About Tails' Future Role in the Games

[MGA_Gamer]

Ever since Sonic Frontiers was released, I can't help but worry about how Tails is gonna fit into future Sonic titles. I know there is DLC for Frontiers coming out later this year that hint towards him being playable, but there are a couple of moments in the game that make me anxious about what's going to happen to Tails going forward.

Just to clarify, I have no problems with how Tails was handled in Frontiers. I thought his character development was great and I like the fact that they addressed his "Inconsistency" from previous titles. But I do have some nagging thoughts about Tails' future based on the game's dialogue.

Firstly, there is the cutscene of him telling Sonic that He's going to "Go it alone for a while". This implies that he's going off on his own adventures without Sonic, and I'm conflicted about it.

On the one hand, If he is getting his own spin-off material, great! It's about time my favourite character got his moment in the sun, without Sonic. But at the same time, I'll miss his interactions with his "Big Bro", which is one of the reasons why I love Tails in the first place.

And If the next game replaces him (along with Knuckles and Amy) with a new cast of characters (Or even some returning ones from previous games) then that means that he could be out of the Sonic series for years, if not decades to come (especially with the ever-growing development times of AAA games these days, and certainly one with the same scope as Frontiers). Tails was a staple of the series, always by Sonic's side. Now he may be absent for ages!

Then there is the ending cutscene where he tells Sonic that he'll "Barely recognise him" when they meet again. What does that even mean?! Is the next Sonic game gonna take place years after Frontiers? Is Tails going to be an adult by then? If that's the case, No thanks! That's not the cute and cuddly little fox I grew up with. Such a drastic change would turn me off the Sonic series for good.

I don't think he'll disappear altogether, we still have the comics, movies, Prime and possible spin-off games after all, and Its possible Sega could just ignore all of this for the next game, or even pull a full on reboot. But I feel like we are living in uncertain times about the long-term future of Sonic from a narrative standpoint, especially since Sega appear to be going out of their way to unite all the different continuities now.

And I know there are some of you on here who will say "Tails is an iconic character, he will never disappear or change drastically unless it's subtle or for the better", but if The Pokémon Company can retire Ash Ketchum after 25 years, then all bets are off as far as I'm concerned.

Let me know what you think. I'm sorry if this comes across as a rant/tangent, and you are free to disagree if you wish. These are just my personal thoughts, nothing more!

[Diogenes]

99 to 1 odds everything will be right back to the status quo next game. If Flynn even remains involved with the games he's not looking to completely upend the series, and Sega wouldn't allow him if he wanted to, anyway. Fret about Pokemon all you want, the fact that they kept Ash 10 years old for 25 years shows how committed companies can be to keeping their icons the same; change isn't impossible, but they're so hesitant about it that it's not worth spending your energy worrying over it.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Personally, I fear kinda opposite: that nothing changes. That next game the core gang will just "hey, long time no see" and things progress as they always do.

Which normally wouldn't be a problem. A lot of Sonic is "things progressing as always do". But it will retroactively turn Forces into a joke if Tails said "I need to grow up" and the next game he'll be like "yep, I sure changed a lot. Off-screen, and not in a way you can tell".

So Flynn would say that we need to strike a delicate balance, this illusion of progress that doesn't remove core values. Sounds a bit tricky, but I assume Sega knew the risk when they approved the script

[Sega DogTagz]

There is nothing to worry about here, because Tails going off on his own to be a Hero inevitably sets him up on the path to team up with Sonic the next time Eggman has a plot for world domination. Its self fulfilling that he'll be right back in the mix.

 

Maybe he's more keen to take point or divide and concur the next time we see him, but worrying that he'll fall off the face of the franchise is a direct opposite goal of what he's trying to accomplish by striking out on his own. If anything - he'll be doing more.

[Rabbitearsblog]

I wouldn't worry about it.  I don't see SEGA taking out Tails out of the franchise just because he wanted to "strike out on his own."  What I'm personally hoping for is that this will convince SEGA to do a spin off title surrounding Tails.  It's been awhile since we had a spin off title that was focused on Sonic's friends (the last spin off title we had that only focused on Sonic's friends was "Shadow the Hedgehog" and well, that didn't turn out well). But anyway, I can see Sonic and Tails reuniting again in a future game.  They are not going to break up these two friends anytime soon.

[Indigo Rush]

I think it's safe to assume the only ascertainable change will be a return to Sonic and Tails saying "long time no see" when they meet up in a new game. 

[Scar]

Its still possible for Tails to hang around with and participate in a game narrative with Sonic, whilst also being more independent as a character.

These things are not mutually exclusive.

[Razule]

I still don't think the arcs in Frontiers will amount to much in the future, aside from explaining their current status quo or course-correcting in Tails' case.

Tails is a hero in his own right, as he should be after SA2, but he's still Sonic's best friend so of course he's going to be with him again. Angel Island hasn't been relevant in 20 years, so Knuckles saying he's going to leave it more often kinda means nothing, of course he'll be back. That restriction seems to only be enforced in the comics. Amy is.. still Amy-ing (???). 

[Kuzu]

They would sooner retire Tails entirely than actually change anything about him; he's always going to be Sonic's sidekick no matter what the games tell you. 

Which makes Flynn's job kind of difficult because he has to sell people on the idea that things are going to change, but without actually changing anything at all. 

[Razule]

1 hour ago, Kuzu said:

They would sooner retire Tails entirely than actually change anything about him; he's always going to be Sonic's sidekick no matter what the games tell you. 

Which makes Flynn's job kind of difficult because he has to sell people on the idea that things are going to change, but without actually changing anything at all. 

He's basically already done that, just add a few "long time no see"s and/or the characters being playable in the next game and it's the most groundbreaking development ever featured in a Sonic game

[Kuzu]

21 hours ago, Razule said:

He's basically already done that, just add a few "long time no see"s and/or the characters being playable in the next game and it's the most groundbreaking development ever featured in a Sonic game

The more savvy person can see through that.

[camerondaw72]

they might just be trying to say that tails is going to be different to redeem himself from what forces did to him. For example: "Whoa chaos! Sonic help me!" "true dat" "You're that Sonic from another Dimension" "Woah! This guy is faster than Sonic!"  "No, wait! It's something else. Gotta scan him and figure this out." "I'm trying, Sonic, but these readings are all messed up! They don't make any sense!" "Hmm... That should have done it... I couldn't figure it out for you buddy. I'm sorry I wasn't smart enough."  "I can't believe it! Sonic's alive! I think I used up all my wishes for the rest of my life, but it's worth it! " "Hold on a sec, while I access the data from this computer... Okay... failed battle plans... old robot designs... wow, he's got like ten terabytes of selfies...". and a whole lot more. Also they might want to redeem him from basically standing there wile Sonic got the living daylights beat out of him. So that's why he might be different coming back.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

On 2/8/2023 at 2:32 PM, Indigo Rush said:

I think it's safe to assume the only ascertainable change will be a return to Sonic and Tails saying "long time no see" when they meet up in a new game. 

This (or something equivalent) or it making no difference whatsoever are the two most likely outcomes. An unlikely but very cool outcome would be Tails being playable in the next Sonic game with a unique campaign that starts out with him doing his own thing before his path intersects with Sonic. An extremely unlikely but also very cool outcome would be Tails getting his own solo game. I think the Sonic brand is strong right now, so it could work.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

On 2/15/2023 at 2:25 AM, Monkey Destruction Switch said:

This (or something equivalent) or it making no difference whatsoever are the two most likely outcomes. An unlikely but very cool outcome would be Tails being playable in the next Sonic game with a unique campaign that starts out with him doing his own thing before his path intersects with Sonic. An extremely unlikely but also very cool outcome would be Tails getting his own solo game. I think the Sonic brand is strong right now, so it could work.

I don’t think that’s really impossible either, to be fair. It was something of a big deal back in the 2000s that Tails’ Adventure era development did stick around. Stuff like him and Knuckles seeking Sonic out in Heroes, or even when we got to the likes of Chronicles which made a very big deal about Tails going on his own adventures, and becoming a hero independent of Sonic.

Will it happen? Depends if SEGA/Sonic Team stick to their guns and ensure the story remains a focus in the future (which they have hinted at with Frontiers’ success). I don’t know if it’d be a long absence or something, but I do think we could hear about Tails’ exploits off screen, it certainly isn’t the first time it happened.