Anybody else sick of Chaos Control?

[Spectre the Hechidnat]

Chaos Control

It's been a major element of the Sonic franchise since Sonic Adventure 2, being used by Shadow, Sonic, and various other characters for various purposes. Whether named specifically or implied to be such through dialogue, it has served as both weapon and plot device in virtually every game since it was introduced and extensively in the Sonic X anime. The Archie Comics have seen more use of the technique than any other media-after all, the comics-verse was playing around with Chaos Energy manipulation long before Shadow reared his brooding anti-hero head.

However, as important and popular an element as Chaos Control is, it's starting to wear a bit thin, particularly in regards to how often the comics have made use of it of late. In particular, it seems that Chaos Control is the go-to plot device for all the special events that we've gotten in the past few years:

1. The first Genesis Wave altered reality to create a world that blended elements of the early Genesis games and SatAM for the Genesis anniversary storyline. This was effectively Chaos Control on a grander scale than previously seen.
2. When the time came to wrap up said storyline, Super Sonic used Chaos Control to restore reality to the way it had been beforehand.
3. When Eggman and Wily teamed up, Chaos Control was employed in the form of yet another Genesis Wave to create two altered worlds-a Sonic world closer to the games universe and a Mega Man world moved into its own future.
4. Eggman and Wily's ultimate end goal was to employ Chaos Control with all seven Chaos Emeralds to launch the Super Genesis Wave, which would allow them to rework reality without any apparent restrictions.
5. Sonic and Mega Man's answer to this was once again Chaos Control, which saw the restoration of Mega Man's world to its previous state. Of course, Super Sonic's use was disrupted by Eggman, and the thus corrupted Chaos Control resulted in the new reality that now serves as the setting for Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe.

All of this was somewhat easy to put up with, especially given the legal difficulties that necessitated use numbers 3-5. However, the current buildup point of Worlds Unite has it looking like Chaos Control may have to be employed yet again in order to put the Archie Multiverse in order, undo certain events, and possibly erase the memories of various individuals from different worlds-with the possible exception of the Sonic cast-in order to get the books back on track for their post-Worlds Unite storyline. It's not confirmed of course, but it's looking extremely unlikely that any other course will be employed.

So I feel the need to ask-is every special event in this comic going to end with Chaos Control?

[Penguin God]

Of course it will. The problem isn't really Chaos Control though, more accurately it's that all these big arcs are the same plot with the same solution. It's all a repeat, not just the ending.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Chaos control shows up every time when reality is being messed up, what's so suprising about that? It's like being annoyed that every time when Tornado gets broke, Tails is the one to fix it (since he ism you know, a mechanic).

If anything I'm annoyed how meanigles that term is now. It started as a technique to warp space (read: teleport), but then it started messing with time to, and now it's can reshape reality. Does that mean that every time we go Super, that person can change everything? It's one step from becoming deux ex machina that can do anything.
And there is problem who can use it. Ultimate Life Form (obviously) and Sonic (mystery that will never be explained). Then Metal copied than power (makes sense), Black Doom and Silver (which opens room for tons of speculations) and now even Mega Man can do it...quoting SomeCallMeJohnny "(list of sonic games) taugh me that pretty much anyone can use Chaos Control if he belives strong enough"

[Polish Pete]

I should probably point out that the concept of Chaos Control has been dropped (or at least never mentioned again) after Sonic '06. The only medium where Chaos Control is still present is the Archie comics.

[MetalSkulkBane]

I should probably point out that the concept of Chaos Control has been dropped (or at least never mentioned again) after Sonic '06. The only medium where Chaos Control is still present is the Archie comics.

That's beacause using other characters and trying serious story (serious, not necessary good) writting was dropped after 06. There was few last tries (Black Knight, Rush Adventure) but stories slowly changed from Adventures to Colors formula.

[Polish Pete]

I should probably point out that the concept of Chaos Control has been dropped (or at least never mentioned again) after Sonic '06. The only medium where Chaos Control is still present is the Archie comics.

That's beacause using other characters and trying serious story (serious, not necessary good) writting was dropped after 06. There was few last tries (Black Knight, Rush Adventure) but stories slowly changed from Adventures to Colors formula.

That, and they may have probably realized how much of a plot convenience this actually became over the years. Probably.

[squeakyboots13]

I should probably point out that the concept of Chaos Control has been dropped (or at least never mentioned again) after Sonic '06. The only medium where Chaos Control is still present is the Archie comics.

Does Shadow using it during his fight in Generations not count?

[Godzillabrawler]

Of course it will. The problem isn't really Chaos Control though, more accurately it's that all these big arcs are the same plot with the same solution. It's all a repeat, not just the ending.

I agree with what PG is saying, but I'd like to elaborate a little with my own thoughts.

Dimensional rewriting is not a story that gets tired by repetition alone. Marvel has been overwritten twice to my knowledge, and I'm not as big of a Marvel nerd as I wish I was. House of M was rewritten by Scarlet Witch, and now Doom has created Battleworld in Secret Wars. Scarlet Witch reset the world, but there was a specific trigger of some kind, and obviously Secret Wars is ongoing so who knows how that will end. My point is that Marvel has different ways of being changed and then reverted - there's enough high-level beings in Marvel to facilitate this, at least to my knowledge. The Infinity Gauntlet, Scarlet Witch, whatever Doom did - there's different ways of going about it.

But in Sonic, which is a relatively simple universe when it comes to these sorts of things, relies completely on the Chaos Emeralds and Chaos Energy (even if Sega and the New-252 canon tippy-toe around calling it that). So whenever we have a universal re-write, it's because chaos energy was involved. There's literally no other way to reset unless time travel is involved, and even then, that's a can of worms no one wants to open after the great catastrophe of '06 (which I still have never played). So whenever we have something sock reality in the gut, the only way to fix it is Chaos Control. It's basically a blank check for the plot - need something, might as well use Chaos Control. Now, like I said, time travel is a separate entity, but even then, Chaos Control was shown to be able to manipulate time in '06, as bad as it allegedly was. So what's stopping the writers from saying, "screw it, we'll use chaos control"?

Reality rewriting isn't necessarily the problem, it's just that the Sonic series as a whole lacks any options for approaching it. It's either Chaos Control or nothing. Either way, that's my two cents and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

P.S. That's right Bumbleking, I've actually dropped by to talk about Sonic for once. Crazy, right? :)

[Azul]

But I like Chaos Control. The fact that it does all those things only shows how versatile it is as opposed to just manipulating space time.

[qmaster254]

edit: wrong topic post, sorry :oops:

[The Jazzyman]

Chaos control shows up every time when reality is being messed up, what's so suprising about that? It's like being annoyed that every time when Tornado gets broke, Tails is the one to fix it (since he ism you know, a mechanic).

If anything I'm annoyed how meanigles that term is now. It started as a technique to warp space (read: teleport), but then it started messing with time to, and now it's can reshape reality. Does that mean that every time we go Super, that person can change everything? It's one step from becoming deux ex machina that can do anything.
And there is problem who can use it. Ultimate Life Form (obviously) and Sonic (mystery that will never be explained). Then Metal copied than power (makes sense), Black Doom and Silver (which opens room for tons of speculations) and now even Mega Man can do it...quoting SomeCallMeJohnny "(list of sonic games) taugh me that pretty much anyone can use Chaos Control if he belives strong enough"

On the topic of 'anybody can use chaos control,' I'm pretty sure that anybody can do it that has access to chaos energy and can manipulate it.