Welcome to Concept: "Mobius"

This is a Sonic the Hedgehog site of a clearly different quality than most: it is small, sweet, yet has grown reputable for being chocked full of oddities that other Sonic sites seem to lack. Concept: "Mobius" is the definitive Sonic site to express the idealism of the fan. [read more]

Where does Sonic come from? .:: Where does Sonic come from?

Where does Sonic come from? »

          A regular 64 dollar question, this is. Some fans have sure fire answers as to where Sonic comes from. Others are speculative about it and wonder to this day what an unquestionable answer is. Is Sonic from Earth, is he from some other world, is he from Freedom, is he from Mobius? What is the answer? TECHNICALLY, he comes from all of them since they are all official. But we're only talking about where he has come from in the current game continuity and the old game continuity in the Japanese translations.

           So okay, what we're going to do here is we're going to take every planet Sonic comes from, highlight it and explain its involvement and relations to our target game continuity and see which could be the most suitable. There are no solutions to this plothole, just explanations.

Earth:



           An alternate version of Earth (whether it be separated by space or by time) is the most widely accepted possibility of where Sonic comes from in the game continuity. Mind you, it is not this Earth with the United States and Europe and Asia and what not, but is an alternate version. How do we know this?

            What you see above is a picture ripped directly from the official Shadow the Hedgehog gamesite, and judging by the rest of the graphics used in the screen I ripped this from, it seems to be direct 3D footage of the game. This picture above seems to be how the alternate Earth in the Sonic games looks in an up-to-date fashion. Do note that this is the first time Sonic Team has actually made a unique map of Sonic's world.

             Judging by the land structure similarities, it is safe to assume that this particular map is showing an alternate version of Earth, since it looks kind of like Earth, but it doesn't. Would-be-Asia's landmass is generally the same, but it looks as if they took other continents and land areas and put them in different places. Notice where India would be, it looks as if they replaced it with South America, and how "Greenland" is now above where would-be-Russia is instead of above Canada. And then there are those completely new landmasses such as that huge chunk of land right under the equator where Africa would normally be (it actually looks like Africa but the bottom is warped). And the United States looks totally morphed. So this is an alternate version of Earth. And don't worry, it's safe to assume that Shadow the Hedgehog took place on the same world as SA and SA2 did since it involves the humans, Shadow, the Space Colony ARK, and GUN.

             Now some may wonder, if Sonic Adventure and beyond take place on the same world the old Sonic games took place on, why were there no humans in the old games as well? Only Sonic X canon-believers think that there were no humans in the old games. Perhaps in this alternate Earth, the humans only inhabit some areas and are not as much of a common site as they are on this Earth. You could easily say that the old games took place on regions of the world depicted through the map shown above where there were no humans, but instead just animals like Sonic. And besides, there WERE humans in the old games. An unlockable video in Sonic Jam shows a bunch of humans cheering Sonic on, and plus there is good ole' Witchkart from Tails' Sky Patrol, where did SHE come from? And let's not forget Dr. Eggman. Remember, Sonic X is the only thing that is tied to Sonic Team where Sonic has ever had a shocked reaction to seeing humans, and it is not confirmed that Sonic X is canon.

             Okay, we know the new generation games (Sonic Adventure and beyond) have taken place on a planet called Earth, but if the old games did take place on Earth, prove it. Certainly. Just read a few of the Japanese manual translations. Here are two examples:

(1). Sonic's original game story, according to Sonic Team,

" Sonic was born on a small island called Christmas Island. But his love for adventure called him away and he has visited so many different places on Earth that he doesn't really have a place he considers to be home. "

(2). Sonic 3 Japanese manual translation excerpt,

" In his previous adventure, Sonic destroyed Dr. Eggman's base, the Death Egg; now the debris has started its fall to Earth. And right in the path of the falling base floats a giant cloud-like mass. The giant shadow of Death Egg hides the cloud... Towering mountains, a gigantic forest... the cloud is none other than the
legendary floating island, suspended in the sky."

              And then there is this little piece of evidence in Sonic The Fighters in the opening sequence where it shows Dr. Eggman plotting areas to drop his Egg robots from the Death Egg II.

              See? Earth. But, I am sure you're saying, "OMG HAHA THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG MAP, SO THEY TOOK PLACE ON DIFFERENT PLANETS HAHAHAHA YUR WRONG!" How do you know? This planet is Earth and the planet in Shadow the Hedgehog is Earth too since it is the same place SA2 was at what with ARK, GUN and what not. Afterall, the Shadow the Hedgehog map is based off of Earth anyway. What you see above is back when Sonic Team didn't care about continuity so much. Now they do, so they decided to give Sonic's Earth a makeover to make it actually look unique. No matter what, they're the same planet.

               Sonic coming from an alternate Earth is pretty much the most smooth and straightforward choice of Sonic's homeworld. From the very first Sonic game all the way to his latest releases, his world has been called "Earth" in the current generation, and in the Japanese translations of the old one; showing that this has been the world Sonic has ventured on from the very start. It just turns out now they decided to bestow upon the continuity a an actual, distinct map of Sonic's world. Let's just hope they actually make a commitment to this idea and keep this map. The only, SINGLE, SOLITARY con with this possibility of Sonic's homeworld is so stupid, but still a key subject of debate: the moon.

               We all know that the moon was blown in half in Sonic Adventure 2. So why is it the moon is full in Hang Castle in Sonic Heroes and in Shadow the Hedgehog? There is no solution for this other than to ignore it, OR jump to the next possible planet Sonic comes from:

Unconfirmed Sonic X World:


              Yes, the unconfirmed Sonic X world is Sonic's homeworld in the games for those of you who believe Sonic X is canon. Although the name of it is unknown (some think it is Mobius or Freedom), its concept is all too clear, and it actually fits pretty well. According to Sonic X's storyline, Sonic & company, through an illegitimate accident of Chaos Control, are transported to Earth, planet of the humans from their original homeworld. This is what ties in with the Sonic Adventure series and how all of the humans appeared. Sonic X even goes as far as justifying why Angel Island and other assets known only from Sonic's homeworld appear on the human Earth.

              In Sonic X, Sonic's homeworld could be considered the place where all of the old games took place since that is where he was before Sonic Adventure. WHAT is Sonic's homeworld, though? An alternate version of Earth. Except unlike the above possibility of Sonic's homeworld, it is instead distinguished from the Earth with humans. Sonic's homeworld in Sonic X has no humans except Dr. Robotnik.

              What's good about the Sonic X world is it is the choice for those who always envisioned Sonic coming from some vastly different world, and it also justifies perfectly how the adventure series started with detail. The problems with it, however, are the constant swerves from world to world. Sonic X adapts only to SA, SA2, and Sonic Battle on the human Earth. In episode 52, they all go back to Sonic's world. This makes sense with Sonic Heroes, since Sonic Heroes has no humans, the moon is NOT blown in half, just like how Sonic's world's isn't in Sonic X. Also because Sonic Heroes gives you a structure and feel of the old games, which took place on Sonic's world in the Sonic X storyline. But then, how does this explain Shadow the Hedgehog where all the humans are back and the Space Colony ARK if in Sonic X, the humans and the ARK were from the human Earth?

              Humans were at war with aliens and Eggman while Sonic & friends and Shadow were indeed involved in the third season of Sonic X after they return home in episodes 53-78. Were those episodes perhaps an adaptation to Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog? If so, then that just provides more evidence that Sonic X is not canon since episodes 53-78 are not at all like how Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog play out.

              Overall, believing Sonic X is canon is the first step to even using the Sonic X homeworld in the first place. And if you do think it is canon, then what your advantages are is that you got a good, human-less world for Sonic & co, but what you got bad is the confusion as to where one plot takes place and where another doesn't — at least with the first proposal (the alternate Earth), you know that all of the games took place on the same world.

Mobius:


              Mobius is right out. Unless Mobius happens to be the name they give Sonic's homeworld in Sonic X since it is so insanely popular here in the West (kinda like what they did with the Robotnik name), then there is no way Sonic comes from any Mobius. In fact, Mobius itself is all but a simple misinterpretation on SOA's part. Let me take you back to the year of 1992, when Sonic 2 was still in the makes and interviews and press releases were filling the media of the blue blur…

              Back when Sonic 2 was released, which was basically the impending of one of the most prestigious video games of all time, many interviews and many magazine articles were published prior to its release. One of which was a Sega Visions issue where Yuji Naka was interviewed, and he mentions the word 'Mobius.'

               Yuji Naka was not making a reference to a planet, but instead an obstacle. A Mobius strip is a mathematical testament of geometry that is continuous one-sided surface that can be formed from a rectangular strip by rotating one end 180° and attaching it to the other end. Sound familiar? Exactly. Those corkscrew roadways in Emerald Hill Zone were Mobius Strips.

The Mobius strip (right) is what the nifty corkscrew highways in Emerald Hill Zone (left) were based off of.

               Yuji Naka meant to point out the Mobius strips. Because hey, we all know he is bad at English — the only time he uses good English is when he is kissing an American car salesman's ass to haggle down a shiny new Ford GT. But other than that? Bupkes. This little misinterpretation stuck with Sega of America, so it was thus morphed into what we know today as Mobius - the world that Sonic comes from in the comics, AoStH TV series, SatAM TV series, and the Sonic Underground TV series. Although, 75% of those series are gone, so all that's left with Mobius is Archie. Heh.

               So in the end, Mobius is right out. Other than that one mentioning from Naka, the word Mobius has never been used in any Sonic Team rendition of any Sonic game at all. Ever. Mobius might be the name of Sonic X's world of Sonic, but it most certainly is not the concept of Sonic's homeworld in the game continuity, indisputably. Mobius is Archie's property, which we all know Sonic Team doesn't touch.


Unknown Planet:


               Then there is the final alternative. Perhaps Sonic comes from a totally unique and independent system? Doubt it. This is simply due to the laws of physics and because there is no clear-cut evidence Sonic comes from some totally different world.

                Let's think of the science here. The odds… that hedgehogs, echidnas, foxes, etc, etc. (which are animals native to THIS particular planet, and of course alternate versions of it) would be the result of evolution on an ENTIRELY different, unique world are downright inconceivable. At the dawn of time on any world, if the atmosphere has so much as a SPECK more or less of a certain element (let's say another world, at the beginning of its time had a bit less oxygen in the atmosphere than on Earth), then the evolutionary path will result in something entirely different. There is no way that every single planet that is capable of harboring life will result in hedgehogs, echidnas, foxes, humans, etc., etc.

                But most of all, there is no good evide— what am I saying? There is NO evidence Sonic comes from some other new world. So this is highly unlikely.


Conclusion:

                So what have we learned here? If Sonic X isn't canon, then Sonic does indeed come from an alternate Earth. And if that map Shadow the Hedgehog seems to have is official, and they actually make a commitment to it, then we finally have a detailed map of Sonic's world. But no matter what, it's your mind. You believe what you want to believe, and go by your own rules and standards. Freedom like that is probably what got ya into Sonic in the first place.