Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) is a supersonic hedgehog that can run at faster than the speed of sound (hence the name Sonic) and loves adventure. He acknowledges the fact that our Earth is just as cool and blue as he is. He is 15 years old, stands at 100 centimeters (3 ft 3 in) and weighs 35 kilograms (77 lbs). His birthday is June 23, 1991, and he 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 15-year-old anthropomorphic hedgehog, who has the ability to run faster than Mach 1 and the ability curl up into a ball, primarily to attack enemies. This is a major part of the gameplay of the series.

Sonic seems to have a holy or avatar-like position, as many of his adventures in the series coincide with the fulfillment of ancient prophecies, specifically his involvement in the ancient legends of the Knuckles Tribe (such as the mural on Angel Island that depicts Super Sonic fighting Eggman for the Master Emerald, his role as the Chosen One who will defeat the Erazor Djinn, and his indirect role as the Iblis Trigger).

Games
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 Eggman'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.

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.

Sonic lost his parents at an early age, and has lived with his Uncle Chuck about as long as he can remember (hence the love of chili dogs). As a small child Sonic had a natural knack for running, and spent much of his free time trying to get faster. As he grew, the knack evolved into a highly developed skill, and by his adolescence Sonic was reaching the speed of sound -- with the help of his uncle's special friction-proof shoes.

When the news of Robotnik's plans reached the hedgehogs, Sonic (age 9) immediately sprang into action to help. He bid his uncle farewell-for-now and raced off to stop the mad doctor. His success in the fight gained him two things: his independence, and the birth of his enormous ego. Sonic has been dueling with Robotnik ever since, picking up friends like Tails and Knuckles along the way. [[Media:Example.ogg]]

Games
Sonic started his battle against his nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the 1991 platform game Sonic for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear. His sidekick Tails joined him in the game's 1992 sequel Sonic 2, which also introduced Sonic's signature "Spin-Dash" move. Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles both released 1994 saw Sonic and Tails battle Robotnik yet again, with the additional threat of Knuckles, tricked by Robotnik into fighting Sonic.

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 into the video games, and his new robotic doppelgänger Metal 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 seaside city of Station Square under attack by a new, very powerful foe named Chaos, under the control of Doctor Robotnik (Now known as 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) which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the series, introduced a new rival, in the form of the ultimate life, Shadow the Hedgehog new characters, and involved Sonic on-the-run from the military after being framed for a robbery he didn't commit. It is also the first game where the planet is called Earth, in game. A third 3D action game, Sonic Heroes, 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 and the evil return of Metal Sonic who wanted to achieve world domination himself. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game) which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the series, featured the first appearance of Blaze the Cat in a home console and a new foe called Silver the Hedgehog who posesses powerful psychic abilites. In 2007, Sonic and the Secret Rings released where Sonic along with his genie friend Shahra battled to protect the Arabian Nights.

Sonic has also been featured in games of many genres other than 2D and 3D platform games. The first of these was a pinball game, Sonic Spinball (1993), which expanded upon the pinball sequences in the first two platform games. Sonic has also appeared in "2.5D" isometric platformers (Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Battle and Sonic 3D Blast), racing games (Sonic Drift, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, 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. There is also a sequel of Sonic & the Secret Rings known as Sonic & the Black Knight.

Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Tails' Adventures, 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 and Christmas NiGHTS. Sonic will battle Eggman again in the upcoming game Sonic Unleashed, where Eggman shatters the planet and Sonic has to find the Chaos Emeralds to put it back together. Things are made more difficult by the fact that Sonic now transforms into a werewolf at night.

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 and Tails' 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 showing Robotnik as a fearsome dictator controlling Mobius and Sonic and his Freedom Fighter friends battle to take back their planet.

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 respectivley. 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 royality but they have to battle to take back their thrones from the evil dictator..

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 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 (which angered many fans of the voice actors of the Sonic Adventure games).

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, and there is currently another one being published based on Sonic Unleashed featuring a new chracter named Chip (Chippu).

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 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, though green, 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, 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.

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

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

Sonic also made a cameo in Journey in the end of the night where he can be seen on a billboard where it says Sonic Rules.

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.

Sonic CD featured brief dialogue.

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 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 series and Sonic Heroes voice cast.

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, though he usually sees his role as a hero as an opportunity to have fun, though he ultimately sees battles with truly evil beings (such as the Erazor Djinn once he has become Alf Layla wa-Layla) as truly serious with no real fun involved in stopping them. He tells Princess Elise in the 2006 video game that he always keeps his word. 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 humor.

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

Abilities


Sonic is known best for his speed, with the ability to run at speeds higher than Mach 1 (He can break the sound barrier). He is known as "the fastest thing alive," and can run backwards just as well as forwards, as shown in the Team Sonic opening cutscene 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 the water.

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 or burrow through many obstacles or foes. Later games in the series expanded on this basic attack. Two of these enhancements have become mainstays of his: the Spin Dash was introduced in sonic2 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. Sonic curls into a ball and revvs up before charging forwards in a burst of speed.

The 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 stands still and his legs run fast enough to create the illusion of an infinity symbol (more correctly a Mobius strip) beneath him in red. He holds this and then blasts forward. One of Sonic's taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl involves him spinning his legs fast enough to make this move while commenting on his opponents being "too slow." The Peel Out is also his running animation in Brawl. It is similar to the Spin Dash, but without the curling up part of the move. His feet tend to make the illusion of a figure 8 with this move.

The Blue Tornado is that 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. 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.

Weakness
Sonic is incapable of swimming which causes him to sink like a stone in water, probably mainly due to his great body weight for his size and narrow limbs or possibly due to his presumed aquaphobia, 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 lifevest. However, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic can swim without a lifevest, though he has one of the shortest swim-times in the game. Although a 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 2d games allow for underwater breathing through the use of air bubbles.

Friends

 * Miles "Tails" Prower (Best-Friend)
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Sally Acorn
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Charmy Bee
 * Bunnie Rabbot
 * Rotor the Walrus
 * Dulcy the Dragon
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Big the Cat
 * Cosmo the Seedrian
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Marine the Raccoon
 * Citizen One
 * Doctor Bob Bobble
 * Doctor Sorders
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Omni-Viewer
 * Porker Lewis
 * Professor Kintobor
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * NiGHTS

Rivals

 * Shadow the Hedgehog (presently)
 * Scourge the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna (formerly)
 * Metal Sonic
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Mario (former business rival)
 * Shade the Echidna
 * Ash Mongoose

Foes

 * Scourge the Hedgehog
 * Metal Sonic
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Chaos (Formerly)
 * Ix
 * Fang the Sniper
 * Metal Knuckles
 * Tails Doll
 * Eggrobo
 * Scratch and Grounder
 * Papa Robotnik
 * Mama Robotnik
 * Dr. Warpnik
 * Mammoth Mogul
 * Megatox
 * Silver Sonic

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

Trivia

 * According to the Archie comics, Sonic's middle name is Maurice. His full real name is revealed to be Olgilvie Maurice Hedgehog.
 * There is a hedgehog genome named Sonic hedgehog.
 * He does not appear in the game Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, though he is the main character in almost every other game (hence why they are named after him).
 * Sonic has fought many of his friends at some points throughout the media, them being Knuckles (Sonic 3, Sonic Adventure), Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes) , Amy Rose (Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle), Rouge (Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes), Silver (Sonic '06, Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2), Tails (Sonic Pinball Party), Blaze (Sonic Rush), Vector (Sonic X, Sonic Heroes), Cream the Rabbit & Cheese (Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle), E-123 Omega (Sonic Heroes), Jet the Hawk (Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity), Big the Cat (Sonic Heroes), and Espio the Chameleon (Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic the Fighters).
 * Only his English Sonic CD voice is discredited.
 * Although he has fought many of his friends, he so far has never battled these characters; Marine the Raccoon and Tikal the Echidna.
 * Even though Sonic has visited dream dimensions in Sonic Shuffle and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, there has been no saying of ever actually meeting NiGHTS or Mario there respectively.(This information doesn't count NiGHTS' SA DX appearance, sonic flies in front of her in a casino game.)
 * Sonic has a few things in common with Silver & Shadow 1: They're all hedgehogs. 2: All their names start with "S" 3: They all have Super Forms. 4: They can all use Chaos Control.