Sonic The Hedgehog Inspired By All-Time Popular Anime
For a lot of casual Sonic the Hedgehog fans, they may remember the blue blur best from his Sega Genesis days when he was supposed to be an alternative to Nintendo’s Mario. So some fans may not realize that the franchise’s inspiration shifted over the years, including seemingly to drawing from one of the most popular anime franchises of all time. Many longtime fans of the Sonic games could not help but notice just how many similarities the games wind up having to Dragon Ball Z.
The Dragon Ball Z Connection
The idea might sound absurd at first, but the similarities came quickly. Right from the early Sega Genesis games, one of Sonic’s recurring goals was to collect the seven chaos emeralds which contained incredible powers. Right away this had the Sonic games feeling a bit similar to the main focus of Dragon Ball Z, which was collecting the seven mystical dragon balls.
Any Dragon Ball fan will also remember one of the franchise’s most iconic moments being Goku transforming into the legendary Super Saiyan, a form characterized by its signature gold color and aura. So it feels like more than a coincidence that around this same time in the ‘90s, Sonic also gained the ability to transform into Super Sonic, also characterized by Sonic turning a glowing gold. Around this point it definitely felt like Sonic was taking at least a few cues from Dragon Ball.
But Wait, There’s More!
The similarities only continued to pile up over the years. In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic gained one of his most iconic rivals, an evil black hedgehog named Shadow who he eventually became friends with. Fans noted that this felt an awful lot like Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, the evil Saiyan counterpart to Goku who eventually came to respect him after being a longtime rival. It was around this time the Sonic and Dragon Ball connections felt too clear to ignore.
Trunks And Silver Are Strikingly Similar
The next major character the Sonic games introduced only amplified those suspicions. Dragon Ball Z introduced the character of Trunks, a Saiyan who traveled back in time from the future to warn the heroes that he came from an apocalyptic timeline that they had to avert. And the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game introduced Silver, a hedgehog who time traveled from the future to warn of the world’s impending destruction. At this point the Sonic and Dragon Ball connections felt deliberate for sure.
The Anime Influence Is Apparent
While none of the creators of Sonic have come and outright said that they were trying to include some nods to Dragon Ball Z, it is known that some of the creators were big anime fans. And Dragon Ball Z was undeniably the biggest anime being released in the ‘90s when Sonic the Hedgehog was first leaving his mark on video games.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Coming This Winter
With the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie set to be released this December, it will no doubt reignite a lot of those comparisons as we see the cinematic debut of Shadow the Hedgehog. For Sonic fans who stopped playing the games back in the Sega Genesis days, the homages to Dragon Ball might finally become obvious on the screen. The secret may finally be out and become common knowledge on Sonic’s apparent anime inspirations.
