WHAT IS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?
Sonic The Hedgehog is a video game series started in 1991 that still continues today, developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA. Sonic The Hedgehog follows the titular Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends on their adventures to stop evil plots of Dr. Eggman, known in some media as Dr. Robotnik.
Sonic games are typically speed-based platformer adventure games, and while you most often play as Sonic himself, other playable characters are available sometimes as well. The Sonic series, though primarily known as a game series, is a multimedia franchise that since the early 90s has expanded to include comics, TV cartoons, theatrical movies, novels, spin-offs, and buttloads of merchandise.
On surface level, the Sonic franchise seems like a neverending game of a cat-and-mouse, or, human-and-hedgehog, between Sonic and Eggman, but the series goes much deeper than its initial premise, with a lot of lore to delve into and deeper, important themes to discuss. It's about freedom, friendship, harmony, resistance against oppression, and enviromentalism.
WHO IS SONIC?
Sonic, our protagonist, is a carefree blue teenage hedgehog described to be "like the wind". In most Sonic media he's depicted to be 14 - 16 years old. Sonic has the ability to run at the speed of sound and faster - sometimes reaching the speed of light! Sonic is very confident, sometimes to the point of being egotistical, adventurous and snarky, and is very rebellious and anti-authority, abiding by his own moral code and nobody else's.
Sonic can't swim and is very afraid of bodies of water, and his inability to swim has been present since the very first Sonic game. He loves nature, rock music, freedom, and chilidogs (his favorite food)! Sonic was designed by Naoto Ohshima, with aim to appeal to western audiences. Inspirations for Sonic's character include Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton, and Santa Claus. Currently, in English, Sonic is portrayed by Roger Craig Smith, and by Junichi Kanemaru in Japanese.
SONIC'S FRIENDS!
Brief descriptions of Sonic's friends, the other major characters of the Sonic series!
MILES "TAILS" PROWER:
A young mechanical genius and pilot, as well as Sonic's best friend / little brother.
KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA:
One of Sonic's earliest introduced rivals, the strong, dependable, but naive guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island.
AMY ROSE:
The first female character that was introduced to the series. A kind and romantic young girl with a celebrity crush on Sonic.
CREAM THE RABBIT:
A polite little girl that works as a team with her pet Chao Cheese. She's like a little sister to Sonic.
BIG THE CAT:
A big, calm, and gentle cat that lives in the forest and loves to fish. He has a pet frog named Froggy.
BLAZE THE CAT:
A fast princess with fire powers that hails from another dimension. She's the cool, stern guardian of the Sol Emeralds.
SILVER THE HEDGEHOG:
A naive, telekinetic hedgehog hailing from a far, desolate future. Despite the terrible future he lives in, he's unwaveringly optimistic.
MARINE THE RACCOON:
A loud, brash little girl with a knack for sailing and desire to be captain of her own ship. She's a companion to Blaze.
VECTOR THE CROCODILE:
A music-loving detective that runs the Team Chaotix Detective Agency. He and his team members seem to always be strapped for cash.
ESPIO THE CHAMELEON:
A member of Team Chaotix. He's a polite, yet serious ninja that can blend in with the world around him.
CHARMY THE BEE:
A loud and enthusiastic little bee that's meant to be a stereotypically annoying little kid. He acts like a cheerleader to the older characters around him.
ROUGE THE BAT:
A sneaky and flirtatious treasure hunter who's always determined to get her way no matter what the cost. She has a fierce rivalry with Knuckles.
SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG:
One of Sonic's rivals. A dark and brooding no-nonsense agent of G.U.N. that was artificially created by Dr. Eggman's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik.
E-123 OMEGA:
A robot created by Dr. Eggman that's turned against the Eggman empire and wishes to destroy all of Eggman's other robots.
METAL SONIC:
A robotic clone of Sonic created by Dr. Eggman that's meant to directly best and rival Sonic in every way.
WHAT'S MY CONNECTION TO SONIC?
Oh geez, where do I even start! The Sonic series has been very dear to my heart ever since I was a little kid. As young as 8. My first introductions to Sonic were on the early days of Youtube in the late 2000s. I think the first video I ever watched was this one:
And after I saw that video, I was instantly enthralled with the character designs. I needed to know more about this series. And so... I found out more!!! I watched a buttload of Sonic AMVs (a few I remember being a Rouge AMV with Potential Breakup Song by Aly & AJ and an Amy AMV with Fergalicious by Fergie) and eventually one day I happened upon Sonic X.
This became my first official Sonic media, and I watched the series in full. I don't remember which I watched first - Japanese subbed or English dubbed, but I watched Sonic X and I became very attached to it. I was inspired by it as a kid and wanted to make something like it.
I made a habit out of coloring over Sonic X screenshots to make it look like characters I'd make and I would watch videos on Youtube of other people doing the same. A lot of why my art looks the way it does today can be explained by how much I adored Sonic X as a child, as it was the very thing that made me get into art.
I made my first DeviantART account in 2010 when I was 9 years old. At first I uploaded all my Sonic recolors, but once someone (kindly, if I remember) told me these weren't allowed on the site, I decided to upload my own Sonic fanart instead. I mostly had fun, and made good friends on there!
It wouldn't be the early 2010s on the internet without trolls though, and I got quite a few of them as a kid. Not to mention, all the... unsavory art I ran into back then! I saw a lot of stuff a kid shouldn't have had to see. I do wish my early Sonic fandom experience could've been clean, but unfortunately it was not.
Along with uploading my Sonic art on DeviantART, I also watched a ton of Sonic fanworks on Youtube. I loved the Sonic Shorts series (though admittedly, it hasn't aged great), as well as Sonic For Hire (which... also didn't age well!). I believe I was the biggest fan of MobianAngel and Lightsen's old Sonic animations, however, the latter of which has also been an influence on my art style.
I also browsed Newgrounds a lot to watch Sonic flash animations and play Sonic flash games (I don't think it was on Newgrounds, but I LOVED Ultimate Flash Sonic!). And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Sonic plush videos and sprite videos. Those were my childhood self's Cocomelon. I particularly loved watching Sonic Glitched as a kid because I thought violence was really funny when I was little.
My first Sonic game was the Sonic Classic Collection for the Nintendo DS. It had Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic 2 & Knuckles. I played this all the time as a little kid, particularly Sonic 2 because it was the only game where I could actually get past the 2nd zone without losing all my lives!!! Yeah... I'm bad at Sonic games. T^T
SONIC STUFF I OWN!
As much as I would LOVE to have the world's biggest library of Sonic games and merchandise... unfortunately that is not so. I still have a good lot of Sonic stuff though!
OFFICIAL PHYSICAL COPIES: Sonic Classic Collection, Sonic Rush, Sonic Colors DS, Sonic Colors (Wii), Sonic Adventure 2 : Battle, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Riders
I'm aware how pitifully small my amount of physical copy Sonic games is. I plan to remedy that!!! When I can afford to... I never have enough money! T^T
OFFICIAL DIGITAL COPIES: Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing, Sonic CD, Sonic Dash, Sonic Forces, Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Generations, Sonic Lost World, Sonic Mania, Sonic Origins, Sonic 4 Episode II
"BORROWED" COPIES (i pirated them. teehee): Sonic R, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Generations 3DS, Sonic 1 3D, Sonic 2 3D, Knuckles' Chaotix, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Advance 3, Sonic 1 8-bit, Sonic 2 8-bit, Tails Adventure, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
MY SONIC PLUSHIES!!!
My Sonic plushies! Tails is the oldest one here, I've had him since I was 8... Rouge is the biggest plushie I have period. Shadow is probably an unofficial plush, but I don't care about officialness I just like having him :)