Top 10 best characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie trilogy

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The recent critical and commercial success of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has cemented this collection of live action films based on Sega’s iconic mascot as one of the best video game adaptations (and best movie trilogies) in the industry. As a result of their huge cultural impact, fans all around the world have fallen in love with its colorful cast of characters.

Whether they’re humans portrayed by famous actors or anthropomorphic animals voiced by talented voice actors; whether they are new incarnations of iconic figures from the original video games or they were specifically created for the movies, the characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie trilogy are as likable as they’re well-written. The only question is: Who are the absolute best ones in the series? (so far…)

10) Wade Whipple

Portrayed by: Adam Pally
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Wade Whipple greets Knuckles in the morning.

On paper, Wade Whipple is supposed to be a minor comic relief character. He’s Tom’s police officer friend who appeared in a few brief but hilarious scenes in both Sonic 1 and Sonic 3. However, his most prominent cinematic appearance was in Sonic 2, where he has an entire subplot with Agent Stone that perfectly displayed the comedic chops of both characters (and actors).

But Wade became way bigger than expected due to the Knuckles TV show, where he felt more of a protagonist than the red echidna himself. As a result, Wade now is quite a polarizing character among Sonic the Hedgehog fans, but he’s overall a very funny comic relief whose his presence is always appreciated because he never overstays his welcome. After all, who can hate the man responsible for the “Flames of Disaster!” meme?

9) Maria Robotnik

Portrayed by: Alyla Browne
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

Longtime Sonic the Hedgehog fans were hoping that Paramount Pictures and Sonic 3 director Jeff Fowler would faithfully adapt Shadow the Hedgehog’s tragic backstory from Sonic Adventure 2 into the big-screen and, much to their delight, they delivered on that promise. While there are some obvious differences, Shadow’s past was mostly left intact, as it’s still centered on his heartwarming friendship with Maria Robotnik.

The movie version of Maria is as friendly, kind and lovely as the one from the game, but she also feels a little bit more realistic, since she acts more like an actual girl her age. While we only saw her in a few flashbacks, the movie expanded on her relationship with Shadow in really adorable ways, which made her inevitable death all the more heartbreaking. This version of Maria worked so well that it helped make Shadow and Gerald Robotnik’s revenge plan all the more understandable (even though it still was cruel and unfair).

8) Gerald Robotnik

Portrayed by: Jim Carrey
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

Jim Carrey stood out in these movies since day one, thanks to his portrayal of Dr. Eggman. However, he returned for Sonic 3 in a dual role, not only as Ivo Robotnik, but also as his long-lost grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. These two evil geniuses ended up becoming the comedic highlights of an otherwise dark movie, and their chemistry was palpable. This is quite surprising when we remember that Carrey was acting with himself all the time.

But what makes Gerald Robotnik a really fascinating antagonist is his abrupt and shocking evil turn in the movie’s third act, where he reveals that he’s actually planning to destroy the entire world due to his resentment towards all of humanity which was born after G.U.N. killed his granddaughter, Maria. This sudden shift made what once was a goofy non-serious villain into an intimidating threat, and his final showdown with Ivo was both funny and emotional. This Gerald is obviously very different from his game counterpart, but this didn’t take from the fact that he was a surprisingly solid villain.

7) Tom and Maddie Wachowski

Portrayed by: James Marsden (Tom) Tika Sumpter (Maddie)
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) focused mainly on the titular character and his relationship with Tom Wachowski, a completely new human character that Paramount specifically created for this film. This honestly seemed like an uninspired choice at first, since Tom was a relatively generic character, but it ended up working quite well, since his story was simple yet effective, and he had some solid chemistry with the blue blur.

Tom’s wife, Maddie, didn’t get much to do in that first movie, but she became a much more prominent character in the sequel. Fortunately, in Sonic 3, they form a dynamic duo who can work together so perfectly that they managed to infiltrate G.U.N.’s headquarters in a brief but hilarious sequence. Granted, both Tom and Maddie have taken a bit of a backseat during the sequels in order to make space for all the anthropomorphic animals and evil scientists, but they still took on the important role of Sonic’s parental figures who are always there to take care of him and help him grow. Their adorable relationship with the hedgehog is enough to make Tom and Maddie into two equally compelling characters that should keep making appearances in future installments.

6) Agent Stone

Portrayed by: Lee Majdoub
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Eggman has had many henchmen throughout the years, like Scratch and Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog or Orbot and Cubot from the recent video games. Nevertheless, when it came to giving Jim Carrey’s Robotnik a new henchman for the very first Sonic movie, the writers at Paramount came up with none other than Agent Stone, Eggman’s assistant and best friend.

Lee Majdoub’s performance is both hilarious and endearing, as he (and the writers) managed to turn Stone from a generic evil henchman into a lovely friend to Robotnik, who’s always ready to help him with his evil plans and/or to prepare some lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk for him. It’s not common for fans of a game franchise to fall in love with a movie-only character, but Agent Stone has gotten so popular among Sonic fans that many of them are practically begging Sega to introduce him to the games as Eggman’s new henchman. If they make them have as much chemistry as in the movies, this could end up working extremely well for the video game series.

5) Miles “Tails” Prower

Voiced by: Colleen O’Shaughnessey
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Tails sadly didn’t get much screen time to shine in his introductory movie, seeing as it focused more on Knuckles and his rivalry with Sonic. Fortunately, however, in just a few short scenes, the film managed to make their brand-new friendship with all the more believable and adorable. In pretty much every single Sonic the Hedgehog media, Tails acts as Sonic’s younger brother, and this movie series is no exception.

As its tradition, Tails is a lovable and intelligent young fox that brings some much-needed youthful energy to these films, not to mention that all of his gadgets, weapons and vehicles have been so useful that I don’t think Sonic Team would have ever been able to succeed in either of the two sequels without him. This is yet another perfect adaptation of this classic character, but he just needs a bit more screen time, so I seriously hope he either gets his own spin-off TV show or a more prominent role in the upcoming fourth movie.

4) Knuckles the Echidna

Voiced by: Idris Elba
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Knuckles unlocks the Flames of Disaster.

Knuckles the Echidna has been quite inconsistently portrayed throughout the years. Sometimes he’s strong and serious, but others he’s just dumb and goofy. Sonic fans were understandably worried of how Paramount was going to make him act and sound in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 but, thankfully, this turned out to be one of the best and most beloved interpretations of the character.

Movie Knuckles is everything he needed to be (and more): He’s serious and is always looking for a fight, but he’s also a bit naive and arrogant. These two sides of his personality perfectly complement each other, making him a really fun character that always shines in every scene he appears in. Knuckles’ relationship with Sonic and his personal character development were two of the best elements of Sonic 2, and he even went to have another excellent (albeit a bit more minor) role in the third film. He also got the chance to shine a bit more in the Knuckles TV series, but, as I mentioned previously, that show focused more on Wade Whipple.

3) Shadow the Hedgehog

Voiced by: Keanu Reeves
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Shadow the Hedgehog is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic anti-heroes in gaming and one of the most popular characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The success of Sonic 3 greatly depended on whether the director and writers could pull off this adaptation of the “Ultimate Life Form”. Needless to say (and thankfully for Paramount Pictures) the movie version of Shadow ended up being as edgy, cool and tragic as everybody was expecting, and it resulted in the film becoming a major critical success.

It’s all about balance, because Shadow is a cool-looking and sounding character who excels in every scene he appears, while still maintaining an important element of emotion and tragedy, which are crucial for the character. As a result of this impeccable characterization, his interactions with Sonic – both their heartwarming conversations and their amazing battles – are the absolute best parts of the entire movie. Despite the fact that he only appeared in one movie so far, this is such a perfect portrayal of Shadow that he could easily star in his very own feature film or TV show.

2) Sonic the Hedgehog

Voiced by: Ben Schwartz
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

The formula to make a video game character as iconic and beloved as Sonic the Hedgehog work in a movie was quite simple, yet effective: Write him as an aspiring superhero, who begins his journey as a cocky and immature kid who doesn’t know what to do with his amazing superpowers and, slowly and throughout the course of 3 films, learns that he wants to use them to protect both his loved ones and the entire world.

Sonic’s development already make him a compelling protagonist, but his characterizaton is also absolutely perfect (which Ben Schwartz helped elevate with his impeccable voice performance) as movie Sonic is funny, lighthearted, arrogant and strong. He does love making constant pop culture references a little too often, but that’s not enough to ruin what is otherwise an incredible and iconic protagonist. Paramount has a great character in its hands, and Sonic is definetely going to keep shining in every future movie he appears.

1) Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Eggman)

Portrayed by: Jim Carrey
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik in Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3.

Let’s be real: Jim Carrey’s excellent performance as Dr. Ivo Robotnik AKA Eggman is the best part of the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Yes, this may have started off as yet another goofy and over-the-top Carrey character but he gradually transformed into the Dr. Eggman we all know and love, in both terms of appearance and personality. This legendary comedic actor brought his a-game in order to transform Eggman into one of the most hilarious and lovable movie villains ever made.

Granted, this incarnation of Dr. Robotnik can lean way too much into the comedy side of the character, but he still can be extremely intimidating (like at the end of Sonic 2) and heroically inspiring (like at the end of Sonic 3). This character is so amazing that he even encouraged his actor to come out of retirement just to portray once again for the third movie. While it’s impossible to know what future holds for this version of Eggman, Carrey has already stated that he will return for a fourth time if he’s interested in the script. I seriously hope Paramount Pictures will be able to get him to join one more time, because the live action Sonic the Hedgehog films wouldn’t be the same without Eggman.

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