Sonic the Werehog

An alternate version of Sonic the Hedgehog who never had the Dark Gaia essence within him reclaimed, he now carries the weight of that power inside him towards the future - as Sonic the Werehog. The protagonist of the first What If series, this version of Sonic embarked on a journey of strife as his inner conflict and quest for salvation lead to twists and turns forming along the familiar path of the Sonic series post-Sonic Unleashed.

Personality
The Dark Gaia essence within Sonic has caused multiple changes to his normally carefree persona, mostly stemming from it's side effect of frequent and disturbing night terrors. Because he struggles to sleep, Sonic can be noticeably quieter and more prone to agitation even in his base form, and those feelings only get worse at night when he becomes the Werehog. Despite that, however, he's still Sonic underneath - a hero who'll do anything for the good of others. Even though he wants to rid himself of Dark Gaia's curse, Sonic never puts his own wants before others and uses his altered skillset to great effect in thwarting Eggman's schemes again and again.

Since the events of the skipped-over Free Riders, Sonic has grown more accustomed to his situation and no longer hides away from his close friends, and his mental health has improved over time thanks to their continued support during the Sonic Colours arc and beyond.

Sonic Unleashed Arc
In Part 1, Sonic faced the Egg Dragoon and Dark Gaia in his Werehog form, the regular fight against the latter transitioning into an altered take on the original game's final boss when Dr. Eggman unleashed a mind-controlled Dark Gaia.

Chip used his powers as Light Gaia to summon forth the Gaia Temples, forming the Gaia Colossus and geared up to face off against his darker counterpart. While this was going on, Eggman continued his duel with Sonic using the Egg Dragoon on the Gaia Colossus, the two battles unfolding in tandem as the age-old rivals and godly duo fought with everything they had. Sonic was able to defeat his opponent, but Light Gaia found himself trapped in Dark Gaia's vicious grasp and slowly losing the ability to hold the Gaia Colossus together. Sonic threatened Eggman in a slightly feral state from his worry over Chip and Eggman quickly (though reluctantly) complied; The Doctor reached into his Eggmobile to use his controller on Dark Gaia, but found that both it and the receiver grafted onto the beast's head had been damaged in the fighting. As Chip continued to struggle, Sonic kept pressuring Eggman to make the machine work to no avail and Dark Gaia's assault did not falter. With terrifying strength the planetary beast's claws dug into the Gaia Colossus' shoulders and ripped off the four temples that made up it's arms - Eggman used the chaos of this attack to slip away.

After Dark Gaia's mutation, Sonic was helpless to do anything as it relentlessly battered the Gaia Colossus with repeated slashing attacks that could barely be dodged. Eventually Light Gaia gave up trying to avoid the blows and used up his energy to try and get Sonic to safety - he did this by surrounding him in a barrier and causing him to start floating away at the cost of losing the ability to make the Colossus move. After Chip pleaded with Sonic to do anything he can to save himself while lamenting his inability to stop Dark Gaia as he is now, Sonic's fury bubbled to the surface and he shouted angrily at his friend for rolling over and giving up. He pounded on the inside of the barrier that contained him furiously until it cracked, and it was at that point that the seven Chaos Emeralds began to shine! They flew from the remains of the Gaia Temples to where Sonic was being sent away, gathering in a giant burst of light from inside Chip'[s barrier. With a huge explosion of force, Super Werehog emerged from the shell in an absolute rage, both at Dark Gaia for it's wanton destruction and even his dear friend Chip for his pessimism. Now able to fight with Dark Gaia directly, Sonic gave everything he had for the sake of everyone on planet Earth in an epic battle that almost proved too much for even the might of the Super transformation combined with the Werehog form.

With a little help from the near-broken Gaia Colossus, Sonic was given an opening for his finisher - the Super Bullet Punch. With it, Dark Gaia was defeated and the regular ending of Sonic Unleashed proceeded to play out with one haunting snag: Sonic could still feel the presence of Dark Gaia inside his body as the sun's light warmed him.

Powers and abilities
Sonic retains all of his core abilities from the mainline games up to the events of Sonic Generations, with extra additions due to his altered circumstances - a particular focus of this incarnation of the Blue Blur is transformations. He still becomes the Werehog every night and the essence inside his body can react to other forms of energy.

Equipment
Chip's bracelet, occasionally referred to as the 'Gaia Band', is practically always around his wrist. This artifact provides to Sonic a connection to Light Gaia that has multiple times proved invaluable to keeping his mind from delving into madness in the face of dark powers. As of the Sonic Generations arc's conclusion, the Gaia Band has lost it's power and is currently not functioning.

During his adventures in Camelot, Sonic used the Sacred Sword known as Caliburn: A sentient blade with magical properties. In his Werehog form, Sonic used Caliburn in conjunction with his stretching arms to great effect, but it's holy magic struggled to mesh with the Werehog's dark nature.

Sonic the Werehog
A transformation now woven into Sonic's daily life and fighting style, the Werehog is the Dark Gaia-influenced state that Sonic enters when he is completely deprived of all sunlight. The exact mechanics of the transformation are unclear, but Sonic experiences a moment of sharp pain as the Dark Gaia essence within him flares up and warps his body into it's more ferocious state. In this form, Sonic's power is boosted massively at the cost of his speed as well as amplifying his negative emotions, making things such as rage harder to manage. All the abilities from his Werehog gameplay in Sonic Unleashed are also present, including the iconic stretching arms and brawler combat that, through time and practice as well as the influence of Chip, Sonic has achieved a level of mastery that his main timeline self would have not had the time to cultivate.

In the wake of the Sonic Generations arc, Sonic has become temporarily locked out of his true form and is stuck as a Werehog for the foreseeable future. As of now, it is uncertain how long this will last or how it will be resolved.

Super Sonic
The iconic golden Super State of Sonic the Hedgehog, a supernatural and nigh-unstoppable force of good. Sonic's speed, power and manipulation of Chaos Energy are amplified in this state - but he also gains new abilities such as flight and invulnerability. Due to the nature of this form being born from positive Chaos Energy, Super Sonic has the power to help purify those who are suffering from an excess of negative energy inside themselves such as Perfect Chaos and the Nega Mother Wisp by striking them with his own positive energy to counterbalance it. This is trickier than in the main timeline though, due to the Dark Gaia essence still present inside Sonic's body that can very easily cause him to assume a different transformation: The Super Werehog.

Super Werehog
When righteous fury meets destructive power, the Chaos Emeralds and Dark Gaia energy give rise to the Super Werehog. Sonic's wild alternate form can still access a Super State like his base form, but the negativity of Dark Gaia prevents him from using 100% positive Chaos Energy while doing so. Because of this, the Super Werehog is comprised of at least some part negative Chaos Energy and thus cannot perform the same acts of purification that Super Sonic can. Chaos Energy manipulation in general is difficult for the Werehog due to the presence of another energy flowing inside, but even with those tools mostly unavailable to him, this transformation has one things in spades: Power. The damage output of the Werehog is greatly amplified by this Super State, granting the Werehog nigh-unfathomable physical might that Super Sonic could only dream of. The standard Super characteristics of flight and invulnerability come as standard too, transforming an already wild Sonic into an absolute force to be reckoned with at the cost of the aforementioned abilities being locked away. By alternating between Super Sonic and Super Werehog, the strengths and weaknesses of each form can overlap to great effect as seen in the battle against the Nega Mother Wisp.

Dark Beast Werehog
In a bid to rid himself of Dark Gaia's 'curse', Sonic sought out the Scabbard of Excalibur during his journey across the land of Camelot. To his horror, however, the dark magic within the artifact reacted horribly with the essence inside of him and allowed it to spiral out of control - a Dark Beast reared it's head. Wreathed in broken chains and powered up with evil magic, the Dark Beast Werehog displayed world-threatening power that if not dealt with would surely tear Camelot asunder. Thankfully, he was stopped by Excalibur Shadow, who split the evil magic from his body using his ultimate attack: Chaos Deliverance.

This transformation mostly attacked using magical flames and with it's gigantic monstrous body, lacking fine control in it's unending lust for destruction.

Dusk Sonic
The name given to the bizarre amalgamated form that Sonic took on in White Space. Due to time and light being in constant flux, this form was an attempted middle ground between Sonic's two primary states that was mostly unexplored in terms of it's potential. Theoretically, this form's speed and strength would strike a balance - Faster than the Werehog and stronger than Sonic, but equally slower than Sonic's base form and physically weaker than the Werehog. However, due to this form's instability it's entirely possible that it is in fact weaker than both forms in either aspect, Sonic's wonky proportions making him sluggish and his body hard to control.

Darkspine Werehog
The original Darkspine form (which has never appeared in this story, though was once assumed by Sonic in the past) was fueled by Rage, Hatred and Sorrow. When combined with the Werehog form that amplifies negative emotions, Sonic becomes what could only be described as a being of uncontrollable destructive power, a force wilder than the fiercest beast and with enough might to wrestle with gods.

Weaknesses
As mentioned previously, this incarnation of Sonic has a fatal flaw in his amplified negative emotions. The darkness inside of him is hard to control, and has on multiple occasions reacted explosively with other sources of power such as the Chaos Emeralds, Scabbard of Excalibur and World Rings. Some were powers Sonic could previously use without issue, some were unheard of to him, and to be fair - Some were already dangerous. Most of the Werehog's more violent transformations have so far been one-offs, and he's thankfully gained a solid grasp on how to control the Chaos Emeralds despite the darkness inside, but that negative energy has time and time again caused problems for our hero either due to it's unpredictability or Sonic's own resentment.

Sonic's standard weaknesses such as his hydrophobia and occasional overconfidence are still present, though often overshadowed by the previously mentioned issues.

Dr. Eggman
Eggman was the one who inflicted Sonic with his 'curse', and particularly during the Sonic Colours arc, did Sonic let him know about how he felt regarding it. Eggman delighted in Sonic's misery towards the Werehog form while Sonic was angrier with him than usual after the Doctor's evil schemes had, for the first time, left a permanent scar. After healing from the mental wounds that lead to his self-isolation post-Sonic Unleashed, their relationship has mostly returned to normal. Eggman can no longer derive joy from his nemesis' suffering and thus returned to his usual operations in trying to utterly crush that 'horrible hedgehog' to prove he is unquestionably better than him before finishing him off. Sonic, meanwhile, has consistently risen to the challenge each time without fail - if anything, it feels good to have a sense of normalcy return to him.

Miles 'Tails' Prower
Tails is still Sonic's little brother, through and through. Ever since he learned of Sonic's situation, Tails has been dilligently researching ways to possible cure his friend of what ails him and has not stopped since, even allowing Sonic to live in his home after the Sonic Colours arc to take care of him and have constant access to the Werehog in the event that he requires more data. This arrangement has proved healthy for Sonic and kept him from sleeping alone in the woods as he had been doing during the events of Free Riders - it meant that Sonic would always have a close friend nearby when the transformation kicked in or his sleep was disturbed by night-terrors.

Amy Rose
When Amy didn't recognize Sonic during the events of Sonic Unleashed, he was downtrodden and painfully aware of what his transformation had seemingly robbed him of, his ability to coexist. After his battle with Dark Gaia and the apparent realization that he would be stuck with the Werehog form for the foreseeable future, these feelings once again rose to the surface and led to his self-isolation. During that time, Amy never stopped worrying for Sonic's safety and was delighted to see him again during the Sonic Colours arc, in which she reassured Sonic that she still cared about him despite his seemingly monstrous visage. Knowing that Amy would always stick by him no matter what helped Sonic recover from his emotional funk that caused him to miss the events of Free Riders.

Sir Lancelot
Sonic has a lot of respect for Lancelot, and is thankful for his efforts to save him from himself during the latter half of the Black Knight arc. Though they crossed swords before, Lancelot too has Sonic to thank for steering him onto the right path away from following the false King Arthur and carrying out his mission under Merlina's guidance to erect the barrier around Camelot Castle. Sonic's fall from grace forced Lancelot to step up to the plate and pick up where Sonic left off, leaving behind a strange mutual gratitude that only came to be due to the unfortunate corruption of who should've been the true King Arthur.

Classic Sonic
Sonic was bewildered upon meeting his younger self, but despite their first meeting being on either side of a 'mirror', Classic was not phased to see himself as a monster. In fact, his unbreakable optimism and carefree nature became a refreshing contrast to the struggles that his older self had been dealing with, hardly missing a beat when a mishap with Chaos Control caused him to 'contract' the Werehog transformation. Though they spent little time together, Sonic felt immense guilt for unwillingly shoving his burden onto a child version of himself only to be set at ease by Classic's readiness to accept the Werehog form. Classic Sonic feels no ill will towards Modern, working together with him to stop Alf Wamaratan

Trivia

 * Sonic the Werehog is the first What If? protagonist.
 * He has the most transformations of any What If? character, if one counts the Werehog mutations of existing forms such as Super and Darkspine Sonic as unique transformations.