Filling the Blanks: Mobian Culture

[MetalSkulkBane]

For a 25+ franchise, we know very little about how Mobians live. Only recently we seen bigger group of them and Forces was a special circumstances. So my question is: how do you imagine Mobian world looks like?

My take:
"Pretty much like humans" would be boring answer, but turning them into Sci-fi race with one gimmick also makes little sense. So I suggests broad philosophy with 2 bullet points.

1 Mobians are against centralized power.

It might be caused by their lower population or perhaps lower crime/evil dictator rate then humans. Or maybe it's long rooted stigma, since brutal tribe of echidnas tried to enslave other species, only to be wiped out by a water monster.

Either way, Mobians still live in town and created comminutes, but not countries. Kingdoms of Acorns are extremely rare, small and/or very democratic in nature. Even mayors or elders are mostly figureheads. You could say Mobians are somewhat... chaotic.

"But wait! If all Mobians are so free and stuff, does that make Sonic less special?"

2 Mobians are strong on conformism

It may sound idyllic, but there is a dark side to all of it. They want to live peaceful normal life and expect you to behave accordingly. So imagine kid with freaky two tails, even worse, he makes some crazy abnormal machines. That kind of stuff are oppressed in Mobian culture.

So those who love spirit of adventure are considered rebels to society. Sonic was born on Christmas Island, but he no longer considers it's home. And those who share his ideology, like love-stuck fangirl or bat who choose exiting life of thievery, should consider moving to human town. There are even rumors of family that kicked out their kid, because he wanted to be the detective.

Don't feel too bad, things are getting better. Eggman attacks exposed how flawed the system is and continuous rescues from Sonic do change minds. It's a ongoing progress, but by the time of Forces and shattering news of Sonic's death, many young Mobians rejected axioms of the past.

"And what's about Blaze?"

This one isn't based on many leads, but I like to think Sol Dimension is opposite to Chaos Dimension. It's the world of strict rules, traditions and taboos. For example, racism is bigger case, which is why Koalas or Polar Bears stick in groups, where Mobius allows for full mixing (or why Blaze predigest against tanuki in Team Racing). Blaze used to be personification of that order, but after meeting Sonic she works on changing that. We don't see her castle in "Rush Adventure" because she avoids spending time with snobbish upper-class Cats and tries travels the worlds to connect with her of her kingdom. Koalas are more tolerant of species in her world, even allowing Raccoon among them.

[Dr. Mechano]

3 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

"Pretty much like humans" would be boring answer

Yet it's likely the canonical one.

In Sonic Adventure, we see Amy living among the majority-human city of Station Square. The same city also features billboards advertising an animal model of indeterminate species.

https://i.imgur.com/OU570Ii.png 

South Island - commonly accepted to be a majority-animal location - still has evidence of human culture existing there. The Game Gear game Sonic Blast takes place on South Island, and we see human figures in the hieroglyphs of the Yellow Desert:

To me, this implies that humans and anthropomorphic animals have always coexisted, or at least have for a very long time. There isn't really any reason to think that the animals are culturally distinct from humans in any meaningful way; They live in modern cities, drive cars, use modern technology, and generally live like humans do. There is evidence - albeit mostly in the smaller details - that animals live in predominantly human locations and vice-versa.

Based on how we see them acting, and the subtle decorative details in the games, I think Sonic animals are pretty much just shorter, hairier humans; at least, culturally speaking.

[Ivo-goji]

I consider the question essentially flawed: Hedgehogs, Foxes, Echidnas, Cats, etc aren't one ethnic group that can be lumped together like that.  They don't share any traits in common with each other that they don't also have in common with humans.

It's why I dislike Sonic X and the Paramount movie making Sonic live in another dimension.  It doesn't reflect on his personality or tastes or beliefs in the slightest way.

For example Sonic moonlights as a DJ.

So does Dr. Eggman.

Their culture is basically similar, and nothing in particular sets Hedgehogs apart.

On the other hand we have seen other cultures in Sonic's world that seem to be species-specific, like the Echidna civilizations or the Babylon Rogues.  These guys are distinct from other cultures, but they're distinct in the same way the culture of the United Federation is distinct from that of Soleanna.  Sonic and Amy's lifestyles are a lot more different from Jet and Wave, the heirs of an ancient band of thieves, or for that matter Big, a hermit who lives in the jungle, than they are from the Robotniks or the people who live in Station Square.

9 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

1 Mobians are against centralized power.

It might be caused by their lower population or perhaps lower crime/evil dictator rate then humans.

....

For example, racism is bigger case, which is why Koalas or Polar Bears stick in groups, where Mobius allows for full mixing.

Counter example: The Babylon Rogues, the Battle Kuku Empire, and the Jackal Squad follow exactly the same kind of voluntary segregation as the Koalas et al on Blaze's world, as did the ancient Echidnas (who further broke down into separate tribes), and these groups are virtually our only examples of non-human organizations outside of Sonic's immediate circle of misfits.  And if Jet ("Without a pair of wings, you might as well kiss the ground and go home!") and Infinite ("Still thrashing around I see, like a filthy sewer rat.") are any indication these groups are quite capable of being racist- not even Eggman tash talks Sonic like that!  When we do see large numbers of different species working together, such as in Forces, it's during a massive crisis situation where society has utterly broken down.

I also find the idea of them having a lower crime/evil dictator rate amusing.  For criminals we have

Rouge, Fang, three members of the Babylon Rogues, seven members of the Jackal Squad, Shadow in his first appearance, Shade when she was operating as a Marauder, the Space Pirates in the Twilight Cage, Pachacamac and the four tribesmen who helped him attack the Emerald shrine

Vs Eggman and Eggman Nega.  And, like, however many guys participated in the ARK raid.

As for dictators we have

Pachacamac again, Ix, and Grand Battle Kuku XV

Vs Eggman and Eggman Nega.

[batson]

One strange aspect of "mobian" culture is that kids seem to move out of their parents home and live alone before they are even in their teens.

[Ivo-goji]

3 hours ago, batson said:

One strange aspect of "mobian" culture is that kids seem to move out of their parents home and live alone before they are even in their teens.

I've thought about this and I'm not sure where I fall on it.

Like Cream is being raised by her mother; is she the exception in society generally or are Tails and Amy unusual, we just see more of them and other uncommonly independent types? If it is normal for kids that young to be on their own in-universe it takes away some potential pathos from those characters.  Tails finding an older sibling in Sonic loses some of it's emotional punch if it's actually no big deal for an eight year old to have no guardian figure.

Now that I think about it, I wonder how many characters we know might have living parents.

Knuckles, Blaze, Jet, and presumably Wave and Storm all have inherited positions from their parents, who would logically be deceased or else the characters wouldn't be doing their jobs.

Tails, Amy, and Charmy might have biological parents who abandoned them or their parents might be dead.

Espio and Silver are in a weird place; Espio is still a minor but he's also old enough to work a full time job, so within the scope of what we see him doing it doesn't matter if he has parents or not (ie Vector could be his guardian, or just his boss).  And Silver offers us zero details about what his personal life is like; he could easily have living parents that we never see just like we never see any aspect of his time period.

Sonic... might not have parents.

And Rouge, Big, and Vector are adults.

[Diogenes]

All mobian parents are to be executed during their child's sixth year of age to maximize their child's freedom and foster a sense of independence.

[Your Vest Friend]

1 minute ago, Diogenes said:

All mobian parents are to be executed during their child's sixth year of age to maximize their child's freedom and foster a sense of independence.

RIP Vector and Espio. They will be missed. 

[Ivo-goji]

46 minutes ago, Dr Egg-Gin said:

RIP Vector and Espio. They will be missed. 

Is Espio co-parent or is he also Vector's kid?  It's hard to tell with him.

[Your Vest Friend]

Officially they're all just colleagues. 

There is a Japanese game guide from around Heroes time that implicates Vector and Espio on equal tier and Charmy being treated as the kid alone. 

[Almar]

On 10/17/2019 at 11:51 AM, Dr. Mechano said:

Yet it's likely the canonical one.

In Sonic Adventure, we see Amy living among the majority-human city of Station Square. The same city also features billboards advertising an animal model of indeterminate species.

https://i.imgur.com/OU570Ii.png 

South Island - commonly accepted to be a majority-animal location - still has evidence of human culture existing there. The Game Gear game Sonic Blast takes place on South Island, and we see human figures in the hieroglyphs of the Yellow Desert:

To me, this implies that humans and anthropomorphic animals have always coexisted, or at least have for a very long time. There isn't really any reason to think that the animals are culturally distinct from humans in any meaningful way; They live in modern cities, drive cars, use modern technology, and generally live like humans do. There is evidence - albeit mostly in the smaller details - that animals live in predominantly human locations and vice-versa.

Based on how we see them acting, and the subtle decorative details in the games, I think Sonic animals are pretty much just shorter, hairier humans; at least, culturally speaking.

Counter: The Genesis to 06 games were designed before the Two Worlds retcon was cemented. They have enough lore and background elements to put them at odds with the games from Sonic Unleashed onward.