Sonic the Hedgehog

"What you see is what you get. I'm just a guy who 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 the main character of the series and is SEGA's mascot. He is a supersonic, blue, teenage hedgehog. He can move faster than the speed of sound (768 mph, which is faster than Mach 1), with lightning reflexes to match (hence the name Sonic). He is a laid-back and cool character. He is meant to symbolize peace. 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 and-peach-skinned, green-eyed, anthropomorphic hedgehog, who has the ability to move faster than the speed of sound and possesses the ability to curl up into a ball (like a regular hedgehog), primarily to attack enemies. This is a major part of the gameplay of the series.

Concept and Creation
On 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, and were later incorporated into Sonic's Werehog transformation). Eventually, a hedgehog, whose color was based on the SEGA logo, his shoe buckles based on Michael Jackson, his shoe color based on Santa Claus and his personality, on the other hand, was directly inspired by future-President Bill Clinton, who Ohshima felt embodied a modern sensibility of wanting to get things done right away, righting wrongs as they presented themselves instead of letting them linger 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 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 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.

Color
Sonic is blue in color so that he can represent SEGA's logo which is blue. Also, the color blue symbolizes "peace", which Yuji Naka felt that the word "peace" describes Sonic's character very well.

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.

Let 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, 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 again.

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 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 Floating Isle And The Legendary Master Emerald
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its expansion Sonic & Knuckles, both released in 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, 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 snatch 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 powerful Master 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 Dr.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.

Tough Trouble Times Three!
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 the 1996 game 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 doppelganger 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 eponymous 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 1997 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 friends 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 Fulfilled
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.

You've 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 super weapon 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.

In the game he has many unlockable costumes for the multiplayer mode.

Deadly enemies, old and new
After the 1999 game Sonic Pocket Adventure, 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. The final Sonic Advance was Sonic Advance 3 (2004).

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 (or at leastmost of them) 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.

Ascending Without Wings
In the 2006 game Sonic Riders, Eggman creates an Extreme Gear competition called the EX World Grand Prix. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles enter the tournament to discover what plan Eggman is really up to. Along the way, Sonic and friends discover the legendary band of thieves called the Babylon Rogues.The Game Sonic Riders also had two sequels (Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and Sonic Free Riders).

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 sequel 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, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the series released in 2006, featured the first appearance of Blaze the Cat in a home console game and a new character 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 (2009). By the end of the story, it's revealed that Sonic was the true King Arthur of that world. It also introduces Sonic's new transformation, Darkspine Sonic.



Enter the Werehog
Sonic battles Eggman again in the 2008 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. Along the way, Sonic and Light Gaia, whom Sonic had nicknamed "Chip", meet some old friends of Sonic's, Amy Rose and Miles "Tails" Prower. The four of them, along with Professor Pickle and his assistant, 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 runs off in search of a new adventure. Near the end, Amy mentioned that she was going to throw Sonic a coming-home party. It is unknown if this ever took place, although based on one of the photos in the credits, it could have.

Back To His 2D Roots
Sonic returns in an episodic downloadable title called Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as the sole playable character; this game takes place after the events of Sonic & Knuckles and takes place before the events of Sonic Adventure. Unlike its chronological predecessor, Sonic still retains his green eyes and Homing Attack in it. Sega has announced that Tails and Knuckles will appear in Episode 2. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II will be released sometime in Summer 2011.

Episode I
In Episode 1, Sonic chases and fights Dr. Eggman while collecting Chaos Emeralds through the four main zones Splash Hill Zone, Lost Labyrinth Zone, Casino Street Zone, and Mad Gear Zone and not necessarily in that order. A short cutscene plays where the damaged genius hovers away from Sonic at a sunset background Splash Hill Zone; Robotnik ascends to the sky and Sonic jumps down rising with a rocket to chase Eggman all the towards the E.G.G. Station Zone, a hover base built by Robotnik. Here Sonic faces all of the past boss battle machines constructed by Eggman in past zones of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, after the fourth machine is destroyed, Eggman runs away to a slight depression in the floor; the mad genius rises to reveal his new creation. After defeating it, Sonic runs out of the base landing in Splash Hill where the ending plays and the adventure ends for now.

A Colorful Adventure
Sonic is the only playable character in Sonic Colors (2010), in the game he doesn't believe that Dr. Eggman has actually shown a remorse of his past misdeeds and checks out the amusement park along with Tails, however Tails did actually think that Eggman had a change of heart but Sonic kept telling him that it's impossible for Eggman to have a change of heart. While he was checking out the park, he found Orbot and Cubot capturing two Wisps with nets. Sonic was not sure on what was going on but he that he had to save the two. When he does, the Cyan Wisp went inside Sonic and so Sonic turned into a laser and zapped away. He then zaps to Tails who is with a white Wisp, the cyan Wisp comes out of Sonic and goes away. Sonic tells Tails what happened, but Tails said that it is hard to believe. The white Wisp then tries to tell them by gestures that Sonic was telling the truth but the two couldn't understand him. Tails decides to build a translator to translate the white Wisp.

While Tails was busy fixing it, Sonic went for some sight-seeing. Tails was done with the translator when he came back, they learned that his name is Yacker and he comes from a distant planet with aliens that have a powerful energy. Sonic then realizes that the cyan Wisp possessed him the same powerful energy. He then heads to Sweet Mountain (Starlight Carnival, according to the player's choice) and the moment he reaches there, he has to fight a pirate robot. After beating him up, Tails comes to him with Yacker. He then asks if Yacker gave any information to Tails while he was beating up the pirate. Tails tells him that Yacker told him that the power Sonic was possessing is called Hyper-go-on power. Sonic then goes off to the next place, he is seen walking with Tails looking for Eggman. Eggman took them by surprise and mind-controlled Tails to fight Sonic, unfortunately for Eggman, he was out of Hyper-go-on energy, so Tails was no longer mind-controlled. He warned Sonic that he will mind-control the world instead of Tails soon.

Later, Tails informs Sonic that Sonic has to break 5 generators to restore the planets in their normal condition. Sonic had already broken 2 without even knowing that he had to break them. Sonic then searches out at Aquarium Park where he fights a big submarine-fish looking robot. Tails comes to him later and the two go to Planet Wisp, which is the home-planet of the Wisps. Sonic then goes and trashes a robot at Planet Wisp. Sonic then reaches along with Tails in the main center where all of the Wisps were made evil by turning them into purple Wisps called "Nega Wisps", a darker version of the Wisps. Tails felt terribly sorry for them and had the feeling that Yacker might have turned a Nega Wisp as well. Sonic then asks him to excuse him for awhile. Sonic then breaks the last generator and all of the planets and Wisps are free. They all celebrate at Tropical Resort with Sonic break-dancing thinking it was all over.

Unfortunately for Sonic, it was not over. Eggman was ready to launch his mind-control weapon to the world, actually, Sonic was not aware that Eggman had made a cannon for that, but a broken robot piece that was unintentionally struck by Sonic in the cannon caused the whole cannon to explode. All of the Wisps ran with fear and Sonic and Tails head to Eggman's space elevator to go back home. When they arrive there, Eggman shows up, still having the Nega Wisp's power and absorbed them into a giant machine as he decides to simply destroy Sonic due to the failure of his real plan. Tails tells Sonic that he thinks that they can't beat Eggman, Sonic then decides to fight Eggman but wanted to save Tails, so he forcefully pushed Tails in the elevator for his safety and launches him to their planet. Sonic manages to defeat Eggman with the help of the Wisps and their special Final Color Blaster. Unfortunately, the destruction of the mind-controlling cannon creates a black hole, one that even Sonic is unable to outrun. The Wisps then gather together to carry Sonic to his planet, as well as stop the black hole. Sonic then gets up and notices that he is in his home planet, Tails comes to him and told him that his translator is now working perfectly. Yacker then thanks them but tells them that he has to go home. That really saddened Tails. Yacker then gives both Sonic and Tails a high-five and so their adventure is over.

Having a blast with his past
For his 20th anniversary game in 2011, Sonic is thrusted back in time in Sonic Generations due to a mysterious unknown new power from a new enemy known as the Time Eater, that is causing time rifts. Sonic is thrown back in time to South Island and other locations from his past, as he meets his younger classic self and both of them set out for a brand new adventure. Both Sonics have to team up to defeat the new enemy, save their friends, and help fix the timeline.

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 Drift 2, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sonic Free Riders, 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 Mario, in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. They would also get together again in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the yet-to-be-released Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic 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 kept calling him "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, makinghim somewhat of a thrill-seeker. However, in times of crisis, he focuses entirely on the task at hand and sees it as truly serious with no real fun involved. Despite this, Sonic's cocky, upbeat demeanor will remain unchanged, being foregone in only the most dire of situations. Sonic is shown to have a remarkable capacity to forgive, as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog, when he quickly forgave Silver and accepted his help in saving Elise in their third encounter, despite that Silver tried to kill him, twice.

A very noticeable trait of Sonic is for his fondness for the beauty of nature. Ever since the first Sonic game in 1991, Sonic has been shown to be a protector of nature. In several games like Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic 06, Sonic Colors shows Sonic appreciating scenic views. His love for nature is defined in Sonic Colors where Sonic appreciated Dr. Eggman for making Tropical Resort a beautiful view, and when Sonic reached Planet Wisp when Sonic showed an emotion of anger and rage when he found out that Eggman was polluting the planet which was filled with beautiful plants, this also marks the only time in which Sonic was shown serious and angry in Sonic Colors. His anger for Planet Wisp being polluted was put further when he said, "That's pretty low, even for a sleazeball like Eggman!" meaning that he thinks that Eggman polluting a scenic planet is even more evil than Eggman himself. In Sonic 06, Sonic is shown to have a fondness for locations that are filled with flowers, trees and other kinds of plants, this is also shown in Sonic X where Sonic spends most of his time in scenic places filled with flowers in his free time, looking at them happily and smelling them.

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. 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!").

In Sonic Colors Sonic remains cool and laid-back, not behaving seriously in any of the scenes. He is usually seen around cracking up jokes and talking to himself. Sonic shows a lot of sarcastic attitude through his gestures but then enjoys any challenge that passes him. He likes to talk to robots (the boss-fights in the games) usually teasing them and even acting like a waiter to one of the robots even though he knows that they can't talk. Talking to robots is something that has not been shown in any game and he can even talk to them if they are completely broken. He was also embarrassed when Tails found out that he talks to broken robots that "can't actually hear 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. In contrast however, Sonic can sometimes be 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 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 force field 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, during which Sonic will show obvious nervousness or even fear- or exhaustion, and will do so up until he faints. It has been revealed that Sonic loves and takes great pride in his speed, and that he takes insults towards his speed rather personally.

It is to note that regardless of the countless foes he has fought throughout the series, he bears no noticeable ill will to any 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.

Despite his thrill-seeking, hyperactive, and smug demeanor, Sonic has shown many times to be much more insightful than he usually lets on. In the earliest display of this insight would be in Sonic Adventure, where Sonic was able to understand how simply resealing Chaos in the Master Emerald while Chaos was still suffering from all of its rage would solve nothing in the end. Other instances include in Sonic '06, in which Sonic was able to give Elise valuable and comforting advice, and in the end of Sonic and the Black Knight, where he was able to give Merlina similar words of encouragement and comfort. This insight, combined with a charismatic personality, allows Sonic to get along with virtually anyone he meets, even if at one point they were his enemies.

The Japanese version of Sonic Advance 3 strategy guide, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic and the Black Knight states that, Sonic's favorite food is chili dogs. He displays an interest in rock music. Some official character art and a television commercial for Sonic Adventure suggests that he has a personal hobby as a Disc Jockey. Furthermore, it is displayed in Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS that Sonic also enjoys break dancing as it is one of his primary ways for filling up his Rush meter. His battle moves in Sonic Battle are also based on break dancing, 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 break dancing and saying, "C'mon, step it up!" He will also breakdance if he gets first place in the "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games" (Similar to Luigi). He has been credited as "the fastest thing alive" being able to run faster than the speed of sound.

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.

Reception and legacy
As Sega's mascot and one of the key reasons for the company's success during the 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 fruit fly embryonic development, called 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.

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. It was one of two balloons to be popped by a street light that day, the other being a dinosaur.

Sonic appeared at one point during an episode of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, running out on stage, and giving Rosie a Sega Dreamcast and a Sonic plush.

In a commercial for Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Sonic is seen in a hospital bed marked "Hedgehog", in a full body cast, and with a boomerang stuck in his foot.

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.

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 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 Hopers" section since Nintendo and SEGA were intense rivals at the time.

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Sonic appeared in the form of an enemy known as "Harry Hedgehog". Much like Sonic, he's also very fast and will curl up into a ball when the player gets too close. Harry Hedgehog is also blue just like Sonic. This could be Nintendo's response to Sega's mocking gestures toward Nintendo.

In the Homestar Runner flash cartoon "Kick-a-Ball", Sonic and Tails are mentioned when Homestar flips a coin and says "Sonic! I mean, Tails!".

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, who was voiced by Keiko Utoku at the time, in which he would say, among other things, I'm outta here! if the player stood still for 3 minutes, and Yes! if the player obtained a 1-up.

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 from 2010 SEGA had announced that they have changed the whole cast of the active characters of the franchise, replacing Jason Anthony Griffith with Roger Craig Smith.

In 2011, Sonic's Japanese voice actor, Junichi Kanemaru has been replaced as shown in a gameplay footage of Sonic Generations

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 2,500 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 3,840 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. He has also shown on several occasions that he can jump incredible long distances, up to several hundred meters, possibly by applying his speed to his jump.

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, before the Final Egg Blaster fires in that time. It is also believed that Sonic can move faster while in spinball form than 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, presumably by 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 on 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.

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 Throw. 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 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 Ultimate 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.

In Sonic Colors, Sonic is able to utilize a very powerful colorful energy called Hyper-go-on Energy, from which Sonic can absorb from the Wisps. This includes Sonic turning into a drill, a laser or even a fireball.

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 hydrophobia (or he just does not know how to swim). 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.

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. According to Amy's profile in Sonic Channel, it is translated that Sonic acts in a "cringe" when Amy shows her "Iikio", Iikio means "strong power" in Japanese.

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." ''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)

In the games, Sonic has encountered many people, he has many friends and foes. Sonic is well-known with his brotherly relationship with Tails and his friendly rivalry with Knuckles and Shadow. Sonic's great enemy is Dr. Eggman and sometimes Metal Sonic. Sonic has not yet shown any true romantic feelings to any female character in the series, but there has been heavliy hinted that he has romantic feelings for Amy.

Miles "Tails" Prower


Tails is Sonic's best friend and sidekick. The two have been with each other since Sonic 2. They both have been been friends for a really long time, they share a brotherly relationship. Sonic and Tails first met in Westside Island, when Tails was being teased by the other children. He found Sonic running at a high speed, Tails was impressed by this and thought he was "cool" and went after him. Tails found his biplane and got so fond of it and slept under it, Sonic found Tails and they both had a short meeting. When Sonic went, Tails went after him until Sonic stopped, Sonic was impressed by how he could keep up and the two became close friends.

After their meeting, Sonic and Tails were always there to help each other, their friendship grew and grew until they had a more brotherly relationship. It is often that Tails invents machines for Sonic in his help and also made him three Extreme Gears. In Sonic Advance 3, they are known as the "Unbreakable Bond" when they team up. In Sonic Rivals 2 it is shown that Sonic trains Tails to learn how to run and fight in their free time. Whenever Sonic has an adventure to explore, he always comes to Tails and asks him to come along and Tails is always ready to help.

Sonis also seems to care Tails a lot, like in the opening of Sonic Riders, when Tails got hurt by Storm during a race, although Sonic was leading first place in the race, he went all the way back to help Tails and cheered him up by giving him a thumbs-up. Tails was also very persistent by making Sonic's Extreme Gear the best Extreme Gear in the world, when Wave had insulted Sonic's Blue Star.

Tails also used to depend on Sonic a lot, but later realized that he can't depend on him forever, as displayed in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood when he says: "I guess without you around I kinda had to grow up a little." Sonic is also an idol and role-model to Tails and Tails just wants to be as heroic as he is.

In Sonic Unleashed their bond seems to be closer, like when Sonic was in the form of a Werehog, Tails was the only one in the whole game to recognize him on sight.

In Sonic Colors they are seen together throughout the whole game. It is noticeable that Sonic and Tails seem to be a lot more friendly and seemingly looking like saving the day is an everyday job which has not been seen in games in a long time. Not to mention, Tails' esteem about Sonic's heroics seems to have dwindled, seeing as Tails cares more about inventing then Sonic's heroic deeds, not even noticing when Sonic does something. When Tails was mind-controlled by Dr. Eggman, Sonic refused to fight Tails and started telling him to get back to his senses. Tails has also embarrassed Sonic when he was talking to a broken robot that can't actually hear him, Sonic told him to forget about the whole thing and it was between him and the robot. In the end of the game, just for Tails' safety he pushed him to Eggman's elevator so that he doesn't get hurt, though Tails was completely unaware in the first place that Sonic was ready to push him and unwillingly went down to Earth.

Dr. Eggman
Dr. Eggman and Sonic have been enemies even before Sonic met Tails. The doctor always tries to conquer the world and the hedgehog always thwarts his plans. It is also shown that Sonic can be more frank or taunting towards Eggman in various games, and also shows full confidence that he can spoil his plans no matter what. Sonic, overall, sometimes doesn't take Eggman's plans seriously and will almost always seize the oppurtunity to tease him. (Such as calling Eggman "Baldy McNosehair" after learning that the Wisps call Eggman "Baldy Nosehair" in Sonic Colors .)

Dr. Eggman's real name is Ivo Robotnik, but in Sonic Adventure when Sonic finally encounters him, he teasingly says, "Hey look! A giant talking egg!" Ivo tells him to stop fooling around, then Sonic replies, "Whatever Eggman!", after that Sonic has been constantly calling him Eggman so much that even his friends started calling him Eggman. Even Ivo calls himself Eggman and doesn't bother when anybody else calls him that anymore. It is stated by Yuji Naka that Sonic uses the nickname "Eggman" affectionately.

Sonic also seems to fall for Eggman's tricks, as shown in Sonic Unleashed, causing him to fall for the doctor's trap and transforming into a Werehog. However, Eggman's plan for turning Sonic into a Werehog was unintentional.

In Sonic Rivals 2. Eggman also teases Sonic by saying, "Well, if it isn't my favorite blue hedgehog!" and "Why nothing my dear hedgehog.". In Sonic's view, the most worst creation Eggman has ever made is Metal Sonic, who is really devastating and causes a lot of trouble for Sonic. In Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog Dr. Eggman seems to take Sonic's side to fight Biolizard or Black Doom (mainly because Black Doom is a worse threat than Sonic as Black Doom wanted to destroy everyone on Earth and the worst that Sonic would do is humilate him).

Knuckles the Echidna
Ever since Knuckles' introduction, there was recurring and unfinished battle between Sonic and Knuckles. Because of their differences and morals, the two are constantly getting into a crossroads, which then devolve into outright fisticuffs. However, they finish the battle tied, or something serves to interrupt the battle before its end.

The battle has appeared in the games. It occurs in many games featuring Knuckles since his debut in Sonic 3. With Sonic's speed paralleling Knuckles' strength in every way, their fights are always climactic.

It should also be noted that in various games, Sonic teases Knuckles whenever Knuckles falls for Eggman's tricks by making a pun out of his name; "Knuckle-head". In Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic says to Gawain, "Hey! You look like that Knuckle-head I know!" even without having Gawain making a mistake and when Gawain accused him of wanting to steal the dragon's treasure, he remarked "You even SOUND like this Knuckle-head, I know", noticing the similarity between Knuckles and Gawain in personality. In Sonic Rivals 2 Sonic teases Knuckles when he sees Knuckles and Rouge together by saying, "Well look who it is... Knuckles and Rouge! You two on a date or something?" Knuckles tells him to stop fooling around and get back to what was important.

The rivalry has all but disappeared in some continuities, and in others, it is a sort of game between the two, actually serving as the plot for the game Sonic Rivals 2, when Knuckles tells Sonic that he needs to find Eggman, Sonic taunts him by saying that he'll beat Knuckles to Eggman, causing them to fight.

Overall, they are great friends and make a great teamwork, next to Tails, Knuckles is also Sonic's best friend.

In the DS version of Sonic Colors when Sonic heard that Rocket Wisps are easy to anger and easy to be happy. Sonic compares them to Knuckles. Later in the game, Sonic meets Knuckles at Starlight Carnival. Sonic and Knuckles still retain their rivalry but do not really argue. Instead, Sonic tries consoling Knuckles in getting angry when he was not accepting on getting tricked by Eggman, Knuckles keeps on yelling that he did not get tricked Sonic replies, "Alright! Alright! You didn't!". Tails also comment that Sonic and Knuckles are "funny" together. When Rouge tells Knuckles that the invitation was actually written by her and not her, Knuckles becomes restless realizing that he did get tricked. While Sonic tries cooling Knuckles down by saying that atleast Eggman didn't trick him but Tails doubted that would make Knuckles feel better.

Amy Rose
Amy and Sonic first met when Sonic had to save her from Metal Sonic in Sonic CD, after that Amy has been madly in-love with Sonic and chases him down where ever he goes, however Sonic seems reluctant towards her affection and especially tries to run away or avoid her most of the times, but when Amy is in trouble Sonic is always present to save her. It is very much common in games, whenever Amy comes to Sonic and tries to be romantic with him, Sonic feels uncomfortable and runs away from her. It is a very controversial topic as to whether Sonic has secret feeling for Amy or not. However, it can be more than confirmed that Sonic returning his feelings or not for Amy is an opinion and not a fact.

Sonic seems to have a fear of Amy's anger (in fact it's the only thing so far that can bring Sonic true fear) and runs away with fear when she pulls out her Piko Piko Hammer. In Sonic Advance 3, before unlocking Amy she comes to Sonic and says, "Sonic! Are you going to ask me out?" Sonic replies no, then Amy says, "Don't you know that we're always meant..." Sonic hesitates and says, "...Together? No! No such thing!" then she pulls out her hammer and says, "Why won't you admit it!?" then Sonic says, "Er... let's not use that hammer, shall we?".

Also in Sonic Adventure 2 when Sonic was in jail and asked Amy to help him get out, she replies that she'll help him if he'd marry her, to which Sonic replies that he'd rather stay in jail than to marry her. Sonic also seems to find her weird or a pain for him like in Sonic Adventure when Amy wanted to go out with Sonic in Twinkle Park he says to himself, "I give up! She is so weird!" also when asked at Sonic Central by a fan about Amy, Sonic replies, "Amy is a pain sometimes, well most of the times!".

In Sonic Free Riders, Sonic seems to be more annoyed with Amy when she constantly tells him that they have to go out and even tells him that she should take it easy on her in the race. He doesn't seem to reply to her by words or sentences showing her that he is annoyed. He also tries changing a romantic subject like in the Babylon Story, when Amy runs after him and talks about a date after the Grand Prix, Sonic tries to change the subject by simply saying, "Hi Amy!" suddenly and quickly. In the end of the Team Rose story, Amy forces Sonic to go out with her because she won, but Sonic, not wanting to go, just gives an annoyed look and says "Ugh!". When Amy asks Sonic if she is cute, Sonic tries changing the subject by saying "Ugh... we all had a great time in the Prix, right?"

Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow is the dark doppelgänger of Sonic. They look alike (to the extent that many characters got them confused in Sonic Adventure 2), they are both super fast, and they can both use Chaos Control. Because of these similarities, they have become great rivals and they frequently call each other "faker" as an insult.

It was the result of Shadow's actions that sent Sonic to jail, even when Sonic wasn't guilty, in Sonic Adventure 2. In the end, however, Sonic realizes that Shadow was on Earth for a purpose, to fulfill his promise to Maria, that is the reason why Sonic realized that Shadow is actually a great hero. After defeating, Biolizard, and Shadow's apparent "death", Sonic recalls that Shadow is a great hero and he'll never forget a great person like him.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, when co-operating with Sonic, Sonic is the most friendly and helpful towards Shadow unlike the rest of the characters, he is also very much concerned on Shadow's loss of memory and constantly asks him if he can remember anything. But it seems that Shadow maybe disturbed by the hedgehog's hyper and friendly attitude, like when Sonic comes in an air-ship towards Shadow, Shadow unenthusiastically said "Not you again!". Sonic, noticing that Shadow wasn't really happy to see him, sarcastically states "Nice to see you too!". Despite that, Sonic still seems to support Shadow and also tries to have a friendly competition with him.

Out of all the rivals and opponents Sonic faces, Shadow is the one whom he has the most fun with and the most time with struggling. Shown in all the clashes between the two, although this has lessened for gameplay purposes in the future, they are nearly equal or as strong as the other with both sides proving to be neither lacking in any category that seperates them from skill in their respective prowess. Later on it is shown that Sonic is getting faster and more honed than Shadow, and Shadow is getting more destructive and and powerful than Sonic, both having different skill sets from each game while retaining their inital basic attacks and speed.

Their battle is almost always a competition now, from snowboarding, to fighting, to even racing. Sonic and Shadow have a rivalry based on a need to showcase their growth and improvement for each and every encounter they have. Though this is through Shadow's eyes more than Sonic whom he wants to race more than fight.

Metal Sonic
Sonic and Metal Sonic have a violent rival/enemy relationship. Eggman created Metal Sonic in order to defeat the real Sonic knowing that something as powerful as Sonic would be able to succeed. Since Metal Sonic contains most of Sonic's abilities, they are almost always fighting with each other. Metal Sonic has a strong dislike towards Sonic, always trying to prove that he is better that him in everyway and even calls Sonic "My loathsome copy". as well as believing that he is the real Sonic. In Sonic Heroes, when Metal Sonic took control of Eggman's fleet, his intentions were to kill Sonic and then build a robot empire, but Sonic and his allies ended up defeating him, and afterwards Metal Sonic asked Sonic why he couldn't beat him and shut down. Also in this game, Metal Sonic's real emotions towards Sonic were released.

Silver the Hedgehog
Sonic and Silver first met during the events of Sonic 2006. The two were enemies and first because Silver had travelled though time and was intending to kill Sonic believing that he was responsible for destroying his time by releasing Iblis onto the world and was bent on saving the future. But Silver befriended Sonic when he discovered that Sonic was not the Iblis trigger and that Mephiles the Dark had lied to him. The two worked together to save Princess Elise and when Sonic was killed by Mephiles, Silver realized that they could save Sonic with the power of the Chaos Eermalds. Afterwards Silver teamed up with Sonic and Shadow to defeat Solaris. But since the events of the game were erased from history, Sonic and Silver never met. They don't actully meet until Sonic Rivals where Silver has travelled to the past to bring Eggman Nega back to the future, but Silver seems to be more competitive to Sonic as they raced each other see who would get to Eggman Nega first but later they teamed up with each other at the end to defeat Eggman Nega and also in Sonic Rivals 2 to defeat the Ifrit. It appears that Sonic and Silver don't remember each other from their past adventure since the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 were erased.

Silver seems to have a bit of a disliking towards Sonic moslty because he thinks that he is cheeky and foolish much the same how Shadow thinks of Sonic at times, Silver's attitude tends to annoy Sonic at times as well as seen in Sonic Rivals when he says "Yo Silver, you've got an attitude". But they will work together and lay aside their differences whenever the time is right. An example is in Sonic Colors after Silver challenges Sonic to a mission, he asks if Sonic if he needs any help. Silver is one of the characters that Sonic would like to challenge as seen in Sonic Rivals, when Silver said to him that he had to get to Eggman Nega first before Sonic did, Sonic said "Okay Silver bring it on, I like a challenge!". Their relationship is very similar to Sonic and Knuckles.

Friends/Allies

 * Miles "Tails" Prower (Best Friend)
 * Amy Rose (Self-Proclaims herself as his Girlfriend)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (Great Friend)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Arch-Rival and Ally)
 * Blaze the Cat (Former Rival, Partner in Combat and Good 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
 * 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 Sonic Adventure)
 * Chao
 * Samba de Amigo
 * NiGHTS
 * Billy Hatcher
 * E-102 Gamma
 * Mario (Friendly rival & Great friend)
 * Luigi
 * Princess Peach
 * Princess Daisy
 * Yoshi
 * Donkey Kong
 * Yacker (Sonic Colors)
 * Wisps
 * Mother-Wisp
 * Himself (Past Self) (Sonic Generations only)

Rivals

 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Arch rival)
 * Silver the Hedgehog (Ally & 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)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (Old Rival)
 * Espio the Chameleon (Sonic Rivals 2 only)

Enemies

 * Doctor Eggman (Arch-Nemesis and usually main antagonist)
 * Metal Sonic (Robotic Doppleganger)
 * Chaos (Formerly)
 * Ix (Sonic Chronicles only)
 * Fang the Sniper
 * Metal Knuckles
 * Silver the Hedgehog (Formerly)
 * Tails Doll
 * Eggrobo
 * Silver Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Only)
 * Gemerl (Sonic Advance 3; formerly)
 * Eggman Nega (Sonic Rush series only)
 * Captain Whisker (Sonic Rush Adventure only)
 * Johnny (And Rival)
 * Scourge the Hedgehog (Archie comics only)
 * Erazor Djinn (Sonic and the Secret Rings only)
 * Solaris (Sonic 06 only)
 * Ifrit (Sonic Rivals 2 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)
 * Bowser (Mario & Sonic series)
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Wario
 * Waluigi
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Nega Mother-Wisp (Sonic Colors for the NDS only)

Trivia

 * There is a hedgehog genome named Sonic hedgehog.
 * Sonic is blue because Yuji Naka felt that Sonic should symbolize peace as blue is the color of peace.
 * Sonic was the first of two video game characters to appear in the Macy's Day parade. (The second was Pikachu from the Pokémon franchise.) It was officially annouced that in the 2011 Macy's Day Parade, Sonic will make his return as the lead of the parade, as well as to commeriate his 20th Anniversary.
 * Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sonic Free Riders, and Sonic Unleashed (while in Werehog-Form) are the only games where Sonic is wearing different shoes.
 * Strangley, some of Sonic's artwork has him with buckles, whereas others don't.
 * Curiously, Sonic's first appearance in games wasn't in Sonic The Hedgehog, but in Rad Mobile, much like Mario's first appearence was in a game called Donkey Kong.
 * 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 one of the commercials, his eyelids we're blue. And in the commercial of the game in Japan, he had no eyelids. He does blink twice in the commercial, but he still has his eyes open when he blinks.
 * 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.)
 * Sonic has made a playable cameo appearance in the Christmas NiGHTS bonus event Sonic the Hedgehog into Dreams. This was also Sonic's first true 3D appearance.
 * Sonic's soles are gray but in some games they are white.
 * 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. This explains why they haven't made a game appearance for a long time.
 * In Sonic Rush, if you tap Sonic with the stylus during gameplay, he would clap, jump back and forth, then he'll continuously swing his arm clockwise as if he is exercising.
 * 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.
 * In the official artwork for SegaWorld Sydney, his arms are accidentally colored blue.
 * Sonic has tied for 10th best selling series with Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda.
 * In the game "Little Big Planet", one can customize the sackboy into the Sonic the Hedgehog look, along with other costumes such as Knuckles, Tails, Eggman and Sonic the Werehog.
 * 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 Channel had finalized it as 15.
 * In the Japanese versions of the games, Sonic has shown that he knows the most amount of English out of all other characters, as he is the only one who uses Engrish many times in the games.
 * Sonic is the first character to utilize the Chaos Emeralds by transforming into Super Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * In the 2011 Guinness World Records Gamers Edition, Sonic placed 10th in the "Top 50 Video Game Characters of all time." His rival, Mario, placed first, and Shadow placed 25th.
 * Sonic's original name was Mr. Needlemouse.

Memorable Quotes

 * "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." - Sonic introducing himself.
 * "Tails, long time no see!" - Sonic greeting Tails in a few games.
 * "Keep an eye out for Dr. Eggman!" - Sonic warning people about Eggman's presence at Alton Towers.
 * "I'm outta here!" - Sonic when the player waits for too long in Sonic CD.
 * "Aw, yeah! This is happenin'!" - Sonic enjoying a run on building rooftops in his intro of 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.
 * "It won't change how he feels inside, will it? His heart will still remain in turmoil and his anger just won't vanish!" - Sonic claiming that sealing Chaos in the Master Emerald will not change anything, in Sonic Adventure.
 * "Hey, I'll play with you some other time!" - Sonic in Sonic Adventure after defeating a boss.
 * "Say something! You fake hedgehog!" - To Shadow when first encountering him Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "What you see is what you get, I'm just a guy who loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" - Telling Shadow who he is in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Too easy. Piece of cake!" - Sonic getting a B Rank in Sonic Adventure 2 and winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "I'll choose yours, CHAOS CONTROL!" - Shadow vs Sonic in Dark Story in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Let's head back to the planet that's as cool and blue as me!" - After defeating the Finalhazard and talking with Amy in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * "Let's blast through with Sonic speed!" - Selecting Team Sonic in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Time to crack that Eggman wide open... Yeah, let's party." - 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.
 * "Ready anytime!" - When Sonic gets a Team Blast for Team Sonic in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Alright. Let's get ready to do this. We'll show that creep the real super power of teamwork!" - Sonic and friends about to confront Metal Madness in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Anytime you want a rematch, just let me know! I'll be waiting!" - Sonic challenging Metal Sonic to a future match in Sonic Heroes.
 * "Let's do it!" - Sonic in the beginning of the levels in Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure.
 * "You gotta be true to yourself." - Sonic talking to Blaze in Sonic Rush.
 * "Looks like the party's getting started! Time to rock and roll!" - Sonic about to go to a stage with Shadow in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Damn! They got away! Leave it to me, I'll chase 'em." - Sonic after losing the alien tank in the Stage 2 Hero Mission in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "You up for this Shadow?" - Sonic asking if Shadow's up to fight a massive army of Black Arms when they were going up to the Space Colony Ark in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Don't you remember Shadow? We raced here once." - Sonic asking Shadow if he remembers their race from Sonic Adventure 2 in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "S-Shadow...Why? Why are you siding with them?" - Sonic weakly talks to Shadow after his defeat during one of the dark missions in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "Shadow... what're you going to do with them?" - A quote after Sonic's defeat in another dark ending in Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * "My... That's a pretty snazzy performance there!" - Sonic teasing Dr. Eggman when Eggman ruined the festival in Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * "Your smile... That's all I need." - Sonic cheering Elise up as she blames herself for Sonic's injuries.
 * "Nothing starts until you take action. If you've got time to worry, run!" - Sonic talking to Elise in Sonic '06.
 * "Aren't you worried?" - Sonic rescuing Elise for the final time in Sonic '06.
 * "You're too slow!" - A very famous quote when taunting in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "Sonic's the name, speed's my game!" - After winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "Come on, step it up!" - Sonic taunting in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "Hey, we should do this again sometime." - Sonic winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "That was easy, piece of cake!" - Sonic whips out a Chaos Emerald after winning a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * "Finally! Something interesting!" - Sonic in the teaser trailer for Sonic and the Secret Rings.
 * "And enough of that 'rat' stuff! Seriously! I'm a hedgehog! HEDGE-HOG!" - After the Erazor Djinn calls Sonic a rat in Sonic and the Secret Rings.
 * "I told you, I'm not a rat! I'm a hedgehog!" - Sonic when Erazor "fufills" Sonic's final wish of trapping Erazor forever in his lamp in Sonic and the Secret Rings.
 * "Yeah, this is the real me. Pretty cool huh?" - Sonic telling Chip that this is what he usually looks like in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Yo, Eggman. Thanks for that little skydiving adventure the other day!" - Sonic after saving the people of the village in Mazuri.
 * "Not a bad toy, but play time's over pal!" - Sonic after defeating the Egg Beetle of the daytime bosses in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Time for the big finale!" - Sonic in the final battle against Dark Gaia in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Eh. Can't win em all..." - Sonic when getting a C rank in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Yeah, I'm good!" - Sonic after getting an A rank in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "Beautiful!" - When Sonic gets an S rank in Sonic Unleashed.
 * "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.
 * "Guess I can't be the hero all the time!" - Sonic playfully talks to Merlina after she tells him he will be known as a bad guy who struck down their kingdom's king in Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * "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.
 * "Just one more question before we settle this. Why'd you do it? Weren't we trying to save this kingdom from the underworld?" - Sonic confronting Merlina when he first enters the barrier in Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * "A knight... never... flees his foe... right?" - Sonic restating Caliburn's words to the knights of the round table when he refuses to run away from Merlina during their fight.
 * "It was... never about chivalry for me... I just gotta do what I gotta do, that's all!" - 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.
 * "Wait, we're going up against them? Seriously?" - Sonic after he found out he had to go up against Team Rose in Sonic Free Riders.
 * "Because Eggman plus secretly built amusement park equals evil plot for us to foil." - Sonic talking to Tails at the begining of the story in Sonic Colors.
 * "I did a little shopping, grabbed a bite to eat, and trashed a giant killer robot." - When Tails was wondering where Sonic was in Sonic Colors.
 * "I'll just stick with aliens if that's OK with everybody." - Sonic breaking the fourth wall in Sonic Colors.
 * "Hey Tails! You missed the BBBE!" - Sonic telling Tails that he missed the "Best Boss Beating Ever" in Sonic Colors.
 * "Now, If I was an alien in need of saving, where would I be?" - Sonic in Sonic Colors while trying to find trapped Wisps.
 * "Experience has taught me to investigate anything that glows." - Sonic going to investigate one of Eggman's generators in Sonic Colors.
 * "BALDY NOSEHAIR!? That is the best thing I've heard all day! I gotta remember that one!" - Sonic laughing when Tails told him that the Wisps call Eggman "Baldy Nosehair" in Sonic Colors.
 * "No copyright law in the universe is going to stop me!" - Sonic in Sonic Colors before fighting the boss on Planet Wisp.
 * "We? I don't remember YOU fighting off any giant killer robots." - Sonic telling Tails he didn't help fight off any robots at the end of Sonic Colors.
 * "A hedgehog's gotta do what a hedgehog's gotta do." - Sonic tells Tails he did what he had to in order to defeat Eggman and outrun the black hole that enveloped the theme park in Sonic Colors.
 * "I've never seen Cosmo look so scared... and Chris was passed out! What did you do to him!?" - Sonic enraged words when he finds Cosmo and Chris held hostage by one of the Metarex in Sonic X.

Solo Themes

 * In Sonic SatAM, Sonic's theme is Fastest Thing Alive, which is soft rock theme.
 * In Sonic CD, Sonic's US theme is Sonic Boom, which is a soft rock theme. For Japan his theme is Sonic-You Can Do Anything.
 * 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 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.
 * In Sonic Colors, his theme is Reach For The Stars describing from his POV on his new adventure.

Shared Themes

 * 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.

Gallery
For a full gallery of images of Sonic, including sprites and screenshots, see Sonic the Hedgehog (character)/Artwork Gallery.