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[[Category:Characters]]'''Sonic the Hedgehog''' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, [[Romaji]]: ''Sonikku za hejjihoggu'') is the flagship character for [[video game]], [[arcade game]] (and formerly home [[game console]]) company [[Sega]], which has released a series of video games in which he either stars or plays a role. Sonic was competeing head-to-head with [[Nintendo]]'s mascot [[Mario]] for over a decade until Sega went out of the home console market. He now lives on in various Nintendo and other consoles.
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[[Category:Characters]]{{Sonic Bob}}'''Sonic the Hedgehog''' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, [[Romaji]]: ''Sonikku za hejjihoggu'') is the flagship character for [[video game]], [[arcade game]] (and formerly home [[game console]]) company [[Sega]], which has released a series of video games in which he either stars or plays a role. Sonic was competeing head-to-head with [[Nintendo]]'s mascot [[Mario]] for over a decade until Sega went out of the home console market. He now lives on in various Nintendo and other consoles.
  
 
Sonic replaced [[Alex Kidd]], who was Sega's mascot prior to 1990. [[Naoto Oshima]] designed the character while [[Yuji Naka]] (who would later become head of the [[Sonic Team]] division) was the main programmer. The "game planner" was [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]]. The music of the first two ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games on the Megadrive and Genesis was composed by [[Masato Nakamura]] of the [[Japan|Japanese]] band [[DREAMS COME TRUE]].
 
Sonic replaced [[Alex Kidd]], who was Sega's mascot prior to 1990. [[Naoto Oshima]] designed the character while [[Yuji Naka]] (who would later become head of the [[Sonic Team]] division) was the main programmer. The "game planner" was [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]]. The music of the first two ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games on the Megadrive and Genesis was composed by [[Masato Nakamura]] of the [[Japan|Japanese]] band [[DREAMS COME TRUE]].
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Sonic is a blue, 15-year-old [[hedgehog]] who lives on the planet Earth (or [[Mobius]] in various other American or European sources, which, depending on the universe, varies from being simply the name of Earth in the future to being an entirely different planet). He has the ability to run at supersonic speeds, hence his name. He is always running all over the world, rarely stopping for anything. He is carefree and relaxed; however, he is also very intolerant of injustice, and he will do anything he can to help those in need. He has also got a quick wit, short temper, and a fairly large ego.  
 
Sonic is a blue, 15-year-old [[hedgehog]] who lives on the planet Earth (or [[Mobius]] in various other American or European sources, which, depending on the universe, varies from being simply the name of Earth in the future to being an entirely different planet). He has the ability to run at supersonic speeds, hence his name. He is always running all over the world, rarely stopping for anything. He is carefree and relaxed; however, he is also very intolerant of injustice, and he will do anything he can to help those in need. He has also got a quick wit, short temper, and a fairly large ego.  
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{{Sonic Bob}}
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==Origin of Sonic==
 
==Origin of Sonic==
 
Due to the many differences between universes, Sonic's history and world varies greatly. These are some of the backstories.
 
Due to the many differences between universes, Sonic's history and world varies greatly. These are some of the backstories.

Revision as of 11:52, 26 January 2005

Template:Sonic BobSonic the Hedgehog (Japanese:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Romaji: Sonikku za hejjihoggu) is the flagship character for video game, arcade game (and formerly home game console) company Sega, which has released a series of video games in which he either stars or plays a role. Sonic was competeing head-to-head with Nintendo's mascot Mario for over a decade until Sega went out of the home console market. He now lives on in various Nintendo and other consoles.

Sonic replaced Alex Kidd, who was Sega's mascot prior to 1990. Naoto Oshima designed the character while Yuji Naka (who would later become head of the Sonic Team division) was the main programmer. The "game planner" was Hirokazu Yasuhara. The music of the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games on the Megadrive and Genesis was composed by Masato Nakamura of the Japanese band DREAMS COME TRUE.

Sega promoted the game's use of "Blast Processing", supposedly a feature of the Sega Genesis which allowed it to draw sprites faster, but which in reality simply referred to the console's fast CPU clock rate.

Sonic was an early example of the "obscure anthropomorphic animal starring in a platform game" character archetype that was later seen in characters such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Blinx, and Sly Cooper.

Sonic is a blue, 15-year-old hedgehog who lives on the planet Earth (or Mobius in various other American or European sources, which, depending on the universe, varies from being simply the name of Earth in the future to being an entirely different planet). He has the ability to run at supersonic speeds, hence his name. He is always running all over the world, rarely stopping for anything. He is carefree and relaxed; however, he is also very intolerant of injustice, and he will do anything he can to help those in need. He has also got a quick wit, short temper, and a fairly large ego.

Origin of Sonic

Due to the many differences between universes, Sonic's history and world varies greatly. These are some of the backstories.

Games Version

We know very little about Sonic's past; he was supposedly born on Christmas Island and that he has frequented around South Island, and that he and Dr. Eggman have a fierce rivalry. Beyond that, though, his past is a complete mystery. Sonic is something of a nomad; he travels from area to area of the Earth searching for new things to see and do, rarely stopping for anything or anyone unless he's needed, often times getting himself involved in Eggman's schemes to take over the world.

Former US/UK Version

A short mini-comic by Sega of America was released in early 1991 which was synced with the release of Sonic 1, no doubt a way to spread the word of the new blue hedgehog on the block. It was entitled, respectively, "Sonic the Hedgehog"; it introduced the characters Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. However, it also introduced the character that later became Dr. Robotnik, Dr. Ovi Kintobor (Ivo Robotnik spelled backwards.) It illustrated how this small, brown and rather prickly hedgehog named Sonic one day burrowed beneath a laboratory, and popped up through the floor to find Dr. Ovi Kintobor hard at work on the R.O.C.C. (Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor), in which the 7 Chaos Emeralds were held, to contain their chaotic energies. Dr. Ovi is fascinated that Sonic can run at such incredible speeds, so the two experiment, seeing just how fast Sonic can go. He is placed on a treadmill and runs and runs until he reaches over 700 mph, and suddenly breaks the sound barrier, causing not only a "Sonic Boom", but the Cobalt Effect as well, turning Sonic from brown to his trademark blue hue. Having completely decimated his blue and white sneakers in the speed experiment, Dr. Ovi creates friction resistant sneakers for Sonic to wear, and he wears those shoes to this very day. Sonic and the Doctor become good friends, and spend much time together in the lab. However, one day, Dr. Ovi Kintobor is working on the R.O.C.C., when he asks a favor of Sonic: "Sonic, could you get me a soda and a hard-boiled egg.." Sonic retrieves it and is back before the Doctor can finish his sentence. "..please?" Dr. Kintobor accidentally knocks over his soda onto the console of the R.O.C.C., while in his other hand, he holds the hard-boiled egg. He's suddenly electrocuted, causing the chaotic (and apparently somewhat evil) energies of the Chaos Emeralds to transfer into him; and due to the egg in his hand, takes on an egg-shaped physique. The R.O.C.C. explodes, scattering its Containment Rings all over the planet (these are the rings that you collect in just about every Sonic game created.) He begins to chase after Sonic, now bent on the hedgehog's destruction. With a heavy heart, Sonic accepts that the kind Doctor he once knew no longer exists, and vows to protect the world from what the newly turned Doctor has proclaimed himself to be: Dr. Robotnik. And thus, the story of Sonic 1 begins. There is an alternative explanation in Stay Sonic: Official Sega Handbook, a book about Sonic the Hedgehog written by Mike Pattenden. At some point it was divulged (probably from an American source) that Sonic enjoys eating chilli dogs.

The premise of the games revolves around Doctor Eggman (Doctor Robotnik in the earlier releases in North America and Europe) trying to take over the world by turning the animals into (often called Badniks, though this is an US/EUR term and hasn't been used since Sonic Adventure). Sonic is charged with saving them. In later games he is joined by Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Cream the Rabbit and a host of others. Sonic must collect Golden Rings to protect himself from the Badniks, and he ultimately must collect the Chaos Emeralds on the Emerald Isle in order to become his most powerful form, Super Sonic. However, Sonic's quest does not necessitate collecting the Emeralds himself; he must only prevent Robotnik from collecting them and dooming the world with their power.

Sonic is a poor swimmer, and will drown in water, even as Super Sonic. As Hyper Sonic in Sonic and Knuckles, he can stay alive in water.

In SatAM Sonic's love interest is Princess Sally Acorn; in the video games Amy Rose thinks she's Sonic's girlfriend (Sonic, however, is quite repelled by Amy's constant advances but in the modern day Sonic TV show Sonic X, there is a bit more of a mutual vibe between Sonic and Amy); Breezie hedgehog in Adventures of Sonic the hedgehog cartoon; and both Sally Acorn and Mina Mongoose in Sonic's Archie comics.

Sonic has faced several other adversaries in the games, such as Metal Sonic (Mecha Sonic), Fang the Sniper (Nack the Weasel in America), Shadow the Hedgehog, and Rouge the Bat.

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 another gene, pivotal in the formation of the pentadactyl limb in mice, and plays an interesting role in shaping the brain.

In all games, Sonic is voiced by either Jun'ichi Kanemaru or Ryan Drummond. In the TV shows, he is voiced by five different actors (specific to each show): Jaleel White, Masami Kikuchi, Martin Burke, Jun'ichi Kanemaru and Jason Griffith.

Sonic the Comic later featured a story involving time travel, in which it was revealed that revealed that Sonic himself was responsible for Kintobor's accident. 

His foes, the Brotherhood of Metallix, had travelled back and removed the rotten egg from the fridge, preventing Robotnik from being created and leaving them free to dominate the planet. In order to prevent this future, Sonic had to replace the egg, and pulled the cable that tripped Kintobor - thereby making himself responsible for the creation of his greatest enemy.

Games involving Sonic the Hedgehog

Key

  • J = Japan
  • N = North America
  • E = PAL (Europe, Asia, Australia, Brazil)
  • X = PAL excluding Brazil
  • B = Brazil ONLY

For the Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis:

For the Sega Master System:

For Sega Mega-CD/Sega CD:

For the Sega Game Gear:

For the Sega Pico:

For the Sega Meganet Modem:

For the Sega 32X:

For the Sega Saturn:

For the Sega Dreamcast:

For the PC:

For SNK Neo Geo Pocket:

For Nintendo Game Boy Advance:

For Nintendo Gamecube:

For Sony Playstation 2:

For Xbox:

For Nokia N-Gage:

For Arcade:

Redemption Games

  • Sonic Popcorn Shop (J) (made popcorn as you played)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog AWP (slot machine)
  • Sonic and Tails Spinner
  • UFO SegaSonic (J)

Leaked prototypes

Games Sonic Characters have cameoed in:

  • Flicky (The blue bird character, Flicky, became one of many animals that Sonic rescues in the classic games after his apperance in this game.)
  • Art Alive (An art game. Sonic appears as "stamps" to be placed.)
  • Gale Racer (A racing game. A Sonic keychain hangs on the rearview mirror.)
  • Popful Mail (The main character Mail examines a billboard in the game, which has a small drawing of Sonic off to the side.)
  • Crusader of Centy (An action RPG. In a small beach, Sonic lays in a lawn chair. Talk to Sonic and he says: "Tsk, tsk. I'm a gallant hedgehog. Don't mess or you'll get burned.")
  • Daytona USA (A racing title, Sonic appears carved in a stone mountain on the Three-Seven Speedway course.)
  • Outrunners (Another racing title, in the intro Sonic and Tails fly in two versions of their biplane, the Tornado, and sprinkle the Sega logo. In the game, Sonic billboards appear off to the sides.)
  • Spider-Man for Sega CD (In the game's ending, a carving of Sonic's head can be spotted on a cave in the background.)
  • Tom & Jerry: The Movie for Game Gear (An ad for Sonic appears on the windows of a bookstore in one level.)
  • F1 World Championship: Beyond the Limit (Sonic and Tails' heads can be spotted on billboards on some tracks.)
  • Wacky Worlds (Another art title, this game is composed entirely of stamp placement. Sonic and Tails are on the game's cover, Sonic is in a spaceship and is your cursor to select a world to play in, and Tails is a stamp in the jungle area.)
  • Metal Head (Sonic appears on a billboard in the scenery.)
  • Bug! (One of the game's bonus stages features the character, Bug, racing against Sonic.)
  • Virtua Fighter 2 (In the Saturn version, when Jacky Bryant and Sarah Bryant fight, a hidden stage called Chicago is chosen. There's a brick wall in the background with graffiti, including a doodle of Sonic.)
  • Clockwork Knight 2 (In a hidden movie, a Sonic toy can be seen sitting on a shelf.)
  • Donkey Kong Country 2 (At the end of the game, Diddy gets rated as a video game hero according to how many of the DK Coins you collect. On the screen is a trash can labeled "No Hopes" with Sonic's shoes next to it.)
  • Fighting Vipers (In the intro movie, Sanman's pile of toys contains a model of the Lunar Fox, the spaceship Tails creats in Sonic the Fighters.)
  • Virtua Fighter Kids (Same as Virtua Fighter 2's cameo.)
  • Scud Race (Sonic appears on a billboard in the Beginner track.)
  • Fighters Megamix (Bark the Polarbear and Bean the Dynamite Dux are unlockable fighters)
  • Last Bronx (In Tommy's stage, there is a poster of Sonic on a building in the background. Also, there's a sticker of Sonic on Tommy's outfit.)
  • Waverunner (Sonic appears on the back of a racer's lifejacket.)
  • Virtua Striker 2 (A hidden team has Bean the Dynamite and a slew of other weird characters.)
  • Tamagotchi on Sega Saturn (Treat your tamagotchi right, and it'll become a Sonagotchi.)
  • Spikeout (Sonic appears near an elevator in one of the levels.)
  • Le Mans 24 (Sonic is a hidden racer.)
  • LA Machineguns (Sonic and the Sonic Adventure logo appear as neon signs in the Las Vegas stage.)
  • Blue Stinger (A store is occupied by copies of Sonic Adventure.)
  • Get Bass (In the Dreamcast version, after a few courses you receive a Sonic lure.)
  • Toy Commander (Sonic appears on a calendar on the floor in some stages.)
  • NBA 2K (Players can create a team called the Hedgehogs, which features Sonic holding a basketball as the logo.)
  • NHL 2K (Sonic appears on

the Jumbotron occassionally.)

Pirated/unlicensed games which are not from above starring Sonic the Hedgehog

The following games are often mistaken for pirate games, but are actually ROM hacks by Yuski the Dog:

Public domain

Television Series

Comic Books

Sonic Manga and Sonic Doujinshi have also been released in Japan

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