Best Villain? Part 6: EEEVIL

If asked which enemy in the Sonic series is the most evil or the "darkest," there is one obvious answer. Mephiles!

Sonic 06 is a controversy in many ways. Some have praised it's intentions, and some have found silver linings in the notoriously glitchy game. Most, however, loathe the game and everything associated with it.

Even with such a reputation, many fans were intrigued with with "the dark" villain, Mephiles. Some even call for Mephiles to make a reappearance, or at least for a threatening character "like Mephiles." 

Mephiles is one half of Solaris, an "eternal flame" of "hope." Though the "true Solaris" is beloved by the people of Soleanna, what Sonic & co. have seen paints a different picture. Regardless, Solaris was accidentally split.

Mephiles is the intelligent side of Solaris. Extremely manipulative and clever. He may be physically weaker than Iblis, but is stronger in many other ways.

Due to time travel, Shadow the Hedgehog caught Mephiles and sealed him with in an object, the "Scepter of Darkness." Years later the dark entity would be released and take the form of Shadow's...shadow. The "ironic" moment allowed Mephiles to gain the upper hand and exile the hedgehog (alongside Rouge) to the ruined Crisis City area.

In spite of his hatred for Shadow, he tried have the hedgehog "join" him. He would also reveal some painful facts about the future and attempted to divide Team Dark. Meanwhile he tricked Silver and Blaze while also avoiding Eggman, who was apparently looking for him. 

Much of Mephiles' motives are a mystery. Many players point out that Iblis was in the future, and since Mephiles can time travel he should have simply merged with the beast and became Solaris again. In the end, Mephiles does the unthinkable by "killing" Sonic...but why send Silver after the "Iblis Trigger" if he could just do the deed himself?

The creeper giving a speech.

Whatever the case, Mephiles enjoyed fooling, tempting, taunting, and/or manipulating characters. He often laughed at them and used information and illusions to his advantage. Shadow noted that Mephiles only craved "destruction."

The character was also very powerful. He was able inflict a version of time travel on others, and transport himself as well. He was able to transform his appearance in different ways and summon shadow monsters and enemies. Visual illusions and manifesting "clones" of himself were easy tasks to him.

Most villains in the Sonic series have an understanding motive, like greed or revenge. Mephiles wasn't simply upset from being sealed away. No, he was evil from the start, and he wanted to spread his darkness upon the world. As Solaris, he wanted to end it.

Mephiles is the "pure evil," a type of character that--as the name suggests--is darker than any of the others. Even his name was inspired with evil origins (Mephistopheles).

There is some debate on whether this character is "too dark" or if he's just a "dumb reskin," but many have praised the character and his role in Shadow's story.

Mephiles gave a heavy contrast to other enemies like Eggman (even he has helped to save the world--if it's gone he can't conquer it!). In the end Mephiles did what no other villain ever could--he won. Solaris may have been defeated, but only after Mephiles completed his task with a mouthless "smile."

"NICE SMILE!"