Comic Book: Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog aka: Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog #125, featuring a portion of the cast.note Keep in mind, this cover is now more than 10 years old.
The US comic book based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise, published monthly by Archie Comics. Not to be confused with the UK's Sonic The Comic.The comic debuted in 1993, originally as a tie-in with the SatAM series. The two adaptions shared a similar background: Dr. Robotnik had taken over the Kingdom of Acorn and turned everyone into robots. He was opposed by the Freedom Fighters, a motley crew that operated out of their secret base of Knothole inside the Great Forest. The team was composed of only a few children, namely Sonic and his friends, and led by the princess of the kingdom, Sally Acorn. Beyond this and a few other background details, the story and tone diverged greatly between them.In the beginning, the comic was a lighthearted, gag-centric affair. Each issue would feature a few silly stories of the Freedom Fighters thwarting Robotnik's dastardly, ridiculous plans while making sure to tell as many terrible jokes as possible. Over time it adopted a much darker, more serious tone. While actually tacking down when the comic started moving from gags to serious plots and drama is a bit difficult, the most certain turning point was the End Game story arc leading up to issue 50, where Sally was killed off...until someone higher up decided they didn't like it.Meanwhile, Knuckles the Echidna got his own spinoff series that dealt with his role as the guardian of Angel Island. It introduced quite a large ensemble of characters across its 32 issue life, most of whom made the jump into the back-up stories of the main comic when his title went under.The series has had many twists and turns over its two decade run and has experienced quite a handful of story arcs and changes that are divisive, to say the least. Some highlights include love triangles, alternate universes, aliens, strange character deaths, politics, and awkward attempts to make the comics more like the games. The status quo shifts dramatically with such frequency that it has become a tradition of the comic to shake it up in a big way every twenty five issues.A companion series, Sonic Universe, started in 2009. This series takes place in the same continuity, but focuses on events outside of the main comic.The series has its own character sheet that is in need of major contribution.Has a (fairly exhaustive) Wiki in the Mobius Encyclopaedia.
Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog contains examples of:
NICOLE is a very nice AI, while A.D.A.M. is a very evil AI who tried to initiate a "Gray Goo" scenario. Honorable mention goes to the various Metal Sonics, Gamma, and Omega.
And before any of them? E.V.E.
Alan Smithee: Former writer Karl Bollers would sometimes write under the name "Benny Lee". An artist (or artists) known only as "Many Hands" has also drawn some stories.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Fiona preferred the "evil" version of Sonic to the real thing, and did a Face Heel Turn to stay his girlfriend when she found out "Sonic" was really "Scourge". (Well, this is what she claims, anyway... and this isFiona we're talking about...)
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Robotnik's attack on Knothole in the EndGame arc, the Egg Fleet destroying Knothole, the Suppression Squad taking control of Freedom HQ, the Iron Dominion taking control of New Mobotropolis, Eggman attacking New Mobotropolis with the Death Egg Mk. II and Titan Metal Sonic, and the Battle Bird Armada's attack which destroyed the royal palace.
Ambiguously Human: The Iron Queen. Initially her species wasn't said, but she looked quite human (tall, flesh-toned, and no giveaway animal characteristics such as fur, a snout, or a tail). When a fan later referred to her as an Overlander in a letters column, they were told she was actually a badger, but it was never mentioned or clarified in the story itself. Since her reappearance in the "Iron Dominion" arc, Ian Flynn has firmly established her as human, and had Sonic suggest through the Fourth Wall Mail Slot that the letters column had been trolled.
And I Must Scream: This was a big part of the reason roboticization was supposed to be so horrifying.
And as of Sonic #241, Geoffrey is being subjected to this after Naugus possesses his body as a new host. Somewhat Played for Laughs in the Off-Panel strip where he finds out that all Naugus' inner selves do while imprisoned inside him is play poker which seems to be what has driven them insane.
And Then What?: Shard asks this of Team Fighters in regards to their quest to rescue Sally, upon finding out that they don't really have a plan for de-roboticizing her.
Animal Gender Bender: Walt Wallaby of the Downunda Freedom Fighters has a pouch.
Anti-Hero: Shadow could be anywhere from type 3 to type 5. Lampshaded in issue #133.
Eggman: Shadow? What do you want? Shadow: Your death, Eggman. I'm going to snap you like a twig, then use you for kindling. Eggman: Not if I avoid you like the... devil? Wait a second! Good guys don't kill! Isn't there a hedgehog moral code? Shadow: Sonic holds such beliefs. Then again, he's a hero, I'm not.
Issue 233 reveals that many of Geoffrey's past actions were actually part of a master plan to place Ixis Naugus on the throne.
And earlier, issue 224 revealed that several seemingly unrelated events in the Filler Arc following the Iron Dominion's defeat were actually part of Eggman's plan to convert the Eggdome into a new Death Egg.
During the "Enerjak Reborn" arc, it was revealed how just about everything Finitevus had done since his introduction had been part of his plan to create a new Enerjak. It was also revealed that he was the unnamed Echidna scientist who had attempted to return Chaos Knuckles to normal by draining his power (the backfire from that being what rendered him albino).
Armed With Canon: Some of the Penders/Bollers feuding came down to this. Of particular note is the business with Antoine's bizarre behavioralchange after the Time Skip: Bollers had intended it to be organic growth, and it was the linchpin for several stories planned down the line. Penders retconned it into having been the result of Antoine having been swapped out for his Evil Twin from another dimension.
Arranged Marriage: Maximillian and Alicia Acorn. Sally and Anti-Antoine's short marriage was also one of these, until Elias became king and annulled it.
Artistic License - Physics: In issue 175, after Eggman takes his taunts a little too far, Sonic has a break in his sanity and races over to the east coast in seconds and runs directly into Eggman's battle robot in the same amount of time, something that takes Eggman by surprise as he never believed Sonic could do that. The attack merely dents the shield because the robot was tailor-made to fight Sonic and counter his abilities, which proves its downfall when it's destroyed by Sonic's friends. The problem is that since the comic takes place on a future version of Earth, 175's fight takes place in what was Texas, it means Sonic crossed hundreds of miles -nearly a thousand miles- in seconds. Tailored to fight Sonic be damned, the force from a hit like that is an order of magnitude or two beyond anything Sonic's friends could ever manage, especially since Sonic would be going at least half a million miles an hour to make a hit like that, and should've destroyed the robot. Especially since Eggman never thought Sonic was capable of that, meaning it wasn't factored in the mech's design.
Art Evolution: The look of the comic has gone through a number of changes over the years. At first, the comic's characters and looks were similar to Sonic Sat AM. Around the time Sonic Adventure was released, the comic redesigned Sonic, Tails, and Amy to reflect their game counterparts. In addition, the comic took on an Animesque style overall. Eventually, the characters were redesigned again into their current form. Sally, Bunnie, and other characters were updated from their Western models to the styles used in the video games.
Some stories switched artists halfway through, such as "Night of 1000 Sonics" in issue #19. The "End Game" story arc was also a story arc that switched artists (and even co-writers) between installments, and then switched artists between scenes in the final chapter.
Issue #125 also had multiple artists.
Art Style Dissonance: Stories where Jon Gray was the penciller are cartoony and hyper-exaggerated, which works great for the more comical moments, but the surprising part is that dramatic moments aren'tNarmy. Gray's style is incredibly expressive, even for darker moments.
Ascended Extras: The Badniks from the first two Sonic games were major characters early on.
Ascended Meme: In issue 205, Robotnik says "Snoo-PING AS usual".
As You Know: Among others, the "dragons can't lie" plot point in Endgame, never mentioned before or since.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Titan Metal Sonic attacking New Mobotropolis during the fallout of the Genesis Arc in issue #231.
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Bean, typically and also literally — Fiona manages to ditch him by throwing a set of shiny keys out the window, knowing he'll dive after them.
The Atoner: Dimitri, currently, following his Heel Face Turn. Knuckles also had elements of this after his stint as Enerjak. And NICOLE and Espio seem to be heading in this direction following their actions during the Iron Dominion arc.
The closest thing Amy Rose has to a power is her Piko Piko Hammer. She is also the only one capable of going toe-to-toe with the Nigh Invulnerable Iron King.
Sally, Post-Development Antoine, and Rotor. They have no fantastic powers, but have their own expertise.
And the X Years Later stories were a Bad Future when King Shadow was running things.
And the future where Dr. Eggman came from, which he decided to nuke before heading to Mobius Prime.
And then there's another future, first mentioned in issue 106 and later featured in a Sonic Universe story arc called "Fractured Mirror". This world is ruled by Knuckles as a darker version of his old enemy Enerjak. Knuckles hunts down the single pocket of life that remains, a group of Freedom Fighters led by his own daughter.
Bad Guys Do The Dirty Work: Subverted in the "Enerjak Reborn" story-arc. The Freedom Fighters are desperate to stop Knuckles, who has been turned into Enerjak and gone mad with power, and it seems that they might have to destroy him. Enter Eggman, who shows up with his Egg Fleet and warps Knuckles into a prison where he intends to drain the life from him to power his city. Needless to say, Knuckles breaks free and Eggman almost wets his pants.
In the aftermath of the Iron Dominion and Genesis arcs, Naugus manages to convince the citizens of New Mobotropolis to make him their king.
Before he became Dr. Eggman, Robo-Robotnik managed to finally gather the bits needed to build the Giant Borg, built a physical body for himself with them, take control of armed nukes and used them to wipe out the ex-cyborg Freedom Fighters, leaving his Mobius in his control. Then he thought that Victory Is Boring and invaded Mobius Prime to "fill the void".
Bald of Evil: Dr. Robotnik/Eggman and his nephew Snively, though Snively doesn't think of himself as bald. Having about six hairs doesn't really count as a "full head of hair", but he's vain and deluded enough to think it does.
Robotnik/Eggman has always been the overall Big Bad of the series, but there have always been villains who are independent of him who are major threats on their own (i.e. Finitevus, Scourge, Naugus, Mogul, the Iron Queen etc.). This is most apparent after the Genesis arc, where Naugus becomes equal to Eggman in terms of the threat he presents to the heroes, and his effect on the central plot.
For that matter, both Black Doom and Eggman Nega have been confirmed to exist in this continuity, but neither of them has shown up directly yet due to copyright issues between Archie and Sega.
Big Bad Wannabe: Evil Sonic before he became Scourge. And Snively's an even better example - he successfully killed off Robotnik only to quickly become Eggman's toady instead, and even after Eggman went insane and he teamed up with the Iron Queen, it's obvious that Snively wasn't the one wearing the pants in that "relationship".
Big Badass Wolf: A whole mess of them form the Freedom Fighter cell known as, you guessed it, the Wolf Pack.
Bunnie had her share of angst about being part Robian, but she mostly came to terms with it and used her abilities to help in the fight against Robotnik. Then she found out that her robot parts were literally killing her, and was forced to upgrade.
Even more so with Sonic's Uncle Chuck and father Jules. After getting his mind freed from Robotnik's control, Chuck would use his status to spy on the mad doctor's revelation. Jules, however, has gotten the worst of it - every other Robian has been restored to their original form but him, isolating him from his family and everyone else around him.
Jules gets better about it, though, especially once it was revealed that the very reason for his roboticization in the first place (a wound he suffered in the Great War that would have killed him) would mean his death if he was ever deroboticized.
Bold Inflation: The comic used to be very, very bad about this. Recently it hasn't been nearly as common.
Bodyguard Betrayal: Heavy and Bomb, members of King Acorn's secret service, are reprogrammed by Eggman and ordered to kill the royal family after they are "rescued" from Robotropolis.
Book Ends: Issues 225 and 230, with the titles One Step Forward... and ...Two Steps Back.
Bounty Hunter: Nack and his sister Nic fill this trope to a T.
Break the Cutie: Hershey during the End Game arc, when she learned that her Jerkass ex-boyfriend Drago Wolf tricked her into [almost] killing Sally. Let's just say that near the conclusion, the traitorous wolf learned the hard way about "a woman scorned"...
Occurs several times in the earlier issues. One example is Robotnik finding Crabmeat reading a Sonic the Hedgehog Archie Comic. He then punishes Crabmeat for reading the comic of his most hated enemy, before getting the idea to use the other comic books Crabmeat has for ideas for other robots. And yes, the other comic books are implied to be real comics as well. No, it doesn't make any sense.
Also falling into this category is Eggman's ramblings in issue 205. It appears he's finally figured out that he's in a licensed comic book. He still wants to get that hedgehog, though.
Breaking Speech: Sonic's dad does an epic one towards Scourge in issue 192.
Brought Down to Normal: Chaos Knuckles turning to regular Knuckles in #125, and Bunnie being deroboticized in #232.
The Bus Came Back: Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts returned in Issue #187 after a hundred and thirty issues of absence, now employed by Mammoth Mogul at the Casino Night Zone.
Call Back: Sonic Universe #36 references the A.D.A.M. arc when Babylon Garden's Master Core ABIS mentions that the AI had discovered the Garden and tried to use its wormhole generator to bring the Chaos Emeralds from around the galaxy to Mobius, but was unable to without the Garden's power source/key.
So far, the only appearances of Black Doom and the Black Arms aliens are a memory image of Black Doom and a single panel showing the Xorda locked in a war with the Black Arms (which explains why the Xorda never returned to see if their attack on Mobius succeeded).
Mephiles the Dark and Void appeared as inmates in the Zone Jail in Sonic Universe #29.
Chester Cheetah appears in issue 72. For some reason.
Word Of God is that the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) occurred in the comic as they did in the game, including the Cosmic Retcon. Soleanna was mentioned once by the Babylon Rogues and issue #246 has a brief appearance of White Acropolis, those are the only nods towards Sonic '06. The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia describes it in more detail, including entries on Iblis, Mephiles, and Solaris.
Issue #134 has some Characters from the UK's Sonic the Comic (Tekno the Canary, Ebony the Cat,and her partner, Pajaymas, Shortfuse the Cybernik and Metamorphia) make a cameo appearances.
The series hasn't been entirely consistent about which of its antagonists openly identify as evil, but Robotnik and Anti-Sonic/Scourge definitely do.
As does Drago. When he and Razorklaw captured Sally in issue 214, the latter suggested just killing her, which led to Drago scolding him for not messing with her first and calling Razorklaw a lousy villain.
Casting a Shadow: This seems to be a common ability for Ixis wizards, as both Naugus and Geoffrey have it.
Cat Fight: A really, really blatant one was set up between Bunnie and Rouge.
Cerebus Syndrome: Although based on the more serious Sonic Sat AM, the earlier comics were much more similar to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog in tone, with little continuity. The series got more serious and interconnected as it went on. The Endgame arc is pretty much the point where things have fully shifted, though there are a few occasional one-shot lighter comics interspersed here and there.
Well manifested in Horizont-Al and Verti-Cal. When they first appeared in #2 or so, they were wacky and bright, always playing around by being able to change the laws of physics of their dimension. When we run into them in #59, it turns out the Ultimate Annihilator destroyed their home, they blamed each other during the rebuild, and now they're giant robots in a never-ending war against each other. Starkest. Contrast. Ever.
They reappear in Sonic Universe #29, where it's revealed that their fight got so bad the Zone Cops eventually had to place them under arrest. Incidentally, they're now back in their human-ish appearance, thanks to the power restraint collars all the prisoners wear. For a distraction during their escape, Scourge removes them, causing them to turn back into their robot selves.
Robotnik (the first one) was more like his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog self in early comics, even though he looked like his Sonic Sat AM counterpart. Starting with issue 25, a more dangerous, psychotic side started to show, and while he never quite reached the level of nightmarish evil of the Sonic Sat AM Robotnik, he was pretty close to it by Endgame. His current Eggman persona is something of a Composite Character of this and his more comedic games counterpart.
This applies to the whole original cast for the most part, who were portrayed as much wackier and bumbling in the original comics, Sally in particular was a far more brattish and prissy character compared to current persona, which is arguably the nearest to a "normal" character in the comics.
Cheeky Mouth: It's Sonic the Hedgehog. Of course he has this.
Sally Acorn was like this for a while. Thankfully ,it didn't last. Surprisingly, though, the lasting effects of it have yet to be Retconned or reversed...
Happened to her in reverse over the early issues. Sally grew more competent due to a combination of Cerebus Syndrome, bringing her characterization more in line with Sonic Sat AM, and getting her own mini-series.
Most of the other female characters got Chickified at the same time Sally did (roughly around #132), but Sally's was so over-the-top that the other cases went largely unnoticed. Thankfully, it didn't last for them either.
All the characters from Moebius have this as well. Being evil doubles of the main characters means that most of them are too arrogant to work together without trying to backstab each other.
Sleuth Dawg. Oh so much.
Bean and Bark betrayed the team Mammoth Mogul hired to hunt down Sonic when Sally offered them more money. When Nack managed to snipe Sonic with a stun laser... they switched right back to Mogul's side.
Lien-Da also has shades of this.
Clear My Name: The "Mecha Madness" and "Endgame" storylines.
Cloud Cuckoolander: Bean doesn't really have lucid moments. You just find a way to make his madness work for you.
Colon Cancer: The "Tales of the Freedom Fighters" stories got a bit out of hand in this respect — consider the verging-on-self-parody title "Tales of the Freedom Fighters Presents: Geoffrey St. John: On His Majesty's Secret Service Part 4: The Mission."
Bean and Bark got a few of these before showing up as actual characters later on. Their earlier appearances are impossible to reconcile with their current role, though.
Patrick Spaziante would often do this with Astal, a Sega Saturn video game character he was apparently very fond of.
Continuity Drift: To the point that any attempt to bring more than a minor element into the games is received poorly.
Continuity Snarl: Trying to fit Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 perfectly into continuity caused problems. Made worse by the fact that the writers didn't have complete information about the games when they started writing the arcs...
The Sonic Adventure snarl was particularly nasty, as it involved taking what had been (until then) a relatively archaic world with violent humanoids (see Fantastic Racism and Four-Fingered Hands below) and trying to force half of the cast into an Ordinary High School Student scenario and trying to introduce humans that were somehow completely different in personality than the ones met formerly without getting rid of the underlying Humans Are The Real Monsters subtext.
Happens in the stories set in the Mobius: X Years Later reality - Sonic goes back in time to fix damage to the timeline that threatens to destroy reality. Unfortunately, this creates an Alternate Timeline where instead of being a Utopia ruled by King Sonic, Mobius is a totalitarian state ruled by King Shadow. Fortunately, Sonic and many of his friends remember how things are supposed to be and manage to overthrow Shadow.
Shades of this appear in a few of the Silver stories as well. Apparently, every time Silver goes back in time, some changes are made to the timeline. Unfortunately, none of these changes undo the Bad Future he lives in.
Crippling Overspecialization: Eggman's battle suit in issues #175-7 was specifically designed to outmatch Sonic, which it proceeded to do marvelously. Which meant that when the rest of the Freedom Fighters got to take it on, it went down in a matter of panels.
Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Echidnas have a holy book known as "The Tomes." Knuckles mother is seen praying in a an Aurorium, a place filled with stained glass windows and dedicated to the worship of Aurora. They also have a prophecy frotelling the arrival of "The Avatar" and a "Lost Tribe" wandering the face of the planet in search of a "Promised Land." Knuckles' Great Grandfather acts as a spiritual leader for the tribe and is known as a "Mitre" or prophet. He is also known to commune with powerful incorporeal beings that only he can see.
Dark Action Girl: Fiona, Princess Alicia, Lien-Da, Buns, Rosy the Rascal, Conquering Storm, and Julie-Su back when she was a Dark Legionnaire.
Darkest Hour: The series has had a few over the years, the climax of "EndGame", the destruction of Knothole, and the Iron Dominion occupation of New Mobotropolis being the most prominent. And now, following the events of "Genesis", it appears to be heading into another one.
Dark Lord On Life Support: Dimitri was quickly drained of his Enerjak power and left decrepit. The Dark Legion was forced to turn him into a cyborg to keep him alive. Dr. Finitivus, seeking to learn the power of Enerjak, disassembled him, leaving him as just a head in a floating bubble.
Rouge is trying to invoke this trope with Knuckles, much to Julie-Su's annoyance.
Also, one canceled story idea was for NICOLE to have a relationship like this with A.D.A.M., though his apparent death has obviously made this impossible.
Deadly Dodging: How Sonic wins the first fight we see him in.
Deader Than Dead: Being the successful target of Robotnik's Ultimate Annihilator, which is capable of destroying the very particles of its target. Said target ended up being the original Robotnik-the current one is from another universe.
Defecting For Love: What happened with Julie-Su and Knuckles. Made even stronger when it's revealed that Julie-Su is one of Dimitri's descendants.
Demoted to Extra: The Substitute Freedom Fighters. One eventually becomes so bitter about it, he runs for office just so he can make a difference and vent his frustrations. Two other members of the Substitute Freedom Fighters are on the council as well.
Deus ex Machina: Lampshaded in an issue when they need something to free NICOLE from her Mind Control. Their choice falls on the Particle-to-Light Organizer and Transporter Device. Don't get it?PLOT device.
Devil in Plain Sight: Mammoth Mogul's current status. What this means for his future status as Silver's mentor is currently unknown.
Ixis Naugus suffered from this in a very disappointing way. In his first appearance, he was portrayed as a strong force worthy of being feared. He had powers that could control the weather and the movement of the earth, and he forced Sonic and Tails into a wild goose chase around the world before they sent him back to the Void. Later, he was downgraded to Mogul's servant, and later was driven insane. Fortunately, it's been reverted by his return to sanity.
Doesn't Like Guns: Ostensibly, the Kingdom of Acorn has had a strict "No guns" policy ever since a previous war was started because two kids were playing with a gun. In practice, there has been some Depending on the Writer variation on this — Bunnie, for example, wielded guns for some time, although she never used them. Rotor's stance on the matter has been inconsistent even in the hands of the same writer, though explanations have been given since for this apparent contradiction. Julie-Su also freely uses a gun, but she's technically not a citizen of Acorn in the first place.
Snively served as this to both Robotnik and later Eggman. For that matter, Lien-Da and the other Dark Egg Legion Grandmasters could be considered Co-Dragons as well, since they're all equally ranked and report directly to Eggman.
The Bride of Conquering Storm could be said to have acted as this to the Iron Queen; she accompanied the Queen to the Eggman Empire when she assumed control of it from the insane Eggman, and was later sent back to the Dragon Kingdom to enforce the Iron Dominion's control over the region.
Ixis Nagus was this to Mogul for a time, and has one of his own in Geoffrey.
Following the events of "Genesis", Eggman gained a new chief enforcer in Mecha Sally.
Dragon Ascendant: After the Iron Queen was dethroned, Conquering Storm took over as Eggman's chief enforcer in the Dragon Kingdom. And Snively has briefly been in this position twice - first, when the original Robotnik was killed, and later when he ruled alongside the Iron Queen after Eggman's breakdown. Both times, however, Eggman eventually showed up to put him back in his place.
Dragon Lady: The Iron Queen. Although technically, she's not native to that region.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: After Robotnik was apparently defeated for good (the first such time) and Knothole Village converted into a bustling metropolis for countless freed Mobians and Robians, the teenage heroes were forced to go back to school. This being an American series, they were kind of bitter about it, since it was about as rewarding as slamming your head in a door while eating raw cockroaches.
One of the early comics had Robotnik evacuate Robotropolis because he discovered a massive earthquake was about to hit; when it did, it tore the city a new one.
The effects of Eggman's tampering with reality during Genesis caused earthquakes that got progressively worse, to the point that they obliterated an entire city-sized factory complex.
Embarrassing Middle Name: Sonic's is Maurice. It was implied that his first name was even more embarrassing, and Ken Penders revealed it as Oligive on his personal messageboard, but it's not considered canon.
Happens with such frequency that Sonic's begun to lampshade it. The heroes have, at various junctures, teamed up with Robotnik, Snively, their "Suppression Squad" alter-egoes, the Destructix, the Dark Legion, and even Finitevus. They usually get backstabbed, and Sonic's started to lampshade that, too.
By and far, the biggest of these situations was when the entire planet united to fight off the Xorda invasion. And naturally, as soon as the Xorda were fought off (and Sonic was sent into space), Eggman stabbed his allies in the back.
We have a non-Freedom Fighter example in the Babylon Rogues teaming up with their rivals/former comrades the Battle Bird Armada to regain the Babylon Gardens — which, ironically, puts them in opposition to the Freedom Fighters, since the Gardens are apparently under New Mobotropolis.
Engineered Heroics: At one point Sonic sets up a plan to help Antoine impress his father by dressing up as his own Evil Twin and having Antoine defeat him. Then the real Evil Sonic showed up and Antoine knocked him out without realizing it wasn't Sonic in disguise. When he realized he'd actually decked an actual bad guy and won, he fainted. (Which, incidentally, says a lot about just how pathetic Evil Sonic was prior to turning into Scourge.)
The Everyman: The original Freedom Fighters seemed to have evolved this way, likely to act as more lucid foils to Sonic and the more abrasive additions from the games. A lot of their shortcomings are rather subdued or down more to circumstance than having prominant personality quirks, and while a lot have unique abilities, they are played in a more realistic manner than their super powered comrades. This is less prominant in earlier issues and the coinciding TV show, where they have goofier, more prominant personality defects, but they still had visible shades of this at times.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Finitevus seemed honestly surprised both that Knuckles friends were willing to die for him, and also that Knuckles would refuse to work with him next time they met, after Finitevus' actions resulted in the death of Knuckles' father.
Mammoth Mogul gives Dimitri-as-Enerjak the treatment in Knuckles #9, as he Depowers him.
If there are any lessons to be learned, it's one you so obviously forgot! As I begin to absorb the incalculable power you possess, consider this: there is always someone else who is smarter, stronger, and even more ruthless than you.
Notably, Dimitri's later characterization would push him further and further towards Anti-Villain status.
Teaming up with the villain du jour and winding up on the losing end of this was also anti-Sonic's second most common gimmick (the most common, of course, being the instigator of Clear My Name plots), although that changed after he did.
Everyone from Anti-Mobius. But special mention has to be given to Anti-Sonic, who used the Master Emerald to turn himself green, renamed himself Scourge the Hedgehog, and has become a recurring villain.
Averted with Anti-Knuckles, who's a good guy, just more mellow and pacifistic than Knuckles*
and speaks with an Irish accent, for some reason
. That doesn't stop him from fighting when he thinks he has to, though.
Finitevus is also something of an evil twin to Knuckles. An accident transformed him into a negative image of Knuckles, and he uses the exact opposite methods that Knuckles does; while Knuckles favors direct action, Finitevus uses his powers over dark magic and subterfuge. And while Knuckles is a Guardian, biologically engineered and trained from birth to be an ultimate protector, Finitevus wants to BLOW IT ALL UP!
Executive Meddling: Part of the reason behind some of the fan frustration. Ever wonder why new writer Ian Flynn doesn't get Sonic and Sally back together, or have Sonic in any relationship at all? This is why. Sega's put in a number of mandates such as: Sonic can never lose, he can't cry *
he can get teary-eyed, but not actually cry
, he can't have a steady girlfriend *
dating is allowed it seems
. Weirdest of all is that a number of the game characters have parents in the comics, but the comic is very rarely allowed to have those characters addressed as such, using something like "My m-". There have even been story arcs that had to be wrapped up quicker than planned because Sega wanted to move to the next one faster.
Fans have noticed that, possibly due to a lawsuit between Archie and former writer Ken Penders, a number of characters from his era are being abruptly removed from the book. It's most noticeable in issue 244 where seemingly every echidna character, and Saffron, Penders created has been moved into another dimension. Off-screen. What this means for ongoing plot elements like Geoffrey being possessed by Naugus, Feist and the Chaos Emeralds he still possesses, the Black Onyx and its importance to the Wolf Pack and the Mysterious Cat Clan, and Lien-Da's position in the Dark Egg Legion (and the DEL itself's fate) is unknown.
Explosive Leash: When the Dark Legion is stripped of their cybernetics, Lien-Da cuts a deal with Eggman where they will serve him if he restores them; to ensure the loyalty of his new "Dark Egg Legion", Eggman plants bombs on them. When the Iron Queen sets off Lien-Da's bomb, Eggman repairs her, and plants another bomb.
Eyepatch of Power: Several characters, including Dr. Quack, Amadeus Prower (Tails' father), and Patch (aka the anti-Antoine).
Dimitri, when he joins Robotnik. "You make it sound like I'm purposefully weakening the greatest evil this world has ever known from within."
Duck "Bill" Platypus of the Downunda Freedom Fighters — after his people willingly joined with Eggman, he did as well in order to make sure they didn't suffer too much under his rule, while still being loyal to his team.
Faking the Dead: Humans. For the longest time, all that seemed to be left of humanity (or the closest physiology) was the Overlanders. As it turns out, old school humans had managed to set up a series of hidden cities prior to the Xorda attack, allowing them to survive. They were literally hiding for thousands of years.
Family Relationship Switcheroo: Hope is momentarily pleased when Snively announces he's discovered that he is her half-brother, rather than step-brother as she had been brought up to believe. However, he swiftly follows this up with an offer for her to join him in a happy rose-tinted vision of world domination, reminding her that being a Robotnik is not a good thing.
The Overlanders and Mobians are usually pretty antagonistic to each other due to a long history of conflict between them. Attitudes have softened, however, as the comic has gone on, and the two have fought together more and more against their common enemies.
Also the Dingoes and the Echidnas, who are constantly at one another's throats.
Not based on race, but the same basic idea is the reason why the Dark Legion broke off from the rest of Echidna society. Their love of technology led to them being persecuted and oppressed by the government.
Normal Mobians had a significant amount of dislike for the roboticized Robians. This became a moot point when the Robians were deroboticized.
The members of the Battle Bird Armada are a mild example of this. They feel that since they can fly naturally, only they have the right to be in the sky, and everyone else should stay on the ground. One member, Speedy, seems to particularly hate Tails, due to his ability to fly naturally despite not being a bird.
Speedy: That's right, freak. Crawl. Crawl on the ground where you belong.
The Southern Baronies is the Mobian version of the American South, but with anthropomorphic Rabbits. To draw the parallels further, their militia wore gray uniforms, and sought independence from the Kingdom of Acorn.
The Kingdom of Mercia is basically Robin Hood England.
The United Federation is a Hidden Human United States.
The Dragon Kingdom is basically a mash-up of Feudal Japan and Imperial China.
Finitevus is one of the most urbane Omnicidal Maniacs you're ever likely to meet. All the better to contrast with Knuckles, of course.
Eggman is this on a good day. On a bad day...
The Federation: United Federation, a federal constitutional republic which is an ally of the Republic of Acorn and a mayor player in the Second Robotnik War, ever since the Freedom Fighters saved Station Square, the capital city, from Chaos.
Feudal Future: But Prince Acorn has begun to give the populace more control of their government after an attempted coup, so at least it is progressing.
Footnote Fever: Almost every single time the comic references a previous event, there's a footnote helpfully telling you exactly what issue it took place in. In particularly referential issues, the phenomenon is lampshaded. Frequently.
Four-Fingered Hands: Rarely consistent, given its conflicting source material — the cartoon gives every Mobian four fingers, while the games give almost every one of their characters five. Right now, the number of fingers depends on the artist, with some giving every character five fingers, and others giving the Sega characters five and everybody else four. Similarly, earlier issues had established that the main difference between humanoid Overlanders such as Robotnik and proper Humans such as the characters seen in the Federation was the number of fingers: four and five, respectively. Thanks to artistic interpretation, this has since been quietly ignored.
Fourth Wall Mail Slot: Characters have occasionally answered fan mail "directly" through Sonic-Grams, the online blogs, and during a "novelty question month" on Ian Flynn's messageboard.
Furry Confusion: Muttski is a non-anthropomorphic dog: he walks on all fours, can't talk (until he gets a Translator Microbe, which only makes him a Talking Animal), and is treated as a pet... but Mobius also contains Funny Animal dogs (like Sleuth Dawg). It's established that Tasmanian Devils are "One of the few Mobian races that never fully evolved" and are treated like dogs in some respects, but Muttski doesn't appear to be one (the Devils were later retconned to having been the same level of sapience as other Mobians but were genetically changed and bred by the ancient Echidnas into feral weapons against the Order of Ixis Wizards, with Thrash being the only sapient one left).
Gamma's "soul" enters Omega's mind, fusing their thoughts together and granting Omega the ability to feel proper emotion.
Also, we have Tikhaos.
Titan Tails, made from many versions of Tails fusing together.
This was Ixis Naugus' origin (combined with Two Beings One Body) — the last three remaining Ixis wizards (excluding Mogul) traveled to the sun in an attempt to harness the elemental power of fire, and in the process somehow fused together.
Future Badass: Somewhat averted with Silver. He's quite capable, but he's also a bit too inexperienced and naive, which leads to him making a few mistakes.
Tropes G-L
Gadgeteer Genius: The comic has a lot of these, most notably Rotor, Tails, and Uncle Chuck.
Gender Equals Breed: Seems to be the case in the "30 Years Later" storyline.
A notable exception is Jon, the son of Rob O'Hedge and Mari-An. Despite being male, he is an Echidna like his mom.
The Sonic Encyclopedia explains this one. When Mobians of two different species pair up they typically result in twins: a boy with his father's breed and a girl with her mother's. Single born hybrids are extremely rare, with traits leaning mostly towards one breed, regardless of gender, with a notable trait of the other.
Genetic Engineering Is The New Nuke: The Xorda take this to its logical conclusion by having a genetic engineering weapon that functions very much like a nuke. Said weapon also serves as the backstory for the planet.
Genre Savvy: Multiple instances, such as the Chaotix when they are in what appears to be an Enemy Mine situation with Dr. Finitevus. They considered that he was likely planning a trap and made an attempt to kill him the first chance they get, but he got the better of them in their fight. Oh, and the whole situation was a setup.
Sonic when he realizes that he drove Eggman insane thanks to Snively's Breaking Speech. However, the writers quickly push this under a rug. It counts as Sonic did really feel terrible about what he did to Eggman.
Played for laughs with Shadow after Marine tells him she doesn't know as much as she led on about ship building. For several panels, Shadow's expression locks up in one of the most amusing reactions given from a character in the comic.
Nicole was on the brink of one; what with almost the whole population of New Mobotropolis having turned against her, and Sally's sacrifice, she was barely able to function and unable to face what few friends she has left.
There have been a few over the years, with Tommy Turtle and Locke being the biggest examples.
And now Sally.
Time to add Antoine to the list (though he's still alive, albeit comatose).
Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Omega. Even after gaining a "soul" from Gamma, Omega is still a bit too triggerhappy and willing to blow things up.
Hero of Another Story: Many over the course of the comic, ranging from the Arctic Freedom Fighters all the way to the G.U.N. special forces.
Hero with Bad Publicity: NICOLE, following her brainwashing by the Iron Queen. And it hasn't been helped any by Mina's protests or Ixis Naugus' Hate Plague-fueled smear campaign.
Hollywood Cyborg: Bunnie, and her children in the "30 Years Later" storyline.
How Dare You Die on Me!: Sonic was thought to had been dead after an explosion of alien tech, but was really flung halfway across the universe. He returned a year later and continued his role as a hero. This, however, led to Sally breaking up with him.
Humans by Any Other Name: "Overlanders." While it technically refers to a specific subspecies of humanity, the term is sometimes used for Homo sapiens humanity.
Humans Are The Real Monsters: There has been some subtext in this direction, although there have been subversions and exceptions since nearly the beginning. The Mobians and the "Overlanders" were at war... over what turned out to be a misunderstanding, and there were bastards fighting on both sides of the conflict. Yet humans were portrayed as the more warlike and barbaric species even in flashbacks that predated the war. With the introduction of more sympathetic humans such as Nate Morgan and Hope Kintobar, and the human cities from the games, their (our) image appears to have improved, and the comic seems reluctant to dip back into the old subtext.
Since the Sonic Adventure saga, humans have looked even better. Compared to the likes of the Xorda and Black Arms, humans are one of the least bastardly species that exist.
Human Subspecies: The Overlanders and Mobians. Both were the result of the Xorda gene weapons that caused most life (human and animal) to break down into a primordial goop, which reformed thousands of years later. The Overlanders were the physiologically closest to humanity in the comics… until Sonic Adventure had to be adapted, resulting in Homo sapiens Humans appearing.
Issue #182, where Sonic for the first time goes face-to-face with Enerjaka.k.a. a Brainwashed and Crazy Knuckles:
Enerjak (in response to "Energerm"):Are you quite finished?!
Sonic: Actually... Jumping-jak. Ener-tube. Flap-jak. Ener-state. Ener-jak-in-the-box. And come to think of it, "Enerjak" sounds like some kind of sports drink. Now I'm finished.
Hypocritical Humor: In an early story, Robotnik asks how Rotor can let himself get so fat... while his own stomach greatly hangs out.
Also Enerjak's shtick. Until Mogul stole his chaos powers.
Important Haircut: Sally had one done after Nicole rebuilt New Mobotropolis, cutting it from long to her former short-haired look to signify her de-Chickification.
Improbable Age: The Freedom Fighters started fighting The Empire when they were barely even teenagers, and they won. Granted, it took them quite a while and it still hasn't stuck, but even the oldest is still barely breaching their twenties.
Espio, in accordance with his redesign in Sonic Heroes. Now, made even stronger with the addition of the four houses of the Dragon Kingdom, which includes the bat ninja Yagyu Clan. Lightning Lynx is similarly revealed to be a member of one of the Ninja Clans.
There's also Uma Arachnis and her children.
Insufferable Genius: An early plot turned Tails into one temporarily, and his evil alter-ego Miles behaves that way full-time.
Thankfully subverted with the Iron King (Bull) and Iron Queen (Human), who are merely in a relationship of convenience in order to solidify their power base.
It should be noted that in the comic's world, all Mobians are part of a singular species (issues 124-125). The different "species" of animals seem to treated like races.
Irony: The Historical/geographical kind. The location of the capital city of a one world absolute monarchy? Texas. The home of the racist aggressors and oppressors? New England. The reaction of the Freedom Fighters' government to the people's demands for democratic reform? Crush the rebellion, and imprison the leader. Sally managed to eventually get a compromise.
It Is Pronounced Tro PAY: Bunnie's maiden name is actually pronounced "Rab-BOW", with a long O and a silent T. Due to her being a cyborg, most people assumed it was pronounced as it looked (and was vocalized in the original cartoon): Ra-BOT, an obvious pun. Her uncle has apparently been getting similar treatment.
I Was Beaten By A Girl: Vector, Fang, Draco and the Iron King to name but few, many of which to the point of making a Running Gag out of it. Granted the large amount of Action Girls justifys how often it occurs, but the trope's premise is still quoted frequently.
Jerkass: Scourge is a huge one in stark contrast with the snarky but usually polite Sonic. Drago Wolf manages to top him and makes Scourge look like gentleman by comparison.
Sonic has had this characterization at times, too (though rarely has it been as bad as in Fleetway's Sonic The Comic). At one point, it got so bad that Tails, his best friend, physically assaulted him. He's wised up a little now, though he can still be a Jerk Ass at times.
Also, Geoffrey St. John, and Vector some of the time.
Kangaroo Court: Sonic was once put on trial by Knothole in a literal Kangaroo Court: two kangaroos were the judges. Other than that, however, it seemed like a fair trial, though the prosecutor seemed a little too interested in getting a guilty verdict.
Lien-Da and her brother Kragok took over the Dark Legion by killing their father, and years later, Lien-Da left Dimitri for dead so that she could take over the Dark Egg Legion.
And the original Dr. Robotnik (before he became the Big Bad) became head of the Kingdom of Acorn's military by throwing the previous holder of the title into the Zone of Silence. And later, he started off his coup of the Kingdom by doing the same to the King.
And the Sand Blaster Freedom Fighters can be pretty fanatic in fighting Robotnik/Eggman. So much so that in their first appearance, they tried to strand Sonic and Tails in their city so that they would always be there to help them fight. Hell, their modus operandi is to practically kidnap anyone traveling through the desert and force them to work for them, as the Chaotix's latest arc shows.
Know Your Vines: Sonic was picking flowers to bring to Sally, only for a random background character to wander by and inform him that he's making his girlfriend a bouquet out of poison sumac. Then he starts scratching madly, which makes him swell up until he can't move. This, unfortunately, coincides with Robotnik making Pseudo Sonic, a robotic duplicate meant to infiltrate Knothole and discredit Sonic.
Lame Pun Reaction: The early stories had a few, in reaction to the rampant puns.
Sally: "What have I told you two about those bad puns?"
La Résistance: The Freedom Fighters. Though post-Endgame (when Robotnik went from a dictator to an external threat) they've become more of a special forces unit reporting to the government of the Kingdom/Republic of Acorn.
Post-Genesis, they seem to be heading in this direction again in reaction to Naugus' coup.
LEGO Genetics: Sally Acorn is the most prominent example, being half squirrel and half chipmunk without any problems. This is probably the most reasonable example, since squirrels and chipmunks are at least from the same family of rodents.
The Load: Antoine was this before he started to pull his own weight.
Load-Bearing Boss: Referenced by name by Sonic when Eggman's base starts to self-destruct after Sonic defeats him in the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II comic adaptation in issue 3 of the Sonic Super Special Magazine.
Sonic: Whoops... looks like that was another one of those load-bearing bosses!
Loads and Loads of Characters: You have almost everyone from the videogames, everyone from Satam, all the original characters, all the original characters from Knuckles' series, and all the characters introduced to tie the videogames and comics together. Even Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts have shown up!
Haven't you seen the image at the top of the page yet?
Locked Out of the Loop: Knuckles' family is (or was) nigh-Machiavellian in this aspect, actively conspiring to keep him in the dark as much as possible "for his own good".
Long Runner: The comic prides itself on being the longest-running video game comic in human history, and the author's notes at the end of the 200th issue boasted that they're only 76 strips away from becoming the longest-running licensed comic book publication of the modern age.
Losing Your Head: Due to sudden rapid aging, Dimitri had to have more and more of his body replaced with cybernetic implants. Now he is just a cyborg head in a floating fishbowl.
Love Triangle: Oh, sheesh... Sonic/Sally/Antoine, Sonic/Sally/Knuckles, Sonic/Sally/Geoffrey, Sonic/Sally/Khan, Sally/Sonic/Amy, Sally/Sonic/Mina, Sonic/Mina/Ash, Sonic/Fiona/Tails, Sonic/Fiona/Scourge, Knuckles/Julie-Su/Rouge... and possibly Locke/Lara-Le/Wynmacher. There may be more, but you get the idea.
A variation occurs with Enerjak, who is Knuckles's distant ancestor. Then again, when the Dark Legion is revealed to be a bunch of echidnas (and led by one of Enerjak/Dimitri's descendants to boot). Then, yet again when Julie-Su finds out that she's the daughter of one of the Legion's Grandmasters, and Kragok and Lien-da's sister.
A more literal example occurs when it's confirmed that Remington is Kragok's son.
Hope Kintobor was told that her father Colin wasn't her biological father, and Snively was just her step-half brother. It was a lie. When Snively reveals this that they are indeed half-siblings, Hope is shocked but happy at the news. Until Snively goes on about taking over world together as brother and sister. At which Hope breaks down and tells him to get out of her life.
Tropes M-R
Machine Worship: The Dark Legion, a cyborg echidna sect which practically worshiped technology.
Mad Bomber: Bean the Dynamite Duck, and Bomb after being reprogrammed. Bomb is of literal note because he actually is a bomb. He transfers his programming to a fresh duplicate each time he explodes.
Mad Scientist: Dr. Robotnik/Eggman, Dr. Finitevus, Dimitri.
Scourge seems to have gotten the hang of it, as half of his Universe arc is finding out the Destructix's secrets and getting them to work for him.
Married In The Future: In the "25 Years Later" arc, Tails is married to Mina Mongoose, Sonic is married to Sally Acorn, and Knuckles is unofficially married to Julie-Su. Other characters like Espio and Vector are shown with children, but the mothers are never mentioned.
Mass Oh Crap: The last few panels of issue 224 are the citizens of New Mobotropolis having one of these as they see the Death Egg Mk. 2 rise into the air.
Mecha-Mooks: SWATbots, Combots, Shadowbots, and later, the Egg Pawns.
Medium Awareness: A regular part of Michael Gallagher's scripts, particularly in the early days.
Bizarro Universe: It's not just good and evil switched, although that's how the idea started. Floating Island floats in the ocean instead of in the sky, Scourge's one billionth ring drove Amy insane when it granted her wish, and Anarchy Beryl (Anti-Chaos Emeralds) drain energy from people when they use it instead of boosting their energy.
Misaimed Fandom: In-Universe Example Mina Mongoose uses a concert to rally the people of Mobotropolis to start standing up for themselves and stop taking everything the Freedom Fighters say on faith alone.*
Specifically, her main concern was to ensure that NICOLE couldn't wind up Brainwashed and Crazy again.
Thanks to Ixis Naugus' manipulations, instead of the debates and civilian empowerment she was hoping for, the result is a divided and even more fearful kingdom and NICOLE eventually being evicted from the city.
The Guardian Tobor, who is really the Legionnaire Moritori Rex, who took advantage of an accident to replace the real Tobor so he could spy on the Brotherhood of Guardians.
Geoffrey has apparently been serving Ixis Naugus since before he was introduced.
More Hero Than Thou: At the end of the "Enerjak Reborn" storyline, Finetevus reveals that only a Heroic Sacrifice can break Knuckles free of his control. This does not go over as he'd clearly expected: Julie-Su thanks him for the information and volunteers, Archimedes immediately protests it should be him as Knuckles' mentor, and Locke overrides both of them arguing Knuckles will need them and it's his fault in the first place. Finetevus curses them as "grave-eager fools" and attacks.
Mr. Exposition: Being a comic this is often required, though there are a lot of backstory references and Mythology Gag one liners frequently used, with varying ranges of clunkiness. Nate Morgan was the most blatant about it.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The four-armed Bem aliens, and the entirety of the Arachne ninja clan (including Uma Arachnis and her children).
The Multiverse: There are a nigh-infinite amount of parallel universes reachable through the cosmic interstate, some very similar and others nearly completely reversed from the "Prime" Zone. Most of them have character counterparts as well.
My Greatest Failure: Uncle Chuck feels terrible for creating the Roboticizer that led to Robotnik forming his army.
Necessarily Evil: Finitevus. Sort of. He doesn't show regret for cruelly lying and manipulating people — just the opposite, really — but he's never seen doing it for sadistic purposes alone.
Seneca-9009's Dark and Troubled Past. She invented a de-roboticizer to help the metallic aliens of Biotex. She learned too late that the Biotexans evolved their metallic bodies as a defense against deadly microbes. Oops...
In issue 225, Eggman tells Sally that if she and the other Freedom Fighters had finished him off any of the times they'd had the chance, they could have prevented him from rebuilding the Death Egg in a more powerful form.
Sonic's dad and uncle found Robotnik and brought him to King Max, who made his infamous decision to make him warlord. Uncle Chuck made the roboticizer, allowing Robotnik to make the headway needed to make his empire so fast.
Noblewoman's Laugh: The Iron Queen. Even in print, it manages to be grating.
No Biochemical Barriers: The Mobius: 25 Years Later series features Sally (chipmunk/squirrel) and Sonic's (hedgehog) kids, among other examples.
No Fourth Wall: The "Off Panel", brief comics in some issues that have the characters frequently doing this and often interacting with the writers/editors of the comic. Also noticeable in the comic's early era, when Michael Gallagher was the main writer.
No Macguffin No Winner: In issues 217 and 218, Sonic and Bunnie find themselves stuck in between a chapter of the Dark Egg Legion and the Sand Blasters, who are fighting over an oil refinery. Unable to decide whether to help the Legion chapter (who, despite working for Eggman, are led by Bunnie's beloved uncle) and the Sand Blasters (who, despite being Freedom Fighters, are fanaticJerk Asses), they ultimately decide to simply destroy the refinery, keeping anyone from having it.
No Ontological Inertia: Subverted after defeating Eggman in issue 200. The citizens of New Mobotropolis take to celebrating as soon as the news is heard. The only problem is that all of Eggman's assets were immediately siezed by the Iron Queen, who wastes no time at all in going to New Mobotropolis and completely cumbstomping the entire city. Khan calls them out on this.
Noodle People: Several; almost everyone is drawn with noodle limbs, but Ash Mongoose is particuarly egregious in this regard.
Not So Different: The Brotherhood is pretty damn hypocritical in their combating the Dark Legion, using the very technology that they convinced echidna society to ban and thereby started the conflict in the first place. The Dark Legion comes close to calling them out on this on several occasions.
Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Partially subverted in the comic itself; played straight with the Kingdom of Acorn.
Oddly Small Organization: The Freedom Fighters, though it's temporarily subverted at different points in the series. This later comes back to bite the main characters in the tail when three of the disenfranchised former members of the Substitute Freedom Fighters become leaders in the government.
Off Model: It was so bad that there is a blog dedicated to these moments. Fortunately, it's gotten a lot better about it in its later years, but it still pops up every now and then.
The aforementioned "Many Hands" turned in downright abysmal art that hardly wasn't in this trope. Ron Lim's takes on the characters were pretty off, too.
Omnicidal Maniac: Dr. Finitevus believes that the world is hopelessly corrupt and must be "cleansed with emerald fire." He is utterly convinced of the righteousness of his position and quite willing to lay down his own life to achieve his aims.
One World Order: The Kingdom of Acorn before the events of the comics; Dr. Robotnik's empire after his coup.
Of course, now it's pretty much broken up, and the only vast power base is the Iron Queen's control of Robotnik's city and the Dragon Kingdom. Sonic makes a particular note of the fact that Eggman's lost control of his own empire at one point.
Snively, who was rather shocked when Robotnik actually called him by his given name (Colin). What's weird is that he apparently prefers the nickname... probably because Colin is also his father's name, and there was apparently some resentment there.
Sonic, technically. But he did get his name legally changed.
Tails, for Miles.
Earlier in the series, Rotor as Boomer.
Technically, all the Moebius residents except for Miles.
Orwellian Retcon: When some old stories were reprinted in Sonic Firsts, Princess Sally was recolored to match her modern design and all references to "Boomer" were changed to "Rotor".
Parental Abandonment: Almost every regular character, until Robotnik Prime's death.
Of particular note is Knuckles, who was left in a wilderness by his father at a young age, and was then spied on by him for a while. This happened to every Guardian before him, but Locke had a particularly hard time with it, which eventually tore their family apart and caused his wife to leave him.
Anti-Jules, to the point that it's implied that Scourge killed him out of resentment.
Colin Sr., apparently. It's probably why his son turned into The Starscream.
Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Amy does this for the Sonic Adventure adaptation, though they still generally treat her as her actual age when that matters.
Plot Tumor: Coupled with Knuckles turning into a Canon Sue, as described above. Knuckles goes from living in a wilderness, believing himself to be the last of his kind, to living in a city full of other echidnas and having a family tree that becomes more and more convoluted as time goes on. Eventually, the echidnas end up becoming the most important race in the comic. Then, the Eggman Empire (and Ian Flynn) came along... Needless to say, there aren't as many echidnas now.
Pragmatic Adaptation: Back when the writers integrated the game adaptations into the comic's continuity. Elements of the game’s story had to be condensed, expanded, or altered as to fit within the setting.
One example is the Sonic Adventure adaptation. Up to that point, the only Humans were the Overlanders, who did not have the temperament or culture of the United Federation. The Solution? Have Station Square under a mountain, where regular humans have thrived for thousands of years (and many comic issues) unseen.
Stories that really serve no purpose other than to serve as a five-page advertisement for whatever the newest Sonic game is. Word Of God has declared the "another time, another place" stories as non-canon in the comic's continuity, although some elements from the games themselves may seep in.
Sometimes the "Editor Notes" will include something along the lines "Find out more in this other issue, Available Now!". Often lampshaded in the Sonic-Grams letters page, where if a graphic novel is mentioned they would follow it by a "Plug Plug Plug".
Projected Man: How NICOLE now interacts with the rest of the cast, in a lyn(u)x form.
As elsewhere in the franchise, Tails' full name is Miles Prower. Miles-Per-Hour.
The comic tended to like a lot of puns for a while, and originated many of its own. A particularly cringeworthy example would be "Sleuth Dawggy-Dawg," who actually turned into a fairly regular Recurring Character they've mercifully taken to referring to only as "Sleuth Dawg".
Put on a Bus: Because of a legal battle with Ken Penders over character rights, "Endangered Species" arc was re-written so all the echidnas except Knuckles were sent through a Warp Ring.
The Destructix, comprised of Predator Hawk, Sgt. Simian, Lightning Lynx, Flying Frog, Sleuth Dawggy-Dawg, and Drago Wolf. Sleuth and Drago have left the team, but as of late Fiona and Scourge have taken their places.
The Badniks—the original Dr. Robotnik's swarm of little animal-themed Mecha-Mooks who served mostly as comic relief in the comic's early days. They'd been forgotten about for ages, but were reintroduced a couple of years ago.
As of Sonic Universe #37, Eggman has a new group of personal enforcers in the Metal Series robots including Mecha Sally.
Sonic to Eggman in issue #200. He regrets it when it contributes to Eggman's Villainous Breakdown. This was in response to a particularly nasty one given from Eggman to Sonic in 175.
Sonic gives one to Scourge. This comes back to bite Sonic later as it inspires Scourge to conquer his home world. Scourge later gives a twistedly identical speech to Sonic.
Recursive Adaptation: The comic has already started to incorporate some plot elements from Sonic Chronicles, which itself had seemingly borrowed and modified some of its echidna lore material from the comic.
Redemption Equals Death: This is the case for the original Metal Sonic, who sacrifices himself to save Sonic and Tails after seeing Sonic go through everything to save his best friend. Subverted after he was rebuilt as part of the Secret Freedom Fighters storyline.
Renegade Splinter Faction: The Sand Blast City Freedom Fighters - unlike other Freedom Fighter cells, they use dubious methods such as kidnapping Sonic and Tails. And then capturing Bunnie to get revenge. Worse, their maltreatment of ex-Robians led to the creation of a DEL Chapter. That's right, things got so bad that former slaves would rather side with Eggman than live under the Sand Blasters.
Romantic False Lead: Geoffrey St. John appears to have been crafted with this initial purpose in mind, although he did fulfill a function in the plot outside of the love triangle. Mina was a more blatant example.
Sanity Slippage: Naugus is starting to suffer this post-Genesis, as a result of the personalities of the wizards who formed him reemerging and fighting him for dominance. This is mirrored by Body Horror, as his body tends to mutate when he loses control and becomes a rampaging beast, though this usually only last a few minutes at a time before he manages to regain control of himself.
Scenery Gorn: several times during the comics' run; Silver's future, Enerjak's destruction of New Megaopolis, and Eggman's attack on Knothole & New Mobotropolis are just a few examples.
Robotropolis wasn't exactly a pleasant sight to behold either.
Once the Destructix starts to fall apart, Sleuth hands control to Fiona and just walks away.
Sdrawkcab Alias / Name: Julian Kintobor changes his name to Dr. Ivo Robotnik. What makes it confusing is that there is both a Kintobor family (Robotnik's brother shares the last surname) and a Robotnik family (Gerald Robotnik is Julian's grandfather). The Encyclopediaclears it up a bit: Ivo Kintobor (Robotnik's Father) had married Gerrald's daughter, and thus united the two lines. Julian took his father's name, and his mother's maiden name. Though why no one pointed out the strange coincidence regarding their names remains a mystery.
Seldom Seen Species: Mina and Ash Mongoose. And of course, the countless echidnas. And the lynx.
Shamed By A Mob: Issue #74 involves this when the freedom fighters discover Robotnik running an outer space sweatshop after they all thought he was dead.
Sonic and Fiona, and Tails and Fiona, via the comics and Word Of God.
Flynn has also gone on record to say that the early implied romance between Tails and Barby Koala (of the Downunda Freedom Fighters) is "completely one-sided and kind of creepy", and that as long as he's on the comic it's not going to happen.
Shout Out: Tons, for just about every fiction franchise on Earth. Most of these can be found in a group shot of AU Tails. Check out the page for a few notable examples.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In issue #74, after the freedom fighters find Robotnik on the walkway of some outer space facility, (note that up until that point they thought he was dead), there are at least twovarieties (or maybe three) of Shut Up, Hannibal! in a row:
Sonic: You're toast if you don't tell me what happened to my family and the other roboticized Mobians, Ro"butt"nik! Robotnik: Come now, hedgehog. Can't you at least take a moment to welcome me back from the dead? Didn't your parents teach you better manners? Sonic: Why, you lousy... Sonic runs at Robotnik, but Robotnik smacks him aside. Bunnie: Ah'll show you manners! Bunnie then punches Robotnik in the face, and Sonic and Tails stumble upon Robotnik's sweatshop. Tails: Sonic, look! Sonic: I see it, Tails! ALL of the missing robians being forced to work in this suped-up outer-space sweat-shop! Robotnik: Forced? Quite the contrary, Sonic. I've merely RESTORED their LACK of free will. They have absolutely no say in the matter. How can you say that I've done something wrong? Why, look at all the new jobs I've created! Sonic: Create this! (Sonic then runs up at Robotnik and knocks him off the walkway.)
Sickeningly Sweethearts: Antoine and Bunnie really border this at times, half their panel time they seem to be holding hands or making gooey eyes at each other. The funny accents (one of which is French) only elevate it at times.
Sins of Our Fathers: The Xorda take this to almost unfathomable extremes. At one point they dispatched a peaceful ambassador to Earth who was promptly dissected. The Xorda retaliated by gene bombing the entire planet. Several thousand years later, life had come back to the planet, but since it all still had genetic traces of the humans who had committed the offense, the Xorda were intent on coming back and wiping it all out for good this time.
Slap-Slap-Kiss/Kiss-Kiss-Slap: For a while, it reached ridiculous levels with Sonic and Sally. It's calmed down since.
Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: The comic started off as something of a pastiche of the very silly Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog and the mostly-serious Saturday-morning Sonic Sat AM. In the beginning, it was more like "AoStH with the SatAM characters", but Cerebus Syndrome pushed it further and further towards SatAM's darker style. Even so, while the comic has never really regained the level of goofiness present in the earliest issues, there has been a fair amount of fluctuation all over the scale depending on the era and the writer. Where it should fall, optimally, is one of the many things the fanbase can never agree on.
Spank the Cutie: Averted during the start of the Mobius: 25 Years Later story arc. Knuckles threatens Lara-Su with this, but does not follow through with this after Julie-Su comments that the practice is barbaric. We'll just overlook her gratuitous use of firearms for a majority of her appearances...
Species Surname: Sometimes (Maurice "Sonic" Hedgehog), sometimes not (Amy Rose).
Snively. Actually, he once successfully killed Robotnik. The Eggman in the series now is actually from a parallel dimension.
There's also Tails's Evil Twin from Moebius, Miles, who convinced the rest of the Suppression Squad to turn on Scourge, then set himself up as the new leader.
As he explains to Lien-Da in issue #220, Eggman expects this of all his Grandmasters in the Dark Egg Legion:
Think of it as a roulette of trust. I know every single one of you is biding your time. You’re all waiting for the perfect moment to turn on me, and take my empire for yourselves. But until then, you all serve to your fullest, because the stronger you make me, the more you’ll reap in the end. If you manage to turn on me and survive, that is.
Start of Darkness: Regina the Iron Queen shows us hers in "A Lonely Girl's Story".
Status Quo Is God: Played completely straight at first, with the Freedom Fighters winning little battles but never coming closer to winning the war, then End Game came along...
Being a Long Runner, the status quo has been shaken up rather often since, but you can basically bank on it eventually returning to Sonic and his Freedom Fighters vs. Robotnik and his empire.
In #197, Zonic even says, "Sonic-Prime has to fight a Robotnik" in response to Sonic telling him the current Eggman was the Zone Cop's problem.
Stuff Blowing Up: Omega prefers this to happen in every mission he's taken part in so far. So far, he is pleased.
Robo-Robotnik/Dr. Eggman, for, well, himself. Continuity treats them as the same character, more or less.
Bow Sparrow and Thorn the Lop for Rob o' the Hedge and Mari-An, respectively. Making it even more suspicious is that Rob was originally featured on the cover SU #47, but latter replaced with a different cover.
Sycophantic Servant: Snively was sometimes depicted as this in the earlier issues — very much in contrast with his later characterization. Crabmeat, however, plays it straight.
Tangled Family Tree: Knuckles's ancestors, the Brotherhood of Guardians, and the leaders of the Dark Legion. It eventually is revealed to include Julie-Su and Remington. Finitevus eventually lampshades this.
Tennis Boss: Silver eventually realizes that the only way to stop a super-powered Enerjak is to reflect his own chaos energy back at him.
Those Two Bad Guys: Orbot and Cubot seem to be heading in this direction, as of their introduction.
Time for Plan B: Eggman comes up with a series of plans on the spot to counteract Snivley freeing the Iron Queen and piloting an ancient giant robot in Universe #40, though they're more like steps in one large plan, which is probably even more impressive.
Token Evil Teammate: Team Dark. Shadow's mellowed out, but Rouge is a thief who's in it for herself, and Omega is a Sociopathic Hero. And if Abraham Tower has his back story from the games...
Took a Level in Badass: Antoine takes several, Evil Sonic when he becomes Scourge, and Dr. Eggman big time after he overcomes his Villainous Breakdown purely with logic, snaps out of his insanity, and puts himself back in the game arguably more dangerous than ever. His return to sanity is even punctuated by quite possibly the most dark and ominous panel Eggman has ever appeared in.
Especially obvious in issue 225 where he toys with Sonic to stall for time, then nonchalantly injuring/possibly killing Sally. Then he fires his superweapon while holding a glass of wine.
In Scourge's case, it also included gaining several levels in popularity - the fans like him a lot better when he's not just a cliched Evil Twin.
Tornado Move: One issue had Sonic take out a patrol of Swat Bots by sticking his arms out and spinning around, creating a tornado. However, Sonic starts bragging without stoping, causing him to spin right into a nearby rock.
Totally Radical: The series still bills itself as "The World's Most Way Past Cool Comic!" Delicious early '90s camp.
Trickster Mentor: Archimedes the Fire Ant filled this role for Knuckles, by way of a clever scheme that initially made Knuckles and the readers believe he was being set up as a villain.
Unholy Matrimony: Scourge and Fiona. Also the Iron King and Queen, who (thankfully, for obvious reasons) are just in a marriage of political convenance. And the Queen also had a thing on the side with Snively.
And if there was any doubt that Scourge and Fiona truly cared about each other, take this into account: after Scourge was arrested by the Zone Cops, Fiona tracked down the Destructix, got them to work for her, and then intentionally got arrested, all so that she could break him out.
The Unpronounceable: Dr. Fukurokov. No one in the comics can pronounce it, though Word Of God gives the pronunciation as FOO-KOO-ROW-KAWV, after the Japenese word for owl, Fukurou.
Fukurokov: One day the world will tremble at the name of Dr. Fukurokov!
Antonie: Maybe, but zey won't be able to pronounce it.
Unstoppable Rage: Many characters go through this for some reason or another.
Sonic, most notably, in #50 and #175. You do NOT mess with his friends, family, or home.
Hershey in #50, after learning that Drago used her in a murder scheme.
Tails, to a lesser extent in #178, seeing his hedgehog friend act like a Jerkass at the time.
Unwilling Roboticisation: Was a very real and menacing threat for nearly 15 years, before an alien race changed the roboticized citizens back to normal (with the exceptions of Sonic's dad, whose life depended on the installed robotics, and Bunnie, a cyborg) and eliminating the ability to do this. Thanks to the events of the Genesisarc, Roboticization is back, although the only people vulnerable to it are those who had never been deroboticized by the Bem. Unfortunately, this included Sally, who became its first victim.
Universe Compendium: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia. While having minor flaws, the Encyclopedia is likely the best way to get acquainted with the comic's setting and history. Not surprisingly for a comic going over 200 issues, the Encyclopedia is dense with information.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom. This also applies to Sonic, Sally, Knuckles, and Tails's respective families. Issue 50 revealed that Sonic's dad and uncle found Robotnik and brought him to King Max, who made his infamous decision to make him the new Warlord. Additionally the brothers drove off a young Regina Ferrum back in the day as well, not to mention Charles invented the roboticizer. During this time up to when they were captured, Knuckles's father and ancestors were aware of Robotnik, but devoted none of their considerable resources to stop him, despite Robotnik once trying to weaponize the Floating island in the Sonic and Knuckles tie-in comic and trying to drive the island into the sea in the Death Egg saga despite the Knuckles spin off title revealing his family was still living on the island and would've been aware of this; Locke even commented on the Ultimate Annihilator in the spin off title. And almost immediately after they returned, Tails's parents caused a political reformation that may well have resulted in, in addition to King Naugus, the disaster Silver's trying to prevent.
Applies to Geoffrey as well. He admitted in court that he purposefully avoided warning King Max about Robotnik before his original takeover. By passing up an opportunity like that, he became partially responsible for almost everything in the book up to this point, including his wife's death. His actions may have led to Silver's disaster as well: if he hadn't stolen the purple Chaos Emerald for Naugus, the Freedom Fighters might've used its power to repel Eggman's attack without losing Sally. Since she was roboticized, her team has broken up and according to Silver, his disaster started in the arctic, where Sally is currently...
Vague Age: The planet itself, believe it or not, with the time between the Xorda attack on Earth and the current strips ranging from anywhere between 3,200 years to 15,000 years.
The characters also had a bit of a habit of saying each others' full names for the longest time, and they still do this from time to time. It was actually a tradition to introduce Sonic the Hedgehog in this way, using the logo in a speech bubble in the early days.
Scourge after he's betrayed by everyone. He expresses a desire to destroy two whole worlds, one of which is his home, just out of annoyance.
Villainous BSOD: Scourge didn't take being arrested by the Zone Cops too well - he lost all his drive, and let himself get pushed around by the guards and other prisoners, not even protesting his new nickname "Snot". Fortunately (for fans of his character, anyway), the arrival of Fiona and the Destructix causes him to regain his old spark.
The "Scourge: Lockdown" arc (Issues 29-32 in Sonic Universe) is all about Scourge, Fiona, and the Destructix trying to bust out of the Zone Cops' prison.
The "Babylonian Rising" arc (Issues 33-36) was mostly about the Babylon Rouges and the Battle Bird Armada competing to get into the Babylonian Gardens. Sonic and his friends show up midway though it's still mostly the villains' story.
The "Scrambled" arc (issues 37-40) was focused on Eggman dealing with Snively's latest betrayal.
Villain Team Up: Happens almost as frequently as the Enemy Mine situations, given the number of villainous factions involved in the series. Almost always ends with them betraying each other.
Villain with Good Publicity: Ixis Naugus, due to playing to the public's distrust of NICOLE, and his defense of New Mobotropolis during the Death Egg and Battle Bird Armada attacks. And also because Geoffrey's unable to warn the council of what Naugus tried to do in the "Secret Freedom" arc.
The Voiceless: Bark the Polar Bear, Bean's partner in crime, never speaks.
Water Works: in a comic full of young girls and emotional teenagers, the character who easily cries most is a man in his thirties. Particularly, in the period between him letting Regina down to the end of his rescue attempt for her, Snively manages Broken Tears, Inelegant Blubbering, Berserker Tears, Tears of Fear, and many, many instances of Trying Not To Cry with a Single Tear of pure bitterness and rage. This is not a subversion of Men Don't Cry, though, as these are generally not Manly Tears.
We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: When intelligent alien life first found Earth, they dispatched a peaceful ambassador to discuss beneficial trade. Said ambassador was promptly dissected.
Knuckles and Locke's relationship has elements of this. Also, Antoine invokes this trope when he tries to earn his father's appreciation after the latter starts acting more impressed with Sonic.
Snively's lack of appreciation by his father is hinted to be part of the reason for him being evil. Interestingly enough, his father, Robotnik's brother, was also favored over his brother. Hmmm.
And let's not get started on King Max's relationship with his kids.
Geoffrey is one as well — he helped Naugus become king because he honestly believed it's for the Republic's own good. Though now that he's seen Naugus' true nature, he regrets helping him.
Wham Episode: Things generally shake up every twenty-fifth issue.
Issue 25: Not much of a Wham, unless you count introducing Amy and Metal Sonic. Although the Cerebus Syndrome started settling in after this point.
Issue 50: The conclusion of the "EndGame" arc and the death of the original Robotnik.
Issue 75: Robo-Robotnik reveals himself to the Freedom Fighters and is destroyed, only to come back in his Eggman form.
Issue 100: Eggman gains the ability to roboticize by touch and uses it on Nate Morgan; Kodos, Arachnis, Tobor and Kragok are all Killed Off for Real; and the Robians are freed from Eggman's control.
Issue 125: The conclusion of Xorda arc; Sonic is sent into space, which allows for the one-year Time Skip when he gets back to Mobius.
Issue 150: It's revealed to the readers that Sonic and Antonie have been replaced by their Evil Twins from Moebius. The B-story has Tails stopping Mammoth Mogul from destroying the multiverse.
Issue 225: The new Death Egg attacks New Mobotropolis, and Sally is gunned down by Eggman.
Wham Episodes not on the 25-issue mark include 160 (Anti-Sonic becomes Scourge), 172 (Fiona Fox reveals her Face Heel Turn), the entire "Enerjak Reborn" arc (180-184), and 219 ( Geoffrey pulls a Face Heel Turn).
Also offsetting the 25-issue mark are issue 230 (which follows up on the events of 225 as Sally survives... only to be roboticized.), and issue 234 (wherein Antoine is nearly Killed Off for Real).
Sonic and Sally did this for a long time. Then they started dating, broke up, and are doing it again.
Knuckles and Julie-Su had a fair bit of this when they first met, too. And Shadow and Rouge still do, though it's unlikely they ever will, given Shadow being an emotional cripple who can barely articulate his feelings other than arrogance and anger.
Women Are Wiser: Most of the females, while still having their own shortcomings, are somewhat more level headed than their male comrades.
Sally in particular, though having a few infamous moments of ill perception, is arguably the most "normal"-acting character in the comic (though both her and Bunnie had near equally wacky and blundering personas than Sonic and co in the earlier light-hearted issues).
Word of Gay: Ken Penders got around the CCA somehow by hinting at one of the characters in the "Mobius: X Years Later" storyline being gay... and somehow doing this while showing the life partner, threading the relationship into the text. Once fans started searching, it became obvious (and confirmed by Ken), that the hinted couple was Rotor and Cobar, the latter an echidna scientist from the Dark Legion.
Word Of God: Current writer Ian Flynn has organized his own message board, where he and other creators interact with fans and answer their questions. His predecessor, Ken Penders, also kept up a message board while he was writing for the comic, which is still active and occasionally talks about the stories that he had planned for the series.
Worthy Opponent: Speedy comes to view Tails as one following their initial confrontation, as he goes from calling Tails "freak" to referring to him by name and insisting everyone else in the Armada do so as well. Hell, the next time they meet it almost seems to have reached Friendly Enemy status.
Wrench Wench: Hope Kintobor, in keeping with the family tradition, is quite the mechanical prodigy.
Year Inside, Hour Outside: The Twilight Zone (no, not that one), a pocket dimension where time passes at roughly a quarter of the speed of the main universe. The Dark Legion was imprisoned here for centuries before eventually escaping.
Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: How Rob O' the Hedge often talks. His cousin, Amy, who comes from the same region, doesn't do this.
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