In Support Of Humans

El Gran Gordo here, with a topic that's not (directly, anyway) about Dr. Eggman! Actually, I've proposed a similar topic at old SSMB, but- having seen this repeatedly brought up in various topics- thought it was time to raise the issue. An issue which I'm raising in the name of humanity!

Right, so. Humans! I think they're swell, which should come as no surprise since my favorite character is one. But a lot of Sonic fans seem to think they "don't belong" in the Sonic series. I'd like to challenge this sentiment, with my reasoning on why humans not only "belong", but are important and productive additions to the series.

Let's dispel one big misconception first, shall we?

"But humans never existed before Sonic Adventure!"
One big misconception is that Sonic's planet, prior to Sonic Adventure, was supposed to be an all-animal world that was completely devoid of humans or human influence. But wait- You didn't see any NPCs back then, did you? Oh, there were modern cities to be sure, but the only characters in the classic games were the main cast- The hero (Sonic), the villain (Eggman), and often a sidekick or two.

Think about this for a minute. Nowhere should this setup imply anything about the population of Sonic's world, much less that it's devoid of mankind and that Eggman is somehow the last man on Earth. Yet many fans cling to this notion, not bothering to worry about where Eggman came from, simply accepting him as an anomaly. Of course, when I bring up the equally-human Witchcart, who also predated Adventure... my point is also ignored. Ah well.

My point is, however, that the absence of humans (or any background characters for that matter) in the old games didn't discredit their existence. If that logic means Eggman's the only human, then it has to also mean Sonic and his few sidekicks were the only humanized animals, resulting in a pretty empty planet as far as sentient life goes.


Humans and their role in the series:
But let's move on to the modern era- Sonic Adventure, with its far more fleshed out storyline and extensive dialog, took a more cinematic approach to the series. Suddenly, background characters could show up to populate the towns, and thus humans were visible en masse. I saw it as a natural expansion of the storyline to flesh out the common everyday people of the world, but many fans were shocked and appalled at these developments. But develop they did, leading us to Sonic Adventure 2...

SA2 took things a step further by actually making humans more than mere townsfolk. Suddenly Eggman wasn't a mysterious man who came from nowhere- He was given family members, which fleshed out his (and Shadow's) backstory. GUN, in addition, debuted as a massive force that would continue to play a major role in future games. While GUN was, at this point, a faceless organization, I have to say I found Gerald and Maria extremely compelling characters- Not just for their relationship to Eggman, but for being truly interesting characters in their own right.

I won't mince words- I thought Shadow the Hedgehog was a pretty horrible game, but the Commander was kind of cool. He had this stern, if misguided, sense of justice about him that I found genuinely endearing. GUN was painted as a pretty shady organization in SA2, so it stood to reason that gamers would suspect the Commander of being just as corrupt as the military of the past was- And at first, he seemed like he could've been! But his gradual development and sympathetic- if haphazzard- motives rounded him out as a decent character in my opinion.

Elise sucked. Yeah, I won't even try to defend her, but I will say this- I'm tired of seeing Elise used as the posterchild for the anti-human argument. She's an isolated character, and trying to argue that one poorly-written human justifies removing them all is just ridiculous. But hey! Sonic Man was pretty cool.

Chronicles, debatable canon aside, handled this well too. The return of the GUN Commander saw the character become a lot less stern, developing into a more sociable fellow who offers Sonic and his friends snacks at the base. ...Yeah, he doesn't do much, but I liked his role here. And Dr. Madden, one of the side quest characters, really stuck out to me too!

Moving on, though, Unleashed did a fantastic job, I felt. Professor Pickle was an unbelievably amusing character, who fulfilled a great role as an adviser to Sonic. He was definitely subtle too, despite his personality being quite comical- He helped Sonic, but as a new character, didn't hog his spotlight or bend the story to focus on him like a certain princess did. I honestly hope we see Pickle again- It's really cool to see the heroes with a funny old scientist on their side, after all.

You'll notice I didn't mention Erazor, Shahra, or Merlina, and that's because they aren't exactly human, despite their appearance. (At least I don't think they are- Merlina might be.) Still, I found them all to be well-written and compelling characters too, so if they help my pro-human position, so be it, I guess!

I don't even need to elaborate on our beloved main antagonist, Dr. Eggman. The first, and most prevalent, human in the series needs no introduction. Really, neither does his psychotic double, Eggman Nega. Both of them are great examples of well-written and likable human characters who fit right into Sonic's world.


A conclusion of sorts:
I think the animal characters, and robot characters for that matter, are just swell. They're an important part of the series, and the fanbase gives them much love. But I think humans are underappreciated and irrationally despised by a good chunk of the fandom. It's a mentality that I'd like to see fade over time, and arguably it already is beginning to slowly subside...

Of course, these are just my opinions. Whether you fully or partially agree, or simply disagree altogether, I'd like us to have a civilized, intellectual dialog about humanity's place in the Sonic series. Let's discuss, shall we?

 

Oh, I'm not at all opposed to animal NPCs. I'd be all for including them in addition to human NPCs, as long as it's not at their expense.

Actually, it would further solidify the idea that humans and humanized animals are societal equals, and would essentially be the death knell of the "Man vs. Animals" tone that SoA, SatAM, and similar stories fostered in regards to perceptions of the game series. To clearly show humans and humanized animals coexisting peacefully en masse, it would dispel the idea of humans as corrupt or villainous figures in the franchise as whole. While that image has already all but completely died, this move would finish it off.

And I'd be all for that.

The term "Mobian" kind of vexes me though, mainly for two reasons.

1.) It doesn't really work with continuities where there's not a "Mobius" to begin with, such as the games. (Discrediting SoA's story, anyway)
2.) In continuities where there is a Mobius with human inhabitants (AoStH, Archie, etc.), it doesn't really make sense exclusively referring to animals as Mobians. That'd be like saying only one species on Earth can be called "Earthlings", or a similar term. In these continuities, Eggman- by living on a planet called Mobius- should logically be considered a Mobian as much as any animal would. See what I'm getting at?

Sorry for that little tangent there, I just enjoy having fun with terminology in the Sonic fandom.

 

I completely agree that Elise was horrible. I even say so in my opening post here.

And I will say that Elise failed not for her humanity, but for being a badly-written and utterly contrived character. If Elise were an animal, she'd have been just as annoying. Elise was a bad character for many reasons, but her humanity was not one of them.

Well... Not quite. There is more to them than being the helpless, hapless masses, I feel. They bring their own unique personalities to the games, however minor they may be, such as the colorful NPCs of the recent Sonic Unleashed. While I already praised Professor Pickle for his amusing, but not overshadowing, performance, I have to give major props to the random townsfolk- While SA and 2K6 had rather plain people about, Unleashed had rather memorable citizens. Wentos the puppeteer and Pickle's befuddled assistant were two of my favorites, despite the incredibly minor presence they had in the game.

So while they do serve as a plot incentive, as the people who Sonic must save from the current threat to the world's safety, I feel they're also legitimate and individual characters in their own right, even if they're not given the fanfare and focus of the animals most of the time. And I can appreciate their contribution to Sonic's world. Many fans overlook these characters, but I find them truly interesting!

 

I admit that aesthetically, the physical appearance of the human characters could have been- and arguably has been- better. I loved how vibrant and colorful their personalities were, however, and feel this is a step in the right direction in terms of characterization.

Speaking strictly of physical appearance, I really liked the anime-style humans of Sonic Adventure. Trying that again with today's graphics could look pretty cool. It also gives Eggman a contrast- In a world of mostly realistically-proportioned people, Eggman alone has wacky cartoon proportions that make him stand out among his fellow man. It emphasizes his eccentricity, or something.

 

Well, those are just normal animals. The kind that aren't also people.

The sentience of these animals seems... inconsistent. In the modern games, they act like typical animals, and cannot speak, nor do they display any characteristics of humanization. However, the Flickies do talk in Sonic 3D Blast, thanking Sonic for saving them during the ending. I must question, though, why they haven't been given such ability to converse in any previous or subsequent games, though I'm willing to accept 3D Blast's display of dialog as applicable to all of them. It's an anomaly, but it happened, and can thusly be considered canonical evidence of their intelligence.

However, whether or not these animals were intended to be given this minor speaking part as far back as their conception in Sonic 1 is undetermined. They're described as "Sonic's friends", which I suppose does hint at sentience above what we would typically consider an ordinary animal. These animals are so vague, and could do with some clarification, I say.

Okay, fine, though- They were indeed NPCs by their definition. But humans could have still logically existed, even with these.

EDIT: This kind of creates a conundrum, now that recent games (Chronicles, Black Knight) have adapted the cartoon and comic concept of Sonic liking chilidogs. If all animals in the Sonic universe, humanized or not, can be considered to have intelligence comparable to humans... Then Sonic eating meat just became a whole lot more disturbing. Hm.

 

Ah, thank you for pointing that out. I'm rather fully convinced in that case.

So, perhaps it's best to assume there are three "types" of animals in Sonic's world?

- Humanized bipedal animals, such as Sonic.
- "Small animals", the types Eggman frequently uses to power his Badniks. "Human" personality and speech, much like the fully humanized class has.
- "Normal" animals, such as the wild boars and armadillos in Sonic Chronicles. Can probably be assumed to be as intelligent as real-life animals of their appropriate species.

I suppose this makes sense.

 

A good point, but it was the only game I could think of with ordinary, non-sentient animals. And I'd like to think they exist, for the reasoning I expressed earlier; The idea of Sonic (or anyone) eating meat if all animals possess human intelligence is a bit of a grim prospect.

Uh... Secret Rings had dinosaurs! Which were probably unintelligent beasts. There we go, a non-Chronicles example of an ordinary animal.

Oh right, Sonic Heroes had a giant alligator.

I'm not sure if Froggy counts as a "small animal" or a normal animal. He never speaks, but y'know, neither do the other small animals in Sonic Adventure. Him appearing in the same kind of green bubble that the other small animals do in Gamma's second mission is probably one reason I'm considering he might qualify as that. Ah well.