Stepford Smiler Tails?

[Blazey Firekitty]

Tin foil hat theory time...

Is Tails' cheerful, optimistic attitude a facade to cope with the jealousy he feels towards Sonic and the general anger he feels toward the world in general?

Granted, I'm probably comparing Tails too closely to Luigi, the "eternal understudy" who sunk so far into Mario's shadow, he started to develop split personalities at one point. But I thought I'd venture into crazy speculation anyways.

[Diogenes]

Is Tails' cheerful, optimistic attitude a facade to cope with the jealousy he feels towards Sonic and the general anger he feels toward the world in general?

No.

He already dealt with the whole "in his shadow" thing back in SA. He's got no reason to feel jealous or hate the world.

[Flyboy Fox]

Short answer:

No.

Longer answer:

Lol, no.

Tails may occasionally joke about not getting the credit he deserves, but the fact that he says anything shows that he's confident enough in how much he knows Sonic likes and respects him to chide his best friend when Sonic's ego gets too big. Tails is a happy, healthy cheerful little fox with no real angst issues whatsoever. He may still lack self-confidence sometimes, but he's not jealous or bitter. He clearly loves what he gets to do, especially now that he knows he can do what HE wants to do and still be useful.

I'd actually say that he seems happier and more emotionally healthy than ever, as of Colours.

[Blazey Firekitty]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with the responses in this thread so far. I've been buying a little too much into the "Sonic's friends are terrible, so only Sonic and Eggman should be part of the series" logic lately, so it's nice to see evidence that my pessimism was unfounded.

[dirupti]

Throughout the Archie comic storyline he has been very mad/jealous at Sonic for having parents who were alive and well. (Whereas tales parents where presumably dead) Later on Tails managed to get his parents back from a foreign planet and all was good. (Except for shortly after In this lil' thing That was quickly resolved though.) Overall he is a Sonic fan-boy. He wants to be like Sonic. He doesn't seem to want to go solo though. He just wants to be an equal and a partner. And in he's pretty dang close to that. I'm pretty sure tails is plenty satisfied in his life.

Edited January 6, 2011 by dirupti

[Dr. Crusher]

Nah.

Tails is a cool kid. I don't see him as the type to let even the occasional touch of jealousy get to him. I believe (and hope) that his jolly and kind heart is genuine. Because seeing someone his age suddenly reveal an emotional inferiority complex of some sort out of nowhere would be depressing.

Colours acknowledged that he essentially considers himself equal with Sonic now anyways.

[Blazey Firekitty]

Come to think of it, the Rushes were probably pretty good examples of Tails and Sonic's equality as well. Off the top of my head, they argued a little while Tails' plane flew into the storm at the beginning of Rush Adventure, but interacted just fine aftewards.

[Flyboy Fox]

@dirupti: Are we talking about all versions of Tails and not just game Tails, then?

Archie Tails is by FAR the most angsty and resentful version of the two-tailed techie, but it makes sense given the space the series has had for development and angst-based stories [edit: not to mention Sonic IS a royal jerk and totally deserves it on occasion XD]. He might come across as flat and stagnant if he was as constantly chipper and bright as he is in the games. His characterisation is played far more like a young teenager trying to find his place in the world than the smart but sweet and innocent little kid he is in the games. Archie Tails relies a lot more on the appreciation and respect of others than game Tails, who mostly just wants to prove to himself that he's capable enough. It's true that Archie Tails has been resentful of Sonic many times in the comics, including reasons like: Sonic (and others) ignoring him, not being given enough respect/trust by Sonic and others, Sonic having a family, and of course Sonic dating Fiona XD To name a few. So yeah, Archie Tails has been resentful of Sonic. But even so, it still doesn't fit the question because he's not hiding those issues behind a happy and cheerful façade. He's pretty damn open about it. And given the narrative nature of the comic, it makes sense and is more realistic that way. But even so, it's no crazy big deal. Despite differences, he is still mostly a happy and cheerful kid, and his problems with Sonic are nothing compared to the friendship they have.

SatAM Tails could occasionally get briefly resentful about being left behind or not given a big enough role, but again, he was vocal about it, too. No hiding/suppressing it. And clearly he was genuinely happy and cheerful 99% of the time.

Even game Tails has expressed discontent over being ignored ("I hate when he doesn't listen to me!"), but it's just a mild lament, not a deep-rooted loathing of his best friend or anything like that.

So, yeah, Tails isn't about to go crazy psychopath killer any time soon XD He's fiiiine.

[Dr. Crusher]

So, yeah, Tails isn't about to go crazy psychopath killer any time soon XD He's fiiiine.

Insane angsty psychos are overrated anyways. Tails was always destined to be a proper calculating manipula-

...Nevermind.

[dirupti]

@ FlyBoy

BlazeyBakeneko didn't really specify. I just shared my opinion on the Tails I know best and like best.

As for SATAM Tails I always felt bad for him. He seemed to either want to be a hero or to just live like a normal kid with 2 normal parents, and he wasn't really able to do either.

As to video game Tales, He just wants to get a little more credit and to be hoisted atop

a. Little woodland creature's shoulders

b. whisp's shoulders

c. Sonic's shoulders

And I'm sure he wouldn't mind having an Amy-like fan-girl following him around.

Flyboy Fox, on 06 January 2011 - 02:21 PM, said:

So, yeah, Tails isn't about to go crazy psychopath killer any time soon XD He's fiiiine.

We have Shadow for that!

Edited January 6, 2011 by dirupti

[DarkLight]

@ FlyBoy

BlazeyBakeneko didn't really specify. I just shared my opinion on the Tails I know best and like best.

As for SATAM Tails I always felt bad for him. He seemed to either want to be a hero or to just live like a normal kid with 2 normal parents, and he wasn't really able to do either.

As to video game Tales, He just wants to get a little more credit and to be hoisted atop

a. Little woodland creature's shoulders

b. whisp's shoulders

c. Sonic's shoulders

And I'm sure he wouldn't mind having an Amy-like fan-girl following him around.

Flyboy Fox, on 06 January 2011 - 02:21 PM, said:

So, yeah, Tails isn't about to go crazy psychopath killer any time soon XD He's fiiiine.

We have Shadow for that!

Shadow isn't psychopathic (at least not after Adventure 2)

[Flyboy Fox]

And I'm sure he wouldn't mind having an Amy-like fan-girl following him around.

Actually, I'm pretty sure he'd hate that XD Sonic gets annoyed enough with Amy, and he LOVES attention. Tails doesn't really like too much attention on him and I'm sure he'd get pretty freaked if he had a fangirl =P

[Blazey Firekitty]

Actually, I'm pretty sure he'd hate that XD Sonic gets annoyed enough with Amy, and he LOVES attention. Tails doesn't really like too much attention on him and I'm sure he'd get pretty freaked if he had a fangirl =P

What about a fan boy?

*imagines Ray the Squirrel chasing Tails across creation and trying to hug him*

[Badnik Zero]

Tails is totally about to go postal. You're gonna spindash on me huh motherfucker? I can do that too. You think you're so slick. I'll stab you to death in your sleep! I'll poison your chili you fast running freak! I bet I could crash this plane into the goddamn ground and you wouldn't do a thing. Then they'll know my name! I hate you! I hate you!

[Dr. Crusher]

Actually, I'm pretty sure he'd hate that XD Sonic gets annoyed enough with Amy, and he LOVES attention. Tails doesn't really like too much attention on him and I'm sure he'd get pretty freaked if he had a fangirl =P

He'd still take it more well than Sonic IMO. Being a kid, he'd probably just smile sheepishly and blush with an optional scratch of the head, rather than Sonic's more confident BITCH GTFO.

Tails is totally about to go postal. You're gonna spindash on me huh motherfucker? I can do that too. You think you're so slick. I'll stab you to death in your sleep! I'll poison your chili you fast running freak! I bet I could crash this plane into the goddamn ground and you wouldn't do a thing. Then they'll know my name! I hate you! I hate you!

YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE.

Edited January 6, 2011 by Dr. Crusher

[Vertekins]

Hehe, I remember a cute moment in Sonic X episode 45 where Tails has people rooting for him and even gets asked for photographs, reacting to both with embarassment as well as happiness.

Speaking of the X iteration of Tails, you can tell that he holds great faith in Sonic's abilities by the way that he was utterly destroyed when Sonic failed to "save" Cosmo with Chaos Regeneration to the point that he even hits Sonic repeatedly whilst screaming "I BELIEVED IN YOU!" though admittedly Tails was emotionally torn apart so that reaction is in all likelihood an exaggeration as the result of his tremendous pain.

[Dr. Crusher]

Hehe, I remember a cute moment in Sonic X episode 45 where Tails has people rooting for him and even gets asked for photographs, reacting to both with embarassment as well as happiness.

Speaking of the X iteration of Tails, you can tell that he holds great faith in Sonic's abilities by the way that he was utterly destroyed when Sonic failed to "save" Cosmo with Chaos Regeneration to the point that he even hits Sonic repeatedly whilst screaming "I BELIEVED IN YOU!" though admittedly Tails was emotionally torn apart so that reaction is in all likelihood an exaggeration as the result of his tremendous pain.

[Blazey Firekitty]

Mephiles haunting Shadow

[Kuzu]

That sounds oddly familiar. XD

"Vegeta?"

"Huh?"

"Vegeta?"

"What?"

"I'm haunting you."

"NO!!!"

[Flyboy Fox]

Closest thing to 'emo Tails' is Miles (anti-Tails) from the comics >_>; And even then, he's not actually emo, he just looks like one =P

But the tendency to want to see terminally cheerful characters as harbouring inner pain and resentment is nothing new. I remember when I used to be in the Sonic fandom, a lot of people were convinced that James of Team Rocket actually secretly despised and hated his team partner Jessie because of how she treated him, despite there being no evidence of this at all. Part of it was a hatred of Jessie by the fans in question... which makes me believe that at least some of the people who want to believe that Tails secretly hates Sonic are just folks who love Tails and hate Sonic themselves. Then of course there's people who just love angst, love Tails, and want to put the two together >> But I really can't see any canonical basis at all for an angsty/emo/resentful Tails. He's just NOT that type of person, at all.

[Dr. Crusher]

That sounds oddly familiar. XD

"Vegeta?"

"Huh?"

"Vegeta?"

"What?"

"I'm haunting you."

"NO!!!"

[Blazey Firekitty]

But the tendency to want to see terminally cheerful characters as harbouring inner pain and resentment is nothing new. I remember when I used to be in the Sonic fandom, a lot of people were convinced that James of Team Rocket actually secretly despised and hated his team partner Jessie because of how she treated him, despite there being no evidence of this at all. Part of it was a hatred of Jessie by the fans in question...

Edited January 7, 2011 by BlazeyBakeneko

[Flyboy Fox]

That's really strange...Either these people really wanted to fantasize about marrying James...or there are a lot of James x Meowth shippers I don't know about. ;

[Blazey Firekitty]

Sadly, as someone who was in the Team Rocket sub-fandom for years, I can attest that both of your above theories are in fact true x.o

[Dr. Crusher]

As someone who is both aware of pairings in general and the craziness of Sonic pairings, nothing surprises me anymore. Nothing.

In fact, you might say I've said "F*** it" myself and joined them, but thankfully, unlike so many of them, I happen to wield various Caps; the Cap of Canon Understanding, the Cap of Realistic Expectations, and the Cap of Not Showing S*** to Anyone.

Anyways, back to Tails. Yeah. Tails. No secret resentment here.