Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

First introduced in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog quickly became Sega's most popular mascot.

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 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.