Infinite

**Infinite** (インフィニット, *Infinitto*), formerly known as the "**Ultimate Mercenary**" (究極傭兵, *Kyūkyoku Yōhei*), is a fictional character and antagonist in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. He is a mysterious, anthropomorphic jackal with a strange ability, and was formerly the leader of the Jackal Squad mercenary group. During a raid, Infinite was hired by Dr. Eggman to protect his facility, only for him and his squad to fall at the hands of Shadow the Hedgehog. Ashamed of his loss, Infinite decided to officially aligned himself with Dr. Eggman to obtain the power of the Phantom Ruby as a means of not only becoming stronger or help Eggman to conquer the world, but to also abandon his "weak", past self.

With his newfound power, Infinite aided Eggman by helping him expand the Eggman Empire to its largest size to date after defeating Sonic the Hedgehog. Near the end of the war with the Resistance though, Infinite would engage Sonic and the Avatar on multiple occasions until he was defeated during the decisive battle for the planet.

"*That day, I gave up my own unsightly face. And I let go of the old me, the one that was so weak, so that I could become stronger. And then, at last... I obtained the power. The power to make all yield to my will. I... was... REBORN!*"

—Infinite.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice actor:* Liam O'Brien (English), Takashi Kondō (Japanese), Not Known (French), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), NotKnown (Poland), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Portuguese)

### Appearance

Infinite is an anthropomorphic jackal with black fur. He has white long and stiff dreadlocks, a white collar of some kind, and white stripes on his back. He also has a bushy tail with a white tip, and wears black gloves with silver streaks on the back, covering his sharp fingers. He also has pointed, metal black hi-tops, with his personal infinity symbol engraved on red soles. His right eye is colored blue, though he has a scar across it, and his left eye is yellow. He also has a medium-long white muzzle with cheek tuffs and a black nose.

After abandoning his old identity, Infinite began wearing a silver-colored mask with large ears with white and black circular patterns on the inside, with the right ear being black with white circular patterns and the left being white with black circular patterns. While his left eye is visible through a red visor, his right eye is covered by a black lightning bolt-shaped piece, similar to an eyepatch, that is connected to his mask's right ear.

Infinite possesses the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype that is always on his chest. When Infinite channels the power of the gemstone, he can surround himself in a red aura, with red, glitch-like pixel particles scattered throughout his body.

When hovering, Infinite gains a red aura, with red, glitch-like pixel particles.

* Hair Color: Black, white
* Body Color: White
* Eye Color: Blue (right eye), yellow (left eye)
* Age: Not Known
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Personality

Infinite is an enigmatic and mysterious, yet lethal and dark figure. He is cold and stern, though deeply sadistic and cruel. Prior to becoming Infinite, however, he had at least some degree of care for his men in Jackal Squad, as he angrily confronted Shadow over the destruction of the Jackal Squad before fighting him. He is also extremely sadistic, taking great pleasure in the pain and torment of others. He even willingly lets the Avatar run unharmed, just so he could relish in their terrified screams. His violent disposition was present even before his transformation into Infinite, as evidenced by his striking the Phantom Ruby with his sword, causing it to reveal a desolate, war-torn world. It also seems that he greatly dislikes stagnation, admitting as he joined Eggman that he had grown tired and bored of the world, and desired to change it, evidently for the worst, just to provide some amusement.

Extremely collected and confident with a cynical, nonchalant demeanor, he presents himself as perceptive and aloof, toying with and barely sparing his enemies a thought even in direct combat. He also appears rather arrogant and sure about his strength, as he often exhibits a sense of superiority when talking to others and shows little respect for figures like Sonic. His arrogance was evident even before becoming Infinite, as he constantly referred to himself as the "Ultimate Mercenary". Fittingly, he also mocks those who find strength in others, believing that one can only rely on themselves, and that friends and allies are nothing more than a "fleeting illusion". He is, however, able to acknowledge attributes to his opponents he deemed commendable, as he acknowledged before attacking Omega that the latter was "spirited" and during his rematch with Sonic, he begrudgingly acknowledges that Sonic had improved since their last time. His violent disposition was present even before his transformation into Infinite, as evidenced by his touching the Phantom Ruby causing it to show a world that was desolate.

His most notable character trait, however, was his inferiority complex, especially regarding any perceived weakness he might have. This was most especially apparent when he fought Shadow and was easily beaten by him. After Shadow bluntly told him he was worthless and told him to not show "[Infinite's] pathetic face" to him ever again, Infinite proceeded to rage on how he was not weak before ultimately subjecting himself to being fused with the Phantom Ruby prototype, and completely discarding any trace of his old identity, to the point where he refused to show his own face. Other indications of this trait were shown where he expressed disgust at Eggman calling a retreat, viewing it as a tacit admission to weakness. Even after his defeat, Infinite tries to insist that he can fight on, even as he is pulled from the battlefield. This inferiority complex is implied to have developed into a mad obsession with strength. When Shadow runs through a Phantom Ruby-made Green Hill, Infinite's thoughts are echoed through a false Omega, constantly repeating that he was not weak, almost like a paranoid reassurance, showing Infinite as a truly insecure individual.

Owing to his obsession with strength, Infinite also demonstrates a Darwinian view of life, which is especially evident with his fight against the Avatar at Metropolis, where he declares that the weak ultimately exist solely to be vanquished by the strong, and later his admission that he underestimated how desperately the feeble will cling to life when the Avatar managed to hold their own against him.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Jackal Squad
* Eggman Empire
	+ Doctor Eggman
	+ Decoe
	+ Bocoe
	+ Bokkun
	+ Jack Robotnik
	+ Cubot
	+ Orbot
* Metal Sonic
* Replicas
	+ Chaos
* Deadly Six
	+ Zavok
	+ Zazz
	+ Zeena
	+ Master Zik
	+ Zomom
	+ Zor

### Enemies

* Team Sonic
	+ Sonic the Hedgehog
	+ Tails the Fox
	+ Knuckles the Echidna
* Team Rose
	+ Amy Rose the Hedgehog
* Silver the Hedgehog
* Team Dark
	+ Shadow the Hedgehog
	+ Rouge the Bat
	+ E-123 Omega
* Team Chaotix
	+ Vector the Crocodile
	+ Espio the Chameleon
	+ Charmy the Bee

## Powers and Abilities

Described as powerful, Infinite is said to possess a strange ability. His power surpasses even that of Sonic's, whom he was able to defeat in combat with relative ease (a feat prior performed only by Shadow), not only once, but *twice*. He was also able to effortlessly defeat E-123 Omega. Likewise, Infinite was also capable of defeating Silver the Hedgehog with ease. His power was such that not even the Miles Electric was able to give an accurate reading of his capabilities.

After gaining the Phantom Ruby's power, Infinite obtained unprecedented speed and acceleration that surpasses even that of Sonic himself, able to easily dodge one of Sonic's attacks even when he was boosting at point-blank range and move several meters almost instantaneously. He possesses far greater strength than Sonic as well, enough to knock away someone of Sonic's size with enough force to crack a concrete arch upon impact. Prior to being fused with the Phantom Ruby, he was skilled at swordplay, and was shown to be fairly fast and agile in his movements, although his speed was easily outclassed by Shadow's Chaos Control abilities.

Due to Infinite's fusion with the finalized version of the Phantom Ruby prototypes, he acquired the ability to generate, destroy and/or manipulate virtual realities. The virtual realities in question are said to be illusions, and these illusions are generated by distorting the spatial (depth) and visual (optical) information perceived by a living target of intention. The effects of the virtual realities created by the Phantom Ruby are said to be potent enough to cause any illusory injury due to their influence, to affect the victim's physical body. In battle, Infinite primarily uses the Phantom Ruby to generate a large supply of crimson red cubes that he can skillfully and willingly move around. If an opponent is struck by these cubes, they will be sent into a Virtual Reality where they are assailed by objects manifested by the Ruby's power. He can generate and arrange a large numbers of these cubes into a variety of different forms. He can also use them to manifest other objects, such as turrets for example.

Infinite can also use the ruby's power to create virtual reality constructs that cause victims to falsely perceive the presence of other characters, such as Zavok and Chaos. These constructs are described by Shadow as having "mass and form, but no heart or soul". These constructs, so long as Infinite desires, can also carry the memories, powers, and personalities of the originals. He can also alter them to make them stronger than the originals such as making Metal Sonic bigger and granting him the ability to use electrified versions of his energy cubes as well as materialize objects to use as a shield. Infinite can also use the Ruby's power to alter his own appearance such as making himself bigger for his final battle with Sonic. It is implied that he may also be able to use the replicas' abilities as well, as during his final fight with Sonic and the Avatar, Infinite used the V. Maximum Overdrive Attack, which was an ability that only Metal Sonic was known to perform.

Using the Phantom Ruby's power, Infinite is also capable of limited spatial manipulation, allowing him to distort gravity and create Null Spaces, which are seemingly inescapable voids in space-time that function similar to that of a black hole. Some of Infinite's other Phantom Ruby-based skills include the ability to fire energy blasts from his hands, the ability to teleport in a manner that makes it seems as if his body is being deconstructed into cuboid objects, and the ability to levitate through the atmosphere and through space.

### Skills

* Super speed
* Enhanced strength
* Energy cube manipulation
* Object manifestation
* Energy beam emission
* Levitation
* Leadership skills
* Swordsmanship

### Weaknesses

While the Phantom Ruby's powers of illusion are formidable, they can be countered by someone who has a Phantom Ruby as well, as the Avatar was able to survive Infinite's illusion during their fight in Metropolis and was able to foil Eggman's plan to destroy the Resistance with a virtual replica of the sun. Likewise, the Phantom Ruby's illusions only work if the target is within the Ruby's field of effect. Also, the Phantom Ruby requires a tremendous amount of energy to function, such as the energy provided by the Death Egg. Should its energy supply be cut off, the Phantom Ruby would be rendered inert. This weakness, however, was not fully exploited as Eggman had a back-up energy source built under Metropolis in the event of the Death Egg's destruction.

Another weakness of Infinite's is his extreme sense of pride and constant need to satisfy his sadism. When Infinite destroys the Avatar's squad, he willingly lets them run away unharmed as he enjoyed the sounds of their screams. Later, when he has Sonic at his mercy a second time, rather than finishing him there and then, he just leaves, seeing Sonic as something he need not bother himself with, something that Eggman himself chewed the jackal out for. Both these actions proved to be Infinite's downfall when Sonic and the Avatar ended up beating him together.

### Weapons

Prior to receiving the Phantom Ruby's power, Infinite possessed a red sword, which he used with great proficiency, using it to slice through robots with ease.

## History

### Past

Infinite was once the leader of the Jackal Squad, whom decided to invade Eggman's Facility one day to steal his devices for a bounty. Dr. Eggman, who recently discovered the Phantom Ruby, used the newly-found gemstone to conjure an army of Egg Pawns, giving the Jackal Squad some opposition. Infinite commanded his forces to handle the robots as he targeted Eggman straight ahead. Infinite's sword, however, struck against the Phantom Ruby, giving a vision of what Infinite desired the most: a desolate, destroyed world. Eggman, who also saw Infinite's vision, realized that he and the jackal leader together can accomplish their goals. Offering Infinite a chance at joining his side as the Jackal Squad was cornered, Infinite accepted the proposal.

Later on, Infinite and his squad eventually fell victim to Shadow the Hedgehog, who infiltrated Eggman's Facility. After being berated by Eggman for his incompetence at protecting the facility, Infinite ambushed Shadow, only to be completely subdued by the brooding hedgehog. Calling the jackal leader worthless, Infinite broke into a tantrum, realizing just how weak and humiliating he truly was.

Infinite would then seek out the alligence of the Eggman Empire, fusing with the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype in an attempt to become stronger and seek out vengeance against Shadow. With his newfound power, Infinite abandoned the former, weak version of himself, gaining a mask to hide his scars, symbolizing his rebirth.

Shortly after obtaining his powers, Infinite was dispatched by Dr. Eggman to deal with E-123 Omega, who had proceeded to slaughter a whole lot of Eggman's henchmen on his way through Eggman's base. Confronting Omega, Infinite proceeded to effortlessly defeat the robot with his abilities.

## Notes & Trivia

* Infinite is the second *Sonic* character to be depicted with heterochromia, with the first being Commander Abraham Tower.
* Infinite has a brief cameo in the "Come Join the Eggman Empire" propaganda video nearing the end, where he emerges from behind the Egg Pawns when Eggman claims that the possibilities for those under his Empire are "infinite", acting as a subtle pun as well as a foreshadowing.
* Infinite is the most frequently fought boss in *Sonic Forces*, fought a total of three times over the course of the game.
* Infinite is the second villain which disparagingly refers to Sonic as a rat with Sonic correcting him regarding his actual species. The first is Erazor Djinn.
* Concept artwork for the stage Null Space implied that Infinite would have been encountered in the level to some capacity.
* Infinite is one of two bosses who disappear after their boss fight, the other one being Eggman, as it is unknown what happened to them