Archie Sonic General Discussion

Maybe, I dunno, I feel like everyone keeps reviewing this one.

I know Archie has been having financial issues, but the sheer amount of delays to their Paperback collections is getting outright cartoonish now, with Sonic Vol 3 having been pushed back for over a year now. Does anyone know why specifically they're having issues with them to that extent?

Hello everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but I was told this would be the best to post what I have here. Anyway, I have a few edits in mind for certain pages for Archie Comics Sonic The Hedgehog that I want want input on before even thinking of adding them.

YMMV.Archie Comics' Sonic The Hedgehog

• Broken Base:
  • There is a notable split growing between fans in regards to Shattered World Crisis and how it fares as the comics' adaptation to Sonic Unleashed. Many don't mind the changes made to the story of Unleashed or its elements, with most finding them an acceptable way to integrate the events of Unleashed into the comics' universe. Some of them even view Shattered World as an Adaptation Expansion of Unleashed, namely with the inclusion of the of the Sonic cast (the majority of whom couldn't appear in the game due to the immense backlash against their existence). However, a good number of people have expressed disappointment or outright disapproval of most of the changes made to the plot and elements of Unleashed, finding them either unnecessary or even disrespectful to the original game. There are also those who view Shattered World as an In Name Only adaptation of Unleashed, citing how the elements and characters of the game have vastly reduced roles and prominence, most particularly Chip, while more focus is paid to comic-exclusive characters, world building, and stories that tend to have little to do with the original game (such as the Champions Arc, which is also the adaptation of a completely different game). It doesn't help that Ian Flynn admitted on a few occasions that Shattered World is meant to be an incredibly loose adaptation and is only being done as an "excuse" to set up the Reboot world, prompting some fans to question why he did not just make a completely original plot if that was going to be the case instead of wasting the event and the characters of Unleashed in the comics.

Characters.Archie Comics' Sonic The Hedgehog Freedom Fighters

Cream the Rabbit & Cheese

• Adaptational Wimp: Applies mostly to Cheese but Cream herself suffers from this as well. In the games, most evidently the Sonic Advance Trilogy, Cream is no less capable than any other character and, should the situation call for it, is willing to get fully involved in fights despite her dislike of violence. Meanwhile Cheese is usually strong enough to one-shot enemies and deals regular damage to bosses, which is saying a lot considering most other Chao are not anywhere near that strong. Here in the comics, however, Cheese is significantly weaker as his attacks do nothing more than distract enemies and he seems to daze himself in the process. While it remains to be seen if Cream is actually combat capable or not, she is much less willing to fight than her game counterpart and mostly takes part in battles by airlifting people out of harm's way instead of actually attacking.
• Big Damn Heroes: In 267, when the Freedom Fighters (sans Sonic) fell into Eggman's trap and were ambushed by three E-100 Series robots with no hope for escape, Cream gathered the remaining Freedom Fighters (Big, T-Pup, and Omochao) and went out to rescue everyone, which proved successful. Were it not for Cream, the rest of the Freedom Fighters very likely would have been killed.
  • Newcomer Saves the Day: The above moment might also count as this, as Cream is a junior member of the Freedom Fighters and wasn't part of the team until 256, just eleven issues ago. True, the Chaos Emerald they were after couldn't be obtained and the Freedom Fighters suffered a crushing defeat all the same but at least they were spared from certain death. Although the solicits for 283 and Ian Flynn himself have confirmed that Cream is due to play a key role in the plans that will ultimately restore the currently Shattered World, possibly playing this trope a bit more straight.
• Free-Range Children: Cream is one of the few characters, and the only one from the games, with a known parent: Vanilla the Rabbit. Even though she is one of the youngest characters and not exactly the adventuring type, Cream is fully allowed by her mother to travel across the world and fight evil. To be fair, though, Cream is much more capable than she appears and is always accompanied by her much older and very powerful friends.
• Underestimating Badassery: Constantly on the receiving end of this by Sally. While Cream isn't an active combatant and isn't as experienced as the other Freedom Fighters (except perhaps Big, who has always been a Badass Bystander until joining the team), she is still a capable team member and has taken part in numerous adventures in the past^note It should be noted that these games are now canon to the comic's history. But despite her participation in those events, among other things that prove her worth as an ally, Cream is strictly kept out of the action by Sally due to her age and concern for her safety, which is unwarranted since Cream always manages to keep other characters safe via timely airlifts. Even after the aforementioned Big Damn Heroes moment, Sally continues to keep Cream out of the action under the belief she is not ready and/or couldn't handle the present situation. Though this finally seems to be changing as of 281.

Characters.Archie Comics' Sonic The Hedgehog Time And Space Travelers

Blaze the Cat

• Adaptational Wimp: While just as much an Action Girl as her game counterpart, this version of Blaze gets knocked unconscious on a rather common basis, typically from getting caught off-guard from behind. Blaze also got held captive four times throughout the comic, two of them occurring within a single story arc (Pirate Plunder Panic), which doesn't happen nearly as much, if at all, to her game counterpart.

Characters.Archie Comics' Sonic The Hedgehog Citizens Of Mobotropolis

Vanilla the Rabbit

• Actual Pacifist: Unlike her daughter, Vanilla doesn't get involved in any action, let alone violence, and firmly stays at home.
• Good Parent: A very caring mother who only wants the best for her daughter and raised Cream like a princess, though in a strict manner, resulting in Cream becoming the incredibly polite girl she is right now.
• Humanoid Female Mobian: Has a distinctly more human build than most of the other Mobian characters.
• Open-Minded Parent: Seems to be one. Why else does she allow her six-year-old child to roam around the world and get involved in all sorts of adventures? Though Cream is a lot more capable than she appears and is constantly accompanied and protected by some the world's most famous and powerful heroes, so Vanilla doesn't really have much to worry about.
• Sole Survivor: Meta-wise, Vanilla is the only parent of a SEGA character to remain in the comics Post-SGW due to not being created by any previous writer and not being subject to SEGA's "No family for the game cast" mandate since she is a game character created by SEGA themselves to be Cream's parent from the start.

edited 31st May '16 10:07:12 AM by FullestOfFools

Well, the reason why Cream is stronger is games, is because in theory the assumption is that the youngest kids will want to play as her (same reason Team Rose is easiest to play as and why they get hints how to play) but I'm not sure if this should be added or is it Natter.

I would wait until Sonic 281 is released. It's not that long wait.

And I would withhold that Adaptational Wimp on Blaze, she's as strong as always, so it's more of a subjective trope like Badass Decay. Besides most of times Blaze got captured it happened to other characters as well (Worlds Collide for example) and she was full on action girl trough whole Treasure Tango arc aside for being knocked by Rouge. Pirate Panic is literally only reasons people are complaining. At best you might add in YMMV "Badass Decay: Blaze was accused of that after Pirate Plunder Panic where she was captured twice and won only one battle while in Super form" or something like that.

I mean gosh, I don't recall anyone complaining when Jet was beaten by Battle Lord, Speedy and Sonic in his arc, or when Shadow was beated by Scourge, Lara-Su, A.D.A.M. and Enerjak and maybe more when Flynn took over.

Oh man, if only you had said this sooner. Because I've already made these edits on the respective pages ^^; But I can quickly change them to fit your suggestions.

So, alright, Adaptational Wimp will be removed from Blaze's character page and instead will add that sort of description to the YMMV page. And I guess I'll remove Adaptational Wimp from Cream's page, or are you more referring to Underestimating Badassery? Cause now that I look at them closer, either one could be Natter (I just strongly felt that Cream's inaction in the comics had to be criticized in some way).

Though I want to point out that 281 has been released and within it Cream only airlifted Sally and Antoine and asked questions. But at least she finally go to participate in a mission (though I still think the Underestimating Badassery trope applies since Cream got that treatment for the majority of SWC). As for why fans didn't throw a fit over Jet losing to the Battle Lord, Speedy, and Sonic, it's because Jet isn't much of a combatant nor is he very popular. Blaze, meanwhile, is very popular and her being one of the most Badass Action Girls in the franchise is a major reason why, so her getting captured twice and being knocked out throughout the comic drew outrage from her fans. Though, now that you mention those moments with Shadow, it is strange how his losses didn't attract much rage. Though maybe him being the franchise's Base Breaker has something to do with that...

EDIT- Oh yeah! I nearly forgot to mention that Blaze actually got kidnapped in her debut appearance in the comic as well, in what was supposed to be the comic's version of Sonic Rush, and pretty much had to be rescued by Sonic there.

edited 2nd Jun '16 4:47:09 PM by FullestOfFools

I think that acknowledging that Cream (and especially Cheese) is weaker in this continuity makes sense. I'm just not sure if the fact that she is more powerful in games so kids will have easier time playing as her should or should not be noted. I guess use your own judgment but if you're not sure just don't add that part.

My bad, I didn't meant 281, but 283 where Cream does supposedly something important. I feel inclusion of Cream in 281 should be noted in Author Saving Throw alongside with Cream saving team in 267 and Cream constant complaining about not being part of action as Flynn's attempts and acknowledging that Cream's fans aren't happy.

Yeah, Jet isn't a fighter but come one, all these defeats were in the same arc and he did literally nothing really impressive. Still, Blaze got 2 good stories (SU 1 and Treasure Team Tango), them got kidnapped only when other badasses got kindapped (Mega Man crossover) and then had one bad story. Yeah, there is her first appearance, where she gets knocked out but a) it's a odd back-up story by one-time writer written just as comic was just starting to get better and 2) she rescued herself. Sonic showed up only to get into fight in her. If you ask me, Shadow's losses didn't attract that much rage because no one could accuse Archie of being sexist for this. (which they did with Blaze even though once she was knocked out by Rouge and once she was knocked out so Amy and Cream can save her)

Hm... I guess I can agree that the whole "Cream is strong in the games in order to help kids" should be noted. Very well, I'll include that in the Adaptational Wimp description, once I figure out how to fit it in.

The idea to mention those moments with Cream in Author's Saving Throw also sounds good! Though I'll admit I'm hesitant to make that edit because, well, I'm not sure if fellow tropers would take kindly to me making an edit to talk about a supporting character whom nobody really cares about, especially since Author's Saving Throw usually details larger scale criticisms rather than that of a single character. I also can't deny that I struggle to find that Big Damn Heroes moment in 267 to be an Author's Saving Throw because while it did have Cream do something great, it didn't actually impact her character whatsoever as she continued to be sidelined and treated as incapable out in the field. Like, it should've been Character Development but it wasn't. Of course, I seem to be the only one who views it like that so perhaps it is applicable.

You bring up a very good point. Yeah, I guess with that in mind the complaints against Blaze's treatment are rather unwarranted. If it weren't for the fact that it does exist and is pretty notable, I would probably remove the Blaze edit from Badass Decay on YMMV.

edited 4th Jun '16 6:40:52 AM by FullestOfFools

Hmm, then just to be safe I say we should wait until Sonic 283 is released.

It appears we're going to have to wait another month to decide on adding Cream to the Author's Saving Throw, cause I saw spoilers for 283 and the whole issue was pretty much an uneventful story solely to set up "Panic in the Sky". I would make a snide comment about how this issue advertised a character doing something important but it not happening whatsoever (is there a trope for that?) but I'm going wait till next issue and see if it's warranted.

On a related note, what if we add Sonic Universe 50 in regards to to Author's Saving Throw alongside Cream (assuming she ends up qualifying for the trope come 284)? I think it qualifies since everything about that story was pretty much an apology from Ian to everyone for the way he handled Metal Sonic. In fact, I think this whole situation with Cream effectively mirrors Metal Sonic's Adaptational Wimp phase (though slightly less insulting since Metal Sonic is widely seen as Badass while Cream's case is arguable)... Anyway, would other tropers take issue with that or would that be okay?

edited 20th Jun '16 7:11:16 PM by KaoticKanine

Never Trust a Trailer is the closest thing.

Yeah, that thing with Metal fits, I think. Arguably, New-252 Metal is also treated better, mostly since he doesn't get destroyed anymore, though that might be the case of Sega putting on mandate that there can be only one Metal so he can't really die.

edited 21st Jun '16 7:25:21 AM by Sunchet

So if I were to start picking this series up, where should I begin? Is the Continuity Reboot good?

There 3 ways you can go about this.

- Start from issue 1: Only if you're really dedicated as Sonic fan to go trough good and bad to get whole picture, get every reference and form your own opinions about everything. Trust me, it's a bumpy ride. There is good stuff there but, yeah there is also definitely bad as well. Also a lot of "meh" in between.

- Start from "modern era" aka When Ian Flynn (who started writing 10 years ago and is still writing) took over aka Sonic the Hedgehog 160 This is when most of good stuff starts. I especially recommend spin-off Sonic Universe. early issues can be a little messy since they're mostly "clean-up" stories dealing with all old plot points. In fact read in general can be hard to follow but there is always internet and I can write you a summary of old events before Flynn.

- Start from reboot: Sonic the Hedgehog 252 and Sonic Universe 55. As long as you know games and to lesser extend Sonic Satam cartoon you should be fine here, only first issues get a little confusing due to references to old continuity. And of course, you get few spoilers for stuff that happened in old continuity.

I would say that reboot is a lot cleaner then old world, in good and bad sense. It's more consistent, doesn't have tons of unnecessary characters, plot points and retcons, but it's also....barer. Before reboot Flynn managed to squeeze surprising amount of life from many old and dumb ideas and now he's somewhat out of his element now that he has to create brand new ideas. World is also just a bit Lighter and Softer with less complicated stuff like politics, drama, tragedies and large amounts of backstory. Which is not to say that there is no serious business in reboot but it's much more straightforward.

I think I'll just go with the reboot. Has it been collected in TP Bs?

Here they are. If you will like what you get, after reading all of these you can buy Sonic 272 and then first part of Worlds Unite crossover. Sadly Sonic Universe series haven't been collected yet.

TSSZ: Archie and Sega are being sued again. The plaintiff, Scott Fulop, claims nearly 1000 examples of copyright infringment over certain characters, such as Mammoth Mogul.

This does not bode well for Archie or the Sonic comics. They've been on thin ice with Sega since the Penders lawsuit, and now I think Sega might actually pull the plug over this.

And suddenly the disappearance of all those graphic novels make so much sense

Dang! I was gonna going to start a "discussion" on something else regarding the comics! But this situation is far bigger and legitimately serious, so I'll just wait till it becomes alright to talk about that.

Now then, this is certainly very bad news. I fear that, even in the best case scenario (that is, Scott Fulop doesn't win and Archie will simply stop publishing re-releases), SEGA might just up and cancel their license with Archie altogether simply so they don't have to deal with another potential law suit. Of course, maybe I'm just being a paranoid worry wart like I usually am. Regardless, here's hoping that this lawsuit goes much more smoothly than the one with Ken Penders. And I'm definitely "hoping" that Scott Fulop is be ready for the onslaught of hatred he has just earned, which will no doubt go Up To Eleven should his actions get the comics cancelled...

Talk about what you wanted to. This isn't very a very active part of forum.

Alrighty then Thanks for the "permission"! Though it's a shame that this part of the forum sees so little action...

Anyway, I guess I'm just wondering the opinion of everyone here on these two things: Cream's treatment within the comics since "Shattered World", or even since her debut within the comics, and "Shattered World" being the events of Unleashed in the comics.

I'm curious because, aside from these two "things" beings ones I'm very vocal and rather passionate about, people across the fandom are also split in regards to these two things. I've already brought this kind of discussion up on Tumblr and a Sonic forum, so what does TV Tropes think? Or perhaps, what do you think Sunchet, seeing how you seem to be the only one who comes to this thread anymore

I would normally go on a long tangent about these two things but I'll try and sum up my thoughts in the briefest way possible:

Cream's treatment- I won't deny, this "subject" pisses me off to no end, to such a degree that it has become a Berserk Button (granted, I have loads of beserk buttons ^^; ). As strange as it may sound, Cream is a huge favorite of mine and I waited a LONG time for her to appear in the comic. Once Cream finally made her debut, I was excited as hell; finally, one of my favorite characters of all time gets to be part of this unique universe the comics had become! But soon enough, I ended up finding the comic's usage of Cream very lacking. Sure, it's far better than what the games are doing but still, all Archie!Cream had done Pre-Reboot is airlift people and provide "cute humor". Whereas Cream of the games is a Little Miss Badass who is willing to fight when it's necessary despite her own dislike of violence, and is consistently portrayed as a Game-Breaker (and even Sonic X had Cream destroy Emerl), Cream of the comics does very little in action and it's annoying to say the least. My hope was re-ignited when the Reboot was announced and it became evident it would be much closer to the games, so perhaps this time Cream will get to take action, but then "Pirate Plunder Panic" and Issue 256 had Cream airlifting everyone instead of actually taking action. Hope was re-ignited again once Cream was made into an official Freedom Fighter but then every appearance of Cream afterwards had her kept on the sidelines, not allowed to take any sort action beyond serving food and actively kept that way by Sally, who also went on to seemingly replace Amy as Cream's Cool Big Sister. Like, seriously? The comics have Cream join the protagonist group and then have her do absolutely nothing, despite needing to justify her presence in the team? Sure, 267 had Cream lead the Big Damn Heroes moment and 281-282 finally had Cream outside of Skypatrol, but the former was ruined as Cream's contribution was ignored (instead focusing on Sally's Wangst) and Cream continued to be sidelined, and the latter was ruined by not showing Cream actually taking action and continue being coddled by Sally! Like, I don't know, this whole thing just infuriates me and makes me tempted many times to edit the trope pages to address this. It's especially enraging since this inaction had to be done during the adaptation for my favorite Sonic game of all time. Speaking of...

Shattered World/Unleashed- I guess my feelings can be summed up in the latter parts of the Broken Base section of the comic's YMMV page; while I'm glad there is now a version of Unleashed's plot that involved the rest of the cast instead of just Sonic, Chip, Tails, and Amy, I don't really accept most of the changes done to the plot, I definitely don't approve of how the Werehog and Chip's relationship with Sonic (and the rest of the cast to be honest) had been handled, and I question the focus on stuff that decidedly has nothing to do with Unleashed in the supposed adaptation of the game. I mean, I know "Shattered World" was meant to be a loose adaptation to begin with and I'm not asking for a 10/10 adapt of the original game. But at this point, especially with the knowledge that this whole thing is just a giant Excuse Plot for Worldbuilding, I'm starting to question WHY "Shattered World" had to be the events of Unleashed within the comic instead of a completely original story involving the cast traveling the world and establishing things! There was no need to drag the Werehog, Chip, the Dark Gaia Monsters, and everything else from Unleashed into this "saga" and all it has done is waste everything about Unleashed. Like, Chip and the Werehog are integrated to the plot of Unleashed and once this whole thing is over, they're gone for good. But have they gotten the focus they are warranted for the duration of Shattered World? Have they truly contributed to the comics in their short stay? Because I'm inclined to feel they've been wasted, Chip especially since his entire character arc was told in a clumsy and disjointed way (ex. Tikal outright telling Chip that he is Light Gaia the moment she saw him, ruining the surprise of his character and giving him the desire to fulfill his purpose before actually remembering who he is).

Whoa! Sorry, that was anything but brief ^^; But I suppose I have to give as much context as possible. So, what do you all think? Are these even worth discussing and I'm just overreacting? ^^;

edited 5th Aug '16 8:17:56 PM by KaoticKanine

There really isn't that much they can do with cream as even with 2 books they have 50 characters so at best she gets a few lines every issue. and while yeah they didn't need to do unleashed to explore the world post nu252, I think it works well. The chip stuff is rushed and I am kinda weirded out he has more of a friendship with knuckles than sonic it's nothing too terrible.

Hm, that is true; not exactly easy to give individual characters screen time when it has to be balanced with many more characters... But then, I'm always thinking, why not "rotate" the cast around each story? (Is there a trope for that? I thought there was but I looked everywhere and couldn't really find one ^^; ) Like, with the exception of Sonic (who is always guaranteed focus for obvious reasons lol), one main story can have Tails, Amy, and Antoine while back-ups potentially focus on Sally, Rotor, and Bunnie, and then the next story can have Tails, Amy, and Cream, with Cream getting special focus since she didn't appear in the previous story like Tails and Amy did, and so on and so forth. Or perhaps balance the characters by appearances and impact. Like, for instance, Sally has made numerous appearances and contributions throughout Shattered World, being at the very least being a major supporting character in every story. Contrast with Cream, who hasn't gotten to step outside Sky Patrol for the majority of "Shattered World", let alone actually take action and do important stuff. So why not give Sally a break in order to give Cream some much needed spotlight and development? Yeah, Sally is warranted much focus due to being The Leader and since this is the only medium she's allowed to continue to appear in. But then, so was Chris Thorndyke (minus the leader part) and everyone wished he would've take a major backseat so the other characters can get focus. I'm inclined to say the same for Big, seeing how he's made plenty of notable or even important appearances throughout "Shattered World", but then again he's also a woefully neglected character even in the games. I don't know, I just don't think it's too hard to give Cream something legit to do. If Big the Cat can take part in numerous missions and make important contributions that matter, why not Cream? Why must her actions throughout a very important saga, the very saga that established her as a member of the "protagonist group" and subsequently needing to justify her presence within the team, be limited to being a waitress and accompanying Big in a MacGuffin Escort Mission (the being in the story that called her out as the "central hero", yet she doesn't do anything central one bit)...?

Well, I suppose it does make sense to use the plot of Unleashed for this story, since Unleashed was just as much about establishing Worldbuilding as it was a story about Sonic and Chip's friendship, among other things. And I guess it did rectify one of the few genuine flaws I can agree with on the original game; a practically empty "middle section". But then, must so much focus be placed on the things that had little to nothing to do with Unleashed and will continue to appear afterwards (such as Meropis, Breezie, the Egg Bosses, and pretty much all the Sonic Universe stories) over the things that are actually relevant to Unleashed and will be forever gone after the plot is complete (Werehog, Chip, Dark Gaia and his Minions)? Like, as important as it is to establish these places and characters, those things will continue to exist within the comic long after "Shattered World" is over. Werehog, Chip, and Dark Gaia, on the other hand, can only appear during this specific event and so more focus should've been placed on them so their limited time within the comic felt fulfilling, if I'm making sense. But yeah, I guess all of that couldn't be helped since Ian is rushing through this story due to fans wanting "Shattered World" to end quickly, which in itself can be blamed on Ian's "Arc Fatigue Syndrome" (I mean, this isn't the first time Ian has made a "story arc" this long) and Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man: Worlds Unite needlessly delaying things...

I think it's not active because most of fans were on Bumbleking and now they are on Sonic Stadium forum.

And honestly? I liked Cream before reboot. She was doing enough. Sure, she wasn't doing much fighting but to be honest she's not suppose to be breaking her pacifist streak all the time. And yes I know she's game breaker in game but that because she's designed to be easy mode for kids. In early games Tails could do all cool stuff Sonic did, plus flight, but no one one should thing he's better then Sonic. But I am bothered by reboot Cream. Not super ticked, but it could be better. And I'm not even talking about action. She could have a nice good uplifting talk with someone and I would be satisfied, but for now she seems to be here for sake of being here.

And Unleashed...What that game was about anyway? Sonic's friendship with Chip? Flynn tries to give him focus, but as said he worked much better with Knuckles. Turning into Werehog? No, that never had story focus, it was just gameplay gimmick. Comic does pretty much the same, again giving him decent focus, but it does very little to actually give narrative reason for werehog existence. Fixing shattered word? Well, I guess that part works better then in game. Fighting gaia monster? Eh, they don't really feel more interesting then say badniks. Traveling around the world? Well, can't argue that they got this part covered and use it well to introduce whole universe, so why not.

Hm, you raise a good part in that regard for Cream. She has been established as a pacifist since Sonic Advance 2 (with Yuji Naka even revealing in an interview that Cheese was created so Cream has a means of attack and can maintain her image, though that begs the question of why she can roll into a ball and Spin Dash to attack like everyone else), so she shouldn't be constantly fighting. Although, I've never been fond of Cream's pacifist trait since it unnecessarily limits her utilization, given that this is an action series and all. Besides, this trait logically shouldn't be too much of an issue since Cream got Character Development in Sonic Battle (which should be canon in the comics) specifically learning that sometimes one must fight in order to protect themselves and their friends. Actually, hasn't Cream done nothing but beg to take part in action since "Shattered World", meaning she's even less pacifistic in this continuity? Then again, I guess I wouldn't mind if Cheese is the Pint-Sized Powerhouse like he is in the games and fights on Cream's behalf, but that's clearly not the case in the comics...

But yeah, I can agree that Archie!Cream Pre-Reboot was actually pretty good; I still wish she did more than airlifting people but I can't deny she was actually being genuinely utilized (and she probably would've played a huge role in the Tails Doll fight had Chicken Tenders not intervened). Really, it's Post-Reboot's handling of Cream that's got me up in arms and the only thing making it worse is how most people completely disregard it and usually try to justify it, which never really succeed. Like, I know Cream is far from anyone's favorite character (at least outside of Japan) but still, she is a rather major character from the games who finally has the chance to get the treatment she is warranted, for her vast potential to be realized, only to be completely shafted in the worst ways possible and I sure as hell would speak out against a character's blatant mistreatment, even if I don't like them! So, I thank you for being one of the few people to acknowledge this as a problem.

Well... Okay, I'm not sure myself what Unleashed was really "about". But what I do know is that Sonic and Chip's friendship was a central aspect of the plot and the fact that it's nigh non-existent within the comics, with Chip having much more shown interaction with a completely different character, is a genuine major problem. Like, imagine in a hypothetical adaptation for Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, the writers decide to have Manaphy imprint on any of the other characters instead of May and so the adaptation focuses on Manaphy's relationship with those characters while getting minimal interaction with May. Sure, it can be handled well, but that doesn't make for a good adaptation and you can't deny fans of the movie would get pissed. As for the Werehog, yeah it was mostly created to pad out the game (a fact that I will forever resent SEGA for because I actually think the Werehog is a very interesting concept with good potential but they chose to use it just to lengthen the game), but it did have a very subtle narrative role throughout Unleashed; firstly being yet another "punishment" for Sonic for falling for Eggman's trick, demonstrating that Sonic is still a very capable hero when robbed of his iconic Super-Speed (and showcasing some serious creativity since he had to have come up with all the complex moves as the Werehog), and also establishing Sonic's incredible Heroic Willpower; that he could absorb a huge portion of the highly corruptible energy of an Eldritch Abomination and retain his sense of self without even realizing it. And that's exactly why I feel the Werehog is misused; Ian had the perfect opportunity to actually utilize the Werehog's potential and make this narrative role more apparent, but he chose to simply have Sonic flip out initially and then receive training from a sloth to perfectly gain control over the form instantly instead of, say, learning to get the hang of the form by himself throughout Shattered World, thus making the Werehog's existence have a legit impact. And ditto for the Dark Gaia Monsters, who could've been written to have a bigger impact than being another bunch of Mooks that are easily beaten, like perhaps utilizing their Demonic Possession ability or having it be so only a few select characters, namely the Werehog (thus providing another narrative reason for the Werehog form), can destroy them.

I'm deeply sorry if I'm coming off as unreasonable or anything ^^; You do have a point with the whole "fixing the shattered world plot", which I can agree the comics do handle a bit better since it's treated as an actual crisis, and it certainly accomplishes the "exploring the world" aspect. Though, at the same time, me and plenty of others feel that the world exploration aspect of Unleashed is downplayed in favor of exposition and focusing on extraneous characters, namely the Egg Bosses, but I guess that's not too big of an issue.

edited 7th Aug '16 12:55:07 PM by KaoticKanine

BTW I don;t like at all Professor Pickle and any non-Eggman humans from from Unleashed, so I not bothered by lack of focus on them. In fact I would say they got decent focus, but I really wouldn't mind if they got less.

But you know who is getting a shaft? Jet the Hawk and Babylon Rouges. It's really blatant that Flynn doesn't want to use them because he doesn't like them. Not only they still haven't showed up, but Witchcarters pretty much do their shtick now.

Oh man, I completely forgot about the humans of Unleashed Well then, I guess I'm indifferent to their usage, excluding Prof. Pickle though due to being a rather major character in Unleashed. But then, he and the other human characters have plenty of opportunities to appear after "Shattered World", unlike Werehog, Chip, and Dark Gaia (and Monsters), so I ain't complaining too much. Even though I'm one of the many fans who actually like the humans ^^;

Oh yeah D:< I definitely agree right there that the Babylon Rogues' complete absence thus far is absolute bullshit! Blaze and Marine's absence can be forgiven since they live in an entirely different dimension, but there's no justification at all for the Rogues' absence, especially when every other character is taking part in Shattered World! And yeah, now that I think about it, the Witchcarters basically stole the thing that keeps the Babylon Rogues' unique (aside from being birds, which in itself is now also fulfilled by the Battle Bird Armada). *Sigh* The consequence of a writer letting their biases affect their writing process... Seriously! I utterly despise Sally Acorn yet I'm willing to try and do her justice in this "fan project" I'm working on! Ian is head writer for the official thing!