Warning! Spoilers for Sonic The Hedgehog by Ian Flynn, Adam Bryce Thomas, Matt Herms, and Shawn Lee below!
It should come as no surprise that Sonic The Hedgehog’s latest exploits to rid the world of the synthetically concocted contagion known as the Metal Virus might have knocked a few screws loose in his head. Especially since he did so while infected with the aforementioned virus, which transforms organic beings into metallic zombies (or Zombots as Sonic so cleverly calls them) in addition to actually fighting off these Zombots and racing towards a pulsating chaos emerald that seems to emit painful electricity upon contact. That’s not including the fact that the spikey blue hedgehog (who, at the time, was yellow, as he had transformed into Super Sonic) later battled the electromagnetic-manipulating, fireball-projecting Zavok that grew into a giant monster many times his original size.
Sonic's troubles have to do with the fact that when creating a Super Warp Portal to transport the deadly virus into the sun, he is thrown out of his world and into Princess Blaze The Cat's realm - one that exists parallel to that of Sonic’s, before proceeding to fall out of the sky and slam violently into the ground. It is after these perilous events when Blaze learns that the battered and bruised hedgehog whom she found in a massive crater of his making is not well, in issue #31.
Issue #31 is the first part of a two-part epilogue following the Metal Virus Saga in IDW Publishing’s comic book series based on Sega’s video game franchise. As the many characters in the Sonic universe reconstruct their lives during this time, Blaze is stuck getting frustrated with a very confused Sonic as she tries to figure out what is wrong with him. The princess' first valiant effort to snap the hedgehog out of his altered state involves explaining all of his great qualities in an attempt to guilt him into acting like himself again. But Sonic, believing she is describing another person whom she believes is impressive, responds by saying that this so-called Sonic is, indeed, impressive and that he would like to meet him someday.
This is when Blaze suddenly realizes that the hedgehog might be suffering from amnesia and asks Sonic who he thinks he is, upon which the chili dog-loving critter says that he might be “Mr. Needlemouse” since a girl had called him that earlier. The only thing that the newly named Mr. Needlemouse does remember is a strange dream filled with seas, skies, and golden fire coupled with a sense of falling.
Strangely, Dr. Eggman also lost all of his memories in an equally mysterious manner after the so-called Eggman War, a major event that took place before IDW Publishing’s Sonic The Hedgehog series. When the war finally ended, no one could find Eggman (and he remained at large for the first few issues). When he finally did appear, Eggman believed he was just a handyman and went by the name “Mr. Tinker.” It is only after undergoing electrocution sessions, neuro-stimulants, and aggressive hypnotherapy that the evil doctor finally regains his memories. Could the two cases be related?