Should the Freedom Fighters come back to IDW Comics?

[antyep]

3 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

I also know for a fact that people who hate Sally despise the idea of anybody being able to call out Sonic in any capacity.

Unless her name is Amy.

 

16 minutes ago, E-122-Psi said:

Thank you for completely MISSING mine.

I said Sonic deserves critique sometimes. Hell sometimes his character is all the better from having those times his ego has severe repercussions, it turns it into a sympathetic element to him and prevents him seeming all powerful. And yet when someone claims Sally should suffer the same for similar flaws, it is being 'too mean' and bad mouthing the character just for favouritism to Sonic.

The problem to me is that a lot of the time, Sally seemed unlikeable anyway, as mentioned she got away with being condescending, arrogant or hypocritical in spades, just the plot never acknowledged it as a characteristic of her's, so it remained undercooked and even worse, Sally looked like a karma houdini. I'd say Sally came off far worse for that than she would a few instances she PAYS for her vices, the only difference in depiction is coming off more boring because she got to retain her dignity.

Like a few times Sally was reckless (these DID happen in some issues) and they were similar in use, but maybe beforehand, Sally had chastised Sonic for doing the same (which also DID happen), but now during the ending Sonic is teasing her relentlessly for not meeting her own ideals and while she is sorry and acknowledges her contradiction, she is in a characteristic huff about it because her pride is singed and Sonic is SAVOURING every moment of it. Not bitchy or blaming it all on someone else like in early Archie, just showing a bit of a fallible 'not so above it all' side and adding a new light to their dynamic.

Actually I'm pretty sure an episode of Talespin did this sort of plot (the spy episode).

Yeah that's the episode I'm talking about, which explains my point. She got her comeuppance ONCE, and it's kinda a slap on the wrist, and you're not complaining?  Also having Sally getting called out is one thing, but making her more unlikable than she already is to some just so she can be called out is not the way to go.

[E-122-Psi]

12 minutes ago, antyep said:

Yeah that's the episode I'm talking about, which explains my point. She got her comeuppance ONCE, and it's kinda a slap on the wrist, and you're not complaining?  Also having Sally getting called out is one thing, but making her more unlikable than she already is to some just so she can be called out is not the way to go.

Yeah, but the thing is, that plot flow actually DID happen TONS of the times in the comics from start to finish during its run. Sally chastised Sonic for being reckless, and then did something reckless herself. The only key difference is that they never had the 'called out for hypocrisy' part at the end, the actual element that could have served to humanise this action and make her more sympathetic. It doesn't seem compromising her likeability when she pulls off most of these actions in the first place, but with the even worse issue of being a total karma houdini about it. At least that 'slap on the wrist' would be relatively better than the norm of pretending it didn't happen at all.

I mean from the VERY FIRST ISSUE, we get a plot where she gets antsy with Sonic, pulls a mission on her own without telling him, and when he inevitably gets the wrong end of the stick from being left out and the mission goes wrong, she tears into him, claims it's all his fault and he screwed over everyone....which Sonic accepts without a single acknowledgement that Sally's actions caused the misunderstanding in the first place. Is that the better approach that makes her more likeable??? Just Sonic being the designated fall guy even when SALLY is the one who botched it and acted up?

[The Ghost Cat]

 

First post on the site and I have to say, I grew up with Sonic The Comic published by Fleetway, I loved those characters, Johnny Lightfoot, Tekno and Ebony especially but they don't belong in IDW. As much as I would love to see them back they couldn't come back in any meaningful way it would just be lip service. And if they did come back in more prominent capacity, it'd be to please a very minor part of the fandom at the expense of the larger fandom.

Like it or not, that's how it would be with the Archie Freedom Fighters. Archie Freedom Fighters fans may be more vocal than the Fleetway Freedom Fighters' fans (try saying THAT five times fast) but they are not the Sonic The Hedgehog fandom.

The problem people MOST people have with the idea of the Freedom Fighters returning isn't the characters (I would *love* to see Bunnie back), it's that it's never going to be enough. As soon as they're back it'll be "restore the Sonic/Sally relationship", It'll be "bring back the multiversal highway".

The goalposts will keep moving until IDW has been turned into a continuation of Archie - which frankly isn't fair to the rest of us.

Don't say it won't happen, you personally might not feel this way but for every one person who just wants to see them again there are five who want to pick up where Archie left off.

[antyep]

5 minutes ago, E-122-Psi said:

Yeah, but the thing is, that plot flow actually DID happen TONS of the times in the comics from start to finish during its run. Sally chastised Sonic for being reckless, and then did something reckless herself. The only key difference is that they never had the 'called out for hypocrisy' part at the end, the actual element that could have served to humanise this action and make her more sympathetic. It doesn't seem compromising her likeability when she pulls off most of these actions in the first place, but with the even worse issue of being a total karma houdini about it. At least that 'slap on the wrist' would be relatively better than the norm of pretending it didn't happen at all.

I mean from the VERY FIRST ISSUE, we get a plot where she gets antsy with Sonic, pulls a mission on her own without telling him, and when he inevitably gets the wrong end of the stick from being left out, she tears into him, claims it's all his fault and he screwed over everyone....which Sonic accepts without a single acknowledgement that Sally's actions caused the misunderstanding in the first place. Is that the better approach that makes her more likeable???

And correct me if I'm wrong, you kinda wanted Sally to be more like Gallagher's Sally, which that Sally is as bad as the Amy from Sonic X. I said that example of Sally is BAD example.

[E-122-Psi]

21 minutes ago, antyep said:

And correct me if I'm wrong, you kinda wanted Sally to be more like Gallagher's Sally, which that Sally is as bad as the Amy from Sonic X. I said that example of Sally is BAD example.

Gallagher's Sally is more like a horribly flanderized take on my preferred Sally with the addition of being a karma houdini. The nearest to my preferred Sally is Season One SatAm Sally, who DID have a hubris and grouchiness (though stemmed more from actual sympathetic motives and neuroses rather than just general bitchiness), but was moderated by her calm and clever side and at least on occasion was made to realise she'd acted up (eg. Sonic and the Secret Scrolls). Later Archie Sally is Gallagher's Sally disguised in a calm and clever facade. Still condescending and full of bullshit but treated like an angel.

Hell even Season Two Sally, despite being streamlined to her positive traits more, I could stand because she at least usually genuinely was in the right when the writers intended her to be, and most times she was a bit pompous about it, she still got undermined a little. Like Drood Henge she was made to acknowledge she underestimated Tails, they kinda skipped around that with Cream in Archie.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Would Sally not being as physically strong as Sonic be a flaw, or rather an example of the character’s own limitations?

Let’s think about this seriously: she’s a leader, she gives orders, and she points out flaws in others based on a given plan. Sure she can lead from the front and hold her own, but let’s put her up 1-on-1 against another character, say for instance Metal Sonic. Do you really see Sally actually doing well in that fight by herself with the ease (and zeal) that Sonic does?

For all the criticism of Sally, and how she’s a potential Mary Sue (and for the record, no one here in this thread has actually said that...yet. So don’t get ahead of yourselves, folks), people seem to not pay attention to this detail. She’s a tactician that can hold her own, but she’s not a heavy hitter like Sonic, Knuckles, or Shadow. She can’t do all of the things Sonic can, even if you gave her the Ring Blades from Archie to give her more a fighting chance. She can’t fly like Tails or Bunnie; she can’t run as fast or keep up with Sonic, much less hit as hard as him, Knuckles, or Bunnie; she can use tech with great proficiency, but she can’t build it from the ground up like Tails or Rotor much less program or adapt to it with the ease as her handheld supercomputer NICOLE; and about the only character she outright superior to in simple general skills is Antoine, who is (or at least was shaping into) someone who was skilled with a sword.

The point is, Sally’s a generalist. She’s flawed in the sense that she doesn’t specialize, and therefore doesn’t hit as hard, as the other characters that do in the areas they’re the strongest in, and yet she still has a massive impact as characters like Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow by being someone who can adapt more easily to certain situations that others would struggle in, hence her capability as a leader figure. She’s flawed in the sense that, if you put her in a situation that exceeds her physical limits, she’s not going to actually fare that well in them, hence why she’s around others to direct and coordinate them in places where they’ll have the biggest impact. While Sonic can throw himself at badniks and destroy them on impact, she can help direct him to even more vulnerable weak spots in a system; while Tails and Rotor can build systems and devices, she can help utilize said devices or put in the resources needed to further create and improve them. And that’s before we consider her out into the battlefield.
 

She’s at the top of a house of cards, yes, and there-in lies where she is flawed: for all her capabilities, for all her leadership, without the other characters, Sally can’t come out on top by herself in the same way as other characters. If you took out the cards at the bottom holding her up, she will fall down with them. Put in this perspective, you can see how much of a devastating impact the Metal Virus arc would be had Archie continued compared to its execution in IDW, with the virus taking out long time characters and new characters that would’ve developed along the way. All that was close to her and anyone else that might’ve been of assistance to her would’ve then be turned against her thanks to the virus before maybe even falling victim to it herself in a manner reminiscent of the Mecha Sally arc. No man or woman can be a leader without someone to lead, after all.

At the end of the day, Sally has her limits. And people should really pay attention to them and recognize that aspect, as these limits are why she’s made to synergize with others around her, and why she more flawed than people really think.

[Eurisko]

As someone who didn't experience The Freedom Fighters the first time around I'd like to see them Implemented in some way, but only if it fits and it make sense.

They clearly mean something to the fans that were there with them originally so to see them just shoehorned in would negate their worth and dilute their meaning.

So yes, lets see them but only when it will be meaningful.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

1 hour ago, The Ghost Cat said:

The goalposts will keep moving until IDW has been turned into a continuation of Archie - which frankly isn't fair to the rest of us.

Don't say it won't happen, you personally might not feel this way but for every one person who just wants to see them again there are five who want to pick up where Archie left off.

I’ll say it won’t happen, because it won’t actually happen just because they got in. It also won’t happen if the other Archie characters came back in either, because IDW is continuing a whole different direction that they’ll have to be adapted to, just like what happened when Archie was rebooted into a whole new and different world.

It won’t happen anymore than bringing back Fleetway characters would turn IDW into Fleetway 2.0 if that possibility were to ever arise.

And it really gets me how every time this discussion happens people keep saying that in the face of fans who have gone on record more times than I can count on these forums at least to acknowledge that they are fully aware that they would be different in this new setting. Yeah, there will be fans who want them to pick up where Archie left off, but here’s the question I ask: when Archie rebooted, did it pick up where it left off with Naugus trying to cement his power over the Republic of Acorn in the face of the Secret Freedom Fighters sent to stop him and the roboticized Mecha Sally was causing terror in Eggman’s name? Or did it not continue in a completely different direction after the reboot was ensured after Worlds Collide, leaving those past stories permanently unresolved?

People back then wanted those stories to pick right back up. I know this, because I was one of them. But here’s the thing—it never happened. And it won’t happen here even if you brought back the entire cast of the post-reboot Archie along with them into IDW (btw bring me the Egg Bosses back pls, I miss my Conquering Storm T_T)

What will happen with them is what happened with the first reboot: a whole new direction. So people need to stop jumping the gun and assuming that IDW will turn into Archie 2.0 when, quite frankly, you could argue that IDW is already Archie 2.0 despite their absence: the same writing team and art style, the same backdrop of Eggman having conquered or devastated the world (which was actually Archie’s pre-reboot setting), and a resistance team formed to rebuild and protect the world from dangers as they arise.

If Archie couldn’t pick up it’s old plots despite fan demand, what seriously makes anyone think IDW will pick up after Archie’s old plots even if the Freedom Fighters made a comeback?

[The Ghost Cat]

1 minute ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

People back then wanted those stories to pick right back up. I know this, because I was one of them. But here’s the thing—it never happened. And it won’t happen here even if you brought back the entire cast of the post-reboot Archie along with them.

You're speaking for yourself despite the fact I mentioned in my post that I acknowledge not everyone feels that way but there will always be those that do. Don't be offended by something that wasn't directed at you personally and in fact goes out of it's way to say so.

Yes, people will demand it change because that's what people do. You personally may not but others will just because you've accepted that it won't go back to how it was doesn't mean everyone has.

So stop trying to pick a fight where none was intended - this is a discussion, not everyone's going to agree with you and there's no need to get uptight about it.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

18 minutes ago, The Ghost Cat said:

You're speaking for yourself despite the fact I mentioned in my post that I acknowledge not everyone feels that way but there will always be those that do. 
 

No, I’m speaking for the fact that this has been brought up a million times before IDW even had its first issue out, and it’s been answered a million times to the point it’s getting tiring, and history has shown exactly what would happen if it came into fruition to the point that people need to stop thinking about this worst case scenario they have in their minds.

So I’m going to put this bluntly for people (Archie fans or not) to understand: if the Freedom Fighters ever came back in IDW, if they brought back the entire comic cast with them, it’s still not going to turn IDW into Archie. Period.

They’re not going to pick up old plots, and they’re not going to form relationships the same way either. Instead, they’ll be given whole new stories (again).

[The Ghost Cat]

4 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

No, I’m speaking for the fact that this question has been asked a million times before IDW even had its first issue out, and it’s been answered a million times to the point it’s getting tiring, and history has shown exactly what would happen if it came into fruition to the point that people need to stop thinking about this worst case scenario they have in their minds.

So I’m going to put this bluntly for people (Archie fans or not) to understand: if the Freedom Fighters ever came back in IDW, if they brought back the entire comic cast with them, it’s still not going to turn IDW into Archie. Period.

We're saying the same thing here I think, the only difference is you're saying it won't which you have no way of knowing and I'm saying it shouldn't which you agree with. People will always want back what they had before, that's what nostalgia is. Doesn't mean they should have it, doesn't even mean they shouldn't have it either.

If the Freedom Fighters do turn up and kind find a place then I won't be upset, and I do believe that the current creative staff can make that happen but I still think they shouldn't because yes people are going to move the goalposts.

You just won't be one of them.

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

9 minutes ago, The Ghost Cat said:

We're saying the same thing here I think, the only difference is you're saying it won't which you have no way of knowing and I'm saying it shouldn't which you agree with.
 

Yes, I do know it won’t happen, not only because the writing team has made that clear, but also because it didn’t happen the first time things changed in Archie, and because this setting in IDW is even more different from the Rebooted Archie setting that they would have to change again to accommodate it.

People can move whatever goalposts they want, and they can get all the characters they want, but they’re not going to be everything they once were in Archie. Anyone who thinks that is only setting themselves up for disappointment before it even happens, after who knows how many warnings over the topic.

[The Ghost Cat]

You... seem to misunderstand me. I'm not saying IDW will change to be Archie 2.0. But people will demand it. And demand it. And demand it. And demand it. I'm saying you don't know how people are going to react, not that IDW is going to change because I agree with you. It's not likely to pick up where Archie left off but people won't be happy with what they're given.

I have nothing against (most) of the characters, I don't particularly think IDW needs them but I wouldn't be upset if they turned up. I would however be incredibly frustrated once the demands stop being "Bring back Sally/Bring back Antoine etc" and become "Restore the Sonic/Sally relationship!" etc.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

No, I heard you loud and clear and those people are setting themselves up for disappointment just like they were when the Reboot didn’t bring back everything they wanted. And people should know better by now after IDW didn’t bring back everything they wanted from Archie.

Even if they brought back the cast of characters beyond the Freedom Fighters, they’re not going to re-establish those relationships in the way they liked before—they didn’t bring back the Sonic/Sally relationship in the Reboot, and they’re not going to bring it back in IDW either if Sally is brought back. So those people can demand it all they want, it’s not gonna happen.

Not every demand is going to be catered to.

[Kuzu]

It should kind of go without saying that if they were to bring back all of these old concepts, it wouldn't be under the same context as the original. Mainly because the old Freedom Fighter concept  does not work in the concept of the Sonic series is nowadays. 

What the series is nowadays is a hell of a lot different from what it was when SATAM came out; it's completely unrealistic to expect things to go back to being exactly the same in that case. 

If, hypothetically speaking, they were going to bring those concepts back they WILL be changed, it is not a matter of if. They have literally done this before, and it's just a standard practice in media for the most part to recontextualize elements so that they fit within the confines of the setting. 

 

[antyep]

2 hours ago, E-122-Psi said:

Gallagher's Sally is more like a horribly flanderized take on my preferred Sally with the addition of being a karma houdini. The nearest to my preferred Sally is Season One SatAm Sally, who DID have a hubris and grouchiness (though stemmed more from actual sympathetic motives and neuroses rather than just general bitchiness), but was moderated by her calm and clever side and at least on occasion was made to realise she'd acted up (eg. Sonic and the Secret Scrolls). Later Archie Sally is Gallagher's Sally disguised in a calm and clever facade. Still condescending and full of bullshit but treated like an angel.

Hell even Season Two Sally, despite being streamlined to her positive traits more, I could stand because she at least usually genuinely was in the right when the writers intended her to be, and most times she was a bit pompous about it, she still got undermined a little. Like Drood Henge she was made to acknowledge she underestimated Tails, they kinda skipped around that with Cream in Archie.

And apparently, so did SEGA, as Cream haven’t been in a game recently. Look, the comics got canceled before they could do anything more with Cream. Since the Metal Virus arc was originally for the reboot Archie, for all we know, Sally would’ve acknowledged Cream during it. But we’ll never know. (And please don’t bring up the plot with Sally not knowing how to cook. Trust me: We know!)

[E-122-Psi]

17 minutes ago, antyep said:

And apparently, so did SEGA, as Cream haven’t been in a game recently. Look, the comics got canceled before they could do anything more with Cream. Since the Metal Virus arc was originally for the reboot Archie, for all we know, Sally would’ve acknowledged Cream during it. But we’ll never know. (And please don’t bring up the plot with Sally not knowing how to cook. Trust me: We know!)

(I could almost hear the Archie team going "Look, see this? This is us at our TOPS here!" :P)

Even then though I think it was the fact they had an ideal opportunity to develop on Sally and Cream (you know when Cream and the other misfits RESCUED her) and didn't play off of it, same with tons of other situations Sally could have been put in a more human light. It had a real 'missing the forest for the trees' thing.

1 hour ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

What will happen with them is what happened with the first reboot: a whole new direction. So people need to stop jumping the gun and assuming that IDW will turn into Archie 2.0 when, quite frankly, you could argue that IDW is already Archie 2.0 despite their absence: the same writing team and art style, the same backdrop of Eggman having conquered or devastated the world (which was actually Archie’s pre-reboot setting), and a resistance team formed to rebuild and protect the world from dangers as they arise.

If Archie couldn’t pick up it’s old plots despite fan demand, what seriously makes anyone think IDW will pick up after Archie’s old plots even if the Freedom Fighters made a comeback?

IDW and Forces is admittedly very similar in the basic premise and structure to Archie, to the point I was kinda surprised Forces wasn't more cleanly a spiritual successor to SatAm/Archie, so it is arguably the one continuity they could most get away with adapting the Freedom Fighters and a lot of their core elements alongside it, though yeah, I think them being careful in moderating authenticity to those characters and their appeal without converting the other work according to them is the concern for some, especially since IDW has a lot of the same creative team as later Archie.

Either way there would be a limit however, Penders will sue if they convert back TOO much.

[Mobotropolis]

Quote

The problem to me is that a lot of the time, Sally seemed unlikeable anyway

Maybe because her straight laced, by the books, (sometimes) badass normal persona was too much of a contrast to the eccentric, happy-go-lucky, superpowered SegaSonic characters. 

The other Freedom Fighters (except Bunnie) were also relatively normal compared to Sonic, but that was offset by their eccentric (and somewhat stereotypical) personalities. Thing is, Sally seemed to be pretty plain even in comparison to the other Freedom Fighters. 

Sally was often portrayed as Everyman and Only Sane Man, and that sort of thing became a bore as time marched on and stories and the characters involved became even wilder. 

For me, Sally just seemed too normal in a world full of crazy. 

The Post-Reboot attempted to fix this by giving Sally more physical ability, making her more active on missions and giving her some things to do now that the political situation in Mobotropolis was stable and she could only be " just friends " with Sonic, but she was still relatively normal compared to the characters around her. 

Feel like a big part of fixing Sally's character, beyond giving her something interesting to do, would be to give her some sort of quirk or trait to make her stand out against the crowd. It's not just a matter of whether or not she has powers. Or a romantic interest. She needs to bring her own personal brand of madness to the table. 

Quote

It'll be "bring back the multiversal highway"

... woo boy ... 

*weary side eye to Sonic Prime*

[E-122-Psi]

7 hours ago, Mobotropolis said:

Maybe because her straight laced, by the books, (sometimes) badass normal persona was too much of a contrast to the eccentric, happy-go-lucky, superpowered SegaSonic characters. 

The other Freedom Fighters (except Bunnie) were also relatively normal compared to Sonic, but that was offset by their eccentric (and somewhat stereotypical) personalities. Thing is, Sally seemed to be pretty plain even in comparison to the other Freedom Fighters. 

Sally was often portrayed as Everyman and Only Sane Man, and that sort of thing became a bore as time marched on and stories and the characters involved became even wilder. 

For me, Sally just seemed too normal in a world full of crazy. 

The Post-Reboot attempted to fix this by giving Sally more physical ability, making her more active on missions and giving her some things to do now that the political situation in Mobotropolis was stable and she could only be " just friends " with Sonic, but she was still relatively normal compared to the characters around her. 

Feel like a big part of fixing Sally's character, beyond giving her something interesting to do, would be to give her some sort of quirk or trait to make her stand out against the crowd. It's not just a matter of whether or not she has powers. Or a romantic interest. She needs to bring her own personal brand of madness to the table. 

... woo boy ... 

*weary side eye to Sonic Prime*

It wasn't just that though but that the comics tended to INSIST she was the 'normal' one, even when she made tons of mistakes or contradicted her own 'normality', they never set it against her personality. Like there's plenty of characters I like that are SORT OF the straight man but have this hubris about them that makes them THINK they're such more than they really are, but the difference is they get funny karma and role reversals for it while Sally NEVER does (eg. Twilight Sparkle who is also a stiff, but a funny stiff that is allowed to humiliate herself and even have Pinkie Pie sometimes needing to reign her in). It never becomes a defining flaw for Sally, the writers just having her make a mistake and not be ALWAYS right should have been enough to them.

This is a reason I liked Season One Sally because the archetype for her was basically the same and all her positives remained, but they tended to undermine this pomposity about her more than the later comics were willing to, making it a funny and BEARABLE characteristic. Sally  was allowed to be teased over it and, dare I say it, LOSE HER DIGNITY SOMETIMES, something the Archie team seemed to really try to siddle over. It's hardly like she became this odious egotist or bitch like say, early Archie was, just they knew when to drop the calm elegance about her when it was called for and so to give her a more colourful personality. 'Sonic Boom' was the only time they maybe went too far and let her get away with being too apathetic and even that one was a group effort (Antoine's stupidity actually getting one of his teammates robotocised should have been the line for his shtick).

Concerning giving her weapon, I always thought the laser blades were one of the most unfitting. Like making Rotor well built felt a bit off too, but at least he was ALWAYS the big guy of the team. Sally getting close combat weaponry never felt like complimenting to her meticulous personality. I mean they did note this Sally was a bit more reckless than before, but STILL didn't want to put it against her straight man persona. Sally felt incredibly amorphous and undercooked for the simple fact they didn't want to put 2 + 2 together and suggest being the preachy cautious straight man who still pulled lots of reckless stunts herself JUST MIGHT imply she's a bit of a self righteous hypocrite who can't practice what she preaches. It's hardly like doing such would have turned her into the perpetual group egomaniac, she at least had sympathetic reasoning compared  to say, Sonic or Antoine, but you have to point out a characters' flaws when they're due.

[Ricochet]

I don't understand justifying that a character has no place  merely because there's already someone that does a similar thing. Like if they have to meet a role quota. 

This is a comic telling a story, not a party-based rpg.

[SBR2]

15 hours ago, Mobotropolis said:

 

... woo boy ... 

*weary side eye to Sonic Prime*

Y'know on that note people keep bringing up the possibility of Prime bringing in other versions of Sonic but honestly what if they did?

What if say for the finale of season 1 they actually utilized the SatAM and Archie versions at the same time and the big reason being to just say everything matters even if it's gone?

Would that be enough for people or would that possibly just be a slippery slope? 

[GentlemanX]

1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

What if say for the finale of season 1 they actually utilized the SatAM and Archie versions at the same time and the big reason being to just say everything matters even if it's gone?

Would that be enough for people or would that possibly just be a slippery slope? 

I don't understand. Are you asking if everyone would be happy if the Freedom Fighters came back one time only to acknowledge they were a thing and people liked them and then they were never to be utilized again? By asking if that would be enough for people or if that would be a slippery slope, are you framing this premise as though a segment of the fandom should only be appeased once and then we all should be expected to move on and it's unreasonable to want continued use of these characters and concepts afterwards?

Because no, I would still see the value in the Freedom Fighters and continue asking for more content featuring them.

[E-122-Psi]

5 hours ago, Ricochet said:

I don't understand justifying that a character has no place  merely because there's already someone that does a similar thing. Like if they have to meet a role quota. 

This is a comic telling a story, not a party-based rpg.

I think it's more for the reason that if adding a character compliments said story in any unique way another couldn't and if they were added would they cause any issues handling another character already in? Have they thought through how two of similar take can co-exist without either of them losing their agency and charm from before or having to be altered to the point they're barely the same character people wanted in the first place?

I think that's what many take issue with Rotor about for example, since a lot of his niches established are those of other key characters, namely being the tech guy and a big powerhouse type. He's in a basic sense, Tails and Big merged into one character. I don't mean that to EVERY detail of course, and that Rotor could NEVER co-exist with those characters, but how would they go about that without downgrading either of them, such as making Tails/Big or Rotor less relevant or more one note, or alternatively how could they alter and diverge one while still keeping the same appeal they had as before?

To use a sorta similar example from recently, the new Crash Bandicoot games have really tried to push Coco in as a main character, but it's all mostly by her having Crash's shtick, all his abilities and gameplay, and borrowing most of his gags. Generally the only unique thing they kept to diverge them are Coco's straight man/tech girl elements, with neither characters getting new distinctive traits otherwise, so now pretty much the only things that differentiate the two make Coco basically a more competent and versatile version of the main character. It's a case of shoehorning in a similar character without thinking through how they can co-exist with another and not ruin their agency.

This is an issue some have with the Freedom Fighters, that writers often struggled to make a balance with them and the SEGA cast, either demoting and dumbing down the SEGA cast to make the Freedom Fighters' competence more important or reducing the Freedom Fighters to an artefact due to how much more colourful and powerful the SEGA cast were. There obviously needs to be some development made here so both can work together.

[Kuzu]

Once again, some of you are making this into a bigger deal than it actually is. There are TONS of examples, across ALL of fiction of there being two similar characters, but are differentiated by their execution. 

This is not as big of a hurdle or as unique as some of you are making it sound, please do more research about fictional character writing and see how common some of these "problems" actually are. 

[E-122-Psi]

1 minute ago, Kuzu said:

Once again, some of you are making this into a bigger deal than it actually is. There are TONS of examples, across ALL of fiction of there being two similar characters, but are differentiated by their execution. 

This is not as big of a hurdle or as unique as some of you are making it sound, please do more research about fictional character writing and see how common some of these "problems" actually are. 

Yes. It is accomplishable on paper. But remember this is SONIC writing we are talking about. Archie spent a whole two decades struggling to make it work and some will still argue whether they finally accomplished it at any point, and the same team that done Archie are now the ones in charge of IDW, the media that is being proposed here.