Sonic the Hedgehog

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For the 2020 live-action movie, see Sonic the Hedgehog (film).

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[I] looked up to Sonic the Hedgehog as my lifelong hero, because he's not only quck in the feet, but also in the head.
Christian Weston Chandler[1]
Sonichu character
Sanek.png
Sonic
Gender Male
Length 3'3" (100 cm)
Weight 77 lbs (35 kg)
Species Hedgehog
Arm color Blue

Sonic the Hedgehog is a blue-armed fictional character that was created by Sega in order to serve as their main mascot (replacing Alex Kidd), as well as to compete against Nintendo's Mario. He is also one of the primary characters from which the much-beloved comic book hero Sonichu draws inspiration.

Like many lolcows on the internet, Chris is a big fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Chris claims that Sonic has been his "life long hero"[2] since June 1990 (sic),[3] replacing the American Rabbit in terms of overall importance.[4] Chris confirmed his loyalty to Sonic in 2014 when Sega's outrageous decision to change a non-canonical Sonic's arm color to blue forced Chris to vandalize stores and physically injure employees.

History

Chris likely first learned about Sonic from the first game being promoted in magazines and television in 1991, involving the basic plot of Sonic running around to defeat Doctor Robotnik, who was portrayed as a plump, egotistical man who would endeavor to conquer Mobius and destroy Sonic, failing spectacularly each time.

In 1993, two cartoon adaptations of the games aired concurrently with each other: Sonic the Hedgehog (often referred to as Sonic SatAM), a generally serious and story-driven show that aired on ABC, and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, a more lighthearted and gag-driven show that aired in syndication. The latter's debut was promoted with a contest that same year, with the grand prize being a $1,000 video game shopping spree. Chris was one of the two winners of the shopping spree and was featured in a news story about the contest, one of the biggest moments (if not the biggest moment) in his early life, spreading its influence far and wide, from his decisions to enter other contests, to the eventual creation of Sonichu. Chris's loyalty was so strong that he was visibly upset when told by middle school bullies that Sonic was dead.[5]

During the late '90s, Chris's obsession with Sonic waned as he became more interested in other franchises, particularly Pokémon. However, it came back with a vengeance in February 2000, when he received a Sega Dreamcast along with a copy of Sonic Adventure for his 18th birthday. Chris created Sonichu less than a month later, and has remained hooked on the series ever since.

Chris has shown relatively little attention to the title character of Sonic's rival franchise Super Mario, which is curious considering his militant hatred for the HEXbox in favor of the PlayStation; however, Chris does own a few Mario games in his video game collection. It is also known that Chris owns Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Crash being another rival of Sonic's.

In a video released in July 2016, Chris indirectly (and somewhat, though not 100%, incorrectly) acknowledges that the later Sonic the Hedgehog games are poorly received; however, he hilariously doesn't grasp the concept, insisting that his original creation could "pull Sonic out of the ground".

Notable multimedia

Comics

More likely than not a bigger inspiration than the games series itself.

Sonic comics are almost as numerous as the games themselves, pumped out at a whim for a buck; they even made series specific for each region of the world. The one Chris is familiar with is the one published by Archie Comics, published in, obviously, America.

Chris has hinted at and mentioned that he is familiar with this comic series, and the layout of his comics tends to replicate the style of early Archie Sonic covers. Reldnahc's calling Chris "Prime-Chan" in the comic may be a reference to the character Scourge the Hedgehog, an evil version of Sonic from another dimension; Sonic is referred to as "Sonic Prime" when dealing with inter-dimensional storylines. Chris has also been known to trace images from an early special of the comic, "Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles", for the basis of some of his fight scenes, and one of the early shorts, entitled "Sonichu 25 Years Later," takes its name from a 2004 arc called "Mobius 25 Years Later." Whether he still reads the comics now or not is unknown. He has stated that he would like Sonichu to be published by Archie Comics.[6][7] If Chris still reads it, it will probably be a source of plagiarism and mass debating for years to come.

Starting in April 2010, Sony began releasing the Archie Sonic comics for download via the Playstation Network.[8] The likelihood that Chris has purchased them? Close to 100%.

Sonic Boom

Main article: Sonic Boom Protests

In June 2014, Chris announced he was boycotting the TV and video game series Sonic Boom because of the fact that they changed the color of Sonic's arms from a flesh color to blue. Chris claims that this "U-turn" in design has caused him to "literally lose a bunch of sleep and peace of mind".[9] This was later enforced in October when he posted two photos of himself holding up a Sonic doll with a grim face. Note that Sonic Boom is not considered canon and the color change is probably not permanent. Furthermore, the fact that Chris focuses exclusively on Sonic's blue arms instead of any of the other changes made to the character designs raises a lot of questions. It is also worth mentioning that even Chris's white knights, including William Elliott Waterman, criticised him for overreacting instead of defending him. The discouragement evidently only fanned the flames, however; Chris's anger towards the game only worsened and ended up getting him in deep trouble (see below).

On 17 November 2014, in a post to the Facebook group Keep Sonic Original, Chris revealed that his tard rage extended to getting into a dispute with several "Blue Arm Promoters" (The "security" janekop and the manajerk) at the Charlottesville Target). The focus of Chris's debate was the "Sensory Overloading of the Blue Arms" and how the Target store should NOT stock games based on popular demand, but instead based on Chris's whims and requests. Although Chris claims that the discussion ended peacefully he still went on to encourage the people of Keep Sonic Original to help their noble cause by harassing the two janekops involved into sending the Sonic Boom stock back to the manufacturers, as if mall security had any influence over that.

Chris's rage fulminated when, on 26 December 2014, he went to his local GameStop (which he was banned from) to vandalise Sonic Boom store merchandise, maced a bystanding employee on his way out, and got arrested for breaking 3 laws in a single day.

Sonic Forces

Main article: Sonic Forces

Sonic Forces, a 2017 video game featuring customizable Sonic characters, was released on November 7, 2017, for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Chris purchased multiple copies of the game but was disappointed by the limited customization options, which prevented him from creating a proper Sonichu avatar, leading him to request fan mods to play as Sonichu in the game.

Film

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (film)

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie, originally set for release in November 2019 but delayed to February 2020, faced heavy backlash for Sonic's initial design, leading to a redesign that improved the fan reception. Despite his initial complaints over the blue arms and character choices, Chris ultimately enjoyed the film, praising its story and character development.

Sonic World fan game

Main article: Sonic World

Chris became interested in the fan game Sonic World, which allows modded characters, in October 2020 and used a fanmade mod of Sonichu, recording soundbites for the character as well as for Magi-Chan, Rosechu, and Chris Chan Sonichu.

Sonic X Shadow Generations

Main article: Sonic X Shadow Generations

Sonic X Shadow Generations, a 2024 remaster of the original Sonic Generations released in 2011 with a side story focusing on the Character Shadow the Hedgehog, was released on 25 October 2024, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Chris played the game on 23 November 2024 on a livestream.

References to Chris

Sega Acknowledges Sonichu

On 13 January 2012, a Sega of America employee jokingly called a Super Sonic plush toy "Sonichu" in a "Free Stuff Friday" video. Jump to 3:50 in the linked video.


SEGA's Free Stuff Friday - January 13, 2012
Search for video YouTube, archive


Chris saw the video and commented.[10] He then filed it under a YouTube playlist titled "Trolling Stupid".

I do not find that commentary funny at all. In fact, I feel pissed off to be ridiculed soo lightly.

Sonic mentions Sonichu on Twitter

On 10 July 2015, the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account joked about Sonichu and blarms.[11]

A fan asked:

Will I be able to play as Sonichu in Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice?

Sonic replied:

Maybe, but only if we give Sonichu blue arms, three scarves, and ultimately just redesign him as Big the Cat.

A troll tried to notify Chris that Sonic was mocking him, but he believed it to be fake:[12]

That Is Fake, you dumb Flake.

Chris should have known it is not a fake, since he follows the account on Twitter.

Two later tweets also made minor mentions of Sonichu.

The first was on 9 March 2016, in which Dr. Eggman attempts to cancel getting "Big the Cat facts" on his phone by texting his favorite Sonic character, but is told that his favorite Sonic character is Sonichu.[13]

The second was on 29 April 2016, where "Sonichu" is one possible name on a "What's Your Sonic Name" chart making fun of the "original characters" in the Sonic fandom.[14]

Sonic Boom pickle joke

In "Double Doomsday", episode 7 of Sonic Boom, Sonic orders a hamburger with no pickles and instead is served with extra pickles.

In Chris's FIX SONIC'S ARMS IMMEDIATELY, SEGA!!! Facebook group, he posted about the pickle joke and took a "neutral" stance on it.

10 December 2014

I know well I said not to talk about the show much, or post any spoilers. This time, though, I am willing to make this exception.

I have heard that in the show, Sonic ordered a sandwich with no pickles, but is served the sandwich with extra pickles. I feel neutral/indifferent about the joke. But my friend read a bit into it as a possible reference to myself, as well as a possible middle finger gesture to me from SEGA. Being Serious and Sincere, no sarcasm or jokes: what do y'all think/feel from this lame pickled vegetable joke? Answer in the comments of this post.

Sonic Boom parody

Mark as cwc - credit to John Furrman.jpeg

Episode 57 of the Sonic Boom animated series, titled "The Biggest Fan", parodies the Sonic fanbase. Several references, whether intentionally or coincidentally, match with Classic Chris;

The episode aired on 10 December 2016. Three days later, Chris viewed the episode and saw "No resemblance" to himself in Mark:[15]

Also, after hearing of Sonic Boom's "The Biggest Fan" episode, I found and watched it. Despite the segment on the arm colour in the portrait and the common fat, glasses, and hair on Mark the Tapir, and there was no mention or hidden cameo of Sonichu anywhere in the episode; I personally see No resemblance of myself in the Mark character. Especially in how far he took it to keep being able to be near Sonic; I am not mental or crazy like that at all.

The episode's writers, Doug Liebilch and Bill Freiberger, responded to questions on Twitter about the episode. Liebilch said that "He's not based on anyone specific. Just an obsessive fan character." Freiberger also denied that Mark was based on Chris, and unlike Liebilch, he knows who Chris is, saying "Mark is 100% NOT based on CWC. He is a general fan type. We've done many blue arm jokes in the series. Not a clue."

Sonic Boom writer jokes about Sonichu

On 10 January 2018, Alan Denton, a writer for Sonic Boom, joked about Sonichu on Twitter.

I love when people are inspired enough by something to write their own fan fiction. Totally support that. But (and I can't believe I have to say this...), if you then insist to the creators that your made-up story become canon, you've gone too far.[16]

(Whispers silently to my folder of Sonichu fanfic: "But not you. You'll all be canon one day...")[17]

Denton was a writer on the Double Doomsday and story editor on The Biggest Fan episodes of the show.

IGN Movie Quiz

On 7 February 2020, IGN uploaded a video in which James Marsden, the actor playing Tom Wachowski in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, is quizzed on his knowledge on Sonic trivias - one question being if Sonichu is an unlockable character in Sonic Forces[18]. Marsden replies, "What is a Sonichu?"

Role in the comics

Sonic first appears in Sonichu #0 as Super Sonic battling the Perfect Chaos Monster in Station Square. Whilst battling him, a Pikachu comes to fight Perfect Chaos and is tackled by Sonic. The power of the Chaos Emeralds mutates said Pikachu into Sonichu, who then defeats Perfect Chaos.

In the following issue, he crashes into Sonichu again. After recognizing each other, they team up in order to rescue Rosechu from the clutches of Black Sonichu. This would later be retconned into Sonic having been Silvana in disguise.

Other than being the catalyst for the creation of Sonichu and teaming up with him in the second issue, Sonic serves no other purpose. He disappears after issue #1, never mentioned again until Sonichu #11, where Robbie sickeningly refers to him as "Uncle Sonic".

Sonic returns in the "Clip Show" episodes of Sonichu #11 and Sonichu #12, where Sonichu and he discuss the past. He is shocked by the new Comic Chris, now a tomgirl.

Tails's lack of a role in the comics

Tails in a deleted scene from Sonic Rebuilt.

Miles "Tails" Prower is Sonic's sidekick, and has been in the franchise since Sonic the Hedgehog II was released in 1992 for the Sega Genesis. He has been featured in almost every form of Sonic-related media such as cartoons, anime and comic books. As such, many have been perplexed on why neither he nor an idiot ripoff (likely named "Prowerlo Sonichu") has had a role in Sonichu. An orange character who's probably meant to be Tails can be seen in the background of a scrapbook drawing of Sonic and Sonichu, and he is also briefly featured in a fancomic PandaHalo made and Chris added to Sonichu #10, but other than that neither Tails nor a recolor of him appear in the Sonichu universe.

A custom Lego version of Tails.

Chris has refused to include Tails in his comics, despite ripping off Knuckles and Shadow and featuring an Autobot named "Prower". Contrary to what some believe, it is not likely Tails was omitted because of the rumors (made by thirteen-year-olds on GameFAQs and Newgrounds) that Sonic and Tails were a gay couple. Chris said that "I just did not feel need for a Tails-like Character in the stories. I disagree with all the rumors against Tails; if you read the Sonic the Hedgehog Comic Book Series from Archie Comics, Tails gets a Girlfriend".[19] He later claims that he "did not feel it appropriate for Tails to be in my comic".[20] Despite this, Chris did create two Tails-like Pokémon named Evails and Supreon (an evolution of the former), though they only appeared on the Wall of Originals. Tails also gets a mention in "Sonichu & Rosechu… The Genesis of the Lovehogs", a Sonichu short story which predates the comics.

Wild might be the closest a Sonichu character has ever come to ripping off Tails. While they're nothing alike in their looks or personalities (or lack thereof, in the case of the former), Wild does state in Sonichu #3 that he can use his tail as a propeller, an ability also shared by Tails.

Chris drew a panel of Tails for the fan animation Sonic Rebuilt he collaborated on. In it, Tails meets Sonichu, and asks, "What's a Sonikku?!" The particular scene went unused in the final cut which was released March 2020, although Chris posted the panel on his Twitter that month.[21]

Tailsko (genderbent version of Tails) in Chaos Crystal Control

As of October 2020, Chris believes that a genderbent version of Tails, a fanmade character named Tailsko, exists in a genderbent dimension.[22]

On Christmas Day 2020, while trying to prod Kyle into uncovering the frequency needed to activate the Dimensional Merge, Chris informed him that Tails was attempting to communicate, and asked Kyle if he was seeing or hearing Tails. Kyle declined to be pulled into the role-play.[23]

In the Chaos Crystal Control comic which was partially released October 2023, Chris included Tailsko (misspelled as "Tailsuko") in a group shot of alt-dimension Sonichus and Magi-Chans. However, Chris had initially forgotten to draw Tailsko at all, so awkwardly drew her standing adjacent to the group.

Amy Rose

Amy Rose is a Sonic character created in 1993, making her first appearance in the game Sonic CD. She serves as the self-proclaimed love interest of Sonic the Hedgehog. In fleshing out the world of Sonichu, Chris quickly ripped off the character to serve as Sonichu's girlfriend, Rosechu.

Yep, definitely different.

While Chris at least made an effort to disguise Sonichu's source material by re-colouring him, Rosechu is nearly indistinguishable from Amy Rose. Like Amy Rose, Rosechu has green eyes and pink fur, with the spines on her head arranged to resemble a bob haircut. Both wear red boots and dresses, with Rosechu's having a blue trim in a slightly different pattern to Amy's white trim. Visually, the only obvious distinction between the two is the Raichu tail Rosechu has, and the spines on the center of Amy's forehead, which Rosechu lacks. It should be noted, however, that when Chris draws Amy, he fails to draw the forehead spines properly, resulting in an even closer resemblance.

MAJOR Differences between Amy and Rosie; Amy never had spikes on her back, the clothes are Different; Rosie’s Headband is White, not Red, and Rosechu has a modern girl kinda attitude, and lucky for her, Sonichu RARELY runs away from her charms. And, of course, she has her Electric-Type Attacks to boot.
Christian Weston Chandler, damning himself with faint praise.
Even Chris is bored with this sexist gabfest.

As Chris points out, the only real difference between Amy and Rosechu in terms of characterization is that while Amy's crush on Sonic is unreciprocated, Sonichu has been sucking face with Rosechu since the day they met. Obviously, this hardly marks a difference in their personality. If anything, it says more about the differences between Sonic and Sonichu, since they respond differently to affection. Since she's already made her romantic conquest, Rosechu is free to pursue the life of a "modern girl", which apparently means raping people's faces and producing terrifying amateur pornography.

Sheesh, they even think the same words.

As an epilogue to the Sonichu/Sonic team-up in Sonichu #1, Rosechu happens to meet Amy in CWCville Mall. With no hint of irony, the two remark upon how similar they are, and engage in a vapid conversation about shopping and relationships.

Shadow the Hedgehog

One of the few times Chris has drawn him

Introduced in 2001's Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog is an anti-hero version of Sonic the Hedgehog. As he quickly became a fan favorite among the Sonic family of characters and the trolls, it was only a matter of time before Chris decided to "create" another Electric Hedgehog Pokémon.

Unlike Rosechu, who is virtually identical to Amy, Black Sonichu (later retconned to Blake) only resembles Shadow in his color scheme and tenuous allegiance to the forces of evil. While Shadow is primarily motivated by his desire to learn about his mysterious past, Black Sonichu was informed of every aspect of his creation by Naitsirhc. Most notably, while Shadow is intended to be a dark and edgy character, Black Sonichu is basically just a punk, committing blatant mischief for very transparent motives.

While this might seem to make Black Sonichu halfway original, it really only means that he's a poor copy of Sonichu instead of a slightly less poor copy of Shadow. Blake's only real claim to individuality was that he acted like an asshole; since falling for Bubbles in Sonichu #7, he doesn't even have that going for him.

Shadow makes one appearance in the Sonichu canon when he shows up as a drummer for Christian and the Hedgehog Boys, but is later replaced by Punchy Sonichu. A Shadow doll was also held by Chris in DivineTrial, substituting for Clyde Cash. The same Shadow doll is in the background in For Julie's Eyes Only. Chris claims that Shadow is currently living in C-197.

Plagiarism

To put it bluntly, Sonichu is a copyright infringement. Chris tries to work around this fact by claiming that Sonichu is a parody of Sonic the Hedgehog, but Chris clearly does not understand what the word means, as Sonichu does not derive humor or provide commentary on the original franchise.

Gallery

See also

References

External links