Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Sonic Frontiers.Sonic Frontiers marks a bold new step forward for the franchise, most likely beginning the era of "open-zone" Sonic games following the game's success. This particular title is the fastest-selling Sonic game in Japan to date, and more sales figures should be known following Black Friday and the holiday season. In particular, fans are adoring the newest title in part to the new expansive world they get to explore, as well as a story that solidifies Sonic lore. However, not many players are aware that the Starfall Islands and the narrative are more connected than they think.
While the names of the five Starfall Islands may not seem like much at first, they're actually references to Greek mythology. Each of the islands is named after an important part of the mythos, and it doesn't seem like they were picked lightly. Almost all of them tie-in to just what Sonic and friends experience during the events of Sonic Frontiers.
Kronos Island
Some fans may see the name "Kronos" Island and think of the supposed Greek god of time. However, there are two different gods known as Chronos (with many different spellings.) While there is one in Greek myths, the god Chronos who oversees time is actually known from pre-Socratic philosophy. The Greek Titan Cronus is actually associated with the harvest. Historically, the two have overlapped, which may have helped with how the story of Kronos Island deals with a love that transcends time while also having Sonic tend to a field within the first few hours of the game.
Ares Island
Ares Island's symbolism within Sonic Frontiers may be the most simplistic out of all five names. Unlike the historical confusion between the two different Kronos gods, Ares is widely known as the Greek god of war. In Sonic Frontiers, Ares Island serves as the first time players are pushed towards thinking that the Ancients were caught in the middle of a conflict that led to their extinction. Ares is commonly known as the God that embodies the bloodlust and proper conflict of war, which ties into how Sonic and Knuckles almost witness the battle's casualties first-hand.
Chaos Island
Similarly to Kronos Island, the meaning behind Sonic Frontiers' Chaos Island may be a bit marred by misconceptions. Chaos in Greek mythology is typically known as the primordial void from which everything began, rather than just being another god. As a result, instead of symbolizing Tails' own inner chaos, it most likely serves as foreshadowing. Sonic begins to question just how powerful the Ancients' enemy was, which would be revealed to be a void similar to the Greek idea of Chaos. In a sense, Chaos Island serves as the beginning of the end for Frontiers.
Rhea Island
Rhea Island is the most curious out of Sonic Frontiers' locations. As far as its name goes, it is named after Rhea, seen as the mother goddess to a number of other Greek gods such as Zeus. It's a bit difficult to say just what the use of Rhea's name is meant to symbolize, but Rhea could be seen as the starting point for a lot of important Greek mythology. This could be seen as symbolism for the origin story of the Ancients being revealed here, but unused files left in Sonic Frontiers imply that Rhea may be a last minute name chosen as the island was originally meant to be different.
Ouranos Island
Ouranos, more commonly referred to as Uranus, is the personification of the sky. Like Chaos, the namesake behind Ouranos Island isn't a god, but one of the mythos' primordial deities. Interestingly, Ouranos is the husband of Gaia, the deity of Earth. Another god by the name of Gaia played an important role in the story of Sonic Unleashed. Despite that, the last island in Sonic Frontiers has a simple meaning to its name, in that Ouranos was most likely picked due to how the true antagonist, The End, is fought in space during Sonic Frontiers' hard mode.
Sonic Frontiers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
