Sonic the Hedgehog

For the video games, see Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit), Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), Sonic the Hedgehog (LCD game), Sonic the Hedgehog (arcade game), or Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game). For other eponymous media see Sonic the Hedgehog (disambiguation).

Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Romaji: Sonikku za hejjihoggu), "The Most Famous Hedgehog In The World," is the flagship character for home and arcade game (and former game console) maker Sega. Designed to compete with Nintendo's mascot Mario, the two companies went head to head for over a decade, until Sega pulled out of the home console market.

Sega has made numerous video games staring Sonic since his debut in 1991, spanning five generations of console manufacturing. Through numerous aggressive ad campaigns (the most famous being the touting of "Blast Processing," described as being able to render sprites at extreme speeds but actually referring to the CPU's clock rate), Sonic soon became the most recognizable fictional character in the world, even beating out Mickey Mouse. While his glory days may be behind him, Sonic is still a significant part of gaming, and it can not be denied that he forever changed the gaming world.

Character Conception

File:S1concept-HEDGEHOG.jpg

Early design of Sonic the Hedgehog.

By 1990, Sega had grown tired of playing second-fiddle to Nintendo, and sought to redefine their image with a game that would be able to go head to head with the Super Mario Bros. series. Up to this point, Sega had been using Alex Kidd as their unofficial mascot for their Master System outings, but the corporate heads wanted to present something that could directly compete with the Mario character, and in the process knock Nintendo from the number one spot of the gaming world. An internal competition was held to find that new mascot that would both appeal to a wide audience and showcase what their latest system, the Mega Drive, was capable of. While many designs were introduced ranging from a Felix-inspired Rabbit to an American-looking bulldog, and even early designs of what would end up being Dr. Eggman and Mighty the Armadillo, it was Naoto Ohshima's simple hedgehog design that caught everyone's attention.

Originally named "Mr. Needlemouse," the design of the small, blue, spiny being took many cues from American culture. The look of Sonic's classic buckled shoes took direct inspiration from Michael Jackson's boots from his "Bad" album, while the color scheme was taken from the most famous character of all time - Santa Claus. Sonic's personality, on the other hand, was directly inspired by future-President Bill Clinton, who Ohshima felt embodied a modern sensibility of wanting to get things done right away, righting wrongs as they presented themselves instead of letting them linger.

With character in hand, and the future of Sega riding on them, Sega's AM8 division (who decided to call themselves "Sonic Team") set about making what they would hope become a successful game. While Ohshima was responsible for the look of Sonic the Hedgehog, he was only one part of the team that helped bring him to life. It was Yuji Naka that helped instill Sonic's trademark sense of speed by programming what was, at the time, the fastest game anyone had played on a home console. Having been obsessed with speed as a youth, he relished creating a game engine designed around a character who was also focused on speed, even going as far as removing the original throwing-element of gameplay because it slowed down the overall flow. Rounding off the classic trio was Hirokazu Yasuhara, the Game Planner and Director, making sure all the pieces of the game fit together, while at the same time creating fun and memorable levels that would make people want more. The work of these three men, along with the other 12 members of the team, helped propel Sonic the Hedgehog to heights not even Sega could have foreseen.

The success of Sonic the Hedgehog caused other companies to take notice, and the trend of anthropomorphic mascots was born, With Sparkster, Bubsy, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Blinx, and Sly Cooper being just a few characters that tried to emulate Sonic the Hedgehog. While some were more successful than others, none could reach the heights Sonic skyrocketed to.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Game)

Origin of Sonic

In the original game continuity, Sonic's past is never explicitly explained, and perhaps purposefully never hinted at. According to the Sonic the Hedgehog Technical Documents, Sonic was born on Christmas Island, but the island never appears within the games. The only other piece of information of Sonic's past is that he and Dr. Eggman have had a fierce rivalry that has existed long before the original Sonic the Hedgehog console game. While he has traveled South Island many times, Sonic is something of a nomad, traveling from area to area looking for new places and things to do. The only time he slows down is when he has to stop Dr. Eggman once again, foiling whatever new scheme to take over the world he has.

Those same documents which were also included in the Sonic Adventure 2 Birthday Pack offer a more whimsical story in which Sonic the Hedgehog was originally a fictional character created by Mary Garnet inspired by her husband who wanted to break the sound barrier. After a tragic accident, the man and the hedgehog are slowly forgotten about until another accident at an air show in which a freelance camera woman is saved by a mysterious force, who she believes is Sonic the Hedgehog. However, this story has never been referenced in the games, and only acknowledged by the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog as a fictional story, solely intended to grab people's attention to the Mega Drive original.

Personality and Traits

Sonic the Hedgehog's profile from Sonic Jam.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a 15 year old blue hedgehog who lives in no particular locale on the planet Earth, instead choosing to travel the world looking for fun and adventure wherever he goes. While he may be a drifter, that doesn't mean he only cares about himself. Over the course of the games, Sonic meets other people who he becomes close with, such as the over-eager sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower, the friendly rival Knuckles the Echidna, and the obsessive fangirl Amy Rose. While some games show Sonic as more of an a-typical hero than others, traditionally he is someone who plays by his own rules, while maintaining a strong sense of justice. Even though he looks out for the underdog, he does not dedicate his life to romanticized ideals, oftentimes fighting Dr. Eggman for the fun and adventure of it all. Even though he doesn't let others dictate his actions, he won't hesitate if his friends are in trouble, and while he maintains a calm and cool attitude, he knows when to get serious when the stakes are high.

If there is one characteristic that defines Sonic the Hedgehog, it would have to be his supersonic speed. Able to go to Mach 1 on his own power, it is this that sets him apart from the other characters in the series. While other characters in the series have speeds that nearly match Sonic's, it isn't unusual to see him waiting for everyone else to show up, tapping his foot and crossing his arms in impatience. Sonic also has the ability to curl up into a ball and perform a spin attack, which makes his quills a deadly enough weapon to cut through the doctor's machines and free whatever animal may lie inside. He also possesses the spin dash, in which Sonic curls into a ball, revving up enough speed where he can dash ahead without having to build up the momentum beforehand. While the spin attack and the spin dash have been emulated by many other members in the cast, they have not been able to recreate the Super Peel-Out move, in which Sonic builds up even more momentum while standing, his legs moving so fast they become a figure 8 to the naked eye. However, Sonic is not infallible, his one major weakness being that he is incapable of swimming, forced to run along the bottom of whatever water-filled zone he happens to be in, relying on any air bubbles that spring up to prevent him from drowning.

Sonic also has the capability of transforming into a super-powered version through the use of whatever mystical item Sonic has to collect during his adventures, such as the Chaos Emeralds and the World Rings. Among his many transformations are Super Sonic, Hyper Sonic, and Darkspine Sonic. It is usually this transformation that drives the final confrontation in each installment of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Interestingly, while Sonic can still drown while in his Super Sonic transformation, he cannot while being Hyper Sonic.

Sonic in Other Media

Due to the fractured nature of bring Sonic into other mediums, Sonic's origin story has not remain consistent when transformed into television, comic books, or even localized for Western markets. Because of this, there are many conflicting origin stories regarding the character "Sonic the Hedgehog."

Westernized Game Localization

Sonic turns to his familiar blue hue. The promotional comic was published in such magazines as EGM.

Not content with the simple explanation provided by Sega of Japan, Sega of America set to create their own origin of Sonic, meant to appeal to an American, and by extension, European audience. The first published version of this story, a comic written by Francis Mao, took a direction decidedly different from the Japanese explanation. In the comic, which takes the form of an extended flashback, Sonic explains to his animal friends how Robotnik, who has been terrorizing them, was actually once Dr. Ovi Kintobor, a benevolent scientist who only wanted to save the world from evil. Discovering his hidden laboratory before the transformation, Kintobor is stunned to find the small, brown, prickly hedgehog calling himself Sonic. They quickly become friends, and Kintobor shows Sonic around his lab, introducing him to the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (R.O.C.C. for short). Maintained by Containment Rings (which are meant to be the rings one collects in the games), the R.O.C.C. is powered by six Chaos Emeralds floating within, tasked to absorb all the evil energy on the planet Mobius. However, without the final seventh emerald, the R.O.C.C. remains in a state of flux.

In the interim, Kintobor decides to study Sonic's speed, putting him on an experimental treadmill meant to gauge how quickly he could run. In no time, Sonic reaches the speed of sound, causing the treadmill to explode and turning his hue from dirty brown to a brilliant blue. Kintobor says it must be the "cobalt effect," and makes him a pair of frictionless shoes to allow Sonic to keep on hitting these speeds.

One fateful day, however, Kintobor asked Sonic to bring him a soda and a hardboiled egg, and due to the doctor's clumsiness, spilled the soda onto the control panel of the R.O.C.C., infusing him with the total collected evil energy stored within. The transformation, aided by the hardboiled egg, caused Kintobor to take on the shape of the egg, completing the process to turn the gentle doctor into the villainous Dr. Ivo Robotnik. This version of the story was later rewritten by Mike Pattenden in the book Stay Sonic: Official Sega Handbook.

An early proposal of the Westernized version of the Sonic story, in which some elements were used to make the above, can be read here.

Shogakukan Manga

One of the earliest transitions for Sonic from video game hero to alternate media, the Sonic the Hedgehog manga from the publication Shogaku Yonensei has Sonic as an alter-ego of another hedgehog named Nicky, who can transform into Sonic when need be. He is joined by Miles "Tails" Prower while in Sonic form, while in Nicky form he has an entirely different supporting cast, including early forms of Charmy Bee and Amy Rose, who was his actual girlfriend instead of the self-proclaimed-but-not-really girlfriend of the games.

Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)

The Saturday Morning cartoon Sonic the Hedgehog featured a vastly different origin than any previous continuity up to that point. While still portrayed as the "blue dude with an attitude," Sonic lives not on a planet that Dr. Robotnik wants to take over, but has already succeeded in doing so. Having conquered Mobius while Sonic was only five years old, and overthrowing the Acorn Kingdom, Sonic and a small group of friends are forced to grow up in a secluded area known as Knothole, located in the Great Forest. The majority of Mobium citizens have undergone a process known as Roboticization, created by Sonic's Uncle Chuck for benevolent purposes but misused by Doctor Robotnik.

Once Sonic and the rest of the Knothole Freedom Fighters reach their teenage years, they set about overthrowing Dr. Robotnik, his nephew Snively, and his entire evil empire. Sonic is joined by Princess Sally (the love interest), Rotor Walrus (the go-to tech guy), Bunnie Rabbot (the sassy half-robotocized friend), Antoine D'Coolette (the comic relief), and Miles "Tails" Prower (the ever-loving sidekick) as they attempt to revert Robotropolis back to the city they tried to grow up in, Mobotropolis, and rescue the exiled King Acorn from "The Void."

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie)

The Archie comic book series, Sonic The Hedgehog, takes the same basic premise of the [Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)|Saturday Morning]] series, having Sonic and the rest fight off the evil Dr. Robotnik and attempt to free their home and their planet. However, Robotnik's grip is not as strong, as there are more pockets of resistance and less Roboticized Mobians within the story. Also, since the early issues also used concepts from the series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the doctor was not originally portrayed as harshly as his televised counterpart, although the writing staff attempted to bring him closer to this level once they reached the infamous "Endgame" story arc.

Because of the serialized nature of the medium, and the tendencies of former main writer Ken Penders, Sonic's portrayal has ranged from the overtly silly to the dark and dreary. While Princess Sally is still presented as his main love interest, other characters such as Mina Mongoose have created love triangles and soap opera-esque tales that do not fit in with the style and personality of the video game series.

The comic has also embraced the idea of Sonic being obsessed with chili dogs, a trait that runs through the DiC Entertainment produced animated series.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, produced concurrently with Sonic's other animated series Sonic the Hedgehog put Sonic once again on the planet Mobius, but tried to stay a bit closer to the games, making Sonic and Tails the main characters. Robotnik, while a dictator in his own mind, is never shown as actually having any part of Mobius truly under his thumb, or any real power whatsoever. Instead, he tries time and time again to defeat Sonic the Hedgehog, never succeeding. Sonic's attitude in the series reflects what was considered hip in the early to mid 90's, and the series (and the characters within) never take themselves too seriously, even when the stakes seem to be higher.

Sonic the Comic

The UK-based Sonic the Comic, produced by Fleetway, took the origin story that Sega of America had produced as a basis, later introducing concepts and ideas from the other Sonic media of the time. While at first a very basic comic book, issue #8 retold the Kintobor origin, at the same time having Robotnik sending Sonic a few months into the future. Instead of having Sonic prevent Robotnik from taking over the world, he now had to liberate Mobius with the help of staples like Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose, as well as alternate versions of his animal friends from the games, Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis.

While many other original elements were presented, the comic tried to keep as strong ties to the original games as possible, using enemies and zones from the games in the storyline. Sonic, meanwhile, possessed a slightly harder edge to his personality than in the DiC-produced animated series, being slightly more obsessed with himself and even being vocally aggressive to his friends.

At one point, it is revealed that Robotnik was not the one who originally designed Metal Sonic (called Metallix in the comic book), but that it was instead created by his assistant Grimer, and that Robotnik only installed a self-destruct mechanism in the off-chance they would rebel against him. When discovered, the Metallix go back in time to prevent the creation of Dr. Robotnik so this fail-safe device would not be implanted within them, forcing Sonic to go back in time and insure that Dr. Kintobor would indeed transform into the evil doctor. Because of this, Sonic realized that he was the one responsible for the creation of his greatest enemy, and the events that had transpired so far in the series.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Anime)

Produced with supervision by Sonic Team, this two-part Japanese anime brought to life another version of Sonic the Hedgehog, also based on the games but once again being significantly different. While he is once again given no clear backstory, Sonic's personality leans more toward his Fleetway counterpart than his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog one. While he will still rush in to save his friends, there are times when he wishes to be left alone, and tries to avoid or ignore everyone else around him.

Sonic Underground

Once again creating a completely different origin story, DiC choose to produce an animated series having nothing to do with either of their previous efforts. Born into a royal family, Sonic and his two siblings, Manic and Sonia, are separated from their mother because of the intervention of Dr. Robotnik, who overthrows the kingdom. Maintaining his rule by appealing to the upper class, Dr. Robotnik's role as dictator forces the three hedgehog siblings to be raised by other families, and are only reunited once they reach their teenage years. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic then decide to form an underground rock group, appropriately named Sonic Underground. They use the band as a front to gather intelligence and to one day reunite with their mother, Queen Aleena, and overthrow Dr. Robotnik once and for all.

Sonic X

Once again under the supervision of Sonic Team, Sonic X is closely based on the Sonic Adventure-era Sonic, even sharing the same voice actors in the Japanese original. The one major difference is that Sonic and friends are from another, unnamed planet and are transported to Earth through a machine emitting Chaos Control. Once there, they make friends with Chris Thorndyke and his family, who oftentimes is portrayed as Sonic's other sidekick, but constantly in need of Sonic's help.

Miscellaneous

• While Sonic's first staring role was in his self-titled 16-bit adventure, he was given a cameo in the game Rad Mobile as the rearview mirror ornament. This was also the first of many cameos Sonic would have in other games, perhaps the most famous being the mountain carving found in the first track of Daytona USA.

• When it became possible to trademark certain three dimensional shape configurations for trademarked products and objects, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the very first fictional characters to have his all-round shape trademarked.

• Interestingly, one of a class of genes involved in fruit fly embryonic development, called hedgehog genes after the name given to the first member of this class discovered, has been named sonic hedgehog after this character. The same gene (named shh for simplicity) has been found to be, in conjunction with other genes, pivotal in the formation of the pentadactyl limb in mice, and plays an interesting role in shaping the brain.

Appearances

Video Games

See Games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog.

Television Series and Film

• Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (AoStH, US)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM, US)
• Sonic Underground (US, France)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Anime, Japan)
• Sonic X (Anime, Japan)

Comic Books

• Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogakukan, Japan)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics, US)
• Sonic the Comic (Fleetway, UK)

Sonic fan-made dōjinshi have also been released in Japan.

Game Books and Novels

Please see Books Featuring Sonic the Hedgehog.

Theme Songs

• It Doesn't Matter (SA1)

• It Doesn't Matter (SA2)

• We Can

• His World

• High Flying Groove

• Un-gravitify

• Endless Possibility

• Knight of the Wind

Voice Actors

• Jaleel White (AoStH, SatAM, SoUND)
• Samuel Vincent (SoUND Singing voice)
• Takeshi Kusao (SegaSonic The Hedgehog)
• Masami Kikuchi (Sonic the Hedgehog (anime) - Japanese)
• Martin Burke (Sonic the Hedgehog (anime) - English)
• Junichi Kanemaru (Japanese game voice (1998-Present) plus Sonic X)
• Ryan Drummond (English game voice (1999-2004))
• Jason Griffith (English game voice (2005-Present) plus Sonic X)
• Tomokazu Seki (Sonic Unleashed; Werehog only)

Characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog game series
Recurring characters Heroes Sonic (Super, Starfall, Hyper, Darkspine, the Werehog, Excalibur) | Tails (Super) | Knuckles (Super, Hyper) | Amy (Super, Hyper) | Mighty (Super) | Ray (Super) | Espio | Charmy | Vector | Cream | Big | Blaze (Burning) | Silver (Super) | Sticks Anti-heroes/Neutrals Shadow (Super) | Rouge | E-102 Gamma | E-123 Omega | Jet | Wave | Storm Villains Dr. Eggman | Metal Sonic (Rocket, Neo, 3.0) | Mecha Sonic (8-bit, Mk. II, Mk. III, Super) | Fang | Tails Doll | Metal Knuckles | Chaos (Perfect) | E-Series | ZERO | Biolizard (Finalhazard) | Black Doom (Devil Doom) | Eggman Nega | Orbot | Cubot | Deadly Six (Zavok, Zazz, Zomom, Master Zik, Zeena, Zor) Teams Sonic/Heroes | Rose | Dark | Chaotix | Babylon Other Animals (Flicky) | Froggy | Chao (Hero, Dark) | Tikal | Pachacamac | Omochao | Chaclon | Gerald & Maria Robotnik | President | King Boom Boo | Cheese | Chocola | Vanilla | G.U.N. Commander | Wisps | Mother Wisp
One-off characters Heroes Emerl | Marine | Lumina Flowlight | Chip | Shahra | Knights of the Round Table | Caliburn | Yacker | Avatar | Barry | Trip (Super) Anti-heroes/Neutrals Bean | Bark | Shade | Merlina | Sage Villains Witchcart | Hocke-Wulf | Bearenger | Carrotia | Battle Kukku Army (15th, 16th, Dr. Fukurokov) | E-101 Beta | Void | Chaos Gamma | Gemerl | Shugo-hei | Iblis | Mephiles | Solaris | Erazor Djinn | Captain Whisker | Johnny | Master Core: ABIS | Ix (Super) | Dark Gaia | King Arthur | Hard Boiled Heavies | Infinite | The End | Mirage Express Teams Vector | Eggman Other Birdie | Illumina | Secretary | Elise | Duke of Soleanna | Sonic Man | Coconut Crew | Vikings | Professor Pickle | Wentos | Don Fachio | Dodon Pa | Koco | Ancients | Conductor | Conductor's wife | Ariem | Heavy | Bomb | Tiara Boobowski | Honey