I recently scrolled through your entire sonic tag, an excellent time! But I also saw the oversight no one has asked your about Rogue!
Sooo,,, what do you think about Rouge the Bat? 👀
thank you for asking about my fav!!!! <33
this ask has been sitting in my inbox for a while because I ended up talking quite a bit about Rouge in my long analysis on the portrayal of women in Sonic games (I'll reblog that one so it's directly above this post for context), and a lot of my feelings on her tie in closely with that subject!
as I've talked about before, my interest in the series comes from both simply really enjoying the games/world/characters and also from a deep fascination with the meta around Sonic as a franchise. Rouge has been my favorite character since I was a kid, and I think my love for her really stems from how interesting she is from both perspectives - she's closely involved in some of the most exciting plotlines, and she has also gone through some of the most interesting changes on a meta level, for better and for worse!
to briefly sum up what I talked about in my analysis post, I've always been fascinated with the way her character focus transitioned from "Knuckles' love interest" to "Shadow's number 2." Shadow being brought back from the dead because he was extremely popular with fans, and the trajectory of Rouge's character changing completely as a result was such a curveball. on the one hand, it had a massively positive effect on how Rouge was treated by subsequent games, as her new role demanded a lot more dignity and complexity in how she was written. on the other hand, there's something tragic about a female character being "saved" from a shitty, reductive narrative role purely because the needs of another male character's storyline was prioritized. it's like a perfect little microcosm of a bunch of different misogynistic writing trends in the genre.
I've been a fan of this series for so long, and even when I was little, I was really curious about the gender dynamics in stories like this. the fact that whenever Shadow shows up, Rouge's character is inevitably handled with much more care, has always made me weirdly sentimental. their in-universe friendship is already heartwarming, but the meta layer adds some kind of bittersweet secret sauce. he's like her lucky charm or something. protective talisman against shitty writing </3
I'm really excited to see what Shadow coming back into focus will mean for Rouge going forward. she was severely under-utilized for so long, but now that his character has been soft-reintroduced in Shadow Generations, Rouge sort of has been too. I loved her portrayal in Shadow Generations, and I'm hoping she'll be spotlighted even more in future games. even in some of her best roles in the 00's games, the deeper layers of her character were still only ever vaguely alluded to, with the implication that she buries a lot of feelings deep, and I'd love to see this side of her brought out of subtext and into text-text sometime. this exchange from Shadow Generations already did so much to canonize this more faceted reading of her character:
I feel like a significant number of writers who have worked on the franchise fall for her chill, friendly facade, and forget about the part where she's a maladjusted, cynical loner who seems to enjoy messing with people at least in part as a way to socialize/gain attention without having to form real attachments. I think it's awesome that Shadow Generations gave a direct nod to this side of her, especially contrasted against the very real friendship that's been developing between her, Shadow and Omega. to me, that's what makes Team Dark so lovable and memorable in the first place - they seem different on the surface, but when you dig a little deeper, they're really similar. it's some great subtle, layered writing that elevates all three characters
I don't know if I strictly expect Rouge's character to ever be fully explored/in focus, because it is really, really tough to be female in this franchise and she carries the heavy burden of being one of the OG super-feminine girl characters who are constantly under scrutiny from multiple sides of the political spectrum (see also the absolute hell Amy's character has been through) - but it's clear the current writers understand her, and that they want to tell interesting stories with her, so she has better odds now than she has had in a very, very long time
so here's to hoping Sega will let her have the floor even more going forward so she'll have the space to shine!! <3
other thoughts about Rouge ... uhh I wish they'd recast her English voice actress again. her current performance is just fine 99% of the time, but it does not capture the same charisma her Japanese VA has, and it isn't as striking as her 4Kids era voice. I'm also very biased in favor of her having a deep voice because 1. it sounds cool + unique compared to the other girlies and 2. I feel like the themes of her character become exponentially more evocative if you read her as a trans woman. it would make the themes surrounding artificiality and righteous rebellion against "god's design" come full circle for Team Dark. a refusal to surrender to an unwanted biological destiny across the board. and of course the experience of struggling to connect with others, yet finding a home with the other outcasts, is something that resonates for a lot of trans people (👋)
my final decree is that this girly needs a new theme song. I don't like Fly In The Freedom, she needs something classier. she needs Can't Get You Out Of My Head by Kylie Minogue slowed + reverb. she needs the kind of song where you can't tell if the singer is flirting with you or threatening you. that sleazy saxophone that was always following her around in Sonic X was on to something. a lot of Sonic characters desperately need new theme songs that match their current characterization better, Rouge most of all !!!
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stormborns
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