#would fighting against eggman

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Out of the grandmansters/egg bosses in the Archie comics, which one was your favorite?? It can be either from pre reboot or post reboot!

Hehehe unfortunately for you, anon, my fav becomes a grandmaster before the super genesis wave and therefore is my immediate first choice without contest

*Bangs fist on table* I love her so much

[screamsofanoutlawbrain]

Sonic au cause this has been marinating in my brain for over a week.

Basically, Queen Aleena (sonic's mom from sonic underground) but instead of being a queen, she's the guardian of the time stones on little planet (from sonic CD).

Her three triplets: Sonic, Moxie (Manic), and Scarlett (Sonia) all lived with her on little planet in peace until- oops! Eggman has killed her children and robotizied little planet. Aleena tries to turn back time with the time stones to save her children and the planet, and it fails, over, and over, and over. Until it ends up messing with time a bit, causing a young Sonic to wake up on a robot-less little planet, with only his medallion(from sonic underground) in his hand and faint memories in his mind, that he thinks are just dreams. (Basically Aleena accidentally pulled a Dr Gaster and is stuck in the limbo of time)

Then Sonic leaves for Earth and the current Sonic cannon told through the games occurs. After a while (a little after sonic cd takes place) Moxie wakes on little planet, medallion in hand but a bit more convinced his faint memories are real, then Scarlett wakes a while later, medallion and faint memories in tow. Moxie and Scarlett reunite, declare each other family, and chill on little planet.

After an even longer time, Aleena wakes next to the time stones on little planet, memories fully intact and released from time limbo. She reunites with Moxie and Scarlett, and the two triplets go to Earth to search for their brother, Aleena staying behind to guard the time stones.

Through various highginks and adventures while getting used to city life, Scarlett and Moxie find and meet Sonic and Tails, and Sonic realizes that those faint memories of a past are real. Tails is immediately recognized as family, no questions asked. Soon the triplets and Tails go to see Aleena on little planet, and they reunite, (Tails is further recognized as family by Aleena).

TLDR: Single mother and time stone protector Aleena the hedgehog goes through so much suffering and timeline breaking to make sure her planet and children are alive, succeeds, and adopts another child.

[rainbow-beanie]

Even a month after reading it, I’m still taken aback by how dark the metal virus arc was, cause not only did all the main characters go through tons of grief, but we also see a glimpse into how other characters feel that aren’t apart of the main cast.

The poor girl, who knew she was infected, and despite that she tried and pleaded not to be left alone, cause the world was falling apart, she was losing everyone she loved, and she was scared. So the last thing she wanted was to be alone. Seeing this kind of feeling displayed in a sonic comic of all things filled me with dread, cause it felt oh so realistic, cause I know people in rl would react the same way.

What makes it worse is that she was screaming and crying up until vector, who definitely didn’t want to do this, but knew that if he didn’t, more people would be hurt, picked up a car and slammed it onto her, crushing her. And if she hadn’t turned into a sombot after this point, that impact would have killed her.

[son1c]

eggman got a double win by allowing sonic to act on his normal personality and protect the badniks at scrap brain btw cuz like yes it will save him time and money and resources from not having to replace them all the time anymore but also because if he forced sonic to stand there and do nothing while those little guys got hurt/broken/etc then let's just say sonic would have set a new world record speedrun for clawing his way out of empire programming

[true-blue-sonic]

I'm fascinated to know more about Silver's relationship with Eggman Nega. Not only is Eggman Nega one of the most evil people in the series with a twisted sociopathic personality that directly contrasts Silver's but his existence means that even in the peaceful future Silver has been fighting a great enemy by himself for a long time.

Eggman Nega is a contested villain for many, but he indeed intrigues me as well. What I find interesting about Eggman Nega is that he clearly is pissed about Eggman's conga line of failures and busted world domination attempts ever since meeting Sonic, the ramifications of which apparently are still noticeable for the Robotniks 200 years later. And instead of trying to move away from his ancestor's legacy and showing the world that he has worth and intelligence galore as his own person, Eggman Nega bitterly links himself to Eggman all the same by seeing his destiny as being denied and doing anything he can to bring a change to it. He and Eggman are so the same it is almost painfully ironically hilarious: they're both impatient and hotblooded manchildren who thinks everything should revolve around them and the world should be grovelling in awe of just how amazing they are, Eggman is simply much more bombastic and allegedly somewhat more rational on top. Meanwhile, the moment the change he desires goes wrong for him, Eggman Nega decides that if he can't have nice things, no-one can...

It's an interesting contrast with Silver and Silver's selflessness. Silver would do anything to help another person, and often puts himself in a position wherein he places world-saving on solely his own shoulders if he can. If you need anything, no matter what it is, Silver will drop all he is doing to aid you. Eggman Nega meanwhile is wicked to his core, and everything he does is for personal benefits only. I find it interesting as well that Silver in Rivals never even hints at there being another force to keep Eggman Nega in line, like GUN or a government or something. It's just this fourteen-year-old fighting against a depraved and unhinged madman whose desire for vengeance can get overshadowed in the blink of an eye with a desire to just destroy everything, solely because he can and wants to. Perhaps that is also a contrast between Eggman Nega and Silver: Silver can be short-sighted and rash, but I was watching the Rivals 1 cutscenes from him yesterday, and he is shrewd. He directly concludes on situations based on the information he has, and he is both correct and his line of reasoning based on what he knows checks out. Silver appears dumb and fool-hearty, but he can be quite the opposite, with a perceptiveness you would not give him if you just came across him. Eggman Nega meanwhile appears very well-put-together and intelligent, giving off the 'always a step ahead' vibes easily. But he tends to oversee small details, talks FAR too much (one time in Rivals he literally says he'll use Metal Sonic (iirc) to buy him time to sneak away), and makes grave mistakes that come back to bite him down the line due to simply being careless. To generalise, Silver appears dumb but is not, Eggman Nega appears intelligent but is not.

As for the future, Eggman Nega seems to be someone who always comes back from the brink, just like Eggman: I get the feeling he might not be stuck in the Ifrit's dimension anymore, and if he goes back to Silver's era it will be with a vengeance. But I also think Silver is willing to carry that burden if it means the world will be safe. In Rivals he seems to have been archnemeses with Eggman Nega a long time (or at least he's been chasing after Nega a long time, iirc), and I doubt either will ever consider giving up before they got what they wanted!

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

OK Guys. I get the skepticism esp after the Knuckles disaster, but we also need to keep in mind "this is a trailer that won't spoil literally everything about the movie." ESPECIALLY in regards to GUN. They're not gonna put in the trailer "the military shot a little girl and that's why Shadow is mad so Sonic is going to never work with them ever." That's a great way to get parents to bring their kids to the theater, especially in America. (/s)

It's WAY more effective as a plot twist halfway through, where Sonic thinks that he's finally being accepted onto Earth via working with the government only to find out that they're exploiting him and Shadow the same. I can't guarantee this is gonna happen obviously but it's like a 90% chance just knowing how, like. writing works.

Esp considering the government has not had a good track record in the last two movies, I dunno if they'd do a heel-face turn into "actually they were always right" in the movie where a little girl needs to get shot by the government.

And I'm not gonna say "trust and form a parasocial relationship with a film director" but we should keep in mind that Jeff Fowler got his start working on Shadow's title game and has stated in interviews that he understands how important Shadow's backstory is to his character. Not to mention how the internet has been exploding the last two years with enthusiasm over this story actually getting shown onscreen, enough that a studio would fucking notice at the very least that this is what the people want. I can't guarantee they'll actually listen, but saying that they're absolutely not because "Sonic was in a GUN helicopter in the trailer" is insane. Especially with the fact that GUN is not with Sonic when he goes to Eggman. We just see Team Sonic alone meeting with Stone, and I will bet you it's because there's no way in hell GUN would let them near him, what with the Robotnik connections to the ARK.

Also the Gerald thing is rather worrying, esp with the lack of shit they gave Pachacamac in the miniseries, but honestly I think that was just a marketing push of "Jim Carrey will be playing TWO characters!!!" Considering he's only seen in one trailer scene AT the ARK (where all of Gerald's technology was and, more importantly, where the Eclipse cannon he needs someone to set off is) AND we know from movie 2's credits scene that there was a fifty-year timeskip, I severely doubt that's the real Gerald who's just completely unaffected by his granddaughter being murdered.

And ofc there's things to be concerned about in the trailer. The lack of Rouge for instance– I obviously keep posting my theory that Krysten Ritter's character will be her undercover but the fact we don't know how much time she'd actually have with Shadow, if at ALL, is worrying. The fact that Rouge might not be here period. The weird pacing of the Knuckles show and the fear that could bleed over into the movie. But there's also stuff to get excited about– the epic fight scene choreography, the brief glimpse we got of Maria and Shadow's bond. Reeves's voice actually fits Shadow and at least from what the trailer showed us it looks like the Green Hills storyline is taking a backseat to the action and mystery of Project Shadow.

tl;dr guys calm down for like five minutes. if the movie sucks in december we can riot then. right now let's just band together against mufasa

[astral-multiverse]

The Rise of the Archie Team Trinity

@smashingveteransandnewcomers

Everyone knows how Team Trinity met and started back in the ol' classic days and how they grew up into some of the most well known and powerful heroes to fight against the Eggman Empire. But as per usual, there are always different universes for every main universe. And this universe has Team Trinity meet in entirety different ways and has them join the Freedom Fighters in their fight against the Robotnik Empire. We start with Dr. Ivo Robotnik at his desk, working on his next big plan

"Ivo dear, Badnik and SWAT Bot production is making great progress thanks to Omelette's efforts" Dr. Shelly Blanche said as she entered the room, with a robotic Cluck on her shoulder

"Excellent...! I knew she wouldn't disappoint. And your experiments?" Robotnik asked

"I'm using some of the Mobians we captured to run some tests and so far, all I managed to do was make a rabbit with a rubberhose body... But I did make an interesting concoction I think you would love~ Snively, be a doll and bring in that beaker I just whipped up" Shelly responded

[essycogany]

Sonic As A Villain

I don’t have a name for him, but this is my interpretation of Sonic as a villain. Here’s a hint, imagine if you noticed it, but not through his personality.

I’ve seen many interpretations of Sonic as a villain and instead of having him be a Sonic but on a bad day like Scourge. Sonic but dark and more violent like in Sonic X. Or Sonic but insane like Fleetway or Chaos Sonic, let’s have something different.

Have you ever noticed how Sonic can always manipulate a situation? He does it a bunch when he fights or interacts with people. It’s almost never in a negative way, but it does come across as a bit prideful and egotistical. Usually everything ends up going his way or has to go his way.

I believe if Sonic was ever to be a villain, he’d be a master manipulator. Funnily enough Sonic barely ever lies about things in most continuities, but at the same time is able to trick people or bend things to his will whenever he needs to. I’d like to think a villainous Sonic would be perceived as a good guy. Like standing up for Tails, but instead of moving on and letting Tails join him, Sonic manipulates Tails into beating up the bullies who bullied him.

He’d make Amy feel as if she doesn’t need to fend for herself and tell her to rely on him whenever she needs help. Or tell Knuckles to never trust anyone or ends up not inspiring him, so Knuckles stays antagonistic and untrusting. He’d inspire people to be the worst versions of themselves. Therefore creating a toxic atmosphere. Ideas like that.

This Sonic would be one who’d not care about being famous or rule over anything like a dictator. He’s like normal Sonic in a sense that he goes by his own rules, but it’d be for the worst intentions. He also takes advantage that he’s fast and uses his speed as a weapon. Destroying homes, pulling pranks, stealing, messing up the ecosystem, and all that jazz. He might save the world if it meant he didn’t have to die. But he doesn’t care if some Egg-shaped scientist is destroying the world. As long as he’s not bothering Sonic, why should he care? If he does go against Eggman or any other villains, he’d most likely kill them on the spot. Not out of heroism, but just out of spite. He doesn’t like being bothered.

When he says he doesn’t mind being the bad guy, he means it literally. He’d lack the emotional depth Sonic has and be a caricature of the “Cool guy being a jerk” trope. He doesn’t care if he’s seen as evil or not. He just likes causing mischief. No tragic backstory for him. Sonic’s the way he is because he chooses to be. That includes when he’s the bad guy.

He could act like a good guy in front of a crowd, but in reality, he’s causing the issues people believe he’s saved them from. All you gotta do with an evil version of him is turn his best/worst attributes of his personality and crank them to 100. He doesn’t have to be wild and crazy about it. He’d be just as chill and laid back as normal Sonic. Except he enjoys the chaos around him. Unlike other evil interpretations he’s the most similar to normal Sonic. And it makes things so much worse when he causes problems.

This isn’t the perfect idea, but I do like the concept of Sonic but evil in a way that almost doesn’t change his morals/personality.

[xcherricutie]

๋࣭ ⭑⚝ shit sandwich ᯓ★

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[Shadow the Hedgehog × Reader]

[Word Count - 2k]

[Summary - Forced to become a villain, you think your life is completely over, but a certain hedgehog shows you otherwise]

[Tags: Swearing. Idk if you could tell by the title but there's a lot of swearing. Shadow drops an F NUKE. Reader is written as a female human, but you can read however you like, it's never mentioned. Pretty platonic, mostly just the reader and Shadow bonding over their misery]

[Notes: I'm gonna be honest, Shadow is super OOC in this, I was kinda just having fun. I was listening to Loser, Baby from Hazbin Hotel while looking for oneshot ideas, and this came to me. I haven't written Shadow, or even played any games featuring him aside from SA2 in a while, so he might act a little silly goofy. I also wrote this in one night and it's 2 am so y'know]

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It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You had a life once, hopes and dreams that you aspired for. You didn’t ever let life get you down, always looking on the positive side. And you felt like you were actually doing pretty good in life. You had your own home, friends and family. You felt like you were at the top of the world. You didn’t think anything could take you down, turn your world upside down. 

And then he appeared. Just plucked you up from the streets as you were walking home one day. Told you no one would miss you, that he was doing you a favor. In one fell swoop, your whole life had been ripped from your grasp, and you lost everything, at the hands of the mad scientist, Doctor Eggman. 

He had promised you a better life, said you were the first in a series of experiments to create artificial life. He had stripped away your humanity, turned you into a monster for his own use. He turned you against your own friends and family and forced you to attack your hometown as a “starting point”. You were his very first biotechnical android, trapped by the code he put in you, turning you into just another villain for his archenemy to take down. Your doom had already been sealed the moment he took you that fateful day, and the only thing you could do was watch. 

You let out a pained cry as your back hit the wall of a dark alleyway. As you slid to the ground, your bleary vision landed on the silhouette stretching before your feet, the moonlight casting the shadow of your foe. You tilted your head up, ignoring the pain that shot through your back and neck, your eyes immediately drawing to the bright red pools glaring down at you. You knew you were dead the moment you had become an android, but it was just your luck that you were up against the morally grey side of the hedgehog counterparts. Shadow the Hedgehog, once someone who had worked alongside the Doctor, now someone who went around destroying everything related to the Doctor, regardless of innocence. Not that you were innocent anymore, you knew you had to accept your fate, but Shadow didn’t make it any easier. 

You didn’t even bother trying to speak on your behalf. You were fully capable of it, you had freedom on that part. The only thing in your life you couldn’t control was the strong urge to destroy everything in your path. You couldn’t resist it; it was in your own coding to destroy without regard. So there was no point in trying to prove your own innocence. 

You couldn’t even fight anymore, Shadow had made certain of that. With your eye blackened and swollen, your bones ached and begged for you to stay down. Every twitch of your muscles made them throb, leaving you to lay on the ground, waiting for what you could only hope to be a swift end. But it seemed your luck wouldn’t allow that, as the sound of his approaching footsteps stopped just before you. 

You forced your head to lift just enough to see what the holdup was, brows furrowed in confusion as you looked up to see his face. The moonlight shone down through the cloudy sky, his body blocking the light from you, surrounding you in his cold silhouette. But through the darkness, you could see his bright red eyes, and the confusion in them. 

“Why?” 

You almost didn’t catch his singular word of question. Blinking, you looked up at him with wide eyes, your mind disoriented and foggy. You had even begun to wonder if you had imagined it, until you heard his gruff voice speak up, much more annoyed this time. 

“Why are you doing this? You look like just a regular person, you don’t have any business with the Doctor,” Shadow spoke, bending slightly at the hips, staring into your eyes. You could only look up at him in shock, astounded that he would even take the time to ask you such a question. From everything you had heard about Shadow, he wasn’t one to ask questions. He was more the type to act first, ask questions later, or so you had assumed. What was so different now? 

“Don’t make me ask again.” Shadow’s eyes squinted, his patience quickly thinning. You swallowed thickly, taking in a quick, shaky breath. You had your opportunity to explain yourself, so why? Why were you hesitating? 

You had nothing to return to. Even if you somehow got out of the situation you were in, you had nothing left. Your friends and family were gone, running away from you. Your home was gone, your whole life was gone. This was all you had left, all you were. The villain you had been forced to become had consumed you and became your entire identity. 

You didn’t even realize your cheeks were soaked with tears until you choked on a sob, squeezing your eyes shut as you turned your head away in shame. You didn’t have any right to shed tears, you were a horrible person, weren’t you? Even if you were forced, even if you tried to resist, you had still done bad things. You still had to accept your responsibilities and let go of the hope that you could go back to your old life. 

Shadow’s eyes widened as he watched you turn away, raising a shaky hand to your face, trying to wipe away your tears. He couldn’t wrap his mind around you, around why you were like this. You showed up without warning some time back, going around city to city just destroying with reckless abandon. Or so that was how it had seemed at the time, but with the way you were breaking down in front of him now, he had his doubts that you enjoyed it or even wanted it. 

“You don’t want to, do you?” 

Your hands slowed to a stop as you looked up at Shadow, your tears streaming freely now. Hesitantly, you shook your head, unable to open your mouth. You were surprised he had even deduced that much, but then again, Shadow had been defying your expectations since the second you met him. 

Shadow sucked in a deep breath as he stood up straight, before looking down at you with what you thought was an almost sympathetic look. Your eyes widened as a hand was suddenly stretched outward to you, your gaze snapping between the hand and Shadow’s eyes. You only took the hand when you noticed Shadow’s growing impatience, his eye twitching with irritation. 

“What did he do to you?” Shadow asked, pulling you up and onto your feet, leading you out onto the sidewalk. You rubbed your arm nervously, tempted to just make a run for it, knowing you were stuck like this no matter what. The look Shadow gave you told you it was a bad idea to even think about trying, making you exhale in enervation. 

“Turned me into an android,” You muttered, avoiding Shadow’s gaze. You closed your eyes, as if to try and block out the world, your voice barely above a whisper. “I can’t control it. Sometimes, it’s just an accident. Sometimes, he forcefully directs me towards places he wants gone. I was just a normal person before he took me away from my home. I can’t go back even if I wanted to, he made me destroy everything I cared about.” 

You didn’t open your eyes to see his reaction. You didn’t care to see it; you didn’t want to see the pity in his eyes. You didn’t want your enemy pitying you, unable to help you. What could he do? Besides destroying you, there was nothing Shadow could do to help you, as far as you were aware. 

“Your whole existence seems fuckin’ hopeless,” Shadow muttered, making your eyes snap wide open as you looked down at him, completely dumbfounded. You didn’t think you’d ever heard anything quite as rude as the words that had just come from his mouth. You could feel yourself bristle as your fists clenched, nearly splitting at the seams with anger when Shadow’s voice dragged you from your violence-filled thoughts. “You think your life is wrecked, huh?” 

Your eye twitched with anger, rolling your eyes heavily as you slumped down onto the edge of the sidewalk, your muscles aching too much to care about fighting him. Just as you sat down though, you felt Shadow’s presence just behind you, an almost evil smirk pulling at his lips as he bent down to your level. 

“Well, let me just say, you’re correct,” 

“Wait, what?” You looked back at Shadow with wide eyes, your gaze lifting from his shoes as he backed up, up to the small smirk on his face as you met his stare. 

“You’re a loser, a fucked up whiny bitch,” Shadow’s grin grew almost sadistically as he noticed you flare up with anger, your fists clenched as you tried to get up, your tired muscles keeping you down. However, just as you had begun to turn away and ignore him, you heard his voice drop to a mumble. “You’re a loser, just like me.” 

Slightly surprised, you tried to shrug it off as you hugged yourself, giving Shadow the middle finger as you faced away from him. “Thanks, asshole.” 

Shadow rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips, an odd feeling blooming within him. He didn’t think he’d ever relate to anyone’s situation, let alone sympathize, but he supposed there was a first time for everything. 

“There was a time I thought no one could relate to me, but letting walls down can sometimes set you straight,” Shadow stood beside you, shooting you a small smile, as if to comfort you. But the glint of sadism hadn’t quite faded as his canines flashed. “We’re all living in the same shit sandwich.” 

You looked up at Shadow in shock, before an almost airy feeling washed over you, a giggle escaping your lips. And just like that, you had completely forgotten why you were mad in the first place, returning the smile as Shadow sat beside you. 

As the silence filled the air once more, your gaze was turned onto the full moon in the sky, basking in its cool blue hues of light. You sighed deeply, eyes drifting shut as you hung your head down. “I’m trapped and it gets worse with every hour.” 

Shadow stared down at your small, miserable form, before his eyes jumped to something in the distance, avoiding you as he spoke. “You’re a loser...” 

Shadow watched you bristle in the corner of his eye, making him smile as he continued. “But just maybe, if we eat shit together, things will end up differently.” 

And just as soon as he had angered you, Shadow had somehow stunned you into silence, your eyes staring into his. Your silence dragged on for an awkward moment, as if waiting for him to say some new obscenity to anger you, but it never came. You rolled your eyes, scoffing as you smiled. 

“You know, you make a pretty shitty friend,” You said, your words making Shadow chuckle softly. 

“So I’ve heard. But I mean it,” The smile on Shadow’s face faded as he turned to you, looking you directly in the eye. “I can find you the help you deserve. You shouldn’t have to be forced into a life of servitude for that man, and I’ll make sure you can get back a better life.” 

Shadow stood up, holding a hand out to you. But this time, you didn’t hesitate or think about it, placing your hand in his own, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips. Once again, Shadow had defied your expectations, pleasantly surprising you with his odd offer of something akin to a friendship. 

Perhaps it wasn’t meant to be like this in the beginning. You had never intended for your life to go this direction, but maybe it didn’t have to be so bad now. You had finally found the positive side, and had something to look forward to again, alongside your new friend, Shadow the Hedgehog.

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[harbinger-of-chaossss]

What I think your favourite sonic character says about you!

Sonic- you need therapy

Tails- Your an older sibling who feels 6 years old in their 20’s

Knuckles- you complain that nobody appreciates him enough. And you’d be correct.

Amy- you could give me a 3 hour video essay on an oddly specific historical subject and you’d have my full attention

Cream- you say you don’t like kids but then you cry every time you see a kid in fiction because you’re scared that anything or everything bad will happen. (the embodiment of that “if anything happens to them I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself” meme)

Big the cat- you scare me in a way that shouldn’t even exist

Shadow- You are so right (please kiss me on the mouth)

Rouge- you ether like her way to much. Or you like her way to much.

Omega- haha. Bomb.

Silver- You believe you’d be able to win a fight against anyone who would make fun of your friends, but would cry if you had to make plans over the phone.

Blaze- your handwriting and craftsmanship with making art and stories always comes to amaze me. Like you know when you join a fandom and see the most breathtaking fic or art. Like how is it not in a museum, or a best selling novel, that’s how I feel about your art/writing.

Metal- ok you’re a NERD nerd. Like you’ve been a fan of sonic since you were 8, you played a lot of the games, you own at least a couple comics and figures. This franchise is ingrained in your BLOOD.

Eggman- wow that’s really interes- *pepper-sprays you in the eyes*

Charmy- you were either the really annoying kid and proud, or stuck using millennial/ tumblr slang 24/7, Or both.

Espio- what’s it like only shipping rear pairs

Vector- your to swag to exist. Like there are at least 50 people you’ve had minor interactions with in real life who now have that interaction in their long term memory just because of how cool you were. What are you even doing here man? Go outside!

[randomthefox]

FIRST THING TO NOTE: this appears to be ON the ARK itself? Note the upsidedown buildings and what appears to be the planet earth in the lower left through the window. Eggmans logo is on the ground through. He must have set up shop. Also note "escape hatch" and "drone launch key" on the screen.

Shadow was engineered to be an "ageless".... "living weapon." Confirming Shadow is functionally immortal, and was designed for combat purposes. Obviously that's what GUN wanted him to be, but Gerald created him for the purposes of curing Maria as the video states later.

"Air Shoes"

Explicitly stating that it is DUE TO THE SHOES that Shadow is as fast as Sonic.

Also stating that Shadow is JUST AS STRONG as Sonic. Not due to the shoes though.

The Chaos Spear is an attack where Shadow THROWS BOLTS OF ENERGY. He does not WIELD A SPEAR in his HANDS.

cough cough.

This video contained ZERO screenshots of the comics, btw. Much to my immense satisfaction.

Shadow's wrist rings are his "Limiter Rings" which "keep his power in check." When he takes them off he is "virtually unstoppable." So it would be really idiotic and inaccurate if he were to, for example, take them off only to then be mobbed by zombies and get infected anyway. One might say.

Anyway Shadow has literally only popped the limiters off on screen once in the entire series. I should note that he specifically did NOT remove them during the fight against the Final Hazard, considering Sonic has one of them with him when he returns to the ARK and hands it to Rouge, which would have been impossible for him to acquire if Shadow removed them during the fight. Sonic definitely got his hands on it while grabbing Shadow by the wrist before he plummeted into the atmosphere (the Twitter Takeover confirms this). I only bring this up because he DOES remove them in Sonic X, and some people seem to think that anime supersedes the video games for some reason.

Chaos Control is only done by "tapping into the power of a chaos emerald" and allows the user to "warp space and time, moving freely." This is an incredibly vague and ambiguous description, because Chaos Control is an incredibly vague and ambiguous ability lol. Also note Eggman states he is trying to replicate the technique, because Chaos Control is NOT UNIQUE to Shadow or hedgehogs specifically. Theoretically, anybody could tap into the power of a chaos emerald in order to do it. Metal Sonic for example uses Chaos Control during the Metal Overlord fight in Sonic Heroes.

Shadow "only wanted to live in peace" alongside Maria. Ironically in the very scene that is being used during this dialog, Shadow very specifically questions the purpose of his existence and wants to visit Earth to try and find meaning. These two statements are not necessarily mutually exclusive since surely Shadow intended to visit Earth alongside Maria.

GUN wanted to "erase all the evidence" of Project Shadow, and "silenced anyone who knew about him." Probably explains why they'd bother killing an innocent girl who was terminal anyway.

Eggman also "takes it personally" that they killed his cousin despite "never knowing her." I would once again argue the phrasing of "never knew her" would imply they were contemporary with each other, that'd be a weird way to describe somebody who died before you were born. He also clearly "took it personally" that a member of his family and carrier of the Robotnik family name was killed for the sake of covering up his brilliant grandfather who he admired's project. Again, note the phrasing: he took it PERSONALLY. Maria's death is ALL ABOUT HIM and how HE feels about it. An attack on a member of his family is something he feels is an affront to HIM personally.

Shadow "prowls the globe" to protect it against any threats to the world. Particularly targeting Eggman and destroying his armies routinely.

Also of note the video ONLY uses footage from the video games including Sonic Battle - nothing from Sonic Prime or the IDW Comics was used visually or even referenced.

[atwas-gaming]

Sonic Movie 3 Preliminary Predictions

I saved the craziest one for last:

This COULD be Shadow and Gerald bending over Maria's body, but that doesn't sound right to me.

The Ark is big enough to hold large vehicles like this:

But I think a battle big enough to leave this kind of wreckage might do major structural damage to the Ark.

Also, if this is when Maria died, wouldn't the GUN soldiers be aiming AT Shadow and Gerald? Looks to me like they're aiming past them, at something in the distance.

And look at the body. I think I can make out what looks like a very round, small head:

Could this be Sonic's body? Do they think he died in the final battle?

Because all we've seen in the trailer is Shadow as a supervillain, and that is NOT who Shadow is.

Black-hearted evil, Brave-hearted hero, I am all, I am all I am.

Look, Eggman might be working with Team Sonic for a time...

But he's gonna turn on them all. "If I can't rule the world, I might as well save it!" Yeah, sure, Eggface, just saving your own butt, and the second you find an opportunity to try to rule the world, you're taking it. Because that's what Eggman ALWAYS does. His ONLY purpose in life is trying to rule the world.

He wants POWER. He's gonna take that thing and do something with it. And while I like the theory that he's building a Metal Sonic with it, we clearly won't see it in this movie. (Maybe movie 4...?)

But I think I do know what he IS gonna build in this one:

Look behind Tails.

See it? Most prominently on the right side?

The MOUSTACHE?!?

It's the DEATH EGG.

So Robotnik's gonna build the Death Egg, Team Sonic's gonna have to fight him, and somehow, Shadow's gonna realize he has to join Team Sonic.

Not really surprising, that's usually the gist of every game with Shadow in it. But I gotta wonder why I haven't seen anyone talk about that shot of the Death Egg. I KNOW y'all have been analyzing the trailer frame-by-frame. I must just be missing the discussion somehow. I even googled "sonic movie 3 death egg" and got nuthin.

(My theory is that Eggman's gonna turn the Ark into the Death Egg, but we'll have to wait and see.)

This calls into question lines like "when we're done, there won't be anything left," and "what I had to."

What's Shadow gonna do???

And does it have anything to do with this?

Why are they tied up like that??? If that is, as I've seen people say, not a black hole, but rather a ring portal that Shadow opened into space, then I can't imagine Shadow gave enough warning for these three to tie themselves down.

So what if they were tied down in preparation for Shadow opening this ring portal as part of the final battle against the Death Egg? Maybe to suck Eggman's robots off the planet or something?

Notice that there's no humans in this picture, either. My guess is that they got Tom and Maddie and GUN crew out of the area before Shadow opened the portal. Because Sonic and Co. can survive in space, but nothing else can.

With only 2 minutes of the movie currently at our disposal, it's impossible at this point to be certain of anything about the overall plot. But I know what Shadow and Eggman are both like, and the trailer is leaving out half their characters. Unless the plot goes completely off the rails and totally disregards every bit of character building Shadow ever had in the games, he IS gonna join Team Sonic, and there WILL be a final battle against Eggman.

If only because he promised Maria that he would protect Earth.

[theartistisme43]

TW: GUNS AND VIOLENCE

Chapter One: The Worst Can Happen Faster Than A…

BANG!

The sudden sound of a gunshot and a thud filled SMG3’s already ringing ears, cutting through his unresponsive state like a knife as it brought him back to reality hard.

His crimson eyes refocused, and widened as they were downcast towards his feet, his feet that were speckled with red… Not red, he realized, blood…

SMG3 followed the peppered liquid with his eyes, from his shoes, to the floor… to…

…

SMG4…

The blue meme guardian’s back was against the kitchen counter, tomato soop laying in a heap next to his foot. 4’s terrified yet bloodshot eyes pierced into 3, quiet sounds of pain escaping him as an ugly bullet wound was buried deep in his upper right pectoral, right where his shoulder and torso met. His overalls were ruined now, the right strap being damaged by the gunshot as well.

SMG4 couldn’t bring himself to say anything as the adrenaline was wearing off…

The clicking of metal distracted SMG3, and his own terrified eyes looked down to see a smoking gun in his hands. A sharp gasp escaped him as he dropped it to the floor with a clatter.

Nausea and panic overcame SMG3 as he realized what he had done, he truly, actually, shot his ex rival. It wasn’t a nightmare, it was real, and SMG4’s blood caked his hands.

4’s glazed eyes slowly looked past him, at something behind him… 3 didn’t turn around, he couldn’t bring himself to.

A horrible sound came from his throat as he tried to force himself to speak, only managing a few sharp breaths before he finally used his voice.

“…M-m…ario…”

That was it, and 4 finally passed out, falling onto the ground as blood leaked onto it from his wound.

When he did, SMG3 somehow got himself to turn, looking back to see the shocked face of Mario, that face quickly turning into one of devastation.

“SMG4!!” Mario screamed out, with more emotion than 3 had ever heard from him.

The plumber in red quickly ran to his friend, kneeling beside him as 4’s blood stained his gloves as he brought him close.

“Wh-what happened?! Who did this to you?!” Mario cried out, soon being shocked into silence as his eyes were laid upon the gun next to 3’s foot.

Those eyes that were full of panic were soon clouded by betrayal and hatred as he bore into SMG3 mercilessly.

“…You….” Mario hissed, the rage in his voice was enough to make anyone run for the hills.

“YOU DID THIS!”

“I-I- I didn’t…” SMG3’s own voice was failing him as he slowly backed away towards the door.

The door that was open.

“Oh my god! SMG4!” Meggy shoved past him as she ran to join her brothers.

Meggy hurriedly pulled out her phone, shakily dialing 911 as she took in 4’s injuries with panicked breaths.

An operator seemingly got back to her as she tried her best to help 4. “My friend’s been shot! Please send an ambulance right away! There’s a bullet in his left pectoral and…”

Meggy took notice of the gun like Mario did, what was once panic was now rage as she found her shaky voice again.

“…The person who shot him is a man wearing purple, he’s got red eyes and facial hair and…”

Meggy’s description of SMG3 to the police went unheard as he began hyperventilating, making a run for it out of the castle. As he did, Eggman watched, stunned… Then pleased.

3 couldn’t go to his cafe, that place would be dangerous to return to in a moment, now that the police knew of him… He could never go back.

The forest was his best option, it went on for miles and was pretty much barren, the only things living out here were wild animals and the occasional meme.

That’s exactly where he went, making sure to zigzag so he wouldn’t be headed in a straight line and easier to find.

SMG3 ran until his feet hurt, falling to his knees when he couldn’t run anymore. As he panted heavily, droplets of water fell onto his gloves, causing him to reach up to his cheek.

3 was crying.

He couldn’t fight his emotions and gave in as a strong feeling of guilt came over him, he ruined everything with SMG4 and his friends just because Eggman got in his head!

3 sobbed hard, punching the ground.

As he gave into his anguish, there was a thought in the back of his mind.

“Now, now… Pick yourself up, you crybaby. There’s so much more for you to do.”

3 glared, not giving into the thought.

“Get up and stand, wimp. You finally took out your rival!” The thought declared. “This is something you wanted for years, and now that you finally have it, you’re going to cry about it!?”

SMG3 glared through the tears, “I never wanted this…”

The thought… Chuckled?…

“Damn right you didn’t.” It said with an air of malice. “I did.”

3’s mind went black as he went into an unresponsive state again.

“I’m sorry… I have to do this.” 3 heard his own voice speaking… But he wasn’t saying that!

…Was he?

The sound of an ambulance’s doors slamming shut echoed as a stretcher carrying SMG4 was unloaded, Mario and Meggy had hopped in to accompany their friend as they followed the paramedics inside.

SMG4 had been unconscious the second they found him, but they both could tell he was in pain from his wound. There was no shit about that… it hurt to look at.

The medics kept pressure on it to stop the bleeding as nurses joined them and took SMG4 into the emergency room, where Meggy and Mario won’t be allowed to follow. Mario tried so hard to go after him, but Meggy had to hold him back.

As she did, a familiar group came running in. Their friends…

“Meggy!” Saiko cried. “We’re here!”

Luigi ran over to them, and embraced his brother and sister, who hugged back.

“fratello, sorella, mi dispiace tanto…” He muttered. “You told us that SMG3… Sh-shot 4… Did he really?”

“I saw the gun next to his foot.” Mario said, his voice so cold that it made everyone shudder. “He-a dropped it when I came in.”

“I can’t believe it…” Boopkins muttered, staying close to Bob. “I thought they were friends…”

“Me ToO, LiTtLe BuDdy.” Bob muttered, carefully patting his head to comfort him. “BuT I gUeSs 3 dIdN’t ChAnGe AfTer aLl.”

Saiko growled, “I’m gonna go to that damn café of his and kick his ass!”

“Don’t bother.”

Everyone jumped at Hal Monitor’s voice.

“We checked the place top to bottom, even down to his ‘secret lair’. He’s completely abandoned that place, we’re keeping it under top surveillance if he decides to go back.”

Tari sighed, “This is all so terrible… I hope SMG4 will be okay..”

Meggy rubbed her shoulder to comfort her, “I know that no matter what happens, 4 will probably be scared and confused, we all have to be there for him at least until SMG3 gets locked up for what he’s done.” She glared at Hal. “And he better.”

Hal cowered slightly as they all murmur in agreement.

“We’re gonna do everything we can for him. Right Mario?”

Mario didn’t respond as he looked away from all of them.

Meggy approached him. “…Right Mario?”

Mario turned towards his group of friends, with a look so sinister, so hateful, that nearly everyone paled at the sight of his face.

“He will pay for what he’s done.. No matter what I have to do to make that happen…”

[nightfurylover31]

Maybe it’s an odd time to bring it up, but it is Valentine’s Day. Sonamy and Sonally have been one of the biggest ship wars in the franchise. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be as much of a thing as it used to be, but there is still occasional bashing or something. After some deep thought, I think I came up with an answer to make both sides happy.

It has nothing to do with Amy or Sally. It depends on the VERSION of Sonic.

When you think about it, Archie/SatAM Sonic and Mainline Sonic are actually pretty different. With SatAM and Archie, Sonic was born in a monarchy and had a steady home, even when fighting in a war. He’s used to being in one place. He also fought Robonik/Eggman because he had to, freeing the planet and restoring the kingdom. As for the games and IDW, Sonic travels the world and fights Eggman because he wants to, not because he has to. It may not seem like much, but they are key factors. These different lifestyles show more of who would be a better partner for him. Sally has responsibilities as a princess and leader. Even if Eggman is defeated for good, she will still be bound to these duties. Amy, on the other hand, is more adventurous and loves trying new things. She may settle down at times, but she still loves to travel. Both girls are compassionate and ready to help others and can even take the lead when they have to, but go about it in different ways. Sonally is a case of opposites attract and Sonamy is more kindred spirits.

While Sonic and Sally clash at times over how to plan, they work together to pull them off. They are more at ease when they don’t have to be on missions, and more overt about dating. They are also childhood friends in these continuities, knowing each other longer than their other friends. This led to their feelings becoming stronger over time. Sally has grown more into being on the battlefield, but usually works more behind the scenes or deals with the more technical or planning while Sonic takes most of the action.

Sonic and Amy both love adventure and sometimes act before they think. They also go out of their way to help others without a second thought. Amy may be a big romantic, but her relationship with Sonic nowadays is more on the subtle side and no less important and sweet. She used to chase after Sonic, but wasn’t so blinded to put her own desires ahead of others. Amy is also one of the first people Sonic met in his fights against Eggman. Amy also trained herself to be stronger to stand by Sonic’s side so she could protect him like how he protects her.

I do want to talk about the X Years Later/Light Mobius arcs in Archie. In that timeline, Sonic and Sally are married and rule as king and queen. While at times he’s not always happy with being king, he loves Sally enough to accept it. He was even willing to be her royal consort until they could be wed in Archie issue #124 (which is probably the most out of character moment compared to his game counterpart ever). And while we never see Amy in those arcs, Ian Flynn has said a few times on the Bumblekast he thinks Amy would be traveling around with the Time Stones. I thought that was a cool idea, and that feels more like the kind of life the mainline Sonic would want to have.

I kind of feel obliged to bring up Elise. Most people may not like it, and I prefer them as friends, but she was also written as a love interest. Anyway, in one scene Elise asks Sonic if he’ll leave after Dr. Eggman and his plans for Soleanna are stopped, which the hedgehog confirms. Despite what feelings he may have for Elise, he’s not going to give up his lifestyle just to be with her. And I do not mean to make it sound mean, it’s just who he is. A free spirit, free as the wind. And in Sonic and the Black Knight, he is revealed to be the true King Arthur, but he doesn’t accept it. He’s uncomfortable with how the other knights bow to him. I find it hard to believe this Sonic would want that kind of life for anyone, even if Sally was part of the main continuity. She wouldn't give up her duties for him either. A steady relationship or royal lifestyle just isn’t for Sonic’s game counterpart. In issue #2 of IDW, Amy knows Sonic can't be held down and respects his decisions. She loves Sonic for who he is and doesn’t want to change him. Instead, she’s fine with just going on adventures with him. Living in the moment. It’s not the life she initially wanted with him, but it’s enough for now. It does feel like they have become closer after Forces. The game was far from the best, but the premise of spending six month apart is a good way to build something up for them.

The reboot in Archie kind of proves this point about the relationships as well, albeit unintentionally. While the main reason is the new mandates were that game characters could not date, Sonic and Amy felt a lot closer than before. Sonic and Sally were also confirmed to only have a platonic relationship in the new timeline. This is due to Sonic’s past now being closer to his game counterpart rather than SatAM. He’s still part of the Freedom Fighters, but still has his world traveling roots. For example, he came to Mobotropolis after Eggman took over instead of living in the city at the time.

Sonamy and Sonally are both valid ships and deserve support. But don’t hate on the other when it’s the version of Sonic that truly matters for deciding who is the better match for him.

[shannonallaround]

ok but can we talk about Sonic's characterization in Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog for a minute?

Spoilers ahead

Sonic only appears in about a third of the Murder of Sonic game, but his characterization in there is one of my FAVORITE characterizations that I've seen in him in years. Yes, even slightly beating Frontiers (and I adore Frontiers, just for the record). Sonic here embodies all the things I love most in him. It's amazing. Here's a list of why he's great

He is unassuming.

From the very beginning of this game, Sonic is so humble. Like, actually humble.

When the conductor speaks with him and thanks him genuinely for fighting against Eggman, Sonic doesn't make a snarky face and be like "all in a day's work!" or something humble-braggy like that (which frankly is something I feel he would do in the comics). Instead, Sonic is surprised and genuinely expresses how it's no big deal and that he's just glad the conductor and his family are safe.

Sonic is just a guy who loves adventure. He's not trying to get attention or impress anybody—he's just happy people are safe and well. I love how that is shown here. He doesn't need to tell people how selfless and kind and good he is, he just is. Sonic doesn't need or want to tell people what he stands for. He doesn't care what others think. He doesn't think about his identity constantly; he just is. (In my opinion, people who feel the need to constantly tell you what their character is like rarely actually have the traits they describe. If they actually are those things, it will come out naturally in their speech and actions.) In this game, Sonic simply is. What is this, late 2000s Sonic?? It's amazing.

2. He is encouraging in a private way.

One of the biggest reasons Sonic felt off to me in Forces (even though I have a soft spot for that game) is because there, he constantly spouts off in a very public way stuff about friendship and not letting fear own you and how 'we can do anything if we stick together', etc. Sonic does believe all of those things, and he is definitely optimistic, but it's largely internal. It's instinctive. Sonic loves to encourage people around him, but he does it on an individual, one-on-one basis. He does this with Shahra in Secret Rings, with Merlina in Black Knight, regularly with Tails, and here with the main character when they get concerned about how they weren't assertive enough when they first felt Sonic was in danger.

Sonic doesn't just brush off the main character's concern either. He addresses and recognizes it for what it is, empathizing with them and helping them feel understood. Only after that does he recommend a way forward in his wonderful Sonic way, which encourages the main character and helps them find strength. It's so natural and it's awesome!

3. Sonic is selfless, also in an unassuming way.

When Sonic starts coming to, after briefly confirming Espio hit him with the dart (since Tails asked), Sonic instantly focuses on the safety of his friends.

He hasn't fully recovered yet at all and he IMMEDIATELY focuses on protecting his friends and it's AWESOME. He can't even fully speak at this point and just ajsahdfjadsjlajf. This aspect of Sonic is much more consistently done in the games and was beautifully done in Frontiers, so it's not nearly as big a deal here but I am still so happy about the consistency.

4. Sonic is SO AMAZING AND SWEET WITH HIS DEAR FRIEND AMY.

Need I say more? :)

This game was released as a joke, and yet it was incredible??? EVERYONE was so well characterized in this! I'm gonna be thinking about this game for a very long time.

If any of the creators see this, thank you so so SO much for making this game awesome! :D

[blueberry-lemon]

An introductory guide to getting into Sonic the Hedgehog...

…if you're a grown-ass adult who is busy and doesn't want to play a bunch of video games but thinks the characters look sorta cool.

If you've ever been curious about Sonic as a series but haven't known where to start, I have some recommendations! I think Sonic is a cool and still somewhat unique thing because it takes cartoony characters (like a Mickey Mouse or Felix the Cat) and lets them jump around in cool action sequences through the lens of a shonen anime. It's colorful and usually pretty light-hearted, and I think the character designs are pretty iconic.

There's two handy places you can start without prior context, to see if it's something you'd be into...

Getting Started: If You Wanna Read Something

The IDW Sonic Comics

There were years of different Sonic comics back in the '90s and early 2000's, but the franchise got a complete reboot and fresh start with IDW Publishing in 2018. If you're looking for the most straight-forward way to get into this world of characters, I think this is a great start. You don't need any prior knowledge whatsoever to crack open issue 1 and get started. All you need to know is "Sonic and his friends protect the world by fighting against an evil scientist named Dr. Eggman, who they just recently defeated after he briefly took over the world."

I love these comics and I feel that the writers and artists who work on it have a really good sense for this series. Reading issues 1 through 12 will get you the first major story arc. If you like it so far, I highly suggest reading up through issue 32, when another major story arc concludes. After that, the world's your oyster! Unlike the tangled web of Marvel or DC comics, IDW Sonic has a very simple and linear reading order. You pretty much just read the issues in order, and occasionally there are spinoff stories that are optional to read.

Getting Started: If You Wanna Watch Something

Sonic Mania Adventures

Maybe comics aren't your thing and you want something even quicker. These are a series of animated shorts that are lovely. Conveniently, they've been compiled together by Sega into one little video right here.

It's a great intro to some of the main characters, and combines cartoon slapstick with some amazing action sequences.

There's also a nice little epilogue short.

Sonic CD's intro cutscene

If I had to pick a single 1-and-a-half minute clip to embody what I like about this series, it would be this very simple intro movie that plays before Sonic CD. Check it out!

Sonic Origins/Sonic Origins Plus Cutscenes

In 2022, Sega released a compilation of the classic Genesis games on modern consoles. In it, they added a few animated cutscenes. You can watch those cutscenes, plus the Sonic CD intro and the Sonic Mania Adventures episodes, all compiled into one handy Youtube video.

Taking The Next Step: If You Wanna Read Something

The Archie Sonic Comics

You might have heard that Sonic had a comic series published by Archie Comics from 1992 to 2016. This was a vast, overarching series that wrote an original story by weaving together ideas from the different Sonic cartoons and games. It went through several different writers, many different artists, and obviously spanned over multiple eras of pop culture.

It's pretty cool! The fact that it was so long-running, and the fact that Sega wasn't very strict with what the writers could do, led to a lot of buckwild lore, new characters, and plot developments. That said, it's also pretty bizarre, complicated, corny, and cringey at times. There is a stretch in the middle that is pretty infamous among fans.

You have a few options for jumping in.

Option A: You can start at the very beginning and read all of it. If you do this, it is going to be like a One Piece / Homestuck / etc. kind of undertaking, and you're going to be pushing through the good and the bad of huge genre and tone shifts. That's your call!

Option B: You can brush up on the main characters on a wiki and then start at Issue 160, when Ian Flynn (who now does a lot of work on IDW Sonic) became the lead writer. More specifically, you can jump in at the start of a new story arc by starting at Issue 175.

Option C: You can start at Issue 252, when there is a universe-altering event that essentially retcons all of the characters and plot threads from the previous writers and starts completely fresh. Easier to keep track of and you won't have to worry about all the previous plot and lore.

If you want something you can read in a single sitting, you should instead read Sonic: Mega Drive, a short-lived miniseries published by Archie that follows "Classic Sonic" characters (aka, the same vibe and art style of Sonic Origins, Sonic Mania Adventures, etc.) It's really great!

Taking The Next Step: If You Wanna Watch Something

Sonic the Hedgehog (OVA) aka "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie" (1996)

This is, essentially, a 1-hour Sonic anime movie. You can watch it in Japanese or in English. I adore it. It makes up its own lore and continuity so you don't need to know anything before going in, besides generally knowing a one-sentence synopsis of who Sonic, Tails, and Dr. Robotnik are. It's action-packed, well-animated, and has great music. Enjoy! Sonic X If you're enjoying what you've seen so far, and you want something much, much longer...there's an official 78-episode anime adaptation of Sonic called Sonic X. It's an original story that loosely pulls together some ideas from a few of the games. It's mostly intended for a younger audience, but I hear if you watch it in the original uncut Japanese, it feels a little less "for kids."

Other Ways To Get Into Sonic

There's some great video essays on Youtube about the series!

Professional animator Dan Floyd did an in-depth video looking at the highs and lows of Sonic character animation in the games starting from Sonic 1 up through Sonic Forces.

Super Bunnyhop plays through the first level of a bunch of Sonic games to compare how the mechanics, physics, and level design feel throughout the games' history.

Liam Triforce has a great deep dive on the franchise's music.

You can play The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a murder-mystery-party themed visual novel put out by Sega. It's nice and short, so you can finish it in an afternoon.

If you haven't seen them already, you can check out the live-action/animated hybrid films Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 featuring Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey, they're pretty good. That Sonic Prime cartoon that's currently on Netflix is pretty good too.

This may sound strange, but honestly you might enjoy poring over the sprite sheets from the old games. In particular, I really like the sprite animations from the GBA games, like Sonic Advance and Sonic Battle.

Sega is pretty lax about allowing noncommercial fan games, so there's at least a hundred different Sonic fan games out there by hobbyist developers. Check out the Sonic Amateur Games Expo and the Sonic Fan Games HQ.

You can watch LPs or cutscene compilations of the games on Youtube! If you watch Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes, you'll get a crash course on most of the characters.

And finally, of course...you can play the games if you want to! There's a number of them that are available on Steam, Switch, Xbox, and Playstation if you don't have access to older consoles.

There's a lot of different angles to come at Sonic as a franchise, and lots of different entry points. Have fun!