Should Sticks join Main universe?

[MetalSkulkBane]

In recent topic "what would you change in Sonic" I said yes. But nothing is as simple when you give it a though. And here are some problems I can thing of.

1 She's not suited for anything serious.
There is a reason Big the Cat wasn't in Forces. If you try to take scene seriously, her alien conspiracies really kill the mood. And frankly, I just can't imagine her sad. Really sad, no "I can't believe I lost my favorite spoon sad" , but "Amy was poisoned and she might not make it" sad. Granted, this series really goes that far (this days), but it still nice to be versatile. Sonic Battle ending wouldn't be improved by last scene joke.

2 What to do with her?
That's a trap Sonic walked way too many times. We have so many awesome characters, that are overqualified to sit on their asses and wait for another Olympics or IOS game. She's not recognizable enough to play same roles as Amy/Tails/Knuckles, she's not strong enough to be a boss fight like Shadow/Silver. Rouge is at least a government agent and a spy, that allows her to nicely move plot forward (like Rivals 1). I guess she could be random comic relief like Big's cameos in few games? Except that we have, well, we have someone for that job. His name is Big.
(Overall Sonic doesn't suffer the lack of comedy these days).

3 Gameplay
Well, we can always dream of her being playable... and then you remember that boomerang is not that great for fast-paced platforming. I mean it's not terrible, Mario has one. But in Mario (or Megaman for example) enemies are a somewhat a threat. In Sonic enemies are something to be bounce of and avoided. Or to put it differently: Tails, Knuckles, Blaze, hell, SONIC proved that best characters should have fun way of moving through the stage. Avatar, Heroes, Shadow in Shadow and 06 proved that any attempts at complex combat don't mesh well with Sonic gameplay... unless we get a fighting game spin-off ala Hyrule Warriors.

So yeah, those are my doubts. Maybe it would be nice to officially let her join the franchise, but make it clear she's not the par of the Recurring Cast. You know, like Marine or Tikal, rather than Blaze and Rouge.

[Eurisko]

Yes I wholeheartedly think she should. She's interesting , a great aesthetic and depth of character. will she join the main series? I guess that's down to Izuka? And that maybe like trying to get blood out of a stone. 

I liked your idea on the boomerang , maybe it could be used in a similar way to how the power character in Heroes threw his allies at stuff and they came flying back.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

I'm not sure it matters at this point because Sonic Team doesn't really use any of the extended cast in meaningful ways lately. Even on Sonic Forces it made me feel like they just replaced random NPCs with the known Sonic characters at the last minute considering how off character many of them felt to me.

I think Sticks would make for a fun reoccurring NPC in the series. Don't feel she really needs to be playable in the mainline games. They of course should not include her in any game story setting she'd be to far out of place in. I think the Boom TV show & games forgot about a concept with her, If I remember right Sticks was meant to use more then just a boomerang originally... she was suppose to use a lot of home made weapons. if they ever decided to make a less speed based spinoff Sonic game and something little more focused on puzzles I think she could offer interesting gameplay.

Far as her feeling to goofy compared to the rest of the game cast... I think that isn't something worth worrying about because her personality would likely be somewhat different if she was included into the non-boom games. Because you have to remember everybody on Boom was extremely silly... So it's hard to say completely how Sonic Team would want to portray her.

[Red Hot Jack]

I just don't want her to die or be forgotten, if Mighty and Ray can have a second chance and they have little personality and appeal (it's mostly just because they are forgotten), then why can't Sticks? A character who is full of personality, wackiness, energy, freshness, cool gameplay possibilities (although I doubt she will be playable outside of spin-offs)?

I care so much about her, so don't blame me if I'm gonna fight those who will disagree with me on this thread. (Sorry by the way)

[MetalSkulkBane]

42 minutes ago, Eurisko said:

(...) and depth of character. (...)

???

40 minutes ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

Far as her feeling to goofy compared to the rest of the game cast... I think that isn't something worth worrying about because her personality would likely be somewhat different if she was included into the non-boom games. Because you have to remember everybody on Boom was extremely silly... So it's hard to say completely how Sonic Team would want to portray her.

How do you make serious version of Sticks, while still keeping her as a Sticks?

11 minutes ago, Jack the Maniac said:

I just don't want her to die or be forgotten, if Mighty and Ray can have a second chance and they have little personality and appeal (it's mostly just because they are forgotten), then why can't Sticks? A character who is full of personality, wackiness, energy, freshness, cool gameplay possibilities (although I doubt she will be playable outside of spin-offs)?

I care so much about her, so don't blame me if I'm gonna fight those who will disagree with me on this thread. (Sorry by the way)

Shade, Sonia & Manic, all Archie characters.

Characters sometimes just die, that's life. It's important to learn to accept that. Besides, Mighty example proves that anything can come back from the dead, if fandom is stubborn enough. Which we are. Assuming there are no legal problems.

[Red Hot Jack]

5 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

How do you make serious version of Sticks, while still keeping her as a Sticks?

It's very easy, I did it in a fan fiction, just put her into a serious context, perhaps where her theories are true and there are government agents or all that stuff, and she is still wacky and eccentric, but not like in Boom where everyone acts like a comedian.

[Salamander]

At this point, what does it even necessarily mean to be "in the Main universe"?  She's shown up in the anniversary comics for Sonic Channel, she's in Runners, in Mario & Sonic...  Who's to say she isn't in the main universe already?  It's not like all the presumed "main" characters appeared in Forces, for instance.

[Marcello]

I can't say I'd want to see her. I don't particularly like her from a design or character standpoint.

[DabigRG]

She kinda already has. She's just waiting on SEGA to put her in a game with a semi-legit story at this point.

Sticks is easily one of the best Boom originals because, on top of being designed like a proper Sonic rather than a cheapish knockoff like some of the other characters, she fills  niche or two that hasn't really been filled by the Modern cast(or the Classic one, for that matter) yet feels like she'd fit right in.

Also, the funny thing about the tone issue you bring up is that Boom in general is deliberately more gag-centric and zany compared to most of other subseries, yet she's arguably more serious in the TV Show than she is in the Boom games and other side materials baring maybe Mario&Sonic.

[JezMM]

I wouldn't want to lose her after Boom dies off, (assuming that it is), but if she was introduced into the main games, I'd want her paranoia to manifest itself into a more story-driving character aspect than just one-shot jokes.  Have her be paranoid of things directly related to the story or Sonic's world.

You COULD actually reintroduce her as an antagonist of sorts who maybe has conspiracy theories that SONIC is the bad guy and she ends up unwittingly getting in the way of the real enemy, Eggman, hijinks ensue and eventually she gets the picture and realises Eggman is the real enemy and not just a theatrical setup to make Sonic seem good like she thought... something along those lines.

But as it is in Boom, her being paranoid of generic tropey things like "aliens" or "the government" etc, those feel too... parody-ish for main series Sonic's style.  I'd want her to be paranoid of things that actually exist in Sonic's world.  Make her believe Angel Island is a myth, that the space colony ARK incident was staged, etc (but obviously these are just to serve as examples if she was to exist in games directly related to those elements - you'd need to be careful to not alienate newcomer fans who won't understand references to other games).

It would open her up to some character development within a game too if she directly doesn't believe whatever the current threat is, then midway through the game it ends up affecting her directly and she allies with Sonic as a result.  And while this was played for laughs in Boom, there's always the opportunity for some of her crackpot theories to actually be true, (either wholly, only partially, or maybe not in in the exact way she thought, there's lots of directions you could take it).

 

As for gameplay?  Her boomerang could sort of serve like a "slow insta-shield" from Sonic 3.  Throwing it makes it spin around her in a circle in 2D or a sphere in 3D, giving her a damage-dealing barrier around herself for a second.  Of course it could grab rings too.  The arc it travels would always stay relative to her position this way, rather than it being a physical object that flies out and then returns to her in the same way the boomerang (or cappy) does in Mario.  Think of it more like the circular spin-throw from Odyssey, but instantaneous, a sphere rather than a horizontal circle, just one or two quick orbits around her, and doable while in mid-air.

[Red Hot Jack]

The racing game could feature her in a story, maybe? Just an idea...

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

. I think the Boom TV show & games forgot about a concept with her, If I remember right Sticks was meant to use more then just a boomerang originally... she was suppose to use a lot of home made weapons. if they ever decided to make a less speed based spinoff Sonic game and something little more focused on puzzles I think she could offer interesting gameplay.

I'm not sure about the games, but I do know the TV Show initially just had her use her boomerang(s) before introducing her staff and other improvised weapons for the sake of variety.

9 minutes ago, JezMM said:

I wouldn't want to lose her after Boom dies off, (assuming that it is), but if she was introduced into the main games, I'd want her paranoia to manifest itself into a more story-driving character aspect than just one-shot jokes.  Have her be paranoid of things directly related to the story or Sonic's world.

You COULD actually reintroduce her as an antagonist of sorts who maybe has conspiracy theories that SONIC is the bad guy and she ends up unwittingly getting in the way of the real enemy, Eggman, hijinks ensue and eventually she gets the picture and realises Eggman is the real enemy and not just a theatrical setup to make Sonic seem good like she thought... something along those lines.

But as it is in Boom, her being paranoid of generic tropey things like "aliens" or "the government" etc, those feel too... parody-ish for main series Sonic's style.  I'd want her to be paranoid of things that actually exist in Sonic's world.  Make her believe Angel Island is a myth, that the space colony ARK incident was staged, etc (but obviously these are just to serve as examples if she was to exist in games directly related to those elements - you'd need to be careful to not alienate newcomer fans who won't understand references to other games).

It would open her up to some character development within a game too if she directly doesn't believe whatever the current threat is, then midway through the game it ends up affecting her directly and she allies with Sonic as a result.  And while this was played for laughs in Boom, there's always the opportunity for some of her crackpot theories to actually be true, (either wholly, only partially, or maybe not in in the exact way she thought, there's lots of directions you could take it).

 

As for gameplay?  Her boomerang could sort of serve like a "slow insta-shield" from Sonic 3.  Throwing it makes it spin around her in a circle in 2D or a sphere in 3D, giving her a damage-dealing barrier around herself for a second.  Of course it could grab rings too.

Those are really good ideas.

Or, you could just introduce her how she was supposedly introduced in Boom's backstory: As a wild(ish) girl that Team Sonic come across in a jungle area Eggman inhabited in the past and have Amy(&possibly Cream) befriend her.

[Blue Blood]

Please God no. One of the few things worse than the writing in recent Sonic games is the brand of "lol so random" humour that Sticks is supposed to bring in. There's virtually nothing redeeming about her character. Her entire schtick is to spout random, insane and incredibly forced one-liners. When she does anything of value in Boom, it amounts to her saying something crazy that everyone scoffed at but then it turns out she was right all along. I don't see anything of value in a main character that's like that in any series. It's just annoying and generic. She works in the confines of what Boom is, but I still don't think she really brings anything to that show.

Let's imagine a world where Sonic games have decent stories and use their characters effectively. In that exceptional circumstance, Sticks could be made into something that isn't awful (along with everyone else). But I really dislike the entire premise of her, so I'd still choose anyone over her.

[Red Hot Jack]

That's very superficial to say her only purpose is random one liners, it may be because I identify myself with crazy paranoid characters but I find so much more in her. She's not one note like the Zeti and other villains or with vague traits like Mighty or the forgotten characters. I realize I'm minimizing the other characters too now so I'll stop with the comparisons.

[Blue Blood]

Just now, Jack the Maniac said:

That's very superficial to say her only purpose is random one liners, it may be because I identify myself with crazy paranoid characters but I find so much more in her. She's not one note like the Zeti and other villains or with vague traits like Mighty or the forgotten characters. I realize I'm minimizing the other characters too now so I'll stop with the comparisons.

I mean, it's not superficial at all when the actual basis of her character is to be "lol so crazy and random". 

[The Deleter]

I like the idea of toning her craziness down to more reasonable levels. Like, keep her still colorful enough to stand out among the crowd with her personality traits, but otherwise keeping her relatively grounded in reality, like the rest of the cast can be. Vector, for instance, could have been a full-on Mr. Crabs expy if he had originated from a show like Boom, diving into dumpsters for money every other minute, but his actual handling in the games is way more nuanced than that. I don't see why Sticks couldn't work the same way with enough elbow grease.

Would Sonic Team actually do that to her if they did decide to keep her, though? They seem to be pretty content letting just about any sort of character fly these days, what with Orbot, Cubot, Infinite, and the Zeti lately...

 

I would like a redesign though, personally. One that'd help her fit in with the noodle-arm, modern universe more.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

1 hour ago, JezMM said:

But as it is in Boom, her being paranoid of generic tropey things like "aliens"

Are you saying she shouldn't be paranoid of Black Doom? .... Or the Wisps!? ;P

[Diogenes]

I probably wouldn't mind if they kept her around in some form, certainly there's characters in the series I like less, but I'm not sure what she'd bring to the series that justifies adapting her into either the Modern or Classic universes. The Modern universe already has more characters than it knows what to do with, and the Classic series is mostly designed for gameplay first and story second while Sticks as a character is the opposite.

The one thing I could see her as is a spy of sorts; she's paranoid, so she's always keeping tabs on suspicious characters, and she can feed that information to people she trusts. But she's too much of a kook to really be a reliable and necessary informant, and most Sonic villains aren't very subtle or secretive about their plans.

[Osmium]

What would be her point anyway? In the current format she'd be in two, maybe three cutscenes to make bad jokes with all the other relegated characters. She's worthless. 

[Marco9966]

We already have Marine in the game universe.

[Dr. Detective]

There's one or two people within the main cast that I feel struggle to even have occupations provided for them that would even lead to potential development down the line should Sonic Team finally get their act together. Adding in Sticks sounds like it'd just be a waste of time and animation. Granted, it doesn't take too much animation to have someone in the extended cast stand in the corner it'd still be just as pointless.

I don't have a problem with them adding in new villains like they've been doing since they usually aren't expected to have repeat appearances (at least not on par with something like Batman's rogue's gallery) but the space left for more heroes for people to not play as or see do anything within the story that matters for over 10 years has long since filled up.

They shouldn't bother. 

[JezMM]

1 hour ago, Marco9966 said:

We already have Marine in the game universe.

Marine and Sticks have next to nothing in common other than both being kinda hyper, whereas Marine is more "upbeat hyper" and Sticks is more "hyper when agitated".  And Marine as a character has only appeared in a single game from 2007.  (Hilariously, her last mention was as a Mii costume in Mario & Sonic 2016... while meanwhile Sticks got to appear as a playable character despite not being part of the main canon).

Won't lie though, I'd have no issue with Marine coming back, I recall enjoying her.

[dbzfan7]

As she is in Boom....Hell no.

But I would like to see her come to the universe as a villain. I think that would be satisfying to see and would work more for her type of shtick. I can't stand her as a hero, but as a villain to be taken down I'd be all for. Though I can see why that won't ever happen.

[Red Hot Jack]

4 hours ago, Blue Blood said:

I mean, it's not superficial at all when the actual basis of her character is to be "lol so crazy and random". 

That's on the paper, the very basic idea maybe, but she turned out to have many more facets than that, she's just badly used in the cartoon, not to say that she would be used well in the games but you never know, I'm fine with her staying in spin-offs. As I said, she just needs to stay alive, and not like Marine who was never really alive.

[tailsBOOM!]

It would be cool.