Invictus Maneo/Metal Sonic

**“**All life form data, successfully copied!**”**
— Invictus Maneo selection quip
Of all the evil robots Dr. Eggman has deployed to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog, **Metal Sonic** may be his greatest and deadliest creation yet. A cold-hearted killing machine that matches his flesh counterpart's capabilities in nearly every way, he wants to prove himself superior to Sonic, even considering himself the real deal. He never manages to prevail over him however, building his contempt for the blue blur and making each fight harder than the last. Though usually showing limited personality as Eggman's slave, it's all a facade to hide his vengeful desires.

Metal Sonic originates from the 1993 game Sonic CD, and his home stage is Final Fortress.

## Basics

Metal Sonic is a middleweight rushdown character that benefits from being the game's fastest character by a landslide, a combo machine that decimates practically everything with his superb frame data. Metal Sonic is always meant to be on the offense, and as such he has few defense maneuvers.

Metal Sonic mainly relies on his claws for combat, slashing his enemies up with lengthy yet impressive combos. These attacks come out very quickly and leave little room for retaliation, especially when his two of his specials come out really quickly and both grant him escape opportunities. His airs don't stretch far but let him chain a bunch of attacks together like his ground attacks can, his floor attack and jab are also good combo starters as well as his down throw. He isn't limited to his claws however, with his heavy forward tilt having him blast a huge laser beam from his chest and his heavy up tilt having him blast a huge chain of electricity towards the sky. His neutral air has him activate his ring spark field to electrocute and hit his enemies numerous times. Finally, all of his throws have him use Chaos Control to warp them a far distance away from himself.

Metal Sonic's potential is limited by his lack of reliable finishers, by his floaty physics making him easy to knock around, and by his lack of projectiles, and when combined with his poor defensive options, he can be easy to wreck.

## Specials

* **Special A: Copycat**
Metal Sonic will scan any target before himself, processing them and stealing their entire special moveset for himself, overwriting the rest of his data. This takes about half a second. However, he can discard their data anytime just by holding down the Special A command, which will purge the moves from his memory.
* **Special B: V. Maximum Overdrive Attack**
Metal Sonic channels energy inside himself and starts overloading his circuits as he charges up his strongest attack. When the player lets go, he will spin and dash forward in a massive orange energy field, ready to skewer his target. The longer the charge, the bigger and stronger the attack, and the further it takes him.
* **Special C: Chaos Control**
Metal Sonic will hold out a gray Chaos Emerald, muttering the name of the move as he warps in whichever direction the player desires. Given how quick it is, he can use this move to distance himself from his target or play mind games with them, as he regains the ability to attack as soon as he finishes warping.
* **Special D: Black Shield**
Metal Sonic will surround himself near-immediately with a black shield, which traps and then launches targets away from him, serving as a good combo finisher. It eats anything thrown at Metal Sonic with only Showstopper moves being exempt from this rule. If used on an incline, Metal Sonic slides down.
* **Showstopper: Metal Overlord**
Metal Sonic will send a scanning laser across the horizon. Any foes it makes contact with will get slammed down against a platform as Sonic's metallic doppelganger transforms into a hideous dragon-like beast, hitting them with a barrage of attacks while biting at them, dealing high damage overall.