Sonic the Hedgehog
“ | [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 | |
---|---|
Sonic | |
Gender | Male |
Length | 5'4" (163 cm) |
Weight | 120 lbs (54 kg) |
Species | Hedgehog |
Sonic the Hedgehog is a 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 beloved comic book hero Sonichu draws inspiration.
Chris claims that Sonic has been his "life long hero"[2] since June 1990[sic][3], replacing The American Rabbit.[4] Chris's transformation into a Tomgirl (circa March 2011[5]) has not diminished his loyalty to Sonic, as can be seen in his 29 April 2013 Facebook note.
History
Chris likely first learned about Sonic from a magazine promotion of the series from late 1990, 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. A show based on the games called Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was promoted via a contest, 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 contests (cf. GameStop Be A Star Sweepstakes, Chop Chop Master Onion's Rap Showdown, Harvey Birdman Commercial, Pixelated PS3) to the eventual creation of Sonichu. Chris's loyalty was so strong that he was visibly upset when told by bullies that Sonic was dead.[6]
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.
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".
Tails's lack of a role in the comics
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 Master System. 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.
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."[7] He later claims that he "did not feel it appropriate for Tails to be in my comic."[8] 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 Wild.),Wild does states in Sonichu 3 that he can use his tail as a propeller, an ability also shared by Tails.
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.
While Sonichu is essentially a recolor of Sonic with a Pikachu tail shoved up his ass, Rosechu is a much more direct rip-off. 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.
“ | 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. |
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 not reciprocated, 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 face-raping people and producing amateur pornography.
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
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, it was only a matter of time before Chris decided to "create" another Electric Hedgehog Pokémon...
Unlike Rosechu, who is virtually identical to Amy in every relevant respect, Black Sonichu (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 supposed 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.
Comics
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.[9][10] 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.[11] The likelihood that Chris has purchased them? Close to 100%.
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.
Though, since Ken Penders, former writer of the Archie Comics, can claim copyright on his Knuckles Ripoffs, then there's hope for Chris yet.
Gallery
Because we all like to see our favorite heroes crossover one day! Oh wait!
...I thought the answer was "Aim for the sourdough region"?
0-0 Geekologie Reader does not approve of Chris's artwork.
Chris makes his own unlicensed Sonic merchandise.
Chris was so excited, he produced dirty, crapped briefs.
Chris still has this doll and it has seen horrible things.
See also
References
- ↑ Jackie E-mails 20
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPv7MqvrDK0&feature=player_embedded#!
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't released until June 1991 - see here. Interestingly, this is also a question on Chris's Sonic the Hedgehog MyBuzz quiz which Chris assigns the right answer of June 1991.
- ↑ CWCipedia article on Sonichu
- ↑ Chris changed his PSN quote to "I am Tomgirl" on 30 March 2011, meaning that he did not became a transvestite in any latter date.
- ↑ Jackie Chat #9
- ↑ Mailbag #21
- ↑ Mailbag #38
- ↑ IRC (22 December 2008)
- ↑ Mumble Chat #6
- ↑ PlayStation Comics Store Update
External links
|