View source for Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

[[File:EllenBethVanBuskirkSonic.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|First introduced in 1991, [[sonic:Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic the Hedgehog]] quickly became [[Sega]]'s most popular mascot.]]
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'''Sonic the Hedgehog''' is the protagonist of the titular ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' franchise, and [[Sega]]'s official mascot. First revealed to the world in February 1991, he replacing [[Alex Kidd]] as the face of the global entertainment company, and continues to be one of the world's most recognizable characters to this day.

==History==
Conceptualized through an internal [[Sega Enterprises]] competition to design a company mascot which could rival [[Nintendo]]'s highly-popular [[wikipedia:Mario|Mario]] character. The winning result, a blue hedgehog created by artist [[Naoto Ohshima]], was chosen to star in a flagship [[Mega Drive]] action platform game.

First appearing in promotional material for composer [[Masato Nakamura]]'s band Dreams Come True, Sonic the Hedgehog quickly rose to become [[Sega]]'s most popular character. Curiously, Sonic's first appearance in a video game was as a toy keychain swinging from the rear-view mirror in [[Sega AM3]]'s ''[[Rad Mobile]]'' - predating the release of his own game by four months.

==References==
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[[Category:Mascots]]