Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ), is the main protagonist of the Sonic series. He's blue, he runs really fast, and he likes adventure. He acknowledges the fact that Earth is just as cool and blue as he is.

History
In April 1990, Sega requested a game capable of selling over one million copies 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 Robotnik's design), and a rabbit (intended to use its extendable ears to collect objects; these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar). Eventually, Naoto Ohshima's spiky hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse", was chosen as the new mascot. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), 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 Ohshima was quite short and childlike, with short quills, a round body, and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Watanabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), and most subsequent Sonic video games featured similar designs. Beginning with Sonic Adventure in 1998, Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa as a taller character with longer legs and a less spherical body, longer and more drooping spikes, and green-coloured 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 videogame designs, with restrictions set by the standardized model sheets.

His cobalt blue pigmentation has never been explained in the games; however, explanations were offered as the character was transferred to other media. One origin story was provided in a promotional comic for the original game featured in Disney Adventures, Garfield Magazine, and other children's periodicals, which was later elaborated upon in Mike Pattenden's Stay Sonic, a book about the character published in the UK. This explanation, in which the shockwaves Sonic experienced when he first ran at supersonic speed turned him blue and streamlined his hair and spikes, later became the basic origin for many subsequent UK publications such as Egmont Fleetway's Sonic the Comic.

A made up story was thought up by the developers at Sega in 1991. The story goes like this: Sonic the Hedgehog was originally the nickname of an American pilot who, throughout his life, persistently attempted to break the sound barrier. This wasn't the only thing that earned him his nick name, every time he climbed out of the cockpit of his plane his hair stuck backwards, like a hedgehog's, thus the nick name Sonic the Hedgehog. His color may not have ever been explained in the games, but it is explained by the fact that the pilot's flight jacket had a an emblem of a blue hedgehog on the back, signifying his soon-to-be-famous nick name. During his last flight, however, he lost control of his plane it crashed into the ground and he died instantaneously. Later on, a young reporter came across this jacket at an old shop in the town in which the pilot had once lived. She purchased the jacket remembering stories of a little character named Sonic the Hedgehog that the pilot's wife had told to the children of the neighborhood. Some time later, The video game company we've come to know as SEGA, got a hold of this information which had inspired them to make games based on the tales made up by the pilot's wife, thus starting a world-wide boom which still lives on to this day.

Even though this story started out as fiction, it is now believed by some fans as a real story on how Sega got the idea of Sonic The Hedgehog.

Games
Sonic started his battle against his nemesis Doctor Ivo Robotnik in the 1991 platform game Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit) for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear. His sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower joined him in the game's 1992 sequel Sonic 2, which also introduced Sonic's Super Sonic form and signature "spin-dash" move.

Sonic was solo once again for Sonic CD (1993), in which he used his unrivaled speed to travel through time to defeat Eggman and ensure a good future for the world, and which also introduced Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose, and his robotic doppelgänger Metal Sonic. Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles (both 1994) saw Sonic and Tails battle Eggman yet again, with the additional threat of Knuckles the Echidna, tricked by Eggman into fighting Sonic. Other 2D platformers starring Sonic include Sonic Chaos (1993), Sonic Triple Trouble (1994), Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999), the Sonic Advance series (2001—2004) and Sonic Rush (2005).

The first Sonic platform game in true 3D, Sonic Adventure (1998) was the original developer Sonic Team's return to the character for a major game. It featured Sonic returning from vacation to find the city of Station Square under attack by a new, powerful foe named Chaos, under the control of Doctor Eggman. It introduced Sonic's homing attack as a standard move, included power-ups that awarded him extra abilities for the rest of the game, and featured interaction with non-playable characters and objects in 3D "Adventure" sequences, where the game world could be freely explored. In addition to Sonic, who was given a full voice-over for the first time, five other major characters were playable, plus Super Sonic. Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) introduced a new rival, new characters, and involved Sonic on-the-run from the military after being framed for a robbery he didn't commit. A third 3D action game, Sonic Heroes, featured four different teams made up by three characters in each, and marked the return of supporting characters Team Chaotix and Metal Sonic. Two other 3D platformers, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game) and Sonic and the Secret Rings, are already released.

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 and Sonic 3D Blast), racing games (Sonic Drift, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, and Sonic Rivals) and fighting games (Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle). The sequel to Sonic Riders has also been released, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.

Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Tails' Adventures, Knuckles Chaotix and Shadow the Hedgehog (video game) 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 and Christmas NiGHTS.

Television series
There have been several animated television series featuring Sonic. 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's adventures and battles with Robotnik. 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.

Sonic Underground, a show in the US, UK and France, ignored the continuity of the previous series and introduced two siblings and Sonic's mother. White returned to voice Sonic, with Samuel Vincent providing his singing voice, while Robotnik was voiced by Gary Chalk.

Additionally, there was a Sonic the Hedgehog OAV Anime OAV 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. The series was a commercial failure in Japan and was canceled after a two-episode run, hence its being released in the US as a movie rather than episodes of a series.

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 cutscenes 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 Dr. 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 (comics) (1993—) and Sonic X (comics) (2005—) are based on the settings established by earlier animated TV series, the ABC "Sonic the Hedgehog (sat AM)" cartoon and the Sonic X anime respectively.

In Japan, Sonic manga have been published.

Cameos/popularity
Sonic has proven to be an extremely popular character. After having been around only 3 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 the Hedgehog (16-bit)s Green Hill Zone. An episode of Megas XLR spoofed Sonic with a parade balloon called Auggie the Adorable Aardvark (that also spoofs Mickey Mouse by wearing the same clothes), that was mutated and could do Sonic 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. 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.

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, and Sonic appears as a 3rd Party playable character in Super Smash Bros Brawl

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 September 1993, DiC Entertainment cast Jaleel White, more popularly known as portraying the character of Steve Urkel, as Sonic in their simultaneously released shows Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. White would later be cast as Sonic for DiC's 1999 show Sonic Underground.

In 1996, when the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA was produced in Japan, Sonic was voiced by Masami Kikuchi. The 1999 English-language dub featured Martin Burke in Sonic's role.

Starting with the 1999 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 series and Sonic Heroes voice cast.

Griffith's voice has been negatvely viewed by fans of the old voice cast of the Sonic series, as his voice for Sonic had been criticized by fans of lacking the enthusiasm that Sonic's last voice actor Ryan Drummond put into the role and not being able to fit Shadow's personality as well as David Humphrey did.

Since the change, fans have been sending Sega letters, phone calls, e-mails, and petitions demanding to give the role of Sonic back to Ryan Drummond. Besides that, fans want all the 4Kids voice actors fired, with the execption of Mike Pollock (who plays Eggman's voice and is considered the only good new voice actor). Many fans consider Ryan Drummond as the true voice actor for Sonic. In fact, fans have been making forums suggesting to boycott the games if Ryan Drummond and the other voice actors weren't rehired, most notably Sonic Next-Gen. Sega has failed to comment on the fans' demands so far.

Personality
Sonic has been described as being "like the wind", and is noted for being free-spirited and adventurous. He enjoys relaxation, but is never one to rest in the face of injustice. He is extremely benevolent, and willingly puts himself at risk to help others, taking on any challenge that confronts him without hesitation. However, Sonic is not generally modest when it comes to his abilities; in fact, he is often portrayed as being narcissistic and self-absorbed. The British Sonic the Comic presented him as being bossy and arrogant, often making cruel jokes about his friend Miles "Tails" Prower, and characters regularly referred to his strange sense of humour.

Sonic's favorite food is chili dogs. He displays an interest in rock music, and in the cartoon Sonic Underground was a vocalist in his own band. Some official character art and a television commercial for Sonic Adventure suggests that he has a personal hobby as a DJ. Furthermore, it is displayed in Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS that Sonic also enjoys breakdancing as it is one of his primary ways for filling up his Rush meter. His battle moves in Sonic Battle are also based on breakdancing, as mentioned in the attack descriptions. Lastly, he breakdances in Sonic Advance 3 if he finishes a level in a short-enough time. He has been credited as "the fastest thing alive" since Sonic the Hedgehog (DiC) and through Sonic Riders.

Home
In the games, he lives on Earth. In the comics, Dic cartoons, and various other media, he lives on Mobius.

Trivia

 * There is a human genome named Sonic hedgehog.