Sonic the Hedgehog
From Sonic Earth
Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejjihoggu?), trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the hero of a video game series released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released on June 23, 1991 in order to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario (see 1991 in video gaming). Since then, Sonic has become one of the world's best-known video game characters, with his series having sold over 45 million copies. In 2005, Sonic was one of the first game character inductees into the Walk of Game, alongside Mario and Link.
Artist Naoto Ōshima, designer Hirokazu Yasuhara and programmer Yuji Naka are generally credited with the creation of the character, a blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog, whose ability to run faster than the speed of sound is a major part of the gameplay of the series.
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[edit] History
Sega wanted a game capable of selling over one million copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company's mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research & development department, including an armadillo (who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, an over-sized Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas (which would later be the basis of Doctor Eggman's design), and a rabbit (intended to use its extendible ears to collect objects; these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar). Eventually, Naoto Ōshima's spiky hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse", was chosen as the new mascot. Sonic's cobalt blue pigmentation was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog, and renamed themselves Sonic Team. The game's soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura of the band Dreams Come True. Sega sponsored the group's "Wonder 3" tour, painting Sonic on the tour bus, distributing pamphlets advertising the game, and having footage of the game broadcast above stage prior to its release.
Sonic's precise age, weight, height and other physical characteristics vary depending on the continuity in which he appears and the style in which he is drawn. In the video games, Sonic's original design by Ohshima was quite short and childlike, with short quills, a round body and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Wantabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog, and most subsequent Sonic video games featured similar designs. Beginning with Sonic Adventure in 1998, Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa as a taller character with longer legs and a less spherical body, longer and more drooping spikes, and green-colored eyes. Further subtle changes to the character's design have been made in subsequent games. Spin-off media such as comics and cartoons have featured variations on all these video game designs, with restrictions set by the standardized model sheets.
[edit] Games
Sonic's debut occurred in the 1991 platform game Sonic 1 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, which also introduced his nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik. His sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower joined him in the game's 1992 sequel Sonic 2, which also introduced Sonic's "Super Sonic" form and signature "spin-dash" move. Sonic CD released in 1993 introduced Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose, and his robotic doppelgänger Metal Sonic (although Sonic 2 also featured a robotic Sonic boss, often referred to as Mecha Sonic or Silver Sonic) as Sonic travelled through time to ensure a good future for the world. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, both released in 1994, saw Sonic and Tails, battle Robotnik again, with the additional threat of Knuckles the Echidna, tricked by Robotnik into fighting Sonic.
Other two-dimensional platformers starring Sonic include Sonic Chaos (1993), Sonic Triple Trouble (1994), Sonic Blast (1996), and Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999). In 2001, 2D Sonic games started to move to Nintendo hand-held platforms. These include Sonic Advance (2001), Sonic Advance 2 (2002), Sonic Advance 3 (2004), Sonic Rush (2005) and Sonic Rush Adventure (2007). Also, a sequel to Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, will be released for the PSP. An untitled Sonic RPG game will be released 2008 and will be developed by Canadian developer BioWare.
The first Sonic platform game in true 3D (previous games were "2.5D" isometric games), Sonic Adventure (1998) was Sonic Team's return to the character for a major game. It featured Sonic returning from vacation to find the city of Station Square under attack by a new, very powerful foe named Chaos, under the control of Dr. Robotnik (now known as Doctor Eggman). In addition to Sonic, who was given a full voice-over for the first time, six other characters were playable: Tails, Knuckles, Amy, E-102 Gamma, Big the Cat, and Super Sonic. The game featured interaction with non-playable characters and objects in 3D "Adventure" sequences, during which the game world could be freely explored. Sonic Adventure 2 (2001, on the 10th anniversary of the original 16-bit game) placed Sonic on-the-run from the military (G.U.N) after being mistaken for a new enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form. This was the first game where players could play as antagonists Dr. Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge the Bat, who are enemies. The game introduced a "grinding" gameplay aspect utilizing Soap shoes, which was retained in later 3D action games such as the team-based Sonic Heroes (2004) and the 15th anniversary title Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) which introduced the being from the future Silver the Hedgehog. A Wii game, Sonic and the Secret Rings, is the latest 3D Sonic game and the first one to feature Sonic as the only playable character in the main mode.
Sonic has also been featured in games of many genres other than 2D and 3D platform games. The first of these was a pinball game, Sonic Spinball (1993), which expanded upon the pinball sequences in the first two platform games. Sonic has also appeared in "2.5D" isometric platformers (Sonic Labyrinth and Sonic 3D Blast), racing games (Sonic Drift, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, and Sonic Rivals) and fighting games (Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle). A sequel to Sonic Riders is currently in development. Sonic will be appearing with long-time mascot and former rival, Mario, in an official sports game called Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which will be released on the Wii and Nintendo DS near the end of 2007, and is the most requested third party character in the upcoming game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which will be released on December 3, 2007 in the Americas.
Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993), Knuckles Chaotix (1995), Tails' Skypatrol (1995), Tails Adventures (1995), and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) starred supporting characters of the Sonic series. Sonic has had cameo roles in some of them. He has also made cameo appearances in numerous other Sega games such as Daytona USA and Christmas NiGHTS. Also, there have been several collections, including Sonic Mega Collection, that included the classic Sonic games.
[edit] Personality
Sonic embodies the wind, as implied in multiple games, and is described as such. He is noted for being free-spirited, adventurous, outgoing and caring, cherishing his freedom to live as he wants above all else. He is extremely impatient and will often jump into situations without thinking, and his confidence is unshakable, even in the most dire circumstances, believing that no matter how bad a situation seems his speed and courage can pull him through. He rarely ever acts serious, and often makes a large number of witty remarks. He displays an interest in rock music, and some official character art and a television commercial for Sonic Adventure suggests that he has a personal hobby as a DJ. Similarly, the SatAM and Sonic Underground cartoon series, as well as the Archie comic, have shown that Sonic is a capable guitarist. Sonic also enjoys break-dancing, as shown in several games. Though he dislikes slow moving things and tears, the only thing Sonic truly hates is oppression. It is known that Sonic dislikes and fears water because he cannot swim. Despite this, he has managed to overcome his hydrophobia throughout his adventures, going as far as braving temporary submersion.
[edit] Abilities
Sonic is known as "the fastest thing alive," with the ability to run at speeds higher than Mach 1. He can run backwards just as well as forwards, shown in the Team Sonic opening cutscene of Sonic Heroes and near the end of the first episode in Sonic X. In the games, his super speed has not been explained. When Sonic runs fast enough, he can create a sonic boom, which can destroy enemies in Sonic's way, and increase his momentum. Soap shoes with a similar design and color scheme were featured in Sonic Adventure 2, which introduced Sonic's ability to grind on rails.
Many of his abilities are variations on the tendency for hedgehogs to roll into tight balls for protection. Since his introduction in the first Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic's primary offensive maneuver is the basic Spin Attack (or "Sonic Spin Attack"). As Sonic jumps or runs, he curls up and spins into a spiky ball that can damage, destroy or burrow through many obstacles. This attack has been enhanced by different games into new abilities. Two of these enhancements have become mainstays of his: the Spin Dash, introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Sonic revolves in a stationary spin before blasting off at full speed, and the Homing Attack, introduced in Sonic Adventure in which Sonic dashes in midair toward a target.
[edit] Super Forms
[edit] Super Sonic
The most frequently seen transformation in the series, Sonic the Hedgehog becomes Super Sonic with the aid of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Sonic's blue fur becomes a golden yellow color and his green eyes become red. Originally, Sonic had black eyes which would turn green while transformed. Sonic's quills now stand on end, usually pointing upwards. His back quills are given an angled slant and become more pointed. Other special effects include sparkles as well as cracks of electricity and afterimages.
When Sonic transforms into his "Super State", he is able to move extremely fast, jumps higher than normal, and break barriers that usually require the Spin Dash. Additionally, Sonic gains an attack called "Sonic Rumble" where he is able to damage an enemy by quickly flying directly to them from a distance and then retreating. Sonic gains an added level of resilience to enemy attacks with the extent varying depending on the game. In Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Super Sonic is invulnerable to most enemy attacks. In other games, Super Sonic loses more Rings if he's hit.
With the power of the Super Emeralds, Sonic becomes Hyper Sonic. Sonic glows with the colors of the Chaos Emeralds, and becomes surrounded by flashing sparks. He is also able to breathe underwater, and has the added ability of a devastating lightning attack. This can be used to "double jump" in any direction and, when performed, destroys all enemies on-screen (except bosses) with a bright flash.
[edit] Darkspine Sonic
In Sonic and the Secret Rings, if the player collects all seven World Rings and clears the game, an extra battle can be unlocked in which the player will take control of Darkspine Sonic. Instead of the Chaos Emeralds, he is powered by the aforementioned World Rings. In this state, Sonic's body becomes a deep indigo color, and his muzzle, stomach and ears become white. His pupils, irises, mouth, gloves, and shoes disappear, and he gains four big glowing rings around his wrists and ankles. He also has two thick, white parallel stripes going up his forehead and down his middle quills, a white stripe around his feet and wrists, and has an orange fiery aura. In a sort of inverse situation from his other transformations, his quills do not point upwards, but instead downwards. His voice is somewhat deeper and more menacing, but his personality remains mostly unchanged, albeit much more aggressive. Unlike Super Sonic, Darkspine Sonic is not invincible, and loses 20 of his Rings if he's hit.
While he is able to fly, his ability to sustain the transformation does not depend on Rings. He does not power down if he runs out of Rings. If the player shakes the Wii Remote, the soul gauge fills, and Darkspine Sonic can use Speed Break and Time Break. Other abilities enable Sonic to deflect attacks by using a barrage of kicks. He also has higher attack power and speed.
[edit] Interaction with other characters
Sonic's best friend is a young yellow-orange, two-tailed fox called Miles "Tails" Prower (a pun on the phrase "miles per hour"). Tails is of the few who could almost keep up with Sonic by using his trademark technique of flying by rapidly spinning his tails like a helicopter rotor. Tails is also a mechanic prodigy and using his IQ of 300 and rivals Dr. Eggman with his inventions, which helps Sonic out quite often. Tails idolizes Sonic and sees him as a mentor, while Sonic views Tails as a little brother although there are times when Sonic tend to ignore Tails. Sonic and Tails are rarely without each other - they often go Chaos Emerald searching, or stop Eggman's plans together. In Sonic Advance 3, when the two are selected as a team, they are described as the "Unbreakable Bond."
Knuckles the Echidna is both an ally and a friendly rival of Sonic, possessing strength to match Sonic's speed. They first met as enemies in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and although they are now allies, they can usually be found fighting. Although he is envious of Sonic's adventurous lifestyle, Knuckles still dislikes Sonic's carefree nature and egotism. On the other hand, Sonic sees Knuckles as being far too serious and perhaps even thickheaded. In Sonic Advance 3, when the two are selected as a team, they are described as "Fighting Buddies". A recurring theme throughout the Sonic universe is that Sonic trespasses on Knuckles' territory or duties and Knuckles worries that Sonic has unworthy intentions. Often the real villain is, of course, Eggman. Despite Sonic and Knuckles' rivalry, they are close allies and is willing to help out one another.
Amy Rose is a pink, young female hedgehog. Although Sonic is quite repelled by her constant advances to marry him, the two have been good friends since Sonic CD. Whenever Amy is kidnapped he comes to her rescue. In Sonic Advance 3, when the two are chosen as a team, they are described as a "Lovely Couple," though Sonic does not enjoy being partnered with her when Amy hooks arms with him. However, he does appreciate all the times Amy has pulled through for him. A page in the Special Book of Sonic and the Secret Rings states, "Meet Amy- Sonic's ever cheerful love interest."
Sonic is also friends with Cream the Rabbit, a six year old female rabbit. Sonic does not converse with her very much, as they do not seem to share many interests. As is seen in Sonic Advance 2, Sonic is very impressed by her manners, though. In addition, the two of them seemed to make the biggest connection to Blaze the Cat in Sonic Rush.
Blaze the Cat is a princess from another dimension, brought to Sonic's world due to a rip in the space-time continuum.[40][41] At first, the other characters suggest she should seek Sonic's help - Blaze denies this and wonders why they are so dependent on him. However, through working with Sonic in order to save the universe from Eggman and Eggman Nega, Blaze learns the value of friendship, and before she goes back to her own dimension, she promises to meet him again. This promise is kept when Sonic ended up in her dimension. However, later it is revealed that Sonic wasn't the only one who made it to her dimension. Sonic archnemesis, Eggman was also in Blaze's dimension and once again working together with Eggman Nega to obtain a power that could destroy the entire universe and create 'Eggmanland'. Working together, Sonic and Blaze saved the universe once more. Before Sonic went back to his dimension, the two shook hands.
Emerl is a robot with a sort of father-son relationship with Sonic. He formed a strong link with him. The two became close friends, with Sonic helping Emerl "grow up." At the end of Sonic Battle, when Emerl was near death, Sonic was in obvious emotional turmoil, though he never expressed sadness, rather distress.
Princess Elise is the princess of Soleanna, and vessel of the "Flames of Disaster." As they are together, Sonic's company makes Elise truly happy for the first time ever since her father died. However, it has been revealed that it is only an one-sided love while Elise was having a conversation with Amy Rose. The relationship is unlikely to continue, as during Sonic the Hedgehog, their memories of each other were erased along with the entire storyline.
Shahra the Ring Genie made her first appearance in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Sonic's relationship with Shahra is very similar to his relationship with Elise. Shahra went to Sonic's world to ask for his help in order to save the world of the Arabian Nights from Erazor Djinn, a villainous genie. When Sonic and Shahra arrive inside the book Erazor shows up, and threatens Shahra's life by shooting a fire arrow at her; however, Sonic jumps in front of her and gets shot instead. Erazor then warns Sonic that the flame will burn his life away if he does not retrieve the seven World Rings for him.
Shahra then blames herself for what happened to Sonic, but he comforts her and tells her not to worry. At the end of the game after Erazor was defeated, Shahra starts crying and wishes to be back with him, Sonic then wishes for a mountain of handkerchiefs so that Shahra can cry as long as she wants to.
The three comical detectives known as Team Chaotix do not seem to know Sonic very well. They do however seem to have a friendly relationship and they were able to work together to defeat Metal Sonic without a problem.
[edit] Enemies and rivals
Sonic's archnemesis is Doctor Eggman, whose real name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Eggman is a brilliant scientist who uses his numerous machines to attempt to conquer the world, but Sonic has always intervened. The opposition between Sonic and Eggman symbolizes the conflict between nature and technology. Sonic originally fought Dr. Eggman because he was turning his animal friends into robotic slaves (known as "Badniks" in the West). After that, he tried multiple times to conquer the Earth by using the Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones, Master Emerald and Sol Emeralds. Often, these would be used to power his huge mech suits. However, in the recent games, Eggman has taken a different approach, using more realistic warships and even a nuclear missile in his bid to conquer the world. However at times when things look at their worst Sonic and Eggman put aside their differences to help save the earth from complete destruction. Also, while a majority of times Eggman is used as a comic relief, he, like Sonic, should never be underestimated.
Sonic's arch rival is Shadow the Hedgehog, the "Ultimate Life Form." They became rivals when they first met in Sonic Adventure 2, and they have fought and argued with each other whenever they meet in every game since, though they have a certain amount of respect for each other. They fight for different reasons, yet have similar opinions about each other. Sonic finds Shadow to be violent, humorless, and arrogant, while Shadow finds Sonic to be foolhardy, irritating and arrogant. However, near the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow willingly fought the Biolizard to allow Sonic to go with Knuckles to stop the Chaos Emeralds. This causes him to use too much energy and after the final fight with the biolizard in space Shadow uses all his remaining energy and falls towards the earth. Many have wondered how he survived but in the battle with 'Devil Doom' in Shadow The Hedgehog after about 5-10 minutes, Eggman says on a voice over that he sent a robot of his to retrieve him before he collided with the earth. Since then he had been in a capsule recovering (Shown at the start of Sonic Heroes). Various other situations have caused them to team up in later games. It appears that Shadow is an ally to Sonic, yet at the same time he can be a threat. Sonic seems to treat Shadow as a friend, and Shadow also seems to be beginning to accept Sonic as a friend rather than just a rival. In the game Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic is available as a support character during certain missions, further reinforcing their relationship as allies.
Before Shadow's introduction, Metal Sonic, (also known as Mecha Sonic) who had debuted in Sonic CD, was one of Sonic's fiercest adversaries. In early games, Eggman tried to beat Sonic at his own game by creating numerous Sonic robots to destroy his nemesis. Though they all tried and failed, Metal Sonic was by far Eggman's most successful creation, having the same capabilities as his counterpart. Even with Shadow's current prominence, Metal Sonic still remains a serious threat, able to copy his opponent's abilities to strengthen himself.
In Sonic the Hedgehog for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a new character with vast psychic abilities by the name Silver the Hedgehog makes his first appearance. Silver comes from a distant future, where a being called Mephiles the Dark told him Sonic was the "Iblis Trigger," who would cause a worldwide catastrophe. Silver then travels to Sonic's dimension to kill Sonic before he destroys the world. When they first meet, the two battle it out. Silver almost succeeds in killing Sonic on both his attempts, but on both occasions there's somebody around to save Sonic. It is later revealed that Sonic is not the real Iblis Trigger, and the two hedgehogs set aside their differences. However, the time line is reset at the end of the game, and Sonic and Silver meet again for the first time in Sonic Rivals. They at first do not see eye-to-eye, but they work together in the end.
Another one of Sonic's rivals is Jet the Hawk from Sonic Riders. Jet mocks him for being inexperienced with Extreme Gear (an air-powered hovercraft that comes in the form of skateboards, motorcycles & rollerblades) and does not respect Sonic's title of "fastest thing alive," sparking a rivalry between them. Later, after Sonic beats Jet in a race, they become more friendly, but are still competitive as racing rivals.
[edit] Voice actors
The earliest voice of Sonic was Takeshi Kusao in the game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, a June 1993 arcade release starring Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel.
In September 1993, DiC Entertainment cast Jaleel White, more popularly known as portraying the character of Steve Urkel in Family Matters, as Sonic in its simultaneously released shows Sonic the Hedgehog and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. White would later be cast as Sonic for DiC's 1999 show Sonic Underground. In the segments of Sonic Underground that featured the three protagonists singing, Sonic's singing voice was provided by Samuel Vincent.
In 1996, when the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA was produced in Japan, Sonic was voiced by Masami Kikuchi. The 1999 English-language dub, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, featured Martin Burke in Sonic's role.
Starting with the 1999 game Sonic Adventure, all of Sonic's video games (with the exception of Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2) feature voice acting. Sonic was played by Junichi Kanemaru, who later went on to play Sonic in the Japanese version of Sonic X. Ryan Drummond performed the role of Sonic in Sonic Adventure and continued to play the role for several games.[33] However, 4Kids Entertainment decided not to use Drummond's voice in its English-language dub of Sonic X, instead choosing Jason Griffith. Despite this, Drummond continued to provide the voice of Sonic in the series until 2005, when Sega replaced all its Sonic voice actors with their 4Kids counterparts, in order to keep his voice the same in all media forms, due to Deem Bristow's (who voiced Dr. Eggman) death the same year.[34] Beginning with Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Rush, Griffith became the official English language voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog (and Jet the Hawk in Sonic Riders).
[edit] Associated songs
The video games have featured several theme songs or leitmotifs for the character. Sonic is mostly associated with the rock genre.
- Sonic CD (original soundtrack): "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" - Keiko Utoku.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: "Wizards of the Sonic" - WestBam
Wonderman by Right Said Fred
- "They Call Me Sonic" (1996)
- Sonic Adventure: "It Doesn't Matter" - Crush 40 (Tony Harnell).
- Sonic Adventure 2: "It Doesn't Matter" (remake) - Ted Poley.
- Sonic Heroes: "We Can" - Tony Harnell, Ted Poley. This was a team theme shared with Tails and Knuckles.
- Sonic Riders: "High Flying Groove" - Tomonori Sawada. This was also a team theme shared with Tails and Knuckles.
- Sonic the Hedgehog: "His World" - Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis.
"Sweet Dreams" (remake) - Dreams Come True feat. Akon. This was the ending theme for Sonic's story.
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie: "Look Alike" - Konaka Riu.
