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| “ | After my most recent setback, I stumbled upon the primordial form of this unique creation. Which I discovered had amazing abilities even I have never been able to master. It could erase time and space! I then had the brilliant idea to use my discovery to undo my previous defeats! | „ |
| ~ Modern Eggman explaining his discovery of the Time Eater and subsequent usage of it. |
The Time Eater is the secondary antagonist of the 2011 platform game Sonic Generations and the overarching antagonist of its 2024 midquel Shadow Generations.
It is an enigmatic entity able to manipulate time and space, which upon discovery Doctor Eggman used for his own nefarious purposes.
Biography[]
Past[]
An extremely mysterious creature, the Time Eater's origins are unknown. As implied in its name, it effectively wipes events from history by consuming it but was eventually sealed deep away deep under Green Hill Zone.
Sonic x Shadow Generations[]
After his defeat in Sonic Colors. The Time Eater is later uncovered and taken over by Dr. Eggman and his younger self in an effort to erase all of their past failures against Sonic.
The Time Eater is first seen in Green Hill, trapping it in the White Zone as Classic Sonic looks on. It later travels to Sonic's birthday party and abducts him and his friends. After the Death Egg Robot is defeated, the Time Eater shows up and abducts Dr. Robotnik. It is later revealed to be susceptible to the Chaos Emeralds after Perfect Chaos is defeated. The Time Eater is also seen abducting the modern Eggman after the Egg Dragoon's defeat. The Sonics collect all the Chaos Emeralds and confront the Time Eater, where it is revealed that both Eggmen are behind the plot all along.
Modern Eggman later reveals that he found the primordial form of the Time Eater. He realized its powers and decided to use them to undo his past defeats. Though he was able to somehow convert the beast into a cyborg, it was incomplete, so he abducted his younger self (as he states, he needed someone as smart as he was, and the only person that smart was himself).
The Eggmen nearly kill both Sonics, but the latter's friends show up and cheer them to fight. The Sonics then enter their super forms and battle the Time Eater, emerging victorious.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
Neutral[]
Enemies[]
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Knuckles the Echidna
- Amy Rose
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Rouge the Bat
- Team Chaotix
- Charmy Bee
- Espio the Chameleon
- Vector the Crocodile
- Cream the Rabbit
- Cheese
- Silver the Hedgehog
- Blaze the Cat
- E-123 Omega
- Big the Cat
In other media[]
the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series by Archie Comics and its spinoffs. The Time Eater's first appearance in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series by Archie Comics is in Sonic the Hedgehog #230" as part of the comic's adaptation of Sonic Generations. Following the game's plot, the Time Eater appeared at Sonic's birthday party, where it kidnapped Sonic's friends, knocked Sonic out and send him to the White Space. Since the setting here is set in another Zone, the events do not completely happen in the comic's main timeline.
The Time Eater is mentioned in Sonic the Hedgehog & Mega Man: When Worlds Collide comics where it is brought into existence after the Prime Zone had its reality altered by Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily's Genesis Wave. However, the Time Eater is stopped by Sonic at some point in this new reality's past. Dr. Light later brings up the Time Eater to Dr. Eggman in an attempt to state Eggman's experiences about tampering with forces that were beyond his control.
Trivia[]
- It is the only Sonic villain alongside Infinite who did not betray Eggman.
- The Time Eater is the only original boss in Sonic Generations since the rest are all but re-imaginings of bosses from previous games.
- This is to date the only time Doctor Eggman has uncovered a mysterious creature that has not later grown out of his control and/or betrayed him.
- The scene in the boss trailer showing the Time Eater confronting the two Sonics' and two Tails in Green Hill never happens in the game.
- In the console version, the Time Eater has four arms and three sets of wings, but in the handheld version, he has two arms and one set of wings.
- This is similar to the Time Eater in the console version after it takes two hits.
- In the console version, when using Modern Super Sonic, the fight takes place inside the wormhole, and Classic Sonic fights outside. In the 3DS version, the roles are reversed; Modern Sonic fights it outside and Classic Sonic fights inside.
- Every time the Time Eater is damaged, the clock and the numerous cogs behind it begin to crumble and look distorted.
- The Time Eater bears resemblance to another time-weaving supernatural entity Solaris in the way that their weak point is a sphere at the center of its body, they can manipulate time, they are destroying the timeline, and they are so powerful that it took the effort of multiple super-powered characters to defeat.
- According to Ian Flynn's theory, he believes that the Time Eater may actually be the leftover matter of Mephiles the Dark. However, this remains unconfirmed.
- By extension, some fans also connect the Time Eater to The End due to their similarities, being a purplish entity that's set on destroying time.
- The Time Eater's face looks very similar to the Violet Void's.
- The two Super Sonics destroyed the Time Eater in a similar way that Super Sonic and Burning Blaze finished off the Egg Salamander in Sonic Rush.
- In the 3DS version they even switch of like this fight as well with one Sonic handling their respective Eggman.
- The Time Eater is one of the few final bosses who have been fought by more than one super character, alongside Metal Madness, Solaris, the Final Hazard, the Egg Salamander, and the Egg Wizard.
- In the Nintendo 3DS version of the fight, only one of the two Eggmen is controlling the Time Eater while it's facing one of the Sonics, as one of them says "Leave this one to me!" after the Time Eater gets hit. This is clearly a reference to the final boss of Sonic Rush.
- During the boss battle, the player can see many remains and chunks from the previous levels floating around the main area where the Time Eater is fought, such as pieces of land from Green Hill and cars and the G.U.N. truck from City Escape. While they do not deal damage when touched, they can get in the way of both Super Sonics during a boost and block them.
- Interestingly, the types of debris that are shown alternate between the flashes of light during the battle: As the fight starts, totem poles and chunks of grass from Green Hill, pieces of pipes, silos of chemical substances and cranes from Chemical Plant and towers and warp points Sky Sanctuary are seen. after the first flash of light, cars and minibuses from Speed Highway, and the truck from City Escape may be seen. Then, after the next flash of light, destroyed cars from Crisis City, the clock tower from Rooftop Run and ground chunks and machinery from Planet Wisp float around. Other than the fact that nothing is there from Seaside Hill, the debris shown goes from the Classic Era, to the Dreamcast Era, to the Modern Era.
- In this boss fight, Omochao does not give the player tips. Instead, Sonic's friends give hints during the fight.
- Interestingly, this is the only stage in the game where Classic Sonic can be used in 3D. While as Modern Sonic, Classic Sonic flies next to Modern Sonic and can be shot in front of him. However, if the player switches to Classic Sonic, the camera turns to a 2D perspective.
- In both versions of the fight, a homing attack icon appears when Sonic get close to the core. Strangely, in the console version, the player cannot use a homing attack on the Time Eater, while the player can in the 3DS Version.
- On the final strike against the Time Eater, if the player releases LB and RB/L1 and R1 while holding them, the music will return back to the battle of the Time Battle and eventually the player is greeted to face the final strike again soon.
- When finishing off the Time Eater with Classic Sonic (2D), the player can notice that the attack is simply a wall of fire as opposed to a large ball of fire when finishing with Modern Sonic (3D).
- The words sung in the Modern version of the Time Eater's battle music are "Dominus Tempus", roughly translated from Latin to "Master of Time"; fitting the Time Eater's role in the game.
