E-123 Omega


 * Omega redirects here. You may be looking for the Omega Care Unit. Or you could be searching for E-102 Gamma.

E-123 "Omega" is a battle robot created by Dr. Eggman in 3236 and is now 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 rogue robot E-102 Gamma. Although successful in his mission, Gamma managed to reprogram Omega to grant him free will 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 United Federation's defence forces, the Guardian Units of the Nation. His first mission as a G.U.N. agent was to accompany Shadow and Rouge as part of the newly formed Team Dark to the Special Zone to retrieve a Chaos Emerald, which they did successfully after some complications made by the Zone's master, Feist.

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 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: Destroying Gamma
Before the battle that would lead to his descent into madness, Eggman reactivated Omega and gave him his first mission: Hunt down and destroy E-102 Gamma. At first, Omega refused his assignment as he was built to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog, but his mission was to destroy something else. Eggman informed Omega that he alone would kill Sonic and threatened to put him back in storage for a decade if Omega did not follow his orders. The automaton then flew off of the Eggdome and went to begin his mission. (StH: #200 SU: #3)



After locating E-102 Gamma in the 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 and Omega realized that his "mission objective" was there too. Shadow then attacked Omega as a distraction and told Gamma to get to the extraction point G.U.N. had set up. 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. Omega then chased after Gamma and exchanged monologues via radio. While Omega stated how he was superior to Gamma in virtually every way, Gamma pointed out that Omega's superiority had downsides that could be used to his advantage, and that his own downsides that Omega mentioned also gave him an edge. After proving this, Gamma admitted that he was outdated just as Omega said, and that the resistance forces would need something more than him to fight the Eggman Empire. Accepting this as surrender, Omega prepared to give Gamma a "glorious destruction" by unleashing all his weapons on him at once. Telling Omega his soul would remain even if he was destroyed, Gamma uploaded some of his programming into Omega before his robotic body was destroyed by Omega's barrage. After the smoke had cleared, Omega became overwhelmed by his new programming and free will and thought he'd been infected with a virus. After Shadow arrived seconds after E-102's destruction, "Gamma" spoke through Omega, informing them that he had uploaded his coding into him. The coding integrated into Omega and he and Gamma became one. With a new sense of respect for life, Omega was convinced by Shadow to join G.U.N. and fight against the Eggman Empire like Gamma would have, and to also get his revenge on Eggman for keeping him in storage and wasting his potential as a war machine. After Omega created a grave marker made out of rocks for Gamma, he and Shadow were picked up by a G.U.N. helicopter and brought back to G.U.N. HQ. (SU: #3)

Member of Team Dark
After Shadow and Rouge failed to obtain a Chaos Emerald from Feist in the Special Zone, Shadow engaged in some violent training in G.U.N. HQ's gym with Omega, who noticed Shadow was "agitated" due to him wanting to fight Omega on his own instead of Omega starting it as usual. 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 with him because he intended to "blast" Feist. This statement angered Shadow and he pushed Omega to the floor. Omega was then left wondering if it was something he had said as he watched Shadow leave the gym. After some discussion with Hope, Shadow was convinced by her that they would be better prepared for Feist next time and he then went to the Special Zone again with Rouge and Omega as part of the newly formed Team Dark. Upon arrival, Omega immediately wished to consume both the zone and Feist (who had called him a "tin soldier") with "fire". Omega and the rest of Team Dark were then given a new challenge by Feist; to retrieve a Chaos Emerald from the centre of a cube-shaped maze to win it. They found the emerald above a floor of spikes, but failed to retrieve it in time as Feist encased it within a wall of multi-coloured gems which they failed to penetrate in time. Feist then teleported Team Dark and the emerald out of the maze and began to mock them. The trio then initiated "Plan B", much to Omega's pleasure. 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, much to Omega's displeasure as he still had five salvos left. Omega and the two Mobians then returned to G.U.N. HQ, and Rouge complimented Omega on his work, who said it was "only a small megaton of ordinance". Shadow then gave Commander Tower the Chaos Emerald, who was more than satisfied with their success at making G.U.N. an even greater "force to reckon with". (SU: #4)

Abilities
Omega is described as being 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 upper body. His armoury consists of rapid-fire machine guns, laser blasters, missile launchers, cannons and other weapons, giving him "more firepower than all of the old Badnik horde combined." Although Omega is primarily a "walking arsenal," he seems to also 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 but to no avail, only for Shadow to push him to the floor once he became aggravated. (SU: #3, #4)

Omega has also displayed considerable physical strength, making him capable of destroying thick trees by smashing them with his metal fists. Omega also tends to break G.U.N.'s training equipment when using it because of his strength. He is also equipped with remarkably strong armour that can withstand laser blasts from elite fighter robots such as Gamma, powerful blows from opponents such as Shadow, and possibly Chaos Spear attacks. Omega can also utilize a jet booster built into his back to hover and fly long distances, but the booster is rather loud and tends to give away his position. (SU: #3, #4)

Omega can 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. 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. 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, which are natural obstacles that could get in his way all over Mobius. All his abilities make him a capable opponent against many enemies, whether they are advanced fighter robots, beings with enhanced Mobian and Chaos abilities, or even entities with god-like powers. (SU: #3, #4)

Personality
Like many of Eggman's other robots, Omega was programmed with a limited personality, but thanks to Gamma's upload, it expanded a considerable amount and gave him free will. Before then, he was just an obedient robot with a keen sense of sarcasm. (SU: #3, #4)

At first, Omega was only a rather rebellious character, such as when he immediately refused his first mission from Eggman out of anger as he believed it to be beneath him as he was made to destroy Eggman's greatest foe, not a defective robot. He also seemed to fear his creator when he threatened to shut him back down for a decade after not wanting to carry out his first orders. His trait of rebellion later developed immensely thanks to Gamma, where Omega all out betrayed Eggman and went to work for G.U.N. to fight the Eggman Empire as part of Team Dark and get his revenge, ending his fear of his creator. (SU: #3, #4)

Omega is somewhat arrogant and prideful, making him think his enemies are inferior to him and are nothing but playthings to be fought with. He will jump at any chance to prove his capabilities (usually through battle with another), no matter how powerful that being is. Currently, Omega's only goals in life are to take revenge on Eggman for disabling him and carry on Gamma's mission. His pride of being a destructive war machine is a major part of him, and 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. (SU: #3, #4)

Background Information

 * The previous writers of the comic once had Omega as a possible character to be introduced in the issues following Sonic the Hedgehog: #134, but the idea was scrapped like many other concepts both for and after that issue. (1) Current writer, Ian Flynn, also planned on using Omega in the milestone StH: #175, but SEGA asked that they not use him. Archie finally managed to convince SEGA to let them use Omega in Sonic Universe to complete Team Dark. (2) Why SEGA didn't want Omega released into the comic earlier is unknown.
 * In the early drafts for StH: #175 and the rest of 2007's issues, Omega would have taken over Snively's role in the milestone by carrying out the assault on Freedom HQ, and would have killed a still-living Tommy Turtle before fighting Bunnie "Rabbot" D'Coolette and, eventually, Sonic himself. He would have later acted as one of Eggman's top enforcers before the events of SU: #3 took place. (3) But due to issues with SEGA, these events were withdrawn and Omega didn't appear until almost two years later.
 * Omega's design was used for Dr. Ivo Kintobor's Omega Care Unit in issues following StH: #193 with minor changes. The most prominent of these changes were colouring differences, the Omega symbol being replaced by the dove and olive branch peace sign, and the armaments being changed to non-lethal weaponry. 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  [ Buns's ]  character." According to Ian Flynn. (4)
 * In SU: #3, Tracy Yardley had the yellow metal surrounding Omega's eyes change shape when he was angry or fearful just like when a human's eyebrows change in the same situations, representing the emotions Omega felt at the time, despite the metal being perfectly solid.
 * On the covers of Sonic Universe Omega appears in, he is depicted with a metal plate between his eyes just like in the games, but it is only on covers and not in the book itself. This is probably because artists put much more detail into the covers than the comic itself and the fact that the plate is barely noticeable in the games anyhow, with the exception of 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog. It also seems that the plate was a last minute addition, as it was not seen on both promotional covers for Sonic Universe issues three and four.

Appearance
Omega's appearance was concepted by Takashi Iizuka and designed by Nobuhiko Honda. It appears to have been made with the intention of fitting in with the rest of the E-100 Series robots from Sonic Adventure (particularly Gamma) while making him stand out by giving him a stockier upper body and arms with different coloured eyes. His height is also lesser than the other models and his shoulders broader with a visible Greek symbol on the front of the left and back of the right with red handlebars on the top. They also decided to go without the twin exhaust pipes and grav-linked jet disc ("Jet Booster" in Sonic Adventure) of the first E-100 Series robots, instead settling for one circling pipe around the waist with two flaps attached and having twin jets installed in Omega's back below the hunch. 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 and he also has one extra finger and two hands with yellow wrists studded with large spikes like a dog collar. Just below his stripe is a plate of clear material that allows others to see some of his inner workings.

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 been worked in, such as the sharper fingers on his hands from Sonic the Hedgehog. (1) Steven Butler's depiction of Omega in the Off-Panel of SU: #3 also appears to be based off his Sonic Heroes design. But Butler changed his depiction of Omega in SU: #4's Off-Panel to mirror that of his appearance in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, as evidenced by Omega having Omega symbols on both shoulders instead of just the one. Although, many artists (both those employed by SEGA and fans) have mistakenly given Omega two symbols instead of one in the past.