Who has been Sonic's best rival so far?

[Autosaver]

One problem: they're not his rivals. Hell, they barely interact with him at all.

Is that Rouge I see?

/not a serious reply

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Metal Sonic.

Despite getting his ass kicked, at least he tries.

I could argue that Jet is like this as well, except he actually almost succeeded in beating Sonic in the first Riders game. Granted it WAS at Extreme Sports, and granted Jet cares more about his ego and reputation than he does about destroying Sonic like Metal does, but hey, gotta give credit where credit is due.

Oh almost forgot to mention that he was cheating.

Edited October 22, 2012 by Enigmanator

[WarioBone]

Is that Rouge I see?

Rouge makes Knuckles the second-most-important character in the game, due to being the only rival with a rival. :V

[Wraith]

Wait, doesn't Blaze not get her ass kicked by Sonic? Don't they tie?

Gotta give it to her.

[StaticMania]

Wait, doesn't Blaze not get her ass kicked by Sonic? Don't they tie?

Gotta give it to her.

Blaze was being hostile, never was an actual rival.

[SilJeff]

Shadow in SA2

Knuckles

Metal Sonic

[Kuzu]

Sonic's absolute plot armor has almost everything to do with how he shows his opposition up, and if nothing it also reflects just as badly on him as it does his enemies. There's plenty of fights Sonic should've logically lost, yet he won anyway simply because he has to, so really, ambition and effort ultimately don't matter at the end of the day.

Anyway, to answer the question, I feel it would be Jet, because I feel that's the only guy who has not only traditionally rivaled him but did the best job of it, as in Sonic clearly took him as a threat to the actual competition.

In Sonic's defense, him and Shadow were basically equals before they decided to stack on the amount of powers he has, Shadow only having Chaos Control above Sonic, and the entire game is spent trying to catch up to him. Plus, a Rival isn't much of a rival if he/she doesn't have some type of upper hand over the protagonist for him to overcome so it's to preserve the drama, yes Plot Armor has a lot to do with it, but let's face it; Plot Armor is damn near omnipresent in most stories especially if your hero(es) are meant to overcome seemingly impossible odds.

[Sega DogTagz]

Wait, doesn't Blaze not get her ass kicked by Sonic? Don't they tie?

Gotta give it to her.

In Blaze's story they fight to a draw. Leaving her free to go after Cream.

In Sonic's story, Blaze is either too fatigued or injured from their sparring match, resulting in Sonic making the trip instead.

She avoids the clear shot beat down that many of Sonic's rivals inevitably received, but you still have to call those two situations Advantage Hedgehog.

[Multikaris]

This sentence defines all of Sonic's rivals.

Every single one of Sonic's rivals have been better than him in every way (with the exception of Silver, but he can gtfo), due to literally being him +superpowers. Knuckles "was" just as fast as Sonic, but forty times as strong and could pretty much fly. Metal Sonic is FASTER than Sonic, can fly, has claws, etc. Shadow was Sonic but with plot-convenient magic. Blaze was Sonic, but can hover/fly and use fire. Then there's Jet, who was pretty much the best at the sport they were competing in.

Sonic still whooped ass all over every single one of them. Every time. All the time. All night long.

Rivals should have more conflict than just showing up, using a fancy power to get the upper hand (Knuckles punches Super Sonic, Metal steals Amy, Shadow Chaos Controls him, Jet...uh...knocks him down), then getting beaten down later on and becoming best buds with Sonic.

Metal didn't become a bud. Nor did Jet. Or Rouge and Omega.

[Riverstone]

God i hate metal sonic. The only time i liked him was in the cartoon movie. In the games hes just an over used emotionless droid imo. Knuckles and shadow were both epic rivals in their time. Mecha sonic from s3&k was fucking awesome too. Silver had potential but his childish characteristics made him too weak. Shame cause his abilites were freakin cool

[Anti Alias]

In Blaze's story they fight to a draw. Leaving her free to go after Cream.

In Sonic's story, Blaze is either too fatigued or injured from their sparring match, resulting in Sonic making the trip instead.

She avoids the clear shot beat down that many of Sonic's rivals inevitably received, but you still have to call those two situations Advantage Hedgehog.

I always thought that it was an emotional breakdown that made Blaze stop fighting with all the "I have always been alone" thing and such.

awesome stuff that no longer happens with characters BTW.

[Komodin]

Or Rouge and Omega.

Again, they never were Sonic's rivals. They barely interact with him.

[#EndyGate]

Metal Sonic would have to be him. Though he has been taking on the role of a villain lately, he still is driven by the desire to not only best Sonic, but to become the true Sonic.

Jet is an honorable mention, mainly for being the only rival other than Metal to not lose his hatred/jealousy for the hedgehog and become his friend.

Metal didn't become a bud. Nor did Jet. Or Rouge and Omega.

Actually, Rouge was invited to Sonic's birthday party, so they seem to have some kind of friendly relationship going on

Edited October 22, 2012 by That Bastard Cero

[Wraith]

Metal Sonic would have to be him. Though he has been taking on the role of a villain lately, he still is driven by the desire to not only best Sonic, but to become the true Sonic.

Jet is an honorable mention, mainly for being the only rival other than Metal to not lose his hatred/jealousy for the hedgehog and become his friend.

Actually, Rouge was invited to Sonic's birthday party, so they seem to have some kind of friendly relationship going on

Omega probably would have gone too, but he probably went to Shadow's party out of pity.

[WarioBone]

Omega probably would have gone too, but he probably went to Shadow's party out of pity.

lulz

And yeah, while Jet and Sonic have growing respect for one another, they aren't exactly friends. He deserves honorable mention, I suppose.

[scourgeandfionafan123]

if we are including the archie universe, i say scourge, fiona fox, destructix, and mecha sally

[Sega DogTagz]

I always thought that it was an emotional breakdown that made Blaze stop fighting with all the "I have always been alone" thing and such.

Sonic: Blaze, you stay here. In your condition...

He could be talking about her mental condition, but even if that were the case he's the one who caused that breakdown by being the force that obliterated her stubborn resolve.

awesome stuff that no longer happens with characters BTW.

There's plenty of great emotionally charged character driven moments in Unleashed and Colors.

[Wraith]

if we are including the archie universe, i say scourge, fiona fox, destructix, and mecha sally

I disagree with all except Mecha Sally. Mecha Sally is a motherfucking boss.

[LordMetallix]

Sonic: Blaze, you stay here. In your condition...

He could be talking about her mental condition, but even if that were the case he's the one who caused that breakdown by being the force that obliterated her stubborn resolve.

You know, I've played that game so many times yet I never thought of it that way. I always just assumed he meant physical condition. Interesting way to think about it.

[Emmett L. Brown]

Sonic: Blaze, you stay here. In your condition...

He could be talking about her mental condition, but even if that were the case he's the one who caused that breakdown by being the force that obliterated her stubborn resolve.

Her stubborn resolve included a willingness to kill, which Sonic is really not cool with, so if she'd reverted back to that attitude Sonic probably would've continued fighting her. Blaze kicks plenty ass after lightening up, anyway.

Pun intentional, and I'm not even embarrased about it!

[Forever Eevee]

Shadow.

He has skills and speed equal to Sonic, So he could realistically go toe to toe with Sonic in a straight up fight.

None of the other characters can really do this.

[ArtFenix]

The problem is again Sonic-solo crap and what's even worse is the absence of other characters in cutscenes and battles. I'd say Shadow and Metal Sonic but they didn't appear in the main games for quite some time already. (Shadow since 06 and Metal since Heroes). This is really a shame.

[iDEATH]

Surely Sonic's greatest rival is.....

[Jack / Joker]

Sonic's greatest rival is Metal Sonic. Metal just wants to BE Sonic so much that he really is the best rival in my opinion, as he's competing with Sonic to beat him at what he does best, which is... well... be Sonic.

Edited October 22, 2012 by -The Penguin-

[SonikkuXM]

I'm voting Silver. He can throw shit with his mind. :'D -shot-

In all due seriousness though Metal Sonic and Shadow.

Edited October 22, 2012 by SonikkuXM