Just a Guy

"Just a Guy" is the thirty-fourth episode in the Sonic Boom television series. It first aired on 20 May 2015 in France and on 22 July 2015 in the United States.

Synopsis
When Sonic refuses to let Mike, an average Joe, battle Eggman the town turns against him for being insensitive.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Badniks
 * Bee Bot (multiple)
 * Crab Bot (multiple)
 * Motobug (multiple)
 * Child Monkey
 * Comedy Chimp
 * Cubot
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Fastidious Beaver
 * Fly Bot
 * Lady Goat
 * Lady Walrus
 * Lightning Bolt Society
 * Dave the Intern
 * Tree Spy
 * Weasel Bandits
 * Willy Walrus
 * Mike the Ox
 * Mrs. Vandersnout
 * Old Monkey
 * Orbot
 * Soar the Eagle
 * Team Sonic
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Walrus Baby
 * Walrus Child
 * Walrus Male
 * Wild Cat
 * Wolf Sidekick
 * Wolfie

Locations:
 * Sonic Boom World
 * Bygone Island
 * Amy's House
 * Sonic's Shack
 * Tails' House
 * Tails' Workshop
 * Unnamed Village
 * Village Center
 * Mayor's Mansion
 * Meh Burger
 * Dr. Eggman's Lair

Items:
 * Boomerang
 * Chili dog
 * Communicator
 * Meh Burger
 * Piko hammer
 * Wrist controller

Vehicles:
 * Eggmobile
 * Tails' Plane

Plot
One day, Tails is looking at his radar and detects an upcoming attack. He quickly rounds up the rest of the team together, but Knuckles says no; he has plans to see a movie with Mike. Sonic says that the battle is more important, and he calls Mike "just a guy." The townspeople hear it, and they are mad. Sonic and Knuckles run off to the battle, and Knuckles tells about the situation. The other members of Team Sonic can't believe Sonic did something like that.

Later at Amy's house, the team gathers and Amy offers them to take a seminar taught by her on controlling your thoughts. When the club meets, Comedy Chimp and Fastidious Beaver are seen with Team Sonic, and they do a variety of events such as making paper hats and trying to "go to their happy place". Sonic then decides to go apologize to Mike for what he said. He also adds that Mike can come to the next battle. Mike is excited and can't wait, and he also interferes with Sonic trying to go to his happy place. When the battle starts, Mike is setting out a picnic blanket to watch, but then gets injured when Cubot falls on top of him. As Mike is being rushed to the hospital, Sonic gets reprimanded again; he counters, calling the townsfolk "you people", making things even worse. A very annoyed Sonic attends another seminar meeting, where the club is preparing go on a camping trip. While his friends are excited, Sonic finally snaps and complains about how instead of being thanked for his heroics, he just gets criticized for no good reason. He then storms off in a fit of rage, saying he is quitting the seminar and heroics altogether. Outside, we see the Tree Spy was watching through the window.

The scene shifts to a Lightning Bolt Society meeting, with the Tree Spy telling the members about Sonic's retirement, and then the group proceeds to cause chaos in the town. The townspeople run to ask Sonic for help, but he declines and brushes them off. Next, the Lightning Bolt Society is seen in a field with sheep. They set the sheep free and let them loose on the town. When Sonic hears someone's cries for help, he runs on to the scene. Sonic rescues the townspeople and then rounds up the sheep. At this point, Eggman decides to attack, but Mike is present at the battle. Mike tells Sonic to avoid Eggman's attacks, and Sonic hides under a sheep while throwing other sheep at the Eggmobile.

Back at the field, the Lightning Bolt Society are sitting around when Sonic shows up, throws the sheep back into the pen, and locking the Lightning Bolt Society in. Sonic wins back the respect and admiration of the townspeople, and he calls Mike a hero for his efforts. Amy and the other members of the club witness this while on their trip. The Lightning Bolt Society proceed to call the townspeople "you people" and are seen taking Amy's seminar.

Continuity

 * When Lady Walrus calls for help to save her baby again, she refers to the numerous times throughout the series where her baby had to be saved from danger, like in "Buster" and "Blue With Envy".
 * After the Lightning Bolt Society learns Sonic retired, Dave notes the similarities this situation has to the events of "Eggman Unplugged" where Eggman quit technology and left his lair for the Lightning Bolts to take over. However, Willy Walrus says it is "completely different" because it was Sonic who is retiring and not Eggman.

Goofs

 * In the scene with Mike the Ox right after Knuckles mentions Jungle Fighter 3: Revenge of the Jungle Fighter, Lady Goat's nose and eyelash move over Mike's left ear despite Lady Goat standing in the background.

Production
The first drafts for "Just a Guy" was written in December 2013. When including the live-action shot in the episode, Sega was unsure of whether it would be a convoluted segment. Ultimately, Sega decided to trust the writers and let the shot be included.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode in any animated Sonic-related television series to use live-action footage.
 * Despite the voice, the actor playing Sonic was not Roger Craig Smith. According to Alan Denton, it was "Just a guy." In an interview with Aaron Webber, he said that the "guy" is a random but well known Sonic fan.
 * The toilet Dave the Intern was "vandalizing" uses the same model as the toilet seen in Tails' Workshop in "Double Doomsday."
 * There was an action figure shown at a toy convention, where Sticks was wearing green face paint on her face. That figure was likely based off of Sticks's happy place, where she's fighting alien robots, while wearing face paint.
 * This is the first time Sonic loses his temper.