Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

Sonic the Hedgehog is the eponymous main protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. He first appeared in Rad Mobile in the form of a cameo, before receiving his own titular game for the Sega Genesis. Sonic has become Sega's mascot since the game was released, replacing their previous mascot, Alex Kidd. Sonic primarily appears in platforming titles, such as the first Sonic the Hedgehog, but has also appeared in several sports, racing, and party games as well, much like Nintendo's mascot, Mario.

Sonic has been portrayed as a champion of peace, risking his life to stop the evil schemes of a variety of violent foes, particularly Dr. Eggman. His trademark power is an ability to run at supersonic speed, hence his name. He is generally portrayed as a heroic and headstrong character, with a bit of a tendency towards cockiness and recklessness. Sonic is often aided in his adventures by a vast number of other animal characters, most commonly his close friends Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Concept and creation
In April 1990, Sega requested a game that would be capable of selling at least one million copies and compete against the Mario franchise, and would replace their mascot character, Alex Kidd. Several character designs were submitted, and Sega eventually settled on spiky teal hedgehog submitted by Naoto Ohshima named "Mr. Hedgehog," later renamed Sonic. Some of the original ideas for Sonic depicted him as being in a band, as well as having a human girlfriend named Madonna who would have played a similar role to Princess Peach in Super Mario Bros., though these were scrapped during development.

Rivalry
Nintendo and Sega were business rivals throughout the 1990s, though mostly during the competition of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive. As such, Nintendo and Sega often attempted to put each other down in their games. Examples of Nintendo mocking Sega include the "No Hopers" sign in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and possibly the Harry Hedgehogs of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, while examples of Mario mockeries in Sonic the Hedgehog media include the emphasis on "Super" on the back of Sonic the Hedgehog's box (a reference to the Super Mario series) and the Marxio Brothers of Sonic the Comic. In their North American marketing, Sega also mocked Mario in television ads that negatively compared the speed of Super Mario World to the faster Sonic the Hedgehog games on the Sega Genesis.

Their rivalry lasted until 2001 when Sega left the console manufacturing market with the discontinuation of their last console, the Sega Dreamcast (in America and Europe) and became a third-party game developer. The first Sonic games released on Nintendo consoles were Sonic Advance for the Game Boy Advance and an enhanced port of Sonic Adventure 2 for the Nintendo GameCube, titled Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, as both were released simultaneously in Japan.

In 2007, Mario and Sonic made their first official appearance together in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. In an interview with Nintendo and Sega, IGN cited it as being a "historic peace treaty." Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has since spawned more sequels, creating the Mario & Sonic series.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
In the Cranky's Video Game Heroes awards ceremony in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Sonic's shoes and Earthworm Jim's plasma gun can be seen next to a trash can, along with a sign saying "No Hopers". This detail was removed for the Game Boy Advance version, which was released a few years after Sega became a third-party developer.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
"Mario and Sonic have been respectful rivals since the early days of video games. In fact, for a long time they have been discussing the possibility of one day competing against each other. Now that they have been given the perfect opportunity to meet at the Olympic Games, we may finally learn who is actually faster, Mario or Sonic?"

- Shigeru Miyamoto

Sonic competes against Mario and others in Olympic events in the game Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. He is a Speed character, meaning he has great speed, but low power. Sonic wears a yellow life jacket during the swimming events, since he cannot swim; however, he moves quite fast in water as well as out of it.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Sonic, once again, crosses over with Mario in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. As in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, he is a Speed type character and is the fastest one in the game. In the Adventure Tours mode for the Nintendo DS version, Bowser and Dr. Eggman team up to ruin the 2010 Olympics. Bowser melts all of the snow at the event, and Dr. Eggman kidnaps the snow spirits to prevent any snowfall. Sonic and Mario team up in order to put a stop to Bowser and Dr. Eggman's plans and to save the snow spirits.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Sonic appears as a Speed type playable character in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and appears in the game's opening at the beginning with the other athletes, as well as later competing in 110m Hurdles, Dream Hurdles and Dream Uneven Bars, as well as with Mario on top of Big Ben. Sonic appears as a character that can be spoken to in London Party mode in order to play minigames and earn stickers, and Mii outfits based on him and his Super Sonic form can be unlocked.

In the Nintendo 3DS version, Sonic is included in the Heroes group, meaning that he is only playable in certain events. In the Story Mode, Sonic arrives in London with Tails, where they find and clear up the red Phantasmal Fog at the Tower of London, concluding that Bowser is involved. The next day, Sonic and Tails head to Tower Bridge, where they find more Phantasmal Fog, and clear it up with the help of Yoshi, Shadow, Silver and Jet, fiding out from Bowser Jr. that Dr. Eggman is also partially responsible for the fog in the process. Sonic and Tails then move on to the British Museum, where they team up with Mario, Luigi and Toad to clear the fog from the area and find out more about the fog. After gaining some more information, the group splits up, and Sonic heads to Horse Guards Parade, where he finds Knuckles and Vector who help him fend off Bowser and clear the area of fog. Sonic then returns to the Main Stadium to meet up with the others, and helps save Cream and Cheese from some Fog Imposters when the fog returns. Sonic then heads to Stonehenge with Mario, Luigi, Toad, Tails and Omega, where he defeats Magikoopa in an Event, and after Omega recovers some memory, the group head to Big Ben to confront Bowser and Dr. Eggman. Toad and Omega head back to the Main Stadium, and the remaining four confront Bowser and Dr. Eggman, with Mario and Sonic challenging the pair. When they are defeated, Sonic helps Mario seal away the Phantasmal Fog, and then accompanies Bowser and Dr. Eggman to the Main Stadium so that they can sign up for the games, and later appears at the opening ceremony. A badge of Sonic can also be obtained from the badge machine.

Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
Sonic also appears as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He is once again a Speed type character.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Sonic returns as a playable Speed type character in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In the 3DS version, Sonic, along with Mario, can be used in any of the game's events. This is the first Nintendo 3DS Mario & Sonic game to give Sonic in-game text dialogue, as opposed to his silence in previous games.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Sonic reappears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a playable Speed type character. Like many other characters in the game, Sonic wears appropriate clothing depending on the event. He is one of the eight characters that are playable in 2D Events. In the game's Story Mode, Sonic gets sucked into a game system along with Mario, Toad, Bowser and Dr. Eggman, and decides to compete in the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Sonic was originally requested to be a playable character in the previous installment, but the idea got scrapped due to time constraints. Sonic makes his Super Smash Bros. series debut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as an unlockable playable character. Both Sonic and Solid Snake are the first two third-party characters to appear as fighters in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Sonic can be unlocked by either playing 300 Brawl matches, completing Classic with ten characters, playing ten hours of Brawl matches, or by having Sonic join the party in The Subspace Emissary; with any of the first three methods, the player must then defeat Sonic on Green Hill Zone. Sonic was not originally planned to appear in the game; he was included during development in 2007, making him the final character created from the ground up to be added into the game.

Sonic is the fastest character in the game, with fast attacks and movements. Several of Sonic's moves are based on those he uses in his games. His standard special is the Homing Attack, which involves him flying right into opponents, his down special and side special are Spin Dash and Spin Charge, respectively, which both involve him curling into a ball and ramming into opponents, and his up special is Spring Jump, which involves him leaping up off of a spring from the Sonic series. His Final Smash move is using the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic, allowing him to fly around the stage to attack.

Sonic's victory theme is directly taken from the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, that tune being an arrangement of the Act Clear theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and most Sonic games after that. This makes Sonic the first character in the series whose victory theme is ported directly from a non-Super Smash Bros. game.

Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary
Sonic does not appear in the Subspace Emissary until the very end, after The Great Maze. As every fighter makes it to where Tabuu resides, he prepares his Off Waves, which would have turned every character into a trophy. As soon as he's about to release the attack, a blue blur dashes past the fighters, and rams into both of Tabuu's wings, causing the Off-Wave attack to fail. As the blue blur jumps up on a "peak", he reveals himself to be Sonic. While he taunts, Tabuu's wings break apart, and then six fighters are selected to fight Tabuu in the final battle. Sonic is one of the few characters to never be seen as a trophy in The Subspace Emissary, the others being Jigglypuff, Squirtle, Toon Link, Wolf O'Donnell, and Zero Suit Samus.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Sonic reappears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a playable character, making him the first third-party veteran fighter. This time, he was made available from the start. Sonic is also now voiced by Roger Craig Smith in English instead of Jason Griffith; additionally, he is now voiced by a different voice actor in different regions (e.g. he has a French voice in France). However, his voice clips are recycled voice clips from other games, with his voice clips of rising from water (only in the Wii U version), sleeping, and one of his attack grunts being archival recordings of Jason Griffith from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His appearance has been updated to reflect his design in his more recent games such as Sonic Colors, which in turn are based on official 2D and CG artworks.

His moveset is almost completely unchanged from Super Smash Bros. Brawl; the only real changes are that his down smash from the previous game (a back-and-forth Spin Dash) has been replaced with a split-kick, while his dash attack (a Spin Dash) has him perform a lunging kick afterwards. Sonic's overall damage output is lowered, but many of his attacks deal more knockback. Sonic's air speed and fast-falling speeds are both faster, while his walking speed is slightly slower.

One of Sonic's alternate costumes appears to be based on Silver the Hedgehog. Along with Sonic himself, a stage based on Windy Hill Zone from Sonic Lost World makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as well as the returning Green Hill Zone appearing in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Sonic returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic is an unlockable character instead of being available from the start. Sonic's basic moveset appears mostly unchanged aside from his dash attack, which is now solely a lunge kick. His Final Smash, Super Sonic, returns, but he travels much faster than before, and he moves automatically back and forth while his height can be adjusted, in a vein similar to Pac-Man's Final Smash. As with several other returning characters, Sonic's victory theme has been slightly shortened compared to the previous installments. Both Green Hill Zone from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Windy Hill Zone from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U return as well.

Like all other characters in the game, Sonic receives benefits from universal changes: his already quick mobility is much faster; his aerial attacks have less landing lag; his short hop timing is reduced; he can directionally air dodge to aid his recovery; and he can use any grounded attack out of a run and any of his aerial attacks while climbing ladders. In a similar vein to fellow veteran Charizard and newcomers Inkling and Incineroar, Sonic takes minor damage from swimming in water; this is due to him being unable to swim in his home games.

In the World of Light trailer, Sonic tries to run away from Galeem's large laser attack, but slows down in an attempt to save Pikachu; this fails, with both of them being captured by Galeem and used to create puppet fighters. Sonic is found in the Sacred Land sub-area of the Dark Realm, and is one of the fighters required to be defeated to progress.

Classic Mode route
In his Classic Mode route, Sonic battles against fighters based on various characters he encounters throughout the Sonic franchise.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The artwork of Sonic from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is seen on the Mii Racing Suits screen of Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Upon scanning the Sonic amiibo onto the NFC Touchpoint, a racing suit stylized after him will be accessible to the player; this suit can be used on the Mii.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
By tapping Sonic's amiibo into Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, the player unlocks a Yoshi appearance based on Sonic, sporting blue skin with flesh-colored arms and chest, Sonic's shoes and gloves, and green eyes. Tapping in the amiibo causes Yoshi to transform into this appearance instantly, although it can be switched to at the amiibo Hut as long as it has already been used.

Super Mario Maker
Sonic appears as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes available in Super Mario Maker. The costume can be unlocked by clearing 100 Mario Challenge on Expert difficulty or by tapping Sonic's amiibo onto the Wii U GamePad, and can only be used with the Super Mario Bros. style. The sprite used for Sonic is 16-bit, being based on his sprites in the first Sonic the Hedgehog title. Collecting a Mystery Mushroom with the Sonic costume plays the 1-Up tune from the 1991 game Sonic the Hedgehog, and while the costume is in effect, the sound effects are taken from the original Sonic the Hedgehog titles. Pressing causes Sonic to look up while playing the Ring-collecting sound. Finally, Sonic's "course clear" and "lose a life" fanfare originate from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as the Course Clear and Game Over fanfare, respectively.

amiibo

 * Sonic the Hedgehog is the fastest hero in the world, famous for his supersonic speed, iconic blue spikes and red shoes. With a super cool attitude and easy-going demeanor, Sonic has a love for freedom and adventure. Spinning head-on into trouble to defeat the evil forces of Dr. Eggman, for Sonic saving the world is the name of the game.

Quotes

 * "You're too slow!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "C'mon, step it up!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Go!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "NOOO!!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Now I'll show you!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Sonic's the name, speed's my game!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Too easy! Piece of cake!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Hey, we should do this again sometime!" - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Super Sonic style!" - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
 * "Sonic speed!" - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
 * "C'mon!" - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
 * "That was almost too easy!" - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
 * "Let's do that again sometime!" - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
 * "Piece of cake!" - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
 * "It's all about speed!" - Mario & Sonic series
 * "Too easy!" - Mario & Sonic series

Portrayals

 * Jason Griffith (2003-2010)
 * Roger Craig Smith (2010-present)
 * Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Japanese; 1998-present)
 * Alexandre Gillet (French; 2011-present)
 * Renato Novara (Italian; 2011-present)
 * Marc Stachel (German; 2011-present)
 * Jonatán López (Spanish; 2011-2016, 2018)
 * Ángel De Gracia (Spanish; 2016-present)

Trivia

 * After Sonic's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario was suggested to appear in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing early in development as an exclusive character for the Wii version. However, Sega did not approve as they believed that it could conflict with the Mario & Sonic series.
 * Near the end of Mario Takes America's development, the developers made multiple "backup" edits should they lose the Mario license. One of them featured Sonic replacing Mario.
 * In acknowledgement of Mario's 20th anniversary, Sega released an illustration on the Sonic Channel of Sonic wearing Mario's cap alongside text reading "20th HAPPY MARIO!"