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I honestly really vibe with Sonic here. He honestly embodies a lot of what a hero should be. More willing to dish out mercy more than punishment. He respects everyones right to make their own choices. I think realizing these choices have consequences is what folks tend to forget. I think Sonic understands that hence why he is the immovable object that stands between those making choices to harm others or harm their ability to make their own choice.

It's important to remember that Sonic only allows his enemies to live because he knows he can stop them as many times as necessary. To him, his enemies have two choices: change for the better, or keep trying to take away others' freedom to no avail. Obviously this is a flawed mindset, Sonic isn't an unbeatable god who's always guaranteed to win, but he's optimistic and never gives up, he genuinely believes that things will work out.

I think something that's interesting about Sonic's fight with Surge is how "ugly" it is. Surge was made to fight Sonic. To defeat him. To crush him and everything he stands for. Months of testing and brainwashing, all for her showdown with Sonic. As far as Surge is concerned, defeating Sonic is the only reason she's even alive. And yet, when she finally confronts him, he never takes her seriously. Not even once. She throws insults, Sonic retaliates with snark. She challenges his philosophy, he counters and stays true to his beliefs. She treats the whole thing like a fight to the death, he treats this like a Tuesday evening. She fights with everything she has, he doesn't even try. And when Sonic starts putting in a bit of effort, he easily overwhelms her. It's almost sad seeing how one sided it is. And I don't mean that in a "Wow, this is a boring fight" kind of way, but more so the fact that Surge's purpose might as well just be another week for Sonic. She has no real reason to even try. And yet she does, because it's all she *can* do. It's all she knows.

I actually really like this interpretation of Sonic. The way he's written feels like a version of sonic that has grown up somewhat. Hes been reckless and has fought his fair share of battles, and now he has the experience. Its because of that, be seems to have a strong idea of what he wants for the world he protects. Not only that, but its his long history of battle experience that makes fights like the one with Surge possible. Sonic doesnt go all out because at this point hes fought his fair share of speedy rivals, all of which have more than just speed on their side. There philosophy aspect is pretty well explained in the video, so I dont feel the need to go over that. He just overall seems more like a young adult now (despite still being a teenager) and young adults may have experience, but they still do have a lot to learn.

In all fairness, sonic has seen a few people turn good or realise the errors of their ways. Sure Knuckles helped Eggman initially (although he was tricked into helping him) and Shadow straight up wanted to destroy the earth. Look who’s side their on now

I like how IDW interprets Sonic. He wants to live his life to the fullest and wants other people to experience that same kind of freedom, which is why he's made peace with many of his enemies and given them second chances, prime examples being Knuckles and Shadow as they were enemies when he first met them, but now they're his allies. But, at the same time, Sonic is aware of the risks and even admitted it after his fight with Surge that the risk of giving people freedom is that he can't stop them from making the wrong choices. He knows this, and while he will take a stand against those who try to harm others, he won't betray his own principles out of fear that it won't work out. One thing to note is IDW Issue 44 after the Deadly Six have been captured. Sonic and Tails intend to send them back to Lost Hex and that's the end of it, showing them mercy despite everything they've done during the Metal Virus arc. Zavok says he has every intention of coming back to make Sonic regret his decision. Sonic then thinks back to when others started lashing out at him for unwittingly allowing the Metal Virus outbreak to occur in letting the amnesiac Eggman (Mr. Tinker) roam free, even though Sonic himself had absolutely no control over that. For a moment, Sonic is in doubt and considers Zavok's threat. But he says he won't betray his principles out of fear, which I myself find to be very respectable as he refuses to be a hypocrite despite the risks, something that even Zavok himself respects. On another note, while Sonic is willing to give others a second chance, he also tries to ensure that there is less risk of them causing harm again. Sending the Deadly Six to Lost Hex does seem like a logical choice as they can't just leave whenever they want, otherwise they would have left and went back to Sonic's world a long time ago. Their home is essentially a prison. And another example is after defeating Metal Sonic at the start of issue 12 where while Sonic was willing to give him a chance at redemption, he and Tails at least saw to it that he was de-weaponized and less likely to hurt people. To quote Sonic in that same issue... "we're compassionate, not stupid."

Sonic's literal grandstanding, and standing over surge is more than just symbolic of his 'moral highgrounds.' It embodied what Surge was designed to hate about him... he's put in the spot of a villain in this arc, and a goal that she's been tormented into needing to reach, so for him to be standing above her and looking down on her in multiple ways is just the sorta relationship they had in her head from the get go. She is the underdog in this battle who needs to prove her raison d'etre at any cost. This was an intentional artistic and narrative choice.

I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about this version of Sonic, but quite honestly, I find it really interesting. This version of the character strives to do the right thing, but has a great mixture of flaws within him that make him feel much more complex, such as a strong ego. Sonic also has a heart of gold and believes that anyone should be allowed to redeem themselves. Unfortunately with that heart of gold, he makes the mistake of going easy on villains that should be locked away or taken out for good, leading to a butterfly effect of future consequences on himself and others. He is a hero with flaws, and considering that as of more recently he has not been going as easy on past enemies, (issue 61 of the IDW comic series really highlights this,) it is clear he is actually learning from his past mistakes. Sonic is becoming in this continuity a hero that grows from their past experiences so they are better able to see when to use mercy or when to not hold back, depending on the severity of the situation.

In The Black Knight, if you let the fight roll on for long enough, the JP dub has Merlina list off all the tragedies that will play out in the Arthurian legend if time is allowed to continue moving forward - that by stopping her, Sonic is dooming the people of that story to an unhappy ending. Sonic in turn remarks that he doesn't mind being the villain from time to time. In essence, the comic isn't even breaking new ground. Sonic has always prioritized the freedom of all over the 'chance of a bad outcome'.

The thing I really like is that while Surge is the faults with Sonic's philosophy, Mecha Sonic is proof of its merits. Mecha was designed to kill sonic and when he was discarded after he failed he became bitter and wished to destroy Sonic and Eggman. Much like Surge. This anger blinded him to the freedom he could possess and the love of the Scrapniks he protected. Eventually Sonic is able to break through to Mecha and prove that there's more to life than just blind revenge and the two reconcile and part as allies. If sonic killed or destroyed his enemies then Mecha would never have gotten the chance to turn his life around and live free.

When someone is suffering, like Surge, they will scream and writhe in pain. They are no longer thinking straight by default, and no longer making choices for themselves. They are letting the pain make choices for them. Sonic realizes that the only way to help Surge is if Surge calms down. Even when somebody is enduring pain so horrible they can’t think straight, they can still try to make a choice: Do they continue to thrash about in pain? Or do they calm down, fight through the pain, so they can then accept help for their pain, maybe even treat the source of it? They cannot do the latter if they continue to let their pain make the choice for them. So Sonic has to wait out Surge, endure all the pain and thrashing about they inflict, be patient and wait to see if Surge will make the choice to finally calm down and start healing from their incredible trauma. Surge… let their pain choose for them, and they were lost in the void. The thing about Sonic’s philosophy is that it remains true no matter what bias you look at it from: Surge despite being forced into a villainous role, always has the choice to turn their life around. Same with every other villain Sonic comes across: they could be heroes instead if they chose to be such. Whatever reasons or arguments they have for making the choices they make, the choice is forever theirs. That doesn’t change no matter what awful villainous plan happens or is attempted. Sonic standing up to these villains is the counterpoint that undermines the villains’ biases. Because Sonic allows them to make their choice and will choose to do good if they choose harm, Sonic becomes an ominous reminder of the choices the villains didn’t make, and the uncomfortable reality that if they wanted to, they COULD be heroes like Sonic. When they fail to act like Sonic, when they fail to do good? Sonic counters their harm and leaves them back at square one. The only way a villain becomes a hero is if they choose to be one. And if the hero is as effective as Sonic at defeating villains, eventually, the villains will have no more villainous choices they can make. They will have exhausted all possibilities to cause harm. And they will have to choose either to shut down in defeat and never function properly again… or to start acting like the hero they so desperately didn’t want to be. Because Sonic backs the villains into this corner, eventually they get so exhausted that they are incapable of being anything else but a “good guy”, even if only for a moment. Sonic didn’t take away their free will. He exhausted it. He let them make bad decision after bad decision until there were no more bad decisions to make… and they literally have nowhere else to go but up, with Sonic showing the way. It’s… terrifyingly reassuring. Free will doesn’t mean evil wins because you can’t stop people from doing bad things: free will means the choice between good and evil is always there, hanging like a Sword of Damocles over every person’s head. At any moment, they can flip morality. And Sonic is really good at backing villains into a corner and forcing them to seriously consider if “being good” is as undesirable as they once thought. Considering Sonic runs so fast, if he wanted to, he could learn a hundred University degrees in the span of a year, using their super speed to blitz through studying a thousand different subjects. He can, if he wanted to, out-think, out-plan, out-study and out-smart even the smartest villain he could possibly face. He can predict the web of possibilities that spring from a single kick to the face. And he knows how to collapse those possibilities into a reality that he wants. Surge moved too fast for Sonic to fully predict, and Sonic certainly isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. It the fact that he can think and act this way is a sign that YOU DON’T MESS WITH SONIC. YOU JUST DON’T.

I think the problem isn’t that Sonic doesn’t kill them but rather he lets them off too easy. One should have free will but they should also face the consequences that come with their decisions. Without any true consequences the person may never truly learn from their mistakes and make the same decisions over and over again.

I'm glad that somebody covered this moment more in depth. IDW sheds a lot more light on Sonic's nuanced principles where most good guys are usually just that, good guys doing good because it's good. But Sonic hits the upper morally grey area that's really compelling and (dare I say it) unique for a usually smug hero like him. Love this analysis.

That's actually awesome. "I won't impede on your free will, but I WILL kick your butt everytime you try to do harm. If you don't want a beating, then simply don't do harm." The way he's written is simple, but deceptively so.

I mean, I feel IDW Sonic fits Game Sonic. He's following his own path. His theme in the Adventure games literally has the line 'It doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right". He was willing to be the 'villain' in The Black Knight and fight Merlina who was trying to keep her world's story from ending because of the iron-fist she held over everything and everyone. He's not a goody goody hero, his ideals just usually put him at odds with villains and tyrants.

I don't see what's so difficult to understand about Sonic's ideology. Sonic is someone who believes in free will and in doing the right thing when possible but that's not all there is to Sonic as a character. Sonic isn't blind towards the suffering of others, but in Sonic and the Black Knight he openly admitted that everything will end eventually so the best thing you can do is to live your life to the fullest. Sonic essential believes in making the most out of one's own life with the time you're given.

Sonic has always been a fascinating protagonist to me, despite his moral alignment and ideological stance being so simple, it’s become more nuanced and developed as time goes on. Sonic, despite appearances, has developed along with everyone else around him. And as the primary protagonist, we can see all the moments and characters that make a impact on him either subtly or very evident. Sonics first encounter with shadow is actually eerily similar to that of his fight with Surge mentioned here, it’s not so much a clash of speed against these two forces as it is a clash of ideals. Shadow dismisses the ideals that sonic represents, putting his faith in others despite the fact that everyone has the potential of betrayal. Jumping in blindly with no responsibility or nuance to the world moving below him. These two would later, after a much needed talk with one of the most human characters, Amy, save the world from a giant lizard attached to a space station. And shadow’s sacrifice at the end of it, with him choosing to do what’s right for the good of humanity and the good of his fallen friend Maria, was really a big moment not only for shadow obviously, but sonic as well. Like Chaos before him, shadow has shown right there and now I’m that moment that even a person as bitter,spiteful, and clung to the past as Shadow can choose to do the right thing, even if it’s the hardest choice to make. So yes, Sonic has influenced all the people around him, indeed. But I’d certainly say at the end of the day, sonic has been as, if not more, influenced by his friends.

Honestly, I personally admire IDW Sonic's philosophy as you described it. He knows that not everyone will choose to change out of their own volition, but he still tries, and he still fights. Surge is right in that it comes off of as naivety or some kind of superiority complex, but I think what he's doing is truly what a hero would do: He believes in what he thinks is right and sacrifices his own freedom to make sure it stays that way. It's the most selfless thing someone can do, because who knows? Would Sonic like to go exploring some new places that don't involve constant world-endangering menaces and battles where many could end up hurt? My point is: IDW Sonic has his flaws, but in the end he's acting out of the thought freedom should come first and foremost, even if it means there being sacrifices. For the world, it's having to sacrifice certain peace/annihilation of enemies. For Sonic? His freedom to do whatever else he might want to do. I think the Metal Virus and Imposter Syndrome arcs were incredible deconstructions of his character and morals, especially the former since I vividly remember the panel where after Tangle got infected and Amy was trying to hold Whisper back, she pleads with him to help her and all Sonic can do is say: I _can't_ He couldn't do anything. He wasn't any good for anything at that moment. He was powerless. I even dare say he felt useless to his friends. A large number of his friends are mad at him, he's let down countless others that got infected, and he's still trying to hold on and stay strong for everyone regardless. That's hardcore.

IDW covers the far more emotional depth of Sonic the Hedgehog while Archie covered the rapid fire action and smug confidence of Sonic. Either way, you stack the variants together and get a hedge-god among video game characters

I feel like something people often forget about Sonic is that he isn't your traditional "hero". Yes, he's done heroic acts, and yes, he's done a lot of good things for the sake of the people he cares about. However, his motivation lies not within the interest of the people (in philosophy, this line of belief where the greatest good is when the people of the greatest number are benefitted the most is called utilitarianism), but rather the individual. He stops Eggman not because it's "heroic" or "good", but more so because Eggman goes against every single one of Sonic's principles, which is living a life of freedom. I would even go as far to argue that between Shadow and Sonic, Shadow is probably the more heroic out of the two. For example, when facing the choice between killing Eggman as Mr. Tinker, Shadow immediately tries to kill the scientist. He KNOWS that the doctor has changed, but he still sees the threat he poses. He doesn't want the people of the world to go through any more pain and is willing to sacrifice a life for the sake of the world, but Sonic argues against him. He responds that Eggman, despite the awful things he's done, deserves a chance at redemption. Between the two, you have one who thinks about the people, and the other who thinks of a single individual. Because, again, Sonic is doing what HE thinks is right. Not because it's good or heroic (he couldn't care less), but because his philosophy prevents him from taking Eggman's life without giving him a chance. When Mr. Tinker reverts back to his evil ways, it's Sonic who suffers the most. He's the one who gave Eggman a chance, but it ends with the world paying the price, and he feels greatly responsible. This doesn't make Sonic a bad character, but it does speak volumes about how his philosophy comes with the cost of the title of a hero.

To me IDW Sonic still embodies the spirit of Freedom Sonic’s always been known for considering he lets ppl have a choice to live their life the way they want them to but over and over IDW Sonic has said and shown that if that choice involves hurting innocent ppl he’ll nvr hesitate to stop them, which is a very important thing to remember

On an interesting note, Eggman had given Belle the choice to join him or join Sonic's side in IDW 50. Whenever Belle decided to side with Sonic, he let her go without any pushback or compromise. He also defended Metal Sonic's freedom of choice when Sonic critized him in the Metal Virus arc. Not sure where I was going with this, but it really does emphasize that Sonic and Eggman are two sides of the same coin. They mirror each other's actions regardless if they realize it or not.

Good video Ranni. Also a few things: 1.Surge have a few points but (she is a cybergenetic experiment, made by a mad scientist, whose memory and past personality has been erased, she is now a villain). She has some points but mostly she is angry (for what she is and has been forced to become: A copy of sonic). So she chooses revenge ("I can never rest until you're gone"). 2.IDW Sonic, is a slightly older and more experienced Sonic. He has been involved in years of adventure (since 1991 until now) and met both friends, enemies and rivals. To me he is right and the more mature here not her. He doesn't know Surge's history here (yet). So he sees and meets a new rival, thus treating her as one, a new meeting, a rival, a chance to have a duel, get some excitement and see which of the 2 of them is the best. (Something surge hates because her revenge on sonic is all she has left and is made for and he's joking and not taking her seriously. And when he does (tells who he is and that she can choose another path). So she says no (As sonic says here "If you choose to be a problem I will stop you" and he also knows a problem with free will "If you give someone a chance to choose, they can also make the wrong choice". A risk being the hero is "you can't save everyone and everyone doesn't want to be saved"). For Sonic, whether we realize it or not. "Nothing is perfect every kingdom has a little chaos in them". also as he once said and believes in "As long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight, it doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right." It also specifies that he lives by his feelings and follows his own moral code. He doesn't care if this makes him "the bad guy" in the eyes of the rest of the world. (He is the kind of guy, that does good because he wants to, do it). Sonic say: I am an adventurer maybe a hero. I am not a judge, jury and executioner. I take down bad guys, I dont destroy them. 3.And yes Eggman dream of a world in harmony. But one where he is the emperor. The world is his factories, industries, robots. Its inhabitants are his slaves, worshipers, machines (or fuel). A world he sees as beautiful and perfect, a world built by him. A "theme park" and monument to his "greatness", intelligence and Ego. A single elegant machine, his machine.

An example of this philosophy being tackled in another show is Adventure Time with Princess Bubblegum and her dumbified relatives and candy people. The second to last episode of the entire series deals with PB learning that ignorance isn’t bliss and that “happy” doesn’t always mean someone is actually “happy”. Basically, PB was free but not happy, and Uncle Gumbald was happy but not free. But once Gumbald got his freedom, he immediately tried to use it to gain power. PB was the same way, using her freedom to gain power. Fin is one of the only examples in the show of someone using their freedom for good, even then he sometimes used it for bad.

His characterization in idw comics, really reminds me of his characterization from black knight to where his really a free spirit, doing what his gotta do to.

I like the reference to Open your heart when Eggman says "We both have our own styles that we won't change"

Sonic seems like a "Live and let live" and "Your freedom ends where another's freedoms start."

After watching this video I actually learned something about this fight, the fight is more of what happens when a objectively right idea meets an opposing objectively right idea, and i thank you for that

honestly this philosophy makes SO MUCH SENSE for sonic's character. as a fan since sonic underground, sonic has always been smug, but willing to give a chance to everybody. it's basically the same reason why most ppl don't like batman, batman DOES give second, third, and fourth chances to people, and he treats each and every single villain like every fight is a chance for their redemption. it's SUPPOSED to be smug, because sonic IS SMUG. but he also genuinely cares. he never stops hoping that eggman would go back to being dr. tinker, he offers his hand to surge before she falls, he gives people chances over and over bc he's not just SAYING that stuff about freedom, he's ACTUALLY ACTING ON IT. we know this bc he's friends with knuckles, who tried to kill him, shadow, who hated him and also tried to kill him, and SO MANY OTHERS. it's not just talk, he ACTUALLY STEPS OUT INTO THE PLATE AND LETS PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY NEED TO DO

Considering how many redemption stories the Sonic franchise has, ranging from an enraged god that holds a great grudge to a machine that learns the value of freedom and friendship, i think it's VERY appropriate for Sonic to carry this same philosophy. In the issue where Shadow duels Sonic over the fate of Mr. Tinker, Sonic reminds Shadow of the events of his own game as well as Sonic Adventure 2. While it would be extremely risky to let an amnesiac Eggman go free, he is still objectively correct about the events of the past. While Shadow doesn't like what Sonic's saying, he agrees.

I personally think Sonic's philosophy has merit in his case because it is true that complete freedom is dangerous and you have characters like Eggman who won't change their ways but we also see that while She's nic does value freedom, we also see him taking when someone is causing trouble or when a Eggman is up to something he will act like with him protecting the resistance base against The Deadly Six and sending them back home or Sonic going to investigate an Eggman base which shows that Sonic isn't just letting villains run wild but taking responsibility for them by foiling their plans before they hurt anyone. Surge has an understandable argument but she is mostly blaming him for her creation which was completely out of Sonic's control due to Starline working in the background, while also covering his tracks in order to not be seen which made him a dangerous villain, Surge is also letting her trauma and hatred blind her due to blaming the world for rejecting her without considering other possibilities of what happened but she is actively choosing to hurt innocence and kill Sonic which is what she was told to do by Starline despite hating him for what he did which is further emphasized in Sonic and Surge's fight where Sonic's learns about Surge and Kit's past which he shows an extreme amount of empathy towards her and ask her to just take hold of her freedom from Starline's plan but she states that she can't due to her being unable to move on from her pain which shows that it is up to her to move on from her pain which falls in line with choice; also we see Sonic's philosophy save Mecha Sonic in the comics who also had an inferiority complex but was taught to define his meaning and not live for Eggman. I would agree that Sonic was in the wrong if he just let his enemies run wild and acted recklessly but we see that Sonic is offering freedom but when someone wants to use freedom to do wrong, he will be there to stop them and I definitely disagree on Sonic being pompous when talking to Surge due to him not belittling her or looking down on her but just talking to her like a person which makes the scene feel more interesting as a result.

This version of sonic and his philosophy is the most "sonic" I've ever felt him to be. Most of the time we see sonic as this beacon of purity, but he isn't. Sonic is a hero who always tries to do right by the world but he's also brash, egotistical, and sort of carefree to a fault. Sonic prime is also handling this side of sonic really well. But the comics allow for more fleshed out dialogue, where sonics worldview can be fully explained by him. And it makes total sense for sonic to believe in the idea of true free will. I think the phrase "I have the freedom to stop you" also makes sense. True free will means ideologies and wishes clash, and that'll result in conflict. A side effect of true free will, but it's what sonic puts above everything else. It's hard to fully explain but I love your video :)

I think people are getting upset because they feel that Sonic is responsible if Serge were to do something bad or if anyone does anything bad. But why is it his responsibility to always save the day? Because we the viewers thrust it upon him, because it is easy for us to say: "If I had fantastical powers, I would surely know how to effectively use them and positively impact the world around me. But the weight of that is unreasonable for anyone to bare. So I personally feel like Sonic's philosophy is the best to do things, he can only control what he does and that's that. And what he does, is help people however he can

It reminds me of the philosophy in the ending of sonic and the black knight which is emphasized in the music "With me", the boss wants to preserve all life in her world and prevent all tragedy by basically freezing the world and time where everything stays the same, but sonics argument back is that without change tragedy and loss there can be no new joy and hope and the sonic even frames sonic as the "evil" one in the moment. To put it simply to sonic freedom is more important than safety.

IDW Eggman's philosophy of eradicating illness and hunger by technology seems like a corrupted version of his grandfather's vision. Gerald Robotnik created the Ark and began the Project Shadow in order to find a cure for Maria's illness. In Frontiers we see Eggman reflecting more about her and his family. Given how the IDW and Frontiers are written by Ian I think he is trying to close the gap between games' Eggman and his IDW counterpart.

Sonic's philosophy being flawed is actually a good thing. Sonic isn't perfect. He's also a teenager. His philosophy SHOULD be flawed.

Tbh I never really had an issue with the scene. It’s just sonic’s perspective on life, that’s it. You don’t need to match his, but he doesn’t need to match yours either.

The thing is about Robotnik, hes actually insane, Surge actually stops and thinks about it

Speaking from my own personal morals, I honestly related to a lot of what Sonic is depicted with in this comic. You want to experience the joys of the world and you want to share that joy with others, even the people that may look down upon you. It's learning about what the world has to offer that makes you want to bring out the best in people. That's what I interpreted from Sonic's speech, especially growing up in a culture in which discrimination is often present in many aspects of my life.

I really wish you mentioned Shadow in this, because he's the ultimate example of Sonic's philosophy being proven right.

I think the comic does a pretty good job of getting across that it's not Sonic's philosophy that's the problem, it's his attitude. When he first meets Surge and Kit, he doesn't respect where they're coming from and it leads to a lot of mistakes-mistakes like driving Surge to the brink and undoing the work Tails put in to befriend Kit. By the time of their third fight, he realizes that this is a consequence of his worldview and he needs to take it seriously, and almost gets through to Surge as a result. Like Sonic is absolutely wack in issue 50 and the team knows it, they even drew a cover where's he's posted up straight villainous loomin over Surge with a smug look on his face and makin her look like the hero

This is the sonic I grew up with. The games on the wii I had were inspired by the comics i believe (Sonic The knight of the wind, Sonic the Werehog). Funny enough I believe he would say "I have no enemies" but he would add on to it. Possibly "I only have future friends who are a slave to their emotions" maybe something like that

I’ve been waiting for a video like this. The philosophy of Sonic has been a prime topic for the IDW community. As of where I stand, I believe that Sonic’s values of freedom work, however while he shouldn’t kill his enemies, he should rehabilitate them through imprisonment or therapy, instead of letting them free on the world where hurting other people is easy.

Ws of Sonic's ideology: Knuckles Shadow Chaos Silver Blaze Gamma Scrap Mecha Jet Sage These are all the People who were Hostile, but eventually became an Ally or Neutral given a chance. If Somic just bonked whoever opposed him, he would never be acquainted with them. As a Bonus, you can throw in Belle, Emerl/Gemerl, and Omega. They too would be lost if bonked without thought just because they're robots. Ls of Sonic's ideology: Eggman Metal Mr.Tinker I am only counting those that Sonic gave a chance here. You can bring up people like Zavok, but Sonic wasn't trying to convince him of anything. But still he was more merciful with Zeti than the government. "Yeah okay, just go back home and dont bother us"

Thanks for the great analysis! People are quick to jump on Surge's boat because her logic in this day and age makes a LOT of sense (I for one, caveman monkey brain, agrees: stop bad guy from doing more bad guy things). However it's refreshing to see someone not pinning IDW Sonic as a horribly written character simply because his philosophical view doesnt align with the readers'. Most criticisms I've seen on his character has more to do with the critic's moral compass than it does with the actual writing.

Sonic’s monologue here gives me “The pirate king is just the free-est pirate on the seas” and “hero’s share their meat” vibes and I’m loving it

Honestly I want to see what happens if Surge gets what she wants. Not at the cost of the world, but maybe by getting flung into a dimension where her vision is reality. And see if she's just as enthusiastic then.

I just wanted to say that you are easily the most underrated Sonictuber on the platform bro. I can't wait to see you blow up.

Sonic: *literally confirms that he has the same ideology as the Assassins from Assassin's Creed* Fans: *mad about it somehow???* That's actually really cool and entirely in-character for me, that Sonic would value the freedom of everyone and everything to the point of sparing the life someone that he's already become sensitized to. It brings him closer to his Freedom Fighter self than he has been in years.

He won't put it into the bad guys because they came from good guys. And the good guys came from bad guys. The world ain't black-and-white and Sonic knows that so that's why he'll accept them all and just see what happens. He can't control everything but he can control if they have the chance to choose. That's why freedom is one of his favorite things.

i honestly agree with IDW Sonic's world view; i don't think it's arrogant or self-entitled or rude or anything like that, i honestly think that he is actually in the right, and he is simply just being fair and rational; + it's not really easy to sympathize with someone.. i dunno... LITERALLY TRYING TO MURDER YOU!? so i don't see why people are mad for Sonic not acting like Naruto

I also think that Sonic's point of view is much better. In order to make a truly perfect world you need to persuade people to do the right thing. Forcing them to do so will only result in an unstable utopia that will eventually turn into a dystopia.

I actually never found this issue to be problematic, had no idea this was controversial. Maybe its because I also really value freedom, but I really respect sonic's philosophy to always give people another chance, give them the freedom to choose to or not to change, and really like seeing the consequences come from those decisions. The comic has me there next to sonic always hoping metal, or eggman, or mr tinker, or surge will make the choice to change for better when its given to them, and I'm always disappointed with sonic (not at sonic) when they choose otherwise.

Sonic is the embodiment of free will and I stand by him

Every character criticized Sonic’s worldview and mindset at least once, and it’s really interesting that it has that many flaws, but what really seals his character for me is that through every challenge and question, he has complete resolve and conviction that he isn’t here to play god or to force world peace or fox every problem. He’s simply here to provide everyone the freedom and opportunity to make their own choices, good or bad. Sonic’s mindset aligns a lot with John Locke where he thinks everyone should have the freedom to do what they want unless what they want is to inhibit the freedom of others.

By definition, if I'm happy, I wouldn't be upset about my lack of freedom. If I'm upset about my lack of freedom, then that means I'm not happy. The only reason I care about freedom is so I can do things to improve my happiness.

Idw sonic is just how sonic would be if he retained all the character development from past games (after all idw starts after forces) after being cocky, a jokester, just, compassionate and much more in past games he has not lost his personality of being a smug good guy that jokes around with friends and enemies alike, he just now he polished his world view through experience (honestly it also sort of reminds me sonic and the black knight sonic, but an evolution of the wat of thinking sonic has there)

Sonic standing like he a villan

For some reason this reminds me of Vash’s dilemma in Trigun (1998). Except in this case, there aren’t any kiddy gloves. You see the real consequences of letting your adversaries live, both positive and negative. I wish I could delve into it deeper but it’s been so long since I’ve last watched it I’ll need to give it a rewatch to even fully understand myself 😭

My problem with this characterization of Sonic is that it conveniently forgets Sonic had no problems killing King Arthur, or trapping Erazor Djin for all eternity. The dude lives for adventure, but he can permanently remove a threat if he feels so inclined. Hell, Sonic even helps kill the Black Arms in Shadow the Hedgehog. I kind of miss the Sonic who was morally ambivalent. Made him seem more chaotic and free, and the parallels to Shadow worked better

i really like how almost every variation of sonic emphasises his cocky carefree yet sympathetic nature, its one of the reasons i love this franchise so much

It's understandable that people may dislike his flawed ideology, but that makes an arguably better character, the best characters in writing are always those with flaws, nobody can have an absolute good answer to everything.

As long as Silver is involved, that's the option I'm going with.

U know right from time I never really saw sonic as a hero he said this himself in sonic adventure 2 when shadow asked him who are u he said "I'm just a guy who loves adventure" he does whatever he wants and he's free that's who sonic is. He's just living in the moment

People hate this interpetation of Sonic? This is how I always saw Sonic.

I had forgotten how good this video was. I think I'm somewhere in the middle, Sonic has given his enemies (like Chaos or Shadow) opportunities for redemption, but when a breaking point comes and causes a lot of suffering to people without the possibility of a "change of heart" Sonic does not hesitate to kill and give his all to stop these threats (such as the biolizard, ifrit, mephiles, King Arthur, etc). Eggman is protected by the power of the script and because his disadvantaged situation in general tends to be much more dangerous than Sonic's own intervention.

I love the philosophy stated in IDW. Sonic has always been about freedom, he's been portrayed as a freedom fighter or a free spirit in everything he's been in. It makes perfect sense to me that something like this would be his philosophy, especially in his modern incarnation. Whether you agree with sonic or not, hes earned the right to have and believe in his philosophy, because he's saved the world time and time again, and he will continue to be there to stop people who would use their freedom to do harm to others.

I thought this comic issue/fight was great, the old sonic fans are wrong for this take. I never interpreted it as grand-standing, I interpreted it as Sonic admitting he could easily kill (most) of his villains, but then not only would he deprive them of the chance at redemption, but he'd be robbing them of their *freedom* to make that decision to be better *willingly* . If Sonic monitored Eggman 24/7, sure he'd keep Eggman in line, but then Eggman would be playing nice out of *fear* , not out of a genuine desire to do good. This is especially expressed when Sonic sees the "Mr. Tinkerer" persona, and knows for a fact that Eggman *can* be good, but he has to have the freedom to *want* to be good. Tl;dr Sonic wants his enemies to choose to be better, not be forced to act a certain way by him or even the world. He wants people to be kind-hearted free spirits without laws or fear forcing people to act nice.

i honestly think Sonic represents not only Nature but Freedom too.

Wasn't expecting Dostoevsky in a Sonic IDW video essay, but I'm totally here for it.

I just like to say the difference between IDW Sonic and Archie Sonic is that IDW Sonic hasn’t suffered and hadn’t lost anybody in his life and experience betrayal compared to Archie Sonic and sure neither of them are perfect but they make mistakes and they learn from those mistakes.

The question in itself is flawed because it predetermines that the only answer you can be happy with is choosing happiness and that freedom is inherently miserable

I really admire sonic's viewpoint here. And I agree with it as well. Sonic has a deep introspection of his own character that helps him help others. He's done what i and most people haven't been able to do; look at others and change how they view the world around them and help them understand how to better themselves, without hurting others.

I feel like Eggman and Sonic are too ends of an incredible extreme in life. Eggman wants to control the world while Sonic wants to let the world be. I think the solution to this issue brought is not to TAKE peoples free will but make sure they UNDERSTAND that their decisions will not only harm others but themselves. It’s when you CHOOSE to live your life not to your own accord but to the goodness of the one who set all of our good principles in the first place. We all have a heart that feels right from wrong, we just have to train that heart to make sure it’s not used for evil.

My only issue is it seems that those who want to harm others or rather take away the freedom of others, they aren't prevented from doing so in a viable way. Sonic defeats Eggman, lets the man to walk away, Eggman attacks again, Sonic stops him, lets him go and rinse and repeat. Granting others the freedom to harm others and leave them be to exercise their free will simply makes things look nonsensical. Lock them away. I'm not saying kill them but giving people use free will to do great evil and not putting in countermeasures to stop them is frustrating. Eggman literally created an entire virus that was infecting the entire world which would've turned people into mindless robots. What does Sonic do? In issue 32, he just watches Eggman run away and Sonic just stands there doing literally nothing about it. Hell, Eggman tells Sonic as he's leaving he's going to continue to keep scheming his next big plot to take over the world, and Sonic is just standing there. Doing nothing about the guy who almost causes ruin to the entire world. MULTIPLE TIMES. Hell, Eggman probably caused some people to die. No way you can tell me this guy didn't cause any deaths when he blasted the world with a laser in unleashed and caused the world to literally break apart. Again, this is frustrating part about Sonic's philosophy. Otherwise, I agree with Sonic.

11:10 - On the topic of letting only the good guys be, reminds me of the Book of Judges. After driving out most of the cananites by the orders of God, you'd expect that there would be just the good guys right? As you said, any human has the potential for greater good AND greater evil... So you can't simply eliminate the "bad guys", because everyone is a potential evildoer and by Surge's logic we should just get wiped out. In Deuteronomy and Exodus you even have passages telling basically "You're not gifted because you're doing good things", and it hits hard knowing the rest of the history. Those free will debates are always entertaining because you know that basically people are arguing about the least worse option, and their biases usualy get to shine.

What I realized, you can’t force people to change, they have to change themselves. But personally, it’s better to end a problem if a they are unwilling to change. You gave them a chance, they wasted it, so it’s better for everyone to just cut the issue instead of constantly fighting with it over and over again. But of course Sonic can’t do that himself because he’s a hero and Eggman is the series villain.

I agree with Sonic, think about it like this, when you have freedom you’re happy. Because you are not under control

One example of this free will vs true harmony without freedom argument I immediately think of is the entire plot line of the Assassins creed games. Both sides of the assassins and templars both want peace and happiness, however the Templars want to destroy free will to achieve this goal while the assassins rage war against them because they value freedom over anything else, even if it leads to suffering.

Shadow, Knuckles, Silver, E-102 Gamma, Rouge each one of them were all Villains/Antagonist at first and they all changed for the better and became heroes who saved the world on multiple occasions.

I honestly have never really understood why people thought this characterization of Sonic was bad until it was brought up to most likely be a philosophical issue. frankly its how Sonic always seemed to be for me though it'd be apt to observe that he's more mellow and less impulsive than in previous iterations. Still, even though Surge's ideas for how things should be and what she wants to do would be nothing but disastrous you really cant fault her for coming to these underlying philosophical conclusions considering what she and Kit have been through. In addition to being a dark mirror to Sonic in temperament, outlook, and morals her origins might as well be a tragic flipping of Sonic's origins as we know them. Whilst Sonic's exact origins are nebulous and don't really matter in the long run Surge's entire basis of existence was formed upon the artificial imitation of a person that already exists. Sonic was given the space to explore and be truly free, finding his own friends and family to connect with while Surge was taken away from any possible friends or family she had and was imprisoned and confined to live up to an ideal that wasn't her own. While Sonic has had the chance to develop a personality and moral compass of his own, allowing him the ability to make informed decisions, Surge had her entire identity forced upon her, only begrudgingly embracing it because she feels like she is nothing without it, and doesn't care whats right or wrong only acting upon her whims and lashing out from her trauma. It really puts into light how tragic Surge and Kit's situation is and while I wouldn't want them to be redeemed, I do hope they gain some form of relief or closure for what they've endured in future arcs. This video was really well put together considering the subjects you had to tackle and I'm hoping that you'll be able to take a look at Surge and Kit in a future video sometime soon with how nuanced and interesting they are as characters.

I really like this and wholeheartedly agree. Freedom is the best happiness you can have, because you yourself chose it and worked and earned it. If you are “given happiness” but without choice does that really matter? No. This made me realize why Heroes saving people is so important to being heroic, because then it gives the villain an opportunity to redeem their selves. If someone were to force you and everyone to do right, then who’s to say that’s the right way? But if we all choose to live in harmony that’s much better as we have made peace with them and ourselves.

The sonic monologue I interpret as Sonic saying, “People have the right to live and be happy, those who go against this should be given a chance to correct their actions, all of everyone should be allowed freedom, if you use freedom to do bad, I have the freedom to stop that bad, if you want to take away freedom, then I have my choice to stop you.”

"readers think that sonic is a jerk because he seems to show very little empathy for surge and her past issues" wait they expect sonic to have read imposter syndrome? i don't remenber if sonic even knew if she was one of starline's allies in the first place why are people expecting sonic to know that surge had her past completely erased and was manipulated trought hypnoterapy into what she is now? to sonic surge is like eggman and starline

10:40 - That's basically the lyrics from Open your Heart! "You and I are same in the way that We have our own styles that we won't change Yours is filled with evil and mine's not There is no way I can lose"

Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, even a certain amount of empathy and guilt for Eggman back in the Archie Comics. Sonic has always been about compassion, even for those he fights. And for his friends, like in Sonic Frontiers. The freedom to do what they want, and explore freedom for themselves.

Just like sonic, we should all try to do good for others, even when it is difficult you well eventually find a way to help them. While not harming yourself of course becareful with people who are too driven in something that could harm you or someone else. But either way you should always try to do good, in anyway possible.

Sonic is actually completely right. Hes always held the belief that there is good in everyone. Its been tested and tried to its zenith by Eggman nearly everytime. And yet Sonic never waivers in this belief, as good people can do bad things and vice versa. Its the same with Surge. Surge may be right in the fact that all these problems could go away if he just finishes his enemies. But to Sonic, that's taking away someones agency. Agency is having the ability to choose what we do in situations, and Sonic wanting everybody to have agency, is honestly pretty commendable. No one has the right to take away someones agency. The world wont be perfect, and many people may not choose what we think is the right choice, but who are we to stop them from choosing for themselves? Everyone will choose and face the consequences. Whether good or bad.

Dunno if you'll see this by now-I think this is a good video. Like Ian said Sonic vs Surge is an introductory course in these larger ideas and I'm glad you presented them for more Sonic fans to see. I definitely learned something. I wish you brought up Evan's arc afterwards, Overpowered. It kind of puts the finishing touch (for now) on Sonic and Surge's clash and the mention of freedom, with Surge citing how she can never be free. Maybe in a Part 2. I do want to say, I remember when Issue 50 came out and its discourse, and I'm sad to say I myself am one of the people who's not a fan. Not because I think Sonic should be "more responsible" or whatever, but because this was the culmination of IDW's made-up "Sonic doesn't kill" rule, and this ultimately became simply a justification for that. I don't think Ian really nailed Sonic in IDW as well as he did in Frontiers. Sonic from the games wasn't concerned with the no-kill stuff (not that he WAS some big killer, but he didn't have hesitancy towards it and the series was better off for not raising the question to Eggman). Despite the push in the right direction about Sonic and freedom, it came at this cost.

Honestly that's one of the best "making peace with your enemies" I've ever seen

This sonic version is goated. Freedom when truly acquired will make the soul wish others experience the same amount of bliss. Being free in the sense of being unshackled even from mental restraints. The same sense of how children are good natured, but as they grow older and desire more - those whom don't get what they want and feel wronged then choose to become bitter and evil, are shackled. And not truly free. A free soul cannot have bad intentions.

Excellent analysis, I'd love to see you do a deep dive into Surge and Kit

I really like what they're trying to do with the comics. How do you keep the same exact story (eggman does something, sonic stops him) fresh and interesting? You sprinkle some philosophy in there. Freedom vs. Order, etc etc. These characters arent allowed to go through major changes, at least not any that would completely change who they are at their core. Sonic and Eggman will literally do what they've been doing forever, and I think it's interesting that Ian, Evan, and all the other comic writers are trying to plant little wrinkles into that formula. Realistically, how would others be affected by Sonic and Eggman's constant and violent disagreements? IS Sonic's philosophy of giving everyone a chance inherently flawed? It's really cool and it's not something you'd entirely expect out of something like Sonic, but Sonic as a whole has also never been a stranger to life's deeper questions.

I think what I like most about this comic run is other characters are constantly reminding Sonic every time Eggman does something that the trouble would have been avoided of Sonic took him out while he was Mr. Tinker. And when boiled down to the most basic points, they're not wrong. But Sonic is so strong in his beliefs that he just can't do that. He couldn't live with himself if he killed someone seemingly innocent. The fact that neither side is ever conveyed as either correct or incorrect is what makes these comics compelling.

Dude, this was an awesome video! I think you did an excellent job of not only drawing parallels of Sonic and Eggman's philosophies to other works but even how freedom and happiness so often conflict. As a writer, this is awesome. I'm excited to see more of your stuff!

Surge has a point, how many people have died due to Eggman's actions? Remember when Station Square, a city on the level of Manhattan, was attacked by Chaos? Remember how the streets flooded rapidly, how buildings were imploding from the water pressure and the rubble falling to the streets? You can't tell me that not one person died a horrible death. How about when he split the Earth into pieces? Realistically, all life on Earth would be extinct the moment the force of the blast hit, and the world would be incinerated. He awakens all of these primordial beasts and wrathful gods, he is a threat to life itself. Sonic lets him do this over and over again.

Wow this was really good. I have a hard time reading Philosophy as its a difficult thing to take in, I feel like I need to be on a full battery or work on not getting overwhelmed. But I really loved how you explained everything and broke it up piece by piece and made it understandable. And honestly the questions got to me. As much as it would be amazing to have no pain and no harm etc, what is life then? Life is the good and the bad, without the bad we can't learn, grown, and step up to the challenge, and without the good we can't appreciate the good times, and those beautiful moments and how precious they are. This really got me and opened my eyes. Thank you.

I really like how you summarized the books here and did the video editing!!!

Rutflesness is mercy upon ourself