Ian's Answers For Everything Posted by Ian Potto Back when the news broke that Dawn was to be the new Knuckles artist, and that another fan artist was on the way, I had momentary delusions of grandure. I've been writing "Other-M" since '99, and I thought I might have a slim chance of getting to write for Archie. Start off with small back-ups, then hopefully taking command of the bigger stuff. Now that there's a new writer coming in around S#109, those hopes are up in smoke. Still, here's how I'd handle things as they stand now (as of S#105) -Tails isn't Tails- Back in S#56, Mogul made his move. Having twisted the entire Sonicverse to his will since SSS#1, he thought he had things in the bag. However, he also knew that defeat was possible, even if it was only a glimmer of a chance. So when he devided the Champions (STK) he had Tails duplicated. The Tails that appeared in his super-form was the Fake-Tails, while the True-Tails has remained locked in another zone/dimension since S#56. In conjunction with some other ideas below, Mogul would again slowly resurface. Once he made his bid for power, the Champions would rise again - only to have the Fake-Tails turn against Sonic and Knuckles. Fueled by Mogul, the Fake-Tails + the Fearsome Foursome + Mina (I'll get to that), are enough to repel the heroic forces. Faced with defeat, a rescue mission is launched to recover the True-Tails. Eventually, True-Tails is rescued and brought back to face Mogul's forces. In their confrontation, True-Tails convinced Fake-Tails that Mogul's word is not law, and that his power is not absolute, and that one should always follow their heart. With both their hearts in the same place, the Fake and True Tails merge, leaving the one and only Chosen One. The Champions, now at full strength, prove to be a match for Mogul. But without the Ancient Walkers to aid them (they die - sacrificing themselves to free the True-Tails), they must be content to seal Mogul away in a magical tomb of some sort. -Mina's Speed- Wasn't odd that the Fearsome Foursome (Sgt. Simian, Flying Frog, Lightening Lynx and Predator Hawk) all had skills almost on par with that of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the Chaotix? My explanation - augmented abilities, granted by the power of Mogul. After being freed from the Master Emerald (back in the SA adapt), Mogul went about the world, regaining his troops. (there's a series of back-up stories for you right there). He also came across Mina in his travels. Mina had just lost her mother to Dr. Robotnik. She would do anything, ANYTHING, to be able to save her. Using his precognitive abilities (he's been said to have psonics in SSS#1), Mogul saw how Mina's path would intertwine with Sonic's. Thus, he granted her super-speed at the price of her freedom. He then burried her memories of their encounter and left her to do her damage - breaking the bonds between Sonic and Sally without any ill will. When Mogul rises to power once more, he calls in Mina's debt, thus putting a bit of an emotional tug on Sonic and Sally. (Sonic for obvious reasons, Sally - she's outta my way...but can I just turn my back on a fellow Fur?) After the Chosen One becomes whole, Mina (and maybe another Foursome member or two) decide that they've had enough of Mogul and turn on him. He strips them of their enhanced abilities, leaving them with mere shadows of their former strengths. -Free-Willed Mecha Snively- Simple - it was all a ruse. Snively was given his own version of the Neural-Overrider. The whole scene with Dr. Eggman was meant to convince the O's to get 'cized. -Elias- After Dr. Robotnik's demise in S#50, and the destruction of his global network in the issues after, Mobius has begun to rebuild the life it once knew. There is now some trade among nations, some travel, some sense of normality. On his own and needing direction, Elias eventually comes into the company of a varitble rouge's gallery. Together, they become air-pirates. The crew consists of Elias, Nack, Fiona, Nik, Rouge, and Shadow. As you might have guessed, they're a kind of anti-Freedom Fighters. As they loot and pillage, they eventually come across the FF in one of their good-will missions. Fighting ensues (naturally) but ends with the pirates disperssing in their seperate ways, and Elias returning home. As for Shadow, give him an occasional back-up story in the form Dan Drazen suggested. -Green Knuckles, Mecha Dimitri, etc.- Let's do this point-by-point: -The Echidnas/Dingos/Chaotix are returned to the FI. Pronto. -Dimitri saps Knux of his power resulting in a less powerful Enerjak (Mecha Enerjak?) and a less powerful Knux. -Less power for Knux means he can control it easier, and goes back to being RED. -Lara-Su guides Knux back to the straight and narrow. -The Dark Legion does something to remind us that they're the bad guys. -The Dingo Regime moves on to create a city of their own, despite the objections/interventions of the Brotherhood. -The Brotherhood's membership drops dramatically (Mogul? DL/Enerjak attack? Something!) -Archimedes returns as a mentor to Knuckles. -Lara-Su sticks around as a Chaotix? Maybe. -Hunter is freed during some broo-ha-ha so he can make another cameo. -Political tensions between Albion and Echidnaopolis? (over Knuckles and his power) -The Chaotix finally work as a team, ala the old SatAM days for the FF. Have any other plot point to want to me flesh out in my own way? Ask in a reply! I love to share my wisdom, erm, humble opinions. --- Posted by Blaze Heatnix Makes sense ther is one problem with your explaination of what happens to Elias. :On his own and needing direction, Elias eventually comes into the company of a varitble rouge's gallery. Together, they become air-pirates. The crew consists of Elias, Nack, Fiona, Nik, Rouge, and Shadow. As you So if we assume if event in Sonic Adventure 2 paralell to what happened in the Comic Book would Shadow be dead? Otherwise, since when to characters stay dead in comics? --- Posted by Lex O_O Wow....it's related to the newer Sonic storylines and it all makes sense! *faints* I don't know about making Elias an air pirate, though. He doesn't really seem the type unless they were pirates with ethics: ie. robbing people is okay, but no hurting the innocent. Maybe mercenaries instead? ^_^ That'd be consistent with Nik, Nack, and Rouge already. ------ Various Replies Posted by Ian Potto -Shadow- Whether or not he's dead is debatable. After playing the final Sonic & Shadow levels enough, we all know what re-entry looks like when you fall off one of those @#$% rails. At the end, Hyper Shadow looked to use Chaos Control rather than burn up. If anything, I'd use the basic idea I used in "Umbra", a fic that's currently not online - thanks to TopCities. -Mogul- Yes, he talks. Alot. And he uses be words. I'd try to make his long-winded speeches fit better, or have some kind of visual to go along with it. -SegaSonic vs. SatAM/Archie- This debate is endless. While I'm a big fan of the SegaSonicverse (most of my fan-fic is of that nature), I don't think it fits with the comic. Sonic's ties to the rest off the FF are too strong and well established to be weakened now. That, I don't know how many stories can be made off of the cast of the Big Four (STK+Eggman). -Elias the Air Pirate- He would definitely be good at heart. He would be in it for the adventure (ala his original mindset when he was introduced in the Knuckles book). He would turn a blind eye to the criminal nature of his doings to maintain his group of "friends", but after a heart-to-heart with Sally, he'd see that didn't really make him happy, thus him returning to the Kingdom of Knothole. --- Posted by Blueblur In Reply to: Various Replies : -SegaSonic vs. SatAM/Archie- : This debate is endless. While I'm a big fan of the SegaSonicverse (most of my fan-fic is of that nature), I don't think it fits with the comic. Sonic's ties to the rest off the FF are too strong and well established to be weakened now. That, I don't know how many stories can be made off of the cast of the Big Four (STK+Eggman). If anything the ties are weaker now making it just the right time for the segue. I just think there are too many characters to put a focus on. That way one might never really get to see a specific character grow because the spotlight has to be maintained on all of them. Has Sonic or Tails really changed much at all in the past five years? I don't think so. --- Posted by That guy with the hat : Well, Sonic Adventure 2 implies that Shadow bit the big one. But in any case if they make a Sonic Adventure 3, he'll be in it. Shadow seems to be the most popular character Sega introduced to the SegaSonicverse in recent years. If the Sonic Team is implying that he is dead at the end of SA2(which I believe he is), then I'm guessing they wouldn't want to break the storyline. Also, there have been loads of characters in the past that they really should use again, but they don't. Nack, Bark, Bean, Ray, the Chaotix, and others. Of course, I'm not sure they were nearly as popular as Shadow, but as for his return in SA3, I wouldn't bet on it personally. Irrelevant Note: I still can't believe Archie did an adaptation type thing of SegaSonic Arcade. Almost nobody has played that game! Very few have ever even heard of it! They oughta' do a Sonic the Fighters(a.k.a. Sonic Championship) adaptation then. A few more people know about that one(I've played it once. I used Knuckles, and Bark kicked my butt. Then I was out of quarters.) and they might be able to do something with Bark and Bean. I would skip Tails Sky Patrol though. --- Posted by Blueblur : : Well, Sonic Adventure 2 implies that Shadow bit the big one. But in any case if they make a Sonic Adventure 3, he'll be in it. Shadow seems to be the most popular character Sega introduced to the SegaSonicverse in recent years. : If the Sonic Team is implying that he is dead at the end of SA2(which I believe he is), then I'm guessing they wouldn't want to break the storyline. The keyword is "implying." In my opinion, Sonic Team did that to leave Shadow's fate open ended. If the fans disliked the character they could do away with him, but if he was popular he could come back. I know both Sega and Sonic Team have noticed Shadow's potential and they aren't just about to get rid of him. The Chaotix on the other hand had none. The characters were as popular as Ristar for the Sega Genesis and pretty much were dead weight. Yu Suzuki used Espio for Sonic Championship probably for his own reasons and Bean came from Dynamite Dux. Anyway, don't expect to see any of these characters ever again. --- Posted by That guy with the hat : The keyword is "implying." In my opinion, Sonic Team did that to leave Shadow's fate open ended. If the fans disliked the character they could do away with him, but if he was popular he could come back. I know both Sega and Sonic Team have noticed Shadow's potential and they aren't just about to get rid of him. Good point. I've never known them to do that before, but I suppose it's possible. : The Chaotix on the other hand had none. The characters were as popular as Ristar for the Sega Genesis and pretty much were dead weight. Yu Suzuki used Espio for Sonic Championship probably for his own reasons and Bean came from Dynamite Dux. Anyway, don't expect to see any of these characters ever again. The Chaotix indeed made the mistake of appearing on the almost pointless 32X. The 32X apparently enhances the Genesis somehow, but it was far too difficult for anyone to tell, so no one bought it. It was one of those moves Sega made that was difficult to understand. Meanwhile, who made Ristar anyway? I've played it, but I don't know who put it together. That game certainly did have a very distinctive style to it. Unfortunately it was a little... long-y. And it's really pretty difficult to care about any of the characters in it since the few that appear are almost completely devoid of personality. Ristar makes a cameo appearance in Shenmue(as a capsule toy) by the way. I guess really it comes down to this. Shadow certainly could have survived and he may well show up again, but as much as I liked Shadow, I think the story would be better if he passed away. If he does appear again, I don't think it should be right away. He could make a more dramatic re-entrance if he returned in SA... oh I don't know... 5. But then if he does show up, what will he do? He has no ambition anymore. His goal in life was to fulfill Maria's promise. He did. He's not Sonic's enemy anymore, so he couldn't do that. He'd just be repeating Sonic's role. But I suppose I'm being a little too closed minded. I ought to allow more room for the writers here. For all I know they could come up with something where... I don't know... Sonic and Shadow team up and go on a rockem' sockem' mission where you have to keep trading places between the two at mind bending speed. I guess I'll just leave it at these three age old words... "Time Will Tell". Meanwhile again, has anybody heard anything about Panzer Dragoon 4? Team Andromeda isn't working on it I hear, but Smilebit(party responsible for Jet Grind Radio, a game I feel guilty for enjoying) has taken over. I hope it doesn't go the way of Phantasy Star 3. --- Posted by Blueblur I remember renting Ristar in the Genesis last year (or maybe the one before that, I really don't remember). I liked it a lot but I never got far because I didn't have the time for it. I do remember that one of the later levels was very hard and a pain for me. I didn't know he was a capsule toy in Shenmue, but then I never really bought many of those; I was afraid I would need my money for something much more important later on in the game. I agree with you on Shadow's return. If he does return he would need a new inspiration and goal(s). Hopefully he'll return with a new purpose that'll help enrich the game's plot. I never played the original Phantasy Star games (except for the sequel on the Smash Pack disk), but I'm well aware of the crapfest that was PS3. I hope Panzer Dragoon doesn't turn out the same as well. --- Posted by Bune : I agree with you on Shadow's return. If he does return he would need a new inspiration and goal(s). Hopefully he'll return with a new purpose that'll help enrich the game's plot. Well, the thing is, the Shadow fans think "I want him in the comic or in the next SA cuz he was cool, but I don't care how or why, even if it completely screws up the plotline in both SA2 and Archie or the next game!" But it's not that easy, first we'd have to give him: 1. Purpose 2. Personality 3. Allies But that's almost the same as making a new character. And making a new chacter wouldn't cheapen SA2. ~)Bune(~ --- Posted by Blueblur : But that's almost the same as making a new character. And making a new chacter wouldn't cheapen SA2. You're exactly right. The fan(s) that I saw complain here were advocating just that. He's got the personality down though, just with a little tweaking (since he is no longer "evil"). As for allies, it would depend on the region that he would reside in. (The worse thing they could do is throw him into Mercia.) I've always thought that having Shadow reside in and protect Station Square would be a good idea. But it's already been done, so it doesn't sound that good. Another idea is Angel Island (I prefer that name). I'm not saying that he should be visible and Knuckles' best buddy, but he could take up life there and live peacefully in solitude. And cameos in Knuckles adventures would be a lot more practical than Sonic since Shadow does live locally and is now very good-natured and willing to fight for the right cause. But that still leaves a purpose to be found. Simply put, writing for Shadow isn't an easy task. ------ Posted by That guy with the hat In Reply to: Ian's Answers For Everything : -Tails isn't Tails- He's really Milton Rowe. Fishmonger and international jewel thief. : Back in S#56, Mogul made his move. Having twisted the entire Sonicverse to his will since SSS#1, he thought he had things in the bag. However, he also knew that defeat was possible, even if it was only a glimmer of a chance. So when he devided the Champions (STK) he had Tails duplicated. The Tails that appeared in his super-form was the Fake-Tails, while the True-Tails has remained locked in another zone/dimension since S#56. : In conjunction with some other ideas below, Mogul would again slowly resurface. Once he made his bid for power, the Champions would rise again - only to have the Fake-Tails turn against Sonic and Knuckles. Fueled by Mogul, the Fake-Tails + the Fearsome Foursome + Mina (I'll get to that), are enough to repel the heroic forces. Faced with defeat, a rescue mission is launched to recover the True-Tails. : Eventually, True-Tails is rescued and brought back to face Mogul's forces. In their confrontation, True-Tails convinced Fake-Tails that Mogul's word is not law, and that his power is not absolute, and that one should always follow their heart. With both their hearts in the same place, the Fake and True Tails merge, leaving the one and only Chosen One. The Champions, now at full strength, prove to be a match for Mogul. But without the Ancient Walkers to aid them (they die - sacrificing themselves to free the True-Tails), they must be content to seal Mogul away in a magical tomb of some sort. I'd say that that there would be a really really cool way to resolve all this with Tails. Fake-Tails simply being a copy of True-Tails and not being a Tails from another zone would clear up how Fake-Tails Knew how to act around the FFs in a way that wouldn't seem un-Tailsy. As it stood, Fake-Tails knew exactly how to bounce off the other characters the same way True-Tails always did. Otherwise the FFs would catch on and realize he's not their Tails, and the whole thing would have been resolved in a much more timely manner. However, I'm pretty sure Ken has a completely different idea for how this is gonna' sort out. : -Mina's Speed- : Wasn't odd that the Fearsome Foursome (Sgt. Simian, Flying Frog, Lightening Lynx and Predator Hawk) all had skills almost on par with that of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the Chaotix? Well not really. The FFs and Chaotix really don't have any super abilities. Sonic can run really fast and technically Knuckles is a genetically altered emerald creature, but other than that, I can't say there abilities seem unnatural. So I really don't find Foursome's abilities unnatural. My explanation - augmented abilities, granted by the power of Mogul. After being freed from the Master Emerald (back in the SA adapt), Mogul went about the world, regaining his troops. (there's a series of back-up stories for you right there). He also came across Mina in his travels. Mina had just lost her mother to Dr. Robotnik. She would do anything, ANYTHING, to be able to save her. : Using his precognitive abilities (he's been said to have psonics in SSS#1), Mogul saw how Mina's path would intertwine with Sonic's. Thus, he granted her super-speed at the price of her freedom. He then burried her memories of their encounter and left her to do her damage - breaking the bonds between Sonic and Sally without any ill will. When Mogul rises to power once more, he calls in Mina's debt, thus putting a bit of an emotional tug on Sonic and Sally. (Sonic for obvious reasons, Sally - she's outta my way...but can I just turn my back on a fellow Fur?) After the Chosen One becomes whole, Mina (and maybe another Foursome member or two) decide that they've had enough of Mogul and turn on him. He strips them of their enhanced abilities, leaving them with mere shadows of their former strengths. This explanation for Mina's speed would make for a great story in the comics. I just wish I didn't disagree with the Fearsome Foursome's unusual abilities thing. : -Free-Willed Mecha Snively- : Simple - it was all a ruse. Snively was given his own version of the Neural-Overrider. The whole scene with Dr. Eggman was meant to convince the O's to get 'cized. Genius. : -Elias- : After Dr. Robotnik's demise in S#50, and the destruction of his global network in the issues after, Mobius has begun to rebuild the life it once knew. There is now some trade among nations, some travel, some sense of normality. : On his own and needing direction, Elias eventually comes into the company of a varitble rouge's gallery. Together, they become air-pirates. The crew consists of Elias, Nack, Fiona, Nik, Rouge, and Shadow. As you might have guessed, they're a kind of anti-Freedom Fighters. As they loot and pillage, they eventually come across the FF in one of their good-will missions. Fighting ensues (naturally) but ends with the pirates disperssing in their seperate ways, and Elias returning home. As for Shadow, give him an occasional back-up story in the form Dan Drazen suggested. OK now this one I'm not so sure about. I've said before that I don't see the need for Shadow to have survived, but that's beside the point. The trouble is that other than Elias, none of those other guys would really fit the bill. The weasels aren't really concerned with that. They seem to enjoy their current occupation of bounty hunters, and I really don't think their role needs to be changed. Rouge is a government spy, so I think it might be a bad move for her to become a pirate. She kind of seems like the type though. Shadow really REALLY doesn't on the other hand. By the end of SA2, dead or alive, he was definetly a solid good guy. : -Green Knuckles, Mecha Dimitri, etc.- : Let's do this point-by-point: : -The Echidnas/Dingos/Chaotix are returned to the FI. Pronto. Aye. : -Dimitri saps Knux of his power resulting in a less powerful Enerjak (Mecha Enerjak?) and a less powerful Knux. If Dimitri took Knuckles' power, I think he'd probably still be a really strong Enerjak despite his age. The only reason he needs to be mecha is because he doesn't have emerald energy. If he got his power back, he could probably deep six the mecha somehow. Then again, emerald power hasn't proven effective against roboticization, so I don't know. : -Less power for Knux means he can control it easier, and goes back to being RED. Whatever it takes to bring back his normal colors. : -Lara-Su guides Knux back to the straight and narrow. I'm not totally sure what Lara-Su is going to do exactly. : -The Dark Legion does something to remind us that they're the bad guys. They've been watching that Hee-Haw marathon a little too long now. It's about time someone in that organization really did something that would remind us of their name again. : -The Dingo Regime moves on to create a city of their own, despite the objections/interventions of the Brotherhood. I almost forgot about them. : -The Brotherhood's membership drops dramatically (Mogul? DL/Enerjak attack? Something!) But I like the Brotherhood! : -Archimedes returns as a mentor to Knuckles. Haven't seen the little ant in a while now have we? : -Lara-Su sticks around as a Chaotix? Maybe. Lara-Su is Knuckles daughter in the future. If she stuck around in the present, who would assume the role of guardian in the future? I suppose sometime she could decide to warp ahead to the future again and try to pop up in the spot in time when she left so she wouldn't miss anything, but would she age in the present? Would that age carry over into the future? She'd suddenly be older in the future than she was supposed to be in the future. Would that make any difference? Anyway if she stuck around too long she might witness her own birth and that might be kinda' awkward. : -Hunter is freed during some broo-ha-ha so he can make another cameo. NO-o-o-o! : -Political tensions between Albion and Echidnaopolis? (over Knuckles and his power) It could be something to build on. : -The Chaotix finally work as a team, ala the old SatAM days for the FF. I don't know that they ever had much trouble working as a team in the past, it's just that they need to return. : Have any other plot point to want to me flesh out in my own way? Ask in a reply! I love to share my wisdom, erm, humble opinions. Howbout' a crossover with Fat Albert? Hey hey hey! ------ Posted by DC In Reply to: Ian's Answers For Everything I admit I would be againist Ian's idea about how he would handle Mina's speed for two reasons: 1:Using Mogal: because I don't see him as having been an effective villian in the comic book. 2: Because of some things that Ian has said in the past(being in favor of Mina), I(to be honest) would not trust him writing Sonic and Sally's relationship (please don't get angry). I am not sure what to think about how he would handle the other plot points he mentioned though. --- The one I missed - Sonic & Sally & Mina Posted by Ian Potto One quick reply, I know Mogul wasn't fully utilized. Neither was Naugus. Or the Dingoes. Or even Dr. Eggman for most of last year's worth of comics. For whatever reason, I love the Mogul character and would try to make him as good as I envision him. Now then, how I would handle... -Sonic & Sally vs. Sonic & Mina- My pro-Mina days are not over. I see alot of potential in her. But as the recent comics have gone, I don't see her with Sonic - in an "in-love" kind of way. There isn't anything there. "The Kiss" served as only a thorn in the paw, not as a big turning point in Sonic's feelings. As of events up to S#105, I would see to some reconsiliation between Sally and Mina. Sonic and Sally would come together once more, and Mina would become the sister Sonic never had, essentially. --- Posted by DC : One quick reply, I know Mogul wasn't fully utilized. Neither was Naugus. Or the Dingoes. Or even Dr. Eggman for most of last year's worth of comics. For whatever reason, I love the Mogul character and would try to make him as good as I envision him. I see, you think Mogul does have some potential, its just that he has not been used well. : Now then, how I would handle... : -Sonic & Sally vs. Sonic & Mina- : My pro-Mina days are not over. I see alot of potential in her. But as the recent comics have gone, I don't see her with Sonic - in an "in-love" kind of way. There isn't anything there. "The Kiss" served as only a thorn in the paw, not as a big turning point in Sonic's feelings. As of events up to S#105, I would see to some reconsiliation between Sally and Mina. Sonic and Sally would come together once more, and Mina would become the sister Sonic never had, essentially. Thank you for being clearer on this issue. From what you have stated here and considering what has happened in the comic book, how you would handle Mina is probably the best way without leaving her out of the comic book completly. Also I think your idea about Elias and pirates might work well. ------ Posted by Steffie In Reply to: Ian's Answers For Everything Holy cow, you just fixed almost 3 years worth of screw-ups! Archie's plot holes have become so big that they're falling through them instead of just tripping over them and moving on. I've got almost no hope for the comic fixing itself anymore, but hey...maybe it's possible? ------ Attention Archie: HIRE IAN POTTO AS SONIC WRITER NOW! Posted by Chazz Adams I agree! GO FOR IT! (Holds up campain banners saying "IAN POTTO FOR SONIC WRITER IN 2002!!!) I could picture it now... Ian Potto, J. Axer, Dawn Best, Patrick Spaziante and Ken Penders working together to create the most spectacular, fantastic, totally resplendent Sonic the Hedgehog comic book ever! Goodbye Ron Lim! Goodbye Karl Bollers! Goodbye 2001, the year of less then mediocre Sonic stories! Hello incredible fan-controlled Sonic comic! Wahoo!!! ATTENTION ARCHIE: If you need proof that Ian Potto can write, just check out his Other-M fan comic! It has been going strong for 13 issues, making it the most successful Sonic fan comic on the internet. It has got legions of fans who, if you hired Ian Potto as a writer, would become YOUR legions of dedicated paying customers! IAN POTTO + SONIC THE HEDGEHOG COMIC BOOK = SUCCESS! In conclusion, HIRE IAN POTTO NOW!!! Quest For Greylock! An Awesome New Weekly Webcomic! http://www.geocities.com/quest_for_greylock/main.html ---------