This article deals with the research program. For details about the entity, see Solaris.

The Solaris Project (ソラリス・プロジェクト, Sorarisu Purojekuto^?) is an event that occurred in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. It was a research program conducted on Solaris by the principality of Soleanna, led by the Duke of Soleanna. It is the key event that leads to the storyline of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

The project was significant for ending in disaster, splitting Solaris into Mephiles the Dark and Iblis, which had massive repercussions up to two centuries later. However, thanks to the intervention of Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Elise, the timeline was altered and the Solaris Project was undone before it could go wrong.

History[]

Past[]

In Soleanna, the public face of the Solaris Project held it to be an energy research program.^[1] However, its true scope was far more ambitious: to achieve control of time itself. The Duke of Soleanna hoped to give people a chance to right the wrongs of the past, implying that this included saving his wife from an untimely demise as well.^[2] This was performed via study and manipulation of a super-dimensional being called the Flame of Hope, otherwise known as Solaris, worshiped as a sun god by the people of Soleanna. The Duke was presumably the driving force behind the Solaris Project, and Lord Regis states that he worked with the Duke on the program as well. The project's primary facility was in the Aquatic Base, a high-tech laboratory complex located beneath the waters of Kingdom Valley and Soleanna Castle Town. The project's duration is unspecified, but it ended in disaster ten years prior to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)[]

During an experiment on the Flame of Hope, it created an electromagnetic pulse that caused a spatial meltdown.^[3] The explosion gravely wounded the Duke, knocked Princess Elise unconscious, and split Solaris into two separate entities: a flame called Iblis and a darkness called Mephiles. Luckily, the time-traveling Shadow the Hedgehog and Silver the Hedgehog witnessed the incident, so Shadow sealed Mephiles inside the Scepter of Darkness while Silver helped the Duke seal Iblis inside of Elise. However, the Duke passed away directly thereafter, and the laboratory in Aquatic Base and the old castle in Kingdom Valley were abandoned, with the royals relocating to Soleanna Castle Town instead.^[1][4] Approximately ten years later, Dr. Eggman learned of the Solaris Project and was enticed by the idea of controlling time, plotting to ensure his own victories and rule across all time.^[5] To perfect this technology, he obtained the Scepter of Darkness and created the "Solaris prototype", a time machine powered by a Chaos Emerald in White Acropolis. He then tried to extract Iblis from Princess Elise to form Solaris, and gather the seven Chaos Emeralds to complete the prototype, though he never succeeded thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog.^[6]

Ultimately, the Solaris Project led to more dangerous foes than Eggman. Mephiles escaped from the Scepter of Darkness, planning to recreate Solaris and consume all of time. Meanwhile, Elise's death thanks to Eggman unleashed Iblis as an immortal monster that ravaged the world for centuries, destroying the future where Silver the Hedgehog lived. Eventually, Mephiles and Iblis reunited as Solaris and nearly destroyed all time, though he was defeated by Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Afterwards, Sonic and Elise traveled back in time to blow out the Flame of Hope before the disastrous Solaris Project could set it on this trajectory. Therefore, the Solaris Project never progressed to the same point in this timeline, being cut short by the erasure of Solaris.^[7]

References[]