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Blaze the Cat: Fleshed out character or glorified Mary Sue?


Kuzu

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I know Sally's a Mary Sue, there's no doubt about that.

But Cosmo?

I'm not so sure about that...

Cosmo's pretty weak, isn't exulted by the other characters except Tails who is head over heels for her, holds no self-entitled authority over characters who are perfectly capable of making their own decisions and actions and she has personality flaws that aren't talked up to by the other characters. So I'm not seeing the Sue vibes.

Well, I did recall seeing something on TVTropes about Cosmo being a Purity Sue. I dunno, I honestly don't remember much about Cosmo, so I gotta check.

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I sort of want to like her, but for some reason she kind of bores me. She's similar to Knuckles in a lot of ways, so I really should like the character... but I don't know, she's too minor for me to like.

inb4you-know-who :P

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Mary Sue? Not in the slightest. She's probably the most well developed character in the entire series to be honest.

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She's probably the most well developed character in the entire series to be honest.

That would be Shadow, dude. Even with all the crap he got with his own game nonwithstanding.

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That would be Shadow, dude. Even with all the crap he got with his own game nonwithstanding.

If we we're just counting SA2, maybe I would agree, but the games after that pretty much shot Shadow's development right out of the sky. Blaze managed to keep her development going for more than one game, unlike most of the characters.

Edited by Luigi the Brawler
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I dunno, even counting out Shadow's crappy moments, Blaze might edge him out. And if you do count how much they botched his character...

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It is funny that both Shadow and Blaze have two different backstories thought up at entirely different points in their character history.

...unless somebody seriously believes that Sonic Team was planning on bringing up Shadow's alien parentage when they were writing Sonic Adventure 2's story.

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I think I'll give the most developed character nod to Shadow and the best/consistent developed character to Blaze.

Blaze basically had 2 games to establish her line development, but that pales in comparison to Shadow, who not only has his own game completely devoted to establishing who he was, but several huge supporting roles in 06, Battle, Heroes and SA2. He's had a ton of screen time devoted to figuring himself out.

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well, there are lot's of bad momments for Blaze in this series, no seriously, she is one of the characters most bad stuff happened with...

just in Sonic Rush: gets lost without any of the sol emeralds in a completely different dimension. (depending of the viewer) get's her cat ass kicked and has a rather humilhating emotional breakdown during the battle against Sonic, (I take that as the canon event). Get's the living crap beaten out of her not by one but by TWO eggmans, untill Sonic goes to rescure her and show power of friendship to reveal her hability to unleash super form.

In Sonic '06 she dies (in the worst case scenario), ok...

In Sonic Rush Adventure she is kind of a jerk with Marine, loses the jeweled scepter, admits being scared to Sonic and is stopped by him from going on suicide mode against the last boss.

doesn't seem like a character that bends the plot in her favour, not in the slightest...

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well, there are lot's of bad momments for Blaze in this series, no seriously, she is one of the characters most bad stuff happened with...

just in Sonic Rush: gets lost without any of the sol emeralds in a completely different dimension. (depending of the viewer) get's her cat ass kicked and has a rather humilhating emotional breakdown during the battle against Sonic, (I take that as the canon event). Get's the living crap beaten out of her not by one but by TWO eggmans, untill Sonic goes to rescure her and show power of friendship to reveal her hability to unleash super form.

In Sonic '06 she dies (in the worst case scenario), ok...

In Sonic Rush Adventure she is kind of a jerk with Marine, loses the jeweled scepter, admits being scared to Sonic and is stopped by him from going on suicide mode against the last boss.

doesn't seem like a character that bends the plot in her favour, not in the slightest...

BLAZE DID NOT DIE. She sealed herself in another dimension.

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See, that's kind of the problem I have with Blaze, she doesn't really come off as a comedic character in her own right. She's supposed to have these quirky fears, but they're never really played for laughs and instead always for sympathy with her loner attitude. The comedy in Rush Adventure came from Marine reacting to what Blaze did. Even in Generations, where she's supposed to have a comedic line, it's the most forced of the classic/modern mixup jokes and was actually a repeat of an earlier joke (as Pokecapn and co pointed out on their Generations playthrough, for reference). I'm not calling for her to be a completely OTT character, but so far there's nothing really there that I find endearing.

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BLAZE DID NOT DIE. She sealed herself in another dimension.

That depends on your interpretation. Edited by hella jeff
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No, she is definitely not a Mary Sue. Her character, as previously mentioned, has been nicely fleshed out over multiple games, with character development that stuck without ruining her character, leaving her more trusting and friendly but still mostly reserved. (reminds me of Parker from Leverage actually.) And of course, the events like being beat by Sonic, both Eggmen, losing the scepter, having to kill/send herself to another dimension to get rid of Iblis, ect. show that she obviously isn't nearly powerful enough to be a Mary Sue, not even taking into account her character flaws (trust issues, fear of heights, unnecessary risk-taker.) It's also interesting because she doesn't behave at all like the other female characters, and despite playing similar to Sonic (which is great on the gameplay side,) their personalities are barely similar. If anything she's closer to a combination of Shadow and Knuckles with just a hint of Sonic thrown in.

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Nope. Not a Mary Sue. But I must say though she might be one of the most fleshed out characters in recent times for the series. I'd really like her to somehow be in the current dimension as Sonic Team is really bad at time/space travel and it could limit Blaze too. I'd like to see her sometimes but I still say that they should get the more important characters like Knuckles back into at least the plot first.

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but I still say that they should get the more important characters...

No. Stop. Now.

Stop with this hierarchy of characters, stop with this seniority of characters. A character isn't important just because they've been around longer, a characters is important based on how they contribute in a plot. For all of character's Knuckles "importance" in this series, he was flat out useless in games like Sonic 06 and in every character's case bar Sonic, Tails, and Eggman they contributed not a dime in Generations, and it is still ridiculous how people continue to think this way that about who's still important "just because".

I'm not saying characters like Knuckles shouldn't have any roles and appearances, I'm saying let them use the characters in ways that a important as characters to the plot. And it goes without saying, that whether he is given any kind of priority is irrelevant; he can be used first before Blaze and I would see no problem with that so long as he actually does something that contributes him being there.

But the most important characters are the Primary Protagonist (Sonic) and the Primary Antagonist (Eggman), all others are secondary characters. And with that being said, if they gave Blaze a priority as a character over Knuckles in the next game, there would be absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Edited by ChaosSupremeSonic
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No. Stop. Now.

Stop with this hierarchy of characters, stop with this seniority of characters. A character isn't important just because they've been around longer, a characters is important based on how they contribute in a plot. For all of character's Knuckles "importance" in this series, he was flat out useless in games like Sonic 06 and in every character's case bar Sonic, Tails, and Eggman they contributed not a dime in Generations, and it is still ridiculous how people continue to think this way that about who's still important "just because".

I'm not saying characters like Knuckles shouldn't have any roles and appearances, I'm saying let them use the characters in ways that a important as characters to the plot. And it goes without saying, that whether he is given any kind of priority is irrelevant; he can be used first before Blaze and I would see no problem with that so long as he actually does something that contributes him being there.

But the most important characters are the Primary Protagonist (Sonic) and the Primary Antagonist (Eggman), all others are secondary characters. And with that being said, if they gave Blaze a priority as a character over Knuckles in the next game, there would be absolutely nothing wrong with that.

While I do agree with this, someone told me last night that a certain reason people have a dissonance towards Blaze is because, well she's made a protagonist in her debut game for virtually no reason at all above longer standing characters like Tails or Knuckles, and while that may sound childish and petty think about it for a second; you've been following a series for years now, and a certain group of ensemble characters but then suddenly a new character is written into the show and then suddenly has as much importance to the plot as the protagonist himself, while the original ensemble are thrown into the background, it'd create a few problems, especially if said former ensemble was popular. Now this is no excuse to suddenly hate the likes of Blaze for "stealing the spotlight" or accuse her of being a Mary Sue, but it kinda explains why people tend to have a problem with the newer cast, they tend to shove the older ones into the background.

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While I do agree with this, someone told me last night that a certain reason people have a dissonance towards Blaze is because, well she's made a protagonist in her debut game for virtually no reason at all above longer standing characters like Tails or Knuckles,
Welcome to every new character in the series. Aside from Eggman and Amy, I can't think of a single character in this series that's been playable that wasn't in the first game they appeared in. Sometimes previously established characters are playable alongside them; sometimes in an equal capacity (SA2, Heroes), sometimes more (SA), sometimes less ('06), and sometimes they aren't playable at all. That's the kind of thing that happens when you have to juggle a reasonably large cast; your favorite characters can't always be in the spotlight.

and while that may sound childish and petty think about it for a second; you've been following a series for years now, and a certain group of ensemble characters but then suddenly a new character is written into the show and then suddenly has as much importance to the plot as the protagonist himself, while the original ensemble are thrown into the background,
Rush is a side-story, not the core storyline. In the long term Blaze hasn't overshadowed anyone, and if people can't even allow one side game to establish a character, one game that doesn't defer to every currently existing character before giving time to the new one, either they wouldn't have time for new characters at all or they'd be so underdeveloped they'd be even more worthy of hate.

The most that can be said is that Sonic Team tends to create new characters to drive stories rather than building around existing ones, but that's not a valid reason to bash the new characters, because the process is cyclical; the Cool New Friend of Game A ends up being supplanted by the Cool New Friend of Game B, and so on.

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While I do agree with this, someone told me last night that a certain reason people have a dissonance towards Blaze is because, well she's made a protagonist in her debut game for virtually no reason at all above longer standing characters like Tails or Knuckles, and while that may sound childish and petty think about it for a second; you've been following a series for years now, and a certain group of ensemble characters but then suddenly a new character is written into the show and then suddenly has as much importance to the plot as the protagonist himself, while the original ensemble are thrown into the background, it'd create a few problems, especially if said former ensemble was popular.

Yeah, that's the nerds and their precious status quo that they don't want changed. I'm the kind of person who enjoys more flexibility than that. And quite frankly, that's been going on since the series began adding to the cast back in the early 90s, and if anything it's just petty backlash.

Eventually that wears thin, and unless you're willing to end the series at a certain point, you're going to need to find a way to breathe some extra life into things. Sometimes that requires a change in organization, and characters shouldn't be immune to it.

Now this is no excuse to suddenly hate the likes of Blaze for "stealing the spotlight" or accuse her of being a Mary Sue, but it kinda explains why people tend to have a problem with the newer cast, they tend to shove the older ones into the background.

Blaze has yet to steal any spotlight considering that her debut game was a handheld and in the main games she's been getting even more shafted than Rouge.

And besides, not every character can have the spotlight. Sometimes the older ones will have to let the newer ones get their chance to shine, otherwise how else are they going to prove their mantle? People who take offense to having that happen are the ones who would much rather never allow the newer characters get a chance to shine, and prefer that the older ones reign over any new characters that come in.

Catering to these people, they should not.

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I did say it was childish and petty, I just wanted to explain it is all. It's sad when people use that as an excuse to hate her, Shadow, and Silver.

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No. Stop. Now.

Stop with this hierarchy of characters, stop with this seniority of characters. A character isn't important just because they've been around longer, a characters is important based on how they contribute in a plot. For all of character's Knuckles "importance" in this series, he was flat out useless in games like Sonic 06 and in every character's case bar Sonic, Tails, and Eggman they contributed not a dime in Generations, and it is still ridiculous how people continue to think this way that about who's still important "just because".

Sorry for the wrong word usage. I was saying something like, ya know, Knuckles is closer to Sonic than Blaze and Amy is closer than Cream and stuff like that. Not necessarily importance.

I'm trying to say that Sonic Team should try to bring in at least characters closer to Sonic in to at least the plot first before other miraculous things happening.

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Sorry for the wrong word usage. I was saying something like, ya know, Knuckles is closer to Sonic than Blaze and Amy is closer than Cream and stuff like that. Not necessarily importance.

I'm trying to say that Sonic Team should try to bring in at least characters closer to Sonic in to at least the plot first before other miraculous things happening.

First they need to make the characters who are supposedly close to Sonic actual comrades with not only Sonic, but each other as well.

Seriously, how many times have Knuckles, Tails, and Amy canonically actually interacted with EACH OTHER, rather than just communicate with Sonic or whoever the hell the status quo sticks them with (Knuckles with Rouge, and etc.). If they want to convince me that these guys are truly comrades, they REALLY need to work on showing this first.

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First they need to make the characters who are supposedly close to Sonic actual comrades with not only Sonic, but each other as well.

Seriously, how many times have Knuckles, Tails, and Amy canonically actually interacted with EACH OTHER, rather than just communicate with Sonic or whoever the hell the status quo sticks them with (Knuckles with Rouge, and etc.). If they want to convince me that these guys are truly comrades, they REALLY need to work on showing this first.

Knuckles, Tails, and Amy canonically actually interacted with EACH OTHER

>SA

>SA2

>Sonic Heroes

>Sonic 06

Dude, that's all the games Knuckles appeared in before Generations after the design change.

I do agree though, they might interact but the relationship and stuff needs to be devoloped.

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Knuckles, Tails, and Amy canonically actually interacted with EACH OTHER

>SA

>SA2

>Sonic Heroes

>Sonic 06

Dude, that's all the games Knuckles appeared in before Generations after the design change.

I do agree though, they might interact but the relationship and stuff needs to be devoloped.

My memory is faulty, so you'll have to excuse my forgetfulness regarding moments of interaction. But I do agree that they really could go A LOT further with what they actually interact about.

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  • 1 month later...

I like her. She's in my opinion, the best female character in the series and the best 'new' character SEGA have come up with since Knuckles.

I reckon SEGA could do a lot more with her personality, it's just a shame she's not used very often. I like how she's a tough female, and not a girly-girl like Amy, Cream, etc. Oh, and her design is awesome! But that's probably because I'm quite a fan of the colour purple =P aha.

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I don't get people who say Blaze is a Mary Sue. Mary Sues are perfect in every way, while Blaze's character is clearly flawed in Rush (always shutting others out, refusing to depend on anyone). Mary Sues are also always right, but near the end of the game, she is shown to be wrong for being so introverted and not trusting others (while not explicitly stated, Sonic convinces her not to be so much like this anymore). Mary Sues also tend to overshadow the main character. This is not the case with Blaze, as she only appears once in Sonic's story before you fight her in Dead Line Zone.

To be honest, I think most of the people who don't like her are just upset because they think she's taking Knuckles' place. Even though she barely ever hangs out with Sonic.

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