Sonic and Character Symbolism: Beings of Nature, an Analysis
Recently I watched a Video, a really interesting video I enjoyed and that made me think a lot, a video exploring Sonic's Close Friends called: If Sonic is the Wind then ...
Anyway, the main takeaway is that Sonic's close friends, like Sonic, are embodiments of Aspects of Nature and showcase this in their strenghts, weaknesses and personalities ... but I believe there is more to it, because Sonic is not the only character who represents/is capable of using the Wind, because Espio is right there, and so is Shadow, so I come here with an Expansion partially based by Sonic Heroes but exploring other characters. For Starters, I need to introduce two concepts, Ability Types innate Elements, and the Chaos Cycle. First,
Ability Types and their Innate Elements:
Introduced in Sonic Heroes, the 3 Ability Types of Speed, Fly and Power remain a persistent trio through the series, even if in the background but from their very origin these 3 have had some innate characteristics that persist between various characters of their types, Speed Types can generate strong winds that launch enemies upwards, Fly Types can electrify their allies and stun opponents and Power Types although least directly have explosive power and firey attributes, and so I believe that these three types are innately tied to that respective "Element" and will be adding this trait to the character, listed for that character as their "Empowered" version as it manifests stronger when absorbing the corresponding Power Cores and/or when accompanied by Super Sonic, usually due to the Chaos Energy present, and that's a perfect segue to:
The Chaos Cycle here is pulled from an observation of Sonic's power, though he remains Wind in the games, between the Boost mechanic of modern games and the movie appearance he has grown to be more and more linked to Lightning, and I believe I can give a simple reason, Chaos Energy, but Chaos Energy is not inherently Lightning like (at least not in my opinion) even if Sonic and Shadow both use it as such most of the time, instead it not only enhances the characters existing element (also triggering the "Empowered" state) but for those most aligned with their own element, aka the Embodiments, it highlights a second element they are somewhat aligned to, following the cycle of Speed -> Fly -> Power -> Speed, ... we are still missing a Fly/Lightning Embodiment but this explains some things of the two we do have and we'll get to those as we proceed, so let's start Simple
Sonic: Wind / Empowered: Storm (Wind + lightning)
The embodiment of Wind, he is rather self explanatory, Sonic IS the Speed Type, he IS the Wind that flows through nature, he IS the Freedom of movement, but when Chaos Energy is involved, he gains traits of the other two with both flight and power, but the one who is highlighted most is the one tied to his closest friend and younger brother, turning the Strong Winds into a powerful lightning Storm, as is already explained by the Video.
Tails: Clouds / Empowered: Thunderclouds (+ lightning)
The Video has much better detail and explanation for it, but Tails is the Clouds lifted by the Wind providing comfort below him and staying high up in the air with a head in the clouds in both the good and the bad sense of the word, but when empowered and angry he shows his might and becomes a Thundercloud/Stormcloud, both a warning of the Storm to come, and holding the lightning, an accomplice to said Storm
Knuckles: Mountain / Empowered: Volcano (+ fire)
Knuckles, is the Steadfast Mountain that both resists the Wind and is shaped by it, once again the video goes into much further detail but this Steadfast nature is obvious from the start and makes the Mountain easy to see, but when empowered the passion and pure power boils until the fire erupts and the Mountain becomes a mighty Volcano.
Amy: Blossom? / Empowered: Nature (+ wind +fire)
Amy’s exact nature symbol is hard to pin down, the video say it’s a Blossoming Tree for her Reliable nature, some in the comments argue for Flower Petals both due to her name but also her sweetness and love, I even found one that says the Ocean for encompassing and protecting life beneath it’s waves, the only shared traits being her deep Care for Life, and the fact that she is moved by the Wind, but no matter which it is she is the biggest showcase of how these Ability types both shape and are shaped by the character, as Amy started as a Speed Type but as she grew and the Ability Types became less constrained she settled into an All-Rounder who uses her immense Power and her hammer to protect those she cares about, but this highlight what she truly is, as she represents what Sonic fights to protect, Nature itself, she is the Strenght of Wood and the fire it fuels, the Leaves and Flowers that follow the wind, the resilience of the grasses that reappear after a forest fire, the herbs that heal but also poison, the water that nurtures and protects as well as it's roaring waves that drown, she is everything inanimate that resides in nature and therefore is nature itself, in beauty and in strength she follows behind the Wind that fights to protect those she cares for.
Blaze: Fire / Empowered: Blaze (Fire + wind)
A counterpart to Sonic who is Wind, Blaze is Fire: She is Power, Burning Passion, she is everything that Fire is ,though that same position of Princess that allows her to hold so much Power also led to her repressing her emotion and power (the reason she is an All-Rounder in most of her appearances) yearning for the Freedom of Wind, and after befriending Wind itself and using the Sol Emeralds (who may or may not be Chaos Energy) that Chaos Loop provides the wind that feeds into her Flame turning into a wild Blaze as Burning Blaze ... yes I know the name is the same, there is literally no better word because of how perfectly it fits.
I'll cover Team Dark, Team Chaotix and the rest of Team Rose in a 2nd part at some point but before that I must answer a question, wouldn't Surge be the embodiment of Lightning? And to that I answer, no, she is also Wind, though in a much different way, so let me showcase the last piece for today, the one showing that the Lightning Piece of the Chaos Loop is still absent:
Surge and Kitsunami: Electricity (Sources)
Surge and Kitsunami (Kit) don't represent a concept of Nature, instead they represent the way Humanity can harness Nature as corruptions of existing concepts, Surge is a corruption of Sonic, of Wind, manifesting in the form of Wind Power, she is the Wind Power Farms turning that wind into Electricity, meanwhile Kit, is a corruption of Tails, of Clouds, becoming the Rain that drops from those clouds manifesting as Hydropower, the dams turning water into Electricity, they are not Lightning manifest, they are Electricity manifest, the version of Energy that was Harnessed by Starline and Eggman, not neccesarily evil (as shown by Surge's actions outside of outright hating Sonic) but products of Human activity.
More symbolism on Humans, more specifically Eggman and GUN may be done in a 3rd part, after handling the rest of the mobians
