Sonic the Hedgehog/YMMV

YMMVs for the franchise as a whole:
"Sonic (to Metal Sonic): "You might know everything I'm going to do, but that's not going to help you, since I know everything you're going to do! STRANGE, isn't it?! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"
 * Alas, Poor Scrappy: Upon the announcement of Big the Cat's retirement from the series the fans reacted by writing memorial poems as well as a Filk Song to the tune of "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett".
 * Awesome Ego: The main character. Without his 'tude, he wouldn't be popular at all.
 * Awesome Music: Has its own page.
 * Base Breaker: Pretty much every character introduced in the past decade, with Shadow being the standout case.
 * Tails. While he is a popular character, he does have his fair share of haters, notably players that didn't like him for how he played in Sonic 2.
 * Broken Base: Shattered, actually, about every single thing about the series. And each faction hates all of the others. This article best sums up the fandom's splintered state.
 * Canon Sue: Arguable cases include:
 * God Mode Sue: Knuckles in The Movie, where he has a Big Damn Heroes moment to effortlessly save Sonic and Tails from Metal Robotnik. Oh, and he can fly too. In every other continuity, he only glides.
 * Shadow is occasionally criticized as such; he's overpowered in nearly every case except his own game because of the gun usage.
 * Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: The fanbase is very quick to start ranting and raving about how any new game will "ruin Sonic forever", often months or years prior to the entry's release. Let's not even get into the squabbling that occurs after a game is released.
 * Complete Monster: Eggman Nega (whose actions at the end of Sonic Rush Adventure disgusted Eggman) and Black Doom (whose plot is an easy candidate for Nightmare Fuel) are major examples. Mephiles the Dark also counts, except that his plan is too convoluted to take seriously.
 * Designated Protagonist Syndrome: A few accuse Sonic of having little personality and backstory compared to the rest of the cast.
 * Dork Age: No one can seem to decide on WHEN it was, but most fans agree that at some point or another there was a Dork Age in the series.
 * 8.8: Fans flipped out at Unleashed's atrocious scores in the press (in a few cases, worse than the universally-panned Sonic '06), many of which blamed the Werehog for ruining the game entirely.
 * Ensemble Darkhorses: Most of which became Breakout Characters; started out with Knuckles, then Fang/Nack, and then Shadow, but nowadays it appears to be Blaze the Cat, one of the few Sonic characters who evokes a generally positive response from the highly Broken Base when she is speculated to appear in a new game. The critics still hate her, though.
 * Some characters from alternate medias qualify to an extent as well. Princess Sally Acorn, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts, who all were originally derived from background characters in the original games, became main stars in their respective shows and have pretty valid fanbases. During the early nineties, Sally arguably appeared on more merchandise than Knuckles and Tails.
 * Mephiles. While his plans are a complete mess, he's considered a pretty good villain by the fans; some fans even want him to make a reappearance in a Sonic game.
 * E-102 Gamma is one of the few newer characters in recent games to not attract much bile, mainly due to not truly coming back from the dead, and his whole life being a Tear Jerker.
 * Rouge the Bat has more fan art than any other Sonic character, and she isn't even a main character. This is probably due to her being a Memetic Sex Goddess.
 * Espio has a huge fan base despite not having as much screen time as other Sonic characters.
 * That seems to be true of the Chaotix trio (re)introduced in Heroes, as they've played in a part in (almost) every game since.
 * For some of the more self-aware parts of the fandom, Big The Cat: he has a unique character design and does a solid enough job as comic relief. They aren't so keen on the fishing mechanic, but even that has its fans...
 * Fan Dumb / Fan Wank: A prime example. There was even an article in Wired magazine about it.
 * Fat Bastard: Dr. Robotnik.
 * Fridge Brilliance:.
 * Game Breaker: Cream in Sonic Advance 2. Makes the bosses a LOT easier. She's a game breaker again in Sonic Chronicles, where she can provide all but unlimited special move use for everyone . She also breaks the game in Sonic Battle, where all of her moves are good or decent at worst. That's saying something. Her slightly below average stats don't change this either.
 * Also the combination of Knuckles with Tails as your partner in Sonic Advance 3 made most levels a joke, considering their combined aerial abilities.
 * Gannon Banned: Numerous examples in the series. Common mistakes that get ire from Sonic fans include:
 * Calling Shadow's Super Form "Hyper Shadow", a mistake stemming from Prima's Sonic Adventure 2 game guide. This one is a surefire way to light the fuse to a Flame War.
 * Mention any of the old backstory used in English speaking countries prior to Sonic Adventure (i.e. Mobius, Sonic's speed coming from his sneakers) and you'll likely be blasted by a group of "Only the Japanese stuff counts" purists. Which will then trigger a war with the "It's our childhood memories and we don't care if it's not really canon" fans.
 * Not to mention confusing the Archie, Fleetway, or cartoon continuities with the canon of the games.
 * Debating over whether Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (video game) is really canon.
 * Debating whether Ivo's real name is "Robotnik" or "Eggman" is another classic flame war kickstarter. Sega settled the issue, but even this works as well as Shigeru Miyamoto's word on Shiek's gender.
 * Oh, and do NOT spell Rouge as Rogue. Just don't.
 * Referring to Rings as "Coins"
 * And lastly, do NOT call Tails a girl. He is a boy.
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Sonic is widely more popular in America and Europe than he is in Japan, his country of origin. There's a particularly fanatical subset of fans in the UK, thanks to Sonic the Comic. There's yet another slight fanbase division over international differences.
 * Goddamned Bats: Nearly every single enemy in the second half of Sonic Chronicles can act as this due to either ridiculous defenses, regenerating health, poisoning you every chance they get, leeching off your health, or any combination of the previously mentioned.
 * The Raptor Hawks in the first half of the game probably count, too. Although there's only six of them at the most, they have 120HP, do ~50 damage per hit, and can use "Evading" whenever they want. It's a good thing when they use their Special move, Feather Barrage, because it's easy to counter.
 * Guide Dang It: Act 2 of the Carnival Night Zone from Sonic 3 still haunts people to this day.
 * Hate Dumb and Fan Haters: Just as bad as the Fan Dumb.
 * And sometimes they're all the same "fans".
 * Internet Backdraft: Anything about this series can cause massive Flame Wars.
 * 2 words: Eye color.
 * And in the case of Sonic 4, eyelids.
 * Just Here for Godzilla: Most fans play the 3D games for the Sonic gameplay rather than for the many, many other gameplay styles, even when it can comprise as little as 1/4th the length of the entire game. This has resulted in Sonic being the only playable character in some of the more recent games.
 * Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Sonic and Tails. Let's just say that pairings with them can get rather silly at times.
 * It's made all the more confusing because neither of them is particularly interested in romance (bar Sonic X and the comics), to the point where Tails outright hates romance in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and, to a lesser extent, the games.
 * Memetic Mutation:
 * BLAST PROCESSING
 * There is one particular meme that tracends all continuities, and that is the fact that "Sonic is the fastest thing alive... in bed."
 * MARGARINE!!!!!
 * Junichi Kanemaru's Gratuitous English.
 * "If someone tries to touch you in a place or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's no good!" The subject of many a Youtube Poop.
 * From Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie, aside from "SHUT UP, TAILS!", there's:

"Sonic: Uh oh, gotta speed up!"
 * Sonic 2006 brought us this:


 * Super Smash Brothers brought us "You're too sloooooooow..."
 * "Find the computer room!"
 * "SnooPING AS usual, I see".
 * "I'M GOING TO GIVE MYSELF A PRRRROMOTION!"
 * "Ah! Happiness is so much more enjoyable, when it comes from the misery of others!"
 * "GOTTA GO FAST", a phrase associated with two different memes: an infamous piece of Sonic fanart, and a dub themesong from Sonic X. It also managed to get associated with Tribes due to the gameplay style of the latest installment revolving around speed.
 * HOW 2 DRAW SANIC HEGEHOG.
 * Memetic Sex God: Rouge, again.
 * Eggman's Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog appearance was pitched as the sexiest fat guy in the world.
 * Moe: Cream, along with her pet Chao, Cheese.
 * Most Annoying Sound: Any variation of "Be careful not to fall!"
 * " Get a load of THIS!!!" "Get a load of THIS!!!" Get a load of THIS!!!"
 * "All systems, FULL-POWERRRR!"
 * Hi, I'm Omochao, and I'm here to help you!
 * "You know what they say, the more, the merrier!"
 * FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM!
 * "Time for a change of pace!" It's getting to the point where it seems that Eggman has to have at least one irritating ad nauseum line per game.
 * "THAT LOOKS LIKE A HOMING SHOT!"
 * "IT'S NO USE!"
 * Narm Charm: The corny dubs of most of the games may be annoying, but the thrill of the gameplay is usually worth it.
 * Nightmare Fuel: Has its own page.
 * The Roboticizer, the Sonic Colors drowning theme, Shadow's backstory, and the bosses in Sonic Spinball.
 * Nightmare Retardant: Possibly played deliberately with E-102 Gamma. With his intimidating design, lifeless facial features, Machine Monotone and deadly abilities (he came close to blowing Sonic's brains out point blank at one point), he may have made for a genuinely terrifying and imposing creation of Eggman's, if his sentience didn't get in the way. Even his theme qualifies both as Nightmare Fuel and a pure Tear Jerker.
 * Older Than They Think: A good number of fans seem to think that Amy has only been around since the Sonic Adventure days/is a recent addition. She has actually been around for about or (at least) almost as long as Tails (depending on whether you count the manga or Sonic CD as her debut).
 * Popularity Polynomial: Sonic's popularity has gone up and down over the years. It's currently on an up trend due to a string of acclaimed games such as Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II.
 * Ron the Death Eater: Sonic himself. He very often has his character mutilated and warped into an abusive boyfriend and even a Complete Monster towards Amy Rose by ShadAmy and KnuxAmy shippers in fanwork.
 * Rooting for the Empire/Evil Is Cool: Robotnik/Eggman might be a Fat Bastard, but in most of his incarnations he's also brilliant, stylish, and chews the scenery to the point that a better nickname might be Hamman.
 * Ruined FOREVER: Many Sonic fans cry Ruined FOREVER after any game is released after another one, usually with a controversial choice. It also happened when the game voice cast was replaced with 4Kids one.
 * The Scrappy: Take your pick; every medium has one. The main ones from the games are Big, Cream, Silver, Princess Elise, and Exposition Fairy Omochao. Even Shadow counted at one point, given that he is a Base Breaker.
 * Damsel Scrappy: Princess Elise was kidnapped four times throughout the entirety of the game.
 * Replacement Scrappy:
 * When Silver got a starring role in the Milestone Celebration Sonic '06 with Sonic and Shadow, fans felt he was usurping worthier characters like Tails or Knuckles and accused Sega of being biased against their non-hedgehog characters. His cameo in Brawl also led to claims of this.
 * The Rivals games were more enjoyable before we found out Nega kicked Eggman out of the villain spotlight.
 * Omega is this for fans of E-102 Gamma.
 * Rescued From the Scrappy Heap:
 * Thanks to Bioware, Big went from scrappy idiot to lovable oaf.
 * Also Cream, who goes from Distressed Damsel to Badass Adorable Game Breaker in Sonic Advance 2.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 managed to make Shadow the Hedgehog more bearable for some of his previous haters. Since the previous game saw him reach the end of his Quest for Identity and resolve to put the past behind him, this game saw Shadow greatly cut down on the angsting and replace it with stoic badassery. And from a purely technical perspective, his gameplay is probably the least broken out of the three main heroes.
 * In Sonic Generations, even haters of Silver have admitted to loving his new, more powerful form and the boss battle against him. His appearances in the comic have also made him one of Sonic Archie's most popular new characters, to the point of him getting a new Sonic Special.
 * Scrappy Level: Carnival Night Zone, specifically for the Red Barrel of Doom, and the Labyrinth Zone from the first game. Mad Space and Death Chamber in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * Tier-Induced Scrappy: Shadow, as the Game Breaker in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (with or without Banjo and Kazooie). Shadow has managed to take his Base Breaker status to a whole new level.
 * Shoo Out the New Guy: Silver started out overhyped, but since Sonic '06 and the Rivals games, he's pretty much been reduced to being a member of multiplayer rosters.
 * So Bad It's Good: Among the usual candidates named for this are multiple song lyrics, most strikingly We Can, My Sweet Passion, and the in-level Knuckles raps from Sonic Adventure 2, the campy dialogue during levels, and, to a lesser extent, in some cutscenes, and almost everything about Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Any change as far as the fanbase is concerned.
 * Uncanny Valley: Present in the series starting with Sonic Adventure (though it doesn't have this effect now) and peaking in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, with the Anthropomorphic characters compared to semi-realistic humans. Averted starting in Sonic Unleashed, which has stylized humans.
 * Villain Decay: Reverse-proportional to Eggman's Character Development. As he becomes more and more humanized and sympathetic, he becomes less and less evil. Of course, Eggman has many fans precisely because of this morality shift, so perhaps it isn't all bad...
 * He's been getting more dangerous as of recent games. Interestingly this is done without compromising much of his clownish semi likeable personality from before.
 * What an Idiot!: The Nocturnus tried to conquer the ancient world and they did conquer the Twilight Cage -- and given the Cage's Year Inside, Hour Outside effect, Shade probably took part in both conquests. Why did she not expect Ix to actually want to conquer Earth?
 * This is even played up in one episode of the TV series -- when a rival genius' shapeshifting robot defects, Dr. Robotnik boasts that he deliberately designed Scratch and Grounder to be idiots, so they'd never defect.
 * The Woobie: E-102 Gamma. First major character to be killed off, after a lifespan of less than a week, which unlike Shadow or Emerl, was not commemorated or recognized by the other heroes. He shares this with . But, if you pay attention to the chronology, he only got to live for one day.
 * Iron Woobie: Despite how neglected it was by everyone except Amy and everything it went through, it doesn't angst about any of it.
 * Tails usually qualifies for this in most continuities.
 * Shadow the Hedgehog, during Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, and to a certain extent Sonic Battle, was depicted as a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds at times.

YMMVs for the Sega Genesis game

 * Nightmare Fuel: The infamous drowning music, which would become a recurring jingle in most games in the franchise with bodies of water that don't act as automatic Bottomless Pits. And since Labyrinth Zone is considered the hardest of the water levels in the series, you can expect to hear this a lot.
 * If you don't know the shortcut, Scrap Brain Act 3 (which was actually Labyrinth "4") is harder to some.
 * Porting Disaster: The Game Boy Advance port Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis, which features terrible physics (due to not using the original game code), butchered audio, and slowdown. To make matters worse, this massacre of a classic was released to mark the 15th anniversary of the series. The port of the game on the Sega Dreamcast's Sega Smash Pack: Volume 1 compilation fared better, but was also marred by butchered audio.
 * The DS port is apparently far better.
 * Scrappy Level: Labyrinth Zone, and Marble Zone for younger players.
 * They Just Didn't Care: The Game Boy Advance port. Look above for more details.