Sonic the Hedgehog (franchise): Difference between revisions

{{retitle|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (franchise)}}

{{Real world}}

}}{{Dab page|Sonic the Hedgehog (disambiguation)}}

The series follows the adventures of [[Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|the titular character]], an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds. He battles against the evil plots of [[w:c:sonic:Doctor Eggman|Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik]], who is intent on conquering the world with his robotic minions.

The series comprises video games as well as a vast variety of spinoff media such as comic books, television series, theatrical films, and other merchandise.

==Crossovers==

This inclusion allowed players to control Sonic and have him play through the ''A Dalektable Adventure'' and ''Dalek Extermination of Earth'' levels, and explore the ''Who''-themed adventure world, as well as operate [[K9 (LEGO Dimensions)|K9]] and interact with [[the Doctor's TARDIS]].

In turn, this allowed the player to play as [[the Doctor]] or the [[Cyberman (LEGO Dimensions)|Cyberman]] during the ''Sonic Dimensions'' story and explore Sonic's own adventure world, as well as using the related vehicles - the Blue Speedster, Blue Typhoon, Motobug, the Tornado, Crabmeat, and Eggcatcher - in any world.

Sonic himself has a unique voice clip that plays when he is paired with the Doctor in gameplay: "Hey, you're ''the'' Doctor, right? I heard you named [[The Doctor's sonic screwdriver|a screwdriver]] after me. How cool is that?"

[[File:Sonic and Doctor Lego Dimensions.jpg|thumb|Sonic meets the [[Twelfth Doctor]] in ''Sonic the Hedgehog Joins LEGO Dimensions!'']]

==References in the DWU==

Another reference appeared that same year in ''[[All-Consuming Fire (novel)|All-Consuming Fire]]'', in which [[Ace]] jokingly told [[John Watson|Dr John Watson]] that whatever the [[Rakshassi]] where worshipping, "it wasn't Sonic the Hedgehog".

[[Martha Jones]], in [[2007 (releases)|2007]]'s ''[[Forever Autumn (novel)|Forever Autumn]]'', called the [[Tenth Doctor]]'s hair "very Sonic the Hedgehog", to the Doctor's dismay, who claimed to be going for "more of a [[Sid Vicious]] vibe".

==DWU references in ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' media==

The UK-based series published by [[Fleetway Publications|Fleetway]], {{wi|Sonic the Comic}}, which ran from [[1993 (releases)|1993]] to [[2002 (releases)|2002]], offered an inherently British style of story and characterisation to Sonic's world, including what began as a very unintentional nod to the [[Dalek]]s. Among the comic's extensive rogues gallery was a group called the [[w:c:sonic:Brotherhood of Metallix|Brotherhood of Metallix]], in which the comic took Robotnik's singular [[w:c:sonic:Metal Sonic|robotic Sonic-Doppelgänger]] from the games, and turned it into a fearsome, very Dalek-like, warmongering species who had a habit of demanding Sonic's "[[extermination]]", and were led by a red-and-gold "[[w:c:sonic:Emperor Metallix|Emperor Metallix]]". {{w|Nigel Kitching}}, one of the comic's most prolific writers, and creator of the group, acknowledged the similarity after older readers began to pick up on it. Kitching explained that he did not initially set out to "rip off" the Daleks, but chose to run with the idea as the group were developed. He further stated that, since ''Doctor Who'' was off the air at the time, he believed the similarity was unlikely to jar the series' readership.<ref>http://sonicthecomic.proboards.com/thread/9482?page=8#355593</ref>

On the other side of the pond was Sonic's most prolific comic book run: the {{w|Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)|American Archie Comics series}} that ran continuously for a record-breaking twenty-four years, from [[1993 (releases)|1993]] to [[2017 (releases)|2017]]. A subtle ''Doctor Who'' nod occurred toward the end of ''[[w:c:sonic:Worlds Unite|Worlds Unite]]'', a massive crossover between Sonic and Archie's {{wi|Mega Man (Archie Comics)|Mega Man}} comic book (based on the {{w|Capcom}} {{w|Mega Man|game series of the same name}}). At the end of this multiverse-spanning plot that was ultimately undone by a time travel paradox, ''Sonic'' character [[w:c:sonic:Sticks the Badger|Sticks the Badger]] finished off the story by explaining her own theory about time and space, during which she used the first half of the (in)famous phrase first coined by the [[Tenth Doctor]] and popularised by the [[Eleventh Doctor|Eleventh]]: "[[Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey|wibbly wobbly]]".

After the aforementioned comic's cancellation, the American Sonic comic license was picked up by former [[American comic book|American ''Doctor Who'' comic publisher]], [[IDW Publishing]], during which ''Doctor Who'' has, so far, been referenced twice.

==Connections==

For the UK-based developer [[TT Games]], ''[[LEGO Dimensions (video game)|LEGO Dimensions]]'' was far from being the only ''Sonic''-related game that they had a hand in, having previously developed two pivotal titles in Sonic's series: in the late 1990s, they developed the games {{wi|Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island}} (''3D Blast'' in the US) and {{wi|Sonic R}}, two of the earliest games in the series to depict Sonic's world in 3D.

Both ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' and ''[[Doctor Who]]''-themed avatar accessories have been officially released on the video game platform ''[[Roblox]]'', on which an official ''Sonic'' game, ''[[w:c:sonic:Sonic Speed Simulator|Sonic Speed Simulator]]'', was released. It is possible to dress an avatar in both ''Doctor Who'' and ''Sonic the Hedgehog''-themed accessories at the same time.

Apart from Nigel Kitching, mentioned above, the series' other most prolific writer was ''[[The Daft Dimension]]'' creator, [[Lew Stringer]]. Stringer had contributed a number of stories significant to the comic's run, and even became the primary head writer for a period in the late 1990s when Kitching briefly left. He also created two of the comic's most popular breakout characters: [[w:c:sonic:Tekno the Canary|Tekno the Canary]] and [[w:c:sonic:Shortfuse the Cybernik|Shortfuse the Cybernik]].

[[Gary Knight]], a designer for ''Doctor Who Magazine'', served the same role on StC for, reportedly, the near-entirety of its run, beginning with [[w:c:sonic:Sonic the Comic Issue 28|issue 28]].

[[Alan McKenzie]], comic writer and features editor for ''Doctor Who Magazine'' in its ''Weekly''/''Monthly'' incarnations, wrote many early stories, including the aforementioned ''Enter: Sonic''.

=== Archie Comics series ===

=== IDW comic series ===

[[IDW Publishing]], the American publisher of [[Doctor Who (IDW)|''Doctor Who'' comics]] from [[2008 (releases)|2008]] to [[2013 (releases)|2013]], is the current US publisher of {{wi|Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Publishing)|Sonic the Hedgehog}} comics, with an ongoing series that began in [[2018 (releases)|2018]].  

[[Cavan Scott]], a writer of various audio, prose, and comic stories set in the ''Doctor Who'' universe, wrote the story, ''Curse of the Pyramid'', in ''{{iw|sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2019}}''.

=== Literature ===

[[Jonathan Green]], a prolific gamebook writer who wrote the final ''[[Decide Your Destiny]]'' book, ''[[The Horror of Howling Hill (novel)|The Horror of Howling Hill]]'', co-wrote the last two books in Fantail's ''Sonic'' gamebook series, ''{{iw|sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog Gamebook 5: Theme Park Panic|Theme Park Panic}}'', and ''{{iw|sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog Gamebook 6: Stormin' Sonic|Stormin' Sonic}}''.

As with ''Doctor Who'', Funko have released [[Pop! TV vinyl figures|Pop! vinyl figures]] of several ''Sonic'' characters.

=== Miscellaneous ===

== Trivia ==

* The [[1993 (releases)|1993]] games, {{wi|Sonic Spinball}} and {{wi|Sonic Chaos}}, were released in the United States on [[23 November (releases)|23 November]], the day of ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s 30th [[anniversary]]. The former was released in the United Kingdom three days later, on the [[26 November (releases)|26th]], the day that the first part of ''[[Dimensions in Time (TV story)|Dimensions in Time]]'' was originally broadcast.

==Footnotes==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Real world series with DWU connections]]

[[Category:Overview pages]]