Infinite: (Not) Weak (character overview)
In this post I'm tackling the short-lived antagonist of Sonic Forces, Infinite, and some of the characteristics that make him a, surprisingly, thematically resonant and just overall good villain.
To talk about his character, it’s pretty important to talk about the events that led to him adopting the “Infinite” persona. Before the events of the game, he was the ruthless leader of the Jackal Squad, calling himself “The Ultimate Mercenary.” Following an encounter with Dr. Eggman, Infinite accidentally revealed his deep-seated wishes to “change the world” and plunge it into anarchy and destruction, seeing as he’d grown tired of the world as it was. The doctor, taking advantage of this, hires the jackal as the new general of his army.
Several months before Eggman took over the world, the Jackal Squad was assigned to guard Eggman’s Mystic Jungle Facility, where the Phantom Ruby had undergone analysis. Despite their skill, they were all completely wiped out by Shadow the Hedgehog. By request of Eggman, their captain decides to confront the Ultimate Life Form by himself, but is beaten to the ground and overwhelmed with fear. Never before had he felt so powerless, so incapable, so weak.
To Shadow, it was just another grunt in his way, but to his opponent, it was an unbearable amount of humiliation. Vowing to never feel “weak” again, the jackal discarded his old self and was born anew as Infinite. Now, with the help of Eggman, he had the power to make all yield to his will, power unmatched even by the likes of Sonic himself (or so he believed).
As part of his new identity, Infinite also adopted a much colder, intimidating demeanor, showing no hesitation when taking the lives of others. He revels in the fear of his opponents, perhaps to reassure himself that he is now above such behavior. While Shadow strives to achieve perfection in all he does, Infinite is instead content with having his own flair, his “authenticity,” believing it to be superior, which is actually sort of one of his healthier traits.
Before anyone knew it, a live music club was there. The performers, let alone the audience, don’t remember much about why they were here. Still, everyone enjoyed this moment… except for one.
“Don’t get in my way. You’re holding me down.”
After the concert, Shadow coldly declares this to his partner. The poor attitude towards the audience, the shoddy performance… a stage show with him was far from the perfection Shadow was looking for. But when questioned, Infinite laughed boastfully and slowly closed in on Shadow.
“It’s good enough for a runt who can’t understand authenticity. I have no interest in following your smugness in playing at perfection.”
“So, you admit you’re a fake. Surely you understand that.”
(Translation by @browniestash!)
Infinite deems friendships, as with many other things, a sign of weakness. Even though he led his own squad, one that valued him as a leader and comrade, the jackal did not feel the same way, even disregarding their qualms when allying himself with the Eggman Empire. Infinite, at the very least following his shift in identities, sees friends as naught but fleeting illusions, stating that your own strength is all one can rely on.
Infinite, as a result of his encounter with Shadow, seems to be quite insecure about his strength, being obsessed with attaining more and more of it to the point of letting his own body be modified with the Phantom Ruby prototype. Referring to his past self as pathetic and unsightly for losing that fight, Infinite takes every opportunity to prove he is no longer that weakling. Even when facing unequivocal defeat, the jackal will refuse to retreat and insist on continuing to fight.
When everything you know has come and gone,
(You are at your lowest, I am rising higher)
Only scars remain of who I was
(What I find in the ashes, you lose in the fire!)
When there's no one left to carry on,
(This is an illusion, open up your eyes and...)
This pain (persists),
I can't (resist),
But that's what it takes to be Infinite
After Sonic Forces, Infinite actually seems to reevaluate his need for power and his reliance on the Phantom Ruby prototype. After Dr. Eggman’s Otherworldification plan fails, Infinite is briefly freed from inside the Phantom Ruby and snatches the last remaining Phantom Ruby prototype from the doctor’s hands. As he is about to put it on again, the jackal is suddenly filled with doubt and hesitation. He ponders whether or not he really wants to resort to using that again. But before he can make a decision, his body vanishes with the light as the world returns to normal, which he seems to thinks was for the best.
“Heheheh, it really is a modified Phantom Ruby prototype… Just as I thought! If I put this on, I’ll have power once again!”
Infinite’s shoulders were shaking with joy as he placed his hand on his chest where he had once worn the Phantom Ruby… but suddenly a cold wind blew through his heart.
(I’m resorting to this again…?)
His heart’s craving for power and his pride, which was deep within him, causes doubt in Infinite. He hesitated for only a few seconds before deciding whether or not to put “this” on his chest, and that’s when it happened.
“…Ah?!”
The elimination of otherworldification occurs in Infinite, and his body disappears with the light. The core in his hand slips through and falls into the glimmering lava… with a sizzling sound, it is lost to the world forever. Infinite was wide-eyed and stunned, but…
“H-Heheh, haha…”
He smiled wryly, lightly shaking his head, as if to say that it was for the best, and then vanished with the light. The world has been saved once again by a strange fate that no one had any way of knowing. The wind was merely blowing in the sky.
(Translation by @browniestash!)
To end on a positive note, Infinite is not definitely dead! He's a character I really like from the one game he got to shine in, and Eitaro Toyoda has expressed his desire to see him come back, so we may actually see more of him in the future.
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