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Sonic the Hedgehog (American TV and Comic)

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This article is about the Archie comic version of the character. For other uses, see Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog (character).
Sonic the Hedgehog
File:Archiesonic.jpg
Sonic the Hedgehog, art by J. Axer
Publication information
PublisherArchie Comics
First appearanceSonic the Hedgehog issue #1
Created bySega
In-story information
Alter egoOlgilvie Maurice Hedgehog
Team affiliationsThe Freedom Fighters, Kingdom of Acorn, Chaotix
Notable aliasesBlue Blur, The Fastest Thing Alive, True Blue, Sugar-hog
AbilitiesSuper-speed, agility and reflexes, Can use speed to achieve limited Aerokinesis, Omnilingualism

In the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog universe, Sonic lives on Planet Mobius in Knothole Village. Over time, the status quo of Sonic's world has changed. Originally, Sonic belonged to a band of Freedom Fighters who fought the evil dictator Dr. Robotnik.

History

Youth

Sonic was born during the reign of King Maximillian Acorn, in Mobotropolis, the capital of the sovereign Kingdom of Acorn. His father, Jules Hedgehog, was a soldier in the Great War between Mobians and Overlanders. His mother, Bernadette Hedgehog, or Bernie for short, raised Sonic for some time with the aid of her brother in law, Jules' brother, Sir Charles "Uncle Chuck" Hedgehog. Sir Charles was a Knight of the Acorn Kingdom and the Minister of Science for the Kingdom as well. He developed the Roboticizer, a device that would turn flesh into organic machinery, in the hopes of using it to cure the sick and allow people to live longer. When Jules was badly injured in the war, Charles tested it on his brother, unaware that it had been tampered with by Warlord Julian, an Overlander that had been made part of the royal court. The altered device robbed people of their free will, turning them into little more than robots. Sonic's father was instantly turned into an unthinking robot, obedient to Warlord Julian. Shortly afterwards, Julian secretly ordered the roboticized Jules to put Bernice in the Roboticizer. Once she too had been turned into a robot, Warlord Julian ordered her to tell others that she had been changed by accident while looking at the machine, removing Julian from suspicion.

Sir Charles did his best to raise Sonic on his own, while also trying to find a way to change Sonic's parents back to normal. Charles quit his position as Minister of Science, and opened a restaurant, selling Chili Dogs (and starting Sonic's lifelong love for that food). During this time, Sonic was friends with several of the future Freedom Fighters: Princess Sally, Rotor, and Antoine D'Coolette. Sonic also helped when Rosemary Prower went into labor, and was thus present at the birth of his future best friend Miles "Tails" Prower. That night, King Acorn made Warlord Julian the new Minister of Science. Julian immediately used his newfound power to take over the kingdom, trap the king in the Zone of Silence, and roboticize a large part of Mobotropolis' population, renaming the city Robotropolis. Warlord Julian renamed himself Doctor Robotnik (although in later years he would start to be known by the name Doctor Eggman). Sonic helped many Mobians escape from the city to the hidden Knothole Village, where they were safe from Robotnik. Later, partly inspired by a doomed group of "Freedom Fighters" that had fought against Robotnik only to be roboticized, Sonic and his friends made an oath to be Freedom Fighters themselves. Sonic and the others would fight Robotnik for many years. Unfortunately, Sonic's Uncle Chuck fell into Robotnik's hands and was Roboticized, leaving Sonic alone except for his friends.

Freedom Fighter

Sonic had many adventures with the Freedom Fighters of Knothole village. Although most adventures were against Dr. Robotnik and his mechanized "badniks", Sonic also fought an evil alternate reality version of himself, the Anti-Sonic (who later took on the name Scourge the Hedgehog), a Roboticized alternate reality version of Dr. Robotnik called Robo-Robotnik, and the first Metal Sonic robot. He also met Knuckles the Echidna, a hero he was destined to clash with many times over the years.

Shortly before the comic's fiftieth issue, a mulitpart story entitled Endgame (Sonic the Hedgehog #47-50), saw Sonic being framed for the murder of Princess Sally Acorn. Robotnik was revealed as the mastermind behind this, and was defeated and apparently killed. After this, the comic dealt with the aftermath of Robotnik's regime. Princess Sally was revealed to be alive, and Sonic and his friends reestablished their lost kingdom and dealt with the various remaining underlings of Robotnik, as well as unrelated villains such as Ixis Naugus.

In the comic's 75th issue, the alternate universe version of Robotnik known as Robo-Robotnik returned to "Mobius Prime" (the Mobius that Sonic lived on) and took over the original Robotnik's position. Over time, Robo-Robotnik has come to be known as just Robotnik or Eggman, and has regained a flesh and bone body. Sonic was able to free most Roboticized Mobians of Robotnik's control (including his parents and Uncle Chuck), and helped these still-Robotic "Robians" rejoin Mobian Society. He also helped free King Acorn from the Zone of Silence, although he would often clash with the restored monarch.

After the strange alien race called the Bem reverted all the Robians back into normal Mobians (except Sonic's father, Jules), it appeared that the Robotnik has been all but vanquished. However the vicious alien species known as the Xorda returned to Earth. The Xorda, it was explained, had come to Mobius once before, when the planet was still called Earth. After the inhabitants of the planet caught and dissected an alien Xorda, the Xorda retaliated by dropping a "gene bomb" intended to destroy all life on the planet. The weapon failed, instead mutating the humans of the planet; human DNA was incorporated into animals, changing their genetic codes, thus producing the first Mobians. The Xorda attempted to destroy the planet again, this time with a doomsday weapon called the Quantum Dial. Sonic apparently perished disabling the weapon, but was in fact flung to a galaxy far far away from Mobius. Although his journey home felt like a short time for him, an entire year passed back on Mobius, and Sonic returned to find many of his friends changed, and that in his absence, Eggman had grown bolder and was once again a threat to be reckoned with.

The current status quo of the comic deals with a full-scale war between the Eggman Empire, ruled by Robotnik, and the restored Kingdom of Acorn, currently ruled by King Elias Acorn.

Abilities

Most of Sonic's abilities are in keeping with his video game counterpart, including his super-speed. Notably, while this version of Sonic was adventuring in outer space he was implanted with a device allowing him to understand all languages (including regular animals).

Friends

Miles "Tails" Prower

As in the games, Tails is essentially Sonic's sidekick. He has become more independent in recent issues, and is now part of the Freedom Fighters' Brain Trust division. His friendship with Sonic is currently threatened by Sonic's dating Fiona, who Tails has a crush on. Much like in the other fandoms (games, television shows), Tails is thought of by Sonic as a little brother, and one that Sonic will protect ("Dude, not much sets me off, [but] when you go after Tails, you're asking for SERIOUS TROUBLE!" -- Sonic the Hedgehog #162). This is rather fortunate for Tails, as he gets kidnapped a lot more often in this continuity than he does in the games.

Knuckles the Echidna

Also like in the games, Sonic and Knuckles are friendly rivals (indeed, all of Knuckles early solo stories were entitled 'Knuckles the Echidna: Sonic's Friendly Nemesis'). They first met in Sonic the Hedgehog #13, and taken captive by Knuckles, who was tricked by Doctor Robotnik, who told him that they were trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds. This led to mutual distrust and occasional fighting between Sonic and Knuckles for many months in the comic's storyline, but finally burying the hatchet and becoming good friends in Sonic #53. They also tend to help each other out whenever the other needs assistance, such as when the Xorda were trying to destroy all life on Mobius (Sonic the Hedgehog #124-125), Angel Island was taken over by Robotnik (Sonic #133), and Knuckles protecting the kingdom while Sonic was believed to have died (Sonic #125-135).

Other Characters

(Cream the Rabbit has not yet made an appearance in the comic, although she appeared in the Sonic X comics. According to a previous issue, they want to keep the two "universes" separate.)

Enemies

Romance

The Archie comic has the most complex love triangles of all Sonic related media. Love interests within the series include Sally Acorn, Amy Rose, Mina Mongoose, and Fiona Fox. Initially Sonic only had one love interest, Sally.

Initial status quo

Within the beginning of the book when it lacked direction, Sonic met Princess Sally who had lost her father, and the series was composed of slapstick humor much like AoStH. As time went on, the SatAM story was adapted more, and Sonic and Sally were childhood friends who worked together as members of the Freedom Fighters in order to defeat Robotnik. Sally in the comic series was more established as the leader, whereas in the SatAM they worked together more to lead the team. During this time, the two would show interest in one another. However a reoccuring obstacle would become present in their relationship (as well as Sonic’s relations to other girls by his trouble with receiving returning affections to the girls he was interested in(Sonic Live-- Sally trying to bristle/kiss Sonic, and issue 99—Mina tries to kiss Sonic). In the beginning, Bunnie showed a slight interest in Sonic during Rabbit Deployment, but decided that Sonic and Sally already had something together and would end up with Antoine later in the series.

Meanwhile Amy would enter the comic in the Sonic CD adaptation in Sonic the Hedgehog #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. While Amy was interested in Sonic, she felt the rejection of her desires through what she interpreted as Sally trying to keep Sonic all to herself.

Post Endgame

Sally Acorn would become caught in a love triangle between herself, Sonic and St. John, head of her father's secret service (and her love interest within the Sally Acorn Mini Series). Sonic and Geoffery constantly exchanged rude comments, arguments or fights in response to the tension leaving her at the center of frustration. In the end, Sally acknowledged to St. John that while there was something between them, that her heart belonged to Sonic and that she needed to see what she had with him before honestly able to move forward (Brave New World). Sally's answer to St. John didn't make give up on her, and tension with Sonic would continue throughout the "Sword of Acorns" story arc. Meanwhile, a new love interest was born in the form of Mina. Mina Mongoose would come into the picture in Sonic the Hedgehog #76 as a girl who Sonic would disclose the pain he felt towards the roboticization of his family when she mourned of the roboticization of her own mother. After that, Sonic and Mina wouldn't interact for awhile and Mina initially didn't care too much for Sonic's attitude. However her perception of him changed upon walking in on a tender moment between Sonic and his family. Sonic was getting ready to head for Station Square with the freedom fighters (for the Sonic adventure arc). However, his parents learned how affraid he was to leave them alone again after being apart for so many years.

Post Sonic Adventure

Post Sonic Adventure, Mina and Sonic's relationship began development. They got to know each other more throughout the 90s where many of the freedom fighters were in and out of Sonic's life, or in Sally's case entirely absent. The only family member who confided in (Uncle Chuck) was roboticized in Robotropolis.

An even darker cloud overshadowed Sonic's life when he stole the sword of Acorns to restore his Uncle's free will that the roboticizer took from him. As he raced to go to Robotropolis to save his Uncle, he would meet Mina again, and the two got into a verbal argument. Sonic was upset at Mina going back to Robotropolis despite the dangers, and Mina lectured Sonic about stealing the King's sword. Sonic wouldn't keep the sword much long afterwards as they were ambushed by Eggman's Combots. During the attack, Sonic lost the sword in order to save Mina.

When back at Knothole, pressure from King Max's secret service grew as they began to link Sonic to the sword's theft. Geoffery (who became Elias' advisor), worked hard to use his new powers to impress Sally with his leadership (over her brother), and to antagonize Sonic. During this time, Mina did her best to protect him from the at Geoffery (by trying to cover up the fact he stole the sword). As a result Hershey (another member of the secret service) and Mina made a deal that she would confess Sonic's guilt if he was spared prison. Despite this, Geoffery would compel Elias (who was active ruler of Knothole) to take away Sonic's knighthood and to keep him from being a champion of Knothole (by cutting him out of the kingdom's affairs).

Mina's significance within this time period also was due to the fact she helped cheer Sonic up when he was down (as the freedom fighters weren't very active in trying to playing a big role in his life), and was someone he flirted with in private. But when she finally mustered the courage to express her feelings through kissing, she would fall victim to Sonic's slow progression to express intimacy and would perceive his behavior which she described as "more surprised than pleased" (Sonic 109, The Crush) as rejection.

Meanwhile, Sally who was locked away within the palace for awhile finally decided to make an exit to see Sonic again. Posing as a servant girl, she exited the palace and while on her way to see Sonic, saw the kiss between Mina gave to him. Sally interpret this moment as Sonic entering a serious relationship while she was away, and from that point tried to distance her friendship. It was only until Mina sought Sally for support due to Sonic's problems had affections (the kiss), that Sally understood their relationship didn't develop into what she had assumed just yet.

In Sonic #111, Sonic envisions both girls when the subject of girlfriends becomes a topic of discussion. But as time passed, Mina while Sally sat in the sidelines, Mina took charge of her persuit of Sonic. In issue 120, she joined the freedom fighters to become closer to Sonic since he was no longer barred from being Knothole's hero like he was when they got to know each other. Since joining Mina received training with the freedom fighters in swordplay, piloting, compter programming and physical education. But by her her first mission alone, she would realize, that she wasn't using any of the skills she had originally or that the freedom fighters had taught her because she only cared about being near Sonic. Realizing the danger missions would impose on her life Mina would quit the Freedom Fighters due to her lack of genuine motivation to save the world (since then she has worked as the tact of the Sonic Angels team). Feeling down about having to give up her time with Sonic Mina took a bath and started singing. This got Sonic's attention and he managed her first performance onstage.

The (first) preformance bothered as she noticed that Sonic had not only learned to provide affections back to Mina, but in public. (Sonic #121). Her confidence was greatly shaken during Sonic and Mina's duet in Sonic #122. Bunnie noticed Sally's intimidation towards Sonic and Mina's building relationship and reassured her that she meant more to Sonic than anything. With Bunnie's advice, Sally decided she had to make a move for Sonic. Hence In Sonic #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 she was there. Her reaction was not unlike Sally's when she saw Sonic and Mina kissing, in the sense she had assumed that even despite the affections Sonic had given her, 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 as his friend whom he still went to when his spirits were broken (issue 123, Last Robian). Meanwhile Sally would with more confidence in her relationship with Sonic, chose him to be her royal consort to one day be her husband.

Post Tossed in Space

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 feel the pain of losing him again, and wanted in turn someone prepared to rule at her side as the future king. For this reason, she provided an ultimatum: choose to be with her and handle palace affairs at her side, or to be a hero. Sonic refused to give up his heroic nature in Sonic #134, and in Sonic #138 Sally declared their relationship "over." 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.

Enter Scourge (Sonic #150)

Scourge (known as Evil Sonic at the time) had tricked Sonic's love interests into believing Sonic had interest in them. Scourge's first target was Mina as he watched her leave with Amy and Ash. Scourge waited by Mina's house and they went out to the lake where (Evil) Sonic tried being affectionate to Mina. Mina then remembered that she was in a committed relationship with Ash and effectively left Scourge who would then go out with Amy. After Amy, Evil Sonic put moves on Bunnie and then left with Rouge for Angel Island. Sonic was left with setting things straight with the females, which was done off panel in later issues.

Songoose (Sonic #153-4)

For awhile, Mina had been torn between Sonic and Ash, and the issue between them butted heads when Ash would reveal to Mina his insecurities that she loved Sonic and not him. He would then brake up with her afterwards because she couldn't deny it when he demanded it. As Ash's ex girlfriend, Mina would then set up a date with Sonic, and rejected any attempts to reconcile with Ash until a bomb (while trying to protect her) hurt him. When Mina 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.

Line of Succession (Sonic #155-6)

Sonic's heartbreaks would continue as King Max became ill, poisoned by the merciless Patch, an evil version of Antoine D'Coolette from an alternative universe, who wanted to rule the Kingdom. 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 who sent Patch back to his zone. Sally's brother would then deem Sally’s marriage to Patch void, and he told her she was now free to pursue her love life if she wanted. However, at the moment, Sonic is currently dating Fiona, and is therefore unavailable.

Present Day

Like Mina, Fiona didn't like Sonic at first viewing him as selfish. Her idea of him changed when he supposedly 'died' in issue 125 to protect Mobius from a worldwide threat, because she didn't believe someone could offer to risk his or her life and be as selfish as she thought Sonic was. Fiona's romantic interests in Sonic gradually increased, which bothered Tails because of his affections towards her robotic version. Eventually confronting Sonic and Fiona about his feelings, Fiona responds by rejecting Tails in favor of Sonic because he is her age. Sonic and Fiona are still together, but at the same time, Sonic has not made any moves to indicate he is over the rejections received by Mina (in Songoose) and Sally (in Return to Angel Island when she confirmed the end of their relationship).

Alternate Selves

Sonic's alternate selves have made numerous appearances over the years.

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. Cyborg Sonic came from the same dimension as Robo-Robotnik, where Dr. Robotnik subjected the Freedom Fighters to partial Robotization. Gifted with superior ability, the Freedom Fighters attacked Robotropolis, but were defeated when Robotnik fully Roboticized himself.

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. His primary objectives have included recording the actions of Scourge and preparing Tails for his eventual battle against the all powerful Master Mogul.

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. Evil Sonic later underwent an appearance change and became Scourge the Hedgehog. Now more powerful, the only things that have really changed about his appearance are his fur becoming green, eyes becoming icy blue, and the addition of flames to his jacket and red frames to his shades.

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 Manik. 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. King Sonic disappeared during an attempt to send him back in time to try and prevent Mobius' destruction due to time stream collapse. However, some alteration of the continuim has rewritten history so that Sonic has been replaced as king by Shadow, who is also married to Sally, while his children Manik and Sonia were erased from existence. He is found living on the streets of Portal, Angel Island by Tails and Lara-Su and has retained his memories of the original future. The three are shortly imprisoned, and must convince Knuckles to set them free.

Nominal Problems

Sonic's parents and uncle called him by his real name, and for Sonic, this would pose a problem. In an older issue during a meeting with Knuckles and Julie-Su, Sonic's father, Jules, called out his middle name. At first everyone was confused, except Sonic, who was obviously embarrassed. When Jules tried to explain, Sonic interrupted and said "My name is Sonic, PERIOD!" Antonie D'Coolette cracked up and had a plan to tell the others, but Sonic stopped him before he embarrassed him anymore than he already was. A possible reason why Sonic doesn't want his real name known was probably because he didn't want his social status degraded.

However, this is present only in the comics and is not mentioned anywhere else.

See also

  • Sonic Ultimate - Containing information mostly about Sonic from the comic book
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