Chris Thorntyke Discussion

[Dr. Mechano]

Really, Chris is the odd one out. His entire family is cool, but he's rather flat and boring. I mean...

His grandfather Chuck's a genius inventor. His uncle Sam's a racer/in charge of a special police unit. And both his parents are absurdly wealthy "Rich Uncle Pennybags" characters that were pretty funny whenever they did appear. His battle butler Tanaka was cool too. And the comic at least developed his maid Ella into Eggman's love interest, so she was cool as well.

Sonic could've hung out with anyone else from the Thorndyke household, and things would've been really cool.

Edited April 10, 2009 by El Gran Gordo

[Mollfie]

I don't mind Chris. Sonic can have more than one friend lol plus Chris is essential to the storyline. If you didn't have Chris then it would be like watching a really long Sonic cutscene...exciting.

[Little Miss Fortunes]

I kinda feel sorry for Chris... He gets a lot of hate

That said, I understand what his purpose was, the one thing that really irked me is that once Sonic came along, he seemed to act as though nobody in the world cared about him other than the blue hedgehog, when this clearly was not the case - though his parents are busy and not always there, it is pretty clear that they love him and care about him a lot (like the episode where they came home, but his mother had to leave and she cried because she couldn't be there for him... Chris started to call her selfish/rude, and Cream, who had witnessed her breakdown, had an emotional outburst at Chris about it, and the one where both parents were comically over-dramatic about him having a cold.), Mr. Tanaka and Ella seem to care about him beyond their job, and not only that, he has his grandpa and friends who care about him too. It's almost like he shuns their care once Sonic comes along, simply because Sonic's a super-fast-blue-talking-hedgehog, and that makes it seem as though Sonic is viewed as merely a super cool and popular toy that no one else can have, kind of thing. :<

If he actually were to have no friends or people who clearly care about him, his behaviour would have been more understandable, sympathetic, and he thus would have been a more likeable character. Oh well... I don't hate Chris, but I don't quite like him for those reasons.

[Phos]

Really, Chris is the odd one out. His entire family is cool, but he's rather flat and boring. I mean...

His grandfather Chuck's a genius inventor. His uncle Sam's a racer/in charge of a special police unit. And both his parents are absurdly wealthy "Rich Uncle Pennybags" characters that were pretty funny whenever they did appear. His battle butler Tanaka was cool too. And the comic at least developed his maid Ella into Eggman's love interest, so she was cool as well.

Sonic could've hung out with anyone else from the Thorndyke household, and things would've been really cool.

I guess he inherited his boring nature from his dad, who never really did anything in particular. Sam was probably the best written character in the whole show, pretty much everything that came out of his mouth was funny. Too bad the voice that 4kids gave him was even further off the mark than Sonic's.

Certain choices that they made with Chris were somewhat perplexing. First of all, they made him a rich kid, which really cuts down on the people who can identify with him. I think the idea behind the character was to basically live the dream of having Sonic live at your house, and to do that, the viewer has to identify with the character and suspend disbelief, but making him rich is going to make that harder, because it makes it a fantasy within a fantasy for most kids.

But all that pails in comparison the brain-dead mistake of making him the perspective character. Whenever Sonic leaves to go for a run or something, does the viewer follow him? Once in a while, but is usually stays where it is and shows you whatever Chris is doing. Sonic X is a misnomer, a more accurate name would be "The Chris Show Starring Chris". Maybe it was cheaper to animate, but if anyone is going to use that as an excuse, I'd tell them to not attach more low budget crap to Sonic, he has enough as it is.

[Dr. Mechano]

This isn't a new idea by any means, of course. For some reason, lots of anime based on videogames opt for the "Made-up kid who isn't from the videogame series hangs out with the game hero" formula. The Ganbare Goemon/Mystical Ninja anime did this with Tsuaka and the Megaman OVA did this with Kobayashi. Of course, in both of these titles, the videogame characters literally came from a "game world" instead of an alternate dimension.

...Not that the alternate dimension thing really makes sense from Sonic's standpoint, since in the games, Station Square, humans, etc. were always part of Sonic's version of Earth. Ah well, I'm digressing.

My point is, "child sidekick syndrome" is a perplexing formula that almost no one likes, but has happened with irritating frequency in shows like this.

[Blazey Firekitty]

Come to think of it, I'm not sure why he still gets the kind of attention he apparently does. He was never as prominent as Shadow, especially since he was never part of the game canon, and he eventually took a back seat to Tails, the original kid sidekick, during the Metarex saga. He just seems like a drop in the bucket, in the grand scheme of things.

[Donilicious]

I think I'd be fine with Chris if his personality was a little different. I don't mind Sonic having a human friend/sidekick sorta thing going on but Chris is just sort of annoying... If they changed him up and made him a little cooler then it'd be fine.

But you can't help but feel bad for the kid. His parents are never around and he doesn't have that many friends at school. Before Sonic came along his life was pretty crappy.

[CreamyBagel]

I'll never get all the stealing roles' bullshit. He did it twice in the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation (emphasis on the word adaptation) and that's it.

I'll admit that bothered me but only because it seemed to diminish Amy and Rouge's roles. Anyway I don't hate Chris but I don't like him either. As others have said he seemed rather pointless in the long run. He was boring, whiny and undeveloped. I think I actually liked him in the Metarex saga where he was a minor character rather than a spotlight hog.

I think he's less annoying in the sub than the dub. The dub makes him out to be much more moany than he was originally.

Edited April 10, 2009 by CreamyBagel

[Tornado]

My main problem with Chris (and, indeed, Sonic X in general) is that they based much of the show around him coming to terms with his loneliness and isolation from the outside world, and using Sonic the rid himself of his troubles.

This is a problem because Chris is just about the biggest assholes I can think of in a children's show in quite some time, and his isolation and boredom are entirely self imposed. Its impossible to feel sorry for and connect with the character when he spends nearly all of his time on screen being a selfish prick.

This isn't even a 4Kids problem really, because while many of these problems are made worse by the dub, they still existed originally anyways.

His parents are never around

Bullshit. Both of his parents immediately dropped everything they had going at the time and started a huge search for him the first time he went missing. His mother happily had him around when she was filming some movie, and his father never came off as being a mean person either. His parents were never around? He never asked them to be.

Not to mention he had his grandfather and two hired servants, all three of which obviously deeply cared for him, to which he spent most of the show barely acknowledging their existence.

and he doesn't have that many friends at school.

What about all of those kids that he walked out on immediately after Sonic and co. showed up? He had quite a few friends, who were clearly shown to want to actively hang out with him. And he blew them all off without a second thought.

The fact that he went all "Don't leave me Sonic because no one loves me!" at the end of the first season doesn't mean anything. He had loving friends and family members long before Sonic ever showed up, and the second Sonic did arrive he stopped giving two shits about any of them. Even in the second season the only time he is shown on Earth basically amounts to Chris having the friends he had before help him get to the friends he actually wants to be around. Tell me, how do you sympathize with someone like that?

Not only is there no evidence in the show of his life actually being bad, but the show itself shows that the only reason his life would have been bad in the circumstances he lived with was because he wanted his life that way.

Edited April 10, 2009 by Tornado

[Flyboy Fox]

What about all of those kids that he walked out on immediately after Sonic and co. showed up? The fact that he went all "Don't leave me Sonic because no one loves me!" at the end of the first season doesn't mean anything simply because he got on his soapbox. He had loving friends and family members long before Sonic ever showed up, and the second Sonic did arrive he stopped giving two shits about any of them. Tell me, how do you sympathize with someone like that?

This is the main thing about Chris that really made me se him as a selfish brat. He already had several friends at school who he seemed to be popular with... but as soon as Sonic came along, Chris was so blinded by starry-eyed adoration for his new friend that he acted as though no one else had ever cared about him before. He treated Sonic like his best friend after only days of knowing him, despite already having friends from presumably a fair bit further back.

I'm sorry but I really can't sympathise with a rich spoiled cry-baby brat like Chris. He infuriates me, and the amount of time and attention Sonic devoted to him equally annoys me.

Then again, I disliked the premise from the start. I don't dislike Chris simply for being human, but I do feel that his role was incredibly patronising to viewers. It was almost as if the writers felt that kids simply wouldn't be able to relate to these crazy animal characters unless it was via a human proxy. Viewers presumably can't appreciate the adventures of Sonic and co without having a human kid's eyes to view it through. The whole Chris thing just felt like a giant fanboy wet-dream. A "wouldn't it be cool if Sonic came to our world and was your friend and lived at your house?!" fantasy first and foremost, focusing on how it changed and affected Chris' life, rather than focusing mainly on the character(s) the show is presumably _supposed_ to be about.

This was an incredibly toned-down rant. I really can't express adequately my deep dislike of Chris Throndyke any better without resorting to four letter words.

[Rusty Spy]

Bullshit. Both of his parents immediately dropped everything they had going at the time and started a huge search for him the first time he went missing. His mother happily had him around when she was filming some movie, and his father never came off as being a mean person either. His parents were never around? He never asked them to be.

Not to mention he had his grandfather and two hired servants, all three of which obviously deeply cared for him, to which he spent most of the show barely acknowledging their existence.

I wouldn't think so. Though his parents loved to the obsessive level, they never really spent some quality time with each other, some Mother/Father and son time with each other. His parents were always caught up in their jobs rather than home with him.

[DaBatGuy]

Yeah, Chris is IMO even worse than Antonie from SATAM(I know he gets much better in the Archie comics but I had stopped reading long before that happened). He's really an uninteresting, poor written character who just seems to be unnecessary baggage for Sonic and co. Antonie may have been completely useless(I have no clue as to why he got dragged along into missions, even Tails has proven to be more competent than him) but at least he's a fun character with a comical and relevant relationship with the main protagonists.

I remember when I first read about Sonic X in a Sonic Heroes preview. I had envisioned him as some Japanese kid living in tiny apartment, parents too busy to really spend time with him, no friends at school because he's too much of a nerdy otaku. That is until a certain hedgehog suddenly appears in his life and through his speed and 'tude help change the family for the better. I was really disappointed that he was just rich brat surrounded by several much more interesting human characters.

[lounge]

He'd probably look better, actually.

No, he'd look a lot more laughable.

[Diogenes]

No, he'd look a lot more laughable.

Better than looking like a douche as he does now.

[Viku]

I don't hate humanoid characters, I just hate humanoid characters whitch personality is not appealing and most importantly, ARE USELESS. Other human characters in the sonic series at least have some power over the world (like the president or G.U.N) and the ones that dosen't have something big are reduced to a minor but good role.

I have no problem with Chris being in the show, is the fact that he is taken to where the action happends and he just can't do anything to help is what I hate. That's also a reason why I hate Cream so much, but still she at least can punch a robot (technically, Cheese does, but you understand anyways). If he wouldn't be a main cast chara it would be enjoyable...after all, he lives in the house where Sonic & Co. must stay in the beggining of the show. But its it really necesarry to have so much spotlight...prehavs a filler where he could be more important or if he had something that could work for the group...that would make him an enjoyable character for me.

At the end of the "first-Half" of the series (If we can put it like that), Chist grew up, he became a scientist and also get some martial arts skills. When the Metarex saga started and showed Older Chris making the portal for Sonic's World I thought: "Cool, now that chris is older, he can be more usefullfor Sonic's group!!"...and then what happened? they decide to turn Chris back into a child making him useless again!!That seriously made me pissed!!

1- Is too bad or even important that chris is a child or not? Maybe it was because this is a kid's show and the children must relate to chris in someway...but there was nothing for us to relate tohim in the first place!!

2-Why give him "usefull skils" if he is going to loose them anyways? He still was smart and was able to build the special shows and the hoverboard for sonic, but Tails could pretty much do the same, besides, some of those special gizmos are used in one or two episodes only.

I like the fact that his whole meeting with Sonic & Co. gave him some courage and helped to grow up, that's a good character development (changing the subject for a moment, I also liked that in Sonic 06...the fact Sonic gave Elise an important moral that turned her into a better peron). the thing is that is not good if you can't put something appealing in him....

Christ could have been a good character...but sadly, they did it wrong....

Edited April 10, 2009 by Viku

[SuperStingray]

No, he'd look a lot more laughable.

I don't know what people have against the Unleashed models.

[Flyboy Fox]

People will complain if humans are rendered too realistically OR if they're too cartoony. It's a hard balance to strike, I guess.

[Dr. Mechano]

People will complain if humans are rendered too realistically OR if they're too cartoony. It's a hard balance to strike, I guess.

I think cartoony fits, myself. Eggman has always been an unrealistically-proportioned fellow, and the animals have heads the size of their bodies, so there's no realism there.

I think the other humans being as wacky and cartoonish as Eggman fits rather well, but that's just me.

Edited April 10, 2009 by El Gran Gordo

[Viku]

I think is depends.

In Sonic X, the anime feeling is better since it's an ANIME.

But in the games, I say the cartoonish style of Unleashed is the best they could think of. even the G.U.N. General dosen't look that bad in a cartoony look (in Chronicles)

[Tornado]

I wouldn't think so. Though his parents loved to the obsessive level, they never really spent some quality time with each other, some Mother/Father and son time with each other. His parents were always caught up in their jobs rather than home with him.

I'm sorry. I must have missed the part of the show where he explicitly expressed his desire that he wanted to be with them. All I saw were vague allusions that were borderline unintelligible, followed by the previously mentioned Heroic BSoD when Sonic and co. went to leave.

Seriously, how can he expect his parents to know he wants attention when he makes no effort to get it?

Edited April 11, 2009 by Tornado

[Nattala]

The reasons I dislike Chris are similar to what everyone else has said. The show made it seem like Sonic likes Chris better than his other friends, the show would cut from showing us what Sonic was doing to showing us what Chris was doing (which was wondering what Sonic was doing) , he took too much spotlight and he seemed whiny for no reason (as others have stated he already had family and friends). However he wasn't bad ALL the time. During the Sonic Adventure Adaption he mostly stayed out of the way of things and spent time with Big which made Big's story more interesting. He was annoying in the SA2 adaption but in the episodes after that he shared the spotlight more, well until Sonic had to go home and Chris kidnapped him. During the Metarex Saga he wasn't too bad either although his inventions seemed stupid to me (most were just copies of other shoes like Shadow's shoes or the Soap shoes) and sometimes they made the other characters look incompetent so Chris can save Sonic.

[Silvereclipse]

I really don't like Chris, but I think he has some (if all) qualifications of a Gary-Stu. The whole he's in a rich family where his parents are not with him all the time is really used a lot in anime.

His character wasn't all that interesting either. Helen and Danny were far more interesting then Chris. And the whole him taking other character roles was another thing I didn't like. I think that his character could have improved if they made Chris just his own character without taking other roles in the games. I'm guessing they thought they would make a human character that viewers would relate to. Yes because everyone wants to be Chris

Oh and I'm not bashing him when I say this, but he looks like a girl when he close his eyes halfway.

[Phos]

Like I've said before, I watched Sonic X as though it were an extended Youtube Poop, and the bit I laughed the hardest at was when it was revealed that Sonic hung out with Chris just because he felt like he owed him for saving his life.

[lounge]

I don't know what people have against the Unleashed models.

They look so damn ugly, which is my main problem. They're all disproportional. They're all sonic's height. And they don't mesh with sonic's style.

And I can't believe what they did to the GUN commander. He looks like a deformed eggplant. I blame Sachiko Kawamura (unleashed's art director)

By the way, that's a female. Not that I have anything against females working in the game industry. It's just that, most of them like cutsie things..... She said she wanted to create the ideal sonic, that everyone would recognize. I don't recognize that as the ideal sonic. What happened to the look of the cool, teenage hedgehog? Anyway, that's my rant. Now onto Chris.

Sonic hung out with Chris just because he felt like he owed him for saving his life.

LOL! I remember that.

[midori]

（。。。）

I remember when I first read about Sonic X in a Sonic Heroes preview. I had envisioned him as some Japanese kid living in tiny apartment, parents too busy to really spend time with him, no friends at school because he's too much of a nerdy otaku. That is until a certain hedgehog suddenly appears in his life and through his speed and 'tude help change the family for the better. I was really disappointed that he was just rich brat surrounded by several much more interesting human characters.

My, that idea would make a brilliant show if used correctly! ゜∀゜♪ Maybe it would save a couple of otakus from becoming hikikomoris, even!

But no, the creators had to focus on an IGNorant little spoiled brat! ಥ﹏ಥ T-T

By the way IGNorant, do you think the creators meant to provide a hidden message for the show? Like,

Chris was an IGN reviewer and we could see his childhood in the show to understand him better? ﾟ∀ﾟ

(in case you wondered what's up with the three dots I've inserted into the quote, I forgot to turn off Hiragana input mode, lol)