Growing Up With Sonic the Hedgehog

Harel Cohen, a fellow contributor and one of my best friends, notified me that Sonic turned 35 in June. That meant Sega Corporation would probably deliver on music, an animated short, or another spectacular surprise. 

“I’m turning 35 in July,” I replied. A brief silence followed. Then we moved on to talking about what Sega was planning for Sonic’s birthday. (The animations that have emerged look amazing.) Still, the weight of that realization followed. A teenage hedgehog had celebrated his 35th birthday. Sure, Sonic isn’t real, and writers have not given him angst about aging. Others our age have accomplished a fair amount, and Sonic is no different. 

For the record, I suck at playing classic Sonic; Harel kindly gifted the games to me, and I tried playing them on a stream. I could feel everyone wincing from their side of the computer screen as I kept dying over and over again. Mastering the speed and not drowning or falling on spikes requires practice. I just need to make time to practice, ideally when the world isn’t on fire. Later-game graphics would prove more complicated, especially when bringing Sonic into the 3D realm. The thought of fighting one of Eggman’s robots with 360 degrees of freedom and with possible fall damage is daunting. Still, Harel has gotten me into the franchise, and I can see parallels as a fellow Gen Y member.

Forever Fifteen

Sonic the Hedgehog is canonically a teenager, but in real life, he is 35 and has accomplished much in that time. He’s been speeding through Green Hill, outer space, and countless worlds to save them from various villains. Sonic has also made a few friends out of those villains, either in the game world or in other canons and timelines. Sega has designated Sonic as its mascot, ensuring his immortality. Fan lore has tried putting him in cursed games, while comic creators added their own continuities. 

When I talk with Sonic fans like Harel, they fondly look back at Sonic Adventure 2, and with good reason. This game showed Sonic facing a shadow archetype literally named Shadow and having to fight this “Ultimate Life Form”. Despite being outgunned and under-equipped, complete with a fake Chaos Emerald, Sonic uses his observations of Shadow’s powers with the placebo effect and an abundance of well-earned confidence. Even though he knows the emerald is fake, Sonic makes it work for him. He confronts the doppelgänger who is framing him for terrorism, calling Shadow the fake despite being the ultimate life form. He also changes tactics when seeing a weapon that could destroy the Earth.

Sonic’s big heart also has a positive impact on his stories; he doesn’t always need his super speed or Super Sonic Mode to turn the tide and save the world. In Sonic Unleashed, the hedgehog rescues a little guy named Chip. When Chip remembers who he is — a deity who rebuilds the world after it’s destroyed but was awakened too early along with the apocalyptic enemy deity - the weight of this trauma hits him. Sonic convinces him that just by being alive and spending time with him, Chip has done a lot. Sonic becomes a werehog at night because of an entity known as Dark Gaia, but he hasn’t lost himself; he thinks it’s because Chip was with him. Chip disagrees, saying it’s Sonic’s unwillingness to succumb to the inner darkness that kept him from going full hog, so to speak, but he appreciates how the hedgehog has helped him regain his memories and purpose.

Just by being a good friend, Sonic helps a god. Chip tries to handle the Dark Gaia threat and world rebuilding on his own, saying that Sonic doesn’t have a reason to risk his life after all he did for Chip. He knows that fighting Dark Gaia will be difficult, but it won’t kill him; it can kill Sonic. Sonic responds, “Do I need a reason to help a friend?” Though Chip has to resume his place under the Earth once they defeat the threat, unable to return until it’s time for another natural apocalypse, he thanks Sonic for being his friend and gives the hedgehog his trademark necklace. 

Yes, Sonic is arrogant, snarky, and sometimes overly confident about his abilities. We’ve seen games and shows where that arrogance causes the problem in the first place, such as in Sonic Lost World. He also uses that confidence as a superpower, defying preexisting rules set by various continuities. Some villains can’t believe those feats, while others like Eggman get frustrated.

Most video game mascots don’t undergo character development or personality changes. Sonic is no different; he remains a slightly arrogant hedgehog who cares about his friends and enjoys chili dogs. It helps that the problems Sonic causes don’t persist forever; he always fixes his mistakes. Though he hasn’t changed, he’s made a positive impact on the world.

What Has Sonic Accomplished?

The bigger question is what he hasn’t accomplished. He hasn’t learned how to swim in most continuities, but in Sonic’s defense, his body density works against him; Stitch in his namesake franchise has a similar issue. Not to mention he’d have to take a beginner class, and kindergartners easily bully him.

This furry blue hedgehog has spent his life accomplishing great feats. When he isn’t doing that, Sonic spends time with his friends, grills chili dogs, and basks in the sun by the beach. The narrative often justifies his self-confidence because he has many victories under his belt. When a loss knocks Sonic on his ass, it doesn’t leave any trauma or a bruised ego; if anything, Sonic gets a reminder that he has to learn from his mistakes because he knows how to adapt to a new situation. A Super Sonic mode doesn’t always save the day, so he must learn more about the latest monster of the week or Eggman’s newest takeover plot. 

Here are some of Sonic's achievements over the years:

1. Saved the world more than once.

2.  Performed Chaos Control with a fake emerald.

3. Traveled through time, somehow not causing a paradox.

4. Traveled through parallel universes (in the shows Sonic Boom and Sonic Prime, and in the DC crossover with the Justice League).

5. Traveled through storybooks come to life.

6. Competed in the Olympics with Super Mario.

7. Competed in road races against his friends and Eggman, and has won at least once. 

8. Befriended more than one of his villains, helping save one from certain death. There are even a few continuities where he and Eggman are civil (off the clock, at least).

9. Starred in a Disney movie, courtesy of Wreck-It-Ralph. (While I haven’t seen the second movie, the book club scene made me laugh a lot.) 

10. Turned into a werewolf.

11. Survived a murder mystery.

When You Don’t Remain the Same

Every year around my birthday, I do an internal review. How did the past year go? Did I accomplish the goals I had listed for myself? What am I doing with my life? How have I changed?

Ten years ago, I graduated from college. I got a Master’s Degree, an MBA in marketing. My first book had come out, and I felt really proud of it. The rest of 2016, however, kept hammering hit after hit. The Colbert Report's rendition of “It’s The End of the World, And We Know It” provides fairly apt Cliff's Notes.

It’s 2026. Another graduate school program has accepted me, and I’m waiting on another. I’ve published eight books, and I feel too embarrassed to promote most of them (that’s a whole other story). When not submitting fiction or articles to Superjump, I also publish a fair amount of nonfiction. Over the past ten years, I've drifted away from many friends, though some stuck fast, and I am grateful for them. 

Sonic continues to run through Green Hill and thwart Eggman. No one contests his chili dog cooking. He holds onto his friends tightly; they would never betray him. 

I’ve got one thing over Sonic: I do know how to swim, unlike his main canon appearance. (Harel told me he swims in some of the games.) But I empathize with his fear of drowning. And he is still a kid. I’ve become an adult. That means having to become more responsible, especially as the world keeps tossing curveballs at us.

The day when, or if, Sonic grows up would be terrible. He needs to stay young so the rest of us can handle getting older. Going fast doesn’t mean missing life; it means helping others enjoy it.