The state of G.U.N. going forward?

[ChaosCTRL]

Mild spoilers for Twitter Takeover #7. (IDK if I needed a spoiler warning or not.

     G.U.N. has always been one of my favorite entities in the Sonic universe, giving us a glimpse of how real world governments may react to the fantastical events surrounding speeding hedgehogs, marching Eggman mechs, and ultimate lifeforms. But it seems, at least in the game canon, that G.U.N. may be no more. In the most recent Twitter takeover, Eggman mentions that he “dissolved G.U.N.” during his world-conquering spree in the events of Forces. On top of that, G.U.N.’s absence from the world-shaping events of the IDW comics (so far as I know) implies that they were never reestablished afterwards. There were G.U.N. military craft in the cyberspace of Frontiers, but there is still a lot of mystery as to how cyberspace retrieves its information. Do you guys think we’ll see G.U.N. make a comeback in the games, or may their appearances now be left only to the movies?

 

[Maple Syrup]

I think that G.U.N is a nice concept but I don't see any more pocket holes for it to slip in to, and the twitter takeover clearly stated that for the most part, G.U.N will never be seen again. Unless, if they make a game similar to Sonic Adventure, G.U.N might come back! Fingers crossed!

[Lorekitten]

I'm not surprised that Sega decided to phase out GUN, all things considered. And by 'all things,' I mean 'I'm not gonna break the forum rules on politics but we all know why Sega would want to dissociate that from the Sonic brand.'

[castell-neath]

Well, its an almost dead cert that G.U.N. will have a big role in the Sonic 3 film. Be interesting to see if that influences them being in games going forward.

Also, G.U.N. have been closely tied to Shadow...and to a lesser extent Rouge. SA2, Shadow and Sonic 06 all pretty much showed this. I think any future game which has a Shadow focus would probably bring them back in some way as it seemed in 06 that Shadow "freelanced" for them / worked as some form of "Bond style" agent for them. They may rebrand from GUN / change it a bit like the LON became the UN post ww2 but I think they do have a role in a future Shadow story.

[Lorekitten]

4 minutes ago, castell-neath said:

Well, its an almost dead cert that G.U.N. will have a big role in the Sonic 3 film. Be interesting to see if that influences them being in games going forward.

That is a point, and it leads to the question as to how the movie will handle them. Especially given their role in Sonic Adventure 2 and what happened to Maria.

[Zaysho]

On 12/26/2023 at 11:41 AM, ChaosCTRL said:

On top of that, G.U.N.’s absence from the world-shaping events of the IDW comics (so far as I know) implies that they were never reestablished afterwards

When the IDW comic was first established they were still working with the assumption that the game universe was split into two distinct worlds for humans and Mobians (answered here and here). Ignoring Ian was obligated to justify Sonic Team's old mental gymnastics, that was the direction at the time and it was mostly safe to assume GUN would just not be there because it's "human world" stuff. In more recent years (really, the past two it seems), it appears Sega has walked back that idea by having the TailsTubes firmly establish them as one world and as I understand most recent issues have featured locations from the "human world" like Spagonia. Really, this should tell you how unserious "canon" in this series has always been.

At this point, I assume if they're saying Eggman dissolved GUN it's just so they don't have to worry about using them anymore or tying Shadow and Rouge down to them like they did back during SA2/ShTH/2006 but I could see them eventually doing something with them again. One of the Sonic Channel stories (fan translation) featured GUN mechs still being in use, and these were published a few years after Forces. Even if Eggman did dissolve them during Forces, I don't think it's out there that GUN would make a comeback, but they won't be as necessary or as important as they were back in the early 2000s.

[Lorekitten]

7 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

Really, this should tell you how unserious "canon" in this series has always been.

Facts. Although in fairness, this does open up 'endless possibility' for crack headcanons, which are one of my favorite parts of being a fan of huge-ass multimedia franchises.

7 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

Even if Eggman did dissolve them during Forces, I don't think it's out there that GUN would make a comeback, but they won't be as necessary or as important as they were back in the early 2000s.

Fair enough.

[Zaysho]

13 minutes ago, Lorekitten said:

Facts. Although in fairness, this does open up 'endless possibility' for crack headcanons, which are one of my favorite parts of being a fan of huge-ass multimedia franchises.

Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that of course. I mostly just wanted to point out the source of it (Sega) shouldn't be taken seriously because they have an established history of just changing things in the series on a whim anyway.

[Lorekitten]

2 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that of course. I mostly just wanted to point out the source of it (Sega) shouldn't be taken seriously because they have an established history of just changing things in the series on a whim anyway.

My bestie has a crack theory that Sonic's homeworld is sentient, ever-changing, and is just inventing all of these new adventures for Sonic on its own. This isn't what I personally subscribe to but it's an amusing concept to think about so long as you don't let it break your mind.

[ChaosCTRL]

 

2 hours ago, Lorekitten said:

I'm not surprised that Sega decided to phase out GUN, all things considered. And by 'all things,' I mean 'I'm not gonna break the forum rules on politics but we all know why Sega would want to dissociate that from the Sonic brand.'

That’s a good point. They wouldn’t want anybody being offended if G.U.N.’s portrayal too closely resembles a past or current politician. (Being as vague as possible here)

 

2 hours ago, Maple Syrup said:

I think that G.U.N is a nice concept but I don't see any more pocket holes for it to slip in to, and the twitter takeover clearly stated that for the most part, G.U.N will never be seen again. Unless, if they make a game similar to Sonic Adventure, G.U.N might come back! Fingers crossed!

I personally hope they come back in some way shape or form. Maybe even a new organization with similar motives to G.U.N. would be nice.

[Lorekitten]

15 minutes ago, ChaosCTRL said:

They wouldn’t want anybody being offended if G.U.N.’s portrayal too closely resembles a past or current politician. (Being as vague as possible here)

I wasn't thinking of a specific person, just the whole... well, GUN being GUN, at least how it was portrayed in Sonic Adventure 2 when Maria got shot.

[ChaosCTRL]

1 minute ago, Lorekitten said:

I wasn't thinking of a specific person, just the whole... well, GUN being GUN, at least how it was portrayed in Sonic Adventure 2 when Maria got shot.

I didn’t really have an individual in mind either, but just the idea of government conspiracies like Project Shadow.

1 hour ago, Lorekitten said:

My bestie has a crack theory that Sonic's homeworld is sentient, ever-changing, and is just inventing all of these new adventures for Sonic on its own. This isn't what I personally subscribe to but it's an amusing concept to think about so long as you don't let it break your mind.

That’s an interesting idea. I don’t know if I’d follow that either, but neat nonetheless. If that were the case, then maybe the End was another sentient world with some mental illness or otherwise uncontrolled bloodlust. 

[Lorekitten]

9 minutes ago, ChaosCTRL said:

If that were the case, then maybe the End was another sentient world with some mental illness or otherwise uncontrolled bloodlust. 

Ooh, that's an idea I'll have to share with him!

[Gruffin]

On 12/26/2023 at 10:41 AM, ChaosCTRL said:

-snip-
Do you guys think we’ll see G.U.N. make a comeback in the games, or may their appearances now be left only to the movies?

It's hard to say. I wouldn't rule it out, but as of right now it seems that there is currently no need for them in the types of stories that SEGA is interested in telling. It's hard to imagine what they would add to games like Frontiers or Dream Team that isn't already accomplished by the main cast, and in Dream Team's case, a human military organization does not fit the tone at all.

That said, I do think there is room to make small references to them, and no doubt they will continue to be acknowledged in some capacity, even if it's a small, "Hey, remember those guys existed?" every now and again.

[RadicalLaRuby]

You can't hide G.U.N. from us, Sega. We all know the truth, lol

 

Nah but seriously, even thought they can switch it up at any time Dragon Ball style, I'd rather an explanation like Eggman wiping them out to explain the current absence. Seems like a slow phasing out, and not like they've shown humans being super relevant recently, not that I'm fully on board with that idea.

 

Perhaps the movies will bring some things back, but even in games, Shadow's very existence will always be tied to it regardless.

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by RadicalLaRuby

[Maria.Sosori]

I really hope so, GUN is one of the reasons I grew to love Sonic lore in the first place.

[ChaosCTRL]

5 hours ago, Maria.Sosori said:

I really hope so, GUN is one of the reasons I grew to love Sonic lore in the first place.

Same here.

[juiceDpunk983]

On 12/27/2023 at 8:12 PM, Zaysho said:

TailsTubes firmly establish them as one world and as I understand most recent issues have featured locations from the "human world" like Spagonia. Really, this should tell you how unserious "canon" in this series has always been.

The two parallel Earths merged back into one offscreen this doesn't retcon anything and also allows the "old canon" to be true with this new information of it being one world by the Tails videos, if they're even considered canon.

 

On 12/26/2023 at 4:41 PM, ChaosCTRL said:

Do you guys think we’ll see G.U.N. make a comeback in the games, or may their appearances now be left only to the movies?

I reckon they'll be in the games but completely wiped out with only remnants around forming their own groups. Outcast Gun units.

[Piko]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:09 PM, Gruffin said:

I wouldn't rule it out, but as of right now it seems that there is currently no need for them in the types of stories that SEGA is interested in telling. It's hard to imagine what they would add to games like Frontiers or Dream Team that isn't already accomplished by the main cast, and in Dream Team's case, a human military organization does not fit the tone at all.

That’s a very good point. While I would love for G.U.N. to make a comeback in some capacity, I think that they may be limiting on the type of story that can be told, especially when it comes to more light-hearted media like Dream Team. I’d only want to see them when the story calls for them to be there.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

This love of GUN in this topic is shocking!

Not that I hate it, just that I still remember people wanting them and anything with humans completely removed from the canon, hence the state they are now.

But…

There is a simple way to bring them back. Just have a small group of surviving soldiers who were once part of GUN and a small handful of their military bases and ships, and brand these survivors as “The GUN Remnants.” They’ll still have high technology, but nowhere near as capable of being a worldwide force thanks to Eggman.

This is practically how Archie did it in pre-reboot with the surviving humans on Mobius come the SA1 adaptation. Could work here too in the post-Forces setting.