"Sonic 1, 2, 3, & Knuckles" UNANSWERED BACKSTORIES

[Christian Damnation]

Am I in the right forum for this?....Anybody who plays these four games should have noticed how they lack in backstory. The producers probably felt that the backstory wouldn't fit well with the pacing of the gameplay. Apparently, the only way that players could learn the depth of the games is from instruction manuals and online sources. This thread has been created to bring the depth of the Sonic games to light. I want experts on the backstory to answer the many unanswered questions which even the "GHZ" fails to answer us. Don't answer all the questions at once. Just pick a few and give other experts a chance to contribute.

Let us begin:

Sonic the Hedgehog 1

LABYRINTH ZONE:
-- HOW did Sonic end up in the Labyrinth zone? Every other zone is easy to comprehend(Sonic just ran to them.), but running to a labyrinth, hidden deep in the darkness of the island, doesn't seem very believeable. The labyrinth is on Sonic's island, and he should know that if he went in there, he could die. So how did he end up in there?
-- What was Robotnik doing in the Labyrinth zone? I would expect him to be back at his base laughing as he thought about Sonic being trapped in the labyrinth forever, but instead he just shows up at the end of the zone and doesn't even fight Sonic? If he wasn't going to fight him, then why bother being there?

SCRAP BRAIN ZONE:
- WHY is the zone called "Scrap Brain"? Every other zone in the game has a self-explanatory title. But "Scrap Brain" is ambiguous. What is it supposed to mean?


Sonic the Hedgehog 2

CHEMICAL PLANT ZONE:
-- What is "Mega Mack"(pink water), and what makes it different from regular water(besides being pink?)?

METROPOLIS ZONE:
-- Why is Metropolis Zone called a metropolis if it's not even a city?

OIL OCEAN ZONE:
-- What exactly is Oil Ocean Zone supposed to be? Is it an oil factory owned by Robotnik himself? It doesn't make much sense that any government would allow a factory to dump oil into the outside world and make an "ocean" out of it?

DEATH EGG ZONE:
-- How the heck does destroying the final boss cause the entire Death Egg to self-destruct? This is probably the most senseless part of the game. The whole interior just explodes for no reason.


Sonic 3 & Knuckles

-- WHY does Knuckles want Angel Island to be back in the sky? Why does he care if Angel Island falls into the ocean? Does he actually WANT to be lonely?

-- WHY did Robotnik wait until Hidden Palace to steal the Master Emerald? Why didn't he just steal it while Knuckles was dealing with Sonic in earlier levels? The Palace was obviously unprotected at those moments.

CARNIVAL NIGHT ZONE:
- What is a carnival doing on Angel Island? Did Knuckles build that all by himself? Did Robotnik build it? WHY would Robotnik build a carnival anyways?

LAUNCH BASE ZONE:
-- How the heck does defeating the last boss destroy the entire Death Egg? This happens just before the player goes to Mushroom Hill. It doesn't make any sense.

MUSHROOM HILL ZONE:
-- At the end of the zone, Robotnik is using some sort of satellite which is shooting electricity into the air. What exactly was that satellite doing? Are we supposed to assume that the satellite was responsible for the suddenly-changing-seasons? HOW was it doing so?

DOOMSDAY ZONE:
-- WHY did Robotnik still want the Master Emerald, even after the Death Egg was blown to smithereens? The emerald was clearly useless after that, so why did he try to fly away with it?


THIS LIST WILL GROW WITH TIME.

[Zeta]

CONTINUITY IS KILLING THIS FRANCHISE. GO READ FANFICS.

[DackAttac]

LABYRINTH ZONE:
-- HOW did Sonic end up in the Labyrinth zone? Every other zone is easy to comprehend(Sonic just ran to them.), but running to a labyrinth, hidden deep in the darkness of the island, doesn't seem very believeable. The labyrinth is on Sonic's island, and he should know that if he went in there, he could die. So how did he end up in there?

I imagine to sneak into Eggman's base undetected. I imagine a lot when I play old Sonic games. Thank God modern media keeps me from having to rely on that pesky imagination of mine! In theory, it should have just about shriveled up and died by now. Thanks, modern media!

-- What was Robotnik doing in the Labyrinth zone? I would expect him to be back at his base laughing as he thought about Sonic being trapped in the labyrinth forever, but instead he just shows up at the end of the zone and doesn't even fight Sonic? If he wasn't going to fight him, then why bother being there?

He's obviously shocked-looking, I assume that Eggman is looking for Sonic's remains, assuming he went in, not expecting to find an alive-and-well hedgehog ready to kick his ass.

CHEMICAL PLANT ZONE:
-- What is "Mega Mack"(pink water), and what makes it different from regular water(besides being pink?)?

Don't quote me on this, but I think your survival time when immersed may be longer or shorter. I don't remember which.

METROPOLIS ZONE:
-- Why is Metropolis Zone called a metropolis if it's not even a city?

You don't really grasp the dystopia thing Eggman's going for, do you?

OIL OCEAN ZONE:
-- What exactly is Oil Ocean Zone supposed to be? Is it an oil factory owned by Robotnik himself? It doesn't make much sense that any government would allow a factory to dump oil into the outside world and make an "ocean" out of it?

Since when did Sonic 2 have governmental characters?

DEATH EGG ZONE:
-- How the heck does destroying the final boss cause the entire Death Egg to self-destruct? This is probably the most senseless part of the game. The whole interior just explodes for no reason.

The legs break first and the thing topples over. Its collapse dislodging and igniting some kind of fuel pipe wouldn't be that much of a stretch.

-- WHY does Knuckles want Angel Island to be back in the sky? Why does he care if Angel Island falls into the ocean? Does he actually WANT to be lonely?

Change is bad! Thing's been floating his whole life, and he wants to keep it that way, and keep these strange fuckers off! Plus, I always assumed that his principle duty is to protect the emerald, and by extension, the island, and the island is meant to be a hard-to-reach place to store the emerald. Also, I sometimes wonder if we're supposed to infer the island is slowly sinking into the ocean and they save it at the last minute.

-- WHY did Robotnik wait until Hidden Palace to steal the Master Emerald? Why didn't he just steal it while Knuckles was dealing with Sonic in earlier levels? The Palace was obviously unprotected at those moments.

Could he find it, though?

CARNIVAL NIGHT ZONE:
- What is a carnival doing on Angel Island? Did Knuckles build that all by himself? Did Robotnik build it? WHY would Robotnik build a carnival anyways?

Why do we assume Knuckles is the only inhabitant of this island?

LAUNCH BASE ZONE:
-- How the heck does defeating the last boss destroy the entire Death Egg? This happens just before the player goes to Mushroom Hill. It doesn't make any sense.

A massive death machine is blown to bits outside of a launching space station and you're somehow shocked it gets dislodged from the launch apparatus?

MUSHROOM HILL ZONE:
-- At the end of the zone, Robotnik is using some sort of satellite which is shooting electricity into the air. What exactly was that satellite doing? Are we supposed to assume that the satellite was responsible for the suddenly-changing-seasons? HOW was it doing so?

They weren't "changing seasons", the zone was literally drying out. And yes, seeing as how the level reverts to its original state the instant you bust the satellite up, yes, I'd say we're definitely supposed to assume it's the cause. I'd assume that Eggman was trying to track down his missing space station with some less-than-environmentally-friendly radar.

DOOMSDAY ZONE:
-- WHY did Robotnik still want the Master Emerald, even after the Death Egg was blown to smithereens? The emerald was clearly useless after that, so why did he try to fly away with it?

Useless? The guy builds doomsday shit as a hobby. If you did that with your free time, wouldn't you want some sort of eternal power source?

THIS LIST WILL GROW WITH TIME.

Lucky us. You must be a blast at parties.

[Delphine]

NERD RAGE FUELED RESPONSE

[DackAttac]

Haven't you figured out that's all my responses are ever fueled by?

[Delphine]

I honestly didn't even read your post, I was just giving the OP the response s/he obviously wanted.

[Sniffnoy]

One of these questions has an actual answer. Air bubbles don't appear in Mega Muck. You never noticed?

[Majestic Joey]

whenever I don't have a good answer to a question I just say it's awesome.
Why do platforms float? Because it's awesome.
Why is the level called scrap brain zone? Because it sounds awesome.
Why does sonic turn into to a werewolf? I'll admit there's no possible way that can be awesome.

[P.P.A.]

Sonic the Hedgehog 1

LABYRINTH ZONE:
-- HOW did Sonic end up in the Labyrinth zone? Every other zone is easy to comprehend(Sonic just ran to them.), but running to a labyrinth, hidden deep in the darkness of the island, doesn't seem very believeable. The labyrinth is on Sonic's island, and he should know that if he went in there, he could die. So how did he end up in there?

This makes sense if you look at the beta level order, GHZ > LZ > MZ > SLZ > SYZ > SBZ. LZ was probably just a bunch of submerged ruins below or near Green Hill Zone.

-- What was Robotnik doing in the Labyrinth zone? I would expect him to be back at his base laughing as he thought about Sonic being trapped in the labyrinth forever, but instead he just shows up at the end of the zone and doesn't even fight Sonic? If he wasn't going to fight him, then why bother being there?

He's searching for the Chaos Emeralds.

SCRAP BRAIN ZONE:
- WHY is the zone called "Scrap Brain"? Every other zone in the game has a self-explanatory title. But "Scrap Brain" is ambiguous. What is it supposed to mean?

Perhaps a reference to Robotnik being insane.

CHEMICAL PLANT ZONE:
-- What is "Mega Mack"(pink water), and what makes it different from regular water(besides being pink?)?

It's a poisonous chemical.

METROPOLIS ZONE:
-- Why is Metropolis Zone called a metropolis if it's not even a city?

Because Sonic 2 is a bad game.

OIL OCEAN ZONE:
-- What exactly is Oil Ocean Zone supposed to be? Is it an oil factory owned by Robotnik himself? It doesn't make much sense that any government would allow a factory to dump oil into the outside world and make an "ocean" out of it?

I don't think any government would allow armies of robots, giant flying fortresses and enormous killer satellites hovering in space either.

DEATH EGG ZONE:
-- How the heck does destroying the final boss cause the entire Death Egg to self-destruct? This is probably the most senseless part of the game. The whole interior just explodes for no reason.

Because Sonic 2 is still a bad game.

-- WHY does Knuckles want Angel Island to be back in the sky? Why does he care if Angel Island falls into the ocean? Does he actually WANT to be lonely?

He's a guardian and it's kinda his job to keep the whole thing safe. Safe as in floating high above the heads of greedy treasure hunters and hidden in the clouds, you know.

-- WHY did Robotnik wait until Hidden Palace to steal the Master Emerald? Why didn't he just steal it while Knuckles was dealing with Sonic in earlier levels? The Palace was obviously unprotected at those moments.

Because every RPG villain waits with attacking your hero and his friends until they're strong enough to defeat him.

CARNIVAL NIGHT ZONE:
- What is a carnival doing on Angel Island? Did Knuckles build that all by himself? Did Robotnik build it? WHY would Robotnik build a carnival anyways?

Because you touch yourself at night.

LAUNCH BASE ZONE:
-- How the heck does defeating the last boss destroy the entire Death Egg? This happens just before the player goes to Mushroom Hill. It doesn't make any sense.

Because Sonic 3 is a bad game too.

MUSHROOM HILL ZONE:
-- At the end of the zone, Robotnik is using some sort of satellite which is shooting electricity into the air. What exactly was that satellite doing? Are we supposed to assume that the satellite was responsible for the suddenly-changing-seasons? HOW was it doing so?

I assume he was telling his badniks that the plan had changed and they should do stuff, like start repairing the Death Egg.

DOOMSDAY ZONE:
-- WHY did Robotnik still want the Master Emerald, even after the Death Egg was blown to smithereens? The emerald was clearly useless after that, so why did he try to fly away with it?

So the good guys wouldn't get it and he could use its powers for other things some time later.

THIS LIST WILL GROW WITH TIME.

Please no.

[Shadow Hog]

...so, not content with creating a million alternate accounts on the MoFo, creating a bazillion random topics like this (including this very topic, "what's different between Sonic/Amy in the games and Sonic/Mina in the comics" (when relationship discussion is banned there) and "is Sonic a Gary-Stu"), and calling everyone's reply "pathetic" and of "terrible grammar", then getting your ass(es) banned for all of the above (insulting an admin didn't help your case any), you decided to come... here.

...

...good luck with that.

[Protodude]

I have a few questions as well if you guys don't mind answering.

How come Sonic and the main cast are anthromorphic in appearance but all other animals are generally plain looking?

What kind of fucked up geography does Sonic's world have? He goes from like a carnival to all of a sudden being in the snowy mountains, then suddenly the polar ice caps, then suddenly he's in a normal climate in Lauch Base Zone? Shit doesn't make sense.

And how does he even travel such great distances without stopping, eating, sleeping, or relieving his bodily fluids?

Why are there random floating things in the sky? Spring Yard Zone is a good example with all its bumpers and knickknacks.

How did the Zone's have convenient layouts for Sonic and co.? There's no way this is coincidence. SOMEONE HAD TO BUILD THEM.

How has Robotnik (er, excuse me, Eggman) not had any apparent damage with Sonic constantly jumping on his head?

I look forward to reading everyone's responses!!!!

[The Turtle Guy]

What kind of fucked up geography does Sonic's world have? He goes from like a carnival to all of a sudden being in the snowy mountains, then suddenly the polar ice caps, then suddenly he's in a normal climate in Lauch Base Zone? Shit doesn't make sense.

Everything you listed is on Angel Island, which floats.


Really, why try to rationalize after that?

Why are there random floating things in the sky? Spring Yard Zone is a good example with all its bumpers and knickknacks.

We're seeing a 2-D perspective of the landscapes. In reality, the "floating" structures are actually cylindrical lifts attached to platforms in the foreground/background. =D

and 3-d games aren't canon

How did the Zone's have convenient layouts for Sonic and co.? There's no way this is coincidence. SOMEONE HAD TO BUILD THEM.

THE GODS.

How has Robotnik (er, excuse me, Eggman) not had any apparent damage with Sonic constantly jumping on his head?

Why do you think he's so insane?

[Christian Damnation]

LIKE I SAID, THIS LIST WOULD GROW. ("P.P.A.", don't tell me what not to do. It makes you look like an idiot.)

Let's continue:

Sonic 3 & Knuckles

--- What was wrong with the "Eggrobo" that keeps attacking Knuckles(He replaces Robotnik in all the boss fights)? Who was he? WHY was he attacking Knuckles when they're supposed to be on the same side? He was one of Robotnik's robots, and Knuckles was working for Robotnik, so there was no reason for them to be against each other. What was the problem?

ANGEL ISLAND ZONE:
-- WHY did Robotnik send a barrage of fire missiles on the whole jungle? What did he do that for?....Furthermore, didn't Robotnik realize that Knuckles might not have approved of such devastation on the environment? What's the story behind all this?
--- What was Knuckles doing in Act 2? Why was he underground most of the time? What was his "mission"? (Notice how they have specific missions in the Sonic Adventure games.)

SANDOPOLIS ZONE:
-- Why was that jumping statue almost indestructible. The fact that it explodes in the quicksand clearly shows that it was a robot, so why couldn't it be destroyed like the other robots could?
--- WHY did Sonic/Knuckles go inside the Pyramid in Act 2?...It doesn't make any sense because it didn't show either of their motivations. What Sonic chasing Robotnik? Was Knuckles hiding? What's the story?

[Crazy Penguin]

[Dr. Watson]

Most of those questions have no answer because they were never meant to be asked. I dont see the point of this thread, to be honest.

[Shadow Hog]

("P.P.A.", don't tell me what not to do. It makes you look like an idiot.)

Pot, kettle...

[Crazy Penguin]

[P.P.A.]

I shat bricks when I noticed those are inanimate jpegs. Whoa.

LIKE I SAID, THIS LIST WOULD GROW. ("P.P.A.", don't tell me what not to do. It makes you look like an idiot.)

If I intended to not look like an idiot, I'd have never replied here in the first place.

--- What was wrong with the "Eggrobo" that keeps attacking Knuckles(He replaces Robotnik in all the boss fights)? Who was he? WHY was he attacking Knuckles when they're supposed to be on the same side? He was one of Robotnik's robots, and Knuckles was working for Robotnik, so there was no reason for them to be against each other. What was the problem?

Becasue Knuckles' story is set after Sonic's, after Robotnik has been driven away and Knuckles is cleaning up the mess.

-- WHY did Robotnik send a barrage of fire missiles on the whole jungle? What did he do that for?....Furthermore, didn't Robotnik realize that Knuckles might not have approved of such devastation on the environment? What's the story behind all this?
--- What was Knuckles doing in Act 2? Why was he underground most of the time? What was his "mission"? (Notice how they have specific missions in the Sonic Adventure games.)

Robotnik doesn't like nature, so he destroys it. And knuckles was in Act 2 to be an ass and make Sonic fall down a trap, duh.

--- Why was that jumping statue almost indestructible. The fact that it explodes in the quicksand clearly shows that it was a robot, so why couldn't it be destroyed like the other robots could?

Robots explode when they touch quicksand?

--- WHY did Sonic/Knuckles go inside the Pyramid in Act 2?...It doesn't make any sense because it didn't show either of their motivations. What Sonic chasing Robotnik? Was Knuckles hiding? What's the story?

Because the pyramid led to Lava Reef Zone it seems. And Sonic was chasing Robotnik.

[G.Silver]

This post contains a personal insult, and it does not contribute to the topic in any way.

This post is spam.

Shadow Hog! What do you have to say for yourself regarding these spurious allegations?

[Cuckooguy]

What are those trippy images called again? I'd eventually like to make a website with a design element of trippiness in it.

[Ritz]

What are those trippy images called again? I'd eventually like to make a website with a design element of trippiness in it.

There are easier ways of pissing people off.

[Delphine]

Okay, that's enough of that.