The Sonic the Hedgehog Continuity Thread of Love and Timelines

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Well, Sticks is kind of complicated. Per Ian's word on BumbleKast, Sticks is eligible to be introduced into IDW, there just hasn't been a proposal for her introduction yet that satisfies SEGA (with Ian mentioning one idea he had that pitched Sticks as the other native of Angel Island, with her and Knuckles somehow never crossing paths all the time they've been alive, which I think is utterly brilliant). Still, I think Sticks being mentioned does raise its own questions, that being how does the mainline Sonic know her? The only thing I can think of that's had them together is Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, so I guess Mario is canon to the Sonic universe now.

 

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yeah as I mentioned before in this thread Sticks gets mentioned in the English script, but for the Japanese localization her mention was removed
https://xcancel.com/Mefiresu/status/1588283162764881920
Tangle does still get mentioned in the Japanese script however

 

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Sticks has a Sonic Channel profile that mentions she’s friends with Amy and is featured in those anniversary comics, so the groundwork for a main-universe version of Sticks has more or less been laid for over half a decade.

 

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Amy Rose and Charmy Bee come from the Sonic the Hedgehog manga, so IDW's canon can still be separate.

 

I don’t follow your comparison.

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The 1992 manga was a product that released during the formative years of the franchise and, to my knowledge, its relationship to the development of the setting isn’t really well known in terms of SEGA’s involvement in it and perspective on its importance to the setting.

It’s a moot point anyway because the context for this is entirely different and much more defined. IDW started in 2018, using the Forces story as the springboard to launch its own plot threads and has had heavy involvement from SEGA since day one, with the book being more in line with the setting than any previous materials outside the games, Japanese or Western. And of course we have Iizuka’s quite about wanting to unify the pillars of Sonic that was given that in this very game’s prerelease cycle. If this isn’t supposed to represent the IDW book being canon, they’ve done a pretty crap job of communicating that.

It feels like you’re bending over backwards to avoid just accepting the straightforward answer.

 

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I'm saying the inclusion of a character does not necessitate the mergence with another canon. Unless you also think Sonic Boom is canonical to the main series now, since Sticks was also mentioned?

 

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As has been mentioned further up the thread, there appears to be a "mainline" Sticks given Sonic Channel materials regarding her. Granted I'm surprised she was mentioned given we've yet to see her introduction into the main canon, but that's neither here nor there. Tangle originates in a piece of media that's already entirely compatible with the main canon.

 

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Tangle has yet to be introduced into the main canon as well, yet here we are arguing over it.

 

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Literally the tweet in my initial post and Ian Flynn's repeated confirmations that IDW Sonic and mainline Sonic are one and the same are confirmations. The "argument" is that you won't accept that for some reason.

 

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The tweet linked confirmed nothing. It's only highlighting a reference. Meanwhile, Flynn's mentioned brand unity, but SEGA also did that with Sonic X as well by bringing the dub group in as the game voice actors, and that isn't the same canon as the games, unless I've missed a Chris Thorndyke reference somewhere.

Stop acting like Iizuka's come into the forum to directly tell us "yeah, the games, comics and Sonic Prime are all the same continuity!"

 

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You just keep moving the goalposts. Of course Sonic X’s voice actors making the jump to the games doesn’t make that show canon, but we’re not talking about VAs, we’re talking about characters. There is no logical reason to suggest that this isn’t the same Tangle from the comics, you’re just being pedantic at this point. I don’t even know why you’re so against the idea of the comics being canon anyway.

 

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Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot I was the one with the bias, resident IDW slut.

Should I just assume Sticks is the same one from Sonic Boom? You keep saying Sonic Channel introduces her into the main canon, but here's an amazing detail: no it doesn't. She was always Amy's friend specifically in Sonic Boom, said channel description also notes her living on he outskirts of 'the forest'. What forest? Knothole? The forest was something in Sonic Boom, but by all means, show me the gamesverse forest she lives on the outskirts of.

It says this because it's her Sonic Boom backstory. Just as how Sonic Spinball set itself on Mobius and imported Princess Sally, Rotor, Bunnie Rabbot and Muttski, just as how Amy and Charmy were imported from the manga, just like the SWATbots were imported from SatAM and the Archie Comics for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, etcetc.

This is hardly the first time a character has been imported and in the next 30 years, when we get other continuities, it's not going to be the last. If the character or concept is popular, you better believe they'll be brought into the games in some form.

Here's an idea: show me something else from IDW to actually back up your stance. The Metal Virus was a massive event, surely Sonic references it somewhere in this massive continuity fest of a game that is Sonic Frontiers? Dr. Starline? Hey, the Warp Topaz would've been useful getting to and from locations, perhaps he referenced that?

Aka, provide actual evidence that the entire thing is canon, and not just a single character reference that has most likely been imported to the game canon in the same way as the other non-game canon character referenced, instead of petulantly taking shots and saying I'm moving the goalposts, when I'm simply pointing out this isn't the first damned time someone was brought in from outside the games. I've not moved my stance like you're claiming: I'm supplying evidence to supplement my point.

 

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Sega won't directly base games of the comics because not everyone reads them. It's extended media, you can ignore it entirely and it works, or you can veiw it as cannon and it also works. The metal virus not being mentioned is a moot point anyway, Eggman owned the entire planet like (some stretch of time) ago; no one mentions that. The Neo metal reference could be refering to Heroes or IDW, it's ambiguos enough to work both ways which is possibly intentional.

 

7:03 - Tangentially related to the previous question. This Sonic Channel art piece from 2008 lists his [Silver's] method of time-travel to be Chaos Control. Are you at liberty to confirm if this is still true? If you are… Well, is it? I know it’s probably more referring to 06 (heck, his Sonic Channel bio still lists “Iblis” as the thing he dislikes), but by this time both Rivals games had come out, opening the door to the question of how he came back (a question they conveniently ignore).

- I'm pretty sure that reference in the bio is just a reference to 06. There is an official way that he comes back in time, but that has not been publicly revealed.

 

Wait a second...

Spoiler: Minor Sonic Frontiers spoilers about Sage, but spoiler'd to be safe

Robotnik 'lifeform' constructs tend to be white, black and red with yellow/tan...

Shadow the Hedgehog:


Infinite:


Sage:


...so why does this guy follow such a pattern?!

 

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Well, that’s one way to get around the “Eggman had to have canonically fucked for Nega to exist” situation

 

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Oh no, my master plan has been foiled by…someone referencing my jokey user tagline as if that really means anything other than “I enjoy the comics”.

Anyway, I haven’t finished the game yet and haven’t triggered a lot of the dialogue in the first place, but it’s ultimately irrelevant. I’ve already laid out why the circumstances for Tangle are completely different than any other character, and as has been said by Childish, they’re not about dump the full weight of the comics on people all at once, nor do they need to. If you can’t accept the straightforward and logical process that Tangle being mentions canonises the comics, then what can you really accept? When Sage pleads Eggman to team up with Sonic, she mentions the ARK and Neo Metal. Oh no, Sonic Advance 3 must not be canon because Gmerl isn’t mentioned! No, it’s because they don’t need to include every single thing under the sun.

 

*taps the “don’t argue with blackhole” sign*

 

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No, I actually think he has a point. When Iizuka talks about brand unification, he states that he wants these things to feel like the games, the comics, and the animated seriescould happen in the same universe not that they actually do.

IE: we want kids to be able to assume this happened in the same universe but we don't want to be beholden to any major changes from some other thing.

So, if i were to guess, then yes, Tangle and Sticks are characters Sonic has met, but the circumstances as far as how he met them aren't the same.