Characters: SatAM vs. SEGA

Hey guys, it's 100th blog entry for the group! That... is probably pretty sad, actually, but eh.

So guys, let's look at the gaps between the SatAM and SEGA cast in how they're portrayed, meddling aside.

There's been some questioning, mainly by , as to whether the SatAM cast are necessary for the comic's survival. There were two entries, the first asking people whether they thought the characters were needed to keep the comic going, the second claiming to analyse the characters but really just accentuating the negative and trying to suggest that they could be replaced by various members of the SEGA cast.

Oh, because Sonic's intellectual foil and tactical supporter are so obviously roles that can be filled by a blind fangirl, right guys?

Of course, these things are both in Save-Archie-Sonic, so maybe a logical failing like that was to be expected.

Now, the thing that sealed the deal for me is who was agreeing to what. On one side, you had the usual cavalcade of SEGAphile derps, butthurt Sonamy fans, and ignorant Sally-haters that usually gravitate to such opinions. On the other side, you had and .

So, in light of this, I think I should explain exactly why the SatAM characters are far, far better than their SEGA-original buddies.

The obvious one is depth. The SEGA cast are largely one-dimensional. They're a gang of stereotypes. The free-spirited hero (A terrible archetype in and of itself). The child genius. The lunkheaded bruiser. The lovestruck fangirl. The mopey antihero. They're tropes. Now, Tropes are not bad, but they aren't necessarily good either. And if you have a character that's a random collection of tropes, versus a character who is actually a construction, then the latter works much better.

That brings me to the SatAM cast: They're constructions. You can't sum up the SatAM cast in a single clause. Maybe you could with a few, like Antoine, during the show itself, but if you factor in everything that was done with those characters in Archie as well, like the stuff with Armand, and the romance with Bunnie (to keep things relating to Antoine).

Now, a trope-made character can be good, but the problem is that they're good mainly in the realm of non-plot driven shows or comics. With these characters, it doesn't matter if they're developed, because they're most likely being used in a gag-a-day comic, or a short cartoon. No-one complains about the Looney Tunes lacking development, because spending time developing the character of the Coyote would mean time spent not watching him get hit by train, or fall off a cliff, and really, if you're watching these cartoons, you're there for the comedy. If you're writing a plot-driven show, then those tropes have to connect, and construct the character, or the character feels weak and falls flat.

The fact that the comic needs the SatAM cast is blatantly obvious, even within the comic itself, and it's especially apparent in recent arcs. The comic had two arcs on the trot that excluded the SatAM cast: Mecha Sally (Mecha Sally herself doesn't count as a character, she had zero personality) and Worlds Collide. Both of them, in terms of characterization, were among the weakest stories in all of Flynn's run. The SEGA cast can't carry a story on their own.

Flynn said in an interview that he wanted to make Sonic the main character in the new continuity, and not let Sally overtake him again. THe thing is that, with the way SEGA do characters, Sally will eventually eclipse him again anyway. SEGA's characters couldn't carry a story in a bucket. The Archie cast have been carrying the comic since '93.

SEGA, meanwhile, are anti-character development incarnate. Let's list a few examples:

Tails: In SA1, Tails learns that he can do things on his own, without Sonic's help. He learns this again in SA2. And then he learns it again a little bit in Battle. After that? He lapses back into being a sidekick with no other role until Colours, where he at last remembers that he can talk back to Sonic.

Amy: In SA1, Amy also learns to not rely entirely on Sonic, and try to make him respect her. She shows shades of this in SA2, but after that, she's delusional. She improved mildly during the Dork Age, being less focused on marriage and more on just being with Sonic, but she seemed to get less intelligent, and showed no signs of wanting to make Sonic respect her.

Knuckles: Knuckles was originally devious, dutiful, and a worthwhile, if situational ally. THen SEGA took to having him get constantly tricked and distracted so that the Master Emerald could be stolen/destroyed as an excuse to put him in games. Now they don't even do that, he's just a slow-witted comic foil.

Shadow: Shadow, interestingly, was an actual multi-layered character in his early appearances. He got a whole heap of development in his first few games. SA2 was all about his quest to fulfill Maria's request, Sonic Heroes brought him back and set up the possibility that he was a robot, and Battle had him coming to terms with the possibility that he is a weapon. But then Shadow's own game happened, and now he's a copy of his overly grumpy, overpowered Sonic X counterpart.

Emerl: Emerl is the best Sonic character ever. This is basically undeniable. He developed as a character, grew as a person, he was fun to play around with, and he was generally just awesome. We got to see him grow from being a mute, but somewhat curious drone, to becoming a playful, but heroic and noble person, even being freed from his destructive nature so that he could live his life to the fullest. So what do SEGA do? Fucking kill him.