Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfiction

[Dr. Mechano]

Hm, how funny... None of you here seem to mention about crossovers, which I specialize in my fics...

I've been planning a Mario and Sonic crossover for the longest time, if only because Eggman interacting with Wario and Waluigi is something I want to see.

One big thing holding me back is Mario's limited speech- He does talk, but only in short phrases. Making him say too much in a single sentence would stretch beyond the bounds of who he is, so yeah. Luigi's talkative enough though, if the Paper series and Galaxy say anything.

The plot would be standard fare, focusing on both heroes and both villains equally (As much as I enjoy SMBZ in its own way, its skewed focus on Mecha Sonic instead of either franchise's real villain kind of puts me off).

[CreamyBagel]

I mean, I'm obviously an extreme opposite case since I focus on him as the main character in my stories- But Eggman has lots of potential as both a funny and threatening antagonist as well. Written properly, the character can absolutely steal the show with his showboating and clever wordplay(And his latest robo-weapon of doom of course).

Another thing I dislike is Eggman's role in fan-character backstories. You know the one.

"Dr. Eggman killed my parents."

This backstory makes me angry. It's unoriginal, and paints Eggman as this random murderer who goes around killing unimportant people who have nothing to do with his aspirations for conquest. This, coupled with the heroes' furious hatred of Eggman as opposed to their more grounded in-game friendly rivalry with him, leads to some very horrid character interaction with the doctor in many fanfics. I can understand, say, SatAM Robotnik getting this treatment, but many stories will treat Eggman as if he has Julian's rap sheet of cruelty in terms of how the characters treat him.

Original characters are iffy- I've made some, but they're never the central focus- or even a central focus- of my stories. Just citizens, robots, etc. to flesh the world out a bit, but never become major players in the plot overall.

I agree. I mean sure Eggman's the antagonist but that doesn't make him evil. He's not an evil guy but everyone seems to think of him as a comic relief villain or some evil psychopath.

As for fanfics in general I don't usually read the stuff because it's hard for me to come across one I actually enjoy but if there's one thing I can't stand it's the author inserting themself into the story in the form of an awful Mary Su/Gary Stu. This is really my one pet peeve because it means there's usually no plot to the story whatsoever and more often than not it will be a paper thin tale of the fan character fighting to win the love of Sonic/Shadow/Knuckles e.t.c.

Edited April 26, 2009 by CreamyBagel

[Phos]

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/flash-tub/...e-sonic-fan.php

http://lightning-duchess.deviantart.com/ar...ic-Evr-78527287

Hm, how funny... None of you here seem to mention about crossovers, which I specialize in my fics...

I once saw a Sonic/Bioshock crossover. I didn't give fan fiction another chance.

[Badnik Mechanic]

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/flash-tub/...e-sonic-fan.php

http://lightning-duchess.deviantart.com/ar...ic-Evr-78527287

I once saw a Sonic/Bioshock crossover. I didn't give fan fiction another chance.

Yeah and with that attitude the chances of you enjoying most things are dramatically reduced....

[SuperStingray]

I once saw a Sonic/Bioshock crossover. I didn't give fan fiction another chance.

You say that like it was a bad thing. Granted, it COULD have been badly written, but I think the concept sounds pretty awesome.

[Shiny Gems]

I must agree with the original poster, especially about the raping parts.

Speaking of fanfiction, I want to bring this up. I don't want to turn this into another "Sonic games are good or bad" fan debate, but I want to bring up this rant about Sonic fan fiction (including fan games and the like) that I made some time ago. I hope I don't get anyone upset when they read this, but this rant does not apply to every fanfic, may it be story, art, fan game, video or such.

Here is that rant.

http://supersonication.deviantart.com/art/...no-10-117105309

Like I said, I am not trying to get anyone upset, not to mention that this rant does not reply to all fanfics of any form out there. However, when I hear about Sonic fan fiction, I am reminded about how divided this fanbase is. Why?

Because people who make such fan works (some of them, but not all) who don't like the newer Sonic games, or are disappointed about how Sonic Team makes Sonic games nowadays, seem to have acted like they can do better than Sonic Team in any form of fanfiction, be it story, video animation, storylines of fangames, drawing or such. Now, I know that not everyone has acted that way, or may not think that way, either. However, my point is,

That those storylines of fan fics and fan stories from such fans are not any better than what Sega and Sonic Team have brought up!Some of such fan works may be even worse than Sonic 06! This is why Sega should not listen to their fans. For some reasons, some of which the OP mentioned, half, though not all fan fics are not any better than what Sonic Team have done.

However, on topic, I agree with most of what the original topic poster said.

[Phos]

Yeah and with that attitude the chances of you enjoying most things are dramatically reduced....

This was actually the exception, I'm usually open minded about these kinds of things.

You say that like it was a bad thing. Granted, it COULD have been badly written, but I think the concept sounds pretty awesome.

Some real synergy there.

[Flyboy Fox]

A good writer can make even the most surreal partnership of themes and concepts work together.

A bad writer will make a complete cringeworthy eye-rolling hash of it though, granted

[Gabz Girl]

Ahhh, I used to read alot of Sonic fanfiction back in the day. Most of them though were full of violence, silly couples, dark themes and sexuality. XD

My favourite one especially was at an old Sonic forum I used to go to, Sonic Zone I think. There was a brilliant fanfic author there, but she made the most sadistic and violent fiction I've ever read. There was her violent Sonic one where Tails got killed by having Sonic stab him with a knife to reduce pain after his tails were caught in a garbage disposer (and since then I've been nervous around those things too!).

Then there were other major characters who died, were wounded or were just brought back to life again! Tails' death, Knuckles murdered by Rouge, and Sonic commiting suicide in a street have lingered in my mind since I was 14.

The reason I kept on reading though? I was fascinated, curious and disturbed by this fanfic, one of which I never read before. I also believe it was the first fanfic I ever read in general.

After this I read a few more fics here and there, ranging from very good to just plain awful or silly, then I just lost interest and stopped reading fanfiction altogether. I don't like reading behind a computer anyway. I'd rather lie down on my bed. It's alot more comfortable. ^^;

Me, I'm a big fan of best friends/partners becoming a couple... so I like Sonic/Tails. Does that mean I think they're canonically in love? Of COURSE not

Ah but see Flyboy, there are actually quite a few fangirls and fanboys out there that believe "Sonic and Shadow were MADE for eachother" or "Rouge and Amy show true signs in the games that they're in looove~" Bollocks and all but hey, I guess that's their stupid opinion. XP

[Flyboy Fox]

With pairings like Sonic/Shadow or Rouge/Amy, to use your examples, I know that there are die-hard fans who will squeal over anything in canon that even looks slightly like it could be interpretted as 'shippy' and who will claim that there are hints in canon... but I don't believe that they (or at least most of them) honestly believe at heart that the writers/artists actually intentionally put that in there. They just see it there because they want to, and they choose to interpret it that way personally.

[SuperStingray]

Some real synergy there.

Opposites attract as they say.

[JezMM]

A good writer can make even the most surreal partnership of themes and concepts work together.

A good writer can come up with their own ideas. </controversial snappy statement that requires me to add an overdone tag closing joke in order for it to come off as less harsh> D=

Edited April 26, 2009 by JezMM

[Flyboy Fox]

Yeah, they can. But if they wanted to do that, they would be writing original fiction not fanfiction, wouldn't they?

[saskia]

Some real synergy there.

I've read some nice GRIMDARK Sonic fanfics so it doesn't seem like too far of a stretch for me.

[Indigo Rush]

Some real synergy there.

I'll say.

The fanfictions I used to write were almost 90% original in terms of characters and concepts. Rarely were the main characters ever mentioned and Dr. Eggman was long gone.

[Dr. Mechano]

The fanfictions I used to write were almost 90% original in terms of characters and concepts. Rarely were the main characters ever mentioned and Dr. Eggman was long gone.

I guess I don't really understand the appeal of that. Fanfiction where the very characters the official universe centers around are almost or even entirely absent ceases to be "fanfiction." It might as well just be an original story in an original universe.

Edited April 26, 2009 by El Gran Gordo

[Reading]

I write fan fiction, and I always follow one rule first and foremost: Craft my creations so that, by all means, they could be an official production. That means it can't contradict the official canon, the characters should be portrayed according to their established personalities, etc. I really only enjoy fan works of this sort; basically, they could all exist in the same canon. Some stories, such as ones that involve official character deaths or such, really don't allow any other fan works to be considered "true".

I do whatever I can to make my works stand out and be something that you can't find anywhere else. My recently-completed (and novel-length) story "Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness" is a fine example of this. Most fan-made Super Paper Mario sequels involve

Dimentio

returning by some means or another and causing more havoc. Of course, I mean absolutely no offense to anyone who's done something along these lines. But my story is more than just that - in order to connect it to the original, I thought "How could he return?" and from there, crafted an entire detailed backstory that is revealed throughout the story. It expands upon the plot of the original without messing up or contradicting anything.

This sort of approach is a bit bolder than anything I think I'm going to do in the future, actually. I didn't contradict anything in the canon, but I did add a few things in the whole backstory, as in things that are explained in more detail, and revealing some things that weren't answered in the original. For this reason alone, I've actually declared it to be "Unknown" in terms of the "canon" of my works. Although I really do think of it as canon to my works, since it's the single largest project I've ever created. Basically my magnum opus as of right now.

Actually, now that I think about it, it seems much harder to make clones of characters from Mario games. It's not like you see clones (well, non-artificial clones, anyway) of Mario running around all the time. The only truly complex plots in Mario are in the RPGs, and those are all self-contained - so there's nothing like Shadow's whole backstory to tie into. Mario as a whole seems a more healthy environment for fan fiction. I mean, not in terms of potential, just looking at what's out there. I know there are some disgusting random-character-pairing-and-the-like Mario fanfics out there, but they don't appear to be as widespread as those in the Sonic fanbase...or at least not brought up as much.

I sometimes think about whether fan fiction is worth it - like JezMM pointed out, especially since I'm at sort of a crossroads right now with the complete and utter restart of my main project at hand (well, it was my main project before SPM2 came along, and now that that's done with, it's going to become my main project again). Should I go for a non-fan-fiction approach? A while ago, I printed a chapter from SPM2, substituting all of the non-original character's names for something else, and asked a friend who's actually writing a book what she thought of it. She loved it.

But I think staying in fan fiction might help me as well. A major reason I've stuck with it to begin with is the target audience. If I write a video game fan fiction that has all the qualities (and quality) of a full-fledged, well-written novel, it could gain the attention of crazed Sonic fans and surprised regular readers. The "real world", so to speak. There's little hope that some of those secluded video game fans would ever pick up on some random well-written story out there. No offense meant to anyone; I mean, even I was mildly "secluded" until January 2008, although that word alone doesn't really get specific enough.

Whatever the case, I'm currently taking a break from creating anything. I'm just not really thinking about it. When it comes up again, it will.

[Flyboy Fox]

I guess I don't really understand the appeal of that. Fanfiction where the very characters the official universe centers around are almost or even entirely absent ceases to be "fanfiction." It might as well just be an original story in an original universe.

Sometims the 'vibe' of a world that's had an interesting history and interesting concepts is enough to trigger the imagination to wonder what life would be like for someone in that same world but unattached to all the central drama. Or, what the future of that world would be like, shaped by canonical events. Canon becomes a springboard, a launching point for fresh ideas which still pay homage to the fandom that inspired them. I can see the fun in writing that.

Some people write for the existing characters, because that's what they love most about the fandom (I'm mostly one of these). Others love the world it's set in, or the history, but prefer to imagine their own characters. If it's set in Sonic's world, it's still fanfiction, even if Sonic and co aren't in the story at all.

[Indigo Rush]

Sometims the 'vibe' of a world that's had an interesting history and interesting concepts is enough to trigger the imagination to wonder what life would be like for someone in that same world but unattached to all the central drama. Or, what the future of that world would be like, shaped by canonical events. Canon becomes a springboard, a launching point for fresh ideas which still pay homage to the fandom that inspired them. I can see the fun in writing that.

Some people write for the existing characters, because that's what they love most about the fandom (I'm mostly one of these). Others love the world it's set in, or the history, but prefer to imagine their own characters. If it's set in Sonic's world, it's still fanfiction, even if Sonic and co aren't in the story at all.

What she said.

[SuperStingray]

I've read some nice GRIMDARK Sonic fanfics so it doesn't seem like too far of a stretch for me.

Oddly enough, I've never really percieved BioShock as "grimdark." Sure it's secluded, but the enemies are humorous and the environment is often ironically cheery.

[The Adventurer]

Bioshock's not grimdark? Dude, you just blew my mind.

Anyway, fanfiction. Wow. I remember my fanfic years. All ten of them. Basically, I separate fanfics into two types. A), fanfics written for the entertainment of the audience, and , fanfics written for the entertainment of the author. I like to think that I was the former. I had fun, absolutely, but I also paid attention to what people told me and desired to get better. I also like to think I was pretty good. I minor in creative writing now, so I guess it must have counted for something.

See, the great thing about fanfiction is that it's so easy. Characters? Already there. Setting? Already there. Plot? Already there. all the pieces are in place, and you can put them together any way you want. It's like the batting cages of the writing world. And there's nothing wrong with practice.

That said, you can't just write fanfics for a few years and jump into real, publishable literature. Not a chance. But that's neither here nor there.

Bottom line, fanfiction is good thing, even if it can be really annoying at times.

[Donilicious]

Bioshock's not grimdark? Dude, you just blew my mind.

Anyway, fanfiction. Wow. I remember my fanfic years. All ten of them. Basically, I separate fanfics into two types. A), fanfics written for the entertainment of the audience, and , fanfics written for the entertainment of the author. I like to think that I was the former. I had fun, absolutely, but I also paid attention to what people told me and desired to get better. I also like to think I was pretty good. I minor in creative writing now, so I guess it must have counted for something.

See, the great thing about fanfiction is that it's so easy. Characters? Already there. Setting? Already there. Plot? Already there. all the pieces are in place, and you can put them together any way you want. It's like the batting cages of the writing world. And there's nothing wrong with practice.

That said, you can't just write fanfics for a few years and jump into real, publishable literature. Not a chance. But that's neither here nor there.

Bottom line, fanfiction is good thing, even if it can be really annoying at times.

I agree with that. It is really easy and fun for many people to do. I only wrote one and it was the first story that i actually finished. Now I write my own stories that I've made up, but the fanfics got me into writing my own stories.

[saskia]

Oddly enough, I've never really percieved BioShock as "grimdark." Sure it's secluded, but the enemies are humorous and the environment is often ironically cheery.

Cheery? Everything in that game freaked me out. D: But I don't own it so maybe I just didn't get to play to the cheerier parts?

[SuperStingray]

Cheery? Everything in that game freaked me out. D: But I don't own it so maybe I just didn't get to play to the cheerier parts?

"There's a land called LILLIPOPPY! And living there is the LILLIPOP! I'll go there soon with MISTER BUBBLES! And we'll search the place from TAIL TO TOP! And if we find no TATTLEANDY! And If'n I don't PORK IT UP! Perhaps we'll dine on HAM AND JAMMY! If we don't find the LILLIPOP!"

[edge.]

They're fun to read because you know that barely ANY of the characters would NEVER do that other-wise.