Detective TSS & The Case of The Third Character

27 Comments

1. I knew I could count on you guys to do some proper digging. ❤️ This is driving me nuts to be honest, I’ve been thinking about Bubsy (and how I could POSSIBLY react if it was him, after all) way more than what could be considered healthy since this silhouette was revealed…

   1. Dw, i really think (and hope!) that the new character will be simply that, a “brand new” character. And when Sega said the new character will be unexpected, i think they meant in his relationship to the games other characters and/or the plot. (maybe a relative of some sort?)
      My Theory: 5/5
      Personally though, i wouldnt mind it being Fang/Nack the weasel.

2. Necky seems to short , and round to be that silhouette so I’ll probably give him a 1/5.

3. I can live with a new character at this point. I’m PRAYING it’s not a character creator. Odd because the tuffs of hair on the character seem rather identifying for something like that.

4. Do you guys live in a cave? Char creator? Sonic Team never leave a chance to a fan have freedom to somehow modify “officially” his games.

5. YAAAY! My theory is the strongest so far. (But still unlikely.)

6. I unironically want it to be Dave

7. Fang is a Good Idea ! 😀

8. Hoping it’s Fang, but we know it isn’t. Anyway, have you considered Antione D’Coolette of Archie comics? Consider this: SEGA mandated Archie to redesign all of the Freedom Fighters to more closely match the Sonic game world back in 2013, the same year Sonic Forces went into development. Sonic games have been lifting characters and elements from the cartoons and comics and manga for years. And now that Sonic Forces nears release, Archie may have lost the rights to these characters. This entire game so far lifts other elements and settings from the SatAM / Archie series. Coincidence? Anyway, Ant has little to no tail and no distinguishable clothing. The ears are correct. Unfortunately we don’t see the top of the hair on his forehead nor his sword. Also, the shoes seem too low for boots and there is no distinguishable sword or scabbard/sheath in this silhouette. But it’s a worthy guess.

   1. Sega is never going to put the Freedom Fighters in the games. Even ignoring the copyright issues and the old SoA/SoJ schism, it’s been 20+ years since these characters have had any genuine relevance to the franchise. Why bother now after all this time?

      “SEGA mandated Archie to redesign all of the Freedom Fighters to more closely match the Sonic game world back in 2013, the same year Sonic Forces went into development.”

      The comic was being rebooted so Sega simply forced Archie to finally step in line instead of being wildly out of control like they had been for the past 20 years. That and the Sega art-style and Satam art-style always clashed so it was the perfect time to fix that (even though Sally still looks like crap).

      “Sonic games have been lifting characters and elements from the cartoons and comics and manga for years.”

      Most of which were Japanese in origin and even then, the elements were lifted in broad strokes at best. Best example being Sonic X where maybe they added some of the characters traits over to the Sega counterparts yet never went so far as to actually integrate an X-exclusive character into the Sega canon

      “This entire game so far lifts other elements and settings from the SatAM / Archie series.”
      “Correction: what we know about the game so far – which isn’t much – seems to be a similar setting to Sonic SatAM: dictator Robotnik, apocalyptic destroyed city, guard robots, and group of Resistance fighters.”

      Okay, where are you and other people getting this from? In what way has anything of what we’ve seen of the game so far even vaguely resemble Satam? None of the things you listed are exclusive to Satam even in the Sonic franchise. Are people just looking for things that aren’t there in some weird, desperate hope that their long dead cartoon will finally be revived? (It’s never gonna happen btw)

      Bottom-line: the people currently in charge have little-to-no regard of any of the pre-Adventure western Sonic stuff. Copyright issues and lack of relevance/interest from the fanbase ensures they’ll never be put in the games.

      1. Oh yeah. I forget to mention in the Archie paragraph that Sega wanted to boot the Freedom Fighters after the reboot and Flynn&co. had to fight to keep them in.

         http://www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=372637#p372637

         They will never appear in the games. Ever. And thankfully so, because the backlash that would ensue would probably be the franchise’s final nail in the coffin.

         1. Good point. I didn’t know SEGA wanted them booted. Too bad. They’re better written and more fleshed out than most of the official game characters. Anyway, the copyright problems with Ken Penders don’t touch the SatAM characters because Ken didn’t supposedly create them. If anything, the rights would be tied up with DiC. You’re absolutely right about it mostly taking from the Japanese manga and anime. Amy Rose and Charmy Bee were either inspired by or lifted from manga while Cream the Rabbit was lifted from being an exclusive Sonic X anime character to in the games also, or so I’ve read supposedly. But a lot of the games since Sonic and the Black Knight actually have been lifting things from Western sources also. No, I don’t think the actual Freedom Fighters will appear, but maybe characters loosely based on that concept. A character loosely based on Ken Penders’ Julie-Su character has already appeared in the games in Sonic Chronicles. Also, SEGA of America produced a SatAM game on the Genesis in the 90’s that actually had Sally Acorn, Rotor Walrus, Bunnie Rabbot, and Antione D’Coolette in it (I think it also may have had Muttski in it; I never cared much for the dog though). Case in point, it’s agreeably unlikely, but not impossible. As to whether it would ruin the series or not, that’s an opinion of preference that is neither right nor wrong. Some like these characters, some don’t. It’s really up to the quality of writing and sales, among other things. If they inserted poorly conceived versions into the games with poor writing, it would hurt the game. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter which characters they use, as long as the writing and game play and graphics are high quality. But that’s just my preference, see? I haven’t liked most recent Sonic games because I prefer stronger narrative, humor and character development. In other words, most modern Sonic 3D games don’t deliver for me because the plots are too simplistic. This is why I often prefer the comic series (but haven’t always preferred the comic series; SatAM’s world was too high-fantasy for me. Nothing like how I imagined the game world to be). I was big fan of the Genesis games I grew up with and loved Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. I haven’t played many Sonic games past that in which I felt could their plot and character development, etc, could compare to that of Adventure 1 & 2. Speaking of which, don’t you think it strange that Tails’ personality in SA1 seems lifted from the Western Adventures of Sonic and Sonic SatAM? Possibly also the Fleetway comic version of Tails? Before that, I didn’t think the games gave us any reason to believe Tails lived in Sonic’s shadow or had self-esteem issues. Then again, SEGA probably provided the Character Bible on Tails, meaning Tails’ character was always officially​ correct. Anyway, more on things I believe we’re inspired from the Western spin-offs below. But, seriously, it doesn’t matter if we ever see them in game or not. I just think personally that they’re more interesting characters than most of game Sonic’s extended cast. And, yes, you’re right to some degree when you said some people sometimes see things that might not be there in hope they could be there. But I think some things have a good amount of evidence to support them. And, yes, I think there is a fan base interest in these Western characters and elements and that SEGA knows it. After all, it would be misleading to project your own distaste for these characters onto the entire fan base. Some like these Western characters and elements and some don’t. No one’s right abd no one’s wrong. Just different preferences and tastes. However, if you haven’t noticed, SEGA and Sonic Team, because Sonic is a commercial property, have listened to and tried to give the various fans what they’ve wanted through the years. I agree with you that we probably won’t see these Freedom Fighters. But what have we seen? We’ll get to Western influences appearing into the games later, but as far as catering to the fans, we have Sonic 4, Generations, Mania, and classic Sonic’s return in Forces for classic fans. Likewise, we have modern Sonic all over the place for modern fans. Sonic Team admitted to making Sonic Lost World because they wanted to try something new (and im pretty sure Nintendo partnered with them on this game), not for the fans but for self, and unfortunately the modern fans didn’t seem to like it, so Forces returned things to boosting and whatnot. Meanwhile, Sonic Boom was specifically stated as having been created to appeal to Western fans; which worked marvelously for the cartoon, but not for the games the show is based on, sadly. Note Rotor Walrus has a couple of characters in this series based on his color and character design; an Easter Egg, perhaps? Anyway, the Freedom Fighters were relevant up until the Archie comic was seemingly cancelled. I’m cartoonist / comic book artist and I believe that comic books are just as culturally relevant as television and film. Obviously, the Archie Sonic had a strong enough sales following to make it’s continued publication financially worthwhile. If there had been no interest, sales wouldn’t have allowed it to outlast the manga, Fleetway Sonic, AoStH, SatAM, Underground, and Sonic X animated series and comic book spin-offs. You’re just a SEGA Sonic fan, not an Archie Sonic fan, and that’s fine. It’s just not your cup of tea. And I was right with you, to some degree, at least until the comics started shaping into something I was more interested in: closer to the world of the games. But, despite, I had always held a place close in my heart for the Freedom Fighter characters. They’re unique and interesting, despite not really fitting into the game world as such. But where really draws me in to the Archie – or even Fleetway – Sonic comics over the games, is their devotion to solid plot narrative, character development, etc. We know that video games are robust enough a medium to give us these things, yet SEGA’s Sonic Team usually choose not to give us this. A Japanese creator on the Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure teams once said that they wanted to make a “Sonic RPG,” which focused on the story and characters. They accomplished this goal with Sonic Adventure, just as they planned, and SEGA of America’s sequel, SA2, perfectly continued it in their own way. Sadly, Sonic 2006 had good intentions when attempting to return to this lofty goal, but ultimately failed to deliver a good game. Sonic Unleashed (World Adventure) purposely had a similar goal as it was an Adventure title (in Japan, anyway, but what’s in a name?). But I feel most have not given us the depth of SA1 & 2. Mania doesn’t need it as it’s a true return to form. And the modern games starting around the Unleashed and Colors boost era are meant to be a different beast than the original, true Adventure titles. But it’s not the gameplay, so much as the focus on narrative and character development. Recent modern games feel too simplistic to me. For me, in other words, I don’t necessarily want to see the Freedom Fighters in a game so much as I just want intelligent writing. A lot of non-Sonic games have done better than SA1 & 2, of course, but these are my personal highlights in the Sonic franchise (past the classics, anyway, which are just fun). I recently bought some retro games and discovered the Ratchet and Clank series is sadly superior to most of Sonic’s modern outings, to me anyway, in terms of plot, character development, dialogue, etc. Recently, Sonic Dimensions within LEGO Dimensions proved to be a worthy and missing outing for our blue blur, adding the much needed intelligent writing. Dialogue was pure joy to listen to. Comedy ensued as the writers weren’t afraid to poke fun at the sillier elements of the franchise. The Western canon returned in the form of chili dogs (ok, that was just a side note to show evidence for these elements sneaking into the games somehow, canonical or not). Needless to say, I loved it. The creators of the Happy Tree whatever show have been adding much needed dialogue into modern games, although not quite to the comedic and intelligent extent as Sonic Dimensions, but I feel the plots and character development are still lacking. Unleashed had a great enough story, I admit, despite the werehog, although I still didn’t feel like I was playing an Adventure title. I guess I missed the Hub Worlds and multiple character stories. But, yes, I just crave a better written narrative, better character development, etc. Sonic Chronicles was actually very good in these terms, but I want to run fast, not literally play an RPG. That’s why I liked Kingdom Hearts back in the day; an RPG without turn style battles. I prefer the freedom of platforming, of moving around and dodging and striking freely. Another reason I preferred Legend of Zelda over traditional RPGs back in the day. Anyway, I do love the Freedom Fighters themselves, but not the SatAM world. Yes, I see similarities between that show’s concept and Forces, but it’s okay if you don’t. I’m seeing things I want to see while you’re not seeing things you don’t want to see. Natural human psychological reaction. Happens all the time in science, religion, politics… No reason fiction and fantasy wouldn’t be any different. But, anyway, I’ve really liked the Archie comics a lot after the reboot. They had a lot of great stories before hand, but it was good to finally shed the weight of the SatAM world. For the fans of that continuity, it’s too bad it seems to be getting cancelled. But it had more than just a good run. It was the longest running video game comic book in history. And for good reason. Despite its occasional flaws and clunkiness, it was just that good. Here’s to hoping for more RPG Adventure Sonic to come. Maybe Ian Flynn will apply? Ha, ha, ha… Probably not. But I bet he’d write a heck of a good game plot, not even needing SatAM characters.

         2. By the way, the Sonic SatAM game cameoing the Freedom Fighters and maybe Muttski that I mentioned above was Sonic Spinball. Look at Sonic’s character sprite. That’s definitely not SEGA Sonic spines. Anyway, I posted a more in depth list of evidence of the Western canon influencing Sonic games elsewhere. It could be more in depth. I certainly left out a few things, like the white echidna leader being influenced by Dr. Zachary from Fleetway and a similar character in Archie (who based it on Fleetway’s character), or how the Nocturnus Clan is inspired by the Dark Legion (or did I mention that already?), Chronicles’ “Swat Bots” and use of chili dogs and roboticization, Eggman’s violent take over revealed in the ending, a Sonic Riders​ game’s (Wii? Wii U?) naming a track the “Mobius Speedway”, etc, but you get the drift. If you’re very familiar with the Western SatAM/Archie canon, you can’t miss possible influences, especially if you’re looking for them. But if not, oh well. They’re easy to miss otherwise. To each his own (P.S. – Sonic’s love of chili dogs, a Western canon element only, appear in Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Chronicles, Sonic Generations, Sonic Dimensions, and possibly Unleashed; I forget if Sonic introduces Chip to them or not. There’s lots of eating. I think chili dogs only appear on SEGA of America’s Sonic games; it’s probably not in Unleashed then). Anyways, here’s the article I alluded to (forgive me for repetitive information):

            Anyone who knows my video game tastes knows that I’m stoked for the Nintendo Switch and a certain green (blue?) garbed hero’s latest outing. But you’ll also know I’m sadly and frustratingly devoted to a certain blue hedgehog, Sonic. Sonic Mania is looking to be the go-to game for fans this year, but Sonic Forces seems to be heavily borrowing from Sonic SatAM/Archie comics, which is intriguing. There was a new character tease lately. I’d like to, for fun, give my own prediction and why it might be so.

            Sonic Forces has the tagline, “Join the Resistance,” takes place in a world in which Robotnik has conquered “99%” of the planet, at least one environment is a destroyed city with huge bots patrolling, which are all elements borrowed from Sonic SatAM cartoon, the basis of Archie comics Sonic. “Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood” video game already heavily borrowed from both sources, as well as Fleetway Sonic the Comic, in that they used Swatbots, the term “roboticized,” Nicole the cyber-lynx’ original flip computer phone design, the Dark Legion (Nocturnas Clan), a Julie Sue knockoff, Robotnik’s city base, etc. Starting with “Sonic and the Black Knight,” Sonic’s cartoon/comic love of chili dogs has been well established over a multitude of games. In “Sonic Lost World” Tails was literally partially “roboticized” ala SatAM. In the “Sonic Advance” series and next “Sonic Heroes,” Cream the Rabbit was lifted from the “Sonic X” anime and used for the games because the game creators loved the character created by the animation studio. Charmy Bee and Amy Rose were equally lifted from a Sonic manga, in which they were originally created by the manga artist only for that comic. All of the Freedom Fighters from SatAM – Bunnie Rabbot, Antione D’Coolette, Rotor Walrus, and Sally Acorn – appeared in a mini game sequence in the game “Sonic Spinball.” There was a cancelled SatAM game for the SEGA Genesis. The “Adventures of Sonic” cartoon got it’s own game adaptation in “Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine.” “Sonic Boom” is both a cartoon and game series. In other words, Sonic Team and SEGA have a long history of borrowing or lifting elements and characters from the Sonic comic and cartoon properties.

            Next, consider this: in 2013, after a lawsuit by a disgruntled ex-employee or two, SEGA mandated Archie comics to reboot their continuity. They were mandated with redesigning all of the immediate cast – the Freedom Fighters – so that they would easily fit into the Sonic game world. Previously, Archie spent years forcing the SatAM continuity to more and more resemble the game world, but now they were mandated to insert Archie elements into the game world and not the other way around. Sonic Forces was recently revealed to have gone into development in 2013 around the same time. Now, in 2017, as we continue to approach the eventual release of Sonic Forces, SEGA may have altogether cancelled Archie’s Sonic comic. Which, due to the lawsuits, makes sense, but doesn’t make sense when you consider that the Archie comic series is the longest running comic based on a video game, has kept Sonic fans in the fold despite poor game writing and play quality, brought new fans in, has outlasted all other Sonic cartoon and comic spin-off properties, and is otherwise quite lucrative for SEGA. Why cancel or temporarily put the book on hiatus now?

            Some people think the below images might be why. Is this new character teased Antione D’Coolette? Is he the first of a group of Freedom Fighters to be introduced into Sonic’s game world? Has SEGA finally realized how financially lucrative inserting the characters and higher quality writing of the Archie comics into the game franchise would be? You be the judge. If you’re​ a Sonic fan, feel free to share your thoughts.

            1. The pictures alluded to is just the new character teased next to a 3D Antione D’Coolette. The ears match, and the tail is small enough to pass detection, but otherwise very little fit each other. I don’t seriously believe it’s Antione, although SEGA could be developing knock off characters to fill the space of Archie’s and Fleetway’s cast of Freedom Fighters (Fleetway’s were Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis; possibly a green canary). I only posted this to generate conversation. I didn’t realize there’d be such negative opposition to the concept. Oh well, though.

9. Correction: what we know about the game so far – which isn’t much – seems to be a similar setting to Sonic SatAM: dictator Robotnik, apocalyptic destroyed city, guard robots, and group of Resistance fighters.

10. That Better Be Ice the Eagle, Cream the Rabbit’s thought dead father, with a bad hair day.

11. I’m telling you, it’s Pikachu in a Sombrero

12. All I can see are that they’re not wearing clothes aside from the standard gloves and shoes (so definitely not a female character), have small-medium ears (want to say it can’t be cat-sized but I can’t be certain), have spines that seem to be on the back of the head and their arms are skin-coloured.

    Yeah, not much to go by, but doesn’t seem to match any other previous character except…well, Sonic, if he styled his fur a bit. So it does seem to be new.

13. What if it’s just an older Sonic since we have young Sonic and Adventure Sonic?

14. Am I the only one who thinks it might be Blaze?

15. For crying out loud, what the hell is everyone’s beef with the idea of a character creator anyway? Not everyone draws like a 13 year old, there’s really great stuff out there, official characters, OCs, and everything. No other fandom complains nearly as much about it’s own fan artists than ours does, I just don’t get it. You don’t see nearly the same problem in other fandoms like DBZ or Steven Universe, and I’d argue that they can get even more ridiculous than most Sonic fan artists can.

    So why the hell would an official character creation attribute ruin this game for everyone? If anything it’ll be super limited in the range of options you’d get, so even then you wouldn’t get to see any of the “outlandish” features that just scare you so much about Sonic fan art (stripes, extra quills, two different eye colors, OMG SO SCARY!!!).

    There just really seems to be a ridiculous stigma against Sonic OC art of any kind, even if it’s pretty good or even exceptional half the time, and I don’t understand why every other fandom can have this and not feel ashamed about it while this fandom literally shames anyone who even suggests the idea of making any art that isn’t a song remix, game mod, or of an already official character. It’s literally “You have an OC? GET THE F*** OUT OF HERE!”

    1. I think an OC creator would be fine. I think the trailer would show multiple species’ silhouettes, however. I’d hope.

       1. I mean what’s there to be terrified of making your own character in nothing else but the official Sonic style? Fewer mistakes to be made there. I mean, unless they got someone else to design their bases than the usual guy, or didn’t have a firm grasp on their design style, but I feel that it’s safe to say that as far as the typical “Mobian” design goes, it shouldn’t be that far off. It’s only if you try to actually make pretty out-there looking characters like the Deadly 6 where things have gotten a bit weird, but even then they didn’t look TOO bad. But yeah, hopefully whatever they have to reveal to us, it’s pretty good.

16. Well that was a waste of my time.
    Also a dig at “original” characters in 2017. Sod off.

    1. Hur hur… hahaha haha!

       1. Not everyone draws like a 13 year old you know, there’s some really good and well thought-out stuff out there.

17. Well it looks like the correct answer was your fan character all along.

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