#Play the Hero ;; Sonic

[itz-pandora]

Team Rose but with Gamma instead of Big

[etaleah]

What Is the Appeal of Sonadow?

I have a lot of thoughts about this ship, what draws people to it, and why some of the criticisms of it are exaggerated or less than honest. Putting them under a cut because it’s gonna get long.

First of all, the critique of “Lol why do people ship them when they beat the shit out of each other whenever they disagree on something, they’re abusive!” is dishonest framing for two reasons. One is that it ignores the fact that Sonic and Shadow are allies far more often than they’re enemies, and even when they are enemies, it’s usually over something serious, not just a minor disagreement. The other is that it’s bad media criticism to apply real human standards to a cartoon animal universe.

When you watch the classic Looney Tunes short where Bugs and Daffy are arguing over whether it’s Rabbit Season or Duck Season and Bugs tricks Daffy into shooting himself, do you see Bugs as abusive and evil? Probably not, because the laws of physics don’t apply in cartoons and Daffy getting shot in the face doesn’t actually hurt him. He’s still completely fine afterwards because he’s a cartoon and is therefore invincible. The same is true for Sonic and Shadow. Have you ever seen either of them seriously injured after one of their fights? Has either one ever needed to go to the hospital because the other beat him up so badly? No, of course not. They groan in pain for about two seconds and then they’re fine. If the creators wanted to convey them being injured, they could show bruises or blood or have bones snapping and the characters limping, but they don’t. The fights are never meant to be taken that seriously. I find this criticism every bit as annoying and overzealous as people who insist that Pinky and the Brain are abusive because Brain bops Pinky on the head. They’re cartoons, y’all. They’re not realistic, were never meant to be realistic, and shouldn’t be treated as realistic. Different standards apply.

To the second point, Sonic and Shadow don’t actually fight that often. In all the interactions they’ve had together, it’s only been a handful of times. They’re allies in the Archie comics, Sonic ‘06, the canon ending of Shadow the Hedgehog (they’re only enemies in that game if the player wants them to be), Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and most of the IDW comics, along with the endings of Sonic X, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes. They’re allies for much of Prime as well. But hey, let’s break down the times they do fight:

Sonic Adventure 2: Shadow’s memories have been tampered with and he and Sonic are literally fighting over the fate of the world.

Sonic X: Same thing for season 2, and in season 3, they’re fighting over whether Cosmo should live or die. Sonic says killing her is wrong, Shadow says stopping the Metarex is what’s most important and if that means little Cosmo has to die, well, them’s the breaks, pal.

Sonic Prime: Sonic has broken their world, Shadow is trying desperately to save it, and Sonic is valuing the Shatterverse inhabitants over Green Hill.

IDW: Shadow says Eggman is too dangerous to leave alive and if that means Mr. Tinker has to die too, well, them’s the breaks, pal. Sonic says killing anyone is wrong no matter the reason.

You see a pattern here? Most of the time what they fight over is literally life and death. They’re not going at each other’s throats over petty bullshit like who gets the last slice of pizza or who gets to pick the film for Movie Night. They fight over serious moral differences. I would argue that Amy and Knuckles have gotten angry at Sonic for way less than what Shadow does.

Now, there are a few instances where their fights are stupid, namely Sonic Boom and Sonic Heroes. But I think it’s pretty universally agreed that Shadow is out of character in Boom, and honestly, all of the fights in Sonic Heroes are very forced. There was no reason for Team Dark or Team Rose to fight Team Chaotix; their goals don’t contradict each other in any way and it’s clearly just manufactured conflict to give the player another boss fight. And these are the exception; most of their fights are over serious ideological divides.

Those serious ideological divides are exactly what makes Sonadow so interesting. I personally prefer ships where characters can learn and grow from each other, where their differences can clash until they learn to reconcile them. I don’t find a ship like, say, Sonamy nearly as interesting because I don’t think there’s many (if any) moral stances Sonic would have that Amy wouldn’t. They already agree on the important things. I’m not bashing anyone who likes that ship; if that’s your thing, good for you. It just doesn’t appeal to me because I think Sonic and Amy already having a lot in common morally means they can’t really grow and change from interacting with each other in the same way.

Sonic can bring out the best in Shadow, teach him to trust others and lighten up and learn how to live in the moment rather than being tethered to the past. Shadow can teach Sonic how to think before he acts, to view the world more realistically, and to consider the impact that his insistence on moral purity will have on others. That setup makes for some amazing stories.

Also? These guys love fighting each other. They’re both athletes and very competitive. Look at how much they smile when they fight:

Like…they love this. It’s so much fun for them. Sonic and Shadow are both competitive athletes who love pushing themselves, but in terms of speed, no one is any competition for them except each other. No one else can beat either of them in a race. Imagine spending your whole life winning so easily that there was no accomplishment in it, and then suddenly this guy comes along who’s actually as good as you or maybe even better. Finally you have a challenge and can really enjoy the feeling of being the best. That’d be amazing. They give each other something no one else can, and to me, that’s what good romances are made of.

And all of that is combined with the fact that Sonadow offers an Odd Couple setup, which is always fertile ground for fun, comedic situations that require opposite characters to work together. Plus the Enemies/Rivals to Lovers aspect, which adds a bit of “forbidden fruit” to the mix because we all know that the most tempting and appealing relationships are the ones that are Forbidden (TM). That’s literally the premise of Romeo and Juliet, people who aren’t supposed to be together but end up wanting to be anyway.

I wouldn’t want Sonadow to be canon, but I definitely enjoy exploring it in fandom. It’s a fun ship that offers a lot for a writer or artist to work with. And while I would never force it on anyone, I wish the criticisms of it weren’t quite so shallow and disingenuous.

[0vergrowngraveyard]

i think one of my favorite thing about tails fans is, when asked about who their favorite character is, the general answer is:

“i love sonic, but i sold my soul to tails when i was 5 and he’s been my favorite ever since”

this isn’t a diss on anyone btw, that is also my story

[the-meme-monarch]

i barely know charmy bee but if you hate charmy bee we can't be friends

[neurotypical-sonic]

after the events of sonic heroes

rouge: you settling in okay, shadow?

shadow: last week maria and I started reading a new book together. gerald got it for her as a gift, because she was doing well in her studies

rouge:

shadow: and now I'm here.

[movie-robotnik-positivity]

Apparently someone actually reached out to Johnny Gioeli and he straight up confirmed that "I am all of me" will not in Sonic Movie 3.

That's right, it was confirmed by the man himself. There was some fan outrage as you might expect. But if you think about it, despite "I Am All of Me" being the most popular Shadow theme, it doesn't make much sense in the context of Shadow's arc in SA2 (the game this movie is adapting).

That song is about Shadow's potential both for good and evil, which reflects the 2005 game's multiple routes. It doesn't work if used in a story where Shadow is a straight up antagonist for most of his screentime. References need to make sense narratively.

[johnfdonovan]

real scene from breaking bad

[neetclown]

He sounds like he didn't practice this, has never even heard the melody he's playing and cried halfway through the session

[nightbigail]

I can’t draw animals, so I made him a human instead 🏃‍♂️💨

(All my Sonic knowledge comes from Snapcube’s dub, Jehtt, and Sonic X)

[uselesstaroth]

I randomly said "Chaos energy is the trickster's power" as a throwaway about how unpredictable it is (for Don't Escape), and like… it kinda fits?

Ramble ahead

Like, if you look at Sonic, who's brimming with chaos energy, and nothing seems to work with this guy.

I don't think he was supposed to turn into the werehog, I don't think he was supposed to be able to run around cyberspace, I don't think the metal virus is supposed to be able to be burned off, I don't think using chaos control with a fake emerald is normal.

Despite his personality (which varies from version to version) his existence seems to cause chaos. Plans just don't go as expected around him.

Compared to Shadow, who seems to be more about bringing order to the chaos, fitting his "get shit done" personality, making it do whatever he wants. Which makes sense as The Ultimate Lifeform I guess

But maybe Sonic can also be The Ultimate Chaos Lifeform or something.

Must be why it's pretty fun to write him as Chaos Theory The Guy from time to time, a true gremlin.

[beatcroc]

Thoughts on the incident?

[skidcd-megamix]

It wasn’t even like a “its no use!” (Silver) it’s like “its no use….” (Metal sonic)

[sotiredmostnights]

when i first played pokemon conquest i really loved it, but i couldn't help but wish there was more emphasis on the relationships between the different characters. later on i discovered fire emblem awakening and my god, the way it took everything i loved about conquest and dialed character relationships up to an 11 truly captivated me and i haven't been the same since

[chickenwaffles17]

ooh looks like nothing special in particular is gonna happen to my Chao today

Angel's singing, Slow Colin's drawing and Buttery Ken's playing the trumpet, what could happ-

ehh what's this?

What the heck?

WHAT THE SHIT?!

WHAT THE FUCK?!

I- I-

Oh great heavens

Welp I need name suggestions now guys

[wereh0gz]

I hope one day we get a mainline sonic game focusing on a side character where sonic gets into trouble and need to be saved

[t4tails]

What's your favorite Sonic game, if you have one?