E-123 Omega


 * Omega redirects here. You may be looking for the Omega Care Unit. Or you could be searching for E-102 Gamma. Or if you're looking for the story Sonic Adventure 2.5 Omega, see Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 125.

E-123 "Omega" is a battle robot created by Dr. Eggman in 3236 and is the only known remaining unit of the E-100 Series line. After being kept in storage for over a year, Omega was finally released in 3237 with a mission to destroy the traitorous E-102 Gamma. Although successful in his mission, Gamma managed to reprogram Omega to grant him a soul before being destroyed. Following this and a conversation with Shadow the Hedgehog, Omega decided to follow in his "brother's" footsteps and fight the Eggman Empire as an agent of the Guardian Units of the Nation, where he later became a member of Team Dark along with Shadow and Rouge the Bat.

Year In Storage
Omega was built in 3236 as part of the E-100 Series line of robots, specifically made for combat against Eggman's greatest enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog, with the side-mission of covering Mobius in "glorious fire and doom". But Omega wasn't activated until over a year after his creation and had been left to gather dust for all that time, eventually coming to rest in the Eggdome's storage facility. (SU: #3)

First Mission & Joining G.U.N.
E-123 Omega was finally activated in 3237 just prior to the invasion of the Eggdome. Dr. Eggman ordered Omega to hunt down and destroy E-102 Gamma to guarantee his rematch with Sonic would go as planned. At first, Omega refused his assignment as he was built only to destroy Sonic, but Eggman informed Omega that he alone would deal with Sonic and threatened to put him back in storage for a decade if Omega did not follow his orders. Omega then flew off of the top of the Eggdome and began his mission. (StH: #198, #199, SU: #3)



After locating E-102 Gamma in some remote mountains hours later, Omega was forced to battle the rogue robot as well as G.U.N. agent Shadow the Hedgehog. Delighted to fight an opponent stronger than Sonic, Omega focused on Shadow until Gamma fired at him, reminding Omega of his primary objective. Shadow then knocked over Omega to buy Gamma some time. Intent on completing his mission, Omega temporarily disposed of Shadow by using his arm cannon to capture and blast him away over the tree-tops, vowing to return and finish him off later. Omega then chased after Gamma, and after a lengthy verbal exchange of their respective advantages and disabilities, Gamma managed to temporarily subdue Omega by blasting him off his feet. However, Gamma admitted he was outdated and that E-123 was the true better, which Omega took as a sign of surrender. Gamma told Omega his soul would remain even if he was destroyed, but Omega paid no heed to it, saying robots did not have souls. Gamma then uploaded the programming that gave him free will into Omega before his robotic body was destroyed by Omega's barrage. (SU: #3)

After the smoke had cleared, Omega became overwhelmed by his new programming and free will and thought he'd been infected with a virus just as Shadow arrived. "Gamma" then spoke through Omega, informing them that he had uploaded his coding into E-123 and given him a soul. The coding integrated into Omega and he and Gamma became one. With a new respect for life, Omega was convinced by Shadow to fight against the Eggman Empire like Gamma had as a G.U.N. agent in his quest for vengeance against his creator. After Omega created a grave marker made out of rocks for Gamma, he declared his want for continuing Gamma's life's mission and he and Shadow were picked up by a G.U.N. helicopter and brought back to G.U.N. HQ. Upon arriving at the base, Omega underwent an examination by Hope Kintobor and met with Chief Commander Abraham Tower, the latter of which considered him a fine "replacement" for Gamma. (SU: #3)

Member of Team Dark
After Shadow and Rouge failed to obtain a Chaos Emerald from Feist in the Special Zone, a disheartened Shadow engaged in a sparring match in G.U.N. HQ's gym with Omega, who noticed Shadow was "agitated". Omega said that Shadow should not let his failure concern him, as Omega had been cleared for active duty and would accompany Shadow and Rouge on their next attempt to obtain an emerald in the Special Zone, saying they would have an advantage this time as he intended to "blast" Feist. This statement angered Shadow and he threw Omega to the floor in a rage. Omega was then left wondering if it was something he had said as he watched Shadow leave the gym. (SU: #4)

A while later, Omega accompanied Rouge and Shadow (with confidence restored) on their second attempt to retrieve a Chaos Emerald, this time as a member of the newly formed Team Dark. After being teleported via Hope's Zone-Breaching Platform, Omega and the rest of Team Dark were given a new challenge by Feist upon their arrival in the Special Zone. Their task was to retrieve a Chaos Emerald from the centre of a cube-shaped maze to claim it as their own. With help from Shadow's speed, they quickly found the emerald above a floor of spikes, but Feist encased it within a box made of gems and they failed to get through it and snag the emerald in time. Feist then teleported Team Dark and the emerald out of the maze and began to mock them in the palm of his hand. The trio then initiated "Plan B" and Omega attacked Feist with his weapons full in the face as a distraction while Rouge and Shadow stole the emerald from the Special Zone's master. Feist became enraged by this, but Team Dark escaped thanks to Shadow's use of Chaos Control. Omega and the two Mobians then returned to G.U.N. HQ, and Rouge complimented Omega on his work, who replied it was "only a small megaton of ordinance." (SU: #4)

Sol Searching
Omega and Shadow were later called upon to assist their teammate, Rouge, in locating the source of a mysterious energy reading; namely, a Sol Emerald. The emerald was difficult to track due to irregularities in their readings and Rouge eventually stumbled across Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Blaze the Cat and NICOLE in her handheld form. The two power members of Team Dark then tailed Rouge as she earned the trust of the others searching for the Sol Emerald, ready to assist when she needed back-up. That moment came right after Rouge stole the Sol Emerald and got herself cornered by Blaze. Omega and Shadow blasted through rock to land behind Rouge, who delivered a warning to them to stay back or else the robot and hedgehog would strike. To Omega and Rouge's surprise, Blaze revealed she knew Shadow and said he'd betrayed her generosity for giving him a Chaos Emerald, though he said the situation had changed. (SU: #21, #22)



When Team Rose refused to back down, Rouge ordered Omega to attack and he unleashed his arsenal with a cry of, "Yippie-ki-yay, pastel-colored resistance!" To his and Rouge's astonishment, Blaze created a wall of fire that "trumped" Omega's barrage and the robot was then attacked with the cat's flames while Shadow was voicing his objections to the assault. Awestruck by her destructive power, Omega fell down in front of Blaze and said, "I like you! Let us burn things together!" leaving the princess thoroughly speechless. A fight broke out over the Sol Emerald and when the gem landed in Cream's hands, Omega cornered the rabbit girl, only for her to throw it in his face and riccochete off him. The jewel eventually landed in the arms of Cream's pet Chao, Cheese, who flew into the Great Forest at his owner's command, and when Rouge took Blaze's Sol Emerald as a consolation prize, Shadow attempted to use Chaos Control only for the gem to blow out a raging inferno and left Omega and his team momentarily dazed. Though scorched, Omega and Team Dark soon recovered and went after Team Rose with the robot unleashing gunfire at Amy before going in pursuit of Blaze and Cream, tearing down tree cover with his weapons. Cheese then knocked into the robot's head and the distracted Omega received another minor dose of Blaze's powers of pyrokinesis which was cut short due to a sneak attack by Rouge who rendered her unconscious. After Shadow had knocked out and captured Amy, Cream and Cheese then attempted to help their friends, wielding a stick and rock respectively, only for Omega to grab the "little squishy thing" and Cheese in his hands from behind, taunting her. The automaton was then taken aback as Cream started crying her eyes out, saying that everyone was being so mean and that Team Rose didn't even have the Sol Emerald anymore. Omega then pleaded with her to calm down, saying "Please do not cry, tiny girl creature. I do not think I can handle that!" He then asked her to explain why they didn't have the emerald anymore and she said a "smelly weasel man and his friends stole it" and Amy started to wake up in time to reveal Nack the Weasel had the jewel and was leading Team Hooligan with "a couple of goons named Bean and Bark." Rouge revealed she knew the trio of criminals and that recovering the emerald would be easy, only for Blaze to awaken, ready to fight for the Sol Emeralds and the safety of the Sol Zone, though still a little weak. (SU: #22, #23)

While Rouge was pointing out Team Hooligan was getting away, Blaze was trying to get off the ground and Shadow was trying to convince her not to fight anymore, Omega persistently tried to ask, "Can I let the tiny, squishy ones go now? I am afraid I will pop them." A gesture Cream appreciated, while Cheese persisted to stare daggers at him. After this was said, Amy whistled loudly for attention, suggesting they join sides to catch Nack and his team faster. Rouge agreed to this and Omega put Cream and Cheese down, saying the former was "too cute" to eviscerate, a new word for the young rabbit Amy said she'd explain to her later. Shadow then went to get Team Dark's bike for most of them to travel in, with Omega sitting with Cream and Cheese in the side car. Cream commented that is was a nice day for a ride and that Omega was very comfy to sit with, causing the robot's urge to maim to rise. Rouge noticed that while the bike was fast, they weren't reaching full speed due to the forest's terrain and asked Blaze to burn a path for them, despite Omega's eagerness to volunteer. Amy was saddened by the fact that they had to destroy part of the forest to carry on, which Omega didn't understand, pointing out that Blaze had still left trees standing. Blaze then felt something react with the Sol Emerald and could now pin-point its location and Teams Rose and Dark sped off. They found Team Hooligan facing off against the Babylon Rogues and Omega unleashed laser fire to split the two groups and get their attention, commenting to himself, "Menace and masculinity reaffirmed." Rouge suggested they keep the team-up going to fight both threats since they didn't know which one had the Sol Emerald, but ordered a team huddle to inform Shadow and Omega they'd still double-cross them for the gemstone when this was over. Rouge then led the charge with Team Dark, telling them to get her the Sol Emerald and take no prisoners. (SU: #23)



Omega first opened fire on Jet the Hawk, but the rogue dodged his lasers using his Extreme Gear skills. Later in the brawl he was embroiled with Bark the Polar Bear and saw as Shadow dropped the Sol Emerald after being attacked by Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross. He locked the polarbear in place and was about to catch the gem when Amy came between them and snatched it. Omega grabbed her before she could flee, saying "Foul! Interference!" and she tossed it to Blaze. After she dealt with Bean the Dynamite by using her pyrokinesis to extinguish the fuse of his bomb, the feline princess then came under attack by Rouge and Omega's laser fire nearly struck the bat. Then the robot went after Nack after he grabbed the gem. Then Jet snatched it from the weasel and Omega chased after him before Amy used her hammer on his Extreme Gear to throw him off it. Then Bark punched the hawk in mid-air and the gem went flying towards Omega, Amy and Nack and a brawl large enough to cause a small dust cloud started between them and Bark and a dazed Jet. After Team Dark and Team Rose joined forces again, Omega helped gather the other two teams together by going after Storm, claiming "Puny airboards are no match for raw rocket power!" and threw Storm into his two teammates. When Team Hooligan and the Babylon Rogues were gathered together, Blaze lit the fuse of Bean's defused bomb and left the villains sore and blackened and both groups called it a day. Rouge then attempted to take back the Sol Emerald, but Shadow insisted she not and Omega was on his side in the matter, saying he did not want to make Cream cry. Amy said it was time to leave and Omega helped Cream off his shoulder, bidding goodbye to the "fuzzy, soft-colored females" and shyly told Blaze she "burned things very well" before heading back to G.U.N. HQ with Rouge and Shadow. (SU: #24)

Abilities
Omega is described as a "walking arsenal" due to being equipped with a considerable amount of weaponry, which is mainly concealed in his arms (somewhat similar to that of Grounder) and the rest of his upper body. His known armoury consists of laser miniguns, missile launchers, cannons and other laser weaponry, giving him "more firepower than all of the old Badnik horde combined," according to Snively. Some of his weapons seem to be specifically made for combat with Sonic, such as his arm cannon that was able to capture and launch Shadow when he performed a spin-dash, one of Sonic's signature moves. Although Omega is primarily built for weapons' usage, he also seems to have been programmed with a limited knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, as he could deflect some of Shadow's attacks during a sparring match while attempting to get in some of his own, only for Shadow to push him to the floor once he became aggravated. Omega has also displayed considerable physical strength, making him capable of destroying thick trees by smashing them with his metal fists or breaking G.U.N.'s training equipment. He was equipped with heavy and remarkably strong armour that can withstand laser blasts from elite fighter robots such as Gamma, small explosions, raging fire, powerful blows from opponents such as Shadow and possibly Chaos Spear attacks. (SU: #3, #4, #22)

Aside from his combat capabilities, Omega can also use radio waves to talk with other Eggman robots and has sensors that allow him to detect energy signatures in various objects, areas and beings along with changes in the air such as when smoke is present. Omega also seems to be made to go across different terrains as well since he was able to get around the snow laden mountains with ease and could smash trees with his bare hands (his guns are also efficient at this), which are natural obstacles that could get in his way all over Mobius. He also has impressive speed and can jump fairly long distances others would have to fly over, but in the cases where he can't jump far enough, Omega can utilize a jet booster built into his back to hover and fly long distances. (SU: #3, #4, #22)


 * In the games, Omega's machine guns fired bullets at his enemies. However, due to the use of realistic firearms being banned for use in the comic, Omega's weapons instead fire lasers instead of bullets. (1)

Personality
Like many of Eggman's other robots, Omega was programmed with a limited personality, but thanks to Gamma's upload, it expanded considerably and gave him free will. Before then, he was just an obedient robot who feared his creator with a keen sense of sarcasm at his disposal. This latter trait seems to have developed into a dry sense of humour such as when he tried to get Blaze and Cream to reveal themselves by trying to get them to "think of the poor trees" of the Great Forest he was destroying, though this could just have been an example of a low opinion of Mobian values for nature. (SU: #3, #4, #22)

Omega is arrogant and prideful, making him think his enemies are inferior to him and are nothing but playthings to be fought with, no matter how powerful those beings are, and will jump at any chance to prove his capabilities. Currently, Omega's only goals in life are to take revenge on Eggman for keeping him shut down for a year and to carry on Gamma's mission, which are close to the same thing. His pride of being a destructive war machine is a major part of him and he even threatened to turn Shadow into "linked sausage" if he told anybody at G.U.N. he showed himself to be weaker than usual by building a grave marker and "whining" about not knowing his purpose in life. Although his pride will make him do anything to prove how powerful he is, Omega will not let it get in the way of his current mission objective and won't stop until it is complete. (SU: #3, #4)

Despite the fact that Omega has received the more peaceful Gamma's programming and now finds destroying life an experience that makes him feel "uneasy," Omega still likes to use destructive methods, battle with powerful opponents (even if they're his allies), and purge things with "fire" in most situations. Amy Rose even thought he might have enjoyed being in the middle of a raging inferno generated by a Sol Emerald due to his destruction-loving nature, and the fact he didn't even seem angry at Blaze when she used her fire powers on him and seemed to like her for it might support this. It even suggests he might find destructive prowess an attractive quality. (SU: #3, #4, #22)


 * In February of 2009, Ian Flynn held a question and answer session on his forum where the members could ask him questions and he would answer back while role playing as the Sonic characters. One question that emerged ended up with Omega saying he loved NICOLE because she could potentially turn New Mobotropolis into a cannon capable of incredible destructive power. (1) Omega's reaction to Blaze may have been a nod to this or could merely be establishing a "type" for him. That being said, Omega displaying affection for anyone has always been for comedic effect rather than romantic interest. Ian Flynn himself said Omega being in a romantic relationship was way beyond his character at the time and doubted it would change even in another ten years. (2)

Despite his violent exterior, Omega does have a soft side. He openly showed he had a fondness of Blaze due to her destructive powers over fire and stated he didn't think he could take Cream crying when she got upset at her capture and the day's fighting and openly turned against Rouge to make sure she wouldn't cry again. He also was afraid of "popping" Cream and Cheese in his grasp and even called the former "too cute" to eviscerate, suggesting he may also have a fondness for adorable living creatures like Cream. It is also possible he is a little shy, as he had to look away from Blaze when he told her she burned things very well and appeared to be fumbling a little. (SU: #22, #23, #24)

Background Information

 * Former writer Karl Bollers planned to introduce Omega in a story after StH #134 as a sentient robot later rebelling his creator, but the idea was scrapped. (1)
 * Current writer Ian Flynn planned on using Omega in the milestone StH #175. In it, Omega would have replaced Snively's role of attacking Freedom HQ and would have killed a still-living Tommy Turtle before fighting Bunnie "Rabbot" D'Coolette and finally Sonic. Afterwards, Omega would rise to become one of Eggman's top enforcers for a while before the events of SU #3 took place. (2) However, SEGA asked that Flynn not use him in the story. Archie finally managed to convince SEGA to let them use Omega in Sonic Universe to complete Team Dark. (3)
 * Omega's design was used for the Omega Care Unit in issues following StH #193 with minor changes. Although the early prototype designs for the care unit looked more like E-102 Gamma than Omega, the design was changed to be like Omega's over the years because "it seemed to lend itself better to housing a mobian, and it seemed much more apt for her character."(4) This makes Omega the first character on Mobius Prime to appear after their Moebius counterpart, though had Ian's original plans for Omega gone through, the Omega Care Unit presumably would have appeared after Omega himself.
 * On the covers of Sonic Universe #3 and #4, Omega is depicted with a metal plate between his eyes just like in the games, though this was not included in the actual issues. It seems that the plate was a last minute addition, as it was not seen on both promotional covers for those Sonic Universe issues. In future issues featuring Omega (minus his Off Panel appearance in SU #14), the plate is included both in issues and on covers.
 * The pipe surrounding Omega's waist originally had multiple slots in the comics. Now it features arrows to more closely mirror his game appearance.
 * In the Sonic the Hedgehog video games, all of Omega's weapons are in his arms. The Sonic the Hedgehog book exclusively gives him weapons throughout his entire upper body, allowing him to use many more weapons at once. Also, in an unofficial character Q&A held by Ian Flynn, Omega mentioned he had a flamethrower, a weapon he is seen using repeatedly throughout the game series, but it has yet to appear in the comic itself. (5)
 * Omega's personality mimics that of HK-47, the assassin droid in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game series. Both call organic life-forms "squishies" or "meatbags" (the latter done only in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood) as well as enjoy inflicting violence upon others with advanced weaponry, though Omega lacks the urge to kill for pleasure like HK-47.
 * As of February 2011, Ian Flynn has said that he plans to reveal that Omega is powered by the Power Cores used to level up characters in Sonic Heroes. (6) These were occasionally dropped by Eggman robots after they were destroyed, so it is possible they were powered by them and this could be Flynn's logic behind the idea.

Appearance
Omega has a similar design to the first models of the E-100 Series (particularly Gamma). Noticable differences include a stockier upper body and arms, different coloured eyes and claws for both hands. His height is also greater than the other models and his shoulders larger with a visible Greek symbol on the front of the left and back of the right with red handlebars on the top. He is without the twin exhaust pipes and grav-linked jet disc ("Jet Booster" in Sonic Adventure) of the first E-100 Series robots, instead with one circling pipe around the waist with two flaps attached and a jet installed in his back. The stripe running from his head to stomach has also been changed so that it is a seperate piece of metal altogether and not simply painted on like the others that noticeably sticks out, and he also has one extra finger, two hands with yellow wrists studded with large spikes like a dog collar and just below his stripe is a silver plate. He also lacks the twin dots between his eyes and the large light above his waist.

Tracy Yardley's design of Omega is mainly based on that of his appearance in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, but design elements from Omega's other game appearances were also worked in, such as the sharper fingers on his hands from Sonic the Hedgehog. (7) Yardley's depiction shows Omega as much taller then his game counterpart with bigger shoulders and the black stripe of metal jutting out unusally, and has given him the ability to display emotion by making the yellow metal encasing his eyes change shape like a person's forehead would in reaction. After the first two issues featuring Omega, Yardley increased detail by including Omega's face plate and adding ridges to his shoulders akin to his design on Sonic the Hedgehog and also added another Omega symbol so both shoulders had one, just like Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.



Steven Butler's depiction of Omega in the Off-Panel of SU #3 is similar to Yardley's, and appears to also be based off his Sonic Heroes design. Though his Omega looks much more stout with the shoulders and head bearing closer resemblance to Omega's original design, while the stripe falls short of Omega's stomach. Butler also gave Omega additional weapons in SU #3's Off Panel consisting of a cannon in his right arm with twin missiles, some type of automatic weapon and a single missile of his left arm, and one larger missile perched on each shoulder. Butler changed his depiction of Omega in the Off-Panel of SU #4 to mirror that of his appearance in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, as evidenced by both shoulders appearing much larger than last issue and Omega having two Omega symbols instead of one. Although, many artists (both those who have worked on the games and fans) have mistakenly given Omega two symbols instead of one in the past. When Butler drew Omega again in the Off Panel of SU #22, his design of Omega changed radically and looked remarkably like Yardley's first take on the character and again featured some new weapons on Omega, though he conserved them all to his right arm.

Jamal Peppers depicted Omega much like Yardley originally did in the Off Panel of SU #14, but made Omega's shoulders even larger so they were bigger than his chest.