Sonic Underground

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Left to right: Sonia, Sonic and Manic.

Adapted from a French cartoon called Sonic le Rebelle, this was the third Sonic Animated Adaptation made. It was produced by DiC Entertainment.

Sonic and his two siblings, Sonia and Manic, are left by Queen Aleena the Hedgehog as Doorstop Babies to families, each of a different class. Eventually, they meet together when grown up, and guided by the Oracle of Delphius, they set out to thwart Robotnik, find their mother, and form the Council of Four.

Widely panned among much of the fandom, although, like every show, it is not without its fans.

Thanks to so many Original Characters and the omission of almost all the official characters existing at the time, despite there being potential room for them (Cyrus could easily have been Tails), and since many of the background characters were more alien than any Earth-based animal, many Sonic fans and even fans of the series debated that it was really even intended to be a Sonic show, and that the characters of Sonic and Robotnik were just a hook for Sonic fans. Even the series plot is basically a This Is Your Premise On Drugs take of the Sonic Vs. Robotnik story.

Regardless of the characters used, it was most likely the "hook" for the show that resulted in its thorough panning. This was that the REAL premise of the show was that Robotnik had banned all music (if they'd made it more about the 'freedom of expression' that music represents it might have made sense, but Robotnik just hated music), and our three protagonists were Musical Assassins with The Power of Rock. Each episode's climax would inevitably be a song performed by the triplets, often with An Aesop based on the events of the episode.

Not to be confused with the two other western animated series based on Sonic the Hedgehog, the Anime series Sonic X, or the OVA Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie.

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Sonic Underground provides examples of:

• Aborted Arc: They made a vow their mother will be found... but she never was. The series ended early.
• Action Girl: Sonia. Okay, she gets captured by Dingo a lot but she can kick quite a lot of butt.
• An Aesop: Almost every song in the show.
• The Artful Dodger: Manic.
• Arranged Marriage: Sonia to Bartleby, and Queen Aleena to Robotnik in a one-off episode.
• Autobots Rock Out: Sonic the Hedgehog with his own rock band. Need I say more?
• Badass Mustache: Dr. Robotnik.
• Bread and Circuses/Aristocrats Are Evil: The series shows how Robotnik can afford to stay in power. The upper-class aristocrats can either provide his funding, or lose their land and priviliges, and risk roboticisation.
• Butt Monkey: Dingo, and Robotnik at times.
• Canon Foreigner: Besides most of the main characters, a notable example is Cyrus, a lion and member of the resistance movement.
• Canon Immigrant: Knuckles's grandfather, Athair, was a character from the Archie Sonic comics.
• Character Development: Yes, there actually was some. In the beginning, Sonia was pretty whiney, prone to complaining whenever her appearance was tarnished. Later in the series, she becomes more of a leader figure, and is easily the most focused of the siblings.
• Chatty Hairdresser: She turned out to be a spy for Robotnik.
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: The lasers their instruments shot were color-coded.
• Chromatic Arrangement
• Deus Ex Machina: Queen Aleena made sporadic appearances to save the hedgehogs at times.
• Disguised in Drag: Sonic and Manic have no qualms with dressing up as ladies to fool Robotnik and his goons.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Manic, who can cause earthquakes.
• Dissonant Serenity: Early in the series, there was a strange problem with the animation where the characters would be smiling, even when talking about something depression or when something bad was happening. Thankfully this went away.
• Door Step Baby: Sonic and Sonia; Manic was stolen from his.
• Dumb Muscle: Dingo.
• Easy Amnesia: Sonia in "Who Do You Think You Are?"
• Eighties Hair: Oh jeez, Sonia. And her outfit looks an awful lot like Wonder Woman to boot...
• Episode Title Card
• Everything's Better With Spinning: Sonia.
• Expository Theme Tune
• GASP! ... Everytime the villans caught the Trio off-screen.
• Gossipy Hens: Sonia chatting with her hairdresser turned deadly when it was revealed she was a spy.
• Group Hug
• Halfway Plot Switch: Used, and nearly invoked, in "Wedding Bell Blues." Since Queen Aleena didn't show for her forced marriage to Robotnik, they'll instead crown Sonia queen in her stead--with Robotnik as the real power.
• Hover Board: Manic's, though Sonic was shown with one in a single episode.
• In Name Only: The only connections to the video games are Sonic, Dr. Robotnik, Knuckles, and the Chaos Emerald. Absolutely nothing else. Some critics of the show speculate it wasn't meant to be a Sonic show at all.
• Instrument of Murder
• Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Despite his wealthy lifestyle, cowardice, and the threats to his life should he turn his back on Robotnik, Bartleby has helped the hedgehogs at times.
  • In return, they broke him out of prison near the end of the series.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Happens to Sonia in one episode.
• Left Hanging
• Leitmotif: Aleena's theme, an ethereal electric guitar riff.
• Love Triangle: Started out with Bartleby and Cyrus competing for Sonia's affection, then became one between her, Cyrus and Knuckles.
• Madness Mantra:

Emerald-powered Dingo: CHAOS....I...WANT...CHAOS!

• Mama Bear: Queen Aleena shot down some Swatbots to save Manic from being roboticized.
• Meaningful Name: Sonia and Manic both make the word "Sonic" when "ia" and "ma" are removed from their respective names.
• The Mentor: The Oracle of Delphius.
• Messy Hair: Manic has it.
• Mind Control Device: The darts in "Bug!"
• Mirror Universe: The hedgehogs entered one where they were the tyrants and Robotnik was a Freedom Fighter. It ended with them redeeming their evil counterparts. Strangely, there was no mirror Aleena.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Manic can't seem to get out of his old habit of stealing.
• Musical Assassin: All three of the hedgehogs.
• Myth Arc: Later episodes had more of a Story Arc, with the hedgehogs meeting Knuckles and Cyrus, and Bartleby joining the side of good. Who knows how it would've ended.
• Mythology Gag: In the first episode, we can see Uncle Chuck and Sonic in Uncle Chuck's base from Sonic the Hedgehog. When Robotnik is taking over, we can see a statue of King Acorn (Also from SatAM) crumble.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A lot of trouble could have avoided if the Oracle hadn't told Robotnik about their plan to overthrow him.
• No Ending: The show was canceled before an ending could be written; the final episode doesn't resolve anything.
• Never Say Die: Averted hard in the second episode when the trio fail a training excersice. Sonic: "I got us killed."
• Photographic Memory: Sonia.
• The Power of Friendship
• The Power of Rock
• There Was a Door: Sleet and Dingo have an exchange in episode 2:

Sleet: Go in and help the metalhead. Go! Dingo: Y-you mean through the door there? Sleet: No, through the wall, genius Dingo: Okey-dokey! *charges through the wall*

• Prince Charming Wannabe: Bartleby Mink, though he didn't start like it; at first Sonia reciprocated his affections to a degree.
• Protest Song: The band had a few in their repertoire, such as "Justice Calling" and "The Sound of Freedom".
• Re-Power: Famously super-fast Sonic gets...ThePowerOfRock.
• Rich Suitor Poor Suitor: Bartleby of the high-class, haughty variety, and Cyrus, the street-smart resistance member. Sonia's also shown affection for Knuckles, who doesn't really fit into either category.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: While there are exceptions, such as Argus's roboticized form, most roboticized Mobians don't look much different from their regular selves. Some even look almost completely Mobian except for cybernetic eyes or limbs.
• Roboticized Adoptive Parents: Sonic, Sonya and Manic all have some.
• Robotic Reveal: Ifyoucan.
• Rock Trio: The triplets, naturally, with Sonia playing keyboard instead of bass guitar.
• Sadistic Choice: In the aptly-named "Sonia's Choice", she must choose whether to save Sonic or Manic from the roboticizer. Sonia chooses Sonic...and Queen Aleena ends up saving Manic.
• Shape Shifter: Dingo can morph into just about anything with Sleet's morphing device.
• Shout Out: Manic's hoverboard looks like a Federation Scoutship from the Star Trek the Next Generation movies.
  • The end of "Bartleby the Prisoner" is one to Casablanca.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Sonia is an upper-class, responsible girl who hates getting dirty. Manic, on the other hand, is a laid-back street rat who's lived in the sewers most of his life.
• Silence, You Fool: Possibly this Robotnick's catch-line in the show, usually used against Sleet and Dingo when they try to explain themselves about why they are incompetient.
• Sticky Fingers: Manic.
• Surfer Dude: Manic.
• Theme Tune Cameo: Lots of times.
• The Renaissance Age of Animation
• Those Two Bad Guys: Sleet and Dingo.
• Totally Radical
• Trademark Favorite Food: Again, chili dogs.
• Wedding Smashers: The hedgehogs try and crash Queen Aleena's forced marriage to Robotnik--except there was never one to begin with as she didn't show.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway: Sonic has Super Speed. Sonia has Super Strength. Manic...can pick locks.
  • Heart Is an Awesome Power: Which helps a lot in sneaking in and out of Robotnik's base.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sonic's fear of water comes into play in a few episodes.
• Youtube Poop: Early on, this was a favored source material, mostly sparked by a wave of poops employing the aforementioned Memetic Mutation.