'Whispangle is not canon, no because is a gay couple, but SEGA simply don’t want romantic plots in the main storyline'
This was mentioned by Ian Flynn the first time he talked about the relationship between Whisper and Tangle on September 20th, 2021:
In the aftermath of the Metal Virus when the heroes are celebrating their victory, we see Tangle and Whisper together with Tangle blushing and Whisper wagging her tail. Was there any significance to this such as an attraction of some sort or perhaps just happiness at being friends? Or perhaps Tangle got a hold of some alcohol and Whisper thought it was entertaining? Was this in the script or something added by the artist? Uh, Adam took it a little further than what was in the script (he's fine), y'know, read the room, play to the audience. Right now, Sega's official word is we're not really to go into depth with any romantic relationships... so, they're just really, really, really, really, really, really the bestest of friends. Which, I'm just kinda gonna smile, nod, wink, nudge; yes, they're- they're GREAT friends.
This is evidenced by the fact that we haven’t had a romantic pairing in the videogames since 2006, and that romantic pairs extremely popular and with a lot of evidence, like Sonamy and Knuxouge, remain as something implicated instead of a 100% reality even after decades.
Something that it was previously mentioned by Evan Stanley, and she even mentioned that the only reason what it was possible to establish Nite and Don as a canon couple, because they were establish from the very beginning like one, in contrast with the main cast.
This is not like in Archie Sonic or Sonic The Comic, which was his own thing outside the main canon and had more freedom to even give love interests to the main characters, IDW is totally canon and with that, the series has to stick to the SEGA and Sonic Team directions. ‘Not romantic relationships’ in the end, is just like any other mandates like ‘No mix the modern and classic cast’ or ‘no give family to the main cast that it wasn't established in the videogames before’.
Yeah, maybe Tangle and Whisper wasn't create by them, by now they are legally their propietary, so they are the only ones with power to decide what to do and not with them. Just like happen with Sticks the Badger, for example.
But all this does not mean that the IDW staff or SEGA don’t truly support the idea of Whispangle. Not only Ian Flynn, but also people like Evan Stanley, Jennifer Hernandez, Adam Bryce Thomas or SEGA Hardlight social network staff showed their approval to the couple.
So, maybe it is not “official” but internally and extra officially, it is very real.
Some time ago, I was told how Sonadow shares several similarities and tropes with the other romantic couples in the Cinematic Universe. And the best part? It's actually true:
At the base, the four couples are made up of one member with a stubborn and more temperamental character: Tom, Robotnik, Rachel, and Shadow. While the other has a more relaxed and affectionate character, who appears to be a support capable of calming and/or bringing out the best in their partner: Maddie, Stone, Randall, and Sonic.
Outside of the premise, objectively the couples they have more similarities to would be Tomaddie and Stobotnik. Especially, I think Tom and Robotnik are similar to Shadow in some aspects:
- In the first film, Tom felt like he wasn't doing anything important with his job as Sheriff in Green Hills and that's why he decided to go to San Francisco, because he wasn't recognized it's own importance for the city.
Meanwhile, in the 2021 Calendar story, Shadow doesn't recognize the importance of his work to protect the city. He doesn't want to be recognized as a hero because he believes that he is only fulfilling his mission and therefore, he doesn't deserve to be admired.
In both cases, both have a support figure: Maddie reminds Tom of everything he did for her at the beginning of their relationship, she does recognize the work that Tom and his family have done for Green Hills but she doesn't try to force him to change his mind but supports him unconditionally at all times,
Even when Sonic and Robotnik enter the equation and things become overwhelming and ridiculously complicated, Maddie believes in her husband despite all the odds and helps him and Sonic, something she would continue to do unconditionally for the rest of the movies.
Sonic, despite Shadow's protests, insists on fighting by his side, following him to find out why he was in Mission Street but also to help him and in the end, insists on the importance of the work he has done for the city and how people would be grateful for it. Shadow rejects his claims and simply walks away, but Sonic, though disappointed, lets him go, not getting upset or continuing to insist. At the end of the story, a clear analogy is made between Sonic and the Moon, where it is mentioned how the "Moon" will always be there watching over Shadow.
Also, as I've mentioned in the past, the way Tom and Sonic's relationship developed in the first movie is similar to how Sonic and Shadow's relationship has been handled in Sonic Prime. But even staying within the film universe, both still have some similarities in terms of personality: Both are serious and stubborn in achieving their goals, willing even to resort to violence, and above all, they are willing to do anything for those their love.
Finally, we also have this commemorative Thanksgiving poster featuring a Sonic version on Norman Rockwell's painting 'Freedom For Want', with Shadow taking the place of the patriarch and Sonic the matriarch 🤭
- Robotnik has always been aggressive and distant toward Stone and others, not only because of his ego but also because of the traumas stemming from rejection and bad experiences in personal relationships he's experienced throughout his life, which have led him to disdain most humans.
However, despite this, Robotnik recognizes Stone's potential (as we can see in Sonic 2 prequel comic), but above all, he values and appreciates him as a friend, be possibly the only person who has been able to reach his heart and establish a meaningful bond
Shadow has always been shown to be very proud, as well as serious, distant, and even aggressive toward Sonic and the people around him. All of this stems from the trauma he experienced after losing Maria and the internalized feeling of rejection for being treated as a danger since his creation.
But even with all this, throughout the games and spin-offs, it has been shown that he not only respects Sonic but also genuinely cares for him, and according to the description of the Calendar Story, Sonic is probably the only person capable of reaching Shadow's heart.
And within the films, Sonic is the first person who manages to bond with Shadow after Maria's death, being the only one capable of understanding his pain and, as the description said, getting close enough to say something that could touch his heart.
- And regarding Rachel and Randall, there's a rather amusing resemblance between their reunion and Sonic and Shadow's first encounter in the films:
When Rachel goes after Randall, she ends up making all a show. First, she almost runs him over with the golf cart and then causes an explosion behind her as she advances imposingly, leaving Randall stunned but mostly impressed by her incredible entrance. And in Sonic 3, when Team Sonic arrives in Tokyo, they watch the destruction in awe when Shadow appears, throwing a truck at them and then helplessly walking over a wrecked vehicle, leaving Sonic visibly stunned and impressed.
The last part is much more evident in the official Sonic 3 novelization.
Now with all this explained, Sonadow Fans, Artists and Writers, make your magic 🤗
Movie Sonadow: The Ultimate Tribute to Sonic and Shadow.
Sonic 3 did many things right, others not so much, but among its greatest successes is how it adapted Sonic and Shadow's relationship. Offering what is, for me, the greatest homage to their story that we've had to date. So I'd like to review the construction of this scenario, the connections generated between the characters, and the various similarities with other important moments for both of them in different incarnations.
From the very first trailer, the parallels between Sonic and Shadow's backgrounds in this continuity were emphasized, with Shadow portrayed as what Sonic might have been had he not found his current family. This parallel is represented through several sequences whose shots draw a comparison between the two, like when Shadow runs for charge the Eclipse Cannon after remembering the day Maria died, which is almost identical to the scene of Sonic running on the baseball field in the first movie.
But it's the plot that's been built up beforehand and the way they've connected everything, not only with the story of the films but also with other important moments for both of them in other media, whether intentional or not, that makes this version of their story as spectacular as it is emotional:
- In this continuity, Sonic lost the most important person in his life when he was just a child. Due to his recklessness when using his powers, he ended up attracting the attention of the Echidnas and indirectly causing Longclaw to be sacrificed. And then spend years alone in a world he barely knows. Even if he manages to survive comfortably, it doesn´t change that he's still a kid who was forced to isolate himself from everyone around him and live on his own for a full decade, while deep down he still carries the guilt and pain of losing his only family.
Generating a mixture of frustration, sadness, loneliness, and even anger, which, without any support figure to help him cope, makes him extremely unstable and, therefore, dangerous.
But fortunately, that didn't last long. Because he finally made a friend, he found someone to bond with, someone who cared about him and saw him as a living being instead of an alien freak or a power source, someone who was willing to teach him, help him, and take care of him despite all the setbacks and possible dangers.
- Shadow doesn't even know where he came from. He just appeared out of nowhere in an unknown world where everyone around him saw him as a strange and dangerous being that needed to be contained. Except for one person, the only one who treated him like the child he was deep down, seeking to spend time with him having fun, away from the cold and isolated environment of the laboratory, and who always saw something good in him and tried to teach him to value himself and enjoy life.
Only for that family he had found, to be taken away from him by people who only wanted to continue taking advantage of him, just like Sonic. It was even his powers that indirectly caused Maria's death in this version too.
And after all that, he spent 50 years isolated from the world in a suspension capsule, reliving that painful day over and over again without any consolation even after waking up. So much so that when he was finally released, this mixture of pain, sadness, loneliness, and anger made him act like the alien monster he always feared he was.
Even the dynamics with their humans bear a certain similarity not only to each other, but to interactions that Sonic and Shadow themselves have had in other media:
- Tom was the first person Sonic bonded with in 10 years. At first, he was refusing to accompany Sonic, almost doing so out of obligation in the end, but as their journey progressed, he grew fond of him and grew to care for him and genuinely want to protect him.
That formula is very similar to the one developed in Sonic Prime: At first, Shadow refused to work with Sonic and wanted to go on his own, only to eventually be forced to collaborate with him to fix everything, but as the series progressed, Shadow began to show more and more of his protective side toward the blue hedgehog. He genuinely cared for him, showed appreciation for him, and sought to help him, protect him, and even support him.
- Maria was the first to approach Shadow and treat him like a living being, looking to spend time together and have fun, and when Shadow began to have doubts about himself, she encouraged him by telling him that he was not a danger or a monster.
In essence, this exchange resembles the one Sonic and Shadow had in Sonic Battle, where Shadow referred to himself as a mere weapon meant to cause chaos, but Sonic denied it and stated how he was more than just a weapon, that he has a heart and would never do evil. I'm not saying it was intentional or anything, but the truth is that this is not the only allusion to Battle that we've had, because months later in the Sixth and final Chapter of the Shadow manga, Maria basically reiterated the words said by Sonic to Shadow on that occasion.
In addition to Sonic being one of the characters who shows the most interest in spending time with Shadow, primarily competing but in more relaxed settings, it's been hinted that he also enjoys spending time with him simply having fun outside of competitions.
Everyone has already noted the similarities between Maria and Sonic, and in the movies it is even more obvious: Both were shown as happy, playful, clumsy and reckless characters but also as kind and good-natured people but above all, support figures for Shadow.
Both of them were the only ones able to connect with Shadow and appeal to the goodness within him.
The loss of Maria was the catalyst for Shadow's fury but thanks to Sonic's understanding and help, he was able to reconsider and choose to stay with the love they shared instead of the pain of their separation.
▪︎ I'm really fascinated by how this happened after Sonic momentarily turned into Shadow out of shock and anger after almost losing Tom, for how it reinforces their similarities and at the same time their differences:
The nuances during their fight are really interesting, especially on Shadow's part: How he shows hatred, repulsion or even disappointment when he sees that Sonic took the same path as him,
For seeing how that supposed hero who has everything he ever lost, chose to leave his family behind of his own free will and follow the same path of destructive revenge with which he himself is not entirely satisfied, but which he followed anyway because it was all he had left.
Until the very last moment, Sonic remembered that conversation with Tom, where he told him how proud he is of who he is now. Thanks to that fatherly love, Sonic showed Shadow that they were genuinely not equals, but also that there was something stronger than anger and hatred.
▪︎ I also find it a very curious detail how this exchange began on the ARK and ended literally on the Moon. Because in some way, it manages to highlight the analogy between the Moon and the ARK with Sonic and Shadow in the July 2021 Calendar story: With Shadow, the one who lives perpetually marked by his past, and Sonic, the one who brings light even in the darkest situation and who will unconditionally watch over Shadow's well-being, who end up meeting again from time to time, as well as the ARK and the Moon.
The case is the description of their relationship at the time described it as "a rare, up-close-and-personal relationship" and mentions how Sonic is the only one capable of getting close enough to Shadow to say something that touches his heart. This scene cements this point:
It's a moment of connection and understanding between two people who lived with the guilt and bitterness of feeling like they had failed their loved ones, as well as long carried the idea that because of their unique qualities, they could never fit normally into that world.
But Sonic discovered that this wasn't true. He made friends, started a family, found a home, and thanks to the love, understanding, and teachings that Tom and Maddie gave him, he was also able to provide comfort and a home to characters who, like him, were sad and alone. Like Tails and Knuckles were, and now the same with Shadow...
▪︎ Another curious thing about this scene is how it is not actually the first time that Sonic is the one who manages to make Shadow change his mind, since in the original continuity of the Archie Comics it is made quite clear that it was Sonic who also managed to make him reason.
Since Amy wasn't present during her SA2 adaptation and it's made clear that Rouge played her same role from the original game, leaving Sonic as the one who managed to make Shadow see beyond the pain and act as Maria would have wanted on both occasions.
(With that in mind, it's no surprise how much faith Sonic has in Shadow in this continuity, as just like Amy in the original SA2, he got to see Shadow's more emotional and fragile side up close for a moment. I really hope something similar happens in future SCU projects)
▪︎ And once Shadow is free of that skewed vision and Sonic convinces him to right his wrongs, the result is glorious; the two display effortless synergy during combat, supporting each other at all times and synchronizing almost naturally. They also display immediate chemistry, teasing each other in an arrogant yet playful way.
Just like they did in Sonic Heroes, Sonic 2006, Sonic Colors, Rivals and even like they did in Archie Pre-SGW comics.
▪︎ Finally, I only highlight how this adaptation of Adventure 2 has various similarities with the Shadow Saga in Sonic X, so many that unlike the other coincidences and similarities highlighted, it is very likely that there was a conscious inspiration there.
But in any case, what I intend to show is how Sonic 3, in one way or another, managed to encompass many of the significant aspects and moments of both characters throughout their many incarnations, while also building something new that managed to reflect their dynamic magnificently.
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