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Comparing Sonic Characters to those of other franchises


Jack / Joker

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Sonic and his friends are a colourful bunch of mutant animals with different roles and personalities, just like characters in every other franchise ever. But just how cliched or original are these one-eyed, bright-furred... things? They seem to go by a basic guidebook of character cliches, so how do they look compared to the characters of other worlds who also follow these cliches? Here we may discuss how the characters share similarities with, and possibly take influence from, the characters of the vast world of fiction. Until we end up talking about how crappy Silver is or why Tails and Knuckles aren't playable. Like we always do :P

Like compare the Sonic characters to those of the Dark Knight Rises. We have Batman/Bruce Wayne, who is admittedly more similar to Shadow the Hedgehog than the cheesy, witty action hero Sonic, R. John Blake, a young'in with a troubled past who looks at the main hero as his idol, and plays as his almost-as-capable sidekick, just like our very own Miles "Tails" Prower and Selina Kyle/Rouge the Bat, a seductive yet selfish anti-hero who just loves expensive things, yet values her hero just a bit more in the end.

inb4SonicislikeMario

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Nice thread! Yes, I get the Shadow/Batman Rouge/Catwoman thing. Not so sure about the Robin/tails thing, as robin's been protrayed differently recently (and so has tails).

Sonic reminds me of Marty McFly from Back to the Future... Not sure why, maybe it's the voice. Mind you, both are cocky hot-heads.

Amy always reminds me a bit of Misa from the DEATH NOTE series, but I guess that's partially due to the voice. But, they're both girls who are obsessed with guys who aren't that into them, and both are hopeless romantics who aren't afraid to fight.

Espio always reminds me of Qui-Gon from the Star Wars franchise, but that's purely because he's a ninja (and a stero-typical one).

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Well, let's compare Sonic to another hero. Mega Man. Since Archie is having a crossover, it's fitting to compare the two. Hell, before the crossover, I can tell that both series are similar. You have the heroes that save the day, Sonic and Mega Man, to the smart sciencey and know tech people like Tails and Auto. The female character role is between Amy and Roll, to the characters with long back stories such as Proto Man and Shadow. I know that one picture with Proto Man's helmet, and Knuckles's gloves, but other than appearing in the 3rd game in both franchises, they don't have much in common (That, and they're both red. :P.)

We also have the villain roles of Dr.Eggman and Dr.Wily. Both have their enemy types, Badniks for Eggman, and Robot Masters for Wily.

Then we have the greatest creations of both doctors. From Eggman, we have Metal Sonic, and from Wily, we have Bass, both we created to copy the abilities of Sonic and Mega Man. That's really about it. ^_^;

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On topic:

Sonic is too generic to say that It can't be compared to any series. That is one of the biggest problems with the franchise, as the only thing that makes it unique is the use of non-commonplace animals (except a few here).

My favorite comparison is to Star Fox. A hyper protagonist, a smart side protagonist, and a protagonist with a temper matches up a few charactes (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles respective to Fox, Peppy, and Falco) and a later on addition to a hyperactive romantic counterpart (Amy to Sonic as Katt to Falco). Also, the endgame usually ends up with some type of boss with the closest qualities of a human being (Andross to Eggman [Robotnik]) and so on and so forth....

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I always compare Sonic with other of my favorite series, the Ratchet & Clank one.

Sonic and Ratchet are both cocky characters that have sometimes a jerk moment, this was mostly present in Chronicles and R&C1.

Both have a smart side protagonist that is always there to help using its gadgets or decifering something out of their levels. Oh, also both help the heros fly of course.

Those two also put their friends above all (well, nowadays Ratchet anyway) and like to rush into the action, putting them in danger most of the times.

Edited by Tmsp
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To add more comparisons, Amy Rose is similar to Harley Quinn, The Joker's self-proclaimed girlfriend. They both view their kinda boyfriends as God's gift to the world, and they both rival each other in terms of dysfunctional relationships. Shadow also bears similarities to Anakin Skywalker. Their love for Maria and Padme ended up being their fall to evil and later, rise to heroic victory. The Knuckles/Han Solo comparison is sort of obvious. Sort of.

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^On that note, I've often enjoyed the idea, touched upon in previous threads that Joker (particularly Nolan's) and Sonic share more than a few similarities, despite standing as far as possible on the opposite sides of the fence when it comes to morality.

Neither have a back story; both have been described as a force of nature and possess very little regard for order, preferring to move constantly on impulse much like 'a dog chasing cars'; they're exhibitionists; they place heavy emphasis on freedom and enjoying themselves, following their own code while opposing anyone who threatens their freedom regardless of allegiance. There's also their direct relationship with chaos and the fact that they face a foe that tries very hard to establish order through fear.

I like the idea that if Sonic was evil, he could very well be like the Joker. Less intelligent, maybe, but psychologically a possibility.

Edited by Lungo
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Sonic is too generic to say that It can't be compared to any series. That is one of the biggest problems with the franchise, as the only thing that makes it unique is the use of non-commonplace animals (except a few here).

I think more of the problem is that they didn't know what to do with him. The original games make him seem more like he has an attitude problem, and probably more close to Shadow's original debut (not to THAT extreme, but closer) than Heroes where he's all "Team work!" and a moral officer. Shadow's game Sonic is very soft-hearted and sentimental. Sonic Color's he's a big, cheesy moron.

I don't think Sonic has a set personality.

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Character analysises ~

Sonic the Hedgehog

A witty, cheesy American action hero. Sonic is cocky, arrogant and outright rude, but he's also soft, the most selfless man in the world, and incredibly well thought of by his friends. Hated by his enemies and adored by his allies, Sonic isn't just satisfied with heroes prevailing, he needs to rub it right under the big, pointy, pink nose of evil. He doesn't stand for evil and corruption, and he's literally impossible to break, Sonic will always try to help misguided knuckleheads see the light and see the world through his green cat-like eyes. Sonic can adjust to almost any situation he's in, and he will never give up no matter how much the odds are against him, which they rarely are due to his unstoppable determination, and his golden heart. Sonic can be compared to Leon Kennedy of Resident Evil, or on a far different scale, the Joker of Batman. He wouldn't feel out of place in Looney Tunes either. As far as wisecracking furballs go, Sonic will always be the best.

Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik

An egotistical, mentally unstable and evil scientist. A bit of an overused cliche. Yet Eggman really comes into his own here. There are countless evil scientists in the world of fiction and Dr. Robotnik owns them all. He's a symbol of industrialism and greed; shown by his robot army, his huge hatred of Mother Nature, and the fact that he's a big fat bastard. Eggman is a criminal mastermind, he's the brains behind countless parts of Sonic's world, and he's the numero uno most wanted there. No villains have ever faced the quills of Sonic and tried to face off with him again. Robotnik's sheer love of himself and his "wonderful" ideas are what keep him going, and they must be very, very strong since the whole world is against him. He's an example of an attention seeker who gets what he wants due to the natural instincts of a mutant animal. If Sonic just left Eggman alone, he'd probably go away. He's somewhat like Edward Nigma/The Riddler, Professor Hugo Strange, and the Joker blended into one, as well as being like the many lesser evil doctors of gaming who ended up making him look even more glorious as a character.

Espio the Chameleon

Espio is an interesting one. He's quiet and thoughtful, somewhat monotonous and cheesy, obviously intelligent and seemingly OTT at times. He's the only member of Team Chaotix who's actually capable of solving a case without distraction. He is a cliched ninja, but a refreshing one. Espio is quite deep and soulful, while managing to be a bit of an ass sometimes. He has even threatened to murder Dr. Eggman should it be necessary. Anyone familiar with any ninja in general, especially Prowl from Transformers Animated, can see that Espio shares pretty much every personality trait. Espio kind of stands out compared to characters like Eggman or Big, and I'd like to see him live up to all that potential he has.

Edited by KnuxterKLJ
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Is VEDJ-F about to hijack the thread with more Chaotix drivel? She is! Now you can leave the post!

Well, I would have some prominent candidates for comparison to Vector and Espio *coughitsintheusernamecough*, but I thought it'd be more interesting to compare them to...something else. Not so much characters, but common specific character archetypes.

Vector and Espio, when taken as a duo without Charmy (although he could fit in, as I'll address later), seem very heavily reminiscent of all those B-movie martial arts films that existed throughout the 70s and made a bit of a revival in the 80s/90s. In these, either the main character themselves is a ghetto type martial artist, or the main martial artist protagonist will have a friend who's all about the ghetto. I'm looking at films like City Dragon and No Retreat, No Surrender, but there do seem to be a lot which mix the two together outside of those. Was this movement supposed to be an attempt to mix martial arts schlock with Blaxsploitation (I'd ask Turbojet, but...), and why was it so common?

Anyway, Vector and Espio represent that overarching theme pretty well. Vector always was that sort of character so he was presumably just supposed to represent the hip-happening 90s dude kind of person, so I could see him being made without this in mind, but I have to wonder if this might have been a partial reason for making Espio into a stereotypical ninja when he'd only been a detective before (of course, the fact he could change his body colour anyway is bound to have played a part in that as well). Which would be weird because I didn't think that Japan knew about this predominantly American phase. Still, whether or not it was intentional, it seems to echo them anyway. Also, the awkwardly inept gumshoe detective is also pretty common for Japan, which is why Vector has a lot in common with any one of those (although he's more competent than most). And yes, detectives have been mixed with martial arts too.

As for Charmy? Well, every gang in the 80s and early 90s apparently needed some sort of tag-along kid to act as a means for the kiddies to empathise with, so...

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Personally I would compare Sonic more to the role of Robin and Tails to the role of Batman.

The reason why I say this, is because Sonic is a character who is always looking for trouble, wants to be there in the thick of things-on the front line fighting the good fight. I look at Robin in the films Batman Forever, Batman & Robin and the 1960's series of Batman with Burt Ward as Robin. Robin like Sonic needs to be kept in check as he is often close to going too far

And it's Tails/Batman who keeps Robin/Sonic in check. Tails is a more methodical and careful (slightly brooding) type of character like Batman. Sonic would have probably been defeated if it was not for Tails helping out. The same could be said for Batman watching over Robin.

Edited by MilesKnightwing
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I always thought Omega was like Duke Nukem because they both love nothing more than to blow shit up. It also helps that they were once voiced by the same person.

Cream is sort of like Bubbles from the powerpuff girls to me. This because they both have a very high pitched voice, they are very innocent and sweet. But if you managed to get them pissed off at you they can show surprisingly competent fighting skills (Sonic X for cream and as for Bubbles, well, Bubblevicious. Enough said.).

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Sometimes I like to imagine Sonic & Knuckles in a buddy cop show in the vein of Starsky & Hutch,ya know Sonic being the gung-ho cop always willing to take chances and impulsively rushes into things, while Knuckles would try to do things by the book and be the more emotional one towards the cases.

It'd be amazing, then you can have Tails come in and be their junior apprentice who tries to learn his own brand of justice, and Sonic & Knuckles argue who's way is better towards teaching the young fox, it'd be amazing.

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Hate to bump my own thread here, but bleh...

Metal Sonic is incredibly similar to Starscream. He started off obeying his master, but soon he grew tired of his ideals and became all about his own success. He's a traitor and an egotist, he's always trying to defeat the Autobots/Mutant Animals as well as fuck Eggm-egatron over, and he's completely pathetic really. Despite his great abilities, he's pretty stupid for disobeying his powerful former-ally, and he rarely doesn't fail spectacularly...

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Well, let's compare Sonic to another hero. Mega Man. Since Archie is having a crossover, it's fitting to compare the two. Hell, before the crossover, I can tell that both series are similar. You have the heroes that save the day, Sonic and Mega Man, to the smart sciencey and know tech people like Tails and Auto. The female character role is between Amy and Roll, to the characters with long back stories such as Proto Man and Shadow. I know that one picture with Proto Man's helmet, and Knuckles's gloves, but other than appearing in the 3rd game in both franchises, they don't have much in common (That, and they're both red. tongue.png.)

We also have the villain roles of Dr.Eggman and Dr.Wily. Both have their enemy types, Badniks for Eggman, and Robot Masters for Wily.

Then we have the greatest creations of both doctors. From Eggman, we have Metal Sonic, and from Wily, we have Bass, both we created to copy the abilities of Sonic and Mega Man. That's really about it. happy.png;

I agree on all acounts.Especially Amy and Roll because it's actually been implied that Roll might have a crush on Rock (seriously play Powered Up). Well, I totally don't have anything else to say besides the fact that I agree.

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