I get what they were going for, but damn the writing was horrible. Infinite could’ve been the Darth Maul of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe under a better writer instead of being considered mid. Hopefully if Sega is willing to give him a second chance, Ian Flynn and writers of IDW could fix him like how they fix the Deady Six.

To me, infinite is the definition of “having great power, but not knowing how to use it.” This guy could be a universal threat if he didn’t waste time, trying to torment his foes and let them live to fight another day just so he can see them runaway in fear. That’s not an insult, if anything, I think it’s actually a pretty good character flaw for a villain. But in terms of pure power, if you took away his vanity, he would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

I’m just relieved to know that I’m not the only person who views Infinite like this. Infinite is one of my favourite villains in the Sonic universe. He caused so much damage in a short amount of time & is somehow always a step ahead whilst unwittingly taking 2 steps back (until the very end). Thanks for putting all this in video form!

Been obsessed with Infinite ever since Forces came out, and it makes me so happy to see people talk about him positively. Honestly I love through the Phantom Ruby he's become genuinely incredibly powerful, while showing time and again that his own fear of being seen as "weak" becomes hia downfall. And I am SO glad you bring up how Infinite and the Avatar parallel each other. They are the other's foil.

At last, somebody putting some respect on my boi Infinite’s name. So many people focus on how bad Forces was, the terrible writing, and that weird Episode Shadow scene, often ignoring Infinite’s feats and actual abilities. He (along with the Phantom Ruby) have such unique and potentially frightening abilities, much like Ruvik from the Evil Within. I would absolutely love to see Infinite return someday, playing the role of the true main villain and final boss. His potential is higher than most Sonic villains, and let’s be real: His design is just too cool to waste in Forces of all games.

My favorite sonic villain Finally getting respect *sniff* Im not crying, Your crying

I think the main misconception comes from how _unclear_ the Phantom Rubies abilities are... Like, they say "oh hey these are just illusions, they aren't real," but then also make it a point that you can still be _hurt_ by the so called "illusions." At that point how are they illusions? He can literally alter reality. He also just happens to be pretty _terrible_ at using his powers competently. Every time you face him in-game he's kind of a pushover.

I always see it as infinite veiws power being how much someone is worth

Honestly what would make him even more interesting is pointing out my theory that the phantom Ruby is actually a bootstrap paradox of egg man's research of the time stones! Also I'm currently using him as the main villain in a fanfiction against the diamond cutters

All I needed to see was that Infinite has limitless power to know that he's more powerful than people think. People would be wise to not underestimate people like that. He just had bad writing and whether writing is good or bad, there's always gonna be someone with bad taste who will think the writing is bad. Infinite should return and so should the custom character.

Excellent work on this analysis! You perfectly encapsulated many elements that make me hold Infinite and Sonic Forces as a whole in such affection and fascination despite its flaws and how much scrutiny it gets.

Infinite's scaling is insane, Eggman considers him 1000 times more powerful than any of his past plans and is stated in the guides to be more powerful than any villain Sonic faced before. Sonic and the custom character require the power of friendship to beat Infinite, something that can power the chaos emeralds.

I feel like one of the most underutilized aspects of Infinite’s character was that his squad was killed by Shadow, he’s literally a reflection of what Sonic would be if Eggman or someone killed all his friends, and the fact that even after Infinite’s “defeated” that Sonic or any of them never calls Shadow out about killing all Infinite’s friends and kinda causing all this is really missed opportunites

I Always like Infinite never have a Problem with his Character I hope I see him comeback In the future

“Stand proud, Infinite. You're strong.”

He nearly dropped the god damn sun on mobius, i think ive got a pretty good idea of how strong he is

I always loved infinites power to its lantern ring similarities It’s arguably better than the rings since the construct’s can act basically as independent as you allow it not to mention you can just flat out creat a pocket dimension

Oh my gosh, I LOVED WATCHING THIS VIDEO! I’ve been saying these things and to hear them voiced in a well-put-together video is amazing!! Over 15 mins video about Infinite bringing up good points about him, I LOVE IT! 🤩 Thanks for making this!

Hope he comes back with some writers who care

Zero/Infinite The Jackal is just like his Nintendo Counterpart Skull Kid. And he's not weak. He's an undead.

*"IM NOT WEAK!"* Me: "okie 😐"

Eggman states that the phamtom ruby + infinite is his greatest creation, eggman managed to modify and control the the time eater in the past, this makes it seem like eggman considered the power of the phamtom ruby to be greater than the time eater who took 2 super hedgehogs to be defeated with the time eater easily being able to one shot modern and classic sonic at once, same modern sonic who could now defeat perfect chaos in his base form showing that the phamtom ruby in the wrong hands CAN MAKE A REALLY BIG MESS showing that it does make sense that eggman could take control of the world almost entirely, plus, eggman was so sure of the power of the phamtom ruby that he stated that he wouldn't even need the master emerald anymore suggesting that if used correctly by the right person, the ruby could be more powerful than the master emerald, now, you could say that is an hyperbole in eggman's part since he was still testing the phamtom ruby being a classic moment of eggman's ego and i wouldn't say you're wrong since it is possible, but eggman is usually right about these things, like how he was right in saying metal sonic could only be defeated with the chaos emeralds or his assumptions about solaris which were right the phamtom ruby clones are said to be just as powerful as the original ones, the game doesn't quite reflect it very well with only a few being notable clones but it's still something that could be spammed and used to overwhelm others like it did to sonic and shadow (who stated he couldn't win against a big bunch alone since they would keep showing up), the null void is an infinitely sized dimension, the phamtom ruby is one of the most powerful items in the sonic series, let's not forget that classic sonic nedeed to go super sonic to defeat the heavy king with the phamtom ruby, classic is much weaker but should be remotely comparable to his modern self so my ideal powerscaling for sonic villains up to forces would be Infinite > Time Eater > Nega Wisp Armor > Zavok

That medieval Infinite's looking pretty fire though.

Infinite has potential he needs to come back

This video highlights one of my frustrations with Sonic stories over the years. I really dislike these prequel comics/animations. The magic conch shell from Lost World was such a random one-off element, but I'm pretty sure it was introduced in a prequel comic. Infinite's entire reason for working with Eggman, as well as various other story elements of Sonic Forces, were locked behind these comics. The entire reason for Knuckles showing up in Frontiers was explained in a prequel animation on social media (there was also a prequel comic, but there wasn't too much there you couldn't already infer from the game itself). The entire set-up for what was going on in Sonic Superstars was locked behind a prequel comic and an online animation. I don't mind supplementary material for these games, but when every major game requires some sort of external reading/viewing to fully grasp what's going on, it starts to become a bit wearisome.

I view Infinite now less stupid. Sonic Forces has bad writing but I now see the story hey aimed for. Also your avatar looks very cute, love her.

What a sensational video, I wish more fans of the franchise would watch this and understand what Infinite is (or what it was supposed to be). I don't understand SEGA continuing to use him as products or skins in some random games, and leaving him aside in canon things like IDW itself, and I know that Ian Flynn would do a good job to fix it, but this comes SEGA wants, and we know if it depends he will come in another commemorative game as a random boss. I really hope that Infinite comes back, in fact, he has become my favorite character since the concept art.

It just depends if he’s weak or not but still it makes sense.

Infinite had soo much potential, the idea was there, but the execution and how he was written…. It’s gotten to a point where infinite from speed battle is more threatening/powerful than him, it’s just rlly sad. Also, love the warlock infinite thumbnail, looks sick 🔥

They told when they should've showed, no boss fight or viewpoint shift. Just shadow kicking some rando's ass. Like, I like Infinite but he was completely botched, even if I like what they were going for

In regards to the video thumbnail image, that looks cool

the classic "I suffered so why shouldn't they" vs "I suffered so they wouldn't have to" battle

Infinite is my fav character

This video made me REALLY wanna play the game is it a good idea

If i were to bring Infinite back into the story somehow, it would probably go something like this. The avatar, after departing the Resistance, has lingering thoughts about Infinite and the dialogues they had during the war. Things like 'you can only count on yourself' and the final plea he makes before being warped into the ruby being betrayed by Eggman. With this in mind he sets out to attempt to find Infinite. (If i were a writer i would retcon the scene where the Avatars ruby was shattered and show them having it with them in secret. Thus a legitmate reason to find Infinite to maybe train the avatar on how to use it.) After several plot elements and scenes they would eventually find Infinite in a secret Eggman facility, but then realizing that this isnt Infinite, but Zero. (yes i know its not his canon name) Implying that the Infinite we fought during the war was nothing but the result of the doctors experiments, which would match some things said and shown in Forces, such as Amy and Tails comments made during Final Judgment and the opening scene of Eggmans monologue in a room of tanks with one of them holding infinite. The game would then be about Zero discovering what had actually happened during Shadows raid on the base where he went blow for blow with Shadow until he used chaos spear to put Zero out of commission, leaving him for dead. Eggman would find Zero and have the perfect test subject for the ruby experiments. Thus implementing that Infinites memories are all implanted by the doctor. Plot twist/device would be that Zero would still have his Phantom Ruby abilities because of the experiments, periodically losing control of his actions, lashing out at the avatar and experience hallucinations/visions of a warped version of Infinite assaulting him relentlessly with the Avatar having to intervene with their ruby. The game would then be about choosing an ending based on the avatars choices where either Zero falls back into Infinite or becomes a sort of Anti-hero with the avatar at his side. (Sorry for the long rant. Needed to get this out there.)

0:24 "What is Stigma." Stigma BALLS.

My favorite character.Yes!!!!!!

Of course hes not weak. He said so himself!

I would LOVE to see him again in Sonic x Shadow generation!

This is why he is my FAVORITE sonic villan

I think a lot of people recognize his missed potential or I guess with the way you put it a miss representation of his full potential. I'm sure if someone was better at the writing he would stand out a lot more. A lot of people I have seen online love his character design and feel like his character was a wimp. Now seeing this it's become clear to me he really did have good motivations and was a good character just his story was shown and told badly in game where most people would see it. They did do a lot of telling not showing in that game to be fair and I feel like that absolutely KILLED any story telling potential on every level. Breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom suffer a bit from this in some areas too. Normally zelda is good at this but those two games often get marks ageist them for story telling failure. It's a decent story it's just told the wrong way. Great vid by the way. Your evidence is sound as is your reasoning.

Recently on reddit, someone had been making a fan roster of what a potential new Sonic fighting game could have. One of the suggestions was to add Infinite as the final (non-DLC) character, as many fighting games have the final character also be the main antagonist. I honestly agree that if Infinite were to return, that a fighting game would be the perfect opportunity. The plot of the game could literally be him using the Phantom Ruby to rewrite reality, pitting friends and enemies against each other as some sort of sick game.

Infinite got absolutely wasted.

Me personally, I already knew what infinite could really do...that plus what was really going through the head of that man, people think he did all this just because he lost to shadow and got called weak, when really the man just lost his team that was probably his only family growing up and was most likely really upset that he couldn't save them, so adding that pain to the pain of losing a battle against his teams killer and being called weak most likely pushed him over the edge and changed him, and once he got a taste of the ruby's power it most likely changed him entirely....at least that's what I think.

Infinite is very powerful and would have been one of the best villaina of all time if Sonic forces had good writing, he also solos the Sonic Idw Comics all the characters and the Metal Virus. Infinite is actually immune to the Metal Virus, when Zavok got powered by a Chaos Emerald he became immune to the Virus shown when he touch the Zombots and wasn't infected. The Phantom Ruby is stronger than the Chaos Emeralds, so Infinite should be fine and if gets infected he should be able to run it off he was even faster than Sonic or at least once was great power yet wasted potential great video 🔥.

I like this video but is there a comic of Shadow vs the jackal squad please tell me

Also, one of the things that makes Infinite interesting is how he thinks Shadow deemed him not worth killing for being so weak, after he tore apart his squad. According to some lines Shadow was caught off guard by the squad and in a position he couldn't hold back. So its not "Shadow spared Infinite *because* he was weak". Its "he was weak and Shadow was in a position to spare him".

Yeah I mean Infinite has multiple official statements to be the strongest foe Sonic had ever faced up to that point, with Eggman himself verbatim stating that Infinite was his ultimate creation. This would include things like the Egg Salamander, the Egg Wizard, and most importantly, the Time Eater; all of which required not one but TWO super forms to take down. This is super impressive considering how broken those previously mentioned creations were, especially Time Eater, who is easily 9th dimensional on a lowball. We also know Sonic does get much stronger over time, beating Perfect Chaos in base in Generations whereas he needed a super form before. So Sonic beating Infinite in base isn’t really too surprising in that regard. That being said it is really dumb that NO ONE thought to look for the chaos emeralds lol. But even if Sonic or any of the others got the emeralds, the Phantom Ruby has consistently shown to be able to be on par or even above the emeralds in power, so while it might’ve helped a bit, it wouldn’t help nearly as much as most people would think, especially considering how the Phantom Ruby BY ITSELF knocked the emeralds out of Classic Super Sonic in Mania. While Modern Sonic is definitely much stronger than his Classic counterpart, you get the idea. Unfortunately, Infinite doesn’t have a ton of super impressive feats, at least compared to things like Time Eater or Solaris, but imo that’s another example of poor writing on the writer’s part. His best feat is probably the creation of Null Space, a pocket dimension separated from the rest of the Sonic cosmology (which actually may be really impressive now that I think about it, considering how vast the cosmology is in Sonic.) Other than that the only other thing he has going for him feat-wise is how he did against the big 3 (Sonic, Shadow, Silver) and Omega. Which, if you actually take the time to scale those 4, you can actually scale Infinite pretty dang high.

Infinite got even more powerful in Forces’ fanmade DLC Sonic Overclocked. I think the return of Neo Metal is a great touch. Infinite at his Phantom Form and the ruby at the Overclocked state he would be a real threat!

Quick question, why you change the thumbnail?

He also comes back in sonic forces overclocked

Absolutely correct

Infinite could literally manipulate reality itself, his only limitations being things that require a soul (which is why the Shadow clones didn't use chaos powers and only Chaos 0 was replicated: he couldn't grant chaos energy to his creations due to it being reliant on a being's emotions) he was basically wielding the Reality Stone but with a few limitations. Eggman would have been a _joke_ compared to him if Infinite was smarter and more ruthless. His arrogance and lack of imagination made him weak compared to what he could have been.

I remember reading a rather dark comic of what could've been happening with Sonic on the Death Egg. It showed Infinite mentally tormenting Sonic by showing him scenarios of his friends put in danger where he can't do anything but watch. Could've done something like that. Really showed how unrelenting he could be.

0:20 what? Silver appears in nearly every sonic title to some extent and blaze isn’t from 06. What was this supposed to imply?

What about overclocked infinite from sonic forces overclocked, or Mephiles from Sonic The Hedgehog 2006?

Infinite deserves better. This guy had every goated trait you could imagine, except for probably the most important aspect of a main character, motivation. My guy just got bullied once by Shadow and THAT was why he fully turned evil.

2:25-2:38 sounds like the Halo theme in the background 🎮

I think that Infinite is one of the stronges villan cause, he have the possibility to kill shadow sonic and silver when he fight them for the first time ( with the power of the phantome ruby ) but didn’t do it. Same for the avatar. If he didn’t let his ego take over him, he could conquer 100% of the planet, beyon to, conquer whole galaxie. He could destroy planet if he want, but doesn’t cause he want to make everybody feel what he feel in the past ( fear and terror ). He have the power to revelise with super sonic. If he didn’t over undestimate other, he could be a menace for the whole universe. With his power to minipulate reality, he go in he go in: [Top A tier] Tier of sonic villan

like... if the Sonic series was a little darker, he could be amazing

Honestly, I wish the phantom ruby was more of the Green Lantern Power ring type deal, instead of the reality stone from Marvel If that makes sense?

If nobody has said it before in your comment section there was somebody that covered the Phantom Ruby saying how it was already revealed by its Origins was created from an evil Clan of the echidnas who's very leader upon creating. The Phantom Ruby gave it some of his soul, giving Ruby life of its own it is very possible. if good writing where to remastered this game to portray infinite like this and giving him a second appearance in the game would be the result of how he was infused with the Ruby itself. In the origin of explaining the Phantom Ruby as well explain that it was supposed to be created as the anti energy of the Master Emerald. Itself even possessing negative energy that would disperse the chaos emeralds themselves neutralizing any means of super forms from any of the big three. Once again, if good writing, as you said, we're in effect here. This would mean that this is the first enemy that Sonic had to face without going super and was denied from ever doing it.

Sums up the entirety of Forces Story as a whole. It ain’t like ‘06 where it’s flawed to it’s very premise and plot. Forces Story could’ve been decent (maybe not praised to high heavens) if the writing and characterization was better. Considering this game was made in one year, it’s not surprising that it (let alone the rest of the game) turned out this way.

Where you get the infinite design?

It makes sense that sonic without a super form he beat infinite, with your example of sonic and the avatar being very strong together escaping a black hole in seconds, but in sonic colors sonic in his base form almost escapes it, if he had a boost he would've probably been able to escape

In the final boss fight, during the mid-boss cutscene Infinite directly says that he's regained full power. So uh, yeah, the tag team of Sonic and the Avatar really did defeat Infinite at his full power.

I like him. If he were to appear again, I pray to the Heavens he has better writing

I know this is dumb but my theory is that the phantom ruby came from the starfall islands

If Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform never returned (between Sonic Heroes-present) in the first place, none of this would have ever happened. Infinite the Jackal would never exist at all. But it's already too.

Yes, effectively they would technically be one of the biggest threats. However when it comes down to fighting other characters like Mephiles the dark, I don't really think so. But then again versus Wikipedia debates does place infinite with infinite speed as well with at least universal striking strength for so maybe so maybe this could be the case. At least one of my sources said that.

Noo stop I already think this game is wasted potential incarnate don't make it worse :((( (this is a great analysis!)

Sonic fans when they realize Infinite clapped Base Sonic twice:

Every time I saw infinite I knew it was gonna be light work 💀 bro was never a challenge every time he popped up on my screen like come on bro

Imagine if... Infinite the Jackal possessed Rouge the Bat's body to take revenge on Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform (and possibly Sonic the Hedgehog) for some reason?

Movie Sonic views Flash (DC) as fiction, and Game Sonic exists in a AU to Movie Sonic. Infinite > Sonic at the start of the game. Infinite > Sonic > DC < Movie Sonic Infinite is canonically trillions of times stronger than past foes, which would include Solaris. Solaris was going to destroy all timelines, and all of space, which would include the Movie Universe which holds DC's fictional cosmology. So practically: Infinite > DC x1,000,000,000,000+ (lowball) Infinite Is Extraversal.

He is the 1# in POWER!

If forces had 4Kids written I bet you my entire sonic collection the story would’ve been darn good

I Mean Sonic Did Beat Him In Base WITHOUT USING SUPER

If I was the writer I would try to make sonic forces the sonic adventure and calling sonic adventure the phantom war

He looks cool, his music is badass but his character was so abominable character” Why am I shaking, I’m not weak, I’M NOT WEAK”. As for gameplay he just creates illusion , and weird reality. I hope they bring him back with a fresh character and story to actually make him a threat.

I hope he shows up Sonic x Shadow Generations in Shadows story. And hopefully He comes off Stronger and Better Written in that.

15:36 Sonic Colors, even if for a short time

I always found it funny that shadow is the one who awakens infinites rage shadow has always had different methods than sonic because he wipes his enemies completely out triggering infinite

If infinite gets s second chance i still want mephiles back

Actually sonic didn't need the avatar and I would have liked to see if Infinite would even be able to kill Sonic. Due to the plot, the others powers are shown to be close to Sonic's which is not actually true and Sonic always hold back

I always knew he was dangerous...

I feel bad for Infinite! He grew on me! Such a shame we won't be seeing him again. He was confirmed to be dead! (At least I have a plushie of him❤)

Yes but can the phantom Ruby run DOOM tho?

if he know what to do trust me he would have had everything he wanted

0:45 IT MATCHES WITH INFINITE

Sonic forces was a good game to me

14:43 - 14:48 which isn't a good reason considering SA1 Super Sonic is weaker than Base Sonic Generations Sonic

Is that halo music??? I hear

Infinete is the GOAT guys!

Infinite is very powerful if he use those fear to become a better person just like sonic Because sonic have go through many terrible fate but none of that stop him from saving the people and the world

shadow negs

I don’t think that the phantom ruby is more powerful than the master emerald Because in the Archie comics we see the master emerald turn the chaos emerald into a super emerald and sonic using that to go ultra and we’ve seen ultrasonic have powers far greater than the ones infinite was incapable of with the phantom ruby

He could have been so much better, and maybe someday Sega will bring him back (I hope), but for now: Infinite potential Infinite disappointment Infinite hope

i like to see sonic villains thata re not ancient lovecraft gods like the end,solaris or memphelis. Infinitie is a more belivable bad guy

thrashing Eggman's forces isn't really an impressive feat when someone like Mina Mongoose, a character with no combat skills and cowardly pacifist nature could do it just because her species makes her a natural speedster. Even Cream can do it in Heroes so yeah power of Infinite pre-Ruby is on par with six years old girl.