Mephiles The Dark

Mephiles' third and most recognizable form was a crystalline evolution of his Shadow form. It still has no mouth, but now has no nose, or even feet, his legs instead ending in crystalline stubs with a purple aura. His quills and ears are bushier and end in white tips, and are pliable despite their crystalline texture. His arms are also disconnected at the elbows, leaving a gap. His eyes change color, with lime green irises that closely resemble those of Iblis along with dark magenta sclera with faint stitch patterns. Ten years before the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), 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: his raw power, Iblis, and his cunning mind, Mephiles. As Mephiles fled in the shape of a thick darkness, he was pursued by Shadow the Hedgehog, who had traveled back in time together with Silver the Hedgehog to witness Mephiles and Iblis' origins. Shadow sealed Mephiles inside the Scepter of Darkness given to him by the Duke and in the process, Mephiles vowed to remember Shadow and one day take his revenge. Eventually, Dr. Eggman acquired the Scepter of Darkness as part of his plan to harness Solaris. It was stored at his base in White Acropolis, before it was stolen by Rouge the Bat. The Scepter then shattered in a scuffle between Eggman, Rouge, and Shadow in Kingdom Valley, which released Mephiles. His darkness dove into Shadow's shadow and formed a body by aborbing Shadow's shade and mimicking his form. Mephiles laughed at the irony that he was freed by the same person who sealed him away, before realizing that Shadow did not know him yet (as Shadow had yet to time travel at this point). He then transported himself, Shadow, and Rouge two hundred years into the future, beginning his plan to recreate Solaris and consume all time and space. In the future, Mephiles obtained the purple Chaos Emerald. He then approached Silver the Hedgehog, who was locked in an eternal struggle trying to destroy the monstrous Iblis. Mephiles tempted Silver with a way to stop Iblis from awakening in the first place, showing him a vision of Sonic the Hedgehog and calling him the "Iblis Trigger" who had summoned Iblis. Silver accepted the mission to kill Sonic to save the future, unaware of Mephiles' true intentions. Mephiles then transported himself, Silver, and Blaze the Cat two hundred years into the past, to the game's present time. Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna briefly witnessed this meeting from afar, having been sent to the same time period by Dr. Eggman's Solaris prototype. In the present, Mephiles next appeared in Soleanna New City, ordering Silver to pursue Sonic into Radical Train and refusing to answer the hedgehog's questions about the mission, before disappearing again. He must have traveled back into the future at some point, as he baited Shadow into facing him alone in Flame Core. There he revealed that Shadow had been betrayed and imprisoned by the humans who feared his power, and tempted him to join his side to get revenge on humanity. However, Shadow refused and instead attacked Mephiles. The two seemed evenly matched until the arrival of E-123 Omega, who helped turn the tables against Mephiles. He fled back into the present day, his attackers jumping into the portal after him. Though Mephiles shook their pursuit momentarily, he was eventually accosted by Omega again in Wave Ocean. Enduring high amounts of abuse from the robot's cannons, Mephiles gloated that in the future Omega would be reprogrammed to help the humans capture Shadow. Mephiles then faded away once more, leaving Omega to share the news with Shadow and Rouge. Mephiles then headed to Dusty Desert to obtain the yellow Chaos Emerald, beginning to prepare for the final step of his plan. Shadow, Omega, and Rouge had correctly assumed as such, cornering him in a sanctum there. The three defeated Mephiles and reduced him to darkness once more, letting Shadow attempt to seal him back in the Scepter of Darkness again. However, Mephiles easily broke free, boasting that he had obtained enough power that he could not be sealed away anymore. He used his and Shadow's Chaos Emeralds to summon an army of clones and again questioned why Shadow would fight for a world that would ultimately despise him, but Shadow reaffirmed his stance, discarding his Limiter Rings to make short work of the army. In the Last Story, Mephiles appears in Soleanna Forest. Having either escaped or simply survived the fight with Shadow, he grasps the purple Chaos Emerald and resolves to complete his plan where Silver failed. Hunting down Sonic and Princess Elise nearby, he blinds them both with the Emerald's powers, and projects an energy spear that impales Sonic through his back, killing him. Elise cries over his death and, because of this, the Flames of Disaster are released. After Mephiles completes the job himself and laughs triumphantly, he summons all the Chaos Emeralds to reunite with Iblis and assume their complete form as Solaris. Despite this victory, Solaris is soon defeated in a final battle against Shadow, Silver, and a revived Sonic in their Super States. Afterwards, Sonic and Elise go back in time to extinguish Solaris before the Solaris Project can occur, eliminating it and making it so that Mephiles was never born. When the Time Eater created White Space, echoes of past temporal alterations were stirred up, including Mephiles. His Boss Gate is hidden in an underground chamber in White Space. Shadow fights him in a sanctum in Dusty Desert, the same location of their final battle in Shadow Episode in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Mephiles emerges from the Scepter of Darkness and immediately attempts to kill Shadow with his crystalline energy blade, but the latter dodges his attack. Mephiles reveals that he plans to defeat Shadow and then restore himself to the timeline, aware of his own displacement, but quickly realizes that Shadow does not remember him at all and deems Mephiles a random threat. After being beaten by Shadow, Mephiles lashes out once more and proclaims his desire to exist. However, Shadow defeats him and seals him back within the Scepter of Darkness, declaring that there is no future for him, ever. After the Time Eater's defeat and the restoration of White Space, Mephiles was presumably trapped outside of the timeline once more. Born from experiments performed on the sun god Solaris, Mephiles can be described as a sentient being of pure darkness who craves nothing but destruction. He is a heartless and cunning sadist with no sense of compassion or empathy, who will do anything to accomplish his goal of fusing with his split half, Iblis, to assume their complete form and consume all of time. Despite his destructive agenda, Mephiles maintains a calm, courteous, and intelligent façade. He speaks with composure that suggests wisdom, underlined by a hint of diabolical contempt for everyone he addresses. He uses dramatic and theatrical body language, often gesturing or posing to reinforce his words. He never loses his temper, even when disappointed by Shadow's refusals to join him or when overpowered in battle. His mockingly affable nature is also shown when he gracefully bows to Shadow after taking his form. The only time he ever loses his composure is when faced with his exclusion from existence in Shadow Generations, where he frantically proclaims that he wants to exist. Unlike most villains in the series, Mephiles tends to rely on strategy and manipulation over brute force, hiding in the dark and waiting for the right moment to strike. While he has a sense of pride and considerable fighting ability, he has no qualms with fleeing a battle to live another day. He tormented Shadow and Omega with grim prophecies of their futures, hoping to break their spirits. He manipulated Silver the Hedgehog into doing the dirty work of killing Sonic for him, only finishing the job himself after realizing Silver was no longer useful to him due to Sliver learning his true nature. When attempting to sway Shadow to his side, Mephiles calls the humans foolish and asks him to help teach the world a lesson, suggesting he holds disdain for humanity, The Prima Games guide for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) further imply that Solaris, and Mephiles by extension, has psychological wounds from the Solaris Project that drove him to this extreme, with the Sun God before hand being docile. However, Shadow claims Mephiles has no real desire for revenge and only craves destruction, that he has no grudge against humanity and is merely driven by his blood lust, although his words are to be taken with a grain of salt due to him not knowing Mephiles that thoroughly. Mephiles' second grudge is against Shadow himself, whom he despises for sealing him in the Scepter of Darkness for ten years. After Mephiles' defeat in Sonic '06, his exclusion from the timeline has left him with a desperate desire to return to existence, and has only reinforced his bitter, seething rage and hatred towards Shadow for stripping him of his godhood and foiling his plans, which is only amplified further when he realizes that his arch enemy no longer recognizes him. At this point, Mephiles has lost his authoritative and manipulative edge, lashing out in anguish like a cornered animal. Do note that in the Japanese version of Shadow Generations, he retains his personality from Sonic '06 until the moment before he gets defeated by Shadow again.