Found this while looking back trying to verify some stuff about Chronicles, Some people might find it relevant or at least interesting in regards to timelines and canonicity of games. While this is probably one of the more definitive answers you'll ever get about Chronicles, and something I think I've seen other with similar authority mention, there's also the fact that the statement it's tied to more definitively says "Nothing is canon, until it is." For what it's worth, I've always placed it in my mind to the end of the series just because of the ending if it were to go anywhere, and the fact that it has apparently been 2 years since Eggman's defeat according to the original Nintendo Power reveal, which also interestingly enough calls Central City "Emerald Town". Building off of the "when it's convenient" answer: Almost makes me think the only truly "canon" stories since 2000 have been Adventure 2, Heroes, Shadow, Rush, 06 (as a time loop), Colors, and Lost World. My reasoning for this is that they seem to be the only games introducing characters who seem to be a part of Sonic's current recurring cast of characters. Adventure 2 introduces Shadow and Rouge, Heroes introduces too many to list, Shadow... idk, it doesn't actually introduce anything, but it attempts to give Shadow a new definitive status quo other than "litterally dead" from SA2, Rush introduces Blaze and her dimension, 06 introduces Silver and his constantly ruined state of the future, Colors introduces Wisps, and Lost World introduces Zavok who will no doubt be with us until the end of time, god damn please just let Zeena show up again. Why am I excluding Forces? It has way, way too much storytelling baggage to carry to be relevant ever again without making a direct sequel, Mostly the fact that Eggman nearly definitively won. Infinite is mainly Avatar's antagonist, and Avatar is unlikely to be seen again. It just seems like an excuse to tell the Eggman winning story without ties to the games around it. Mania seems to be a product of it with maybe closer ties to the games "around it" (classic series) but otherwise it's just not practical. Riders games would also be included because it seems like Jet, Wave, and the big one are active recurring cast, but they don't actually show up in anything that's not a spinoff that needs a couple extra characters. I guess my "here's what is likely relevant" timeline would be the original classic games (1,2,3, cd) added to my previous list. But of course, I'd absolutely love to fit together ALL the bullshit.
Both Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley have said that Sonic Chronicles is non-canon. 11m 32s https://twitter.com/SpiritSonic/status/1282749021069557761
https://twitter.com/SpiritSonic/status/1287797961984839680 https://twitter.com/SpiritSonic/status/1283101793451257857
According to Madilyn Osness, Rivals is canon but it is in a different continuity from Sonic Rush, which is also canon as far as I'm concern. what
Espio was an afterthought in both universes? Does Espio even appear in any Dimps games (save for Sonic Colors DS and Generations 3DS)?
I can't wait to see Sonic Team claiming Sonic 2 and Sonic 3K are non canon because they weren't made in Japan.
I wouldn't put much stock in that response. There's a difference between "Sonic Team said that X is canon" and "outsourced development team artist who worked on one Sonic game 14 years ago says Y is canon". If Madilyn Osness had said "Sonic Team told us that Y canon", that would be more useful. For all we know, this could just be her interpretation.
What that person said was probably correct at the time, but isn’t anymore. Stuff changes, especially messy things like canon in a 30 year old franchise where story is often an afterthought. Why would they do that? What even is this comment?
So where does the Chao In Space YouTube short take place in the timeline? After Forces/Team Sonic Racing, or around Sonic Adventure 2?
Unlikely, an Encyclopaedia is more likely to catalogue the universe aspects like badniks, explain stories in release order of the games, etc, than try and piece together a timeline. It'd be neat but unlikely.
I believe Silver noticed the change to the timeline upon going back to the future after Sonic Runners or one of the other spin off titles. Just like how in the IDW comic he saw how it changed due to the Metal Virus.
You’re probably right, but I hope they go above and beyond for it. I’ve been waiting for years for some plot holes to be explained and this is the best chance.
I've been workshopping a new-ish Split Timeline Theory that makes Rush, 06, Rivals, Generations, Mania, and Forces all make sense together in my head. And I think I've finally got something that I like. Since this franchise, as it is officially presented, is utterly unworkable as a cohesive sequence of events beyond the broadest of strokes, I'm doing what one must do, and just exercise my own judgment on which shit to put stock in and which shit to disregard (in addition to making some things up here and there). So, stated character ages are bullshit, different Emerald numbers don't matter, and games occur on their respective release year and happen in release order (largely; there will be many exceptions, and I hope to make the reasoning for each one clear). - Sonic 1 (16 bit/8 bit) and Sonic 2 (8 bit) are the two games that I'm anchoring everything else to. Sonic and Tails are already friends in Sonic 2 (8 bit), while Sonic 2 (16 bit) shows their first meeting: making it the first "prequel" game, as it were. Sonic 3 follows, concluding the "Death Egg Saga", with Chaotix following from that, serving as the epilogue to this prequel saga. Sonic 2 (8 bit) also has Sonic returning to South Island from solo adventures. SegaSonic and Sonic CD would slide right in there after Chaotix. They would also slide right in between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 (16 bit). Or one before the Death Egg Saga and one after. It really doesn't matter, and I'm not quite sure which I prefer. Chaos and Triple Trouble follow from Sonic 2 (8 bit), with Fighters and R capping out the "classic era". Adventure through Advance 2 happen where expected, but Sonic Battle comes out before Sonic Heroes, making Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog effectively "prequels" to Battle. I then have the Rush games and Chronicles here to continue the "Cream & Gizoid"-involved stories all together. And for "Blaze's Dimension" in the Rush games, I'm going with that as actually being "60 years in the future", the dating being based on how I'm interpreting Sonic 06. TL 1 - The Original Timeline: Spoiler 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tails Adventures 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16 bit) 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 199X: Knuckles Chaotix 1992: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8 bit) 1993: Sonic Chaos 1994: Sonic Triple Trouble 1996: Sonic the Fighters 1997: Sonic R 1998: Sonic Adventure 2001: Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 2002: Sonic Advance 2 200X: Sonic Heroes 200X: Shadow the Hedgehog 2003: Sonic Battle 2004: Sonic Advance 3 2005: Sonic Rush 2007: Sonic Rush Adventure 2008: Sonic Chronicles 2065: Sonic Rush (Blaze) 2067: Sonic Rush Adventure (Blaze) - Just after the final game in the "original timeline", evil finally manages to change history. Eggman Nega dons the alias "Ken Penders", and travels back to the year of 2006. He begins something called the "Solaris Project". Sonic Rush Adventure and Sonic Chronicles no longer happen. Instead, Sonic 06 happens! (doesn't actually matter if it's something this silly or not, but I'm going with the Solaris Project's very existence being a change to history). 2006 is the "10 Years in the Past" of Sonic 06. Elise has the blue Chaos Emerald until 2016, when she meets Eggman and Sonic. "50 Years in the Future" from 2016 is 2066, at which point in time Blaze, now allied with a hedgehog named Silver, is fighting a beast named Iblis (rather than fighting Eggman Nega with a raccoon named Marine). TL 2 - The Sonic 06 Timeline: Spoiler 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tails Adventures 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16 bit) 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 199X: Knuckles Chaotix 1992: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8 bit) 1993: Sonic Chaos 1994: Sonic Triple Trouble 1996: Sonic the Fighters 1997: Sonic R 1998: Sonic Adventure 2001: Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 2002: Sonic Advance 2 200X: Sonic Heroes 200X: Shadow the Hedgehog 2003: Sonic Battle 2004: Sonic Advance 3 2005: after arriving from the future, Eggman Nega begins the Solaris Project under the alias of "Ken Penders" 2006: Sonic 06 (10 Years in Past); Elise gets blue Chaos Emerald 2016: Sonic 06 (Present) 2066: Sonic 06 (Future) - We all know how Sonic 06 goes. Sonic dies, shit gets weird, and Sonic goes back to 2006 and ends the Solaris Project (or prevents it from beginning? I don't remember; it doesn't matter). Either way, this creates a new timeline. The future now sees Silver fighting Eggman Nega, with the latter being hostile toward Eggman despite them being allies in the Rush games. Unleashed happens in 2008, Colors in 2010, and in 2011 Eggman uses the Time Eater to fuck with the past. Notably we see that the Sonic 06 timeline wasn't actually erased! Eggman and Time Eater are stopped, and Lost World happens in 2013. TL 3 - Rivals-Lost World Timeline: Spoiler 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tails Adventures 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16 bit) 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 199X: Knuckles Chaotix 1992: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8 bit) 1993: Sonic Chaos 1994: Sonic Triple Trouble 1996: Sonic the Fighters 1997: Sonic R 1998: Sonic Adventure 2001: Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 2002: Sonic Advance 2 200X: Sonic Heroes 200X: Shadow the Hedgehog 2003: Sonic Battle 2004: Sonic Advance 3 2005: Sonic prevents the Solaris Project from happening 2006: Sonic Rivals 2007: Sonic Rivals 2 2008: Sonic Unleashed 2010: Sonic Colors 2011: Sonic Generations 2013: Sonic Lost World 2066: Sonic Rivals (Future) 2067: Sonic Rivals 2 (Future) - Time Eater changes history, creating a new timeline branch, as Sonic is running Green Hill Zone, which is on South Island, which Sonic returned to after his "solo adventures" after the Death Egg Saga. So I'm having Generations (Classic) be from 1992. I'm having Mania take place in 1997, after Sonic the Fighters in 1996. The Phantom Ruby pulls a Time Eater and visits an older timeline. TL 4 - Mania Timeline: Spoiler 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tails Adventures 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16 bit) 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 199X: Knuckles Chaotix 1992: Sonic Generations, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8 bit) 1993: Sonic Chaos 1994: Sonic Triple Trouble 1996: Sonic the Fighters 1997: Sonic Mania, Sonic and the Phantom Ruby visit the Rivals-Lost World Timeline, Encore Mode - The Phantom Ruby arrives in the Rivals-Lost World Timeline in 2016 (just a bad year in Sonic's world and ours). Eggman finds it, works on making copies, there are prototypes of those copies, etc. Classic Sonic arrives at a later point, in 2017-ish. Ruby in Eggman's hands causes the future of the Rivals-Lost World timeline to change, from Silver fighting Eggman Nega, to Silver presumably fighting Infinite, or some other Ruby-based crap. Even Classic Sonic and the Avatar being there don't matter. TL 5 - Ruby Timeline: Spoiler 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tails Adventures 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16 bit) 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 199X: Knuckles Chaotix 1992: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8 bit) 1993: Sonic Chaos 1994: Sonic Triple Trouble 1996: Sonic the Fighters 1997: Sonic R 1998: Sonic Adventure 2001: Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 2002: Sonic Advance 2 200X: Sonic Heroes 200X: Shadow the Hedgehog 2003: Sonic Battle 2004: Sonic Advance 3 2005: Sonic prevents the Solaris Project from happening 2006: Sonic Rivals 2007: Sonic Rivals 2 2008: Sonic Unleashed 2010: Sonic Colors 2011: Sonic Generations 2013: Sonic Lost World 2016: Phantom Ruby arrives from Mania Timeline, Eggman finds the Ruby and begins experimenting on and weaponizing it 2017: Classic Sonic arrives in time to get conquered with the rest of the world by Eggman 2067: Infinite or some Ruby bullshit ravages the future - Silver goes back to 2017 and causes the resistance to be formed, and Sonic Forces happens, stopping Eggman, and sending the Ruby back to the Mania timeline. Rangers happens in 2022? TL 6 - Rangers Timeline: Spoiler 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tails Adventures 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16 bit) 199X: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 199X: Knuckles Chaotix 1992: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8 bit) 1993: Sonic Chaos 1994: Sonic Triple Trouble 1996: Sonic the Fighters 1997: Sonic R 1998: Sonic Adventure 2001: Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 2002: Sonic Advance 2 200X: Sonic Heroes 200X: Shadow the Hedgehog 2003: Sonic Battle 2004: Sonic Advance 3 2005: Sonic prevents the Solaris Project from happening 2006: Sonic Rivals 2007: Sonic Rivals 2 2008: Sonic Unleashed 2010: Sonic Colors 2011: Sonic Generations 2013: Sonic Lost World 2016: Phantom Ruby arrives from Mania Timeline, Eggman finds the Ruby and begins experimenting on and weaponizing it 2017: Classic Sonic and Silver arrive; the latter's presence inspires the creation of a resistance; Sonic Forces 2022: Sonic Rangers? 2060's: Maybe some goddamn peace and quiet for a little while? - And finally, here's my attempt at visualizing it (not as fancy as many of the others here, unfortunately): Spoiler
I'm probably lost in several parts here. Sorry if I misunderstood something. - Why do Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure appear twice in the same timeline? The Sol Dimension is being considered the future of Sonic's dimension? - Why is Silver's future 50 years from now? Wasn't it 200 years? - Are you assuming Eggman lost the war in Sonic Chronicles? - I really didn't get the Eggman Nega / Solaris / Ken Penders part. - Did you retcon the "Knuckles is a stranger to Sonic" part in Sonic Triple Trouble? - Aren't there some 8-bit titles missing?
How can battle come both before and after heroes? Does it happen twice? Also shadow's memory shenanigans confirm canonically that battle has to happen after shadow, which happens after heroes, which happens after adventure 2. So consider me a bit lost too.
