A Hedgehog Character Named Sonic

Sonic the hedgehog was called for, to combat the popularity of Mario by Nintendo. The launch was successful as it was recognized in Metreons, Walk of Game. Segas official mascot Alex Kidd was diminishing in popularity and thus the trio of Naoto Oshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara and Yuji Naka, got together to create the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog.

A team of fifteen masterminds contributed much to the creation of the character and Sonic the hedgehog was thus a culmination of styles inspired from American stalwarts. The color had to be blue for its association with the brand, and subsequently the metamorphosis of a plain-Jane hedgehog to a swanky and tough Sonic, transcended. Sonic the hedgehog is a fifteen year old humanoid whose special abilities are primarily that it can run faster than the speed of sound and that it can coil up into a ball to dupe its enemies. While this superstar was being made it went by the pseudonym of Mr. Needlehouse.

The character has its attributes borrowed from other superstars. Its shoes are very similar to Michael Jacksons boots and the red color on them is homage to Santa Claus. However, in animation it is not enough to conceive a character in its digital form. Sonic the hedgehog got its heartwarming personality from Bill Clinton who was noticed for his alertness to situations and his ability to respond to all contingencies. The ultramarine spikes and a grumpy expression set it apart as an animation character that the world had been waiting for. Unfortunately, Sonic could not swim because its creators thought that hedgehogs could not; however, that never in the way of its miraculous feats.

Once its inception was done, Sega invested a lot in promoting its baby. The wonder three tours saw Sega sponsoring it and they maximized the opportunity by distributing sonic pamphlets and also offered free broadcasts of the game. In due course of time, sonic was reworked on, to meet its popularity. In the Mega 2 drive, it was elongated and the overall proportions also changed. In 1998 again, Sonic developed longer quills, a more oblong body and a tinge of green in the iris along with buckles for the shoes. Tinted changes continued till most of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

The Blue Blur also made its way into the print media and several comic books like Stay Sonic, Sonic the Comic, Manga etc. Sonic has also made notable appearances in short story compilations, and comic series. The otherwise even tempered blue hedgehog that rises up to defend the good from the bad surely took the comic world by storm by virtue of its supernatural speed and its incredible spin. The result is that, to this day it is a character that Sega would swear by.