Sonic (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

This article is about Sonic's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic
File:Sonic Icon.gif
Universe	Sonic the Hedgehog
Also appears in	SSBB
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	Low (33)

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) is a character from SEGA who appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A swift character, Sonic runs at an extremely fast pace that surpasses even Captain Falcon. Nintendo Power states that since Sonic isn't well known for his fighting skills, some of his fighting moves were influenced by SEGA's fighting property, Virtua Fighter. Sonic's moves are also influenced by SEGA's Sonic The Fighters. Sonic is unlocked by doing one of these four things, beat Sonic after beating Classic mode with 10 different characters, beat Sonic after playing in Brawls for 10 hours, have Sonic join your party in The Subspace Emissary or beat Sonic after playing 300 Brawls.

Sonic is currently placed 33^rd on the Brawl tier list due to his abysmal priority and lack of killing moves, gimped recovery, and poor matchups overall. He is the lowest-ranked newcomer in Brawl.

Attributes

Sonic is the fastest character in the game, and this allows him to use his dash attack repeatedly and quickly. This, and many other moves, allows him to quickly rack up damage and then use one of his smash attacks to finish the opponent. His aerials can be used to juggle opponents with the right timing and skill, allowing for many attack possibilities. His down aerial is a Stall-Then-Fall which means that if he misses, there will be large landing lag, or a likely SD. His standard special, Homing Attack, locks on to opponents if they are close enough, can be used to hinder opponents’ recoveries, and can be used infinitely under some stages to stall. His side special, Spin Dash, can give some horizontal if up is hit during the beginning of the move. His down special, Spin Charge, allows him to stay in one place (not in the air, though) and charge the move by rapidly hitting the special attack button, with the move being activated when down is let go of. His up special, Spring Jump, acts differently depending on whether it’s used in the air or on the ground. If used on the ground, the spring will remain there for a few seconds, allowing anyone to use it, including the original sonic that used it, which means he can use 2 spring jumps to get a large amount of vertical distance. If used in the air, however, the spring will simply fall and act like a projectile. Using the Homing Attack and Spin Dash for horizontal recovery and the Spring Jump for vertical recovery, Sonic has a very good recovery. His final smash, Super Sonic, transforms him into Super Sonic and he can fly around the stage dealing good damage and knockback.

His poor tier placement stems from poor killing power and poor priority. Lacking a Meteor Smash, Sonic has only three ways to reliably kill the opponent (backwards and upwards aerial, and forward smash), all of which are slow and obvious in nature. This hinders his ability to finish off opponents. His poor priority is usually masked by his attack speed, but long-lasting hitboxes wreak havoc on the spiky hedgehog.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack - A left-handed punch, then a right-handed punch, then finally a side kick with the left leg. 7% damage.
• Dash Attack - Rolls into a ball to hit anyone in his way, similar to when you press down while running in most Sonic games. 6% damage.
• Strong Side - Stick out both of his feet, with both of his hands planted on the ground (appearance and knockback comparable to Pikachu's F-Tilt in Melee). 11% damage, in two hits.
• Strong Up - Kicks upward which hits three times (appearance comparable to C. Falcon's Up Smash in Melee). Very minimal knockback. 14 damage if both hits connect(7% per hit).
• Strong Down - Foot sweep (appearance and knockback comparable to Sheik's D-Tilt in Melee). 6% damage. Moves him forward.

Smash

• Side Smash - Winds up his arm during the charge and attacks with a short range punch and yells "GO!". It has a good knockback, has a fast start-up speed, little lag after, but the range isn't too impressive. 14-19% damage. Can be angled.
• Up Smash - Sonic does a short jump and hangs at its apex for a bit doing a spin. Enemies that get hit are caught into this attack, and gets hit multiple times until the final hit, which does decent knockback (low knockback in relative to a Smash attack's standard). This has a lot of priority (somewhat similar to Olimar's up tilt by how both make the characters float for a little bit and the multiple hits). In addition it can be performed almost instantaneously after running making it a very good combo starter. 14-19% damage. This attack can also spike.
• Down Smash - Spin Dashes back and forth over a short distance around him. It has good knockback, and very good range. 12-19% damage.

Other

• Ledge Attack - Spins in front. 8% damage.
• 100% Ledge Attack - Stick's out one foot then the other while on his back, two consecutive hits. 13% damage.
• Floor Attack - Quick foot sweep, hits both sides. 6% damage.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Spins in place. Properties are similar to the properties of the Sex Kick. 11% damage.
• Forward Aerial - Drills at the enemy head first rotating his body. Imagine Pikachu's F-Air (more similar to the 64/Brawl version than the Melee version). 14% damage.
• Back Aerial - Kicks behind him (appearance and knockback comparable to Samus's B-Air in Melee). Sonic's best killing move. 13% damage.
• Up Aerial - A flip kick similar to Fox's U-Air. First he splits his legs apart and out (capable of hitting enemies a bit to his sides) doing no significant knockback. Then he kicks up, knocking his opponents up with significant knockback. 9% damage.
• Down Aerial - A Stall-Then-Fall aerial. Sonic stalls for a brief moment, then shoots downwards foot first. Appearance is comparable to Ganondorf's Wizard's Foot. This attack does NOT continue downwards until landing (although it does go down very far before stopping). It has a good amount of lag when hitting the ground. When hitting a grounded opponent, the angle of knockback is similar to Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick. 8% damage.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel - Knees the opponent. 3% damage.
• Forward Throw - Oddly enough, it kicks them upwards using a straight up kick (think Sonic doing the splits vertically). Can follow with Up-Air juggles, but it can be heavily DI'ed backwards. 9% damage.
• Back Throw - Does a back flip while spinning (and while holding the opponent) and slams them on the ground, sending them backwards with very little knockback. Appearance is similar to Pikachu's back throw in Melee. 8% damage.
• Up Throw - Tosses the opponent slightly above him and then lands on his hands as if to do a push-up. His quills harden just before they make contact and the foe is shot upwards and at an angle. 12% damage.
• Down Throw - Throws them down and spins on them (similar to Jigglypuff's down throw but not quite the same), then knocks them a bit forward. Does a good amount of damage and has decent horizontal knockback. 8% damage.

Special Moves

Template:Specialmoves

Taunts

Up: Does a front flip, then crosses arms with his index finger pointing out while making a teasing clicking tune, which forms into one of his signature poses.

Side: Does a figure eight peelout dash, saying "You're too slow!" in a teasing manner.

Down: Says: "C'mon, step it up!" while breakdancing.

Role in Subspace Emissary

At the very end of the Subspace Emissary, Sonic appears and smashes Tabuu's wings, weakening his Off Waves. He then joins the fighters to defeat him and save the Smash Bros. world. The Sonic Joins the Brawl trailer suggests that Sonic may have had an earlier role in the story mode, when he is seen fighting the enemies with Mario.

Exclusive Stickers

• Amy Rose: [Leg] Attack +14
• Classic Sonic JP Ver.: [Arm] Attack +21
• Classic Sonic US Ver.: [Throwing] Attack +20
• Dr. Eggman: Launch Resistance +39
• Espio The Chameleon: [Body, Spin] Attack +12
• Jet The Hawk: [Leg] Attack +17
• Knuckles The Echidna: [Electric] Resistance +23
• Shadow The Hedgehog: [Specials: Direct] Attack +20
• Silver the Hedgehog: Launch Power +49
• Sonic the Hedgehog: [Body, Spin] Attack +32
• Super Sonic: [Electric] Resistance +27
• Wave the Swallow: [Arm] Attack +19

Trivia

• When wearing a bunny hood, Sonic can outrace both the Big Blue track and the water slope on Distant Planet to the point of self-destructing.
• Despite being an unlockable character, Sonic appears in the game's title screen.
• Many of Sonic's moves originate from his appearance in the game Sonic: the Fighters.
• Due to his late appearance, Sonic is never turned into a trophy in the Subspace Emissary outside of after getting a Game Over.
• Sonic is the only character who can be unlocked by four separate methods.
• Sonic is the first unlockable character to be playable prior to the game's release. He was first playable in Nintendo Media Summit in October 2007, shortly after he was confirmed to be in the game.
• Sonic's crowd cheer 'Go! Go! Sonic!,' is a reference to the fact that he's 'the fastest thing alive.'

External links

• Sonic's page at Smash Bros Dojo!!
• A video demonstration of Sonic against Link
• The Origin of Sonic's Moveset