Have we discussed any humanoid robots yet? Let’s talk about humanoid robots.
Emerl / Gemerl
First Appearance: To get technical, Emerl was in Sonic Battle, 2003. Gemerl was in Sonic Advance 3, 2004.
Who are they? This might take a minute. Emerl was a robot from an ancient civilization that existed about 4,000 years back. He “went rogue” and committed a genocide. Whoops! Gerald Robotnik, Eggman’s granddad, acquired him at some point, and stuck a robotic soul in there. Then the professor wandered off to experience the wrong side of G.U.N. Then Ivo Robotnik found Emerl, thought he was trash, and tossed him over to Sonic and friends. They collectively taught Emerl how to love. Then he exploded. But Eggman used the data from Emerl to create Gemerl, who was effectively the Shadow to Emerl’s Sonic. Then Gemerl got to be a persistent antagonist for a whole game, and attempted to destroy the world. He was defeated, reprogrammed by Tails, and now he is Cream the Rabbit’s dad. Not the endpoint anyone would have expected, but he got there.
What are their powers? You have typical “Sonic the Hedgehog robot stuff” like durability and flight, but Emerl distinctly had the ability to learn from his opponents. I mean… Like… Okay, any thinking person/robot can learn from a fight. But this is that sci-fi/videogame/Mokujin thing where he can perfectly replicate what has been experienced, and then regurgitate that “power” later. How that immediately graduates to “can destroy a civilization” is a little nebulous, but let’s go ahead and log that in his powerset, too. Gemerl has all the powers of Emerl, but with a cooler paintjob.
Why are they still relevant today? (G)Emerl is worth remembering in the Sonic Pantheon not because he is memorable as a character, but because he is emblematic of two things that keep happening in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. One, we have the weird situation where some dude/robot/water monster is responsible for a global catastrophe, and now their opponent is a teenage hedgehog that can run fast. They always lose. And the other persistent trope here is the robot/AI that learns how to love. E-102 Gamma, Gemerl, and even a certain lil’ cyber girl all go through this transformation, so let us look to the example of that nonsense we (sorta) see on stream. I’m not playing Sonic Adventure again!
Let’s Play 2-D Sonic the Hedgehog Games
Night 11
May 12, 2026
Random Notes:
- There are so many bodily functions you want nothing to do with! But you could do something with Sonic Advance 3 and BEAT, fanboymaster, Chromes, Cassandralyn, and Caliscrub. …. Look, it is not easy to write these introductions every week.
- BEAT will be playing the “time attack” stages of Sonic Advance 3 (the main campaign is a little more annoying). He is an excellent host, and explains the mechanics of different characters and their various interactions. Everyone gets a different moveset according to their partner. And this can lead to flaming uppercuts!
Cassandralyn started a fight on the internet today. Well, two fights, after fanboymaster gets flummoxed.- Touching Edward’s stomach is “hit or miss.” Take that as you will.
- “The only person that cares about Sonic the Dark Brotherhood is Ken Penders”
- Apparently this was the week Gameoverse was announced. That was back when we just knew that we liked Mega Man and cat girls.
- BEAT recounts the Multiversus stream. And he wasn’t even there!
- “There’s no culture that Velma would not appropriate.”
- Ample Vigour joins for discussion of Tom and Jerry and their many costumes.
- “Let’s all have a moment of mourning for Super Game.”
- Some anime can be antisemitic due to ignorance. Well… more ignorance than usual. Let’s not think about it too hard, and move on to a history of the fur trade.
- Let’s talk about M.U.L.E.! Not drug mules, BEAT…
- And, having driven Sonic the Hedgehog into a bottomless pit, BEAT declares his night done. That was how Sonic Advance 2 ended, too! No, we are not playing Sonic Battle next. Let’s get off this damned Gameboy Advance.
Next lap on Sonic’s marathon: Two screens that are a little rushed.
