The Sonic canon

[Diogenes]

Sonic Heroes has a futuristic city and no mention of time travel.

SA2 has a futuristic space station from 50 years ago, and again, no time travel.

There's no reason to believe the Riders games take place in the future just because there's something futuristic and there's no time travel involved.

[SuperStingray]

Sonic Heroes has a futuristic city and no mention of time travel.

SA2 has a futuristic space station from 50 years ago, and again, no time travel.

There's no reason to believe the Riders games take place in the future just because there's something futuristic and there's no time travel involved.

So does that mean the whole series takes place in the future or none of it?

[Dr. Mechano]

So does that mean the whole series takes place in the future or none of it?

Some countries/parts of the world are more developed than others?

Even today that much is true.

[Thirsty Pocket]

I like to think some parts of Sonic's world are more advanced than others.

[Diogenes]

So does that mean the whole series takes place in the future or none of it?

Barring the few obvious time travel incidents, it all takes place in the present. Because, y'know, that's when "now" happens.

[JezMM]

I personally imagine Sonic to be set around 100 years from now. That's far enough to have futuristic cities AND "classic" cities;, and a space station being built around 2050 seems reasonable.

[Autobobby1]

My interpretation of the canon timeline:

Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3&K

Sonic Advance 1, 2 (plots are very similar to Sonic 1 and 2, no characters from Adventure onward)

Sonic Rush, SRA (new characters not present, Cream was just introduced)

Sonic Adventure 1, 2

Sonic Heroes

Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic Unleashed (could go anywhere, but the main console games seem to go in order)

Sonic Chronicles (provided cliffhander is cleared up)

Sonic Riders, SR:ZG (most futuristic=farthest in future, also there were no hoverboards and whatnot in the other games)

Sonic Battle is non-canon for reasons stated previously. Sonic Advance 3 is non-canon since it's a direct sequel to Sonic Battle. Most of the spin-offs and Game Gear games were just quick cash-ins and therefore non-canon. Secret Rings fits anywhere after the Genesis games (Sonic just has to know Knuckles), and Black Knight fits anywhere after Adventure 2 (Sonic knows Shadow).

Sonic '06 isn't canon since it contradicts pretty much every other game in every way possible. The locations are different, Eggman is different, Blaze's backstory is totally different, everything is way more realistic, etc.

I have no idea where to put the Rivals games. They sync up pretty well except for Shadow's story. He still answers to Eggman! He only followed Eggman in Adventure 2, at the end of which he disappears. He isn't seen again until Sonic Heroes, at which point he wants to kill Eggman. ShTH is a pain to put into the canon since it has so many different endings, none of which end in loyalty to Eggman. No matter what, Rivals and Rivals 2 don't seem to fit unless sometime after Chronicles/Riders he works for Eggman again.

So if Sonic '06 and the Rivals series aren't canon....then Silver isn't canon except for in Riders.

You know what? There isn't really much of a canon. If one game references another, then fine. But only the Genesis and Dreamcast games seem to be crucial to the stories of the every game. Hell, Advance and Rush only rely on the Genesis games, so we could say that only Sonic 1, 2, 3, and CD are canon and everything else is a bunch of alternate timelines.

Edited March 15, 2009 by Autobobby1

[SuperStingray]

Some countries/parts of the world are more developed than others?

Even today that much is true.

Yes, and that is indeed the case in the games, but I don't know of any cities where flying cars are mainstream.

Barring the few obvious time travel incidents, it all takes place in the present. Because, y'know, that's when "now" happens.

Yes, but it makes sense to an extent for it to be in the distant future. Assuming that the world Sonic lives on is Earth in the game canon (based on SA2) then that would be enough time for continental drift to take place, given the changes in Unleashed (Shadow's is different from Unleashed's but it's different from planet's surface either way), as well as enough time for certain animals to evolve to a more hominid physique.

But there is the possibility that it's on present Earth but following a split timeline from our own.

Edited March 15, 2009 by SuperStingray

[sock fox]

I like to think that Shadow and Eggman have some kind of unspoken bond, and that that's the reason Shadow tried to help him in the Rivals games. I mean, think about it... the only times Shadow has ever actively gone after Eggman is when he needed answers from him about something, or when GUN sent him after him.

If Gerald considered Shadow his son, that would make Shadow a kind of adoptive uncle to Eggman. I find that idea kind of sweet. That Shadow and Eggman are, in a way, family.

[Max Gene]

Also, Sonic Battle had Sonic not knowing what the Death Egg was, all Chaos Emeralds being green, Knuckles not caring about the Master Emerald being shattered on the Death Egg, all characters recognizing Gamma and acting totally friendly with him at first...

-Sonic not knowing what the death egg was seems like either more convenient exposition for those who didn't play 2, 3, and Knuckles, or a bit of confusion ("Didn't we beat this thing")... I can't remember the exact dialogue here.

-The chaos emeralds being green can be attributed to laziness on the art department. Sonic 1 has a more legitimate complaint towards it in the lack of the seventh emerald, and for that matter where DID those time stones go after CD?

-If I were Knuckles, I'd stop caring about the Master Emerald if I knew I would be dead within an hour. Kind've puts things in a different perspective, even for him. Likewise, I think he can afford to celebrate with the others when they'll live after all, before freaking out over the emerald.

-Sonic, Tails, and Amy played friendly with Gamma in Adventure before his explosion. It's not too much of a stretch that they'd all discussed him with other characters by the time of Battle. He looks like an old friend, a certain level of that could've been expected, if only because they're all so "smart" all the time.

[ArtFenix]

As for me i think unleashed did a bad job in contunuing the main canon(S1, S2, S3&K, Sa, Sa2, Sh, Shth, S06, Schron and maybe Sbattle and Sadvance3). I mean, unleashed has no connection to the previous games. AT ALL! There is no Angel island with the master emerald, there is no colony Arc, there is no G.U.N., there is nothing, which can be connected with the previous games and it is pretty sad for me..

[123654]

sonic didn't even reacted when he saw Percival in Black Knight, unlike he did with Gawain or Lancelot, so he may not know Blaze. This makes me think Sonic Rush is not canon, thought introducing such an important character

The problem with that is that Blaze's backstory from the Rush games is the one Sega has used in all her official profiles. Her Sonic Channel bio, her Brawl trophy and even her description on the American website for 2K6 all use a variation of the "princess/queen from another world" story. If Rush wasn't canon, they'd make references to her 2K6 background instead and simply say she's a girl from the future.

[Sheza]

I'm only gonna do the cannon games:

Sonic The Hedgehog 1

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic CD

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Heroes

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

Sonic Unleashed

[123654]

I'm only gonna do the cannon games:

Sonic The Hedgehog 1

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic CD

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Heroes

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

Sonic Unleashed

If not the Rush games, Advance and Battle have to go on there somewhere. It's incomplete without them, especially since Cream was introduced in Advance 2.

[SuperLink]

To be fair, Cream was supposed to be introduced in the 3D games, in Heroes. Heroes' release was delayed though so Advance 2 got out first. I guess the story was changed slightly so that Cream "met" them on Advance 2 though... so yes, it is canon in that way.

Also, can't wait for Marine to be in another game, that should prove Rush's canonity too. Blaze's appearance in 2006 doesn't though... It just confuses things.

[Max Gene]

I'm only gonna do the cannon games:

Sonic The Hedgehog 1

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic CD

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Heroes

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

Sonic Unleashed

Oh come on, you can't even spell canon correctly when it's in the thread title? Anyways, there wasn't a cannon in all of those games, and your list has no justification. What, did you only list the games you've played, personally, or just taken out all the ones you didn't like?

[Serperior]

Personally I'd say the following games are canon:

Sonic 1

Sonic 2 (Master system)

Sonic 2 (Mega Drive/Genesis)

Sonic CD

Sonic 3

Sonic and Knuckles

Sonic Pocket Adventure

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Advance

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Advance 2

Sonic Heroes

Sonic Battle

Sonic Advance 3

Sonic Rush

Sonic Riders

Sonic and the secret rings

Sonic Riders Zero Gravity

Sonic Unleashed

I might've added SatBK but I havent played it yet so I cant really say

[lounge]

As for me i think unleashed did a bad job in contunuing the main canon(S1, S2, S3&K, Sa, Sa2, Sh, Shth, S06, Schron and maybe Sbattle and Sadvance3). I mean, unleashed has no connection to the previous games. AT ALL! There is no Angel island with the master emerald, there is no colony Arc, there is no G.U.N., there is nothing, which can be connected with the previous games and it is pretty sad for me..

That's because Unleashed had a new writer who probably never played any of the previous sonic games. Hence the change to a childish tone, and no connection to previous games.

[Serperior]

My interpretation of the canon timeline:

Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3&K

Sonic Advance 1, 2 (plots are very similar to Sonic 1 and 2, no characters from Adventure onward)

Sonic Rush, SRA (new characters not present, Cream was just introduced)

Sonic Adventure 1, 2

Sonic Heroes

Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic Unleashed (could go anywhere, but the main console games seem to go in order)

Sonic Chronicles (provided cliffhander is cleared up)

Sonic Riders, SR:ZG (most futuristic=farthest in future, also there were no hoverboards and whatnot in the other games)

Sonic Battle is non-canon for reasons stated previously.

Sonic Chronicles cant be canon without Sonic Battle being canon because at one point in chronicles Emerl is mentioned by Tails (I think it was Tails anyway) meaning that Sonic Battle would've had to have happened before that

As for me i think unleashed did a bad job in contunuing the main canon(S1, S2, S3&K, Sa, Sa2, Sh, Shth, S06, Schron and maybe Sbattle and Sadvance3). I mean, unleashed has no connection to the previous games. AT ALL! There is no Angel island with the master emerald, there is no colony Arc, there is no G.U.N., there is nothing, which can be connected with the previous games and it is pretty sad for me..

Thats because the plot didnt need G.U.N or the Ark. The plot was Sonic going around the world to put the pieces of it back together, not something centred around Shadow.

[SuperLink]

I know what he means though. In terms of continuing the plot, Unleashed was awful. It was an isolated story, just like Sonic Advance or Sonic 2. Basically Sonic Adventure but without the Echidnas or Emeral lore. Unless Unleashed starts some new kind of arc, which I doubt since the story was shallow and uninteresting to begin with, I definitely think Unleashed is the weakest "canon" game story wise. All it's good for is Eggman character development.

[Phos]

Sonic 1/CD/2/3/K. Everything else is a total mess.

[Gatestormer]

This is how I view the series as canon:

Sonic 1

Sonic CD

Sonic 2

Sonic 3&K

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Advance

Sonic Advance 2

Sonic Heroes

Sonic Battle

Sonic Advance 3

Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic06

Sonic Rush

Sonic Riders

Sonic Rivals

Sonic & the Secret Rings

Sonic Rush Adventure

Sonic Rivals 2

Sonic Riders-Zero Gravity

Sonic Unleashed

Sonic & the Black Knight

(In the Future) Sonic Chronicles

Edited March 15, 2009 by ENVY16

[123654]

As for me i think unleashed did a bad job in contunuing the main canon(S1, S2, S3&K, Sa, Sa2, Sh, Shth, S06, Schron and maybe Sbattle and Sadvance3). I mean, unleashed has no connection to the previous games. AT ALL! There is no Angel island with the master emerald, there is no colony Arc, there is no G.U.N., there is nothing, which can be connected with the previous games and it is pretty sad for me..

So then I guess every game before Sonic Adventure 2 isn't canon. None of them had GUN or the ARK.

They weren't relevant to the story so they had no reason to appear. Maybe Angel Island could have fit in there somewhere, but GUN and the ARK were completely irrelevant.

[ArtFenix]

So then I guess every game before Sonic Adventure 2 isn't canon. None of them had GUN or the ARK.

They weren't relevant to the story so they had no reason to appear. Maybe Angel Island could have fit in there somewhere, but GUN and the ARK were completely irrelevant.

Oh, come on! You understood what i mean, don't pretend like you didn't..

Yes, they could have added Angel island and Master emerald(and the emerald Shrine) instead of this bullshit with Gaia temples. "Dark Gaia destroyed the world many times before.." It's bullshit! Perfect Chaos did EXACTLY the same thing! And so what? It looks like the world was destroyed so many fucking times))) Has it EVER been allright? xD

Edited March 15, 2009 by ArtFenix

[JezMM]

Chaos didn't destroy the world... he destroyed the ancient Echidna tribe and kind of messed up Station Square a bit, but nothing more.

Also, I'm amazed so many people disregard Shadow the Hedgehog from the main canon... I know a lot of people didn't like the added black alien stuff but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. While the multiple endings might confuse, it's also pretty obvious that in the final, true ending, it's implied that all the necessary events DID happen from Shadow's point of view to have the knowledge necessary for the last story. What we see in each journey through the game, is an experience as players, not as Shadow.

Likewise, while 2006 retconned all the Solaris stuff, it's still possibly true that Shadow works for G.U.N., or at least freelances and occasionally helps them out due to getting on better terms with the GUN Commander (implied by dialogue in Expert mode on Shadow - which admittidly is non-canon, but I imagine the character interactions that do happen very plausible).