Sonic the Hedgehog

"What you see is what you get, just a guy that loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

- Sonic


 * For other uses, see Sonic the Hedgehog (disambiguation)

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) is a supersonic hedgehog that can move faster than the speed of sound (765 mph, which is faster than Mach 1), with lightning reflexes to match (hence the name Sonic) and loves adventure. He acknowledges the fact that the Earth is just as cool and blue as he is. He is 15 years old, stands at 100 centimeters (3 ft 3 in), weighs 35 kilograms (77 lbs) and was born on Christmas Island. Artist Naoto Ōshima, designer Hirokazu Yasuhara and programmer Yuji Naka are generally credited with the creation of the character, a blue-furred, blue and-peach-skinned, green-eyed, anthropomorphic African pygmy hedgehog, who has the ability to move faster than the speed of sound and possesses the ability curl up into a ball (like a regular hedgehog), primarily to attack enemies. This is a major part of the gameplay of the series.

Sonic seems to have a holy or avatar-like position (despite, on most occasions, being unaware about his involvement in the future of the world he's saving), as many of his adventures in the series coincide with the fulfillment of ancient prophecies, specifically his involvement in Echidna legends (such as: the mural on Angel Island that depicts Super Sonic fighting Eggman for the Master Emerald).

Concept and creation
In April 1990, Sega requested a game capable of selling over one million copies, a character who could compete against Nintendo's Super Mario, 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, a 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 video games, Sonic's original design by Naoto Ōshima was quite short and childlike (perhaps because he was 10 years old at the time of debut), with short spiky hair, a round body, one spike in his back, and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Watanabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), and most subsequent Sonic video games featured similar designs. Beginning with Sonic Adventure in 1998, Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa as a 15-year-old, taller character with longer legs and a less spherical body, longer and more drooping spiky hair, two spikes in his back, and emerald-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.

His cobalt blue pigmentation came from Sega's logo, which is the same color.

Early life
Nothing is known about Sonic's early life. It is unknown who his family is or if he has one, nor is it known how Sonic gained his trademark speed. All that is known is that Sonic was born on Christmas Island. It is not even known how he and Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik became enemies.

The Games Begin
Sonic started his battle against his nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the 1991 platform game Sonic the Hedgehog for the Mega Drive/Genesis. Robotnik wanted to take over the world but Sonic traveled through South Island freeing the animal residents who were transformed in huge numbers into Robotnik's Badnik slaves and prevented him from getting the Chaos Emeralds after Sonic defeated Robotnik he became a well known hero.

Back with a Sidekick
In the 1992 sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive, Sonic first performed his signature "Spin Dash" move. The game takes place some time after he met Miles "Tails" Prower, who quickly became Sonic's sidekick and idolizes him, trying to be just like him. Robotnik is at his old scheme again, turning the animal residents of West Side Island into his Badnik army while creating his ultimate weapon, the Death Egg. The Doctor is also after the Chaos Emeralds again so that they help him conquer the world. When Sonic got all seven of the Chaos Emeralds he discovered the powers of them can turn him into Super Sonic. Tails was at his side in most of the adventure, but was left behind when Sonic's plane, the Tornado - piloted by Tails at the time -, was shot down at the beginning of the Wing Fortress Zone, leaving Sonic by himself to fight Robotnik's secret weapon, Silver Sonic, on the Death Egg spaceship, followed by a gigantic robot in the image of the scientist himself. After Robotnik was defeated once again, Sonic escaped the exploding Death Egg and was caught by Tails in the repaired Tornado.

Escape from Eggman Island
In the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Sonic was captured by Dr. Robotnik, along with Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. Sonic teamed up with the other two and they traveled to escape Eggman Island, which was covered with traps.

In the end, Robotnik self-destructed the island, but Sonic, Ray and Mighty escaped just in time. However, the doctor escaped Sonic once more.

Time Traveling Hedgehog
Sonic was solo once again for Sonic CD (1993), in which he went to Little Planet while it was at near Sonic's homeworld in order to explore it. However, his goals changed once he saw his arch-nemesis having taken over the entire planet, leaving Sonic to liberate it of the scientist's control.

Shortly after his arrival, Sonic met a female hedgehog named Amy Rose, who was on the planet in hopes of meeting him. However, only moments after she met him, she was captured by Metal Sonic, Sonic's second, robotic doppelgänger.

Using his unrivaled speed, Sonic managed to travel through time and ensure a good future for the Little Planet.

Near the end of his adventure, Sonic encountered Metal Sonic and the doctor once again, having a race with the robot on the Stardust Speedway. In the ensuing victory of Sonic's, the Eggman managed to accidentally destroy his own creation.

Sonic went on to defeat the doctor in a final battle in the Metallic Madness, after which Sonic rescued Amy while the doctor's bases began exploding and were literally crumbling away. The Little Planet went on show Sonic's face in a shower of light before seemingly warping away from Earth, while leaving many new flowers grow around the area it floated above.

Eggman, on the other hand, seemingly managed to sneak a Time Stone off the Little Planet, but Sonic spotted him and managed to put an end to his current schemes by using his Spin Dash to shoot a rock in the direction of his flying machine, causing it to explode.
 * It is not known what happened with the Time Stone in question.

After that, Sonic presumably went on his adventuring ways around the world.

South Island in Chaos
In Sonic Chaos (also known as "Sonic & Tails" in Japan) for the Game Gear and Master System, Sonic and Tails were facing the threat of Dr. Robotnik sinking South Island by improperly using the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic and Tails collected the Emeralds before the doctor could, including the red one he already had in his possession and liberated the island of his control once more.

Spinball Time
In the spin-off Sonic Spinball, Sonic went to Mt. Mobius, which was taken over by Dr. Robotnik and made into his "Veg-o-Fortress". However, Sonic was knocked off of Tails' airplane on the way, causing him to travel through Mt. Mobius in a pinball styled way from bottom to top. On his adventure to the top, he collected Sixteen Chaos Emeralds and rescued Tails, along with characters from the Saturday Morning TV Series: Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot and Rotor Walrus.

In the end, Sonic defeated the doctor and his Veg-o-Fortress was destroyed while the speedy hedgehog made his escape together with Tails and his airplane.

The Master Emerald
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its expansion Sonic & Knuckles, both released in 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive, Sonic and Tails landed on Angel Island. Shortly after their arrival, Sonic, at that moment in his super form, was ambushed by Knuckles the Echidna, somehow forcing the hedgehog out of his form. After the hero lost the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles was quick to snitch and hide them. Sonic and Tails were then forced to search the island for the Emeralds, all the while having to liberate it from the control of Dr. Robotnik's robots once more, who crashlanded with his Death Egg on the Island some time prior to the game. The spaceship kept the floating island on the ocean's surface preventing it from flying in the sky where it belonged

After a long struggle, which included preventing the first relaunch of the Death Egg in the doctor's Launch Base, the heroic duo reached the Hidden Palace, where Sonic and Knuckles fought against each other for the first of many times to come. After his defeat at the hands of Sonic, the red Echidna went to check on the status of the powerfulMaster Emerald, which was kept here at the time. Too late, Knuckles realized he was being tricked by the mad scientist who told him that Sonic was the one after the Master Emerald, not Robotnik. After the doctor made his escape, Master Emerald in tow, Knuckles guided Sonic and Tails to a hidden teleportation device to the Sky Sanctuary, from which the trio could witness the successful launch of the Death Egg. However, the two had to leave Knuckles there as he was too exhausted from the previous two struggles. On their way through the Sanctuary, Sonic and Tails encountered two peculiar robots of the Eggman's: The Egg Robo, a robot in the image of Robotnik himself, and Mecha Sonic, the third robotic doppelgänger of Sonic, which, during the first two encounters with the heroes, copied the behavior of the doctor as witnessed on two previous occasions. On their third encounter, Mecha Sonic exhibited a fighting style loosely imitating many of Sonic's abilities in the process. However, the original still managed to defeat the copy. The resulting explosion managed to make a tall pillar nearby crumble, but Sonic managed to get on the Death Egg by running along the pillar as it was crumbling to pieces just in time.

There, the hero encountered Robotnik for the final showdown. He attacked him with a gigantic robot, loosely in his own image, powered by the Master Emerald. Sonic managed to defeat the contraption which totally destroyed the Death Egg, but the doctor still had a trick up his sleeve, as he managed to steal the Master Emerald again using another battle suit. In order to pursuit him, Sonic transformed once again in his Super Form, chasing the evil genius' across an orbit around the planet. After a long battle, Sonic emerged victorious, descending to Earth with the Master Emerald. In mid-flight, he powered down to his regular form, however, but was rescued by Tails, piloting the Tornado. The two then brought the Emerald back to where it belonged, Angel Island, allowing the island to float into the sky before leaving Knuckles be for the time being.

Some time after this, Sonic, piloting the Tornado personally, rescued Knuckles, after the latter's fight against the recently-reactivated Mecha Sonic, from falling into the ocean. The two brought the Master Emerald back to Angel Island and the Hedgehog and Echidna parted ways once more.

Triple Trouble
In Sonic Triple Trouble (also known as "Sonic & Tails 2" in Japan), Sonic and Tails had to gather the Chaos Emeralds once more, before Dr. Robotnik could get his hands on them. However, this time, things got more difficult for the heroic duo when the doctor managed to trick Knuckles the Echidna into helping him once more. Furthermore, a dangerous treasure hunter by the name of Fang the Sniper also set his eyes on the mysterious gems, bend on stealing them for his own personal gain.

The heroes managed to race and battle their way through the world, getting the Emeralds before any of the others and confronted Fang in the mad scientist's base. However, the treasure hunter was scared away when the evil genius arrived with his newest contraption.

In the end, the machine was destroyed by the heroes, who then found Knuckles imprisoned by the doctor. They freed him and Sonic and Knuckles made up on good terms once more.

Slow Boots in the Labyrinth
In the 1995 game Sonic Labyrinth, Dr. Robotnik somehow replaced Sonic's shoes while the hero was sleeping. After Sonic awoke, he realized that his shoes were not the same, for they were considerably heavier, disabling him from jumping or running at higher speeds.

Around this time, the doctor also constructed some sort of labyrinth on the South Island as his new base.

Despite his new pair of slow-down shoes, Sonic made his way through the labyrinth, in the end defeating the mad scientist and regaining the Chaos Emeralds as well as his regular shoes.

The Fighting Tournament
In Sonic the Fighters (also known as Sonic Championship), Doctor Robotnik went on to build a second Death Egg, known simply as the Death Egg 2 and again announced plans for world conquest. Luckily, Tails' recently built a rocket that could fly it's pilot directly to the new Death Egg, however, it was only a one-seater and it needed Chaos Emeralds to take off.

In order to gather all of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic had to fight many friends and foes, old and new: Knuckles, Amy, Bark the Polar Bear, future Team Chaotix member Espio the Chameleon, his friend Tails, Bean the Dynamite and the treasure hunter previously encountered known as Fang.

Before Sonic could be off to launch the rocket, however, the doctor showed up once again in a peculiarly familiar-looking spaceship. An unusual ray hit Sonic that knocked him out for a few seconds. When he came back to his senses, the doctor was gone and before him stood a near-identical copy of himself, the only difference being that the copy was completely monochrome.

The hedgehogs fought, but in the end, the original hedgehog was victorious over his copy.

Afterwards, Sonic headed back to Tails' workshop to launch the rocket, heading straight for the new Death Egg. Upon his arrival, he was "welcomed" by a new Metal Sonic. The two fought a tough battle, but Sonic could turn the tide in the middle of the fight by using the Emeralds' power to transform into Super Sonic once more, defeating his mechanical doppelgänger again.

He was then facing the mad scientist himself, who built some sort of battle suit for himself in order to face Sonic. At the same time, it appeared that the station's self-destruct sequence had been initiated, leaving the two combatants under time-pressure. However, since Sonic was still in his super form, the mad scientist proved no match for him.

After having defeated Eggman, Super Sonic left the station in Tails' rocket, moments before it self-destructed.

Save the Flickies
On yet another adventure, Sonic visited Flickies' Island, the epinomous island that is the main point of action in Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies' Island (also known as simply Sonic 3D and Sonic 3D Blast). Here, he discovered that Doctor Robotnik was at his evil schemes once more, establishing a base and trapping the helpless Flickies so they power his robots.

Sonic rescued all the Flickies on the island and, with the help of Tails and Knuckles, managed to gather all of the Chaos Emeralds before the doctor could do so himself.

With support from the rescued Flickies, Sonic managed to get to the secret lair of the mad scientist, where Sonic confronted him in a final, lengthy battle. Ultimately, Sonic emerged victorious and the island was liberated from the evil genius' control.

Super Sonic Racing
In the prelude to the Sega Saturn and Windows game Sonic R, Sonic and Tails were strolling around a city when they caught news about a racing competition. Despite Tails' urging, Sonic didn't seem to be initially interested in a race, however, once he glimpsed at the list of registered participants, he saw Dr. Robotnik's name on the list as well, causing a change of mind for him.

In the competition, Sonic had to face his friend's Tails, Knuckles and Amy, as well as the scientist that was the reason for him joining in the first place. The evil genius also brought with him robots to participate, both old and new: Metal Sonic and EggRobo, as well as Metal Knuckles and the ominous Tails Doll.

In the end, however, Sonic outraced them all and Robotnik did not get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds, which were scattered around the race tracks.

An Ancient Prophecy is released
In Sonic's first true 3D Adventure Sonic Adventure (1998) for the Dreamcast Sonic was put up against an ancient monster named Chaos who was under control of Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Who officially receives the name Dr. Eggman in the English version, intended as an insult, but he later takes it as his own). Sonic and Tails teamed up once again to get the Chaos Emeralds to prevent Chaos from reaching his final form and destroying Station Square. They met many allies along the way although they were very unfortunate at times losing the emeralds. Sonic finished Chaos who had six of the emeralds on the Egg Carrier. Thinking it was over, they were not prepared when Chaos got a hold of all seven emeralds when they were back on Angel Island and destroyed Station Square. Sonic with the help of his friends obtained the used up emeralds and harnessing their positive energy, Sonic defeated Chaos as Super Sonic, turning Chaos into a benevolent creature once again.

Got The Wrong Hedgehog
Dreamcast's Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the series, introduced a new rival, Shadow the Hedgehog, whom the police confused with Sonic. Shadow was released by Dr. Eggman to help in his plans of world domination. Being wanted by the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N) Sonic was captured and locked on Prison Island. Sonic was later rescued by Tails and Amy where they escaped the island and began finding a way to Eggman's Base to get them to the Space Colony ARK. Sonic had to rescue Tails and Amy from Eggman but was fired off into the atmosphere and was saved by a Chaos Control. Sonic found himself back onto the ARK on the outside having to save everyone by deactivating the planet-destroying Eclipse Cannon. Sonic was then confronted by Shadow where they had a final battle. When Sonic won the battle he deactivated the superweapon but Eggman still tries to fire it causing a recording of Gerald Robotnik to appear and tell the world that ARK would crash into the planet wiping out the human race. Everyone on both sides teamed up and made they way to the cannon's core, Shadow fought the Biolizard but it merged with the ARK to keep it on it's collision course. Sonic and Shadow harnessed the power of the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and Super Shadow and defeat the Biolizard. They used a powerful Chaos Control that returned the ARK to a stable orbit. Shadow ran out of energy, fell into the atmosphere and was presumed dead, while Sonic survived as the rest of the gang returned to Earth after Sonic bid farewell to his worthy opponent and team mate.

Deadly enemies, old and new
After the 1999 game Sonic Pocket Adventure the Sonic returned to the Handheld games with Sonic Advance (2002) where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy go back to their adventures fighting Dr. Eggman in 2D side-scrolling levels. When Sonic Advance 2 (2003) came out Sonic met Cream the Rabbit, rescued Tails and confronted Knuckles who was tricked again and joined them on their adventure fighting Dr. Eggman.

A third 3D action game, Sonic Heroes (2003) was the first multi platform release for Sonic. It featured four different teams made up by three characters in each, and marked the official return of supporting characters Team Chaotix as the teams battled Eggman. Shadow was revealed to have survived his accident but lost his memory. After heavily destroying the Egg Fleet, the heroes witness the return of the evil Metal Sonic who has been following each team, copying their data in a master plan to achieve world domination himself. Metal underwent a massive transformation during which Team's Rose, Chaotix and Dark fought it to give Sonic time to charge the Chaos Emeralds. Metal assumed him ultimate form, Metal Overlord. Super Sonic, Tails and Knuckles chased and defeated him causing him to revert to his original form. Metal questioned why he could never defeat Sonic who told his metallic counterpart that he'd be ready for a rematch any time before searching for his next adventure, leaving Metal in the hands of E-123 Omega.

The sequel to this was Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), in which Sonic worked with the Sonic Heroes and G.U.N forces to repel the Black Arms invasion of Earth. He was helpless however in the final showdown, but Shadow who had regained his memory perused the leader Black Doom and as Super Shadow managed to not only defeat the alien's devil transformation, but using Chaos Control, teleported the Black Comet into space and blew it to pieces with the fully charged Eclipse Cannon saving the world once again.

Transcending Time and Space
Sonic Rush was the first Nintendo DS Sonic Game where Sonic must save the World from not only Doctor Eggman but even from a new villain Eggman Nega as well, it also introduced the New Female Character Blaze the Cat. Sonic Rush also had a sequal called Sonic Rush Adventure where Sonic and Tails ends up in Blaze's Dimension and they help Blaze defeat Captian whiskers and his band of Robot Pirates who has stolen the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game), which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the series, featured the first appearance of Blaze the Cat in a home console and a new foe called Silver the Hedgehog who possesses powerful psychic abilities. In the game, Sonic visits Soleanna and saves their monarch, Princess Elise from Eggman. He works with many of his friends battling Silver and Eggman and obtaining the Chaos Emeralds. After defeating Eggman, Mephiles kills Sonic causing Elise to cry releasing the demonic Iblis. The two villains fuse to create Solaris. Sonic's friends gather the Chaos Emeralds to restore Sonic to life. With Elise's kiss Sonic is revived as Super Sonic, he turns Shadow and Silver into Super Shadow and Super Silver and they battle Solaris. After they stop it, Sonic and Elise travel back in time where Solaris was just a flame in a candle. Elise has to blow out the candle which will destroy Solaris. However with Solaris gone the events of the adventure will be negated and Elise will never meet Sonic. Elise initially chooses Sonic over the world but Sonic tells Elise to smile and she extinguishes the candle. Time is reverted but Sonic still travels to Soleanna and the wind created from his speed causes Elise's memory to trigger but she eventually ignores it, Sonic watches happily as one of Elise's feathers floats skyward, hinting that Sonic and Elise both remembered. Sonic Rivals was the first Sonic game for the PSP (Playstation Portable). Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver battle each other as they go after Doctor Eggman (actually Eggman Nega in disguise). Sonic Rivals also had a sequel called Sonic Rivals 2.

The Storybook Series
In 2007, Sonic and the Secret Rings released where Sonic along with his genie friend Shahra battled to protect the Arabian Nights. There is also a sequel of Sonic & the Secret Rings known as Sonic & the Black Knight. By the end of the story, it's revealed that Sonic was the true King Arthur of that world.



Sonic the Werehog
Sonic battles Eggman again in the game Sonic Unleashed, where Eggman shatters the planet with his Chaos Energy Cannon and Sonic must recharge the Chaos Emeralds to put it back together. Things are made more difficult by the fact that Sonic now transforms into a Werehog at night. Sonic battles another ancient evil, Dark Gaia with it's counterpart, Light Gaia in order to recover the latter's memories forming a strong relationship. They travel across the destroyed planet restoring it with the Chaos Emeralds at the Gaia Temples. After Sonic defeats Eggman. Dark Gaia awakens and prepares to plunge the Earth into darkness and destruction but is stopped but Light Gaia's Gaia Colossus. Sonic harnesses the Chaos Emeralds full power becoming Super Sonic in the core of the planet. The heroes slay the terrifying monster but Super Sonic was given a tough fight and falls unconscious in his normal form after defeating the beast. He is sent back to the surface as Light Gaia lays dormant again. Light Gaia leaves Sonic his necklace and the hedgehog keeps it as a bracelet, accompanied by Tails, he searches for his new adventure

Back to his roots
Sonic will be returning in an episodic game called Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (set between Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure), as the sole playable character.

A Colorful Circus Adventure
Sonic will be in a Wii and DS game called Sonic Colors. In the game he finds Dr. Eggman making a circus above Sonic's home planet, when Sonic finds out that Dr. Eggman are using some colorful new friends called Wisps as captive. Now it's up to Sonic to rescue the Wisps by using their magical colorful power, that somehow Sonic was able to utilize.

Other
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, Sonic Battle and Sonic 3D Blast), racing games (Sonic Drift, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.) and fighting games (Sonic the Fighters ,Sonic Battle, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl ). He also, for the first time, teamed up with his video game rival, Mario, in, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

Cameos
Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Tails Adventure, 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.

Personality
Sonic has been described as being "like the wind", and is noted for being free-spirited and adventurous. He mainly prefers to simply be called by his name and not any fancy title; in his encounters with Princess Elise and Cream the Rabbit (both called him "Mr. Sonic"), Shahra the Ring Genie (who called him "Master"), Caliburn the Sword (who called him "Knave", though Sonic was especially annoyed by this), and Erazor Djinn (who called him a "Filthy rat", though it might just be an insult), he insisted that they merely call him "Sonic". He enjoys relaxation, but is never one to rest in the face of injustice. He is extremely benevolent and always keeps his word and he willingly puts himself at risk to help others, taking on any challenge that confronts him without hesitation, though he usually sees his heroics and fighting evil as an opportunity to have fun, making him somewhat of a thrill-seeker and adrenaline junkie. However, in times of crisis, he focuses entirely on the task at hand and sees it as truly serious with no real fun involved. Sonic is shown to have a remarkable capacity to forgive, as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), when he quickly forgave Silver and accepted his help in saving Elise in their third encounter, despite Silver's attempts to kill him. Sonic is also known for his friendship with Miles "Tails" Prower and his not interested relationship with Amy Rose.

Sonic is described as many things which occasionally work against each other, though this is usually in the case of two separate canons, for example, it is stated in various materials that Sonic tends to have a short temper, his profile on the 4Kids Sonic X anime website states that he is super-slow to get angry.

In the American cartoons and comics, the Japanese version of Sonic Advance 3 strategy guide, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic's favorite food is chili dogs. He displays an interest in rock music, and in the cartoon Sonic Underground was a guitarist 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. He also breakdances in Sonic Advance 3 if he finishes a level in a short-enough time. Lastly, one of his taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is him breakdancing and saying, "C'mon, step it up!" He has been credited as "the fastest thing alive" since Sonic the Hedgehog (DiC) and through Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Currently, he is stated to be "pure of heart and intention" (Tails refers to Sonic while talking to Cosmo, in the Sonic X episode "An Underground Odyssey"). Sonic Unleashed's booklet states that his personality is "A juxtaposition of kindness and ferocity, as, on one hand, he does all he can to snuff out evil, but he can't look away when someone is in trouble." Sonic Unleashed also has sidequests in which Sonic the Werehog is trying to convince the Elder Gregorios in Apotos that he is Sonic the Hedgehog. To prove it, Sonic undergoes a test of speed, which involves him getting a pair of glasses for the Elder in a certain time limit; a test of courage, by protecting the Elder from minions of Dark Gaia; and a test of selflessness and kindness, which involves Sonic obtaining a book for the Elder out of kindness. He prefers to comfort people, instead of winding them up, as shown many times in Sonic X. Despite being very proud and a world renowned showoff, he shows some form of modesty when taking compliments. This is shown in Sonic and the Secret Rings where Sonic prefers not to be called "Master", and where he is referred to as the "Legendary Hedgehog" ("Me? Legendary? You've gotta be kidding! You're gonna make me blush!").

At times, Sonic seems to be somewhat overconfident in his abilities; for example, when Merlina stops him from attacking the Black Knight, he is irked and asked why she did so, positive that he could have defeated him.

Sonic's taunts and confidence easily portray that he is smug, he is also very stubborn, as shown in the end of Team Sonic's story in Sonic Heroes. After narrowly escaping Eggman's exploding ship, Knuckles exclaims, "Boy, talk about cutting close!" to which Sonic replies, "Not really..." This implies Sonic is too stubborn to admit a task is difficult for him, but after being teased by knuckles, Sonic admits he needed Knuckles' and Tails' help, to Knuckles' obvious great surprise.

Sonic is also known for indomitable will (which no doubt goes hand in hand with stubbornness) and his will to keep on fighting surpasses his actual ability to keep on fighting. An example of this can be seen in Sonic and the Black Knight, where Sonic continues to try to fight Merlina despite being unable to reach her through her forcefield shield, being hit repeated times so he is badly hurt and exhausted, and having his sword broken as he attempted to parry Merlina's attack. Sonic's friends plead him to give up, but he refuses ("It was never about chivalry for me. I've just gotta do what I gotta do, that's all...)

It has also been shown that Sonic will try to hide pain, fear (unless Amy gets angry) or exhaustion, and will do so up until he faints.

It has been revealed that Sonic loves his speed and that his rivals have never insulted his speed except Jet the Hawk, which makes Jet Sonic's only rival that actually gets him mad.

It is to note that regardless of the countless foes he has fought throughout the series, he bears no ill will to none of them, but rather he admires how powerful some of them are and how much fun they have given to him. An example of this is seen when Metal Sonic is defeated and Sonic tells him that he is open for a rematch. Most notable towards Dr. Eggman, whom has constantly tried to destroy him to complete his schemes, however Sonic is satisfied with merely stopping him, also in occasions where Eggman helps Sonic and Co. to save the world (although for his own interests, mainly because he couldn't take over the world, if it's destroyed) he never rejects his help.

Interesting enough Sonic has shown to be very smart in some occasions, as he is capable to tell when Knuckles has been tricked, or also when Eggman is up to something, this seen in the anime where Eggman modified to Moon so that it would block the sun and he provided Sunlight towers which would mind-control the citizens, and was able to think that as the Earth and the Moon constantly move then such phenomena would have been impossible unless Eggman was lying, which was indeed the case. He was also shown to be rather smart in Fleetway: Sonic the Comic; as he has shown countless times to have thought of a plan of some kind and is usually the first to know when something is not right.

Television series
There have been several animated television series featuring Sonic.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
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 and Tails' adventures and battles with Robotnik.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), 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 showing Robotnik as a fearsome dictator controlling Mobius and Sonic and his Freedom Fighter friends battle to take back their planet.

Sonic Underground
Sonic Underground, a show in the US, United Kingdom and France, ignored the continuity of the previous series and games and instead introduced two siblings and Sonic's mother, named Sonia, Manic and Queen Aleena respectively. White returned to voice Sonic, with Samuel Vincent providing his singing voice, while Robotnik was voiced by Gary Chalk It showed Sonic and his siblings as royalty but they have to battle to take back their thrones from the evil dictator..

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
Additionally, there was a Sonic the Hedgehog OVA Anime OVA 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 OVA was marketed as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie which stars everyone`s favorite hedgehog as the main character.

Sonic X
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 cut-scenes 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 Doctor Ovi Kintobor into the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik. 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—present), Sonic X (comics) (2005—2009) and Sonic Universe (2009-present) are based on the settings established by earlier animated TV series, the ABC Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) cartoon and the Sonic X anime respectively.

In Japan, Sonic manga have been published, and there is currently another one being published based on Sonic Unleashed featuring Chip.

There is also released comics,Sonic The Hedgehog Archives,which presents the rare comics with a premium format.

Other versions of the character
As mentioned above, Sonic has appeared in several different media (such as TV series and comics) outside of his mainstream games series. These series often take place in their own unique continuities, which differ greatly from the games in terms of plot, setting, and even Sonic's characterization. Some versions of Sonic from these alternate continuities are listed here.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series and Archie Comics series)
In the Archie comics, Sonic is the most famous hero on Mobius. He is best known for his defeat of Robotnik Prime and his heroic actions preventing the Xorda from destroying Mobius and its solar system. Raised in Mobotropolis before Robotnik Prime's coup, Sonic was an average child except for his abnormal speed. Sonic lost his parents to the roboticizer and was taken in by his Uncle Chuck until he too was roboticized. During Robotnik Prime's coup Sonic and a few others were herded to Knothole Village by the Original Freedom Fighters. It was from them that Sonic got the inspiration that would one day make him a hero.

As Sonic developed his incredible speed, his attitude became legendary. Irreverent, confident, impatient and energetic, Sonic fought constantly to overthrow Robotnik Prime and continues the fight against his successor, Robo-Robotnik (later renamed Dr. Eggman).

In addition to his uncanny speed, Sonic has the ability to absorb Chaos Energy. Absorbing a great amount of this energy causes him to transform into Super Sonic. As Super Sonic, all of his natural abilities are enhanced and he gains the ability to fly, among other strange powers. His skin and eye colors change to yellow and red respectively, and he takes on an aura of yellow energy. It has happened also that Sonic has transformed even further into Ultra Sonic. Ultra Sonic is even more powerful and has the ability to adapt to his surroundings by taking on new forms.

After the Xorda attack, Sonic was teleported into space, where he spent a couple months trying to return to Mobius. But when he returned, a whole year had passed, and things were very different. Sonic is still not completely adapted to the changes he has seen.

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, Sonic was once an ordinary brown (though still fast) hedgehog on the planet Mobius. He encountered a kindly scientist named Doctor Ovi Kintobor, who performed experiments on his speed. An explosion resulted in his spines fusing together and turning blue. A later experiment, involving Kintobor's attempts to rid Mobius of evil, transformed the good doctor into Ivo Robotnik. After several unsuccessful attempts to take over the world (as depicted in the first two Sonic games), Robotnik finally managed to conquer the planet by sending Sonic six months into the future. On his return, Sonic took it upon himself to form a group of Freedom Fighters to depose Robotnik, which they finally managed to do in the series' landmark 100th issue.

As in other continuities, Sonic is aided in his adventures by his loyal sidekick Tails, as well as Amy Rose and original characters Porker Lewis, Johnny Lightfoot, Tekno the Canary and others. He has a friendly, though still quite intense, rivalry with Knuckles the Echidna, who frequently accuses Sonic of bringing trouble onto his Floating Island.

Sonic can turn into Super Sonic in this continuity without exposure to the Chaos Emeralds (because of a dose of radiation he received when the Emeralds were first brought together), but in this form he is out-of-control, bordering on psychotic, and he attacks friends and enemies alike. The two were separated for an extended run, but re-united in the series' final story arc.

Cameos/popularity
Sonic has proven to be an extremely popular character. After having been around only 2 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 1's Green Hill Zone. In the episode, "Thanksgiving Throwdown", of Megas XLR, there was a spoof of Sonic with a parade balloon called Auggie the Adorable Aardvark (that also spoofs Mickey Mouse by wearing the same clothes). It was mutated by an alien plant and could do 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. As reported by famous UK fansite The Sonic Stadium, there is also a reference to the Sonic The Hedgehog universe in another Simpsons episode "Lisa gets an A", when she was playing a video game with a character (Crash Bandicoot Reference) who has to get the seven crystal babies, a reference to the seven chaos emeralds. He reappears in a 1990s themed episode on a billboard proposing to Amy saying "Sonic the Hedgehog says: Wait 'til marriage." On Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Space Ghost is seen playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles on the guest monitor.

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. At one time during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 20 mph winds blew the Sonic balloon into a streetlight and popped it.

Sonic has been a mascot for various sports teams as well. Between 1993 and 1997, Sega sponsored the JEF United Ichihara Chiba football (soccer) 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 Team 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.

Lately, things have seemed to patched up with Nintendo, as Sonic appears as a 3rd Party playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Panic the Hedgehog, a character from the Moron Comics parody series of Sonic the Hedgehog and The Amazing Spider-Man, is a parody of Sonic. Panic the Hedgehog and The Annoying Spitter-Man.

Sonic appears in a cameo in the game Crusader of Centy where he's sunbathing at a beach. If the player tries to talk to him he dispenses the odd bit of dialogue: "Tsk, tsk! I'm a gallant hedgehog! Don't mess or you'll get burned!"

Sonic made a cameo in the 2006 film, Journey to the End of the Night where he can be seen on a billboard where it says Sonic Rules.

A parody of Sonic was featured in The Simpsons Game, where he is heard saying such lines as: "I forgot why I hate Eggman so much" and "That shadow version of me? Nicest guy in the world, completely misunderstood." He also appears in one of the cut-scenes, as well as playing a small part in one section of the game. Sonic appears to be a bird as opposed to a hedgehog and has hair similar to Manic's as instead of spines.

Sonic also appeared in the TV show "Robot Chicken" in an episode called "Shoes" where Sonic is rolling through Green Hill Zone (Act 6, ironically) and is killed by rolling into into a spike strip set up by two police officers to catch Sonic for speeding.

In the TV show "Malcolm in the Middle", Malcolm and Stevie are seen playing Sonic R once.

Sonic is also an unlockable character in Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams released for the SEGA Saturn.

In Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic's shoes appear next to a trash bin in "Cranky's video game hero challenge" under the "No Hoppers" section since Nintendo and SEGA were intense rivals at the time.

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 Sonic CD, Sonic actually had a few voice clips, in which he would say I'm outta here! if the player stood still for 3 minutes, and yeah! if the player obtained a 1-up.

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 (SatAM) and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. White would later be cast as Sonic, as well as his new brother and sister, Manic and Sonia, 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 1998 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. Information taken from the credits of both Sonic Adventure games, the Sonic Advance series, and Sonic Heroes. 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 voice cast, as they deem the original voices are far superior to the 4kids cast.

Abilities
Sonic is known best for his speed, with the ability to run at speeds greater than Mach 1 (known from Sonic X), which is at the blistering speed of 768 miles per hour. This is evident in many games, where Sonic is recorded to run at speeds faster than 765 mph. In Sonic Unleashed, the checkpoint posts (Star Posts) also act as radars that clock Sonic's speed when he passes them. Due to the fact that his speed increases the longer he's boosting, it's possible for the checkpoint posts to show Sonic's max speed in-game, being able to clock him going at over 2500 mph. It is also stated in the Sonic Adventure DX manual that "He's the world's fastest, hypersonic hedgehog" which is at a staggering speed of 3,800 mph. He is occasionally referred to as "the fastest thing alive," and can run backwards at full speed just as well as forwards, as shown in the Team Sonic opening cut-scene of Sonic Heroes, in an episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Underground, and near the end of the first episode in Sonic X. Due to such speed, he is able to scale right up the walls of buildings, or similar structures, and can also run right over water.

It is unknown how much faster Sonic can run beyond Mach 1, although it is variously assumed he can. In Sonic Battle it is shown that he can move several times the speed of sound. In Emerl's story, Sonic takes on and defeats the gizoid in under 30 seconds (the Final Egg Blaster fires in 30 seconds). During this time he and Emerl are shown doing several attacks as if time itself is drastically slowed down (even slow enough to have ten rounds). It is also believed that Sonic can move faster while in spinball form then running, possibly even reaching the speed of light due to the various proofs, such as in Sonic Adventures 1/2 and Sonic Heroes where he could use the move Light Speed Attack which, stated by Tikal, attacks enemies at Light Speed. In Sonic X, he is shown to match speeds with a lightning bolt in spinball form, in the episode "Zelkova Strikes Back".

As shown in Sonic Battle, Sonic possesses the ability to heal himself at supersonic speeds by presumably vibrating his molecules. 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 when in motion that can damage, destroy, mow down, or burrow through many obstacles or foes. Later games in the series expanded on this basic attack. Two of these enhancements are now basic moves: the Spin Dash was introduced in Sonic 2 and involves Sonic spinning on the spot before blasting off at full speed, and the Homing Attack, officially introduced in Sonic Adventure, although unnamed variations of it appeared in Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic 3D Blast, in which Sonic dashes in midair toward a target. Since AoSTH and SatAM, Sonic can also execute a ‘triple spin’ where he curls up into a ball and spins around quickly, like a buzz saw, and can burrow through the ground or a wall, depending what it’s made from.

The Super Peel Out or Figure 8 Dash made its debut in Sonic CD, but since has only had minor recurrences in the Archie Comic series and anime. In the Figure 8 Dash, Sonic stays pivoted in one place and his legs move fast enough to create the illusion of an infinity symbol (more correctly a Möbius strip) beneath him in red. He holds this and then blasts forward. One of Sonic's taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl involves him spinning his legs fast enough to make this move while commenting on his opponents being "too slow." The Peel Out is also his running animation in Brawl. It is similar to the Spin Dash, but without the curling up part of the move.

Another technique, the Blue Tornado (from Sonic Heroes) or Sonic Wind (from Sonic Adventure 2) is when Sonic jumps into the air, and creates a whirlwind by circling a particular spot at high speeds. A similar attack called "Whirlwind" appeared in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Other such special moves that Sonic has in this game are 'Axe Kick,' and combination attacks between Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. With a Chaos Emerald, Sonic can warp time and space with Chaos Control, and by using all seven Chaos Emeralds, Sonic can initiate a super transformation into Super Sonic. He can also turn into his more powerful form, Hyper Sonic, with the help of the Super Emeralds. In addition, the World Rings introduced in Sonic and the Secret Rings allow Sonic to become Darkspine Sonic, a powerful form powered by his negative emotions. As Darkspine Sonic, Sonic turns purple and has two white stripes between his eyes. In Sonic Unleashed, he unwillingly gains the power to turn into a werewolf-like version of himself at nighttime. In this state, he loses his trademark speed, but gains super strength and the ability to stretch his arms.

In Sonic X, Sonic turns into Dark Sonic in one of the episodes in Season 3. Dark Sonic has dark blue skin, sharper eyes (pupils completely gone when at full power), and becomes more angry and uncontrollable than before. Sonic transforms into Dark Sonic by being consumed in his blinding rage at seeing Chris' injuries and Cosmo's fright while being near a pile of Fake Chaos Emeralds (presumably using the negative energies). In Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic gains another super form: Excalibur-Sonic. This form grants him golden armor with a red cape and the power to wield the legendary Excalibur.

Sonic also possesses an indomitable force of will; even in situations where most others would give up and resign themselves to defeat or imprisonment, and in situations where he is severely outnumbered and outgunned, he always forges on and never quits. This character trait is most noticeable in Sonic Unleashed, wherein, thanks to his will, he is one of the few people on the planet who is immune to the influence of Dark Gaia. This is also shown in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, where the Voxai Overmind attempts to use mind control on Sonic, and he resists when all other characters fail to do so. This may also be because he is in possession of a Chaos Emerald filled with the Overmind's power. It appears once more in Sonic and the Black Knight, where he continues to fight Merlina despite having Caliburn broken in half and beaten to the point where he could barely stand. He presumably performed a similar feat in Sonic Battle when facing Ultimate Emerl. Emerl was vastly superior to Sonic in every aspect: he has the abilities of every character, all 7 Chaos Emeralds and the power of a star system busting cannon (Final Egg Blaster). Thanks to Sonic's indomitable force of will he was able to perform the impossible: defeat an opponent who is superior to him in almost every way possible. The only time his will didn't work was in Sonic Rivals 2 when he got possessed by the Ifrit in Tails' story scenario. It's safe to assume that if he does get possessed, he does all he can to regain control.



It is assumed that Sonic can control the strength or hardness of his quills. They appear to be extremely hard like buzzsaw blades when he is in spinball form, capable of shredding through several layers of reinforced steel to just about anything with enough speed. When he is not in ball form, they appear soft and flimsy like rubber. In Sonic Heroes, his quills (and body) are durable enough to slice through battleships without even moving at the speed of sound. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl he can temporarily increase the durability of his quills to hit opponents in his Up-Grab. In this move, he throws up an enemy, goes into a push-up type pose, and flares up and hardens his quills for the enemy to land on. In some Sonic games it is shown that he can survive numerous free-falls from space. In Sonic Adventure, he fell face first from a high point in the atmosphere and merely shook it off after the crash of the Tornado (although he luckily fell into soft sand), and near the end of his story fell once again from about the same height from the Egg Carrier into the Mystic Ruins jungle. In Sonic Unleashed, he (as the Werehog) survived atmospheric reentry unharmed, however he was stopped in mid-air right before landing by a shield of light (most likely it was Chip) and he was stuck in the ground for a few moments. He accomplished this feat in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as well as Sonic & Knuckles in his normal form at the end of both games (assuming the player didn't gather the Chaos Emeralds prior to beating the game).

It is possible that Sonic might actually have superhuman strength (though nothing in comparison to Knuckles'). Sonic's Spin Dash and other spin forms are strong enough to cut through enemies (though not all shields), burrow through the ground, or break down walls though it is debatable if the attack's main power is from his supersonic speed or superhuman strength or a combination of both. A lot of moves Sonic performs in fighting games has him use his feet and legs more than his hands which suggests that Sonic's legs are more powerful than his arms. Sonic's Back-Grab in Brawl has him backflip backwards (while holding the opponent), land on the ground, and kick the opponent at a decent knockback. His forward smash consists of Sonic swinging his arm around for a short time and then releasing a charged punch. This attack is one of his most powerful smash attacks in terms of knockback. Sonic is also seen in many of the Sonic X episodes to be able to punch Eggman's robots without any sign of pain, and he is also seen to be able to swing a large robot around in a circle in the episode "Shadow World".

It is safe to say that Sonic is far stronger, faster, and more skillful then he lets on. Only in truly bleak situations does he reveal his true power - his fight with Emerl, the Ultimate Gizoid, and his temporary ruthlessness as Dark Sonic are prime examples of this. Sonic may be able to defeat practically any enemy if he was to fight seriously from the beginning - it would appear that his cockiness, overconfidence and unwillingness to fight at full power stop him from truly being considered the most powerful character in the series. This means as Super Sonic, he might have been able to defeat even Dark Oak - Sonic himself admits that he was not fighting at full strength from the beginning (said, "He's tougher than I thought" and, "When I turned into Super Sonic, I thought it'd be a cinch, but boy was I wrong"), and as Hyper Sonic, should he ever return, he would be unbeatable. Also, Sonic is often reluctant to use his Chaos Powers, and relies on his speed more.

POW Moves
Axe Kick (アックスキック): Sonic spinballs into an enemy, then follows up with a powerful air-kick. Whirlwind (ワールウインド): Sonic performs a Tornado move, damaging everyone caught inside. Blue Bomber (ブルーボンバー): Tails lifts Sonic up, then throws him onto a target. Sonic then rebounds and hits the target a second time, leaving it weakened. Fastball (ファストボール): Amy uses her hammer to hit a spinballing Sonic into a foe three times, rendering it sluggish. Triple Tornado(トリプルトルネード): In a variation of the aforementioned Whirlwind move, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails get propelled in the air in a Tornado move, then fall down and hit all enemies. This may leave targets Sluggish. Hail Storm (ヘイルストーム): Knuckles, Tails, and Amy smash a spinballing Sonic at a single target, potentially stunning the foe.

Weaknesses
Sonic is incapable of swimming, which causes him to sink like a stone in water, probably mainly due to his great body weight for his size and narrow limbs or possibly due to his presumed aquaphobia (or he just does not know how to swim). In fact, in a episode of Sonic X called "The Last Resort", Eggman almost drowned Sonic until he was saved by Amy Rose. Although, if hitting the water while running, he can dash across the water's surface, completely bypassing the hazard (an exception being in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which all characters are able to swim, but he can only swim for a brief period of time before drowning). In most media, he is shown completely avoiding water. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, when Sonic competes in Aquatics events, he is the only character who wears a life preserver. However, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic can swim without a life preserver, though he seems to be flopping like a fish when swimming, unlike the other characters. Although an exception of Sonic's poor aquatic abilities is in Sonic the Hedgehog [1991], where he is capable of swallowing bubbles for extra breathing time in water. Further 2-Dimension games allow for underwater breathing through the use of air bubbles. In most of the 3-Dimension games, landing in water often results in an instant death and is, alongside bottomless pits, probably the most dangerous obstacle in the newer games. An interview with Yuji Naka states that, Sonic is scared of water because previously Yuji Naka thought that hedgehogs couldn't swim, but then he saw a picture of a hedgehog swimming but he couldn't get out of the water, so the hedgehog needed a tree to get out. This explains that Sonic can go in water, but he thinks he can't get out and that no one would be able to help him, this is the reason he is scared of water.

He also has a habit of acting before thinking, which gets him into trouble many times, which in Sonic Riders resulted in him angering Amy, which incurred her wrath in the form of her Piko-Piko Hammer.

Sonic also fears Amy when she gets angry, which usually gives him a strong desire to run as far away from her and make it harder to speak to her; this fear increases when he is the one who angers Amy (this is even considering that she can do what Dr Eggman and his robot army, ancient creatures and entities fail to do). This has happened at least two times, in Sonic Riders and in Sonic and the Black Knight (although for the latter, it wasn't his fault). Though its very likely that Sonic always escapes from Amy since Sonic is faster than Amy and she even admits that she cannot run as fast as Sonic. So when Sonic successfully gets away from Amy, Amy then continues to find Sonic like she usually does.

There is also reason to believe Sonic reacts terribly to being held captive and may find it mentally and perhaps even physically painful. He seems to act absurd if he doesn't run for a long time, which might mean that he is very much addicted to running, and gets frustrated when something is slow. Like what he told to Elise, "If you have time to worry, then run.", in the episode "Cruise Blues" of Sonic X, Sonic was acting quite absurd and giving bad plans and tricks so that his friends can get him off the ship.

An interview with Yuji Naka states that if Sonic doesn't get to sleep for 8 hours during the night, it would spoil his running.

Relationships
This section is for Sonic's relationships in the games continuity only.

For relationships specific to versions of the character in alternate continuities, see those versions' respective pages:
 * For the SatAM and Archie Comics continuities, see Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie character)
 * For the Sonic the Comic continuity, see Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Comic)
 * For the Sonic X continuity, see Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic X)
 * For the Sonic Underground continuity, see Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Underground)
 * For the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog continuity, see Sonic the Hedgehog (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog)

Friends/allies

 * Miles "Tails" Prower (Best Friend, Close as brothers)
 * Amy Rose (Self Proclaimed Girlfriend)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (Friendly Rival and Great Friend)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Arch-Rival and Ally)
 * Blaze the Cat (Former Rival, Partner in Combat and Great Friend)
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Silver the Hedgehog (Rival and Ally)
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese the Chao
 * Vanilla the Rabbit
 * Big the Cat
 * Jet the Hawk (Friend and Rival)
 * Wave the Swallow
 * Storm the Albatross
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Marine the Raccoon
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Chip (Great friend; Sonic Unleashed)
 * Emerl
 * Tikal the Echidna
 * Shade the Echidna (Sonic Chronicles)
 * Professor Pickle (Sonic Unleashed)
 * Princess Elise (Never met due to events of Sonic 06)
 * Shahra the Ring Genie (Sonic and the Secret Rings)
 * Merlina the Sorceress (Sonic and the Black Knight)
 * Caliburn the Sword (Sonic and the Black Knight)
 * The Commander
 * E-123 Omega
 * Chaos (After SA1)
 * Chao
 * Samba de Amigo
 * E-102 Gamma

Rivals

 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Friendly rival)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (Friendly Rival)
 * Silver the Hedgehog (Presently Rival)
 * Metal Sonic (Robotic Doppelganger)
 * Jet the Hawk (Rival at Extreme Gear Racing and speed)
 * Mario (Friendly rival) (originally intense rival)
 * Johnny (Rival at speed)
 * Blaze the Cat (Formerly)

Enemies

 * Doctor Eggman (Arch-Nemesis and usually main antagonist)
 * Metal Sonic (Robotic Doppleganger)
 * Chaos (Formerly)
 * Ix (Sonic Chronicles only)
 * Fang the Sniper
 * Metal Knuckles
 * Tails Doll
 * Eggrobo
 * Silver Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Only)
 * Gemerl (Sonic Advance 3; formerly)
 * Eggman Nega (Sonic Rush only)
 * Captain Whisker (Sonic Rush Adventure only)
 * Johnny (And Rival)
 * Erazor Djinn (Sonic and the Secret Rings only)
 * Solaris (Sonic 06 only)
 * Black Knight / King Arthur (Sonic and the Black Knight only)
 * Dark Gaia (Sonic Unleashed only)
 * Dark Queen (Sonic and the Black Knight only)
 * Black Doom (Shadow the Hedgehog only)

Love

 * Amy Rose (Self-proclaimed girlfriend
 * Ghost Girl (Sonic: Night of the Werehog)


 * While the above two characters confessed some form of affection for Sonic, he hasn't outright responded to their feelings in kind.


 * Princess Elise (Possible love interest in an alternate timeline)
 * Sally Acorn (SatAM)

Trivia

 * There is a hedgehog genome named Sonic hedgehog.


 * Sonic could have been a very different franchise had some of the concepts thrown about before the release of Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 actually been used which was being in a band (with an early prototype of Vector the Crocodile and saving a lady named Madonna).


 * Sonic was the first of two video game characters to appear in the Macy's Day parade. (The second was Pikachu from the Pokemon franchise.)


 * Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sonic Unleashed (while in Werehog-Form) are the only games where Sonic is wearing different shoes.


 * Curiously, Sonic's first appearance in games wasn't in Sonic The Hedgehog, but in RAD MOBILE.


 * In all classic Sonic games, as well as Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3 when Sonic closes his eyes, his eyelids are the same color as his arms and muzzle, but later, they were changed blue. Currently, they are still blue. However, in Sonic Adventure, they were blue.


 * In the Sonic the Hedgehog  Japanese instruction booklet it says that he was 10 years old.


 * In Sonic Chronicles, Sonic is the only character with a POW Move that uses four characters (Hail Storm: Himself, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy).


 * Sonic's shoe buckles were first thought up when he was first conceived. He was not shown with them until official artwork in 1993.


 * One of his Sonic X artworks bears a striking resemblance to one of his Sonic Adventure artworks, (the same can be said about Big, Eggman and Rouge.)


 * Usually, in Sonic's 2D artworks or cutscenes, Sonic's soles are gray but in 3D cutscenes and artworks they are white. But in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) they are white and have pink markings.


 * Sonic's favorite food is chili dogs.


 * According to an interview in Sonic Central, Sonic does not know the whereabouts of Mighty the Armadillo, Ray the Flying Squirrel, Nack the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite.


 * In Sonic Rush, if you tap Sonic with the stylus during gameplay, he would clap, jump back and forward, then he'll continuously swing his arm clock-wise.


 * Originally Sonic was supposed to have visible fangs in the Japanese artwork, but they were removed when he was given a more Americanized design for the US artwork in order to "soften him up" a bit. Although he does have fangs they are only visible when he opens his mouth (this can mostly be seen in Dreamcast titles like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Shuffle, but stopped being as noticeable after Sonic Adventure 2). Before, his fangs were supposed to be visible even when the mouth is closed.


 * Sonic has tied for 10th best selling series with Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda.


 * In the game "Little Big Planet", you can now customize the sackboy in to a type of Sonic the Hedgehog, along with other costumes such as Knuckles, Tails, Eggman and Sonic the Werehog.


 * In the movie Jingle All The Way, Sonic can be seen in the parade before Turboman, with a brief cameo, along with other famous characters.


 * Sonic's age has always been a tricky one to pinpoint. According to the Sonic Technical Files, it says he is 18, "but it's kinda hard to tell." In a video for those who preordered Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in Japan, Sonic's age was listed as being "15~16." Once Sonic Jam was released, it looked like it was solidified at 16, but with the Sonic Adventure era, his age is now listed as 15.


 * According to an interview with Yuji Naka, Sonic and his friends go to McDonalds and eat Happy Meals after saving the world.


 * Sonic's shoes are based off the boots Micheal Jackson wore on the album Bad.

Memorable Quotes

 * "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." - Sonic introducing himself.
 * "Aw, Yeah! This is happenin'!" - Sonic enjoying a run on building rooftops in his intro of Sonic Adventure.
 * "Hey, I'll play with you some other time!" - Sonic in Sonic Adventure after defeating a boss.
 * "Tails... What am I gonna do with you?" - Sonic after witnessing Tails' plane crash at Emerald Coast in Sonic Adventure.
 * "Way to go, Knucklehead!" - Sonic snapping at Knuckles for letting Dr. Eggman manipulate him once again so that he could steal their Chaos Emeralds in Sonic Adventure.
 * "Sayonara... Shadow the Hedgehog" - Sonic saying goodbye to Shadow after his "death" in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Let's blast through with Sonic speed!" - Selecting Team Sonic in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Too bad it's all over.... FOR YOU!" - Sonic when defeating Metal Overlord in Sonic Heroes.
 * "I'll crack that Eggman wide open!" - Sonic in the Team Sonic intro from Sonic Heroes.
 * "Shoot! Not my day." - Sonic getting an E-Rank in Sonic Heroes or getting a 1-Star rank in Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * "Tails, long time no see!" - Sonic greeting Tails in a few games.
 * "Nothing starts until you take action. If you've got time to worry, run!" - Sonic talking to Elise in Sonic '06.
 * "It was... never about chivalry for me, I just gotta do what I gotta do!" - Sonic when badly beaten by the Dark Queen in Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * "Faster than the speed of sound!" - Sonic before starting an event in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.
 * "Sonic's the name, speed's my game!" - After winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "Not a bad toy, but play time's over pal!" - Sonic after defeating one of the daytime bosses in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "I know girls who can swing a hammer better than you can! Well, one anyway." - Sonic The Werehog, after beating the Dark Guardian.
 * "Shadow! Have you lost you mind!?" Sonic when Shadow knocks Tails or Knuckles out of the ring in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Aren't you worried?" Sonic creeping up on someone in Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing
 * "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. I have no master, except the wind that blows free." Sonic introducing himself to Sir Percival.
 * "Let's just say that whim is my other master." Sonic after saving Sir Percival after their fight.
 * "Too easy. Piece of cake!" Winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "Come on, step it up!" Sonic taunting in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Here I'll show you!!" Sonic turning into his Super Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Hey, we should do this again sometime." Winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "You're too slow!" While taunting in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Yeah, this is the real me. Pretty cool huh?" Sonic telling Chip that this is what he usually looks like in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Ready... Go!" Performing the Light Speed Dash and Light Speed Attack in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Yeah! Don't worry! That's nothing new!" After responding to Knuckles' saying that no-ones made it back from the Gigan Rocks in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Hey! Hold up a minute. Girls hate guys who rush them, Jet." Sonic coming to Amy's aid after Jet accuses her of stealing an Ark of the Cosmos in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Oh! New competition!" After seeing that he has a new rival at the beginning of Sonic Riders.
 * "Nah! That spiky-headed mole is telling me it's none of my business." After Emerl asks Sonic to come with him and Knuckles in the Japanese version of Sonic Battle.
 * "So, he can use Chaos Control." After Chaos Control wears off when fighting Metal Overlord in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Those robots are a real pain in the... what?!" Unused voice clip from Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "No problem, Egghead! I'm the world's fastest hedgehog!" Unused voice clip from Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Say something! You fake hedgehog!" To Shadow when first encountering him Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Hey ya big drip! Where ya goin'?" As Chaos was running away at the beginning of Sonic's story in Sonic Adventure.
 * "And enough of that 'rat' stuff! Seriously! I'm a hedgehog! HEDGE-HOG!" After Erazor calls Sonic a rat in Sonic and the Secret Rings.
 * "Let's get down!" When selecting Sonic in Sonic Adventure.
 * "No..." When dying in Sonic Adventure.
 * "Come on Tails!" When racing Sonic as Tails in Sonic Adventure.
 * "It's showtime!" When starting a battle in Sonic Battle.

Reception and legacy
As Sega's mascot and one of the key reasons for the company's success during the History of video game consoles (fourth generation)|16-bit era of consoles, Sonic is one of the most recognizable video game characters in the world. In 1996, Sonic was the first video game character to be seen in a Rose Parade. Sonic is also the first of two video game characters to have a balloon in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (the other being Pikachu). Sonic was one of the three game characters inducted on the inaugural Walk of Game class in 2005, along with rival Mario and Link. One of a class of genes involved in Drosophila melanogaster|fruit fly embryonic development, called Hedgehog signaling pathway|hedgehog genes, has been named "sonic hedgehog" after the character.

As Sega's mascot, Sonic has also been used as a symbol for the company's various sponsorships. Between 1993 and 1997, Sega sponsored the JEF United Ichihara Chiba football team, during which period Sonic appeared in the team's uniform. During the 1993 Formula One championship, Sega sponsored the Williams Grand Prix team, which won the Constructors' Championship that year, as well as the team's lead driver, Alain Prost, winning the Drivers' Championship. 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, and the race's trophy was in the shape of a hedgehog. Sonic also appears on some versions of the willow video store logo. . Sonic is more recognizable for people than Mickey Mouse according to a poll.

On the 21st October 2008, Sonic was voted the most popular video game character in the UK with a 24% vote. His old rival Mario came second with 21% of the vote.

Although Sonic has been one of the most well-known video game characters in the world, he has not been having good crictics since 2006.

Theme Songs

 * In Sonic SatAM, Sonic's theme is Fastest thing alive, which is soft rock theme.
 * In Sonic CD, Sonic's theme is Sonic Boom, which is a soft rock theme.
 * In Sonic Adventure, Sonic's theme is It Doesn't Matter, which is a hard rock theme.
 * Also, in Sonic Adventure 2, the City Escape stage has lyrics to the music, which refer to Sonic in the line "Rollin' around at the speed of sound".
 * In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic's theme is a remake of It Doesn't Matter, a faster-paced, alternative rock remix.
 * In Sonic Heroes, Team Sonic's theme is We Can, and refers to Sonic in the line "Sonic's in the lead, giving us greater speed!"
 * In Sonic Riders, Sonic's team theme, shared with Tails and Knuckles, is an instrumental called High Flying Groove.
 * In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Team Sonic's theme song is Un-Gravitify.
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) the main theme His World is possibly a Sonic theme because the Zebrahead version has lyrics like "and straps on his shoes" a reference to sonic because of his iconic shoes and "cause' he's the best there ever was, i betcha' heard the news" because he is often referred to as a savior to mankind and he is known by many in his world.
 * In Sonic and the Black Knight the main theme Knight of the Wind is probably referring to Sonic, for Caliburn eventually calls him so.
 * In Sonic Unleashed, Sonic's theme is Endless Possibility which describes life from his point of view.

Gallery
For more, please see here.