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Alternative Character Interpretation / Sonic the Hedgehog

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Alternative Character Interpretation in Sonic the Hedgehog.

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    Games 

Metal Sonic

  • Is he really nothing more than just a cold hearted killing machine incapable of feeling emotions or is he just the sad result of being created by Eggman and programmed for an evil purpose who is just doing what he was programmed to do and doesn't know the difference between right and wrong? Sonic Heroes might have just been Metal finally realising he was just a tool to Eggman and finally breaking free, but due to his 'Kill Sonic' programming still being present in him and possibly because Metal has been around Eggman his whole existence, all Metal knows about is conquering, destroying, and killing Sonic, so he probably didn't know what else to do now that Eggman wasn't pulling the strings. Not to mention Metal was possibly having an identity crisis in Heroes. Shadow, who was created by Eggman's grandfather Gerald, is a good point of comparison. Shadow was partly created for a good reason (mainly in finding a cure for Maria's illness), and Maria was also a large impact in Shadow's life, as she was there and able to teach him about some parts of what's right and wrong. Metal Sonic, on the other hand, was solely created for an evil reason and has had no positive role model.
  • What really motivated Metal Sonic in Sonic Heroes?

Sonic

  • Sega's own employees are not exempt from this: some say that Sonic's a nature-loving hero with great appreciation for beauty and relaxation, and some say that he's so hyperactive he can never sit still, let alone sit and look at the scenery; some also say he's a loner and likes his peace, while others say he's gregarious and likes a lively atmosphere.
  • In Sonic Adventure, pay attention to Sonic's theme, particularly the line, "It doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right." Another one: selfless hero courageously risking his life to protect people, or thrill-seeking action junkie who gets involved with the events of a given story simply because he enjoys the chase?
  • Sonic's apparent complete indifference to girls despite being 15 years old has sparked many speculations among people:
    • Maybe he's gay, maybe he's unwilling to utilize his Popularity Power to get into bed with someone because he sees it as shallow, or maybe he's asexual. Love seems to confuse him. Maybe it's because of how young everyone is, or perhaps he really does love Amy, but isn't ready to settle down yet and/or doesn't want Robotnik to pick up on said affections and kidnap (and possibly hurt, or even kill) Amy just to get to him. + Sonic, however, has already shown some signs of interest in some female characters; examples would include some heavy subtext with Blaze the Cat and some playful flirting with Rouge the Bat. Sonic does flirt with Rouge in Sonic Battle for the GBA, and then you could say Rouge flirts with everyone and means nothing by it, he was just giving her a taste of her own medicine.
    • Sonic's relationship with Amy could also be considered abusive, with him brushing her off at every turn and not even making the effort to reciprocate. If he's largely established as not being interested, why should he reciprocate in the least?
    • In the Sonic X continuity, however, Sonic/Amy seem to be heavily implied in some scenes, especially in the ending of Ep. 42, in contrast to his game interpretation, some like to use that interpretation of the character for their portrait of Sonic's relationship with Amy in the game continuity.
    • Some non-canon supplementary written material gives their own interpretation on Sonic's relationship with Amy. He does like her back, but is too shy to be open about it.
    • Sonic frequently brushes Amy off and actively runs away from her. To some fans, this shows that he's afraid of her or that she annoys him. Others have pointed out that, according to the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 manual, Sonic used to brush off Tails as an annoyance until he eventually gained respect for Tails. As a result, there's an interpretation that Sonic doesn't dislike Amy — he just reacts dismissively to everyone by default and it takes persistence to get on his good side (with some fans even claiming it's a species trait of hedgehogs, as real hedgehogs are not the most social and affectionate animals).
    • In Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic is initially intimidated by the appearance of the Lady of the Lake (a lookalike of Amy Rose) and even attempts to flee, but soon after he gets over his initial shock, he cozies right up to her — on top of that, the game's epilogue reveals he was scheduled for an honest-to-goodness date with Amy Rose herself.
      • So... does Sonic actually like Amy Rose?
      • Does he dislike her but find her attractive, so Amy's face with a different personality better suits him?
      • Is Sonic willing to go out on a date with Amy but nervous?
      • Given that Sonic responds well when the Lady gets directly to the point and that Amy isn't known for playing coy herself, is that a quality he finds attractive in Amy?
  • When teaching Shadow how to use weapons in Shadow the Hedgehog, he notes that he wouldn't be caught dead using them, yet he picks up a sword in Sonic and the Black Knight without a word of complaint. Is his aversion to guns specifically, or is he swallowing his personal distaste to do as the Romans do?
  • Sonic endures a lot of traumatic experiences, especially in the Darker and Edgier games, yet keeps his happy-go-lucky attitude. Is this genuine, or an act, as it's made clear that his friends and the world consider him a Hope Bringer, and he'd definitely prefer to preserve that. Similarly, during darker moments, it's possible to read his snark and Casual Danger Dialogue as a coping mechanism.

Dr. Eggman

  • Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik invokes a lot of this. One interpretation, though, is that the character isn't even a villain. He wants to make the world a better place, and has the intelligence to create the inventions that can help the world, and make it a truly utopian society. It's just that before he can get his plans into action, Sonic always interferes. Since Sonic's too impatient to let Robotnik explain, Sonic always assumes Robotnik's short-term villainy is the main goal, and stops Robotnik before the good in his plans can be completed. Sure, Robotnik's attempts to take control of the world aren't exactly the normal way to bring about positive changes, but he understands PR, and that his continual early defeats against Sonic means that if he wants to better the world, then he has to do it by force, and that includes techniques such as holding it hostage. Robotnik might then be a villain for how he will take over the world, but once he gets in power, he's got his master plan to sort everything out. He's just too much of an egotist to merely explain his proposals to current world leaders, and wants all the glory for himself.
    • Or maybe he fears that they would disregard his ideas, and thinks he has to force his ideas upon the world in order to get people to accept them.
    • It seems that Eggman's main goal is to create his "Eggman Land," an over-the-top Egopolis amusement park that he has actually succeeded in building in a few games. This suggests that all he really wants is a land of his own to command; it doesn't have to be the whole world. Even though all he's commanding is a legion of obedient robots. However, he knows that to successfully pull this off, he needs the Chaos Emeralds, which he can only get by force.
    • Consider Eggman's many mechas. They're bright and carnival-based. Eggman may, deep down, be a little child. Taking over the world is like playing with his toys. And Sonic? He may be the closest thing Eggman has to a genuine friend.
    • The epilogue of Sonic Adventure 2, wherein Eggman expresses his admiration for Gerald Robotnik and states he wanted to become a great scientist because of what his grandfather accomplished, further implies that he turned to villainy at least partially out of a desire to right the injustices that led to Gerald's wrongful death at the hands of the world government, with Motive Decay possibly seeping in over time.
    • On the other hand, we have seen some of what would happen if Eggman wins in Sonic CD and Sonic Forces, and it's not pretty — even if he does have good intentions, his egotism and greed tend to swamp out his good intentions.

Tails

  • One Youtuber created an analysis of Tails' character in Sonic Forces and came to the conclusion that he's not suffering from simply bad writing. His odd behavior is mainly due to depression brought on by trauma from the war.
  • Some people have suggested that Tails is in love with Sonic, which could explain why he rejects Amy. Perhaps he's just not into girls in general. Though, being a kid's game, they obviously can't say this outright.

Amy

  • A meta-example could be that Amy could be defined as the "Anti-Peach" like Sonic was the "Anti-Mario."
  • Is Amy really in love with Sonic, or is she trying to hook up with him just so she can be famous too? She always acts like an obsessive fangirl when she's around him, and even he finds it annoying. Plus, Sonic being a hero means he's famous or will be famous someday, and maybe Amy wants to be with him just because then she can claim to be "the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog's girlfriend!" Or is it just Hero Worship because he rescued her in Sonic the Hedgehog CD?
  • Amy's line in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), "If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic", has been interpreted in many ways:
    • She's so obsessed she'd let the world burn if it meant saving him.
    • It's similar to Rouge's declaration to Shadow: that even if the whole world turned against Sonic, she'd always be on his side.
    • If she was in Silver's situation, and forced to kill Sonic to save the world, she'd be unable to do it and try to Take a Third Option.

Knuckles

  • Knuckles is the biggest case of Depending on the Writer in the whole franchise, from The Trickster in his debut to The Stoic during the Adventure era to laid-back strongman for Heroes to Hot-Blooded competitor in spin-off titles. And then there's the matter of his level songs from Adventure 2, which are positively rife with Intercourse with You. His Era-Specific Personality is logged on his character sheet.
  • How much does Knuckles know or care about his own backstory or heritage?
    • The start of his storyline in Sonic Adventure indicates he has no knowledge of his own backstory, while the end saw him decide that maybe it was better that he not know, but this was almost immediately followed by the True Final Boss and the Omega Ending, all directly pertinent to the story of his race — the game did not examine his opinion on the matter afterwards.
    • In Sonic Adventure 2, the lyrics of "Kick the Rock" (the background music for Knuckles' "Wild Canyon" stage) explicitly state, "I gotta protect this place, I do it for my race," — which clearly indicates he both knows something about his clan and history and that he's motivated to act on behalf thereof.
    • Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood notably featured him as an expert in the lore of his own clan so he could serve as Mister Exposition whenever it came up.
  • Is Knuckles a treasure hunter, the guardian of the Master Emerald, or both? If both, how do his duties as the guardian affect his treasure hunting? Does he make time for both? Was he more of a treasure hunter before Eggman came to town, back when threats to the Master Emerald were scarce and he had more time on his hands?

Shadow

  • Shadow the Hedgehog has as many interpretations as he does songs, including not only the various Shadow the Hedgehog theme songs (I Am specifically questions his moral alignment outright), but the various songs from Sonic Adventure 2 (such as the White Jungle theme, Rhythm and Balance). The franchise has long settled on the heroic All Hail Shadow as his anthem, which still shrouds him in ambiguity. Violent ambiguity.
  • In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow has the line "This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me". Is he fine with how easy the mission is or is he fine with taking candy from babies? (Team Sonic Racing Overdrive indicates the latter to be true when he steals popcorn from a Chao.)
  • Shadow the Hedgehog notably gave Shadow ten possible destinies, even if the Omega Ending nullified them all when Shadow decided not to care. Which one was real? Were they all real?
    • Is Shadow The Devil, always meant to carry out Professor Gerald's revenge and destroy humanity? Numerous path titles ending in the Dark Ending of the Pure Dark path mention Revenge and humanity's sins.
      • One library sequence is titled "Black Doom's scheme". Did Black Doom intend for Gerald to go mad in this scenario?
    • Is Shadow born to be a god, ruler of the cosmos? Numerous path titles ending in the Hero ending of the Pure Dark path describe Shadow as a new god.
    • Was Shadow meant to be The Dragon for Black Doom? This is the premise of the Dark ending for the Semi-Dark route, and several library sequences ending here describe him as the dark soldier.
    • Is Shadow meant to rise Above Good and Evil, becoming an Übermensch unto himself? This is the premise of the Hero ending of the Semi-Dark route (unless, of course, Shadow's protestations that nobody can tell him what to do are just that of a petulant teenager).
    • Is Shadow a Robot Me Evil Knockoff of the original, and will he surpass the first using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, becoming a Shadow surpassing Shadow? This is the premise of the Dark ending of the Neutral route.
    • Is Shadow a Robot Me Evil Knockoff of the original, and will he take over the Eggman Empire in the doctor's stead, inaugurating a Machine Empire under his own rule? This is the premise of the Hero Ending of the Neutral route.
    • Is Shadow a sad testament to the ARK, its people, and its science? Will he live on to preserve and protect its memory? This is the premise of the Dark ending of the Semi-Hero route.
    • Is Shadow an experiment Gone Horribly Wrong, one who should never have been created and whom the world would be better off without? This is the premise of the Hero ending of the Semi-Hero route.
    • Is Shadow truly the Ultimate Life Form, unrivalled by any, and not that Inexplicably Awesome blue hedgehog — does this battle between them settle the Ambiguous Situation posed in Sonic Adventure 2 in Shadow's favor? This is the premise of the Dark Ending of the Pure Hero route (provided, of course, that Shadow isn't simply embracing his role as literally the Ultimate Hedgehog).
    • Is Shadow the protector of Earth, enactor of Maria's will and Defender of Man? This is the premise of the Hero ending of the Pure Hero route.
    • Counting every individual path, there are more than three hundred possible shades of Shadow's final character — several paths through the library, even in non-Neutral endings, depict Shadow as an android and not the original.
    • If you don't prefer any of those destinies, perhaps you prefer Shadow's backstory in Sonic Battle, where he's a Living Weapon created by Dr. Gerald for the military but has effectively gone rogue since recovering from the events of Sonic Adventure 2.

Maria Robotnik

  • There are some fan-theories that Maria's martyr sacrifice was closer to Suicide by Cop. Realizing she wouldn't live long even if she was captured or ran away, and that dying by NIDs would be painful, Maria opted to let herself get shot instead of trying to escape with Shadow.
  • Not much of Maria's personality and behavior has been shown besides Shadow's (rather idealized, sometimes unreliable) memories. As the only other members in her families are geniuses, it's often suspected she was a Child Prodigy herself. Some fans interpret her as having intentionally portrayed herself as an ever-adorable, optimistic child in order to hide her more intuitive and precocious aspects.
  • Maria is usually depicted as calm and gentle, but it's also possible to interpret her as having an edge to her character or even being a Genki Girl. A flashback in Shadow the Hedgehog depicts her running after, and scolding, the G.U.N. Commander as a child, showing she wasn't always mellow. She's also compared to Amy by Shadow (in particular, their caring natures).

Miscellaneous

    Comic Books 
  • Sonic the Comic:
    • Is Sonic really a Celibate Hero who dislikes Amy's flirting or is he being tsundere?
    • Is Amy genuinely in love with Sonic or is she just teasing him for fun? This is made more ambiguous by Characterization Marches On, as Amy's flirting disappeared due to her executive-mandated change of character. Then there are those who take the route that not only is Amy only teasing, but she's not into men.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW):
    • Dr. Starline can be considered a crazed stalker/fanboy of Dr. Eggman who is in love with the man. He goes as far as to forgo sleep just to find him, tries to revert Mr. Tinker back to Eggman and happily serves him until Eggman takes his Warp Topaz and fires him for trying to use The Deadly Six to control the Zombots. He takes his rejection poorly and even Zavok tells him he doesn't need Eggman. Even when he tries to be his own villain, his plans are based off Eggman's and he has a relapse when he discovers that Dr. Eggman still kept his Starline figure, which the mad platypus steals for himself.
    • Another interpretation is that in contrast to Dr. Eggman, Dr. Starline is a psychopathic narcissist who relies on Eggman for validation. After being fired, his vlogs show him ranting and raving about how Eggman just couldn't see his genius and his hatred of Metal Sonic shows how he resents being less important than a mere machine. Despite his claims that he's better than Eggman, he makes the same mistakes he does and the majority of his plans are reliant on or based off his former idol's plans.

    Western Animation 

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