Sonic the Hedgehog
For the 2019 live action movie, see Sonic the Hedgehog (film).
“ | [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 | 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.
Chris claims that Sonic has been his "life long hero"[2] since June 1990 (sic),[3] replacing the American Rabbit.[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 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 (hmmm who does that sound like) 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 called Sonic the Hedgehog Watch & Win Sweepstakes, 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.[5] Chris has shown little attention to the title character of Sonic's rival franchise Super Mario, which is curious considering his militant hatred for the Hex-Box 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 acknowledges that Sonic the Hedgehog is poorly received; however, he hilariously doesn't grasp the concept, insisting that his original creation could "pull Sonic out of the ground”.
2019 sees a live-action Sonic movie, and a Grade V spergout from Chris seems certain, although it remains to be seen if it will involve public protest or violence. Chris has said: "Even the crew of the STH 2019 Movie admit they PURPOSELY want to Mess This Up! And, yes: the Two Elephants in the room, on this great misinterpretation of Sonic, himself: The Wrong Shoes, and The Blue Arms. 😖 (The Real) Sonic, Himself, and I are Seriously Not Amused. He even stated, himself, that he is beyond ashamed and embarrassed of this movie, and all of the lack of appreciation of the original source materials, as well as Respect for him in this abolishment of a flick."[6] Now that he believes himself to be in direct contact with (pink-armed) Sonic, where will Chris stop? He claims he will boycott it but will not repeat his errors of the Sonic Boom era.
Notable multimedia
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.[7][8] 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.[9] 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"[citation needed]. 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
A 2017 video game with the ability to create customized Sonic characters. Chris purchased three copies of the game, each for different consoles.
Film
- Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (film)
References to Chris
Sega Acknowledges Sonichu
On 13 January 2012, two Sega of America employees corpsed in one of their "Free Stuff Friday" videos when one talked about a Super Sonic plush they were giving away and the female called it "Sonichu?" 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
Episode 57 of the Sonic Boom animated series, titled The Biggest Fan, parodies the Sonic fanbase. Several references, whether intentionally or coincidentally, match with Chris-
- The fan, Mark the Tapir, is an overweight nerd with bad hair, large glasses and a Sonic patch on his shirt.
- Mark the Tapir has an awkward lack of social awareness, similar to Chris's autism, and is especially reminiscent of his clingy, stalker-ish behaviour around Megan and Catherine.
- At the 2:43 mark, Mark orders orange soda.
- At the 5:15 mark, there is a reference to blue arms.
- Mark attempting vehicular manslaughter on Sonic, like Chris did with Michael Synder.
- "Collectible plates" are mentioned, possibly made out of Crayola Model Magic?
- Sonic has a Tails hat placed on him at one point, making him look like he has big yellow ears.
- Mark is shown to be into writing NSFW fan fiction of Sonic, with Sonic sarcastically mentioning "SonAmy! Ooh, spicy!".
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.
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".
Sonic returns in the "Clip Show" episode of Sonichu #11, 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
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.
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."[18] He later claims that he "did not feel it appropriate for Tails to be in my comic."[19] 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.
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 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. |
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.
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 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.
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
Chris drew this in between ages 8 and 28. Notice the blue-colored arms.
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
- ↑ Jackie Chat #9
- ↑ IRC (22 December 2008)
- ↑ Mumble Chat #6
- ↑ PlayStation Comics Store Update
- ↑ List of Christian's comments on Youtube#SEGA's Free Stuff Friday-January 13, 2012
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/608718532529037312
- ↑ File:Cwc dumb flake - credit to Pickle Inspector.png
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/707622466391117824
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/726090715885756416
- ↑ December 2016 Facebook posts#Sonic Boom parody
- ↑ https://twitter.com/AlanTheWriter/status/951193526917738496
- ↑ https://twitter.com/AlanTheWriter/status/951193919483666432
- ↑ Mailbag #21
- ↑ Mailbag #38
External links
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