General Sonic The Hedgehog thread

Eggman's tried using guns before and they don't work. Bullet's don't work on people who are faster than bullets.

06 plays like an alpha-stage fangame, and has several issues with Sonic's character (or lack thereof) due to focusing far too much on romance. Story-wise, Shadow carries that game, as he feels, rather than as an edgelord, as the "I've got this" guy.

Yeah, looking back, Sonic in 06 was just the guy Lacey Chabert romanced, while Silver was plain cacophonic. Shadow, once Gerald's agenda was done with, ended up being enjoyable. Serious, no-nonsense, to the point, arrogant (and with reason) and ruthless makes a good contrast with well-done Sonic, who is also arrogant (and with reasons to be) but takes stuff far less seriously, despite getting stuff done. Easy conflict both when in the same side (with both hedgehogs thinking the other just gets in the way, and one of them being enough to get the job done) and in different ones (easy mirror fight).

Or, once again, Sonic is Goku to Shadow's Vegeta and Knuckles' Piccolo.

Edited by Eriorguez on Feb 19th 2019 at 1:36:28 PM

I've never heard a single person say "Eggman should use a gun". Sonic's too fast to shoot.

Eggman does use guns. The opening cinematic for Sonic Unleashed has him shooting at Sonic using a Gatling gun and Sonic easily avoids it. Pretty sure he gets shot at by regular bullets in 06, too.

To clarify, I don't hear it that often, but it's still far more often than I'd actually expect

The reason this started is because of that Nex Gen trailer last page, where Sonic gets shot and tanks bullets that only manage to knock him out.

Eggman used guns in the 2 moments he got to win: Before spacing Sonic in the Ark, and at the end of Riders' story mode.

Both times he never fired them.

And, in any case, he has ballistic weapons mounted in many, MANY of his robots.

Sometimes, it's best to use the heavy artillery.

Eggman's even got a carpet to signify his victory!

Looking back, Shadow really wasn't that much of an edgelord in his heydey when you really examine his behavior and actions. Infinite in comparison is way edgier, it's just that Shadow is surrounded in edgelord trappings built up by fans and the marketing of his game. The Shadow in Sonic Boom is basically the edgelord everyone thinks Shadow is/was.

At least Forces kept Shadow in character. The worst he does is mock Infinite. Infinite could be a Replacement Flat Character to Shadow Up To Eleven.

Shadow's personality isn't edgy per see, it's the stuff like his backstory that is edgy

But the main reason he is considered edgy in personality is because of his game, probably because it's his only spin off, poor softboi couldn't shake that reputation off ever since

Edited by Fedetropes on Feb 19th 2019 at 9:01:50 AM

And we're back to using the term "edgy" and "edgelord" unironically.

Those words have not overstayed their welcome quite yet.

That's debatable.

While I don't think the term edgelord was ever meant to be used (or at least accepted) seriously, the term edgy does have an actual meaning that people use it for all the time.

I still use it if I need to, though I'll admit I've had at least one conversation where someone tried to invalidate my entire point as a result of me using a word they didn't like.

People misuse the word 'edgy' so often though, even applying it to stuff that, by definition, aren't even that edgy.

That other people misuse a word doesn't make actual contextual uses of the word suddenly stop making sense.

This is especially true in a situation where everyone in a given conversation knows what a person should mean by using the word anyway, which just turns making a big deal over the use of that word into meaningless semantics.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Feb 19th 2019 at 9:01:43 AM

But can we really call Shadow an "edgy" character?

Because Google's definition is:

• tense, nervous, or irritable. "he became edgy and defensive"
• at the forefront of a trend; experimental or avant-garde. "their songs combine good music and smart, edgy ideas"

It seems like the actual definition has been muddied with time.

Shadow's backstory is pretty much Mewtwo's tho.

Also "characterized by tension" - Mirriam-Webster, and “tense and irritable” - Online Etymology Dictionary, but that's only related to the history/linguistic overview I'm about to write.

The term as typically used informal came about in the 80's and 90's due to the those and the latter definition you posted being used to describe the musical and narrative trends of that era: darker tones, more anti-social / anti-establishment and violent themes, anti-heroes and loners, the faux-goth trend in general, etc.

Eventually, the term began to be informally but inextricably linked to those sorts of ideas in general, in the same way "soulful" is used to describe R&B, extreme stated being used in the 80’s to describe a certain brand of action theming, and other terms have very specific cultural and era connotations despite not (yet) having dictionary reflection of those connotations.

In this case, the term edgy outside it's literal definition is typically used to describe that kind if effect as the era in which the term became linked to the definition - particularly in regards to characters who are dark, anti-social and hostile in a way that's depicted as admirable.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Feb 20th 2019 at 5:22:01 AM

@Soble: If people use a word to mean a certain thing, then that becomes its new definition.

In comparison to figures in other media (especially in American comic books circa the 90s), Shadow really isn't terribly edgy, he just seemed that way in comparison to the relatively light characters around him. This is specifically the game's canon by the way; if you debut Shadow in either the Archie or Fleetway comics he wouldn't have felt that out of place, or be seen with a particularly dark backstory by the settings' standards.

Edited by BorneAgain on Feb 20th 2019 at 8:30:41 AM

There's nothing particularly "edgy" about Shadow. He just has a standard tragic backstory. He's just a bit odd by the series' standards.

"Edgy" has a term has lost any meaning, though. It's overused to the point of meaning multiple things.