Sonic The Hedgehog is one of the most successful video game franchises in history, known all over the world for the speedy protagonist and his large number of friends that have helped him in his many adventures, both in video games and beyond in other media.
However, it is only more recently that the franchise has started to place a real emphasis on the female characters. Some of the most major female Sonic characters have been around for a long time, but have been given a lot more characterization in recent years. While others have been introduced only recently but have managed to make a big impact on the fan base immediately.
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8 Wave The Swallow
First Appearance: Sonic Riders
A more recent addition to the Sonic franchise, Wave is a great character introduced alongside the other members of the Babylon Rogues, a legendary group of thieves, in Sonic Riders. Producing a fun story mode with some fascinating villains as the opponents was a unique idea for a racing game like this, but characters like Wave were worth introducing and the Sonic Riders games may deserve another look.
After appearing throughout the several games released so far in the Sonic Riders spin-off series of games, Wave has become something of a fan favorite. Considered a speedy racer in addition to being the technological genius of her team, Wave has proven popular enough to be added in special places across various spin-off games, including Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.
7 Tikal
First Appearance: Sonic Adventure
One of the characters who has become much more popular from an initial one-off appearance, Tikal is an echidna from an ancient civilization who struggled against her father’s warmongering ways. One of the few characters in the Sonic franchise who believes in peace and consistently acts upon this desire with peaceful solutions, Tikal quickly became a favorite among fans.
Originally a spirit helping Sonic and his friends to stop the chaos emeralds being used for evil in Sonic Adventure, Tikal went on to also appear in the sequel, and many spin-off games and later entries in the main series. Tikal is rarely playable, but in Sonic Adventure 2 she can be unlocked for the multiplayer mode by completing all Knuckles missions with an A-Rank.
6 Maria Robotnik
First Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2
Another character introduced in the Sonic Adventure games, Maria Robotnik, is one of the very few human female characters that appear significantly in the franchise. Maria is the cousin of the villainous Dr Robotnik, and she has an incurable, fictional disease that keeps her confined, which is how she met Shadow the Hedgehog.
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Robotnik and Maria’s grandfather created Shadow to try and find a cure for Maria, hoping to solve immortality through the creation of an immortal being. The two became friends before Maria died during the invasion of the space colony. Maria dies while pushing Shadow into an escape pod and asking him to protect Earth, proving to be a critical point in his backstory.
5 Princess Sally Acorn
First Appearance: Sonic SatAm Show
- Number of Episodes: 26
- Number of Seasons: Two
- Air Dates: September 18, 1993 - December 3, 1994
A character who, strangely, has never really appeared in any Sonic games, Princess Sally Acorn, was created for the Sonic Saturday Morning cartoon show in the mid-90s. Throughout this series, and in the Archie Comics series about Sonic, she was his primary love interest.
However, despite many fans loving the character, she never translated into the games. Instead, Amy was created and took precedence. Sally and Sonic will always have the Mobius: 25 Years Later story arc from the comics, where they were shown ruling the Acorn Kingdom together as a hedgehog and wife, with children and everything.
4 Cream The Rabbit
First Appearance: Sonic Advance 2
One of the characters presented as being younger, and also having a surprising amount of her own backstory, is Cream the Rabbit. First appearing in Sonic Advance 2, in which she was already playable, Cream is a young rabbit who is often seen with her mother, Vanilla, and her Chao companion, who is named Cheese.
Cream is often seen throughout the Sonic games, accompanying either Amy Rose or Blaze the Cat on their adventures as a companion, similar to the role which Tails performs for Sonic. Cream can fly by rotating her ears and has combat skills, which are usually only seen when she is put in very real danger, pushing her to showcase her real capability.
3 Amy Rose
First Appearance: Sonic CD
The most commonly appearing female character in the Sonic franchise, Amy Rose, is a pink hedgehog. She may not be the number one favorite among fans, but she is a recognizable character in her own right. She first appeared in Sonic CD in 1993, and since then has become a staple of the franchise and one of Sonic’s best friends.
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Amy has been playable in many games. Known for her headstrong nature, the large mallet she uses in combat and her continued romantic interest in Sonic, Amy isn’t often seen as an independent character, away from the team, but she has had her playable story sections in games like Sonic Adventure.
2 Blaze The Cat
First Appearance: Sonic Rush
Sonic Rush
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo DS
- Released
- November 15, 2005
- Developer(s)
- Dimps , Sonic Team
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
A fascinating and beloved character, Blaze the Cat has been a great bit of feminist representation in Sonic since she was introduced in 2005. A princess from an alternate dimension, Blaze was the guardian of the Sol emeralds, similar to how Knuckles is the guardian of the chaos emeralds in the primary Sonic dimension.
With much more interesting abilities of her own, Blaze can create and control fire, than many of the female characters in the Sonic franchise, Blaze has carved out a place in the fandom for herself. She is calm and mature, but also can be seen doubting herself and her strength, something she comes through successfully in different games, proving her worth and acting as a great role model. She is also the only female character to have proven the equal of Sonic in a fight.
1 Rouge The Bat
First Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2
A particular favorite for many fans since her inception, Rouge the Bat is considered by many to be the best female character in the Sonic franchise. A treasure hunter and oftentimes government agent, Rouge has taken on many roles throughout her various appearances in the series and is noted by some as the “Catwoman of Sonic” due to her flirtatious nature and competent thievery skills.
Rouge is beloved for the personality she retains, her mysterious nature and her flirting with Knuckles, which fans have always enjoyed. Her independence from Sonic and his friends, while being able to work both with them and against them, makes her one of the most interesting and skilled female characters the series has ever seen, but she still isn't being used to her full potential.
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