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h-worksrambles · 2 years

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Top 10 Sonic characters

As Sonic Frontiers continues to make me more intrigued with each new trailer, I decided to channel my recent thoughts on the series, and ramble about my favourite characters from across the franchise. I don’t think a topic this self explanatory needs much preamble, except that will contain spoilers for numerous games in the series. Also, while I will touch on external media where relevant, this is gonna be pretty game centric as I’m not super familliar with the comics, and getting too bogged down in other continuities can get confusing fast. With that said, let the hot takes begin!

10: Chaos

I tend not to very big on the one off villains of the Sonic series. I like the idea of a rogues gallery for the series, but because I think the franchise has such a solid main antagonist (and trust me, we’ll get there) any other baddie who steps up to the plate ends up feeling like a downgrade. Thankfully, Sonic Adventure provides the exception to the rule. The former guardian of the Chao, Chaos is one of the major antagonists in Adventure, freed from his prison within the Master Emerald by Dr. Eggman. Chaos’ signature ability to evolve to new more powerful forms by consuming the Chaos Emeralds gives him an interesting dynamic with the heroes as a recurring boss fight who is fought in a number of increasingly more threatening incarnations. His overall presence and threat level is therefore able to escalate in a way not many Sonic villains do. This culminates in the iconc final battle in which he becomes the deadly Perfect Chaos, taking on Super Sonic amidst a flooded Station Square, an envoronment the player has had the whole game to get comfortable in before Chaos tears it down. And while he starts a tendancy for other villains to abruptly replace Eggman as the final boss which I’m not too fond of, Chaos gets a pass for doing it first and, in my eyes, doing it best. The main thing that prevents Chaos from being higher is that while I love him as a recurring fight and as a means of storytelling through gameplay, the actual narrative side of his character is...a little weak. Chaos’ role as a force of nature villain means that he can’t have much in the way of personality outside of what other characters tell us Chaos is feeling. His backstory does generate a degree of pathos on paper but it’s not executed as well as it could have been. For the uninitiated, Chaos was the guardian of the Chao, and a once gentle entity who watched over his charges at the shrine of the Master Emerald. However, his home was desecrated by the warmongering ancient Echidna tribe who wanted to use the Emerald’s power for themselves, killing the Chao in the process. Chaos was driven into a maddened rage and took revenge on the warmongerers, before being sealed in the Master Emerald by a young Echidna girl named Tikal, before he could do any more harm. It’s a pretty interesting backstory and takes the series into unexpectedly dark territory compared to what came before. And on paper, this story of violence, greed and tampering with the unknown, ended by Sonic and co. reminding Chaos of the importance of friendship is a nice, feel-good arc. Unfortunately, in practice though, it’s told through a string of disconnected, vague flashbacks across each character’s campaign, and this format means there’s just not enough time to give Chaos, or Tikal, the pathos that this story warrants. It tends to be more effective when read on the wiki than actually played. Still, quibbles aside, I appreciate Chaos, and Sonic Adventure’s lore, for feelng like an organic extension of the concepts set up in the classic games. It gives greater weight and context to the Chaos Emeralds, Angel Island and the ancient Echidnas, and that’s admittedly cool even if the execution could use some work. Chaos remains a fun villain to fight and think about, earning him a spot on this list.

9: Metal Sonic

Sonic’s robotic doppelgänger, debuting in Sonic CD, Metal Sonic is probably second only to Eggman as Sonic’s most recurring adversary. In his debut game, he served to impede Sonic’s efforts to undo Eggman’s conquest of the Little Planet, copying Sonic’s abilities and kidnapping Amy Rose as bait. His actual in the flesh (uhh...so to speak) appearances are brief, with his most noteworthy scene being the deadly race against Sonic on Stardust Speedway. Metal typically tends to be a silent, cold figure, a sharp contrast to Sonic’s warmth and liveliness. His ability to copy the abilities of his foes also appears to extend beyond Sonic himself, with Sonic the Fighters portraying him as mimicking the whole roster’s moveset in an infamously tough penultimate battle. However, outside of CD, his appearances were pretty brief, with his other most noteworthy role being in the Sonic OVA, which introduced an intriguing concept that Metal, being a copy of Sonic, shares personality traits with him (though he expresses them solely through body language rather than words), and may therefore have some capacity for good. This anime still shines as one of Metal’s best moments. It wasn’t until Sonic Heroes that Metal would make another prominent appearance, though it’s sadly not one I’m wild on. Here, Metal Sonic betrays Dr. Eggman, takes control of his armada and uses his copy abilities to become an amalgamation of all the playable heroes (as well as the latent vestiges of Chaos) transforming into a giant metallic dragon, even capable of using Chaos Control. Existing as a copy of Sonic has warped Metal’s self perception to the point that he now believes himself to be the real Sonic, and wants to overcome his ‘copy’ before creating an empire of machines. It’s an interesting idea but one that falls flat in execution. Mostly because someone decided it was necesarry to give Metal a laughable redesign complete with a cape (Edna Mode would be ashamed) and to give the previously silent character a voice. Subtlety is thrown out the window as this two bit cartoon villain rambles about his desire to become the supreme being. It’s a spectacle and a half to watch all twelve heroes team up against him, but ultimately, he ends up feeling like Metal Sonic in name only. Plus, sidelining Eggman at the last minute had become a throughly tired trope by that point.

Fortunately, Metal has stuck around since, returning to his prior role as Eggman’s stoic right hand robot. Whenever he shows up as a boss fight, it’s always an entertaining time. Nonetheless, I remain hopeful that Metal may recieve a more pronounced role in the future. Even if I disliked the execution, the notion of Metal Sonic believing himself to be the ‘true Sonic’ is interesting, and one I would like to see revisited, perhaps re-exploring the idea more subtly by keeping Metal as a silent character who emotes through physicality, rather than generic villain monologues. I’m down for this bot to show us what he’s made of again...provided there’s no capes involved this time.

8: Shadow the Hedehog

Oh yeah, we’re getting into the spicy takes now! Shadow is probably one of the most popular characters in the entire franchise; his recent teaser appearance in the post credits scene of the second Sonic movie spawning mass outpourings of hype from fans. And while I certainly enjoy the character, and may once have ranked him second or even first when I was younger, I also have a complicated relationship with him. But before we get into that, let’s look briefly at Shadow’s debut in Sonic Adventure 2. Like Chaos before him, Shadow took the franchise into much darker territory. He is the product of a research experiment held fifty years ago on the Space Colony ARK, to create the ‘ultimate life form’ by Professor Gerald Robotnik. In the present day, Shadow works with Dr. Eggman to use the ARK’s weaponry to hold Earth to ransom, planning to backstab the scientist to destroy the Earth and avenge his deceased creator and his friend, Maria. This leads to him repeatedly clashing with Sonic, their rivalry escalating over multiple boss fights. Meanwhile, he grapples with his fractured memories, his identity and his hatred of humans, until he recovers his true memories of Maria and redeems himself, teaming up with Sonic and sacrificing himself to save the Earth like Maria wanted.

Much like Chaos in Adventure though, it’s not exactly ideally executed. As fun and campy and ambititious as Adventure 2′s story is, it can be extremely rushed in places and Shadow suffers from an absurdly fast redemption arc. His character hints at many fascinating subtextual points, raising questions about what concepts like identity, memory and life would mean to an artificallly created being. It’s some of the most ambitious writing in the series. Unfortunately, despite these high concept ideas, the practicalities of Shadow’s redemption amount to him conveniently remembering the truth of his past at just the right moment. There’s little in the way of proper self-reflection or growth, which is…y’know, kind of the point of a redemption arc. Still, despite these issues, Shadow’s personality is pretty charming, a quiet, smug-yet-not-too-smug powerhouse whose clashes with Sonic are the highlight of the game. But this contrasts with a surprisingly gentle and sensitive soul, which has been hardened by revenge but learns to heal. His story, for all its faults, has a satisfying and pretty sad ending. So yeah, I like Shadow...

In Sonic Adventure 2.

Sadly, much like when I once gave my thoughts on Sephiroth from Final Fantasy, Shadow is proof of what happens when you don’t let a good thing rest. He is promptly brought back from the dead in Sonic Heroes, setting the stage for a number of writing decisions that have led me to turn on the character. His two game spanning amnesia arc was ultimately pointless, culminating in his own spin off game, Shadow the Hedgehog, which made him feel horribly out of character as a brooding, sullen anti hero, making extremely ill-fitting choices through the game’s morality system. He then joins the very military that ruined his life in Sonic 06 where he’s basically the secret main character, jumping to full blown creator’s pet, running circles around the rest of the cast in a way that makes him feel like an embarrassing Gary Stu. Since then, his portrayals have amounted to little more than ‘angry rival to Sonic’, with much of the charm or nuance of his debut having evaporated. And while I’ve seen much blame levelled at modern iterations for ‘flanderising’ him, I just found it to be the latest in a long line of bad writing choices for him. Moreover, I can’t help but feel this was kind of inevitable ever since Sonic Team decided to bring back a character who’d already died, and whose story had already been told.

The strength of Shadow’s first appearance is enough to snag him a spot on this list. But at the end of the day, I do think the trope of ‘foil to Sonic who starts as an enemy but becomes a friend’ has been done better both before and since, and when practically every creative decision with the character has left me cold, to the point that he kind of embodies a lot of the franchise’s problems with excess and inconsistency, it’s hard to feel the thrill for him I once did. Still looking forward to that third movie though...

7: Amy Rose

One of the most prominent characters, the leader of Team Rose and Sonic’s self proclaimed girlfriend, Amy first showed up in Sonic CD. Originally kidnapped by Metal Sonic and rescued by Sonic, Amy’s long standing crush on the blue blur has led her to often follow in his wake. But Amy is keen to prove herself and not be dead weight, so this has led to her getting character development and becoming more independent. This is most evident in Sonic Adventure, where she takes on one of Eggman’s powerful mechs to protect a baby animal she befriended in the story, spending the whole game evading her pursuer before finally confronting it and taking it down. Despite her crush on Sonic being the most well known part of her character, (and this next point may bother a few shippers in my audience) Amy tends to be at her most enjoyable when she has relatively little to do with him. She’s a very plucky, spunky character, keen to join in the fight against Eggman despite not having powers on the level of the others, so she finds workarouds like her techniques with her signature Piko Piko Hammer. Games like Sonic Advance key into this by giving her a unique playstyle quite unlike the rest. By Sonic Heroes, she’s even formed her own team, following her hero’s example while striking out on her own. She’s also one of the more gentle characters, often able to win over even antagonists like Gamma or Shadow when Sonic can’t.

Unfortunately, Amy tends to get done kind of dirty by the writers a lot of time, in turn getting a needlessly harsh response from fans as a result. Her crush on Sonic, despite being probably the least interesting part of her character, was often played up as borderline obsessive while her temper was cartoonishly exaggerated in media like Sonic X, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Riders and the like. Put simply it was nowhere near as funny as the writers seemed to think it was and just gave Amy the vibe of a bad walking anime trope. Amy was fun because was plucky, determined but deceptively sweet despite her strong willed nature. Not because she was a one note jealous yandere who hit her friends with a hammer when she got mad.

Thankfully, Sonic Team have moved away from this in recent years, though, like many Sonic characters, the negative response to her worse portrayals seems to have left them still kind of scared to use her much at all. However, unlike Shadow, who would have been better served by just being retired good and early, I still tend to enjoy Amy when she shows up and I look forward to future games giving her more time to shine.

6: Miles ‘Tails’ Prower

Miles Prower, aka Tails, is one of the franchise’s most long standing characters, Introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as a wide eyed kid who tagged along with Sonic out of admiration, Tails has proven himself to be a worthy ally and friend to Sonic across the games, to the point that they’re often potrarayed as surrogate siblings. Their friendship remains one of the most endearing in the series, so it’s always fun to see them interact. Tails is a lot like Amy where a big part of his character development is about wanting to be like Sonic and learning to become independent by embracing what makes him unique. As early as Sonic 3, Tails’ unique ability to fly helped him to stand out from Sonic by playing levels his way, to the point that he’s pretty much the game’s easy mode. Meanwhile, in Sonic Adventure, Tails’ campaign is a full on character arc about him embracing his skills as a mechanic and pilot, skills only he can bring to the group, and he even faces down Dr. Eggman alone without Sonic. His newfound independence carries on into Sonic Adventure 2. Even when he thinks Sonic might be dead, he resolves to keep fighting on behalf of his ‘big bro’, taking down Eggman on his own. It’s a great multi game arc and probably one of the best (maybe even only) examples of consistent, cross-game character growth in the whole series. Despite that though, Tails’ friendship with Sonic shouldn’t be downplayed as it’s still a very endearing part of his character. Sonic Advance 3 adorably describes them as having an ‘unbreakable bond’ if they’re selected as a team. One of the best showcases of their dynamic is Sonic Colours, where plenty of time is devoted to their charming back and forth as they explore Eggman’s Interstellar Amusement Park. Even though he knows he’s the smarter of the two, and isn’t afriad to gently point out his friend’s recklessness, their genuine trust in, and respect for each other never fails to shine through.

The only thing keeping Tails from ranking higher is that he occasionally suffers from a lack of agency. As much as I like the interplay between him slowly becoming more independent from Sonic while still being his best friend, you start to notice that the games tend to be scared of letting him go too far from Sonic himself. Tails is at his most boring when he’s just reduced to a fawning tag along who’s only really here because Sonic is. Games like Sonic Heroes, Sonic 06 and Sonic Forces all really struggle with giving Tails meaningful stuff to do in the game, or just giving him much of a life outside of Sonic. Fortunately, Tails is likable enough that, even when he’s just kind of here, it’s at least consistently nice to see him. And the 2D games in particular like Advance and Mania have done a great job making him fun to play. It’s always a pleasure to see this kid take to the skies.

5: Sonic the Hedgehog

Any list of best Sonic characters would be incomplete without the fastest thing alive himself. Sonic’s character is arguably a major part of what allowed the franchise to get as popular as it did. A much of that is because he’s first and foremost...well...cool. Hyperactive, adventurous, confident (to the point of a little cocky), Sonic has a brand of capable coolness that’s easy for kids getting into the series to latch on to. Some of the most enjoyable scenes of the series are just watching Sonic do his thing, racing across the plains as an unstoppable, determined force in Sonic CD’s intro, or blitzing through an armada of robots with a cheeky grin in the opening of Sonic Unleashed. He’s just consistently fun to watch.

While being the mascot of an incredibly lucrative multimedia franchise means he’s not prone to a ton of growth as a character, Sonic has a deceptive amount of range. While his first impression is that of a fast talking, hot blooded adventurer who can’t sit still, Sonic is capable of being surprisingly emotionally intelligent and fiercely loyal to his friends. He empathises with Chaos’ suffering in Sonic Adventure, is able to offer genuine life advice to the distraught villain Merlina in Sonic and the Black Knight, and dives in to protect the alien Wisps in Sonic Colours without a second thought. Often Sonic will play a pivotal role in the development of other characters in the series, the flat character who helps the rest of his friends to live as their best selves. The fact that this rarely, if ever, crosses into annoying Gary Stu territory is honestly pretty impressive. Others may call him a hero, but in his own words, he’s ‘just a guy who loves adventure’ Sonic and the Black Knight is a game I’ve seen especially get a lot of praise for how right it gets Sonc as a character. And even as someone who doesn’t particularly like that game, I’m inclined to agree. I’d even say he pretty much carries it just by being so likable and sincere underneath all the confident bluster and quips.

I even debated putting him higher on the list but the main reason I held off is mostly that being ‘ground zero’ for the series can kind of hold Sonic back as a character. Most notably, despite being a very simple character who shouldn’t be hard to write, Sonic is most prone to drastic reinterpretations depending on who’s writing or voicing him. I think this is down to the fact that Sonic was always marketed on being ‘cool’. But what constitutes as ‘cool’ is subjective. Depending on what culture or context he’s being written for, Sonic’s character can change pretty drastically. Just look at how in the 90′s alone, Sonic was interpreted as a chill, nature-loving adventurer in the Japanese canon, a catchphrase-laden dude with attitude in the American cartoons and Archie comics, or a prickly, sarcastic punk with a secret heart of gold in the British Fleetway comics. Couple that with his numerous English voices, and Sonic is arguably one of the more inconsistent characters in the cast, with differences in his portrayals in the games, the Sonic Boom show, the movies and the IDW comics still being hotly debated by fans. This is actually a large factor in why I said I would mostly stick to the games. Because sorting out my feelings about Sonic’s ingame variances is hard enough without including everything else.

Still, no matter how much his character is prone to change, I nonetheless tend to find myself liking Sonic whenever he shows up, and he’s a big part of why I keep coming back to the series. It’s just fun to guide this hyperactive hedgehog with attitude through fast paced levels and watch him trade banter back and forth with evildoers on his journey to save the world.

4: Knuckles the Echidna

Here he comes rougher than the rest of them...

Got the memes out of your system now? Good. Moving along.

Sonic’s rival-turned-friend first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The last surviving member of the Echidnas, Knuckles has spent his life guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island. Originally tricked into believing Sonic and Tails were a threat to his island, Knuckles eventually saw the error of his ways and joined the two to stop the mad scientist. Since then, while he still maintains his role as guardian, he has been able to venture beyond his island, finally getting to see the world by joining Sonic on his adventures, even making a name for himself as a treasure hunter.

For as many foils as Sonic has had over the years, Knuckles is still probably the most entertaining one in terms of his dynamic with Sonic. Whereas Sonic is impulsive, quippy and playful, a seasoned explorer who has met and befriended plenty of people across his travels, Knuckles is blunt and direct, having spent his life in isolation bound to a single duty. He lacks Sonic’s people skills which can make him seem gullible. He’s naive but short tempered. Sonic can easily get a rise out of him, but Knuckles is also more prone to call out or challenge Sonic in a way Tails or Amy might not. They’re often a common source of comedy when they butt heads. I think a lot of this played into why his recent portrayal in the second movie was so well recieved.

He’s also a treat whenever he’s playable. In Sonic 3, as well as the Advance games and Mania, Knuckles was in many ways the expert mode choice. He couldn’t jump as high so he struggled with typical platforming, but his unique skills in wall climbing and gliding made him to go-to-character for finding secrets. Sonic could blitz through levels in record time, while Knuckles could plumb them for hidden rewards. He was Sonic’s tempramental opposite in gameplay just as he was in personality.

Granted at times, his naivety gets misinterpreted by the writers as mere stupidity, and while that can be genuinely hilarious in iterations more divorced from canon (see the alternate universe tv show, Sonic Boom) it doesn’t feel true to him in the games, which can go hand in hand with how, much like Tails, the writers sometimes seem unsure how much of a life to give him outside of Sonic. As much as I like Knuckles, his task as the guardian of the Master Emerald gives him a distinct role in the setting apart from Sonic himself, meaning he benefts from slightly more infrequent appearances, so that it’s more meaningful when he does show up. I also do thinkthat, even at his best, the guy has a lot of missed potential. His identity and legacy as the last of his kind has only had its surface scratched in Adventure and Chronicles, both with less than ideal execution.

He may be perhaps the most memefied member of the cast, but I think that speaks to his staying power. Tough and capable yet funny and adorkable, nobody in this series knock-knocks quite like Knuckles.

3: E102 Gamma

The latest in the line of Dr. Eggman’s E-Series robots in Sonic Adventure, Gamma only had one major appearance in the whole series, but he left a powerful impression. Gamma’s storyline marked the first time a mainline Sonic game let us actually play as one of Dr. Eggman’s robots. He begins in the service of his creator, but a fateful encounter with Amy Rose leads him to question his identity. Much like the Badniks from the original Genesis/Mega Drive games, Gamma is an animal encased in a robot shell, so Gamma resolves to free his ‘brothers’ by hunting them down one-by-one, liberating the captive creatures inside.

One of the things that benefits Gamma’s story is its sense of subtelty. Charming as Adventure’s story is, it’s prone to its fair share of janky localisation and goofy animations as an early 3D game. But in Gamma’s story, both of those are kept to a minimum. Gamma is a robot of few words, fiercely dedicated to his mission, and what little dialogue he has amounts to quiet, analytical introspection. He gives the game some much needed restraint, and most of his story is self-contained to his personal arc, with little impact on the wider plot. While it may be disconnected, it’s probably the tightest written of the bunch. It all culminates in Gamma facing down his brother, Beta, mutually destroying each other to free the animals trapped inside them. The innocent bird within his casing lives on and reunites with their family, but Gamma himself silently crumbles to nothing on the deck of the Egg Carrier.

Gamma’s journey remains one of the most compelling parts of the series’ storytelling due to its uniquely subdued and subtle tone, but it’s also a fascinating take on one of the series’ long standing elements. Much like how Chaos gave elements, like the Master Emerald and Angel Island, from the classic games more context and history, Gamma provides a new perspective on the plot point of Eggman turning animals into machines, a staple since Sonic 1. This has always been a minor component of the gameplay, but here it’s used to elicit genuine pathos, demonstrating the cruelty behind Eggman’s goofy appearance, and demonstrating why it’s so important that Sonic constantly puts a stop to his goals.

In a series that is often corny, campy and in your face, Gamma’s arc was quiet, tragic and understated. The fact that so many players were moved by his death demonstrates how likable Sonic Team managed to make him, how they did so much with so little. One off character though he may be, Gamma is rightly remembered as a fan favourite, and I think the fact that Sonic Team haven’t brought him back (outside that one weird time in Sonic Battle) proves that they understand that this shouldn’t be tampered with. Gamma did his duty. Now let him rest...

2: Dr. Eggman

I’ve come to make an announcement: Dr. Eggman is one of the best characters in this franchise!

The world renowned mad scientist and the greatest genius in the world (at least in his estimation), Dr. Eggman has been around since the very beginning, and is rightly a staple of villany in gaming culture. With an IQ of 300 and an even larger ego, Eggman considers himself the rightful ruler of the world, capturing innocent animals and using them to power his machines. Back in the 90′s, Eggman helped to reinforce the subtle environmental message of the series as a whole. The lone human in the early games (at least that we saw), Eggman invaded undisturbed islands of natural beauty so that he could exploit and weaponise them for his own gain. His factories and techo bases were the antithesis of the game’s colourful, pastoral environments, and Sonic’s triumphs helped restore the vibrancy of the land. It’s unapolgetically green in the most 90′s way ever and I love it for that.

This is all bolstered by the fact that Eggman is legitamately fun. He walks this great line of hammy, funny and genuinely capable. He’s often a source of comedy, but not so much because he’s particularly bufoonish, but moreso because it’s fun to watch his ego trip him up, or seeing him clash with his notably less intelligent lackeys across numerous adaptations. Despite this, he can also be genuinely menacing. I’ve already touched on how Sonic Adventure recontextualised the sinister undertones of his plans, but Sonic Adventure 2 also warrants mention. Even if he spends most of the game as Shadow’s unwitting puppet, the game sees him using the Eclipse Cannon to put our heroes, and the whole planet, on the ropes like never before up to that point in the games. It’s probably the closest Eggman has ever come to beating Sonic for good. And a lot of his plans are honestly pretty darn devious. Sonic Unleashed sees him break apart the entire planet. Sonic Generations has him controlling a primal time-controlling alien to undo his past mistakes. Sonic Lost World has him play both Sonic and new villains, the Deadly Six, for fools, and in Sonic Forces, he finally beats Sonic and rules the world for six months. The man is a tank.

The games don’t tend to give him much in the way of backstory but honestly, he doesn’t need one. Eggman is a testament to scientific hubris. As far as he’s concerned, he’s the smartest person in the room at any given time, and that makes him qualified to rule. He doesn’t care if other people think he’s evil. They’re idiots, why should their opinion mattter? The closest he’s gotten to sympathy is a throwaway line in Adventure 2 implying his passion for science began with a genuine respect for his grandfather, Professor Gerald. And really, I think that’s all he needs.His love for science may be genuine, but now it pales in comparison to his love for himself. And all of this is sold by a consistent string of great voice actors in both English and Japanese who excel at bringing him to life. He’s probably the most consistently well performed out of the entire cast.

Honestly, the only time I don’t like him is when the writing itself seems to lack faith in him as a villain. The 2000′s especially had a really obnoxious habit of writing him out of the plot to make way for other, more ‘serious’ (read: boring as sin) monster of the week villains. But I’ve ranted about that enough already. And even then, plenty of those games still provided him with great moments before unceremoniously giving him the boot.

Dr. Eggman was, and is, exactly what the series needs. A cartoonish yet capable antagonist who perfectly contrasts our hero and is a joy every time he’s on screen. Honestly, if the Eggman Empire were ever to become a thing, I’d be tempted to sign up.

1. Blaze the Cat

The princess of another dimension, the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, and (in my humble opinion) the best character in this entire franchise: Blaze the Cat.

Blaze first appeared in Sonic Rush, where her dimension was thrust into contact with Sonic’s thanks to Eggman’s machinations. Blaze wandered Sonic’s world gathering the lost Sol Emeralds, a dimensional counterpart to the Chaos Emeralds. Originally Blaze was a cold and distant figure. Like Knuckles, she was fiercely devoted to her responsibilites, and had little to no social interactions. But she also had the baggage of her unique powers. Blaze is pyrokinetic, able to create and control fire. This was invaluable to her role as guardian, but only made it harder to conect with others when she was young, her powers often frightening those around her. Convincing herself she didn’t need friends, she became very closed off. However, her journey into Sonic’s world changes her perspective. She finds herself unconditionally accepted by Cream the Rabbit, and while her personality clashes with Sonic’s at first, she comes to see him as worthy ally and friend. The two save their universes, and go their seperate ways, promising to see each other again.

As a reformed rival and character foil to Sonic who he helps to grow past their flaws, I’d say she almost feels like Shadow, but better, at least in some ways. As the saviour of her world who fights her own alternate Eggman, she is effectively Sonic’s dimensional counterpart, making the contrast between their personalities much more interesting. And we get to see that arc followed up on in Sonic Rush Adventure. Here we enter the Sol Dimension, and we see Blaze in her element, using the lessons she learned from Sonic to be a better leader to her people in the fight against Captain Whisker (aka ‘Totally Not An Eggman Robot’). We all see she’s still making the effort to come out of her shell socially, as she gradually befriends the well meaning, if somewhat overbearing, Marine the Raccoon. Much like Tails in the Adventure games, Blaze’s arc feels like it carries on coherently across games, helping it feel like the game’s world, and the people within it, are progressing. It’s rare, but satisfying, when this somewhat slapdash franchise, can nail something like that.

As a character, Blaze almost feels immune to being badly portayed, or to fandom discourse. Her appearances, while rare, given that her position means she can’t show up often, are typically welcomed. Even in a panned game like Sonic 06, she somehow managed to be one of only fun characters to play. She’s the one character who almost everyone, no matter which sector of the fanbase you fit into, seems to like. And it’s not hard to see why. She’s one of the few playable female characters in the series. She’s a kickass, no nonesense character, who still is able to show a softer more caring side. Her powers are flashy and fun to watch. She has some of the best and most consistent writing in the series. She’s just so easy to like.

That being said, to briefly circle back, I do think Sonic 06 makes for a good statement as to why it’s okay that Blaze doesn’t show up that much. One of the few attempts to majorly incorporate Blaze into a mainline game outside the Rush duology, the game proceeded to completely rewrite Blaze’s backstory and undo her character arc, reducing her to a tag-along for the far less interesting Silver the Hedgehog, even trying to fridge her to advance his development. This pretty appalling handling of her character has been thankfully written out of canon by the game’s ending, and I, for one, am happy to pretend it never happened (though I’m left wondering why Sonic Team are still so insistent to push them as a duo despite that ending). Perhaps Blaze benefits from rarity for the same reason Gamma does. To relentlessly spam her with appearances would reduce what makes Blaze special. Her few roles have elevated her to a standout character of the franchise and maybe that’s enough.

Blaze may be a princess in canon, but in my eyes, she’s a full on queen, more than deserving of the top spot as the best Sonic character.

And with that, there’s our list. I hope you enjoyed this countdown of my favourites from the colourful cast of Sonic. I hope my takes won’t inspire too much controversy! And most of all, I hope you’re also looking forward to seeing some of these faces return in Sonic Frontiers this November! But until next time, take care!

#sonic the hedgehog #top 10 #character discussion #chaos 0 #metal sonic #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #e 102 gamma #dr eggman #blaze the cat

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