"Sonic" games traditionally follow Sonic's efforts to stop Eggman, who schemes to obtain the Chaos Emeralds—seven emeralds with mystical powers. The Emeralds can turn thoughts into power, warp time and space with a technique called Chaos Control, give energy to living things, and be used to create nuclear or laser-based weaponry. They typically act as MacGuffins in the stories. Eggman seeks the Emeralds in his quest to conquer the world, and traps animals in aggressive robots and prison capsules. Because Sonic Team was inspired by the culture of the 1990s, "Sonic" features environmental themes. Sonic represents "nature", while Eggman represents "machinery" and "development"—a play on the then-growing debate between environmentalists and developers.