   #copyright

Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Computer & Video games

   Sonic the Hedgehog
   Sonic the Hedgehog has been Sega's mascot for over fifteen years.
   Game series Sonic the Hedgehog
   First game Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
   Creator(s) Naoto Ōshima
   Yuji Naka
   Voice actor(s) (English) Jaleel White (TV) (1993–1999)
   Ryan Drummond (1999–2005)
   Jason Griffith (2005–present)
   Voice actor(s) ( Japanese) Takeshi Kusao (1993)
   Junichi Kanemaru (1998–present)
   In-Universe Information
   Species Hedgehog
   Age 15
   Birthday June 23
   Birthplace Christmas Island

   Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejjihoggu^ ?) is a video
   game character and the protagonist of a series of video games released
   by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The
   first game in the franchise was released in 1991 in order to provide
   Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario. Since
   then, Sonic has become one of the world's best-known video game
   characters, with his series having sold over 44 million copies.

   Artist Naoto Ōshima, designer Hirokazu Yasuhara and programmer Yuji
   Naka are generally credited with the creation of the character, a blue,
   male, anthropomorphic hedgehog, whose ability to run faster than the
   speed of sound is a major part of the gameplay of the series. He is 15
   years old, and, as a hedgehog, is significantly shorter and lighter
   than humans his age, being about 100 centimeters (3 ft 3 in) tall and
   weighing 35 kilograms (77 lb).

History

   In April 1990, Sega did request 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 extendable ears to collect objects; these
   aspects were later incorporated into Ristar). Eventually, Naoto
   Ohshima's spiky hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse", was
   chosen as the new mascot. 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 videogames, Sonic's original design by Naoto
   Ohshima was quite short and childlike, with short quills, a round body,
   and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira
   Watanabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog,
   and most subsequent Sonic videogames 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 videogame designs, with restrictions set by the
   standardised model sheets.

   Sonic's cobalt blue pigmentation was chosen because Sega and Sonic
   Team's logos are cobalt blue, so they decided to have Sonic be blue
   also. One origin story was provided in a promotional comic for the
   original game featured in Disney Adventures, Garfield Magazine, and
   other children's periodicals, which was later elaborated upon in Mike
   Pattenden's Stay Sonic, a book about the character published in the UK.
   This explanation, in which the shockwaves Sonic experienced when he
   first ran at supersonic speed turned him blue and streamlined his
   spikes, later became the basic origin for many subsequent UK
   publications such as Egmont Fleetway's Sonic the Comic.

Appearances

Games

   Sonic started his battle against his nemesis Doctor Eggman in the 1991
   platform game Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis,
   Master System and Game Gear. 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 was solo once again for Sonic CD (1993), in which he used his
   unrivaled speed to travel through time to defeat Eggman and ensure a
   good future for the world, and which also introduced Sonic's
   self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose, and his robotic doppelgänger Metal
   Sonic. Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles (both 1994) saw Sonic and Tails
   battle Eggman yet again, with the additional threat of Knuckles the
   Echidna, tricked by Eggman into fighting Sonic. Other 2D platformers
   starring Sonic include Sonic Chaos (1993), Sonic Triple Trouble (1994),
   Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999), the Sonic Advance series
   (2001—2004) and Sonic Rush (2005).

   The first Sonic platform game in true 3D, Sonic Adventure (1998) was
   the original developer 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, powerful foe named Chaos, under
   the control of Doctor Eggman. It introduced Sonic's homing attack as a
   standard move, included power-ups that awarded him extra abilities for
   the rest of the game, and featured interaction with non-playable
   characters and objects in 3D "Adventure" sequences, where the game
   world could be freely explored. In addition to Sonic, who was given a
   full voice-over for the first time, five other major characters were
   playable, plus Super Sonic. Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) introduced a new
   rival, Shadow the Hedgehog, and several other new characters, and
   involved Sonic on-the-run from the military after being framed for a
   robbery he didn't commit. A third 3D action game, Sonic Heroes,
   featured four different teams made up by three characters in each, and
   marked the return of supporting characters Team Chaotix and Metal
   Sonic. Two other 3D platformers, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic and the
   Secret Rings, are currently in development, though the first game has
   already been released on the Xbox 360.

   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.

   Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Tails Adventures,
   Knuckles Chaotix and Shadow the Hedgehog starred supporting characters
   of the Sonic series; in some of them Sonic had a cameo role. The
   hedgehog has also made cameo appearances in numerous other Sega games
   such as Daytona USA and Christmas NiGHTS.

Television series

   There have been several animated television series featuring Sonic.
   Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was the first and featured Sonic,
   voiced by Jaleel White, and Robotnik, voiced by Long John Baldry. It
   had a very comical take on Sonic's adventures and battles with
   Robotnik. Sonic the Hedgehog, originally broadcast on Saturdays on ABC,
   was broadcast concurrently with the syndicated Adventures series in the
   United States. Sonic was voiced by Jaleel White, and Robotnik was
   voiced by Jim Cummings. The Archie Comics continuity was based heavily
   on this series; it was far more dark and brooding than Adventures,
   which featured a more light hearted and comical tone.

   Sonic Underground, a show in the US, UK and France, ignored the
   continuity of the previous series and introduced two siblings and
   Sonic's mother. White returned to voice Sonic, with Samuel Vincent
   providing his singing voice, while Robotnik was voiced by Gary Chalk.

   Additionally, there was a Sonic the Hedgehog Anime OAV in Japan which
   featured Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman and Metal Sonic. Sonic was
   voiced by Masami Kikuchi in Japan, and Martin Burke in the United
   States where the OAV was marketed as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie. The
   series was a commercial failure in Japan and was cancelled after a
   two-episode run, hence its being released in the US as a movie rather
   than episodes of a series.

   The latest animated Sonic television series, Sonic X, is an anime in
   which a massive Chaos Control blast results in Sonic and his friends
   being transported from his world to the human world (however Season 3
   mainly takes place in Sonic's own world). Like the other television
   series, it has an original storyline not present in any of the games,
   although it can be viewed as an elaboration upon the Sonic Adventure
   games' storylines. Music from the games is used during select key
   moments in the series, and several animation sequences strongly
   resemble cutscenes from the console titles. In addition, the
   characters' designs are based upon the more recent Sonic games'
   character designs. Sonic is voiced by Jun'ichi Kanemaru in the Japanese
   version, and by Jason Griffith in the English version.

Books and comics

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

   The American comics published by Archie Comics, Sonic the Hedgehog
   (1993—) and Sonic X (2005—) are based on the settings established by
   earlier animated TV series, the ABC " SatAM" cartoon and the Sonic X
   anime respectively.

   In Japan, Sonic manga have been published.

Cameos/popularity

   Sonic has proven to be an extremely popular character. After having
   been around only 3 years, he had already surpassed Nintendo's Mario in
   popularity according to a June 1993 Q-Survey in Gameplayers magazine.
   As a result of this popularity, he has been referred to in various
   parts of culture. One of a class of genes involved in fruit fly
   embryonic development, called hedgehog genes, has been named " sonic
   hedgehog" after the character.

   Other references are present in television programs. In the show Hi Hi
   Puffy AmiYumi, in the episode "Camp Capers", Ami is captured by
   Bigfoot. Yumi pretends she is in a video game, and she runs through a
   16-bit forest area, jumps on a crab (thus killing it) then goes at
   sound-barrier-breaking speeds and runs over a checkered loop, obviously
   a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone. An episode of
   Megas XLR spoofed Sonic with a parade balloon called Auggie the
   Adorable Aardvark (that also spoofs Mickey Mouse by wearing the same
   clothes), that was mutated and could do Sonic attacks such as the Spin
   Dash. In the show " 15/Love", in Adena and Tannis' dorm room, there is
   a poster with the cover of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game in it.
   Sonic also made a cameo appearance in the episode of The Simpsons
   entitled " Marge Be Not Proud", voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He appears
   (along with Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and fictional pro golfer Lee
   Carvallo), trying to convince Bart Simpson to steal a video game. On
   Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Space Ghost is seen playing Sonic 3 &
   Knuckles on the guest monitor. Also, on G4's Attack of the Show Video
   Game Director's Cut founder Randy Solem showed a clip from his
   then-most recent short, Sonic the Hedgehog in Bad Bubbles.

   Sonic has also made appearances in films. In the 1996 movie Jingle All
   The Way, in the scene where Jamie arrives at the parade, Sonic can be
   seen as a character marching in the parade. In the movie Hitch, on the
   side of an ice cream truck, there is a picture of a Sonic popsicle.
   Sonic has also appeared in Wayne's World.

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

   Sonic has been a mascot for various sports teams as well. Between 1993
   and 1997, Sega sponsored the JEF United Ichihara Chiba football team.
   During this period, Sonic appeared on the team's uniform. During the
   1993 Formula One championship, Sega sponsored WilliamsF1, which won the
   season. Sonic was featured in the cars, helmets, and rival McLaren used
   to paint a squashed hedgehog after winning races over Williams. The
   1993 European Grand Prix featured a Sonic balloon and Sonic billboards.
   The trophy was a statue of the hedgehog. He has also done quite well in
   the annual Character Battle contests held on GameFAQs.

Voice acting

   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, as Sonic in their
   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 1996, when the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA was produced in Japan, Sonic
   was voiced by Masami Kikuchi. The 1999 English-language dub featured
   Martin Burke in Sonic's role.

   Starting with the 1999 game Sonic Adventure, all of Sonic's video games
   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. However, 4Kids Entertainment decided not to
   use Drummond's voice in their US/UK dub of Sonic X, instead choosing
   their own Jason Griffith. Despite this, Drummond continued to provide
   the voice of Sonic in the series until 2005, when Sega replaced all
   their Sonic voice actors with their 4Kids counterparts, in order to
   keep his voice the same in all media forms. Effectively, this meant
   that beginning with Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Rush, Jason Griffith
   became the official game voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow
   the Hedgehog (and Jet the Hawk in Sonic Riders). This has been a
   controversial decision among fans of the Sonic Adventure series and
   Sonic Heroes voice cast.

   Griffith's voice has been negatively viewed by some fans of the old
   voice cast of the Sonic series, as his voice for Sonic had been
   criticized by fans of lacking the enthusiasm that Sonic's last voice
   actor Ryan Drummond put into the role and not being able to fit
   Shadow's personality as well as David Humphrey did.

   More recently however, Sega has announced that they might have no need
   for the 4Kids voice actors in the future, which may lead to their
   firing and replacement, possibly by the original actors (except for
   Pollock). Ryan Drummond has sent an email to Sega about the 4kids
   voices (except for Mike Pollock) to see if they have left for good. If
   this is true, the original cast for the Sonic series (Ryan Drummond,
   David Humphrey, Scott Dreier, etc.) might return. However, Ryan
   understands that it won't be easy negotiating with Sega.

Character

Personality

   Sonic has been described as being "like the wind", and is noted for
   being free-spirited and adventurous. He enjoys relaxation, but is never
   one to rest in the face of injustice. He is extremely benevolent, and
   willingly puts himself at risk to help others, taking on any challenge
   that confronts him without hesitation. However, Sonic is not generally
   modest when it comes to his abilities; in fact, he is often portrayed
   as being narcissistic and self-absorbed. The British Sonic the Comic
   presented him as being bossy and arrogant, often making cruel jokes
   about his friend Tails, and characters regularly referred to his
   strange sense of humour.

   Sonic is an all around, fun-loving kind of hedgehog. His favorite food
   is gumballs and chili dogs. He displays an interest in rock music, and
   in the cartoon Sonic Underground was a vocalist in his own band. Some
   official character art and a television commercial for Sonic Adventure
   suggests that he has a personal hobby as a DJ. Furthermore, it is
   displayed in Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS that Sonic also enjoys
   breakdancing as it is one of his primary ways for filling up his Rush
   meter. His battle moves in Sonic Battle are also based on breakdancing,
   as mentioned in the attack descriptions. Lastly, he breakdances in
   Sonic Advance 3 if he finishes a level in a short-enough time.

Destiny

   In Sonic & Knuckles, a mural deep in Angel Island's Hidden Palace
   fortells the battle between Super Sonic and Eggman for the Master
   Emerald that would occur in the game's Doomsday Zone. Knuckles
   initially misread the mural to mean that Eggman would protect the
   Master Emerald from a villainous Sonic, but he eventually realized the
   truth. There is also speculation that as Gerald Robotnik had studied
   Echidna culture he at some point had seen the mural and the lasting
   image played a hand in the appearance of Shadow the Hedgehog, given
   that Shadow looks extremely like Super Sonic.

   In Sonic the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog is led to believe that Sonic
   is 'the Iblis Trigger', the one responsible for starting a situation
   which plunges the world into ruin. This turns out to be a half truth
   created by Mephiles the Dark. The threat in question, Iblis, was sealed
   within Princess Elise who had grown emotionally attached to Sonic.
   Mephiles misinformed Silver in the hopes he would kill Sonic, which in
   turn would cause Elise enough trauma to release the seal on Iblis. The
   word Iblis relates to the equivalent of the devil, or Satan, in Islamic
   culture.

Home

   The games: Sonic's home planet is Earth (although the name has varied
   slightly depending on minor regional differences). He lives at a
   location known as South Island during Sonic 1, and (according to early
   written material from Sonic Team) was originally born on Christmas
   Island.

   Although Sonic has always lived on Earth to players living in Japan
   during the 1990s 16-bit era, players elsewhere then believed that
   Sonic's home world was called "Mobius" because of localized information
   provided by some later American and European instruction manuals. This
   name stemmed from a mistranslation of the word "Mobius" in a 1992 Sega
   Visions interview with Yuji Naka; he was in fact referring to a Mobius
   strip used in Sonic 2. However, games produced since 1999's Sonic
   Adventure have clearly taken place on Earth, and all of them use the
   same story and names regardless of the language they are played in.
   Sonic Adventure 2 was the first game of the franchise to consistently
   use the term "Earth" in-game, a standard which holds true down to the
   present day. It, its remake Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, and subsequent
   game Shadow the Hedgehog even show views of Earth from space.

   Western fiction: In all American and European comics, cartoons, books
   and some manuals published before 1999, Sonic's home is a planet called
   Mobius. The long-standing US Archie comic expand on the relationship
   between Mobius and Earth, as Mobius is revealed to once having been
   Earth. After Xorda aliens set off a Gene Bomb, wiping out almost the
   entire human race, animals mutated and evolved into the various species
   what are now called 'Mobians' with alongside what little humans were
   left. The time line in the Archie comic series is set about 1,400 years
   in the future(As stated in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic issue 150). The
   British spin-off Sonic the Comic stated that the version of Mobius in
   that comic is a world completely separate from Earth, and is described
   as the Earth's sister planet (to the point of actual humans from Earth
   invading it). In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic
   Underground, two other Sonic cartoon series, no relationship between
   Earth and Mobius had been noted.

   Sonic OVA: Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie took place on a planet known
   as "Planet Freedom". During the course of the movie, it is explained
   that the world is split into two dimensions: The Land of the Sky, which
   is home to Sonic and his friends, and the Land of Darkness, where Dr.
   Eggman resides. It is heavily implied that this planet is in fact a
   future Earth.

   Sonic X: Sonic's home in the Sonic X anime series is an unknown planet
   in an alternate reality that shares the same space as Earth, as
   revealed in Episode 49. This logically suggests that the planet is
   indeed an alternative Earth, although this has not been explicitly
   confirmed. This planet however appears only briefly in the show, with
   the majority of the action first taking place on "our" Earth, and later
   in outer space.

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. In the games, his super speed has not been explained,
   although according to the official American Sega website, he was born
   with this ability. A promotional comic printed in Disney Adventures
   magazine and other publications in 1991 established an origin story
   (later used in numerous British publications including Stay Sonic and
   Sonic the Comic) in which his running ability was achieved through
   training on a high-tech treadmill until he surpassed the speed of
   sound. Stay Sonic also gave his fastest recorded speed as 761 mph,
   while in the Archie Comics, a response to a piece of fan mail stated
   that the fastest he ever ran was Mach 2, and that in his super form he
   can travel at the speed of light. In both Stay Sonic and the Adventures
   of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, Sonic's distinctive "Power Sneaker"
   shoes are used to protect his feet from the heat arising from the
   friction involved when running at such speeds. Soap shoes with a
   similar design and colour scheme were featured in Sonic Adventure 2,
   which introduced Sonic's ability to grind on rails.

   In the original 2D games, once Sonic had reached his top speed, he ran
   with his arms fixed pointing forwards. However, in the 3D titles, Sonic
   CD and the Sonic Advance series, his top-speed running animation was
   altered so that his arms trailed behind him and that he leaned forwards
   more. This animation is copied by most of the other, super-fast
   characters.

   Many of his abilities are variations on the tendency for hedgehogs to
   roll into tight balls for protection. His primary offensive maneuver is
   the spin jump (or "Sonic Spin Attack"); as Sonic jumps, he curls up and
   spins round, damaging any enemies which come into contact with him.
   This ability was enhanced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with the introduction
   of the "Insta-Shield", which allows Sonic to momentarily surround
   himself with a spherical force field, giving him a split-second's worth
   of protection, and slightly increasing his attack range while jumping.

   He can also curl into a ball while running, allowing his momentum to
   carry him along in an equally dangerous attack. Although
   well-protected, in this position he cannot maintain his top speed, and
   curling up limits the amount of control he (and the player) has over
   his movements. The "Spin-Dash", introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2,
   allows Sonic to quickly accelerate into this roll from a stationary
   position. The "Super Peel-Out" introduced in Sonic CD (also known as
   the "Figure Eight" move in the comics, so called due to the shape his
   feet take when he does this) accelerates him in a similar manner, but
   allows him to remain running in an upright position and the camera
   sticks to Sonic when in maximum speed.

   In the upcoming game Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic can trigger a
   speed boost in which he is surrounded in flames and is invulnerable.
   His super move in Sonic Rivals has a similar effect, but it may not be
   the same power.

   Another of Sonic's moves is the homing attack, introduced in Sonic
   Adventure. Sonic performs the homing attack in midair during a jump,
   speeding towards a target in his ball form to damage or destroy it.
   Sonic can perform multiple homing attacks in rapid succession; as he
   bounces off of one target, he can aim for another one and attack it.
   Alternatively, Sonic can use the homing attack to hit a single target
   multiple times. Sonic can run or bounce across the surface of water,
   but he cannot swim. In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, a water shield allows
   Sonic to breathe underwater, but in the 3D Sonic games, landing in
   water is usually the equivalent of instant death. In the Fleetway comic
   book Sonic the Comic, his inability to swim was one of his major
   weaknesses for a long time. Sonic's fear of water is often alluded to
   in the animated series Sonic X and Sonic Underground, though in Episode
   9 of Sonic X, Sonic is seen to be able to swim when he rescues Amy from
   drowning he gained this strength because he is devoted to help those in
   need especially his friends.

   In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic is able to use Chaos Control like Shadow
   the Hedgehog, and is also shown using the ability even without a real
   Chaos Emerald.

   Also, Sonic has shown an incredible degree of strength in one episode
   of Sonic X. This would suggest that Sonic may have super strength, but
   this does not apply to the actual Sonic storyline.

   In Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic is given abilities such as the Homing
   Attack (farther range and straight), Bounce Attack, and Spin Dash and
   is given new attacks such as Slide Attack (Anti-Gravity) and Sliding
   Kick. Gems give Sonic different abilities such as Mach Speed (Blue Gem)
   which allows him to go at top speed, Slow Time (Red Gem) which slows
   down time, Tornado Slide Kick (Green Gem) which creates a tornado when
   using a Sliding Kick, Shrink (Purple Gem) which shrinks Sonic, giving
   him infinite jumps and camera zoom-out, G.U.N. Drive (Sky Blue Gem)
   which causes him to follow the gem as he throws it when even airborne,
   Homing Attack Stabilise (White Gem) which leaves Sonic airborne when
   preparing a homing attack, and Infinite Thunder Shield (Yellow Gem).

Transformations

   Since the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic has had the
   ability to transform into an incredibly powerful form known as Super
   Sonic. The transformation is triggered by collecting all seven Chaos
   Emeralds, and at least fifty rings. As Super Sonic, he is even faster
   than normal, can jump higher, can fly, and is invincible to most
   attacks and obstacles. Sonic's appearance also changes; his body
   becomes yellowish-gold, his quills rise into a wilder arrangement, his
   eyes turn red, and he physically resembles Shadow. A slight continuity
   error in the Super Sonic levels is that Sonic can breath in space,
   obviously not needing oxygen, yet he can drown underwater. It is widely
   speculated that the visual appearance of Super Sonic, and the means
   used to assume the form, are homages to the manga/anime series Dragon
   Ball, in which the heroes assume " Super Saiyan" forms with spiky,
   glowing yellow hair, and quest for the seven mystical Dragon Balls,
   comparable to the seven Chaos Emeralds.

   Sonic 3 and Knuckles introduced the even more powerful Hyper Sonic.
   Hyper Sonic glows with the colors of the Chaos Emeralds, is surrounded
   by glowing sparks, and leaves afterimages in his wake. Unlike Super
   Sonic, he cannot drown underwater. He also wields the devastating
   "lightning flash" attack which can be used to "double-jump" in any
   direction; when it is performed, it destroys all enemies on-screen with
   a bright flash. Hyper Sonic was only available in Sonic 3 and Knuckles,
   which featured seven Chaos Emeralds and seven Super Emeralds, instead
   of seven Chaos Emeralds.

   In the games, Sonic always has full control in his Super and Hyper
   Sonic forms. However, in Sonic the Comic, Super Sonic was portrayed as
   a psychopath bent on causing destruction, attacking friends just as
   readily as enemies. In STC, it was also possible for the hedgehog to
   transform into Super Sonic even when away from the Chaos Emeralds,
   during times of great stress or anger, similar to the Marvel Comics
   character the Hulk. In addition, issue #66 of the Archie Sonic the
   Hedgehog comic introduced an Ultra Sonic form.

   Episode 67 of the television series Sonic X also featured Dark Super
   Sonic. Triggered by his anger, grief, and fear for Cosmo and Chris,
   this form turns Sonic's body black and surrounds him with a black smoky
   effect. An ascended form of Sonic gone out of control from grief and
   stress, this character had a personality similar to Fleetway's Super
   Sonic. However, it only appeared for a few minutes, until Dr. Eggman
   arrived and calmed Sonic down.

Relationships

Friends

   Sonic's best friend is a golden-red young fox called Miles "Tails"
   Prower. Tails idolizes Sonic and sees him as a mentor, while Sonic
   views Tails as a little brother. This is particularly prevalent in the
   Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog TV series, in which Sonic takes in
   Tails, an orphan unaware of who his parents are. This weakness of Tails
   is used a few times by Doctor Eggman to lure and capture him so that he
   can use Tails as bait to capture Sonic. Sonic and Tails are rarely
   without each other - they often go emerald searching, as seen in Sonic
   Adventure, or stop Eggman's plans together. In Sonic Advance 3, when
   the two are chosen as a team, they are described as the "Unbreakable
   Bond".

   In the video games, Amy Rose is a young girl who acts the part of
   Sonic's girlfriend. 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, as seen in Sonic CD,
   Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Riders. In Sonic Advance
   3, when the two are chosen as a team, they are described as a "Lovely
   Couple", however while Amy links arms with Sonic, delighted, Sonic
   sweatdrops and looks like he does not enjoy being partnered with her.
   Still, he does appreciate all the times Amy has pulled through for him,
   such as in a scene in Sonic the Hedgehog, where Amy protected him from
   being attacked by Silver.

   Another friend of Sonic is Knuckles the Echidna. They first met as
   enemies in Sonic 3, and although they are now allies, they can usually
   be found fighting. Knuckles and Sonic are both good friends, yet also
   rivals and equally powerful (or, rather, Sonic's speed is equally
   balanced with Knuckles' strength), which explains why there never was a
   final victorious ending in their fights. Although he is envious of
   Sonic's adventurous lifestyle, Knuckles still dislikes Sonic's carefree
   nature. On the other hand, Sonic sees Knuckles as being far too serious
   and perhaps even a bit thickheaded, on occasion referring to him as
   "Knucklehead". In Sonic Advance 3, when the two are chosen as a team,
   they are described as "Fighting Buddies".

   Sonic is also friends with Cream the Rabbit, a six year old girl. Sonic
   does not converse with her very much, as they do not seem to share many
   interests. As is seen in Sonic Advance 2, he is very impressed by her
   manners. 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 brought to Sonic's world from another
   dimension. 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. Similar to Sonic's transformation with the Chaos
   Emeralds, she has the ability to transform into Burning Blaze using the
   Sol Emeralds from her world.

   Emerl had a sort of father-son relationship with Sonic. 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.

   The three comical detectives known as Team Chaotix do not seem to know
   Sonic very well, despite the fact that Vector the Crocodile, the
   group's leader, was originally conceived as Sonic's bandmate in the
   very first Sonic game. They do however seem to have a friendly
   relationship and they were able to work together to defeat Metal Sonic
   without a problem.

   Princess Elise is the princess of Soleanna, and vessel of the Flames of
   Disaster. They first meet in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), when Sonic
   saves her from getting kidnapped by Dr. Eggman. As they are together,
   Sonic's company makes Elise truly happy ever since her father dies.
   When Sonic dies, she even brings him back to life with a kiss, also
   turning him into Super Sonic. This is the first time Sonic's ever been
   this close to a female character emotionally. Whether or not something
   may develop between them in the future is still uncertain. Still, it is
   unlikely for any relationship to continue, as during Sonic the
   Hedgehog, their memories of each other were erased along with the
   complete story line.

Enemies and rivals

   Sonic's eternal enemy is Dr. Eggman, also known as Doctor Robotnik.
   Eggman is a brilliant scientist who uses his numerous machines to
   attempt to conquer the world, but Sonic has always intervened. Sonic
   originally fought Dr. Eggman because he was turning his animal friends
   into robotic slaves, known as Badniks in the West. The oppostion
   between Sonic and Eggman symbolises the conflict between technology and
   nature. After that, Eggman tried multiple times to conquer the Earth by
   using the Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones and Master Emerald. Often, these
   would be used to power Robotnik's huge Mech suits, gigantic and
   incredibly powerful images of himself. However, in the recent games,
   Dr. Eggman has taken a different approach, using warships and even a
   nuclear missile in his bid to conquer the world.

   Sonic's first friendly rival was Knuckles, who fought to deter the
   Hedgehog's progress in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It has also taken place in
   the Archie Comics, Fleetway Comics, Sonic X and in Sonic Underground.
   This rivalry sparked many battles, both in the video games and the TV
   Series. In all continuities, this stems from a misunderstanding,
   usually prompted by Knuckles falling victim to deception from various
   villains. Virtually every video game in which Knuckles appeared in
   featured at least one battle between the two, the tradition ending in
   Sonic Adventure 2. In later games, Sonic and Knuckles' rivalry becomes
   more friendly, even developing into a sort of competition, which serves
   as a side plot for the game Sonic Rivals.

   One of Sonic's major rivals is Shadow the Hedgehog, the "Ultimate Life
   Form". They became rivals in Sonic Adventure 2, and they have fought
   and argued with each other whenever they meet in every game since. 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. In Sonic Heroes, they joined forces in the battle against
   Metal Sonic.

   Before Shadow's introduction, Metal Sonic was one of Sonic's fiercest
   adversaries. During the older days, 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 in the spotlight now, Metal Sonic still remains a
   serious threat, as the storyline in Sonic Heroes demonstrated. In the
   game, Metal Sonic became so powerful that only three Super forms could
   defeat him. Sonic later vows to battle him again in the final cutscene.

   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.

   Black Doom is also one of Sonic's enemies, along with the Black Arms
   aliens who try to invade Earth in search of the Chaos Emeralds. While
   Black Doom is primarily Shadow the Hedgehog's main enemy, (or ally,
   depending on the route the player takes) Black Doom is still considered
   one of Sonic's enemies due to his actions against innocent people. (It
   should be noted that Black Doom sees humanity as being far from
   innocent; however, this is likely little more than justification for
   Black Doom's plan to use humans as a food source for the Black Arms.)
   Sonic can battle Black Doom along with Shadow in one of the game's boss
   battles against him.

   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 appearence. Silver comes from the future, where he was
   misinformated by Mephiles the Dark, who told him Sonic was the Iblis
   Trigger, and would cause a world wide catastrophe; this was only
   half-true, as while Princess Elise was the real Iblis Trigger, it was
   Sonic's death (achieved by Mephiles) that caused her to cry and release
   Iblis; this was the reason why Mephiles tricked Silver. Though Sonic
   does battle Silver when the first meet, Silver soon figures out that
   Sonic is not the real Iblis Trigger, and the two hedgehogs set aside
   their differences.

Love life

   Sonic X: Sonic's relationship with Amy Rose is further developed in
   Sonic X than in the games. In this version the two share a more mutual
   friendship and work together far more often. Sonic even promises Amy a
   date at one time (however, this is only in the English dub), and
   numerous times the two are more intimate.

   Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The cartoon featured a beautiful,
   robotic (unbeknownst to Sonic) girlfriend named Breezie Hedgehog.
   Breezie abused Sonic, asking him for impossible things, exhausting his
   infatuation with her to capture and trap him by order of Robotnik.
   Breezie realized she was wrong and set Sonic free, this time being
   sincere with Sonic. As time passed, she would later end up having a
   relationship with Robotnik Jr.

   SatAM: In the Saturday morning cartoon, Sonic's love interest is
   Princess Sally Acorn. The two share a co-leadership role of the Freedom
   Fighters and parent/sibling/aunt type roles over Tails. Sonic and Sally
   are the same age and often do missions together against Robotnik.
   Although the two have obvious crushes for each other, they had opposite
   personalities that conflict, because of which they had a hard time
   admitting their affections. Sally finds Sonic to be too carefree and an
   airhead, while Sonic finds her to be serious and prissy. However, in
   the final episode, the two kiss.

   Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic: The main American Sonic comic (
   Archie Comics) has by far the most complex love triangles of all Sonic
   related media. Love interests within the series include Sally Acorn,
   Amy Rose, Mina Mongoose and Fiona Fox. For more details on this topic,
   see Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie character).

   Fleetway's Sonic the Comic: Early appearances of Amy Rose in the UK
   comic portray her as being so enamored with Sonic that she openly lies
   about being his girlfriend, leading to her being captured by Robotnik's
   forces for consorting with an outlaw. After being rescued, she joins
   Sonic's Freedom Fighters and repeatedly teases and pesters Sonic with
   her affections. Writer Nigel Kitching intended to create an air of
   ambiguity as to whether or not she really doted over Sonic, was just
   winding him up for fun, or both. However, this was played down and
   finally dropped entirely as time went on – largely as a result of the "
   Girl Power" phenomenon sweeping the United Kingdom – and Amy
   transitioned from being a lovesick hanger-on into a capable,
   intelligent hero in her own right.

Alternate versions

   Archie's Sonic comic features Sonic with alternate dimensional versions
   of himself. One such version is known as Evil Sonic who hails from
   Anti-Mobius in a parallel dimension. He is as brash and arrogant as
   Sonic, but is self-important, ruthless, and sadistic with a desire for
   mayhem, truly making him Sonic's opposite or "Anti-Sonic." Archie's
   Sonic comic recently bore witness to an evolution of Evil Sonic when he
   tried to siphon off energy from the Master Emerald, evolving into what
   he now calls himself, Scourge the Hedgehog.

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

   In the Archie comics, Sonic's real name is revealed to be Olgilvie
   Maurice Hedgehog. He tries desperately to protect that information,
   possibly out of embarrassment. This name is not canon (official) in the
   game continuity, however, and he is simply known as Sonic the Hedgehog
   in the games. It is unknown why his name was changed in the comics.

   In Sonic the Comic, Sonic encounters an alternate reality where he
   became evil instead of Kintobor. King Sonic and his Badniks ruled this
   alternate Mobius until Sonic forced him to turn into Super Sonic, who
   (in his reality) was a mellow hippie.

Theme Songs

   In the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series, the opening theme, which was
   mostly about Sonic, was called Fastest Thing Alive, though in the shows
   he was often accompanied by music similar to the main theme from Back
   to the Future, ironic since Sonic often left flame trails behind him in
   the cartoon similar to those of the time machine in the aforementioned
   film.
     * Sonic Adventure: "It Doesn't Matter" - Tony Harnell.
     * Sonic Adventure 2: "It Doesn't Matter"(remake) - Tony Harnell.
     * 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" - Zebrahead

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