Well, it's long to read. However, it's an interesting article. Was this written for a purpose? Or just as an insight about these characters that you wished to share, Facemelt? According to your 'About Me' profile, you say you want to write an academic paper about Sonic. Was this the intent, and wanted to get reactions or criticism?
Interesting paper but I gotta ask, isnt this a bit of a stretch? Keep in mind that the character of Shadow of SA2 is much different than his later incarnations. In SA2 he was a Shadow if you will while later he was just Edgy the Hedgehog.
Admin note; I've already junked "replies" from this, and for now I'll leave it as just that, but let's keep this a) on-topic and b) with some sort of intelligent discussion going on for a change, please? Enough with the s and the "what"s and the one-liners. If this has been written in the form of an academic paper or a wikipedia article treat it as such and respond in kind with intelligent arguments and discussion. I know this is hard for some of you, but at least make an attempt. I'll read this properly and make my own thoughts known/reply in general when I get access to a decent connection and a source of power.
Thanks for the reply To answer your question, I wrote it for no purpose other than personal enjoyment (that's sad isn't it?). It's a paper designed to showcase one person's opinion and interpretations, so you can either read it and agree with parts of it, or review, criticise and slate it how you wish, at the end of the day, that's what it's there for. How you respond is entirely up to you - it's not trying to prove a point, just provoking a "deeper" analysis of Sonic. I guess I wanted to try and prove to myself that you could actually write something quasi-academic on Sonic, because there's so much symbolism in the games Lol, probably :P But, it's just what I believe. My only evidence is quotes. Take it however you want
Thanks for giving me something to read on my way home. I don't find myself disagreeing with any of your points, but I wonder if the same couldn't be said about every "dark twin of the protag" character ever?
Well, it was really his third if you're counting Shuffle, but I'm not putting that against you; it's an easy mistake to make. Anyway, this was absolutely spectacular. I'm showing this to all of my friends who are into Sonic. In all seriousness, I feel like I've just read the best thing ever. On the surface, how can you relate a Supersonic hedgehog who eats chili dogs to the work of Sigmund Freud and one of his disciples? You, friend, have rocked my world (quite literally—my head hurt after reading the whole thing). I can't say I know much about psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, so I can't really bring up anything against it. Seriously, great job. I sincerely hope to see more of you in the future.
In all honestly, that's very likely, though you could also afford "The Double" or "the uncanny" to that theory. I wrote a similar paper on a film called Let the Right One In, the original Swedish version of Let Me In - vampire film, very good - and I covered some of the same points, like how the Vampire represents the Shadow archetype. I guess the whole point of "archetypes" is that they are a basis for literary characters, so yes, you're right in that sense. Star Wars, for instance, is something that just screams archetypes - you could very easily say that characters like Obi Wan Kenobi or Yoda are "the wise old man" and Darth Vader is the Shadow of Anakin. But that's a digression for another forum - let's stick with Sonic Aaaah!! Yes, I thought about Shuffle, when I wrote that, but didn't even consider it a 3D outing, in the same sense as SA/SA2! Also thank you for your kind words - that put a smile on my face. I edited it specifically for the community here, assuming nobody had any prior knowledge of psychotherapy, so I hope the stuff in there was understandable. I do intend to write more, in fact, that's the way I intend to contribute to this community. Since I can't hack or code, I'll write crazy articles instead :P once again, thanks to all who even took the trouble to read this it makes me happy that people got some enjoyment from it
That was a very interesting read, and much of that comes from how good it is to see people taking an analytical look at the series. Makes us look all grown up instead of a bunch of whiny furry-shaggers =P I look forward to seeing more from you, and anyone else who decides to look at Sonic in an academic way. I could always fart out an essay on Sonic music if anyone wants. EDIT: I will say that I think your point about the Shadow game being the first character spin off to sell a lot because it was a game staring Shadow himself is slightly misjudged. Tails Sky Patrol/Adventure and Knuckles Chaotix were on systems that very few people owned, especially in the case of the 32x, while Shadow The Hedgehog was released on all three major platforms at the time.
After pondering this for some time, I feel as if you've misrepresented Shadow. I don't really feel like his character is impulsive and on a journey of id indulgence and self-gratification, which is as you describe the archetype of 'The Shadow.' Shadow's pursuit of justice for Maria is curiously emotionless, and is more dogged and stubborn than impulsive or self-gratifying. It seems to me it is more his duty, something that he feels he must do, which is more closely aligned with a right hand persona archetype, something that he feels 'the world' (Gerald) expects of him. Conversely, I feel Sonic is more the impulsive self-gratifying shadow, who was mostly in the story against Shadow for purely selfish motivations - ie clearing his name, proving he's the best. Typically, Sonic has always been depicted as the brash, cocky, impulsive wanker on an id-gratifying bender, so he actually fulfils the left hand shadow archetype. You do kind of touch on this, indicating that Sonic is Shadow's shadow and Shadow is Sonic's shadow, so it is like two shadows fighting each other. But the alarming consequence of this realisation as a parable for the human condition is that while we are on the path to achieve self realisation and self actualisation, we can never really be sure what aspects of our character are persona and what aspects are shadow, as they both can be mistaken for the other.
No, and that's exactly it - you're never sure. That's why we all need to take something away from the narrative of Sonic Adventure 2. What you say makes sense - I can definitely see where you are coming from. Perhaps Shadow is actually driven by his "Self" archetype, and perhaps self-actualisation for Shadow is achieving justice for Maria? However there is one thing I disagree with - I don't think that Persona has much to do with what drives his actions - rather the Persona (as "the ultimate life form") helps him to carry out these actions and achieve those goals. The Persona isn't any sort of driving force, rather it's just a replica of the Self, a quick fix. We can't become the Self, but we can don a Persona and act like we have became the Self. Also, I think you may have confused the Jungian Shadow with the Freudian Id: they aren't the same thing - Jung made this distinction from Freud for a reason. Sure, the Id is all about self-gratification and fulfilling desires, but the Id is literally just your cave man, whose desires must be satisfied - the Shadow is your dark side, that embodies all of your negative traits (which include desires) but also fuels your passions. What you say about Sonic is also very interesting. But don't forget, it is the emergence of Shadow that trigger's Sonic's drives for gratification, as if he suddenly stepped out of Sonic's unconscious and begun driving him towards his goals. It's not really until Shadow is identified, or realised by others that Sonic's goal to clear his name changes into stopping Eggman and Shadow from world domination. Even so, it's still personal to him. But yeah, I definitely believe Shadow is Sonic's shadow, just as Sonic is Shadow's shadow (try saying that five times fast) - "Everyone has a dark side" literally refers to this concept, EVERYONE (even Shadow) has a dark side, and that dark side, is Sonic.
Very interest read and analysis! The one thing that bothers me is that such a broad set of theories can be applied to almost anything. We are not a utopian society that upholds the same beliefs and desires, so there will forever be disagreement. It is neither right nor wrong, it simply just...is. From a first person perspective an opposing view will always be initially perceived as a threat to the current knowledge at hand and it is instinctual to defend against it. This principal can be applied as far as the universe is long. While its great to recognize these patterns, I feel that any information we discover must be used in a way to improve the lives of our fellow people and to instill our history into the future generations to avoid making the same mistakes again. I feel that this also could have applied to the first appearance of Knuckles in Sonic 3. This was the first time the series had a character that was suited as a rival to Sonic that was also similar to him. Knuckles was my "Shadow" at that time for instance. Just due to the nature of video games during that time, the team really did not get an opportunity to expand into his character and background in the same nature as Shadow. I feel as if they had similar resources at that time as they did for Shadow last decade, we would have had a similar storyline (minus the aliens and dwelling further into Knuckles history aside from what was presented in Sonic Adventure 1). This is really deep and I'm sure just caused by human nature and our undying need for association and affiliation of the culmination of things in our lives. I don't think any of this was intentional and thought out by Sega. If they indeed had this planned out since 1991, I'd be scared shitless for numerous reasons. But for now this is how I see it for the series: Sonic is the Persona......all that is "good" or "right", all that everyone strives to be. Knuckles is the Ego......all that is real, always protecting and defending...perceiving to be doing the right thing, but may be abrasive if doubted. Always a balancing act. Shadow is the Self....closest to what is real, intentions are uncensored, this is where honesty resides even if it's just confiding in one's self, ever striving to seek an understanding of the world around. I agree here in terms of the game sales....completely different situations do to the hardware, availability, and accessibility.
