What Would You Do Differently? Sonic X Edition

[Mike Arcade]

Welcome to another edition of What Would You Do Different? The forum topic where we ask each other just exactly what would we change on our favorite and not so favorite stuff! Today's topic is Sega's own attempt at a Sonic Show completely under their control away from DiC, with help from the animation studio TMS, I'm of course referring to the show that's GOTTA GO FAST Sonic X. Now for this topic we're going to stretch things up a bit, see Archie Comics had their own Sonic X Comic as well somewhat after the show was over, It's arguably canon or non-canon, but for the sake of saving topic space the Archie Sonic X Comic is also allowed in here as well.at

That being said, Sonic X is one of the most polarizing shows to ever be released by a lot of fans, but still we just can't put it into a corner and ignore it. Instead let's see how we would change the show if given a chance, or what we would do differently in this case. So, let's S-O-N-I-C GO straight into the topic. (I'll never be clean)

Thorndyke, Chris Thorndyke, how would you handle him in Sonic X?

[F07E]

12 minutes ago, Mike Arcade said:

Thorndyke, Chris Thorndyke, how would you handle him in Sonic X?

Ugh, I wish I could say not have him exist period but that's not how this works. So with that out of the way, let's get started:

I'd have him not be super wealthy. It disconnects the viewer as he's the everyman/fan and it doesn't work if he's the rich kid as he becomes unrelatable. 

secondly I'd have him be introverted and super shy, social settings aren't his forté, meaning that sonic and Co are the first people he opens up to.

Lastly I would try and not make him steal the spotlight from sonic and Co, meaning he won't be used plot wise if it hurts another characters establishing moment. Also make sure that the focus doesn't linger on him too long

So with that out of the way, I've got another one for you: the final frontier, the final season, SPACE. how would you handle cosmo, her people, and the metarex?

[ToaArcan]

I'd make him a very minor character. He appears for a short arc, but is quickly phased out.

 

4 hours ago, F07E said:

So with that out of the way, I've got another one for you: the final frontier, the final season, SPACE. how would you handle cosmo, her people, and the metarex?

Oh, this is easy. Remove the gender-divide. In the show, all of the Seedrian females were peace-loving and turned into trees, while all of the males were the warlike, omnicidal Metarex. It was... odd, to say the least. If we're going to have a terrifying army of plant-aliens that intend to wipe out all animal life in the universe, then let's have them all do it. Including a certain Cosmo. When Shadow pitches up and attempts to kill her because she's a spy, he is 100% correct. And for bonus points, let's keep this happening after she and Tails take a dunk in the love potion. Except Cosmo isn't affected, and why would she be? She doesn't have a flesh-and-blood brain, because she's a plant. But that's not going to stop her from using it to her advantage.

Goes without saying that this Cosmo wouldn't be having flashbacks every ten seconds. 

[Mike Arcade]

Well actually considering one of those flashbacks The Metarex/Seedrians natural form...or at least the males can turn into giant T-Rex Monsters which burns them out and kills them soon after last time I remember. Honestly I think they're part Plant and part Reptilian technically, considering that transformation.

On that note Arcan, so your answer for Cosmo would be to basically turn her into a Fiona Fox, only around Tails age then right? I gotta say, coming from you that irony is hilarioous.
But yeah I see what you mean, and I've dealt enough with flashbacks from The Following, no more! @_@

I gotta say lovin your answers so far guys, seems like we're all on the same page here with Chris Thorndyke, now it's my turn...

How would I handle Chris Thorndyke? I'd actually remove him entirely from the show if I could, or make him a very minor side character. Because I can see where they're going with him, I get it I really do. When they made Chris they wanted a "relateable" character to be our eyes so to speak, because being Bruce Wayne rich is something we can ALL relate to. But no, we don't, rather I'd have our Relateable Character being Tails, yes he's a Two Tailed Fox whose also an Genius Inventor, but he's the most grounded of Sonic's cast and portrays being as close as brothers better then anyone. Tails as he is, but also as our audience surrogate works much better then Chris ever did. It's like how we followed those Insurance Collectors from Trigun or Ceres from the first Hellsing Anime, they were going for something like that but failed in execution. 

Cosmo I'm not sure how to deal with, perhaps make it so that her whole race isn't completely extinct, but rather be a majority of it being The Metarex, have it so that for her there is something at stake for her other then surviving, her whole race depends on this! As she was in the show, she's completely broken as she lost EVERYTHING, yeah they helped her heal slightly, but the scars are still there. If there was some hope for her that her race was still alive as it was, then perhaps she could have ended up a more stronger, independent character rather then the meek load she became, or even a mystic healer of sorts, that could have worked as well! there are a lot of ways to have her be, even an evil spy if that. But the rules aren't set up well enough and it ends up as it does in the show, clumsily handled with a character whose sole purpose is to be the show's punching-feels bag.

Now then, let's get to the harder stuff...also all previous questions are available to answer at anytime no matter what.

How would you handle Emerl, who ended up not having a character in the show?

[ToaArcan]

4 hours ago, Mike Arcade said:

On that note Arcan, so your answer for Cosmo would be to basically turn her into a Fiona Fox, only around Tails age then right? I gotta say, coming from you that irony is hilarioous.

I would disagree there. Evil!Fiona had no personality beyond "Sneer at everything and hump Scourge's leg", and herstory didnt work because being forced onto an already-existing character, who had already been established as being completely unimpressed by Scourge and not at all evil. She didn't manipulate Tails at all, she spent most of her time antagonising Sally because Ian decided she and Scourge were the antithesis to Sonic and Sally. The one time she did argue with someone who was established to give a damn about her, it was Sonic, and he reduced her to tears in a few lines and went back to punching Scourge. This Cosmo would be foreshadowed from the beginning to have something ulterior going on, would use her position in the heroes' lineup to manipulate them (Such as getting the entire crew to fight Shadow on her behalf), and would become a very personal foe for Tails- One evil and manipulative, that he is also forced to love by a magic lake, perhaps leading up to an appearance by his own Super mode.

 

4 hours ago, Mike Arcade said:

How would you handle Emerl, who ended up not having a character in the show?

Literally just adapt the game. Cut out all of the filler in Season 2 (Did we really need the story about Eggman causing a permanent eclipse?), and do Battle proper, complete with Emerl's character being intact. Of course, that would mean bringing back SHadow sooner, but eh, he was one of the better parts of that game anyway.

[Ishapar]

1. Mr. Thorndyke?  I didn't mind him being a rich kid and I also didn't mind him having a bigger role (especially in the third season).  There are two things I would change about him: stop making the story about him.  It's Sonic X; not Thorndyke X.  The show focused too much on Chris instead of Sonic or any of the other characters.  Sonic came off as some non-human super hero with very little character depth.  The next thing is stop turning Chris into the load.  He ends up being in every situation but usually just whines or comments about what is happening.  Instead of acting like a cry-baby, Chris should at least man up and try to be of some use to the story.  I don't like Chris, but I will admit that he performs better in the third season where he is more mature and can help out with the adventure.

2. Cosmo.  I honestly didn't see anything wrong with her character, but I think her character would have been better if her race was given a better background.  It seemed awkward how the Seedlians were struggling in a battle with another force, only 5 males chose to stay and fight the enemy, and these same 5 somehow end up creating super strong armor and high tech devices to conquer the galaxy.  I missed the connection.  Also, how did Cosmo ever receive the camera inside of her head to being with?  I never understood that concept.  And how on earth did beings from another planet hear of Sonic the Hedgehog?

3. Emerl.  I was never fond of his storyline in Sonic Battle.  His face-heel turn should have been more epic.  In the game franchise, Sonic's duel with Emerl was one of Sonic's greatest feats without the emeralds, but the show had Cream and Cheese defeat just by constantly stomping on his head.  That really hurt the character's potential.

[MJ Knight]

I would use the Japanese soundtrack for the English dub, improve the voice acting tenfold and make the dialogue as the English was dumbed down from the original Japanese script

[Wulfsbane]

8 minutes ago, MJ Knight said:

I would use the Japanese soundtrack for the English dub, improve the voice acting tenfold and make the dialogue as the English was dumbed down from the original Japanese script

What's some examples of the script being "dumbed down"?

[Mike Arcade]

I'm bringing all of these topics back! When it comes to this series there is a lot we can talk about, I'm no fan of Sonic X that can't be denied but still with how these characters act I have to wonder how any of us could have done a lot better then what we got, so that being said here's a tough one.

How would you handle the Pink Hedgehog and Fan Girl herself, Amy Rose?

[WarTraveller]

24 minutes ago, Mike Arcade said:

How would you handle the Pink Hedgehog and Fan Girl herself, Amy Rose?

I wouldn't. I would leave Amy as far away as I could from any Sonic project I worked on. I'd put Blaze in her place. Because Blaze is cool and actually a character in her own right.

[Mike Arcade]

Just now, WarTraveller said:

I wouldn't. I would leave Amy as far away as I could from any Sonic project I worked on. I'd put Blaze in her place. Because Blaze is cool and actually a character in her own right.

Ah but my Traveling friend, Blaze didn't exist when the show first debuted, so if you HAD to handle Amy just what would you do?

Nothing against Blaze but that's why I asked this question, give you guys some tricky ones because that's how I roll...or Spin in this case.

[WarTraveller]

Just now, Mike Arcade said:

Ah but my Traveling friend, Blaze didn't exist when the show first debuted, so if you HAD to handle Amy just what would you do?

Nothing against Blaze but that's why I asked this question, give you guys some tricky ones because that's how I roll...or Spin in this case.

Well if I HAD to put Amy in, I'd give her some actual character development. She'd start off her usual annoying, borderline-stalker self, chasing Sonic and concocting a number of hair-brained schemes to get with him. But as the series went on, the dangers getting more serious and Sonic becoming more and more homesick, she would eventually realise that Sonic isn't interested and needs a lot more than mere blind-sided affection. So she begins to work with him, not for or against him, helping him fighting his battles in a purely-platonic, "just friends" manner. This would improve Amy as a character and remove one of the most obnoxious character traits in Sonic history.

...Or kill her off in the first episode.

[Ishapar]

Ouch, kind of harsh there in wanting to kill here in the first episode...

I'd be all out for her to be removed from the show, but I would also have approved the removal of several other characters. 

I have to admit, though, I did a couple good laughs at her fangirl tactics and Sonic's responses to them.  I would agree with WarTraveller that she should have received some character development and matured from her fangirl hype.  Sonic is fine with her being a friend, and she should recognize that position and become more humble with her actions.  She also needed to cool down on her temper.

[Mike Arcade]

Yeah as annoying as SX Amy is that's still a bit harsh don't you think? Talk about a major mood change for the first episode.

But yeah her temper was a major flaw with her regarding the series, everyone joked or seemed afraid of her more so then anything else, that kind of temper just isn't healthy at all. It also was jarring whenever she got kidnapped if she's that strong, but I do agree with your both regarding her characterization as she just seems to get worse throughout the series no matter what lesson she learns by the end of whatever episodes that focus on her.

That brings me to another related question regarding her best friend, though the Amy Question is still valid as I want to hear more from anyone else who wants to answer.

What would be your take on Amy's Polite and usually Quiet friend Cream and her pet Cheese?

[WarTraveller]

Just now, Mike Arcade said:

What would be your take on Amy's Polite and usually Quiet friend Cream and her pet Cheese?

There's not really a lot you can do with Cream apart from having her get kidnapped. She was designed to be polite, quiet, submissive and lady-like - it's what the Japanese love and that's why she's far more popular over there than over here. I suppose at best guess one could age her up to a teenager; she's followed Sonic and looked up to him all her life and now she can fight alongside him for real. But she has a lot to learn about heroism and its immense costs, from loss to love to sacrifice and many more. Such experiences would probably change her, and she would likely become just a little unhinged from it, but even Sonic would deem it a necessary evil to train her right for the day she will have to take on Eggman alone. And Cheese would be...uh, Attack Chao?

[Ishapar]

A little tricky.  I really did not like her voice actor, so already I have a con against Cream.  I thought her character was alright in the first season: playing as the first did and acting as the lost child until her mother reunites with her.  She seemed to work well in the human setting, and she was nowhere near annoying as some other characters when watching Sonic fight Eggman.  Once she is reunited with Vanilla; however, Cream came off more as a drag character until she joined the gang on the Blue Typhoon to find the 7 emeralds.  Being a young child and not an experienced fighter, it's understandable for some characters (like Vector) to try to take her away from the adventure, but at least Cream has matured to the point that she recognizes the danger and her mother's concern but is still willing to support her friends in their fight with the Meterax.  She does come off as somewhat useful (though not as much as Chris surprisingly) as she can pilot a craft to participate in dogfights and she also seems to be, after Tails, the closest friend to Cosmo.  I think Cream has more use in the series than Amy, but I doubt that Cream would continue to go along with Sonic on more adventures.  She is not a traveller; she has a family and a home.  I believe when she is older she will resolve to settle down instead of joining Sonic and Tails: many skills she has (cooking, cleaning, gardening, crafts) suits her better in building a home rather than spend life on a continuous adventure.  If the series continued in Sonic's world, I would expect to see less of her as she no longer has to rely on the gang for protection and support.

My main quirk about Cream is why was she captured in the first episode?  Was she just a hostage?  Was she someone important?  Vanilla had Vector search for Cream before being transported to Earth, so Eggman had to have a reason to kidnap Cheese.

As for Cheese, I leave it at that.  I am not fond of chaos...too much of a girly thing for me to take in.

[TheRedStranger]

How would you portray Eggman and his motivations both within the main character's world & our own?