Mephiles the Dark

## Bio

**Mephiles the Dark** is a major antagonist in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. He was the malevolent conscience, mind and will of the sun god Solaris. Mephiles was born during the Solaris Project when the experiments on Solaris split him into Mephiles and Iblis. After his birth, Mephiles was sealed inside the Scepter of Darkness by Shadow the Hedgehog (who traveled back in time using Chaos Control) but was freed ten years later during a skirmish between Shadow, Rouge, and Dr. Eggman.

After his release, Mephiles orchestrated a centuries-long plan to release Iblis from Princess Elise and rejoin with him, which succeeded when he killed Sonic the Hedgehog. He then re-merged with Iblis, remaking Solaris, but was defeated by Sonic, Shadow, and Silver, and subsequently erased from existence.

## Appearance

Mephiles has three forms. His original form was an amorphous mass of darkness, which emitted an aura and behaved similarly to liquid. In his second form, Mephiles appeared almost identical to Shadow the Hedgehog, aside from having green eyes with slit pupils, a pale-skinned muzzle with no mouth (though his muzzle moves when he speaks, as if he does have one), and the fact that everything that is red on Shadow is a grayish-green on Mephiles. Just like Shadow, he had rings on his wrists and ankles. His third and most iconic form was a crystalline, anthropomorphic hedgehog appearance with no mouth, nose or even feet. Instead, his legs ended in a purplish mist. His eyes also change color in this form, gaining reddish-pink sclera and lime green irises, while his quills were bushier and ended in white tips. Lastly, his hands, gloves and all, became crystalline like his arms, with the fingers now ending in white-tipped claws.

## History

### Past

Mephiles was accidentally created during the Solaris Project, under the supervision of the Duke of Soleanna. In one of the Project's experiments, Solaris was split into two separate entities: Iblis, his raw power, and Mephiles, his cunning mind. As Mephiles was trying to escape the facility, he was sealed in the Scepter of Darkness by Shadow the Hedgehog, who had traveled through time by ten years before the events of the game. As Mephiles was sealed inside the scepter, he vowed that he would not forget Shadow and that one day, he would kill him.

### *Season 16-Sonic the Hedgehog* (2006)

In the intervening years, Dr. Eggman somehow acquired the Scepter of Darkness. In the present day, the Scepter was shattered during a struggle between Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge the Bat, and Mephiles was released. Mephiles absorbed Shadow's shade and transformed into a copy of Shadow; in doing so, he absorbed Shadow's powers as well. Upon gaining his new form, he then laughed in amusement at the irony about how he was resurrected by the shadow of the person who sealed him away before sarcastically thanking Shadow for releasing him. Realizing that Shadow did not know who Mephiles was (as Shadow had not yet traveled back in time to face Mephiles in the past), Mephiles transported Shadow and Rouge into the future.

Mephiles then sought to find the Chaos Emeralds in order to bring pain and despair to Princess Elise and release the "Flames of Disaster" (a.k.a. Iblis), who had been sealed inside Elise's soul until she cried. Mephiles intended to fuse with Iblis, reuniting them into a single entity, Solaris, their original persona.

To accomplish this, he traveled to the future and implied to Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat that Sonic the Hedgehog was the cause of Iblis being released, which led to the destruction of their world. Therefore, Sonic was referred to as the "Iblis Trigger" by Silver and Blaze. He sent the two back in time, having revealed his ability to them earlier when he told them that they needed to go back to the past to prevent Iblis's awakening, making them believe that killing Sonic in the present would save their future.

Along the way, as all three storylines progress, the three main characters discover how Mephiles was somehow involved in the incident which created the "Flames of Disaster", wielded by Princess Elise. Mephiles has a very pivotal role in all of the story-lines, throughout the course of the game. He has the most direct role in Shadow's story. He also has a major role in Silver's story, as he manipulates Silver and Blaze into attempting to kill Sonic so that he can finally fuse with Iblis. While he himself has a very minor role in Sonic's story, where he is only seen when Sonic, Knuckles the Echidna and Miles "Tails" Prower are eavesdropping on his conversation with Silver and Blaze that ends with them time-traveling back to present-day Soleanna, his actions are still very much prevalent to Sonic's story, especially with his encounters with Silver.

When encountering Shadow again, Mephiles attempted to break Shadow's will to fight and join him (much like Black Doom had previously tried) by revealing that in the current future, the world and an unwilling E-123 Omega would turn against Shadow and imprison him in suspended animation (while keeping his hatred for Shadow a secret). Thus, he attempted to convince Shadow to join him, saying they would both get revenge on the world. However, Shadow proved immune to Mephiles' tactics, saying that he would determine his own destiny, leading to a battle between the two of them. Though Shadow took the upper-hand, Mephiles knocked him into a wall with an energy blast and incapacitated him when he lowered his guard, but Omega intervened and drove Mephiles off. When Shadow (along with Silver after foiling his second attempt on Sonic's life) traveled back into the past at that point, he learned of Mephiles' true origin (while Silver learned that Mephiles lied about Sonic being the Iblis Trigger). Omega, meanwhile, pursued Mephiles. As he was being shot, the dark entity revealed to Omega that the latter was one that would imprison Shadow in the future, prompting the robot to shoot him with heavier artillery. Though stunned, Mephiles laughs and escapes from Omega before Shadow and Rouge arrive.

Shadow, Omega, and Rouge later encountered Mephiles in a desert temple, though they were too late to stop him from getting the Chaos Emerald there. Again, Mephiles offered Shadow a chance to join him, but Shadow, knowing Mephiles' true intentions, flat-out refused the offer. Mephiles was fought again and lost. After his seeming defeat, however, Mephiles proved immune to being imprisoned in a new Scepter of Darkness that Shadow tried to use on him, saying that it would not work on him anymore (he implies that the reason he was immune was either due to his time traveling by ten years ago to absorb Shadow's shade during the moment he was being sealed in the present timeline [English version], or simply because he has absorbed Shadow's shade and copied his power altogether [Japanese version]). Mephiles then uses two Chaos Emeralds to create an army of clones of himself. He then boasts to Shadow that he can't defeat him, and asks why he is even bothering to protect a world that will eventually turn against him. Shadow replies with: "If the whole world decides to become my enemy, then I will fight like I always have!" He then removes his Inhibitor Rings and destroys the entire army.

In the Last Story, Mephiles, having either escaped or simply survived the fight with Shadow, finds the purple Chaos Emerald. Possibly, rather than progressing onto the next scene, he traveled to the future to deceive Silver. This is not specified, but it would explain how he had the purple Chaos Emerald and the knowledge of Sonic at this point. But This would have meant that Mephiles re-assumed his non-crystalline form upon meeting Silver, and Mephiles did not interact with Silver when he first sent Shadow, Rouge and himself into the future at the beginning of Shadow's story. Eventually, however, after Silver fails his mission, he uses it to warp to Sonic and Elise's location shortly after they escape Dr. Eggman's exploding Egg Carrier. He blinds them with the Emerald's powers, and projects an energy spear that impales Sonic through his back, killing him. Elise cries over his death and, as a result, Iblis is released, allowing Mephiles to fuse with him and transform into Solaris. Solaris is soon defeated in the final battle against Shadow, Silver and a revived Sonic in their Super States before Elise goes back in time and extinguishes him when he was a mere flame.

### *Season 18*

Eggman would rediscover the scepter of darkness, and his first time meeting sonic & friends due to season 16 never happening. He would start his empire and work with Eggman to destroy sonic & friends, Later He would gather energy by a dark power planning to send everyone on earth to his hometown. His daughter by unknown DNA Mephiles kills her and that was Tails crush, Mephiles would have no sympathy for the Resistance. Sonic & friends along with everyone on earth to his hometown and traps them there with a dome betraying Eggman. Sonic would defeat him and never come back again.

## Personality

Unlike most of the villains in the *Sonic* series, who are driven by a lust for power or revenge, Mephiles (according to Shadow) only seems to crave nothing more or less than violence and destruction. He is portrayed as a heartless, malevolent, and ruthless sadist with no sense of compassion or empathy, and would do anything to accomplish his goals, even if it means taking innocent lives. Mephiles happens to take great pleasure and delight in hurting others and has been shown to have a very warped and twisted sense of humor, making him a very remorseless and unsympathetic being. For example, he made it his sole mission to cause pain to Elise throughout the entire course of the game, and even broke out into a maniacal laughter after ending Sonic's life. This is also seen when he maliciously taunts Omega by telling him he would be reprogrammed to capture Shadow. Mephiles is also highly intelligent, persuasive, deceitful, and manipulative, capable of using and manipulating people to further his evil plans. This is shown when he preyed upon Silver's frustration and desire to save the world, by deceiving him into thinking that Sonic was responsible for the devastation of his future, knowing that killing Sonic would have done the exact opposite of what Silver was trying to achieve. In addition, his intelligence was such that he could craft fallback plans in case his initial plans did not work. This was especially evident in the Last Story, where Mephiles proceeded to kill Sonic, after Silver evidently stopped trying to kill Sonic.

Perhaps what is most unsettling about him is that he is completely calm, emotionless, patient, and falsely affable, all of which help out with his manipulative nature. He is not known to lose his temper or even raise his voice, even when angered, injured, or even when in imminent danger. While not known to lose his temper, he can get enraged, shown when Shadow outright refused to join his destructive goals for the second time, but even then, did not lose his patience completely.

Mephiles also has misanthropic and even nihilistic tendencies, as evidenced in his final fight against Shadow, where he asked why Shadow even bothers fighting at all, and why Shadow even bothers defending humanity when they will inevitably persecute him later. However, it seems that he has some manners, as he bowed to Shadow after taking his form, though this was most likely done as a mocking gesture than actual politeness.

Mephiles demonstrated some fortitude, such as when he willingly let Omega beat him into submission and even laughed sadistically when the latter intensified in his attacks after he implied Omega's role in sealing away Shadow in the future.

Mephiles showed limited interest in people, taking particular interest in Shadow, Silver, Omega and Sonic, the latter only because he needed to kill him. Mephiles is shown to hold a particular hatred for Shadow since it was he who sealed him in the Scepter of Darkness. This being said, Mephiles did not acknowledge Rouge, Blaze or Elise (the former two is likely because they had little usefulness in his plans), individuals he had come in contact with or had been aware of, while the rest of the game's cast did not know of him just as much as he did them.

In the Japanese version of the game, he occasionally places emphasis on "s" sounds in a manner similar to hissing sounds in English. He also uses the pronoun "*Boku*", implying that he has a more youthful demeanor.

## Powers & Abilities

Mephiles is a being who may not have a material form at all. He has a great deal of shapeshifting skills that allow him to turn into different forms of matter, like liquid or gas, or even take another person's appearance by absorbing that individual's shadow. Subtle differences are applied, however, such as a far darker shade of various colors, a pale complexion, and bestial green eyes. He can also grow stronger by absorbing shadows, especially if it comes from the same type of shadow as the being whose shadow he absorbed earlier outside of time counts him as a very powerful character in the series. This is especially evident with his second encounter, where he managed to effortlessly escape imprisonment from another Scepter of Darkness due to his present self having gone back in time absorbing Shadow's shade while the latter was sealing away Mephiles' past self (although in the Japanese version, he merely states that he could not be sealed again due to absorbing Shadow's power via his shadow without even mentioning time travel). When he emerges from his victims' shadow to confront them, he is also shown to be much faster.

Mephiles can manipulate and move through time with an ability similar to Chaos Control. Whether or not this was due to taking Shadow's form through his shadow or it was one of his innate abilities is debatable; however, being one half of the time god Solaris, the latter seems more probable. In addition, he has enough control over his time manipulation to separate pursuing enemies, as evidenced by how he managed to escape Omega and Shadow after their first fight in the future. His primary offensive technique is a massive sphere of black energy spawned from his hands that home in on their targets. He can also use the energy spheres to move himself and others through time. Since Mephiles absorbed Shadow's shade, he has the ability to physically become the shadow itself, as seen in the first boss fight against him. Furthermore, he can alter his physical form to sink into the ground and merge with the shadow of another. He can also manipulate shadows to create "clones" of himself, although they are warped and imperfect without Chaos Emerald energy. He can also merge the clones together to make large shadow monsters.

Mephiles can blast opponents away by firing shockwaves of energy at them. Mephiles' final attack used before fusing with Iblis to become Solaris was a beam of energy that he extends from his right hand to kill Sonic. He is also capable of flight.

Mephiles appears to be immortal, surviving every fight he takes part in, and whenever he is beaten he seems to just shift into his base form. Whether or not he is capable of feeling pain is unknown; although he reacts to taking damage during his boss battles with Shadow, he merely stood and allowed himself to be shot multiple times when confronting Omega at Wave Ocean. Indeed, when defeated by Shadow a second time, he also declared himself to be immortal and invincible.

Because he is the mind and will of Solaris, Mephiles is very intelligent. This is shown in his ability as a skilled manipulator, being able to easily manipulate Silver and Blaze into nearly getting his desired result. He is also shown to have adept knowledge on using modern technology, as evidence by knowing exactly which files in Dr. Eggman's computer to use when trying to persuade Silver to assassinate Sonic. This is most likely due to his apparently endless lifespan and time travel power allowing him to study the world around him for as long as he needs to.

Mephiles is very skillful in the usage of the Chaos Emeralds' reality warping capabilities. He can release unseen shockwaves from them, have them instill visions in others, blind opponents, and warp the other six Emeralds to his location instantly using just one. Presumably in the latter's case, he utilized the Chaos Emeralds' magnetic properties to pull this off.

### Mephiles's monstrous form

*Main article: Mephiles's monstrous form*
**Mephiles's monstrous form** is a state that Mephiles reached after empowering his darkness with Chaos Emerald energy and fusing with his shadows. Creating a giant body that he controls. In this state, he can fire large lasers in addition to the increment in physical capabilities.

## Weaknesses

As a being made of darkness, Mephiles is vulnerable to light-based attacks, such as Chaos Spear, which render him immobile. His shadow-merging skills are also not infallible as intense power can force him out of other people's shadows.

## Relationships

### Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow is Mephiles' primary enemy. When Shadow came to the time of the Solaris Project and sealed him, Mephiles held fear of Shadow for how easily he stopped him, but also promised, that one day he would kill him as revenge. When Mephiles was released from the Scepter of Darkness and took Shadow's shade to gain a new form, he laughed at the irony but still thanked Shadow for mistakenly releasing him, though he was surprised that he did not know him at that point. At the time of their meeting in Flame Core however, Mephiles had changed his mind about killing Shadow and instead gained a fixation to turn him over to his side. He tried deceiving him into joining him in exterminating humanity, but Shadow refused and it came to blows between them.

In all their encounters, Mephiles showed great respect for Shadow due to his skills which only fueled his determination to convert him. Even in the final fight, Mephiles tried making Shadow join him. However, after Shadow bluntly rejected Mephiles' invitation, Mephiles finally gave up his crusade and expressed his disappointment in him before resuming his old mission to kill him.

### E-123 Omega

Omega is another adversary to Mephiles after Shadow. They never met until the battle between Mephiles and Shadow. In their first fight, Mephiles thought that Omega was no match for him and saw him a "nuisance" only to get brutally beaten. When the two later fought each other in Wave Ocean, Mephiles mocked and taunted Omega with how he was the one who sealed Shadow in the future. Omega took this insult to heart, to the point that he intensified his attacks while Mephiles faded away laughing. Omega would later take his revenge in the final battle against Mephiles alongside Shadow and Rouge.

### Silver the Hedgehog

Mephiles held little interest in Silver the Hedgehog as a person and only used him as a tool to further his ends. Using the hedgehog's desire to save his world, Mephiles deceived Silver into going back in time to kill Sonic by telling him it was the only way to ensure Iblis never appeared - in reality, this was the opposite of the truth. He deliberately separated Silver from his companion, Blaze, and almost got Silver to kill Sonic, were it not for Amy and Shadow. Along the way, Mephiles encouraged Silver to continue his mission unquestioningly, refusing to answer any of his inquiries. Once Silver discovered the truth about Mephiles and stopped hunting Sonic, Mephiles was forced to take matters into his own hands and kill Sonic himself.

### Iblis

Mephiles' main mission was to free his other half Iblis from within Princess Elise and destroy time itself. To this end, he carved a path of destruction, deceit and death, where he manipulates Silver, tried to convince Shadow to join him, and killed Sonic. Once he succeeded, Mephiles laughed in triumph before fusing with him. The extent Mephiles went to fuse with Iblis and the multiple plots he spawned for that singular goal indicates that Mephiles' only interest during his existence was to reunite with Iblis.

### Sonic the hedgehog

The two of them have never interacted, but Mephiles saw Sonic as the key to releasing Iblis from Elise and manipulated Silver by saying Sonic was the cause of Iblis destroying the future and sent the white hedgehog to assassinate Sonic. But after Silver had learned from Shadow that Mephiles tricked him, he no longer trusted Mephiles and even befriended Sonic. During the last story of the game, Mephiles successfully killed Sonic and transforming along with Iblis into Solaris. Unfortunately for Mephiles, Sonic was restored to life and Solaris, the unified Mephiles and Iblis, is disabled by Sonic, Shadow and Silver in their super forms, and later erased from existence by Elise blowing out Solaris' flame.

### Enemies

* Amy Rose
* Blaze the Cat
* Cream the Rabbit
* Cheese
* Dr. Eggman
* Khole the Fox
* Miles "Tails" Prower
* Metal Sonic
* Pete the Cat
* Princess Elise
* Richard Echidna Simions
* Silver the Hedgehog
* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Speedy the Chipmunk
* Team Dark
	+ E-123 Omega
	+ Rouge the Bat
	+ Shadow the Hedgehog (sworn enemy)
* Zooey the Mouse