Classic Sonic

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog character
Modern and Classic Sonic designs as they appear in Sonic Generations
First game	Rad Mobile (cameo appearance) Sonic the Hedgehog (playable)
Created by	Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara
Designed by	Naoto Ohshima (1991–1997) Yuji Uekawa (1998–present)
Voiced by	English Ryan Drummond (1998–2004) Jason Griffith (2005–2010) Roger Craig Smith (2010–present) Japanese Video games Keiko Utoku (Sonic CD) Takeshi Kusao (Sega Sonic the Hedgehog) Jun'ichi Kanemaru (1998–present) Tomokazu Seki (Sonic the Werehog; Sonic Unleashed) Cartoons Kappei Yamaguchi (AoStH and SatAM) Keiko Toda (Sonic Underground) Anime Masami Kikuchi (OVA) Junichi Kanemaru (Sonic X)

Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Hepburn: Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) is the title character and protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, five animated shows, and an animated OVA.

Sonic is a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who has the ability to run at supersonic speeds and the ability to curl into a ball, primarily to attack enemies. Throughout the course of the video games, Sonic most commonly has to race through levels, collect power up rings and survive against a host of natural obstacles and minions to achieve his goal. While many individuals at Sega had a hand in Sonic's creation, programmer Yuji Naka and artist Naoto Ohshima are generally credited with the creation of the character.

The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario (see 1991 in video gaming). Since then, Sonic has become one of the world's best-known video game characters, with his series selling more than 80 million copies. In 2005, Sonic was one of the first game character inductees into the Walk of Game alongside Mario and Link.