Sonic's got a lot of people who consider him their rival, like a lot, like a genuinely concerning amount, enough people to fill a whole roster for any other video game franchise. But in all his years, he's only ever considered one person to be his true, permanent, serious rival.
Hey, I see you! Don't you fucking click off just yet, let me explain first!
To Sonic, Shadow is just a kind of grumpy ally. They may buck antlers every now and then but at the end of the day they're in agreement on 99% of things and can usually hash things out diplomatically.
Knuckles is a rival in a very friendly sense. They compete, they jest, they may pretend to fight, but it's all very friendly, they've been buddies for a very long time and are just goofing off.
Silver wasn't ever really his rival at all, he was just some homeless dude trying to kill him for a hot minute.
Sonic sees Surge, rightfully, as a victim and doesn't consider her a rival but someone who needs help. Very much to Surge's annoyance.
And the big man himself, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, is his main villain and archnemesis. He's the dude he's gotta clear up after every time he gets an ego trip otherwise known as all the time.
But none of these people are his rival in a real sense, they're all either friends, enemies, or people who just needed help, all of them except Jet.
Because fundamentally we need to remember that Sonic is still an egotistical asshole at the end of the day, and everyone else simply doesn't harm that ego or offer enough of a competition to harm it.
But Jet directly challenges Sonic at the one thing he's famous for, being fast, but specifically in the context of hoverboards. It's a direct attack on his ego in a way he can't just effortlessly overpower like all the rests of his rivals, the hoverboards strip away his main power and he has to really try to beat him on even footing.
Jet remains as one of the few people to consistently beat Sonic, often by underhanded tactics, but that's part of the game. He's the only person Sonic has to struggle against, and that is why Sonic only ever considers Jet to be his true rival.
do NOT let Shadow figure this out or he's blowing a casket
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