Board 8 > ITT I rank Sonic the Hedgehog characters

(+) Yeah! (+)

I didn't know about that extra lore because I didn't play Shadow, but damn lol

Yeah it's pretty dumb. I mean, I guess it works if that was his original plan and then he said fuck it you all can die after Maria died but introducing Black Doom has always been a low point for Shadow and Gerald fans.

Rank Emeral

My favorite part about the Shadow the Hedgehog Gerald Robotnik video reveal is that it has a loading screen every ten seconds no less than five times.

If anyone wants to see the DEEP GERALD ROBOTNIK AND SHADOW LORE you can see it here. Timestamped it.

https://youtu.be/CBisWZ8eKV0?t=671

Black Doom

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/8/2/AATFBfAADYR6.jpg

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

I'm just going to outright say it. Dr. Eggman is the best character in the entire Sonic series and probably one of the best franchise main antagonists in all of video games. Prepare for a lot of gushing.

So let's just start out with his appearance. It's evolved over the years, but he used to be a little egg-shaped weirdo with bottle glasses and a ridiculous moustache. He's since upgraded Sonic Adventure 1 onward to a more of a red overcoat, still round-looking fella, with a very engineer look to him, and it works incredibly well. We don't talk about his Sonic 2006 look because that was easily the worst he's ever looked. (And the uncanny valley teeth situation he has in Shadow the Hedgehog) But for the most part, his look is incredibly distinctive, menacing, and iconic.

Now since the original Sonic games, he was simple. He put animals in his machines to power up his robots and attacked Sonic with fancy new upgrades to his Egg Mobile, each new and iconic. What made him stand out was that you saw him at every step you took with a new death upgrade to his machine. He wasn't just hanging out in the background--Eggman was constantly trying to destroy Sonic. He's persistent and no matter what, he's using every single new invention of his to kill that stupid blue hedgehog.

But then we get to see what Eggman has in store. He's escalated his plots with theming based on himself and his giant ego. We get a Death Egg that is a looming threat for the whole game. A giant space station that Sonic has to literally travel to and he comes out with the coolest machine yet to face Sonic: the Death Egg Robot that is just a ginormous version of himself. Sonic destroys it and the Death Egg explodes, but fortuitously it lands on a place called Angel Island. First though, he comes up with another plot to use Time Stones this time and created Metal Sonic which is just a cool robot replica of Sonic, trying to control time itself before Sonic defeats him again.

But we go back to Sonic 3 & Knuckles where we see a more fiendish side of Dr. Eggman. He's not just a genius engineer--he has plots and plans! Schemes, if you will. He tricks Knuckles into attacking Sonic thinking he wants to steal the Master Emerald, when meanwhile Eggman wanted to use it this whole time to power his Death Egg up again! And Eggman eventually does get his Death Egg flying again... only for it to fall again because of that damn hedgehog. But he still plans to send it back into space and succeeds! And eventually Sonic and Tails manage to destroy the Death Egg once and for all and Eggman has no choice but to try and escape with the Master Emerald in his old Death Egg Robot, but gets defeated by Super/Hyper Sonic! The Death Egg is so special because you see it looming, constantly, through the whole game. And it feels like such an accomplishment to once again go through all of these intricate zones to stop it once and for all, and when you do, you get such an incredible sequence at the end where they give you juuuuust a little bit more and give you a chance to really wallop Eggman with a special Hyper Sonic fight! It's just so good and it wouldn't work nearly as well if Eggman wasn't such a good villain leading up to that.

But we change to give Eggman a very distinct personality from Sonic Adventure 1 onward. Now, he's supremely arrogant (although we kind of had an idea of that), thinks himself a genius, and hates that god damn Sonic the Hedgehog so much, but he's always so sure of whatever plan he has. He's got such a deliciously sinister personality, while still allowing for him to be the butt of a joke. He's so, so, so very good and they nailed his personality flawlessly.

In Sonic Adventure 1 he tries to use the Chaos Emeralds this time to power up Chaos. Which, you know, turns on him when it was time to unleash the full power. Where Eggman is so strong in this game is that we get to witness him actively collecting and scheming for the Chaos Emeralds and pitting people against each other in everyone's story. And not only that, we also get to see his creations in glorious 3D, and an Egg Carrier! He does come across as such a strong adversary here, despite not being the final boss.

We skip to Sonic Adventure 2 and we get to actually play as Eggman. And now, we get to see more nuance to his character. Yes, he's evil, yes he's always coming up with evil plans... but he has a limit. While he'll gleefully kill Sonic towards the end (psyche), but when it comes to the planet being destroyed... that's where he draws the line. Without a planet, what can he rule? He comes up with the plan to stop it from happening and works with everyone to make it happen.

And in Sonic Heroes... I mean, he's got a ton of impressive stuff but uh... you know, that's not him. So... He's in a bunch of spin-off games and usually the highlight of those as well, but we have Sonic 2006 where he's... well, they made an attempt to make him more sterile and serious which kind of sucks. He's still outstanding in it and probably one of the best parts of that game, but fuck. This game screws up everything.

But we're back on pace for Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, Lost Worlds, and Forces. In those, he's equal parts menacing, serious, and sinister, while also having a lot more comedy about him. Honestly, this is Eggman as his absolute best when he's able to be a completely credible villain while also allowed to be the butt of jokes. He's an absent-minded maniac sometimes and has no chill, but you just look at everything he creates and how dangerous he is and he's very obviously a super credible threat. I'm not going to go into all of these games because this is a lot and I don't think any of these plots stand out more than others. They're all varying degrees of "fine" to "good" but the strength here is that Eggman is a constant driving force.

He's just such an iconic villain because he can be literally everything you need a villain to be. He'll never, ever seem incompetent or like a total fool. He'll always be a threat. And it doesn't matter how many times Sonic beats him because he has to freaking WORK to get the win in the end. They never once make Eggman look like a complete dope.

And because of it, no matter how bad a game may be. Even when we're in the absolute bummers of Sonic 2006, Shadow the Hedgehog, some crappy crossover game, whatever you want... Eggman is usually the best part of it. His personality is always on point. His plans are awesome. His machines are just amazing and always look imposing and it's a triumph to beat them. And he's just a villain you can't ever get tired of. This series is infinitely stronger entirely because of him.

Oh and credit to every voice actor for Dr. Eggman. Deem Bristow and Mike Pollock brought so much life to this character and you can tell they absolutely delighted in it. Mike Pollock is so good at it that while they'll replace literally the entire cast, they keep him every single time because he's so good at it.

I'm not even bringing up how he's usually the best part of any spin-off creation like TV shows, movies, comics, etc. too. Because they have such a great base to work off of.

Rank: S

https://youtu.be/CvERHiTfx9w

Yeah, Robotnik is a great omnipresent villain who never seems to wear out his welcome, mostly because he always has a great VA who chews the scenery at every opportunity.

(Also shoutout to Sonic Boom Robotnik for being a great alternate take on the character)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/1/4/AATFBfAADYT-.jpg

Vector the Crocodile
First Appearance: Knuckles' Chaotix

Vector's pretty good. As leader of Team Chaotix, I find him to be effective for that role. But it's... I dunno, confusing to me. I'll get into it.

But first, his original appearance I actually like a lot more, where he's a tall and slender crocodile with headphones, a cassette player (lol fuck so old) and was often dancing and jamming out in a lot of his animations. However, when he appeared back in Sonic Heroes, he turned into a big and burly crocodile dude with headphones and a gold chain now.

So alright, I always liked his look in Knuckles' Chaotix a lot more than his updated look. There was something about his sprites that stood out so much more than literally every other Sonic character. He was taller, thinner, and he would turn into a big circle with a hole in the middle when he jumped. He had a cool attitude about him.

And then in Sonic Heroes he comes back and he's a power character, he's big and burly, and he doesn't really stand out as much, and his attire stands out far less than before. And he still has headphones now? His appearance doesn't seem like it matches his role as the leader of a detective agency. I don't think it really comes up or anything either.

All of that aside, Vector is equal parts kind of annoying but also great. As leader of the Chaotix I think he does a great job in that role. Team Chaotix as a whole is a great concept for this world that, when used, is actually legitimately good stuff. They find good excuses to bring them in, even in the spin-off games.

Vector doesn't have his shit together by any stretch either, and he's constantly shit on. I like that part of him that he's a dopey detective and nobody gives him the time of day--except they usually make him shockingly good and competent. He gets shit done even if he's clowned on most of the time, and he actually is involved in revelations that his team figures out.

At the same time, like I said, sometimes it's entirely too hammed up with this guy and I can't tell if it's just Charmy being overly annoying or not and it kind of rubbing off on him. It's hard to be too bothered by him most of the time though, because every character plays off on him rather well.

Gimme more Vector, even if I'm a bit conflicted on him. His good aspects absolutely outweigh his negative ones. So long as he has a purpose, he's fun.

Rank: B

https://youtu.be/T9E66ywToGU

Fun Sonic Fact!

https://twitter.com/semifreqsonic/status/1540688762543304711?s=20&t=NB92BqQ5IlLz-y2FnyGsCw

where are echnidas on the food chain

I mean they are basically hedgehogs with longer snouts so I assume in a pretty similar spot!

Eggman should be in smash.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/8/AATFBfAADYbY.jpg

Tikal
First Appearance: Sonic Adventure 1

The seven emeralds the servers. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart........

Tikal is a peach tribal echidna who actually looks pretty cool. I've always dug her design and wish other characters had this sort of care put into their outfits.

She is in Sonic Adventure 1 and is essentially the driving force leading the backstory of the game, broken up into (sometimes confusing) parts as everyone goes through the story. I don't think it's done incredibly well a lot of the time, and I think some parts are a little more confusing out of order than others. And none of the actual characters in the game get the full story either. But I do kind of like Tikal's presence overall, especially as the helpful buddy character ball of light.

Tikal is a part of an ancient tribe of echidnas during a war. She discovered the Chao and also Chaos, who was their protector and she became their buds. However, her daddy Pachamac decided to raid the altar they were at to take the Chaos Emeralds to destroy their enemies. Obviously Tikal wasn't about that and despite her best efforts to convince him otherwise, he sent his entire army to attack the altar the Chao and Chaos were at. They knocked Tikal out in the impending attack and when she woke up LITERALLY EVERYONE IS DEAD and Chaos was ready to destroy the world. So she sacrificed herself to bind both her and Chaos in the Master Emerald.

Fast forward to SA1 present day and Eggman destroyed the Master Emerald and she was released with Chaos again. Her spirit helps the heroes throughout the story and shows visions of what happened in the past. Eventually, when Chaos becomes Perfect Chaos, she appears to them and tries to tell Sonic to stash away Chaos again in the Master Emerald, but he kind of refuses because Chaos would still be pissed off inside there. And then eventually Sonic beats Chaos and Tikal shows Chaos that the Chao are being taken care of and they can still watch over them together in peace! And then they go away froever.

There's not a whole lot else to say about Tikal, but I've always enjoyed her part in Sonic Adventure 1. I kinda wish they found a way to keep her around since her design is so cool and you can do a lot with her spiritual concept that doesn't have a niche anywhere else in the cast. But alas, I don't think we'll see much of her too much more though.

Rank: C

https://youtu.be/mYLMv_lYnCY

Amy Moment

https://youtu.be/lzQJ1iy7CmU

https://imgur.com/a/JGvnwo8

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

And he still has headphones now?

They kept the headphones because he's still a fairly music oriented character, whenever he gets things like specials or alt skins in the spinoffs and mobile games, and that's one aspect I'm glad they kept from his original design.

Like the total drip that is DJ Vector.
https://imgur.com/e0WQNZW

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/5/8/AATFBfAADYo-.jpg

Metal Sonic
First Appearance: Sonic CD

Legit, Metal Sonic is probably the best idea for a villain that they could have come up with for this franchise. Problem is, he never really seems to hit his potential.

Appearance-wise, he's perfect. They did an outstanding job making a robot version of Sonic look incredibly menacing. It's really good stuff and I wish they did this more often. His transformations... sometimes work too.

So alright, we begin where he's just a basic Sonic robot and he races Sonic and loses. Which... I mean, that's pretty cool. But I always felt there should have been more to that. But it really is a pretty iconic scene to race him.

Then we get to Knuckles' Chaotix for his next major appearance which is uh not tremendous. By far the coolest thing about this game is if you don't do anything for a full minute, Metal Sonic will appear out of nowhere to fuck your day up. Outside of that... his boss fight is so bad. He goes in the machine that selects your character and then sends dumb weapon gimmicks at the heroes. And then you just hit the device and eventually he's defeated. It's insanely lame. And then he does a transformation into a giant red Metal Sonic and it's... you know, fine I guess. It's pretty cool. He has a lot more lasers and such. But overall it's kind of a dud IMO.

He disappears for the most part until we get to Sonic Heroes where he plays a much bigger part. He is able to look identical to Dr. Eggman and assumes him for the entirety of the game (i dunno either) where he steals all the biodata from the heroes in the game and uses Froggy and Chocola the Chao to get the power and info from Chaos? And he does all of this because he has such a god damn obsession with beating Sonic. He just hates Sonic so much because he was programmed to defeat him and he never can. He needs to defeat Sonic, and he'll do whatever he can to do it. And then he feels that Dr. Eggman is holding him back from doing just that, and that's why he takes him over.

I think this is actually a really cool way to go with the character--at least the obsession with beating Sonic part. During the last bits of Sonic Heroes, I love the way that he seems so obsessed and how much he expresses he absolutely must fulfill his destiny to beat Sonic. It makes a lot of sense and I think this cold hatred and desire to defeat Sonic is a great thing and should be used more.

Buuuut I think that the Neo Metal Sonic appearance makes him look like a dork as wizard. He gets a metal robe and a cape like what? And his Metal Madness/Metal Overlord don't light my world on fire. He's just, uh... oddly giant and loses his lower half. I dunno. I think they could have done better with these transofrmations even if they look completely epic and fine in the heat of the fight in the game.

From there, he doesn't have too many distinct appearances. They use him a lot in Sonic 4-2, and I think they do a fine job with him in that one. And Sonic Generations and Sonic Forces gives him a lot of love. But he never really gets to show his personality still, which I think is a shame.

Let Metal Sonic talk about how much he hates Sonic and needs to defeat him and I think he is much more interesting. Just don't go too crazy with him like in Sonic Heroes and get him to be too ambitious. He's perfectly fine as a lackey who just feels compelled to beat Eggman. And for the love of god don't make him a giant mutant robot thing again.

Rank: B

https://youtu.be/hCvg0_h3a-k

Current Rankings:

S Rank:
Dr. Eggman
Sonic the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog

A Rank:
Knuckles the Echida
Miles "Tails" Prower
Rouge the Bat
E-102 Gamma

B Rank:
Vector the Crocodile
Metal Sonic
Espio the Chameleon

C Rank:
Amy Rose
Fang the Sniper
Gerald Robotnik
Tikal

D Rank:
Orbot
Shahra

E Rank:
Cream the Rabbit
Rookie

F Rank:
Big the Cat
Professor Pickle

I just noticed Infinite was already nominated (several times) before me so changing mine to Chaos

Top 5 In-Game Quips

1. "You're not even good enough to be my fake." - Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Adventure 2)

2. "No aliens were harmed in the creation of this park. They were all harmed AFTER the park was created." - Dr. Eggman (Sonic Colors)

3. "What would you like your epitaph to read? How about 'Here lies the blue buffoon'?" "Why not 'Here dozes the masked clown'? Might as well make it for the person who needs one, right?" - Infinite / Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Forces)

4. "Whoa, over compensate much? Man, how many military factories does a guy need?" "If you weren't always destroying them, I wouldn't need so many." - Sonic the Hedgehog / Dr. Eggman (Sonic Lost Worlds)

5."Reclassifying Silver as a doofus" - E-123 Omega (Sonic Team Racing)

Honorable Mention:
"This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me." - Shadow the Hedgehog (Shadow the Hedgehog) (I die each time I hear it.)

Edit: Oops, I skipped the final bosses. I'll get that one in the next top 5!

Mephiles if they haven't already been mentioned.

Silver the Hedgehog

Commander

Charmy Bee (Is Charmy the only one without a the between their name and species? Weird.)

Also top five spinoff games.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/2/9/AATFBfAADYrp.jpg

Ray the Flying Squirrel
First Appearance: SegaSonic the Hedgehog

What am I to say about Ray the Flying Squirrel, who was lost to time in some weird arcade spin-off game?

Ray is a yellow squirrel who can fly. He doesn't look terribly distinctive, but hes still fine.

I like Ray well enough, but I dunno what you're supposed to do with the character. He was fun for Sonic Mania Plus, but I just don't know how he factors into the greater Sonic universe. Give me something that makes him stand out and I'll gladly take him, but I just don't think he adds much of anything to the world.

Maybe make him some kind of daredevil? It would stand out a little more I guess. I think the design he had in the Archie comics with the goggles, blue cuffs on the gloves, and the scarf is actually solid, and I think if you're going to use him then definitely go with that look.

Buuuut until they do anything different with Ray, I don't really need to see him, and I'm not necessarily clamoring for him either. I'd be happy for them to do something with him though.

Rank: D

https://youtu.be/LSxeRKHdupI

Shade

Mephiles
Top 5 Eggman fights

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/6/0/AATFBfAADYsI.png

Wave the Swallow
First Appearance: Sonic Riders

So I haven't played all of the Sonic Riders games, and the ones I did play I never played a ton of them. That said, I've always liked the Babylon Rogues and in particular Wave.

She's a purple bird with a pretty slick outfit. I think her outfit looks the best of the Babylon Rogues, with sunglasses, a beanie, crop top, and flaming pants. She stands out quite a bit and I think she's great for it.

I think her part to play in the Babylon Rogues is great too. She is their techie and she is pretty arrogant, but obviously the brains behind it all. She's not afraid to cheat, and she is just as adventurous as anyone else in the cast. If I had to pick a single Babylon Rogue to play, it's usually her.

I don't have a whole lot to say about Wave, but I think pretty much everything about her is great and that they should have an excuse to bring her and the other Babylon Rogues into more Sonic stuff. They're a fun, and she's probably the best among them.

Rank: C

https://youtu.be/Y-wnqh7EW6k

(Side Note: Like Rouge, people are unreasonably horny for Wave so I am not going too far to find a dumb, funny pic of her.)

Blaze the Cat

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/3/3/AATFBfAADY85.png

Tails Doll
First Appearance: Sonic R

What am I supposed to say about Tails Doll?

It's a creepy looking doll that looks like Tails and is involved in probably too much Sonic creepypasta.

He appears in Sonic R as a creation of Eggman. Apparently he was added in the game by a background designer who made the Tails Dummy that Gamma shoots in Sonic Adventure 1, and since Sonic R and SA1 were in development at the same time, they threw it in the game.

I don't think it was meant to be creepy, but it sure ended up being that way. There's really nothing left to say about it. If they found a way to make it Metal Sonic, but with the intent to be cute maybe, I could be on board. But as it stands, there's nothing to get too excited about with Tails Doll now.

Rank: F

https://youtu.be/dgJWZiBt6_w

(Side Note: There is also lewd art of Tails Doll why)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/5/4/AAS3NhAADY9O.jpg

now do "tails realdoll"

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/9/8/AATFBfAADY96.jpg

Mighty the Armadillo
First Appearance: SegaSonic the Hedgehog

Mighty is kinda boring tbh. But I think you can do more with him.

He's an armadillo with a big red shell and... honestly, that's kind of enough to make him distinctive looking. I've never really had an issue with how he looks for a 2D character.

But he's been in next to nothing. He got left out of Team Chaotix and I remember being bummed about it back when, but now I'm... not? I think it's definitely possible to do something great with Mighty, but when he's the odd man out and his thing is "strong boi" when Knuckles kind of has the strong punchy about him, I don't know what you do with him.

Like there's absolutely room for feats of strength and being able to batter himself like a wrecking ball at people, but they just gave up on Mighty for some reason. I don't get why aside from them making Vector the power guy instead, which I think is the best option over putting Mighty in that crew.

I dunno! Mighty is fine. He was neat in Sonic Mania Plus. But they'd have to do something good with him to make me really care about him again. It wouldn't be hard to though. I think there's more potential in him than say, Ray.

Rank: D

https://youtu.be/GvV05M2kmzI

I will not rank Sage the small digital child character in Sonic Frontiers

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/8/AATFBfAADZLq.jpg

Vanilla the Rabbit
First Appearance: Sonic Advance 2

This is the mother of Cream the Rabbit. Don't expect much.

She is a rabbit but in a formal outfit that gives me librarian vibes.

Basically, she gets kidnapped by Dr. Eggman for reasons???? And so Cream decides to go on an adventure. Like Eggman takes her to outer space why? lol And then she adopts Gemerl. And then she lets Blaze hang out at her place.

So I said Cream isn't necessary and who really cares about her. Vanilla is like that but worse. I don't need a six year old character with her mommy around in this franchise. She's not interesting and she's less worthwhile of a companion that freaking Froggy.

Rank: F

https://youtu.be/0JY3W5J2UeI

(There's no way you're getting me to post an ear-bleeding Sonic Advance track.)

The President

https://youtu.be/ZcQAa0vzbak

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

Just keep [Big] out of the games unless you're going to do anything with him that isn't just that stupid voice, his stupid frog, his stupid fishing, and his stupid personality.

Sonic Frontiers

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/0/4/AATFBfAADZVc.jpg

The president of something in sonic adventure 2

pjbasis posted...

The president of something in sonic adventure 2

I believe you mean the President of San Francisco

https://youtu.be/4wt6UZTo7Ao

Top 5 Final Bosses

I didn't know how to go about this, be it visual design, gameplay, or what. I ultimately went with a mix of all of that.

1. Chaos (Sonic Adventure 1)
2. Death Egg Robot (Sonic 2)
3. Nega-Wisp Armor (Sonic Colors)
4. Metal Overlord (Sonic Heroes)
5. Phantom King & Klepto Mobile (Sonic Mania)

It's a decent opportunity to talk about the final bosses as a whole, I guess. I think sometimes they miss the mark, especially when they branch out from Eggman. For instance, you might notice that Sonic Adventure 2 isn't on the list because that final boss, while the moment is cool and it's pretty fun, it's actually the dumbest. Final Hazard is the shits. You cannot convince me that stupid lizard attached to a space station is cool, even if it's fucking rad to fight and Live & Learn really carries it.

I think Eggman creations are really good. There were some of them that got bumped off the list that I actually enjoy, but aren't as satisfying to play against. And I like a lot of the near-final bosses too from Eggman. But when you get to stuff like Solaris and Dark Gaia, they just completely blow. A couple of the handheld bosses fall off of this too because they just aren't as fun to play against? I mean, they're final for a big final boss feel, but it's just not as fun.

Overall, final bosses in the Sonic games are pretty hit or miss. Give me Eggman robots and mechs and such and I'll usually be happy though.

https://youtu.be/x4L4TSrDB4M

Doomsday best final boss

Most Sonic final bosses aren't great mechanically, so I value the atmosphere and Doomsday has it more than all the others.

Correct 3D bosses chosen.

Don't like that number 1 final boss

most_games_r_ok posted...

Don't like that number 1 final boss

I do, so it's fine.