Editing Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) (section)

===Creation of Sonic===
As the game development put emphasis on speed in particular, it prompted Sega to consider fast creatures, such as kangaroos and squirrels, while eliminating character designs not associated with fast animals.<ref name="alive"/> One of these ideas involved a rabbit who could grab objects with prehensile ears. It showed potential, but was too complex for the [[Sega Mega Drive]] hardware. Afterward, the team narrowed its search down to animals that could roll into a ball, based on the idea for an attack-based move, which led them to consider armadillos and hedgehogs.<ref name="lame title"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kafka-is-silly.net/sonicworld/angel_island_interviews/interviews/1992/sonic_1992_unknown_1.htm|title=Sega Visions Interview with Yuji Naka|date=October 1992|accessdate=28 June 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010746/http://www.kafka-is-silly.net/sonicworld/angel_island_interviews/interviews/1992/sonic_1992_unknown_1.htm|archivedate=28 September 2007}}</ref> The hedgehog character, which was proposed by Naoto Ohshima,<ref name="retro"/> ultimately prevailed. After that, Ohshima went on vacation to New York, taking sketches with him. There, he went to [[Wikipedia:Central Park|Central Park]], where he would ask locals for their opinions on them, which led to Sonic being deemed the favorite. A man with a mustache, who eventually became [[Doctor Eggman|Dr. Eggman]], came in second place.<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 March 2018|title=Sonic the Hedgehog's origin story, according to the devs who made him|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-i-sonic-the-hedgehog-i-s-origin-story-according-to-the-devs-who-made-him|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201110459/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-i-sonic-the-hedgehog-i-s-origin-story-according-to-the-devs-who-made-him|archivedate=1 February 2022|accessdate=22 February 2022|publisher=[[Wikipedia:Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]]}}</ref>

[[File:S1 needlemouse super.jpg|thumb|225px|Concept artwork for "Mr. Hedgehog", who would later become [[Sonic the Hedgehog]].]]
Initially, Sonic was originally colored teal.<ref name="retro"/> He was later given a light shade of blue, but that got changed to dark blue so he would stand out against certain backgrounds<ref>{{cite web|last=Horowitz|first=Ken|url=http://www.sega-16.com/2006/12/interview-mark-cerny/|title=Interview: Mark Cerny|publisher=Sega-16|date=5 December 2006|accessdate=12 October 2014|quote='''[[Mark Cerny]]''': Sonic had been a lighter blue, but he was very hard to see against the ocean backgrounds, so his color was darkened at the last moment.}}</ref> and so that he would match the color of the Sega logo. According to Ohshima, Sonic's basic design was created by combining [[Wikipedia:Felix the Cat|Felix the Cat]]'s head with Mickey Mouse's body.<ref name="facts">{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/26/21-crazy-facts-about-sonic-and-the-console-war-he-started|publisher=[[Wikipedia:IGN|IGN]]|title=21 Crazy Facts About Sonic and the Console War He Started|accessdate=13 February 2014|date=26 June 2014|last=Claiborn|first=Samuel}}</ref> [[Sonic's shoes|His shoes]], on the other hand, had buckles that drew inspiration from [[Michael Jackson]]'s boots on the album cover for ''[[Wikipedia:Bad (album)|Bad]]'' and [[Wikipedia:Santa Claus|Santa Claus]]'s red and white color scheme, whom Ohshima deemed the most "famous character in the world".<ref name="retro"/> Meanwhile, his personality was inspired by then-future president of the United States [[Wikipedia:Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton]]'s "get it done" attitude, who Ohshima felt embodied a modern sensibility of wanting to get things done right away, righting wrongs as they presented themselves instead of letting them linger.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Brandon |last=Sheffield |publisher=Gamasutra |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4208/out_of_the_blue_naoto_ohshima_.php?page=2 |title=Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks |accessdate=13 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Yahoo Playback|publisher=Yahoo!|url=http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/playback/playback-94/1380785|title=Yahoo Playback #94|accessdate=13 December 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215060432/http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/playback/playback-94/1380785|archivedate=15 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ashcraft|first=Brian|publisher=Kotaku|url=http://kotaku.com/5420201/sonics-shoes-inspired-by-michael-jackson|title=Sonic's Shoes Inspired by Michael Jackson|accessdate=15 December 2009}}</ref> According to [[Yuji Naka]], Sonic's color was also meant to symbolize peace, trust, and coolness, which are the attributes of Sonic's character. Sonic's spikes were emphasized to make him look sleeker, and he was given the ability to spin while jumping so that attacking and jumping could be controlled with a single button.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.destructoid.com/review-the-history-of-sonic-the-hedgehog-247079.phtml |publisher=[[Wikipedia:Destructoid|Destructoid]] |title=Review: The History of Sonic The Hedgehog |date=27 February 2013 |last=Ponce |first=Tony |accessdate=11 October 2014}}</ref> This new character was originally named "Mr. Hedgehog",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/nakayuji/status/1353259189389332480|title=Yuji Naka on Twitter|date=24 January 2021|work=Twitter|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124083200/https://twitter.com/nakayuji/status/1353259189389332480|archivedate=24 January 2021|language=Japanese|quote=悔しいのでもう一度挑戦しましたがもっと判らなかった感じです。「セガの看板キャラクターであるソニック。世に出る前に彼に付けられていた名前を選べ」と言う問題が判りませんでした。作った人なのにね。セガい共通テスト受験終了！}}</ref> but the eight-member team<ref>{{cite journal|title=Interview with Yuji Naka: The Creator of Sonic The Hedgehog|journal=Sega Visions|volume=3, no. 9|date=August–September 1992|page=20}}</ref> changed his name to "Sonic" and took the unofficial name [[Sonic Team]].<ref name="lame title"/> Ohshima stated that "Sonic" was chosen because it represented speed.<ref name="OhshimaIntHist">{{Cite book|author=[[Naoto Ohshima]]|year=2013|editor=Les Editions Pix'n Love (ed.)|title=Interview With Naoto Ôshima|chapter=The History Of Sonic The Hedgehog|publisher=UDON Entertainment Corp|pages=96–101|isbn=978-1-926778-96-9}}</ref> However, Sonic was created without the ability to swim because of a mistaken assumption by Naka that all hedgehogs could not do so.<ref name="videogamer swim">{{Cite web|url=http://www.videogamer.com/news/revealed_why_sonic_cant_swim.html|title=Revealed: Why Sonic can't swim|date=February 2009|accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>

Ideas proposed to flesh out the character included placing Sonic in a [[Sonic the Hedgehog Band|rock band]], giving him notable fangs, and giving him a human girlfriend named [[Madonna]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/feature/a798719/14-things-you-didnt-know-about-sonic-the-hedgehog/|title=14 things you didn't know about Sonic the Hedgehog|publisher=Digital Spy|first=Sam|last=Loveridge|date=23 June 2016|accessdate=10 June 2017}}</ref> but [[Sega|Sega of America]] scrapped these ideas to keep his identity simple. Sega of America also expressed concerns that most Americans would not know what a hedgehog is and initially proposed a full-scale recreation of the character. However, compromises with Sonic Team led to them making some simple design changes instead.<ref name="retro"/> Meanwhile, the main antagonist of the game got named "Dr. Eggman" in Japan and "Dr. Robotnik" in other regions due to a dispute between Sega's American and Japanese divisions.<ref name="facts"/>