The Naming of Tails from "Console Wars"

So I've been reading through Console Wars (and its a really fucking good book all you fucks should stop being neckbeards and crack a novel every once in a while eh?) and I happened across an interesting portion during Sonic 2's early development. Apparently it was Al Nilsen who was tapped by SoA to convince Naka and the Sonic Team that the name Miles Prower wouldn't sell. The section features what is supposedly Al's original origin story for Tails' character which seems to be strikingly similar to Sonic 2's US story featured in the game manual.

"Still, this wasn't an ego contest between SOA and SOJ; rather, it was about doing what was best for Sega and the fictional Sonic universe. Sega of America decided upon the name Tails, and Schroeder took this to the developers, who were unwilling to budge. Toyoda tried to mend fences, perhaps even find a compromise, but there was no progress to be made. With common sense and politics failing them, Nilsen and Schroeder resorted to Kalinske's favorite asset of all: story. After they finished crafting a compelling backstory, Nilsen drove out to Palo Alto so he could share the tale.

Toyoda joined him at the Sega Technical Institute, where it was clear that the Sonic Team was less than thrilled to see them. In their minds, this was another case of the Americans imposing their will purely for its own sake. Nilsen knew they felt that way, and he was aware that there was little he could do to prove to them that this wasn't the case. All he had was his short story, which he hoped would be enough. He cleared his throat, ignored the glares, and began reading from "The Renaming of Miles Monotail."

This is the story of Miles Monotail. Miles was your average four-year-old fox. He loved to play with his friends, but his friends weren't really his friends. Whenever they saw Miles, they laughed and made fun of him. Why? Well, Miles wasn't like all of the other foxes. Miles Monotail had two tails. And as kids tend to do when someone is different, they made fun of him. It didn't help that Miles sometimes tripped over his second tail and went rolling down the hill. coordination was not one of Miles' virtues. Because of the rough time that his friends gave him, Miles became very depressed.

One day he was walking along with his head hanging down when a blur and a whoosh crossed his path. There's only one person that could be moving that fast, and that is Sonic the Hedgehog. Miles thought Sonic was the greatest person in the world. Miles wish that he could be as cool and coordinated as Sonic was. And, most of all, he wanted to meet Sonic. This was his big chance. Miles took a deep, deep breath and at the top of his lungs yelled out, "SONIC!" The blur that was Sonic turned around and stopped in front of Miles. "You called?" said Sonic.

"Oh, Sonic, you're my hero," exclaimed Miles as he ran around and around Sonic. Well, you can guess what happened next - Miles tripped over his second Tail and fell down. Tears came to his eyes.

"Hey, cheer up little fellow. What's the matter?" said Sonic.
"Sonic, I want to be just like you, but I'm a freak. I've got two tails."

Sonic leaned over to Miles and said kindly, "You're no freak. You're more special than anyone because you have something that everyone else doesn't have. And you can do things that they can't. If anything, your friends should be jealous of you."

"But I can't do anything special," cried Miles.
"Oh yes you can," Sonic said. "I'll show you. You're about to enter Sonic's special training camp."

Well, Miles couldn't be happier. His hero took him under his wing and started teaching Miles how to use his two tails to his advantage. He showed Miles how to curl his tails up under his body so that he was like a very aerodynamic ball and could do Sonic's famous Supersonic Spin. Sonic then taught Miles how to use his two tails as a helicopter rotor so that Miles could fly around. Even Sonic couldn't do that. Needless to say, Miles was ecstatic. He was special, and when his friends saw what Miles could do and what they couldn't do, they became very jealous, but also every single one of them wanted to become Miles' best friend. But Miles had a new best friend. Someone who believed in him. Someone who was his hero. And that friend was Sonic. Sonic was happy that he could help his buddy gain new confidence and new abilities.

"See, Miles, you ARE special because you have two tails. And because of that, I'm going to give you a very special nickname. From now on, I'm going to call you Tails because you should always be reminded that you are special because you have two tails."
So from that day forward, Miles Monotail became known as Tails.​

When Nilsen finished, he folded the paper and slid it in to his pocket. The members of Sonic Team, who'd been planning on hating every word out of Nilsen's mouth, found themselves entranced by the story. One developer was even moved to tears.

After allowing a moment to let it sink in, Naka walked up to Nilsen and said, "You may call him Tails." Although moved, several of Sonic team's other members remained unconvinced. Sensing that the momentary camaraderie was about to fizzle away, Toyoda blurted out a compromise: "How about his real name is Miles Prower, but Sonic calls him by the nickname Tails?" This suggestion managed to do the trick: the fox would go by Tails, but Sonic Team would take solace that in the fact that in a fictional filing cabinet somewhere, there was a birth certificate with the name Miles Prower." (Pgs. 245-247)

There's a whole lot more in this book that's revealing of Sega and Sonic and I can't post all of it so I highly suggest you guys give Console Wars a read, but I figured this stands out as something quite important to the community as its an origin story we haven't yet actually seen.

 

It reads extremely well in my opinion. Yes, its dialogue and character building heavy, but its equal parts that and historical detail.

The book is extremely detail oriented and loves its tangents. And its history isn't even just Sega and Nintendo. While yes, they are the two main players and the book is essentially written from the perspective of Sega, it also features the rise of Sony, the fall of Atari, and the other various companies connected to the industry. Its really a detailed history of the VG industry in the US as seen from the perspective of Sega.

 

No major spoils but you sit through a few pages of description for Nakayama of SoJ to just waltz the fuck up to him. On a beach. In a suit. In the middle of fucking Hawaii. The idea was Kalinske just didn't give a fuck after Mattel and then this guy plays a ballsy move to ruin someone's family vacation in such a spectacular way. I thought it was a rather impressive build up. :P

 

If its any consolation, before he makes the speech at STI, Nilsen mentions (in the book at least) that he doesn't like the name Miles in general as it reminds him of some kid in grade school he didn't like too much. :P