YMMV / Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

The following tropes have their own page:

• Hilarious in Hindsight
• Memetic Mutation

Tropes:

• Accidental Aesop: While "Tails's New Home" does a rather… Broken Aesop regarding running away from home (given it’s directed at the literal Butt-Monkey Coconuts running away from Robotnik and all), it does manage to give a lesson in doing background checks before you leave a child in the care of anyone, especially those claiming to be family.
• Accidental Innuendo: The Absent-Minded Professor Von Schlemmer had a moment of the sort. Robotnik has him tied up, and he asks him what he can do to get Von Schlemmer's invention to work. He replies "I'll never tell you... unless, of course, you fiendishly torture me."
• Adaptation Displacement: While the show hasn't eclipsed the Sonic games themselves, some fans are much more familiar with Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts here, to the point where there are those who believe that they were created exclusively for the show, even though they're actually all based off enemies from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
• Angst? What Angst?: Compared to his SatAM counterpart, Tails being 4½ doesn't seem to mind not having parents and only relying on Sonic to look after him.
• Anvilicious: The "Sonic Says" segments ended with Sonic giving kids advice by Breaking the Fourth Wall and directly talking to the audience. These have been completely and thoroughly parodied on YouTube.
• Author's Saving Throw: The writers seemed to realize that the "Sonic Says" segments of "Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad" and "Tails' New Home" were deeply flawed and rectified them with later episodes. The "Sonic Says" segment of "Road Hog" has Sonic praise Tails for calling for the help of a policeman when he is attacked by Scratch and Grounder, while the plots of "Robotnik Jr." and "The Robots' Robot" are about Sonic supporting and encouraging robots as they break away from their Abusive Parents.
• Awesome Art: While the show has very.... inconsistent art direction and animation, to say the least, the contributions of Kent Butterworth, Milton Knight, several Ren & Stimpy artists and TMS Entertainment shine through. The intro, split between TMS and Ed Love (an animator from The Golden Age of Animation who worked for Walt Disney, Tex Avery and Hanna-Barbera) is a smorgasboard of hilarious cartoony animation.
• Awesome Music: Many bits of unforgettable soundtrack that includes the theme song, Robotnik's theme, and "Sonic's Song" for example.
• Can't Un-Hear It:
  • For many fans who grew up with the '90s games, Jaleel White sticks out as Sonic's definitive voice.
  • Long John Baldry as Dr. Robotnik.
  • After seeing "Sonic's Song," it's hard not to think of "Sonic the Hedgehog, you can't catch what you can't see" whenever hearing the games' title theme.
• Common Knowledge: For a long time, Christopher Evan Welch was credited for providing Tails' voice. When he died in 2013, many fans noticed that there was a discrepancy between his age and Tails' voice, as he was 28 when Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog first aired in 1993. It wasn't until 2014 when it was revealed that Christopher Stephen Welch was the one who actually provided Tails' voice.
• Cult Classic: The show has a sizable fanbase. Most of its fans grew up with it, others came from the memes. Many elements of this show would also make it into other adaptations and even the main games themselves (e.g. Sonic eating chili dogs in Sonic and the Black Knight). One notable fan is Ian Jones-Quartey, who included countless references to the show in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
• Designated Hero: Sonic's attitude and mischievousness are amplified to a fair degree in this series, which sometimes makes his role as The Hero pretty questionable. Though this is balanced out by his selflessness, his Big Brother Instinct towards Tails, and the fact that Robotnik is still trying to enslave Mobius. Generally, his tendency to try to act like a good role model to Tails is usually one of the bigger factors leading Sonic into heroism (unless he happens to see someone actively in trouble or finds an opportunity to spite Robotnik).
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • Robotnik. Many fans actually want him to beat Sonic despite still being as evil as his fellow counterparts. His Fountain of Memes and "the world's sexiest fat man" status certainly help.
  • Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts get this to a lesser extent despite (at least in S&G's cases) having the same evil thrill as their master. The Sonic Says segments giving them a Friendly Enemy status helps with this. As does Coconuts only really wanting to be respected by Robotnik and his brothers.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Breezie for obvious reasons. Archie took notice and incorporated her into the comics.
  • 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.
• Fanon: In certain YouTube Poop circles, it's generally accepted that Tails is Robotnik's adoptive son. This meme originates from iteachvader's series of Robotnik YouTube Poops. This random joke from one of his videos spun off into the larger Robotnik/Tails father-son concept after gaining traction with people in the comments section:
  Robotnik: "Why is Tails so CUTE?!"
• Fountain of Memes: Robotnik and the "Sonic Says" segments.
• Friendly Fandoms: Adventures fans tend to get along very well with Sonic Boom fans since both are clearly comedic shows that don't take themselves seriously and stand in opposition to Darker and Edgier efforts common to the fandom.
• He Really Can Act: Who would've thought that Jaleel White, the guy who played Steve Urkel, could do a pretty damn good job as the blue blur? Enough to do it on both Sonic shows that were running concurrently, as well as a third a few years later. To this day, his performance is still considered a fan favorite even among Sonic's official video game voice actors.
• Ho Yay:
  • Robotnik is forced to "kiss and make up" with rival Dr. Quark in order to keep their Big Bad Duumvirate going. Afterwards, Quark spits; Robotnik blushes.
  • Scratch and Grounder have a weird Twincest going on between them.^note They're meant to be twins, though they look nothing alike.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Coconuts, so very much, as all he wants is Dr. Robotnik's approval. Nonetheless, everyone on the show treats him like garbage and in the Sonic Says segment of "Tails' New Home", Coconuts runs from Robotnik saying he doesn't love him. Many fans really want to see him catch a break despite being one of the bad guys.
  • Scratch and Grounder are only marginally less pitiful than Coconuts, if anything their higher position leads to them suffering more abuse from both Sonic and Robotnik. Grounder's dopey, puppy eyed disposition doesn't help. Grounder also sometimes expresses a desire to have a mother and in one episode, the two of them "adopted" a child which they seemed to genuinely love and want the best for.
  • Robotnik himself comes dangerously close at times, especially in episodes involving his mother.
• Just Here for Godzilla: As older viewers and critics generally prefer Sonic SatAM, many agree that this show is worth watching for Long John Baldry's performance alone, as the evil mad scientist.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Wes Weasely is a charismatic salesman who'll help anyone for a quick buck. From convincing Robotnik into buying his products after they fail to stealing from the doctor's bank account, Wes manages to consistently steal his money, remaining friendly and professional throughout. In his most clever appearance, he lures all of Sonic's friends onto his cruise boat under the guise of a party, trapping them all on it while allowing Robotnik to imprison Sonic underwater. After figuring out he's been scammed by the doctor, Wes immediately breaks out Sonic and helps humiliate Robotnik, throwing Sonic a real party afterwards out of gratitude.
  • "Grounder the Genius": Grounder, upon accidentally inserting the Genius Chip into himself, becomes an affable schemer with a plan to take out Sonic. Anticipating that he'll arrive to stop Robotnik in a disguise, he rigs the entrance to trap Sonic in stone, throwing him in the dungeon. He then waits for Sonic's friends to come and rescue him, luring them into a coliseum to be ambushed and destroyed by a lightning rod. In between his plan, he successfully overthrows Robotnik out of revenge for his abuse, planning on ruling Mobius himself. His plan going flawlessly, he's only thwarted by Scratch's sudden bumbling, something that he calmly admits even he couldn't have seen coming.
• Memetic Badass: Doctor Ivo Robotnik.
• Memetic Molester:
  • Sonic became this because of the infamous Sonic Says where he warns children about sexual harassment: thanks to Détournement, YouTube Poopers made him what he was warning people about.
  • Robotnik himself has become an example in regards to YouTube Poop, no doubt made worse by his numerous pervy expressions, constant ass wiggling, and desire for people to touch his "PINGAS".
• Narm Charm: The series as a whole can be considered this. It’s silly and bizarre, but many fans now fondly remember it and adore it for what it is.
• No Problem with Licensed Games:
  • Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball includes brief elements of the series (along with Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)) as Easter eggs.
  • In order to promote the show, Sega edited the Genesis and Game Gear title Puyo Puyo with AoStH cosmetics, relabeling it Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Despite these edits, and the odd omission of Sonic himself (although retconned into you playing as him from the first person according to Sonic Origins Plus), the game is rather well received and considered a retro classic.
• Padding: "Untouchable Sonic" pads out its runtime with roughly a minute and a half of a TV showing re-purposed footage from the unaired pilot.
• Realism-Induced Horror: While most of Robotnik's schemes are outlandish and cartoony, he commits outright terrorism in "Mass Transit Trouble", where he and his Badniks attempt to bomb three transit centers. Furthermore, the Badniks are far more competent than usual, Sonic just barely scrapes by with his life after retrieving the bombs, and instead of his normal Humiliation Conga, Robotnik receives a minor self-inflicted personal injury upon learning that his plan has failed. The episode has been banned twice, each after real-life terrorist incidents, and had also been bowdlerised on Toon Disney.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Cathy Weseluck, the future voice actress of Near and Spike, has a voice credit in this series under "Additional Voices".
  • Mama Robotnik and Katella are both voiced by Kathleen Barr, the future voice of Trixie Lulamoon from the aforementioned My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
  • During its run, the series ran a "Watch & Win Sweepstakes". One of the two winners was a young boy named Christian Weston Chandler.
• Rooting for the Empire: Most fans seem to like the villains (Robotnik, Scratch, and Grounder) better than the heroes, so much so that these same fans will often remark that the show should really be called "The Adventures of Dr. Robotnik."
• So Bad, It's Good: For those who consider the series to be a Guilty Pleasure.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • The series has some decent one-shot characters. Perhaps most blatantly are Robotnik's earlier bots who, despite being utilized and even given names and personalities in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, make only cameos in the pilot and one or two more episodes if very lucky.
  • The series adapted Princess Sally for a voiceless cameo in the Christmas Special.
  • Many fans were disappointed that Katella only ever appeared in one episode, as she was such a great foil to Robotnik that they felt that she could have been an excellent recurring secondary antagonist.
  • Coconuts didn't get nearly as much screentime as Scratch and Grounder, which is unfortunate as he served as a solid foil to the duo, being a slightly more competent henchman who was still prone to fouling up out of his own lust for glory instead of the idiocy that tended to ruin Scratch and Grounder's plans.
• This Is Your Premise on Drugs: This series is best summed up as Sonic the Hedgehog meets Looney Tunes with some The Ren & Stimpy Show sprinkles and a heapin' helping of Max Fleischer surreality.
• Ugly Cute:
  • Robotnik Jr., Scratch and Grounder.
  • Robotnik himself in some episodes ("Lovesick Sonic", "Robotnik Jr."), where the expressive animation makes him look like a big orange teddy bear.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The "Sonic Says" segment of "Trail of the Missing Tails" has Sonic teaching kids that they should remember their home phone number in case they need call their parents. Nowadays, kids can just store numbers on their phones.
• Unpopular Popular Character: Dr. Robotnik is feared by the citizens of Mobius and Sonic takes his evil plan of the week effortlessly, but watching him fail everytime and throwing his over-the-top tantrums make him extremely endearing for viewers.
• Values Resonance: The Sonic Says about someone touching you in a place that you feel is uncomfortable, as memed as it is, gets a lot of admiration today. It's actually very helpful in teaching kids what to do if they feel they're being molested, especially when sexual harassment and child exploitation have become a more discussed issue over the years. While many cartoons of the '90s did PSAs about child sexual abuse, they were forbidden to actually define it, which made any advice on the subject useless more often than not. Sonic's take on these PSAs has gotten positive attention in hindsight because even with the usual restrictions it still managed to say something valuable. This considering Sonic, of all characters, giving such instructions.
• Vindicated by History: When the series first came out, many fans labeled it as being inferior to SatAM due to the latter focusing on action and stealth rather than humor. This only got worse when SatAM got screwed over by ABC, and syndication markets continued to air AoStH even into the early 2000s. The backlash eventually died down by the time Toon Disney and Pop UK ran the series. During YouTube's infancy, a user named "sonicutie" uploaded most of the episodes, leading to their eventual use in various YouTube Poop, which kept the series from fading into obscurity. Nowadays, the series has gained a cult following among fans, with many enjoying its wacky humor and fun villains.
• Watch It for the Meme: Most fans only care about "Boogey-Mania" for one line. One line that has nothing to do with its plot, no less.
• The Woobie:
  • Usually Tails thanks to Robotnik using him as a pawn in order to get to Sonic.
  • Sonic has his moments, such as the episode "Sloooowwww Going".
  • Coconuts can be this when you realize he is actually trying to get a promotion instead of being evil.
  • Goopster the alien in "So Long Sucker" is this.
  • Lawrence the Lab Rat from "Pseudo Sonic". He's basically an innocent teenage rat whose parents are being held hostage by Robotnik and he's forced to commit crimes with their lives on the line. On top of this, he gets a nasty rash from falling into a field of toxic flowers.
  • Captain Rescue from "Over the Hill Hero" qualifies, considering the way that Sonic treats him in the episode.

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