How Sonic (a cartoon animal) has so many adult fans?

[MetalSkulkBane]

What topic says. I mean, in general, cartoon animals are associated with younger demographic. Even if Bugs Bunny was aimed as adults as well, we can probably agree he doesn't has same kind of staying power with teen/young adults these days. So what's the secret?

Gameplay what matters?
While it could help, success of IDW comics, Sonic movie or even Murder of Sonic implies that many people really enjoy those characters and this worlds, not just gameplay. I think Sonic is a liiiittle more successful in that regard than say Donkey Kong, Star Fox or Crash Bandicoot.

Many games = much publicity = many fans?
That's switching cause and effect. Sonic had several less-than-great games that would kill lesser franchises. Sonic Products are made because fan-base exists, not other way around.

More adult-oriented stories?
While it's true that Sonic stories explored adult mature (sigh, it's ironic how words loose their meaning) had more thought and deeper emotions than Banjo Kazzoie very kid-friendly tone or Crash constant silliness. Black Knight, SA2, Frontiers, IDW, Archie, etc. But Sonic can't be the only serious-ish antro out there (cartoon one that is). What about Kung Fu Panda or Zootopia? Aggressive Retsuko? Star Fox is fairly serious.

Furries?
No, just no. "Sonic very large, ergo many furriest are into him", not "Many furries like Sonic, ergo he became large". No one bought Sonic Mania for pervy reasons. Yes, Rouge the Bat exists. So does Candy Kong, Krystal, Tawna, Lola Rabbit.

Those are my best guesses and as you see, none of them really convinced me. At best, I could buy it's mix of them, but again, Star Fox checks most of those boxes, but still few average games lead to hiatus, while Sonic remained icon even at worst of his times.

Thoughts?

[jungle_penguins]

Sonic has an edge to his presentation and characterization. That stays in memory of a lot of those who grow up with it so they're more in touch with the franchise even as they grow distant from it. They could come back or not, maybe even repeat that every few years. That's me personally, and I recall years ago, as kids were growing up, some were still Sonic fans, just quieter whilst other kid brands, probably perceived as too childish for one reason or another, got dropped.

The 2000s of churning out as many games as possible also helped contributed to it staying in the conscious, and Sonic X I would argue was more massive than most fans give it credit for nowadays. I see the current Sonic movies, Prime, IDW, and games as a repeat of that, just done slightly differently. So there's another generation of adult fans on the way/already there.

The other part of this is the IP has qualities that attracts those with autism spectrum disorder who stick around forever. 

[Indigo Rush]

Any franchise that isn't blatantly for young children will have its share of fans that take their appreciation of it with them as they grow older. Sonic came out over 30 years ago, that's a very generous length of time for kids of any age to stumble across a Sonic game, get hooked and grow up with it. 

The thing is that what constitutes as "Sonic" keeps changing every so often.  If you ask me, this is the unintentional secret sauce. The tone, gameplay style and story complexity has not stayed consistent throughout it's lifespan.

To help illustrate this point, the zeitgeist of Sonic discourse shifts every half decade or so. It wasn't too long ago that we had a surge of Adventure begging, whether it was the True Sonic Spirit movement or that Sonic Adventure 3 Facebook page. This was about ten years ago, and ten years before that was when the Adventure games were still considered new. Now we're just getting over the hump of Unleashed's exoneration. Expect the "Meta Era" to suddenly become good in the next four years. 

To circle things back though, generally speaking Sonic the Hedgehog as a concept has a nice appeal. Action platforming, colorful characters with cool powers, etc. It's like a superhero franchise that has different versions that work for both kids and adults. The fact that they spread themselves so thin is why Sonic's audience is so dynamic and included adults.

[Wraith]

I wouldn't say it has a bigger adult fanbase than average. The kids are still the majority by far but if you haven't noticed, late millennials-early Gen Z just kind of clinging to things outside their demo has become common. Entire theme parks are dedicated to Hogwarts and Star Wars experiences for all ages. It seems like everyone has one kid oriented franchise that they've stayed anchored to and some of us just happened to get stuck with the Sonic curse. 

If you want to get into why..some people used to explain this with the idea that Sonic's gameplay had a depth and appeal that held strong even as people got older, but that's not really true anymore. There's nothing unique or deep about Frontier's gameplay. 

What Frontiers does offer is the fantasy of playing as action hero Sonic and hanging out with his friends. The appeal of the Sonic series pivoted to fixation on the characters and world in the 2000s when Sonic transitioned into 3D.  It didn't matter as much if the mechanics weren't up to snuff as long as they gave space to the characters, which slowly became the real driving force of the fandom. This appeal is niche and most people are going to age out of it but some are going to want to visit Sonic's world well into adulthood the same way they do for other franchises. 

[Iko]

People don't question this when it comes to cartoon plumbers, Pixar movies, superheroes, and so. It's not much different.

But still... Sonic is a classic franchise. It's a classic video game icon from the 90s, and has a big legacy despite all the several failures in the series. People are interested in Sonic, play Sonic and even criticize Sonic, because Sonic is seen as an important series that's part of video game's history. The same happens for Mario and a few other franchises.

The lore: people who are a fan of Sonic already, may stick around because the universe of the series is interesting, full of mysteries and details, and hardcore fans love that type of stuff. The inconsistencies somehow even helped people to stick around for lore, because the lore was a mess, and people had fun discussing and speculating how that mess could make sense if interpreted their own way.

Also, the design of the characters. Just like Hello Kitty is beloved for the design of the character, Sonic also has a unique character design that's beloved by the fanbase and general audience. People can like and be attracted by Sonic and friends even just for the design of the characters, because they have appeal even if you don't know who they are. I'm not talking of furries, I'm just saying that the art style of Sonic is simply likeable and pretty unique.

Pretty much this and maybe more.

[Eggman Fan]

The series has been around for a while. So many kids who played the genesis games are adults now.

Also Sonic's cool. No one needs a reason to like something they find cool.

[Wittymations]

Stockholm Syndrome from the time we were kids.

[Razule]

Sonic has always been a franchise that's accessible for all ages. Childishly whimsical enough to appeal to kids, and mature enough adults aren't turned away by it. For the most part, the designs, stories, and gameplay are all universally appealing. There's so many adult fans simply because the franchise has existed for over 30 years. Three generations of children have grown into adulthood in a time where they'll never know a world where Sonic doesn't exist.

Most people who get attached to kid-oriented franchises grow out of it, but for those of us who are still here, it's a combination of nostalgia and that universal appeal. And perhaps.. it also being a constant. We change, the world around us changes, and even Sonic changes, but it's still there, and probably always will be no matter how much time you spend away from it.

[MetalSkulkBane]

What I gather from everyone's replies is that Sonic status as cartoon animal is completely irrelevant to his popularity with older audiences. If say Crash didn't had same success is either result of

- many different factors or

- me (being adult Sonic fan, focused on Sonic stuff, seeking other adult Sonic fans) having a subjective view of the situation, somewhat exaggerating hedgehogs "superiority" in that regard.

Correct?

[Wraith]

3 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

What I gather from everyone's replies is that Sonic status as cartoon animal is completely irrelevant to his popularity with older audiences. If say Crash didn't had same success is either result of

- many different factors or

- me (being adult Sonic fan, focused on Sonic stuff, seeking other adult Sonic fans) having a subjective view of the situation, somewhat exaggerating hedgehogs "superiority" in that regard.

Correct?

Yeah there are a lot of adult crash fans so I don't even know what that point in the OP was about.