How old do YOU feel the characters should be?

[batson]

I remember back in the early 2000's when I first learned of the Sonic characters' official ages, and how surprised I was at just how YOUNG everyone was. I was in my mid teens at the time and somehow the idea that most of the cast was around my own age seemed strange, as I had always imagined them to be more or less adults (young adults, but still). And even all these years later, I feel that most of the cast comes of as significantly older than they really are. Here are aproximately how old I think some of the characters should be:

Sonic: 18-25. Still young and full of enegry, but old enough for his complete independence and seemingly long history of adventuring to make more sense.

Amy: 17-21. A bit younger than Sonic but more or less around his age.

Tails: 11-13. Still a kid, but old enough to have left his most infantile years behind him.

Knuckles: 25-30. A fully grown adult but still young enough to be in his prime.

Shadow: A tricky one since he is immortal and technically currently around 50, but in terms of mental age I'd say perhapes slightly older than Sonic, maybe around 25.

Rouge: 25 to 30. A mature and experienced woman but still in her most attractive years.

Vector: 30 to 40. If any of the main anthro characters should be simply an adult, instead of a young adult, I feel it should be him. He's young at heart but he's been around the block and back more than a few times and has a ton of life experience.

Espio: Around 30. Also among the older and thus understandably more mature of the cast.

Charmy: 10. A young child but not absurdly young.

Cream: Also 10.

Silver: This is one character whose youthfull naivety if essential to his personality, so he should still be a teenager, but I'd still say around 16-17 would make a little more sense than 14.

Blaze: Probably around 20-25.

Eggman: Around 60. I prefer to think of him as slightly elderly, but not to the point of being frail or starting to lose his mental capacity. I also like to imagine that he is old enough to actually remember his grandfater Gerald.

So those are my thoughts. Now I'm really curious to know which ages you would prefer for our colorfull cast.

 

[Blue Blood]

This has always been a weird point of contention for me. I don't think you can put any number on the ages of Sonic characters and have it feel right or make much sense. It's one of those things better left unsaid. Giving the characters actual ages doesn't really add anything to the series and ends up raising more questions than it answers. So ideally I'd just think of Cream and Charmy as ambiguously being kids, Tails as fair bit younger than Sonic and Vector probably as the oldest of the bunch. That's pretty much it. Any further information on that front seems irrelevant. 

[SonicFanForLife]

26 minutes ago, batson said:

So those are my thoughts. Now I'm really curious to know which ages you would prefer for our colorfull cast.

I think your guesses would be the best. I have always thought that Sega said they were a bit younger than they should be. I don't really give any trivia that lists their age much credit. Sonic definitely should be 25 or older.

[Guest]

I feel like the young ages were just to appeal to kids. Most characters did that back then, in cartoons, video games, whatever, with Mario being a notable outcast. Heck, some teen pop bands would understate their ages to attract younger listeners (one example being the Irish girl group B*Witch'd).

When my brother was turning 8 years old, he thought it was great that he got to be the same age as Tails. xD Despite Tails being like 3 or 4 in the cartoons. (Oh and don't get started on the whole Charmy debacle.)

That and the older characters being teens, not only to give kids something to look forward to, but, in a way, it does fit their personalities. The teen years are often seen as rambunctious, rebellious, a time for personal growth and going through life drama. Making a character 30... you picture them carrying a briefcase, wearing a business suit, paying taxes. Lol not exactly fun.

There was no point in trying to appeal to adults, because adults wouldn't have been into something like this. So I think most of the ages are fine.

...or would be, if kids still like Sonic. Maybe some do. When I went to see the movie in theaters, I did see a family with kids on my way out, going to the next showing of it. But they were with their parents, and their mom complimented my Sonic jacket lol. So who knows if the adults were more into it. When I went in to see it, all I saw in the audience were young adults, maybe older teens. No kids at all.

Aging up the characters a tiny bit may help reflect the new "nostalgic" Sonic audience. I do think 6 is a bit too little for Cream or Charmy to be. As well as maybe making Sonic 18.

[DabigRG]

As old as they want to be because anime. Sonic himself is meant to be a rebel anyway, so he can easily stay the age he is and just be a runaway/vagabond Ubermensch.

Though Rouge, Vector, and in theory Shadow do make more sense if they were a little older. 

Eggman, Tower, Vanilla, Chaos, the Zeti, and in practice Shadow kinda swerve the question since they are either adults or ambiguously mystical in nature

[Diogenes]

I'm fine with everyone being whatever their official ages are. The typical goings-on of the series are so far removed from reality that there isn't much grounds for direct comparison (adding 10 years to Sonic's age doesn't make him throwing his spiky blue body at giant robots to save the world any more believable, for example). Fantastic elements aside their personalities align with their ages close enough that it's not worth quibbling over.

2 minutes ago, Angyu said:

Aging up the characters a tiny bit may help reflect the new "nostalgic" Sonic audience.

As a member of the "nostalgic" audience I can say honestly that I would rather this series not remind me of the inevitable and ceaseless passage of time. My crackling joints do that well enough already.

[Redemption]

16 minutes ago, Angyu said:

 

That and the older characters being teens, not only to give kids something to look forward to, but, in a way, it does fit their personalities. The teen years are often seen as rambunctious, rebellious, a time for personal growth and going through life drama. Making a character 30... you picture them carrying a briefcase, wearing a business suit, paying taxes. Lol not exactly fun.

There was no point in trying to appeal to adults, because adults wouldn't have been into something like this. So I think most of the ages are fine.

 

Building off what @Angyu just said we need to think about what audience they are appealing to.

Take Sonic Boom for example the character were taller and built like NFL players.

Were we expecting that... NO but Sega made it work and tried to appeal to us by making them look older and more mature and made all the characters more sarcastic than usual.

In Sonic Underground, Sonic and his sibling were the same age and born on the same day they were appealing to teens 

Sat-am was appealing to teens and children.

The Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog was when Sega realized that the first series was a little too dark for younger children so they changed it up.

Sonic X, even after Chris left years later and aged when he went back to Sonic's world he turned back into a kid.

So it's really hard to say what age they should be, but what age we want them to be you all got spot on

Edited January 25, 2021 by Redemption
The Archie Comics Mobius 20 years later that should also be included. I just thought we should take the whole Sonic Universe into perspective!

[DabigRG]

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Sonic: 18-25. Still young and full of enegry, but old enough for his complete independence and seemingly long history of adventuring to make more sense.

Knuckles: 25-30. A fully grown adult but still young enough to be in his prime.

Eh, they could skew a bit younger.

Particularly Knuckles, who's not only kinda nebulous in age irregardless of his unfamiliarity with the world, but actually was younger than Sonic initially.

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Amy: 17-21. A bit younger than Sonic but more or less around his age.

Tails: 11-13. Still a kid, but old enough to have left his most infantile years behind him.

Yeah, they should be a bit older at this point. Though Amy is a weird case since they explicitly aged her up from being a coy little girl.

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Rouge: 25 to 30. A mature and experienced woman but still in her most attractive years.

...Did you just call her a Christmas cake?

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Espio: Around 30. Also among the older and thus understandably more mature of the cast.

He does sound much older, now that you mention it.

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Cream: Also 10.

 

She's one of the better ages, actually, since she's meant to be everyone's little sister and still at a stage where she's a bit dependent on her mother.

17 minutes ago, Angyu said:

I feel like the young ages were just to appeal to kids. Most characters did that back then, in cartoons, video games, whatever, with Mario being a notable outcast.

Wasn't there a profile or something stating he(and by extension, Luigi and Wario) actually 25?

17 minutes ago, Angyu said:

. (Oh and don't get started on the whole Charmy debacle.)

 

Debacle?

7 minutes ago, Redemption said:

 

The Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog was when Sega realized that the first series was a little too dark for younger children so they changed it up.

 

Wasn't that out earlier?

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Sonic: 18-25. Still young and full of enegry, but old enough for his complete independence and seemingly long history of adventuring to make more sense.

Knuckles: 25-30. A fully grown adult but still young enough to be in his prime.

Eh, they could skew a bit younger.

Particularly Knuckles, who's not only kinda nebulous in age irregardless of his unfamiliarity with the world, but actually was younger than Sonic initially.

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Amy: 17-21. A bit younger than Sonic but more or less around his age.

Tails: 11-13. Still a kid, but old enough to have left his most infantile years behind him.

Yeah, they should be a bit older at this point. Though Amy is a weird case since they explicitly aged her up from being a coy little girl.

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Rouge: 25 to 30. A mature and experienced woman but still in her most attractive years.

...Did you just call her a Christmas cake?

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Espio: Around 30. Also among the older and thus understandably more mature of the cast.

He does sound much older, now that you mention it.

56 minutes ago, batson said:

Cream: Also 10.

 

She's one of the better ages, actually, since she's meant to be everyone's little sister and still at a stage where she's a bit dependent on her mother.

17 minutes ago, Angyu said:

I feel like the young ages were just to appeal to kids. Most characters did that back then, in cartoons, video games, whatever, with Mario being a notable outcast.

Wasn't there a profile or something stating he(and by extension, Luigi and Wario) actually 25?

17 minutes ago, Angyu said:

. (Oh and don't get started on the whole Charmy debacle.)

 

Debacle?

7 minutes ago, Redemption said:

 

The Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog was when Sega realized that the first series was a little too dark for younger children so they changed it up.

 

Wasn't that out earlier?

[Natie]

Those early teen ages worked back in the classic era when they were established, cuz they were still little guys. But keeping them the same in the modern stories just makes no sense, lol.

Sonic did canonically have a birthday in Generations, I wonder if that means he's 16 now?

[Wraith]

They are power fantasies for 8-11 year old children. Their canon ages are just fine for this and I never understood why anyone had a problem with them beyond needless griping. Any complaints about their supposed maturity can be explained by the fact that most of them have canonically been raising themselves since they were young. Why have they been raising themselves? Cos parents aren't cool.

They've never really come off as super mature to me regardless though honestly. It'd be weird if Sonic and Knuckles were 25 and still acted the way they do about girls. Multiply this weirdness for Shadow/Blaze/Silver and how often their clear emotional immaturity causes problems. Amy's completely idealized perspective on love that lacks any of the nuance that comes with experience. Espio's faux-intellectual philosophy that comes off like he watched one too many movies more than anything else. Charmy and Marine just genuinely acting their age in most regards. Its a 'problem' I see less and less logic behind the more I think about it. I don't think I find a single thing about their current personalities relatable as a 23 year old aside from Vector's empty pockets. 

 

[Razule]

I see no problem with the characters' ages skewing on the younger side in a series meant to appeal to kids. They're cartoon animals, and this clearly isn't a realistic world. I'm not losing sleep wondering why 15 year old Sonic isn't in high-school or 12 year old Amy owns an apartment.

Sure, it's weird that they have defined static ages when you consider how often they mention time passing in-universe (and that Generations birthday). It would've been easier to just say the characters are whatever you think they are based on how they look and act, but it doesn't really matter. The series is meant to be timeless.

[Piko]

5 hours ago, Wraith said:

They are power fantasies for 8-11 year old children. Their canon ages are just fine for this and I never understood why anyone had a problem with them beyond needless griping. Any complaints about their supposed maturity can be explained by the fact that most of them have canonically been raising themselves since they were young. Why have they been raising themselves? Cos parents aren't cool.

They've never really come off as super mature to me regardless though honestly. It'd be weird if Sonic and Knuckles were 25 and still acted the way they do about girls. Multiply this weirdness for Shadow/Blaze/Silver and how often their clear emotional immaturity causes problems. Amy's completely idealized perspective on love that lacks any of the nuance that comes with experience. Espio's faux-intellectual philosophy that comes off like he watched one too many movies more than anything else. Charmy and Marine just genuinely acting their age in most regards. Its a 'problem' I see less and less logic behind the more I think about it. I don't think I find a single thing about their current personalities relatable as a 23 year old aside from Vector's empty pockets. 

You hit the nail on the head. I’m fine with their canonical ages as it is; they make it easier for kids to relate to them and they suit their personalities.

That said, if I had to change someone’s age, I’d choose Rouge and Vector. Out of the Mobian cast, they’re pretty much the only characters that are even remotely mature. I’d make them around 25-30.

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, Piko said:

That said, if I had to change someone’s age, I’d choose Rouge and Vector. Out of the Mobian cast, they’re pretty much the only characters that are even remotely mature. I’d make them around 25-30.

I mean... The implied tensions between Knuckles and Rouge would become quite the no-no if Rouge was 30. 

[RadicalLaRuby]

I'm fine with the canon ages.

Unless "Long time no see" counts as a time skip.

[Kaotic Kanine]

Honestly, the only character whose age I sincerely want changed is Amy's, aging her up from 12 to 14-15. Not just because of the whole "Sonic and Amy age gap debacle" which is fucking stupid anyway since it's a mere 3 year difference but I digress but she always came off more as a teen than a pre-teen.

Aside from that, I've always accepted the canon ages. Sonic being a mere 15 years old, and Tails being 8, never struck me as odd and I can't really understand why a fair amount of people take issue with any of this. Avatar: TLA has its titular hero be a 12 year old boy, with the oldest member of his group being 15 (who then got supplanted as the oldest by Zuko, who was 16). And need I mention Ash Ketchum, who even outside of the movies had engaged in all sorts of dangerous adventures, is canonically 10...? At the end of the day, Sonic is aimed at kids, and kids gravitate to child and teen characters. And for all we know, Sonic characters probably age differently from humans, not unlike real life animals. 

Not gonna lie though, I'm starting to want Cream aged up to at least 10-years-old (with Tails, Charmy, and Marine aged up accordingly) since her being 6 seems to be doing her more bad than good  Seriously, if it were any other character being told to stay on the sidelines instead of participate in a mission/fight because "It's too dangerous", fans would go into an uproar. But because Sally/Gemerl do this with Cream, it's A-OK. And don't get me started on the "too young to drive" nonsense.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Debacle?

It's possible I used that word wrong. >.> Basically, a fiasco. A noteworthy drama-filled uncomfortably unstable argument or situation.

Charmy was supposed to always be 6 years old. A mistranslation had him listed as 16 in the western instruction manual for Knuckles' Chaotix. Then Penders did his thing with the comics, and Charmy is now canonically 16, but only in the USA. Then the characters come back to video games with Sonic Heroes, and now he's 6.

I didn't have a 32x growing up (then again, who did?), and my brother knew Charmy from the comics. So imagine his confusion when we get Sonic Heroes, and Charmy is randomly 6 years old.

8 hours ago, Razule said:

I see no problem with the characters' ages skewing on the younger side in a series meant to appeal to kids. They're cartoon animals, and this clearly isn't a realistic world. I'm not losing sleep wondering why 15 year old Sonic isn't in high-school or 12 year old Amy owns an apartment.

I did know a guy who claimed he had his first apartment at age 12... but I just have his word for it so who really knows. That or rich kids whose parents pay for it, like a Kardashian/Jenner type.

1 hour ago, Kaotic Kanine said:

Honestly, the only character whose age I sincerely want changed is Amy's, aging her up from 12 to 14-15. Not just because of the whole "Sonic and Amy age gap debacle" which is fucking stupid anyway since it's a mere 3 year difference but I digress but she always came off more as a teen than a pre-teen.

Aside from that, I've always accepted the canon ages. Sonic being a mere 15 years old, and Tails being 8, never struck me as odd and I can't really understand why a fair amount of people take issue with any of this. Avatar: TLA has its titular hero be a 12 year old boy, with the oldest member of his group being 15 (who then got supplanted as the oldest by Zuko, who was 16). And need I mention Ash Ketchum, who even outside of the movies had engaged in all sorts of dangerous adventures, is canonically 10...? At the end of the day, Sonic is aimed at kids, and kids gravitate to child and teen characters. And for all we know, Sonic characters probably age differently from humans, not unlike real life animals. 

Not gonna lie though, I'm starting to want Cream aged up to at least 10-years-old (with Tails, Charmy, and Marine aged up accordingly) since her being 6 seems to be doing her more bad than good  Seriously, if it were any other character being told to stay on the sidelines instead of participate in a mission/fight because "It's too dangerous", fans would go into an uproar. But because Sally/Gemerl do this with Cream, it's A-OK. And don't get me started on the "too young to drive" nonsense.

See look, "debacle" used again. xD

To me, Amy acts like... a pre-teen trying too hard to act like a stereotypical teenager, or what she thinks that means. But then she'd go home and secretly watch Disney Channel.

The driving is go-karts, which anyone can drive basically.