Silver the Hedgehog

Template:Silver the Hedgehog infobox

I'm going to change the future with my own hands!

— Silver the Hedgehog, Sonic Rivals 2 File:QuotSilver.ogg

Silver the Hedgehog (シルバー・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Shirubā za Hejjihoggu^?) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic hedgehog who travels back in time from two hundred years into the future. His goal is to preserve peace in his future by resolving the catastrophes of the past, resulting in frequent interactions with Sonic and other denizens of the time. For his missions, Silver can access powerful psychokinetic abilities, which in his time are considered the norm, and which allow him to manipulate physical objects with the power of his mind.^[1]

Silver is a kind-hearted and optimistic individual who always wears his heart on his sleeve. He is driven by a strong sense of justice and wants nothing more than peace. Although his forthright and passionate nature can make him naïve or abrasive, he takes all of his missions very seriously and will do whatever it takes to protect the world.

Concept and creation[edit | edit source]

In 2005, the Sega development team was experimenting with the new Havok engine. This led to plans for an action game called Fifth Phantom Saga, starring a character with physics-based psychokinetic abilities, which was shown at E3 2005 alongside the teaser for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).^[2] When Fifth Phantom Saga was canceled, the concept of a psychokinetic protagonist was carried over to Sonic the Hedgehog, becoming the inspiration for Silver.^[3]^[4]

File:Silver-the-Hedgehog-Character-Sketches.png

Early concept sketches of Silver, featuring Venice (bottom left).

Wanting to emphasize his psychokinesis, the team sought to give him unique attributes that no other characters in the series had. Director Shun Nakamura had an unused idea for a game about teenagers fighting aliens, which initially inspired his character.^[5] Because of this, he was originally planned to be from outer space, but he was eventually changed to be from the future instead.^[6] Writer Shiro Maekawa based Silver's character on Future Trunks from the Dragon Ball series.^[7]^[8] Early drafts describe him as having "special powers" of unknown origin drawn from the Chaos Emeralds, though this evidently didn't make it into the final game.^[7] Design-wise, an idea was proposed for him to have scarf-like hair, with more volume than Sonic's. Designers developed over fifty different concepts for the character - early sketches included a hedgehog-like animal with a headset and futuristic markings - before reaching the final look.^[3]

Initial concepts had him being a mink named "Venice" (ヴェネツィア, "Venice"^?), after Venice in Italy, the place Soleanna is based on.^[3]^[9] However, the team ultimately decided against this, fearing a mink would not blend well with the rest of the cast. After much discussion, the team finalized him as a hedgehog.^[3] Although his fur color was originally planned to be orange, as the team focused on rendering his character model's textures before his colors, they decided to keep him white-gray. This is also where his finalized name, Silver, ultimately came from.^[3]

Appearance[edit | edit source]

Silver, as his name states, is a young silver anthropomorphic hedgehog with white fur on his chest surrounding his neck, gold eyes that have an upturned angular shape with black patterns at their edges,^[10] and peach skin. He has a black nose on his muzzle, and two large spines at the back of his head, while on the front of his forehead, there are five distinct spines flared up and back, the two final ones covering up most of his small, triangular ears and a short pointy tail.

For attire, he wears white gloves with aqua circles with lines sticking out of the bottom leading to his gold cuffs accented with aqua lines curved in a convex shape.^[11] The tops of his boots are of a similar fashion with a red gem set in gold. The rest of his boots are navy blue with a white stripe down the center, aqua toes, and gray soles with four aqua hexagons.

For a list of Silver's alternate outfits, see Silver the Hedgehog/Miscellaneous#Outfits.

Personality[edit | edit source]

File:Silver profile SG.png

Silver's profile, from the Xbox 360 version of Sonic Generations.

Silver is best described as having "a strong sense of justice" and it is this personality trait that motivates him to go back into the past in order to correct his future. He believes in standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. This led him to accept Blaze when everybody else was teasing her for her pyrokinetic abilities.^{[citation needed]} He makes alliances and rivalries very easily and takes people's word without question. Silver has been described as mysterious and enigmatic on several occasions, with not much being known about him or his powers.^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]

Although seemingly serious on the outside, it has been stated that Silver is young and somewhat immature.^[16] He has been described as naïve, rash, and reckless. That does not mean, however, that he is incompetent, as Eggman Nega once said that he is very perceptive and that he rarely falls for his tricks.^[17] With little information to draw upon, he lets his intuition guide him, but as a relatively isolated person, he has little understanding of interpersonal relations or the subtle tools of manipulators.

Silver can be quite brash, having a noted attitude^[18] and a mischievous side.^[19] Silver is abrasive and often insults and laughs at his enemies^[20] or sneers at things he finds unimpressive.^[21] In Japanese, Silver acts with mannerisms that are considered rude and informal, including pointing at people he's talking to, sitting with his legs crossed,^[19] or addressing others with "anta" (あんた) and himself with "ore" (おれ).^[22] However, these traits are only an extension of his sincere and unpretentious demeanor, including casual gestures such as waving.^[23]

Described as a "hedgehog of justice", Silver is straightforward, cannot tell lies, and is always thinking about others' happiness before his own.^[24]^[25] ^[26] As such, he is always ready to protect those in need and lend a helping hand. However, calling him a hedgehog of justice might be a bit of an exaggeration; this is because his wish is to maintain peace, and not eradicate evil.^[25]

Despite sometimes coming from a devastated future, Silver is an optimist,^[26] but is also a realist,^[27] having once believed before his first encounter with Mephiles that time travel was impossible.^[28] Due to his sometimes ruined timeline, the white hedgehog can occasionally deviate from his mission to enjoy even the smallest of things in the present timeline, such as innocently playing with Chao^[29] and even calling a desolate desert "so beautiful", much to the confusion of those around him.^[30] He generally keeps a positive attitude and never gives up hope, no matter how objectively hopeless the situation is. He is also quite humble; despite his actions having helped saved his era many times, Silver does not see himself as a hero, but rather someone who tries to not mess up history too much.^[24] However, he is willing to bear the responsibilities of being a hero if it means putting smiles on peoples' faces.^[22]

File:Silver fast friends.webp

Silver's bio, from Fast. Friends. Forever..

Despite his kind soul, Silver can also be a very dangerous individual, and tends to deal with things too head-on because of the strength of his feelings and he will sometimes take everything upon himself.^[25] He will not think twice about resorting to violence against anyone, even a friend of his, over a misunderstanding.^[31] When he pursues an enemy, he does so with relentless determination. Most noticeably, when tricked into thinking that Sonic was the cause of his ruined future during the Solaris incident, the white hedgehog was willing to do everything in his power to destroy his target even after judging that Sonic could not have reasonably been able to destroy the world following a confrontation.^[32] Owing to this determination, Silver can show an absolute refusal to give up, even if all the odds are stacked up against him.^[33] This, as well as him having little regard for pain, can make him a very frightening opponent. However, this is also an aspect of his purity and endearing virtues.^[25] Silver has also been described as having an enduring charm.^[15]

Silver lives for world peace and prosperity. Beautiful flourishing environments and places where people live peacefully leave him breathless^[34]^[35] while scarred and destroyed environments sadden him.^[35] Silver loves bringing smiles to others^[36] and denotes the state of his good futures as ones where people are happy and have smiles^[21], and is outraged at destruction and suffering in the world.^[37]

Silver is an optimistic, young hedgehog who has a strong sense of justice. This personality trait is what motivates him to head back into the past in order to correct the future and help his people at whatever the cost.^[38] However, he is somewhat over-eager and naïve, which makes him prone to making decisions without fully thinking things through. Somewhat awkward when dealing with others and a bit socially clumsy, he has a tendency to hide behind a façade of bravado. Having suffered from loneliness for a very long time, Silver also has a hard time grasping the notion of someone preferring to stay alone.^[39] Silver also struggles with the concept of returning to the past without any issues occuring in his future, becoming anxious over the idea of having no clear directive to his actions.^[40] When lacking this directive, Silver's desire to be proactive can quickly get him into unintentional trouble.^[41]^[42]

Despite his faults, Silver is a very kind-hearted, brave, selfless and daring individual who is ready to risk his life for others, being ready to jump into the face of danger no matter the danger, as he is willing to quickly put himself on the line to help his allies and friends. Silver's strong capacity for kindness has allowed him to make friends with many people, even those who are isolated, such as Whisper the Wolf.^[39]

Powers and abilities[edit | edit source]

Silver is arguably one of the more powerful characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Notably, he is able to fight other strong individuals like Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow to a standstill.^[43]^[44]

File:S06GrabAll.jpg

Silver using psychokinesis, from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

Silver's primary powers are his psychic abilities,^[45] which let him manipulate the environment around him with the power of his mind. His main application of this skill is his psychokinesis,^[46] which lets him control physical objects using telekinesis^[47] and has a broad range of applications. A master with this skill,^[48] Silver can telekinetically grab and move up to several objects many times his own size and weight as both a single or collective mass, as demonstrated by his Meteor Smash attack where he forms a compressed ball of objects over twenty times his own size which could potentially weigh a net total of several tons. He can also use his psychokinesis on himself to allow himself to levitate and fly at immense speeds rivaling Sonic's running speed.^[49]^[50] Silver's psychokinesis is also able to apply immense strength. With it, he can exert enough pressure to bend a thick steel bar, crush robots with a single telekinetic grab, and immobilize the movements of someone as strong as Sonic completely.^[51] Likewise, when repelling objects with his psychokinesis, Silver can do it with enough force and speed to crush metal, send his grabbed target flying tremendous distances, and even stun enormous monsters such as Iblis.^[52] Additionally, Silver can use his psychokinesis to grab onto certain non-solid objects, such as fireballs and certain types of energy blasts. Offensive usages aside, Silver can also use his psychokinesis defensively by creating barriers of psychokinetically-bend light that are strong enough to block a 0.5% energy blast from the Eclipse Cannon.^[20]^[53] Silver can also use his psychokinesis to channel pure psychic energies that he can manipulate into energy-based attacks, such as sharp blades that he can fire at opponents. Alternatively, he can use these energies to greatly charge his already impressive telekinetic throwing range. He can also use these energies to freeze or shock enemies,^[47] namely by creating close-ranged bursts of energy that can paralyze his targets or even energy shockwaves that strike all targets around him. In addition, Silver is very creative with his psychokinesis, as he can telekinetically arrange different everyday objects into various conglomerated shapes as more effective means of attacking, such as giant balls to bowl over opponents and train-sized battering rams.^[50] Also, when letting loose, Silver can manipulate everything around him.

File:Silver's warp space.png

Silver using his psychic powers to teleport, from the console/PC version of Sonic Generations.

Offensive usages aside, Silver can apply his psychic powers to his other abilities. He has for example the power of ESP^[45] that grants him limited telepathy, but only enough to induce limited vertigo in others. He can also use his psychic powers to teleport himself over short distances instantaneously by warping space.^[54]^[55]^[56]

Psychic abilities aide, Silver possesses impressive physical abilities too. Notably, he is able to run at super speed reaching those of Sonic and Shadow without wearing down,^[43]^[44]^[57] although he is still not as fast as Sonic.^[24] He also has incredible physical durability and endurance; during the Time Eater incident, he withstood several hits from Sonic's Homing Attack, slid along the ground for long distances without harm, and even survived being buried by his own Meteor Smash attack.^[50] In addition, Silver is also shown to have impressive agility and acrobatic skills, enough to let him move gracefully through midair (both with and without the aid of his psychokinesis), do unique tricks and movements while in mid-air, pull off various Spin Attack maneuvers at high speed, and grind on Grind Rails with ease. He also has lightning-fast reflexes and senses, being able to mimic and cope with approximately even Sonic's speedy movements.^[51] Additionally, he can do amazing feats as well, being able to catch objects moving through midair at high velocities, such as bullets and missiles, with his psychokinesis. Silver also possesses above-average physical strength, being capable of pushing things several times bigger and heavier than himself.

Silver has also demonstrated the ability to harness Chaos Emerald energy for his own use; with a Chaos Emerald, Silver can perform the Chaos power Chaos Control and occasionally gain a boost in power. His usage of Chaos Control is not at Shadow's level but it is stronger than most.

Silver is also able to perform the Spin Attack, a technique where he curls into a concussive ball or cutting disk and directs himself at his targets. With it, Silver can shred or burrow through just about any substance given enough speed. Adept in its usage, Silver can utilize several variants of the Spin Attack for both ground- and aerial maneuvers, including the Spin Dash, Spin Jump, and Homing Attack.

File:Silver using Levitate.jpg

Silver levitating himself, from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

In combat, Silver relies heavily on his psychic powers and using the environment to his advantage. Unlike most other characters who utilize close combat, Silver focuses on long-range attacks. When fighting, Silver constantly keeps his distance, as he tends to concentrate for an attack, which leaves him open.^[50] If an opponent does get too close, however, he can grab them telekinetically and throw them away.^[58] Aside from that, Silver's main method of attack involves him throwing the objects around him at his foes. Occasionally, he can also rearrange these objects into colossal, conglomerated shapes as a more effective means of attacking. If projectiles are shot at him, Silver can grab them telekinetically and throw them back at the opponent, effectively allowing him to turn his opponents' power against them. When times call for it though, Silver is also capable of going on the offensive with hand-to-hand combat.^[59]^[43]^[44] However, his proficiency with this type of combat is unclear, as he has only demonstrated a limited range of punches and Spin Attack maneuvers.

As seen during Dodon Pa's Grand Prix, Silver has excellent skills when it comes to driving and racing in racecars like the Lightron.

Silver can travel through time, both via the use of Chaos Control and with mysterious portals that only appear when things in the past go awry.^[60]

File:SilverPowersIDW.jpeg

Silver using his psychokinesis, from Sonic the Hedgehog #8.

Silver's main power is his psychokinesis, the ability to manipulate the environment around him with the power of his mind. Whenever using his psychokinesis, Silver and the targets he affects get surrounded in a cyan aura.^[61] With it, Silver can telekinetically lift, throw, hold and move objects (or people) easily,^[61] and even immobilize enemies.^[62] With enough focus, he can even catch multiple targets at once.^[63] He can also form constructs out of psychokinetic energies, like lassos and force-fields for protection and encasing targets.^[62] Silver can also use his psychokinesis on himself, thereby allowing him to hover and fly.^[61]

Additionally, Silver mentions being able to use Chaos Control to warp targets, though he notes that Shadow is more skilled with the ability than him.^[64] He can also travel through time via mysterious portals that open whenever he is needed in another time, though he has no control over when they appear.^[65]

Transformations[edit | edit source]

Super Silver[edit | edit source]

Main article: Super Silver

File:SFSBSuperSilverRender.png

Super Silver, from Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.

By using all seven Chaos Emeralds, Silver can enter a Super State, transforming him into Super Silver. In this state, all of Silver's innate abilities far surpass his normal ones, including his psychic powers which have been greatly amplified. He is as well able to fly without his psychokinesis and is nearly invulnerable. However, this transformation consumes a lot of energy and requires Rings to be maintained.

Color Powers[edit | edit source]

Main article: Color Power

By harnessing different variants of Hyper-go-on from Wisps, Silver can use specific Color Powers to transform into a certain form, such as a drill, a laser, or even a planet, each one possessing its own unique abilities. So far, Silver has been able to transform into the Cyan Laser, Yellow Drill, and Indigo Asteroid. However, these transformations require a steady supply of Hyper-go-on to be maintained.

Weaknesses[edit | edit source]

Silver will lose his focus when using psychokinesis if he is caught off guard or hit by a surprise attack. Also, Silver does have a limit to how much weight he can carry while using his psychokinesis, with his maximum being around dozens of tons. Attempting to carry more than he can handle will strain his concentration to the extent that he will feel extreme pain. Also, letting his thoughts get distracted weakens his concentration and thereby his psychokinesis.^[24] In addition, if he overuses his psychokinesis, Silver can become extremely fatigued, and will need Rings to regain his energy.^[66]

Silver can be narrow-minded and easily tricked.^[67]

While his psychokinetic powers can hold a vast amount of stuff, Silver does have a limit to how many objects he can hold in a psychokinetic grip.^[68] He also has trouble telekinetically grabbing multiple targets at once over greater distances with his psychokinesis, and must concentrate greatly in order to pull off such a feat.^[63] He similarly cannot telekinetically grab targets that move too fast for him to focus on.^[62]

Relationships[edit | edit source]

Main article: Silver the Hedgehog/Relationships

Quotes[edit | edit source]

Main article: Silver the Hedgehog/Miscellaneous#Quotes

"This world was devastated before I was born. A harsh bleak place, where we live in eternal darkness. Life is a struggle, and people live without hope. How did this happen? No one will answer me directly. But they always point to the flames."