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Another Nine Analysis: Warped Senses And Tragedy

Yay, another Nine analysis! It's been a while, huh? But I have more thoughts about him I need to write out so here I am. So now let's begin.

Alright, so let's start with the fact that while the other variants are devoid of the things that represent them (empathy for Amy, and Honor for Knuckles), Nine's is actually not only enhanced but WARPED in a more twisted way.

Amy's lack of empathy is shown through Rusty (a robotized Amy) and Thorn (while she wanted to protect the Jungle she didn't try to understand or find common ground) and Knuckle's lack of honor is shown through Dread.

But Nine is rather different. Yes while he didn't stay and help the Rebels, and abandoned them, he choose to save Sonic instead. In fact earlier during the battle between the Rebels and Dr. Deep, I noticed that he only helps Sonic during the battle. He's the first one to notice Sonic's in danger and stops to help him, but only him, he doesn't do it for the others. Watch closely at how Nine contrasts against the others in the fight.

The others help out each other, but Nine only helps Sonic. I thought it was an interesting detail, and it also proves my theory. Not to mention he's surprised when Sonic saves him and pleased when he learns about a high five.

Another thing is how he chooses to abandon the rebels, choosing to save the shard, the shard that took Sonic. He once again chooses Sonic over everyone else.

The battle during the Rebellion, once again, Sonic.

I disagree that Nine isn't loyal, that he's a Tails that lacks loyalty, but a Tails whose sense of loyalty that's starting to become deluded and damaging towards others and possibly himself. A dedication and commitment that does more harm towards others and himself than it helps. A self-destructive and dangerous obsession.

He's only loyal towards Sonic, he's only dedicated to Sonic, he's only attached to Sonic, he only smiles with Sonic, and no one else.

If Nine wasn't loyal or committed to Sonic, then why did he wait weeks for Sonic, and why did he come back for Sonic?

It's understandable why too, to him Sonic is a person from another world who gave another version of him a life he always dreamed of. To him, Sonic is his only friend, the only person who accepts him for his Tails, the only person who gave him a reason to let his walls down. So it's understandable that he'd only care for Sonic.

Unlike the others, Sonic can bring him something he dreamed of, unlike the others Sonic was bright and bubbly and not yet damaged by the horrible world around him, and unlike the others, Sonic is the only one who can make his heart melt with that unrelenting optimism and blinding faith and allow another in.

Unlike the others, Sonic gave him something to live for, to fight with blood and sweat for.

A WORLD and LIFE to hope for.

It's no wonder the poor kid latched onto the first person who showed him kindness and affection. Before Sonic meet him, he probably hasn't made contact with anyone in YEARS after he fought back his bullies.

Just look at his face after he tries to ignore Sonic in the top left. His face softens, and with the slightest bit of hesitance asks what else they did in this wonderful dream world just out of reach of his gloved hands.

Which makes my next thought worse.

Guys, you'll hate this but...

I don't think Nine's going to get his happy ending. It'll most likely be very bittersweet at best.

DON'T GET ME WRONG, HE DESERVES THE WORLD! But the world he wants can't ever be achieved without Sonic. Sonic, just wants to get home no matter what. A home that isn't Nine's. A home Nine can't ever go to.

Nine wants Sonic to stay, being unable to be happy in a world without him. Sonic wants to go home, being unable to be happy without his FRIENDS. Like he said earlier in the pilot, his FRIENDS make Green Hills HOME. Which makes it clear he won't be happy living in the Grim.

Both of them have opposite goals, goals that can't be achieved at the same time. This is originally mentioned by @animatedjunkfood, but I agree that the Grim scene reflects this extremely well with its visuals.

Look at the sky, a strong blue, starting light but darkening as the sky gets further and further away from the sandy bottom, stars twinkling with lost dreams. The ground is deep orange with grey crystals shooting out of it, crystals a faded grey reflecting shimmering hope reaching to grasp the sky to come true, never making it.

On the distant horizon, there's a light gleaming from the distance, somewhat reminding me of a rising sun.

I think there are three things this represents.

It might be reflective of Sonic and Tails' relationship. Sonic, while better on the ground always lives carefree, running like the wind, sometimes resulting in being easily distracted. Tails, who can fly, ironically is the more grounded of the two using his tech and being more focused.

Sonic is the sky and Tails is the earth. That's how it's always been.

But this could also reflect Nine's dream. Notice how the sky is blue like his eyes and Sonic's fur, how the ground is orange like his fur, and how the grey crystals reflect Nine's tails. But what's missing?

Emerald green. The emerald green of Sonic's eyes. This isn't the world he wants, it's what NINE wants. Hence why green isn't anywhere present. It's not HIS ideal world.

Lastly, and my favorite, this could reflect their different goals and how they can never be achieved simultaneously. Nine wants this world to be home, hence why the ground is orange. Sonic however wants to go home, a place beyond Nine's reach, which is reflected wonderfully through the blue sky that twinkle with stars. Stars are often thought of as dreams and hope, which makes sense, as Sonic can bring Nine that.

Another thing I REALLY like is how the grey crystals could reflect Nine's mechanical Tails, reaching to try and grasp Sonic, to grasp that happy dream, the earth reaching out for that sky of sweet hope.

But the ground and the sky can never touch...

Ouch...

How Prime Has The Potential To Be A Great Psychological/Lovecraft Horror

I know, I know, all of you are probably looking at this thinking I lost my mind.

But let me explain and show you how it could be a horrifying experience.

First, all of you are probably commenting on how Sonic is a family friendly franchise, but that doesn't necessarily mean EVERY media of Sonic SHOULD be this way. There are some family friendly franchises with mature and more serious spin-offs or adaptations.

So Prime can be a good start to deviating from it's other media's. But I'll get to that later, I should probably explain how it can be, and in a way is, a psychological and Lovecraft horror, more than just another cartoon. At least to me.

1. (Psychological) Exploring The Character's Emotional Trauma and Internal Conflicts Is a Different Approach to Most Sonic Medias

While most Sonic media's focus on action and saving the day, Prime takes a different approach. Instead of just being action and "Sonic saving the day", Sonic completely breaks his home, unintentionally shattering everything, including his friends. Shadow is also inadvertently dragged along, using a Chaos Emerald to save himself from the blast, but ending up trapped in the void.

If the variants being shards of the main characters is true, then Prime is working to deconstruct the characters, but some variants caught my eyes. There's Rusty, a robotized Amy, which sure, that's cool, but remember Amy's first known introduction in the Sonic CD? I only remember some parts, but wasn't Amy kidnapped by metal Sonic to be robotized or something? Another obvious variant is Nine, who was basically abused for being different, only this time Sonic wasn't there to help him? And Dread, a greedy Knuckles, kinda reminding me of how Knuckles was tricked by Eggman so the Doc could steal the master emerald?

Something just seems a bit more about these variants.

1. (Lovecraft) The Variants Situation if The Shard Theory Is True

If the Shard theory is true, then the variants existence is a nightmare.

Imagine having flesh and bone, imagine having thoughts of your own, imagine having a backstory of your own; only for it to be revealed that everything, your body, your thoughts, your experiences; your existence, to be a mistake. You weren't supposed to exist, and if the putting it back together = Shattered Space disappears is true, then you're doomed to die.

Doomed be mashed together with other shards, to be pieced together into someone you don't know, and will never meet. Your very existence is a lie, something that needs to be fixed with your death.

Yeah...not a pretty picture, is it?

2. (Psychological) Sonic's Emotional Turmoil

Sonic suffers a lot in this show. No, I don't mean the physical pain, that's a gag, I'm referring to the emotional suffering, which is very much there.

Sonic is horrified by these events; breaking his home, shattering everyone he loved and cared for, having to experience hatred, scorn, and hostility from those who look so much like his friends; from people who don't recognize him, and having to witness or hear about his friends suffering, being unable to really do anything about it without being met with apprehension.

He's clearly not enjoying any of this, or having any fun, at all.

2. (Lovecraft) The Paradox Prism Is Unsettling Itself

What is the Prism?

We know it's powerful as hell, being able to rip apart reality, and possibly time, and is capable of creating new spaces. But what else is it capable of? Where did it come from? Why is it here beneath the Green Hills Bedrock?

Whatever it is, it's the one in control after Sonic breaks it, ripping apart the world, throwing Sonic through dimensions, trapping Shadow in the void, and even responding to certain contacts.

It's glow almost seems like it calling, beckoning for someone to find it, to use it, to break it.

3. (Psychological) Shadow In The Void

How is Shadow doing in this void?

All memes aside, it's clear he isn't taking everything so well. As when he first makes contact with Sonic, he sounds despondent and absolutely devastated, stating: "It's broken! It's all broken!". His voice is slightly shaky when he does so too. But in his final contact with Sonic, is him furious and violent.

From his first contact to his last furious one, Shadow's mental state isn't exactly stable. Being stuck in the void doesn't help anything either. Some development happened to Shadow off screen, one I really hope we'll see.

Yeah, Shadow is not having a great time either. But development can never be fast, it takes time, which brings my next theory in mind below.

3. (Lovecraft) The Void

Ending up in the void is something I'd choose death over. Mainly because, when thinking about it, it's something nobody would wish on their worst enemy. Which makes Shadow being there so much harsher.

The void is an empty space, nothing but shards surrounding you, you're alone, with nobody to talk to. You're alone with your thoughts. But the scariest thing would be how long it must seem.

From what we've seen so far, time runs differently in the Shattered Space, the void can't be any different. It could've been years to Shadow, but time doesn't seem to run in the void, only in the Shattered Spaces. If anything time seems to pause, or just stop working in the void. It doesn't exist there.

Shadow definitely isn't having fun, especially when you consider his alliance with Rouge and Omega, and even worse, his promise to Maria to keep the world safe.

4. (Psychological) Nine Being A Part Of Tails Says Something About All Of Us

One of the things talked about a lot is how Nine, if the shard theory is true, was a part of Tails to begin with. This bitter, jaded, violent, desperate, traumatized, in pain child was a part of the happy, jolly fox we all know and love.

But, if the theory is true, Nine having been a part of Tails all along speaks about how there's a hidden side in all of us. All of that bitterness, cruelty, selfishness, trauma, denial, desperateness, and love/touch starved hope is in all of us. But we try to deny, to hide, to avoid acknowledging it, which only makes it never go away, or makes it worse.

It isn't just Tails that denies it though, which is a whole other thing of itself...

4. (Lovecraft) They Can't Be By Each Other's Side, Both Are Doomed To Be Alone In Some Way

One of the saddest truths about Prime is that Nine and Sonic can't be by each other's side, they can't be there for each other: no matter how much they don't want to be, they have to be alone. Sonic is from a universe that's now destroyed, thrust into the remains of his actions face-first, he can't connect with these variants of his friends, and is emotionally alone.

Nine is just a part of the universe Sonic can't stay in, so there's no chance of them ever staying by each other's side, he's alone in both ways.

The universe, the shards won't allow it, thrusting Sonic from Nine via shard or by Sonic himself. Not to mention the inevitable fate that Nine has to face along with his fellow variants.

Their entire relationship is a world of inevitable pain.

5. (Psychological) The Dark Matter, Symbolism, And Complex Themes Of Prime

There's no denying it, at its core, with the sprinkled moments of unease and signs of deeper depths in the first batch, so far Prime's setting up a dark story, one filled with harsh tragedy. Pretty much every character suffers and is going to suffer even more in the second batch, the aspects of Sonic that save the day, Friendship and Hope is actually deconstructed in this show, showing how friendship can become a means of escapism and can't really save the day, and how hope can instead damage someone to denial.

Sonic is without his friends here and the friends he made out of the variants is going to be shattered once they find out the truth, so friendship can't be used, and his hopes to fix the world are...almost desperate, like he doesn't want to acknowledge that maybe it can't be fixed.

Another thing is that Prime actually has a lot of symbolism hidden in it. The Grim being a literal landscape of escapism, Nine's nine tails, the variants themselves being representations of different traits, the palm tree being a symbol of desperate hope, and more.

The final thing is the early complex themes in the show.

The inevitable fact that the variants has to die to restore the world is a very grim one, but it shows how painfully insignificant and meaningless they are in the grand scheme of things. They’re just shards that need to come together. That’s the universe for ya.

The use of "Man vs. Self" in this show instead of having Sonic just save the day and defeat bad guys

The exploration that there's a dark, sad, traumatized part in all of us

The need for balance in everything

The exploration of desire vs need, and most importantly:

Selfishness vs selflessness.

5. (Lovecraft) The Grim Is A Lovecraftian Horror Of Itself

The Grim is hauntingly beautiful. The sky is every color of blue, filled with stars, the ground is orange and endless, and silver crystals jut out of it, some partly buried.

Look at how small and insignificant Nine and Sonic looks here, how vast the Grim is that you can't see where it ends. It's truly an unsettling wonder. It looks unsettling and it is unsettling, not at all an ideal place to live in.

There are no trees, no water, no signs of any life. Nothing. You're alone, surrounded by absolutely nothing. The only thing there is you and your imagination.

Why isn't there any variants here? Why is it so empty? Why doesn't it end?

There's no answer except your own thoughts, speaking much louder now that there's nothing to distract you from them. You're alone, an insignificant speck in a vast world of beauty and isolation.

Paranoia would kick in, you'd think you heard something, but there's nothing there.

That's what the Grim is, it's nothing but you, there's nobody here, there's nothing here, this place never ends, it's the physical representation of isolation, of perfect escapism.

And that couldn’t be more terrifying…

Keep Your Head Up!

Sonic reminiscences about his friends.

(

I decided to do one based on Sonic.

Sonic suffering, of course.

That's it ^v^

)

=============================================

They looked like them.

They sounded like them.

Most of them even had the same mannerisms as them.

But they weren't them.

They didn't act like them.

They didn't talk like them.

They didn't feel like them.

Amy Rose, once the sweetest and cutest friend to have now was either cold, and lacked compassion. Her once warm and cheery green eyes now blank and empty or filled with suspicion and feral anger.

No more adorable strength, no more cheerfulness, nothing but brute force and stoic brutality.

Rouge, once the alluring jewel thief. He didn't spend much time around her, the bat preferred to keep to herself. But he noticed how she now lead resistance's or groups, nothing like the lone bat thief she once was.

And while he wasn't as bothered with that, he still found it hard to accept and get used to.

Knuckles, once a powerful fighter and dependent friend, was now either crazy or selfishly greedy. His steady blue eyes gleamed with unstable intent.

He even missed him at this point.

Shadow wasn't doing so well either. While he stayed his stoic self, the hero saw some cracks slip through, ones that Shadow obviously hoped nobody would notice, how his eyes held so much pain and sadness, how he was more aggressive than usual, how his voice would barely shake when talking about home.

But the blue urchin didn't say anything, never commented on it. He didn't think Shadow would accept it anyway with how mad he is at him.

Then there was...him. The fox who always stuck by his side, who was once just a little kid who followed him around, who was always tinkering away on inventions a happy smile on his face, who was the greatest friend, greatest brother, anyone could ask for.

Most of his variants were the same, but not exactly. Mangey was nothing but a feral animal, unable to even speak, only talking with grunts and growls and Sails, while being the closest to resemble him, didn't have...it just wasn't the same.

But then there was Nine, the most different from him. The metal tailed fox was blunt and cold, barely smiled, worked alone, was always alone. Once bright and curious baby blues were now cold and pained icy blue (please dont look at me like that). Once fluffy and bright fur was now limp and pale. His ears were longer than his too, ending with darkened tips at the end.

He noticed how Nine's metal tails wrapped around his organic ones, making an illusion of one tail. He felt his ears droop at the sight.

The most painful thing was how...isolated and...and scared this kid was. When he first met them, they attacked him because he called them his name he broke into their lab. 

And he felt a harsh pang in his chest at how much they hated his name at how lonely this kit is.

He couldn't bear the sight of it.

So he tried to make sure he was there for Nine. Giving him compliments and encouragement, cheering him on, letting the fox lean on him for support, everything he used to do for him.

But it still hurt so so much...sucked.

All of this still sucked so much.

He sometimes wished he would wake up and all of this would be over. Just a nightmare.

But that never happened, he was still here, still in the now broken world he once lived in and protected.

Sometimes he felt a wetness in his eyes a little down, but he held his head high.

All of this will work out in the end, he just has to keep going, just has to keep staying positive. 

Just keep going.

Just.

Stay.

Positive.