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This article is about Sonic in his own universe. For fighter info, see Sonic (Super Smash Bros. Brawl), Sonic (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U), and Sonic (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). For the universe, see Sonic (universe).

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu?) is the titular main protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog game franchise, and the mascot of Sega. After making a cameo in 1990’s Rad Mobile, Sonic debuted a few months later in his eponymous game. He was first introduced by Sega in the game Sonic the Hedgehog to combat Nintendo's mascot, Mario. He is often thought of as Mario's unofficial rival, although they have appeared in games together. He makes his first Smash appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as the second third-party character in Super Smash Bros. after Solid Snake but before Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, Cloud, and Bayonetta. He also returns as a veteran in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Description[]

Sonic is a male, teenage anthropomorphic Hedgehog. He has spiky blue hair, green eyes, and red running shoes. He is only one meter (3ft 3in) tall (though, in his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his height is obviously increased). As his name suggests, he is capable of running at supersonic speeds. The self-described "coolest, blue-est hedgehog alive", he has a bit of an attitude and is impatient, but cannot resist helping someone in need. Before the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic debuted in the arcade racing game Rad Mobile as an ornament hanging on the driver's rearview mirror. He then made an unauthorized appearance as an enemy in the The Adventures of Quik & Silva, a platforming game for the Amiga and Atari ST which released in May 1991, one month before Sonic the Hedgehog's initial June release.

He values freedom above all else, and constantly campaigns to free animals imprisoned by the evil Dr. Robotnik (also known as Dr. Eggman). Generally speaking, Sonic loves being able to do what he wants and loathes being constrained. He gathers golden rings for energy, and when he collects the seven Chaos Emeralds, he becomes Super Sonic, with yellow fur and red eyes, capable of flight. Most of the time, every challenge he faces seems fun to him; another chance to get moving. However, he does take time to relax once in a while. Sonic is easy and caring, he's laid back very much.

In Super Smash Bros.[]

Although Sonic does not make any sort of appearance in Super Smash Bros., the game's Japanese website included his results from a poll to gauge interest for potential playable characters in a sequel.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee[]

Despite Sega and Nintendo being hardware and software rivals at the release of the Nintendo GameCube, Sonic, along with Tails, was rumored to be unlockable in Super Smash Bros. Melee by defeating 20 Fighting Wire Frames in Cruel Melee. This turned out to be an April Fools' Joke by EGM. However, he was indeed requested to appear by Yuji Naka but was not added due to the game already being far in development.[1]

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]

As a playable character[]

Sonicbrawlclear

Sonic was confirmed to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, on October 10th, 2007. According to Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai, Sonic's inclusion was not guaranteed; as a result of his last-minute inclusion, the delay of Brawls release date was announced alongside his confirmation. According to Sakurai, he played a number of both classic and modern Sonic the Hedgehog games in order to develop a basis for Sonic's appearance in Brawl. He was primarily focused on the classic games and based him on their gameplay style as one-button games. Aesthetically, Sonic's design is from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and his dashing animation is his Super Peel Out from Sonic the Hedgehog CD. Mechanically, his moveset largely consists of his attacks from Sonic the Fighters, although two of his special moves are the Homing Attack from Sonic Adventure and the Spin Dash from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. He has the fastest running speed in the game, with his attacks based largely on his earlier platforming games, and some from the obscure game Sonic the Fighters. Sonic's Final Smash, Super Sonic, is a very powerful transformation and it allows him to fly around the stage at incredible speed. Sonic also appears very late in Subspace Emissary, the game's story mode, helping to defeat Tabuu in the final battle. Sonic fittingly possesses the fastest dashing speed in the game, as well as among the fastest walking and air speeds. His blisteringly fast mobility is further accentuated by Spin Dash and Spin Charge, which enable him to blitz an opponent and are integral to his solid combo game. Sonic also possesses an excellent recovery, courtesy of his aforementioned air speed and the considerable distance granted by Spring Jump. However, Sonic's strengths are almost completely offset by his severely unimpressive KO potential, and most of his moveset generally has minimal utility.

Despite his flaws and the general consensus that he lacks truly advantageous and disadvantageous matchups, Sonic has nevertheless managed to achieve decent tournament results, even at the national level. As a result, he is currently ranked 22nd out of 38 on the tier list; this places him in the D tier, and posits him as a mid tier character.

Trophy Description[]

Sonic
27036B6A-9BEC-4FEE-AF23-1A935A311143
The world's fastest hedgehog, who can run at supersonic speeds. Generally speaking, he loves being able to do what he wants and loathes being constrained. Holding still is something he would never consider. He's got a bit of an attitude but can't pass by someone in trouble. When he collects the seven Chaos Emeralds, he transforms into the mighty, gold Super Sonic.
  • SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (Sega Genesis)
  • Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U[]

As a playable character[]

Sonic SSB4

Sonic reappears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, being announced on October 1st, 2013 to commemorate Sonic Lost World being released that month. This time around, he is a starter character, meaning he does not need to be unlocked. Sonic's English voice actor has been changed to Roger Craig Smith, who succeeded Jason Griffith in 2010, and now has a different voice actor in different regions. His appearance has been updated to reflect his design in his more recent games such as Sonic Colors, which in turn are based on official 2D and CGI artworks.

Sonic's moveset is almost completely unchanged from Brawl; with only real changes is that his Dash Attack now has him performing a flying kick at the end of the attack and his Down Smash is now a split-kick attack. Sonic has been heavily buffed in the transition from Brawl to 3DS/Wii U. Sonic's previously abysmal KO potential has noticeably improved, and a number of his moves have improved utility. Outside of this, Sonic's outstanding speed and mobility have improved even further, thanks to his air and fast falling speeds becoming noticeably faster. Although Sonic's recovery was slightly weakened and some of his moves, particularly his KOing options, had their lag increased, these nerfs are largely outweighed by his aforementioned buffs.

Thanks to his improvements and consistent tournament success at all levels of play, Sonic is currently ranked 7th out of 55. This places him in the A tier, which ties him with Fox and posits him as a top tier character.

Trophies[]

Sonic the Hedgehog
SonicTheHedgehogTrophyWiiU
The main star of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He's an easygoing hedgehog who blows past the competition with his speed. Seriously, on the ground he's faster than anyone else in Smash Bros. Use this to your advantage, avoiding blows while landing lightning-fast attacks.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (06/1991)
  • (Wii U) Sonic Lost World (10/2013)
Sonic (Alt.)
SonicTheHedgehogAltTrophyWiiU
Sonic's up special Spring Jump lets him reach great heights by jumping on a spring, becoming invincible for a moment. He can't use any other specials during the jump, but he can attack or dodge. This move's great for returning from a long launch. Other fighters can use the spring, though!
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (06/1991)
  • (Wii U) Sonic Lost World (10/2013)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

As a playable character[]

Sernic

Sonic appears as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with his return being confirmed during Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation on June 12th. Due to being the first character in Mario's Classic Mode character unlock tree, Sonic can potentially be the first character unlocked in the game.

Sonic was nerfed slightly overall in the transition from 3DS/Wii U, with the changes he received demanding a more aggressive playstyle. Most notably, Spin Dash and Spin Charge can no longer cross up shields or be charged indefinitely, with Spin Dash also losing its ability to be shield-canceled. As a result, both moves have become noticeably less effective as both neutral and camping options. Up aerial's angle and knockback adjustments have worsened its hits' consistency when Sonic is ascending, as well as its KO potential. However, it remains a useful combo starter when SHFF'd, thanks to its noticeably lower landing lag and the retention of its excellent auto-cancel window.

Despite these nerfs, Sonic received some noticeable buffs. Homing Attack is faster and more controllable, giving it greater combo potential and neutral utility. Adjustments to Spin Charge's angles, knockback, hitlag and SDI have improved its consistency significantly, while Spring Jump is even more useful for recovering thanks to reverting to its Brawl vertical height. Most of Sonic's standard attacks have also been strengthened or boast greater utility. Sonic has also been indirectly buffed by gameplay changes: he benefits the most of any character from the expansion of dash-cancelling's utility because of his unrivaled dashing speed, and the reintroduction of directional air dodging allows him to extend his already impressive recovery.

Trivia[]

  • Sonic's appearance in Smash is a throwback and reference to a long time standing rivalry between Nintendo and Sega during the long-standing rise of the video game giants during the 1990's; Sega's campaigns in the US often involved tongue in cheek jabs at Nintendo, including commercials boasting Sega's "Blast Processing" in comparison to Nintendo's systems, stating "Genesis Does what Nintendon't", and the parody of the Super Mario Bros in the Sonic Archie comic. Their rivalry long stood fiercely even in the face the rise of poorly applied gimmicky CD based fare and the infamous supposed hype of the 64 bit Atari Jaguar but would come to an end in the New Millennium due to another competitor that would claim Sega's glory- Sony.
  • Before fighting alongside Mario in Brawl, the two characters' universes formally met in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which, true to its title, was set at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and featured various characters from both series.
    • Sonic also had a crossover comic series with Mega Man released from April to August 2013.
      • There was a second crossover comic that stretched out to other SEGA and Capcom franchises. It was released in May 2015.
  • Sonic is the first third-party character to return playable in multiple Smash Bros. installments. With three appearances he is the most reoccurring third party character in the series.
  • Coincidentally, Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man stretch out their arms when dashing.
  • Along with Kirby and Zero Suit Samus, Sonic can use all of his specials without touching the ground.
  • Even in the Japanese audio track, Sonic will speak occasional English phrases as a nod to his greater international popularity.
  • Sonic is the fastest Smash fighter in terms of running speed, but not walking speed (Marth along with his echo Lucina each walk at the fastest pace, despite walking slightly slower than Fox in Melee).
  • Smash Bros. is not Sonic's first time in a fighting game; he appeared alongside Tails, Knuckles, and many others in Sonic the Fighters, a fighting game from the Sonic franchise released in the arcades in 1996. In fact, some of Sonic's moves in Smash are from that game.
  • Sonic and Kirby are the only playable characters to make a cameo in a game released before the proper debuts of their respective home series (being Rad Mobile and Arcana respectively).
  • Sonic is one of only four playable characters in the series (the other three being Mewtwo, Joker, and Terry) with more than one reveal trailer.
    • Of those four, he is the only one who was not DLC at the time, whose trailers both contained actual gameplay (the latter three only had gameplay in their second trailer), whose trailers were for two separate installments (being Brawl and 3DS/Wii U), and whose trailers did not have splash art.
    • Both trailers feature the ending segment of the song that is not included in-game for the Super Smash Bros. series.
    • Furthermore, in the case of 3DS/Wii U, he was the first veteran in the series to have a dedicated reveal trailer, followed by Mewtwo, Lucas, and Roy. Of those four characters, he is the only one who is not DLC and whose trailer lacked both splash art and a tagline.
  • Sonic is one of the only two non-Pokémon playable characters to have a voice actor for the French, Spanish, German, Italian versions of 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate. The other being Wii Fit Trainer (both Male and Female).
    • On a related note, he was only voiced in English and Japanese in Brawl, making him the only playable character to start out voiced in two languages for their first Super Smash Bros. appearance, and then be voiced in more languages in their next one.

References[]

External links[]

Playable Fighters
Introduced in
Smash 64
Captain Falcon  · Donkey Kong  · Fox McCloud  · Jigglypuff  · Kirby  · Link  · Luigi  · Mario  · Ness  · Pikachu  · Samus Aran  · Yoshi
Introduced in
Meleelogo
Bowser  · Dr. Mario  · Falco Lombardi  · Ganondorf  · Ice Climbers  · Marth  · Mewtwo  · Mr. Game & Watch  · Princess Peach  · Pichu  · Roy  · Sheik  · Young Link  · Princess Zelda
Introduced in
Brawllogo
Diddy Kong  · Ike  · King Dedede  · Lucario  · Lucas  · Meta Knight  · Captain Olimar  · Pit  · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard  · Ivysaur  · Squirtle)  · R.O.B.  · Solid Snake  · Sonic the Hedgehog  · Toon Link  · Wario  · Wolf O'Donnell  · Zero Suit Samus
Introduced in
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS & Wii U
Alph  · Bayonetta  · Bowser Jr. / Koopalings  · Cloud Strife  · Corrin  · Dark Pit  · Duck Hunt  · Greninja  · Little Mac  · Lucina  · Mega Man  · Mii Fighters  · Pac-Man  · Palutena  · Robin  · Rosalina & Luma  · Ryu  · Shulk  · Villager  · Wii Fit Trainer
Introduced in
Smash Ultimate logo glow
Banjo & Kazooie  · Byleth  · Chrom  · Dark Samus  · Daisy  · Heroes  · Incineroar  · Inklings  · Isabelle  · Joker  · Kazuya Mishima  · Ken Masters  · King K. Rool  · Min Min  · Piranha Plant  · Pyra and Mythra  · Richter Belmont  · Ridley  · Sephiroth  · Simon Belmont  · Sora  · Steve and Alex / Zombie and Enderman  · Terry Bogard
SonicSymbol Sonic the Hedgehog universe
Characters Sonic the Hedgehog (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side Characters Assist Trophies Shadow the Hedgehog  · Knuckles the Echidna
Mii Fighter Costumes Tails  · Knuckles the Echidna
Background characters Tails  · Knuckles the Echidna  · Silver the Hedgehog
Enemy Eggrobo
Stages Green Hill Zone  · Windy Hill Zone
Music List of Music (Sonic the Hedgehog series)
Collectibles Trophies Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Sonic the Hedgehog series)
Spirits List of spirits (Sonic series)
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