How would you redesign Sonic the Hedgehog?

I like it.

 

Sonic's arms also seem to be two completely different lengths, but I like the idea of the design in what it was trying to accomplish.

Also, I hadn't likened Sonic's furrowed brow to an arse before this thread.

 

Not only that, but the characters limbs in general have a habit of stretching as and when it's necessary for a particular animation/pose. Especially the classic designs.

 

On the previous page I posted something that fits your description. Here it is again, but this time without the scarf:

 

Why don't we just make the muzzle and belly white, thus making the boundaries of his eyes more unclear to go with the "cyclops" look?

The eyes have always bothered me, I just learned to ignore them after a while.

Oh, and more spikes... Seriously, he barely looks like a hedgehog.

 

That looks quite nice, actually. Good job.

 

God I would not want to see your redesign of Sonic. From what I've been gathering you seem to be going after a blue version of this

 

You know, there is a difference in "Looking realistic" and "Looking like the object/animaal you represent." If I drew a purple pear and called it an apple, then threw it in a fake world called Mobius and gave it super-speed, would you recognize it as an apple? That's a hyperbolic example, but you get the idea.

If it weren't for the fact that "Hedgehog" were in his name, I wouldn't even recognize him as one. Now that I think about it, he looked more like a spiky cat the first time I saw him. It's a good thing that version of Sonic took no pains to remind his audience what species he was. :v:

This problem is present in most of the characters from Sonic. If their species wasn't mentioned in their names or otherwise, I would bet money there would be a lot of people who didn't recognize them for what they were.

If you want a basic idea of how I imagine making him more like a hedgehog, round off the ears, give him more spikes, make him shorter, and make his nose a bit longer, with the actual black part being a bit shorter. Nowhere did I say to make him brown, muscular, or otherwise... whatever that thing is.

 

Just to bolster Volpino's point, I actually thought Amy was a cat before I realized she was a hedgehog. All because "the Hedgehog" wasn't in her name.

But then there's Big, who obviously is a cat, so yeah. Depends on who you're talking about. It's not hard to figure what Tails is, but you'd probably be hard-pressed to guess what species Knuckles hails from (I'd have gone with mole).

 

So, this but a bit shorter and a tad less Mickey?

 

I rather like the Mickey look. Just give it a dab of cockiness and it's pretty much Sonic.

Also, yeah, that does look more like an actual hedgehog.

 

I like that design, myself. Perhaps it's because I have a soft spot for the Disney look, but I can see it in a cartoon or something.

 

It's a good default expression for Sonic. It doesn't exclude his attitude and serves as a good basis for any number of cartoony expressions. It's a good start.

 

I didn't even know what Tails was actually. I thought he was a cat. The only place I saw him other than Sonic 3 at the time was in American media and he barely resembled a fox. (The color threw me off.) Big looks like a mix between a raccoon and a rabbit, I thought Knuckles was either a mole or a dog, the dreads threw me off, and the fact that he had no ears, and Amy's lack of spines in Adventure would probably throw anyone off, but at that point I think SEGA was trying to be difficult on purpose for trolling purposes with the designs.

Something like that. Mickey was what made me think of the idea, look at his older/retro white face design and whatever the hell they did to him when his face was tan. The tan-face version has separate eyes that are clearly defined. So I get the impression that Sonic was both trying to copy Mickey's white-face design and failing miserably at it. The original rabbit art also had a white face.

 

He's got white face.



:v:

 

Pardon how rough it is, but this is along the lines of what I would like to see.



I would love to see a kind of fusion between the Sonic CD design, that sports a more classic tinge, with the kind of athletic style used in SA2. Also, along with that, I've found it more appealing from a profile view for Sonic only to have two spines visible, rather than 3, because with three, its difficult to make it look good, and his head looks huge. I've also thought he looks better when the spines on his head and his back kind of run together, like a real hedgehog, rather than having them separated like they are now.

Also, I've always liked the straps Tails has on his gloves, and I think they would look cool on Sonic as well.

 

Excellent drawing, but it has one of the things I don't care much for about the modern design: Sonic's waist. I liked it better where his abdomen was just a round ball with limbs protruding from it, realistic anthropomorphic physiology be damned. That being said, it's not a terrible interpretation of Sonic in the slightest. Just not my preferred design.

 

I like this how it is now. Its perfect. Sonic finally has more quills, making him look more like a real hedgehog. I could perfectly imagine him just being a nonchalant dick to people with that exact expression.

You should definitely color this.