Yes, Sonic Is a Superhero

Earlier this week, we published a piece suggesting Sonic the Hedgehog would unseat the Marvel [...]

By Adam Barnhardt

Earlier this week, we published a piece suggesting Sonic the Hedgehog would unseat the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the highest-grossing feature of the year. Shortly thereafter, the piece quickly took a life of its own on social media, as Sonic star Ben Schwartz took the news and ran with it.

As you might expect, comments sections and mentions were filled with a common inquiry — is Sonic actually a superhero? Make no mistake, Sonic is a bonafide superhero, there's no doubt about it.

Yes, we entirely realize Sonic the Hedgehog is based on an iconic gaming franchise. But why would that mean Sonic isn't a superhero? Merriam-Webster defines a hero as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers."

The Cambridge English Dictionary says a superhero is "a character in a movie or story who has special strength and uses it to do good things and help other people." Even Dictionary.com says superheroes are "morally righteous heroes in a fictional work who possess extraordinary abilities or supernatural powers and use them to fight evil, as in comic books and movies."

So, ask yourself — does Sonic the Hedgehog have "extraordinary" or "superhuman" powers? Does Sonic the Hedgehog have a "special strength" and uses it to do good things? What about fighting the bad guys? Does he use his supernatural powers to fight evil?

The thing is, you can say yes to every question above. Most that suggest Sonic isn't a superhero fail to remember one thing — superheroes aren't only in comic books. In fact, believe it or not, but superheroes exist in other properties that don't bear logos from Marvel and DC! Superheroes can certainly be found in video games, and they're always in movies and television.

As the linguistics masters would confirm, all it takes is an ability more than human as you fight the forces of evil to become a superhero, and Sonic checks off every box on the list. Sonic is a superhero.

Sonic the Hedgehog is now available wherever movies are sold.

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