The Ultimate And 100% True Chronological Timeline For The Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise: Updated and Expanded 2017 Edition

[Jacky]

 

  The Sonic The Hedgehog series is such an extensive electronic game franchise that covers dozens upon dozens of games, mainly platforming, but also a multitude of genres are covered in different games, some even juggling multiple in the same game alone. There are so many questions many longtime fans have however regarding the series, thought provoking and heavy ones, such as; What makes him so fast? Why the red shoes? How does he shave? How does he fornicate with no visible gentalia on his body? Will he have another good game again? And the 7th most asked Sonic-related question of all, at least in Top 10 Geocities Ranked Fansites; is how do all these dang games fit together in a coherent continuity?  Well luckily for you, my fellow audience, I cracked it, many years ago in fact. I figured the secrets of the Sonic universe, and how it all connects together. Oh they said it couldn’t be done, they said I was a fool for trying. But I did. And thus I succeeded in making a completely logical realization of the Sonic timeline, all the way from the very beginning. And, since in celebration of the 26th anniversary of the primo Number One Video Game Franchise About Blue Hedgehogs, and also because I’m bored and stumbled on the original .doc for it, I figured I’d update this thing to include some newer games.

I SPENT A LONG TIME RESEARCHING THIS REALLY HARD. THIS IS COPYRIGHT ME. THIS IS ALSO 100 PERCENT COMPLETELY CANON. My uncle works for Yuji Naka and told him it fits.

Picture of Naka and my uncle 

SegaSonic and his friends Mighty and Ray defeated Eggman for the first time (SegaSonic the Hedgehog).

At the end of this, Robotnik created Tails out of SegaSonic's Sega energy (thus removing the "Sega" part of SegaSonic's name) and tied him to Sonic to slow him down (Sonic Crackers).

Sonic and Tails, after breaking the ring bond, get their revenge on Robotnik (Sonic 2 Special Edition).

After the end of that game, Tails sees a strange disturbance in the distance and flies away to investigate (Tails Sky Patrol).

Then he comes back to Sonic, who's still with the Tornado, and they fly to Angel Island (Sonic 3/K).

Afterwards, Eggman realizes how much Tails has been helping Sonic, so he captures Tails, and Sonic tries to save him (Sonic 2 8-bit).

After Sonic has beat Eggman, he captures Tails AGAIN immediately after, storing him away in a secret holding facility. Sonic becomes depressed at his repeated failure and spends most of his time reading books (Sonic and the Secret Rings).

Then he meets Amy, and for a while she becomes his friend, before getting kidnapped by Metal Sonic (Sonic CD).

 

 

Afterwards, they decide to go to lunch, and Sonic gets distracted while bringing her chili dogs (Sonic and the Black Knight).

Sonic does eventually try to look for Tails, but is unsuccessful (Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I).

Meanwhile, Tails escapes from his prison and finds himself on a strange island, where he lives alone and becomes self-sufficient. Then, when exploring, he finds another strange island populated by bird robots (Tails Adventure).

Tails finally reunites with his good friend, and just in time to face off against a rebuilt Metal Sonic and Death Egg. (Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II)

Years pass, and civilization eventually builds a bridge to the island, naming the area where Tails settled the Mystic Ruins. [Events of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog go here.]

After Knuckles got to know the Chaotix better, he decides to join the Chaotix. Additionally, Mighty, who had been looking for new pals after Ray died, also joined the Chaotix. Eggman senses that there could be an uprising with such a large new team of heroes, so he tries to revive his failed ring bond tech from when he created Tails to stop them (Knuckles' Chaotix). (In addition, Charmy is allergic to the Combi Rings and aged 10 years because of it. This is logical.)

Picture of your average normal 16 year old 

So, meanwhile, Sonic and Tails get into an argument, and everyone sees them kicking the crap out of each other, and so they all decide to do so (Sonic the Fighters), and it escalates even more when Sonic finds a futuristic battle android from the past washed up on the beach, and teaches it to fight (Sonic Battle).

Afterwards, to relieve some tension, they decide to throw a party and play some pinball (Sonic Pinball Party).

However, Dr. Robotnik becomes jealous, and says "I'LL THROW A PINBALL PARTY YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!" and builds a terrible, mountain fortress, and Sonic goes to stop Eggman once and for all (Sonic Spinball).

Afterwards, Sonic decides the party shouldn't be over yet, so they move on to arcade games. They discover Sonic is now a celebrity and play a game that was made based off him (Sonic 1 8-bit). However, the gameplay was very off and Sonic and Tails got really angry, so they make their own game that they think will be far more popular. The game is a bomb and is completely forgotten (Sonic Eraser).

Afterward, Sonic needs to let off more steam, and decides to extend the party even further (Sonic Shuffle).

 

Sonic then realizes this need to expend energy is from not going fast enough, so he decide to start a kart racing league (Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2), and the league then becomes incredibly popular and gets many participants from other worlds (Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed).

However, Sonic realizes that he'd be better off running, and decides that the league should no longer use cars. Everyone else is so disappointed at this that that they leave. Sonic then formed a new, mostly-on-foot racing league with the few remaining participants (and also he lets Amy still drive because he's pussy-whipped) (Sonic R).

 

honk honk honk

The league does gradually grow though (Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2). Then, once again, Sonic decides that it's too boring, and secretly makes a deal with Eggman so he can work the race into his evil schemes. However, this backfires for Sonic when Eggman forces the characters to use hoverboards (Sonic Riders). Afterwards, Eggman organizes two more of the same tournaments (Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sonic Free Riders).

Sonic decides that he just needs ONE MORE thrill, and competes in the Olympic Games (Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games). However, this weird group of people led by this weird plumber guy beat Sonic, and so he again tries to beat them at the Winter Olympics (Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games). Still, he is bested again, and goes into denial, imagining an Olympics without Mario's crew (Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games). He tries just once again, yet still to no luck (Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games). And two more times for good measure, because that little blue bastard does not know when to quit (Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games)

"goddamn plumber boy assman i will beat you if it's the last thing i do"

His condition deteriorates, starting with strange alternate relivings of past adventures (Sonic Pocket Adventure), and eventually causing hallucinations of surreal, isometric landscapes, and an erasure of his abilities (Sonic Labyrinth). He eventually decides this strange, isometric world is a very bad thing, and goes on a journey of the mind, defeating his inner demons (metaphorically Eggman) and freeing his lost memories (metaphorically Flickies) (Sonic 3D Flickies' Island/Blast).

To celebrate Sonic's return to sanity, Tails throws a party in the Hidden Palace, but accidentally eats the Master Emerald instead of the cake (which was green). This throws the chaos emeralds out of whack, and they scatter. Robotnik manages to retrieve the red one, which throws the whole world into chaos (Sonic Chaos).

delicious

Tails is still recovering from the Master Emerald incident when Eggman starts a new scheme, so Knuckles fills in for Tails (Sonic Blast). Sonic destroys the facility, scattering the emeralds once more. However, while that's happening, Eggman convinces Knuckles that Sonic is going to steal the emeralds for himself, and enlists him to help. Tails recovers, and Sonic and Tails, once again, go after Robotnik (Sonic Triple Trouble).

Eggman's next few schemes all are nearly identical and all end pretty much the exact same way (Sonic Advance 1 through 3).

His repeated failures drive him mad and unleash the darker, crueler parts of Eggman's soul. He spends years studying the details of the universe, and tries again to take over the world, but this time in a much more dark, evil fashion (Sonic the Hedgehog 2006). The events of Sonic 06, correcting the future, create a SPLIT TIMELINE.

 

hell yeah we're going there

The “RUINED” timeline

 

 The Sonic of the destroyed world explores disfigured, distorted remnants of the decaying world (Sonic X-Treme).

  When things begin to be rebuilt once more, Sonic has a run-in with an alternate dimension, turning out to be the world Blaze sealed herself in at the end of Sonic 06 (Sonic Rush). Later this happens again (Sonic Rush Adventure).

  As human beings have become a dwindling, rare species in this universe, anthropomorphic animals have thus become the dominant species in this world. After a brief stint with performing one of few surviving human music groups, the Blue Man Group (which is responsible for Sonic having blue arms, they told him to blue up his arms some more, and Sonic accidentally bought permanent paint) Sonic, and friends take refuge on a island community, buy lots of sports tape, (and Knuckles gets sick gains) and go on adventures there. They also run into Marine the Raccoon again, who shipwrecked there long ago, and lost her mind and become completely feral, calling herself “Sticks” and believing to be a badger.  (Sonic Boom franchise)

  Tragically, at some point in this time, Amy Rose’s life is cut short due to her own hammer in an accident that was an attempt at a humorous Gallagher-esque watermelon bit. This leaves just our main trio of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Also Shadow and Sticks died on the way to their home planet or whatever but no one cares about them.

"The Sphinx looked so cute, I had to shave it"

Eventually, a dozen or so years pass, the world is known as Planet Freedom, and advances in technology have both made for the ability for everyone to live safely in the clouds of The Land of the Sky, while the ruins of the old world are known as The Land of Darkness. They’ve reversed-engineered the secret of that ring tech from Robotnik that aged up Charmy, thus people live longer and look younger, so that’s why Sonic and the gang haven’t aged as much. Also, in order for the human species to survive, crossbreeding had to occur which explains why the president’s daughter had a monkey tail. (Sonic OVA)

 

 

The “SAFE” timeline

 

Eggman, who didn't go insane because the plot was retconned, nonetheless splits apart the world. This permanently changes the location of the world's continents (Sonic Unleashed for PS3/360). After this massive adventure, Sonic has a really long nap in which he relives the adventure he just had, though with the idiosyncrasies dreams tend to have (Sonic Unleashed for Wii/PS2).

Years pass (and Sonic's voice gets deeper), and Eggman builds a theme park in space to brainwash the citizens of the planet (Sonic Colors for Wii). The dream thing happens again (Sonic Colors for DS).

After this, Sonic celebrates with his pals his 20th birthday, which is ruined by the arrival of Time Eater, an entity that was spawned from the timeline split. It scatters each and every one of them, including younger versions of Sonic and Tails, through areas from his past. They defeat it and fix the timeline once more (Sonic Generations PS3/360) and has yet another dream about it (Sonic Generations 3DS)

 

While on yet another adventure in stopping a plan of Eggman, Sonic and Tails discover the mysterious world of The Lost Hex (which is actually just a piece of the Little Planet that fell off awhile or so ago) and must face off against the Deadly Six, a group of the world's indigenous Zeti race. (Sonic Lost World for Wii U) Sonic once again nods off and has a dream afterwards (Lost World 3DS) and for some reason also imagines in his dream visiting places featuring multicolored dinosaurs and an elf boy. (Lost World DLC)

Some other weird dreams that also occurred in the same timeframe include one where he jumped on springs into the heavens, forever, as well as him and his friends endlessly running down never-ending roads. His psychiatrist suggested these dreams represented him wanting to escape from past sins and to be free from the pain. His inner demons are once again tormenting his mind. (Sonic Jump, Sonic Dash, Sonic Runners)

 

With his continued tenuous grip on reality and also a newfound appreciation of collecting LEGO sets causes him to hallucinate his world being entirely made out of LEGOs for a brief period, alongside other famous characters. (LEGO Dimensions)

 

"Guys, i'm completely fine, i'm completely fine, don't worry about me. Look at my buddy Superman, he agrees with me"

Tails and Knuckles, worrying about the mental state of their best friend, take him on a vacation for his 25th birthday to ease his mind and relax, going back to the beginning and visiting places from his younger days, his scattered psyche hallucinating them to be different, as well trips to new places as well. (Sonic Mania)

Eggman puts his next scheme into action, culminating in the events of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and Sonic and friends about to face the new Eggman Empire is the latest point in the chronology. Sonic's younger counterpart is once again there to help out, for reasons. (Project 2017)

 

 

 

 

NOTES;
 

The original "Sonic the Hedgehog" for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive is non-canon.

 

So is the original "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" game, the "Special Edition" is considered the definitive edition by the original creators and how they intended the game to actually be.

Neither is “Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine”, because fuck that game, it was too hard for my 8 year old self.

There's so little info about Project 2017 out so that's just a prediction, i am confident that's the plot of it though. If in 6 months when there's an actual synopsis available and i'm somehow wrong, remind me and i'll change it. If I’m still alive and not hunted down by President Trump’s Sentinels that is.

The other cartoons, like some of the games, are also in-universe cartoons based on Sonic’s life, same with the comics. This also goes for the Smash Bros games, while we’re at it.

yay/nay?

Questions, comments, concerns, and I don’t blame you if you’re concerned about me, may be posted below.

 

Either way, this is definitive, unarguable chronology of the Sonic series. I am right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Inkarnate]

Fascinating!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

No Sonic's Schoolhouse?

7.8/1000 not good enough, do not want, disagree.

[Celestia]

I always figured the timeline was roughly just the order the games have come out, but after reading this topic I've realized that's boring and not good. Thanks for helping us all see the light.

[Neo_Fire_Sonic]

I had always thought Sonic and the black knight was canon, it makes more sense than sonic 06

[Teoskaven]

Placing the Storybook games before Sonic Adventure 2 (and potentially before '06 and Riders) gives an obvious contradiction since in those games, there are characters from the stories who Sonic sees in the shape of the friends and enemies he knows... including Big the Cat, Shadow and (counting the multiplayer) Blaze, Jet and Silver. And according to your timeline, he hasn't met any of them yet.

Still, good try.

[TB100]

Makes more sense then the Zelda timeline.

[Multikaris]

Possible Third Timeline? Otherwise, where would SegaSonic Bros., Sonic's Schoolhouse, Sonic Synergy, and Freedom Planet go? (for the lattermost, maybe generations after Sonic OVA after mankind died out or left?)

[shadowfan94]

Whoa...wow, uh, interesting. XD 

I like to divide the games in their own separate timelines. Like Sonic Adventure 1-2-Heroes-Shadow-06 but it doesn't matter because everything is erased, then stuff like Sonic Boom is a crappy reboot. 

[Chaos Control Freak 2.o]

Thanks for the timeline! It helped clear up how Sonic Mania fits into the timeline!

However, Ray is alive and well in Mania. Why is that?

 

[Awesome Bro201]

Cool, I was wondering how Sonic Boom fits into the timeline and stuff as he has blue arms and until reading this I was 100% certain that it wasn’t canon with the games prior to it but rather Sonic Boom and the sonic the Hedgehog movie were in a separate timeline but I never figured out an explanation for how they fit together, the only evidence I had was that Sonic has blue arms in both medias 

Cool, I was wondering how Sonic Boom fits into the timeline and stuff as he has blue arms and until reading this I was 100% certain that it wasn’t canon with the games prior to it but rather Sonic Boom and the sonic the Hedgehog movie were in a separate timeline but I never figured out an explanation for how they fit together, the only evidence I had was that Sonic has blue arms in both medias