Sonic character's Hidden Depths

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I'm not saying he needs to change, but that it would be nice have him more as a dynamic character that welcomes it than a static one that shuns it if he is to be an anomaly, and that there will come a time when you'll want something new to spice things up more he continues on. Because otherwise, while he is a powerful force of change, you could potentially run the risk of bending the plot, narrative, and all other character dynamics to suit him rather than it being an obstacle course to see how he works through it. Or to put it simply, you either run the risk of him being a potential sue, or avoiding that you risk things being too samey and predictable - either case running the risk of becoming boring. Each new conflict should present an obstacle course to his character and physical being that he tries to navigate and finish, and while the start and end of the course is generally the same (unless you want to throw a curveball), the inbetween is a new challenge that is made as he goes through.

Change needs to meet opposition, and that opposition needs to be affected by change just as much as change is affected by opposition. Each one should adapt to each others and their own strengths and weaknesses to make the conflict interesting when they go at it, but with that said they shouldn't be forced to change their whole being in order to do so. This is essentially what Eggman is doing as of late with his growth: creating new tactics, ideas, and so forth while still being Eggman (and you could argue that comes with the territory of being a villain), but it isn't exactly something Sonic is doing as far as the recent mainstream plots go (barebone's plot aside).

Edited June 6, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonîc

[Mr. Taxi]

The problem with building anomalies is that they have to differ from something and, right now, Sonic has nothing to differ from. There are no characters to contrast with him. Eggman might offer him not only a perspective on freedom vs. rule, but also depth in other aspects.

 

Sonic, when contrasted with Eggman, represents the inner power, the recklessness and the spite for danger. He's naturally fast and uses only his body to attack, constantly endangering himself. That compliments the gameplay and is very welcome, but then you have Eggman, who builds fortresses, puts up traps and plans ahead. He doesn't have any inner power, but does have the resources to gather power. In that sense, maybe the comparison with the Übermensch is less relevant, because Eggman can also be something like that. And, according to the story we're always told about why Sonic started fighting him, he'd be the one who stirred up Sonic.

 

But when you weaken Eggman, you also weaken Sonic. Knuckles could represent the tradition when opposed to Sonic, but that's nowhere to be seen; Tails, the fear, but right now he's just a better Eggman. In a bad way; and so on.

[tenchibr]

I just have a very simple opinion on Sonic and characterization:

 

If they intend to develop Sonic more (which I doubt they will given the target demo, non-fan children, don't seem to care about story as much as we do, the guaranteed fanbase), it's imperative that other characters get fleshed out too, or it will take away from the experience even further.

 

Examples off my head include The US version of The Office (after Michael Scott left the show, it took them 2 seasons to make it interesting again - which was too late), and the recent Tomb Raider title (Lara Croft and her mentor are really cool characters, all the rest are more or less forgettable).

 

I am not saying bring the cavalry and have the writer of Game of Thrones write down a bio for each character, but just to balance it out: Sonic Riders and its Zero Gravity sequel do a decent job with the characters, while Free Riders dumbed it down, foreshadowing the direction the series was taking by having its serious factor taken away.

 

Let me state, I like Sonic Colors' story, and I used to like Generations too; but in retrospect, Generations has suffered greatly from wasted potential, and it's possible that Sonic will never get an opportunity like this again.