#but for a franchise where most characters (Sonic Amy Knuckles and Shadow a little bit also) are short-range fighters it's cool to have one-

[galaxygermdraws]

Finally designing the Sonic cast. or. at least. Some of them. There are too many characters in this franchise these are just the ones I think about the most often. So uh. Ya. I will leave any notes under the cut since I have a lot, although not every character will have notes because we haven't explored every character (and share them with @shadesofvermillionvoid)

(reblogs with tags/comments are appreciated. Thankyu)

Sonic

Sonic's earring is Chip's bracelet. I don't think Sonic particularly likes having anything on his wrists, and Sonic Forces made that worse

The regulators are based directly on Sonic Prime, as I love the regulators in that show and think the idea of giving Sonic something similar to Shadow's Inhibitor Rings makes a lot of sense

He got those little markings due to accidentally absorbing some of Chaos' DNA

Tails

Tails has goggles like in Sonic Boom, because I like Boom Tails' design

He still has his robotic bits from Sonic Lost World, he still managed to keep his free will, but what happened was Zavok used his ability to control robots to force Tails to fight Sonic. Since then, Tails has updated his cybernetics so he can filter out any suspicious frequencies that could take his free will.

The cannon arm from Lost World is now basically like the guns from Mario and Rabbids, where you hold it in your hand and it like covers your arm. It's like that

Tails is a skeptic. This is the funniest bit but also thanks to Boom (the bad luck episode) it has some precedence

Knuckles

Knuckles in our lore is deeply spiritual (we are developing Mobian belief systems because we are Insane) , and the first time he saw Sonic he noticed he looked similar to the murals in Hidden Palace. So when Sonic turned out to be good, that made sense to him, as Sonic was common in a lot of prophetic murals around the island.

Knux actually thought Sonic was a god at first. Then he saw him choke on a Chili Dog.

He put beads around his spines after the events of Sonic Forces, since the war was over and he could relax for the first time in months.

Amy

Amy, like Knuckles, actually has a deep connection to her belief systems. We haven't figured out everything exactly, but she and Knuckles quickly bond over this aspect of their lives

I styled her quills differently because I kind of like giving her something that makes it obvious she is a hedgehog

Similarly, I gave her a back spine, and the hedgehog nose, since I had never realized she has the same kind of nose as Tails or Cream

Shadow

Shadow wears eye makeup. He puts it on every morning. For a while he had to have help with it (from both Rouge and Amy), but eventually figured out how to do it himself

He has yellow sclera due to the Black Arms blood. Similarly, he has a longer tail than most Mobian hedgehogs, and he cannot retract his fangs. His blood is green

He has some less favorable urges. Mostly related to the whole "Black Arms feed on living creatures" things, but they don't crop up often

He and Rouge have matching earrings

Rouge

I based her design off of Sonic Prime because I honestly prefer that design more. One because she looks like an actual spy, and two because it's based on her Sonic Heroes design. Similarly, she has Prim's hair tuft

Gave her the bat nose a lot of people do because I like the way it looks

I don't have a lot of thoughts about Rouge as of right now I am so sorry.

She and Shadow have matching earrings

Silver

Silver has a lot more scrapes and burns from his future, even though it's been fixed several times

He is displaced from time. He doesn't feel connected to his current future, especially since in our lore he is one of the few people to remember Sonic 06 (it's because in our lore, Timeline B Silver got his powers from Mephiles, in the sense that those time powers had to go SOMEWHERE after the timeline reset.)

I am going to be designing a weird messed up form for Silver (like Werehog or Doom Morph for Sonic and Shadow) based probably on Mephiles to some extent

Blaze

Like Silver, she has remnants of powers from the previous timeline. She already had fire powers in Timeline A, but she has much stronger ones now, as she still has Iblis inside of her, although the powers are no longer destructive, as they were never provoked

Her dimension is actually a result of Solaris ceasing to exist. That power still existed and had to go somewhere, so it ended up resulting in the Sol Dimension.

[stormdash2]

How Sally Acorn and The Freedom Fighters can work in a Sonic game.

This is a little essay I want to make on how Sally Acorn and The Freedom Fighters can potentially work in a Sonic game.

Brief summary. Sally Acorn is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comics, and is especially known for being in the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, dubbed by fans as Sonic SatAM.

The characters of Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot, Rotor the Walrus and Antoine D'Coolette are characters exclusive to this show as well as the spin-off comics. They are part of a group known as The Freedom Fighters, which also consists of Sonic himself as well as Tails. Their goal is to liberate their world from the tyrannical Doctor Robotnik, better known as Doctor Eggman, the main antagonist of the games.

These characters were made for the show, but I believe they can work in the game setting. It just requires a bit of tweaking to have them fit the Sonic Team vision, and this is how I would go about it.

Let's start with the gameplay, as that is the most important part of a Sonic game obviously, or any video game for that matter. Now, obviously in most Sonic games, Sonic is playable. In those games he runs at high speeds, hence his name. The gameplay reflects that perfectly. This has been a thing since the first Sonic game on the Sega Genesis.

Any games where one of his friends are playable usually have that friend running at high speeds. Examples include Tails in Sonic 2. When he's tagging along with Sonic, he's keeping up with his speed, or on his own, he has to show that same speed in gameplay.

This continued through the Genesis games with the introduction of Knuckles, and into the Adventure games with characters like Shadow. Some characters do have slower gameplay, like Amy Rose does in Sonic Adventure, but it's still speedy in its own right. Amy definitely has quite a boost in speed by Sonic Heroes.

The point I'm getting at is this. If Sally were to be in the games, there's two ways to go about it. One way is making her an NPC. Sally does not have the speed or abilities that the game cast have. So putting her in a traditional Sonic level would make her feel out of place.

Could she be given powers? Absolutely. But I feel like it messes with her charm. Her being a normal character should not be a bad thing. No one had a problem with Batman being in the Justice League. Sally has plenty of strengths, even if not in gameplay. She can appear in cutscenes, give orders, or anything. Not every major character in a video game is playable, and that extends to the Sonic franchise. Tikal didn't need to be playable to be important in Sonic Adventure 1 after all.

If anyone was going to be playable in a Sonic level, it would be Bunnie Rabbot. She has the cybernetically enhanced limbs and could speed and power her way through a Sonic level.

However if Sally were to be playable, an option would be to give her specifically designed levels that focus on her slower gameplay. It could even be stealth based. Think about the levels in the game, Sly Cooper. Sally could sneak around and gather intel to assist her team, and use stealth takedowns on enemies, or just fight.

Another feature would include having Nicole present in some form, either as a computer or in her Lynx form. She can even have a role similar to Omochao in which she would explain the controls or give hints throughout the levels.

Option two is this. A Sonic RPG. We've already had Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but I think another Sonic RPG is due. Especially given that Sega owns Atlus, who are famous for the Persona franchise. An RPG is a great way to introduce The Freedom Fighters.

With an RPG gameplay, you don't have to worry about how characters can keep up or not. Everyone is at an even playing field. This is assuming that it's a turn-based RPG, like Persona, or the original Final Fantasy games. (And Sonic Chronicles too of course).

Most RPGs don't have that many people in a single party, so you'd still need to pick and choose. Chronicles was generous with eleven characters. So I'll bump it to twelve. My picks would be Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine and Rotor. We can have cameos from characters like Rosie, Dulcy, Uncle Chuck and Lupe. This in addition to the game characters of course.

The RPG route could be interesting, as it could allow for a mechanic known as The Affinity System. This system has been used in Final Fantasy 7 and Tales of Symphonia, and is particularly featured in Fire Emblem, and even the Sega owned Persona.

The affinity system allows for character bonds to grow through gameplay and side quests. This could be a fun way to show how friendships develop among the Sonic characters, and be a good way to show a bond when it comes to the Freedom Fighters. There's another reason that I will get into in a bit.

Another idea is to make a fighting game. It would be a Sonic Fighters type deal where characters from across the Sonic Universe could fight. And why limit it there? Sega could feature characters from across the multiverse, which includes SatAM.

Sega has what it takes to make a Sonic 3D Fighter after all. They have the Virtua Fighter team with nothing to do. Honestly it'd be funny if characters like Akira Yuki or Jacky Bryant made playable appearances.

Then again, having humans fighting Mobians (or whatever Sonic's game franchise calls these characters) might be troubling. Anyone who remembers the Star Wars characters in Soul Calibur 4 knows from experience how hard it is fighting a small character like Yoda.

Still, a fighting game featuring Sonic characters can work. It again puts them on even ground, and power doesn't need to match. You see games like Dragon Ball FighterZ or the Marvel vs Capcom games having crazy looking matchups that don't make sense, but it's a game so you don't have to think too hard on it. So long as the characters fit, then it's fine.

Be it a 3D fighter, or a 2D fighter, either way it could be fun to see the Freedom Fighters in a fighting game.

This mainly applies to the SatAM Freedom Fighters. Anyone from Archie could be troubling given the copyright issues. Not all characters have this, those like Fiona Fox and Mina Mongoose could theoretically come back. It depends on what Sega wants, but if they were willing to bring them back, that would be a plus. Mina and Fiona deserve a better story than they got in Archie Comics, and being adapted by Sega could be the fresh start they need.

I'm not opposed to other making it into the games, be it Cosmo from Sonic X, or Tangle and Whisper from IDW. They can all co-exist in the Sonic gaming franchise along with other characters.

Now to get to characterization. There's a difference between Sonic in the games, and Sonic in SatAM and the comics. Japan portrays Sonic as very humble compared to how the West Portray him.

In Archie, Sonic is very full of himself and a bit egotistical. He's very likely to smack talk someone. He's got a larger ego, and plays up the who superhero thing.

This is opposite of what Sonic Team sees Sonic as. Yes in the Japanese versions of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, he had something of an ego, and was rude, but he became pretty humble by the end of SA2 and from there, he's had a friendlier demeanor.

Why do I bring this up? In SatAM, Sally's thing was constantly telling Sonic what to do and keeping him from being immature. Sally wouldn't need to do that in the games because Sonic is already mature, so their dynamic changes.

Also, Sonic is not really one to be bound by this stuff. He's not a superhero type like Western Media likes to portray. (A misunderstanding he has in common with Goku). He always does his own thing.

Now I know I said Sonic's not a superhero, but I will use them to make the comparison. While the Freedom Fighters are duty bound like The Avengers, Sonic and his friends are like The Fantastic Four. They're more explorers than heroes, they just happen to do good things.

So while Sonic is chill and more mature than in the games, Sally can still find Sonic irritating since like SatAM and Archie, he does what he wants. Difference is that Western Sonic would brag about doing what he wants while Game Sonic just does it without the need to explain himself.

Sonic and Sally would have different dynamic. I can see her trying to get him to do what she wants him to do, but he's giving her a hard time. But he's nicer than Archie, and he's usually more respectful to girls, so he may try to explain himself at some point, only if he wants to.

Romance would not likely be there either. Sega does not want Sonic in a relationship, and honestly if they do go that route for him, he'd likely be with Amy.

I can see Sally crushing on Sonic, but it would be one-sided. He wouldn't return the affection and Sally may eventually give up. But the respect would still be there.

Also bear in mind, if Sally does become part of the games, that doesn't mean she'll be a main character. At most she'd be a side character and only appear when needed.

Backstories would need to change too. Sally may not be a Princess this time around, but Knothole can exist on an island where Sally is the mayor's daughter or something. Keeps it political for her and she is somewhat a Princess. It can even be a nickname.

Roboticization doesn't exist in the games, so Bunnie being a cyborg would either be due to an accident, or it could be an Iron Man situation where she was given robotic limbs. Rotor could build them.

Antoine could just be a knight. He may or may not be married to Bunnie at first, but that's not something I want to see rushed, so it's better off being alluded to. If anything, just say they're dating.

Nicole is tough. The original plans for her was that she was once Mobian, then had her brain uploaded into that computer. She gains a physical form again, but comes back as a child and becomes a daughter figure to Sally.

Nicole could essentially be Sally's little buddy like Tails is for Sonic if they choose to go that route.

Or she could be older and just be Sally's best friend, or even her sister either by blood or via adoption. I would personally go with the adoption route, it adds a bit more to their friendship without having to add too much exhibition.

It could be a simple game, either one of the classics, because the Freedom Fighters just fit well in those, or modern, which works too. Whether they already knew Sonic or just met him is another thing to consider.

If you go with them already knowing him, it'd need to be done carefully. Like Sonic met them once but didn't stick around. He lost contact with them because they couldn't keep up. Sonic's friends stick around because they could keep up.

But that's their relationship. Sally may not have a deep bond with Sonic, or Tails for that matter, but such is the way it is for Sonic games.

Though going back to the affinity thing I mentioned for the JRPG, theoretically that can be used as an excuse to have romance. Build a bond and slowly have the two fall in love. It doesn't even need to be with Sally though, you can have Sonic fall for Amy. You can have Sonally or Sonamy, and the best part, it doesn't need to be canon. Both can be what-ifs, similar to Final Fantasy when it came to Cloud with Tifa or with Aerith. Or the many possible Fire Emblem pairings.

This could be Sega just testing the waters to see how romance would be handled. If they want, they can even give Sonic an option to be with Blaze. Sonaze fans should be happy too.

Even so, let's say Sonic is meant to be with Amy. Personally, I say don't pair Sally with anyone. Though if she absolutely had to be paired with someone, I'd say maybe Mighty or Ray since they're game characters who can fit the Freedom Fighter aesthetics well. (Personally, I vote for Ray. Chipmunk and Squirrel.)

Oh, and I suppose I should discuss her wardrobe. I'll keep it simple, I don't see why Sega would need to give her clothes, I always found that double standard weird. Why is it okay for guys to go without pants but it's not okay for girls? I don't think any other game or franchise with anthro characters have that issue. Either everyone worse mostly clothes or no one did.

But if Sega feels the need to put clothes on her, then fine, no big deal. Just make sure they look good. Don't force it like the reboot did.

But that's my take. Sally can work in the games with effort, and Sega just needs to try. The key is getting her popular enough for Sega of Japan to consider her. But Honestly, having Sally in the games would be a great service. Sega has done great services lately, such as bring back Sonic's friends for games like Superstars and promising to bring back older franchises like Jet Set Radio and Streets of Rage.

I know SatAM has a different vibe from the games, but considering Sega's fine with The Diamond Cutters in IDW that do similar stuff like the Freedom Fighters do, and the fact that Sonic Forces had this rebellion thing, Sega's willing to go this route.

Mario has done similar with characters like Pauline in Mario Odyssey and Daisy in Super Mario Bros wonder. Sonic needs to keep up this kind of momentum. Let's keep up this momentum. We'll Rally for Sally as they say.

Thank you for reading.

[true-blue-sonic]

You don’t want to get me started on the way Silver is treated in the mobile games, what with his absolute GARBAGE stats in Speed Battle and the fact his score is lower than CREAM’S in Sonic Dash, last time I checked😅

I like the things you’re describing! Though, Silver definitely seems to be hardy; in Generations, he can scrape over asphalt for multiple attacks from Sonic with no issue, and getting his whole Meteor Smash right on his head also leaves him none the worse for wear. But I figure there is only so much he can take, especially in regards to his powers: getting overwhelmed with enemies and needing to concentrate on them all at the same time will likely reflect poorly in his attacking, leading to a vicious cycle wherein things get increasingly frazzled and hectic until he gets overrun. After all, his powers are tremendously OP, but he can’t do much with them if he cannot get them to work properly! And we do know from 06 that at least there he had a limit to what he could carry at a time. Though I can see him have some desperation attacks wherein he just knocks away everything around him, but that might just take a huge toll on himself too :>

Generally, I think Silver can take quite some physical punishment, but I like the idea of him having a limit to his mental powers that indeed forces him to strategise when the situation really requires it. A collection of small mooks rummaging around can receive Silver’s Guns Blazing ApproachTM no problem, but a collection of small mooks accompanying a couple of much larger ones with more heavy-hitting and chaotic attacks? That will require some thinking on Silver’s parts, and clever use of his environment and the enemies presented to sway the battle in his favour. Though I definitely think he is able of doing so!

Also, ‘unga bunga-ing everything in his path” cracked me up, it’s a very accurate description😂

It says a lot that Silver is consistently one of the most powerful characters in the comics despite never using his signature moves or some of his secondary powers from the games like the Teleport Dash/warping space, Psychic Knife, Psycho Smash, Psycho Shock(which can shock and freeze machines and people) or Psychic Control/Telepathy.

Even without his strongest abilities Silver is an insane powerhouse.

I absolutely agree! I think what makes it 'difficult' to have Silver come across as less OP is the fact that his powers do not really seem to have many limitations attached to them? I think psychic powers definitely are quite overpowered simply because afaik nothing like it exists in our reality. Thus, we can have them do whatever we desire in fiction according to how we imagine them, but we can also impose regulations to it. Like someone who can only do very tiny things at once, mental strain, limits to how far the powers can reach etc. Silver kind of has that... but there are no set rules about it, and it doesn't even impact gameplay (that much) to begin with. In Sonic 06 his powers never tire out to a degree where he can't use them again after a few seconds, in Rivals 2 his bout of exhaustion has zero effects on his next level, and games wherein he is part of a battle like Generations also don't seem to attach many restrictions, if any. Already at the simplest basic usage of his powers (Grab Stuff And Yeet) Silver therefore is insanely strong, with only a semi-limited reach and amount he can hold at once limiting him (whether that be five cars or five apples, iirc. Quantity over weight?). And once you begin adding all his extra abilities on top, that also don't cause him much/any strain in gameplay, and a medium wherein gameplay rules do not have an influence... Yeah, you get a boi who is utterly destructive and overpowered in every sense of the word, except the fact he is a hero. Though, I'd love it if Sega dove into his powers more and gave a clearer idea of the rules attached to it!

[beevean]

(anon from the X quote)

Vector also popped up in my mind as I thought more about it. On a more positive note, I always adore how the game characters manage to balance these more negative traits with positives: Amy is the optimistic heart of the team who others can endlessly rely on for help. Knuckles is fiercely protective of his friends and honestly an almost quiet and introspective guy when protecting the Master Emerald. Silver wants to protect the smiles of people and is shown to deeply appreciate little things like blue skies. Vector is great pals with Espio and Charmy and a softie underneath his tough exterior. Blaze has an entire game of her warming up to the idea of having friends and letting her warmer traits show more openly. Even Shadow fights to protect the world and has his helpful moments! Despite the fact that these characters possess numerous negative or unhelpful characteristics, there's so much good in either plain view or easily visible if you go digging a bit, and that's why I adore the Sonic franchise. Characters are incredibly multi-faceted in both "good" and "bad" ways, and I love seeing it <3

I wouldn't have included Vector, but I can see your point!

The Team Chaotix is not a group of heroes: their main objective is money. It would have been easy to write them, especially Vector and Espio, as selfish mercenaries. Instead, they're goofy, likeable, and care for each other. I know Espio and Silver bond in Rivals 2, although I don't know the specifics of it, and considering Silver is a rude hothead that's quite the accomplishment :P Even Vector, who is meant to be a gangsta-wannabe (most obvious in Japanese, where he even calls himself the highly arrogant ore-sama), has actually a good heart, is willing to help children for free, and in ShTH attempted to comfort Shadow when he says he shouldn't have been created (stupid translation aside lmao).

No notes on the rest. Sonic characters are flawed, but lovable and charming in their own unique ways :)

[doubleddenden]

I genuinely am so excited for Sonic p-06. I have a lot of thoughts about taking a massacre and making it fun and my unironic love for the original 06.

Basically Sonic 06 was going to be this huge revolutionary game in the franchise, Basically the fabled "Sonic Adventure 3," and it had potential. Amazing music as usual, a pretty amazing concept for story, one of the darkest and most diabolical villains of the franchise ever- Lots of heart and soul was crammed into it.

Then... the assholes up top interfered. There's a few conflicting theories- Microsoft wanting it to be a 360 launch title, SEGA wanting it out BY CHRISTMAS- bottom line, corporate greed got in the way of artistic vision, and it was rushed before it could be completed to the detriment of EVERYONE.

What resulted is- as fans of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will know- a buggy mess of a game thats pretty much mostly known for it. Unlike SV though- even though you could tell they were really trying with the story- it still needed some revising to iron out plot holes. Unlike SV as well, it didn't reuse the same mechanics and models from previous games verbatim, and was coming during the time when everyone hated the franchise and thought it was cool to shit on it for every little thing, so the gameplay was definitely lacking and the reception was definitely not up for debate: it was an utter failure that still chars gaming history. Because it failed, we pretty entered a timeline where we weren't allowed serious games anymore, and that's actually the last time in a 3d game that someone other than Sonic or basically a Sonic Clone would be playable.

But the thing is, as shit as the original 06 is, it was one of my favorite games because I sort of identified with it on a meta level, even if I didn't realize why at the time. I could see the potential of this humongous plot that to this day still has the highest stakes out of Sonic's history. I mean, Generations is a close second for similar reasons, but 06 basically had time erasure, world ending, the whole Iblis Trigger bit, AND you had to fight a literal bonafide god.

Also confession, I liked how they looked in this game vs everyone being squished down in following games. I know stylistically speaking the newer models are probably more on brand and I'm not a fan of the 06 mouths, but I like that they're a little taller and... realistic? I guess?

The stories, while maybe not being completely in character, and a little confusing considering other games (Blaze still confuses me), still had some really charming and amazing moments. Shadow's interactions with Omega and Rouge are some peak Team Dark bonding, Mephiles is downright diabolical and is really fun (and Dan Green basically being an evil Yami Yugi but unhinged and turned to 11? Good lord, brilliant shit), and his brief team up with Silver was actually pretty cool. Silver is such a fun design and concept, and I really felt for him considering the predicaments he was forced to live through- I especially hated that such a cool character came from a bad game, pretty much ruining any chance to play as him again in something other than the psp exclusive Rivals games or as a side character in spinoffs. Not to mention, the moment Blaze sacrificed herself for Silver and allowed him to see the bright blue sky in his own future? Heart jerking. And Sonic and Elise?... okay, the kiss was a little much, but their interactions really brought the best out of each other, and while Sonic doesn't really change, you can see him influence her for the better- and their last goodbye? Heart breaking.

All of this to say that 06 was Potential incarnate and I always knew it. P-06 just proves it from a mechanical angle, from speed being tweaked to all characters to Shadow being an even bigger combat driven badass, to Silver's MASSIVE improvement to his speed and psychokinetic powers and just straight up amazing visual improvements, and even just reworking characters like Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Rouge to actually be fun to play as.

And the thing is, they didn't stop there. They added small little cut scenes too, added lip flaps and small animations in certain spots- this really intrigues me and just really makes me want to see the team try their hand at attempting to fix the story as well. By fix, I mean just fill in some plot holes, maybe write in some character interactions, and- the biggest thing for me personally- making Blaze's inclusion and non interaction/willing hunting of Sonic WAY LESS confusing. Another big plot hole: right at the beginning, where Elise sees Silver in a flaming battle field as she sees Sonic, only for this to never really happen or for her to be conscious to meet him as a child.

They don't have to do that. Lord knows DBZ has way more plot holes and is still enjoyed to this day. But maybe, just maybe, if they could? Oh the potential to take the worst game and turn it into the best game is ridiculously high. Hell, they could even make a plot about the original 06 being an alternative timeline and give a completely new ending here.

Even if they don't though, what the team has accomplished is still amazing. I reckon they're still going to be ironing out bugs and making tweaks- maybe even sprucing up the Last Episode and all the boss fights. If they make new content, maybe some levels for Knuckles and Omega would be fun.

I hope to be able to play some day.

[neurodivergent-nicky2023]

Sonic Headcanon Sunday: (For the Sake of Working on Making my Own Content XD) Pride Month Edition!

So as you can probably guess from the title, Sonic Headcanon Sunday is thing I want to try out where I post headcanons I have about the Sonic franchise every other Sunday. And since it’s still Pride month, I couldn’t resist starting off with some LGBTQ+ headcanons I have about the characters:

Sonic: Bi, bi, bi!!! (Maybe somewhere under the ace umbrella too???) While he does find some guys attractive, he’s more into girls and non-binaries. I could totally see him eventually opening up more to Amy. And he has DEFINITELY flirted with Shadow a little bit at one point (mainly just to mess with them). I dare y’all to change my mind. /hj /nm

Amy: Demi/Pan because she clearly doesn’t have any attraction or close, emotional bond to anyone but Sonic. But at the same time, if she somehow were to move on from the blue blur, she strikes me as someone who would end up dating a person regardless of their gender (if and when she makes a very close bond with them too, of course).

Shadow: A masculine-leaning non-binary. He uses He/They/It pronouns (Friendly reminder that he canonically was addressed with both He/him and it/it’s pronouns in SA2!) It also owns a neckerchief with the non-binary Pride flag colors. Not only is he asexual but, like Amy, they’re also demi/panromantic.

Charmy: A trans boi! It just makes sense, considering wings and stingers are both female bee parts. Granted the Sonic Team most likely either didn’t know bee anatomy or kept the wings and stinger to make him more recognizable as a bee, but this is more fun to think about!

Mighty: A gay disaster! XD Bonus headcanon that he used to have a crush on both Sonic and Knuckles. The problem? Knuckles is straight, Sonic had no interest in dating at the time, and they both only saw the armadillo as a friend. Yeah poor guy got double friend-zoned.

Espio: Asexual, but not against finding a woman to have a romantic relationship with .

Whisper: Lesbian. She and Tangle have a thing going on. *

Tangle: Bi and dating Whisper. *

Barry: Non-binary (They/them)*

Tekno the Canary: Non-binary. They’re fem-leaning and use She/They pronouns.* Also a Sapphic.

And everyone else is straight and cis allies. (Well maybe Rouge might not be straight. She kinda gives off bi vibes too tbh)

[*Implied or confirmed canon(?)]

[planetamarte]

i'm going to be mean and nitpicky to this show. sorry. 2k word wall of text and spoilers incoming

i havent fully rewatched most episodes since they aired i just rewatched like. the first half of season 1 sometime last summer. so my memory is foggy due to this + the gripes i have with the pacing that i will get into. this is not a coherent review or anything im just going off the top of my head. do not take my word as gospel plz form ur own opinions <3 maybe we disagree thats the magic of media analysis

the premise of the show is a fun concept. like. many iterations of sonic have existed forever and ever. a multiverse concept with sonic isnt just jumping onto the multiverse "trend" that spiderverse influenced, sonic as a franchise has its right to use the concept imo. WHICH IS WHY i don't understand why they tried to make this series fit into the mainline game universe instead of being its own thing like sonic boom. like. what? you have not just SONIC living in green hill (overusage of it aside, game sonic has been stated to be houseless and wanders from place to place, and why is it just Green Hill? it's on south island?) but also KNUCKLES, tails, rouge, amy, big, and SHADOW. if this is the game universe, where the hell is the master emerald? why the fuck does knuckles live in green hill? tails is from west side island and has workshops in mystic ruins, central city, etc etc? rouge and amy have been implied to live in central city and station square or whatever? big just goes wherever the fuck as well. i dont think shadow had ever been to green hill in his life before this. where the fuck is omega. when i first watched s1 i still considered myself a casual sonic fan and i was like huh some of this isn't right.

one thing other people have criticized that i disagree on is sonic's characterization. prime sonic fits pretty well at this point in the timeline i'd say (being after advance 3, as ian flynn stated). like if we're gonna go basing characterization on time, sonic at this point is very much still a kid who makes mistakes and is growing. throughout the gameverse timeline he's subtly gone from having high energy and impulsive decision-making to a cool older teen brother type, i think; but this is more due to brand marketing for a mascot character rather than in-universe growth, i'd argue. (also sonic characters don't... age.) i do have gripes with trying to write sonic, a static character, into a big character arc with development just for the sake of conflict. i guess you could make an argument about the target audience of kids seeing themselves in him but i don't care enough to get into this that much, really. (also to me prime sonic is PEAK adhd and shows a lot of non-empathy and i think the hatred for him is rooted in ableism and general hatred for kids but anyway.)

the little sequences with sonic and shadow in the first couple episodes. sonic is collecting rings, cool! something from the games we all recognize. but then in new yoke when he's all distraught and in an unfamiliar place, he goes Wheres my fuckin rings ... and it never comes up again? like it was an odd thing to bring up and then not use within the story, considering the franchise this is. SAME GODDAMN THING with shadow and the chaos emerald. the whole bit where he first shows up and is looking for a chaos emerald and then it gets lost in the void later on made me think it'd be an important plot point. but then we just never see it again until (spoilers) the timeline is reset and shadow chaos controls the paradox prism to fuck knows where. also why does sonic seem surprised at robots having no flickies too?? if this is after advance 3 that just doesnt make any damn sense eggman has done this before

the shatterverses are kinda. insanely boring to me. they're fun concepts! i love the idea of fucked up worlds that happened as a result of sonic not existing, new yoke especially (i still think it should've been written new yolk). nine is a really fun villain and one of the things i consistently liked throughout the show - a version of tails that never met sonic, fell into the doom of it all and closed himself off because of it, and now that he's met him he sees what good there could be and he's so desperate to keep it that he becomes destructive about it. come ON. rusty rose and thorn rose are super cool too! i love the character arcs they go through as fucked up versions of amy. rusty rose being a cyborg serving eggmen and going through the feelings amy goes through when she gets left behind, thorn rose wanting to protect nature SO much that it's to its detriment. and the three roses calling eachother sisters by the end was super cute.

everything else though. like a pirate world and fucked up overgrown jungle are fun in concept, the jungle especially since it's an antithesis to new yoke but still touches upon sonic's environmentalism factor. these worlds are SO. EMPTY though. i know there's like environment budgets and stuff regarding animation, i'll give them that. at least there's other pirates in no place, but there's really nothing else going on in boscage maze? no other people? how fucking big is this jungle? im being nitpicky i feel like cinemasins. i just can't remember anything else about these worlds to really care and give more criticism. a lot of things are so repetitive that theyre forgettable, as happens in this show. some of the character dynamics from the fucked up worlds are pretty cool though i think. like in s3 for example when dread knuckles has a chance to get to the prism but helps black rose instead and declares her captain - that made me sick to my stomach. my god. knuckles and amy acting like siblings in every universe.

i hate that rouge was the only character (besides big but he does even less in this series) to not be the "main" one of a shatterspace. rebel rouge is kinda just girlbossy to get the story going, prim rouge COULDVE been good since boscage maze's theme of selfishness couldve put an interesting twist to that element of rouge but All Of Them are selfish and not just her, and i still dont remember much of what happens in no place to have anything to say about batten rouge. just the fact that the one obsessed with beautiful jewels is dread instead of rouge.

i also cannot STAND. the fucking horde of eggmen. these are the worst villains in the sonic franchise right next to the deadly six. how do you have nine and the fucking chaos council in the same show. i don't even remember their goddamn names but these arent even characters theyre just Archetypes. the main mister doctor eggman is whatever he's kinda just eggman but then we have the Old Man, the grown ass samurai weeb man, the edgy teenager with videogames, and the fucking baby. abort that thang. and theyre focused on for SO. LONG. throughout season 2. by the finale of the show i was so fucking glad to just see normal eggman again even if it was 5 seconds like i'm so sorry they slandered your image like this doctor.

another continuity criticism - why does sonic seem surprised at the idea of having a robot copy of himself? you can't just tell me this series is canon to the games, make chaos sonic, and then pretend metal sonic (edit: and all of eggman's other robot sonics) never existed?? hello?? also the fact he just existed for one episode is sad to me. like what the

the fight scenes are fun i guess. this is a show to sell action figure toys. the choreography is cool and i did enjoy the references to the unleashed intro and shadow's brawl render n shit, i do love the animation of the show overall and i wish the games used more squash n stretch and were as expressive as this. but MY GOD do the fight scenes drag on. i remember watching one episode in s2 when it aired and having to run it back a couple times cause i didn't process what the fuck just happened. so much of the fight scenes feel like they were just there to fluff up the episodes. maybe cause i just watched it but s3 is especially bad with this i feel. like we're standing in this fucking battlefield discussing a plan for the 5th time. oh they're winning the battle. oh they're losing. oh they're winning again. ARE WE DONE. WHERE IS SHADOW

(this show is paced like it was supposed to have weekly episode airings, in fact! what the fuck is up with that! why is there so much repetition about plot shit i already know, i don't think kids are that dumb! why are there huge-seeming cliffhangers to the episodes that i can keep watching and see the resolution to in less than 5 seconds! i hate what the emphasis on bingewatching has done to tv shows. i had so much fun with the weekly fandom discussion and theorizing that happened when fionna and cake was airing, and it couldve been SO COOL to have that with this series for what it's worth and we did get Some between seasons, but instead we got a situation where i could open twitter in the morning and see a clip of s2's ending right when i woke up on the day it aired. like okay.)

speaking of shadow. i love him so much in this show. i cannot emphasize this enough he's one of the best parts about this show right next to nine and rusty rose. ian hanlin is right up there as one of my favorite shadow voices with david humphrey. i could go on and on about shadow's characterization forever but i love him here. he has Reasons to be angry (and he's right to be fair, it IS sonic's fault) and has his own ways of dealing with things that he Explains so people get why he does it, but then he understands when he's wrong and overall has a pretty calm demeanor. he's not just trying to one-up sonic, he's protecting the world!!! as he vowed he would!!!! but it also feels like they wanted to have him in this show Really Bad and at the same time wrote him out as much as possible?? which has been something a lot of sonic writers have done with him due to all the infamous locks on him as a character, to be fair. but half the time he'd just Disappear and i found myself thinking more often than not WHERE IS SHADOW. it feels like metal virus in idw, in a sense, where he's just conveniently written out cause if he were there a lot of plot shit would be over a lot quicker. another iteration of shadow beating tails' (nine's) ass wouldve happened in record time if shadow could go in the shatterspaces, i'm sure of it.

(also what the hell was that thing when he tried to enter one of the portals and was pushed back and the slowmo sequence focused on him with the glitch effects made it seem like there was gonna be different shatterverse shadows but nothing came from it? hello?? i'm telling you the amount of theories we had from moments that amounted to nothing is so disappointing)

(edit like 5 minutes after i posted: that "so retro" sequence with sunset green hill from advance 3 made me fucking sick WHY WAS GEMERL STILL IN THE EGGMAN SPRITE. WHY WAS IT A CLASSIC SONIC SPRITE WITH GREEN EYES. WHAT GOES ON!!!)

that's all i have to say i think. i did have fun watching this show!! don't get me wrong!! it just frustrated me the more it went on. as i said i wish i liked it as much as i did in the beginning lmao. it would've been a lot better as 1) its own thing rather than trying to fit into the gameverse and contradicting that a shit ton and 2) executing the multiverse thing a lot better. which is kinda just the whole show. well thats it from me

i wish i liked sonic prime as much as i did when it started but wow this show kinda sucks LMFAOOOOOOO

[cutegirlmayra]

Is it just me or does every guy in the sonic franchise have a soft spot for Amy? Of course we all know sonic does. But, tails, knuckles, shadow, and silver seem too also. For example shadow and silver would give into her requests in shadow the hedgehog and sonic 06. Or knuckles would be protective of her in sonic x, and of course her and tail have a good friendship bond. She’s like the really sweet and cute anime girl that can make even the most stoic guys soft.

Hmm, can’t remember Knuckles being ‘protective’ of her-

(But everyone would tell a girl character in a Shonen to ‘be careful’, ‘stay out of trouble’, ‘This isn’t a place for a little girl’ sort of thing anyway. So it could just be the genre..? But yeah, he’s a good guy so I see what you mean ^^; )

and her and Tails are decent enough friends, but it’s also out of necessity sometimes that any of these characters actually interact.

You have to remember that Sonic is kinda the ‘glue’ of their gang. It’s like having that super close friend and then their friends become your friends? Lol But yes, they are a super-powerful force together! They don’t always just randomly ‘hang out’ together, and were kinda stuck at Chris’s place so what ELSE can they do to bide their time? But they get along, and they do consider everyone their close friends!

It’s canonically stated that Amy is ‘Pretty’ and in Shadow’s description of her, he loosely states that he can’t help but want to help her. Silver also is another canon statement where he was ‘roped along’ into Amy’s antics but ended up just unable to refuse her.

She’s very persuasive XD they say she “cheerfully embarrasses men” on her Japanese Sonic channel bio and I 100% believe that’s the embodiment of Amy lolol She just gets people to really care about her, due to how passionate, innocent, and sincere she is about caring about others. It’s hard to feel like, “She can defend herself” when she so sweetly grabs your hand and loops you into dramatic chaos lolol

She’s also a magnetic for trouble... lol She runs headfirst into Sonic’s adventures, so you can see why!

She’s a very preppy, pretty, and persuasively bossy girl. She’s full of energy and it radiates a sense that everyone wants to keep her safe. It’s like... protecting that little bit of light you found, that wholesomeness of caring and having that optimistic energy that A LOT of these poor lost souls are missing, but desperately wish they had... But that’s not all Amy brings, and I’ll get to that later!

This was Shadow at one point (When it came to Rouge, who he did end up saving), then-

To shed a tear due to Amy’s words, the same spirit of promise that Maria once had, and in dying memory of her, he immortalized her desire for that promising world of people’s dreams by returning Amy that same promise--renewing and keeping it as his new ‘purpose’. Other than a weapon, and in Shadow The Hedgehog, she is also associated with a mission with ‘Love’ as it’s title. Along with his warning: “If you want to stay out of trouble, stay away from that doctor.” Which also proves the point of everyone feeling like ‘I have to keep her safe’ which is just one of the things that Amy inspires in people. They just... instantly care about her.

Amy also forces Silver to question his resolves, realizing--just like Shadow--that his way of taking lives so thoughtlessly is not the answer.

To -

Amy is constantly inspiring people to be better.

He even laughs at himself for ‘following this girl around’ and helping her search for ‘her missing person’ instead of doing his own task. SHE ran into HIM, and yet, he felt obligated to help her search on her own task.

She makes a cute pose and says something like, “I’m sorry, Silver. When I’m done, we’ll find who you’re looking for!” it leaves him embarrassed and scratching his head, turning away from her in his clear attraction to this cutie! This scene is meant to be funny, as Amy often inspires comedy in the Sonic series, but also showcases Silver’s awkwardness in social interactions. (How Naïve he can be in them lol)

It’s this very thing that makes him look around and reflect, realizing how gorgeous this whole world is without the flames of destruction from his world. Amy inspired it. She created a moment where Silver wasn’t so gung ho and focused on his main task (which was manipulated through Mephiles’s evil intent, by the way) that he failed to notice anything else around him.

Amy doesn’t notice this, lost in the meaning of his words, which makes him once again embarrassed. Notice how he looks directly at her when he says “And Everyone is Happy”? He’s referring to her!

When she doesn’t get it, he just can’t bring himself to explain further.

He shows the same excitement as her.

So at first, he turns away--abashed--unable to tell her the horribly depressing future he’s from. Instead, he opts to continue to help her, showing his desire to remain in that presence of joy. HER presence of happiness... HE WAS HAPPY WITH HER TOO (sobbing) HE DIDN’T WANT THAT FEELING OR PEACE TO END.

And even in this scene, it was meant to highlight Amy’s innocence and natural beauty, he was complimenting the green and natural wonder of the world.. then looked at her as the sun was directly behind her. He looks away, embarrassed, but Amy is canonically ‘pretty’ lol

Amy’s endlessly compassionate to the ‘Morally Grey’ or ‘Led Astray’ characters and ends up being their ‘Guiding Light’ towards becoming heroic characters themselves.

Addresses him first, as a soul, which in his core--he is a living being. However, she questions this by saying that she pities Eggman didn’t give him feelings.

When Amy asks Gamma why he doesn’t know why he wants what he does, she inspires humanity. The difference that makes Amy a hero unlike the rest of the casts is she will always choose the option to help the lost soul other than combat them. She will actively choose connecting hearts over violence to save many lives, even though she can fight. She would convince someone to change their ways rather than beat them into her ideals. She will go after the misguided and bring them towards redemption.

“Don’t you know how bad I feel?” She pleads humanity. She begs emotional mercy, for the purpose of understanding and linking hearts together in compassion.

Amy will UNSELFISHLY fight for the outcasts, the broken-hearted, and the abused. That’s how she fights, she wields her heart, and it has never failed her, not once.

So, overall, yes! She makes stoic guys weak and melt at her endearing charms XD Even robots remember their humanity in her!

[star-scrambled]

I'm starting to see alot of toxic arguments on twitter around Shadow being in 3. Alot of Amy and Metal fans are worried about their characters. Should Shadow just be left for later? Things are getting a bit heated.

Heated? lol. that’s funny 😭 and a little much for a title and prototype logo reveal, but hey, this isn’t new, just amplified more than it was before.

Anyhow, based on logic, I’m on “Team Shadow” I guess since, like I stated in a previous post, it wouldn’t be too hard for the 3rd movie to have Shadow as the main antagonist with Metal still established, but having it be the other way around or excluding Shadow is what’s going to start making this movie franchise gather dust. Sonic 3 needs to one-up the hype of the sequel, and focusing on Metal as the main antagonist is going to wrack nowhere near the same amount of hype, so they have to throw Shadow in there too. It’ll please the movie-goer desire of a “no way home” esque story with “multiple Sonic’s”, those being Shadow and Metal ofc. What has to be considered with the next “spotlight” character is how much sense they make as a next step in upping the stakes and how recognizable they’ll be to general audiences. Paramount changed their Sonic design for the fans, we get it, but these movies are trying to grab more than just the praise of us fans, but the intrigue of newcomers too.

To share my opinion on what others are thinking should come before Shadow while I’m at it as well:

- Why are people so attached to CD of all things getting its own movie??? At the most you’ll get your characters and some inspired elements, but they are NOT doing that entire plot Singular with just those two new characters, that movie would flop compared to the previous two. I feel like this is only relevant to people because “the movie universe has to do things in order” when clearly that’s not the case??? Nobody said that’s what was gonna happen, and by all accounts they broke that order anyway with “skipping CD”. This is the movie universe, where there are retcons and different rules and story aspects, it’s not relying on the numbering of the games here.

- Thought it was obvious but the HUGE VIBE I’m getting from the confirmed Knuckles series is that it will take some inspiration from his character development in the Adventure games. And yknow...considering this show is coming inbetween the release of the next two movies...🤨 sounds pretty “in order” to me lol

- why do you want the OVA again 😭😭?? lets just all collectively predict that Knux gets his hat during his show and go home that’s literally all we need

BUT yeah those are my thoughts lol !!! [disclaimer: all of this is /nm! i’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade! if you’re really passionate about the concept of something CD-inspired in the movieverse n all that jazz, good for you! take off with that in flying colours! i’m just stating what’s most likely to transpire based on what would be the best business decision for Paramount to make if they know how to make this cinematic universe stay relevant, mainly targeting those who are getting a little too aggressively insistent over their ideas and biases as anon said]

[mobius-prime]

213. Sonic the Hedgehog #145

Shadows of Hope

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

I've pointed out misleading cover pages before, but it's been a while since we've seen one. This issue's cover page makes it seem like Shadow is gonna beat up Sonic or something, but in reality they never even come face to face within this issue, so I don't know what the cover artist was thinking. Shadow isn't interested in antagonizing Sonic as of yet - instead, he's been coming to Knothole for several weeks in a row, watching Hope Kintobor from the bushes near where she likes to hang out. That's not creepy at all! A mysterious robed figure, in turn, has been spying on Shadow all this time, referring to him as "it" and wondering what "its" purpose here is. Of course, we know why he's been watching Hope - because she looks very much like Maria. Shadow is surprised by a sudden flash of light behind him, and turns to find the mysterious stranger looking down at him.

…dude, what the hell? I'm sorry, but did you really think that your plan of lassoing the literal ultimate life form with a $2 roll of twine you got from Home Depot would be a good idea? Shadow is similarly baffled by the sheer audacity of this figure, and leaps forward to attack, but suddenly finds himself being teleported away by another flash of light, and Hope finds herself also being caught in the light. The three end up in a hidden facility somewhere, where the figure kicks Shadow off him and slams a glass door shut, locking him in a pod. Shadow has a few quick flashbacks, first to the nutrient pod he first awoke in when he was created by Gerald, and then the healing pod the Bem put him in after his tangle with the Biolizard. The figure removes their hood to reveal themselves to be none other than Locke, who has captured Shadow for the purpose of using him to find his missing family, the other members of the Brotherhood. He's really just kind of a piece of garbage in this issue, even more so than usual - asking if Shadow knows what it's like to lose everything, and when Shadow angrily replies that he's never had anything in the first place, replying with a callous "That's not surprising." Seriously, dude? Apparently, the reason he isn't surprised is because according to his scans, Shadow is neither "biological, mineral, nor vegetable," which makes absolutely no sense. Like… he's not a robot, dude, he's a biological creature like any other, just with some unusual origins. I chalk this up entirely to Penders just not knowing anything about Shadow's history or circumstances, because as I've mentioned before, he's almost bizarrely proud of how he's never played a single Sonic game while writing these comics.

Anyway, it's not even clearly explained why Locke seems to think that Shadow of all people can help him locate the missing members of the Brotherhood, nor why he thinks kidnapping him is an acceptable thing to do toward that end.  Hope steps forward at this point, scolding Locke for enacting this terrible, terrible plan, and when Locke turns around to pull a "you're just too young to understand my wise adult ways" on her (keep in mind she's like at least fourteen by this point), Shadow's PTSD kicks into high gear.

Shadow starts beating the everloving crap out of Locke, who at first tries to fight back with some Chaos powers of his own but is ultimately overwhelmed by Shadow's sheer strength in his frenzy. Shadow is on the verge of actually killing Locke when Hope yells for him to stop, saying she thought he was better than that and that he's scaring her. This appears to snap Shadow out of his flashback, and he recognizes once more where he is.

So this is the beginning of a series of really weird issues in the comic, led primarily by Penders. I'm not sure exactly what his angle was here, but after everything that came before, it seems he's decided to take a break from focusing on his favorite echidna in favor of a few other characters - namely, Shadow, Locke, and Evil Sonic. Evil Sonic and Locke are his own creations, so I guess I can't really fault him for whatever he decides to write about them, but I'm not really a fan of the way he writes Shadow. Shadow is easily my favorite character in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, across all canons (though his iteration in the games is my favorite), and I'm very particular about how he's portrayed. He can be a bit of an anti-hero at times, a bit brooding and sometimes violent, but in the end he's much more hero than anything else. He's not some vicious killer edgelord, he's a confused and traumatized individual just trying to figure out where he fits in the larger scheme of things. This is something that becomes abundantly clear if you play through Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog in order, as those three games contain the bulk of his character development. Interestingly enough, while Shadow's amnesia is a big part of the story of the latter two games and has a huge impact on how his story goes, Shadow doesn't appear to have amnesia at all in the comics. Instead, his main motivation is finding out exactly why Gerald created him in the first place. It's a bit of a bizarre turn from the games and anime, as while the motive is similar, it makes a lot more sense in the games and anime due to his amnesia, which makes him far more suggestible to those trying to manipulate him. I don't know, I can't even point to one specific thing about the way he's portrayed in the comics that bothers me - all I know is that it's different from the games in a way that just rubs me wrong, and makes me feel like Penders kind of missed the point of Shadow's character development in the first place.

As for Locke, suddenly making him out to be this callous bad guy who forcefully kidnaps others to study their biology for his own purposes is really jarring considering his deathbed redemption speech not two issues ago. Like, I know that all takes place in the future so he hasn't gotten that redemption yet, but if anything that just goes to show how weird and out of order everything in the comics lately feels. I really feel like Penders actually should have stuck to focusing on Knuckles, since at this point he's made him into such an author's pet that he seems to be horribly rusty at writing literally anyone else in the comic. On the other hand, I suppose it's valid to argue that the quality of Penders' work has been declining for quite some time now, first with the entirely-too-long Green Knuckles Saga and followed up immediately by Mobius 25 Years Later. Honestly, most of my defenses of his work have fallen flat ever since the cancellation of the KtE spinoff a while back, which if you ask me was the main point in time where his writing abilities actually got a chance to shine. In these last couple eras, he's gotten his head so far stuck up his own ass that he's lost sight of what things readers actually find interesting in these comics. I suppose it's fitting, then, that in the next fifteen issues we'll be witnessing the final death throes of Kenders' writing in the Archie preboot, in an era of flux where no one really knows what kind of story they're going for anymore.

Training Day

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Al Bigley Colors: Jason Jensen

Oh, speaking of a story that doesn't really go anywhere, we've got one here! I'm not being facetious here either - the "plot" of this story is just that Eggman has some data files on why he hates the Freedom Fighters, and does a little presentation for his army of mindless swatbots informing them of the dangers of several key players in particular. Of course, he covers Sonic first as his most hated enemy, then talks about how Tails is dangerous due to his precociousness and expertise with machinery. Knuckles is up next despite not being a member of the Freedom Fighters proper, and finally we end with Amy of all people. Not to insult Amy of course, as she's quite a bruiser in her own right, but I mean… why not cover someone like Bunnie, who has power enough to wreck an entire battleship loaded with nuclear missiles?

I only include this picture to sort of show that at least, as I've mentioned before, the comics actually do Amy proper justice as a character - she's the definition of a kickass girly-girl, a perfect demonstration of the idea that being feminine doesn't make you weak. The tarot card thing is a new one for the comics, but that's actually established backstory for her in the games, for those who don't know - the whole reason she met Sonic in the first place in Sonic CD was because she did a tarot reading for herself and the cards told her to go meet the love of her life in a specific location, which just so happened to be where Sonic was on his latest adventure. Ultimately, this story doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know apart from that, so we can safely move on, as it distinctly smacks of filler.

Harbinger

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Jason Jensen

Knothole is experiencing a moment of calm, and thus Tails lounges in his room engrossed in a book about the history of technology on Mobius. No one is aware that some distance from the village a huge explosion has just gone off, because why would they be aware? It happened several hundred miles away! Sonic and his friends (minus Tails) are spending their free time playing idle games, with Sonic and Ash becoming overly competitive over their game of darts while the girls in the room giggle knowingly at their bristling and strutting. Tails becomes intrigued by something-or-other that he read in his book and decides to go ask Rotor about it, only to find him already preoccupied with something else.

Tails suggests the three of them pile into the Tornado and check it out, but Rotor says they should at least take along Sonic and Bunnie for some muscle just in case. Tails gets weirdly offended by this, prompting Rotor to give us an explanation of the roles each Freedom Fighter plays in the group for whatever reason, including listing off himself and Tails as the tactical support and Sally as their leader. I mean, it's accurate at least? Tails heads out to find Sonic as Ash stomps out of the hut in a huff, with Mina trailing him and complaining that he's only upset because he and Sonic were deliberately antagonizing each other. He finds the others still hanging out in the game room, and is initially offended that they didn't invite him until Sonic mentions offhandedly that he knocked at Tails' door several times to no answer since Tails was so caught up in his reading. Tails explains the situation to everybody, and soon everyone, including Tommy, is ready to head out in the FFS and check out the disturbance, while Sally comes over to see them off.

I mean, Sonic's got a point, Sally - he's been on a million missions before with little more than a few scratches here and there, what makes this one any different? Oh, severe trauma, right. The story concludes with a final page showing a familiar pair of air shoes stepping into a ruined facility, their owner pleased at finding the location of some kind of prototype that he learned of in Gerald's old encrypted data files…

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 12: THE HARD-BOILED HEAVIES

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be covering the rotund oppression squad of Sonic Mania, and celebrated improv artists among the Badnik community: the Hard-Boiled Heavies.

The Gist: Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower were heading to Angel Island in pursuit of a mysterious new jewel that their nemesis, Dr. Eggman, was on the hunt for. Unfortunately for them, a squad of Egg Robos had already beaten them to the punch, because literally everyone in the Sonic universe is faster than Sonic. Upon being unearthed, the jewel in question - the Phantom Ruby - wasted no time in working its magic, and with its unexplained distortion efforts, it sent Sonic and Tails (and Knuckles) to Green Hill.

Also, it gave the Egg Robos more than a few nifty accessories.

The king was on his own with finding the tip of his scepter though.

Thus began a new adventure that proved to the non-believers that this franchise can in fact work beautifully when the characters have gameplay mechanics in common with each other and aren't going around picking up guns and turning into werehogs. Sonic was on a mission to get to the bottom of the Phantom Ruby shenanigans, but his upgraded opposition, dubbed the Hard-Boiled Heavies, did whatever they could to stop the hedgehog's pulse, which largely involved making use of old Badniks in refreshing and exciting new ways... much like themselves.

This is a more compelling take on Arthurian legend than the entirety of Black Knight.

All the while, Eggman carried on using the Phantom Ruby to his heart's content to make things even more difficult for our heroes, like teleporting them away as often as a Kirby final boss, and giving Metal Sonic a brand new Final Smash. Eggman planned to use the Titanic Monarch, a giant robot that made the monsters in Shadow of the Colossus look vertically challenged by comparison, to achieve his lifelong dream of taking over the world. Complications arose however, when the leader of the Heavies decided he wanted the Phantom Ruby for himself. Sadly for him, this was not an Adventure Era title, meaning Eggman actually fought back, and on equal terms at that. Sonic, with his super form, was forced to take on Eggman and the King at the same time.

In a stunning revelation, Sonic defeated them both. But not before the Phantom Ruby itself teleported the hedgehog away one last time, to a different time completely, where he would experience a different journey altogether... Then he came back, did the whole thing all over again, and now he's cracking a cold one with the boys (and King, for some reason).

Fucking 4Kids censors at it again.

The Designs: The Heavies are still Egg Robos at their core, so they share the same general body structure. Don't assume that makes them indistinguishable however, for they've been given a lot of bells and whistles that play to each of their thematic motifs, right up to their weapons of choice.

Heavy Gunner is a robo-bobby:

"You're nicked, hedgehog... But before you're sent to the chair, are there any pencils you'd like me to sharpen for you?"

Heavy Shinobi is a stealthy ninja, despite being neon green:

He speaks entirely in fortune cookies.

Heavy Magician is always dressed to impress:

These guys certainly do make me feel like magic.

Heavy Rider is a rough n' tough knight of the round table... if that table was Eggman's:

She dances when'ere she's able.

And the top dog, Heavy King, is suitably imposing without trying too hard and looking accidentally hilarious in the process, unlike certain other villains in this very series:

Why did he watermark his chest hair?

His Majesty also gained a second form during his final battle, which sacrificed his legs for size, power, and high quality Tee Lopes rips.

And a chimney for his head.

These designs already go far to give the Heavies their own sense of individual character. As you'll soon notice however, that's only half of it...

The Personalities: You can laugh all you want, but these Egg Robos in a game with no dialogue whatsoever managed to show vastly more personality than many of the villains in this franchise WITH dialogue. Look at this shit right here, and tell me they don't immediately ooze charm like it's nothing.

Pictured: Love at first sight.

And this extends to your confrontations with each of them. Gunner is crafty, and willing to sacrifice his own men to cover his ass, but the panicked look on his face when things go south for him is very relatable.

"Wait... I'm in a Sonic game...? ...For Sonic fans...? ...Oh god..."

Meanwhile, Shinobi puts up a cool and suave front, and never hesitates to go in for the kill, but he's not above playing around for the sake of his own cockiness.

Magician is a bubbly showoff, always popping up to mess with the heroes at a moment's notice. But she's also rather affable, and well-mannered to her mortal enemies.

Almost makes up for the Strangelove hands.

And Rider is perpetually in the midst of a cocaine rush, as her thirst for thrill and fun never sleeps. Yet she appears to have great affection for her pet Motobug, Jimmy.

Finally, King is a no-nonsense frowny face with a Sean Connery accent who is sick of his fellow Heavies' shit, who can nonetheless back himself up as the group's undisputed leader.

They may be fairly straightforward, but through the subtleties of their animations, there's a lot of life put into these guys, and their characters don't start and finish with their default trait like so many before them. You don't need to be Shakespeare in a Sonic game. You just need to be memorable and entertaining while fulfilling your role. And the Heavies do that with considerable ease.

The Execution: This might come as a surprise to you, but I love the shit out of the Heavies.

How can you hate this???

You have to understand that an overwhelming number of villains in this franchise not named Eggman have not only ranged from mediocre to terrible, they've also had a tendency of feeling the same as each other. When it's not a giant monster with little backstory of genuine interest, it's a guy dressed in all black who does evil for evil's sake. And that's without adding the recolours and their penchant for gaining disproportionate fandoms simply for being recolours.

Why is it, then, that a group who are all based on the same robot succeed where those villains fail?

Well, I'd argue there's a few elements at work there. The obvious one is that they're simply better implemented, and they leave an impression through their boss encounters and animations rather than whether or not they played tonsil hockey with Shadow or Amy in a fanfic. Another factor is that unlike other villains, they were never hyped up to be the Raddest, Baddest, Greatest Enemy of All Time for Sonic, and thus they didn't run the risk of not being able to live up to that claim. They were allowed to simply exist and do their own thing, as one addition to help compliment an overall package.

You could also argue that their status as a group works in their favor too, as it helps to make each of their traits pop out that little bit more. And they're honestly really clever with their strategies, like how Magician transforms into forgotten characters to spice things up, or how Shinobi's shurikens aren't actually shurikens, but rather Asterons, one of the most notorious enemies in the series. And need I mention Rider using a goddamn Motobug like it's a steed? These characters could have been very throwaway, but there's a surprising level of thought put into how each of them work, and giving them a characteristic spin that works to Sonic's tastes, and considering this is the same franchise that gave us a bad guy named Black Doom, I'd say it's worth noting.

"...Please explain why Boobie Bots Weekly is in my search history."

So yes, in this world where Dooms and Mephiles's's's's's's have been running rampant, the Hard-Boiled Heavies share their creator's honor of making a name for themselves. And as much as I have a fondness for the Deadly Six in spite of their issues (Zazz and Zor are still hilarious, fight me), I will agree without argument that the Heavies are a much better execution of the quirky boss group format on the overall side of things. And I swear to GodJesus and the Bear, if they never make a single appearance past their debut, I will be a very sad panda. If they can give Silver and his tiresome schtick countless second chances (and failing to make it interesting every single time), they can sure as hell give these juggernauts another go.

But until then, at least we still have Mania. Now if you'll excuse me, Shinobi's about to teleport behind me. Hope it's nothing personal.

Crusher Gives the Hard-Boiled Heavies a: Thumbs Up!

[geek-gem]

Sonic Movie Reddit Leak

Well that's something and noticed I didn't need to click in the title again.

Yet I felt and just honestly I just read this. I'm gonna tell you this. The internet is a crazy place. Their are some stories that are true and some that are not. Basically some bullshit stories and I feel some of the best examples are probably oh my nose but the DCEU because theirs a lot of shit on that instead of Marvel and that's not the topic.

Yet like what people say take with a grain of salt and honestly I was excited after my last text post I mentioned it.

The Sonic movie now the rights owned by Paramount and gonna be in 2019 it's a movie I've been obsessed with. Including I've thought of ideas how the movie and other movies should be basically a franchise. Because it's something I'm honestly excited for and frightened.

Including as I read okay I'm gonna say it again. This isn't confirmed or anything. This could be a fake. But it's something in.....@greendiablo just texted me on my phone holy shit lol just OK KO related. But this is something I wanna talk about whether it's fake or not. The film is due for released in 2019 and I've at times almost gone insane just thinking about. It's something I think about every day or some shit.

So I was excited to read it. But as I read it more. My excitement well it's not gone yet just it went down a bit yet surprised and even some of it.... thought in my head now would do that.

Maybe a mixed bag but I wanna talk more about it. If it turns out being fake well it was something. It probably is but just I don't know. This is just something I wanna speak about okay. In fact my ideas might not be better or whatever.

So if you read the post on Reddit. The story is well it features Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Eggman as it says those are the main characters. But also some others. Including this new human character named Grant who's a journalist.

Basically the story is the four of them and I'm making this short they have to team up to stop Eggman and just honestly I don't wanna talk about everything. Including worried of this post might not fit everything.

I wanna say this. For Amy I honestly like it what I read she isn't as obsessed with Sonic as like in some of the games. While I'm a Sonamy fan. Their are at times I honestly feel it's mainly the English versions of some stories where how Amy is written. She has a crush on him. This was just someone on my mind yet maybe I feel I should read it more. But I wanna talk about the main human character.

To be honest the idea of a live action and cgi film okay was gonna be honest about humans first. But just I would prefer a CGI film or whatever.

But now to talk about Grant and to be honest I don't mind some human characters. Because I feel it would be expected. Including I'm okay with characters like Princess Elise and Chris Thorndyke I don't hate them. But mainly the focus being on Sonic while also the humans would need to be well written. Including have some sort of importance and I'm not oh head and got text from Greendiabo again but I don't wanna hate on anyone.

Now with Grant so adult that's nice but he's a journalist. While I don't hate the idea. I think I'm just so used to the idea looked up on right tv still fine. But I'm just seem aboard with the idea of a human character being a soldier of some sorts or even a GUN soldier or even a Autistic soldier or someone who gets weapons from Tails.

Because I keep thinking okay people won't think this character is useless got a text again man. But I keep thinking this idea if we have a human character be a badass, give them guns, and have them kick robot ass. Basically I keep thinking of examples being Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy who were trained for combat and shit. Got a text again but yeah basically a human character like that.

I'm spending too much time on this yet I think and notice making a human character badass and by giving them a gun to shoot things mainly Eggman's robots isn't gonna immediately get people's respect. Including it doesn't mean it will make the character better. It depends on the writing.

Also theirs this idea that having a human character as a soldier it may sound like bullshit even when I thought of it. It might not be the most friendly of choice. I'm sounding stupid yet I just seem to want main human character their have been others like Topaz who basically use guns and shit.

But just the idea that still won't help unless written well and....Shadow....yes comics but those aren't canon yet his interactions or just......soldiers.... I seriously feel he wouldn't like to hang out with one just I'm being stupid.

Finished a text and I'm rambling on. Yet we have other characters like even Rouge and Madonna who was originally Sonic's girlfriend from Sonic 1 but they scrapped her. She's with Rouge and theirs well...I wanna say this character. But I wanna mention this first.

Their is no Knuckles in it. I'm bothered by that including I honestly feel like that would make sense. Because I like to call him and other characters the original six. This includes Metal Sonic but their are mentions of his race a civilization.

Yet the one character that's very surprising is Chaos.....yeah I'm being serious Chaos the God Of Destruction himself.

But his role and theirs no Tikal mentioned. Including the leak mentioned it's even a mixture of Sonic Adventure and just theirs even some classic stages referenced and part of the story like Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Labyrinth, and just a casino I said I'm not gonna mention everything oh stomach.

But the Chaos part it does share his history including even the final battle is between him and Super Sonic almost put Metal Sonic lol well mainly Metal ha ha smiling a bunch sorry.

Almost left but again yet yeah a battle between Super Sonic and I forgot if they mentioned Perfect Chaos or not.

Said sweet in my head yet here's this man. I'm gonna say this I like Chaos.....but as in the first film Including risky and why.

In fact it's this weird comparison so Chaos and Doomsday from Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice. While Doomsday is also the big monster of BVS his role and his character was never really that deep. So finished a text but yeah and Doomsday I don't wanna spoil BVS just if you know Doomsday and seen BVS you'll know what I mean but their was some sort of depth of what Doomsday meant.

I'm getting off topic but Chaos is different. For Chaos and I sometimes don't know or just confused. But going by @greenyvertekins sorry to mention you where I got this. He is actually a Chao like she said an enraged one who is the guardian of the Chao. Including I've been compared him to Shadow's role in Sonic Adventure 2. Now finished a text yet seriously what I wanna get to I think is that making Chaos a some what generic huge monster and I don't seem to finished text sorry. Okay what I mean I don't seem to like using the word generic now.

Including I've even thought of imagined if Chaos was reduced to that kind of role and I don't like that. While Chaos isn't the most I don't wanna say popular character but he's a character who doesn't speak much and we never play as him in Sonic Adventure but the back story with him and the Chao at least gave him meaning. Including comparing to Shadow and even thinking more in depth of Chaos's character. I seriously feel like Chaos being reduced to that kind of role is troubling.

Just finished a text and God it's funny smiling but back to this. Yet seriously so it takes place on South Island and even Station Square and Metropolis are mentioned too.

Their are some other details. Including the post credits scene is of Eggman in a new base and I mentioned this in my reblog I smiled by reading that. The last part is Metal Sonic being revealed in some tube. Supposedly setting up a sequel.

Now just finished a text oh my God just....theirs a lot of stuff to mention. But I'm worried I won't fit them all. Including I wanted to talk about the stuff that mattered to me the most.

I've also wanted to say I forgot the whole character having weapons and just I've noticed Buddy/Gadget/Rookie the wolf fits that role or just the avatar. So the idea well you can still have a soldier whatever my head not to bad ha. It's just I don't think Sega and Sonic Team wanna make a Sonic game where you play a part of the game and it's a human in third person shooter gameplay. Even if they did make Shadow's game.

Seriously to be honest it's shit sneezed to the left and had mouth closed. But it honestly seems okay and simple a bit. Minus the Chaos part because I'm bothered by instead of having Chaos with depth. He just some monster or some what I remember right. Including I don't remember any Chao mentioned. Now just finished a text with that friend of mine talking about this.

Really I feel like while I love the Sonic franchise a whole lot. The first movie in a franchise no not boring oh head. Yet I feel like and even I keep forgetting it needs to be okay not perfect just.....it needs enough to be good or just.....

Okay basically what I mean it needs to be a good movie or whatever. Including you can't just shove everything in everyone's faces. Because critics will hate that shit.

Including honestly I keep thinking about just if the movie was in my heads. While it's very crazy and this was even an idea for a reboot. In fact the whole South Island thing and Grant going to almost reminds me of some story ideas of mine of own.

Yet my idea was of the move showcasing Sonic and Eggman first meeting the iconic first boss and it's in Green Hill. After that Sonic is a pain in Eggman's ass for three year or six years. Including theirs idea of having Sonic and others aged up. Such as even Amy and Sonic the same age but I don't know at times them being young adults. So after some years Eggman decides to take a risk and builds what he thinks could finally beat Sonic, which is basically Metal Sonic. Including whether to go with a story like the Death Egg or Little Planet. Including have Knuckles and Angel Island in there and his story.

Yet honestly that's quite a bit for a first movie. Even the idea of Metal Sonic. Because even if I love Metal Sonic a lot and this is me too. Because I seriously think or unless he's crazy enough or just wants to Eggman making a robotic Sonic right after he meets him. Which is why I put the years later thing they've been fighting for some time. Also theirs Metal Sonic's mindset with their can only be one Sonic and who should the real one.

In fact even the idea while I like it and I say Sega would probably do this. The idea of a sequel mixing the stories of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 with Shadow and Chaos teaming up with Eggman also Rouge and Metal Sonic. With Tikal appearing with characters of the story sometimes even talking to Shadow. Also the death of Shadow story.

Then the next film being a mix of Sonic Rush, with features Blaze, Lost World the Deadly Six as the main villains, and the rebirth of Shadow. Also a Team Chaotix film even with thoughts of Madonna being in it, a Shadow film, a Sonic Unleashed film, a Sonic Mania film, and a two part movie that is Sonic Forces.

Yet after playing Sonic Forces the idea of having that as a grand finale.....or just....I'm still thinking and just my opinion on that game being mixed.

Basically I've already thought of a franchise. While we are still waiting and you can tell now why I say I've went basically insane thinking of the movie waiting. Including with Sonic Forces out and everything I suppose is not what I expected with my silly posts. Almost put including again but this build up to Infinite okay shit changes man it really doesn

But just...it's interesting. Honestly I wanna look at the leak a bit more the details. I might talk about it more. Including the Sony Sonic Movie 2019 tags are for nothing now.

Well got tags done and after I put Blaze's tag decided to put more and even almost left Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy tags but weren't needed. Even also didn't put BVS tags.

This is mainly me rambling and after now no reblog I just wanna wow difficult to spell brush but wanna brush my teeth.

[daanimeblog2016]

In 1991, we were introduced to a video game character that would soon rival a certain plumber, who is the mascot of another well known video game franchise. Within the last 25 years this speedy blue needle mouse has had some moments (both good and bad) that have made him one of the most iconic video game characters in the world! Just like a certain red capped hero, there isn’t a single soul on this planet who doesn’t know who he is. He may not be as famous as the King of Pop, but he’s definitely known as the Legend of Speed.

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most iconic video game franchises in the world; rivaling that of Nintendo’s flagship character, Mario. Contrary to popular belief both Sega and Nintendo were trying to out-due one another with each other’s franchise character. If you’ve gotten the chance to play games from both franchises then you’ll notice some slight similarities between the two (i.e. Bowser and Dr. Eggman, as both of them can’t stand Mario and Sonic).

Now back to the blue blur; if you’re a 90’s kid who used to own a 16-Bit Sega Genesis (or still do), then you probably couldn’t wait to get your hands on this old school classic. Sonic the Hedgehog, or Sonic 1 as fans would call it, was the beginning of something revolutionary. In fact it’s even noted that the game’s concept was inspired by the Super Mario franchise, which may explain why there’s so many similarities between the two. (We know, we said that twice already!)

Throughout the 90’s it was already clear that Sega had one goal in mind; to “defeat” Mario in any way possible! Enter the second and third installments of the series (with two new characters known as Tails and Knuckles) and you’ve got yourself a trilogy of high speed awesome-ness! ‘Why stop there?’ they thought as the 90’s decade was nearing its end, ‘Why not kick it up a notch and introduce Sonic’s first in-game rival?’ Now we’ve got ourselves the lock-on cartridge known as Sonic & Knuckles, where fans can play as either True Blue, or Rad Red.

Oh, and don’t forget about Sonic CD, as it has one of the coolest original soundtracks of the 90’s that you’ll ever listen to!

The 2000’s was going to be a time where Nintendo was going to set the bar a little higher. So what did Sega do? They stepped their game up in terms of keeping up with the red capped plumber, by doing some 3D shifting and re-branding of the World’s Fastest Hedgehog. Around 1998 came Sonic’s first real world adventure known as Sonic Adventure, where fans were able to play six different characters; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big, and E-102 Gamma. Their mission was to stop Dr. Eggman from collecting the chaos emeralds and releasing an ancient evil known as Chaos, the God of Destruction! (Other than Lord Beerus, that is. *laughing nervously*)

Now we shift our way to Sonic Adventure 2, where a new hedgehog comes into play known as Shadow, the ultimate lifeform. From that moment on we were going to see a greater rivalry (even greater than Sonic and Knuckles) come about between these two hedgehog’s, even though Shadow can activate the Chaos Control with just one emerald.

The mid 2000’s was also great for Sonic throughout the handheld years, although the 90’s is originally where his handheld gaming debut started. The blue wonder made his way back to 2D with the Sonic Advance series for GameBoy Advance and GameBoy Advance SP. Then came Sonic Heroes and Sonic Battle around 2003 and 2004, followed by Shadow the Hedgehog in 2005. 2005 through 2010 were some rough years for the Blue Blur, as three-star games weren’t exactly cutting it for the legacy of the franchise. Sega knew they had to do something, and they had to do something fast!

Now we find ourselves in Fall 2017, as a new era known as the Sonic Renaissance began! This newfound period began with the first Sonic game for the Nintendo Switch known as Sonic Mania! It follows a little after the events of Sonic and Knuckles and features the return of classic 16-Bit Sonic, only sleeker and with an FPS of 60. Also coming later on in the fall is Sonic Forces, which plays like Sonic Generations if any of you gotten the chance to play it yet. To most of us it seemed like Sega was trying to save their beloved mascot any way they could, but we do believe that they’ve got it right this time. As for the future of the World’s Fastest Hedgehog, we can only hope that Sega continues to be one step ahead of Nintendo. A dream that we, the fans, can only hope for.

Filler Post: The Past, Present, and Future of Sonic the Hedgehog! (In a Nutshell!) In 1991, we were introduced to a video game character that would soon rival a certain plumber, who is the mascot of another well known video game franchise.

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 11: THE MONSTERS OF THE WEEK

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a series of mine in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be cancelling our flight to Tokyo as we look up at the impressive size of a particular recurring brand of foe in Sonic's universe: the Monsters of the Week. (Excluding Chaos, who we've already covered.)

So for reasons that should be obvious, this edition of Sweet or Shite is going to be a little different. Seeing how we’re covering more than one villain - and since you can only say so much about characters who aren’t really characters - this will instead be a series of mini-reviews, one after another, for each monster. I figured this was the best course of action since the alternative would be to go back and forth constantly between the monsters, and that would just be messy.

Also, none of these guys have much in the way of personality aside from “DESTROY FUCKING EVERYTHING GRRRRRRR”, so I’m not even going to bother analysing their “personalities”. Everything else will be the same as usual, of course.

And yes, I’m treating Iblis and Solaris as individual monsters. Because they barely have anything in common despite being the same beast.

Right then, we’ve got a lot of these king-size bastards to cover. Let’s go.

------

MONSTER #1: THE BIOLIZARD

The Gist: In the endgame for Sonic Adventure 2, the late Professor Gerald Robotnik was revealed to have programmed his Space Colony A.R.K. to crash down to the planet and destroy it should the Eclipse Cannon be equipped with all seven Chaos Emeralds. The heroes and villains teamed up to combat this threat (thus completely negating the game's Hero VS Dark selling point), and together, they made their way to the cannon's core.

What they didn't expect however was for their target to be guarded. In order to stop the A.R.K. from falling, they were forced to deal with the Biolizard, Gerald's original attempt at creating the Ultimate Lifeform before he decided to take a page from the Sonic OC booklet with his second attempt, Shadow. Thanks to seeing the error of his ways courtesy of one Amy Rose, Shadow himself confronted his older sibling, and Knuckles used the Master Emerald to cancel out the power of the Chaos Emeralds, thus preventing the A.R.K's collision...

Just kidding. As if to laugh at the very idea of Knuckles actually having a useful role in this game beyond treasure hunting fodder, the Biolizard immediately used Chaos Control to assume direct control of the A.R.K. in order to continue its collision course. Sonic and Shadow had no choice but to go Super, and with their powers combined, the Biolizard was beaten for good, the A.R.K. was stopped once and for all, and Shadow died but not really.

Sonic and Shadow were hailed as heroes. Even though everyone else contributed too. But apparently, only the heroes with super forms are allowed to be on the President's desk.

The Design: The Biolizard is a failed prototype, and it shows.

He's gonna sweep them bitches off their feet with a face like that.

Surprisingly, I actually dig his design. It's a bit messy, sure, but that works to his benefit in this case, since as a failed creation who demands a life support system just to function, it's justified within the context. It's a cool mesh of organic and technology, and it perfectly demonstrates the horrors that can come with trying to play God and creating life.

Unfortunately, his final form is underwhelming. He "fuses" with the A.R.K, but don't get your hopes up. It's the same design as before, only... well...

Yeah. It's just... right up there. All the way through.

The Execution: The Biolizard technically doesn't come out of nowhere, since there's a Dark Story cutscene that foreshadows his existence. But he still feels very WTF in spite of that. This adventure involving G.U.N, Dr. Eggman, and a feud between two hedgehogs, and this thing is the final challenge? It doesn't help that despite the relation, he feels very disconnected to Shadow's story when compared to Gerald, Maria, etc. (And yet ironically, he's the most interesting part IMO.)

So in regards to proper build up for a final boss, he's a bit shit. But since I like his design, and since his theme music is kickass, I'll give him a little step up. Just a little one.

Crusher Gives the Biolizard a: Thumbs Sideways!

------

MONSTER #2: IBLIS

The Gist: In the future, everything was a shitehole. This was due to a terrible beast known as Fire Chaos Iblis, who spread his penchant for destruction everywhere he went, leaving behind nothing but ruins in the process. A young hedgehog named Silver, and his friend named Blaze, have fought him for a very long time at the expense of Blaze's actual backstory, but nothing they could do kept Iblis down for long. Desperate to save their world, they followed the advice of comic relief character Mephiles the Dark, which was to find the so-called Iblis Trigger of the past via time travel, and destroy him. That Iblis Trigger was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog himself.

Except not. Turns out the guy with no mouth and snake eyes named after Mephistopheles wasn't all that trustworthy, and was using Silver for his own purposes. Undaunted, Silver continued to do a bunch of things that meant little-to-nothing, before finally defeating Iblis for definite because... he was stronger this time, I guess?

But Zoinks, Scoob! He couldn't seal Iblis away! Luckily and unluckily for him, Blaze was able to do so, and with a few emotional parting words, she vanished from Silver's time to get ready for a better game stop the threat of Iblis. That's not the end of Iblis' story however, because as it turns out, he's only part of something even more destructive... Also, Silver and Blaze didn't achieve anything anyway since Mephiles unleashed Iblis in the present time after killing Sonic.

Lol.

The Design: Get ready for a trilogy of fatigue.

You have Phase 1, which is just a clump of lava with some arms:

Good at mix tapes though.

Phase 2 is a replica of his Iblis Worm minions, but bigger. That's it.

Even he looks tired.

And for Phase 3, he finally realises he should probably try to look more worthy of a main baddie, but it still falls flat due to his ridiculous anchor feet:

"~Lava bone's connected to the fire bone~"

On the whole? Wank.

The Execution: He's from Sonic '06. What do you think?

Outside of being a lame version of Chaos, what else is there to say?

Crusher Gives Iblis a: Thumbs Down!

------

MONSTER #3: SOLARIS

The Gist: Remember Iblis? The guy I just talked about? Well he wasn't brought into existence as Iblis, but rather Solaris, the flame of hope. A time-dwelling entity of sorts, the kingdom of Soleanna had worshipped him for as long as they've lived, for reasons that can best be described as "fuck knows". In particular, Soleanna's ruler, the Duke, was devoted to harnessing the power of Solaris for the sake of being able to control time itself, and thus bring his wife back from the dead.

Sure enough, he joined her once more... by ironically getting himself killed in an accident during one of his experiments on Solaris, which also happened to split the entity into two different beings: the raw power named Iblis, and the subconscious named Mephiles the Dark. Before he died however, the Duke made the brave and heroic sacrifice of sealing Iblis - the fiery demon of death - within his own daughter, with the added deal of her never being able to cry unless that demon gets free, because who cares, she was adopted anyway.

She's guaranteed to be a strong queen if she can withstand a lifetime's worth of severe heartburn.

Anyway, the Duke got a Game Over, Silver the Hedgehog left a Chaos Emerald in his daughter's presence at the expense of the overall Sonic the Hedgehog continuity, and that was that. Ten years later, Sonic and Eggman had a tussle in Soleanna that I'm not even going to bother talking about because it's that unimportant, and eventually the aforementioned Mephiles gives Sonic a Game Over, causing Princess Elise to cry and thus release Iblis. Mephiles, the shadowy hedgehog, then uses the Chaos Emeralds to rejoin with Iblis, the fire lizard, to become Solaris, the bird made of light... Okay then.

Solaris threatens to consume all of time and space, but before he can do that, his decision to throw the Chaos Emeralds away like disused wrappers comes back to bite him in the ass, because through his friends' wise decision to collect them all, Sonic is brought back to life, and in his super form at that. Together, with Super Shadow and Super Silver, they kick Solaris' shit in, until it reverts to its original form of a tiny flame, and after some hesitance born from the sorrow of losing her biggest friendship, Elise ultimately makes the right decision and blows out the flame, thus creating a new future where Solaris - and the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 in general - never happened.

Does that mean the Duke is alive? What does Soleanna worship now that Solaris never existed? Who knows, who cares, I'm already getting bored talking about these guys.

The Design: Unlike with Iblis, I actually like Solaris' forms, since there's an attempt to give them some elegance rather than just making them generically ugly. Even if Phase 1 looks as though he's got a steering wheel on his back...

Literally at the helm.

And Phase 2 looks like it could be desecrated by the Dark Lord Ganondorf at any moment...

"Who wants a hug?"

But overall? I like them.

The Execution: It's still '06, so his chances aren't looking good. I WOULD give Solaris some leeway since like with the Biolizard, I like his designs and his music (though I'm that weird guy who prefers Phase 1's music)...

Buuuuuut he's still the endgame of an absolutely shitty and plothole-infested narrative. And he's technically Mephiles, so...

Crusher Gives Solaris a: Thumbs Down!

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MONSTER #4: IFRIT

The Gist: Iblis got its own ripoff.

That ripoff's name was Ifrit.

It was in Sonic Rivals 2.

Eggman Nega sought to unleash it.

And it liked to feed on Chao, allegedly.

......

So anyway, how's your sex life?

The Design: Despite being the younger sibling, it's design is arguably better than that of Iblis. It's still nothing amazing mind you, but it's got a Firebird thing going on, so that alone makes it more pleasing to look at than any of Iblis' forms. And if it were in a fully 3D game rather than on the PSP, it would probably look a lot better with its visuals too.

Ifrit wants a belly rub!

The Execution: He shows up at the end to get killed.

Next.

Crusher Gives Ifrit a: Thumbs Down!

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MONSTER #5: DARK GAIA

The Gist: One day, Dr. Eggman decided to have yet another go at controlling a giant monster. This resulted in the events of Sonic Unleashed, which started off with a bang when after a spectacle of action and destruction in the far reaches of space, Sonic was lured into a devilish trap by the wicked scientist. Using the negative energies of the Chaos Emeralds, Eggman fired a laser that literally broke the planet apart, in an attempt to unleash (HA!) the being sleeping within the planet's core: Dark Gaia.

Those negative energies also turned Sonic into a bizarre werewolf-hedgehog hybrid, which wasn't intentional on Eggman's part, but he dealt with him easily by letting him fall all the way down to the planet... along with the sapped Chaos Emeralds. Oops.

With the help of a strange little guy with amnesia named Chip, Sonic and his new alter-ego - the Werehog - went on a grand day out to find the Gaia Temples around the world, with the idea being to restore the Emeralds' energy one by one. All the while, Dark Gaia kept... existing, and Eggman tried to stop them. Eventually, it's revealed that Chip, bog standard comic relief that he is, was in fact Light Gaia all along, the fated nemesis of Dark Gaia. After all, you can't have dark without light, just as you can't have light without dark.

"I wish I knew how to quit you... and this boss fight."

Same song and dance from then on. Dark Gaia pops up, Sonic and Chip beat it, Gaia gets angry and transforms, then they beat it again with Super Sonic. Chip says goodbye as he prepares to sleep for nearly an eternity to keep Dark Gaia at bay, which could be seen as a metaphor for how I'm close to falling asleep for eternity due to how genuinely exhausting it is to talk about these non-characters.

The Design: I really do not like Dark Gaia's design. Outside of the purple tentacles, which are admittedly pretty cool, he's just a stick with eyes and teeth. That's all he is.

Nice nail polish, prick.

And when he becomes Perfect Ultra Mega Dark Gaia 2: The Return of Jafar, what does he transform into? ...A stick with MORE eyes and teeth.

"I'm never drinking Chaos Cola again, Chip."

So yeah. His design is boring. And he could do with eating more.

The Execution: Dark Gaia is at least set up from the beginning rather than showing up haphazardly towards the end, but that's about all the praise I can give it. Despite everything to do with Chip, the Gaia Temples, and the Gaia Manuscripts, there's still not nearly enough to make Dark Gaia truly stand out. It's the personification of the world's darkness, and it's involved in a cycle with Light Gaia... what else? What else is there for me to care about?

Also, its boss fight was the worst, and coming after the Egg Dragoon, it was like a slap in the face. Say what you will about the guy below, at least you can deal with him quickly.

Crusher Gives Dark Gaia a: Thumbs Down!

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MONSTER #6: TIME EATER

The Gist: Young Sonic was on his merry way, then a time monster showed up to cause trouble... in time. Young Sonic was thus forced to team up with Older Sonic to combat this threat.

So they did.

......

At least Eggman was in control this time. Or Eggmen, rather.

"Did I ever tell you the time I wrote about how Sonic the Hedgehog had it pretty rough lately...?"

The Design: Not too bad, actually. Sure, it looks like a stereotypical ghost at first...

"WHAZAAAAAAAAPPPP"

...But once it's revealed to be mechanized by the Eggmen, we see its true, clockwork-esque form:

Might want to get those boils checked, buddy.

As a robotic Frankenstein abomination, I really like its time aesthetic, and its twitching and whirring, as if it's trying in vain to fight back against the Eggmen's control. Like the Biolizard, the context allows it to be a bit hideous, and it still looks cool despite that.

The Execution: Am I going to give the Time Eater a complete free pass just because it's the one that Eggman successfully controlled? No. I will freely admit that there was not enough to establish it in a way that felt satisfying, and some would say to a worse extent than Solaris or Dark Gaia.

But here's the thing: I'm more willing to let these things slide if the game isn't forcing me to try and care about it. Or to put it in another way, the plot of Sonic Generations may very much be an excuse plot in its purest form, and that will always be a shame, but that's actually why I don't mind this as much. Generations isn't pretending that the Time Eater is anything more than what it is. It's not hyping it up without being able to back its "lore" up. It's nothing more than the justification for why we're having this adventure. And since Eggman is the real baddie pulling the strings anyway, I look at Time Eater as a plot device used by Eggman, than as an actual entity of its own.

Note that I'm not saying this is ideal. I'd have loved it if Generations had more of a story, and I'd have loved it if Time Eater had more lore behind it to back it up. But I'm explaining why I'm not so harsh on it as I am with Dark Gaia or Iblis, who their respective plots tried so hard to make me care about as big bad threats, only for it to fail miserably due to how mind-numbingly boring they are. It's a lesser of two evils situation, and I'm just giving my stance on it.

Plus, again, I actually like Time Eater's design. And Eggman did succeed with it...

Crusher Gives Time Eater a: Thumbs Sideways!

------

So that’s it then. That’s your lot for today. Some of them are okay, most of them are crap, none of them are as good as Chaos. I apologise if this edition of Sweet or Shite felt a bit rushed or shoddy, but in my defense, it's hard to say much for these guys, and I try not to be too repetitive.

......

Here’s a Shadow for you.

[crusherthedoctor]

Top 5 Overrated Sonic Games?

“Overrated” is a word that I prefer not to use lightly. I’m not the type of person who instantly calls any game I don’t like overrated. So you can be assured that I’ve put some genuine thought into my reasons for my top five choices.

NOTE: I’m looking at this from the perspective of the fandom side of things, not the critic side of things.

1. Sonic Adventure 2Despite the increase in divisiveness in recent years, this game is still often considered one of the best Sonic games, and one that defines the best qualities of the series. I don’t agree with this at all however due to two thirds of the game being filled by a slow gameplay style (mech shooting) and a decent one made worse (treasure hunting), and even the Sonic/Shadow levels don’t feel as satisfying to me compared to Sonic’s levels in Adventure 1. A lot of the levels are also less visually appealing than Adventure 1’s, exceptions like Pumpkin Hill aside.

The story is a bit of a mess even if you take the original Japanese script into account, and even without looking at plotholes and other errors, I don’t think it’s that interesting. And I firmly believe that this game was one of the biggest contributions to the franchise’s serious (heh) issues with tone balancing. Because this game doesn’t have a balanced tone. It really doesn’t. Adventure 1 does in my opinion, but Adventure 2? No way. No amount of characters scratching their ass will take away the fact that this Sonic the Hedgehog game involves the fatal shooting of a young girl, among other things.

And more of a personal nitpick, but this was the game that started the heavier emphasis on Sonic as a shonen-type series, and I’m not fond of that direction. I always felt the Classic games and Adventure 1 to an extent had a style and atmosphere that was very unique to Sonic, and I think Adventure 2 lost that unique spark in favor of a more generic shonen approach.

That said, I do thank the game for introducing Rouge the Bat, my third favourite Sonic character. And I’ll give credit to some cool concepts like the Pyramid Base, cool moments like Robotnik’s fake emerald double bluff, and some great tracks from an otherwise bland soundtrack. (The soundtrack in Adventure 2 is all the more disappointing to me overall because Adventure 1′s soundtrack is one of my favourites, due to how much variety the latter has.)

2. Sonic UnleashedI will always agree that this game did not deserve the harsh treatment it received by the critics when it was first released. But at the same time, I think it’s given a little too much credit nowadays.

The Werehog’s gameplay is tedious (made even moreso by how long his levels usually are), said gameplay dominates over half of the entire game, some of the design choices are far from beneficial when working with this game’s mechanics (hello sun and moon medals), the novelty of being debatably the most gorgeous Sonic game is undermined by how every single level bar Eggmanland is just Real World But With Loops (got no issue with real world-inspired locations in Sonic games, but where’s the Oil Oceans and Quartz Quadrants?), and despite how successfully balanced the tone is, the story itself still flatlines for most of the game and is ultimately nothing more than Giant Monster Story #54, Robotnik getting swatted aside in the finale and everything.

It doesn’t exactly make great use of the supporting cast either, seeing how Tails and Amy do very little other than showing how Sonic as a Werehog is affected by their reactions. And Chip? I don’t hate him, but he’s not a compelling character in my opinion. And while you can argue as to whether or not they were AS bad in this game compared to the games that came after, the fact remains that Unleashed was the game that started several ongoing trends that fans greatly dislike (like Solo Sonica in the main games, excessive 2D sections, and Sonic’s friends not doing much). Not Colours.

I’ll give it one thing though. It has one of my favourite soundtracks.

3. Sonic and the Black KnightNot the most popular game you might say, but what IS popular is the notion that it has some of the best storytelling and best writing in the games if not THE best, which… well it’s not bad, but I do find a lot of it rather boring, and I think this franchise could do better.

It’s also commonly regarded that the game is better than Secret Rings, which I do agree with, but I still don’t think it’s actually that good on it’s own merits. The level design is pretty barebones, the sword gameplay is a cool concept with underwhelming execution, and with one or two exceptions, the levels in this game are some of the dullest and most forgettable I’ve ever seen in a Sonic game. Misty Lake and Faraway Avalon are cool, but the rest? Bleh.

And for all the praise it gets for being one of the last Sonic games to make extensive use of the supporting cast, Shadow/Knuckles/Blaze have really weak roles in the grand scheme of the narrative due to how their final contribution consists mostly of making Sonic look good. You’re not even obligated to play as them for more than one level each, all of which are right near the end of the story. That doesn’t sound like a great use of the cast to me.

4. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006Don’t worry, I’m not insane. There’s a reason for this.

For a long time, I myself didn’t understand how Sonic ‘06 of all games could be considered in any way overrated. Sonic ‘06 is many things, but overrated? Surely there’s no context for how that could be one of them… But lately, I’ve changed my mind on that. Why?

Because in light of how many fans are craving for a deeper plot and more playable characters in newer games - understandable in itself, and I’d like to see more of that myself - this has caused them to start using this game (and ShtH to a lesser extent) as an example of how the developers “tried” back in the day. Even though the supposedly deep storyline was anything but due to how it was a complete clusterfuck of a mess that only succeeded in making the entire cast bar Shadow look like a bunch of colossal idiots, and the amount of playable characters is undermined by the fact that not only did they all have crap gameplay, and not only did many of them still have next-to-nonexistent plot importance, but some of them weren’t even used that much in-game anyway. And lest we forget, this was the game that nearly killed the franchise.

The recent defenses I’ve seen of ‘06 as a game that “tried” (in spite of the final game indicating they didn’t try at all) is what I believe to be the logical conclusion of an ongoing habit in the Sonic fandom at large: Downplaying and/or outright ignoring the legitimate flaws of the 1998-2009 era for the sake of demonizing everything in the post-2010 era.

5. Sonic X-TremeBut this game wasn’t even released? Sure, but a lot of fans have been interested in it and have lamented it’s cancellation. Me? I never really got the hype, because I personally thought it always looked a little off. I never got motion sickness from looking at it in action or anything, but I still think it’s a rather ugly game, and one that I don’t think would have been that huge of a success if it were released.

Adventure 1 isn’t perfect, but I think they were very wise to switch to a game like that instead at that point in time.