Editing Sonic the Hedgehog series (section)

===Development===
[[File:Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)(2013) introduction .gif|thumb|300px|right|Opening moments of [[Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1991)]]; [[Sonic the Hedgehog (2013)|2013 remaster.]]]]
While several people have been involved in the creation of [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], the artist [[Naoto Ohshima]], programmer [[Yuji Naka]], and designer [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]] are generally credited with the creation of the character.

In April 1990, [[Sega]] requested a game capable of selling more than 1,000,000 copies; a character who could compete against [[Nintendo]]'s popular [[Mario|''Super Mario'']], and a character to ultimately replace [[Alex Kidd]] as the company's mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research and development department. These included an armadillo (who was later developed into [[Mighty the Armadillo]]), a dog, a mustached man in pajamas (who was later used as the basis of the design of the main antagonist [[Doctor Eggman|Dr. Eggman]]) and a rabbit (who would use its extendable ears to collect objects, an idea that was later used for a separate Sega character, Ristar).<ref name="GameTap retro">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL509CA2E3CED470C1|title=Sonic the Hedgehog GameTap Retrospective|work=YouTube|date=5 August 2012|accessdate=14 May 2018}}</ref><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> Eventually, the mascot they selected was [[Naoto Ohshima]]'s submission, a spiky teal hedgehog code-named "Mr. Hedgehog", later renamed Sonic.<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<br>セガい共通テスト受験終了！}}</ref> Sonic's color was based on the Sega logo, his shoe buckles based on [[wikipedia:Michael Jackson|Michael Jackson]], his shoe color based on [[Santa Claus]], and his personality was inspired by future-President [[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 name="GameTap retro" /><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|first=Brian|last=Ashcraft|publisher=Kotaku|url=http://kotaku.com/5420201/sonics-shoes-inspired-by-michael-jackson|title=Sonic's Shoes Inspired by Michael Jackson|accessdate=13 December 2009}}</ref> According to Yuji Naka, Sonic's color also serves to symbolize peace, trust, and coolness (which are the attributes of Sonic's character). His trademark speed is based on ''[[Wikipedia:Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Bros.]]'' World 1-1, with ''Sonic'' creator [[Yuji Naka]] stating in issue 260 of ''[[Wikipedia:Nintendo Power|Nintendo Power]]'' that he "always tried to get through the level as fast as [he] could," which inspired the initial concept for Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was created without the ability to swim because of a mistaken assumption by Yuji 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|publisher=VideoGamer.com|date=February 2009|accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>

A group of fifteen people started working on ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' and renamed themselves [[Sonic Team]]. The game's soundtrack was composed by [[Masato Nakamura]] of the band [[Dreams Come True]]. Sega sponsored the group's "Wonder 3" tour, painting Sonic on the tour bus, distributing pamphlets advertising the game, and having footage of the game broadcast above stage prior to its release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_sonicteam.php?article=nakamura|publisher=[[Sega]]|work=Sonic Central|title=Masato Nakamura interview|format=flash|accessdate=7 February 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223022942/http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_sonicteam.php?article=nakamura|archivedate=23 December 2008}}</ref>

The original concepts from Naoto Ohshima gave Sonic fangs and presented him in a [[Sonic the Hedgehog Band|band]] with a human girlfriend named [[Madonna]]. The band couldn't be completed for the game due to time constraints<ref name="breakdancing">{{Cite web |url=http://xbox.gamespy.com/articles/654/654750p5.html |title=Sega's Yuji Naka Talks! |work=Heidi Kemps |publisher=GameSpy |date=30 September 2005 |accessdate=1 May 2015 |quote='''[[Yuji Naka]]''': But the biggest thing I remember we had that we didn't use in Sonic 1 was the break-dancing. We had this idea for the sound test. The composer for the game was one of the members of Dreams Come True, a famous Japanese band, so we wanted to do something special for the game's music. See, we wanted to have a separate sound-test screen with an animation of Sonic break-dancing while a "Sonic Band" played the game music. We were working on the images, and had enough space left on the cartridge memory for it, but once again time constraints prevented us from putting it in the program. So what should we do with that leftover space? I suddenly had an epiphany! It said to me ... "SE-GA!" It came from our TV commercials, and that became the game's startup sound. I thought it made a good impression when you heard it, right? Though to fit it in, we had to delete all the break-dancing picture data we had made up to that point. Oshima was heartbroken, since we didn't need his pictures anymore. But seriously, that sound alone took up 1/8 of the 4 megabit ROM! Ah, those were the days...}}</ref> and Yuji Naka had Madonna removed because he wanted to take Sonic in a different, less-silly direction than the ''[[Mario|Super Mario Bros.]]'' series.<ref name="Gryson">{{Cite journal |journal=Beep! Mega Drive |pages=46–48 |title=The People Making Sega's Future |url=https://mdshock.com/2021/12/28/the-people-making-segas-future/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229012806/https://mdshock.com/2021/12/28/the-people-making-segas-future/ |date=January 1993 |archivedate=29 December 2021 |quote='''Questionnaire''': To go back to the discussion of Tails, there aren’t any women in Sonic games. What about including a heroine? / '''[[Yuji Naka]]''': There's a woman in the original source material. We created a woman named Madonna, and the original plan was to have Sonic rescue her. However, that kind of silly direction didn't really fit Sonic. We wanted to go with something more orthodox. Of course, there certainly are a lot of games like that in the world, where the hero has to rescue the princess. We wanted to do something different from Mario, though, and aim for a new direction.}}</ref> However, a team from Sega of America, led by [[Madeline Schroeder]], redesigned Sonic the Hedgehog for an American audience by having [[Greg Martin]] "soften" his design. This sparked a heated issue with Sonic Team but Naka later admitted that it was probably for the best.<ref name="GameTap retro" />

Sonic's precise age, weight, height and other physical characteristics vary depending on the continuity in which he appears and the style in which he is drawn. In the video games, Sonic's original design by [[Naoto Ohshima]] was with short spikes, a round body, and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Watanabe was displayed on the package artwork for ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', and most subsequent ''Sonic'' video games featured similar designs.<ref name="sega illustrations">{{Cite book|title=Sega Video Game Illustrations|year=1994|publisher=Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Deutschland) GmbH|isbn=3-910052-50-9}}</ref> When ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' for the Mega Drive appeared, Sonic's proportions changed. The original 1:2 head to height ratio changed to 1:2.5.<ref name="sega illustrations" />