Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Are G.U.N. The Good Guys Now?

Turning video games into movies is hard. It's one thing to add interactivity to a piece of art that is inherently stagnant, but removing that critical feature changes the context of every decision. That's why exclusively watching cutscenes is to playing a video game what reading an IMDb synopsis is to watching a movie. Sonic the Hedgehog had to make a lot of changes to reach the big screen with a suitable story. One of the franchise's recent changes recasts G.U.N. From a misguided antagonist to an apparent ally.

The visual clash of Sonic and his friends next to modern military hardware doesn't feel unintentional. Big-budget American adaptations of media from anywhere else have an annoying habit of shoving the army where it doesn't belong. It isn't always a propaganda effort, though that's often the intent. Americans just have an easier time understanding anything through the lens of army stuff, thanks to a lifetime of absorbing news footage and jingoistic historical fiction. Sonic feels like a weird place for that kind of imagery. Sure enough, Sonic Adventure 2, the game that introduced G.U.N., was also Sonic Team USA's first title.

Who was G.U.N. In the Sonic the Hedgehog games?

The Guardian Units of Nations first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2. They're a slightly vague military organization that seems to cover the entire world, despite being tied specifically to a country called the United Federation. The UF is a very obvious stand-in for the United States of America, and G.U.N. Is an unsubtle take on the US Military. The franchise rarely specifies when things take place, but G.U.N. Formed several decades before Sonic Adventure 2 began. Their portrayal in Sonic Adventure 2 is scathing. Most of the enemies Sonic and Shadow face in their adventures are related to G.U.N. Forces. Fans may remember a lot of robots with the traditional animals inside of them. The plot of the game suggests that most of those are G.U.N. Property, making them guilty of the crimes Eggman used to enjoy.

Chronologically, the first thing G.U.N. Does in the Sonic franchise is slaughter a team of scientists and shoot a small child. The United Federation funded Gerald Robotnik's experiments as part of Project Shadow, which initially sought to cure diseases and achieve immortality. The United Federation became afraid of the scientific advancements they requested, prompting them to send a small G.U.N. Army to Gerald's Space Colony: Ark. They lied to the public, claiming a biohazard broke out in the orbiting lab. They then evacuated the civilians and killed all the scientists. They took Gerald to a blacksite prison on a remote island and forced him to continue working under threat of execution. When Gerald realized that a G.U.N. Soldier had brutally murdered his granddaughter, Maria, he became dangerously unhinged. Gerald planted code in the ARK that would send it plummeting to Earth upon its next launch. He also brainwashed Shadow to carry out his vengeance. G.U.N. Realized that Gerald was unhappy, so they summarily executed him, buried his research, and kept Shadow on ice for years. They kept Gerald's legacy alive by using his innovative Chaos Drive technology to power all of their murder robots.

Decades later, Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik discovered his grandfather's journal by coincidence. He laid siege to the island prison and awakened Shadow. G.U.N. Immediately set to work hunting down the wrong hedgehog. They captured Sonic, attempting to transport him to the same blacksite. They chased him down with a massive armored truck, unleashed an armed mech, and watched Sonic fight Shadow before arresting the wrong one. Eggman bombed the island prison before issuing a terrorist threat against the United Federation. Sonic escaped and G.U.N. Finally dropped their charges against them. They would appear again in Shadow the Hedgehog, where they're portrayed as a marginally less evil force than an apocalyptic alien invasion. The commander-in-chief does briefly commend Shadow for his efforts and forgives him for his crimes if he picks the heroic ending. G.U.N. Is incompetent, authoritarian, unimaginably violent, and evil in a way that suggests a surprising amount of knowledge of American foreign policy history.

Who was G.U.N. In Sonic the Hedgehog 2?

The same military unit appears in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but their presence is far less negative. G.U.N. Never really becomes heroic in the games, but they do become increasingly irrelevant. In Sonic Forces, they oppose Eggman's global invasion just long enough to be obliterated. The films are much kinder to the group. The movies depict G.U.N. As an international task force that forms after Sonic's appearance in the first entry. They investigate and address extraterrestrial threats. They're a villainous force throughout most of the film. Sonic 2's B-plot follows Sonic's human friends as they attend a wedding in Hawaii. The groom, priest, staff, and most of the guests were hidden agents. They catfished a woman and faked a marital ceremony to capture Sonic the Hedgehog, a non-combatant whose only previous actions were to stop Robotnik, a former military asset. When they realize that Robotnik, a monster they created, has become more powerful than they can stop, they unleash Sonic and Tails to solve the problem. G.U.N. Commander Walters, who is also the US Army's vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologizes to Sonic and assures him that they will no longer pursue him. Two dirty G.U.N. Agents break that trust in an attempt to capture Knuckles in his spin-off show, but they no longer represent the organization.

Could G.U.N. Be something new in Sonic the Hedgehog 3?

The Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer presents a mixed portrayal of G.U.N. They appear to officially designate Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to handle Shadow. This would suggest that Sonic and his friends have become military assets in the time between this film and the last one. They may have a deal similar to the one the Avengers held down before Civil War. This isn't wholly new. Sonic '06 depicted G.U.N. Sending orders to Shadow and Rouge the Bat. It is, however, a little weird to see Sonic being peacefully transported in a helicopter. The last time G.U.N. Put Sonic in a chopper, they were flying him to a blacksite prison island for crimes he didn't commit. This becomes even more fascinating when examining the trailer's depiction of Shadow's backstory.

The film seems to show off a faithful adaptation of the story from Sonic Adventure 2. That implies that the group will attack an operation that they funded, kill dozens of scientists, and murder a small child. The shots in the trailer depict Shadow and Gerald Robotnik mourning a corpse in a burned laboratory while armed soldiers pile in. G.U.N. Wouldn't logically exist in that era, since the movies confirm that they only formed after Sonic reached Earth. Gerald Robotnik is also still alive in the trailer. His survival eliminates several G.U.N. Crimes, but they or their predecessors probably still stormed a research facility and shot a small girl in the back. While unlikely, this could be the setup for a big twist. Shadow could appear to be the villain until everyone realizes what humanity did to him. The trailer also features Sonic breathlessly demanding to know what Shadow did. This implies some sort of atrocity from Shadow, but it's hard to imagine him outdoing G.U.N.'s actions in a children's film.

Sonic Adventure 2 has this problem as well. Shadow prepares to destroy the world, but he realizes that collective punishment for all of humanity is unfair. This is the right outcome, but it still leaves G.U.N. Without any form of punishment for their actions. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 likely won't come out with an intensely anti-military message or a bold stance on pacificism, but it might lend a bizarre new positive lens to one of the franchise's most hostile villains.