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10 REALLY WEIRD THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

30/1/2019

13 Comments

 
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Whereas Nintendo guards its characters and properties to an almost fanatical degree, Sega has always been a little more laid-back.

This may explain why there are about 30 different origin stories for Sonic The Hedgehog and his assorted hangers-on - appearing across a variety of media - and why so many Sonic The Hedgehog games are terrible. And why there's a film coming out featuring a creepy, buff, version of Sonic who looks like he could crack a bull's sternum with his bare hands. 

Here are 10 examples of how Sega allowed others to run rampant with what remains its most valuable franchise. 
SONIC IS NOT SONIC'S REAL NAME
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According to the former writer of the Archie Comics Sonic series, Ken Penders, the full name of Sonic is Sonic Ogilvie Maurice The Hedgehog. Maurice - Sonic's middle name in this version of the character's story - is inherited from his father, Bongo (Maurice).

Notably, Ogilvie syndrome is a medical condition characterized by massive dilatation of the colon.
KEN PENDERS SUED SEGA
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Archie Comics' Sonic writer Ken Penders attempted to sue Sega, Electronic Arts and their subsidiary Bioware, after ideas he created for the comics allegedly appeared in the game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Further muddying the waters, Penders had apparently been approached to contribute to the game.

Honked the lawsuit: “The Infringing Game bears a substantial similarity to the Works, because the total concept and feel is similar, if not identical, between the story and characters in the Infringing Game and the Penders’ Works, and because Sega has created a genuine documented confusion in the marketplace as to Penders’ actual involvement with the Infringing Game."

Unfortunately for the writer, the case was dismissed by a judge, but to be on the safe side, any characters and concepts created by Penders were removed from the Archie Comics series. So abrupt was the rewriting that new dialogue was replaced - sometimes mid-sentence - in a completely different font.
DOCTOR ROBOTNIK ISN'T DOCTOR ROBOTNIK'S REAL NAME
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According to the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series, Doctor Robotnik's real name is "Julian". According to Sonic The Comic, and other versions of the characters' origin tale, it was Ovi Kintobor. 
SONIC THE COMIC WAS EDITED BY THARG
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The UK's very own Sonic The Comic was initially edited by one Richard Burton - who created the comic's fictional editor Megadroid (a robot comprised of Mega Drive parts) - and later Andy Diggle. Both men had, at one point, been the person behind 2000AD's own green-skinned alien editor, Tharg The Mighty. According to Wikipedia, Tharg is depicted as an "authoritarian egotist".

Borag thungg!
YOU COULD BUY SONIC'S SHOES
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Unlike Sonic's original sneakers - inspired by the buckled footwear sported by the dead alleged pervert Michael Jackson - the hi-speed shoes Sonic wears in Sonic Adventure 2 are based upon a real-life brand of trainers from Soap Footwear, that you could actually buy. 

Apparently, they had a plastic concavity in the middle of the sole, which would allow the wearer to grind on objects such as pipes, ledges and handrails - much as Sonic has been depicted doing so in many of his games. So ubiquitous among "grinders" did the sneakers become, that the act has become known as "soaping", and people who do it are "soapers". 

Thus, it will come as a surprise to nobody that Sonic is a "soaper"...
YOU COULD SPEND A NIGHT IN SONIC'S BED
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Until 2016, the British theme park Alton Towers offered a hotel room themed to Sonic The Hedgehog. Upon entering the room, guests were greeted by the voice of Sonic - provided by video game voice actor Roger Craig Smith (the voice of Sonic since 2010, as well as Resident Evil's Chris Redfield, among others). Successfully completing a quiz on the in-room TV would unlock a drawer full of chocolate coins (sadly, not chocolate rings...), while the bathroom featured replica Choas Emeralds. 

Unfortunately, the room was redecorated following the rebranding of the park's Sonic Spinball Whizzer ride in 2016. Its new theme? Diarrhoea. 
THERE WAS A SONIC THE HEDGEHOG THEME PARK
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Sega Republic was an 76,000 sq ft indoor theme park and arcade set within the Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emerates. Though featuring several Sega characters, it was primarily branded around Sonic - who even appeared for photo opportunities via a man-in-a-costume.

The attraction featured several zones, including the Cyberpop Zone, Speed Zone and Redemption Zone (which was an area featuring the largest section of redemption games in Dubai, rather than somewhere you'd go to atone for your sins).

The license expired in 2017, and Sega Republic became a VR-themed attraction.
SONIC IS A PLAYA
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Sonic's creepy, inter-species, predilection for human women has been showcased across numerous media - lest we forget, this was established in early plans for the original Sonic game, when Yuji Naka wanted to give Sonic a human girlfriend called Madonna (based upon the real popstar called Madonna).

In the manga Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 1 Sonic is shown performing a rock concert, where his security detail - Sonic's Bodyguard Platoon - is comprised of several young women wearing animal ears and skimpy swimsuits.
SONIC'S ORIGINAL ORIGIN STORY WAS REALLY WEIRD AND DEPRESSING
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Sega's original draft of Sonic's origin story differed considerably from later versions. In the first draft, the pre-blue Sonic was an impoverished, bowling ball-sized hedgehog, called Sonny, who lived under a hedge in Nebraska. After pranking bowlers by pretending to be a bowling ball, Sonny learned to read and write by spying on human children.

He is taught the gift of human speech by the friendly Doctor Ovi Kintobor, using a machine called the "Lingua Scrambler'Um" (not a typo). Originally, Sonny and Kintobor were allies, searching for Chaos Emeralds that they hoped to use to reverse the effects of greenhouse gasses and "evil".

​Tragically, a series of science experiments backfired, turning Sonny blue, and transforming Kintobor into the cruel Ivo Robotnik, when a "wave of radiation" washed over the earth, merging Kintobor with an egg he was eating. 

Also, we learn that Sonic's dad is dead. 
SONIC IS BLUE DUE TO A TREADMILL EXPLOSION
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Sonic ran so fast on a treadmill that it exploded and turned him blue.
13 Comments
Ade
30/1/2019 10:39:27 am

Michael Jackson is allegedly dead????

Reply
DEAN
30/1/2019 10:46:08 am

At his best he's very, very sweet! Love the little red shoes!! Funny thing about that is that whenever I see anybody wearing red shoes I always think of Sonic and that's not disrespectful - it's nice.

Anyone remember this:
https://i.redd.it/j286yt033e401.jpg

Reply
Guru Larry link
30/1/2019 11:33:42 am

The whole Ken Penders thing is a fascinating story, he created a bunch of new characters for Archie, but when he started pulling away from Sonic to focus on his own characters, Archie fired him.

Then when he wanted to make stories with his own characters (Lara-Su Chronicles) - Knuckles' daughter, he sued Archie for them.

The most stupid thing is Penders is constantly saying yes and no to signing a contract, Archie said he did, but they lost it in a fire. So it was a real no man's land on who owns them.

So Archie retconned everything he ever did claiming all the characters had been sucked into an alternate dimension/timeline years before and no one noticed.

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Col. Asdasd
30/1/2019 12:55:06 pm

Bizarre that the mildly horrifying OC creations the series is so famous for go all the way up to the level of the official media. Although I guess in Ken's case it wasn't so much 'Donut Steel' as 'Donut Take My Life's Work and Retcon it Out of the Series I Gave Everything To Because of an Ill Judged Lawsuit'.

Man.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
30/1/2019 02:06:16 pm

"The contract was burned in a fire" has to be the IP law equivalent of "the dog ate my homework".

Reply
Philbert
30/1/2019 12:33:46 pm

Before I read it properly, out of the corner of my eye I thought the bit about the Alton Towers theme room said '... the bathroom featured a replica Chas Hodges.' Gertcha!

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
30/1/2019 05:11:58 pm

The Sonic "bible" is quite interesting, as it's part of the weird thing that Sega did while developing Sonic where they tried to make him appeal to both Japan and the West in an era where it wasn't seen as possible to just directly export a purely Japanese cultural entity. Even from the start there were essentially two Sonics for a long time: cuddlier Japanese Sonic, and shinier, edgier Western Sonic.

That Nebraska thing mercifully never went anywhere, though later versions of it did get used for the UK's Sonic The Comic, and the wonderfully bizarre Virgin Books Sonic novels.

Reply
Rich
30/1/2019 05:17:39 pm

Going off the sketches at the top of the article, someone couldn't spell hedgehog. What's a hedehog?.

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
30/1/2019 05:24:08 pm

Am I alone in having older relatives who described all platform games as being “like Sonic the Hedgehog”?

My aunt described Zool (which my younger cousin was playing) as being “like Sonic the Hedgehog” which jarred a bit.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
30/1/2019 05:28:24 pm

Did she also call all consoles "Nintendos"?

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colincidence link
30/1/2019 06:30:02 pm

Zool IS like Sonic the Hedgehog.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
30/1/2019 09:43:19 pm

I'm sure I read somewhere that he was intended as a rival to Sonic (who was himself intended to be a rival to Mario). But then, back then literally every mascot platform was intended to be a rival to Sonic or Mario.

Every issue of any games magazine back then could be guaranteed to have at least one article titled something like "Better watch out, Sonic, here comes Fizzbuzz the Aardvark!".

Jeff
30/1/2019 06:37:24 pm

I was halfway through the article before I realised you weren't actually making all this shit up... Ken Penders is a real dumb name.

Speaking of which, to me Robotnik's real name will forever remain 'Moustache Phil'.

Reply



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