The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is both famous and infamous for having a massive cast across its multiple universes, with every one of them being divisive to at least someone. That being said, there are some well-beloved extras in-between all of that, as listed here.
Sorted by media.
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Video Games
- Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel got to appear on posters in Sonic Generations and are popular thanks to the Archie comics, even though, up until 2018, Ray only appeared in one game (SegaSonic the Hedgehog) and Mighty in two (SegaSonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles Chaotix). Needless to say, fans lost it when the duo made a surprise return in Sonic Mania Plus.
- The Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3 & Knuckles (officially known as Mecha Sonic Mk. II) has become especially popular to the point that some of his fans even prefer him over series mainstay Metal Sonic himself. Aside from his bulky, imposing design and being a memorable Final Boss for Knuckles' campaign, his portrayal as Turbo Mecha Sonic in popular fan series Super Mario Bros. Z may also have contributed to his status as this trope. His surprise return in the Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) miniseries Scrapnik Island was met with nearly universal praise, especially his revamped design and Character Development.
- Metal Sonic's One-Winged Angel form in Knuckles Chaotix, often called "Metal Sonic Kai" by fans, is probably one of the most famous aspects of the game, to the point that the form, slightly tweaked, made a return appearance in a later update of Sonic Mania as "Giga Metal".
- A great deal of prominence has been given to Honey the Cat, an extraordinarily detailed character who was Dummied Out of Sonic the Fighters. This may have motivated Sega's decision to promote her to playable in the 2012 Xbox Live Arcade and Play Station Network Updated Re-release. She also got a lot of screentime in the Shattered World saga during the Archie series' last major run.
- Sonic R has the Tails Doll, whose popularity in the intervening years since the game's release couldn't possibly be overstated, with many a Creepypasta and Urban Legend of Zelda surrounding his nature. His reputation has noticeably diminished with time due to overuse, but his rare cameos and references in other Sonic works (most notably his Archie incarnation, which canonizes the idea that he's more monstrous than he appears) remain a testament to the influence his fanbase generated. Likewise, Metal Knuckles is a surprisingly popular villain for someone who only appeared once in the entire series; due to his cool design, being the strongest character in the game next to Super Sonic, and his sheer potential for being elaborated upon.
- Sonic Adventure:
- The ridiculously cute Chao were solidified as this following Sonic Adventure 2 Battle's massive overhaul of their gameplay. The Chao Garden mini-game in Battle is probably one of the greatest examples of Sidetracked By The Golden Saucer you can think of, to the point that a massive number of people have admitted to only buying the game for the express purpose of raising, evolving and playing with them. A very frequent request from fans ever since has been for SEGA to put a fully-fleshed out Chao Garden feature back in the newer Sonic games.
- Tikal, in spite of being nothing more than an Exposition Fairy, still remains very popular with the fandom and is frequently made part of the main cast in several Fan Works to this day, in spite of her status as a long dead spirit who gets to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence at the end of her debut game appearance, with no further roles besides the occasional cameo.
- Sonic Advance Trilogy:
- Vanilla the Rabbit, Cream's mother who memorably gets rescued at the end of her debut game. She's strictly a Satellite Character for Cream, but she has many fans that find her attractive.
- Gemerl gets so little use nowadays that you would be excused to think he's not around anymore, even though Advance 3's ending clearly shows the latter is still active and living happily with Cream and her mother. Fan Works generally do not ignore Gemerl when using Cream's family in some manner.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) has Sonicman, a young NPC character who's deluded himself into thinking he's Sonic the Hedgehog. In spite of the contempt held towards the game's overall writing and narrative, plenty of fans found him to be one of the most genuinely entertaining things about it.
- The two unique Super Modes in the Sonic Storybook Series, Darkspine Sonic and Excalibur Sonic, are beloved by fans for both not only being extremely cool looking but for being the only super forms where Sonic outright attacks the bosses fought with them rather than just running into them (and it Darkspine's case, Sonic flat out pummels the boss with his bare hands). While many know that it is highly unlikely that they will come back, they still hold out hope for a possible return.
- Sonic Unleashed:
- Professor Pickle is one of the game's most well-beloved NPCs for being a friendly (if strange) Mission Control character.
- SA-55, nicknamed "Ergo" for his constant use of the word, is Eggman's assistant robot for the game, and became popular as a result of his snarky attitude towards his boss. Come Sonic Colors a new iteration of the character named Orbot was created, who was likewise paired with a second robot called Cubot, and the two have since became beloved for their contrasting personalities and for helping flesh out Eggman's personality further.
- Ever since Sonic Colors, the Cyan Wisp became popular with fans. This is for a number of reasons; it being one of the first introduced, their design as a suitably squishy load of squids and because his color power is both fun to use and capable of triggering helpful glitches while speedrunning.
- Despite the generally negative reception toward the Deadly Six from Sonic Lost World, Zazz tends to be remembered a bit more favorably for his hammy performance (courtesy of Liam O'Brien). It helps that his reccuring appearances don’t feel as excessive and shoehorned at the expense of character consistency as his leader Zavok's.
- While all the Hard-Boiled Heavies of Sonic Mania are already well-beloved for being more expressive and dynamic than the average Eggman badnik, Heavy Magician takes the cake for her tricksy approach to dealing with the good guys, and for her boss fight where she transforms into Fang, Bean and Bark. In the Encore Mode for Plus, she's also responsible for reviving the rest of the Heavies and restarting the plot.
- Sonic Forces
- One of the game's template customizable characters, a red wolf with glasses, was beloved for his design since before the game came out, with fans nicknaming him "Gadget" and some even wishing for SEGA to make him a canon member of the cast.
- The Jackal Squad and its members have gained some devoted fans as well due to their color motif and designs, despite only really being namedropped and shown for two panels in a comic that otherwise focused on Infinite and Eggman.
- Classic Amy Rose in recent years has become very popular with the fans. Many were disappointed that she wasn't in Sonic Mania Plus aside from a easter egg, but were thrilled that she had a A Day in the Limelight in the Christmas Episode of Sonic Mania Adventures. She's become so popular that she's been announced to be playable in all four main titles of the 2023 update of Sonic Origins, now to be called Sonic Origins Plus.
Film Universe
- Longclaw had no presence in the pre-release and advertising for the first movie, and died as soon as the beginning, yet the fandom loves her for being a parental figure to Sonic to the point of sacrificing herself so that he could escape to Earth. Even some die-hard Sonic fans thought her addition was a non-issue, given how Sonic had different parental figures in other adaptations. Besides that, many found her character fascinating, wishing that she had stuck around a little longer. It's to the point where she got added into the Mobile Phone games Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle as a Playable Character. The sequel even gave her a bit more posthumous importance as it revealed her connections to the Master Emerald.
- The Echidna Tribe responsible for Sonic having to escape and Longclaw's demise only appear in the film's opening for a few minutes yet they have gained a massive fandom following. With some theorizing the tribe being living ancestors to Knuckles (in actuality, Knuckles was an actual member of the tribe).
- Agent Stone gets a lot more appreciation than one might initially think, mostly for being the first sidekick of Dr. Robotnik/Eggman who isn't an idiot, a Jerkass or both, merely an Affably Evil yet loyal underling to the good doc. Being easily shippable and rather good looking helps, and the sequel likewise gave him more screentime with Robotnik, with Ho Yay moments aplenty between them.
- The Wachowski family as a whole was seen as a pleasant surprise by fans, especially in light of the fears that the movie would focus too much on Tom and Maddie at the expense of the title characters. Jojo obtained plenty of fans for her kindness and adorable willingness to be friends with Sonic right from the beginning in contrast to the usual horrified reactions he got; right up to giving him his trademark red trainers. James Marsden's (Tom) talent for comedic timing was also a well-liked surprise given his more famous roles tend to be serious.
TV and Video (inc. Anime)
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
- Breezie for obvious reasons. Archie took notice and incorporated her into the comics post-reboot.
- As well as the other Ms. Fanservice Katella who appeared in only one episode. Many fans still make fanart of her.
- The bounty hunters from "Sonic Search and Smash Squad", largely due to their reappearance in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, a rather extreme example of this since outside the game, most of the characters only appear for all of a couple of seconds in the show itself.
- Wes Weasley is a very popular character for his charismatic Snake Oil Salesman antics that usually turn out well for him, to the point where many fans like to reimagine him in the games' art style.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM):
- Bunnie Rabbot arguably had the least spotlight of the main Freedom Fighters, acting as a bit player at best in every appearance, yet is popular for her cyborg powers and is one of the few alternate media Sonic characters not to gain much disdain, compared to how Sally Acorn is more infamously divisive.
- Lupe, the leader of the Wolf Pack, is also popular in the fandom despite having only one episode devoted to her.
- Dulcy the Dragon, from the second season, became a favorite to fans of chubby characters and fans of dragons in general.
- Old Man Owl of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie fame has a low amount of screen-time, but has his share of fans for being a hilarious Scatterbrained Senior, as well as the scene of him wearing Sonic's "favourite clothes".
- Sonic Underground:
- Mindy LaTour only appeared once, but she's a popular character for being childhood friends with Sonia, having an interesting character design, and being the only non-band member to sing lead vocals.
- Minor recurring character, Bartleby, has gotten an ironic fandom thanks to '''videos by Tamers12345 depicting him as a Memetic Badass.
- A number of Sonic X's human characters (besides Chris Thorndyke) are surprisingly popular among fans:
- Mr. Tanaka, for being a comically serious would-be Battle Butler.
- Rouge's partner Topaz is so popular amongst fans that she's often included in game-based or Archie-based fan-works.
- Helen only had A Day in the Limelight in Episode 14, but is very well liked due to fans finding her a likable character with a very touching friendship with Sonic in said episode. So much that the same fans vocally wished that she was the human protagonist of the anime instead of Chris Thorndyke due to having more established and relatable problems.
- Molly, who only appeared in one episode yet is remembered for one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the entire series and is popular enough to be shipped with Shadow.
- Sonic Boom:
- From across both Rise of Lyric and the show, Perci became a popular character due to her design. She is a minor character whose original intentions were cut from the game, and she is one of the few Rise of Lyric non-playable characters to appear in the show, with an episode dedicated to her appearance.
- Several of the Lightning Bolt Club members have become popular, due to being even more Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains than Eggman.
- Mark the Tapir, almost to Just Here for Godzilla levels, for being a hilarious Take That, Audience! towards the fandom's toxic Vocal Minority.
- Metal Sonic was extremely popular in both of his appearances, especially in the Season 2 finale where he beats the living daylights out of Sonic and Shadow with very little effort.
- Zooey is also popular, mostly because people find her and her relationship with Tails adorable. There even are Fan Works based on the Archie Comics which has Zooey as a Canon Immigrant to the comics.
- Sonic Prime:
- After initially appearing in only two episodes, Knuckles the Dread quickly became one of the most popular new characters. This is likely due to his cool pirate design and unhinged, yet charming personality, making for a very unique take on an alternate universe Knuckles.
- Despite only appearing at the very end of one episode and halfway through the next prior to being destroyed, Chaos Sonic had made a large impression on the fandom with many loving the doppleganger for his amusing, chaotic Troll personality and being a very interesting take on the Evil Knockoff type of characters in the Sonic franchise.
Comic Books
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
- One of the few major Brotherhood of Guardian members to get any big artwork was Spectre, who has one of the most imposing and distinct appearances of anyone in Knuckles' supporting cast pre-reboot.
- Nicole, Sally's handheld A.I., had been an ancillary character since almost the beginning of the comic. Then along came Tania Del Rio's "Stargazing", which gave her a Mobian form and sent her popularity right through the roof — and Nicole subsequently catapulted to Major Character status, overtaking even longstanding characters in the fanart department since her debut and never halting since.
- Shard the Metal Sonic became pretty popular as well, from his design to his personality.
- From the new reality, Eclipse the Darkling has become rather popular as well, primarily thanks to being an Evil Counterpart to Shadow, along with his distinctive design and personality.
- Hope Kintobor, for being the White Sheep of the Robotnik family, a member of Team Dark, and an overall cutie. The fact that she even manages to bring out some humanity in Snively also helps.
- All of the Egg Bosses since the reboot. It helps they're written as being far from one-dimensional villains, being morally complex and having their own reasons for joining the Eggman Empire. Clove and Cassia in particular are especially popular for being sympathetic characters with cool designs.
- Razor the Shark maintains a small, but steady following, despite only appearing in two storylines. Fans love him for his gruff, yet friendly personality; sweet relationship with fellow aquatic Mobians Coral the Betta and Pearly the Manta Ray; and for being a rare example of a heroic shark. Also, he's a former pirate.
- Razor's Chao, Crusher, is similarly loved for having his own distinct personality and his love of biting anything he can sink his teeth into.
- Initially, Elias Acorn started out as a stock Separated at Birth character who served to take focus away from Sally once he officially became acting Prince of Mobius, but it didn't take long for him to develop his own character, and Elias instantly became a fan-favorite afterwards, even up to his title being usurped and becoming a member of the Secret Freedom Fighters.
- Among the multitude of Echidna characters, the three who're the most beloved are Julie-Su, Lien-Da, and Dr. Finitevus. Julie-Su proved to be a great foil for Knuckles, with many believing she works better as his love interest than Rouge does, Lien-Da has a surprisingly attractive design and acts as a Well-Intentioned Extremist among the rest of the Dark Legion, and Dr. Finitevus is an absolutely insane mad doctor who fans loved seeing in action, especially when serving as acting boss for the Destructix.
- One character who has always been a fan favorite, even considering she was created during the comics' Audience-Alienating Era, is Mina Mongoose. Her design and personality scream Moe, she serves as a strangely realistic depiction of the difficult lives of idol singers, and fans loved her story arc of how she grew to stop shaping her life off of her crush on Sonic and became her own individual person as a result.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW):
- One of the background characters in Issue #2 is a sheep called Lanolin, named by her artist, Adam Bryce Thomas. note She's getting a following due to her unique design and because she's adorable. She has since become a recurring Bit Character, even appearing in issues that weren't drawn by Adam. It reached the point of her later becoming an Ascended Extra.
- The other members of the Diamond Cutters, despite being long dead by the events of the comic, are popular primarily due to their association with Whisper and her backstory, and being a homage to the Foxhound group of Metal Gear Solid. Some fan works even have them surviving or even flat out avoiding their canon deaths.
- Although almost everyone knew it wasn't going to last, Mr. Tinker became rather well-liked among the fandom for generally being a wholesome Nice Guy and a mirror opposite of Eggman. It's to the point where some fans even wished the good doctor remained that way.
