Sally Acorn is quite possibly the most undeservedly despised character in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise. There have been many reasons for this and I wish to debunk them.
Now before I get into this, Sally is not a perfect character. Sally is FLAWED, but what we all need to understand is that FLAWED characters are GOOD characters. I don’t mean that in the sense where a poorly written character, or a one-dimensional character is a GOOD character, what I mean is that a character that has flaws, weaknesses, and sins, is not a BAD character, it’s a character that has a soul, and is realistic because of that. Saying that a character is bad as a whole, or that they were written badly, because of a character having deliberate flaws, is not logical.
Now the first hate category will be that of the Sally Vs. Amy variety. I’ve already made a rant about these two pairings, and one about Amy as a whole, so I will keep this as brief as I can.
~Argument one: Sonic loves Amy not Sally.
Reply: He does not. There have never been any indications in any form of Sonic franchise, and yes I’m counting that episode from Sonic X, where Sonic has expressed feelings for Amy. It not happening doesn’t mean that isn’t going to happen. Sonic saying “Marriage? No way!” means he’s not interested. But REGARDLESS, even if Sonic DID love Amy, that would be including every single Sonic Property that was not SatAM. If Sonic loves Amy in the games, or X, that isn’t a problem. If he falls for her in Boom, that still isn’t a problem. The fact is that in the Archie Comic Series, Sonic marries Sally. He does not show affection for Amy in the comics. No “what-ifs” hold value here. We have to take what is in front of us and concrete, and what is concrete is that Sally did NOT steal Amy’s man. It doesn’t matter who came first, and it doesn’t matter if Sonic falls in love with Amy in non-comic/SatAM related cannons. Those are separate properties, meaning that neither would affect the other. If one or both happens they can co-exist.
~Argument two: Sally is a jerk to Amy/They hate each other.
Reply: This is a petty insult based on the fan-comics/art-work, which portray Sally as a jerk to Amy. In actuality Sally is very accepting of Amy and patient with her. In the comics Amy uses a power ring to become the Piko-Piko-Hammer-Wielding character we know today… at the cost of Sally’s mother. Sally still allows her to eventually become a Freedom Fighter. The two are in combat only when Sally is a robot controlled by Eggman, and even then Amy is trying to help Sally. Neither of them have any hard feelings towards the other. Even when Sally and Sonic are on a date, and even though Amy believes she’ll have Sonic one day, she makes sure that they have a romantic evening, supporting the idea. Is that sad in a sense? Yes. But that alone should show that there are no hard feelings between the two.
~Argument three: Amy deserves Sonic much more
Reply: Now with this we can only go by what Comic-Amy is like. Amy in the comics is much more tame than the games for one very good reason; Maturity. In the comics it shows Amy as the twelve-year-old kid, and then she’s suddenly matured into a sixteen-year-old by magic. She still acts as a child for a while, but over time she DOES mature, similar to Lion-O in ThunderCats for those who watch that (and no I do not, and yes I am still familiar with it regardless). She is still a child mixed with the hormones of a teenager, but Archie handled it well. Regardless of this however, Amy does not deserve to be with Sonic. Despite her heroic actions, Amy was, and occasionally still acts to a much lower extent, EXTREMELY selfish. She’s still a much better character nowadays, a great one, but she’s still the SAME character as before. She wants to be with Sonic, and won’t give up on him. She’s a fangirl that wants to be with her hero. She isn’t willing to see the bad in Sonic, and even if she does see it she gives it a free pass.
Contrast to Sally, Sally did not begin as a love-interest for Sonic, nor did she start off with feelings for him. She considered Sonic brash and while admired him to an extent, she did not love him originally. Sally grew to like Sonic, and did not push the relationship. Sonic grew to like Sally, and ended up being the one who pursued her. He did this because HE respected and admired her first. The romance never happened until both were okay with it. They both understand each other, and like each other for the good and the bad. With Amy Sonic knows her well enough and he doesn’t WANT to be with someone that obsesses over him, or puts him up on a pedestal.
Now, the main hate reasons. Some of these may branch out based on various posts I saw that came with varying details.
~Argument one: Sally slapped Sonic.
Reply: Sonic yelled at Sally. Sally called him selfish. Sonic weaseled out of commitment. Sally ruined his party. Was Sally more in the wrong? Definitely. Was that bad? No. This is the character-flaw thing I was talking about.
Sally wanted Sonic to give up the hero business and stay with her. Now why did she want this? There are a few GOOD reasons.
>They’re a couple now: Sally wants to spend more time with Sonic casually and romantically. She wants to start a family. Sonic also wants to do this but at the same time he’s nervous, and not ready.
>He just got back: Sonic was gone for a year and now he’s jumping right back into the action without a breath, and Sally is tired of it because that means SHE has to jump back into the action, not only to help keep the world safe, but because that’s how she’ll see him the most, and it will be professional at best, not personal.
>Death: An entire year had passed since she had last seen Sonic. Sonic was thought to be dead by everyone. Sally was a nervous wreck. This is the most important reason. Sally LOST Sonic. The world LOST Sonic. And now that he’s back he HAS to keep fighting, but that means they will probably lose him again. Sally doesn’t want to have to deal with that again, but even worse, what happens if this time she finds out for sure that he won’t be coming back? Anyone in that situation would feel awful. You probably didn’t see his parents react to that because they would feel the same way. He’s their little boy and they want him alive but he has to go. It’s heartbreaking for everyone.
In the end Sally was being selfish. She wanted him to give up saving the world because she wanted him to stay alive and be with her. But just look back at the reasons behind it. Character-depth; Logical, and realistic, reactions. Sally is not going to be a perfect person all of the time. She is not going to be nice, or gentle, or understanding, twenty-four seven. Most of this is due to stress from having to be a leader almost her entire life, and she’s only seventeen or so at this point. No one at that age, or younger, should have to go through the years of trauma she did. Sonic may have gone through the same but he embraced the danger, enjoyed it, and didn’t have to make most of the hard calls, Sally did.
But REGARDLESS of that, did we all forget that Sally not only apologized, but accepted that Sonic has a duty, and that she does as well? In “Dear Ally” Sally admits that she’ll always love Sonic but that she loves her people more and has to put them first. She even writes from her perspective about how much she was upset with Sonic, then gives a reply to herself about how she needs to handle it. In “Sonic Vs. Everyone” Sally acknowledges what she did in the 130’s with the slap and hostility, and guess what, Sonic had no hard feelings about it. They were actually about to kiss right after that if it weren’t for Bean the Dynamite Duck throwing a bomb at them. When a character acknowledges a wrong, and both parties heal from it, the wound is fixed, healed, and it needs to be moved on from.
~Argument two: Sally slows down Sonic
Reply: Sonic in the games has many things that help him stay “fast”
>He’s single,
>The planet is constantly getting filled with brand new placed that aren’t revisited in new games
>The threat against his world is never constant to the point where he always needs to rely on more than just blasting his way through, or retaking the planet.
These are not pros.
Sonic being single is neither pro nor con because it’s just Sonic’s personality. He doesn’t WANT to be with someone in the games and there are VERY few people he would consider being with. The closest person he may consider is probably Blaze because they are very similar yet they aren’t based around romance like Elise and Amy are, nor do they have alternate love-interests like Rouge does with Shadow and Knuckles. If Blaze and Sonic were to have any form of relationship it would be extremely unlikely because Sonic feels that they wouldn’t be able to keep up. Blaze has her own country to rule, Sonic doesn’t. He goes wherever and does whatever, and no one is willing to keep up the pace with him. If a girl was able to and was just as carefree perhaps it would work, but they would also have to cater to his own personality and not repel him, as Amy does.
Sonic’s world isn’t small, it’s always filled with new areas that keep things interesting, and unrealistically so. Sonic isn’t going to get bored, so he has no reason to stick around. He’s a travelling hero that doesn’t want to be bored, and can’t stand still. So instead of making him deal with that, the games feed that hunger for enjoyment instead of having him develop and adapt.
There are never casualties of people dying all the time. Even Unleashed showed no humans dying. Station Square evacuated right after Chaos popped up. Eggman is NEVER a huge threat. Sonic beats him quickly, within a few days. Any added villains that Sonic has to face haven’t been issues either. There is no world-take-over, there is no permanent corruption, there is no long-term problem that Sonic can’t immediately destroy. He isn’t forced to take time to think, or wait, or lose, or fight day after week after month to save the world, then recover from the whiplash and casualties. It’s always easy and it never leaves an impact that changes everything.
In the comics that’s all changed and for the better.
Sonic doesn’t care about love in the comics, at least not originally. It’s something that happens over time, it develops. His reasons for not wanting to be with someone aren’t because they can’t keep up, it’s because of the danger, but when he meets someone that gets into the same danger all the time, it’s easier to be with that person. And it’s easier to slow down for them because…
They’re fighting a common threat in the same place at the same time. Sonic can, and has, travelled all of Mobius. It’s mapped and everything. Regardless of that he’s not bored. Why isn’t he bored? Because there’s still a huge threat that relates to him personally. His family was affected as well as his friends. He WANTS to help and be helped so that the danger can be destroyed. He CAN’T just go running about all care-free because every day is a danger that he has to deal with. He’s still fast, but he’s enclosed. When he can go full throttle he’s willing to slow down for people because he’s NOT a huge jerk who just wants to keep moving. He’s got connections emotionally to people, not just Sally, but his parents, Tails, Bunny, Rotor, everyone. They’re his friends and they follow him, and better him, all the way. It’s a respect for them that keeps him where he is, and that in no way slows someone down. Sonic’s still got attitude, ego, and a personality, but he’s also got caution, care, and a PERSONALITY; a personality that is strengthened by the supporting cast, Sally included, which is what they’re meant to do.
~Argument three: Sally takes up too much of the spotlight
Reply: If we put aside the fact that Sally is a main-supporting-character in the comics and will obviously have more spotlight then some other characters because she’s not only the love-interest but friend and leader, I will give you this.
~The Enerjak Reborn Saga was about Knuckles
~The Iron Dominion Arc was about Nicole and the villains
~The Moebius invasion was about Sonic and Scourge
~The Battle between the Dingo Regime and the Dark Legion was about Knuckles again
~The Anonymous Saga was about Eggman, A.D.A.M, Mecha, and Sonic
~The Endgame Arc was about Sonic
~Issues 175 – 179 were about Sonic, and eventually Tails also
Has Sally been shown more in some of those? Absolutely, but in quite a few she’s there just as one of the characters such as the Moebius invasion, the Enerjak Reborn Saga, and the Anonymous Saga. Sally is going to get spotlight because she is a developed character. Tails gets a lot of spotlight too. Bunny, Antoine, etc. they get their dues. Sally is a character close to Sonic, just like Tails, and they both get about the same amount of attention because of it. When the Fiona business went down it focused a lot on Tails because he was in love with Fiona. It affected him just like when The Iron Queen took over Nicole it affected Sally because Nicole is Sally’s closest (or second closest) friend. So naturally a lot of things involving Sonic are going to feature Sally. But they do not overdo it. That would be like Saying Gwen should stop being around Ben in Ben 10, or that Watson should stay away from Holmes, or that Luigi shouldn’t be around Mario so often. These characters are all connected to each other in one way or another, be it friendship or family, and they’ll all have moments featuring them mainly. Sonic is still the star of the comics. It shows him the most, it has him develop the most, and has him react the most. He gave the final blow to Eggman all those times, battled Enerjak, fought a Nanite-controlled Tommy Turtle, and gave the final slash to the Iron Queen Dragon, despite all of those arcs not being about him mainly. Sally isn’t stealing the spotlight. And this isn’t even counting the SONIC UNIVERSE COMICS WHICH ARE BASED ENTIRELY ON GIVING OTHER CHARACTERS SPOTLIGHT.
~Argument four: She’s a Mary-Sue.
Reply: Now let’s go over why people consider Sally to be a Mary-Sue.
>She’s very pretty (AKA gets all the boys)
>She’s very smart
>She’s a princess
Now let’s break those into pieces and analyze them.
FIRST: Sally being pretty doesn’t matter because she’s had only THREE love-interests in all of the Franchise. Geoffrey St. John, Monkey Khan, and Sonic the hedgehog. Geoffrey even ended up marrying someone else so of actual people she could be with, two. TWO love-interests. Spider-man has had dozens of love-interests. Kim Possible has had at least three love-interests. Rouge has Knuckles and Shadow.
Sally has a reason that the boys admire her. They don’t do it just because “Oh my character must be loved by everyone”. All of the love-interests made sense and none of them were based around making a Sally-lover, they were their own characters that developed and loved her for different reasons.
Geoffrey loved her because he respected her as a leader, but he was also a secret agent that had a lot of differentiating paths. Monkey Khan loved(loves still possibly) her because they’re very alike in personality and position, but he also has a backstory involving the Iron Queen, Eggman, and his own kingdom to take care of. Sonic loves her because they grew up together and are two halves of one whole, but well… It’s Sonic. They have reasons that make sense.
SECOND: Being smart doesn’t make her a Mary-Sue. If she was a brainiac-mary-sue it would be out of the blue with no explanation. Sally has an explanation. She’s spent years of her childhood learning and training. She’s HAD trainers in the past, and more importantly she NEEDS to be smart. She never brags about her smarts, she just goes out there and gets the job done. There ARE smarter characters, like Nicole, Rotor, and even the Monarchy, so are they Mary Sues and Gary Stues as well?
THIRD: Sally being a princess needs to be handled carefully. Remember what it means to be a princess. When you’re a princess you have authority, but more importantly DUTY. She feels obligated, and for good reason, to take responsibility and control. When she takes action, or tells people what to do, she’s also having to handle the chances of failure, and deal with them, which she has, and she doesn’t ignore it or pass the blame, she takes it and deals with it. She’s a princess because there is a king and she doesn’t want to keep the title because of how hard it is to bear, but at the same time she wants to keep it because it makes her feel important, which she is. She’ll use her title and she has every right to. If you’re the chief of police you’ll say “As chief of this city’s law enforcement, I put you under arrest”, you’re not going to just sit back and let someone else do it, it’s your responsibility.
~Argument five: Sally and Sonic can’t have babies
Reply: Science-Fiction. Animals can’t talk in the first place. Get over it.
~Argument six: They keep breaking up and getting back together
Reply: Sonic and Sally have been in a relationship TWICE. Once before the Xorda Invasion, and recently in the comics. Sonic has been in ONE other actual relationship aside from Sally, with Fiona, and that relationship ended and was based around something Sonic did wrong that WAS addressed. BOTH have had flings. Sally with Monkey Khan, Sonic with Bunny, but neither serious. Sally said no to Ken Khan because of Sonic and they respected each other afterwards. Sonic kissed Bunny after saving her, but even then it was more out of joy that she was alive than actual romance, especially since not too long after that Sonic was getting her back together with Antoine.
Sonic and Sally had a developing romance that had reasons for ending and rekindling. It wasn’t a Twilight but it was still a Drama, and when you are writing literature you have to include that. No one isn’t going to go through long-term thoughts about a past lover, so them showing that off throughout the series was not bad, it made sense. When they got back together it wasn’t super mushy, but it was still romantic without dictating the comic.
~Argument seven: She turns the comics into a Soap Opera
Reply: The comics were only NOT how they are today in the original comics where everything had a terrible joke at the end and was meant to sell the games. They aren’t going to be a non-Soap Opera. Any form of literature will have dramatic elements, and will involve emotion greatly. The comics have to juggle romances, loss, rekindling, friendship, betrayal, conflicts, alliances, debates, reasoning, logic, and constantly create new ideas. Sally Acorn is not able to be the main reason that it’s a “Soap Opera” because there have been so many other dramatic elements. We have Nicole and her want for a real form, Bunny and her cybernetics, Sonic and his robot father, Tails and his parents/Grandparents/Chosen-One-Issues, and so many many other examples to list. Sally is ONE part of this.
Now with that said, whether or not the Archie Sonic Comics are overly dramatic, once again, it doesn’t affect any of the other cannons, just like Sonic Boom doesn’t affect any of the other cannons. If it’s bad then yes you can be upset about the quality, but if you didn’t like it to begin with why continue looking at it? I dislike the Penders-Retcon, and I wrote about the comics for a short while, but then I just stopped. I didn’t like it, so I had no reason to keep reading them, and thus I couldn’t write about any new issues.
But the fact is that this isn’t a matter of quality, it’s a matter of personal taste. The comics have had multiple writers over the years, some who were better than others. You can’t say that every single one of them made it into a tear-fest because they each have a unique writing-style. If you like a more upbeat, less detailed, and carefree Sonic, then go where that is. You don’t need to be upset that it’s not all how you want it.
~Argument eight: Sally’s a whore (Note I do not use that word lightly and I detest the usage of it when people talk about others without being careful with how they say it)
Reply: We have to look at two things when it comes to this. The character/Writers, and the Artists.
>The Character Sally Acorn. Does she act sexual? No. Does she flaunt? No. Does she flirt? RARELY. Now let’s look at the character Rouge. Rouge acts sexual, flaunts, and flirts. Rouge is accepted. Sally is not a sex-appeal character. She does things that show her character to be a strong woman, not a clingy sex-addict. She can have moments of romance but not as much as quite a few people would normally.
>The Artists are to blame. Now people like Tracey Yardley draw Sally perfectly fine. But art like in the HOME arc REALLY show it off too much. What baffles me though is that we have characters like Miss Marvel, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Krystal Fox, people who are usually fully clothed, much more sexual in artwork and yet accepted. Sally doesn’t SHOW any parts, you don’t SEE her lower regions or her breasts. Should her design have been less revealing? It depends. The artwork constantly changes, and depending on the artist it is or isn’t needed.
Another thing to mention is that Sally isn’t the only pantless character, or nude character for that matter. Ignoring the boys, we have Barbie Koala, Fiona Fox, and Hershey the Cat, none of which show off sexual parts. Then we have characters like Rouge and Lien’da, who are obviously being sexual, yet they’re wearing more clothing. The best example is Julie-Su, who wears no pants, but wears a top, a top that shows cleavage lines. The point is that it doesn’t MATTER if she doesn’t wear clothing because if they wanted to show that off they could have, they show which characters they want to be sexual. Sally isn’t one of them. If she’s drawn in a way that makes her look sexy it’s bad, but that’s not the character’s fault, it’s the artists. Her appearance does not define her character.
In conclusion to all of this… Sally is overhated. This character does not deserve to be bashed as much as she has been. She’s a character that has ups and downs. She’s 3-Dimensional and I feel most of the hate comes from people that just can’t stand seeing Amy not be with Sonic, so when they see a girl who IS with Sonic, they jump at them.
I’m not going to talk a lot about the whole “Sally’s not a real character” bit because that isn’t even relevant. AGAIN, the Archie Series isn’t non-cannon, it’s a DIFFERENT cannon, just like Sonic X, Underground, and Boom. It doesn’t matter what is and isn’t cannon because nothing in the Archie comics affects the games. It’s its own thing and doesn’t deserve to be yelled at for not being just like the games. Sally included.
I hope this opened up some eyes. If you aren’t a Sally fan, that’s perfectly fine. If you are an Amy fan or Sonamy fan well… then we have a problem. Originally I used to think that Sonamy was harmless unless used incorrectly but it just seems that almost anyone who’s a fan of the coupling will attack anything else. So instead of saying “Good for you if you’re a fan” I’ll say…
If you are a fan of Sonamy and are able to leave the couples be, as well as the characters, you have my respect, but this is just ridiculous. I know that not all the hate comes from these fans, but it’s a huge margin.
LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE
LET OTHERS LIKE WHAT THEY LIKE UNLESS IT’S ACTUALLY MORALLY WRONG.
And in this case Sally Acorn is NOT morally wrong.
Eat Pie and Prosper
Now before I get into this, Sally is not a perfect character. Sally is FLAWED, but what we all need to understand is that FLAWED characters are GOOD characters. I don’t mean that in the sense where a poorly written character, or a one-dimensional character is a GOOD character, what I mean is that a character that has flaws, weaknesses, and sins, is not a BAD character, it’s a character that has a soul, and is realistic because of that. Saying that a character is bad as a whole, or that they were written badly, because of a character having deliberate flaws, is not logical.
Now the first hate category will be that of the Sally Vs. Amy variety. I’ve already made a rant about these two pairings, and one about Amy as a whole, so I will keep this as brief as I can.
~Argument one: Sonic loves Amy not Sally.
Reply: He does not. There have never been any indications in any form of Sonic franchise, and yes I’m counting that episode from Sonic X, where Sonic has expressed feelings for Amy. It not happening doesn’t mean that isn’t going to happen. Sonic saying “Marriage? No way!” means he’s not interested. But REGARDLESS, even if Sonic DID love Amy, that would be including every single Sonic Property that was not SatAM. If Sonic loves Amy in the games, or X, that isn’t a problem. If he falls for her in Boom, that still isn’t a problem. The fact is that in the Archie Comic Series, Sonic marries Sally. He does not show affection for Amy in the comics. No “what-ifs” hold value here. We have to take what is in front of us and concrete, and what is concrete is that Sally did NOT steal Amy’s man. It doesn’t matter who came first, and it doesn’t matter if Sonic falls in love with Amy in non-comic/SatAM related cannons. Those are separate properties, meaning that neither would affect the other. If one or both happens they can co-exist.
~Argument two: Sally is a jerk to Amy/They hate each other.
Reply: This is a petty insult based on the fan-comics/art-work, which portray Sally as a jerk to Amy. In actuality Sally is very accepting of Amy and patient with her. In the comics Amy uses a power ring to become the Piko-Piko-Hammer-Wielding character we know today… at the cost of Sally’s mother. Sally still allows her to eventually become a Freedom Fighter. The two are in combat only when Sally is a robot controlled by Eggman, and even then Amy is trying to help Sally. Neither of them have any hard feelings towards the other. Even when Sally and Sonic are on a date, and even though Amy believes she’ll have Sonic one day, she makes sure that they have a romantic evening, supporting the idea. Is that sad in a sense? Yes. But that alone should show that there are no hard feelings between the two.
~Argument three: Amy deserves Sonic much more
Reply: Now with this we can only go by what Comic-Amy is like. Amy in the comics is much more tame than the games for one very good reason; Maturity. In the comics it shows Amy as the twelve-year-old kid, and then she’s suddenly matured into a sixteen-year-old by magic. She still acts as a child for a while, but over time she DOES mature, similar to Lion-O in ThunderCats for those who watch that (and no I do not, and yes I am still familiar with it regardless). She is still a child mixed with the hormones of a teenager, but Archie handled it well. Regardless of this however, Amy does not deserve to be with Sonic. Despite her heroic actions, Amy was, and occasionally still acts to a much lower extent, EXTREMELY selfish. She’s still a much better character nowadays, a great one, but she’s still the SAME character as before. She wants to be with Sonic, and won’t give up on him. She’s a fangirl that wants to be with her hero. She isn’t willing to see the bad in Sonic, and even if she does see it she gives it a free pass.
Contrast to Sally, Sally did not begin as a love-interest for Sonic, nor did she start off with feelings for him. She considered Sonic brash and while admired him to an extent, she did not love him originally. Sally grew to like Sonic, and did not push the relationship. Sonic grew to like Sally, and ended up being the one who pursued her. He did this because HE respected and admired her first. The romance never happened until both were okay with it. They both understand each other, and like each other for the good and the bad. With Amy Sonic knows her well enough and he doesn’t WANT to be with someone that obsesses over him, or puts him up on a pedestal.
Now, the main hate reasons. Some of these may branch out based on various posts I saw that came with varying details.
~Argument one: Sally slapped Sonic.
Reply: Sonic yelled at Sally. Sally called him selfish. Sonic weaseled out of commitment. Sally ruined his party. Was Sally more in the wrong? Definitely. Was that bad? No. This is the character-flaw thing I was talking about.
Sally wanted Sonic to give up the hero business and stay with her. Now why did she want this? There are a few GOOD reasons.
>They’re a couple now: Sally wants to spend more time with Sonic casually and romantically. She wants to start a family. Sonic also wants to do this but at the same time he’s nervous, and not ready.
>He just got back: Sonic was gone for a year and now he’s jumping right back into the action without a breath, and Sally is tired of it because that means SHE has to jump back into the action, not only to help keep the world safe, but because that’s how she’ll see him the most, and it will be professional at best, not personal.
>Death: An entire year had passed since she had last seen Sonic. Sonic was thought to be dead by everyone. Sally was a nervous wreck. This is the most important reason. Sally LOST Sonic. The world LOST Sonic. And now that he’s back he HAS to keep fighting, but that means they will probably lose him again. Sally doesn’t want to have to deal with that again, but even worse, what happens if this time she finds out for sure that he won’t be coming back? Anyone in that situation would feel awful. You probably didn’t see his parents react to that because they would feel the same way. He’s their little boy and they want him alive but he has to go. It’s heartbreaking for everyone.
In the end Sally was being selfish. She wanted him to give up saving the world because she wanted him to stay alive and be with her. But just look back at the reasons behind it. Character-depth; Logical, and realistic, reactions. Sally is not going to be a perfect person all of the time. She is not going to be nice, or gentle, or understanding, twenty-four seven. Most of this is due to stress from having to be a leader almost her entire life, and she’s only seventeen or so at this point. No one at that age, or younger, should have to go through the years of trauma she did. Sonic may have gone through the same but he embraced the danger, enjoyed it, and didn’t have to make most of the hard calls, Sally did.
But REGARDLESS of that, did we all forget that Sally not only apologized, but accepted that Sonic has a duty, and that she does as well? In “Dear Ally” Sally admits that she’ll always love Sonic but that she loves her people more and has to put them first. She even writes from her perspective about how much she was upset with Sonic, then gives a reply to herself about how she needs to handle it. In “Sonic Vs. Everyone” Sally acknowledges what she did in the 130’s with the slap and hostility, and guess what, Sonic had no hard feelings about it. They were actually about to kiss right after that if it weren’t for Bean the Dynamite Duck throwing a bomb at them. When a character acknowledges a wrong, and both parties heal from it, the wound is fixed, healed, and it needs to be moved on from.
~Argument two: Sally slows down Sonic
Reply: Sonic in the games has many things that help him stay “fast”
>He’s single,
>The planet is constantly getting filled with brand new placed that aren’t revisited in new games
>The threat against his world is never constant to the point where he always needs to rely on more than just blasting his way through, or retaking the planet.
These are not pros.
Sonic being single is neither pro nor con because it’s just Sonic’s personality. He doesn’t WANT to be with someone in the games and there are VERY few people he would consider being with. The closest person he may consider is probably Blaze because they are very similar yet they aren’t based around romance like Elise and Amy are, nor do they have alternate love-interests like Rouge does with Shadow and Knuckles. If Blaze and Sonic were to have any form of relationship it would be extremely unlikely because Sonic feels that they wouldn’t be able to keep up. Blaze has her own country to rule, Sonic doesn’t. He goes wherever and does whatever, and no one is willing to keep up the pace with him. If a girl was able to and was just as carefree perhaps it would work, but they would also have to cater to his own personality and not repel him, as Amy does.
Sonic’s world isn’t small, it’s always filled with new areas that keep things interesting, and unrealistically so. Sonic isn’t going to get bored, so he has no reason to stick around. He’s a travelling hero that doesn’t want to be bored, and can’t stand still. So instead of making him deal with that, the games feed that hunger for enjoyment instead of having him develop and adapt.
There are never casualties of people dying all the time. Even Unleashed showed no humans dying. Station Square evacuated right after Chaos popped up. Eggman is NEVER a huge threat. Sonic beats him quickly, within a few days. Any added villains that Sonic has to face haven’t been issues either. There is no world-take-over, there is no permanent corruption, there is no long-term problem that Sonic can’t immediately destroy. He isn’t forced to take time to think, or wait, or lose, or fight day after week after month to save the world, then recover from the whiplash and casualties. It’s always easy and it never leaves an impact that changes everything.
In the comics that’s all changed and for the better.
Sonic doesn’t care about love in the comics, at least not originally. It’s something that happens over time, it develops. His reasons for not wanting to be with someone aren’t because they can’t keep up, it’s because of the danger, but when he meets someone that gets into the same danger all the time, it’s easier to be with that person. And it’s easier to slow down for them because…
They’re fighting a common threat in the same place at the same time. Sonic can, and has, travelled all of Mobius. It’s mapped and everything. Regardless of that he’s not bored. Why isn’t he bored? Because there’s still a huge threat that relates to him personally. His family was affected as well as his friends. He WANTS to help and be helped so that the danger can be destroyed. He CAN’T just go running about all care-free because every day is a danger that he has to deal with. He’s still fast, but he’s enclosed. When he can go full throttle he’s willing to slow down for people because he’s NOT a huge jerk who just wants to keep moving. He’s got connections emotionally to people, not just Sally, but his parents, Tails, Bunny, Rotor, everyone. They’re his friends and they follow him, and better him, all the way. It’s a respect for them that keeps him where he is, and that in no way slows someone down. Sonic’s still got attitude, ego, and a personality, but he’s also got caution, care, and a PERSONALITY; a personality that is strengthened by the supporting cast, Sally included, which is what they’re meant to do.
~Argument three: Sally takes up too much of the spotlight
Reply: If we put aside the fact that Sally is a main-supporting-character in the comics and will obviously have more spotlight then some other characters because she’s not only the love-interest but friend and leader, I will give you this.
~The Enerjak Reborn Saga was about Knuckles
~The Iron Dominion Arc was about Nicole and the villains
~The Moebius invasion was about Sonic and Scourge
~The Battle between the Dingo Regime and the Dark Legion was about Knuckles again
~The Anonymous Saga was about Eggman, A.D.A.M, Mecha, and Sonic
~The Endgame Arc was about Sonic
~Issues 175 – 179 were about Sonic, and eventually Tails also
Has Sally been shown more in some of those? Absolutely, but in quite a few she’s there just as one of the characters such as the Moebius invasion, the Enerjak Reborn Saga, and the Anonymous Saga. Sally is going to get spotlight because she is a developed character. Tails gets a lot of spotlight too. Bunny, Antoine, etc. they get their dues. Sally is a character close to Sonic, just like Tails, and they both get about the same amount of attention because of it. When the Fiona business went down it focused a lot on Tails because he was in love with Fiona. It affected him just like when The Iron Queen took over Nicole it affected Sally because Nicole is Sally’s closest (or second closest) friend. So naturally a lot of things involving Sonic are going to feature Sally. But they do not overdo it. That would be like Saying Gwen should stop being around Ben in Ben 10, or that Watson should stay away from Holmes, or that Luigi shouldn’t be around Mario so often. These characters are all connected to each other in one way or another, be it friendship or family, and they’ll all have moments featuring them mainly. Sonic is still the star of the comics. It shows him the most, it has him develop the most, and has him react the most. He gave the final blow to Eggman all those times, battled Enerjak, fought a Nanite-controlled Tommy Turtle, and gave the final slash to the Iron Queen Dragon, despite all of those arcs not being about him mainly. Sally isn’t stealing the spotlight. And this isn’t even counting the SONIC UNIVERSE COMICS WHICH ARE BASED ENTIRELY ON GIVING OTHER CHARACTERS SPOTLIGHT.
~Argument four: She’s a Mary-Sue.
Reply: Now let’s go over why people consider Sally to be a Mary-Sue.
>She’s very pretty (AKA gets all the boys)
>She’s very smart
>She’s a princess
Now let’s break those into pieces and analyze them.
FIRST: Sally being pretty doesn’t matter because she’s had only THREE love-interests in all of the Franchise. Geoffrey St. John, Monkey Khan, and Sonic the hedgehog. Geoffrey even ended up marrying someone else so of actual people she could be with, two. TWO love-interests. Spider-man has had dozens of love-interests. Kim Possible has had at least three love-interests. Rouge has Knuckles and Shadow.
Sally has a reason that the boys admire her. They don’t do it just because “Oh my character must be loved by everyone”. All of the love-interests made sense and none of them were based around making a Sally-lover, they were their own characters that developed and loved her for different reasons.
Geoffrey loved her because he respected her as a leader, but he was also a secret agent that had a lot of differentiating paths. Monkey Khan loved(loves still possibly) her because they’re very alike in personality and position, but he also has a backstory involving the Iron Queen, Eggman, and his own kingdom to take care of. Sonic loves her because they grew up together and are two halves of one whole, but well… It’s Sonic. They have reasons that make sense.
SECOND: Being smart doesn’t make her a Mary-Sue. If she was a brainiac-mary-sue it would be out of the blue with no explanation. Sally has an explanation. She’s spent years of her childhood learning and training. She’s HAD trainers in the past, and more importantly she NEEDS to be smart. She never brags about her smarts, she just goes out there and gets the job done. There ARE smarter characters, like Nicole, Rotor, and even the Monarchy, so are they Mary Sues and Gary Stues as well?
THIRD: Sally being a princess needs to be handled carefully. Remember what it means to be a princess. When you’re a princess you have authority, but more importantly DUTY. She feels obligated, and for good reason, to take responsibility and control. When she takes action, or tells people what to do, she’s also having to handle the chances of failure, and deal with them, which she has, and she doesn’t ignore it or pass the blame, she takes it and deals with it. She’s a princess because there is a king and she doesn’t want to keep the title because of how hard it is to bear, but at the same time she wants to keep it because it makes her feel important, which she is. She’ll use her title and she has every right to. If you’re the chief of police you’ll say “As chief of this city’s law enforcement, I put you under arrest”, you’re not going to just sit back and let someone else do it, it’s your responsibility.
~Argument five: Sally and Sonic can’t have babies
Reply: Science-Fiction. Animals can’t talk in the first place. Get over it.
~Argument six: They keep breaking up and getting back together
Reply: Sonic and Sally have been in a relationship TWICE. Once before the Xorda Invasion, and recently in the comics. Sonic has been in ONE other actual relationship aside from Sally, with Fiona, and that relationship ended and was based around something Sonic did wrong that WAS addressed. BOTH have had flings. Sally with Monkey Khan, Sonic with Bunny, but neither serious. Sally said no to Ken Khan because of Sonic and they respected each other afterwards. Sonic kissed Bunny after saving her, but even then it was more out of joy that she was alive than actual romance, especially since not too long after that Sonic was getting her back together with Antoine.
Sonic and Sally had a developing romance that had reasons for ending and rekindling. It wasn’t a Twilight but it was still a Drama, and when you are writing literature you have to include that. No one isn’t going to go through long-term thoughts about a past lover, so them showing that off throughout the series was not bad, it made sense. When they got back together it wasn’t super mushy, but it was still romantic without dictating the comic.
~Argument seven: She turns the comics into a Soap Opera
Reply: The comics were only NOT how they are today in the original comics where everything had a terrible joke at the end and was meant to sell the games. They aren’t going to be a non-Soap Opera. Any form of literature will have dramatic elements, and will involve emotion greatly. The comics have to juggle romances, loss, rekindling, friendship, betrayal, conflicts, alliances, debates, reasoning, logic, and constantly create new ideas. Sally Acorn is not able to be the main reason that it’s a “Soap Opera” because there have been so many other dramatic elements. We have Nicole and her want for a real form, Bunny and her cybernetics, Sonic and his robot father, Tails and his parents/Grandparents/Chosen-One-Issues, and so many many other examples to list. Sally is ONE part of this.
Now with that said, whether or not the Archie Sonic Comics are overly dramatic, once again, it doesn’t affect any of the other cannons, just like Sonic Boom doesn’t affect any of the other cannons. If it’s bad then yes you can be upset about the quality, but if you didn’t like it to begin with why continue looking at it? I dislike the Penders-Retcon, and I wrote about the comics for a short while, but then I just stopped. I didn’t like it, so I had no reason to keep reading them, and thus I couldn’t write about any new issues.
But the fact is that this isn’t a matter of quality, it’s a matter of personal taste. The comics have had multiple writers over the years, some who were better than others. You can’t say that every single one of them made it into a tear-fest because they each have a unique writing-style. If you like a more upbeat, less detailed, and carefree Sonic, then go where that is. You don’t need to be upset that it’s not all how you want it.
~Argument eight: Sally’s a whore (Note I do not use that word lightly and I detest the usage of it when people talk about others without being careful with how they say it)
Reply: We have to look at two things when it comes to this. The character/Writers, and the Artists.
>The Character Sally Acorn. Does she act sexual? No. Does she flaunt? No. Does she flirt? RARELY. Now let’s look at the character Rouge. Rouge acts sexual, flaunts, and flirts. Rouge is accepted. Sally is not a sex-appeal character. She does things that show her character to be a strong woman, not a clingy sex-addict. She can have moments of romance but not as much as quite a few people would normally.
>The Artists are to blame. Now people like Tracey Yardley draw Sally perfectly fine. But art like in the HOME arc REALLY show it off too much. What baffles me though is that we have characters like Miss Marvel, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Krystal Fox, people who are usually fully clothed, much more sexual in artwork and yet accepted. Sally doesn’t SHOW any parts, you don’t SEE her lower regions or her breasts. Should her design have been less revealing? It depends. The artwork constantly changes, and depending on the artist it is or isn’t needed.
Another thing to mention is that Sally isn’t the only pantless character, or nude character for that matter. Ignoring the boys, we have Barbie Koala, Fiona Fox, and Hershey the Cat, none of which show off sexual parts. Then we have characters like Rouge and Lien’da, who are obviously being sexual, yet they’re wearing more clothing. The best example is Julie-Su, who wears no pants, but wears a top, a top that shows cleavage lines. The point is that it doesn’t MATTER if she doesn’t wear clothing because if they wanted to show that off they could have, they show which characters they want to be sexual. Sally isn’t one of them. If she’s drawn in a way that makes her look sexy it’s bad, but that’s not the character’s fault, it’s the artists. Her appearance does not define her character.
In conclusion to all of this… Sally is overhated. This character does not deserve to be bashed as much as she has been. She’s a character that has ups and downs. She’s 3-Dimensional and I feel most of the hate comes from people that just can’t stand seeing Amy not be with Sonic, so when they see a girl who IS with Sonic, they jump at them.
I’m not going to talk a lot about the whole “Sally’s not a real character” bit because that isn’t even relevant. AGAIN, the Archie Series isn’t non-cannon, it’s a DIFFERENT cannon, just like Sonic X, Underground, and Boom. It doesn’t matter what is and isn’t cannon because nothing in the Archie comics affects the games. It’s its own thing and doesn’t deserve to be yelled at for not being just like the games. Sally included.
I hope this opened up some eyes. If you aren’t a Sally fan, that’s perfectly fine. If you are an Amy fan or Sonamy fan well… then we have a problem. Originally I used to think that Sonamy was harmless unless used incorrectly but it just seems that almost anyone who’s a fan of the coupling will attack anything else. So instead of saying “Good for you if you’re a fan” I’ll say…
If you are a fan of Sonamy and are able to leave the couples be, as well as the characters, you have my respect, but this is just ridiculous. I know that not all the hate comes from these fans, but it’s a huge margin.
LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE
LET OTHERS LIKE WHAT THEY LIKE UNLESS IT’S ACTUALLY MORALLY WRONG.
And in this case Sally Acorn is NOT morally wrong.
Eat Pie and Prosper
