Characters you don't want to return

[Spin Attaxx]

Now that I think about it, I don't really wish Captain Whisker to return either. I'm not really a fan of the whole "ROBOT PIRATE" thing - they kept most of the stereotypes that made the pirate a stock cliché (like the groan worthy and historically inaccurate accent) and he felt very one-note to me. He was OK in his one game, but if he were a reccurring character... my indifference might grow into out and out dislike.

 

Johnny too. He felt too much like a Metal Jet to really stand out.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Spin Attaxx

[Tani Coyote]

I'd say Elise but I don't think we really need to worry about that.

I would definitely say no to all the sidekick characters - Shahra, Merlina, Chip, etc. - on the basis that keeping them in one game makes sense and is special. Now there's logical reasons none of these would return, but I'm saying I want that logic to stay constant. They served their purpose and so should remain one-timers unless circumstances somehow allowed it, say, Sonic being sent millions of years into the future where Chip being around again would make sense.

I would have said no to the Wisps and Yacker returning, but I'm waiting until Lost World is out to pass judgment. I thought it seemed really strange to bring them back, but if done right they could find some way to keep them relevant as they did to Shadow.

[InfinityAlex]

I don't want Big to return, I just hate his character. He's too derpy and FWOGGY orientated. Professor Pickle on the other hand...

[VGamer]

Shadow The Hedgehog. Sonic Team has made him into some emo guy that never smiles or laughs, and has no interesting personality. The only good game he was in was Heroes, and that's because he was actually normal. He smiled, he would joke with Rouge, and he wasn't so serious 100% of the time. Also, almost every game he is in has focused on his backstory/the past. If they made him just Sonic's rival and nothing more, I'd be fine with him. Oh, and no more boring personality as well.

I'd actually like to see Silver return in more games and become to Sonic what Shadow was, except more of a friend. I think with the right minor changes, Silver can be a good character (shame his debut game tarnished his character).

[Tani Coyote]

Shadow The Hedgehog. Sonic Team has made him into some emo guy that never smiles or laughs, and has no interesting personality. The only good game he was in was Heroes, and that's because he was actually normal. He smiled, he would joke with Rouge, and he wasn't so serious 100% of the time. Also, almost every game he is in has focused on his backstory/the past. If they made him just Sonic's rival and nothing more, I'd be fine with him. Oh, and no more boring personality as well.

We haven't really been able to explore Shadow much past his epiphany in his own game, however. He decided to discard his past and to me, based on his becoming a super agent of GUN and all, it looks like he's basically past his angst phase. He still comes off as grumpy and apathetic but I can't say I blame him; whereas Sonic seems to view his tasks as a game Shadow takes everything a lot more seriously.

That said, I would like for his positive emotions to be shown in a subtle manner, as they were in SA2. Shadow came off as stoic, but you had two brief glimpses of sadness and that made him seem more powerful to me, as it indicated he DOES feel all those emotions, he just prefers to bottle them up. I'd like to, if he ever has a story role again, have a moment where he does give a smile of sorts when no one's looking.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I don't want Big to return, I just hate his character. He's too derpy and FWOGGY orientated. Professor Pickle on the other hand...

Fix him and make him less derpy and "FWOGGY" oriented?

 

It's funny, how I don't like Big myself, yet he's probably one of the simpler characters to make better and people still don't wanna try.

 

Shadow The Hedgehog. Sonic Team has made him into some emo guy that never smiles or laughs, and has no interesting personality. The only good game he was in was Heroes, and that's because he was actually normal. He smiled, he would joke with Rouge, and he wasn't so serious 100% of the time.

It's one thing to not like a character, but it's equally amazing how people misuse the word "emo" or (of all things) completely disregard Shadow's range of emotions and characterization in his friggin' debut in SA2.

 

Also, almost every game he is in has focused on his backstory/the past. If they made him just Sonic's rival and nothing more, I'd be fine with him. Oh, and no more boring personality as well.

Of the 5 mainstream titles he was in (and using spin-off titles will hurt your claim even more), I count 2 that had something to do with his past: his debut in SA2, and his own game, ShTH. The other three games Heroes, Sonic 06, and Generations would like to have a word with you, as he was in those games and they had nothing to do with his backstory or past. And it's amazing how you'd be fine with him being nothing more than a 2 Dimensional character of only his physical appearance and psychology as if his third dimensional of his background is a detriment to him on that basis alone, only to contradict that and say he shouldn't have a boring personality. They kinda have to make something more with him in order for him to have an interesting personality, ya know. 

 

If you're gonna hate on something, do it accurately please.

Edited August 23, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonîc

[VGamer]

We haven't really been able to explore Shadow much past his epiphany in his own game, however. He decided to discard his past and to me, based on his becoming a super agent of GUN and all, it looks like he's basically past his angst phase. He still comes off as grumpy and apathetic but I can't say I blame him; whereas Sonic seems to view his tasks as a game Shadow takes everything a lot more seriously.

 

That's really just why I can't stand the guy, he's always so serious because Sonic Team insists of making him so sad and stupid because of his past. Heck, I don't WANT him to be a GUN agent because it means he's always gonna be serious, or on a mission, or focused on the big bad guy. Just make him an anti-hero that happens to be Sonic's rival, that would be SO much more fun, since we wouldn't have yet another game portraying Shadow as a boring character with a flat personality.

It's stuff like this that makes me wish that he would have stayed dead after SA2. Oh, and no more VA's that sound like they have a sore throat.

 

It's one thing to not like a character, but it's equally amazing how people misuse the word "emo" or (of all things) completely disregard Shadow's range of emotions and characterization in his friggin' debut in SA2.

 

Of the 5 mainstream titles he was in (and using spin-off titles will hurt your claim even more), I count 2 that had something to do with his past: his debut in SA2, and his own game, ShTH. The other three games Heroes, Sonic 06, and Generations would like to have a word with you, as he was in those games and they had nothing to do with his backstory or past.

 

Umm... The point I was trying to make was that in Heroes he did have a good range of emotions, where as in '06 and Shadow he was constantly showing the same stupid expression. I've also played SA2, and sure I guess he was fine there.

Also, I'm not talking about spinoff titles. I'm talking about games that have a plot that he has to do with (SA2, Heroes, Shadow, and '06). Generations didn't even show or have enough of him at all, he only had one line and was barely visible in the last scene, so how can you use that to prove your point?

 

 

And it's amazing how you'd be fine with him being nothing more than a 2 Dimensional character of only his physical appearance and psychology as if his third dimensional of his background is a detriment to him on that basis alone, only to contradict that and say he shouldn't have a boring personality.

 

When did I ever say I want him to be 2 dimensional? All I'm saying is that he doesn't have to be focused on his boring backstory all the time in order to be interesting, or at the very least a likeable character. Do Sonic, Tails, Amy, or Eggman have any backstory? No. Yet they are the core characters of the franchise and probably the favorite ones too. They have personality, but we don't need to study these characters game after game after game, and learn almost EVERYTHING about their past life. You could argue that Knuckles and Blaze have backstory, but it was never focused on too much (aside from Chronicles I guess) so it never bothered me or anyone else for that matter. No questions were asked because it wasn't something that Sonic Team focused on for too long.

 

 

 

They kinda have to make something more with him in order for him to have an interesting personality, ya know. 

 

No, they don't. Like I said above, look at the core characters. Sonic is just Sonic. Tails is just Tails. Did we ever get an unnecessary story about how Tails met Sonic? An in-depth story about Tails BEFORE he met Sonic? No. All we need is ONE game to establish his identity, and Sonic Adventure did that. Sure SA2 did that with Shadow, but I didn't like that. Big whoop. Then Heroes (in Dark's story) and SHtH focus on that, and it gets boring. We don't NEED all this to explain who Shadow is, we knew in SA2, that's it.

 

 

 

If you're gonna hate on something, do it accurately please.

 

Not sure what that's supposed to mean... I'm not sure there is a specific method of hating on something, so I'm gonna need to look into that one. Hey, I'm not forcing this opinion on anyone at all, I never meant to do so.

Edited August 23, 2013 by TheVGamer

[Your Vest Friend]

Did we ever get an unnecessary story about how Tails met Sonic? 

 

Pretty sure we did, yeah. 

[VGamer]

Pretty sure we did, yeah. 

 

No, it was never a focus in any of the games. We had, what, one flashback in SA1? Unless there's some game I haven't played or something I'm forgetting?

[Blacklightning]

No, it was never a focus in any of the games. We had, what, one flashback in SA1? Unless there's some game I haven't played or something I'm forgetting?

Start reading.

[Silencer226]

I probably wouldn't want to see Omega or Rouge reappear. Their existence just seems rather pointless now. Rouge made sense as a rival for Knuckles, but Knuckles doesn't even have a purpose now besides being a shitty friend that tags along with Sonic now, so that doesn't leave Rouge with many options. Omega was just some excuse for a power character in Sonic Heroes, he's never been a good or entertaining character to me personally. Honest with the direction the franchise is going it seems like outside of the main Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman, many characters are slowly losing their purpose for existing. A bit off topic, I wouldn't mind seeing a Blaze the Cat spinoff. >_>

[Kuzu]

That's really just why I can't stand the guy, he's always so serious because Sonic Team insists of making him so sad and stupid because of his past. 

 

Yes, he's just supposed to be sunshine and rainbows despite everything that's happened to him right.

[Silencer226]

That's really just why I can't stand the guy, he's always so serious because Sonic Team insists of making him so sad and stupid because of his past. 

 

Does every character in the series have to be all "YAY WHOO HAPPY HAPPY" for them to be "Sonic" characters? I don't think someone just up and gets over seeing their best friend get mercilessly killed, having themselves be sealed away for god knows how long, treated as a monster, and used as a tool for the destruction of all life on the planet.

[Kuzu]

That said, he could stand to have some humor to him.

[Silencer226]

That said, he could stand to have some humor to him.

Yea, even Vegeta has humor inside of him... dickish humor, but humor nonetheless.

[Blacklightning]

"Then it'll be a date to DIE for!"

 

...nah, I can't see it working that well. I think it'd be better if they just used his deadpan character to juxtapose everyone else's.

[Kuzu]

that, or just play his dickery for laughs

[Tara]

There's a difference between not being the "serious" character and just being a downer.  That's pretty much my problem with Shadow.  Okay, we can understand that he's never going to be the happy type (and let's face it, the few times they try to give him a moderately more happy-going personality have come across as incredibly awkward), but there has to be some line between being serious and just being so monotonously depressing that no one wants to play as him.  Currently, Shadow is pretty much the latter.  Blame poor writing if you will, but if that is the only way Sega knows how to write the character, then I wouldn't mind him never appearing again.

 

He doesn't have to be as happy-go-lucky as the rest of the cast... he just has to have some dimension to him.  At the moment, he barely has any.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Akito

[Kuzu]

There's a difference between not being the "serious" character and just being a downer.  That's pretty much my problem with Shadow.  Okay, we can understand that he's never going to be the happy type (and let's face it, the few times they try to give him a moderately more happy-going personality have come across as incredibly awkward), but there has to be some line between being serious and just being so monotonously depressing that no one wants to play as him.  Currently, Shadow is pretty much the latter.  Blame poor writing if you will, but if that is the only way Sega knows how to write the character, then I wouldn't mind him never appearing again.

 

He just appeared in Free Riders, Mario & Sonic, and Colors DS and he's far from mopey in any of those games. Seriously, why do people associate stoic with "depressing" or mopey. Shadow hasn't angst about anything in years, just because he never smiles doesn't mean he's moping, the dude is just on point at all times.

[Tara]

He just appeared in Free Riders, Mario & Sonic, and Colors DS and he's far from mopey in any of those games. Seriously, why do people associate stoic with "depressing" or mopey. Shadow hasn't angst about anything in years, just because he never smiles doesn't mean he's moping, the dude is just on point at all times.

Because he's so monotonously mopey.  It's like there's literally no other side to his personality than just "hmph I'm so dark and brooding and serious like the big boy version of Sonic!"  Granted, all the characters are a bit one-dimensional, but as a personal preference I'd rather them be positively one-dimensional than overtly-serious one-dimensional.

[Kuzu]

Because he's so monotonously mopey.  It's like there's literally no other side to his personality than just "hmph I'm so dark and brooding and serious like the big boy version of Sonic!"  Granted, all the characters are a bit one-dimensional, but as a personal preference I'd rather them be positively one-dimensional than overtly-serious one-dimensional.

 

Then it just comes down to you disliking Shadow's character archetype, which really isn't the fault of the character himself.

[Tara]

Then it just comes down to you disliking Shadow's character archetype, which really isn't the fault of the character himself.

Not really.  There are plenty of serious characters I like.  Dorothy from The Big O, 90's animated Batman, Blaze the Cat,  Ruri Hoshino from Martian Successor Nadesico, Zero from Mega Man, and quite a few more.  It's not the archetype that kills it, it's the one-dimensional, monotone way he's portrayed that bothers me.

 

With that said, I don't -hate- Shadow; I just feel that the frame of time between 2001-2009 has given us more than enough of him to last us awhile.

[Kuzu]

Not really.  There are plenty of serious characters I like.  Dorothy from The Big O, 90's animated Batman, Blaze the Cat,  Ruri Hoshino from Martian Successor Nadesico, Zero from Mega Man, and quite a few more.  It's not the archetype that kills it, it's the one-dimensional, monotone way he's portrayed that bothers me.

 

With that said, I don't -hate- Shadow; I just feel that the frame of time between 2001-2009 has given us more than enough of him to last us awhile.

In the past ten years we have seen Shadow: brag like Sonic, cry, show concern for others, snark, and other variety of emotions. I don't get "One-Dimensionalness" when the series spent the first half of the last decade fleshing him out, but ok.

[Tara]

In the past ten years we have seen Shadow: brag like Sonic, cry, show concern for others, snark, and other variety of emotions. I don't get "One-Dimensionalness" when the series spent the first half of the last decade fleshing him out, but ok.

But those are mostly one-off moments that really don't leave a lasting impression, save maybe for the time where he rescues Rouge from the vault when Prison Island is set to explode and the time Amy somehow reminds him of Maria.  Even if that's not the case, I suppose it could be his presentation that just feels extremely one-note.  Everything about him was designed to convey the message that he's the darker, more serious archetype with very little in the way of subtlety.  This is, of course, most evident in ShTH, but even as far back as SA2, you could kind of say the same thing.

 

But whatever.  He's a fan favorite, so even though he has sort of been downplayed lately, I have no doubt that Sega will inevitably find someway to incorporate him later down the line.  I don't have a huge problem with his existence, I just don't think he needs to be mainstay character or anything like that.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Akito

[Splash the Otter]

Did we ever get an unnecessary story about how Tails met Sonic? An in-depth story about Tails BEFORE he met Sonic?

We do, actually. While it may be a spinoff, Tails' Adventure was set before Sonic 2 and was as in depth as could be expected from a Game Gear title.