Sonic Lore SEGA Does Not Consider Team Dark to be "Teammates or Friends," According to Flynn

[nuckles87]

Team Dark may have been a consistent team for years in both the games and Archie comics, but they no longer exist as anything but an out-of-unverse brand, according to IDW Sonic and Sonic Frontiers writer Ian Flynn. When a fan asked Flynn on his podcast what kind of base Team Dark would have, Flynn answered they wouldn’t have a base, because SEGA does not consider them a team. 

“Team Dark isn’t a thing. It’s an out-of-universe brand, apparently. They are not a unit, they are not even friends,” Flynn said, “They don’t do mission things together unless the story has them doing it.” He want on to state his belief that Team Dark makes the most sense out of all of the teams (aside from the Chaotix), and that he doesn’t like this.

You can find the answer on his latest podcast, embedded above. The answer starts at 10:20.

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[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Shard the Angel

Someone ask Iizuka, see what he thinks

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Greatsong1

Maybe not all that surprising, I can understand with Omega at least since he only cares about taking down anything Eggman.

I guess the easiest way to describe the team’s relationship would be strictly associates who are on somewhat good terms with each other.

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Burrow the Falcon

Yeah well Ian Flynn is Wrong, and Team Dark has an emo hideout together where they listen to MCR, with Rouge's shiny gem collection on display in the center of it all and a workshop to repair Omega and targets with Eggman's face for him to shoot at.

Source: Trust me bro

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Metal

I mean Omega almost certainly does his own thing 99% of the time so it makes sense that they all aren’t a team. But Shadow and Rouge both work for G.U.N. as of ’06. They’re the two anthropomorphic agents in a sea of humans and have quite a bit of history together. It’s wild to claim that those two aren’t teammates, let alone friends. Even Omega, despite his cold-heartedness, would probably take time off from exterminating Eggman robots if either of them asked for his help. Omega considering both of them friends might be pushing it, but he at least has some loyalty to them as comrades.

But more importantly, if Team Dark doesn’t have anything besides a working relationship, then what relationships do Rouge and Omega even have? Like, neither of them interact with most of the main cast besides each other and Shadow. I guess Rouge kind of has a thing for Knuckles, but that’s about it. I don’t know if Sonic even knows Omega exists, just that during Heroes there was a robot hanging out with Shadow that wasn’t shooting at him.

[Sonic's Shoes Blues]

On 4/7/2022 at 5:06 AM, Shard the Angel said:

Someone ask Iizuka, see what he thinks

He would absolutely say exactly what Sega mandated to Flynn and it’s inevitable that we’ll get this retcon stated officially on Tails Tube,  I hope they never stop with the retcons on that thing because eventually the fans that have bizarrely chosen to only care about continuity will have to give up and admit it’s never mattered.

[The Ultimate Edgehog]

Ooh boy. Yeah, this is not only bad but also tone-deaf on SEGA’s part. It disregards a huge part of why many people like Shadow, Rouge, and Omega. Especially the latter two, because as a commenter above me said, what ties do they really even have to anyone else?

It’s especially weird and jarring because this doesn’t even follow the Japanese writing for them…? And not just old stuff either – Team Sonic Racing had in-character blog posts where the characters were asked questions, and Rouge’s answers could pretty much be summed up with “LMAO you guys are hopeless”. But, like, seemingly meant in an affectionate way?

Hell, I don’t even think that matches up with the tone of Episode Shadow in the English dub of Sonic Forces or the tie-in comic for it – Shadow and Rouge were very clearly concerned for Omega when Infinite messed with him.

I’m glad Ian Flynn himself likes Team Dark as a team/friend group and dislikes this, though. That’s the slight silver lining here, I guess?

TL;DR: This is BAD and whoever decided that at SEGA should feel bad. >:[ Also thank god for fanfics LOL

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Nuzamaki90

I mean I get it, they are conceptually just coworkers but that doesn’t stop them from still looking out for one another. They’ve all had moments where they were supportive of each other so this pill isn’t all that hard to swallow.

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Robbie

“Team Dark may have been a consistent team for years in both the games and Archie comics, but they no longer exist as anything but an out-of-unverse brand, according to IDW Sonic and Sonic Frontiers writer Ian Flynn.”

Um, they were never? They only ever teamed up because they were assigned the game mission or because fate brought them together. In Sonic 06, GUN only assigned Shadow to Rouge’s mission because she needed a hand, and Omega wasn’t even in their story until Rouge sought his aid to deliver that emerald to Shadow. Show me where the games said that GUN had an official team called Team Dark.

And they never called each other friends either, outside of the noncanon Chronicles. It would be out of character for them to act chummy, even if they care about each other deep down.

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: Gracecat22

Um Team Dark are like associates or co-workers that look out for each other. they don't HAVE to be friends. this complaining is unnecessary, guys.

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: JazzyDealer

On 4/7/2022 at 6:33 PM, Metal said:

I mean Omega almost certainly does his own thing 99% of the time so it makes sense that they all aren’t a team. But Shadow and Rouge both work for G.U.N. as of ’06. They’re the two anthropomorphic agents in a sea of humans and have quite a bit of history together. It’s wild to claim that those two aren’t teammates, let alone friends. Even Omega, despite his cold-heartedness, would probably take time off from exterminating Eggman robots if either of them asked for his help. Omega considering both of them friends might be pushing it, but he at least has some loyalty to them as comrades.

But more importantly, if Team Dark doesn’t have anything besides a working relationship, then what relationships do Rouge and Omega even have? Like, neither of them interact with most of the main cast besides each other and Shadow. I guess Rouge kind of has a thing for Knuckles, but that’s about it. I don’t know if Sonic even knows Omega exists, just that during Heroes there was a robot hanging out with Shadow that wasn’t shooting at him.

Sonic has interacted with Omega in Sonic Chronicles, especially in the ending with Sonic, Tails, and Omega narrating the credits. 

And Rouge has interacted with the rest of main cast several times in Sonic Battle, Chronicles and Rivals 2.

[TSS Classic Comment Bot]

Posted By: KingKalamari

I choose to disregard Sega’s official stance and instead headcanon that, though they don’t have an actual base, Shadow and Omega have basically been crashing on Rouge’s couch for the past decade.