Sonichu (species)

Sonichu is the name used for male specimens of Electric Hedgehog Pokémon.

By having an entire species have the same name as a "unique" being and giving all of its members the same surname, Chris has only served to confound his readers, mess up continuity, and demonstrate that he's a lazy and unimaginative bastard.

Appearance

Sonichus generally resemble bipedal hedgehogs in appearance, standing around four and a half feet tall, with thick hides and large spikes (which are flexible so they can give hugs to each other without causing injury), though they have elongated ears and (generally) tails shaped like cartoonish lightning bolts. While the hands are completely articulated with five fingers and opposable thumbs, the feet of a sonichu are just round stumps. They are seldom seen without a pair of white gloves and shoes (of varying colors), even if they are completely nude otherwise. The shoes may be a necessity, as the nature of bare Sonichu feet may make it impossible for a Sonichu to stand without them.

While a typical sonichu has yellow fur, brown stripes, and red spots on their cheekbones (if we are to assume that the original Sonichu is the template), Sonichus can come in a variety of recolors. Sometimes, a Sonichu displays other variations, such as altered ear tips, slanted eyes, or a different tail altogether. The fur color of a Sonichu is susceptible to alteration by chemicals such as Cherry Cola.

Behavior

Though considered to be Pokémon by their creator, Sonichus might be better described as anthropomorphic animals. While not very intelligent, they are sapient and capable of many of the same skills as humans: Tool usage, speech and social interaction.

According to Chris, Sonichus are not capable of speech at the moment in which they cease being Sonees; they must be taught a spoken language in order to be able to say more than the name of their species. This a far cry from the impression actually given by Chris's comic. In episode 1 Sonichu is capable of speech immediately after his transformation. Punchy and Wild are also capable of speech immediately after evolving into Sonichus. So far, a Sonichu not capable of speech has never been seen in Chris's comic.

In their natural habitat, Sonichus fill a number of societal roles: vigilante groups, radio announcers, and construction workers, using whatever supernatural abilities granted to them. They are not above being welfare recipients too.

Sonichus are constantly searching for a mate, and perhaps with some assistance will "fall in love" (read: settle for in order to have sex with) with the first Rosechu they see (assuming they are heterosexual). The ensuing pair, without exception, will enter into a courtship in poor imitation of humans. However, unlike humans, Sonichu-Rosechu mates completely lack tension or discord, suggesting that the lifelong bond is purely out of instinct to guarantee that any resulting spawn gets care from two parents (though not guaranteed to be good or even adequate care). Considering the extremely low capabilities of said spawn, this may be a necessity.

Sonichus and reproduction

A Sonichu's penis and testicles reside entirely within its abdominal cavity. While the testicles are permanently contained behind a "bone-like structure" for protection, the penis can emerge for urination or intercourse when the Sonichu leans forward, causing the erect penis to "slide out" purely by gravitational force. This system displays a clear lack of knowledge of biology, as the reason that the testicles are outside the body is because the body's core temperature is not ideal for sperm production, thus, unless Sonichu sperm is much more heat resistant than normal mammalian sperm, Sonichus should be sterile. (Unfortunately, they are not.). In addition, Chris never explains if the penis always slides out when the Sonichu leans over (although it obviously isn't the case), and he never mentions conscious control over the action. All of this goes to show that people who have no knowledge of biology should not set out to create detailed organ systems for their fictional creatures.

Sonichus' sperm count is extremely low when compared to humans. The number of sperm cells released by a Sonichu per ejaculation stands at a couple of thousands at most and can be as low as mere hundreds. In comparison, human sperm count must be at least over 15 million sperm cells per milliliter in order to be considered healthy. It should also be noted that the volume of semen ejaculated by a Sonichu is also much higher than the amount of the average human male. Whereas human males will ejaculate on average about 0.1 to 10 milliliters of semen, Sonichus' ejaculate numbers 100 - 500 milliliters on average, more than the amount ejaculated by both horses and elephants. It may be due to the extremely low sperm count that more semen must be ejaculated to create a balance. It can easily be said that Recycling is unpopular amongst Sonichus, but due to easy access of semen recepticles this is not a major issue.

Chris has mentioned that a Sonee is born as the result of intercourse between a Sonichu and a Rosechu, or some combination of the above and a Ditto Pokémon. Presumably a Ditto would assume the form of an opposite-sex Electric Hedgehog Pokémon.

While discussing a sex scene involving Punchy and Layla which was supposed to be included in the Dating Ed episode (it was eventually left out of the final version), Chris and Ivy failed to agree over which character will bring the condoms, so eventually Chris decided that Layla had the ability to choose when to get pregnant. This statement implies that intercourse between a Flaaffy and a Sonichu can result in an offspring, and since two Pokémon of different species must share at least one Egg group in order to successfully mate, it can be assumed that Sonichus belong to either the Field egg group and/or the Monster egg group. If Chris had ever given thought to this matter it is more likely that he placed Sonichu in the former group as this is also one of the egg groups to which Pikachu belongs.

Sonichus and evolution

Sonichu evolution chart

The infant Sonee is first born in egg-form from a Rosechu mother. When the egg hatches, a sonee comes out. This infant pokémon can already have a certain sub-type; Wild, for instance, was born as a green sonee with a grass subtype. After being nurtured for some time, the sonee then evolves into his sonichu form.

In a strip from Sonichu #0 called, an evolution of Sonichu called Metonic can be seen. According to the strip and an Animal Crossing card from the scrapbook, Sonichu evolves into Metonic by being traded while holding a Metal Coat. However, Chris stated that only the original Sonichu can evolve into Metonic. He also stated that "[T]he [rest of the Sonichus and Rosechus] have no current evolutions" (emphasis added) , leaving it open for him to devise separate evolutions for them in the future.

In episode 21, Sonichu transformed into Ultra Sonichu after being brought into contact with the seven Sonichu Balls, although the change was temporary. As with Metonic, this evolution is exclusive to the original Sonichu.

Despite all being Electric in their primary type, no sonichu other than the original and his clone Blake has demonstrated the use of electric powers. It can be assumed that being of Electric type is only for the purpose of calculating weakness and strength.

List of Sonichus

• Sonichu
• Blake (Black Sonichu)
• BlazeBob Sonichu
• Bobby Sonichu
• Chris-Chan Sonichu (transformation)
• Colossal Chan (half-human transformation)
• Darkbind Sonichu
• IBAChandler Sonichu (transformation)
• DJ Jamsta
• Magi-Chan
• Michael Sonichu
• Mitch Sonichu
• Punchy Sonichu
• Reldnahc Ha-Taque (transformation)
• Swift Sonichu
• Wes-Li Sonichu (transformation)
• Whisp Sonichu
• Wild Sonichu

See also

• Rosechu (species)