85 Comments

1. I always thought that Silver’s concept alone would make a great game in its own right. Travelling through different periods of time to find the one event that caused his world to be a smoking, post apocalyptic wasteland… There’s so much potential there! If he hadn’t made his debut in such a crappy game, Silver could have been a real mainstay in the series.

   Also, I freaking LOVE Marine! I don’t know if it’s her design, or her personality, but I love her! She makes a perfect sidekick for Blaze, and she’s the only character in the series who shares Tails’ love for making machines, but isn’t a jerk to him. (I’m looking in YOUR direction, Wave…)

   In fact, I firmly believe that she would be a good playable character if they ever made a Sonic Rush 3. Maybe give her added maneuverability underwater?

   1. “Travelling through different periods of time to find the one event that caused his world to be a smoking, post apocalyptic wasteland… There’s so much potential there!”

      Eh.. This is more of a really tired cliche than anything these days. The idea of traveling through time to fix something have been used to death. It’s no longer that clever, original, or even that good of a plot point.
      Aside from a few movies from a few decades back that utilized the idea to it’s fullest, there’s no reason to go back to that otherwise very repetitive cringe worthy plot device.
      So yeah, I personally think the idea of Silver is fundamentally flawed. I do, however, like his design and think he could be used for things other than the typical overused somber time travel story thing.

      1. Just because it’s a cliche doesn’t mean it can’t be good, I mean, look at All Stars Racing Transformed, that’s been done before and there’s a fair amount of people that like it, a lot.

      2. *Cough* Sonic CD *Cough Cough*

   2. I know what your saying, but I think it would be a better idea if they made it so Sonic and Silver don’t always meet in the right order
      EX:Sonic meets Silver a month after Sonic Generations but for Silver it has been a year

   3. If they fine-tuned Silver’s gameplay from ’06, made ‘im a bit faster and gave him a few more options, I dare say he’d be one of the most fun characters to play as in the franchise. There’s so much they can do with his character, his situation. Personally I’d love to see a game where he tag-teams with Blaze to stop Eggman Nega, but maybe that’s just me fanboying.
      Now Marine… I actually like your idea. Give her some vehicles or something and she’d actually be a real blast to play. A story around her could theme around coming to adulthood, or something. Overall, I second this!

   4. I WILL be the one to defend Chris Thorndyke. :p

      First of all, I’m talking about the JAPANESE Sonic X. I never watched the American version, so yeah. If he was annoying due to a bad dub or script changes, then I’m not aware of that, so take that into consideration before lashing back about that. :p

      Sonic X a kids series after all, so I think the reason to his inclusion was to give kids a character who could be related to. He’s just a young boy who was introduced to these amazing creatures from another dimension who gave him a sense of adventure and wonder. Any child would be captivated by such an amazing situation.

      It also gave more realism to the story as it did take place on Earth, giving Sonic a home and making for more plot scenarios. Heck, I got pretty emotional when I watched the few episodes where Sonic and co were about to leave forever.

      So that’s what I think. Please reply, I’d honestly love to hear your arguments against my statements.

2. I’m Australian, and I find Marine charming. It’s like being and finding appealing.

   And hey, while I agree that Marine is literally the Sonic equivalent of Scrappy-Doo, at least around the end she learns to tone down the obnoxiousness. (albeit the very, VERY end.)

   I like her, too. The Great Clement be damned, and I don’t care how he… what’s that sound? *steps outside* OH SHI– *blown up by Egg-Missile*

   1. Nobody messes with the great clement! 😮

3. *Ahem* Let’s try that again.

   I’m Australian, and I find Marine charming. It’s like being (insert ethnicity here) and finding (insert racially-insensitive character here) appealing.

   And hey, while I agree that Marine is literally the Sonic equivalent of Scrappy-Doo, at least around the end she learns to tone down the obnoxiousness. (albeit the very, VERY end.)

   I like her, too. The Great Clement be damned, and I don’t care how he… what’s that sound? *steps outside* OH SHI– *blown up by Egg-Missile*

   1. Hahahahaha! You tried a second time but he still decided to blow you up! 😀

      1. I defy him twice, therefore I am smoten twice.

      2. Also, heaven has internetz.

         1. Don’t you mean Hell?

4. I love Silver. I thought he was one of the few GOOD things about Sonic ’06. Sonic was just bland in that game, Shadow used vehicles too much, but Silver’s gameplay was pretty fun and unique. It’s just a shame he had to debut in that miserable abomination of a game. And it sucks that Sega has basically made him unusable… (Though I don’t see why that matters to them…)

   But I absolutely love how Silver is perceived as a nerd. Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about him. I’ve made so many pictures on DeviantART making fun of him.

5. I was quite shocked, to be honest, that everybody perceives Silver as a hopeless “NERD?” that cannot defend himself.
   Can I just say, WOW?
   You don’t give the guy a freakin’ chance just because he appeared in a crappy game and you feel like you have to poke some fun at it, so poke fun at the character who was tricked.
   NOT EVERYBODY HAS A GREAT DEBUT.
   Knuckles gets tricked like that quite a bit, but since he’s classic and everybody is willing to work around some of his character flaws, we all love him.
   But SEGA introduces a new character, and by god we can’t let that happen…
   So gather up the so called “Sonic Fans” and tell SEGA Sonic should just be Sonic & Eggman?
   Haha. Good luck.

6. I see hate for these characters a lot, and it’s always made me sad. For some reason I end up instantly liking new characters, even before I can place what I like about them. That probably makes me sound soft, but I think it’s better than making myself upset just because someone that doesn’t exist doesn’t suit my tastes.

   Seriously though, I am very VERY grateful that someone decided to air great reasons not to hate some characters on a popular Sonic website like this. Thank you so much.

   1. Someone else who actually LIKES new characters! Thank you!
      New characters make me happy too. I don’t really understand why Archie overall gets away with continuously making new guys, but everyone lashes out when new guys come into the games.
      Sonic lives in a WORLD. It’s BIG, full of all kinds of people! Why not make new characters? If it just sticks between the same people it’s eventually gonna get boring, right?

7. Dat Shadow hating.

8. Jason,

   THANK YOU. I just woken up, read your article it put a smile to my face for the rest of the day.

   Though not to say that I had a bad week, not at all. Working on the project for Tracy’s Pirate Plunder Panic put in a state of a much needed break from the daily grind of pencil, ink, render.

   Anyways loved what you written there, entertaining, fun and spoken like a bad ass fan – of the games and comics.

   My personal favs of the comics are Silver and Cream but really I love all of the characters in the comic (except Chris… Though I haven’t really collected the Sonic X comics… XD).

9. …Okay, this is entirely just my own, crude personal opinion…But…

   “So cheers to Silver, one of the most relatable and human characters in Sonic-dom”

   …Why the hell are you looking for a relatable and “human” character in the Sonic series? They’re not meant to be relatable at all. That’s the whole charm of Sonic characters, they’re characters you admire for their uniqueness, not for being comparable to a boring, normal person.

   And a “few” mistakes? In both 06 and Rivals 2, pretty much the entirety of the problem was pretty much his fault and everything he did to fix it only made things worse and worse. In Rivals 2, he actually managed to finally get the good future he wanted, but that was only thanks to the more wise and level-headed Espio helping him.

   Sorry, but I just see no reason to love or forgive Silver. It doesn’t help that since he’s from the future, there’s absolutely nothing that can be plausibly done with him to put him into any story in the series now without it being a shoehorn or without redoing the same thing for a 3rd time. I feel he should really just be scrapped.

   Marine can be annoying, but she’s a step above Silver at least. She has potential to grow.

   Cream? Not annoying at all. I don’t find a lot of people or really anyone for that matter that has a problem with her outside of her voice and that issue was fixed. Personally, I never had a problem with any of her voices though. In further regards to her, though, I don’t really consider her Amy’s sidekick at all. Amy never gos on her own adventures and still just stalks Sonic everywhere while Cream is absolutely nowhere to be seen. Besides, Cream is better being Blaze’s sidekick if Sonic Rush is anything to go by. I have a feeling the only reason Marine was even made was because they didn’t write Cream into the story and decided to try and give Blaze a new sidekick to make up for it while forcing Cream to be Amy’s apparent one. That’s a pretty huge downgrade for Blaze in the sidekick department, though. All in all, I find Cream to pretty much be what Tails should’ve been from the start and to be a significantly better version of Tails altogether.

   Big? Just keep his fishing gameplay out of the series and he’s perfectly fine.

   …Oh right, the Rogues. Jet sounds like a constipated inbred chicken trying desperately to be a hawk and is just a Sonic wannabe, Storm is like the perfect combination of Big and the horribly incorrect modern interpretation of Knuckles and he’s horrible for it, and Wave…Actually, I have no problems with her. She’s the only one of the three that’s actually tolerable and is about to be antagonistic while still being likeable.

   I’d say the biggest surprise about this list is the fact that Amy, of all people, isn’t on it. There are tons upon tons of people who absolutely can’t stand her. Considering how she’s been written since Free Riders, though, I’d say it’s for good reason. What, does she get a pass because she’s part of the apparent “main 4”? Or because people think she’s cute and there are tons of SonAmy shippers who would rage if she was here? Just an oddity I wanted to point out.

   Then again, this is about the “less loved” characters and Amy is still very much loved…With that said, Cream has no right being on this list at all, then. lol

   But like I said, those are all my crude, personal thoughts. No one has to agree with them and I certainly don’t expect them to. That said, no one is capable from changing my views from them either, so I think it all evens out.

   1. Actually, now that I think about it, how did Charmy Bee escape this list? O_o

      If anyone should be on here, it’s him. People complain about him as much as they do for Marine and Silver!

      I personally don’t really have a problem with him, though.

      1. Umm… I don’t know how you missed it, but Charmy got an entire post dedicated to him. You should give it a read if you haven’t. It would just be extra work putting Charmy on this list.

         1. That’s an entirely different article on an entirely different subject. Doesn’t count.

            And I already commented on said page if you scrolled down to look. Though my comment didn’t have much to do with Charmy himself. ¦D

            1. Okay then.

   2. “They’re not meant to be relatable at all. ”
      Well, they still have some emotions and such that make you connect with them, like Blaze learning she couldn’t do everything on her own and learn to trust others and open up to them.

      Yes, they’re still meant to be unique, but it doesn’t mean they’re like DC heroes that are just boring heroes that always can beat anything no matter what it is without any worries.

      1. That’s EXACTLY why I decided I liked Blaze.
         “Relatable” does not equate to boring. Characters have a lot of “assets” but mostly it all boils down to personality. Personality is almost always gonna be relatable for *someone*. Can I relate to Blaze in any way but her behavior?
         Pyro princess who guards six magical gems and lives in a zone full of koalas… Nope. The “princess” part hardly even connects because it’d pretty much seem she doesn’t even have a “kingdom” yet somehow she’s a “princess”.

         Besides, take it from me, Wave. I have a fan-character with a kinda… different personality. I’m pretty positive that it’s actually made him less endearing than if I’d found something more relatable. :S Thus there becomes such a thing as “too unique” *shot*

         1. Blaze is my absolute favorite female character in the overall in Sonic and my top favorite character from the games, but it’s not because I find her relatable. It’s simply because I like how she is herself. Not as someone like me or another before, but for Blaze herself. That, and I love her design and her powers. Simple as that.

            Relatable may not always mean “boring”, but it certainly doesn’t always mean “good” either. Plenty of characters made in stories that are specifically made to be relatable often end up seeming bland, inanimate and without their own personality since they’re nothing more than fodder for the audience to go “OMG I’D DO THAT TOO!” “OH WOW, I THOUGHT THE SAME THING!” “YAY, THAT’S JUST LIKE ME!” and other things like that. It’s pretty dull and uninspiring to me.

            1. The type is called ‘The Everyman’; a blank slate character who acts and responds to everything in a ‘normal’ fashion for the audience to relate to. I tend to find them boring as well. Writers often tend to forget that quirks and defects actually still stem from realistic personality traits. There are Cloudcuckoolanders and neurotic goofballs in shows that I relate far more to than the Everymen of the group. Hell how many people do you know in real life who are ‘normal’ anyway?

      2. I prefer DC to Marvel, so I can’t agree with you on that. XD

         1. Fair enough, I really don’t mind either DC or Marvel, but I just lean twoards Marvel more.

            I just think that even these characters that are massively powerful having some “human” emotions as well that also make them a bit more interesting to see. It’s why Blaze is so interesting to me. She’s a badass, but also relate-able in character.

            But in the end, Blaze is still best no matter what, every other character is nothing compared to her epicness.

            1. “But in the end, Blaze is still best no matter what, every other character is nothing compared to her epicness.”

               I hear that, bro. Blaze is easily the best character in the entire cast.

   3. “…Why the hell are you looking for a relatable and “human” character in the Sonic series? They’re not meant to be relatable at all. That’s the whole charm of Sonic characters, they’re characters you admire for their uniqueness, not for being comparable to a boring, normal person.”

      Are you forgeting that he has psychic powers? When he calls him relatable he is only referring to his personality.

   4. Um, NO, the point of these characters IS to be relatable and human! If a character isn’t relatable, then they aren’t likable at all. ALL of these characters have recognizable traits that we can identify with, that’s what draws us in. Sure, the point of superheroes are to appear as godly figures who do the things we can’t but so want to do, but they wouldn’t interest us at all if we didn’t relate with them in any way. If we didn’t see an ounce of ourselves in them, then they would look downright intimidating, frightening, and evil. They would be no different than the aliens seen in movies where all they want is to kill us for no other reason than to kill us, as apposed to the movies where they actually want to negotiate. They don’t have to be EXACTLY like us, only similar enough to interest us. “Hey! He’s just like me!” “Spider-man/Super Man is doing something I would do!”. We can’t relate to their powers, we’re not supposed to, but we are supposed to relate to their struggles, their pain, their hardships. If Super Man had no ounce of human-like characteristics, something like Lois Lane or the entire human race being destroyed wouldn’t bother him. Wouldn’t that be terrible to imagine!? The point of a character being relatable is not to make them seem “boring” and “regular” like you so crudely put it, it is to make us realize that the only difference between us and them are the superpowers, and that’s it! We could all have the potential to be heroes! To say that characters like Sonic and Silver aren’t meant to resemble us in any way so that they could appear “interesting” is not interesting at all, it’s alienating. It also insults the depth and character that rests within each “ordinary” person.

      And just because you admit that your opinion is going to be crude doesn’t mean that it’s going to look like a valid argument. So far, all you seem to do is see the characters for their faults, and that’s it. If you don’t like a character, then they must not have any purpose. That sounds like the reasoning that you believe in. I find it is very close-minded, and that you refuse to see any other side of the character, and insist that only the side you chose to see is all that exists. But, whatever. Sonic fans will be Sonic fans I suppose. It’s just sad that most Sonic fans have to be identified as fans who hate all other characters other than Sonic.

      “But like I said, those are all my crude, personal thoughts. No one has to agree with them and I certainly don’t expect them to. That said, no one is capable from changing my views from them either, so I think it all evens out.”

      1. Sounds like you’re just mad that I don’t like the game version of Silver, honestly. XD

         “If a character isn’t relatable, then they aren’t likable at all.”

         Incorrect. A lot of the most loved characters in any kind of series aren’t relatable at all. Dante from Devil May Cry comes to mind. You aren’t anywhere near as cool as him and you never will be, but if you play this game, you can see what it’s like to be as cool as he is. This is the same way I see Sonic.

         And I don’t mean in just skills, but in personality as well.

         I’m not looking for characters I can relate to. I’m looking for characters I enjoy watching and am either amazed or entertained by. That’s how I get my enjoyment. If I want someone to relate to, I’ll go outside and talk to my neighbor. I prefer my fantasy characters to be written like fantasy characters, thank you very much.

         So yeah, sorry, but I still disagree.

         1. Again, no. Dante still has relatable traits. Just because YOU don’t relate to him or any other character doesn’t mean that nobody else does. A character’s personality comes from either the creator or somebody the creator knows. That means that out there is someone who is very much like Dante, or Silver, or even Sonic. They aren’t the same person, the characters themselves are more exaggerated versions, but the essence of their personality is still there. That DOESN’T make them any less fantasy characters than a dragon or an elf or whatever your frame of reference is. And skill has NOTHING to do with how relatable a character is! It is about PERSONALITY, and no two personalities are the same, but they can be similar. It just seems really immature to me that you seem to think that characters are nothing more than alien creatures that have no personality and are meant to be just “cool” and “awesome”, but not identifiable in any way. If you honestly don’t get ANYTHING from these characters and insist on believing in the illusion that they are NOT supposed to be convincing and all they are for is just to look “cool”, then fine! Just keep that stuff to yourself and continue to talk about how cool they are. That seems to be the only thing we can humanly agree on.

            1. You love making assumptions, don’t you? XD

               Characters like Dante and Sonic are not “generally” relatable, meaning that the majority of the general audience that see these characters don’t exactly relate to their cool and carefree while being a jerk with a heart of gold type personalities.

               Me? I actually relate to it very well. Sonic’s personality especially. However, I’m saying that’s not what I look for in characters and that it’s not the only way to enjoy characters. It’s not why I like them. I like them because they’re fun and entertaining to watch. I enjoy them for being characters on their own. Not for whatever traits they may share with actual people. I don’t care about them.

               Silver just does not apply to any of that for me. Simple as that.

               I made it clear that what I said was my own personal opinion and that I wasn’t forcing it on anyone, so you’re getting all mad and butthurt over nothing. I won’t keep it to myself because, and this might surprise you, I can freely express my thoughts however I want to as a freely-willed human being! Who knew?? 😀

               I’m allowed to say that I don’t like Silver just as you can say you do love him. Neither one harms the other, even if you keep fighting everyone to force your opinion of him being a great character and if I think you’re a complete idiot for doing so.

               So there you have it. This can go on forever, or you can let it go and let it be. ¦D

            2. I really feel like there is an error in communication going on here, because I’m simply stating that what you see in the characters is not all there is. There is more depth than that. I see them as I see other human beings. We don’t have the exact same things in common, but we share certain things. We have struggles, we have to find out who we are, we have to cope with things. Perhaps the two things we are talking about are just two different things that go better together rather than apart. Because you’re right, they are their own characters with their own personalities, but to me, the thing that draws me in to them from the beginning is that they share one tiny thing in common with me. From that point on, I’m into who they are, and how I could possibly learn from them, but I don’t see them as carbon copies of myself, or vise-versa. You’re more into individuality? Fine, I can respect that. But I’m also into unity, I believe there is a bit of something put into everything else, even if it’s just a little. And yet things with that one minor similarity are still vastly and entirely different. It’s very clear that I get more from Silver’s character than you do. Whatever. I’m tired of all the rants and the mocking. Let’s just let bygones be bygones, alright?

10. I must be the only person in the world who actually likes Marine xD. My favorite character is Amy, and alot of people seem to hate on her for some reason…

    1. I almost put Amy on the list as well as she is a character who has grown a lot in the past ten years who now tends to be more concerned about helping others than chasing after Sonic. However, I figured enough Sonic fans actualy liked Amy that I didn’t bother.

       1. You did mention Amy in Cream’s section and you stated everything that basically needed to be said about her so I believe you did her enough justice.

11. Why is Cream of all the characters a hated one? I mean, I can understand Big, The Babylon Rouges, Silver, and to a certain extent Marine (though I am a little bothered people hate her too), but why Cream? Cream doesn’t act annoying, she doesn’t appear all that much, she is actually really adorable, and she is fun to play as in games like Sonic Advance 2 and 3. Out of them all, that’s the character I just do not understand the hate for.

12. How the hell is Chris Thorndyke not on the list! D-d-do people just hate him!?

    1. Quick Answer: Yes.
       Long Answer: A lot of viewers of Sonic X consider him one of main problems the series had. Chris is probably one of the most blatant examples of the “Creator’s Pet” out there.

       1. As someone who watched all of Sonic X in Japanese with English subs, I actually really like Chris.

          Or rather, I like who Chris grew up to be when the 3rd Season with the Metarex. He showed how he matured and developed from how he used to be as a kid and was actually incredibly useful the whole way through. So much so that they actually wouldn’t have been able to beat the Metarex without him.

          Overall for the series, I came to really like Chris at the end.

          1. …How is it that you could see character development and personality in CHRIS, one of the most mocked characters in the entire franchise, and yet not see anything that resembles the personality of a human being in any other character!? (and don’t say that it’s because Chris is a human character and is supposed to seem human)

             1. Because Chris is a human character and is supposed to seem human.

                Ha. Ha. Ha. ¦D

                The real answer is, Sonic X is written as an actual cohesive story with a solid continuity in it’s own universe to show said development in not only Chris, but the whole rest of the cast.

                In the game universe? Pretty much none of that exists. Especially not in Modern times considering how terrible Lost World’s story is.

                In the comic universe? It’s everywhere.

                Hence why I see the game universe as being rather empty and dry while the comic universe actually has that more “human” nature you keep swearing is in the games.

                I don’t care about Sonic characters seeming “human”, though. I do care about them seeming like actual characters on their own, though. I don’t want them to seem like they’re actually “just like us”, but to seem like they have their own unique ways of having personalities that fits their world and NOT ours.

             2. Yes, hahahaha, soooooo funny (troll).

                I will give that the show has a decent sense of continuity, though in the grand scheme of things Chris feels very shoehorned in for me. Still, he DOES have his role to play in the story, even if it does feel a bit forced and unnecessary at times. In a lot of respects he still feels like a tool to me, but you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got, and he more or less get’s the job done. He is a little more useful in season 3, but again, I still get the impression that the writers put him in for fear of no one relating that season as part of the rest of the show. I remember him being more mature and having a little more technical knowledge, but I don’t really recall him contributing much. But then again, it has been a while since I’ve seen that season, so he may have contributed in many ways that I just don’t remember.

                Still, I’ve always felt that while Chris was made to be a child character and thus he was supposed to be the main emotional heart of the team, I always felt like the show only focused on the more, well, easy to watch aspects of childhood (happy, sad, polite, courageous, creative), while ignoring all the other “darker” aspects that would also apply to a child(occasionally bratty, can’t see things from a logical standpoint, occasional bouts of selfishness), unless the plot of the episode demanded it. At least, in the 4-Kids dub anyway. I have yet to see the Japanese version.

                Still, it was paced in a way that seemed to work, though a bit faulty in some areas. I don’t know, I guess I’m still torn about what I think about the show. It does have A LOT of faults, but it was also the first thing Sonic-related I’ve ever seen and what drew me into the gaming franchise. Despite everything wrong with it, there were some things that drew me to the show, and so I did have a reason to watch it. Granted, I see this show as an adult far differently than I saw it as a kid, but for some reason or another this show still has a nostalgic value to me. Maybe when I see it again I’ll have a more balanced view of the show. Story and structure-wise, it’s a decently built show. Content-wise…well, it’s very 4-Kids…take that for what you will…But no matter how you look at it, Chris IS built to match the story of the show, for better or worse…perhaps both.

13. I don’t really hate any character. All of them could fit in a game somewhere. I know, I checked.

    Jet is the A-hole Rival. Unlike Shadow which is Vegeta, meaning Vitriolic Best Buds and Knuckles is the slightly goofy good friend. Metal Sonic is the rival. This is where Jet fits in.

    Wave is a girl. The smart one, and some might like her. In various ways.

    Storm is the big somewhat dim muscle. Like Knuckles only dumber.

    Silver is Trunks. If he was in another game, he might be done better. (Wasn’t he in Rivals 2?)

    Marine is the Tails to Blaze’s Sonic. She’s the Cream to Blaze’s Amy. She’s the sidekick. Tone down the phrases a little maybe.

    Cream is also the sidekick. This is what we have. Main character, Sidekick, Friend. Amy and Cream just need a Echidna for their three pack. (same with Blaze and Marine) Ha.

    Big is just a big lazy guy. Fishing was boring. But he’s not that bad.

    That’s what I think. There’s no character in the games that suck. Anywhere else? …He said don’t mention Chris.

14. *stares at list*….Where have you been all my life?….

    AHEM, um, anyway! IT’S ABOUT TIME that I finally found someone with a decent sense of humanity on one of these sites! Honestly, the one-sided ways that everybody bashes on these characters without even once willing to acknowledge their strengths constantly makes me cringe. I must be a die-hard fan by your description, because I’ve found that each of these characters is as warm and endearing as the main characters of the franchise, even if they can be annoying at times. Basically, I see everything that you see in these characters, so stating my reasons for defending them would seem a little redundant, but I can speak up about a few that I constantly see getting mercilessly picked on by other so-called “fans” of the Blue-Blur.

    Silver: OH THANK GOD FOR THIS CHARACTER!! I don’t care what people say about this guy, I will defend him every step of the way. Sure he’s annoying sometimes, he can be even more gullible than Knuckles, and he debuted in one of the worst Sonic games in history. He certainly is a flawed character. And that’s why I love him so much! Characters like Sonic and Shadow can do things so perfectly all the time that they don’t even seem human half the time (or hedgehog, whatever), but Silver is constantly seen making mistakes, but with each mistake he seems to learn more and more. A lot of people would probably try to rebut my statement by bringing up how he always tries to attack Sonic, but I would remind them that that’s how the other “rivals” of the series have worked. How many times has Knuckles been tricked into fighting Sonic by Eggman again? Only recently has Knuckles finally stopped letting his instincts get the better of him and actually trust Sonic with the bigger tasks, even sitting out an entire adventure with Amy in the most recent game (though I mostly attribute that to bad writing). And Shadow? Yeah, he’s practically against Sonic in almost every game he appears in. The last time he has ever existed to purely help Sonic was in SONIC 2006, though most of the time he was busy with his own crisis. Most of the time now whenever Shadow want to compete against Sonic for something, it’s usually because he’s bored and Sonic is up for a challenge, no malice involved whatsoever. In a lot of the same ways, Silver is going through the same process that these two characters have gone through. At first he was introduced as an obstacle in Sonic’s story, as well as an alternative story for the player, but over time he has become much more of a friendly rival, who always ends up assisting Sonic in saving the world when the time came. SONIC 2006 introduced the process, Rivals reset the process, Rivals 2 pretty much had EVERYONE competing against each other, and by Colors everyone was basically a cheerleader who wanted to test and encourage Sonic. Generations had him return as a FRIENDLY rival who wanted to make sure that this was the same Sonic that beat him so that he wasn’t letting some impostor run off with the Chaos Emeralds, which is understandable, considering how many flipping clones are running around everywhere (Sonic, a younger Sonic, a Metal Sonic, Shadow, even I would get suspicious after being around so many dopplegangers!!). The only difference between Silver and the other friendly rivals is that they have had more time to mellow down and mature, they’ve been playable in more games than just their debuts. Silver on the other hand has only been playable in his debut game (SONIC 2006) and his “re-debut” games (Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2). Both times he is seen in his fresher state, so naturally he will still seem as immature as Shadow and Knuckles were in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic 3, respectively. He hasn’t been given the proper amount of time to mature and mellow like the other characters have, and now everyone has currently been frozen in place as side-characters, or “cheerleaders” as I like to call them. All of their roles have been reduced to simple supporting cast members and rarely ever get the chance to really contribute anything to the plot. While this arguably makes Silver a much more supportive character, he has so far gotten the least amount of screen-time as compared to any of the other main cast members. His character development has basically been halted and we haven’t been allowed to see him at his full potential, which is why I believe so many people so shallowly and immaturely bash the character, because they haven’t gotten to see him develop as much as Knuckles and Shadow have. He is often paired with Blaze (who is in contrast, a much beloved friendly rival) mostly because they are both promising characters who are hardly ever explored as much as they should be in the console games, and haven’t even gotten as much love and attention as characters like Shadow and Knuckels have (seriously, why don’t either of these characters have their own solo games yet!?). Also, they make a cute couple (Silver/Blaze FTW!!!). Aside from his limited amount of appearances, I also believe that right of the bat, everyone expected the wrong thing from Silver. They expected him to be as well rounded and bad-ass as Shadow and Knuckles have already become by the time he was introduced. They had already forgotten how basic and 2-dimensional they had been before they became more developed. So when they got a character who’s flaws were immanent and was immediately posed to oppose Sonic, they felt like they got duped and that he was an annoying n00b to the series. It’s clear that the fans who still feel this way can’t see the forest for the trees, as certain recently released Christmas specials made by a whale-inspired fan-group would have you believe that he is the same annoying and useless character that everyone chose to believe he was way back in 2006 (but hey, that guy was named “Steve”, so he’s entirely different, right?). Maybe I’m getting a little too personal about this, but that’s because I honestly see myself in Silver. Here’s a guy with the best and most romantic intentions that anyone would desire (romantic in the charismatic sense mind you, not the “lovey-dovey” one), and all he wants to do is ensure peace and tranquility for both his timeline and everyone else’s. But despite all of his pure intentions, his single-minded desire to do good can often confuse and mislead him down the wrong path, and he can’t realize that until it’s pointed out to him or the damage was already done. Sound familiar? If it doesn’t, you must be from a different planet, because you certainly can’t be human. The process of wanting to do something good but constantly making mistakes along the way is a process that everyone goes through, and nobody gets it right all the time, certainly not on the first try. Silver wants to do good, but finds that his flaws tend to impede on those goals. If Shadow’s story was about trying to find light and peace by emerging from the darkness, then Silver’s story is about trying to reach the light without being blinded or tripping over anything. We all have flaws that tend to interfere with our goals, but we still try to get past them and press on, much like Silver does. Sometimes we need someone to help steer us in the right direction when we loose our way, and that is basically the role that Blaze tends to play for Silver. She could very well make herself the leader of the duo, but instead she tries to encourage Silver to make his own decisions and use his own judgement to get them where they need to go. If Blaze entrust Silver with such a task as destroying a million-year old fire god of destruction with such certainty, then surely we can do the same and trust her judgement, if not Silver himself. Silver may be naive, but he’s also pure in his intentions. He’s like a child who’s just starting to learn what it means to grow up, and that there are some characteristics of childhood that must be carried on into adulthood, otherwise everyone would be as grumpy as Shadow. He could try things like Sonic or Blaze’s way, but he knows that he’s got to do things his own way, otherwise there is no point in trying. So, in short, Silver be awesome and all yall haters be trippen’-Okay, not really. Silver is a character with a lot of potential who hasn’t gotten as much time in the limelight as other characters in the series, and the only way that can change is either if Sonic-fans finally decided to open up their minds to the possibility that Sonic isn’t the only useful character around or if SEGA finally decides to ACTUALLY USE THESE CHARACTERS instead of slowly trying to make everyone forget them so that Sonic will seem more awesome because he’s the only one there! There are many reasons why I listen to Dreams Of An Absolution, and Silver is one of them.

    And now for the other character who I feel is seriously deserving of more credit and respect.

    Amy: Though not targeted as much as Silver, before the psychic came around, Amy was easily the most picked on character in the franchise. Sure, she was made to be an obsessed fan-girl, but even as she mellowed, people still chose to see her as that annoying person at school who was always nice to you and always said “hi”, but you wanted nothing to do with that person. In almost every fan-work I see of her, she is depicted as an obsessed stalker, and while some of these jokes are used in good fun, most of the time they are used in utter hatred of the character and are meant to sort of demonize her as a lesser being in the franchise. First, I’m going to get my personal thoughts out of the way. I love Amy Rose. I’ve always admired the girl character who chases the boy, rather than the other way around. I suppose it mostly stems from the fact that I’m always on the admirer end of the crush relationship, so I can understand and appreciate the feelings of someone who wants to be noticed better than the people who have always been on the admired side and didn’t want anything to do with with the admirer, at least, not in that kind of way. I deeply sympathize with the unrequited and often unshared feelings of the admirer and in hindsight, I wish that I had acted differently during the one time I was actually the admired. But I was immature at the time, and didn’t understand the concept of empathy as well as I do now. And I think that plays well into the sort of relationship that Sonic and Amy share. Whether their relationship is official yet or not is hard to say, as there are several instances where they have dated and other instances as if nothing has happened yet at all, but nonetheless they do have some sort of relationship or pattern in how they are around each other. At the beginning, Amy was a typical fan-girl, about as crazed and love-struck over Sonic as any Justin Beiber fan would be over, well, Justin Beiber. Of course, being a cocky and self-respecting cool dude with an attitude as he was at the time, Sonic was caught off-guard by this and has clearly showed signs that he is uninterested. Not that that stopped Amy in any way, if anything, it just convinced her to go after him even more. There ARE girls out there who are attracted to guys play hard-to-get, whether they are playing or not. So for a while that was how Amy thought of Sonic, her dream come true who kept playing hard to get, while to Sonic Amy seemed like an obsessed fan who couldn’t take a hint. The next time they saw each other (at least, chronologically I think…), not much had changed. Sonic was older and even more cocky than ever(as well as hip, happenin’, funky-fresh, ice-ice baby, radical, tubular, and EXCELLENT!!! *air-guitar riff*), and Amy was noticeably more older and physically mature (seriously, she’s technically 13 years old now? That can’t be right…), but still just as love-struck and Sonic-obsessed as she was in the last game. She was about to be settled into playing the damsel in distress role again, when she decided to take action and have her own adventure, where SHE was the one who helped someone out this time, not for Sonic, but for herself! And then as soon as she learned this lesson, she immediately decided to go back to pursuing Sonic (again, poor writing). Then again, this could actually be considered the point where she actually became active in her desire to be with Sonic, rather than just playing the Princess Peach role all the time and hoping that Sonic would just show up one day. Since then, she is normally seen tracking down Sonic, and has often shown a remarkable capability to actually sense where Sonic has been (what Cream would later dub her “Sonic-Sense”), which eventually does lead her right to him. Along her pursuits though, she has often found herself turning her pursuit for Sonic into a quest for someone else’s sake, such as stopping Eggman or helping her friends. Eventually, by the time she has caught up with Sonic, she is there to be a part of the team. Sure, she glomps him a few times when they first meet up in the game, but for the rest of the time she is purely there to help. She even missed out on all of the action in the most recent game for the sake of helping out. That is a testament to how much she has matured and developed as a character. She got so wrapped up in trying to help that she even believed for a second that she didn’t make her feelings clear enough (even though it was obvious and is also a result of terrible writing. I’m starting to sense a pattern here…). As for Sonic, well, back to the story of their relationship. It seems to be more of a push and pull relationship, or like a game of tug-o-war. The more Amy forces herself onto Sonic, the more Sonic resists. The more he resists, the more he pushes her away. The more Sonic pushes her away, the more Amy chases after him. The more Amy chases after Sonic, the more anxious Sonic is to run away. The more he runs away, the more Amy chases him. Once she finds him, she tires her best to never let go, lest her chase start over again. The more she tries to keep him in one place, the more Sonic tries to escape and run off. As soon as he does, the cycle starts over again and threatens to keep going. Until he just decides to stop one day, and let’s her tag along. She doesn’t do much, but she supports him the best she can. The less Amy HAS to chase Sonic, the less confrontational she tends to be. The less confrontational Amy is around Sonic, the more comfortable he is around her. This has gotten to a point where Sonic is no longer uncomfortable (or at least nervous) whenever Amy is around or involved, and Amy isn’t constantly pestering him with love (well, not as much as she used to anyway). It has gotten so lax, that there have even been at least one or two attempts or opportunities to make something more work (e.g. Sonic Unleashed and Sonic And The Black Knight). This usually either doesn’t go anywhere or doesn’t end well, but nonetheless they are still relatively comfortable around each other and the feelings are still there. There aren’t any explicit signs or evidence that Sonic shares the same feelings that Amy has for him, but at the very least there is some evidence that he does care for her and trusts her as much as his other friends, and that she is as much of a friend to Sonic as his other friends are. I like to think that we have reached this point because both characters have matured in some way or manner. Sonic, though mostly the same guy we have always known him as for the past 23 years or so, has matured enough to know that being a hero should never mean not being a friend to anyone. He’s had his differences with Eggman, but he has allowed himself to temporarily set those aside when the situation demands that they team up together for the greater good. He has also learned not to always bash heads with others and has been able to see them for their strengths rather than their weaknesses more and more. During Shadow’s game, despite Shadow’s rogue nature, Sonic didn’t doubt for a minute that he would help him save the world. He has matured so much that personally, I find the plot for Sonic Lost World to be my most hated plot out of the entire franchise, as it seems to make Sonic revert to snarkier and less mature version of himself, as if none of that character development ever happened!! But I’m getting side-tracked. Amy, has so far stayed the most consistent. At the beginning she started as the typical love-struck damsel in distress with a slight fan-girl complex attached to her, but as she appeared as a playable character more and more, she began to rely on herself more to reunite with her hero, and even took it upon herself to save the day several times, independent from Sonic (well, mostly). Eventually, by the time she has reached the supporting character status, she fits into the role rather well and constantly does her best to help out whenever and however she can, even if it means being nowhere near Sonic. She used to be really bratty and single-minded, as well as compulsive, irrational, and sometimes non-empathetic, but now she has a deep compassion for everyone she comes across, be they her friends, strangers, animals (mobinis? Whatever!), or even her enemies. She stands up for others when they are being put down or even attacked. She body-guarded a Flicky, a Mobian bird mind you, at the risk of being chased by a killer robot, and tried to put Wave in her place when she saw her teasing Tails like a typical school-yard bully. She’s not just some romantic foil for Sonic, she’s a hero by her own right, and she has proved herself time and time again just as Knuckles and Tails have. Anyone who sees her as nothing more than an obsessive fan-girl who simply wants to stalk Sonic and have hedgehog babies with him is about as open-minded as a sealed can of soup.

    So there you have it, my two cents for two of my most favorite underappreciated characters. I really wish that the fan base would grow up and see just how developed and matured they have become. A true character has both strengths AND faults. They aren’t relatable if all they are are the qualities that we want and expect to see, and have no negative traits whatsoever. By having flaws, they ARE more relatable, because no one is perfect all the time, especially not the Sonic fan base. If all we see of them are just their flaws, then we ourselves won’t be able to mature. By seeing the growth and worth these characters have, perhaps we can find a bit of ourselves in every character, and learn to appreciate them a little more. If only…

    1. Also, forgot to mention. Another personal taste of mine: I’m a sucker for the whole female counterpart thing for cartoons. Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse, Bugs Bunny & Lola Bunny, Sonic & Amy, Robot Boy & Robot Girl, etc. So that was what drew me into Amy at first, but over time I have come to accept her as something much more than just a girl who had a massive crush on the fastest hedgehog around. I can understand though if no one else is into that sort of thing, but that’s just my personal taste. I’m just that cliche’.

    2. Finally finally finally!A silver fan lime me!A fan who likes amy like me!Lets be friends!

       (BTW silvaze FTW!)

    3. Finally finally finally!A silver fan lime me!A fan who likes amy like me!Lets be friends!!

       (BTW silvaze FTW!)

       1. I say “yes” to both versions of the same statement!

          (Silvaze FTW)

15. The Babylon Rogues:
    I haven’t played any of the Riders games, but from what I’ve seen of the characters from watching playthroughs online, I can’t say I’m a fan of them. I often find myself referring to them as Jerky, Bitchy, and Fatty. With that said however, I don’t object to any of the positive traits the Rogues have.
    Silver:
    I didn’t play Sonic 06 ’til March 2012, but I was already pretty familiar with Silver. With Sonic 06’s plot being wiped from canon, Silver real introduction comes from Sonic Rivals where he is no longer naive (quite the opposite actually) but now he’s sort of a “jerk with a heart of gold”. He still comes from the future on a mission, but this time he knows what he’s has to do and he’s clear & focused. I really did like him teaming up with Espio in the sequel(Future Sonic and my favorite Chaotix Co-op!? Fucking Win!). And from what I saw in Sonic Generations, Silver’s is more powerful than he ever was in Sonic 06 (He can run fast now and his boss fight was one the best in game!). With all this, I can say I wouldn’t mind seeing Silver again in future (no pun intended) titles.
    Marine:
    Yeah she was annoying, but at least she gets called out on it (Thank you Blaze!). Also near the end of the game, Marine does realize some of her limits and she wants to work so that she can become a real captain someday. She even mentioned studying! Now when was the last time that a Sonic character expressed their desire to get an education!? That’s pretty neat!
    Cream:
    Ah yes, Japan’s favorite female Sonic character. While I’m usually indifferent to this character, I notice some positive traits with her. She is very nice and kind (according to her profile, this is because her mother is very strict about that), she is very brave, and most notably she’s very observant. What I mean by the latter is that she is well aware of certain behaviors of the other characters and can even explain them quite accurately to someone else (See Sonic Rush). Also her chao, Cheese, must be at level 100 or something because that thing is a beast!
    Big:
    Yeah I hated the fishing too and I just didn’t find his “dumb guy” humor very funny. At least he was fun to play with in Sonic Heroes. I didn’t mind his cameos in SA2 and I had no real problems with his appearances in some of the games but since he’s been retired I guess we won’t be seeing much of him anytime soon.

16. Well I don’t like big the cat so much in Sonic Adventure he’s slow and catching fish or froggy! Also I would agree with you about Cream The Rabbit in the past Sonic games of not helping Amy Rose to catch Sonic The Hedgehog in Sonic Battle Sonic Advance 3, & Sonic Rush, then Sonic Free Riders!

17. I know I’m not gonna make any friends when I say this, but I’ve come to love Silver over the years. But unfortunately not for good reasons. A lot of people didn’t really like him and the role he played in all of.. what, 3 games? And I don’t think I really even cared for much of his character in those games to begin with. And his design, quite a few people don’t like it. Even by Sonic standards I guess it is a little over the top. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t used to it by now. (I even got a plush toy of him as a present, and I think it’s really well made. Even with his crazy design, I just smile when I see it). So yeah, I really like the character, but I guess really only due to pity. But I think I’m fine with that! I’m not out to try and change anyone’s opinion. If you absolutely despise everything about him, more power to you. This of course is just what I think.

    tl;dr blah blah blah opinions about a fictional character that probably should of just faded into obscurity.

18. I have rally no hate for Sonic characters. No I don’t like all of them with the same love or liking but I don’t hate them. All Sonic characters have important roles in the games, otherwise they wouldn’t be in it. I don’t understand how people could have a hate towards characters. EX: how on earth could you hate Silver the Hedgehog….I mean he has so much potential and he’s a very important character. I hate it when people hate the characters just because they were put in a bad game or from not even playing the game and just judging b/c of what they heard from other fans. First of all, if you haven’t played a game with that certain character in it, why are you judging him/or her. It makes no sense.

    I love Silver. He’s actually one of my favorites next to Shadow, Sonic, Knux, Mighty, Amy, Blaze, Fang, Eggman, and Mephiles. In my opinion, he was one of the best things to happen in Sonic 06. When I played as Silver and learned his story, it really was interesting to me. Just like Shadow’s backstory, it really got me into the Character and I got a relatable feeling towards him. Silver’s mission was to find the person responsible for the destruction of his future. He wanted to do whatever he could to fix it. I respect that! He is a strong character that I think needs more love than hate. I’ sure he wasn’t in a crappyish game, he would have a little bit more love. Silver, to me, still has plenty of potential. Also, I didn’t hate Sonic 06, I just thought it was an OK game. I had fun playing it, despite my rages with the camera controls and other stuff. But it doesn’t mean it was a bad game. If SEGA were to remake 06, I’d buy it and play it again. BTW, Silver haters, please understand the importance and concept of a character and stop hating on Silver! I hate getting into fights with Sonic fans about Silver. Not to menchion some fans say the most outrageous things about Silver. EX: “He’s gay. He’s annoying”…..like WHAT! How on mobians is he gay. I didn’t even see a sign of gay in his character. I mean, come on. I think they been only seeing the fanmade crap about Silver on Youtube. That’s the only place where you’ll find that he’s gay or his character change. Plus, how is he annoying?? Again, they might have been watching to many Sonic fanmade crap. Or they just didn’t bother to play the game at all. I think this might be the most hated character for no reason at all. There’s no reason to hate on Silver. I cant find none.

    I haven’t play any games with the The Babylon Rouges in it. So I can’t really judge them. But they seem to be a interesting set of characters.

    Marine the Racoon. Okay, I’ll admit this is not my favorite character, but she’s important. I find her a bit annoying but I still like her. I know people think she’s annoying and childish but hey she’s like a little kid! Isn’t she? I have nothing else to really say about Marine.

    I like Cream the Rabbit. I don’t really have any problems with her. She seems to be a good character to me. Plus, Cheese…dang he can do some damage xD. I wouldn’t want to mess with her! Or Amy of that matter 0-0

    Here’s the big one….Big the Cat…..Why did it have to come to this? Again I don’t hate…BUT!! He’s my #1 least likeable Sonic characters. I’m sorry but he just is. B/c of this, I’d never really found interest in his character. Nothing really connected whenever I played as him in the games…Nothing major but I just don’t really find anything interesting in his character. But he’s fun to play as in Sonic Heroes. He’s got some importance. I mean, come on, no Sonic Character isn’t important or has no major role in a game.
    ”
    lol I looked back at what I said about Silver….DANG I wrote a lot xD… But anyway that’s what I think about these “hated character for no apparent reason at all” characters. Thank you and goodnight….I mean morning. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to play Sonic 06!!! YAAYYY!! Or try to buy Sonic Colors. NEED TO PLAY THAT GAME!!

    1. Forgot to menchion. THANK GOD FOR THE CREATION OF SILVER! I’m gonna defend him forever and always! IF HATERS GONNA HATE HIM THEN THEY GONNA HATE ME TOO!! WHOOOHOO! BRING IT ON HATERS!!

19. May i remind all you haters that silver had PSYCHIC FRICKIN POWERS!?

20. A very nice read. I hope for more in the future. 😉

21. How can Knuckles not be Sonic’s rival if Sonic “Rivals” starts with them having a race?

22. I reckon Espio is a decent character. He never really does anything annoying, and hey, he’s a ninja and can turn invisible. I’m not a Sonic fanboy or anything, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a spin-off game where you play mainly as Espio…it’d be more slow-paced, but there could be a mystery and you’d turn invisible to sneak past enemies. It could also incorporate a bit of strategy into that, and would feel stealthy, similar to that feeling you get when you do a silent takedown when you sneak up from behind in the Batman: Arkham games. Just a thought though.

    1. Ummmm….Espio’s not a hated character to defend though. Most like him and being a ninja puts him pretty high in the cool category in my book.

       1. And my favorite character in the series.

23. Silver sucks. I don’t want him in the past, present or future. I want him gone.

    Big sucks even more in my book, but not by much. I still can’t believe that Sega made us play as Big if we wanted to play as Super Sonic in Sonic Adventure.

    Two terrible storylines for two terrible characters.

    1. Ugh…Silver haters….I dont want them in the past,present or future.I want them
       gone…..

24. I can see why the “fans” hate these characters, but this is someone’s dream! I know there are critics out there, but they need to stop ridiculing these characters! You can hate them if you want, but I don’t believe the “fans” have been fair to SONIC TEAM; I mean just look at how unique the cast of characters are in Sonic’s universe, as opposed to most of the crap critics today call “amazing games”. This may be my opinion, but if you are a TRUE fan of Sonic and his friends, you will not care about how some of them may be annoying or weird.

    Good day.

25. I think what ruined Big was Chronicles. He was simple-minded, but could be well aware of the situation he was in (as he knew that Froggy was in trouble and he wanted to help Sonic), but Chronicles wrote him as a giant doofus that couldn’t even tell his eyes were closed, and you only needed him for Invurnability (did I spell that right?) sections. He was fun to play as in Heroes, and I might be the only person in the WORLD – wait scratch that – UNIVERSE that liked him in Adventure. I enjoy fishing IRL, and it was nice to kick back and relax with a small fishing story after the long stories before.

    1. Also, I have a soft spot for simple minded fat people. Look at Owen from Total Drama.

26. great article, no way will I defend chris thorndyke, although I do love silver’s character!
    In my youtube stopmotions, I try to kill of chris in the background as many times as is possible

27. The only characters I do have problems with are Silver,Cream, and Marine. Not for anything personal (okay, for Marine it might be), just for things that going forward I feel are probably doing more harm then good in my personal opinion. I recognize that they have their fanbases and that people want them to hang around and there are probably ways Sega and/or Sonic Team can make that happen but as they are right now, it’s rubbing me the wrong way how these two characters are being handled the most. I have problems with how all the characters are being handled today actually as there isn’t anyone within the main cast that I hate. The biggest hang-ups I have are just with Silver and Cream though. Marine, I feel I just don’t like though.

    Explanation time.

    Concerning Silver…

    For Silver, his problem is that he exists as a gimmick. A one-shot gimmick that really only works one-time. And that’s only if its done right (which it clearly wasn’t). The “boy from a ruined future” thing isn’t something you can do multiple times. Perhaps if it was left ambiguous, with Silver not succeeding in his conquest the first time, then it might have made more sense to keep him around.

    But as it stands, they’re exhausting a lot of things by including more time travel elements in the series. Every story Silver’s been a part of to date has had a serious problem with making sense within the continuity and as such has confused and alienated a lot of people from his basic premise of time travel. It’s something that’s very easy to screw-up and the people over at Sonic Team, or whoever, just don’t have the talent to do it correctly. Even if they were to, however, I still wouldn’t be up for it.

    I hate stories that dive into what’s supposed to be the future of the present storyline we’re following. Hearing Silver say that his future was bright and happy and hearing Eggman Nega say that Eggman never wins and his family line was shamed just destroys all sense of suspension of disbelief. We as the audience, of course, know that Sonic, as the hero, is supposed to always win. That doesn’t mean you can shove the fact in our face. What that does is make the universe itself aware that Eggman is never going to win, and when you do that, it makes no sense to care about what’s happening in the story.

    Should Silver return I would love for it to be revealed that he comes from an “Alternate Timeline”. A timeline that “could” happen, but might not. It would explain why he didn’t give a crap when he returned to his future in 06, saw that it was still destroyed and taken over by Iblis, and decided to seal him up like the Duke did instead of turning back and making sure Sonic succeeded like he said he would.

    Concerning Cream…

    I’ve gone into it plenty of times and there are a good number of people who also share the same sentiment, but the problem with Cream is how making her relevant would mean actually giving her a proper day-to-day motivation to do something. An occupation or a position she holds or a goal and desire that she wants to meet on a regular basis and not something that’s situational like helping her friends or getting back her kidnapped chao/chao’s brother/mother/herself.

    Literally every other character in the series has some sort of motivation or drive behind their established existence except her it seems. We all know Sonic’s the hero who does what he does because of his established personal morality and his desire to live free and die hard. Tails, aside from having similar interests, also has his technological aspects and the developmental phase of a young boy trying to discover his true potential, whether it be with machines or believing in himself. Amy’s was simply to be respected by Sonic and work her way into being one of his teammates (before it only became about trying to make sure they got together).

    Even a simple job is all you would need. The Chaotix are detectives. There you go. Shadow’s a G.U.N agent now, supposedly. Fine. Rouge is a jewel theif/treasure hunter/spy/undercover agent. Good God there’s plenty you could do with that and yet she’s always reduced to being “Shadow’s partner” except in Heroes where she graciously got the leadership role she deserved.

    Cream doesn’t have anything. I at least thought that she’d be happy just getting to be a referee in the Olympic Games but no. The newest one doesn’t have her in it at all. The only Sonic referees in that game are Espio, Charmy, and Omochao.

    Omochao.

    Seriously, if Cream were to have her own theme song what would it even be about? How much she likes flowers and cute things? If going forward, she is still present, they really need to find her something to get passionate about that could be worked into some sort of narrative. I’ve heard the counter-argument that she doesn’t need one of those because she’s a small child but that doesn’t work for me at all.

    Reason number 1 is that Charmy’s the same age as her, and he’s a detective. Marine’s a year older and shares the same passion in shipbuilding just the same as Tails who’s only two years older then Cream. Age isn’t a factor at all within this series when it comes to having something of a general purpose to work off of. It doesn’t even have to be something where she wants to fight people or save the world. Just a clear cut everyday motivation benefiting a normal everyday child would be nice. Children have those and its been expressed in stories before. It really doesn’t have to be about her fighting anything.

    Reason number 2 is that claiming she’s just there to be super-cute and help out in the background and that it isn’t necessary to make her relevant in her appearances can’t work with the number of characters we have in this cast I feel. When someone shows up who has no real relevance or reason to be there it’s just going to make me feel its a waste having her around when someone else with their own motivation and clearing defined goals is getting shafted.

    So if saying its okay that Cream’s just there to be cute and just a background helper is what the notion is, I’m sorry but I’m not okay with that. The other cute characters within the series don’t come off as manufactured specifically to be cute to me because they have something about them that transcends that. For Cream, that’s literally all she has.

    Concerning Marine…

    I just… really don’t agree with the defense written there. The only thing to salvage about her might just be the very ending where she learned from her transgression and gave hope for herself in the future. I don’t feel she’s worth bringing back as an extension of the cast though. Honestly, the Archie Comics are written in a way that makes it obvious they don’t like her. Seeing Amy grab her by the collar and telling her to shut up and seeing her screw-up and throw her life in the line of fire is just fuel for that fire. I have no in-depth analysis for this one. I just feel really indifferent to her.

28. Well according to pole readings silver is one of the more popular characters in the series so i dont think he belongs on this article.
    i like espio marine and cream but they are under appreciated.

    1. I like Espio and Marine too, btw where did you find those polls?

       1. I study data from mini poles all over the internet. Unfortunately to actually get accurate idea of exactly the order of popularity each character has there would have to be a large pole conducted like there was back about a decade ago. All I can conclude is silver appears to be much more popular then some older characters like cream. He appears to be just a little less popular then knuckles. I think people assume they are unloved because official critics always pick on them. I mean shadow always gets called the worst sonic character despite being the second most popular among fans. Go figure.

29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VGquMPtJzU

30. There’s only ONE Sonic character (from the video games) I deem as worthless, and Tails Doll, Sega’s Tails Doll, not some over-ascended Sonic fan fiction of how he is the most evil, apocalyptic, satanic, and demonic being, far worst than Mephiles or Black Doom. He’s just Sega’s cop-out from Metal Tails and a subtle remark that Tails isn’t good enough to get a metal-counterpart like Sonic and Knuckles. Aside from only appearing in a foot-racing game, all he does is hover, nothing more.

    As for the rest, there is only one kind of Sonic game where they can all actively get along: A Marvel vs Capcom 2, with Sonic characters. Think about it. fast-paced action, loads and loads of characters, improvised attacks and movesets, 3-on-3 battles. I think the Sonic series have more-or-less done Sonic, just handled them badly in certain recent Sonic titles. Any deceased or reconned Sonic character can return, it doesn’t have to fit in the Sonic canon, just epic jazz music, good game controls, and fighting!

31. Sonic characters I used to hate, but am okay with now:

    5. Scratch
    4. Ella
    3. Manic and Sonia
    2. Shadow
    1. Heavy & Bomb

    Characters I still hate:
    5. Constable Remington
    4. Mr. Stewart
    3. Asteron
    2. Elise
    1. Chris Thorndyke

32. The fact that you brought up Big the cat and stated he isn’t a bad character. only because he was the worst game style in Sonic adventure pleases me. it frustrates me that people hate on him because of how he works. I love big for the fact he’s the character that is a complete different person than those in the actual games. not to mention he’s one of the best characters to play as in Sega all stars. you can relate this whole scenario to people in real life also

33. In regards to Marine, Flynn and Yardley didn’t bring out her best. They not only ignored her character Development at the end of Rush Adventure, but made her even worse then she is in the games by claiming that she can’t even build a boat despite her Building two on her own.

    The highlight of the two writers blatant character bashing is what made me rage quit the comic, Pirate Plunder, here Marine is reduced to an idiot savant who can’t do anything at all without someone watching over her every second of the day to keep her from screwing up.

34. Personally I love the Babylon Rogues and Silver, don’t mind Cream and hate the other two. But I don’t mind Big popping up as cameos if they want to keep him that way.

    Shadow could be a real rival to Sonic if they made him that way. But I do like Jet as Sonic’s rival, and personally, I WOULD like to see them outside of the Riders games, but that doesn’t mean the Babylon Rogues have to be major characters outside the Riders games. Just make them appear once and a while.

    Silver definitely needs to stop his whole “travel back into the past to save the future” crap. If they can do that and just make him permanently in the past, that’d be the best way to resolve his bad plot appearances.

35. Big is one of my most wanted characters for the upcoming Mario and Sonic Olympic Games series, but after the Winter 2010 still has 20 characters instead of 24! Not counting Mii. The other three are Diddy Kong, Rosalina and Tikal!
    Also Big the Cat is the only playable character in Sonic Heroes not to have a role in the Mario and Sonic games, so please SEGA add Big the Cat to Mario and Sonic 2016 Olympic Games.

36. Silver has no place in the Sonic series. They tried the idea of time travel once (Sonic ’06) and it was a disaster. Sonic ’06 was terrible for many reasons, but Silver made it that much worse.

    Coming back from something like that is almost impossible. I have seen it happen with other characters in other franchises, but I really think that Silver does not deserve such treatment. Maybe just a filler spot in the Mario and Sonic Olympic Games.

37. I personally never hated any Sonic Character. Some have annoyed me in the past and now (Like Charmy.), but I always saw their qualities instead of their defaults first. I found that ALL of them had a unique and great design, and some qualities that makes them irreplaceable (Except Mephiles, who, besides having a good voice actor, is a pure recolor of Shadow and was pretty much cliché.). That means if some of the characters are annoying, I can always enjoy their design and other qualities, like with Big or Chip, for example.

    By the way, Chip should be in the list. This little buddy have such a important place on Sonic Unleashed’s plot (No spoil here.), but he’s such hated by fans who haven’t completed it, or even PLAYED it (That wouldn’t be surprising with all the prejudices against it…).

38. Personally I LOVE The Babylon Rouges, if they ever make a free-roam Sonic game, I want to be able to hit up The Babylon Gardens, Angel Island, and maybe even “The Down Unda”.
    For that matter, there are concepts that the comics have that I’d LOVE to see in the games. Vector’s Australian accent that even ESPIO didn’t know he had, Scourge, the REAL “Anti-Sonic” Everything Sonic loves, Scourge hates, and vice-versa. Especially Chili Dogs.
    Also, I’d love to see Silver’s personality used well in a story. I could see him maybe loose the first boss fight, then the second gets away, and through a good portion of the game he’s in a slump, until near the end when he decides “It’s do it or die time!”

Comments are closed.