Lightning Shield

The Lightning Shield, otherwise known as the Magnetic Shield, is a power-up first introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and a variant of the standard Shield. In addition to serving as a one-shot barrier against damage and life loss, the Lightning Shield attracts rings towards the player if they get close enough. It is often considered a particularly useful power-up because of this feature.

While all variants of the shield drag rings in, minor details differ from game to game. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the shield would be lost if the player took it underwater; and when playing as Sonic, holding a Lightning Shield exchanged the Insta-shield move with a sparking double-jump, enabling the hedgehog to leap much higher and potentially access otherwise difficult platforms. Neither of these features are in effect in any other game where the shield appears: namely Sonic R, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advances 1, 2 & 3, and Sonic Rush.

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  S&K Monitor

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  Active shield

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  Adventure 2 monitor