Sonic Adventurers

[Sonic Fan J]

Back in the day Sonic was himself an adventurer (depending on the media that you consumed at least) and the games typically followed Sonic on his adventures, typically highlighting his encounters with Dr. Eggman and the various characters that he met along the way. Some of these characters ended up being lifelong friends while others would never appear again, but regardless Sonic himself would move on to his next adventure. The problem has always been that the characters who stayed and those that did not have never really made a lot of sense narratively (popularity isn't the goal of this subject so I'll not open hat can of worms). Stationary guardians and psychics from the futures have stuck around while aspiring adventures and those who should adventure have never shown any interest. In light of that, I would like to ask everyone who they think makes the best adventurers, who needs to have their adventurous aspects shown off more, and which characters do you think should have adventurous aspects added to them and why.

I'll start off and will keep it simple for now, but first up;

Best Adventurers
Sonic himself will obviously always take this spot for me simply because it is who he is. Adventuring is what he does, just like he tells Shadow back in Sonic Adventure 2; "what you see is what you get, just a guy who loves adventure" (who would have thought Shadow's response would have eventually come true -_-). And when Sonic goes adventuring it isn't just to pick fights with Eggman as many will say, but to simply see the world. Be it investigating ruins, seeing new cultures, natural, and supernatural phenomena, just wanting to see a world famous festival, etc, etc. Sonic lives to run and see where his feet will take him and what challenges he will face. He may be carefree but he lives with the purpose of seeing the world as it was, is, and will be, and won't let anyone tell him how to go about it. He is a free spirit who cherishes being a vagabond instead painting such a lifestyle with deep rooted stigma. The world is there to be seen and he'll go see it while challenging himself every step of the way.

After Sonic, I would say for me that Mighty due to fan interpretation is my next major character who embodies that adventurous spirit. In contrast to Sonic though he is more laid back with his sense of adventurer, taking his time and relishing in the sights that he sees. In my mind I like to think of him and Sonic as ideal friends who swap adventure stories whenever they meet encouraging the next adventure of the other. Then when they meet again they have ever more stories to share creating a bond most unique between these two perpetual wanderers.

Characters who need to have there adventurous side re-highlighted
Trying to keep this short still I'll lump Amy and Tails together here as they are both characters who were introduced as those who idolize Sonic and went on adventures in pursuit of him. Unfortunately, along the way Amy's idolization of Sonic was twisted and almost all signs of her love of adventure vanished while Tails stopped trying to be like his hero in any capacity (even being a hero in his own way) eventually just becoming the guy who spouts exposition and solves all tech problems. While perhaps for Tails it could be argued as a natural evolution of his character and love of technology and tinkering, Amy having her idolization and infatuation with Sonic dialed back has also resulted in her adventurous side being almost all but erased leaving her with no sense of purpose or place. To me these two more than anyone else seriously need to have there love of adventure restored, be it Tails wanting to see technology from all over the world, ancient and modern, and Amy just still trying to prove herself to Sonic as someone more than just his biggest fan. No mater is done though, there love of adventure needs to be brought back to the fore both for their own good and to benefit the range of interactions that they have with Sonic.

Characters that should have a strong sense of adventure
For me, two characters who absolutely need to have this added to their characters is Shadow and Silver. While in 06 we see a glimpse of it in Silver it is not enough even as it dwarfs what is shown by Shadow. My reasons for these primarily come about due to their backgrounds and motivations. Shadow lived in space and shared a fascination of Earth with Maria that after he got his act together and decided to protect Earth for his own reasons should have inspired him to be a globetrotter himself out of a desire to see the world that Maria longed to be a part of and his own decision to protect it. Silver meanwhile comes from a destroyed future with no hope and should constantly be enamored with the world of the past, leaping at every opportunity to learn something about the history of a world that has had numerous great civilizations vanish and rise out of a desire to use that knowledge to make his time better. Combined with his naivete and desire to do right and be a hero himself he should constantly be looking for the next adventure and getting in trouble along the way. In a way him and shadow should almost have a similar relationship as Sonic and Mighty but with them even further stretched out to the extremes due to their personalities.

Honorable Mentions
For my honorable mentions I'm going to go with Knuckles, Blaze, and Marine. They have all gone on adventures but have never really been handled well (at all) since their early days in the franchise. Knuckles for example is known to love treasure hunting and adventure but is never really used in such a way despite the fact that as the guardian of the worlds most powerful and delicate artifact he should be constantly out investigating other artifacts and legends that it reacts to to protect it and satisfy his need for adventure while fulfilling his duty. Blaze after her encounter with Sonic and Cream should be fueled with a curiosity to see the good people in the world while also just adventuring like Knuckles to preempt threats to her duty. Sure that would mostly leave her wandering her dimension but a contrivance here or there based off what has already been established could still keep her showing up. And as for Marine, well, since Tails and Amy she is like the only "kid" character with a love of adventure who is motivated by Sonic to better herself in the franchise. I know that she is abrasive and not particularly beloved, but in a franchise about adventure not using an adventurer just seems like such a waste (and honestly I love the little goof ball).

So, there are my thoughts on the topic and would love to here what everyone else thinks as well, so please, share your thoughts. Who do you think are the best adventurers, who do you think needs to have their adventurous sides brought back to the fore, and who do you feel would benefit from having an adventurous side added to them?