The Best Characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise

 

We here at Netto's Game Room have a lot of history with Sonic the Hedgehog. We thought it would be fun to get together and concoct a list of the best characters in the entire franchise. So after much deliberation, here is an infallible, factual, definitive list of the coolest characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise from the team. You can have different opinions from us, just know that our list was scientifically proven to be correct.

 

Jonsku

Emerl

I am gonna be the odd one out of the group here but the coolest character for me is Emerl from Sonic Battle. He had a fairly deep, epic story in the game and he also learned everyone's coolest moves, so how can he not be cool? Originally, Emerl was created by an ancient people to be a fighting robot for them but he went rogue and destroyed the civilization. A millennia later, he was found by Dr. Gerald Robotnik who understood that he had destructive tendencies, and to quell them he gave Emerl a “soul” based on his granddaughter Maria. Emerl has the power to destroy Earth if he fully loses control over his powers but he learns through Sonic and friends how it is to actually live with friends and family and he becomes a free being that values life.

A small story, as a kid playing the game I never figured out at the time that you could switch out Emerl's base moves to the ones you learned from fighting the rest of the Sonic cast. . . I kind of managed to beat the game using only his base kit . . . I was playing the super challenge version of the game haha (it was lotsa spamming spin dash jump).

Jeremy

Mighty the Armadillo

I was completely unfamiliar with this character until the Sonic Mania DLC, which isn’t surprising to me, given that he was from an incredibly obscure retro Sonic title, confusingly titled: SegaSonic the Hedgehog. I absolutely love his design. The color palette makes me think of Shadow (the certified coolest character in the entire franchise), but with the charming “Classic Sonic” aesthetic and the cool red armor that he has all over his body. He’s like a much, much cooler version of Knuckles, complete with super strength. Hammer Drop is Mighty’s signature move in the games, where he curls into a ball and slams into the ground at a high speed. He also is featured in the Sonic comic books where he has an interesting story and is typically a member of Team Chaotix. Mighty fans have randomly gotten a lot of newly available merchandise in recent years too, which is cool, given that not long ago, he was pretty much a forgotten character. Mighty also has a best friend, who is another of the characters on my list. His best friend is -

 

Ray the Flying Squirrel

Ray is another character that I was entirely unfamiliar with, as he originated from the same Sonic arcade game as Mighty. Flying squirrels are just one of the coolest animals in existence, so Ray kinda gets an immediate coolness boost just by nature of his species. Also his friendship with Mighty makes him considerably more rad. Ray can glide across enormous swaths of stages, which is sick, because I find many classic Sonic stages to be insufferably annoying. Out of the few characters that can fly/glide, Ray is my choice any day.

 

Shadow the Hedgehog

Let’s be clear here. Shadow is the coolest Sonic character by a mile. He’s obviously got an edgelord streak, but we love him all the same. From the sick shoes, to the gun, the motorcycle, the tragic backstory, and so much more, Shadow just oozes coolness. Now he even has Keanu Reeves voicing him too, so I don’t see Shadow being ousted from the top spot any time soon. I’d love to see them try a new game starring Shadow, or at least remaster and fix up the existing Shadow the Hedgehog game.

 

Ben

Silver the Hedgehog

 

Silver the Hedgehog was a character designed for the critically panned Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic 06) on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but he was a character I was instantly drawn to. I liked his design, his ESP powers seemed really cool, and the time travel story greatly interested me; however, I did not own either of the consoles the game would release on. Instead, I had to rely on others uploading cutscenes to the internet to experience who Silver was, and that allowed me to see the story without the gameplay issues. By the end, Silver truly became one of my favorite characters, and that made me want to play as him even more. Getting an Xbox 360 or PS3 was out of the question though, so I did the next best thing… I made a Silver fan game.

I dubbed the game “Silver Blur” and got to work on building an engine based off of Sonic Advance. Other Sonic fans had uploaded resources online to help get things started, but creating a Silver sprite sheet, and designing his mechanics was up to me. I initially posted on SEGA’s official forums to see if anyone else wanted to help, but it ended up being a solo project with only a few levels ever completed… But then one day I received an MSN Messenger request from a stranger looking to use my Silver sprites, and their name was Sagi… AKA GlacialLeaf; one of the co-founders of Netto’s Game Room. (Note from GlacialLeaf: HE THOUGHT I WAS A VIRUS, THE JERK!)

Of course none of this would’ve have happened if Silver wasn’t a cool character. Again, his ESP powers were great, the time travel story was interesting, and his dynamic with Blaze is easily one of my favorite relationships in the entire series. In Sonic 06 he lacked speed, but Sonic Rivals, and future games, made up for this. Additionally, his role in the IDW Comics really helps show off how cool he can be, finally giving him more of a chance to shine.

 

Espio the Chameleon

Espio is a character I haven’t really thought about in a long time, but he too was one of my childhood favorites. I missed out on playing Knuckles Chaotix originally, but when I got pretty sick as a kid, Sonic Heroes was the game I played to keep my mind off of it. I had saved up for months to get enough money to buy it, and had spent a lot of time talking about it on the official Sonic Team BBS. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the Team Chaotix missions in Sonic Heroes, I loved the fact that Espio was a ninja, and I loved his ability to turn invisible. The Frog Forest stage that asks you to not be spotted became my favorite level in the entire game, and Team Chaotix became my go-to when playing multiplayer.

Outside of Sonic Heroes, he was also a playable character in Sonic the Fighters, which came to consoles in Sonic Gems Collection. He became my character of choice, with his special mode inspiring the username I would go on to use over at the SEGA forums. He didn’t have a lot of personality within the game, as it is a fighting game without a true story, but that didn’t stop him from being any less cool in my eyes.

 

GlacialLeaf

Blaze the Cat

 

It’s really hard picking a ‘coolest character’ of a series that literally directed my life in several ways. What Ben said is just one small part of how this series has affected my life. Not to mention, the cast for this series has gone ridiculously big, with some of the characters (i.e. Chip) having very one-note personalities.

Which is why the first one I’m gonna talk about probably won’t really fit the ‘coolest’ title, as she is moreso a… I’d like to say ‘hottest,’ but that would probably be taken out of context. Anyways, the one I’d like to pick first is Blaze the Cat.

After Sonic Team’s first try to make a cat, that ended up as a meme twenty years later, Blaze is probably the most relatable one for me. She’s not really what one might consider a ‘social flower,’ lacking in social skills but not completely shutting herself off like Shadow, she’s scared of heights - in the Sonic franchise, and she tends to bottle up her emotions.

She’s honestly one of the roundest characters in the series, and that’s besides the fact that I think she has one of the best designs of the entire cast, with some really amazing animations.
If only Sonic Team didn’t forget she even exists in most games and Marine would stop showing up, we’ll be golden.

Metal Sonic

 The second character I’d like to pitch as the coolest would be Metal Sonic. Not for any big reason like looks or backstory or how he kicked Sonic’s butt in the old ‘Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie,’ but because I just am a sucker for stories like his, of a clone wanting to to finally be free of having to be stuck in the shadows of his original. Pretty much like Sonic’s version of anime Mewtwo.

I’m not really sure which cemented Metal Sonic for me as one of the best Sonic characters - the old Sonic OVAs - which were an experience, let me tell you that - or the ending of Sonic Heroes, but I’ve just loved Metal as an underrated character ever since. Maybe someday he’ll actually be given an actual playable role, too, rather than be a skin like in Adventure DX or a terminal for Eggman like in Rivals 2, as well.

 

 So, there you have it. The master list of the coolest characters in the entire Sonic franchise. We consulted with the world's leading scientists and mathematicians and had them crunch the numbers and run the data just to make sure that our picks were lined up perfectly with objective reality. It turns out that we have perfect tastes here at Netto's Game Room. Well, I almost picked Storm the Albatross for one of mine but was quickly reminded that he is a full-blown moron, so maybe my tastes need some work. All jokes aside, we had a lot of fun coming up with this list. The Sonic series has a shocking number of characters, so we had a huge roster to pull from. Who do you think are the coolest characters in the Sonic series? Comment down below if you think we're dead on or dead wrong.