Sonic Apex

[Splash the Otter]

Hey everyone! It's been a while since the last time I was here. Recently I've been working on an AU/art project of sorts, and I wanted to share it with you guys. I call it Sonic Apex. Basically, I'll be drawing a bunch of Sonic characters in my style. I'll post a new picture every Wednesday with notes describing what the character is like in my AU. First up we have Sonic himself!

Sonic isn't that different from his game counterpart, being a sporty and fun-loving adventurer who stands for his ideals. He lives in Green Hill on South Island, but is usually away on an adventure. In terms of appearance I basically just used his design from the movie because that's my favorite look for him. The gold ring around his neck is a good luck charm that his mother gave him before he moved to South Island.

Please feel free to give feedback. I want to know what you think of this project!

[Splash the Otter]

Next in my character series/AU is Tails, my favorite Sonic character!

Tails is also similar to his game counterpart, specifically during the Classic and Dreamcast eras. He usually follows Sonic's lead, but has potential to be an even greater hero than Sonic some day. I didn't change his appearance much, but I gave him a red scarf as a reference to the fox statues outside some Japanese shrines. I thought it would be appropriate since he's based on a fox spirit.

[Splash the Otter]

Last week I showed you guys the best Sonic character, so this week it's time for the worst! Here's Dr Eggman!

Eggman in my AU is more serious and refined than his game counterpart (in direct contrast to Sonic's personality) but he still commands a powerful army with which he seeks to conquer Mobius* and eventually the whole world. At present though he only controls West Island. I decided to combine his game and movie designs, giving him the outfit and bald head of the one from the games and the mustache and general build of the one from the movie. I would have redesigned him further, but I was worried he wouldn't be recognizable if I did.

 

*Mobius is a country on Earth in this universe rather than a planet. It's based on the islands from the retro games, but also contains places from the modern titles and even other canons.

[Splash the Otter]

This week's character is Knuckles! He's a bit different from the source material. For one thing he isn't the last of his kind. He also doesn't guard the Master Emerald, which doesn't exist in this universe. Instead he's a treasure hunter who specialized in ancient relics. Knuckles is an idiot savant, knowing a lot about ancient history but not much about anything else. He's originally from Angel Island, but he travels all over Mobius.

 

I gave Knuckles a bulkier appearance inspired partly by Sonic Boom but also on greenendorf's depiction of the character (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16279189/). I thought he could stand to look more like a powerhouse, because he doesn't really look like one in the games.

[Splash the Otter]

It's Amy's turn now! I wanted there to be more to Amy as a character than just being in love with Sonic, so I made her a wizard. There's a precedent for it in the games too, since she's associated with tarot cards and Pikopiko was called a magical hammer at least once. Amy's personality is similar to Amitie's from the Puyo Puyo series, being upbeat and wanting to be a powerful magician some day. I combined elements of her classic, modern and Sonic Boom designs to create what I thought was an ideal appearance for her. I also chose to make her dress green instead of red so it would contrast better with her fur.

[Splash the Otter]

Next we have Shadow! Now to be honest, I don't like Shadow very much. I'm only including him in this because he's popular and because he has a profile on Sonic Channel. Anyway, Shadow's backstory is completely different from the source material. In this he's an artificial warrior created by the Nocturne tribe (which is kind of like the Nocturne tribe from Sonic Chronicles, but also different), but he has no memory of his origin. Eggman finds him in stasis and convinces him to work for him. Shadow does that for a while, but makes friends with Amy and gradually shifts into heing a hero before leaving the Egg Empire.

In addition to having agility nearly on par with Sonic, Shadow is capable of using Chaos magic. This gives him a number of abilities including teleportation, electric arrows and even generating an explosion. However, using this power tires him out and he must rest tor egain energy.

I wasn't satisfied with the first pose I drew because it didn't have enough energy, so I changed it to something more dynamic.

[Splash the Otter]

Cream is next! I don't actually have much to say about her. She lives with her mother and isn't very good at fighting like in the games, but she isn't quite as formal. Cheese is Cream's pet Chao (more about Chao later). I chose to depict Cream in her Riders outfit because I prefer it over her regular attire.

I got writer's cramp (or something similar) while drawing these two, or maybe it was muscle soreness from my Covid shot. The background is a relatively deep pull. Do you know what it's a reference to?

[Splash the Otter]

This week's Sonic character is Rouge! I don't actually have much to say about her. If I were to turn Sonic Apex into a story she'd probably team up with Eggman to gather the Chaos Emeralds with the intent of taking them herself. I merged her arms with her wings (seriously, what's up with her canon design having six limbs?) and made her a heart nosed bat to go with her heart motif. The background is both a reference to her species and her love of gems.

[Splash the Otter]

This week's character is Big! Like with Rouge, I don't have much to say about him. I gave him a more Incineroar-like build as well as paws instead of those awful sock feet Sega insists on giving Sonic characters. I picture him being what TV Tropes calls a "Boisterous Bruiser".

[Guest]

Aww, you made Big adorable!  That'd be a cool new look for him.

[Splash the Otter]

This week's character is not actually a character but a species, namely chao!

Chao in Sonic Apex are pretty much the same as in the games, so I won't go into much detail here. Pictured here are a common chao, a dark chao and a hero chao, but there are several other varieties.

This is unfortunately the last picture I drew for this AU before I got overwhelmed from the sheer size of the project. Some day I hope to pick it back up and try again, but on a smaller scale.