Yo, I did not expect this video to get this much support, so thank you! There is one portion in the video (it's when I am talking about the MJ and Sonic 3 stuff where I forgot to mute the audio. Just wanted to clarify that. Futhermore, My intent with this video WAS NOT to try and assign race to the cast. If you watch this video and conclude that sonic shadow, or whoever is white, black, Asian, or whatever, that's fine. I like when people can have their own interpretations of characters and I do not intend to take that away from anyone . Finally, if you left a comment and it is missing it is more than possible that UA-cam's system hid your comment by default. As such, I had to go in and approve them manually. Again I would like to thank you guys for being respectful in the comment (even to those who don't agree ), I hope that you will allow me to continue to evolve my work as a content creator. -xnox
When you mention black culture, do you specifically mean Black American culture? I believe Knuckles design is also based on Jamaican culture and I think it's an interesting note.
@@zontopho I intended to represent Black culture in general as kinda like a catch all term included the Rastafarian aspects of Jamaican culture. But I do think I made the mistake of not specifically mentioning that in regards to knuckles.
Jamaican??? Bro this is why I hate gamers. The dude was Aztec. Clearly. In every aspect. We didn't get a rap beat until Sonic Adventure 2. No idea why he's suddenly just "Black" you're all stupid as hell.
To add some things... Sonic's first English voice was Jaleel White, (yes, Urkel from Family Matters) a Black man. In The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon which he first played the character in, there was an episode where Sonic met his ancestor in an Egyptian style pyramid. Later, in Sonic Underground, another cartoon where he played the role of Sonic, the titular hedgehog and his siblings are also given explicit Egyptian ancestry. When it comes to the games, a few sources claim Sonic's design is specifically based off the African Pygmy Hedgehog (though take that with a grain of salt, there are many hedgehog species in Europe and Asia as well), and there are murals of hedgehogs in the pyramid levels for Sonic Adventure 2. In Sonic and the Secret Rings, he can also naturally read Arabic, the official language of Egypt, without a need for a translator. And finally, in the Netflix series, Sonic Prime, since it was made in Canada, required a Canadian voice acting group for the English dub. The voice actor for Sonic in that show is Devon Mack, a Black man. So yeah, just wanted to add that. And as a Mexican-American, yeah, we know Rouge is Latina. Shadow is too. IYKYK.
As a Hispanic, I don’t see any of us in Shadow. For starters the “there’s always that one emo cousin” stereotype is kinda a new thing since we tend to be 20 years behind in most trends
@toughterrains1521 the truth is Mario has never actually lost to Sonic, like ever. Sales wise. But it has allowed Sonic to reach wider audiences by subtle parroting of pop culture throughout the 90s and mid 2000s and has helped maintain relevance.
Since I was a kid, I head cannoned Knuckles to be black (I heard somewhere that the creator for Knuckles was going to give him a Jamaican accent at one point, but SEGA rejected the idea, plus his shoes were based off of the Rastafarian flag, in the IDW he was canonized to have dreadlocks, PLUS his culture and heritage too. ALSO, his main music theme was Rap/Hip Hop.)
Yea Knuckles is black but his culture is Mesoamerican-inspired, and people will try to erase the black influence on him as if both of these things aren't both true. A character can be created with multiple facets and info from all sides.
@@janelle57759 FR. Like---People are always saying: "Knuckles is Mesoamerican, NOT Black." And to that I always said: "Why can't he be both? I mean, he's inspired by both cultures equally." Seriously; there's tons of black people who are born in Latin American & Hispanic countries. And there are people who have one African parent, and one Hispanic/Latin-American parent. Mixed race people are real, y'all 😭
@MilkyWayMarsBarlook at the murals found in the pyramids in South America and Olmec statues…there’s really no need to separate them, the ancient Mesoamericans were negroes. The Mendoza codex shows this as well, the mongoloid eurasians came there and mixed the the “black” population there not the other way around. So yeah knuckles design and esthetic is authentic in every way.
ROUGE IS LATINA? Also yes, I love this so much, Sonic has always been rooted in these counter culture aspects that have very strong links to black culture in the USA and I've always found it fascinating; it's allowed me to learn and appreciate a lot about those topics and it also makes the characters more interesting because of it, I think the moment they began to take away those aspects of the characters they start becoming a lot more bland and generic, comparing the Sonic in Frontiers and the Sonic in SA2 is such a jarring contrast.
One of my favorite Sonic samples was them sampling Ghetto Red Hot by Super Cat in the second half of Red Mountain in SA1. I only heard the song before when it was playing on this Sirius XM station called Backspin and I’m like “wait ain’t this from Sonic Adventure?”
I would say outside of sonic, the general history of music and a lot of other things today have been fueled by the talent of black and minority groups, a lot of the times starting music genres and fashion trends and a lot of things considered counter culture. A lot of the time people don't think or even want to think about how much other cultures contributed to stuff that influence our everyday life's like science, fashion, music, architecture, politics and just art in general. Without all these cultural influences in our everyday life's, the world would be much less unique.
Sonic makes Mario his bitch. Mario is just a creep of a plumber, always simping for the wrong woman he calls princess. It's pathetic. Just goes to show the lack of standards Nintendo has for their own fat plumber.
Anyone that wonders what’s the Jackson 5, it was a band of Michael Jackson when he was little with his brothers as a boy band. It was very famous in the 60s and 70s but Michael eventually left the group and became a solo artist, which lead to its downfall.
I’m 33. I’ve literally grew up with blue from my childhood to adulthood. When I played s&k3 for the first time on the genesis, I felt in my soul this boy was black. Lmao the music was a CLEAR indication. ESPECIALLY SONIC 3 and most of the Saturn age music.
If you consider the old DIC Sonic cartoons canon in any way, Sonic was voiced by Jaleel White (Steve Urkel), a black guy. And many consider him the definitive voice of classic Sonic, which is why people wanted him to voice classic Sonic in Generations. Just something I thought was interesting to point out.
The Soundtracks of the games is proof of black culture and community's influence. Also helps that HIS FIRST VA WAS JALEEL WHITE.....a black man most known for Family Matters in the 90's
Here’s how deep you can go with this: Sonic’s design was inspired by early Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit designs. Those designs, in turn, were influenced by early cartoon depictions of Black minstrel performers. You can find this information online, but I recommend watching the animated shorts Little Nemo (1911) and Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929). Notice how the Black characters in those works are reminiscent of Sonic’s early design. The popular, snappy American cartoon character was created as a nod to old minstrel gags and characters from Black minstrel vaudeville acts. So whenever a modern character design leans into the “rubber hose” animation style, remember that it has roots in cartoons created by animators who often modeled their work on minstrel performers. These performers either claimed to authentically represent Black culture-having visited plantations, churches, or cities to “study” Black people-or were Black themselves. American animation and its global popularity simply would not exist without the influence of Black culture.
I prefer Hunnid P's version of my theme song. No disrespect to Dredd (Cause that man is a legend for my SA1 theme) but Hunnid puts the grit and and rawness into my theme that blends with that soulfulness of Marlon. When that comes on it gives you the feeling of "Yeah this is the man we grew up with since 94. He still on his grind to this day. He taught me to take pride who I am and where I come from and to never back down when things get tough." #YearOfKnuckles2025
I mean thats just blatantly true, if Sega never took inspiration from these famous people than the Sonic we know today would be very different. I agree with that statement and my video was intended to shine a light on the influences within the franchise
I absolutely love this video. It feels like I'm listening to a friend lay down some hot facts on me and I'm nodding along with my hand on my chin like an anime character or somethig. (I'll just give 1 piece of advice, start doing some second takes or cuts for when you flub your sentences, to make it a bit easier to follow.)
@MalcomeXnox Keep going strong, man! This video was super informative and super fun, I sent it to a friend before I finished it and came back to it after I had to set it aside to watch Sonic 3!
yk this is pretty real, there's also alot of stuff that is rooted in black culture that's indirectly influenced Sonic, like Jimi Hendrix using feedback the way he did making music like Skyscraper Scamper possible, or even just the fact that Rock as a genre has been developed in a large part by black artists, although i would say the glam rock that we hear in Crush 40 is more influenced by autograph and the like, but maybe that's like saying Bardock is the most important character in Dragon Ball just because he's Goku's da
Honestly I never thought about the connections to Jimi Hendrix! I think I took things in a more “hip hop , pop , and R&B” direction because that’s what I was most familiar with growing up.
This is a yes and a no, Sonic was designed from the very beginning to be a cool and hip character. This was the leverage that Sega was going to use to create a better character than Mario. So Sonic was created with the intentions of being what you would call urban since the beginning. Yes they are many black influences in Sonic from the music to the essence of some characters dialogue ect. Being that the black community have been associated with urban hip and cool movements such as Hip Hop, Pop, Breakdancing, DJing ect. Many of these elements can be seen sprinkled in the games such as in the original Sonic games some of the game stages themes were influenced by the music at the time like Michael Jackson.
OH MY GOD you even mentioned Glam Slam thank you edit: 8:48 wtf i just learned something new today???? all this time I thought the sample was saying "put 'em up" LOL thats wild
Jaleel White voicing 5 Sonics (SATAM Sonic, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic and Underground's ALL three hedgehogs Including Manic and Sonia) will never stop being funny. It's a good voice, but the fact he VA'd 3 seperate characters that were siblings is funny.
In one comment section someone said both Sonic and Mario fans can be toxic and than one comment was saying "Sonic fans are way worse" and he got mad that someone made a Sonic vs Mario video and made an overly long comment about why Mario would win and than I said "Guy is coping that Sonic is beating Mario" because Sonic would is faster than the speed of light Mario isn't touching Sonic and than he said "Light speed is all you got Sonic is an baby Mario victim" and another comment was someone said he's an Mario fan but he acknowledges Sonic would whoop him and than a Mario fanboy commented that "Your not an real Mario fan" people always claim Sonic fans are toxic but never talk about the shit Mario fans do.
People think Sonic fans are more toxic? I’d say Mario fans are way more toxic. No matter how much times you try to tell them true fully, they’ll always just be like “nO, MaRiO sOlOs”
6:50 To kinda go off-topic give Hard Times by The Jetzons a listen. It's freaking Ice Cap Zone! The group is white but I just wanted to bring it up. SEGA Sound Team has been doing this for the entire classic era bro, and it's insane to hear 🤓
Originally I wanted to mention Hard times but was nervous about doing so because I still couldn't wrap my head around all MJ and Sonic 3 stuff. But definitely thank you for pointing that out!
I still think Sonic himself gives off more white energy at times, but he's definitely a part of the culture. Like what Eminem is to rap, he is to games
The bass from labrith zone is the same as best of my love and bridge zone from sega master system's sonic 2 is very similar to janet jackson's together again
This remind me of another vid titled: "Sonic is Fundamentally Japanese" which, just like this video, made many valid points and evidences. But it still got somewhat refuted in it's main point that Sonic is Japanese in it's core. My favorite argument is, and I summarised:"...I feel like Sonic has grown too large to only consider the Japanese side of things to be the "True Sonic"...There's just too much cultural crossover in my opinion, with people from many different walks of life working on the franchise...Obviously different interpretations arent compatible with the "main canon" of the games, but even if thats the case, I feel its narrow to ignore the impact they've left and write them off as not the "True Sonic". Those parts of the franchise left an impact on a huge part of the fan base that can still be felt today. To many people, even if those iterations of Sonic are divorced from Sonic's original Japanese context, that one's the "True Sonic" to them.I dont think there is a "True Sonic". Not anymore at least, not when its expanded so far and so many different iterations had been given the Sega stamp of approval.The idea of Sonic has conceptually mutated over the ages. And you know what, maybe there's something to be said about whether it was ever okay for the concept of Sonic to be twisted so much like this. Regardless of the answer to that, this is currently the timeline we live in, with Sega struggling maintain consistency for their own characters, and giving the wheel to different people, giving us gifts like Sonic Mania and the IDW Comics. We're in a timeline where Sonic's fanbase is perceived as intensely dedicated to creating their own fanworks and interpretations of Sonic. These are things that make me believe there is no longer a point to trying to pin Sonic down to the interpretations of one nationality.Yes, when discussing the literal canon of a Sonic game, I would want to refer to the Japanese dialogue because it was made and written by Japanese people. But I don't think that means people of other nationalities are incapable of writing for Sonic's world, or have to follow Japanese story structures, or have to adhere to Japanese character design when adding to Sonic's world. Again, it feels like Sonic has gotten too big for such a limiting point of view, both in official and unofficial works.I do want to end this with saying, it is perfectly understandable to have preferences in the way you'd like to see Sonic handled narratively. But I find it very puritan to suggest the only valid version of Sonic, is a Japanese made Sonic." -Comment by @dandyspacedandy
Sonic is a Japanese interpretation of "cool" American culture, which, at the time, was defined by the edginess and rebellious nature of hip-hop pop and rnb. The Japanese are not immune to the globalization of Black culture, which was also becoming its own movement in Japan during that period. Japanese R&B and hip-hop were rising in popularity among young people there as well. Some of the best Japanese DJs and rappers are old-school hip-hop enthusiasts. Anyway, I’m really not sorry if we’re bursting people’s bubbles. Fortunately, Sonic’s edge is versatile. also!!! SEGA was originally an American company, "Service Games," and director Takashi Iizuka has mostly resided in America since the LA branch of sonic team was created in 1999. they have always made sonic to be more American inspired.
Something interesting to note as well. While Sonic does take a lot of influence from black culture, it also has a lot of design inspiration from Zoroastrianism. Max Derrat does a great job breaking down this topic.
@@MalcomeXnox No problem! This was really insightful I didn't know some of those samples :O That's really sick. I love your editing too it's really funny
@@MalcomeXnoxlmao well, good video. You're absolutely right, and this is something I've been aware of for many years now. A lot of people miss this. I think a key point of Sonics cool factor is how it introduced a lot of things that at one point were considered pop but also "underground" for many people Sonic was their first introduction to new jack swing, and it feels like they've discovered something new or foreign and combined with the context it leaves a major impression, Sonics brand in its prime has leveraged pop culture in a very brilliant way that other franchises failed to do which have added to its overall longevity, where other gaming mascots have been far too narrow.
This remind me of another vid titled: "Sonic is Fundamentally Japanese" which, just like this video, made many valid points and evidences. But it still got somewhat refuted in it's main point that Sonic is Japanese in it's core. My favorite argument is, and I summarised:"...I feel like Sonic has grown too large to only consider the Japanese side of things to be the "True Sonic"...There's just too much cultural crossover in my opinion, with people from many different walks of life working on the franchise...Obviously different interpretations arent compatible with the "main canon" of the games, but even if thats the case, I feel its narrow to ignore the impact they've left and write them off as not the "True Sonic". Those parts of the franchise left an impact on a huge part of the fan base that can still be felt today. To many people, even if those iterations of Sonic are divorced from Sonic's original Japanese context, that one's the "True Sonic" to them.I dont think there is a "True Sonic". Not anymore at least, not when its expanded so far and so many different iterations had been given the Sega stamp of approval.The idea of Sonic has conceptually mutated over the ages. And you know what, maybe there's something to be said about whether it was ever okay for the concept of Sonic to be twisted so much like this. Regardless of the answer to that, this is currently the timeline we live in, with Sega struggling maintain consistency for their own characters, and giving the wheel to different people, giving us gifts like Sonic Mania and the IDW Comics. We're in a timeline where Sonic's fanbase is perceived as intensely dedicated to creating their own fanworks and interpretations of Sonic. These are things that make me believe there is no longer a point to trying to pin Sonic down to the interpretations of one nationality.Yes, when discussing the literal canon of a Sonic game, I would want to refer to the Japanese dialogue because it was made and written by Japanese people. But I don't think that means people of other nationalities are incapable of writing for Sonic's world, or have to follow Japanese story structures, or have to adhere to Japanese character design when adding to Sonic's world. Again, it feels like Sonic has gotten too big for such a limiting point of view, both in official and unofficial works.I do want to end this with saying, it is perfectly understandable to have preferences in the way you'd like to see Sonic handled narratively. But I find it very puritan to suggest the only valid version of Sonic, is a Japanese made Sonic."
@ Sonic shoes were inspired by Santa and Micheal Jackson. His existence has almost no black culture in it other than Knuckles boom box and knuckle being like an African tribe. Most of Sonic’s existence was basically like an American bully winning against the evil kid. Sonic 3 has some of Micheal Jackson music in it I’ll give you that but saying Sonic wouldn’t exist without black culture is a massive stretch considering how much Santa was involved with sonic
Boss tracks are Banger's I will give you that. I am just not a fan of the cyberspace stages music and gameplay. Frontier's is not a bad soundtrack , it is one of my least favorite in the franchise tho.
Wow ive never seen so much cope before in my life. A red anthropomorphic animal that is clearly based on mayan/aztec culture has to be black because rap.... just wow.... and dreads? Really by that logic sonic also has dreads. But his "dreads are never stated to be by anyone at sega. That was a fan wiki. Like come on...
Yea I agree ivw never seen cope on this level either. Not like the music and style of a video game is one of the most defining things of it or anything. Not like a characters design is one of the most important thing.
@normal-use7628 where in his design does it indecate that? The premis is just not correct. And maybe if you played SA1 and had any knowledge of any cultures you would see mezoamerican culture. The music has nothing to do with it and like i said no official media ever states he has dreads. Its just not true. And sega employees give contradicting information in ever interview.
Only one with so much cope in my life here is you. Triggered over the facts presented with evidence that you cant refute, that A red anthropomorphic animal is clearly based on Black culture, Cope harder...
If you disagree with the point's brought up in the video than that's completely fine as that's your personal opinion. However,. to portray my video as me trying to explain or claim these characters are black is completely missing the point. My argument was that Black culture (used as a catch all term ) has influences within the franchise.
@MalcomeXnox its not my opinion. Echidnas live in mayan pyramids. I dont even know what to say other then im sure they took bits from alot of places. Sonic is influenced by music culture as a hole.
- he's fast - he likes spicy food (Chili Dogs) - he went to prison before (SA2) - he seems to regularly have problems with the authorities (G.U.N, Mega Man...) yet still loved by the president - he gets lankier with every iteration - he is reckless with public property (City Escape) - he has a cocky personality JOKES aisde: I agree with the main point but some arguments feel rather halfheartedly picked: - Sonic's music is generally meant to be inspired by rnb/funk , a popular example Marble Zone, whose bgm is inspired by "Music to watch girls by" by Andy Williams. - Sonic CD uses samples mostly from an audio cd, meaning that they most likely didn't have the intention to pay a tribute to Afro American culture, but rather to stay true to its contemporary style. Depending on how much you value artistic intention, you can choose to ignore this point. (The Audio CD in question is Voice Spectral, which has been used by many games during the 90's and 2000's SA 1/2 also has many samples directly used from there) All in all I believe that the music itself isn't a good source given that there probably wasn't much thought put into sounding like something else (besides the S3 Micheal Jackson collab) if you'd like to prove me wrong on that behalf, I recommend trying to dig up any interviews featuring Masato Nakamura, the lead composer behind Sonic 1. What I'd have mentioned instead: - Sonic's first cartoon voice actor (Jaleel White) is an African American (see the IMDB page) - Knuckles has a lot of Jamaican influences when it comes to his hairstyle, color scheme and also having initially been meant as a Nike mascot. (Even some game guides refer to Knuckles as Jamaican)
I'm sorry but Sonic's music and stuff are all about the 1990s to the rock and roll and the swager of a teen the only black culture they have is just Micheal jackson, and well they aren't working with the goat no more since he passed and yeah, they have sampled with other black related music but that wasn't the only music's they sampled to And knuckles yeah, he has been associated with black related music and has dreadlocks but that doesn't mean he's black.
I wouldn't say just black culture. SEGA was intended to be more trendy and cool with the kids around that time so and a lot of the bangers back then were by black musicians (I love new edition so much). So ofc Sonic had black hip-hop inspired music.
@pilot8220 nope. How can you say just black culture when the people who made it were Japanese?? Make it make sense. Tails the fox is actually inspired by a Japanese folktale creature. Sonic takes a lot of inspo from a lot of things including black culture. Even as a black guy myself, I'm tired of this whole "black ppl did everything" type of narrative when you know that's not the truth.
Yo, I did not expect this video to get this much support, so thank you!
There is one portion in the video (it's when I am talking about the MJ and Sonic 3 stuff where I forgot to mute the audio. Just wanted to clarify that. Futhermore, My intent with this video WAS NOT to try and assign race to the cast. If you watch this video and conclude that sonic shadow, or whoever is white, black, Asian, or whatever, that's fine. I like when people can have their own interpretations of characters and I do not intend to take that away from anyone . Finally, if you left a comment and it is missing it is more than possible that UA-cam's system hid your comment by default. As such, I had to go in and approve them manually.
Again I would like to thank you guys for being respectful in the comment (even to those who don't agree ), I hope that you will allow me to continue to evolve my work as a content creator.
-xnox
*Too Black, Too Strong!*
Wrappin' Black- in Black-, in Black--
Wrappin' Black
*Wrapped in Black*
WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT SONIC RUSH ‼️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️
TOO BLACK TOO STRONG TOO BLACK TOO STRONG
When you mention black culture, do you specifically mean Black American culture? I believe Knuckles design is also based on Jamaican culture and I think it's an interesting note.
@@zontopho I intended to represent Black culture in general as kinda like a catch all term included the Rastafarian aspects of Jamaican culture. But I do think I made the mistake of not specifically mentioning that in regards to knuckles.
Jamaican??? Bro this is why I hate gamers. The dude was Aztec. Clearly. In every aspect. We didn't get a rap beat until Sonic Adventure 2. No idea why he's suddenly just "Black" you're all stupid as hell.
No wonder, Sonic is better than Mario.
i would not say better mario better then soinc when it comes to game in my opion but when it comes to story its soinc
They should make mario black smh
nah Mario trashes Sonic in every medium it’s crazy 💀
@@RichardWaugh-vd2df factually incorrect. In terms of consistency in game quality, absolutely. But cartoons, movies, music? Sonic clears.
@@Phobie_2000 Mario’s one movie is better than all of Sonics fine on music though
To add some things...
Sonic's first English voice was Jaleel White, (yes, Urkel from Family Matters) a Black man. In The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon which he first played the character in, there was an episode where Sonic met his ancestor in an Egyptian style pyramid. Later, in Sonic Underground, another cartoon where he played the role of Sonic, the titular hedgehog and his siblings are also given explicit Egyptian ancestry.
When it comes to the games, a few sources claim Sonic's design is specifically based off the African Pygmy Hedgehog (though take that with a grain of salt, there are many hedgehog species in Europe and Asia as well), and there are murals of hedgehogs in the pyramid levels for Sonic Adventure 2. In Sonic and the Secret Rings, he can also naturally read Arabic, the official language of Egypt, without a need for a translator.
And finally, in the Netflix series, Sonic Prime, since it was made in Canada, required a Canadian voice acting group for the English dub. The voice actor for Sonic in that show is Devon Mack, a Black man.
So yeah, just wanted to add that.
And as a Mexican-American, yeah, we know Rouge is Latina. Shadow is too. IYKYK.
I wouldn't say shadow just because of a meme of a preference in a type. Rouge is a given.
As a Hispanic, I don’t see any of us in Shadow. For starters the “there’s always that one emo cousin” stereotype is kinda a new thing since we tend to be 20 years behind in most trends
2:30 "MICHAEL JACKSON'S MOONWALKER" WITH MENACING ASS MUSIC IS WILD
Yeah the music is actually from the beginning of MJ’s song Dirty Diana from his album, Bad
So THAT'S why Mario lost to Sonic! Makes Sense now. Black culture truely is a blessing shaping our world the way it is today.
@toughterrains1521 the truth is Mario has never actually lost to Sonic, like ever. Sales wise. But it has allowed Sonic to reach wider audiences by subtle parroting of pop culture throughout the 90s and mid 2000s and has helped maintain relevance.
Fr
As a black person myself, I'm proud to be a sonic fan
Since I was a kid, I head cannoned Knuckles to be black (I heard somewhere that the creator for Knuckles was going to give him a Jamaican accent at one point, but SEGA rejected the idea, plus his shoes were based off of the Rastafarian flag, in the IDW he was canonized to have dreadlocks, PLUS his culture and heritage too. ALSO, his main music theme was Rap/Hip Hop.)
Yea Knuckles is black but his culture is Mesoamerican-inspired, and people will try to erase the black influence on him as if both of these things aren't both true. A character can be created with multiple facets and info from all sides.
Movie knuckles has a tribal african accent too
@@janelle57759 FR. Like---People are always saying: "Knuckles is Mesoamerican, NOT Black." And to that I always said: "Why can't he be both? I mean, he's inspired by both cultures equally." Seriously; there's tons of black people who are born in Latin American & Hispanic countries. And there are people who have one African parent, and one Hispanic/Latin-American parent. Mixed race people are real, y'all 😭
@MilkyWayMarsBarTruer words have never been spoken
@MilkyWayMarsBarlook at the murals found in the pyramids in South America and Olmec statues…there’s really no need to separate them, the ancient Mesoamericans were negroes. The Mendoza codex shows this as well, the mongoloid eurasians came there and mixed the the “black” population there not the other way around. So yeah knuckles design and esthetic is authentic in every way.
ROUGE IS LATINA?
Also yes, I love this so much, Sonic has always been rooted in these counter culture aspects that have very strong links to black culture in the USA and I've always found it fascinating; it's allowed me to learn and appreciate a lot about those topics and it also makes the characters more interesting because of it, I think the moment they began to take away those aspects of the characters they start becoming a lot more bland and generic, comparing the Sonic in Frontiers and the Sonic in SA2 is such a jarring contrast.
Why do you think Shadow is always hanging out with her?
I like Latinas Sonic
- Shadow
Rouge is based off of a Honduran bat, so, yes, she's Latina. :)
Compelling Shadouge evidence everyone!
Honduran white bat.
The exaggerated swagger of a blue hedgehog
the way he spindashes gives me goosebumps every time he does it
"the way he rolls down that San Francisco inspired hills of city escape is FILLED with the exaggerated swagger of a blue hedgehog" - ign or something
One of my favorite Sonic samples was them sampling Ghetto Red Hot by Super Cat in the second half of Red Mountain in SA1. I only heard the song before when it was playing on this Sirius XM station called Backspin and I’m like “wait ain’t this from Sonic Adventure?”
Surprised you didnt mention Vector with his overt hip hop dj aesthetic
@@ORLY911 honestly I wasent even thinking of vector when making the video. Good catch!
Sonic and other characters with them dreads always take it for me
I would say outside of sonic, the general history of music and a lot of other things today have been fueled by the talent of black and minority groups, a lot of the times starting music genres and fashion trends and a lot of things considered counter culture. A lot of the time people don't think or even want to think about how much other cultures contributed to stuff that influence our everyday life's like science, fashion, music, architecture, politics and just art in general. Without all these cultural influences in our everyday life's, the world would be much less unique.
11:50 his sonic mania adventures theme is pretty good (a remix to his theme from sonic 3 and knuckles) but i still think unknown from me is better
That mania remix is incredible I will give you that
So THAT'S why Sonic lost to Mario! Makes sense now.
FOR REAAAAAL
Mario loses to sonic what you saying bro😂
It was actually MARIO THAT LOST TO SONIC LOL
Sonic is and will always be better than Mario. SEGA Does What Nintendon't.
Sonic makes Mario his bitch. Mario is just a creep of a plumber, always simping for the wrong woman he calls princess. It's pathetic. Just goes to show the lack of standards Nintendo has for their own fat plumber.
Anyone that wonders what’s the Jackson 5, it was a band of Michael Jackson when he was little with his brothers as a boy band. It was very famous in the 60s and 70s but Michael eventually left the group and became a solo artist, which lead to its downfall.
I’m 33. I’ve literally grew up with blue from my childhood to adulthood. When I played s&k3 for the first time on the genesis, I felt in my soul this boy was black. Lmao the music was a CLEAR indication. ESPECIALLY SONIC 3 and most of the Saturn age music.
EDITING IS FIRE!! 🔥🔥🔥 and i feel like this video has definitely come out at the perfect time, SONIC IS REALLY HIM!!
If you consider the old DIC Sonic cartoons canon in any way, Sonic was voiced by Jaleel White (Steve Urkel), a black guy. And many consider him the definitive voice of classic Sonic, which is why people wanted him to voice classic Sonic in Generations.
Just something I thought was interesting to point out.
Tell me you cant hear Tribe Called Quest when you hear aquatic mine, fr
This is a fire ass vid! Also in SA2 one of the composers for Shadows tracks in Sa2 is black btw
You should have mentioned hideki naganuma who did sonic rush
The Soundtracks of the games is proof of black culture and community's influence. Also helps that HIS FIRST VA WAS JALEEL WHITE.....a black man most known for Family Matters in the 90's
Here’s how deep you can go with this: Sonic’s design was inspired by early Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit designs. Those designs, in turn, were influenced by early cartoon depictions of Black minstrel performers. You can find this information online, but I recommend watching the animated shorts Little Nemo (1911) and Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929). Notice how the Black characters in those works are reminiscent of Sonic’s early design.
The popular, snappy American cartoon character was created as a nod to old minstrel gags and characters from Black minstrel vaudeville acts. So whenever a modern character design leans into the “rubber hose” animation style, remember that it has roots in cartoons created by animators who often modeled their work on minstrel performers. These performers either claimed to authentically represent Black culture-having visited plantations, churches, or cities to “study” Black people-or were Black themselves.
American animation and its global popularity simply would not exist without the influence of Black culture.
there are so many sonic characters that are black
I prefer Hunnid P's version of my theme song. No disrespect to Dredd (Cause that man is a legend for my SA1 theme) but Hunnid puts the grit and and rawness into my theme that blends with that soulfulness of Marlon. When that comes on it gives you the feeling of "Yeah this is the man we grew up with since 94. He still on his grind to this day. He taught me to take pride who I am and where I come from and to never back down when things get tough."
#YearOfKnuckles2025
The statement in the original tweet was it "wouldn't exist without" not "hasn't been influenced by"
I mean thats just blatantly true, if Sega never took inspiration from these famous people than the Sonic we know today would be very different. I agree with that statement and my video was intended to shine a light on the influences within the franchise
Just watched Sonic movie 3, the ending Song was another Black influenced song just like the previous movies.
Shadows prison break scene has hip-pop
I absolutely love this video. It feels like I'm listening to a friend lay down some hot facts on me and I'm nodding along with my hand on my chin like an anime character or somethig.
(I'll just give 1 piece of advice, start doing some second takes or cuts for when you flub your sentences, to make it a bit easier to follow.)
@@ThatGuySleepyMiles I wanna say thank you for the comment and I’ll definitely make sure to improve upon my audio in feature videos!
@MalcomeXnox Keep going strong, man! This video was super informative and super fun, I sent it to a friend before I finished it and came back to it after I had to set it aside to watch Sonic 3!
yk this is pretty real, there's also alot of stuff that is rooted in black culture that's indirectly influenced Sonic, like Jimi Hendrix using feedback the way he did making music like Skyscraper Scamper possible, or even just the fact that Rock as a genre has been developed in a large part by black artists, although i would say the glam rock that we hear in Crush 40 is more influenced by autograph and the like, but maybe that's like saying Bardock is the most important character in Dragon Ball just because he's Goku's da
Honestly I never thought about the connections to Jimi Hendrix! I think I took things in a more “hip hop , pop , and R&B” direction because that’s what I was most familiar with growing up.
This is a yes and a no, Sonic was designed from the very beginning to be a cool and hip character. This was the leverage that Sega was going to use to create a better character than Mario. So Sonic was created with the intentions of being what you would call urban since the beginning. Yes they are many black influences in Sonic from the music to the essence of some characters dialogue ect. Being that the black community have been associated with urban hip and cool movements such as Hip Hop, Pop, Breakdancing, DJing ect. Many of these elements can be seen sprinkled in the games such as in the original Sonic games some of the game stages themes were influenced by the music at the time like Michael Jackson.
Very entertaining and informative video!! Great job
I’m glad you enjoyed it‼️‼️
OH MY GOD you even mentioned Glam Slam thank you
edit: 8:48 wtf i just learned something new today???? all this time I thought the sample was saying "put 'em up" LOL thats wild
Sonic was originally voiced by a black man from the early 90s too.
Jaleel White voicing 5 Sonics (SATAM Sonic, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic and Underground's ALL three hedgehogs Including Manic and Sonia) will never stop being funny. It's a good voice, but the fact he VA'd 3 seperate characters that were siblings is funny.
I've always favored Sonic to be the true video game icon over Mario. Mario fanboys are why more toxic and annoying than Sonic fans
In one comment section someone said both Sonic and Mario fans can be toxic and than one comment was saying "Sonic fans are way worse" and he got mad that someone made a Sonic vs Mario video and made an overly long comment about why Mario would win and than I said "Guy is coping that Sonic is beating Mario" because Sonic would is faster than the speed of light Mario isn't touching Sonic and than he said "Light speed is all you got Sonic is an baby Mario victim" and another comment was someone said he's an Mario fan but he acknowledges Sonic would whoop him and than a Mario fanboy commented that "Your not an real Mario fan" people always claim Sonic fans are toxic but never talk about the shit Mario fans do.
People think Sonic fans are more toxic? I’d say Mario fans are way more toxic. No matter how much times you try to tell them true fully, they’ll always just be like “nO, MaRiO sOlOs”
@@glowisboredbro as both a Sonic and Mario fan Sonic would clear him anyday
@@Stoplookingathatistolethis fr
Bench Tails
Let not forget during the Dreamcast era sonic was also coo with Allen Iverson 😂
6:50 To kinda go off-topic give Hard Times by The Jetzons a listen. It's freaking Ice Cap Zone! The group is white but I just wanted to bring it up.
SEGA Sound Team has been doing this for the entire classic era bro, and it's insane to hear 🤓
Originally I wanted to mention Hard times but was nervous about doing so because I still couldn't wrap my head around all MJ and Sonic 3 stuff. But definitely thank you for pointing that out!
Sonic is just too cool to not have black soul in his media
93'till infinity is such a bop
I still think Sonic himself gives off more white energy at times, but he's definitely a part of the culture. Like what Eminem is to rap, he is to games
You act like you've never seen a hedgehog before
No he doesn't
I agree with this
The bass from labrith zone is the same as best of my love and bridge zone from sega master system's sonic 2 is very similar to janet jackson's together again
W Goomy pfp
W shanks pfp
This remind me of another vid titled: "Sonic is Fundamentally Japanese" which, just like this video, made many valid points and evidences. But it still got somewhat refuted in it's main point that Sonic is Japanese in it's core. My favorite argument is, and I summarised:"...I feel like Sonic has grown too large to only consider the Japanese side of things to be the "True Sonic"...There's just too much cultural crossover in my opinion, with people from many different walks of life working on the franchise...Obviously different interpretations arent compatible with the "main canon" of the games, but even if thats the case, I feel its narrow to ignore the impact they've left and write them off as not the "True Sonic". Those parts of the franchise left an impact on a huge part of the fan base that can still be felt today. To many people, even if those iterations of Sonic are divorced from Sonic's original Japanese context, that one's the "True Sonic" to them.I dont think there is a "True Sonic". Not anymore at least, not when its expanded so far and so many different iterations had been given the Sega stamp of approval.The idea of Sonic has conceptually mutated over the ages. And you know what, maybe there's something to be said about whether it was ever okay for the concept of Sonic to be twisted so much like this. Regardless of the answer to that, this is currently the timeline we live in, with Sega struggling maintain consistency for their own characters, and giving the wheel to different people, giving us gifts like Sonic Mania and the IDW Comics. We're in a timeline where Sonic's fanbase is perceived as intensely dedicated to creating their own fanworks and interpretations of Sonic. These are things that make me believe there is no longer a point to trying to pin Sonic down to the interpretations of one nationality.Yes, when discussing the literal canon of a Sonic game, I would want to refer to the Japanese dialogue because it was made and written by Japanese people. But I don't think that means people of other nationalities are incapable of writing for Sonic's world, or have to follow Japanese story structures, or have to adhere to Japanese character design when adding to Sonic's world. Again, it feels like Sonic has gotten too big for such a limiting point of view, both in official and unofficial works.I do want to end this with saying, it is perfectly understandable to have preferences in the way you'd like to see Sonic handled narratively. But I find it very puritan to suggest the only valid version of Sonic, is a Japanese made Sonic."
-Comment by @dandyspacedandy
Sonic is a Japanese interpretation of "cool" American culture, which, at the time, was defined by the edginess and rebellious nature of hip-hop pop and rnb. The Japanese are not immune to the globalization of Black culture, which was also becoming its own movement in Japan during that period. Japanese R&B and hip-hop were rising in popularity among young people there as well. Some of the best Japanese DJs and rappers are old-school hip-hop enthusiasts.
Anyway, I’m really not sorry if we’re bursting people’s bubbles. Fortunately, Sonic’s edge is versatile. also!!! SEGA was originally an American company, "Service Games," and director Takashi Iizuka has mostly resided in America since the LA branch of sonic team was created in 1999. they have always made sonic to be more American inspired.
He’s blacker than all of them 😳
Im getting flashbacks wit this one
Sega Black fire
All the Stardust Speedway mixes had to be influenced by black culture.
Something interesting to note as well. While Sonic does take a lot of influence from black culture, it also has a lot of design inspiration from Zoroastrianism. Max Derrat does a great job breaking down this topic.
This is my first time hearing about Zoroastrianism, I will def make sure to check it out!
Sonic the hedgehog is the alright whiteboy
lol bro said klanklaklan nah the meme has reached world wide cross platform universal 🤣🤣🤣
@@rhysbailey8406 the damn klankaklan already in the comments 😭, UA-cam auto hid the comments thankfully 💪🏾💪🏾
Pumpkin Hill is better. Where my $10 at?
😭😭😭
Pumpkin hill is not as good as unknown from M.E. so no 10 bucks
@@Leon-wolfren :(
Knuckles act of mirage saloon
is that say dada background music 😭
Yes it is, gotta pay respects to the goat
great video! Subbing!
Thank you !
@@MalcomeXnox No problem! This was really insightful I didn't know some of those samples :O That's really sick. I love your editing too it's really funny
*Inhales* EGGMAN NEGA!
Does Sonic being voiced by Jaleel White in the 90s count as being partly inspired by black culture? If so, there's one more thing.
Bro you know what’s funny, a Jackson 5 song is it sonic 3
Bro what is going on 3:12
@@utopiasonline I cropped the footage weird, my fault gang
@@MalcomeXnoxlmao well, good video. You're absolutely right, and this is something I've been aware of for many years now. A lot of people miss this. I think a key point of Sonics cool factor is how it introduced a lot of things that at one point were considered pop but also "underground" for many people Sonic was their first introduction to new jack swing, and it feels like they've discovered something new or foreign and combined with the context it leaves a major impression, Sonics brand in its prime has leveraged pop culture in a very brilliant way that other franchises failed to do which have added to its overall longevity, where other gaming mascots have been far too narrow.
Huh. BLACK FOR THE WIN YO!
Well, many of the samples of Sonic CD's OST are from black songs.
@MalcomeXnox 13:37 Let me pause you right there. The lyrics don't say. "Too black, too strong." They say, "Too flat, too strong."
Influence is reasonable, reaching a bit too much of you insist he exist because of it.
Well sonic would exist without the black community. From sonic 1 to sonic 2 they didn’t include any culture other than japan
This remind me of another vid titled: "Sonic is Fundamentally Japanese" which, just like this video, made many valid points and evidences. But it still got somewhat refuted in it's main point that Sonic is Japanese in it's core. My favorite argument is, and I summarised:"...I feel like Sonic has grown too large to only consider the Japanese side of things to be the "True Sonic"...There's just too much cultural crossover in my opinion, with people from many different walks of life working on the franchise...Obviously different interpretations arent compatible with the "main canon" of the games, but even if thats the case, I feel its narrow to ignore the impact they've left and write them off as not the "True Sonic". Those parts of the franchise left an impact on a huge part of the fan base that can still be felt today. To many people, even if those iterations of Sonic are divorced from Sonic's original Japanese context, that one's the "True Sonic" to them.I dont think there is a "True Sonic". Not anymore at least, not when its expanded so far and so many different iterations had been given the Sega stamp of approval.The idea of Sonic has conceptually mutated over the ages. And you know what, maybe there's something to be said about whether it was ever okay for the concept of Sonic to be twisted so much like this. Regardless of the answer to that, this is currently the timeline we live in, with Sega struggling maintain consistency for their own characters, and giving the wheel to different people, giving us gifts like Sonic Mania and the IDW Comics. We're in a timeline where Sonic's fanbase is perceived as intensely dedicated to creating their own fanworks and interpretations of Sonic. These are things that make me believe there is no longer a point to trying to pin Sonic down to the interpretations of one nationality.Yes, when discussing the literal canon of a Sonic game, I would want to refer to the Japanese dialogue because it was made and written by Japanese people. But I don't think that means people of other nationalities are incapable of writing for Sonic's world, or have to follow Japanese story structures, or have to adhere to Japanese character design when adding to Sonic's world. Again, it feels like Sonic has gotten too big for such a limiting point of view, both in official and unofficial works.I do want to end this with saying, it is perfectly understandable to have preferences in the way you'd like to see Sonic handled narratively. But I find it very puritan to suggest the only valid version of Sonic, is a Japanese made Sonic."
@ Sonic shoes were inspired by Santa and Micheal Jackson. His existence has almost no black culture in it other than Knuckles boom box and knuckle being like an African tribe. Most of Sonic’s existence was basically like an American bully winning against the evil kid. Sonic 3 has some of Micheal Jackson music in it I’ll give you that but saying Sonic wouldn’t exist without black culture is a massive stretch considering how much Santa was involved with sonic
@@EyesBeyondHeaven were you...replying to me ?
No he wouldnt. Sonic been Black since Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, dumaz
@@EyesBeyondHeaven You typed a novel of bullzhit. Sonic been Black for his whole existence, fail harder
Frontiers soundtrack is well done it's just not your music taste
Thank you!!! I thought I was tripping when I heard that in the video. Cause ain't no way you're telling me at MINIMUM the boss tracks are not BANGERS.
I fk heavy with frontiers sound track, it did deserve that low blow
Boss tracks are Banger's I will give you that. I am just not a fan of the cyberspace stages music and gameplay. Frontier's is not a bad soundtrack , it is one of my least favorite in the franchise tho.
Wow ive never seen so much cope before in my life. A red anthropomorphic animal that is clearly based on mayan/aztec culture has to be black because rap.... just wow.... and dreads? Really by that logic sonic also has dreads. But his "dreads are never stated to be by anyone at sega. That was a fan wiki. Like come on...
Yea I agree ivw never seen cope on this level either. Not like the music and style of a video game is one of the most defining things of it or anything. Not like a characters design is one of the most important thing.
@normal-use7628 where in his design does it indecate that? The premis is just not correct. And maybe if you played SA1 and had any knowledge of any cultures you would see mezoamerican culture. The music has nothing to do with it and like i said no official media ever states he has dreads. Its just not true. And sega employees give contradicting information in ever interview.
Only one with so much cope in my life here is you. Triggered over the facts presented with evidence that you cant refute, that A red anthropomorphic animal is clearly based on Black culture, Cope harder...
If you disagree with the point's brought up in the video than that's completely fine as that's your personal opinion. However,. to portray my video as me trying to explain or claim these characters are black is completely missing the point. My argument was that Black culture (used as a catch all term ) has influences within the franchise.
@MalcomeXnox its not my opinion. Echidnas live in mayan pyramids. I dont even know what to say other then im sure they took bits from alot of places. Sonic is influenced by music culture as a hole.
- he's fast
- he likes spicy food (Chili Dogs)
- he went to prison before (SA2)
- he seems to regularly have problems with the authorities (G.U.N, Mega Man...) yet still loved by the president
- he gets lankier with every iteration
- he is reckless with public property (City Escape)
- he has a cocky personality
JOKES aisde: I agree with the main point but some arguments feel rather halfheartedly picked:
- Sonic's music is generally meant to be inspired by rnb/funk , a popular example Marble Zone, whose bgm is inspired by "Music to watch girls by" by Andy Williams.
- Sonic CD uses samples mostly from an audio cd, meaning that they most likely didn't have the intention to pay a tribute to Afro American culture, but rather to stay true to its contemporary style. Depending on how much you value artistic intention, you can choose to ignore this point. (The Audio CD in question is Voice Spectral, which has been used by many games during the 90's and 2000's SA 1/2 also has many samples directly used from there)
All in all I believe that the music itself isn't a good source given that there probably wasn't much thought put into sounding like something else (besides the S3 Micheal Jackson collab)
if you'd like to prove me wrong on that behalf, I recommend trying to dig up any interviews featuring Masato Nakamura, the lead composer behind Sonic 1.
What I'd have mentioned instead:
- Sonic's first cartoon voice actor (Jaleel White) is an African American (see the IMDB page)
- Knuckles has a lot of Jamaican influences when it comes to his hairstyle, color scheme and also having initially been meant as a Nike mascot. (Even some game guides refer to Knuckles as Jamaican)
Everything he said was on point, and most of what you said is wrong
@pilot8220 cool
I'm sorry but Sonic's music and stuff are all about the 1990s to the rock and roll and the swager of a teen the only black culture they have is just Micheal jackson, and well they aren't working with the goat no more since he passed and yeah, they have sampled with other black related music but that wasn't the only music's they sampled to And knuckles yeah, he has been associated with black related music and has dreadlocks but that doesn't mean he's black.
My video was not intended to assign nationalities to characters, my point was to highlight the cultural influence that surrounds the franchise.
I wouldn't say just black culture. SEGA was intended to be more trendy and cool with the kids around that time so and a lot of the bangers back then were by black musicians (I love new edition so much). So ofc Sonic had black hip-hop inspired music.
Yes just Black culture
@pilot8220 nope. How can you say just black culture when the people who made it were Japanese?? Make it make sense. Tails the fox is actually inspired by a Japanese folktale creature.
Sonic takes a lot of inspo from a lot of things including black culture.
Even as a black guy myself, I'm tired of this whole "black ppl did everything" type of narrative when you know that's not the truth.
Wrd
This dude sucks with video essays? Is he on the spectrum?
That's an odd thing to say.
He is albino
@@michaelyanni6061 ?
SEGA does what NintenDON'T. Simple.
could you imagine sonic in gang war? Just like homing attacking someone in a curb stomp
this is unironically the best comment on the video thank you for your service