Big the Cat is officially retired

[MegaMan_EXE]

Eh......

Not gonna miss him.

[Johnny Boy]

Eh......

Not gonna miss him.

Trust me, your not the only one.

[Badnik Zero]

This is the end of my dream for a Warioland meets Sonic meets Boy and His Blob type of game where Froggy gains emerald powers and the two go on a comedy friendship quest. CANCELLED FOREVER IN MY MIND.

[goku262002]

>Still no official word

>People still taking it as fact

Man wish someone from SoJ would reply to this mess and clear things up. I recall that Sonic Team once had a active JP blog, is it still around?

[Your Vest Friend]

Yeah, it's active, but it's never been used for stuff other than Sonic Channel stuff. Never heard of any ST reps talking through it to people personally.

[AlphaRuby]

I was never a fan of Big. I just found him very annoying. And considering the series has another purple cat who is the complete polar opposite of him (Character, speed, popularity, etc), I'm not gonna miss him.

But all of that is just my opinion.

[Milo]

Wait, so.....has this actually been confirmed? Or is this still based off the OP/Ken saying it?

[Peelout!]

Is this official? I really gonna miss Big the Cat! Well, It´s only playable in Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle and Sonic and the Dark Brotherhood and SSASR (I can´t remember any other title right now), but I always love the design, because itsn´t another hedgehog shape character. I hope itn´t true.

[Johnny Boy]

Is this official? I really gonna miss Big the Cat! Well, It´s only playable in Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle and Sonic and the Dark Brotherhood and SSASR (I can´t remember any other title right now), but I always love the design, because itsn´t another hedgehog shape character. I hope itn´t true.

Sonic Heroes says hi

[Indigo Rush]

Aaron Webber indirectly confirmed it. It's probably as official of a confirmation we're going to get. Removing a character is not something they'll make an official press release for.

And keep in mind: Ken Balough is a known Big the Cat fanatic. He'd be sure to get this stuff straight before making a claim like that.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Indigo Rush

[rewfewfawfwfae]

I wasn't a huge fan of Big. I feel bad for any fans he might have though as it must suck to lose one of your favorite (or your favorite) character in the Sonic series.

[Komodin]

Hm, you know what bugs me a bit about this?

That Big seems to be the only one of Sonic's current supporting cast that's confirmed to be tossed into the Scrappy Heap. I mean, Big's not exactly the most well-liked Sonic character by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not like he's the only one with a generally negative reputation.

[Johnny Boy]

Hm, you know what bugs me a bit about this?

That Big seems to be the only one of Sonic's current supporting cast that's confirmed to be tossed into the Scrappy Heap. I mean, Big's not exactly the most well-liked Sonic character by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not like he's the only one with a generally negative reputation.

True and with all the crap Silver gets you'd think he'd be a candidate for the scrap heap. But at this rate I think anybody who didn't show up in generations is fair game.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Dark Energon Johnny

[Your Vest Friend]

As much as Silver is derided here and in other select places like the Sega forums, he actually has quite a solid fan following, especially in Japan.

[Nepenthe]

Wouldn't surprise me about a big Japanese fan following. His voice actor just blew up out of nowhere and is now very popular. That's probably a large contributing factor to his staying power.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Ladies and Gentlemen...

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and... LOVE BIG THE CAT!

Look.... time I do the most criticism it gets is 'I don't like big! He is shit!' and I read it with all the hope, life and emotional sentiment of a Dalek. So it's pretty much my thoughts on Big and why I think he's quite a good character, much more than what the majority just quickly pass him off as.

Although I do wonder if Ken Balough has seen that post yet?

Anyway... has Big gone to the retirement castle? Not sure yet. Part of me thinks it's possible... although you wonder who else went... what you think they just held a meeting to decide one character? Nope... they all went.

But either way. If Big has gone, it's not so bad... afterall, he had one hell of a good career as a Sonic character. A lot of highlights. I only wish he'd retired on more of a high than what he got, even if it was just him sailing away on a raft with Froggy, with a giant stack of fish. He looks down at froggy and says 'Did I ever tell you about my time as an acrobat?' and then Froggy replies with 'Why no sir, you did not!' END.

Its the perfect ending! Just because!

Or Big sat in a chair dressed in a suit, a bunch of other cars around him.... one kisses his paw and says 'Don Big' The door then closes.

Oh well... But I put it to you fellow Sonic fans. And not just Big fans... because we're all part of the same Big universe. Even if Big has gone, why must he be forgotten? I SAY we turn him into a legend, a long running joke, in every Sonic game we say 'Big was in that game... he was in/hiding/behind/at.... the... *insert object here.*

For instance. "Big was in Sonic Generations... He was driving the GUN truck!" (although I like it more that the GUN truck has no driver and is actually alive... It's forever driving, driving and driving and driving...)

Big was in Sonic Unleashed... he was the one who kidnapped Yasmin.

The new ASRT? Who do you think is hiding in the boot of Sonic's car!

Now for some of my favourite Big the Cat artwork... during some old Episodes of Radio Redux, AAUK asked for someone to draw him "Spider Big" So I did... Then he asked for 'Big the Cat Vs joker' So I did.

Does whatever, the Spider-Big does!

But if Big is gone... let him live on, in legend. We must say he appears in every game henceforth! Such as, if Metal Gear Solid was released today, Big is in that game... he watches you through the window during the torture sequence.

[goku262002]

Gotta make youself known, huh Hogfather?...

Yeah, it's active, but it's never been used for stuff other than Sonic Channel stuff. Never heard of any ST reps talking through it to people personally.

Ah I see, I remember at one point it used to be a personal blog with SoJ team members posting about daily life or stuff going on at SEGA. shame its turned into just a SC updater blog.

Aaron Webber indirectly confirmed it. It's probably as official of a confirmation we're going to get. Removing a character is not something they'll make an official press release for.

And keep in mind: Ken Balough is a known Big the Cat fanatic. He'd be sure to get this stuff straight before making a claim like that.

I'm not expecting a press release but I don't think The SoA PR crew should be the mouthpieces for SoJ either, it could be allways a lie or a ploy for something ahead.

I'll I'm checking this topic for now is for somebody posting a twitter response from someone at SoJ either confirming or denying it. I should check over at Bumbleking too to see if Ian is still allowed to use Big the Cat (that would tell us something for sure because character uses in the US comic change at a blink of an eye, 1 issue you could see a character and the next SoJ could've demanded the character to be removed or never used again).

[Marcello]

If this is true it won't effect the comic. It can still use Fagn, Bark, Bean, Mighty and Ray.

[Salamander]

I find it somewhat hard to believe that they'd dedicate time to deciding whether to officially never use certain characters ever again when they're already coasting along very flexibly deciding whether to use certain characters on a game-by-game basis. It just doesn't seem necessary when the same effect is achieved by simply deciding in developing a specific game what characters they want to use in it.

[goku262002]

If this is true it won't effect the comic. It can still use Fagn, Bark, Bean, Mighty and Ray.

Yeah but there...different its hard to explain but I guess I can put it this way, Since they did start as game characters but were removed from the active roster before the 1998 franchise reboot but continued to stay as comic characters I guess by SEGA's way of thinking there officially known as "Comic" characters now. So Archie is free to use them however they want to until SEGA has plans to boot them back into the active roster.

I guess if Big was removed from the active roster or put in TBD Limbo the Comic universe wouldn't be such a bad home for him. we'd still get to see him regularity if Ian would have anything to say about it.

[Kuzu]

Gotta make youself known, huh Hogfather?...

Ah I see, I remember at one point it used to be a personal blog with SoJ team members posting about daily life or stuff going on at SEGA. shame its turned into just a SC updater blog.

I'm not expecting a press release but I don't think The SoA PR crew should be the mouthpieces for SoJ either, it could be allways a lie or a ploy for something ahead.

I'll I'm checking this topic for now is for somebody posting a twitter response from someone at SoJ either confirming or denying it. I should check over at Bumbleking too to see if Ian is still allowed to use Big the Cat (that would tell us something for sure because character uses in the US comic change at a blink of an eye, 1 issue you could see a character and the next SoJ could've demanded the character to be removed or never used again).

Why does it sound like you're in denial at this point? We've heard from two official Sega members that they're not using him in the near future, it doesn't matter if they're PR announcers, and they don't need to be from SoJ either, they're all Sega and have a say so in how the franchise is run as well; meaning there is a major chance that Big will not be around anymore, and we don't need to hear it from Iizuka's mouth as a confirmation.

[goku262002]

Why does it sound like you're in denial at this point? We've heard from two official Sega members that they're not using him in the near future, it doesn't matter if they're PR announcers, and they don't need to be from SoJ either, they're all Sega and have a say so in how the franchise is run as well; meaning there is a major chance that Big will not be around anymore, and we don't need to hear it from Iizuka's mouth as a confirmation.

And I don't believe them I'm sorry if I won't take what Ken says as word of god like the rest of you I'm allowed to doubt what he says.

I thought Ruby was a former SEGA employee?

[Marcello]

Yeah but there...different its hard to explain but I guess I can put it this way, Since they did start as game characters but were removed from the active roster before the 1998 franchise reboot but continued to stay as comic characters I guess by SEGA's way of thinking there officially known as "Comic" characters now. So Archie is free to use them however they want to until SEGA has plans to boot them back into the active roster.

I guess if Big was removed from the active roster or put in TBD Limbo the Comic universe wouldn't be such a bad home for him. we'd still get to see him regularity if Ian would have anything to say about it.

Ah, I see what you mean. I think he'll be fine, though.

Why does it sound like you're in denial at this point? We've heard from two official Sega members that they're not using him in the near future, it doesn't matter if they're PR announcers, and they don't need to be from SoJ either, they're all Sega and have a say so in how the franchise is run as well; meaning there is a major chance that Big will not be around anymore, and we don't need to hear it from Iizuka's mouth as a confirmation.

"Not using him in the near future" is different than "retiring him".

Nor do they have a say in how the series is run.

Edited June 13, 2012 by MarcelloF

[Your Vest Friend]

Yeah but there...different its hard to explain but I guess I can put it this way, Since they did start as game characters but were removed from the active roster before the 1998 franchise reboot but continued to stay as comic characters I guess by SEGA's way of thinking there officially known as "Comic" characters now. So Archie is free to use them however they want to until SEGA has plans to boot them back into the active roster.

Not Archie characters specifically, just retired game characters. Remember that Fleetway's comic was still active when they weren't brought back in 1998, but it had died before the Heroes Chaotix were reintroduced.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So erm... has there been any word of other characters getting the axe? Only... why just Big? Assuming this is true and not one big leg pull thats going to end on Sonic's birthday for some reason.

Only the picture the scene, a Sonic Team, team meeting is taking place, the usual stuff is discussed and then they bring up the topic of axing Big? Erm... thats a tad random isn't it? But replace Big with any minor character and it still doesn't quite make sense. Even if it was Cream.

If this story ends up being true, what I suspect has happened is that a decision has been made to remove some characters from publicity and promotion. A memo has then gone out to most marketing and public relation departments regarding the use of some characters, which possibly includes something about certain characters not being used in any future promotional content. Wouldn't surprise me if Big's name was on that list as well as several other characters.

Now the question remains, who else got the chop? I wouldn't be surprised if Marine is gone, although I suspect she went a long time ago.