Memes / Sonic the Hedgehog (film series)

"Aw, this one's cute, let's keep him!"

Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog series, being live-action films based on a video game franchise that was already highly memetic, has quickly garnered several memes of its own.

Please add entries in the following format if possible:

• The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] ^ExplanationLike this.
  • Further mutations and successor memes, if any.

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Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

• Ben Schwartz being cast as Sonic, after having been cast as Dewey and Leonardo, led to jokes about him being cast as other heroes who are predominantly blue.
• The announcement that Jim Carrey was cast in the film as Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik drew much attention to Carrey's cover of the Beatles' song "I Am The Walrus", especially the lyric "I am the eggman, they are the eggmen", with comments joking that now he really IS the Eggman. The "I am the eggman" part of the lyric in question is also a prominent lyric of the character's main theme in other games, simply titled "E.G.G.M.A.N."
• Sonic's original look before the redesign was such a shake-up that it deserves a section of its own:
  • The original design was considerably beefed up, oddly giving him muscular realistic legs, which immediately spawned numerous jokes about how Sonic "didn't skip leg day."
  • The unanimous horror with which Sonic's design on the teaser poster was greeted by fans on the internet prompted a number of people to joke about the design being so bad that it finally got the Sonic fanbase to actually agree on something.
  • The second teaser poster isn't much better. A good number of people have pointed out that it's shot from Sonic's crotch area.
  • Several artists came up with scenarios where Main Series!Sonic and Movie!Sonic meet (sometimes throwing other infamous Sonic designs in for comparison's sake). To the surprise of no one, they don't get along.
  • After the trailer released, a shot of Sonic surrounded by missiles became a popular representation of the film's overall reception pre-release. A contender for this is the scream Marsden's character gives out when first seeing Sonic in the trailer, supposedly mirroring the reaction of the fanbase.
  • An image of Sonic screaming while showing off human teeth also became memetic, usually through those lamenting the design's lack of adherence to the source material. After the second trailer was released with the new Sonic design, which re-did said scene,◊ it has become popular to compare the two images of Sonic screaming because of how vastly different they are.
  • Many who saw the initial trailer gave their earnest apologies to SammyClassicSonicFan, saying he was right all along. His quotes are also commonly used as reactions to the trailer, especially: "When will you learn... that your actions have consequences?!"
  • Once it was revealed that the filmmakers had taken the criticism to heart and were going to change Sonic's design, a hashtag dubbed "Gotta Fix Fast" quickly became popular.
  • Due to Eggman's infamous "moon speech" becoming popular at around the same time Sonic's initial design was released, mashups of the two have naturally become popular, sometimes replacing the references to Shadow in the aforementioned monologue with Movie!Sonic.
  • One meme about the redesign, involving a famous scene from Avengers: Infinity War:
    Child Gamora: Did you fix Sonic?
    Thanos: Yes.
    Child Gamora: What did it cost?
    Thanos: Gangsta's Paradise. (the first trailer's song)
  • #ReleaseTheSonicCut ^ExplanationA hashtag parodying the very loud #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement, used by those who are morbidly curious about seeing the original version of the film with the So Bad, It's Good character designs.
  • The original design's appearance in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022), now officially called "Ugly Sonic", sparked a resurgence of memes due to his mere existence. Ironically enough, he ended up being that movie's Ensemble Dark Horse.
• Sonic is Chill and Lickable. ^ExplanationA fan photoshopped Sonic's leaked character sheet featuring his (original) design, changing "Likable" to "Lickable". This has led to some jokes about the infamous Sonic-themed ice cream bar, which is literally chill and lickable. It became Hilarious in Hindsight, as he does get licked in the film by Tom's dog.
• "Uh...meow?" ^ExplanationSonic's response after Tom finds him trying to escape from Earth and go to the mushroom planet, before panicking and firing a tranquilizer dart. It caught traction in the initial "pre-redesign" trailer, even more so when it ended up in the final movie.
• "Are you really in charge here?" ^ExplanationRobotnik's first line in the film, commonly used to vent about things not going as planned. Note that the actual line is "Are you in charge here?"
• Say it all together now: "NOBODY CARES!"
• The fact that a Sonic movie and a Pikachu movie were supposed to release within the same year has led to a lot of jokes about setting up the "Sonichu Cinematic Universe." Others have joked that Sonichu's esteemed creator won't be happy to learn that Sonic's design in this movie appears to have blue arms. Fans also remembered the bit at the start of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate where Sonic tried to save Pikachu. Coincidence?
• More than a few have likened the appearance of Jim Carrey's Robotnik to "Robbie Rotten if he was a Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) character." When he was agreed to be the best part of the first trailer, many jokes ensued about Jim "Carrey-ing" the movie, including jokes about him having back pain from the effort.
• "How are you not dead?" "I have NO idea!" ^ExplanationAn exchange between Tom and Sonic after the latter inexplicably survives everything Robotnik throws at him in the second trailer. Many people like to replace both of them with various other characters.
• "He's my friend!" echoed through the fandom after the new design of Sonic was revealed, in stark contrast to the previous trailer having Tom screaming at Sonic and shooting him with a tranquilizer gun.
• The second trailer's scene of Dr. Robotnik dancing in his lair took off immediately, with fans having him dance to different music or comparing it to Peter Parker or Arthur Fleck dancing.
• Sonic "murders his friends." ^ExplanationHe actually pushes Tom and Maddie out of the way so that they can be safe while Sonic takes care of Robotnik's robots...though he does still push them off the edge of a very tall building. However, as seen in the first trailer, Sonic saves Tom and Maddie with a Warp Ring.
• Additionally, Robotnik's reaction to Sonic saving his friends is pretty quotable.
  Robotnik: (shocked) I was not expecting that... (regains composure) But I was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count.
  • Further mutated with a version that replaces the second line with "No, really, I was not expecting that! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
• The scene where Longclaw and baby Sonic are chased by the Echidna Tribe inevitably drew comparisons to the infamous Ugandan Knuckles meme, with many fans joking that the Echidnas were after Sonic because he "does not know da wae".
• The gratuitous Product Placement has gotten some good-natured ribbing, especially the Olive Garden gift card the government uses as a Comically Small Bribe and the needlessly long shot of Maddie looking for San Francisco apartments on Zillow. Some fans have jokingly mused that the brands will make their way back into the games somehow.
• One meme compares Robotnik's dance scene to that of the stairway scene from Joker, both of which involve archenemies to famous heroes:
  [Joker dances down stairs]
  Robotnik: Hold my latte.
• Sonic sweeping at the 2021 Oscars. ^ExplanationDue to the COVID-19 pandemic grinding theatrical movie releases in 2020 to a halt, the Academy's infamous refusal to acknowledge non-theatrically released movies for Oscar consideration, and Sonic the Hedgehog being one of the last major films released before the pandemic hit, many people joked that Sonic would end up nominated for multiple Academy Awards due to the lack of competition.
  • Give Sonic his Oscar! ^ExplanationWhen the Oscars were simply delayed with modified eligibility dates instead, people then insisted that they did it specifically to avoid giving any deserved awards to Sonic.
• Sonic stealing Marvel's thunder by being the first superhero movie to outperform their yearly line-up. ^ExplanationAgain, like the above, due to a worldwide pandemic freezing most major motion picture studio releases, Marvel Studios' 2020 lineup was not released.
• Robotnik enthusiastically pressing the Big Red Button became a meme often associated with the Daily Struggle (except one button is another color besides red), Would You Press the Button?, and rarely Would You Rather?. This is used to emphasize obvious choices (often the latter two) or as a Take That! to certain people or group's choice (the former).
• "I'll be home by Christmas." ^{Explanation (SPOILERS)}In one of the stingers, Robotnik says this as he works on a plan to escape the mushroom dimension and return to Earth. Therefore, when Christmas 2020 was approaching, people on Twitter began posting that he was "coming home". Amusingly, the trailer for the second film was released on December 9th, 2021.
• Robotnik putting on his goggles to complete his classic appearance is commonly used as a reaction image.
• "Keanu! You are a national treasure!"^ExplanationA line that became Hilarious in Hindsight once Keanu was confirmed to voice Shadow in the third film.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

• In the spring of 2021, photos leaked from the movie's filming site in Vancouver revealed stand-in props for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles together. Aside from the general hype unleashed by the confirmation of the latter characters' appearances, two images in particular gained attention for looking strange or funny out of context: one of the Sonic prop being adjusted in the crotch area by a stagehand, and another showing the Knuckles prop as just a head on a stick next to a full-bodied Sonic and Tails. Case in point.
• Idris Elba's casting as Knuckles spread in-jokes like wildfire, such as putting Knuckles in the place of many of Elba's own memetic roles and moments, or expressing amusement towards Knuckles possibly being portrayed akin to a Scary Black Man and/or British in the movie.
  • "I told you Knuckles was black!" ^Explanationa common joke from around this time from those who already interpreted Knuckles as a black-coded character (owing to elements such as his hair resembling locs, how his shoes share the color of the Jamaican flag, and even how he was intended to have a Jamaican accent at one point)
• The official poster for the sequel released on December 8, 2021 has Sonic and Tails riding the Tornado with Eggman and his robots chasing after them. In a nod to Spider-Man: No Way Home, some have taken to editing the Green Goblin into the poster background.
• Jim Carrey's odd tangent about his Scottish relative telling him not to "grate it in the grinder" at the Game Awards trailer reveal became popular, with some taking the audio to animate it being Robotnik rambling about it while an exasperated Sonic watches on stage.
• "Do I look like I need your power?" ^ExplanationThe scene in the first trailer where Knuckles does a No-Sell on Sonic's spin dash and delivers this Badass Boast has led to people making videos such as a variation of the "Bully vs the Quiet Kid" meme. Alternatively, some people have treated the line as a Mad Libs Catchphrase. Knuckles actually says this before battling Sonic in the movie proper, remaining silent when he blocks Sonic's spin dash.
• Unsurprisingly, the debut of Knuckles has fueled the resurgence of many old Knuckles memes, such as "And Knuckles", or the infamous Ugandan Knuckles meme, spoofing the line with variations of "Do I look like I know da wae?"
  • With Sanic being parodied in the first film as a drawing, many fans expressed hope (and a few expressed dread) for a reference to "da wae". Eggman's suggestion to Knuckles when they first meet seems to have made this come true.
  Robotnik: From a little blue menace on the planet called Earth... I'd be happy to show you the way.
• Sexy Knuckles. ^ExplanationIn an interview, Idris Elba joked that he wasn't going to make Knuckles sexy, leading to a few humorous jokes of disappointment. When the first trailer dropped, showing Knuckles and his voice, people quickly and jokingly called Elba a liar because they feel that, yes, he made Knuckles sexy. Even Jeff Fowler himself commented on it.
  • "I am aware of the effect I have on Rouge the Bat!" ^ExplanationSpinning off from the Sexy Knuckles meme, fans were quick to reuse this memetic quote from a character named Charles Miner that Idris Elba played in The Office (US), even going as far as to include Knuckles' female rival from the games.
• The resemblance of Sonic and Tails' snow outfits to that of the South Park kids has not gone unnoticed.
  • Fans have also noticed that Sonic's snow outfit resembles the "Bob Beaky" disguise that he frequently used in Sonic the Comic.
• Tails's WTF face.^Explanation An edit recreating an infamous face Tails makes in Tails Gets Trolled made the rounds after the trailer debuted.
• "Sonic 3 & Knuckles"^ExplanationBoth a third theatrical film and a live-action Knuckles Paramount+ series were announced by Paramount on the same day. Cue Sonic 3 & Knuckles jokes from anyone in earshot, such as Paramount somehow incorporating the lock-on technology of the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge into the movie chronology (e.g. saying you'll have to watch both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the Knuckles TV show on Paramount+ to unlock a true ending to the pair). Even the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Twitter/X account would make a tweet about this.
• Knuckles "takes ice cream pretty seriously". ^ExplanationAn IGN interview with the cast of the movie prior to its release had Idris Elba describe Knuckles' character as The Comically Serious in contrast to everyone else, and mentioned that there would be one scene where he even applied this to ice cream, of all things. The Internet ran with it with in-jokes and fan art galore.
• Robotnik hammily eating popcorn. ^ExplanationAs Knuckles curb-stomps Sonic, Robotnik gleefully enjoys some popcorn, complete with comically having it blown away through the sheer force being employed in the battle.
• Tails' gun.^ExplanationThe Jakks Pacific action figure of Tails has a blaster for an accessory, which he actually does have as one of his gadgets in the movie.
• The shot(s) from the final trailer where Tails is dotted with increasingly more Laser Sights from Robotnik (with him and Sonic not realizing what they are right away) has seen a fair amount of use as a reaction image for Fandom Heresy among other things, like this spoof of Tetris 99.
• Tails the McDonald's worker.^ExplanationThe Indonesian McDonald's Twitter account posted a commercial for the movie's Happy Meal toys (the English-language version of the commercial has since been posted on the official Sonic Movie Twitter account), which includes a scene of Tails working the drive-thru while sporting one of the franchise's signature visors. Many people clung to this, finding him adorable, suggesting he'd fix the ice cream machines or even being unable to be angry with him if they were broken. Some also joke about the absurdity of Tails working a minimum-wage Burger Fool job in general.
• "For a guy named Knuckles, you are really bad at punching."^ExplanationThe last scene of the Final Trailer is Sonic dodging back and forth between Knuckles' Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs and taunting Knuckles for failing to land a hit—the trailer follows this act of Tempting Fate with a Smash Cut to Sonic getting Punched Across the Room.
• Who watches Sonic for the humans?!^ExplanationAs the first reviews came in, many people noted that the bad reviews were incredibly tone deaf. Some complained that the movie was focusing too much on Sonic, the main character, and not on the human characters.
• Knuckles likes grapes. ^ExplanationIn a interview hosted by CKN, Knuckles states that he doesn’t like how weak Earth society is, but admits that he likes grapes. In the film's ending, he also asks if there is grape-flavored ice cream.
• #MobiusSweep^ExplanationBased on the #MorbiusSweep meme from Morbius, fans have begun to use this quote in commemoration of the release of Sonic 2 to either mock the Sony/Marvel film's rocky reputation, or establish the success of Sonic 2 over that film.
• Angry Tails^ExplanationOn a tweet celebrating the film being the number 1 movie in the world, many have noticed how visibly angry Tails looks compared to Sonic, leading to many jokes and fanart depicting Tails as being incredibly and comically angry.
• Eggman's been using the Box.^{Explanation (SPOILERS!)}The green electrical energy Robotnik emits while wielding the Master Emerald's power looks eerily similar to the similar energy emitted by the Box invented by Jim Carrey's Riddler in Batman Forever, which isn't helped by the fact that both Robotnik and Edward Nygma are both known for being insufferable geniuses whose already great intelligence were amplified by both items and both were played by the same actor.
• Sonic killed the Wizarding World. ^Explanation This movie was released a week before Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Despite opening at #1 in the box office its opening weekend and bumping Sonic 2 down to second place, Fantastic Beasts opened at a franchise low. Making things worse for it was that in its second weekend, it slid down to third place with the release of The Bad Guys (2022) while Sonic 2 remained in second place.
  • The furries killed the Wizarding World.^explanationA variant used to reference both this movie and The Bad Guys, since Sonic has long been a staple of the furry community, The Bad Guys became Popular with Furries pretty much the second the first trailer came out, and both ended up beating Secrets of Dumbledore at the box office.
• Knuckles is Drax.^ExplanationMany have noted the similarities between the personalities of Knuckles and the MCU's Drax the Destroyer, having the former quote many of the latter's lines.
• 70s Shadow.^{Explanation (spoilers!)}Following The Stinger where it's revealed that Shadow the Hedgehog exists in the film universe with the same backstory of being locked up in a black site for fifty years, some have taken note of how the films' setting of The New '20s would mean Shadow would thus have been created in the early seventies, and have promptly made jokes about Shadow coming out of suspension as a product of the era, such as having a Star-Lord-esque interest in disco and classic pop.
• "HE'S BACK!"^ExplanationA quote by Agent Stone in regards to Eggman's return that became quite used when Jim Carrey was announced to return to the third film despite him stating that he wanted to retire.

Knuckles (TV Series)

• The live-action Knuckles series has spawned a few jokes about Ken Penders, the Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) writer who was sued by Archie for trademarketing his mostly echidna-based original characters. In particular, Paramount creating more content featuring echidnas than he has, as Penders had yet to release anything of his planned comic series, became a source of jokes at his expense, even moreso after Penders announced his intent to sue Paramount for stealing his ideas.
  • Ken created X^ExplanationThe core of Penders' desire to sue Paramount is Knuckles having a father and Knuckles exhibiting super powers, which Penders claims is copyright infringement. This is despite the fact that Knuckles' father in the movie is a nondescript warrior and not the scientist Guardian Locke, and Knuckles always having powers of some sort in all of his portrayals, not just those by Penders. Thus, many fans have mocked Penders' claims as a Frivolous Lawsuit by making jokes about other generic things Penders could sue over, such as Knuckles being red or punching things, right up to him inventing the Echidna species and trying to sue Australia because they live there.
• Sonic fans hate humans.^ExplanationWhen the series synopsis revealed that Wade would be costarring in the show, suddenly many fans started expressing their distaste for the character (or even human characters in Sonic in general) despite seeming to have no problem with them before. As such many have started to mock these fans.
• Knuckles is Jewish.^ExplanationAfter the episode titles for the series were leaked on Twitter, the third episode's title, "The Shabbat Dinner" gained traction amongst some fans, who joked about Knuckles being Jewish based on their prediction that Wade is Jewish and will teach Knuckles about his culture, which turned out to be correct.
• DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story is part of the Sonic universe.^Explanation In the first trailer shows ESPN 8: The Ocho broadcasting at a bowling tourney. This lead to a few fans suggesting the two exist in the same universe
• Knuckles vs. Velma^ExplanationSeason Two of Velma is scheduled to release within the same weekend as Knuckles. Given how Velma Season One is panned by many people, many people predicted that Knuckles will dominate over Velma just like the Sonic films did with Birds of Prey and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
• Similar to the Sonic Prime/Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comparisons, some people have worriedly taken to comparing the Knuckles series to Kangaroo Jack after some early reviews noted Knuckles' lack of screen time compared to Wade.
  • "Wade & Knuckles"^ExplanationA Fan Nickname some dubbed the series in relation to said early reviews and actual viewings of the show, playing off the famous "& Knuckles" meme and as a genuine criticism to Knuckles' lack of screentime.
• Knuckles the Hedgehog ^Explanation UK company GAME put up a tweet letting people know that the series was on… calling Knuckles a hedgehog (the fact they also used a picture from Sonic Superstars is just the cherry on the top), leading to people mocking them for it.
• Knuckles is the Iblis Trigger^ExplanationEpisode 4 of the show reveals that Knuckles has access to an ability called the Flames of Disaster, which he obtained by stealing the powers of the so-called Fire Demon. The fact that the abilities of a God of Fire are called the Flames of Disaster immediately drew parallels to Iblis from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), with many fans claiming Knuckles to be the real Iblis Trigger instead of Sonic, and making memes of Silver trying to hunt down and kill Knuckles.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

• During the lead-up to the film, many have jokingly stated to be most excited to see Maria's death on the big screen (despite how the games have never actually showed it in full). Became acknowledged when Alyla Browne confirmed her role as Maria in an Instagram post... by wearing a black jacket backwards making it look like she's in a body bag while on a casting chair for Maria.
• Avatar Vs Sonic 3^Explanation After it was learned that Sonic 3 would be released in the same month as Avatar 3, many people went online to state they would be choosing Sonic as their movie of choice, often framing it as some sort of contest. Though humorously, Avatar 3 would later be announced to be pushed back to December 2025.
  • Sonic is after Avatar^Explanation In relation to the above meme, some have predicted that after the franchise has come out on top over films such as Birds of Prey and Morbius, Sonic 3 will do the same with Avatar 3. This accompanied with the image of Sonic as a grim reaper preparing to kill the film after finishing off the other two. Eventually, Avatar was moved to the next year, much to the fan's joy
  • Mufasa Vs Shadow^Explanation Eventually, Disney decided to move "Mufasa: The Lion King" to December 20 in response to the SAG-AFTRA Strike. However, since "Mufasa" is the prequel that no one wished for to the extremely divisive 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King, while Sonic 3 is a highly anticipated sequel, many people online immediately predicted that the latter would easily beat "Mufasa", with some even posting images of the famous "Long Live the King" scene with Shadow The Hedgehog in place of Scar .
• On November 29th, 2023, the Australian Paramount Twitter account posted an announcement about the movie that erroneously said that the film will be released on December 26th of the same year instead of 2024 ^note The film releases on December 20th in the US, meaning this is the Australian release date. Naturally, many people joked about how the crew behind the movie would be on pressure to finish the movie on such a short time period, while others jokingly were happy that the film was coming sooner than expected.
• Shadow is Anakin.^ExplanationIn January 2024, a rumor surfaced that Hayden Christensen would voice Shadow in this movie. Fans began putting notable voice clips from Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith over footage of Shadow from the games… and they were often pleasantly surprised at how fitting they were. That said the one who was believed to be the source of these rumors, Daniel Richtman, denied them some time after they became popular, and Keanu Reeves was ultimately revealed as the voice of Shadow.
  • Shadow is John Wick.^ExplanationNaturally, it didn't take long after Keanu Reeves was confirmed to be voicing Shadow that the John Wick jokes started rolling in. Especially with comparisons of them losing something most valuable to them (Wick's wife and puppy for John, and Maria for Shadow).
  • Shadow is Johnny Silverhand.^ExplanationDitto for Reeves's other more notable role from the 2020s.
  • Shadow is The One. ^ExplanationDouble ditto for Reeves's most iconic role as Neo Anderson from the late 90's and early 2000's with jokes about Shadow taking the red pill or using the Matrix itself to fight Sonic. It didn't take long for fanart of Shadow doing Neo's iconic bullet stop scene from the first film to pop up. Even moreso seeing as Shadow's game debut happened in between the release of the first, second and third films (the latter two were released in the same year), in addition to The Matrix Resurrections being released a year later after the first film.
  • Sonic and Shadow's Most Tragic Adventure.^Explanation Naturally jokes about Shadow acting like a darker version of Ted "Theodore'' Logan (the role that put Reeves on the map), with him having Ted's The '80s rocker personality due to Shadow being trapped in a capsule for 50 years, with Sonic naturally acting like Bill in response (whose personality isn't far off aside from the rocker persona), ironically the third Bill and Ted film was released the same year as the first film.
  • Sad Shadow ^ExplanationThe Sad Keanu meme would also follow over to Shadow, considering Shadow's game background is likely going to be used, expected jokes of Shadow being sad throughout the film becoming popular.
  • Shadow, he's a national treasure ^ExplanationWith Keanu Reeves getting a mention in the first film via Sonic watching Speed with Sonic declaring Reeves a national treasure, now his biggest rival is being voiced by said national treasure, with jokes popping up about Sonic having to fight against his idol in addition to the "Pop Quiz, Hotshot" line being reused from the first film. Also popping up is jokes between Sonic and Shadow discussing their respective actors iconic roles (Reeves in Speed and Swartz in Parks and Recreation).
  • Shadow is breathtaking.^ExplanationRelated to the Johnny Silverhand meme above due to the famous moment at the Cyberpunk 2077 E3 2019 reveal of someone calling Keanu "breathtaking" before Keanu returns it with the same.
  • Ow The Edge, now coming to theaters ^ExplanationSimilar to the Sanic and Ugandan Knuckles memes (see above), many are hoping for a similar meme involving Shadow's infamous divisive video game to pop up in some form, seeing as Shadow's backstory is set to combine both his Sonic Adventure 2 with his controversial portrayal from his own self titled game, or at least use elements from said game like his motorcycle (which is seemingly confirmed) and his guns.

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