on the verge of punishing them if the Chaotix hadn't shown up.
  • Clutch damn near blasting Espio's head off once he senses he's in the room. The shot just barely misses the chameleon, but the hole that's made from it in the wall gives you a pretty good idea how lucky that didn't connect.
  • And as if Sonic's world didn't have enough to deal with, Clutch decides if these new heroes are gonna get in the way, then he might as well come out of retirement and rebuild his criminal empire, delivering this line to the Chaotix as he flees with the Skunk Brothers.
    Clutch: Spread the word, Chaotix... Clutch the Opossum is back!

Wound Up (Issue #49)

  • The main cover, showing Belle in a Zombie Gait with black sclerae and her mouth hidden in shadows. She looks like a cross between a Zombot and a Five Nights at Freddy's animatronic.
  • Belle and Motobud getting affected by the signal and attacking Sonic and Tails. While Tails runs off to get the Zeti Zapper, Sonic has to fend the two off, with Belle at one point lunging at Sonic with a box cutter on her finger and barely missing him. However, Motobud manages to pin Sonic down by his glove and Belle's about to attack him with the rest of the gadgets on her fingers until Tails finally arrives and tackles her.
    • Throughout the fight, whenever the duo try to get around her, Belle turns her head around to keep track of them. Along with her blank expression, it's legitimately creepy.
    • After Tails hits her with the Zeti Zapper, Belle comes to her senses and assures them she's back to her senses. Indicating she was quite aware she was being controlled.
  • As the trio follow Motorbud to where the signal is coming from, they spot three citizens stuck in the midst of the Badnik horde. Gala the Hound is about to use a Hover Wispon to blast their way through until Sonic grabs them and gets them out of harm's way. As Sonic noted, the Badniks were just following the signal and only attacking anything that got in their way, so if Gala, who was wielding said Wispon had indeed started firing on them, things would've gotten very ugly.

Battle for the Empire Arc

Overpowered Arc

    Year Six (2023) 

    Year Seven (2024-) 

    Tangle and Whisper miniseries 
  • The first peeks at Mimic's true face in Issue #1, especially the second one. Using her mask's video playback function, Whisper shows Tangle an earlier encounter between her and Mimic in his Sonic disguise. The Jump Scare at the end of the recording spooks Tangle enough that the mask springs off her face.
    Mimic: You're a hard lady to track down.
    Whisper: Was looking for you, too. Trouble. You're being targeted.
    Mimic: Yeah? So are you. (Eggman) found out one of the Diamond Cutters is still alive… and he won't let me leave a job unfinished! (Recording ends)
    Tangle: GYAH!
  • Mimic's ambush in the second issue. He locks Tangle in an airtight safe and leaves her to suffocate, uses her form to fight Whisper, and after losing said fight, he taunts her by shapeshifting into her dead teammates. And then, when Whisper goes to save Tangle, Mimic locks them inside and obliterates the bunker with bombs. Tangle is forced to use the safe he locked her in to survive the explosion.
  • The above is explained in greater detail in issue #3, finally revealing Whisper's Dark and Troubled Past. She and Mimic were a part of an anti-Eggman mercenary squad called the Diamond Cutters, before Mimic (in a similar vein to Trey Scales from the Archie Comics) sold them out to Eggman to join the winning side with absolutely no regrets and a smile on his face, and unlike Trey, he was actually somewhat spared by Eggman following his betrayal. He convinced the team to invade an Eggman laboratory and locked them in a room full of Shadow Androids, whom they were powerless to stop and presumably killed by... Whisper only survived because the team's clairvoyant had a bad feeling and told her to hang back. Worse still, the team's Cool Masks had a networked recording function so they could review old missions. Through it, Whisper not only learned of her trusted comrade leaving them to die, but was forced to watch helplessly as her friends were overpowered and presumably slaughtered by the Androids from first-person.
  • When Mimic is finally cornered in issue #4, he comes close to killing Tangle and almost did so wearing Jewel's face before Tangle briefly got the upper hand. When he's captured he goes through a Shapeshifter Swan Song trying to get free, and the final face he goes into is Vector's while sporting his own Black Eyes of Crazy and shouting violently. The result is creepy to say the least.
  • If you thought Mimic wasn't deplorable enough, when Tangle presents him (while he was posing as Sonic in an attempt to get the jump on our heroines) with the image of his comrades congratulating him on a mission and asks if it was worth it to betray them. He shows absolutely zero remorse in doing so. To him, working with them was a job, nothing more. The moment things started getting too dangerous for his liking, he was more than happy to do in his own teammates, attempting to justify it with the excuse that they were putting his life on the line and he was in the right to do so.
  • The Tone Shift in this one is rather odd compared to the more lighthearted main series (yes, even with a majority of the Metal Virus saga) with just how dark the story gets. Considering none of the characters used are Sega property nor under their mandate. It feels like the writers are taking as much opportunity to go all out while they have the chance.

    Bad Guys miniseries 
  • The end of Issue #1 ends with Starline managing to successfully break out the Skunk Brothers, Mimic and Zavok out of prison. The four combine their skills to cause a prison riot and leave the building in flames as they literally walk out the front door.
  • In Issue #3, Mimic hacks Starline's computer and finds out he intends to dispose of the group once he gets what he wants. Mimic nearly slits Starline's throat in his sleep for his treachery before Zavok stops him and tells him to hold off. Near the end of the same issue, Mimic runs out of patience and holds a knife to Starline's throat while sporting a nasty Death Glare. It's a grim reminder that Mimic is one of the few villains willing to kill if he gets the chance.
    • Issue #4 likewise one more shows off his treacherous nature even more, even within a batch just as dangerous and immoral as he is. After Starline manages to flee from the group when his duplicity is revealed, Zavok has Mimic monitor the computer while he and Rough and Tumble find Starline. But once all are gone, Mimic decides that, since he got what he wanted (namely his profile off of Eggman's files), he sees no reason to stick with the group further and reasons if they stay alive, they can blab to Eggman about him. So he cuts the dummy broadcast Starline had made to distract Eggman, takes the truck the group was using and leaves, hoping both sides would kill the other. Topping it off with him deciding to pay Whisper a visit.
  • The climax of the series is a brief cat and mouse game between Starline and Zavok. The former knows he can't take Zavok in a direct fight, even with his new Tricore gauntlet, and has to result to keeping out of his sight till he can get back to the computer room. At one point, Starline hides in the ceiling just as Zavok passes under him, his expression just screaming "Don't look up! Don't look up!" as it would've been literal Game Over if Zavok had.
  • The depths Eggman will take to make sure his enemies, be they heroes or villains, won't claim any of his equipment for their own. Once he sees that Zavok is in the building (all the other villains having fled), he has his Badniks dive bomb the building to destroy it with the Zeti inside. Zavok only barely survives by punching at the ceiling as it came down on him at the last moment.
  • While likewise an awesome moment in its own right, the end of the series with Starline birthing his own faction definitely has an air of dread to it. Keep in the mind, that the world of Sonic is still shaky at the current coming off both a takeover from Eggman and the Metal Virus. Now here comes a new danger with a villain just as smart as Eggman, but one that is willing to acknowledge his own flaws and try to improve where he failed and now has a home base and the equipment to act on his aspirations.

    Imposter Syndrome miniseries 
  • Each issue's retail-incentive cover is some type of creepy.
  • The miniseries' depictions of live-experimentation, and Gaslighting are disturbing enough on their own, but them being Truth in Television makes things even worse. While the hypnosis Starline uses to (initially) control Surge and Kit is a bit far-fetched, all other elements are played straight.
  • The development of Surge and Kit's relationship has some heartwarming touches, but the fact that they only truly bond after they Go Mad from the Revelation is unnerving.
  • At one point, Starline hypnotizes Surge and Kit starts to report in his log, only for Surge to suddenly jump at him demanding to know what he just did before Starline quickly hits her with another hypno-blast. The whole thing plays out like a Jump Scare.
  • "Show time."
  • Kit's Roaring Rampage of Revenge after an Egg Breaker crushes Surge with its mace, complete with a whole panel showing his raging face. Much like Whisper's breakdown in Issue #24 and Belle's rant in Issue #44, it's the sheer suddenness of Kit's rage that makes it frightening.
    • Take a close look at when Surge inspects her own shirt after she crawls out of the hole made when she was hit by the boss badnik's spiked ball. It's implied by the tear in it that she wasn't just crushed, but one of the spikes also gored her on impact. It's a Good Thing You Can Heal Surge...
    • Her own one as she immediately goes inside the Eggbreaker (after Kit give it a taste of it's own medicine), defeats by being Off with His Head! and furiously stomping on it’s carcass, shows she is definitely not bluffing when she makes those threats early on during the miniseries and later on as well as a case of Family-Unfriendly Violence to some…
  • The recording of Starline's Villainous Breakdown after Eggman fired him (and the rest of his Humiliation Conga in Issue #25). Not Good with Rejection, much?
  • The Reveal of the Awful Truth:
  • Starline being gaslit for a change via Surge hypnotizing him. With the two claiming he "fell asleep from working so hard" and convincing him to prepare for their attack on Eggman's main base. Starline is completely unaware that his grand plan has been sabotaged and his creations are now the ones in charge, scheming to get Sonic and Eggman in one spot and take them all out (Starline included) in one fell swoop. The final shot of Issue #3 nicely symbolizes this with Kit using one of his tails to scratch the emblem on the back of Starline's seat while Surge and he smirk at each other.
  • The miniseries concludes with Starline successfully hacking every Badnik in the world with his virus, Eggman managing to escape and booting up a mech in offline mode (while sporting a Slasher Smile, no less), and Surge and Kit looking forward to punishing the world as they await their inevitable showdown with Sonic and Tails.

    Scrapnik Island miniseries 
  • Being designed from the ground-up as a horror story (the second such arc of this comic, after the Metal Virus Saga), this miniseries has plenty of NF in it. Fittingly, Nathalie Fourdraine's coloring style gives the entire setting a very eerie tinge.
  • Just the idea of Scrapnik Island itself: an artificial landform made up entirely of rusted spare Badnik parts and other machinery home to not just a veritable army of creepy as hell hodge-podges of busted Classic-era Badniks, but also the wrecked remains of both the Classic-era Death Egg and the Egg Carrier and who the hell knows what else.
    • Oh, and did we mention one of the Scrapniks is Mecha Sonic? You know, the only other Eggman robot besides Neo Metal Sonic to go Super? Sonic and co. are lucky he's on their side right now... though if the end of issue 1 is any indication, re-encountering his former enemy might be causing Mecha's old programming to flare up again.
  • The Tornado's crash-landing caused Sonic to bust one of his ankles. The Scrapniks did their best to help him by putting a brace on his foot... though since this is Scrapnik Island, said brace is a creepy makeshift one made of rusted metal plates and gears that practically looks like it was bolted to Sonic's foot.
  • When Mecha Knuckles' programming causes him to attack Sonic, Mecha Sonic attempts to fight him off. Unfortunately, getting knocked out by a robotic doppelganger of the guy who took him out of commission does not go well for Mecha, who suddenly dreams that he's back in Sky Sanctuary, good as new, fighting a glitchy mass that shifts between resembling Sonic, Knuckles, Eggman, or any combination of the three. As "Sonic" taunts Mecha, he suddenly begins rusting and falling into disrepair like he is in the present, and when he turns to face the hybrid Sonic/Knuckles/Eggman, the third member of the trio proudly boasts that Mecha, his "greatest creation to date", is finally complete. And then "Knuckles" punches him right through his torso, Mecha falling as Sonic's insult of "TRASH." loops over and over... until Mecha wakes up with his eye glowing the ominous red it's flickered onto occasionally up to this point. Mecha Sonic then proceeds to eviscerate Mecha Knuckles using his spin attack, and immediately rushes towards and grabs the real Sonic afterwards. The friendly, peaceful Mecha is gone, leaving a handicapped Sonic at the mercy of a vicious killing machine, with Tails and the remaining Scrapniks, including a knocked-out Sigma, none the wiser. Oh no.
  • Tails and the other Scrapniks set out to rescue Sonic, only for Mecha Sonic to single-handedly wipe out the entire platoon in an ambush. Tails himself is overpowered particularly brutally despite going in armed with a makeshift blaster and targeting scope. And after said No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, Mecha grabs Tails by the neck and hurls him down a garbage chute to an Uncertain Doom. Mecha may be older and less advanced than Metal Sonic, but he is no less formidable even after languishing for years on a deserted isle. The one ray of hope is that Tails can still fly despite his injuries.
    • Following this, we learn what Mecha plans on doing to Sonic: suck out his brain and take over his body!
    • One of the most distressing things in this turn of events is that Mecha's proximity to the modified Miles Electric allows him to speak. And because his voice comes from the device, he can speak as much as he wants without giving away his position, turning a rescue mission into a Mook Horror Show for the Egg Robos that Tails enlists for the rescue operation.
    Mecha: Behind you.
  • The beginning of Issue 4 elaborates on Mecha's plan, and while it's not quite sucking Sonic's brains out, it's still pretty terrifying: using a combination of abandoned Eggman tech and the Miles Electric he stole from Tails, Mecha intends on downloading his mind into Sonic's body, and with Sonic's less-impaired fleshy body and incredible speed, Mecha can simply run along the ocean to escape Scrapnik Island and either reclaim his place by Eggman's side or (more likely) deal bloody vengeance upon him for leaving him to rot; though either result is incredibly scary to think about. It's only thanks to some friendly Scrapniks that Sonic's spared having his mind wiped... though this causes Mecha to go on the warpath and roar out his infamous line... the quote that always sends shivers of both delight and terror to long-time fans of the character.
    Mecha: It's gone... it's all gone... all my work... now I'll never get off this island... ...you ruined EVERYTHING. (furiously leaps at the nearby Scrapniks) I'LL CRUSH YOU!

    One-Shots 
  • In the 2019 Annual, Storm misinterprets Jet's command to let Jewel go as throw her out of their airship. He does so, bouncing her off the side of the ship, cracking her carapace and damaging her wing in the process. Even Jet and Wave were horrified by that action.
    • Rouge's "Scooby-Doo" Hoax (also in the 2019 Annual) is equal parts awesome and funny, but until she drops the act, her mummy disguise genuinely comes across as horrifying. No wonder Rough and Tumble flee like bats out of hell upon seeing her.
  • The 2020 Annual is Darker and Edgier than most.
    • The first story shows the adventures of Big the Cat as he wandered through the background of major events of the past 2 years trying to find Froggy. Eventually, he does find Froggy and begins recounting the adventure of how he managed to unwittingly avoid being harmed or infected multiple times. Then the panel zooms out and shows that Froggy was infected with the metal virus, which has now begun to spread to the entire ecosystem around them as well as Big himself, who remains unaware of the changes starting to affect his body.
      • The single fact that Big legitimately has no idea what's going on. Due to sheer luck, he spends months wandering about seeing empty cities filled with panicked graffiti and the abandoned homes of his friends. Big notes that he's scared and is fully aware that something is deeply wrong right now, he just has no idea what it could be. Even once he actually sees Zombots attacking, he still doesn't know what they are or what they can do, leaving him just as in the dark as he was before.
      • Not to mention the scene where he just barely avoids getting infected at the Restoration base and leaving just as the survivors inside start turning into Zombots.
    • The second story focuses on two new characters, Nite and Don, who work at a radio station and start getting calls of panicked citizens getting attacked by Zombots. A majority of them get cut off when they're trying to explain things. Though it ends on a hopeful note, the final shot is a Zombot finding the station...
    • The fourth story features Starline stumbling onto Eggman and his Eggcave, a hideaway Eggman goes to relax and decompress in. Eggman reveals his hobby of creating toy robots of various heroes and Badniks to mess around or scheme future evil plans with, including roboticized versions of various characters. Starline is honored and humbled to be shown a more human side of his idol, but his excitement stumbles when he discovers a roboticized figure of himself on the shelves, at which point Eggman quickly ushers him out of the room. While it's brief, Starline is clearly unnerved by what he saw.
    • In the final story, Jewel the Beetle saves two children who were trapped in a farm where the metal goo was dropped. She discovers too late that both kids had touched the liquid and she was now infected as well. And making matters worse, the Faceship has just arrived above Spiral Hill. She desperately calls Tangle to come help her, but when Tangle finally wanders into her office, Jewel is fully infected and hiding above her preparing a sneak attack, leading to Tangle's inevitable fate in Issue 24.
  • In the 30th Anniversary Special, we have the Tails Doll spying on Amy, Mighty, and Ray. Later, it also gets the jump on Tails and Eggman.
  • Two covers for the 900th Adventure one-off have a disturbing touch to them:
    • Cover C has Sonic straddling an orca's jaws while carrying Amy, both of them fearfully staring down the whale's throat.
    • At the bottom of Cover RI (50), we have an eerie silhouette of Dr. Starline kneeling atop a hill above Sonic, Belle, and Lanolin, while Eggman looms in the background wearing a Nightmare Face. The blood-red hue of the panel adds to its creepiness.

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