Wonder-Liner

"By merging their Wonder-Energy, Special Combat Agents of the Wonderful 100 link together in single file to form the Wonder-Liner!"
― Narrator, Operation 000 Prologue

The Wonder-Liner is one of The Wonderful 101's core gameplay mechanics. It gives you direct control of your team by sending them out as a single-file line of team members, allowing you to focus their Wonder-Energy onto their surroundings to rescue citizens, fight enemies, solve puzzles, and more. Best of all, the Wonder-Liner is also used to form the secret weapon of the Wonderful Ones: the Unite Morph.

Wonder-Liner Basics

Controls

A Spiral drawn on the Wii U Version's Input Panel.

The universal method of using the Wonder-Liner in all versions of the game is to move it using the right analog stick.
As the Wonder-Liner was originally conceived to make use of the Wii U GamePad's touch screen, every version of the game also has a second option for drawing the Wonder-Liner, specific to the controllers available:

• The Wii U Version can use the Wii U GamePad's touch screen to draw on the Input Panel of the Subscreen.
• The Switch Version can use the Switch's touch screen to draw when playing in Handheld mode.
• The PlayStation 4 Version can use the DualShock 4's touch pad to draw.
• The PC Version can draw by moving the mouse with the left Alt key held.

By default, the Wonder-Liner moves slowly, which is good for new players, but its speed can be increased in two ways to draw more quickly: first, holding the same button as zooming out the camera (the left shoulder button or Q) increases the Wonder-Liner's speed. Second, purchasing the Speed Liner Skill from the Wonderful Mart increases the default speed of the Wonder-Liner.
The effects of Speed-Liner and holding the zoom out button also stack together, allowing you to move the Wonder-Liner extremely quickly.

Once a shape is drawn with the Wonder-Liner it can be used in three ways:

• When using the Wonder-Liner to circle citizens, secrets, or objects, it will turn rainbow-colored and activate automatically, and retract once finished. The Wonder-Liner is also used automatically to create Unite Chain, Unite Build, and when interacting with Wonderful Toilets/Wonder Holes.
• If a valid Unite Morph shape has been drawn (indicated by the Wonder-Liner changing to a color corresponding to the Unite Morph) then the shape has to be confirmed manually to create the Unite Morph: confirming it using the attack button creates the Unite Morph for the team leader to use...
• ...alternatively, confirming it using the Team Attack button creates a Unite Morph for a random team member to attack with, in a technique known as a Multi-Unite.

If you make a mistake, or no longer need the Wonder-Liner, you can cancel it and regroup your team in several ways:

• Trying to confirm an invalid shape (indicated by the Wonder-Liner remaining black) cancels it.
• Using a Unite Morph that recalls the entire team, such as Unite Guts or Unite Spring, cancels the Wonder-Liner.
• Pressing the Dash/Join Up button cancels the Wonder-Liner.
• Clicking the left stick, or pressing Z or X key, cancels the Wonder-Liner with no other effect.

Other Mechanics

To make drawing easier, extending the Wonder-Liner throws your surroundings into slow motion. This slows your own movement and the movement of nearby enemies, but the Wonder-Liner still moves at full speed, allowing you to draw shapes instantly relative to the perception of your enemies.
On the 101% Hard difficulty level, this slow motion effect no longer occurs, meaning you have to do all your drawing in real-time.

Another thing that makes drawing the Wonder-Liner easier (albeit possibly confusing at first) is that the appearance of the Wonder-Liner has no bearing on how the game determines its shape, even if it gets deformed or obstructed by the surrounding environment and scenery.
An easy way to understand this is to try drawing a large Unite Morph shape, and to then enter an enclosed area with it: no matter how the Wonder-Liner deforms from hitting the walls of the enclosed space, it'll still be considered the same valid shape. This of course works the other way around, in that you can draw any size of Unite Morph in an enclosed space, and if drawn correctly, it'll still be a valid shape, and it'll look normal if you take it out to an open area.

A nice, perfect Unite Hammer shape.

Take it indoors, and even though it looks all messed up now, the game still thinks it's a Hammer.

The Input Panel in the Wii U version illustrates this nicely.

Lastly, it's important to note that the Wonder-Liner isn't free, nor is it invincible:
First, Unite Energy is required to extend the Wonder-Liner, and more energy is used the farther its extended, meaning you can't extend the Wonder-Liner with an empty Unite Gauge. However, the Wonder-Liner doesn't actually deplete any Unite Energy until its used to create a Unite Morph.
Second, team members standing in the Wonder-Liner are defenseless and will be knocked out if the Wonder-Liner is hit by an attack or if it touches a hazard. If the Wonder-Liner is damaged at the middle, it'll essentially be cut in half, and every team member that was in the far side of the Wonder-Liner will return to the group (often running straight into the attack on the way, knocking themselves out). You need to be careful drawing the Wonder-Liner near hazards, and to remember to protect your team by cancelling it when necessary.

Wonder-Liner Usage

The Wonder-Liner is the primary method of controlling the team, and nearly every possible interaction with your surroundings comes down to using the Wonder-Liner in some way. Naturally, this means that the Wonder-Liner can do a wide variety of things:

Attacks

Put the bad guys on the run!

The main way of attacking in The Wonderful 101 is to use the Wonder-Liner to create Unite Morph weapons, which is done by using it to draw shapes and confirming them using the attack button or Team Attack button. Every Unite Morph weapon has a corresponding shape and color, and the Wonder-Liner will change color to that of the Unite Morph it will create when a valid shape has been drawn.
Also note that the act of creating a Unite Morph is considered an attack, and doing so next to enemies can deal damage.

Main Article: Unite Morphs

The Wonder-Liner itself can also be used to deal damage. Normally, the Wonder-Liner can only destroy scenery objects it comes in contact with, but by purchasing the Attack Liner Skill from the Wonderful Mart, the Wonder-Liner can be used to deal small amounts of damage any time it's extended near an enemy

Heave-Ho!

The Wonder-Liner can also be used to pick up and throw things as an attack: by circling various objects or stunned enemies, some team members will pick up and carry it. Whatever you pick up in this way can then be thrown, dealing damage to anything it hits and to the enemy you've thrown. Throwing enemies also earns you a unique + 150PTS.+ 150PTS. Combo bonus.

Rescuing and Recruiting

Circling citizens with the Wonder-Liner transforms them into temporary team members, adding them to your team for the remainder of a level if you don't yet have a full team of 100. If your team is already full, they'll be rescued instead, teleporting them out of harms way and providing you with progress toward receiving a Justice Missile.

Enemy Dough-Goos and Chew Dough-Goos can also be recruited by circling them under certain circumstances.

Environmental Interactions

The most common way of using the Wonder-Liner to interact with things is to circle them. Apart from circling citizens to rescue them or objects to throw them, circling them using the Wonder-Liner is how you regenerate Flower Beds or turn GEATH-Circles into Kahkoo-regah portals. Additionally, circling the level scenery is one of the many ways the Wonder-Liner can be used to uncover hidden secrets, which is explained in more detail in the following section.

As mentioned above, objects can be picked up using the Wonder-Liner by circling them. Not only can this done to throw things as an attack, moving objects like this is also sometimes required to complete puzzles.

Because the Wonder-Liner consists of team members, it can be used to send out your team to go pick up far away items, or to revive other knocked out team members without having to actually walk up to them yourself. This is also sometimes the only way of reaching secret items that are hidden far away from the main path in a level.

Wonder-Liner Secrets

As the Wonder-Liner can be used to interact with your surroundings in a variety of ways, there's naturally also a variety of secrets that can be uncovered using the Wonder-Liner to obtain hidden items and collectibles.

Wonder-Circles

Circle this fountain to get a Platinum Coin!

Wonder-Circles are the most basic type of secret, in that all you need to do is circle something to reveal a hidden item. Wonder-Circles don't have any inherent hints, but they're always very conspicuous, and almost every circular formation anywhere in the game is a Wonder-Circle if it's not already some other kind of secret like a Flower Bed or an Underground Item. Just circle everything to find them!

Wonder-Circles that have been previously found have their locations marked by a Wonderful Emblem.

Wonder-Holes

Insert the Wonder-Liner into this window to find Wonderful Figure No.037!

Wonder-Holes are a type of secret identical in function to Wonderful Toilets. In various levels you can find holes such as open windows, cracks in walls, or other suspicious openings that can be infiltrated using the Wonder-Liner to reveal a hidden item. Like Wonderful Toilets, the number of team members required to infiltrate a Wonder-Hole can vary, but with the exception of some that require all 100 team members, this requirement can be ignored for the most part.

Wonder-Holes that have been previously found have their locations marked by a Wonderful Emblem.

Wonder-Shapes

Trace this 6 to get a Thunder Victory Torpedo!

Wonder-Shapes are the most involved type of Wonder-Liner secret. Throughout the game you might notice complex shapes on the ground that shimmer if you extend the Wonder-Liner near them. If you successfully trace over the shape using the Wonder-Liner a hidden item will be revealed. Although Wonder-Shapes are simple in concept, on occasion it can be very difficult to trace a shape accurately enough for the game to register it as correct.

Wonder-Shapes that have been previously found have their locations marked by a Wonderful Emblem. They will also no longer shimmer when the Wonder-Liner is extended nearby.

Damaged Shrines

Repair this shrine to get a Platinum Coin!

Damaged Shrines are a unique form of Wonder-Liner Secret found only in Operation 005 and Operation 006. These can be repaired using the Wonder-Liner to perform Unite Build on them, which will allow you to access the items hidden inside.

Trivia

• The Wonder-Liner is based on the Celestial Brush mechanic from Ōkami.