Black and fat, or green and lean? »

          One of the moderate plotholes of today's generation is, what exactly do we make of the Sonic characters' original appearances? Do we just cancel them out or is there some way can justify their transition to the new appearances?

           Many Sonic fans, especially pre-1998 loyalists find a lot of comfort and sanctuary in the idea that the Sonic cast, at one point looked like how they did in the old games. As convenient and time-honored as that may come off, that's probably not the case, canonically. Albeit, Archie came up with some pretty impressive methods on how the characters developed their new SA-style appearance, the game storyline has offered no such justification.

           So in the end, we're left with a single question. Metaphorically-speaking… was Sonic black-eyed and fat in the old games, or green-eyed and lean? As mentioned, a lot of fans wish it was the first one. Because Sonic's classic appearance with those black beady eyes and his chubby lil' tummy is what won the hearts of most long-time, true Sonic fans. The height of Sonic's popularity were in those days, in fact. So needless to say, many fans would like it if Sonic, as portrayed currently, ONCE looked like that in his youth. It would show that Sega hasn't forgotten about Sonic's glory days. This applies to all Sonic characters, and when I mean all, I mean all.

           If what we want to believe is true, then what would all of the new characters be like? Try envisioning an oldschool Shadow or an oldschool Rouge. Shadow with a chubby hide and void of those red eyes that earned him half of his popularity. What supports such an admired notion is the youthful appearance of their oldschool manifestations, not to mention their shorter heights. They heed evidence that perhaps the look from the pre 1998 games was actually Sonic when he was younger. This also supports the solution I gave for the Age Dispute plothole, regarding how each character perhaps aged four years between the new and old generations.

Solution #1: In the end, there are two ways to solve this plothole. Solution 1 goes more out of bounds from canon and relates to the wishful thinking that the Sonic cast's current appearances are the aged, evolved appearances of their facades in the pre-1998 Sonic games. However, supporting this plothole also means it would be required to support the first solution for the Age Dispute plothole as well. The Age Dispute plothole described all of the senseless age-switching between the old and new generations of the Sonic universe. The first solution described how the Sonic cast perhaps aged four years from the old generation to the new generation.

           Four years is a pretty long time: plenty of time for the cast's bodies to change like how they did. As for the eyes, those are just something you will have to accept were there the entire time (old and new generation). I mean, you could always say that Sonic's race of animals get their eye color when they reach a certain age like cats, but that wouldn't explain why Cream and Charmy got it so young.

            So yes, this solution means that between the old and new generations, the Sonic characters aged four years and developed their new, 1998 and beyond appearances. The eyes are the only things that are still questionable. It's easy to solve that by saying that their eyes were colored in their old appearances as well. No biggie, since it's actually their different body shapes that distinguish them from the new generation looks much more than the eye color. And as for attire? Pfft, no problem there. They simply acquired their new get-up somehow - TA-DA! Anyway, Let's start by analyzing between the old and new appearances. Sonic the Hedgehog will be used as our example.

             As seen above, when regarding Sonic's original and current appearance, quite literally the ONLY thing seen on his current look that could not be achieved from his old look through aging are the eyes. If Sonic currently has green eyes, he'd have had them all his life. Eye color doesn't change throughout life, especially if it started out black. Otherwise, his new physique could easily have been acquired through aging. Let us take a look at the differences between them, shall we?

(1). The new Sonic has longer quills and ears - longer or bigger ANYTHING is acquired through age.
(2). The new Sonic has a much more lean, slightly larger, and developed physique: something obviously acquired through age.
(3). Most of all, the new Sonic is taller - although the old Sonic's height hasn't been officially specified, Metal Sonic's was. Metal Sonic's height as listed in the Japanese Sonic CD manual is 2.5 feet, and when comparing the Sonic sprites with the Metal Sonic sprites in Sonic CD, they are identical in height, meaning Sonic's height was 2.5 feet in the old games. Sonic's current height is 3'1" feet. So he is taller, and getting taller is achieved through, guess what, AGING.
(4). The new Sonic has green eyes. This is the only impasse in this plothole. So let's just say the old Sonic had eyes like the new one as well.
(5). The new Sonic has new gold buckles on his shoes and soles. This is easy: he simply acquired these new accessories somehow.

             In the end, other than the eyes, everything that differentiates the old look from the new could be achieved through aging, and three to four years is plenty of time to achieve it. So, as a conclusion, here is my proposal for how Sonic looked in the old generation when he was 11 or 12 years old for this particular solution to the plothole:

Here is photoshop edit I did of an old Sonic image to show my proposal for how Sonic looked in the old generation three to four years back to support this particular solution. As you can see, virtually nothing was changed except the eyes, which I made green with a pupil to match the new generation. The new-style eyes do not take away the luster of his oldschool appearance at all, if you ask me. He looks just as good and also justifies Sonic's new appearance. It would now make PERFECT sense if this Sonic shown above ages into the new one we see in the current games.

             Now all you have to do is apply the above to all of the other Sonic characters, and boom! You have instant oldschool appearances that can justifiably age into their new generation appearances! Whether or not you choose to use this solution for your fanfic/comic/story is up to you. If you don't like this, take the much more simple one below.

Solution #2: Solution #2 is a lot more practical and canon to the games.

            This solution is, in fact, what I think Sonic Team did with the appearance dispute. Solution #2 proposes that the Sonic characters always looked like how they do in the current generation. That would mean in Sonic 1, 2, 3 and all the classics we grew up with, Sonic looked just like how he does these days. This is the only thing Sonic Team could've done with the old games other than use a plot element similar to Solution #1. Or, of course, the only other thing they could've done to justify the new generation appearances was say that the old games never happened or say they were some completely different dimension to Sonic. However, I highly doubt they'd do that since they'd basically be throwing away 7 and a half of Sonic's glory years.

             Saying that Sonic & co. always looked like how they do now, even in the old generation part of the continuity is most likely Sonic Team's solution to the appearance dispute. Proof of this is Amy's flashback in Sonic Adventure, when she reminisces of Sonic holding her in protection as they were pursued by Metal Sonic. She referred to them as the good ole days, chasing and taking down the bad guys. When considering the characters in her flashback: her, Sonic, and Metal Sonic, then that means it could've been a flashback of Sonic CD. Although, that is just speculation, especially since the land structure of the areas they are being chased in aren't all that "Sonic CD-ish."

             But the point is, she talked about the good old days, which exudes that there was once a time where what she reminisces about… well, actually happened. Overall, solution #2 is for those of you who want to keep things conservative and perhaps official. Ultimately, plothole solved with two solutions. Enjoy.