Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

This is the version of the character seen in the video game series and television shows. For information on how he appears in the Archie comics, see Sonic the Hedgehog (comic character).

Sonic the Hedgehog
'Sonic the Hedgehog' character
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First game	Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Created by	Naoto Ōshima Yuji Naka Hirokazu Yasuhara

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejiihoggu), trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the hero of a video game series released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released on June 23, 1991 in order to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario (see 1991 in video gaming). Since then, Sonic has become one of the world's best-known video game characters, with his series having sold over 45 million copies. In 2005, Sonic was one of the first game character inductees into the Walk of Game, alongside Mario and Link.

Artist Naoto Ōshima, designer Hirokazu Yasuhara and programmer Yuji Naka are generally credited with the creation of the character, a blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog, whose ability to run faster than the speed of sound is a major part of the gameplay of the series.

Conception and creation

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Sonic's original design.

Sega wanted 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 over-sized Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas (which would later be the basis of Doctor Eggman's design), and a rabbit (intended to use its extendible ears to collect objects; these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar). Eventually, Naoto Ōshima's spiky hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse", was chosen as the new mascot. Sonic's cobalt blue pigmentation was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo. 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, distributing pamphlets advertising the game, and having footage of the game broadcast above stage prior to its release.

Sonic's precise age, weight, height and other physical characteristics vary depending on the continuity in which he appears and the style in which he is drawn. In the video games, Sonic's original design by Ohshima was quite short and childlike, with short quills, a round body and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Wantabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog, and most subsequent Sonic video games featured similar designs. Beginning with Sonic Adventure in 1998, Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa as a taller character with longer legs and a less spherical body, longer and more drooping spikes, and green-colored eyes. Further subtle changes to the character's design have been made in subsequent games. Spin-off media such as comics and cartoons have featured variations on all these video game designs, with restrictions set by the standardized model sheets.

Appearances

Games

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (series)

Sonic's debut occurred in the 1991 platform game Sonic the Hedgehog (sometimes referred to simply as Sonic 1) for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, which also introduced his nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik (named Dr. Eggman in Japan since 1991 and since Sonic Adventure in the West). His sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower joined him in the game's 1992 sequel Sonic 2, which also introduced Sonic's "Super Sonic" form and signature "spin-dash" move. Sonic CD released in 1993 introduced Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose, and his robotic doppelgänger Metal Sonic (although Sonic 2 also featured a robotic Sonic boss, often referred to as Mecha Sonic or Silver Sonic) as Sonic travelled through time to ensure a good future for the world. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, both released in 1994, saw Sonic and Tails battle Robotnik again, with the additional threat of Knuckles the Echidna, tricked by Robotnik into fighting Sonic. Other two-dimensional platformers starring Sonic include Sonic Chaos (1993), Sonic Triple Trouble (1994), Sonic Blast (1996), and Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999). In 2001, 2D Sonic games started to move to Nintendo hand-held platforms. These include Sonic Advance (2001), Sonic Advance 2 (2002), Sonic Advance 3 (2004), Sonic Rush (2005) and Sonic Rush Adventure (2007). Sonic Adventure (1999) was Sonic Team's return to the character for a major game. It featured Sonic returning from vacation to find the city of Station Square under attack by a new, very powerful foe named Chaos, under the control of Dr. Robotnik (now known as Doctor Eggman). Additionally, Sonic was given a full voice-over for the first time in a video game. Sonic Adventure 2 placed Sonic on-the-run from the military (G.U.N) after being mistaken for a new enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form. Sonic Heroes has Sonic teaming up with Tails and Knuckles (along with other characters) against the newly rebuilt Metal Sonic, who had betrayed his master. Sonic the Hedgehog features Sonic in the city of water, "Soleanna", where he must rescue Princess Elise from Dr. Eggman while trying to avoid a new threat to his own life, Silver the Hedgehog, who is trying to save the future by killing Sonic. Sonic and the Secret Rings, features Sonic in a story book world of the "Arabian Nights" where he must help a ring genie, "Shahra", regain the seven world rings in order to defeat the evil Erazor Djinn. Sonic has also been featured in games of many genres other than 2D and 3D platform games. The first of these was a pinball game, Sonic Spinball (1993), which expanded upon the pinball sequences in the first two platform games. Sonic has also appeared in "2.5D" isometric platformers (Sonic Labyrinth and Sonic 3D Blast), racing games (Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2) and fighting games (Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle).

Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993), Knuckles Chaotix (1995), Tails' Skypatrol (1995), Tails Adventures (1995), and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) starred supporting characters of the Sonic series. Sonic has had cameo roles in some of them. He has made cameo appearances in numerous other Sega games such as Daytona USA and Christmas NiGHTS. Sonic also appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl from Nintendo.

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Sonic as he appeared in AoStH

Television series

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was the first to feature Sonic, voiced by Jaleel White. It had a very comical take on Sonic and Tails's adventures and battles against Robotnik. In Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic again was voiced by White. This series featured Sonic and his "Freedom Fighter" friends fighting to save their planet, Mobius, from Robotnik, and is also known for it's rather infamous Sonic Sez segments, which appeared at the end of each episode.

Sonic Underground featured the introductions of sibling Sonia the Hedgehog and Manic the Hedgehog, as well as his mother Queen Aleena, the four of whom were destined to defeat Robotnik and rule Mobius as the Council of Four. White returned to voice Sonic for the third and last time, with Samuel Vincent providing his singing voice. In this series, Sonic came equipped with a magical medallion that expanded into an electric guitar.

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Sonic depicted in Sonic X.

Additionally, there was a 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog anime OVA in Japan which featured Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, and Metal Sonic based on Sonic CD. Sonic was voiced by Masami Kikuchi in Japan, and Martin Burke in the United States.

Sonic X, was an anime in which Sonic (voiced by Jun'ichi Kanemaru in the Japanese version, and by Jason Griffith in the English version) is teleported to "Earth" by the use of Chaos Control.

Printed media

Main article: List of Sonic the Hedgehog printed media

Sonic's first comic appearance was in a promotional comic printed in Disney Adventures magazine (which was also given away as a free pull-out with a copy of "Mean Machines" magazine), which established an origin for Sonic involving the transformation of kindly scientist Doctor Ovi Kintobor into the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik. It also shockingly established that Sonic was originally brown. Numerous British publications, including "Sega handbook" Stay Sonic (1993), four novels published by Virgin Books (1993–1994) and the comic book Sonic the Comic (1993–2002) used this premise as their basis.

The American comics published by Archie Comics, Sonic the Hedgehog (1993—) and Sonic X (2005—) are based on the settings established by earlier animated TV series, the ABC "SatAM" cartoon and the Sonic X anime respectively. The former series is currently the second longest-running licensed comic series in the history of American comic books, second only to Marvel's Conan series (first issue released in 1970). In France two comic books named Sonic Adventures was published by Sirène in 1994,

In Japan, Sonic manga have also been published.

Cameos and popularity

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

Sonic has proven to be an extremely popular character. He is arguably one of the most popular video game characters in the world. As a result of this popularity, he has been referred to in various parts of culture. One of a class of genes involved in fruit fly embryonic development, called hedgehog genes, has been named "sonic hedgehog" after the character.

Sonic has sometimes appeared in relation to various sports teams Sega have sponsored. Between 1993 and 1997, Sega sponsored the JEF United Ichihara Chiba football team, during which period Sonic appeared in the team's uniform. During the 1993 Formula One championship, Sega sponsored the Williams Grand Prix team, which won the Constructors' Championship that year, as well as the team's lead driver, Alain Prost, winning the Drivers' Championship. Sonic was featured in the cars, 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. In the 2K series of sports games, Sonic can be picked as a logo to be placed on the uniforms of the created team.

Sonic has also made appearances as a character in parades. In 1996, Sonic was the first video game character to be seen in a Rose Parade. Sonic was also in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; the only other video game character to ever be in the parade was Pikachu from Nintendo's popular Pokémon series.

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Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario as seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Sonic also made a small appearance in the family-themed ride "Toyland Tours" at the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, UK. The section contained several TVs of Sonic games (Mainly Sonic the Hedgehog (video game) and Sonic CD). Other parts include a moving sonic plastic figure, seemingly tapping his foot and moving a lever, as well as some glowed ring effects. There were also several sound effects and themed music to accompany his section in the ride. The ride has since been closed down and has been replaced with a similar ride based upon the story "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl.

Other references are present in television programs, including a brief appearance in the episode of The Simpsons titled "Marge Be Not Proud". Voiced by Dan Castellaneta, he appears (along with Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and fictional pro golfer Lee Carvallo) attempting to convince Bart Simpson to steal a video game. Other humorous references to Sonic have appeared in TV series such as Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (in the episode "Camp Capers"), Megas XLR, 15/Love and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. He was also mentioned in an episode of the variety show MADtv and the sitcom Roseanne. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 was once referenced in the "Oddball" segment of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. The Sonic character and games have also made brief appearances in films, including Jingle All the Way, Hitch and Wayne's World. Sonic appeared in a Robot Chicken episode, only for under a minute.

In 1994, the Right Said Fred song "Wonderman" was used by Sega Europe in a specific music video to promote the video game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in Europe.

Sonic makes an appearance in a Sega racing arcade game called Rad Mobile as a car ornament which swings around from the rear-view mirror as the player drives.

Sonic's trademark shoes are seen by a garbage can in the 1995 Super Nintendo game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest next to Earthworm Jim's blaster and a sign that reads "NO HOPERS" when the player looks at the "Cranky's Video Game Heroes" screen.

Sonic the Hedgehog has also made a cameo in the film "Jingle All The Way" in the Christmas Day Parade. A man wearing a Sonic costume walks down the street.

Characteristics

Personality

Sonic embodies the wind , as shown in every game. He is noted for being free-spirited, adventurous, outgoing and caring, cherishing his freedom to live as he wants above all else. He is impatient and will often jump into situations without thinking, as his confidence is unshakable, even in the most dire circumstances. In some shows (Sonic Underground and Sonic X mainly) it is hinted that Sonic dislikes water, primarily because he cannot swim. Despite this, he often braves temporary submersion throughout his adventures.

Note

• In some episodes of Sonic X, it's revealed that he has a fear of water.

Home

Games

He lives at a location known as South Island during Sonic the Hedgehog, and (according to material from Sonic Team) was originally born on Christmas Island. Throughout the course of the series however, he travels from world to world in search of adventure. In Sonic Battle, he lives in Emerald Town.

Television and printed media

In the Archie comic book series, Sonic's home is located in Knothole Village where the Freedom Fighters reside. The same goes for it's respective television series Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series).

In The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, it is implied that Sonic simply travels all over the world instead of living in a certain location. The same case applies to Sonic Underground.

Sonic's home in the Sonic X series is unknown, but it is implied that he travels throughout the region.

In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Sonic's home appears to be on a Floating Island in the Land of the Sky.

Abilities

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Sonic in his super form, Super Sonic.

Sonic is known as the "world's fastest supersonic hedgehog," with the ability to run at speeds higher than Mach 1. (higher than roughly 761.2 mph) He can run backwards just as well as forwards, shown in the Team Sonic opening cutscene of Sonic Heroes and near the end of the first episode in Sonic X. In the games, his super speed has not been explained. When Sonic runs fast enough, he can create a sonic boom, which can destroy enemies in Sonic's way, and increase his momentum.

Many of his abilities are variations on the tendency for hedgehogs to roll into tight balls for protection. Since his introduction in the first Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic's primary offensive maneuver is the basic Spin Attack (or "Sonic Spin Attack"). As Sonic jumps or runs, he curls up and spins into a spiky ball that can damage, destroy or burrow through many obstacles. Later games in the series expanded on this basic attack. Two of these enhancements have become mainstays of his: the Spin Dash was introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and involves Sonic spinning on the spot before blasting off at full speed, and the Homing Attack, introduced in Sonic 3D Blast, in which Sonic dashs in midair toward a target.

By using the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic can initiate a super transformation into Super Sonic. For more information, see Super transformation.

Interaction with other characters

Miles "Tails" Prower

Sonic's best friend is a young yellow-orange, two-tailed fox called Miles "Tails" Prower (a pun on the phrase "miles per hour"). Tails is of the few who could almost keep up with Sonic by using his trademark technique of flying by rapidly spinning his tails like a helicopter rotor. Tails is also a mechanic prodigy and rivals Dr. Eggman with his inventions, which helps Sonic out quite often. Tails idolizes Sonic and sees him as a mentor, while Sonic views Tails as a little brother. Sonic and Tails are rarely without each other - they often go Chaos Emerald searching, or stop Eggman's plans together. In Sonic Advance 3, when the two are selected as a team, they are described as the "Unbreakable Bond." Tails sometimes has a timid nature and weak self-esteem, but feels confident and brave when it comes to doing the right thing thanks to Sonic's company.

Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles the Echidna is both an ally and a friendly rival of Sonic, possessing strength to match Sonic's speed. They first met as enemies in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and although they are now allies, they can usually be found fighting. Although he is envious of Sonic's adventurous lifestyle, Knuckles still dislikes Sonic's carefree nature and egotism. On the other hand, Sonic sees Knuckles as being far too serious and perhaps even thickheaded. Despite Sonic and Knuckles' rivalry and personal differences, they sometimes treat each other like close friends.

Amy Rose

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Sonic and Amy from Episode 52 of Sonic X

Amy Rose is a pink, young female hedgehog. Although Sonic is quite repelled by her constant advances to marry him, the two have been good friends since Sonic CD. However, he does appreciate all the times Amy has pulled through for him. Whenever Amy is kidnapped or in the line of danger, he comes to her rescue.

Blaze the Cat

Blaze the Cat first appeared in Sonic Rush and while Sonic does not see her much from then, the two are considered good friends. The way the two meet mirrors that of Knuckles in the sense that they started out as enemies but are now allies.

Doctor Eggman

Sonic's eternal nemesis is Doctor Eggman (originally called Dr. Robotnik). Eggman is a brilliant scientist who uses his numerous machines to attempt to conquer the world, but Sonic has always intervened. The opposition between Sonic and Eggman symbolizes the conflict between nature and technology. Sonic originally fought Dr. Eggman because he was turning his animal friends into robotic slaves (known as "Badniks"). However, in exceptionally desperate circumstances, Sonic and Eggman put aside their differences to help save the earth from complete destruction.

Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog was at first, Sonic's enemy, however in recent games, they have become good allies. They first met in Sonic Adventure 2. While they became allies in the end, they've had rivaling tendencies with each other in every game since, though they have a great amount of respect for one another. They fight for different reasons, yet have similar opinions about each other. It appears that Sonic seems to treat Shadow as a friend, and Shadow also seems to be beginning to accept Sonic as a friend rather than just a rival or enemy. In Super Smash Bros.Brawl, Sonic has a palette swap which turns Sonic black, making him look similar to Shadow.

Metal Sonic

Metal Sonic (who had debuted in Sonic CD) is one of Sonic's fiercest adversaries. In early games, 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. During the events of Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic upgraded and went rogue from Eggman's control to initiate his own agenda to eliminate Sonic and the world, and sees Sonic as his own clone, rather than the other way around. Metal Sonic still remains a serious threat.

Silver the Hedgehog

Silver the Hedgehog comes from a distant future, first debuting in Sonic Rivals. Silver had first traveled to the past to kill Sonic on the belief he was the reason his world was racked in turmoil. But with Shadow's help, Silver learned the truth of Mephiles the Dark and work together with Sonic to defeat Mephiles's perfect form, Solaris. Silver meets Sonic again for the first time (due to an in-game retcon) and works with him during the events of Sonic Rivals.

Jet the Hawk

Another one of Sonic's rivals is Jet the Hawk from Sonic Riders. Jet mocks him for being inexperienced with Extreme Gear (an air-powered hovercraft that comes in the form of skateboards, motorcycles & rollerblades) and does not respect Sonic's title of "world's fastest." Thus sparking a rivalry between them. Later, after Sonic beats Jet in a race, they become more friendly, but are still competitive as racing rivals.

Other media

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (comic character)

The Sonic the Hedgehog comic features Sonic with alternate dimensional versions of himself. One such version is Scourge, originally known as "Evil Sonic", who hails from Anti-Mobius (in a parallel dimension). He is as brash and arrogant as Sonic, but is self-important, ruthless, and sadistic with a desire for mayhem, truly making him Sonic's opposite or "Anti-Sonic". The comic recently bore witness to an evolution of Evil-Sonic when he tried to siphon off energy from the Master Emerald, thus becoming Scourge, a green, half super-powered hedgehog. He bares a scar on his chest that resembles the roman numeral II, left there when Locke knocked him off the Master Emerald with his bare knuckles, which symbolizes that he is #2 a.k.a. Sonic's "double."

Another version of Sonic was the temporary separation of Super Sonic as his own entity. When Sonic was lost in the vastness of space, he came across an alien planet that had six red Chaos Emeralds. Unlike the original green Chaos Emeralds on his homeworld, these split him in two with Super Sonic becoming its own entity obsessed with power and destruction, and Sonic himself trying to stop the new menace that he unleashed. But like the original Chaos Emeralds, the effects were only temporary, thus the separate entity vanished.

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Comic)

In Sonic the Comic, Super Sonic is depicted as rather homicidal, usually causing chaos whenever it is unleashed within Sonic. At one point, it is separated from Sonic and is later trapped in the Omni-viewer and is sealed in a foam asteroid in the Special Zone. When it is unleashed in Mobius, as part of a plan by Sonic to shut off all of Robotnik's machinery due to the electromagnetic pulse his arrival causes, Super Sonic loses his memory, and his power, becoming shy and timid. He makes friends with the black cat Ebony. Towards the end of the official storyline, Super Sonic regains his power due to being near Chaos and becomes psycho again. Ebony reunites him with Sonic. Also in the comic, Sonic encounters an alternate reality where he became evil instead of Kintobor. King Sonic and his Badniks ruled this alternate Mobius until Sonic forced him to turn into Super Sonic, who (in his reality) was a mellow hippie.

Related songs

The video games have featured several theme songs or leitmotifs for the character. Sonic is mostly associated with the rock genre.

• Sonic CD (original soundtrack): "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" - Keiko Utoku.
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2: "Wizards of the Sonic" - WestBam
• "They Call Me Sonic" (1996)
• Sonic Adventure: "It Doesn't Matter" - Crush 40 (Tony Harnell).
• Sonic Adventure 2: "It Doesn't Matter" (remake) - Ted Poley.
• Sonic Heroes: "We Can" - Tony Harnell, Ted Poley. This was a team theme shared with Tails and Knuckles.
• Sonic Riders: "High Flying Groove" - Tomonori Sawada. This was also a team theme shared with Tails and Knuckles.
• Sonic the Hedgehog: "His World" - Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis.
  • "Sweet Dreams" (remake) - Dreams Come True feat. Akon. This was the ending theme for Sonic's story. It was about the relationship Sonic had with Princess Elise.
• Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie: "Look Alike" - Konaka Riu.

Further reading

• In addition to information taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog games themselves, the instruction manuals of the U.S. and Japanese versions of the games were also used as references for this article.

External links

• Sonic Central - Official Sonic the Hedgehog microsite at Sega.com
• Sonic at Sonic Channel - Official Japanese website
• Sonic City - Official European Sonic the Hedgehog website
• Sonic the Hedgehog - Concept: Mobius character profile
• Sonic Zero Forum - A Sonic the Hedgehog based forum