sawnek-sped

@savutano: HOLY ELIZABETH ALEXANDRA MARY WINDSOR! I didn't know us humans ate porcupines! Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Human beings can eat all sorts of weird stuff.

It seems that many still don't understand, so I'll send another wave.

The guy at the top of this second page mentioned how Sonic rolls, which hedgehogs do, but porcupines don't. As I've said before, Sonic's flagship skill is to roll up into a ball to attack. Hedgehogs do the same thing to defend themselves, but porcupines don't, all they do is to pull up their quills. The closest thing a porcupine can do to that, is becoming a bunch of meatballs.

Another thing: even though the quills of a porcupine do have a similarity with Sonic's, everything else is not. Porcupines have a round and kind of flat face, along with a large tail. None of those align with Sonic's appereance: round body (classic/original design), thin limbs, short/medium sized quills*, and a pointy nose. Those are characteristics that a hedgehog has: thin limbs, pointy nose, round body and short quills.

*:(original design/modern design)

Another guy doubted about considering the comics canon. The thing with this case is that it doesn't need to be canon. The mere existance of a porcupine character, Spike the Porcupine, in the franchise, even if he's from the comics, confirms that there is a difference between a hedgehog and a porcupine in the Sonic franchise.

Yet another guy said "But they are both so slow...", and I decided to investigate about the speed of a hedgehog and a porcupine, and the results were interesting. The guy that started this forum and states that Sonic is a porcupine said that hedgehogs are "famously slow", while porcupines were fast, agile, and able to take on many predators (this last one is irrelevant, honestly). He linked a video that supposedly shows a leopard trying to take on a porcupine at high speeds, which would prove his statement right, and mine wrong. The video proved nothing. It did show a leopard trying to take on a porcupine, but they didn't even run. This is all that happens: Both animals walk around. Leopard tries to "attack". Porcupine pulls quills up. Leopard backs up. Repeat. This proves nothing else other than the porucpine's ability to defend itself, which is totally irrelevant to the current topic.

The results of my investigation were these:

You said porcupines are fast and agile, but the info. says otherwise. According to my information, the speed of a porcupine is around 3-4 kph (2mph), whereas hedgehogs make bursts of speed at 9.5 kph. Even if that was wrong (because it could be, I don't think hedgehogs are THAT fast), it would just mean that porcupines and hedgehogs are equally as fast, both of them running at 2-4 mph. You want proof? Here's a video of a porcupine running:

I've seen hedgehogs that run as fast as that. Porcupines are also sedentary. Sure, not as much as hedgehogs, but they still are slow-moving creatures. Another thing: porucpines are WAY fatter (yes, I mean, fatter, not faster) that hedgehogs. They would seem a lot more fitting to to name "fat pieces of garbage".

Summarizing it, I'm saying hat porucpines don't look like Sonic aside their quills. They are not "way faster than hedgehogs", and nothing you said explains the fact that Spike the Porcupine, a porucpine character who looks different from Sonic, exists in the Sonic franchise. Also, the "hedgehogs roll like Sonic, while porcupines don't" thing should already give a good reason why Sonic is a hedgehog and not a porcupine

@pooch516 said:

Actually, in the comics, Sonic's real name is thought to be Ogilvie Maurice the Hedgehog, his middle name being confirmed in a comic by Sonic himself.

@gkhan:

If what you say was to be true, then how do you explain the fact the Sonic ROLLS INTO A BALL, and porcupines DON'T, and hedgehogs DO? That's a key fact. My past arguments should have been enough to explain, but it seems not.

Your arguments are backed up by visual appereance, not facts. Sure, I see what you mean with the spines and the speed and agiliy of a porcupine, but, other than that, that's no Sonic. What Naoto Oshima wanted with Sonic's design was a circular-looking character, and porcupines would be everything but those.

Want to see a real porcupine? Boom: Spiky the Porcupine, hailing from the Archie Comics.

Yup. He did, didn't he?

Please don't tell me he convinced you.

Oh, almost forgot. There's more, just in case there's any questions or counterattacks to this, or you're just not satisfied:

5. In Archie Comics, a porcupine character was made: Spike the Porcupine. And he DOES actually look like a porcupine. This proves that there IS a difference between a hedgehog and a porcupine in the Sonic franchise, and that Sonic is NOT a porcupine, but a hedgehog.

6. If Sonic was actually supposed to be a porcupine, SEGA of America would've most likely pointed that out before the first game's release, to prevent any conflicts or contrversies. But no, everything points to Sonic actually being a hedgehog and SEGA actually making him a hedgehog on purpose.

7. There's no way SEGA of Japan would confuse a hedgehog with a porcupine, as there's both hedgehogs and porcupines in Japan, and it is common knowledge there.

8. Sonic has pointed out that he's specifically a hedgehog himself. Many, many times. You might say "But Sonic is an alien! He could be anything!" If so, why does he call himself a hedgehog?

9. As mentioned before, Sonic was based off the fact that hedgehogs are very swift and run a lot. As cool and slick you may say they look, porcupines are actually very slow creatures, making it impossible for Naoto Ohshima to base Sonic off a porcupine.

10. An indirect proof is that Ohshima said he based Sonic's concept on a fictional fighter pilot who was nicknamed "Hegdehog" due to his spiky hair. This fact is referenced in the first game's logo, that has Sonic in a pilot's wing emblem.

That should be enough to prove that Sonic isdefinitely a hedgehog. Every fact points to that result.

So, the answer to your initial question is: No, you're wrong. There is no Japanese mistranslation, you're just wrong. Sonic is a hedgehog.

Once again, what did hedgehogs do for you to insult them? Hedgehogs are adorable, cool, and they're good for many things: they're excellent swimmers, they run very fast for their size and they turn into cute balls of spikes to defend themselves. Porcupines are just some fat and weird specimens, and are nowhere as near as "Ruler of the Animal Kingdom". They're color blind, they're slow, and they just pull their quills up. No offense, actually I kinda like porcupines, but not as much as hedgehogs.

Basically, in your language: F*ck you, porcupine!

Disclaimer: I have nothing against porcupines, I actually kinda like them, but not as much as hedgehogs. I mean, look at that big beautiful boy! The reason I said that about them is because I just got ticked off because of what he said about hedgehogs.

Guys, guys. Let's be reasonable here. I know this forum is like one year old, but I honestly don't care.

Sonic is DEFINITELY a hedgehog. Sure, porcupines have those pretty cool spines, but there's these key factors that make Sonic a hedgehog:

1: The idea of using a hedgehog most likely came from the fact that hedgehogs usually run around pretty much everywhere, just like Sonic.

2: The word 'Needlemouse' in Japanese is the literal equivalent to hedgehog in English, whereas porcupine would be 'quill pig' in latin (hedgehog in latin would be hedgepig or urchin, so don't try to use that arguement).

3: Sonic's main way of attacking is turning himself into a ball, which is the same thing hedgehogs do when threatened, whereas porcupines just make their quills stand up.

4: Sonic's anatomy is more similar to a hedgehog rather than a porcupine (example: hedgehogs have their nose sticking out, while porcupines have this flat nose).

Also, come on, hedgehogs aren't that bad! What did they do for you to insult them? I say that hedgehogs are pretty cool and adorable.