Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

This article is about the video game character. For other uses, see Sonic the Hedgehog.

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Sonic's character design has been altered through the years. At left is official Sonic artwork from the original Sonic the Hedgehog and at right is an official render from the newer Shadow the Hedgehog.

Sonic The Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku Za Hejjihoggu) is a video game character who appears in a series of games released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released in 1991 in order to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario.

Sonic is a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog with the ability to run at the speed of sound, a talent which forms a major part of the gameplay of the series. He is 15 years old, 110 centimeters (hey, I thought he was only 1.0 m! What's 1.1 doing here?) (3 ft 3 in) tall, and weighs 35 kilograms (77 lb).

Character

Design

In April 1990, Sega requested a game capable of selling over one million copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company's mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research & development department, including an armadillo (who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, an oversized Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas (which would later be the basis of Doctor Eggman's design) and a rabbit. Eventually, Naoto Ohshima's spiky hedgehog was chosen as the new mascot. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog, and renamed themselves Sonic Team. The game's soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura of the band Dreams Come True; Sega sponsored the group's "Wonder 3" tour, painting Sonic on the tour bus and distributing pamphlets advertising the game.

Sonic's precise age, weight, height and other physical characteristics vary depending on the continuity in which he appears and the style he in which he is drawn. In early artwork, Sonic had no visible irises, but with the revamp he received for Sonic Adventure, they were shown to be green, though his eyes are visibly red when he is in his "Super Sonic" form and in motion in some earlier games.

His cobalt blue pigmentation has never been explained in the games; however, explanations were offered as the character was transferred to other media. One origin story was provided in a promotional comic for the original game featured in Disney Adventures, which was later elaborated upon in Mike Pattenden's Stay Sonic, a book about the character published in the UK. This explanation, in which the shockwaves Sonic experienced when he first ran at supersonic speed turned him blue and streamlined his spikes, later became the basic origin for all subsequent UK publications.

Personality

Sonic is noted for being heroic, adventurous, and free-spirited. He enjoys relaxation, but is never one to rest in the face of injustice. He is extremely benevolent, and would willingly put himself at risk for others, taking on any challenge that confronts him without hesitation. Sonic is not generally modest when it comes to his abilities. In fact, he is often portrayed as being narcissistic and self-absorbed; nevertheless, he is always shown to be caring and selfless when it comes to his actions.

The British Sonic the Comic presented him as being bossy and arrogant, and characters regularly referred to his strange sense of humor. Sonic frequently made cruel jokes at the expense of his friend Tails, behavior contrary to that seen in most of the continuities. This personality seemed to be heightened as a result of a storyline in which Sonic and his friends were displaced in time, returning to their own time to discover that, in their absence, Doctor Robotnik had succeeded in his goal of conquering Mobius.

American TV shows and comics often state Sonic's favorite food as chili dogs. This is also canonical in the game universe, as it is mentioned in the official Japanese Sonic Advance 3 manual.

Sonic is shown to have an interest in rock music and was a vocalist in his own rock band in the cartoon Sonic Underground. Some official character art suggests that he has a personal hobby as a DJ.

Home

Sonic's home varies greatly depending on continuity.

Sega of Japan games: Sonic's home planet is Earth. He lives on an island known as South Island, located in the Pacific Ocean, and (according to early written material from Sonic Team) was originally born on Christmas Island. Strictly speaking, this makes Sonic an Aussie.

Sega of America games, American and European comics, cartoons, books and manuals: Sonic's home is a planet called Mobius. The mainstream US comic (Archie) and the 1993 Sonic the hedgehog cartoon (SatAM) would adapt Mobius as the name of Sonic's home planet. However it is noted that these two storylines expand on the relationship between Mobius and Earth, as Mobius being Earth's future. In Archie exclusively, it's been developed to be about 14,000 years in the future. In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehpg and Sonic Underground, two other Sonic cartoon series, no relationship between Earth and Mobius had been noted, nor did the creators specify if there was one. The Brittish Sonic the Comic has stated that the version of Mobius in that comic is a planet completely separate from Earth.

Sonic X: His home in the Sonic X anime series is an unnamed planet in an alternate reality that shares the same space as Earth.

Abilities

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The fastest hedgehog alive.

Sonic is known as "the fastest thing alive", with the ability to run at speeds higher than Mach 1. The source of this ability is not given in the games, although Stay Sonic (which gave his fastest recorded speed as 761mph) and later British publications explained that it was achieved through training on a treadmill. In both Stay Sonic and the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, Sonic's distinctive "Power Sneaker" shoes are used to protect his feet from the heat arising from the friction involved when running at such speeds. This reduction in air friction also gives him most of his super speed.

Many of his abilities are variations on the tendency for hedgehogs to roll into a tight ball for protection. His primary offensive maneuver is the spin jump or "Sonic Spin Attack"; as Sonic jumps, he curls up and spins round, damaging any enemies which come into contact with him. This ability was enhanced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3with the introduction of the "Double Spin Attack", which allows Sonic to momentarily surround himself with a spherical force field, giving him a split-second's worth of invincibility and slightly increasing his attack range while jumping. (In Sonic the Comic, he claims he achieves this effect by "vibrating the molecules of air around me at supersonic speeds".)

He can also curl into a ball while running, allowing his momentum to carry him along in an equally dangerous attack. Although well-protected, in this position he cannot maintain his top speed, and curling up limits the amount of control he (and the player) has over his movements. The "Spin-Dash", introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, allows Sonic to quickly accelerate into this roll from a stationary position. The "Super Peelout" introduced in Sonic CD accelerates him in a similar manner, but allows him to remain running in an upright position.

Sonic can run or bounce across the surface of water, but he can't actually swim. In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, a water shield allows Sonic to breathe underwater, but in the 3D Sonic games, landing in water is usually the equivalent of instant death. In the Fleetway comic book Sonic the Comic, his inability to swim was one of his major weaknesses for a long time. Sonic's fear of water is often alluded to in the anime series Sonic X.

In Sonic Adventure and later installments of the series, he possesses a much broader range of abilities, including the Homing Attack, which allows him to propel himself towards the nearest enemy while jumping; the Light Dash, which allows him to run along a path of rings, even through the air; the Light Speed Attack, in which Sonic charges up by Spin Dashing and homing attacks everything in range at light speed. He is able to hold the charge, but doing so significantly slows him down.

In Sonic Adventure 2 he is also seen using new abilities:

• The bounce attack, in which he jumps in the air, rolls up, quickly falls, and then bounces a little higher than he can normally jump. This works in the same way as the Water Shield in Sonic 3.
• The fire somersault, in which Sonic rolls in a fiery ball.
• The magic hand, an attack in which he traps non-boss enemies in a small, throwable, explosive ball.
• The mystic melody, which causes something to happen once played in front of a certain kind of strange object.

He also gains abilities from the Chaos Emeralds:

• Chaos Control, a manipulation of time and space.
• Sonic Wind, which creates a blue swirl of hazardous energy.

Three of his abilities gained in Sonic Heroes:

• The Rocket Accel, which allows Sonic to be pushed forward by his teammates to accelerate.
• The Blue Tornado, which sweeps enemies off their feet and is used to spin up poles.
• The Triangle Jump, where Sonic jumps between walls within close proximity at high speed to advance forward.

In Sonic Advance 3, Sonic can perform the new dash attack, in which he balls up and then dashes, either upward or forward, but this attack was only seen in that game. If performed forward, it will home in on nearby enemies.

In his latest 2-D game (with some 3-D elements), Sonic Rush, Sonic is able to perform two new tricks. His Hop Jump trick is performed when he's in mid-air, and it allows him to perform a vertical hop. His Humming Top trick, also performed in mid-air, allows him to perform a horizontal hop, with his right leg extended out to the right.

In episode 13 of the most recent series, Sonic X, Sonic displays a superior degree of strength compared to other characters. This might prove that he has some power in his arms like Knuckles, but, more than likely, not as much.

Strengths and weaknesses

Sonic's strengths are curling up in the Sonic ball and firing himself toward enemies as a projectile, as seen in Sonic X, and the Sonic Adventure series. He is often aided by his friends, notably in Sonic Heroes where teamwork is the only way to complete the game.

Sonic's main weakness is water. Although he can run on it at sufficiently high speeds, when submerged he cannot run as fast as he normally would. If submerged long enough, he will die. In the first episode of Sonic X, he was not able to move at all. Although, he is able to tread on water sometimes if he maintains a fast enough speed.

Transformations

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Super Sonic in the television show Sonic X

Main article: Super Sonic

Since the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic has had the ability to transform into a more powerful form known as Super Sonic. As Super Sonic he is even faster than normal, can jump higher, can fly in certain situations, and is invincible to most attacks/obstacles. Sonic's appearance also changes; his body becomes yellowish gold, he becomes a bit taller, his quills rise and get wilder, and his eyes turn a lime green or red. The transformation is triggered by collecting all of the 7 Chaos Emeralds. In Sonic X, he is shown to be able to turn into what's called 'Dark Sonic'. He triggers this by drawing on the power of artificial Chaos Emeralds created by the Metarex. His body turns black and he has a black smoky effect. This transformation also allows him to have extreme speed and attacking power, but this super mode appears to last only a few minutes. Sonic 3 and Knuckles introduced the even more powerful Hyper Sonic. Hyper Sonic glows with the colors of the Chaos Emeralds, is surrounded by glowing sparks, and leaves afterimages in his wake. Unlike Super Sonic, he cannot drown underwater and wields the devastating "lightning flash" attack called Sonic Boom which can be used to "double-jump" in any direction, and when performed, destroys all enemies on-screen with a bright flash. Hyper Sonic was only available in Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

In most games made after Sonic Adventure, Super Sonic has only been available in the climactic boss battles at the end of the games. Super Sonic is also a secret character on the spin-offs Sonic R, Sonic Shuffle and Sonic Riders.

Relationships

Friends

Sonic's best friend is a young fox called Miles "Tails" Prower. Tails idolizes Sonic and sees him as a mentor, while Sonic views Tails as a little brother. This is particularly prevalent in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog TV series, in which Sonic takes in Tails, an orphan unaware of who his parents are. This weakness of Tails is used a few times by Doctor Eggman to lure and capture him, using him as bait to capture Sonic. Sonic and Tails are rarely without each other - they often go emerald searching, as seen in Sonic Riders, or stop Eggman's plans together.

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Sonic the Hedgehog with Amy Rose

In the video games, Amy Rose acts the part of Sonic's girlfriend. Contrary to popular belief, Sonic does not dislike Amy, and although he is still quite repelled by her constant advances to marry him, the two have been fast friends since Sonic CD. Whenver Amy is kidnapped he often goes out of his way to save her, as seen in Sonic CD, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Riders.

Another friend of Sonic is Knuckles the Echidna. They first met as enemies in Sonic 3, and although they are now allies, it's usual to find them fighting. Knuckles still dislikes Sonic's carefree nature, while Sonic sees Knuckles as being far too serious and perhaps even a bit thickheaded, on occasion referring to him as 'Knucklehead'. Knuckles however, is a loyal friend, and would sacrifice himself to save Sonic. His main priority, however, is to protect the Master Emerald.

Sonic is also friends with Cream the Rabbit, a 6 year old girl. Sonic doesn't converse with her very much though, as they don't seem to share many interests. Sonic is very impressed by her manners, though.

Blaze the Cat is a 14 year old princess brought to Sonic's world from another dimension. At first, the other characters suggest she should seek Sonic's help - Blaze denies this and wonders why they are so dependent on him. However, through working with Sonic in order to save the universe from Eggman and Eggman Nega, Blaze learns the value of friendship, and before she goes back to her own dimension, she promises to meet him again.

The trio of comical detectives known as 'Team Chaotix' don't seem to know Sonic very well - although Vector the Crocodile, the groups leader, was originally conceived as Sonic's bandmate in the very first Sonic-game.

Enemies and rivals

Sonic's eternal enemy is Dr. Eggman, also known as Doctor Robotnik. Eggman is a brilliant scientist who uses his numerous machines to attempt to conquer the world, but Sonic has always intervened. Sonic originally faught Dr. Eggman because he was turning his animal friends into robotic slaves known as Badniks. Sonic freed his friends, then stopped Eggman multiple times from conquering Earth using the Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones and Master Emerald. However in the recent games Dr. Eggman has taken a different approach, using various robots, warships and even a nuclear missile to conquer the world.

Sonic's most formidable rival is Shadow the Hedgehog, the "Ultimate Life Form". They became enemies in Sonic Adventure 2, and they have fought and argued with each other whenever they meet in every game since. Although they fight for different reasons, they battle with a certain amount of respect that was learned over time. When they were enemies in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic found Shadow to be violent, humorless and arrogant, while Shadow found Sonic to be foolhardy, irritating and arrogant. Near the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow willingly fought the Biolizard while Sonic went off to stop the Chaos Emeralds, and in Sonic Heroes, they joined forces in the battle against Metal Sonic, showing that they wouldn't hesitate to work together when the situation warranted it.

Before Shadow's introduction, Metal Sonic was one of Sonic's greatest adversaries. During the older days, Eggman tried to beat Sonic at his own game by creating numerous Sonic robots to destroy his nemesis. Though they all tried and failed, Metal Sonic was by far Eggman's most successful creation, having the same capabilities as his counterpart. Even with Shadow in the spotlight now, Metal Sonic still remains a serious threat, as the storyline in Sonic Heroes demonstrated.

Another one of Sonic's rivals is Jet the Hawk from Sonic Riders. Jet mocks him for being inexperienced with Extreme Gear (a kind of hovering skateboard) and doesn't consider Sonic to be the "fastest thing alive", sparking a rivalry between them. Later, after Sonic beats Jet in a race, they became more friendly, yet still competitive as racing rivals. Jet finally admits that Sonic is the fastest, but warns him to be ready the next time they meet.

Romance

SonicX: Sonic's relationship with Amy is further developed in Sonic X, an anime TV show, where the two share a more mutual friendship and work together far more often. Sonic even promises Amy a date at one time, and numerous times the two are more intimate, although it's unknown whether Sonic and her will be in a relationship.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The cartoon featured a beautiful, robotic (unbeknownst to Sonic) girlfriend named Breezie Hedgehog. Breezie abused Sonic, asking him for impossible things, exhausting his infatuation with her to capture and trap him by order of Robotnik. Breezie realized she was wrong and set Sonic free, later having a relationship with Robotnik Jr.

SatAM: In the Saturday morning cartoon, Sonic's love interest is Princess Sally Acorn. The two share a co-leadership role of the Freedom Fighters and parent/sibling/aunt type roles over Tails. Sonic and Sally often do missions together against Robotnik and the two obviously had crushes for each other. Despite this, they had opposite personalities that conflict, because of that they had a hard time admitting their affections. Sally finds Sonic to be too carefree and an airhead, while Sonic finds her to be serious and prissy. However, in the final episode, the two kiss.

American Sonic Comics: In the main American Sonic comic, ( Archie Comics) Would be by far the most complex of Sonic related media. Love interests within the series includes Sally Acorn, Amy Rose, Mina Mongoose and Fiona Fox. Initially Sonic only had one love interest, Sally. Like in SatAM, Sonic and Sally would work together as members of the Freedom Fighters in order to defeat Robotnik. Sally herself was more established as the leader, whereas in the SatAM they worked together more to lead the team. The two would show interest in one another, although often times in the beginning of the series Sonic would at times have trouble returning affections (Sonic Live-- Sally trying to bristle/kiss Sonic).

Amy would enter the comic next in issue 25 as someone who sent letters of admiration to Sonic. She would also start a Sonic fanclub and be present at his trial (when Sally ordered for his arrest) to see him released. She wanted to be a Freedom Fighter earlier in the series, saw the rejection of her desires by Sally rejecting as her way of keeping Sonic to herself. Amy is now an official member and still has feelings for Sonic. She's waited for Sonic to show some sign of returning her interests. Anti Sonic or Scourge took advantage of Amy's feelings for Sonic and left Amy puzzled as to why the real one didn't care for her after Scourge provided her with a date-- even a kiss. Issue 160 has alerted the viewers however that this problem has been resolved by Sonic, which has left Amy left to collect herself as Fiona and Sonic date.

Later on would come into the picture in issue 76 as a girl who initially didn't care too much for Sonic's attitude, only to find some good in him later on. The two would flirt, but like Sally, Mina would face Sonic's problem with returning affections and was easily discouraged. Sally seeing the affections Mina provided Sonic gave her the impression they were in a serious relationship, and from that point tried to distance herself as a friend. It was only until Mina sought Sally for support due to Sonic's problems with returning affections that Sally understood their relationship didn't develop into what she had assumed just yet.

In #111, Sonic envisions both girls when the subject of girlfriends becomes a topic of discussion. But as time passed, Sally would notice Sonic providing Mina with affections in public (Sonic 121) and their duet in 122 shook her confidence in seeing a future with Sonic. In 123, Sally and Mina would be the ones to end developments on the love triangle. In the story, before Mina could confess her desire to go out with Sonic, she would walk in on a moment involving Sonic providing affections to Sally, neither knowing. Her reaction was not unlike Sally's in the sense assumed after seeing this that she never had a place in Sonic's heart. Mina would stop her efforts in building a romantic relationship, and has since tried to move on. At that same point, Sally would with more confidence in her relationship with Sonic, chose him to be her royal consort who would one day be her husband.

Following an adventure soon after the arrangement, Sonic was lost in space for a year, this affecting Sally deeply as the world would assume he was dead. Hence when he returned Sally didn't want to lose him again, and wanted in turn someone prepared to rule at her side as the future queen. For this reason, she provided an ultimatum: Choose to be with her and handle palace affairs at her side, or to be a hero. The result was a breakup between Sonic and Sally in Sonic #134. Meanwhile, Mina chose to continue her attempts to move on while Sonic supposedly died, and began dating her manager. Following Sonic's return, she would juggle her feelings for Sonic, and not wanting to break Ash's heart like Sonic had done to her unintentionally. The issue between Sonic and Ash butted heads when Ash would reveal to her his insecurities that she loved Sonic and not him. He broke up with her because she couldn't deny it when confronted. Afterwards, Mina would make an accept an offer to date Sonic, and rejected any attempts to reconcile with Ash until he got hurt by a bomb protecting her. She when she got to Ash's hospital room, she would feel incredibly guilty, wishing the bomb had hurt her instead. It was then that she decided to reconcile with Ash by choosing him. What she didn't know was that Sonic had followed her to Ash's hospital room and would leave heartbroken soon after.

Sonic's heartbreaks would continue as King Max became ill due to being poisoned by Patch who wanted to rule. In response to this, Max told Sally she must rule in his place and that Antoine would be her husband. Sally would in response marry Antoine, much to Sonic's horror. Yet before Patch could ascend the throne with Sally as his queen, Elias would step in and take the throne. Elias' Meg had encouraged him to making the move to ensure a benevolent ruler take Max's place. Patch would respond by trying to kill Elias, but was stopped by Sonic and sent back to his zone. Her brother annulled Sally’s marriage to Patch, and he told her she was now free to peruse her love life if she wanted. However, at the moment, Sonic is currently dating Fiona, and is therefore unavailable. Sally is also still next in line for the throne as she was in 134, but has also expressed that her feelings for Sonic still exist.

Finally, the most recent of the girls to enter the series as a love interest is Fiona. What's interesting to note is that like Mina, Fiona didn't like Sonic at first. Her idea of him changed when he supposedly 'died' that year to protect Mobius from a worldwide threat. She opinion changed because she didn't believe someone could offer to risk his or her life and be as selfish as she thought he was. The interest Fiona has had in Sonic has also bothered Tails because of his affections towards her robotic versions, which in turn have prompted his interests in having a relationship with the original Fiona. Despite his dating with Fiona, Sonic wishes to reconcile with Sally whom is currently single.

Family

While Sonic has no relatives in the games, he has family members in spinoffs.

Archie Comics

• Grandfather: Olgilive Hedgehog
• Mother: Bernadette Hedgehog
• Father: Jules Hedgehog
• Uncle: Sir Charles Hedgehog (Chuck)
• Dog: Muttski

'Archie's (possible future) "25 years later" stories

• (possible)Wife: Princess Sally Acorn
• (possible)Daughter: Sonia
• (possible)Son: Manic

Sonic Underground

• Uncle: Uncle Chuck
• Mother: Queen Aleena
• Sister: Sonia
• Brother: Manic
• Father: Zokar (not in series)

Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM

• Uncle: Uncle Chuck

Alternate versions

The Archie Sonic Comic features Sonic with alternate dimensional versions of himself. Many of these versions are similar in personality to the classic Sonic, being heroic and carefree. However, other versions are drastically different.

In the Archie Comics continuity, Sonic's alternate selves make numerous appearances. The first and most widespread of these was when Sonic teamed up with an innumerable number of his counterparts to battle an alternate version of Robotnik. This gathering occurred because of the appearance of that Robotnik's opponent Cyborg Sonic, in the main Sonic's world. A classic superhero-themed group of Freedom Fighters from another dimension featured a version of Sonic with the stereotypical super fast look, similar to The Flash, though actually based on Vance Astro, a future version of Justice from The New Warriors and The Avengers, the story was based on the Marvel Comics series Guardians Of The Galaxy.

Another recurring character is Zonic the Hedgehog. An alternate version of Sonic from the No Zone, he stands horizontally in Sonic's world as a result of different laws in their realities. Like Sonic, Zonic is a hero, a "Zone Cop" who watches the multiple realities for signs of trouble. He has appeared to Sonic several times to request his help, and has also called upon Tails. Zonic is also the one who revealed to Sonic the fact that Sonic is Sonic Prime, the one Sonic destined to save all dimensions.

Whereas Zonic is nearly identical to Sonic, Evil Sonic is the exact opposite. Coming from the Anti-universe, Evil Sonic led a team composed of evil versions of the Freedom Fighters. In his dimension, Evil Sonic terrorizes with an iron fist, his only opposition being the kindly Dr. Kintobor and the pacifistic Anti-Knuckles. Clad in shades, a biker jacket and black boots, Evil Sonic still retains his super-speed abilities and physical appearance.

Still another version of Sonic is from an alternate future timeline, Mobius: 25 Years Later. This Sonic is the King of Mobius and is married to Sally with two children named Sonia and Manic. This Sonic has undergone a drastic change, no longer speaking with his old friends. In addition, he is increasingly aloof, and doubts his abilities as a politician. -->

Voices

The earliest voice of Sonic was Takeshi Kusao in the game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, a June 1993 arcade release starring Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel.

In September 1993, DiC Entertainment cast Jaleel White, more popularly known as portraying the character of Steve Urkel, as Sonic in their simultaneously released shows Sonic the Hedgehog and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. White would later be cast as Sonic for DiC's 1999 show Sonic Underground.

In 1996, when the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA was produced in Japan, Sonic was voiced by Masami Kikuchi. The 1999 English-language dub featured Martin Burke in Sonic's role.

Starting with the 1999 game Sonic Adventure, all of Sonic's video games feature voice acting. Sonic was played by Junichi Kanemaru, who later went on to play Sonic in the Japanese version of Sonic X. Ryan Drummond performed the role of Sonic in Sonic Adventure and continued to play the role for several games. However, 4Kids Entertainment decided not to use Drummond's voice in their US/UK dub of Sonic X, instead choosing their own Jason Griffith. Despite this, Drummond continued to provide the voice of Sonic in the series until 2005, when Sega replaced all their Sonic voice actors with their 4Kids counterparts, in order to keep his voice the same in all media forms. Effectively, this meant that beginning with Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Rush, Griffith became the official game voice actor for Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog, as well as Jet the Hawk in Sonic Riders.

Appearances

Games

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog series

See also: List of games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog

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Title screen of the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game

Sonic started his battle against his nemesis Doctor Eggman/Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis. After venturing out on his own in the first game, he was given a sidekick in Miles "Tails" Prower for the sequel, who would run behind Sonic as he sped through each zone as they continued the fight against Eggman. The sequel was also the first game to feature Sonic's Super Sonic form. Sonic would be solo once again for Sonic CD, in which Sonic would use his unrivaled speed to travel through time to defeat Eggman and ensure a good future for the world. Sonic CD also introduced Amy Rose, Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend. She would play only minor roles in several Sonic-themed spinoff games until Sonic Adventure. It also introduced Metal Sonic, who wouldn't have another major role until Knuckles Chaotix.

Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles would see Sonic and Tails battle Eggman yet again, with the additional threat of Sonic's newfound nemesis, the misguided Knuckles the Echidna. Sonic would eventually team up with Knuckles to defeat Eggman once again. Sonic 3D Blast, the first Sonic game to feature 3D pre-rendered graphics was a diversion for Sonic as he rescued birds called Flickies on an island.

Sonic Adventure featured Sonic returning from vacation to find the city of Station Square under attack by a new foe named Chaos, under the control of Doctor Eggman. The game was the first true 3D Sonic game and was the debut of Sonic's homing attack (although it could be used in Sonic 3D after acquiring a power-up, Sonic Adventure was the first title to feature it as a standard move). In addition, Sonic was also able to collect power-ups that gave him extra abilities. The game also featured Sonic interacting with non-playable characters and objects in 3D "Adventure" sequences, where the game world could be freely explored. Sonic Adventure was the first video game title that featured a voice-over for Sonic.

Sonic Adventure 2 involved Sonic being framed for a robbery he didn't commit and on-the-run from the military. He also faces a new rival in Shadow the Hedgehog. However, the two must put their differences aside and save the world from destruction yet again. The game featured power-ups just as the original Sonic Adventure had, but had two parallel stories: "Hero" and "Dark". Despite the title, it did not have 3D "Adventure" sequences.

Sonic's third 3D action game was Sonic Heroes, which featured four different teams made up by three characters in each. This game marked the return of the group of characters known as Team Chaotix, as well as Sonic's longtime rival Metal Sonic.

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Sonic in Sonic Riders

In addition to these games, Sonic has been featured in a variety of 8-bit console and handheld games as well. Sonic Triple Trouble saw Sonic and Tails face off against Fang the Sniper for the first time. Sonic Advance and Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure for the Game Boy Advance and the Neo Geo Pocket respectively were the first games to feature Sonic on a non-Sega game platform. Two sequels to Sonic Advance were released and Sonic has continued his appearances on Nintendo handheld game units with Sonic Rush for Nintendo DS.

Sonic has also been a featured character in several spin-off titles. The arcade SegaSonic the Hedgehog had Sonic as one of three playable characters. Sonic has also been featured in some pinball games including Sonic Spinball. He is also a selectable character in Sonic R, Sonic Riders and the Sonic Drift racing games. Sonic is a selectable fighter in both Sonic Battle and Sonic Championship. He also appears as a Hero Side mission partner in the game Shadow the Hedgehog.

Screenshots and some newly released information has revealed that a brand new Sonic game is in development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Naka has claimed that Sonic Team is going back to their origins, nearly fifteen years ago, to recreate Sonic's personality and attitude, as well as the gameplay style, to make the title feel more like the original games. Another Sonic title was rumored (by IGN) to be in development for the upcoming Nintendo Wii console, which is, from sources, reported as an entirely different game than the one being released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and will utilize the new functions of the Wii console. A sequel to Sonic Riders for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was also mentioned by Takashi Yuda (Creator of the original Sonic Riders game, as well as the original designer of Knuckles the Echidna), but no official announcements have been made by Sega as of yet.

Television series

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Sonic's character design in Sonic X was influenced by his design in the newer Sonic games.

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Sonic in the Sonic X anime.

There have been several animated television series featuring Sonic. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog featured Sonic, voiced by Jaleel White, and Robotnik, voiced by Long John Baldry. It had a very comical take on Sonic's adventures and battles with Robotnik. Sonic the Hedgehog, originally broadcast on Saturdays on ABC, was broadcast concurrently with the syndicated Adventures series in the United States. Sonic was voiced by Jaleel White, and Robotnik was voiced by Jim Cummings. The series was far more dark and brooding than Adventures and found a devoted following.

Sonic Underground, a show in the US, UK and France, ignored the continuity of the previous series and introduced two siblings and Sonic's mother. White returned to voice Sonic, while Robotnik was voiced by Gary Chalk.

Additionally, there was Sonic the Hedgehog Anime in Japan which featured Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman and Metal Sonic. Sonic was voiced by Masami Kikuchi in Japan, and Martin Burke in the United States.

The latest animated Sonic television series, Sonic X, is an anime that features Sonic being transported from his world to the human world. It loosely follows the storylines from the Sonic Adventure game series. Sonic is voiced by Jun'ichi Kanemaru in the Japanese version, and by Jason Griffith in the English language version.

Sonic also made a cameo appearance in The Simpsons's episode "Marge Be Not Proud", voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He appears trying to convince Bart Simpson to steal a video game.

Books

Comic books

Several comic books have also been released, each establishing a different storyline about Sonic.

• Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogakukan, Japan)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics, US)
• Sonic X (Archie Comics, US)
• Sonic the Comic (Fleetway, UK)

Sonic fan-made dōjinshi made by a variety of artists (including Rikdo Koshi) have also been released in Japan.

Gamebooks

A series of six Sonic Adventures gamebooks were published in the UK between 1993 and 1996 by Puffin under the Fantail label.

• Book 1 - Metal City Mayhem, James Wallis (ISBN 0140903917)
• Book 2 - Zone Rangers, James Wallis (ISBN 0140903925)
• Book 3 - Sonic v Zonik, Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland (ISBN 0140904069)
• Book 4 - The Zone Zapper, Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland (ISBN 0140904077)
• Book 5 - Theme Park Panic, Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green (ISBN 0140378472)
• Book 6 - Stormin' Sonic, Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green (ISBN 0140378480)

Novels

Stay Sonic by Mike Pattenden developed the "Kintobor origin", first introduced in the Disney Adventures comic book, in much greater detail. This background was used as the basis of most subsequent UK Sonic stories.

James Wallis, Marc Gascoigne, and Carl Sargent wrote four Sonic the Hedgehog novels based on his origin established in Stay Sonic. They were published in the UK by Virgin Publishing.

• Book 1 - Sonic the Hedgehog in Robotnik's Laboratory
• Book 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog in the Fourth Dimension
• Book 3 - Sonic the Hedgehog and the Silicon Warriors
• Book 4 - Sonic the Hedgehog in Castle Robotnik

Michael Teitelbaum has also written a series of Sonic novels:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Robotnik's Revenge
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Fortress of Fear
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Friend or Foe?
• Sonic & Knuckles
• Sonic X-Treme

Two novels have been written based on the episodes "Meteor Shower Messenger" and "Spaceship Blue Typhoon" from the third season of Sonic X.

Others

• Where's Sonic? Using a similar idea to the Where's Wally?/Where's Waldo? books, each page presented the reader with a different puzzle, each one inspired by a different level from Sonic 2 on the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive. Published by Ladybird Books Ltd.
• Where's Sonic Now?
• A series of other children's books were written by Ladybird. These include two puzzle books, a coloring book and the picture books Robotnik's Oil and The Invisible Robotnik. Sonic the Story was a book explaining Sonic's transformation from brown to blue.

Sonic cameos/references

For game cameos, see List of games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog

• In the 1996 movie Jingle All The Way, in the scene where Jamie arrives at the parade, Sonic can be seen as a character marching in the parade.
• In the show Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, in the episode "Camp Capers", Ami is captured by Bigfoot. Yumi pretends it is a video game, and she runs through a 16-bit forest area, jumps on a crab (thus killing it) then goes at sound-barrier-breaking speeds and runs over a checkered loop, obviously a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone.
• In the show "15/Love", in Adena and Tannis' dorm room, there is a poster with the cover of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game in it.
• An episode of Megas XLR spoofed Sonic with a parade balloon called Auggie the Adorable Aardvark (that also spoofs Mickey Mouse by wearing the same clothes), that was mutated and could do Sonic attacks such as the Spin Dash.
• In the movie Hitch, on the side of an ice cream truck, there is a picture of a Sonic popsicle[1].
• In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Moneybags threatens to turn Spyro into a blue hedgehog if he replies that he won't pay him to continue through a level.
• Animal Crossing and its sequel Animal Crossing: Wild World feature a female character named "Mabel". Mabel is a hedgehog that has Sonic's colouring.
• The video game The Fairly OddParents: Breakin' Da Rules has a level called "The Vicky Virus". When Timmy is fighting the boss, Vicky occasionally yells out, "When I'm done with you, I'll re-program you into... a hedgehog!"

Trivia

• One of a class of genes involved in fruit fly embryonic development, called hedgehog genes, has been named "sonic hedgehog" after the character.
• In 1996, Sonic was the first video game character to be seen in a Rose Parade.
• Sonic was also the first video game character to be featured as a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• The NBA team the Seattle SuperSonics is often nicknamed the "Hedgehogs" in reference to this character.
• After having been around only 3 years, he had already surpassed Nintendo's Mario in popularity according to a June 1993 Q-Survey in Gameplayers magazine.
• In the October 1996 issue of Ultra Gameplayers, Sonic the Hedgehog's world-wide popularity was claimed to have surpassed even that of Disney's Mickey Mouse.
• Between 1993 and 1997, Sega sponsored the JEF United Ichihara Chiba football team. During this period, Sonic appeared on the team's uniform.
• During the 1993 Formula One championship, Sega sponsored WilliamsF1, which won the season. Sonic was featured in the cars and helmets, and rival McLaren used to paint a squashed hedgehog after winning races over Williams. The 1993 European Grand Prix featured a Sonic balloon and Sonic billboards. The trophy was a statue of the hedgehog.
• Some of the rejected designs for the mascot character were later reused by Sega. An obese Theodore Roosevelt later became the basis of Doctor Eggman's design; the armadillo influenced the design of Mighty the Armadillo. Aspects of the rabbit design, intended to use its extendable ears to collect objects, were later incorporated into Ristar.
• In the original 2D games, once Sonic had reached his top speed, he ran with his arms fixed pointing forwards. However, in the 3D titles and the Sonic Advance series, his top-speed running animation was altered so that his arms trailed behind him and that he bent over more. This animation is copied by most other super fast characters.
• In April 2002, EGM made a hoax that Sonic and Tails were the last two secret characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Some players even tried the "cheats" published, before the magazine revealed it was an April Fool's joke.
• In the Archie comics, Sonic's real name is revealed to be Olgilvie Maurice the Hedgehog. He tries desperately to protect that information, possibly out of embarrassment. This name doesn't apply to the game series, however, and he is simply known as Sonic the Hedgehog.

See also

• List of games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog
• Anthropomorphic Superheroes
• Sonic the Hedgehog series
• Kemono
• Funny Animal

External links

Official sites

• Sonic Central - Official Sonic the Hedgehog microsite at Sega.com
• Sonic Channel - Official Japanese website

Fan sites

• The Sonic Stadium - Website with an extinsive gallery of pictures, information, etc.
• TalkSonic.com - Community forum dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic Ultimate - Containing information mostly about Sonic from the comic book
• Concept-Mobius Research-based character profile
• Sonic HQ - Website with plentiful info
• Sonic World