This is honestly a really underrated video about Sonic’s character. The writing of Sonic’s character overall may be a bit iffy, but they all work well if you just pay attention a bit more
You are absolutely correct. It really saddens me that some people can't see the great care that was taken to be consistent with the games, including the younger versions during the Classic Era.
finally I'm so sick of the lack of media literacy when it comes to this comic. this comic has writing issues but it really feels like people don't understand context at all.
I see no issue with people criticizing IDW sonic but I’d say he’s pretty consistent with Sonic’s morals. Even if you look all the way back at sonic adventure it’s not like he slapped the cuffs on chaos even after he annihilated a city. When Tikal stated that they need to seal him away sonic made it clear that he thought that would be morally wrong. I’m not saying, I agree with sonic, moral compass, I actually think criminals like egg man should be thrown in prison, but it’s consistent with his characterization that he would believe in preserving everyone’s right to live by their own rules, and I’d say for the most part it’s handled decently and they address the flaws with sonics methods
And the funny thing about that is, not only did IDW not invent that characterization for him, IDW is the one place where it's actually been criticized lol, most prominently in the Tinker arc.
Genuinely, thank you for making this video I have never seen someone say everything I wanted to hear more perfectly in my life, more people need to see this video.
THANK YOU! I still have a hard time even understanding why people think IDW Sonic and Game Sonic are two completely different characterizations. If there are two things that make Sonic who he is as a character it's: 1.} Fighting oppression faster than the speed of sound. & 2.) Inspiring others around him to be their best selves which goes both ways; such as, inspiring Tails to believe in himself and become more independent or inspiring Eggman to cook up a new evil schemes and machines. IDW Sonic and Sonic as he exists in the games have ALWAYS embodied these two variables and have never differed. The arguments I hear mainly are: 1.) "Erm, Sonic isn't a hero." [Debunked: 2003- Sonic Heroes -Sonic refers to himself and his team as Heroes] Also, Sonic has literally ALWAYS acted as a Hero, even though he has his own way of doing things and is morally gray THAT STILL MAKES HIM A HERO at the end of the day when he is constantly saving lives and putting himself in harm's way to battle oppression of all forms. What I want to know is what is the definition of "Hero" for the people that say this? 2.) "Erm, Sonic's waaay too forgiving. Have you not seen what Sonic has done to Erzor Jin, Dark Gaia, and Metal Sonic in Sonic CD? Sonic gets rid of them without any of the mushy gushy come to the light BS." [Debunked via Context]- Erzor Jin and Dark Gaia were immortal evil monsters with power that could destroy the world if not the universe. They are entirely different cases that by their nature CAN NOT be reasoned with which is why Sonic doesn't bother to reason with them OBVIOUSLY. And as for Metal Sonic, Sonic had never experienced a robot who could be reasoned with or "become good" until Sonic Adventure 1 when he encounters Gamma and Amy helps him to understand. Sonic CD happens before Sonic Adventure which is stated IN GAME during Amy's story when she reflects about her past with Sonic. This is to not even mention the context of Mr. Tinker and how that changed Sonic's perspective on the idea of Eggman and in proxy his robots such as Metal Sonic becoming good possibly. Sonic has ALWAYS resorted towards REASONING with his enemies when the opportunity presents itself. As you said, IDW Sonic is a very natural progression of the original classic sonic. IDW Sonic is Sonic with experience. The only issue I see personally is that Sonic openly yaps about his morals more than he should instead of letting his actions speak for themselves. But it's not as if Sonic from the games has never had morals at all, that's just objectively wrong.
Yeah, I believe my issues with his characterization in IDW is he overexplains himself without the usual balance of show and tell in the game, but I agree with all of your points! Thanks for commenting!
@@kjbroadway9557I think even the way he talks in IDW is fine. I don’t agree that Sonic overexplains himself. The situations he does explain a lot is when it’s warranted to make his morals clear to those who don’t know how his morals work like Surge. I believe he does still show to take action to back up his words. Overall I believe Sonic should be allowed to speak profoundly and more wordy when he wants to be to get his point across firmly.
Thank you! I've always said that, you worded it perfectly, amazing video! I think the IDW Sonic comics perfectly encapsulates and shows who those characters are and how those characters work, and I love these comics for that It's not a case of me blindly defending whatever SEGA throws at me, Sonic is my second favorite character, if not my FAVORITE character of all times, and one of the reasons I love him is his personality, so I know how Sonic should act, and I know how to recognize versions that doesn't act like he does in the games, Boom Sonic, Movie Sonic, Archie, Sonic, and Prime Sonic, and those versions are a varied reception for me, I like them if I think they're fun, and dislike them if I think they're not, but none of them are the same character I love that is the main version of Sonic One of the most important points of an extern media for me, is being a good introduction to the series, the characters have to be consistent so a new fan can start by this extern media and then jump into another one and see the same character, and for me IDW is one of those good introductions, it presents those characters really well and show how they are, so when a new fan who started by them can jump to the games and not be confused being introduced to completly different characters, I have friends that started being Sonic fans thanks to the IDW comics and later jumped into the games, and they were really familiarized with all those characters thanks to the comics, it's the reason I think Sonic X is also a good introduction to the games, because they're also perfectly portrayed in the anime aswell And I can SEE that all the writers and artists who works on there KNOWS for which series they're writting for, and they do make their research to give out the best experience they can, it's a thing that makes me like IDW that wasn't present in Archie, Sonic Team's involvment on the comic series with constant revision, advice, art from both Sonic Team's official artists Yuji Uekawa and Yui Karasuno and even IDEAS given to the writters coming from Sonic Team and SEGA themselves Sonic Team gives them concept art from the games to work with, Sonic Team's works and supervises alongside with them the new characters, their designs, etc. It avoids things that happend quite often in Archie, where they had to base things around what they could search just looking at surface level, which resulted in things like Metal Knuckles being based around his low-poly model from Sonic R rather than his concept art, Bean being called a "duck", both Espio and Knuckles in some pannels having inconsistent connected eyes, things that don't happen in IDW at all, it is a consistent comic who tries to be faithful and present the universe of the games
I hate how so many moments from IDW and from the 2000s games gets simply forgotten It seems that people just try to forget or intentionally manipulate things in bad faith to praise the 2000 games while at the same time hating on the current media post-2010 And one thing I'll say, watching and reading more the games (in general, all eras) in japanese and the Sonic Channel exclusive stories made me appreciate IDW even more, seriously, Sonic as a character in those stories is on par with Black Knight that people like throwing so much into the argument (and Sonic really is super cool in there), and even though he is on par with the likes of Black Knight, Unleashed, etc. there still is so much in common with those stories presented in IDW And I mean, it isn't surprising considering Eitaro Toyoda, the writter of those stories helps with IDW, he also said he loved Ian Flynn's concept on the Metal Virus, he also always shows how much he loves Tangle, Toyoda is sometimes considered Shiro Maekawa's "disciple" by some, whatever that means, he also is working in Sonic x Shadow Generations just like Ian Flynn as far as I know Toyoda also worked in Episode Shadow, although he wasn't the only writter in Forces, but still did an amazing job because Team Dark interacts super well in there, sadly the script doesn't give justice to his writting most of the times, and in Sonic Channel his writting truly shines, and apparently in Sonic x Shadow Gens it's doing the same so far because the games looks cool and well written Still, if I had to recommend something to every Sonic fan, that would be the Sonic Channel stories, they're super well written, compared to the stories of old games like Unleashed, Black Knight, etc. and as I said, made me appreciate IDW even more
I haven't read IDW yet, but I have watched the beginning part of this video, in which you analyzed Sonic's character in the games. Gotta say, I quite like your style! And I like the style of your video titles too, they're very simple and chill
I completely disagree with the sonic having small character arcs in the games. He doesn’t have one in sa2, him learning a move from shadow does not mean he went through an arc he just learned a new ability. And sonic saying goodbye to shadow is something he’s like in general in sad moments. Sonic in unleashed also did not have a character arc. That part in unleashed is to show sonic isn’t full of himself and that he believed chip was the reason he was able to stay himself. And with the rivals the context is different. Shadow frames sonic leading to him being chased and arrested and insults him like he’s worthless. Sonic wants to get back at shadow for framing him. Blaze was not like this so he reacted differently. Silver attacked him out of nowhere with no reasons told. And the classic sonic thing also doesn’t really hold up because IDW classic sonic also does not act like classic sonic in the 90’s. Sonic in the classic era was never described as one to make jokes like in IDW he just has attitude. I wouldn’t call IDW sonic awful but he has clear flaws compared to how sonic was characterized before. His thoughts and feelings are more or less the same, BUT Ian has an issue of having sonic explain himself like he’s reading a character bio instead of being simple and straight to the point like he is. That’s how sonic is when he talks. Sonic is a character who no matter what he goes through stays who he is at the end. He never loses his confidence or has self doubt, frontiers did this well during the cyber corruption, while the metal virus has sonic having doubt in his own beliefs. I think IDW sonic suffers from just the way he is executed. I think the biggest factor to this is how he has been getting better in the recent issues along with some of the writers taking note of the issues people have with this take on him. Well made video though I enjoyed it 👍
Thank you so much for making this video. Its so crazy to me how people are bashing sonic characterization because it didnt align with the previous games as if sonic couldnt change or grow as time moved on. Their are important context to sonic sparing the idw villains but people turn a blind eye to it and just say "sonic is out of character he shouldnt show mercy to his villains" when in most of the time he did this was because their wasnt any sympathy for them to begin with or they were mindless beings with sole purpose of destruction and havoc. And the idw characters are either morally gray, or were in morally gray position at the time. I feel like sonic fans still have a lingering nostalgia blindness for sonics characterization as they would quickly go back black knight or the adventure games as the definitive sonic (and the writing for sonic is good in those games). But they are just quick to criticize or down right hate anything that doesnt align with the sonic they invision instead of allowing sonic grow and slightly change as a person. Sonic for the most part is static but that doesnt mean he cant change to some extents.
Like I said in the video, Sonic, or any character in fiction static or not, will be written in a specific way to help deliver the themes or message that the story has and it’s no different when you look at IDW and the games. Thank you so much for watching!
This video is an amazing analysis on Sonic’s characterization not only in the games but the idw comics. And I genuinely think the idw comics are some of the best story’s and character writing we’ve had in and minute for the series. with my only really passionate complaint and grip being shadow’s characterization
I feel like another reason people don’t like IDW Sonic is because we’re still in what the UA-camr Jebzone has dubbed the “Sonic Messiah arc” where Sonic is the solution to literally everything in the games and he does everything himself and the others just watch from the sidelines. People interpret Sonic’s speeches as the authors hammering in the fact of how amazing and perfect Sonic is and people really hate that.
Ok, there's a lot I wanted to say, but youtube kept deleting my comment for whatever stupid reason, so I'll try to keep this as short as possible while still getting my point across. While I very much believe majority of fans simply see Sonic as a hero in the traditional sense, I still don't understand why some people either: agree with Sonic's "hero" characterization and "morals" in idw that value freedom for villains over the lives of innocent people Or disagree with idw Sonic's warped morals (great)...but then claim that game Sonic doesn't have any morals at all and he's not actually a hero (what?) Everyone's giving him either the wrong beliefs or no beliefs at all, and I don't get it. Doing what he believes is right is what a hero does. So saying he's not a hero, but then saying he does what he believes is right is literally a contradiction. And then saying he only cares about freedom contradicts all of that. If Sonic didn't have morals and only valued freedom and doing whatever he wants - if he was truly the symbol of absolute freedom like some people make him out to be, he wouldn't have: trapped the genie in a lamp for ALL OF ETERNITY and then thrown the lamp in a pit of lava in Secret Rings said, "That's pretty low, even for a sleazeball like Eggman" after finding out that Eggman was draining the wisps' energy to power his amusement park in Colors - blatantly acknowledging that what Eggman was doing was wrong and judging him for it teamed up with Eggman in Lost World - something he obviously didn't want to do said, "The whole world's in danger because I did something stupid. Do you know how much that bites?" after realizing his actions put the world in danger in Lost World - very clearly admitting that he felt guilty for putting the world in jeopardy Or impressed Chip with his outstanding character and prompted Chip to say, "You never give into the darkness inside your heart," in Unleashed - which means there are times he might not want to do the right thing, but he does the right thing anyway because he has morals, values, PRINCIPLES Am I somehow wildly misinterpreting everything in the games? Or is there just this group of people that want Sonic to be like this for whatever reason and they'll just say anything to push this narrative? Or does Sega just constantly contradict themselves and gaslight everyone by saying Sonic doesn't care and "It DoEsN't MaTteR"...but then literally showing that he *does* care and it *does* matter in every single game?
Game Sonic "isn't a hero" because he doesn't want to change bad guys, he doesn't want to be an example, he doesn't care about honor or praises. Despite this, Sonic is actually caring and well behaved. He never judge or criticize. He loves helping people because it's the right thing to do. Saying that game Sonic has no morals is dumb and I blame Black Knight for this. The game was fine but Sonic fans have a negative IQ. They think Sonic is an anti-hero because he "killed" King Arthur. They also think Merlina was right because she was trying to save Camelot. You have no idea how many people think Sonic should *kill* his enemies. Because "he killed the biolizard, chaos, solaris, etc". Yeah, he killed *monsters* and *gods,* he never murdered regular humans/mobians. He didn't kill Shadow, Knuckles or Silver. Sonic doesn't consider himself a hero but *he is* a hero and he cares. The thing is, some people don't care about good written characters, they only want cool edgy characters. Many Shadow fans think Shadow peaked in Shadow05 because he was badass, many Sonic fans think 2010 Sonic is "goated" because he's cocky and quippy. Out of character? Who cares? As long as he's cool, it's fine. So yes, there's a group of people that want Sonic to be uncaring, cocky, stupid, edgy, shallow. Same with Shadow. They hate IDW not because he's preachy but because he forgives villains instead of beheading them with a sword.
@@Thaumiel98 As far as not wanting to change his enemies, I don't think it's that he doesn't want to change them. I think it's that he wishes they would change, but he knows that he can't change them. It's just like how it is in real life. You can hope for someone to change, but you know you can't actually change them. You can't make them "be good." That's a decision they have to make for themselves. If Sonic didn't want his villains to change, that would mean he agrees with their choice to be evil. And he clearly doesn't. Otherwise, he wouldn't point out that what Eggman was doing was wrong and insult him like he did in Colors - which is also the purest example of Sonic judging and criticizing someone, btw (but someone who deserves it). He wouldn't stop Eggman and all his other enemies every time they try to do something bad. You can't disagree with what someone's doing and constantly try to stop them but then not want them to change. That's a contradiction. So Sonic does want his villains to change, but he knows he can't actually get into their minds and change them. He can only stop them when they're physically harming others or trying to take over the world. That's how it is for every hero. When it comes to being an example, I think he just doesn't care whether he's an example or not, not that he actively doesn't want to be an example. It's like at the end of the day, he's going to do what he believes is right, regardless of whether someone else wants to follow that example or not. He respects everyone's freedom of choice. But he's not actively opposed to someone following his example. If they decide they want to be like him, he's like, "Cool." Example: all of his friends. He's had an influence on all of his friends to some extent, and that's actually how they became his friends. If someone decides they don't want to be like him, he's still like, "Cool. Just don't cause any harm." Again, that's the case for almost every hero. I've never heard any hero say, "I want to be an example." But they clearly don't have a problem if someone does want to follow their example. Now, you might have some heroes who want to be examples, but that's not what qualifies them as heroes. Them doing what's right does. As for the not caring about "praise" part, well that doesn't need much explanation at all. That's literally one of the traits that qualifies him as a hero. You're right, he doesn't do it all for the glory. He does what he does because it's the right thing to do and he cares about helping others, whether he receives praise or not. That's actually how a hero is supposed to be. That just proves his heroism even more. And that's the case for every true hero - selfless motivation. So unless there's solid evidence that points to the contrary, Sonic *is* a hero in every sense of the word. Now with Black Knight...I'm a little conflicted with that story to say the least. But I guess I should start with this. I do think Sonic should kill some of his enemies. Not because it's "edgy," but because it's necessary in some cases. If they are an irredeemable threat to the world that cannot be contained or defeated any other way, then, yes, I believe Sonic should kill them without remorse. I repeat, an *irredeemable* threat. That's the condition. Someone or something that cannot change or will not change. Those characters should be killed without a single tear shed because killing *is* the right thing to do in those cases. It's the "heroic" thing to do in those cases. So I agree with your point that Sonic "killing" King Arthur doesn't make him an anti-hero, and I wish this fanbase would understand that. But I do think when the situation calls for it, Sonic should kill because heroes kill. Traditional, full-blooded heroes kill when necessary. Honestly, I blame DC for this controversy. DC has kept up this "no kill" rule for so long that they've convinced a lot of people that heroes don't kill anyone at all ever. No, that's just something DC does with their heroes. It's not how all heroes outside of that franchise operate. Killing evil people doesn't make you as bad as them. Letting them live and enabling them to keep doing the same evil things over and over again makes you as bad as them. The basic, fundamental definition of a hero doesn't consist of the hero having a no-kill rule. People can describe a hero in a lot of different ways, but ultimately it's just a benevolent character with noble qualities. Someone who does what's right. And sometimes what's "right" is to kill. So that character would very much be a hero. If a mass-murderer or serial killer were on the loose, I'd rather someone put an end to them than allow them to live and take more innocent lives. So, some arguments I agree with on both sides, but not always for the same reasons that come from both sides. Now as far as Merlina saving Camelot, I'll admit, my memory's a little foggy on that. It wasn't wrong that she wanted to save her kingdom, but that she was using the power of the "underworld" or whatever to do it, right? Like Sonic didn't really explain why a world that "goes on forever" is inherently bad, but I think I remember Caliburn saying something like Merlina was willing to "sacrifice countless others just to escape her own sorrow" or something. And that's why it was wrong. Or was Sonic really just trying to stop her because he thought an "eternal world" was lame? Because if it's the latter that's true, that might be one exception where Sonic's characterization didn't make sense. I might be kind of torn on that answer. It's just that part in Black Knight that's confusing because they didn't really explain it that well.
You're missing what was spelled out in IDW, Sonic wants to give everyone freedom *so long as that freedom doesn't infringe on the freedoms of others*. It's classic Anarchism (the political ideology, not the popular perception of someone just loving chaos), Djinn would always infringe on others' freedoms, yet Eggman is shown capable of siding with Sonic and even becoming good.
@@Peasham I understand Sonic's philosophy. The problem is in idw, he contradicts his own philosophy. It's freedom for everyone as long as someone doesn't infringe on someone else's freedom. But Eggman infringes on others' freedom all the time. Yes, he is capable of being good. But he chooses to be evil. Every example of Eggman being "good" is not really him being good. There are the few times Eggman teamed up with Sonic to save the world, but he only did that just so he could take over the world himself. Even in idw, Eggman being Mr. Tinker was just a result of him having brain damage and literally forgetting who he was. But as soon as his memories came back, he went right back to being evil. Now you can say that he still has the ability to be good anyway, but the same can be said about Erazor Djinn and King Arthur. Erazor Djinn was evil, but he still had the ability to choose good. But he didn't. He was a threat to the world, so Sonic sealed him in the lamp forever. Although King Arthur was an illusion, Sonic didn't know that. So to Sonic, King Arthur was a real person with freewill and the ability to change and be good. But based on their conversation during their fight, it was clear that Arthur was dead-set on being this "evil immortal king." There was no point in Sonic trying to change his mind, so Sonic "killed" him. Both Erazor Djinn and King Arthur were irredeemable villains. So far, Eggman has also proven to be an irredeemable villain. No matter what happens, Eggman always chooses evil in the end. Based off Sonic's track record with irredeemable villains, it would be very in character for Sonic to either give Eggman "life imprisonment" or the "death penalty." But here's the difference - both Erazor Djinn and King Arthur were one-off villains. Eggman is the main villain of the franchise. So Sonic can't put a permanent stop to Eggman because Sega has to keep Eggman around. That's all this "letting Eggman go" thing is. It's a plot device to keep Sonic's main antagonist around. It's not meant to be a testament to Sonic's character. And that's the problem - idw made it a part of Sonic's character. Instead of just letting it be a trope to keep Eggman coming back like it is in the games, idw turned it into an intentional decision Sonic makes for his enemies. Now, Sonic looks like a lunatic who's willing to keep the world in a constant state of danger in the hopes that some psychopath will just wake up one day and decide to be "good." Sonic's not like that in the games. And people are scrambling to connect his character in the comics to his character in the games when there's no way to do that without creating contradictions. Game Sonic and idw Sonic are two different characters.
@@arielk0231 Except he doesn't contradict his own philosophy in IDW? He always fights Eggman when Eggman is infringing on the freedom of others, and he isn't doing that constantly because Eggman isn't constantly doing that. In the Jinn example, Sonic imprisons him because his presence in the outside world would necessarily, constantly infringe on the freedoms of others, and when facing Arthur Sonic was in a life or death situation against someone that refused to so much as speak to him.
I hope Blaze the Cat get her own game and gets to be her own character She was Peak in Sonic Rush I want that Blaze back plus how she is in IDW as well. 💙💜❤🔥🥰 also what’s the name of the music playing at 10:13
I remember hearing people say that Sonic wasn’t nice enough to Surge. Keep in mind, the person who just tried to kill him. Of course he’s not gonna hold his tongue when someone takes an attempt at his life.
To be completely honest, in most of my interactions with people who criticize IDW Sonic, they just.. have not read the comic lmao. It very much seems to be a game of critical telephone where people are just regurgitating a criticism because they've heard someone else say it or because they've only seen that panel of Sonic talking to Surge out of context, cuz if you've read the rest of that issue you'd know that he wasn't being a pacifist there and started beating her ass when he realized he wasn't gonna get through to her.
@@Peasham Yeah, I feel like I’ve seen that a lot lately with some people’s “criticisms” on recent issues like “Sonic is the fastest thing alive! Why can’t he just go in expose Cleansweep Inc? He doesn’t need the Phantom Rider disguise!” when the narrative clearly establishes that they only have SUSPICIONS and his friends, Tails and Amy, need to investigate thoroughly and to not draw attention, Sonic(who has been disqualified from the race) has to disguise himself as a distraction to keep eyes off Tails and Amy. So, it does feel like some people don’t actually read the series and just go off on whatever they see at face value
@@kjbroadway9557 Yeah, honestly I just wish people who've actually read the comic discussed it more, cuz most criticism I see is stuff the person wouldn't complain about had they read the comic. Please don't take this as criticism at all, the video's a banger, but even your video's mostly just explaining things that happen in the comic and that's really all it takes to address the criticisms lol, and I gotta say, as a fan of many more things than Sonic this problem is very much not exclusive to this fandom, which is why it's so easy to identify tbh. Also, I REALLY need to catch up to the comics lmao, my childhood Sonic games were Gems Collection and Riders and a whole arc about racing? Very good, dare I say.
I think a lot of the arguments against idw sonic boil down to the readers not looking into sonic enough to understand how constant sonic still is and how he already did grow and change, he is a completed character who is allowed to be static, he should be static there is no need to change him anymore and what he does for other characters is awesome. IDW is part of the cannon so counting unleashed and sa2 as him developing works.
Something I have come to realize is that Sonic is different in any work he appears in. The Sonic from Black Knight is not the same as Sonic from Colors or Sonic from the IDW comics. You can chalk it up to different writers or different direction but they are not 1 for 1 despite continuity or overlapping characteristics. I don't buy into the possibility that the changes to Sonic are character development. IDW Sonic just does not feel like the Sonic from the games but instead he feels like Archie Sonic (who feels like a comic book superhero) but more in-line with Game Sonic but not quite there. If you pay attention to the details of Game and IDW Sonic and not the general picture you'll notice discrepancies between them. I don't have much regard for IDW Sonic as I feel it doesn't reflect Game Sonic well enough despite it intending to be reflective of the games. I think Scrapnik Island was good and the closest IDW Sonic felt like Game Sonic.
I just find it crazy and kinda stupid how people criticize. idw Sonic for not being "in character" when stuff like archie Sonic exists and no one bats an eye
@@kjbroadway9557 I disagree actually, I'd say Prime VERY much fits into Sonic's characterization as seen in the decade after Colors (including Colors that is), all the negative traits he has in those games are reflected by his Prime character and the point of the story is that said negative traits were bad and that he has to change them. Whereas Ian Flynn put Sonic back on track by just.. changing him outright, Prime did it through proper character development, and if we didn't have the newer games and comics I think more people would've clocked in on that.
There are many things that i disliked about idw Sonic, but generally he is alright!, way better characterized than him in team sonic racing for example. really the main things that bother me are moments like: Sonic manipulating Shadow by using the events of SA2, especially considering that Shadow had amnesia and was being used by Eggman, is really out of character for Sonic, who has a lot of respect for Shadow, so to use the events of adventure 2 as ammo against him is really scummy. Sonic’s Self-Descriptions, i prefer Sonic to be more concise and less self-explanatory. I enjoy a more straightforward Sonic, who doesn’t need to elaborate on his identity unless he is being pushed to do so, and if he does explain who he is, it is always in a short and simple way. and finally, sonic doesn't say "i'm sonic, sonic the hedgehog" in IDW when introducing himself, i think is really cool and iconic when he does it in the games :,[ also btw, people like to say that Sonic always ran away from Amy in the past and that him talking to her like in IDW is out of character, but Sonic in the past did talk to Amy and even cared for her, but when Amy would act in an intense way towards him, he would respond in an instense way too, like, running away, or pulling her away. but when she was calm, he was calm too and could be around her without any big issues. anyways, i would definitely enjoy more character analysis from you! and to hear your point of view on the writing for sonic characters. Great video!
@@kjbroadway9557 a video like this for Silver would be great, it be interesting to look into how Silver is aparently written to be sillier that in past appeariances, he is like this in the english team sonic racing script (idk exactly how he acts in the jp script🤔) and he also acts silly at times in IDW. was he maybe always like this but the situations he appeared in didn't allow for it to be shown? idk! Silver as a character is such an interesting and underated topic so yeah definitely do that Silver video!
1. Sonic doesn't use Shadow's traumatic past, Sonic never uses Maria or the tragic events that happend on the ARK, he just talks about how Shadow once wanted to destroy the planet and later was forgiven because he had change in heart, he talks exclusively on the present events of SA2 not the past ones 2. People tend to forget Sonic did the EXACT SAME THING in Sonic Battle, when Shadow comes in wanting to destroy Emerl, Sonic uses the event of Sonic Adventure 2 to try and stop Shadow, saying that Shadow once saved the planet, in which Shadow responds that he didn't care for those humans at all, he did only because of Maria
A personility thing i noticed is how involved he is with his friends, this also afected with games long ago. He was introverted and calm and injoyed his time in isolation, this would later be changed to make extroverted. This can be a jarring change to old fans. Really wish sega would just soft reboot adventure remakes with the new personality so they say it always like that
my personal favourite part of sonic as a character is how he effects and inspires people around him just look at how meeting sonic effected characters like tails, amy, knuckles, elise, chip, merlina and so on you get the picture sonic inspires and brings out the best in people, and when he is well written he does the same to the player
18:33 Disagree. There never was a reason for Amy to warm her feelings for Sonic so Sonic could be more comfortable, it just disappeared out of nowhere. If we had a story where Amy realised that Sonic wasn't comfortable with her around and changed her ways, it would actually be character development. And IDW Sonic isn't the quiet, chill and decisive chaarcter he was back in Black Knight, he is more like Spiderman than anything, but the character itself is more accurate than anything in the 2010s.
I disagree with that first paragraph. It didn't disappear out of nowhere, it gradually phased out over time across each installment of the franchise. Amy doesn't go from being super obsessed with Sonic in one game, to suddenly not being obsessed but still having a crush in another. There's no two Sonic games where that immediate change occurs with her character. And you don't need to have an entire story dedicated to Amy having a character arc, Sonic himself grows as a character despite being static, in games where it wasn't even the focus, as is explained in the video. Also, Sonic was never quiet in the Black Knight, I dunno what made you think that. He was always bickering back and forth with Caliburn, and made backhanded comments to King Arthur in their fights. Making quips has always been apart of Sonic's character, whether it be in the classic games, adventure games, storybook games, or modern games.
@@Kelps.mp4 You claim it did, and yet you provide no examples or evidence for when Amy's obsession with Sonic "just disappeared out of nowhere." Between which two installments did it disappear? And that doesn't mean Sonic in the Black Knight is "quiet". He still talks and makes quips just as much as he would in other games. IDW Sonic is consistent with BK's characterization of him.
@@afro025 "Between which two installments did it disappear?" Generations and Lost World. And you did not bring any examples for the opposite, too. "And that doesn't mean Sonic in the Black Knight is "quiet". He still talks and makes quips just as much as he would in other games. IDW Sonic is consistent with BK's characterization of him." Yeah, my bad for not communicating correctly.
@@Kelps.mp4 I already told you that she gradually becomes less obsessed over time. Amy in Generations certainly isn't obsessed with him to the level she was in other games such as Adventure or 06. Amy isn't stalking Sonic or tracking him down wherever he goes, she sets up a birthday party for him. You really can't call that an obsession anymore.
Egg an pretty much had brain damage when he was Mr Tinker, so just bonking him on these again or showing him his past can automatically bring back Eggman, with metal that was sonic being stupid and surge he was just being a kinda of a dick.
"Guess I can't always play the hero" Vs "I hope you come around eventually" "YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND ETERNITY IN YOUR LAMP AS YOU WERE IN THE DAYS OF OLD" Vs "I've went through my fair share of villains to know there's a better way" All of the dialogue presented by IDW Sonic contradicts directly game sonic; how then can they be the same character?
"you've made a fine knight" "Heh cut it out" Vs "Woah is that sonic the hedgehog!?" "The one and only" There's too much contradictions to pinpoint these as the same characters, one is humble sarcastic but still analytical and has high empathy, the other is more Egocentric and self righteous; they are not the same character.
@@randomrave6635 let me begin; sonic in the IDW comics is portrayed as self righteous and unwilling to step down from what he deems "morals". However in the games sonic has no clear morals and is willing to play whatever role he needs to do what he thinks is right. The dialogue shown here also showcases sonic denying mercy to Erazor Djinn who's not as bad Eggman, HOWEVER he offers Eggman mercy hoping he'll come around, it's a clear contradiction of how sonic rolls, pointing back as well to official material dating prior to the comic sonic shows 0 care if Eggman would be gone so him caring about being on moral high ground by keeping him around is out of character.
The other contradiction(in my reply to myself!) shows sonic being more bashful in dialogue from the black knight where he tells Merlina to cut out the compliment from him, it's in clear contradiction to him being fine with the civilian referring to him with such praise and him replying by commenting he's the one and only, which is another direct contradiction. Honorable mentions would be that in issue 2 Sonic talks about he's deal trying hard to look cool while posing with the wind for Amy, he doesn't explain his shtick; it's subtle in the game but here he's too cocky and is aware of it, another direct contradiction.
@@Sofia_Writes ok I think I get what your saying, but I also think context matters a lot here too. Erazer djinn was an established evil with 0 ability to change. As the guy explained in the video the only time sonic offered eggman this choice was after he saw that eggman actually had the potential to be good. Otherwise he would never have spared eggman like he did. Also, when you say sonic is unwilling to step down in idw doesn't that align with the quote you used earlier? The one where he's like "guess I have to be the bad guy" or something like that? He's still doing the righteous thing, even if the world doesn't accept that it is righteous. I'm not as adept in the sonic narrative as I am in other narratives, but to me it seems idw got it down, maybe they leaned into the self righteous part a bit much but overall it's seems to align with the games, to me at least?
I will doing a character study of Sonic in this video!
This is honestly a really underrated video about Sonic’s character. The writing of Sonic’s character overall may be a bit iffy, but they all work well if you just pay attention a bit more
Thank you so much!
@@kjbroadway9557 So essentially turn your brain off and lower your standards for IDW Sonic.
You are absolutely correct. It really saddens me that some people can't see the great care that was taken to be consistent with the games, including the younger versions during the Classic Era.
finally I'm so sick of the lack of media literacy when it comes to this comic. this comic has writing issues but it really feels like people don't understand context at all.
Yeah, I agree where I feel like some people are missing a lot of context
I see no issue with people criticizing IDW sonic but I’d say he’s pretty consistent with Sonic’s morals. Even if you look all the way back at sonic adventure it’s not like he slapped the cuffs on chaos even after he annihilated a city. When Tikal stated that they need to seal him away sonic made it clear that he thought that would be morally wrong.
I’m not saying, I agree with sonic, moral compass, I actually think criminals like egg man should be thrown in prison, but it’s consistent with his characterization that he would believe in preserving everyone’s right to live by their own rules, and I’d say for the most part it’s handled decently and they address the flaws with sonics methods
That was essentially my point in the video and Sonic's more pro-freedom than anything else which is what makes him so cool!
And the funny thing about that is, not only did IDW not invent that characterization for him, IDW is the one place where it's actually been criticized lol, most prominently in the Tinker arc.
Genuinely, thank you for making this video
I have never seen someone say everything I wanted to hear more perfectly in my life, more people need to see this video.
Thank you so much for enjoying the video!
I do disagree with a few things, but surprisingly, this video was actually pretty good. You've changed my view on IDW wayyy more.
Thanks for enjoying the video!
THANK YOU! I still have a hard time even understanding why people think IDW Sonic and Game Sonic are two completely different characterizations. If there are two things that make Sonic who he is as a character it's:
1.} Fighting oppression faster than the speed of sound.
& 2.) Inspiring others around him to be their best selves which goes both ways; such as, inspiring Tails to believe in himself and become more independent or inspiring Eggman to cook up a new evil schemes and machines.
IDW Sonic and Sonic as he exists in the games have ALWAYS embodied these two variables and have never differed.
The arguments I hear mainly are: 1.) "Erm, Sonic isn't a hero." [Debunked: 2003- Sonic Heroes -Sonic refers to himself and his team as Heroes] Also, Sonic has literally ALWAYS acted as a Hero, even though he has his own way of doing things and is morally gray THAT STILL MAKES HIM A HERO at the end of the day when he is constantly saving lives and putting himself in harm's way to battle oppression of all forms. What I want to know is what is the definition of "Hero" for the people that say this?
2.) "Erm, Sonic's waaay too forgiving. Have you not seen what Sonic has done to Erzor Jin, Dark Gaia, and Metal Sonic in Sonic CD? Sonic gets rid of them without any of the mushy gushy come to the light BS." [Debunked via Context]- Erzor Jin and Dark Gaia were immortal evil monsters with power that could destroy the world if not the universe. They are entirely different cases that by their nature CAN NOT be reasoned with which is why Sonic doesn't bother to reason with them OBVIOUSLY. And as for Metal Sonic, Sonic had never experienced a robot who could be reasoned with or "become good" until Sonic Adventure 1 when he encounters Gamma and Amy helps him to understand. Sonic CD happens before Sonic Adventure which is stated IN GAME during Amy's story when she reflects about her past with Sonic. This is to not even mention the context of Mr. Tinker and how that changed Sonic's perspective on the idea of Eggman and in proxy his robots such as Metal Sonic becoming good possibly. Sonic has ALWAYS resorted towards REASONING with his enemies when the opportunity presents itself.
As you said, IDW Sonic is a very natural progression of the original classic sonic. IDW Sonic is Sonic with experience. The only issue I see personally is that Sonic openly yaps about his morals more than he should instead of letting his actions speak for themselves. But it's not as if Sonic from the games has never had morals at all, that's just objectively wrong.
Yeah, I believe my issues with his characterization in IDW is he overexplains himself without the usual balance of show and tell in the game, but I agree with all of your points! Thanks for commenting!
@@kjbroadway9557I think even the way he talks in IDW is fine. I don’t agree that Sonic overexplains himself. The situations he does explain a lot is when it’s warranted to make his morals clear to those who don’t know how his morals work like Surge. I believe he does still show to take action to back up his words.
Overall I believe Sonic should be allowed to speak profoundly and more wordy when he wants to be to get his point across firmly.
Thank you! I've always said that, you worded it perfectly, amazing video!
I think the IDW Sonic comics perfectly encapsulates and shows who those characters are and how those characters work, and I love these comics for that
It's not a case of me blindly defending whatever SEGA throws at me, Sonic is my second favorite character, if not my FAVORITE character of all times, and one of the reasons I love him is his personality, so I know how Sonic should act, and I know how to recognize versions that doesn't act like he does in the games, Boom Sonic, Movie Sonic, Archie, Sonic, and Prime Sonic, and those versions are a varied reception for me, I like them if I think they're fun, and dislike them if I think they're not, but none of them are the same character I love that is the main version of Sonic
One of the most important points of an extern media for me, is being a good introduction to the series, the characters have to be consistent so a new fan can start by this extern media and then jump into another one and see the same character, and for me IDW is one of those good introductions, it presents those characters really well and show how they are, so when a new fan who started by them can jump to the games and not be confused being introduced to completly different characters, I have friends that started being Sonic fans thanks to the IDW comics and later jumped into the games, and they were really familiarized with all those characters thanks to the comics, it's the reason I think Sonic X is also a good introduction to the games, because they're also perfectly portrayed in the anime aswell
And I can SEE that all the writers and artists who works on there KNOWS for which series they're writting for, and they do make their research to give out the best experience they can, it's a thing that makes me like IDW that wasn't present in Archie, Sonic Team's involvment on the comic series with constant revision, advice, art from both Sonic Team's official artists Yuji Uekawa and Yui Karasuno and even IDEAS given to the writters coming from Sonic Team and SEGA themselves
Sonic Team gives them concept art from the games to work with, Sonic Team's works and supervises alongside with them the new characters, their designs, etc. It avoids things that happend quite often in Archie, where they had to base things around what they could search just looking at surface level, which resulted in things like Metal Knuckles being based around his low-poly model from Sonic R rather than his concept art, Bean being called a "duck", both Espio and Knuckles in some pannels having inconsistent connected eyes, things that don't happen in IDW at all, it is a consistent comic who tries to be faithful and present the universe of the games
I hate how so many moments from IDW and from the 2000s games gets simply forgotten
It seems that people just try to forget or intentionally manipulate things in bad faith to praise the 2000 games while at the same time hating on the current media post-2010
And one thing I'll say, watching and reading more the games (in general, all eras) in japanese and the Sonic Channel exclusive stories made me appreciate IDW even more, seriously, Sonic as a character in those stories is on par with Black Knight that people like throwing so much into the argument (and Sonic really is super cool in there), and even though he is on par with the likes of Black Knight, Unleashed, etc. there still is so much in common with those stories presented in IDW
And I mean, it isn't surprising considering Eitaro Toyoda, the writter of those stories helps with IDW, he also said he loved Ian Flynn's concept on the Metal Virus, he also always shows how much he loves Tangle, Toyoda is sometimes considered Shiro Maekawa's "disciple" by some, whatever that means, he also is working in Sonic x Shadow Generations just like Ian Flynn as far as I know
Toyoda also worked in Episode Shadow, although he wasn't the only writter in Forces, but still did an amazing job because Team Dark interacts super well in there, sadly the script doesn't give justice to his writting most of the times, and in Sonic Channel his writting truly shines, and apparently in Sonic x Shadow Gens it's doing the same so far because the games looks cool and well written
Still, if I had to recommend something to every Sonic fan, that would be the Sonic Channel stories, they're super well written, compared to the stories of old games like Unleashed, Black Knight, etc. and as I said, made me appreciate IDW even more
Yeah, Toyoda is goated!
I haven't read IDW yet, but I have watched the beginning part of this video, in which you analyzed Sonic's character in the games. Gotta say, I quite like your style! And I like the style of your video titles too, they're very simple and chill
Thank you so much! Sorry if I spoil anything for IDW if you want to check it out later
@@kjbroadway9557 No problem! And no worries, I'll save the rest of the video for after I read the comics
I completely disagree with the sonic having small character arcs in the games. He doesn’t have one in sa2, him learning a move from shadow does not mean he went through an arc he just learned a new ability. And sonic saying goodbye to shadow is something he’s like in general in sad moments.
Sonic in unleashed also did not have a character arc. That part in unleashed is to show sonic isn’t full of himself and that he believed chip was the reason he was able to stay himself.
And with the rivals the context is different. Shadow frames sonic leading to him being chased and arrested and insults him like he’s worthless. Sonic wants to get back at shadow for framing him.
Blaze was not like this so he reacted differently. Silver attacked him out of nowhere with no reasons told. And the classic sonic thing also doesn’t really hold up because IDW classic sonic also does not act like classic sonic in the 90’s. Sonic in the classic era was never described as one to make jokes like in IDW he just has attitude.
I wouldn’t call IDW sonic awful but he has clear flaws compared to how sonic was characterized before. His thoughts and feelings are more or less the same, BUT Ian has an issue of having sonic explain himself like he’s reading a character bio instead of being simple and straight to the point like he is. That’s how sonic is when he talks. Sonic is a character who no matter what he goes through stays who he is at the end. He never loses his confidence or has self doubt, frontiers did this well during the cyber corruption, while the metal virus has sonic having doubt in his own beliefs.
I think IDW sonic suffers from just the way he is executed. I think the biggest factor to this is how he has been getting better in the recent issues along with some of the writers taking note of the issues people have with this take on him.
Well made video though I enjoyed it 👍
Agreed
Thank you so much for enjoying the video!
this video actually got sonic's character perfectly
Thank you so much for making this video. Its so crazy to me how people are bashing sonic characterization because it didnt align with the previous games as if sonic couldnt change or grow as time moved on. Their are important context to sonic sparing the idw villains but people turn a blind eye to it and just say "sonic is out of character he shouldnt show mercy to his villains" when in most of the time he did this was because their wasnt any sympathy for them to begin with or they were mindless beings with sole purpose of destruction and havoc. And the idw characters are either morally gray, or were in morally gray position at the time.
I feel like sonic fans still have a lingering nostalgia blindness for sonics characterization as they would quickly go back black knight or the adventure games as the definitive sonic (and the writing for sonic is good in those games). But they are just quick to criticize or down right hate anything that doesnt align with the sonic they invision instead of allowing sonic grow and slightly change as a person. Sonic for the most part is static but that doesnt mean he cant change to some extents.
Like I said in the video, Sonic, or any character in fiction static or not, will be written in a specific way to help deliver the themes or message that the story has and it’s no different when you look at IDW and the games. Thank you so much for watching!
This video is an amazing analysis on Sonic’s characterization not only in the games but the idw comics. And I genuinely think the idw comics are some of the best story’s and character writing we’ve had in and minute for the series. with my only really passionate complaint and grip being shadow’s characterization
that was so great man thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
This video was needed.
Glad I could deliver!
I feel like another reason people don’t like IDW Sonic is because we’re still in what the UA-camr Jebzone has dubbed the “Sonic Messiah arc” where Sonic is the solution to literally everything in the games and he does everything himself and the others just watch from the sidelines. People interpret Sonic’s speeches as the authors hammering in the fact of how amazing and perfect Sonic is and people really hate that.
Considering IDW is pretty much the only story criticizing him for his ideology multiple times throughout the story I don't really get this.
YESSS LETS GOOO FINALLY SOME MEDIA LITERACY ABOUT THE FUNNY BLUE HEDGEHOG
Very nicely said. Great video!
Thank you!
YES YOU GET IT
Thank you!
I wish idw was given more attention
Ok, there's a lot I wanted to say, but youtube kept deleting my comment for whatever stupid reason, so I'll try to keep this as short as possible while still getting my point across.
While I very much believe majority of fans simply see Sonic as a hero in the traditional sense, I still don't understand why some people either:
agree with Sonic's "hero" characterization and "morals" in idw that value freedom for villains over the lives of innocent people
Or
disagree with idw Sonic's warped morals (great)...but then claim that game Sonic doesn't have any morals at all and he's not actually a hero (what?)
Everyone's giving him either the wrong beliefs or no beliefs at all, and I don't get it.
Doing what he believes is right is what a hero does. So saying he's not a hero, but then saying he does what he believes is right is literally a contradiction. And then saying he only cares about freedom contradicts all of that.
If Sonic didn't have morals and only valued freedom and doing whatever he wants - if he was truly the symbol of absolute freedom like some people make him out to be, he wouldn't have:
trapped the genie in a lamp for ALL OF ETERNITY and then thrown the lamp in a pit of lava in Secret Rings
said, "That's pretty low, even for a sleazeball like Eggman" after finding out that Eggman was draining the wisps' energy to power his amusement park in Colors - blatantly acknowledging that what Eggman was doing was wrong and judging him for it
teamed up with Eggman in Lost World - something he obviously didn't want to do
said, "The whole world's in danger because I did something stupid. Do you know how much that bites?" after realizing his actions put the world in danger in Lost World - very clearly admitting that he felt guilty for putting the world in jeopardy
Or
impressed Chip with his outstanding character and prompted Chip to say, "You never give into the darkness inside your heart," in Unleashed - which means there are times he might not want to do the right thing, but he does the right thing anyway because he has morals, values, PRINCIPLES
Am I somehow wildly misinterpreting everything in the games? Or is there just this group of people that want Sonic to be like this for whatever reason and they'll just say anything to push this narrative? Or does Sega just constantly contradict themselves and gaslight everyone by saying Sonic doesn't care and "It DoEsN't MaTteR"...but then literally showing that he *does* care and it *does* matter in every single game?
Game Sonic "isn't a hero" because he doesn't want to change bad guys, he doesn't want to be an example, he doesn't care about honor or praises. Despite this, Sonic is actually caring and well behaved. He never judge or criticize. He loves helping people because it's the right thing to do. Saying that game Sonic has no morals is dumb and I blame Black Knight for this. The game was fine but Sonic fans have a negative IQ. They think Sonic is an anti-hero because he "killed" King Arthur. They also think Merlina was right because she was trying to save Camelot. You have no idea how many people think Sonic should *kill* his enemies. Because "he killed the biolizard, chaos, solaris, etc". Yeah, he killed *monsters* and *gods,* he never murdered regular humans/mobians. He didn't kill Shadow, Knuckles or Silver. Sonic doesn't consider himself a hero but *he is* a hero and he cares. The thing is, some people don't care about good written characters, they only want cool edgy characters. Many Shadow fans think Shadow peaked in Shadow05 because he was badass, many Sonic fans think 2010 Sonic is "goated" because he's cocky and quippy. Out of character? Who cares? As long as he's cool, it's fine. So yes, there's a group of people that want Sonic to be uncaring, cocky, stupid, edgy, shallow. Same with Shadow. They hate IDW not because he's preachy but because he forgives villains instead of beheading them with a sword.
@@Thaumiel98 As far as not wanting to change his enemies, I don't think it's that he doesn't want to change them. I think it's that he wishes they would change, but he knows that he can't change them. It's just like how it is in real life. You can hope for someone to change, but you know you can't actually change them. You can't make them "be good." That's a decision they have to make for themselves. If Sonic didn't want his villains to change, that would mean he agrees with their choice to be evil. And he clearly doesn't. Otherwise, he wouldn't point out that what Eggman was doing was wrong and insult him like he did in Colors - which is also the purest example of Sonic judging and criticizing someone, btw (but someone who deserves it). He wouldn't stop Eggman and all his other enemies every time they try to do something bad. You can't disagree with what someone's doing and constantly try to stop them but then not want them to change. That's a contradiction. So Sonic does want his villains to change, but he knows he can't actually get into their minds and change them. He can only stop them when they're physically harming others or trying to take over the world. That's how it is for every hero.
When it comes to being an example, I think he just doesn't care whether he's an example or not, not that he actively doesn't want to be an example. It's like at the end of the day, he's going to do what he believes is right, regardless of whether someone else wants to follow that example or not. He respects everyone's freedom of choice. But he's not actively opposed to someone following his example. If they decide they want to be like him, he's like, "Cool." Example: all of his friends. He's had an influence on all of his friends to some extent, and that's actually how they became his friends. If someone decides they don't want to be like him, he's still like, "Cool. Just don't cause any harm." Again, that's the case for almost every hero. I've never heard any hero say, "I want to be an example." But they clearly don't have a problem if someone does want to follow their example. Now, you might have some heroes who want to be examples, but that's not what qualifies them as heroes. Them doing what's right does.
As for the not caring about "praise" part, well that doesn't need much explanation at all. That's literally one of the traits that qualifies him as a hero. You're right, he doesn't do it all for the glory. He does what he does because it's the right thing to do and he cares about helping others, whether he receives praise or not. That's actually how a hero is supposed to be. That just proves his heroism even more. And that's the case for every true hero - selfless motivation. So unless there's solid evidence that points to the contrary, Sonic *is* a hero in every sense of the word.
Now with Black Knight...I'm a little conflicted with that story to say the least. But I guess I should start with this. I do think Sonic should kill some of his enemies. Not because it's "edgy," but because it's necessary in some cases. If they are an irredeemable threat to the world that cannot be contained or defeated any other way, then, yes, I believe Sonic should kill them without remorse. I repeat, an *irredeemable* threat. That's the condition. Someone or something that cannot change or will not change. Those characters should be killed without a single tear shed because killing *is* the right thing to do in those cases. It's the "heroic" thing to do in those cases. So I agree with your point that Sonic "killing" King Arthur doesn't make him an anti-hero, and I wish this fanbase would understand that. But I do think when the situation calls for it, Sonic should kill because heroes kill. Traditional, full-blooded heroes kill when necessary.
Honestly, I blame DC for this controversy. DC has kept up this "no kill" rule for so long that they've convinced a lot of people that heroes don't kill anyone at all ever. No, that's just something DC does with their heroes. It's not how all heroes outside of that franchise operate. Killing evil people doesn't make you as bad as them. Letting them live and enabling them to keep doing the same evil things over and over again makes you as bad as them. The basic, fundamental definition of a hero doesn't consist of the hero having a no-kill rule. People can describe a hero in a lot of different ways, but ultimately it's just a benevolent character with noble qualities. Someone who does what's right. And sometimes what's "right" is to kill. So that character would very much be a hero. If a mass-murderer or serial killer were on the loose, I'd rather someone put an end to them than allow them to live and take more innocent lives. So, some arguments I agree with on both sides, but not always for the same reasons that come from both sides.
Now as far as Merlina saving Camelot, I'll admit, my memory's a little foggy on that. It wasn't wrong that she wanted to save her kingdom, but that she was using the power of the "underworld" or whatever to do it, right? Like Sonic didn't really explain why a world that "goes on forever" is inherently bad, but I think I remember Caliburn saying something like Merlina was willing to "sacrifice countless others just to escape her own sorrow" or something. And that's why it was wrong. Or was Sonic really just trying to stop her because he thought an "eternal world" was lame? Because if it's the latter that's true, that might be one exception where Sonic's characterization didn't make sense. I might be kind of torn on that answer. It's just that part in Black Knight that's confusing because they didn't really explain it that well.
You're missing what was spelled out in IDW, Sonic wants to give everyone freedom *so long as that freedom doesn't infringe on the freedoms of others*. It's classic Anarchism (the political ideology, not the popular perception of someone just loving chaos), Djinn would always infringe on others' freedoms, yet Eggman is shown capable of siding with Sonic and even becoming good.
@@Peasham I understand Sonic's philosophy. The problem is in idw, he contradicts his own philosophy. It's freedom for everyone as long as someone doesn't infringe on someone else's freedom. But Eggman infringes on others' freedom all the time. Yes, he is capable of being good. But he chooses to be evil. Every example of Eggman being "good" is not really him being good. There are the few times Eggman teamed up with Sonic to save the world, but he only did that just so he could take over the world himself. Even in idw, Eggman being Mr. Tinker was just a result of him having brain damage and literally forgetting who he was. But as soon as his memories came back, he went right back to being evil.
Now you can say that he still has the ability to be good anyway, but the same can be said about Erazor Djinn and King Arthur. Erazor Djinn was evil, but he still had the ability to choose good. But he didn't. He was a threat to the world, so Sonic sealed him in the lamp forever. Although King Arthur was an illusion, Sonic didn't know that. So to Sonic, King Arthur was a real person with freewill and the ability to change and be good. But based on their conversation during their fight, it was clear that Arthur was dead-set on being this "evil immortal king." There was no point in Sonic trying to change his mind, so Sonic "killed" him. Both Erazor Djinn and King Arthur were irredeemable villains.
So far, Eggman has also proven to be an irredeemable villain. No matter what happens, Eggman always chooses evil in the end. Based off Sonic's track record with irredeemable villains, it would be very in character for Sonic to either give Eggman "life imprisonment" or the "death penalty." But here's the difference - both Erazor Djinn and King Arthur were one-off villains. Eggman is the main villain of the franchise. So Sonic can't put a permanent stop to Eggman because Sega has to keep Eggman around. That's all this "letting Eggman go" thing is. It's a plot device to keep Sonic's main antagonist around. It's not meant to be a testament to Sonic's character. And that's the problem - idw made it a part of Sonic's character. Instead of just letting it be a trope to keep Eggman coming back like it is in the games, idw turned it into an intentional decision Sonic makes for his enemies. Now, Sonic looks like a lunatic who's willing to keep the world in a constant state of danger in the hopes that some psychopath will just wake up one day and decide to be "good." Sonic's not like that in the games. And people are scrambling to connect his character in the comics to his character in the games when there's no way to do that without creating contradictions. Game Sonic and idw Sonic are two different characters.
@@arielk0231 Except he doesn't contradict his own philosophy in IDW? He always fights Eggman when Eggman is infringing on the freedom of others, and he isn't doing that constantly because Eggman isn't constantly doing that. In the Jinn example, Sonic imprisons him because his presence in the outside world would necessarily, constantly infringe on the freedoms of others, and when facing Arthur Sonic was in a life or death situation against someone that refused to so much as speak to him.
I hope Blaze the Cat get her own game and gets to be her own character She was Peak in Sonic Rush I want that Blaze back plus how she is in IDW as well. 💙💜❤🔥🥰 also what’s the name of the music playing at 10:13
Blaze is awesome! The music is “This Is Our World (A New Hero) - Sonic Forces
I remember hearing people say that Sonic wasn’t nice enough to Surge. Keep in mind, the person who just tried to kill him. Of course he’s not gonna hold his tongue when someone takes an attempt at his life.
To be completely honest, in most of my interactions with people who criticize IDW Sonic, they just.. have not read the comic lmao. It very much seems to be a game of critical telephone where people are just regurgitating a criticism because they've heard someone else say it or because they've only seen that panel of Sonic talking to Surge out of context, cuz if you've read the rest of that issue you'd know that he wasn't being a pacifist there and started beating her ass when he realized he wasn't gonna get through to her.
@@Peasham Yeah, I feel like I’ve seen that a lot lately with some people’s “criticisms” on recent issues like “Sonic is the fastest thing alive! Why can’t he just go in expose Cleansweep Inc? He doesn’t need the Phantom Rider disguise!” when the narrative clearly establishes that they only have SUSPICIONS and his friends, Tails and Amy, need to investigate thoroughly and to not draw attention, Sonic(who has been disqualified from the race) has to disguise himself as a distraction to keep eyes off Tails and Amy. So, it does feel like some people don’t actually read the series and just go off on whatever they see at face value
@@kjbroadway9557 Yeah, honestly I just wish people who've actually read the comic discussed it more, cuz most criticism I see is stuff the person wouldn't complain about had they read the comic.
Please don't take this as criticism at all, the video's a banger, but even your video's mostly just explaining things that happen in the comic and that's really all it takes to address the criticisms lol, and I gotta say, as a fan of many more things than Sonic this problem is very much not exclusive to this fandom, which is why it's so easy to identify tbh.
Also, I REALLY need to catch up to the comics lmao, my childhood Sonic games were Gems Collection and Riders and a whole arc about racing? Very good, dare I say.
@@Peasham Why thank you! Sorry if I spoiled IDW for ya
@@kjbroadway9557 Nah nah you just gave me a plot description lol, it's all good. But yeah, speaking of good keep up the good work!
I think a lot of the arguments against idw sonic boil down to the readers not looking into sonic enough to understand how constant sonic still is and how he already did grow and change, he is a completed character who is allowed to be static, he should be static there is no need to change him anymore and what he does for other characters is awesome.
IDW is part of the cannon so counting unleashed and sa2 as him developing works.
I would like to see a video similar to this but for Fleetway and Archie
Something I have come to realize is that Sonic is different in any work he appears in. The Sonic from Black Knight is not the same as Sonic from Colors or Sonic from the IDW comics. You can chalk it up to different writers or different direction but they are not 1 for 1 despite continuity or overlapping characteristics. I don't buy into the possibility that the changes to Sonic are character development.
IDW Sonic just does not feel like the Sonic from the games but instead he feels like Archie Sonic (who feels like a comic book superhero) but more in-line with Game Sonic but not quite there. If you pay attention to the details of Game and IDW Sonic and not the general picture you'll notice discrepancies between them.
I don't have much regard for IDW Sonic as I feel it doesn't reflect Game Sonic well enough despite it intending to be reflective of the games. I think Scrapnik Island was good and the closest IDW Sonic felt like Game Sonic.
I just find it crazy and kinda stupid how people criticize. idw Sonic for not being "in character" when stuff like archie Sonic exists and no one bats an eye
The thing is that idw is supposed to be cannon to the games, while archie isn't, so idw isn't given the same leniency.
@goingunleashed5826 I get that, but Archie is still Sonic so idk
Ok now fit sonic prime into this
Nah, Prime Sonic is definitely a different take of Sonic regardless of canoncity or not, but I won't mind making a video on Sonic Prime in the future!
@@kjbroadway9557 I disagree actually, I'd say Prime VERY much fits into Sonic's characterization as seen in the decade after Colors (including Colors that is), all the negative traits he has in those games are reflected by his Prime character and the point of the story is that said negative traits were bad and that he has to change them. Whereas Ian Flynn put Sonic back on track by just.. changing him outright, Prime did it through proper character development, and if we didn't have the newer games and comics I think more people would've clocked in on that.
So will you ever do a video on Sonic Primes take on Sonic to see if he is similar to game Sonic
Prime Sonic is definitely a different take on Sonic regardless on canoncity or not, but I wouldn't mind making a video on Prime Sonic in the future!
There are many things that i disliked about idw Sonic, but generally he is alright!, way better characterized than him in team sonic racing for example.
really the main things that bother me are moments like:
Sonic manipulating Shadow by using the events of SA2, especially considering that Shadow had amnesia and was being used by Eggman, is really out of character for Sonic, who has a lot of respect for Shadow, so to use the events of adventure 2 as ammo against him is really scummy.
Sonic’s Self-Descriptions, i prefer Sonic to be more concise and less self-explanatory. I enjoy a more straightforward Sonic, who doesn’t need to elaborate on his identity unless he is being pushed to do so, and if he does explain who he is, it is always in a short and simple way.
and finally, sonic doesn't say "i'm sonic, sonic the hedgehog" in IDW when introducing himself, i think is really cool and iconic when he does it in the games :,[
also btw, people like to say that Sonic always ran away from Amy in the past and that him talking to her like in IDW is out of character, but Sonic in the past did talk to Amy and even cared for her, but when Amy would act in an intense way towards him, he would respond in an instense way too, like, running away, or pulling her away. but when she was calm, he was calm too and could be around her without any big issues.
anyways, i would definitely enjoy more character analysis from you! and to hear your point of view on the writing for sonic characters. Great video!
Thank you so much! If I were to do more of these character videos, it would definitely be Silver!
@@kjbroadway9557 a video like this for Silver would be great, it be interesting to look into how Silver is aparently written to be sillier that in past appeariances, he is like this in the english team sonic racing script (idk exactly how he acts in the jp script🤔) and he also acts silly at times in IDW. was he maybe always like this but the situations he appeared in didn't allow for it to be shown? idk! Silver as a character is such an interesting and underated topic so yeah definitely do that Silver video!
1. Sonic doesn't use Shadow's traumatic past, Sonic never uses Maria or the tragic events that happend on the ARK, he just talks about how Shadow once wanted to destroy the planet and later was forgiven because he had change in heart, he talks exclusively on the present events of SA2 not the past ones
2. People tend to forget Sonic did the EXACT SAME THING in Sonic Battle, when Shadow comes in wanting to destroy Emerl, Sonic uses the event of Sonic Adventure 2 to try and stop Shadow, saying that Shadow once saved the planet, in which Shadow responds that he didn't care for those humans at all, he did only because of Maria
@@DaFunniGuyYeah you're right, I worded it wrong by saying "traumatic past", I'll edit it, and you're right about that!
Btw your pfp is funny lol
@@NightyBatsy Well, that's why I am the (un)funny guy!
Idw is peak same with the older and newer games.
People dont like idw sonic? I thought he was done well 🤷♂️
Some people just don’t, but if you like him, great!
A personility thing i noticed is how involved he is with his friends, this also afected with games long ago. He was introverted and calm and injoyed his time in isolation, this would later be changed to make extroverted. This can be a jarring change to old fans. Really wish sega would just soft reboot adventure remakes with the new personality so they say it always like that
my personal favourite part of sonic as a character is how he effects and inspires people around him
just look at how meeting sonic effected characters like tails, amy, knuckles, elise, chip, merlina and so on
you get the picture
sonic inspires and brings out the best in people, and when he is well written he does the same to the player
18:33 Disagree. There never was a reason for Amy to warm her feelings for Sonic so Sonic could be more comfortable, it just disappeared out of nowhere. If we had a story where Amy realised that Sonic wasn't comfortable with her around and changed her ways, it would actually be character development.
And IDW Sonic isn't the quiet, chill and decisive chaarcter he was back in Black Knight, he is more like Spiderman than anything, but the character itself is more accurate than anything in the 2010s.
I disagree with that first paragraph. It didn't disappear out of nowhere, it gradually phased out over time across each installment of the franchise. Amy doesn't go from being super obsessed with Sonic in one game, to suddenly not being obsessed but still having a crush in another. There's no two Sonic games where that immediate change occurs with her character. And you don't need to have an entire story dedicated to Amy having a character arc, Sonic himself grows as a character despite being static, in games where it wasn't even the focus, as is explained in the video.
Also, Sonic was never quiet in the Black Knight, I dunno what made you think that. He was always bickering back and forth with Caliburn, and made backhanded comments to King Arthur in their fights. Making quips has always been apart of Sonic's character, whether it be in the classic games, adventure games, storybook games, or modern games.
@@afro025 I mean, yes it did. If it didn't, tell me when and why this change happened.
He is quieter than 2010s Sonic.
@@Kelps.mp4 You claim it did, and yet you provide no examples or evidence for when Amy's obsession with Sonic "just disappeared out of nowhere." Between which two installments did it disappear?
And that doesn't mean Sonic in the Black Knight is "quiet". He still talks and makes quips just as much as he would in other games. IDW Sonic is consistent with BK's characterization of him.
@@afro025 "Between which two installments did it disappear?" Generations and Lost World. And you did not bring any examples for the opposite, too.
"And that doesn't mean Sonic in the Black Knight is "quiet". He still talks and makes quips just as much as he would in other games. IDW Sonic is consistent with BK's characterization of him." Yeah, my bad for not communicating correctly.
@@Kelps.mp4 I already told you that she gradually becomes less obsessed over time. Amy in Generations certainly isn't obsessed with him to the level she was in other games such as Adventure or 06. Amy isn't stalking Sonic or tracking him down wherever he goes, she sets up a birthday party for him. You really can't call that an obsession anymore.
IDW Sonic is garbage and clearly isn't the same Sonic from the Games.
Egg an pretty much had brain damage when he was Mr Tinker, so just bonking him on these again or showing him his past can automatically bring back Eggman, with metal that was sonic being stupid and surge he was just being a kinda of a dick.
I disagree, but thanks for commenting!
"Guess I can't always play the hero"
Vs
"I hope you come around eventually"
"YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND ETERNITY IN YOUR LAMP AS YOU WERE IN THE DAYS OF OLD"
Vs
"I've went through my fair share of villains to know there's a better way"
All of the dialogue presented by IDW Sonic contradicts directly game sonic; how then can they be the same character?
"you've made a fine knight"
"Heh cut it out"
Vs
"Woah is that sonic the hedgehog!?"
"The one and only"
There's too much contradictions to pinpoint these as the same characters, one is humble sarcastic but still analytical and has high empathy, the other is more Egocentric and self righteous; they are not the same character.
Am I stupid? I don't get it wheres the contradiction?
@@randomrave6635 let me begin; sonic in the IDW comics is portrayed as self righteous and unwilling to step down from what he deems "morals". However in the games sonic has no clear morals and is willing to play whatever role he needs to do what he thinks is right.
The dialogue shown here also showcases sonic denying mercy to Erazor Djinn who's not as bad Eggman, HOWEVER he offers Eggman mercy hoping he'll come around, it's a clear contradiction of how sonic rolls, pointing back as well to official material dating prior to the comic sonic shows 0 care if Eggman would be gone so him caring about being on moral high ground by keeping him around is out of character.
The other contradiction(in my reply to myself!) shows sonic being more bashful in dialogue from the black knight where he tells Merlina to cut out the compliment from him, it's in clear contradiction to him being fine with the civilian referring to him with such praise and him replying by commenting he's the one and only, which is another direct contradiction.
Honorable mentions would be that in issue 2 Sonic talks about he's deal trying hard to look cool while posing with the wind for Amy, he doesn't explain his shtick; it's subtle in the game but here he's too cocky and is aware of it, another direct contradiction.
@@Sofia_Writes ok I think I get what your saying, but I also think context matters a lot here too. Erazer djinn was an established evil with 0 ability to change. As the guy explained in the video the only time sonic offered eggman this choice was after he saw that eggman actually had the potential to be good. Otherwise he would never have spared eggman like he did. Also, when you say sonic is unwilling to step down in idw doesn't that align with the quote you used earlier? The one where he's like "guess I have to be the bad guy" or something like that? He's still doing the righteous thing, even if the world doesn't accept that it is righteous. I'm not as adept in the sonic narrative as I am in other narratives, but to me it seems idw got it down, maybe they leaned into the self righteous part a bit much but overall it's seems to align with the games, to me at least?