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One of the many reoccurring topics I see on forums are fan-theories surrounding the many Sonic continuities. But what if I told you that almost every continuity in the Sonic franchise was part of one continuous timeline that branches off into many alternate timelines? And I may have some evidence to back it up.
Anyway, I made my own map to explain how this whole timeline/multiverse fiasco could work. The text highlighted in italic are my theories and observations on possible connections between each universe as well as some explanations.

Universe #1 (SegaSonic, A.K.A. "Another Time, Another Place"): A world resembling the official games. In this universe, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is a warmongering terrorist, mad scientist, and a corrupt industrialist with plans to take over the world. But his plans are constantly foiled by a speedy, blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic and his compatriots. Inspired by the research of his grandfather, Dr. Eggman seeks various ways to help him conquer the world; whether it's harnessing the power of seven mystical gemstones or aliens, summoning an ancient eldritch god of destruction, collaborating with a powerful mutant created in a top-secret laboratory, or gaining control of various entities that can traverse time.

In this reality, Earth is still referred to as Earth, indicating that the Xorda invasion never occurred in this timeline. However, the map shown in “Shadow the Hedgehog” depicts the continents looking quite different from our normal Earth. The locations in SA1, SA2, 06, and the regions featured in “Sonic Unleashed” are mere expies of the continents and cultures of our modern-day Earth. Couple this theory with Monopole, the futuristic metropolis seen in the "Sonic Riders" series; surviving works of literature like the "1001 Arabian Nights", Arthurian legends, and "The Three Musketeers"; as well as brief mentions of certain historical figures like Albert Einstein, Aristotle, and Martin Wilhelm Kutta and you have what appears to be an alternate future Earth. If this evidence proved to be valid, organizations like the Guardian Units of the Nations (G.U.N.) and the United Federation are likely the future descendants of the U.S. Military and United Nations

Going by the 3rd issue of the digital "Sonic Forces" tie-in comic (which has been confirmed to be canonical), it is evident that the SegaSonic universe has its own incarnations of Sally Acorn and Bunnie Rabbot. It's currently unknown if other associated characters also reside there.

According to "Sonic Rivals", should the Master Emerald be erased from existence (like Dr. Nega turning it into a card), it would affect all the Master Emeralds across the multiverse. But since the Master Emerald doesn't exist in every identified universe, it leaves the possibility of this occurrence debatable.

Due to repeated cameos from other Sega/Sonic Team franchises (not counting the "Sega All-Star" series), it's possible that "NIGHTS", "Samba De Amigo", "Billy Hatcher", "Monkey Ball", "Chu Chu Rocket", "Puyo Puyo" (which also includes the "Madou Monogatari" series), "Space Channel 5", "Fantasy Zone", "Shinobi", "Crazy Taxi", "Hang-On", "Phantasy Star", and "Crusader of Centy" might also share the same universe.

-Silver's Timeline: An apocalyptic future brought forth by a supernatural being known as Iblis; where Angel Island crashed into the ocean below, becoming Onyx Island. When the events of "Sonic '06" were eradicated, this dystopian future continued to exist due to the impact of a transdimensional fire elemental called the Ifrit summoned by Dr. Nega. This too was fixed.

According to Silver in the 3DS version of "Sonic Colors", this future was altered once again and was now "a paradise"; which could easily fit the description of the...

-Sol Dimension: The homeworld of Blaze the Cat, Marine the Raccoon, and the Coconut Crew. In this world, the entire planet is covered in an ocean - the only specks of land being island chains - and is fraught with robot pirates built by Dr. Nega (a descendant of Dr. Eggman). It harbors its own collection of Emeralds known as "Sol Emeralds" as well as a powerful object to help stabilize them, the Jeweled Scepter.

The Sol Dimension is said to be an alternate reality, but I have reasons to believe that it could potentially be another possible future. For instance, Dr. Nega is the enemy of both Silver and Blaze in their respective worlds, and in “Sonic Rivals”, Silver states that Dr. Nega is a descendant of the original Dr. Eggman. In “Sonic 06”, both Silver and Blaze are both residents of Crisis City. And later in "Generations", Blaze is described as hailing from the Sol Dimension but she still has memories of Crisis City. If the Sol Dimension is indeed the future, the Sol Emeralds could possibly be the Chaos Emeralds having absorbed the essence of Solaris (hence the name 'Sol Emeralds') and the Jeweled Scepter possibly crafted from the remains of the Master Emerald. Regarding the Emeralds' shared ability to exist throughout time-and-space, they continued to remain this way despite the altered timeline. This is further proven in the Archieverse when its version of the Sol Dimension was protected from the aftereffects of the Super Genesis Wave by the Jeweled Scepter.

Universe #2 (Classic Sonic Timeline): A relatively new addition to the game continuity. As a result of their time-traveling escapades in "Sonic Generations", the younger, pudgier Sonic and Tails returned to their native spot in the timeline with their classic nemesis locked away in limbo. Through some means of escape, this Eggman returned to the past all the wiser of his modern counterpart's failures and set out to avoid making the same mistakes. One of his more infamous plots involved the excavation of a mysterious reality-warping gemstone of unknown origin, the Phantom Ruby. This would later result in yet another encounter with his older, modern doppelganger.

The existence of a separate timeline for Classic Sonic could easily explain any inconsistencies with the Modern Sonic continuity. For instance, in "Sonic the Hedgehog 4", Metal Sonic is shown to be trapped on Little Planet and in disrepair following his crushing defeat in "Sonic CD". Since Little Planet is said to appear annually for one month and both Eggman and Sonic have their modern designs, this would place it sometime later on when Sonic hit puberty and Eggman had a change in wardrobe (at least according to "Generations"). But titles like "Sonic Triple Trouble", "Knuckles Chaotix", "Sonic the Fighters" and "Sonic R" have Metal Sonic interacting with Classic Sonic as if nothing happened. Since there's only one Metal Sonic, these titles must take place in separate timelines. Though which one is anyone's guess.

Universe #3 (Archie, A.K.A. "Mobius Prime"): In this universe, Earth was attacked by a race of aliens calling themselves the Xorda, terraforming it into the world known as 'Mobius'. In this universe, Overlanders (subhumans) and Mobians (mutant descendants of animals) generally oppose each other. The resulting struggle was a 5-year long conflict remembered as the 'Great War', which lead to the downfall of the most prominent Mobian civilization, the Kingdom of Acorn, and the rise of the Robotnik Empire. Those who managed to survive the coup formed resistance groups against his regime and allied with hidden human colonies that managed to survive the apocalypse, such as G.U.N. and the United Federation.

In issue #50, various Sega/Sonic Team characters are shown (via flashback) partaking in the Great War - Ristar, Astal & Leda, and Deku from "Fighters Megamix" fighting against the oncoming Overlander army consisting of various human characters from the "Virtua Fighters" series. Bin and Pin from "Dynamite Dux" were also confirmed to exist, having been members of the Battle Bird Armada. If so, these series might also share the same multiverse alongside the SegaSonic timeline.

This branch of the multiverse is collectively connected via the Cosmic Interstate; an interdimensional highway patrolled by the Zone Cops, Mobians from the No-Zone that protect each reality by incarcerating any universe-hopping criminals or potentially dangerous beings. Should anything happen to the Prime reality that is 'Mobius Prime', the entire Cosmic Interstate will be permanently affected.
As evidenced in the comics, "Mobius Prime" has its own set of variant universes. Despite having the title of "Prime", however, I don't view the Archiverse as the definitive source from which every Mobius stems from due to certain continuities having conflicting accounts and origins that don't mesh with the established lore. So instead, I suspect Mobius Prime to be the primary Mobius of its own multiversal branch from which every other alternate continuity bearing any semblance to the Archiverse stems from.
Due to the Super Genesis Wave, this section of the multiverse was destroyed and reconstructed, which likely destroyed the following continuities in the process:

-SubUniverse #1 (Moebius, or "Anti-Mobius"): An alternate universe existing in parallel axis to Mobius Prime. Everything and everyone in it has the opposite moral alignment of their Prime counterparts.

In one episode of "Sonic Underground", the siblings encounter corrupted versions of themselves in an alternate universe. Since the Underground universe exists as an alternate variation of the Prime timeline, this likely means that each alternate timeline has its own variant of an anti-verse.

-SubUniverse #2 (SatAM): A seemingly identical universe to that of Mobius Prime, but with some slight differences. In this timeline, the wizard Naugus chose Robotnik to be his subordinate instead of Kodos in his scheme to overthrow the kingdom by harnessing power from the Void. Robotnik eventually betrayed Naugus and sealed him within the pocket zone. Due to these different circumstances, Sir Charles never resigned from his position as Chief Scientist after his first test with the roboticizer failed, and King Acorn managed to escape Robotnik's eventual takeover. Bunnie was also childhood friends with the Freedom Fighters' long before the coup occurred and Rosie was roboticized shortly afterward.

It is implied during the 1st season that King Acorn had managed to escape Robotnik's grasp and was living life on the lam, aiding the Freedom Fighters whenever he could. His most recent contribution: transmitting sensitive documents of Robotropolis' layout to his daughter in Ironlock Prison. But the events of this episode are totally incompatible with his fate of being banished into the Void. However, this contradiction could simply be the result of time-travel...

-SubUniverse #2.1 (SatAM, Season 2): The direct result of Sonic and Sally's time-traveling adventure to try and prevent Robotnik's coup. It didn't go exactly as planned, resulting in Robotnik succeeding in catching King Acorn and banishing him to the Void to join Naugus. But in the confusion, Rosie managed to escape unroboticized and was still present at Knothole Village. In the end, Sonic and Sally utilized the mysterious Power Stones of Drood Henge to bring Robotnik's Doomsday Project to a climactic end. His nephew, Snively, took his place, leaving the doctor's fate unknown.

By placing the 2nd season of the show after the time-traveling episode, it's possible to categorize many of the show's changes as a direct result of the paradox created by Sonic and Sally's attempt to alter the past. For without King Acorn's aid, Sally would have to fill her father's shoes and play a greater role on the team. Antoine D'Coolette would also be more afraid of their current condition, acting more paranoid and cowardly than before; which might explain his name-change to 'Depardieu' (possibly his mother's maiden name). And because of the injury induced by the time-traveling Sonic, Robotnik might have become even more desperate to annihilate the hedgehog, to the point where his plans started backfiring while he grew more inept as the war wore on. This increased obsession might've also resulted in Cluck not being invented.

-SubUniverse #3 (Underground): Eerily similar to the Archieverse, except for an alternate past. In this universe, the Great War never happened, Sonic's family is of royal blood and was born during Robotnik's takeover of Mobotropolis. His royal mother, Queen Aleena, was told by the Oracle of Delphius to separate her children so that Robotnik could never get his hands on them. A prophecy was foretold that she would reunite with them in due time and form the 'Council of Four' to bring an end to Robotnik's reign of terror.

According to the Professor of the Mobius University during one episode, the last war fought before Robotnik's rise to power happened over a thousand years ago, implying that the Great War never happened in this universe. If so, Robotnik must've had a different motivation to take control of the kingdom; which could explain why he spared the richer class from being roboticized and forced them into taxation.

It was never stated during the show that Queen Aleena ruled Mobotropolis; meaning that she could've governed another kingdom (Mercia perhaps?) while the Acorn family still ruled Mobotropolis in this universe - as evidenced by the statue of King Acorn seen during the opening episode. If so, Sally Acorn and the rest of the Freedom Fighters could exist in this world as well (albeit offscreen). Though judging by Sonia's negative reaction to Archie Sonic dating Sally during their crossover, the couple might not be dating each other in this universe. In addition, judging by Manic's reaction to the nickname "Tails", Miles Prowler might go by an entirely different alias, and 'Sanctuary' could be an alternate designation for Knothole Village in this universe (on account of it re-using the same backdrop as Knothole in the show).

It is unknown if Queen Aleena is an alternate version of Bernadette Hedgehog (Sonic's mother from the Archie timeline) or an entirely different hedgehog altogether. But since there already exists a royal family of hedgehogs in Mercia, it's possible that Aleena's bloodline could be one and the same. If so, Jules might've married Aleena in this timeline instead of Bernadette, resulting in the birth of the royal siblings; and Aleena could easily be the unseen mother of Robert O'Hedge in the Archie timeline.

-SubUniverse #4 (The OVA, Planet Freedom): In this universe, Earth suffered from a major cataclysm and became another world. This time though, instead of Mobius, the planet is called 'Planet Freedom'. Planet Freedom is broken up into two layers: the Land of the Sky (a series of airborne continents connected together, suspended above the planet's surface) and the Land of Darkness (the planet's bleak, original surface). The Land of the Sky contains this universe's equivalents of South Island and Central City and is home to both Mobians and Humans (Overlanders?) while the Land of Darkness is shrouded in shadow, filled with the ruins of modern-day cities, and serves as the base of this universe's equivalent of Robotropolis. Should the landmasses which anchor the Land of the Sky become undone, the planet's rotation will hurl the continents into space, destroying them.

Since the OVA was never launched in Japan, this aforementioned ancient cataclysm was never fully addressed. However, in the Archie comics, Planet Freedom is shown to be one of the many possible outcomes when Chaos Knuckles attempted to change the past by preventing an asteroid collision, which leads to the creation of Angel Island. Therefore, it's possible that “Planet Freedom" was created by either the Xorda Invasion or the Days of Fury. Further connections with the Archiverse include Knuckles' hat (a gift from his grandfather Hawking), Robotropolis, and Robotnik's usage of Swatbots (specifically the Shadowbot variety).

-SubUniverse #5 (Post-Reboot, Genesis Reality): An alternate world mirroring the SegaSonic universe. Created by Dr. Eggman's reality-warping device known as the Genesis Wave, this world was closest to the source as he could get. The first wave - nicknamed "Operation: Clean Sweep" - didn't last for very long, thanks to the efforts of this reality's Sonic and Freedom Fighters, but with the help of Dr. Wily (a native from another alternate reality), the device was shortly reactivated, disrupting Mobius Prime's reality permanently.

In this new universe, certain individuals from the original Mobius Prime no longer exist, and the planet appears to have no name. Events from certain games have already transpired (with varying results), and the backstories for the game cast closely matches the source material. The Freedom Fighters also have different origins; with Antoine being a foreign exchange student, Bunnie being the first subject to undergo roboticization (and possibly Cream's cousin), and Rotor being the child of an abusive father. NICOLE is also a failed attempt at a computer A.I., and Naugus, unlike his previous incarnation, may possibly be the sole survivor of an ancient race of trolls that predated the ancient Echidna civilization.

Since Sally, Antoine, Rotor, and Snively (as well as Bunnie and Julie-Su) appeared during the first Genesis Wave, it's likely that they too existed in the SegaSonic universe in some way, shape, or form - as evidenced in the "Sonic Forces" tie-in comic. But due to the recent removal of certain characters in the reboot, it's possible that certain characters and events were wiped from existence in this new reality, thus creating a paradox in the timeline. For example, without the Xorda, the events leading to the creation of Mobius Prime no longer happened; thus making the new reality a closer offshoot of the SegaSonic timeline. The Freedom Fighters' new designs could also be the result of having different parents.

Universe #4 (Boom): In this world, there was once an ancient order of civilizations known collectively as "the Ancients" which sought a peaceful trade of the world's valuable resources. One of these assets was a collection of eight colorful gemstones of incredible power, known as Chaos Crystals, that could help power machines. But one member, a scientist named Lyric, was poisoned by their radiation during a test experiment and was forced to wear a bio-mech suit to sustain his life. His weakened condition made him power-hungry and he sought revenge against the order by threatening to destroy all life on the planet with his army of robots. But the Ancients managed to seal him within a tomb in an attempt to stop his coup. A millennium later, a team of ragtime teens (consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy) unwittingly released Lyric from his long cryogenic slumber; while the local bully, Dr. Eggman, uncovered his robot army.

There appear to be two alternate versions of this reality: one in which Lyric was imprisoned and later awakened by Sonic and the gang ("Rise of Lyric"), and another where Lyric frees himself after being imprisoned by the Ancients ("Shattered Crystal"). Since time-travel was involved, Sonic's involvement in the past could've resulted in the creation of two different timelines.

In "Shattered Crystal", Tails refers to the planet as Earth. This suggests that the Boom world isn't an alternate universe to Mobius Prime's multiversal branch, but yet another offshoot of the SegaSonic timeline.

While the Ancients are never given much detail regarding their identity, it's possible that the ancient order consisted primarily of Echidnas (judging by all the ruined statues resembling them). It's also heavily implied that the ancient order fell at some point (hence the name 'Bygone Island') and the world was forced to recover on its own, which would explain the desolate settlements and rustic-level technology. The constant barrage of meteor showers could also indicate a disaster of some sort. This could indicate that the Echidnas either survived the wrath of Chaos, or the events of said war never occurred in this timeline. This would also explain Knuckles' different lifestyles and why he has no apparent duty in guarding the Master Emerald. But the confirmed existence of Angel Island in this universe raises a few questions regarding this theory's validity.

At first glance, the Chaos Emeralds don't appear to exist in this timeline; having been replaced by the natural-looking Chaos Crystals. However, it was confirmed that the Emeralds are, in fact, still present in the series. Judging by their name and similar appearance, it's likely that the Chaos Crystals are the original organic forms of the Chaos Emeralds before they were carved into the round gemstones we're all familiar with. And since there is a grand total of eight, the Master Emerald might also count as one of them. The energy-field generated by them is also still present, as evidenced by the abundance of Golden Rings and Shadow's ability to tap into his Chaos powers.

If both these theories are to be taken into account, we can assume that the Knuckles Clan joined the Ancients in this timeline and handed over their prized possessions in a gesture of peaceful accordance. The advanced technology employed by Lyric might've also been a product contributed by the Nocturnus Clan, and the robots under his command a possible variant of the Gizoid. This may also affect Shadow's shrouded backstory in this universe, taking into account his creator's obsession with ancient cultures.

Of interesting note, this universe appears to have its own multiverse as well - ranging from a world where Sonic was never born to a twin world where everyone's personality traits were reversed. During the events in which the Knuckles of this latter world was brought into the Boom world, he is shown glitching in and out of reality due to him being in the presence of his counterpart. If this same logic applies to the rest of the multiverse, we might have an explanation for why Robo-Robotnik successfully replaced Robotnik Prime in the Archieverse and why Patch saw the need to send Antoine to Moebius rather than simply hide him. Another possibility could be that these rules of physics only apply to the new multiverse created by the Super Genesis Wave since neither Scourge nor Sonic were shown to be glitching while confronting each other.
According to the comics, there might also exist alternate versions of Snively, Scratch & Grounder, Sleet & Dingo, and Decoe & Bocoe in this universe, working under Eggman's employment. It is unknown if this applies to other notable characters.

Universe #5 (IDW): A divergent timeline to the games following the events of “Sonic Forces”. Dr. Eggman succeeded in taking over most of the planet through the power of the Phantom Ruby (originating from the divergent Classic Sonic timeline) being replicated and grafted onto his new jackal subordinate, Infinite. Sonic was captured and imprisoned for months before returning to finally turn the tables with the help of a nameless rookie, who joined the resistance group formed by Sonic’s friends and allies in his absence.

A universe that, from all outward appearances, appears to be set in roughly the same continuity as the games before splitting off into its own branch. While there was initially some debate over the presence of humans in this continuity, it has been confirmed that humans do indeed inhabit the same world as the anthro animals like in the mainline timeline.

On one of the 31st issue's variant covers, Storm the Albatross is seen holding a mugshot board displaying "Knothole Village Police Precinct" on his wanted poster. While it may merely be an easter egg with no deeper meaning behind it, I like to consider it possibly canon to the IDW continuity since, as far as I'm aware, there was never any known Police Precinct in Knothole in either SatAM or the Archie comics. It's entirely exclusive to the IDWverse.

Universe #6 (Fleetway): Once again, we have an alternate Earth that suffered heavily from an ancient cataclysm. This time, however, it split into two separate worlds and each half was thrown into another dimension: Earth (essentially our Earth) and Mobius, a world reconstructed by a race of space-faring dinosaurs. This Mobius is also the convergence point for many various pocket dimensions and zones; including Shanazar (a magical planet existing at sub-molecular level which this Mobius later merged with), Drakon (homeworld of the Drakon Empire; the alien race responsible for the creation of the Chaos Emeralds), the Nameless Zone (Tails' inner-dimensional homeland), and the Special Zone (a reality-shifting pocket dimension that harbors an endless supply of Chaos Emeralds and also houses several planets similar to Mobius itself).

In this universe, Mobius is once again populated by both animals and some humans (possibly this universe's equivalent of Overlanders). Some of its inhabitants were brought to Mobius from Earth by accident by the Ring of Eternity, a mystical sentient device that can transport anyone anywhere across time and space. One of these immigrants from Earth was a benevolent scientist named Dr. Ovi Kintobor, who would later befriend a brown hedgehog and experiment on the Chaos Emeralds, which ended up mutating them into this universe's equivalents of Dr. Robotnik and Sonic respectively. After stopping many of Robotnik's attempts to destroy the planet, Sonic and his team of Freedom Fighters were sent forwards through time by six months, which gave plenty of time for Robotnik to conquer the planet and become its ruler.

The cause for the ancient cataclysm was never explained in the comics, but it could've been the result of a long-forgotten Time of Awakening; a constant battle between the earth spirits, Dark Gaia and Light Gaia, which reoccurs over several eons. It's possible that several chunks of the planet were lost during the struggle and were flung into parallel dimensions; leading to the creation of Mobius, Shanazar, Meridia, the Nameless Zone, and other similar worlds.

Tekno, Ebony, Pajamas, Johnny, Porker, Shortfuse, and Metamorphia appeared as background extras in Archie Sonic #134; suggesting that they too have doppelgängers that exist in the Archiverse.

While the existence of its own multiverse has been confirmed, the series has never fully explored it yet. However, there may be a few possibilities:

-SubUniverse (Sonic Adventures): A world bearing a close resemblance to the Fleetway universe, including a mutant Kintobor/Robotnik and a quest involving the missing gray emerald. But where the Fleetway series establishes Knuckles and Dr. Zachary as the last surviving Echidnas; Sirène's "Sonic Adventures" shows that there are entire colonies of Echidnas throughout Mobius. In addition, the events leading up to Sonic and Knuckles' first encounter are also different.

Due to the shared “Kintobor origin” story with other children's books published in the U.K. (namely Virgin Publishing), they too might share the same multiverse.

-SubUniverse (Paramount, live-action): The timeline in which the films appear to be set. In this timeline, Sonic was an orphan raised by an owl warrior named Longclaw. Sonic’s unusual abilities drew the attention of a warring clan of echidnas who sought to use his power for their own nefarious conquest, but Longclaw sacrificed herself by sending Sonic through a Warp Ring to the planet Earth, where her people hid the Master Emerald long ago.

Much like the universe presented in the Fleetway comics, Mobius is a separate planet from Earth that appears to have some loose connection to it (and yes, it is named ‘Mobius’ in the novelization). Tails is also shown to originate from another planet and the tie-in prequel comic showcased the Chaotix and other Mobians inhabiting another, similar to the Fleetway series. Where the timeline diverges seems to be the aftermath of the Eachidna war when the Owls swooped in and stole the Master Emerald. As a result, the Kintobor experiment that led Robotnik to turn mad seems to have happened on Earth instead.

The connection between this Mobius and Earth hasn’t been disclosed yet as of writing this, but given that certain species of anthropomorphic animals are shown to inhabit different planets, it’s possible that they evolved from regular animals and that humans are merely hyper evolved apes native to Earth.

The hieroglyph symbols seen in the owl temple hidden in Siberia are the same seen in the Babylonian temples in the “Riders” games. This could indicate that the Owls were Babylonians, and that Warp Wrings could be their own means of interstellar travel.

Universe #7 (Sonic X): Similar to the Fleetway Mobius, this world was once a part of Earth until an ancient cataclysm split the planet in half, with each half being thrown into another dimension. Depending on the time of planetary orbit and magnetic interference, both worlds will connect across space-time, allowing for easy access to either planet. And like the Dr. Kintobor of the Fleetway universe, this universe's Dr. Robotnik (going by the alias 'Eggman') was a former resident of Earth before being transported to this planet. Sometime after their return to their homeworld, Eggman got incredibly lucky when he stumbled across the reality-warping Phantom Ruby, which he used to turn the conflict in his favor and conquer the world, with Sonic seemingly being defeated in the process - though it was eventually undone by the rise of the Resistance.

In this universe, Sonic and his friends were transported from their unnamed interdimensional planet to Earth via Chaos Control. Eggman attempted to conquer the planet as well, but Sonic and his crew kept him at bay, forcing him to take drastic measures. They were later sent back to their home dimension once their presence on Earth was found to be a threat to the fabric of reality, but their adventures continued onward. Certain events from the games happened in this universe (such as Tails' first encounter with Sonic as described in the StH2 manual, as well as the events of SA1, SA2, and "Battle"), while others apparently never happened. For instance, the events of "Sonic CD" never occurred, as evidenced by this Eggman's reaction to seeing Archie Metal Sonic in the “Sonic X” comics; and Shadow’s return in the Mettarrex saga muddles the storylines of both “Sonic Heroes" and "Shadow the Hedgehog" a bit - though it is possible that they happened only under different circumstances.

While this version of Eggman is a visitor from Earth, it's never explained how he got to Sonic's world in the first place. Since his grandfather happened to own an ancient Giziod (which would later be named "Emerl") and his prized creation, Shadow, bears an uncanny resemblance to the Mobian race; it's possible that he and the crew aboard the ARK were aware of the parallel world's existence and experimented with Chaos energy to access it.

During the Metarexx saga, Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge encounter a human resistance fighting against the Metarexx. Since their colony of Cascade is located within Sonic's dimension, it is unknown how these human colonists got there. If they originated from Sonic's home planet, they could easily be this world's equivalent of Overlanders.

Anyway, those are my personal theories on this subject. I might've left out a few details and such, but this is from what I was able to gather from the respective continuities. If I left out a specific series (like the Shogakukan manga or the Troll/Golden Book series), I don't have enough background information to cover them or their placement in the overall map.

And in case you're wondering, I purposely left out AoStH on account of principle. Since the series has practically no relationship with the other continuities, as well as one episode implying it all to be fictional, it's safe to assume the entire series is imaginary. They could very likely be exaggerated stories and tall-tales invented by the Freedom Fighters to lampoon Robotnik (which would explain the world's surrealism and silly nature). However, since several elements from the cartoon have appeared in other continuities, some of these stories might've been based on actual people or events.

Description

One of the many reoccurring topics I see on forums are fan-theories surrounding the many Sonic continuities. But what if I told you that almost every continuity in the Sonic franchise was part of one continuous timeline that branches off into many alternate timelines? And I may have some evidence to back it up.
Anyway, I made my own map to explain how this whole timeline/multiverse fiasco could work. The text highlighted in italic are my theories and observations on possible connections between each universe as well as some explanations.

Universe #1 (SegaSonic, A.K.A. "Another Time, Another Place"): A world resembling the official games. In this universe, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is a warmongering terrorist, mad scientist, and a corrupt industrialist with plans to take over the world. But his plans are constantly foiled by a speedy, blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic and his compatriots. Inspired by the research of his grandfather, Dr. Eggman seeks various ways to help him conquer the world; whether it's harnessing the power of seven mystical gemstones or aliens, summoning an ancient eldritch god of destruction, collaborating with a powerful mutant created in a top-secret laboratory, or gaining control of various entities that can traverse time.

In this reality, Earth is still referred to as Earth, indicating that the Xorda invasion never occurred in this timeline. However, the map shown in “Shadow the Hedgehog” depicts the continents looking quite different from our normal Earth. The locations in SA1, SA2, 06, and the regions featured in “Sonic Unleashed” are mere expies of the continents and cultures of our modern-day Earth. Couple this theory with Monopole, the futuristic metropolis seen in the "Sonic Riders" series; surviving works of literature like the "1001 Arabian Nights", Arthurian legends, and "The Three Musketeers"; as well as brief mentions of certain historical figures like Albert Einstein, Aristotle, and Martin Wilhelm Kutta and you have what appears to be an alternate future Earth. If this evidence proved to be valid, organizations like the Guardian Units of the Nations (G.U.N.) and the United Federation are likely the future descendants of the U.S. Military and United Nations

Going by the 3rd issue of the digital "Sonic Forces" tie-in comic (which has been confirmed to be canonical), it is evident that the SegaSonic universe has its own incarnations of Sally Acorn and Bunnie Rabbot. It's currently unknown if other associated characters also reside there.

According to "Sonic Rivals", should the Master Emerald be erased from existence (like Dr. Nega turning it into a card), it would affect all the Master Emeralds across the multiverse. But since the Master Emerald doesn't exist in every identified universe, it leaves the possibility of this occurrence debatable.

Due to repeated cameos from other Sega/Sonic Team franchises (not counting the "Sega All-Star" series), it's possible that "NIGHTS", "Samba De Amigo", "Billy Hatcher", "Monkey Ball", "Chu Chu Rocket", "Puyo Puyo" (which also includes the "Madou Monogatari" series), "Space Channel 5", "Fantasy Zone", "Shinobi", "Crazy Taxi", "Hang-On", "Phantasy Star", and "Crusader of Centy" might also share the same universe.

-Silver's Timeline: An apocalyptic future brought forth by a supernatural being known as Iblis; where Angel Island crashed into the ocean below, becoming Onyx Island. When the events of "Sonic '06" were eradicated, this dystopian future continued to exist due to the impact of a transdimensional fire elemental called the Ifrit summoned by Dr. Nega. This too was fixed.

According to Silver in the 3DS version of "Sonic Colors", this future was altered once again and was now "a paradise"; which could easily fit the description of the...

-Sol Dimension: The homeworld of Blaze the Cat, Marine the Raccoon, and the Coconut Crew. In this world, the entire planet is covered in an ocean - the only specks of land being island chains - and is fraught with robot pirates built by Dr. Nega (a descendant of Dr. Eggman). It harbors its own collection of Emeralds known as "Sol Emeralds" as well as a powerful object to help stabilize them, the Jeweled Scepter.

The Sol Dimension is said to be an alternate reality, but I have reasons to believe that it could potentially be another possible future. For instance, Dr. Nega is the enemy of both Silver and Blaze in their respective worlds, and in “Sonic Rivals”, Silver states that Dr. Nega is a descendant of the original Dr. Eggman. In “Sonic 06”, both Silver and Blaze are both residents of Crisis City. And later in "Generations", Blaze is described as hailing from the Sol Dimension but she still has memories of Crisis City. If the Sol Dimension is indeed the future, the Sol Emeralds could possibly be the Chaos Emeralds having absorbed the essence of Solaris (hence the name 'Sol Emeralds') and the Jeweled Scepter possibly crafted from the remains of the Master Emerald. Regarding the Emeralds' shared ability to exist throughout time-and-space, they continued to remain this way despite the altered timeline. This is further proven in the Archieverse when its version of the Sol Dimension was protected from the aftereffects of the Super Genesis Wave by the Jeweled Scepter.

Universe #2 (Classic Sonic Timeline): A relatively new addition to the game continuity. As a result of their time-traveling escapades in "Sonic Generations", the younger, pudgier Sonic and Tails returned to their native spot in the timeline with their classic nemesis locked away in limbo. Through some means of escape, this Eggman returned to the past all the wiser of his modern counterpart's failures and set out to avoid making the same mistakes. One of his more infamous plots involved the excavation of a mysterious reality-warping gemstone of unknown origin, the Phantom Ruby. This would later result in yet another encounter with his older, modern doppelganger.

The existence of a separate timeline for Classic Sonic could easily explain any inconsistencies with the Modern Sonic continuity. For instance, in "Sonic the Hedgehog 4", Metal Sonic is shown to be trapped on Little Planet and in disrepair following his crushing defeat in "Sonic CD". Since Little Planet is said to appear annually for one month and both Eggman and Sonic have their modern designs, this would place it sometime later on when Sonic hit puberty and Eggman had a change in wardrobe (at least according to "Generations"). But titles like "Sonic Triple Trouble", "Knuckles Chaotix", "Sonic the Fighters" and "Sonic R" have Metal Sonic interacting with Classic Sonic as if nothing happened. Since there's only one Metal Sonic, these titles must take place in separate timelines. Though which one is anyone's guess.

Universe #3 (Archie, A.K.A. "Mobius Prime"): In this universe, Earth was attacked by a race of aliens calling themselves the Xorda, terraforming it into the world known as 'Mobius'. In this universe, Overlanders (subhumans) and Mobians (mutant descendants of animals) generally oppose each other. The resulting struggle was a 5-year long conflict remembered as the 'Great War', which lead to the downfall of the most prominent Mobian civilization, the Kingdom of Acorn, and the rise of the Robotnik Empire. Those who managed to survive the coup formed resistance groups against his regime and allied with hidden human colonies that managed to survive the apocalypse, such as G.U.N. and the United Federation.

In issue #50, various Sega/Sonic Team characters are shown (via flashback) partaking in the Great War - Ristar, Astal & Leda, and Deku from "Fighters Megamix" fighting against the oncoming Overlander army consisting of various human characters from the "Virtua Fighters" series. Bin and Pin from "Dynamite Dux" were also confirmed to exist, having been members of the Battle Bird Armada. If so, these series might also share the same multiverse alongside the SegaSonic timeline.

This branch of the multiverse is collectively connected via the Cosmic Interstate; an interdimensional highway patrolled by the Zone Cops, Mobians from the No-Zone that protect each reality by incarcerating any universe-hopping criminals or potentially dangerous beings. Should anything happen to the Prime reality that is 'Mobius Prime', the entire Cosmic Interstate will be permanently affected.
As evidenced in the comics, "Mobius Prime" has its own set of variant universes. Despite having the title of "Prime", however, I don't view the Archiverse as the definitive source from which every Mobius stems from due to certain continuities having conflicting accounts and origins that don't mesh with the established lore. So instead, I suspect Mobius Prime to be the primary Mobius of its own multiversal branch from which every other alternate continuity bearing any semblance to the Archiverse stems from.
Due to the Super Genesis Wave, this section of the multiverse was destroyed and reconstructed, which likely destroyed the following continuities in the process:

-SubUniverse #1 (Moebius, or "Anti-Mobius"): An alternate universe existing in parallel axis to Mobius Prime. Everything and everyone in it has the opposite moral alignment of their Prime counterparts.

In one episode of "Sonic Underground", the siblings encounter corrupted versions of themselves in an alternate universe. Since the Underground universe exists as an alternate variation of the Prime timeline, this likely means that each alternate timeline has its own variant of an anti-verse.

-SubUniverse #2 (SatAM): A seemingly identical universe to that of Mobius Prime, but with some slight differences. In this timeline, the wizard Naugus chose Robotnik to be his subordinate instead of Kodos in his scheme to overthrow the kingdom by harnessing power from the Void. Robotnik eventually betrayed Naugus and sealed him within the pocket zone. Due to these different circumstances, Sir Charles never resigned from his position as Chief Scientist after his first test with the roboticizer failed, and King Acorn managed to escape Robotnik's eventual takeover. Bunnie was also childhood friends with the Freedom Fighters' long before the coup occurred and Rosie was roboticized shortly afterward.

It is implied during the 1st season that King Acorn had managed to escape Robotnik's grasp and was living life on the lam, aiding the Freedom Fighters whenever he could. His most recent contribution: transmitting sensitive documents of Robotropolis' layout to his daughter in Ironlock Prison. But the events of this episode are totally incompatible with his fate of being banished into the Void. However, this contradiction could simply be the result of time-travel...

-SubUniverse #2.1 (SatAM, Season 2): The direct result of Sonic and Sally's time-traveling adventure to try and prevent Robotnik's coup. It didn't go exactly as planned, resulting in Robotnik succeeding in catching King Acorn and banishing him to the Void to join Naugus. But in the confusion, Rosie managed to escape unroboticized and was still present at Knothole Village. In the end, Sonic and Sally utilized the mysterious Power Stones of Drood Henge to bring Robotnik's Doomsday Project to a climactic end. His nephew, Snively, took his place, leaving the doctor's fate unknown.

By placing the 2nd season of the show after the time-traveling episode, it's possible to categorize many of the show's changes as a direct result of the paradox created by Sonic and Sally's attempt to alter the past. For without King Acorn's aid, Sally would have to fill her father's shoes and play a greater role on the team. Antoine D'Coolette would also be more afraid of their current condition, acting more paranoid and cowardly than before; which might explain his name-change to 'Depardieu' (possibly his mother's maiden name). And because of the injury induced by the time-traveling Sonic, Robotnik might have become even more desperate to annihilate the hedgehog, to the point where his plans started backfiring while he grew more inept as the war wore on. This increased obsession might've also resulted in Cluck not being invented.

-SubUniverse #3 (Underground): Eerily similar to the Archieverse, except for an alternate past. In this universe, the Great War never happened, Sonic's family is of royal blood and was born during Robotnik's takeover of Mobotropolis. His royal mother, Queen Aleena, was told by the Oracle of Delphius to separate her children so that Robotnik could never get his hands on them. A prophecy was foretold that she would reunite with them in due time and form the 'Council of Four' to bring an end to Robotnik's reign of terror.

According to the Professor of the Mobius University during one episode, the last war fought before Robotnik's rise to power happened over a thousand years ago, implying that the Great War never happened in this universe. If so, Robotnik must've had a different motivation to take control of the kingdom; which could explain why he spared the richer class from being roboticized and forced them into taxation.

It was never stated during the show that Queen Aleena ruled Mobotropolis; meaning that she could've governed another kingdom (Mercia perhaps?) while the Acorn family still ruled Mobotropolis in this universe - as evidenced by the statue of King Acorn seen during the opening episode. If so, Sally Acorn and the rest of the Freedom Fighters could exist in this world as well (albeit offscreen). Though judging by Sonia's negative reaction to Archie Sonic dating Sally during their crossover, the couple might not be dating each other in this universe. In addition, judging by Manic's reaction to the nickname "Tails", Miles Prowler might go by an entirely different alias, and 'Sanctuary' could be an alternate designation for Knothole Village in this universe (on account of it re-using the same backdrop as Knothole in the show).

It is unknown if Queen Aleena is an alternate version of Bernadette Hedgehog (Sonic's mother from the Archie timeline) or an entirely different hedgehog altogether. But since there already exists a royal family of hedgehogs in Mercia, it's possible that Aleena's bloodline could be one and the same. If so, Jules might've married Aleena in this timeline instead of Bernadette, resulting in the birth of the royal siblings; and Aleena could easily be the unseen mother of Robert O'Hedge in the Archie timeline.

-SubUniverse #4 (The OVA, Planet Freedom): In this universe, Earth suffered from a major cataclysm and became another world. This time though, instead of Mobius, the planet is called 'Planet Freedom'. Planet Freedom is broken up into two layers: the Land of the Sky (a series of airborne continents connected together, suspended above the planet's surface) and the Land of Darkness (the planet's bleak, original surface). The Land of the Sky contains this universe's equivalents of South Island and Central City and is home to both Mobians and Humans (Overlanders?) while the Land of Darkness is shrouded in shadow, filled with the ruins of modern-day cities, and serves as the base of this universe's equivalent of Robotropolis. Should the landmasses which anchor the Land of the Sky become undone, the planet's rotation will hurl the continents into space, destroying them.

Since the OVA was never launched in Japan, this aforementioned ancient cataclysm was never fully addressed. However, in the Archie comics, Planet Freedom is shown to be one of the many possible outcomes when Chaos Knuckles attempted to change the past by preventing an asteroid collision, which leads to the creation of Angel Island. Therefore, it's possible that “Planet Freedom" was created by either the Xorda Invasion or the Days of Fury. Further connections with the Archiverse include Knuckles' hat (a gift from his grandfather Hawking), Robotropolis, and Robotnik's usage of Swatbots (specifically the Shadowbot variety).

-SubUniverse #5 (Post-Reboot, Genesis Reality): An alternate world mirroring the SegaSonic universe. Created by Dr. Eggman's reality-warping device known as the Genesis Wave, this world was closest to the source as he could get. The first wave - nicknamed "Operation: Clean Sweep" - didn't last for very long, thanks to the efforts of this reality's Sonic and Freedom Fighters, but with the help of Dr. Wily (a native from another alternate reality), the device was shortly reactivated, disrupting Mobius Prime's reality permanently.

In this new universe, certain individuals from the original Mobius Prime no longer exist, and the planet appears to have no name. Events from certain games have already transpired (with varying results), and the backstories for the game cast closely matches the source material. The Freedom Fighters also have different origins; with Antoine being a foreign exchange student, Bunnie being the first subject to undergo roboticization (and possibly Cream's cousin), and Rotor being the child of an abusive father. NICOLE is also a failed attempt at a computer A.I., and Naugus, unlike his previous incarnation, may possibly be the sole survivor of an ancient race of trolls that predated the ancient Echidna civilization.

Since Sally, Antoine, Rotor, and Snively (as well as Bunnie and Julie-Su) appeared during the first Genesis Wave, it's likely that they too existed in the SegaSonic universe in some way, shape, or form - as evidenced in the "Sonic Forces" tie-in comic. But due to the recent removal of certain characters in the reboot, it's possible that certain characters and events were wiped from existence in this new reality, thus creating a paradox in the timeline. For example, without the Xorda, the events leading to the creation of Mobius Prime no longer happened; thus making the new reality a closer offshoot of the SegaSonic timeline. The Freedom Fighters' new designs could also be the result of having different parents.

Universe #4 (Boom): In this world, there was once an ancient order of civilizations known collectively as "the Ancients" which sought a peaceful trade of the world's valuable resources. One of these assets was a collection of eight colorful gemstones of incredible power, known as Chaos Crystals, that could help power machines. But one member, a scientist named Lyric, was poisoned by their radiation during a test experiment and was forced to wear a bio-mech suit to sustain his life. His weakened condition made him power-hungry and he sought revenge against the order by threatening to destroy all life on the planet with his army of robots. But the Ancients managed to seal him within a tomb in an attempt to stop his coup. A millennium later, a team of ragtime teens (consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy) unwittingly released Lyric from his long cryogenic slumber; while the local bully, Dr. Eggman, uncovered his robot army.

There appear to be two alternate versions of this reality: one in which Lyric was imprisoned and later awakened by Sonic and the gang ("Rise of Lyric"), and another where Lyric frees himself after being imprisoned by the Ancients ("Shattered Crystal"). Since time-travel was involved, Sonic's involvement in the past could've resulted in the creation of two different timelines.

In "Shattered Crystal", Tails refers to the planet as Earth. This suggests that the Boom world isn't an alternate universe to Mobius Prime's multiversal branch, but yet another offshoot of the SegaSonic timeline.

While the Ancients are never given much detail regarding their identity, it's possible that the ancient order consisted primarily of Echidnas (judging by all the ruined statues resembling them). It's also heavily implied that the ancient order fell at some point (hence the name 'Bygone Island') and the world was forced to recover on its own, which would explain the desolate settlements and rustic-level technology. The constant barrage of meteor showers could also indicate a disaster of some sort. This could indicate that the Echidnas either survived the wrath of Chaos, or the events of said war never occurred in this timeline. This would also explain Knuckles' different lifestyles and why he has no apparent duty in guarding the Master Emerald. But the confirmed existence of Angel Island in this universe raises a few questions regarding this theory's validity.

At first glance, the Chaos Emeralds don't appear to exist in this timeline; having been replaced by the natural-looking Chaos Crystals. However, it was confirmed that the Emeralds are, in fact, still present in the series. Judging by their name and similar appearance, it's likely that the Chaos Crystals are the original organic forms of the Chaos Emeralds before they were carved into the round gemstones we're all familiar with. And since there is a grand total of eight, the Master Emerald might also count as one of them. The energy-field generated by them is also still present, as evidenced by the abundance of Golden Rings and Shadow's ability to tap into his Chaos powers.

If both these theories are to be taken into account, we can assume that the Knuckles Clan joined the Ancients in this timeline and handed over their prized possessions in a gesture of peaceful accordance. The advanced technology employed by Lyric might've also been a product contributed by the Nocturnus Clan, and the robots under his command a possible variant of the Gizoid. This may also affect Shadow's shrouded backstory in this universe, taking into account his creator's obsession with ancient cultures.

Of interesting note, this universe appears to have its own multiverse as well - ranging from a world where Sonic was never born to a twin world where everyone's personality traits were reversed. During the events in which the Knuckles of this latter world was brought into the Boom world, he is shown glitching in and out of reality due to him being in the presence of his counterpart. If this same logic applies to the rest of the multiverse, we might have an explanation for why Robo-Robotnik successfully replaced Robotnik Prime in the Archieverse and why Patch saw the need to send Antoine to Moebius rather than simply hide him. Another possibility could be that these rules of physics only apply to the new multiverse created by the Super Genesis Wave since neither Scourge nor Sonic were shown to be glitching while confronting each other.
According to the comics, there might also exist alternate versions of Snively, Scratch & Grounder, Sleet & Dingo, and Decoe & Bocoe in this universe, working under Eggman's employment. It is unknown if this applies to other notable characters.

Universe #5 (IDW): A divergent timeline to the games following the events of “Sonic Forces”. Dr. Eggman succeeded in taking over most of the planet through the power of the Phantom Ruby (originating from the divergent Classic Sonic timeline) being replicated and grafted onto his new jackal subordinate, Infinite. Sonic was captured and imprisoned for months before returning to finally turn the tables with the help of a nameless rookie, who joined the resistance group formed by Sonic’s friends and allies in his absence.

A universe that, from all outward appearances, appears to be set in roughly the same continuity as the games before splitting off into its own branch. While there was initially some debate over the presence of humans in this continuity, it has been confirmed that humans do indeed inhabit the same world as the anthro animals like in the mainline timeline.

On one of the 31st issue's variant covers, Storm the Albatross is seen holding a mugshot board displaying "Knothole Village Police Precinct" on his wanted poster. While it may merely be an easter egg with no deeper meaning behind it, I like to consider it possibly canon to the IDW continuity since, as far as I'm aware, there was never any known Police Precinct in Knothole in either SatAM or the Archie comics. It's entirely exclusive to the IDWverse.

Universe #6 (Fleetway): Once again, we have an alternate Earth that suffered heavily from an ancient cataclysm. This time, however, it split into two separate worlds and each half was thrown into another dimension: Earth (essentially our Earth) and Mobius, a world reconstructed by a race of space-faring dinosaurs. This Mobius is also the convergence point for many various pocket dimensions and zones; including Shanazar (a magical planet existing at sub-molecular level which this Mobius later merged with), Drakon (homeworld of the Drakon Empire; the alien race responsible for the creation of the Chaos Emeralds), the Nameless Zone (Tails' inner-dimensional homeland), and the Special Zone (a reality-shifting pocket dimension that harbors an endless supply of Chaos Emeralds and also houses several planets similar to Mobius itself).

In this universe, Mobius is once again populated by both animals and some humans (possibly this universe's equivalent of Overlanders). Some of its inhabitants were brought to Mobius from Earth by accident by the Ring of Eternity, a mystical sentient device that can transport anyone anywhere across time and space. One of these immigrants from Earth was a benevolent scientist named Dr. Ovi Kintobor, who would later befriend a brown hedgehog and experiment on the Chaos Emeralds, which ended up mutating them into this universe's equivalents of Dr. Robotnik and Sonic respectively. After stopping many of Robotnik's attempts to destroy the planet, Sonic and his team of Freedom Fighters were sent forwards through time by six months, which gave plenty of time for Robotnik to conquer the planet and become its ruler.

The cause for the ancient cataclysm was never explained in the comics, but it could've been the result of a long-forgotten Time of Awakening; a constant battle between the earth spirits, Dark Gaia and Light Gaia, which reoccurs over several eons. It's possible that several chunks of the planet were lost during the struggle and were flung into parallel dimensions; leading to the creation of Mobius, Shanazar, Meridia, the Nameless Zone, and other similar worlds.

Tekno, Ebony, Pajamas, Johnny, Porker, Shortfuse, and Metamorphia appeared as background extras in Archie Sonic #134; suggesting that they too have doppelgängers that exist in the Archiverse.

While the existence of its own multiverse has been confirmed, the series has never fully explored it yet. However, there may be a few possibilities:

-SubUniverse (Sonic Adventures): A world bearing a close resemblance to the Fleetway universe, including a mutant Kintobor/Robotnik and a quest involving the missing gray emerald. But where the Fleetway series establishes Knuckles and Dr. Zachary as the last surviving Echidnas; Sirène's "Sonic Adventures" shows that there are entire colonies of Echidnas throughout Mobius. In addition, the events leading up to Sonic and Knuckles' first encounter are also different.

Due to the shared “Kintobor origin” story with other children's books published in the U.K. (namely Virgin Publishing), they too might share the same multiverse.

-SubUniverse (Paramount, live-action): The timeline in which the films appear to be set. In this timeline, Sonic was an orphan raised by an owl warrior named Longclaw. Sonic’s unusual abilities drew the attention of a warring clan of echidnas who sought to use his power for their own nefarious conquest, but Longclaw sacrificed herself by sending Sonic through a Warp Ring to the planet Earth, where her people hid the Master Emerald long ago.

Much like the universe presented in the Fleetway comics, Mobius is a separate planet from Earth that appears to have some loose connection to it (and yes, it is named ‘Mobius’ in the novelization). Tails is also shown to originate from another planet and the tie-in prequel comic showcased the Chaotix and other Mobians inhabiting another, similar to the Fleetway series. Where the timeline diverges seems to be the aftermath of the Eachidna war when the Owls swooped in and stole the Master Emerald. As a result, the Kintobor experiment that led Robotnik to turn mad seems to have happened on Earth instead.

The connection between this Mobius and Earth hasn’t been disclosed yet as of writing this, but given that certain species of anthropomorphic animals are shown to inhabit different planets, it’s possible that they evolved from regular animals and that humans are merely hyper evolved apes native to Earth.

The hieroglyph symbols seen in the owl temple hidden in Siberia are the same seen in the Babylonian temples in the “Riders” games. This could indicate that the Owls were Babylonians, and that Warp Wrings could be their own means of interstellar travel.

Universe #7 (Sonic X): Similar to the Fleetway Mobius, this world was once a part of Earth until an ancient cataclysm split the planet in half, with each half being thrown into another dimension. Depending on the time of planetary orbit and magnetic interference, both worlds will connect across space-time, allowing for easy access to either planet. And like the Dr. Kintobor of the Fleetway universe, this universe's Dr. Robotnik (going by the alias 'Eggman') was a former resident of Earth before being transported to this planet. Sometime after their return to their homeworld, Eggman got incredibly lucky when he stumbled across the reality-warping Phantom Ruby, which he used to turn the conflict in his favor and conquer the world, with Sonic seemingly being defeated in the process - though it was eventually undone by the rise of the Resistance.

In this universe, Sonic and his friends were transported from their unnamed interdimensional planet to Earth via Chaos Control. Eggman attempted to conquer the planet as well, but Sonic and his crew kept him at bay, forcing him to take drastic measures. They were later sent back to their home dimension once their presence on Earth was found to be a threat to the fabric of reality, but their adventures continued onward. Certain events from the games happened in this universe (such as Tails' first encounter with Sonic as described in the StH2 manual, as well as the events of SA1, SA2, and "Battle"), while others apparently never happened. For instance, the events of "Sonic CD" never occurred, as evidenced by this Eggman's reaction to seeing Archie Metal Sonic in the “Sonic X” comics; and Shadow’s return in the Mettarrex saga muddles the storylines of both “Sonic Heroes" and "Shadow the Hedgehog" a bit - though it is possible that they happened only under different circumstances.

While this version of Eggman is a visitor from Earth, it's never explained how he got to Sonic's world in the first place. Since his grandfather happened to own an ancient Giziod (which would later be named "Emerl") and his prized creation, Shadow, bears an uncanny resemblance to the Mobian race; it's possible that he and the crew aboard the ARK were aware of the parallel world's existence and experimented with Chaos energy to access it.

During the Metarexx saga, Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge encounter a human resistance fighting against the Metarexx. Since their colony of Cascade is located within Sonic's dimension, it is unknown how these human colonists got there. If they originated from Sonic's home planet, they could easily be this world's equivalent of Overlanders.

Anyway, those are my personal theories on this subject. I might've left out a few details and such, but this is from what I was able to gather from the respective continuities. If I left out a specific series (like the Shogakukan manga or the Troll/Golden Book series), I don't have enough background information to cover them or their placement in the overall map.

And in case you're wondering, I purposely left out AoStH on account of principle. Since the series has practically no relationship with the other continuities, as well as one episode implying it all to be fictional, it's safe to assume the entire series is imaginary. They could very likely be exaggerated stories and tall-tales invented by the Freedom Fighters to lampoon Robotnik (which would explain the world's surrealism and silly nature). However, since several elements from the cartoon have appeared in other continuities, some of these stories might've been based on actual people or events.