YMMV / Vs Sonic.exe

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Some people have decided to interpret Majin Sonic as a Nice Guy with the Face of a Thug, based on his good harmony with Boyfriend and the fact that the "Fun is Infinite" screen wasn't intended to be scary. Others decided to interpret him as an evil Corruption-like entity, but a polite one. As revealed in a Q&A in January 2022, it’d turn out the former is correct, with Majin being a Token Heroic Orc to the malicious Mazins.
  • Unlike Soul Tails and Knuckles, Robotnik's segment of "Triple Trouble" uses several false transitions to fake the player out, which fans have interpreted in a few different ways: is Sonic.exe using his corpse to mess with Boyfriend in a way he feels the doctor would as some sort of twisted eulogy, or is Robotnik's mind still present, Fighting from the Inside to assert himself in spite of the monster's attempts to shove him aside?
• Awesome Moments:
  • Girlfriend protecting Boyfriend at every attempt by Sonic.exe to harm him. You can just see the anger in Xeno's eyes, and the fact that she doesn't show any emotion whatsoever implies she's barely even trying.
  • "Triple Trouble" is an absolutely incredible song with segments dedicated to multiple characters, but special mention has to go to Robotnik; not only does he effectively interrupt Xenophanes to take his turn(shown when Boyfriend is still singing that part when he takes center stage), he also performs a No-Sell when the demon attempts to interrupt him in turn and keeps singing, suggesting that even after having his soul imprisoned and his body mutilated, Robotnik still refuses to be kept down.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Out of the characters that were going to be included in update 3.0, Curse is probably the most polarizing. On one hand, people who like him tend to enjoy his cute design and kindness as a character while those who don’t feel he’s not a good representation of what makes an .exe for the same reasons as he’s liked, as well as other factors surrounding his character. The fact two of his owners have had a Role-Ending Misdemeanor (though the first of them isn’t entirely guilty) isn’t exactly helping things either.
  • Starved. People either Love to Hate him due to how terrifying he is or just hate him because his actions make him look like a cannibal, despite the fact Word of God said Starved isn't one.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Almost every Sonic.exe story ends with the protagonist being killed (most often out of sheer stupidity) in a Downer Ending, so seeing Girlfriend save Boyfriend and both of them surviving the mod, causing Sonic.exe to undergo a Villainous Breakdown in the process, is incredibly satisfying.
  • Those who dislike the original creepypasta will be satisfied to hear Fleetway Super Sonic tearing the story to shreds in some of his Game Over quotes.
• Common Crossover:
  • "Triple Trouble"'s character designs of Tails, Knuckles, Eggman and Xenophanes tend to be recreated by various quartets of characters for covers, with the most popular being the cast of Doki Doki Takeover!. It went up to the point that a fanmade "Monika.EXE" mod was made reskinning all the characters with variations of the cast.
  • The Friday Night Funkin': Mario's Madness ensemble tends to show up alongside this mod’s characters for obvious reasons in fan works, including a fan comic crossover between the two where the casts of both mods participate in friendly(?) competitions held by Xenophanes’ victims.
  • Thanks to kkirby999 making a mod where Boyfriend faces Turbo Mecha Sonic, there are now plenty of fan covers in which Mecha trashes the mod's cast. It turned into a minor Fandom Rivalry with Starved, thanks to a YouTuber named Infiniti making multiple covers where Mecha faces off against Starved.
• Common Knowledge:
  • Many fanworks for the unused song "Burning" portray the song as a Dual Boss against Genesys and a burnt Sonic. However, according to both the old director of the mod, Revie, and the song's composer, Adam McHummus, the song's only opponent is Genesys, whose voice swaps between "calm" and "aggressive" states, and Sonic is not meant to be present.
  • There are people who believe Starved's Horror Hunger made him dumber. That's not the case, as Furnace's existence proves Starved still has his IQ of 300. In fact, one could argue that Starved's Horror Hunger made him more efficient, which is part of the reason Starved is so scary.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Out of the 11 different characters to appear in the mod, Majin Sonic is easily the most popular of the bunch thanks to potential Alternative Character Interpretation as a Friendly Enemy, his pleasant vocals coming right from the Sega Genesis' soundbank, his fun and catchy song, and being a reference to perhaps the most infamous Easter Egg from the Sonic franchise. It was to the point that the official Sonic Twitter referenced the Easter Egg during Halloween 2021, with most attributing said reference to the mod bringing more eyes on the character.
  • While not to the popularity of Majin, Sunky.MPEG is also loved by fans for his equally catchy song, and how he sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the mod.
  • After Round 2 came out, both of these were completely trumped by Fleetway Super Sonic because of his cool design, amazing song and utterly hilarious game over quotes.
  • The casual outfit Girlfriend seen in "Faker" and "Black Sun" was immediately prone to simping on a level similar to her outfit in fellow creepypasta mod Friday Night Funkin' Lullaby.
  • EXE, the opponent of "Faker" and "Black Sun", also got plenty of positive reception, leading to the concept of "Faker" versions of other characters. Said "Faker" characters continue to be conceived even after EXE's removal.
  • Out of all of the opponents in Triple Trouble, Robotnik has gotten the most love for his fast-paced segment, his use of the Sonic 2 boss theme in his song, his Evil Laugh, and for essentially no-selling Xenophanes' attempt to stop his part early, a massive step up from him being the least important character in the original Creepypasta.
  • Possibly the most popular character, however, is Lord X for his weaponization of Narm Charm to hilarious effect in the Round 2 update, talking to you after you lose, appearing on the legitimately creepy anti cheating screen and amazing song.
  • As for the Cancelled Build, the accolade easily goes to Starved. The man shot up in popularity when his songs were leaked due to being genuinely terrifying within the mod, his moody songs, having Tails as a playable character, singing along Furnace (generally considered a cool design as well) and having easily one of the most nightmarish Game Over screens in the mod.
  • Furnace is even more popular than his creator, Starved. Being a combination between a furnace and Metal Sonic, he's widely considered a textbook case of Evil Is Cool and Mundane Made Awesome, and the fact he succeeds in defeating Sonic also helps with his popularity. And while Starved has his haters, Furnace doesn't, as he lacks the whole "eating discount humans" aspect that Starved has.
  • Out of all of the characters who never made it into the mod, Hog and Scorched are the most popular ones, with Hog being a Ridiculously Cute Critter, Scorched being a genuinely badass and terrifying-looking interpretation of the Sonic.exe formula, and "Manual Blast" being likely the most popular unused song due to the length, emotional impact and feeling like "the True Final Boss of the mod" to most people.
• Evil Is Cool: Surprisingly, despite the mod being based off one of the most infamous creepy-pastas in existence, a lot of the villains have fanbases thanks to their cool designs and memorable songs. Sonic.exe/Xenophanes, Lord X, Fleetway Super Sonic, EXE, Starved, Furnace, Fatal Error, and Scorched are particularly noteworthy examples.
• Fandom-Specific Plot: Alternate takes on "Prey" have gained popularity, such as Sonic either successfully evading Furnace's ambush or going Super Sonic to No-Sell it (resulting in a victory lap sequence of the song where Sonic leaves Starved and Furnace in the dust and robs the former of his desired meal) or Sonic joining forces with Shadow and Silver to take down Starved (complete with Shadow going full on More Dakka). Alternate takes of "Fight or Flight", while less common, are also popular. After the "Thicc Furnass" meme took off and someone made a remix of "Fight or Flight" which replaces Tails with Furnace, fans came up with the idea of Furnace turning against Starved, either as a Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal or because of Sonic's vengeful spirit possessing him.
• Fan Nickname:
  • "Xeno" for Xenophanes, as a simple shortening of his name.
  • Following the creation of Grimbo, people started calling Sonic.exe's 1.0-2.0 sprites as "Luis".
• Fountain of Memes: Lord X has constantly been used for memes, thanks to his icon and poses looking unintentionally hilarious. Round 2 seemed to outright embrace this, with his various poses (outside his up pose) being downright hilarious to look at.
• Friendly Fandoms: After Friday Night Funkin': Mario's Madness came out, the two fandoms quickly became very close and overlap heavily in many cases. Lord X and MX canonically being friends also helped.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Needlem0use acting genuinely happy in her song and in the trailer for her week. The poor girl has been through so much in her home series, and it's refreshing to see her having fun in "Roundabout", albeit in her own twisted way.
  • During the slow section of "Final Escape", Boyfriend is seen thinking of those dear to him, such as Girlfriend, Pico, and even Skid and Pump, despite the latter two's complete absence in this mod. It just goes to show that, despite his antics, Boyfriend really does have a heart of gold at the end of the day.
• Idiosyncratic Ship Naming: As this mod popularized Majin Sonic/Lord X, the shipname became "Endless Cycles", the names of their respective songs put together.
• I Am Not Shazam:
  • The antagonist in "Faker" is actually called EXE, not Faker.exe, Faker Sonic, nor just Faker as people are quick to assume. The fact that the name could get confused for the other Sonic.exe doesn't help either.
  • The Encore version of Sonic.exe is allegedly called Grimbo, not Sonic.exe or Xenophanes. Since that makes you actively wrong by naming him that.
• It Was His Sled: Sonic.exe isn't the only opponent you face; for the original version, Majin Sonic and Lord X were quickly discovered, and while most of the opponents were shown in the teaser for the Round 2 update, the ones that weren't were rapidly spread around as well, particularly Fleetway Super Sonic.
• Memetic Badass: A fair few characters get this.
  • Boyfriend and Girlfriend due to actively surviving Sonic.exe’s onslaught.
  • Robotnik, owing to his hearty Evil Laugh and unique ability to no-sell Xenophanes' static during Triple Trouble; all while having one of the hardest (and most memorable) segments of said song.
  • Sunky, Sanic and Grimbo due to being Lethal Joke Characters.
  • Furnace for succeeding to kill Sonic. The only other person who managed to achieve this feat was Mephiles the Dark, and his attempt was retconned; Furnace's wasn't (unless Tails actually succeeded with killing Starved in "Fight or Flight", but that's ambiguous).
• Memetic Loser: Just like his original counterpart, Sonic.exe/Xenophanes himself has become this. Aside from losing to a pair of 19-year olds and being made fun of in Fleetway Super Sonic's game over quotes, Sonic.exe is put as the butt of many jokes by the other .exes for various reasons. His overabundance in the modding scene has also contributed to this, leading to jokes of how even Boyfriend is becoming frustrated with having to deal with the guy.
• Memetic Psychopath: Despite being a Token Good Teammate to the other Sonics, It's commonly joked that Sunky is a ruthless being that will not stop until you dance with him, which is said to be a Fate Worse than Death.
• Narm Charm: "Cycles" seems to embrace the Narm-y aspects of its predecessor "Execution", with Lord X having more silly and expressive poses and the hands in the background holding a sign confirming that they are not Knuckles, and it's been overall seen as a big improvement.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: It's a bit hard to talk about this game without talking about the frequent scandals and dramas the developers of the mod constantly ran into. From false "p-word" allegations to accusations of plagiarism and stealing assets to mistreatment of other developers, you name it.
• Padding: The old version of “Too Slow” may have been a bit too literal in it’s title with how it takes nearly half a minute for notes to start appearing with Sonic.EXE and Boyfriend singing in nearly the same droningly slow tone for about a minute before the song finally starts to pick up. The Encore rendition fixes this by halving the time on both ends.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Starved is a gluttonous maniac with an endless craving for Mobian flesh — he's one step away from a cannibal due to Mobians being completely sapient — and most fans find him terrifying because he's not a ghost or a virus who has total control of the game world and is wearing a canon character like a skin suit, but a version of Sonic's iconic archenemy who decided to satisfy his own morbid curiosity one day and went flying off the slippery slope as a result.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • One major compliment of the mod is that it takes one of the most infamously Narm-y creepypastas in existence and manages to make its titular antagonist genuinely intimidating through his disturbing Body Horror animations, his ominously deep voice, and an incredibly fast and frantic song that keeps the player on their toes. In other words; it made Sonic.exe legitimately scary. This is especially the case when it comes to EXE, who was designed with the express purpose of making Sonic.exe actually scary in 2020, and his showing in the mod succeeds with flying colors - especially when it comes to his nightmarish transformation sequence.
  • Related to the mod itself, "Execution" was by far the least popular song in the mod compared to what everyone else has to offer, with Lord X being seen as The Generic Guy compared to the other two characters. The developers seemed to acknowledge this in the 2.0 update, replacing it with the more well-received "Cycles", giving Lord X the biggest visual overhaul, and fully embracing the Narm Charm of his animations.
  • At least outside of the mod, EXE's popularity began to gradually recover after the mod's cancellation, with Jack Gore, Hog's creator, recovering his praise for the character and EXE getting an unofficial video game adaptation.
• Ron the Death Eater: An odd case; Starved nearly drove Mobians extinct due to his eating habits, but his creator has explicitly stated he does not eat humans, only animals. However, as Starved is incredibly close to one in nature, a lot of fans portray him as an out and out cannibal, eating Mobians and humans alike. Starved's creator also stated that Starved is an Affably Evil individual that dislikes homophobes, and not a monster, but to many, this made Starved comes off as more of a Creator's Pet.
• Signature Scene: Eggman's first section of "Triple Trouble" is almost always the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the mod, especially when it comes to his Evil Laugh.
• That One Level:
  • "Triple Trouble" is a tremendous endurance test, going on for 8 whole minutes and not giving a second of pause (something that longer songs from other Friday Night Funkin' mods like "Splitathon" and "Little Man 2" often do). Adding onto this is a number of mechanics that can cause rapid, fatal Life Drain and just enough Interface Screw to trip up the player, as well as an increase in tempo once Soul Robotnik arrives, all of which combine to make the song a deadly gauntlet worthy of .exe's full power.
  • Exclusively in the 2.0 update, "Black Sun" has a health drain mechanic which increases in pace if the player misses notes, and getting combos only slightly reduces the health drain, and since there is no way to regain health that has been lost, every mistake counts, and they can cost the player DEARLY if they end up botching a segment and cannot recover quickly enough.
    • According to Revie, she had stated in a Newgrounds Q&A that if 2.5 came out, "God Speed" would have had a more intense version of Black Sun's health drain mechanic, and in comparison to the former song, God Speed would have been a longer and more difficult track, clocking in at over four minutes compared to Black Sun's over two and a half minute runtime. Yikes...
  • In the 2.5/Cancelled Update, Starved's song "Fight or Flight" is an erratic song with dense note placements and frequent changes in tempo and speed to throw you off, but its true difficulty is in its unique "Fear" mechanic. On the side of the screen, there's a bar, every time Starved performs a note, it builds a bit — after the Fear bar reaches certain threshold, the healthbar will drain. The drain only gets quicker and quicker the higher it goes over the threshold, until it becomes impossible to reverse the drain and you are eventually reduced to a One-Hit-Point Wonder where even a single miss will cost you the game, and if fills up completely, then it's an instant Game Over regardless. Misses cause it to increase by a bit, and while hitting notes decreases it, it's not by the same amount as Starved's notes increase it, meaning Starved always undoes your work by his immediate next turn; and Starved's long turns by the midpoint of the song will guarantee periods of rapid, unstoppable Fear growth that cannot be reversed. FC Videos have shown even if played perfectly, becoming a One-Hit-Point Wonder is completely unavoidable for the last 30 or so seconds of the song, and left with only a small quarter of Fear away from an instant Game Over by the end. This all together makes "Fight or Flight" a punishing song that leaves very little room for error, as it's very possible to botch a segment and be left in a state of Controllable Helplessness as you watch the Fear bar slowly reach the top, with absolutely nothing you can do about it besides accepting your fate. Whether this is by design, or a byproduct of the mod's cancellation is up for debate.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Majin Sonic is a character that appears on a hidden screen in Sonic CD and is not affiliated with the original Creepypasta, which makes his appearance here rather surprising.
  • Out of all of the characters in the mod, who would've expected Fleetway Super Sonic? Not only was he not present in the original story, much like Majin Sonic, there also weren't any hints that even suggested he was coming.
  • Coldsteel the Hedgeheg is neither a horror character or connected to Sonic.exe, and yet he gets a spot in version 3.0, fitting in even stranger among the more comedic characters, a Lighter and Softer Affectionate Parody and a Denser and Wackier Memetic Mutation both based on .exe.
• The Woobie: Tails, Knuckles, and Robotnik all count. They did nothing wrong but still got horribly mutilated, with some extreme Body Horror, and then they get forced to work for the one who killed them, with the implication that they still have full consciousness.

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