Best/Worst Female Sonic Character

[Ishochan]

This thread may cover characters from the archie comics as well as the games and television show.

Please refrain from going off topic too much. We all won't agree with the other, so please keep the debates friendly.

Who, In your opinion, is the best female sonic character? Why do you like them? What makes them better then the rest? Do you wish they had more appearences/roles in the games/comics?

Who is the worst female sonic character? Why don't you like them? What makes them the worst in comparison to the rest? What would you wish would change about them?

[Blazey Firekitty]

Best? Blaze since she's seemed to have the most development so far.

Worst? Tikal. I mean, she's all right on her own, but it's sad that they pretty much made a character for the sole purpose of showing up and dying.

Edit: Actually, I'd say my worst would be Elise, since she has even more of a "plot device" feel to her than Tikal does.

Edited September 2, 2009 by BlazeyBakeneko

[Aquaslash]

Best - Sonia the Hedgehog. She's been my overall favorite series character for many years now. I like the fact that she's both high maintenance, and evidently a power type at the same time. One of those females who usually is never the damsel in distress unless it's forced by the plot to make someone else look good (usually Sonic).

Worst - Amy Rose. She was cool in Sonic Adventure, after that she turned into an annoying psychopath. I still blame Cream for the degradation of her character. In fact, the only reason Cream isn't in this spot is because the last real appearance she had was Sonic Rush, and even then it was basically as a cheerleader. Either way, I don't see her enough for it to be an issue.

[Rusty Spy]

Best: It's a tie between Amy and Blaze for me. Both have interesting characters and their own physical strengths, but both have some setbacks, IMO.

While Blaze is well developed and has a great personality to boot, but loses a few points for being a clone of Sonic gameplay wise since day one.

Amy has been given some depth to her once flat character and has evolved beyond Sonic fangirl, but she doesn't have much going for her now, and hasn't really had, nor can have room for, character development.

Worst: I'd have to go with Cream. While her personality is alright, and not the real problem, she just doesn't have any real depth to her character, nor has she ever had an important role beyond cheerleader/occasional damsel in distress.

[JezMM]

I wouldn't say any characters are "best" or "worst".

What I would use are "Most developed" and "Yet to be used to full potential". Under these rules, Blaze fits in the first category, and Amy, Rouge, and Cream fit in the latter category.

I don't think of Tikal, Maria, Elise, Shahra, Merlina etc in the same light as they aren't recurring. That's as silly as calling Sonic Labyrinth the worst Sonic platformer when it wasn't even part of the main series.

I hate "best/worst" when it comes to characters, as most posts are people judging characters as "bad" because they personally don't like them. =\

Edited September 2, 2009 by JezMM

[Chooch]

I can't really even judge Amy because she's a franchise staple and it would just be weird without Sonic's prepubescent fangirl chasing after him in the games.

Outside of Amy my favorite female Sonic character is Blaze. I like her abilities and the fact that she's the only female in the franchise I can actually take seriously half the time. Brownie points for having a Super form too.

My least favorite? Probably Rouge.. I haven't liked her since she first debuted back in Sonic Adventure 2 and I don't think I'll ever like her. The way she looks and acts and her role as what looks like one of the only female GUN agents regularly seen just puts me off. Knuckles x Rouge shippers don't help.

[Mollfie]

Best would be Blaze because she's pretty developed, interesting and just all around cool really, I like her characters design too. There's little I can fault her on really.

Worst would be Sally and Bunnie Rabbot. I can't even really explain why because I just find them really annoying, and I dislike their fanbase quite a lot just because whenever I've said I don't like them lots of people tend to get all up in arms lol

[Blazey Firekitty]

I don't think of Tikal, Maria, Elise, Shahra, Merlina etc in the same light as they aren't recurring. That's as silly as calling Sonic Labyrinth the worst Sonic platformer when it wasn't even part of the main series.

Heh, I feel pretty silly about that in retrospect.XD

I guess I'm not annoyed strongly enough with any of the female characters to pick a "worst."

[Diogenes]

Best: Blaze

Well, she's the first female in the series that can really keep up with the series' heavy hitters, so I suppose that counts for something. And even though she's mostly a clone of Sonic in the Rushes, she's still got a few subtle differences that make her more than just an extra skin, and her official abilities give them room to expand her into a different direction than Sonic. She makes for a pretty interesting character, too, and one of the few (only?) who's had character development that actually stuck. She's probably one of the most developed and rounded characters in the series, which is impressive when you consider she's really only had two games to do it in.

Second best: Amy (on her good days)

...but only on her good days. When she's under control her crush on Sonic is cute, and it's decent character motivation (if a bit shallow). And I like that she evolved out of the standard damsel in distress role, and without being pumped up to superhero levels; for the most part she still seems pretty much ordinary, but she's far from helpless and can handle herself against reasonable odds. It's just a shame that she tends to be written a bit too crazy too often...I think if they gave more time to developing her as something other than Sonic's crazed fangirl it wouldn't come up as much.

Honorable mention: Tikal

Kind of the opposite end of the scale from Blaze, being a very warm hearted pacifist, but she serves her role well. She's not a fighter, but she's still got a very strong will, with the confidence to stand up to a small army for her beliefs. Plus I really like her design.

Worst: Elise

Do I really need to explain this one? She's not even a character so much as she is an object, something that's just there to drive the story along (and it's by far the weakest of the 3 stories). Well, that, and awkward romance scenes. I honestly can't think of even a single interesting thing she does over the course of the whole game...honestly the game would be better simply by removing her, even considering how it'd be gutting Sonic's storyline. The only good thing I can say is that they didn't force her into being a recurring character, so she'll probably never show up again.

Second worst: Cream

Did the Sonic universe really need a Tails ripoff? I understand some characters are going to overlap in some areas, but Cream just seems really lazy. And her one unique "ability", that being Cheese, never really got any proper use. Outside of gameplay, she just seems too sweet and innocent to be interesting, and even if she had something worth saying her voice is painful to listen to. Thankfully, tho', she seems to be on her way out...

Honorable mention: Rouge

Not so much because she's actively bad, but because she could be interesting and yet they never seem to use her for anything good. She was pretty good in SA2, but beyond that she seemed to fall into the role of Shadow's #1 fangirl, lose most of her moral ambiguity, and fail to do anything interesting since then.

[Nemain]

I agree with the majority here - Blaze is the most developed female character in terms of depth of background and thought. She's quite believeable for it as well - It all seems to fit in nicely. It took a while for me to warm to her (see what I did there?), but when I did I was impressed at the background and thought that had gone into her character.

As for the others? SEGA doesn't really seem to have done much with any of the other female characters bar maybe Sonia and Sally. It's a shame as some of them could have so much scope (i.e. Rouge and Amy) and potential explanations for being the way they are, but no real story arc or game has gone that way. For the simple reason the character has only ever been used as a support character and has little to no hope of a decent background expansion anytime soon, I would say Cream is the "worst" Sonic female.

... But she IS really cute. Sorry Cream. ;_;

I can't say much about anyone other than Cream, Rouge, Sonia, Sally, Amy and Blaze as not many of the others are recurring... Or ever will recur, for whatever reaons. I believe it's a shame Tikal seems to have been a one shot though. I liked her sweet nature and pacifist ways.

[AdventChild]

Best: Would have to be Blaze. She's a well developed char and an interesting backstory than other 'new' chars on the scene, and is quite likable for that reason, even though I haven't played as her. Also, her design is pretty amusing as a female cat and has pyrotechnic abilities which are a plus.

Worst: Elise. 1st of all she starred in a crappy game. 2nd she seems only there for a plot device. 3rd she is hardly interesting, so-so design, useless, and started a human-hedgehog relationship that is like a sappy romance. A totally unwanted/unnecessary type of a char for the Sonic franchise.

2nd worst: Cream. She is hardly developed at all, and pretty uninteresting except for being the only char to have a blood relative. Also, she is just a Tails clone in a female bunny form, and her abilities using a Chao isn't used properly. She is practically a char meant for the sidelines and to cheer the heroes on, pretty much very useless all-around. Not to mention her voice pretty much sucks.

[JezMM]

It annoys me how people call Cream "useless" simply because she's not a super hero like all the others. I think she should be used more often, if only as an NPC. Again it's a case of "not being used to her full potential". Sonic Rush came close.

Bonus tidbit for Elise: I feel so bad for her voice actor. I remember reading an interview where she said how thrilled she was to perform in a Sonic game because she was a bit of a Sonic fan herself, and alas, most of the fanbase hate her character. =( I can't say I hate Elise, but I will agree that she wasn't very interesting, especially when compared to (in context of the time), the companion of Secret Rings, Shahra.

[Ember Aithne]

Best: Blaze or Merlina. Blaze, for reasons already stated, and for little hints of her and Sonic liking each other. Merlina simply because of her little plot twist

and for the fact that she only does evil because she feels she has no choice.

Worst: Amy and Cream. Amy, because I find her terribly annoying. And because in 06, there's absolutely no explanation of her invisibility powers. Cream because I also find her annoying, and because people want her and Tails to be paired together. They're young. Romance should not be an issue.

[Badnik Zero]

Blaze seems to have the majority vote. I'm also pretty impressed by Blaze. She's as close as we get to a female Knuckles. She's a loner for the most part, keeps herself distant which seems like arrogance, compared to Knuckles' aggressiveness which might also come from not knowing how to deal with certain situations. She's protector of her world, like Knux is a Guardian.

Amy gets a default vote from me, just for being our girl hedgehog for so long. She could use some development though.

I'm interested in the Shahra-Merlina girl, who seems to be a constant in the Storybook worlds. Kind of makes me wonder if she's got a purple haired counterpart somewhere in Sonic's real world, just kicking it in Station Square or something. (It's the newsstand girl! I knew it.) Maybe they intended her to be Elise, but changed it last minute? Doubtful, they came out within months of each other.

As for worst, I'd go with Rouge or Cream. Not only are they underused, they're pretty annoying to me. Even though I've never been a fan of her design, Rouge was nice in SA2. She got to reveal secrets, collect gems, and trade some nice dialogue with Knuckles. Her music was great. Between SA2 and Chronicles she really had nothing to do, and even in Chronicles she was a kind of tag along character. And Cream. Cream's voice! She seems like a gimmick to me, especially because of Cheese. The only time I've found her tolerable is in the Japanese Sonic X. Maybe I'd like these characters if they gave them some more to do.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Goldar

[MobileChicaneX]

Does sonic with a sex change count as female? If so h..she's the worst female character.

Ive never disliked any female character (including elese) i think i'll go with Blaze or Shara as the best females (lol same va)

[Miko]

I think one of the things that really bothers me about Blaze is how much she is in fact like Knuckles. If this were a male character we'd all know instantly how unoriginal this is. But because it's a girl, this is somehow a new concept to the Sonic franchise. I'd really like to enjoy Blaze's character but I just don't "feel" it at this point, no matter how often I try to force it. I don't hate her, but don't especially like her.

[Badnik Zero]

^ Of course her debut appearance in Rush helped a lot, besides just her character. It was a game lots of people loved.

She handles so great in that game too, I love to try and beat a Sonic ghost in time trial with Blaze. Her play style changes the game.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Goldar

[redmenace]

Amy, Blaze is a short second, though I'm neutral to her. I have no idea for worst, probably Elise, but since she appeared only once, then Cream?

[Blazey Firekitty]

I think one of the things that really bothers me about Blaze is how much she is in fact like Knuckles. If this were a male character we'd all know instantly how unoriginal this is. But because it's a girl, this is somehow a new concept to the Sonic franchise. I'd really like to enjoy Blaze's character but I just don't "feel" it at this point, no matter how often I try to force it. I don't hate her, but don't especially like her.

Well, to be fair, she's not exactly like Knuckles.;; She's an emerald guardian with something of a temper...but she's more introverted then Knuckles, doesn't seem to be gullible, and has more issues with loneliness. She also has a sort of quirky way of speaking that kind of bounces back and forth between being very causal, to being very formal.

[Picchi]

Well, to be fair, she's not exactly like Knuckles.;; She's an emerald guardian with something of a temper...but she's more introverted then Knuckles, doesn't seem to be gullible, and has more issues with loneliness.

But admittingly alot of her personality and mythos is similar. she's a guardian with a temper, and though she's arguably not as gullible, she does have a lot of socialization issues and problems with being alone like Knux, nevertheless. Blaze may have dealt with the theme of loneliness more in comparison but that's not as much of an issue now with Rush over.

I think problem with Blaze is similar to the reasons of AdventChild's and Miko's gripes with their respective characters. She feels a lot like a someone we've already got and not doesn't seem to have enough going for her thats really all that... well, different.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Picchi

[Blazey Firekitty]

But admittingly alot of her personality and mythos is similar. she's a guardian with a temper, and though she's arguably not as gullible, she does have a lot of socialization issues and problems with being alone like Knux, nevertheless. Blaze may have dealt with the theme of loneliness more in comparison but that's not as much of an issue now with Rush over.

I think problem with Blaze is similar to the reasons of AdventChild's and Miko's gripes with their respective characters. She feels a lot like a someone we've already got and not doesn't seem to have enough going for her thats really all that... well, different.

Blaze doesn't get angry in the same way, though. Knux just blows up over misunderstandings, and then, once he understands what's going on, he's fine.

Blaze is really passive aggressive about things. She'll be silent and barely emotional(in the outward sense) for a long time...then she'll blow up and start screaming at you.

Knux was alone all his life...but it hasn't affected him that much. He's been more or less a-okay ever since he met Sonic and Tails. Blaze...she's not entirely lonely or unhappy anymore, but she's still learning about social skills and letting herself have fun. She's on a journey that she hasn't finished yet.

[Frozen Nitrogen]

^ Best.

There's a lot of antipathy towards Rouge that I don't really understand. She's sassy and sexy and not afraid to hit the other characters in the face with a tactless jibe when they'd all otherwise be "group hugs and picnics", as Shadow so delightfully complains. You never know where you stand with her, either; is she really on your side, or is she just working an angle and plans to sell you out the moment someone comes and waves a shiny gem in front of her face?

Plus, I can't help but suspect that one of these days, Shadow is going to wake up in a puddle of his own blood and with two suspicious fang-shaped bite marks adorning his neck.

I have nice things to say about all the characters, so I don't know if there's really one I'd think of as worst...

Let's go for Cosmo, just 'cos I don't like Sonic X.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Frozen Zordon

[Badnik Zero]

Plus, I can't help but suspect that one of these days, Shadow is going to wake up in a puddle of his own blood and with two suspicious fang-shaped bite marks adorning his neck.

Ha ha, that'd be a great development if she turned out to be a vampire bat. We don't know what kind of bat she is, after all. It'd put a bit of power behind her playful jabs too, because might just bite you. I could see her joking about nibbling on cast members.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I wouldn't say Rouge is the best female character, but I do think she is really underused and too dependent than she should be. I don't get the hate, but they should really use her more as a character who can fend for herself like she did in SA2 than one who relies a lot on other characters. She was able to get up close and personal to the Ultimate Lifeform without any fear, she's got spunk.

As for worst...well, it's gotta be Elise. She was not really a good character in Sonic 06, and the only role she had was to be the vessel of Iblis. I'm not bringing up the kissing scene, because you'd have to be completely ignorant to think of it as you-know-what.

[Dr. Mechano]

Dr. Mechano's Favorite: Sera

I don't know why, but I just love this character. She's very materialistic, self-centered, egotistical, whiney, ditzy, and manipulative- Just about every quality about her is detestable, and that's exactly what makes her so endearingly hilarious.

Compared to other lead females in other portrayals of the Sonic series, Sera is not a lovestruck young girl or a hypercompetent assistant. No, she's merely a part-time damsel in distress and full-time spoiled brat. But her antics are so boisterous, so over the top, and so fraught with inconsequential silliness that none of that matters.

And of course, the character she interacts most with isn't our hero Sonic, but rather everyone's favorite mechanical megalomaniac, Dr. Eggman! Throughout most of the show, Sera is Eggman's hostage(Though she playfully threatens to stop being that once), and the two have plenty of time to... Well, just sort of hang out. Unlike typical villain and damsel interactions, Eggman and Sera just kind of chitchat and casually pass the time. Whether it's playing videogames(Which she's no good at), discussing Eggman's plans, or even going for a drive in Eggman's latest combat mecha, the two act more like a couple of friends than a villain and his captive. And I always found that sort of charming.

Of course, this subtext becomes text when it's revealed that Eggman harbors deep feelings of romance toward the girl, and wishes to marry her. Although Sera loves the wedding dress by her own wording, she doesn't share Eggman's feelings of love, and flatly rejects him. But that doesn't stop their amusingly-casual relationship, as by the end of the film, Sera hitches a ride in Eggman's hovercraft, and he gladly gives her a lift to catch up with Sonic. Aww, at least they're still, uh, "friends."

Dr. Mechano's Least Favorite: Elise

Oddly enough, Elise is- in concept- similar to Sera. Important figure who gets kidnapped by Eggman and spends a good chunk of the game with him. The problem is that Elise had the personality of mud.

I really have nothing more to say about her- She was badly written and badly characterized, which is a shame since she could have been a fun and quirky character like Sera was. Indeed, upon seeing her concept art, and hearing the plot, I sort of hoped she'd be a game adaption of the character. But she couldn't have been more different in the end.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Dr. Mechano