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hadesknockedupintheunderworld · 6 months

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Do you have any headcanons regarding Sonic characters and their sexuality? Either from idw, archie or just Sonic in general

I do, actually! Since I have quite a lot I'll put a bunch of random ones under the cut

But if there are any sexuality headcanons I didn't include under the cut or you'd like me to elaborate on, feel free to send me another ask!😊❤️

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Sonic (Archie):

Oh boy. So, writing inconsistencies aside, from pretty early on I settled on Archie Sonic being on the AroAce spectrum. And originally, this was because of how his relationship with one Sally Acorn was handled. I've read my fair share of "will they won't they" romances in my lifetime, so I could understand having one or both of them being jealous when there's an implication that the other may like a different person romantically. I can also understand being afraid to confess or trying to make the other person jealous so they'll chase them without having to make a proper confession.

However, I soon became very frustrated at the writers' handling of this relationship I'd so loved when I was a kid. Why? The simple crux of the matter is that there is a point early on in Archie Sonic where both Sally and Sonic are aware that the other has feelings for them, but the story is still played like a "will they won't they". These two were often treated like they were in this weird spot between dating and childhood friends. So if Sally kissed someone else (like Geoffrey) it would make Sonic wildly jealous. With that, in moments like these, each of the other would react as if they'd been cheated on (although if memory serves me well, Sally's actually kissing other people or pretending to be into someone to make Sonic jealous wasn't treated as badly as Sonic looking in the direction of a love interest, but I digress). And as this relationship started stretching out to 50 and 100 and more issues, I started going from wondering if it would ever be resolved in the runtime (because their relationship drama always seemed to be milked for views, with Sally's character traits often changed on a whim so she would create this drama) to just wishing they'd have the two go for other people or something (and perhaps perserve any love I still had left for a nostalgic childhood ship).

The thing is is that the longer their relationship and "will they won't they" stretches on, the more it just seems like there are no excuses for them not to have started dating officially yet. And honestly? It really isn't even fully Sally's fault that it takes so long for them to get together initially. Why? Well, early on pretty explicitly, Sally makes it clear that she's afraid to push her relationship with Sonic because then *Sonic* gets afraid and sort of runs instinctually away from being tied down. Interesting, right?

Sonic the Hedgehog flirted with Sally Acorn, sure. He even had grudges with characters like Antoine or Geoffrey because they expressed similar feelings for Sally, and acted jealous when anyone threatened to take Sally away from him. In issue 50 of Archie Sonic, Sonic had an all out brawl to the death with the original Robotnik in that comic over him orchestrating Sally's death.

And yet, it doesn't matter what happens. Once Sally's no longer looking at some other guy, he doesn't kiss her or try to get her to date him. He lets things go back to normal on purpose. He succeeds at making her only look at him because he apparently doesn't want others to take her, but then doesn't confess. He saves Sally from a kiss after thinking she died, being sentenced to banishment after being framed for her death, and after fighting their mutual enemy to the death over it, and all he can do when Sally wakes up is play it all off like he doesn't actually like her like that. The romance tropes are shoved in front of his eyes (fairy-tale romance tropes even)!

But the moment he's sure Sally isn't looking at anyone else or that he has her, he immediately makes sure things go back to how they usually are. For the longest time it seems like no big life fearing event or act of jealousy is enough for Sonic to solidify that relationship. And because he has so so so many moments and chances to, moments that other characters in a story snatch up in a heartbeat (especially when they know the feelings are mutual), it's hard not to feel that this is purposeful or means something.

So while reading I proposed the headcanon or possible reading that Sonic is on the AroAce spectrum. More specifically, that he's solidly aroace/grayaroace and is suffering from comphet, or that he's litho. I personally surmise that he cares about Sally Acorn a lot (that was never out of the question), but as they are childhood friends about the same age that can work well together, everyone and themselves assumed that the two of them would naturally end up together. I think the real reason Sonic would get so jealous when Sally kissed someone else early on was because he had it in his head that that was supposed to be them, and was afraid that if anyone else dated Sally then he and Sally wouldn't be able to have as strong/close of a relationship as they do. I think he ran away when Sally would try to confess and make things go back to normal when Sally was okay and only looking at him because he didn't actually want to be in a romantic relationship with her. Essentially, he wanted the security that she'd be around and they'd still be close without actually dating. At the end of the day, even if they both knew their feelings were mutual, Sonic avoided confirming their relationship status for the longest time because he didn't actually want to date her (and I'll be clear right now, the event that finally gets Sonic to date Sally in Archie canon was not only less life endangering than when he thought she was dead, it was very clearly a forced moment where Sonic finally had to make a choice for the sake of the audience. And despite not really indulging in Mina's advances, it says so much that the writers were seriously going to make Sonic choose and then date whichever girl the fans liked more).

And beyond how Sonic himself spent so much time avoiding confession and actually dating Sally, there's also this. He never really presents real romantic affection towards any other female character (in fact, it's largely implied in scenes like Mina kissing him that he didn't feel the same because he was pursuing Sally). He expresses not wanting to marry Sally because he doesn't want to be tied down and stuck as king of the country instead of adventuring. In fact, he has a nasty breakup with Sally after they finally get together because she tries to force him to stop being a freedom fighter and settle down in the castle with her. Once, Tails even asks Sonic why he's not dating any girls, and Sonic expresses to Tails that he can date pretty much any girl he wants out there, but that "girls are too much trouble" and that he'd rather be free and be himself than be tied down (also implying to Tails that he doesn’t really want to be with anyone). When Robotnik is dead and the rebuilding of Mobotropolis begins, Sonic opts in on taking Tails on a worldwide adventure with him to find Ixis Naugus (a journey that told me personally that Archie Sonic was at his happiest when being able to freely explore the world at his own discretion with his little buddy at his side). While this is a small thing also, in the issue centered around he and Sally having a date, they are both late to it (in a way that almost makes you wonder whether it was really an accident).

So, to end this bit. While I think it's clear Archie Sonic cared about Sally a lot and did like having kids, the handling of his relationship with Sally most of the time makes a lot more sense to me if I recontextualize it as Sonic having a strong platonic bond with Sally and dealing both with his comphet/internalized homophobia telling him that they naturally have to get together and that he has romantic feelings and the truth of him not actually wanting to date anyone (or girls at least). That's really why I feel like Archie Sonic could be litho or generally on the aroace spectrum, especially since his stronger more passionate bonds are often with rivals/enemies like Knuckles and Scourge, and how the damsel in distress tropes or the "you and me together forever makes me happy" thing was applied to his relationship and journies with Tails.

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Sonic (IDW):

My actual general headcanon for Sonic’s sexuality is AroAspec but also gay, just because he often shies away from certain advances that certain girls make that he doesn’t mind when guys do it. However, Sonic also to me seems to just have a thing for people who try to kill him. So even though I align him as AroAspec and gay leaning, I do concede that the rival/enemy effect (aka, Sonic just really having a thing with people who have all out brawls with him or genuinely try to kill him) transcends gender. I suppose I could headcanon IDW Sonic as bi but eh. Even though there are female characters I ship idw Sonic with, those relationships are just special to me and don't neatly fit into the romantic category.

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Tails (Archie):

Okay, so in general I headcanon most versions of Tails as bi. I'll get that out of the way first. To me that is a bi fox.

However, Archie is one of the few Sonic properties where I headcanon Tails as gay specifically. Why? I'll tell you

So early on in the beginning of Archie Sonic, the most Tails expresses any strong feelings is when he upholds Sonic as his hero (the same way Amy does when she is introduced). For a little while he's not shown to be interested in any real romance or in any girls romantically. However, there hits a point where it often seems like the writers will go "Ah shit uh. This fox likes girls okay! We promise!", present it in the most forced manner, and then not actually put any real substance into Tails' alleged feelings for said girl. The biggest moment of this though (as all the moments before are really tiny) is when Tails meets the robot copy of Fiona Fox.

Personally, the origins of the Fiona Fox thing always seemed forced to me. From a Doylist perspective, it felt like the writers started the Fiona Fox thing to prove that Tails was a "normal" growing boy who obviously would like girls, naturally. In this case, quite possibly because the fans just wanted Tails to have a girlfriend since Sonic was paired with Sally and Bunnie with Antoine. From a Watsonian perspective, especially with the emphasis on Tails wanting to be treated like a grown up and insisting he's mature, well... Let's just say that what better to prove that you're just as mature as everyone else than by having a fairy-tale romance with a girl fox about your age who is aesthetically pleasing?

No but honestly. Since Tails was a younger character who hadn't expressed any real romantic interest before this (with him putting the most passion into his admiration for Sonic), the Fiona Fox thing felt extremely forced. It was hard to believe that someone who'd never really expressed interest in girls or dating before would suddenly fall madly in love. Plus, after the reveal of his love story being fake and made up, the dramatics kind of shift between Tails going off about his lost innocence and how he can't bear to fight Fiona and loves her so much, to him being...unconcerned with his "broken heart" and more concerned with seeming mature and how he wants to be treated with respect by the freedom fighters. It was hard for me personally to take those stories seriously and seriously believe that Tails was into girls in Archie.

And for Archie Tails, the Fiona thing as far as I remember was the only thing he had going for him romantically. Like Sonic, he put all of his fixation onto the one girl he's narratively supposed to like romantically and didn't show an interest in romance with girls otherwise. In fact, Tails' romance prospects after this don't really come up again until the real Fiona joins the freedom fighters. And while the intent of this is to show "oh, Tails still has feeling even though what he had was fake", here's my reading of Archie Tails (re:the Fiona thing).

Just like with Archie Sonic, I don't actually believe Archie Tails wants to be with girls romantically. I think the robot Fiona thing was (at best) infactuation, and more than likely him playing into the romance angle because of "he was a boy she was a girl can I make it anymore obvious" and wanting to prove that he's as mature as the other freedom fighters and deserves respect reasons. It's also common for gays suffering under comphet to find this one person you can fixate on. Essentially, this person who would make sense to be attracted to, who is objectively attractive, and who you can put on a pedestal and endlessly pursue because they will never date you. Essentially proving you're "normal" by pursing someone who will most likely never like you back, specifically because deep down if they never like you back you never have to get in a relationship with someone. I think that when Fiona returned (organic this time) as this beautiful older girl who other people he knew would objectively describe as "sexy", she was someone he could easily put back up on that pedestal and pursue even while she clearly wasn't interested in him. And with that in mind, even though Sonic's dating of Fiona put a strain on his and Tails' relationship, it always seemed to be that this was not because "Sonic stole his girl". Rather, Tails was more distraught over Sonic breaking "the bro code" and getting together with someone Sonic knew he had a thing for (or allegedly did). Essentially he was more concerned with Sonic breaking his trust or not considering his feelings than he was over someone else getting to have Fiona romantically.

And again, outside of the Fiona thing, pre and post sgw Tails is rarely implied to genuinely have romantic interest in girls. He gets married to Mina in 25 yrs later and has kids with her, but we never get to see the leadup to this, he is never implied to have feelings for Mina in the Prime universe, and when he actually appears in 25 years later to speak it's more of a given that he's married to Mina than he's actually shown having some profound romance with her.

You get me?

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The Tails Variants from Sonic Prime:

They're another exception to my usual "Tails is bi headcanon", largely because I see them on the aroace spectrum and as gay😂

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Amy Rose:

I have sort of conflicting headcanons with her. I both see her as a lesbian who put Sonic on a pedestal as a boy she could chase around and pursue romantically (even though Sonic clearly didn't reciprocate) while having the security that Sonic won't actually agree, and I headcanon her as someone on the AroAce spectrum who is more in love with the concept of love than someone who actually experiences romantic love herself. This is a largely universal headcanon I have for her, and while I can lean more one way or the other depending on the Sonic property, I usually enjoy both of these headcanons.

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Knuckles (Archie):

Every iteration of Knuckles is gay to me. I'll just put that out there. And in Archie Sonic specifically I headcanon him as gay and ace (or on the ace spectrum). This is largely because, well.

To even date a woman, the universe (and Mr. Penders) had to forcibly deliver him one in the form of a soulmate. His early writing of his relationship with his love interest, Julie-Su is often so inconsistent as well that you know he considers her a friend at some point, but his alleged "romantic feelings" feel like they're inherent (like he has to have them because they're Echidna soulmates) and that the interpretation of them being romantic is being pushed onto him. Mr. Penders played the "a boy pulls a girl's pigtails and calls her annoying cause he secretly likes her" card with this relationship, but Knuckles quite literally confides in his father that he doesn’t get why she annoys him and that he gets along so much better with his guy friends. Knuckles even suggests that girls should stick with girls and boys should stick with boys before his father, Locke, gives him a talk that kind of amounts to "sure you could be with guys but of course you as a normal boy would eventually want *more*". And this is also after Knuckles confesses that he doesn’t look at other girls (unsurprising, given that he doesn’t pursue any other girls romantically).

This is all to say that while not only was his romance arc forced and it's often hard to believe he has romantic feelings for her, it's hard not to read how he acts generally and his conversation with his father as him being an allegory for a closeted queer boy who doesn't know that boys can kiss boys. And really, even while Mr. Flynn actually presented Julie-Su and Knuckles' relationship in a way that makes more sense where you can tell they care about each other quite a lot, even Flynn Era just before the sgw feels easier to read Knuckles and Julie-Su as platonic soulmates who've formed a strong partnership.

Also this *is* the Echidna that joked in front of a bully of a gorilla (Monk) that he (Monk) probably loves seeing him in the "groveling position"

But I digress.

Post sgw as well, Knuckles also seems to reject the idea that he's dating or even leading on either Rouge or Relic.

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Rotor the Walrus:

Gay Ace.

Cobar the Echidna, Tommy Turtle, the events in 25 yrs later or him being roommates with Tommy

His lack of romantic interest most of the time

Honestly even his origin story post sgw read to be a bit like an allegory for being disowned for being queer

Must I say any more?

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Bunnie Rabbot:

I don't have much to say about this other than that she clearly has feelings for Antoine and I always felt she got on with Sally well

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Nicole:

Lesbian

The most she ever really shows interest in guys is when she body swaps with Sally and it's implied she felt feelings for Sonic through this. However, she decides to create a body so she can hang out with Sally (and watches the stars with her). She doesn't present romantic feelings for any guys after that either. Even with Shard, I always got the feeling that they became friends because of their similar situation and their status as ais who obtained free will and "humanity" so to speak, but that Shard had a onesided thing for her while she just considered him a good friend.

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Tangle the Lemur:

Lesbian

I think what solidified this for me is the difference in how she acts when she meets Sonic for the first time vs how unwell she is about Blaze in that same issue when she first meets Blaze. That and both her initial interest in Whisper and how her relationship with Jewel kind of read like a "best friends who are exes" deal when Jewel first became a character.

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Rouge:

AroAcespec

While I do ship her with certain girl characters, she always struck me as the person who likes dressing "sexily" without actually being someone who experiences sexual attraction. Likewise, so much of her flirting reads to me as something she does in service of doing her job or getting things she wants. Especially in IDW, it's more than implied (practically shown) that Rouge is more in love with gems and the master emerald than any one person she flirts with. Honestly, she's the type to end up in situationships

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Lanolin the Sheep:

Jury is out. I have no headcanons right now. So far she just seems entirely uninterested in romance or sex and is more married to her job

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Silver:

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Blaze:

Also bi

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Sally Acorn:

Pre sgw? Bi

Post sgw? Lesbian

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Elias Acorn:

I take no criticism on this one. Gay.

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Geoffrey St. John:

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Surge the Tenrec:

Surge to me is gay but like. She's gay in that way that anyone attracted to her is gay, and anyone she's attracted to regardless of gender is always in a gay way. Likes a girl? Gay. Likes a guy? Gay. Likes someone of any gender? Gay

Kinda like with Sonic though I also often read her as on the AroAce spectrum, especially since she seems to have no personal interest in romance. Like at best the most passionate she is is the hate she harbors for Sonic, and whatever she has going on with Kit. So like. AroAspec and gay. That's my final answer

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Kitsunami the Fennec:

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Vector the Crocodile (Archie):

In all other Sonic media I see him as bi, however

Gay. He tries and fails to prove to Espio that he actually likes women and can get a woman after Espio says he's all bark and no bite. Like sure he takes the service worker lady with him to the event he and the Chaotix were invited to, but he never actually stays with her. He's also one of the two 25 yrs later characters who has a kid but is not married and has no mention of the other biological parent (the other is Lien-da). Literally his son has more charisma and success with picking up girls than him, and Vector doesn't even really seem to like girls (although honestly I'll admit Penders gave *him* more chemistry with Julie-Su than he gave her and Knuckles)

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Lien-Da:

AroAce and also more lesbian leaning

Romance and sex is far from anything she worries about or dabbles in, and at best she uses flirting the way Rouge does (empty flirting to get her way or to mess with people). The only reason I said lesbian leaning is because she seems the type to me to end up in situationships/atypical enemy relationships with women

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Shadow:

I'm always oscillating between gay and just grayaro/gray ace. Depends on my mood

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Robotnik:

Frankly it depends on the adaptation.

Movie!Robotnik I feel is more demi or gray aroace

Sonic X Robotnik is bi to me

Prime universe's Archie Robotnik (this goes for the original and his replacement) is gay while also being on the aroace spectrum to me

But yeah in general Robotnik is on the aroace spectrum and whether I read him as bi or gay depends on the adaptation

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Metal Sonic:

Gay

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Chaos Sonic:

Also gay!

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Shard:

Sorry, but Shard to me likes women the same way Archie Sonic does to me. This is to say, he forms a strong relationship with *one* female character and confuses what they have for romance because comphet. So on the aro/ace spectrum and seems to get into situationships with guys fairly often

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Mina the Mongoose:

Bi!

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King Max Acorn:

Hoho definitely bi

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Locke the Echidna:

I want to say gay but he's like a heavily closeted queer at baseline. His relationship with sexuality is complicated, and while he has been with women before (sexually and romantically), he seems to relate a little to well to Knuckles' plight of not being interested in most girls and thinking guys should just stick with guys. Plus there's that scene where Scourge and Rouge are both surprised that Rouge's flirting and sex appeal isn't really doing anything for Locke.

Like if I had to label him I'd go closeted gay, but I feel like if he ever became comfortable enough to label himself as "not straight" he'd be more comfortable with the term queer or simply "not straight" as a catchall so he can avoid using a usual label

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Mighty:

Gay!! This goes no matter the adaptation

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Ray:

I have no headcanons other than that he does like boys

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Lara-Le:

Bi!

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Julie-Su:

Bi, but I also like to think of her as Demi too

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Lara-Su:

I take no criticism. Bi

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Nic the Weasel:

Gay, man. She and Fiona just had something

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Nack the Weasel:

Gay but also married to his job

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Bean the Duck:

Bi/Pan

The duck is queer

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Bark the Polar Bear:

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Vanilla the Rabbit:

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Charmy the Bee (Archie):

In general I don't have a headcanon for him, just because of how he's depicted in idw and the games these days.

But pre sgw Charmy (back when he was depicted as 16) is either gay or bi depending on how I feel. Not super solid on it, I just know he likes boys.

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Fiona the Fox:

I don't take criticism on this one either. Demi Lesbian

I have not once felt that she was genuinely really into a guy romantically. I think she just has a thing for danger and is a sadist in general, and I think she uses both Sonic and Scourge to get her fix for it. But frankly just like Scourge she tends to get bored in the opposite sex, and despite any declaration is liable to split the moment she's in danger. If she has anything for him, it reads as pretty shallow.

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Scourge the Hedgehog:

Gay but like extremely comphet about it. Like he seems to be more fixated on the idea of being desired by women and the idea of desiring women than he actually desires them. There's an issue where he grows bored with all the girls in Anti-Mobius (even Anti-Sally) and decides to find Sonic instead to start a fight so he can be no longer bored. The cover of that issue shows all of those hearts with his name + a girl's name written in the middle, AND a heart where he's written his name + Sonic in the middle. Despite having Fiona at his side, he proclaims he actually wants Prime!Sonic to rule beside him with the two of them as Kings. Like he seems to like the attention and seems to understand what an objectively attractive women looks like, but he's always growing bored with them and partnering up with them only to not really have much substance in a relationship with him. And while I will put the disclaimer that Mr. Flynn did not create Scourge's original character, nor does anything he says push or deny ships for legal reasons, he did once say in a bumblekast episode that in a hypothetical "Scourge Team Racing", Scourge would choose Miles and O'knux as his teammates because he "dislikes them the least".

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Antoine D'coolette:

Bi!

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Antoine's Father:

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Snively:

Absolutely Bi

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Clutch the Opposom:

Haha

Gay

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Jewel the Beetle:

Lesbian

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Whisper the Wolf:

Not completely sure yet. I think I kind of settle on Arospec but likes girls

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Sonic (Sonic Prime):

I see him on the aromantic spectrum but also like. Gay

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Sonic (StC)

Just straight up gay. At worst he's gay but comphet about it in a similar way to Scourge

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Tikal:

Generally she's a lesbian to me

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Relic:

Bi but also married to her work

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Adam the Ai:

Demi/grayaroace

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Espio:

In general he is always gay to me

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Chuck Thorndyke:

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Anti-Tails/Miles:

Haha. Gay

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Thanks for the ask, anon! I enjoyed answering this one😊

Like I said, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but I did put down some characters from different Sonic media off the top of my head.

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