Amy: A Rose Without Thorns

[@SplashDash_]

which do you prefer, old or new Amy 🤔

[@EliotBailey1987]

For me, it's probably old Amy, she had more, well, not BIG, but she still had some real importance, in a way

[@uhh_no]

Adventure 1 and 2 version ngl

[@Smols828]

None

[@ChargedTheHedgehog]

None, bad character

[@Laekith]

Old Amy by far, especially in the Adventure games, but also in the Advance games where her animations have so much personality. But there are some good modern versions of Amy, like the one from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, or Classic Amy from Mania Adventures, Superstars and IDW. Needless to say Amy is my favorite character.

[@JasLamArr91]

I think Amy’s old personality and her modern personality can merge and make her a better character.

[@naitsabes6222]

Idw , murder of sonic , classic are a great balance of Amy

[@mt32boi45]

So murder of sonic and idw amy

[@dug1115]

Honestly I don't see it

[@codyraugh6599]

Yes, Amy's love and obsession over Sonic are cartoonish and entertaining, and here's where she needs to be at extremes with her personality. But she needed a personality outside of Sonic to grow from that, which well Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog did it all very well because she didn't mother hen over everyone, but instead was in the whole thing for the adventure and the fun.

[@naitsabes6222]

@@codyraugh6599 she’s always had that 😭

[@MusicKat217]

Amy in "The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog" is the perfect blend of classic and modern Amy. Affectionate, sassy, and dramatic. They also kept in a lot of her typical girly girl nature and "basic" interests like murder podcasts or whatever. Her crush on Sonic is fun but not the main focus. Amy is one of my favorite Sonic characters, and my favorite depictions of her are usually the ones most people hate because of the "she's obsessed with Sonic" take. While rewatching Sonic X, I think that the criticism is valid, but not as big of a problem as people thought it was. There are only a few moments where was genuinely possessive over Sonic, and it last for a few seconds in the episodes they're in. She doesn't deserve all of the hate she gets from her early days.

[@LannyLeArtist]

YEAAA

[@dug1115]

But even in that game she was still missing a defining character trait, her love/fangirl-ism for Sonic. If she doesn't have that in some shape or form (even if it was toned down a bit) then she's not really Amy.

[@MusicKat217]

​@@dug1115I disagree. She still admired Sonic enough in that game. It's just that there were more important things that she cared about, such as the entire event in general since it was for her birthday. Even then, her respect and love for Sonic was obvious. It wasn't necessary here, and she's still Amy despite that.

[@Kirbun]

Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog in general feels like it nails the characterization. Probably my favorite Sonic game in recent times.

[@fatalwaffle1715]

You know ShadAmy is confirmed to be a possible ship. And in Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog. It show that they are going on a "Date" to a Hot Honey Concert.

[@mastersonic2022]

As Japanese Amy from Sonic X once said, "Even a beautiful flower has it's thorns."

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

Glad to see the Japanese versions of games and x being given more attention

[@ironmaster6496]

Too many thorns in the case of that version

[@burgergud2804]

Oh your Japanese? What do you say Amy in JAPANESE??

[@SAMURAIPACK456]

That doesnt excuse her awfull wrighting for the past 20+ years

[@bluehedgehog123]

Yes

[@Placeholder501]

That damsel in distress line seems weird when she’s been in distress like only 3 times off the top of my head.

[@criticalbuddy524]

Not even with Blaze or Sally saying that would had fitted it. It just sounded so... feminist

[@TheSultan1470]

​@@criticalbuddy524 Had to ... that one. Don't blame you, I almost vomit just thinking about it.

[@HaiderRaps]

deviantart would disagree ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@SkylarThompson-mu1qs]

@@TheSultan1470 wdym

[@bendito247]

To truly understand just how hardly fleshed out these characters-especially Amy-are today, just look at the “side story” cutscenes in the Final Horizon. These are an extremely rare instance, where Tails, Knuckles and Amy can just…have a normal conversation without Sonic. But since the writers haven’t been confident at all with any concrete direction to take these characters, the conversations between them are just…the most mundane and boring small talk ever about the current objective and that we’ve gotta keep moving for Sonic. It sounds like trying to talk to someone who clearly isn’t interested in you.

[@realer2748]

I don’t mind frontiers but the way that game tricked everybody into believing they “fixed” the characters by simply stating out loud their past feelings and character traits needs to be studied. When you really look at it, all their arcs are simply them saying “i hate the way i used to act” and Sonic fixing their problems through the power of exposition (besides Eggman but don’t even get me started on him). It’s a complete misunderstanding of the characters and the criticisms they’ve gotten over the years on pretty much every level.

[@Cloud_Dancer]

Failing the Bechdel test but unironically

[@connordarvall8482]

@@Cloud_Dancer Does that mean Knuckles is a lesbian?

[@jack_stone]

@@realer2748 The rough part is this is nonetheless still an improvement from previous titles where you didn't even get that much.

[@felixdaniels37]

@@connordarvall8482 He's in lesbians with Sonic.

[@jakeinator2005]

I recently did some wiki reading, and apparently Tangle the Lemur was created because they wanted a "badass" character who'd jump into the fray with Sonic, someone who doesn't back down and "tangles" with bad guys. They couldn't imagine anyone else in that role. I'm not going to knock Tangle, I love her addition to the franchise, but like You HAD a character who COULD step up to bad guys alongside Sonic. The fact they couldn't imagine Amy getting that involved shows the lack of direction with her.

[@WSBM14]

Flynn is an idiot. Created tangle to have adventures and be free while amy was behind a desk. People who actually give a damn about amy complained and now tangle is a military goon with a commanding officer while amy is in a hoverboard race

[@doctorchaos4436]

Seems kind of ironic in hindsight, seeing as they don't really do much with Tangle either.

[@WSBM14]

Now tangle is a military goon with a commanding officer and amy is in a hoverboard race

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

Yeah amy went along with sonic in SA2 . They also had sally, blaze, rouge. many other characters.

[@Rusty_Spy]

I wouldn't exactly call Amy a "badass" character who'd jump into the fray with Sonic. Her strength was that she _wasn't_ a cool action hero like every other character and defined herself as the heart of the cast, the one that sees the best in everyone, that's where her biggest contributions to the plot in sa1 and 2 came from. In both of those games she wants to be part of the action, wants to be part of Sonic's adventures, but always ends up being overwhelmed by the danger, but finds that where she makes the biggest impact is in the smaller, less bombastic actions; helping a single little bird find it's family, convincing Gamma to let her go, and of course, talking Shadow out of wanting the destroy the world. Those two games establish that Amy's role in the cast is not to be the big action hero like Sonic but to be the one that talks and forms connections.

[@GregCubed]

Amy is like the perfect example of Sega's warped mindset. People have a valid (or a lot of times invalid) criticism, then Sega panics and overcorrects in the extreme opposite direction causing 10 more unintentional issues to pop up. It's why this franchise never seems to be able to improve, they somehow lost any ability to make nuanced decisions after the Dreamcast died.

[@criticalbuddy524]

"...then SEGA panics and overcorrects in the extreme opposite direction causing 10 more unintencional issues to pop up" The most underrated and genius comment I ever seen. That's an recurrent issue that people just don't realize it. They always says "the Sonic fandom has the fault of all these changes" and they always leaves us with a hypocritical image, which, by a part is true, but SEGA is the one who make the things worse. For example "U want sonic with arms?" Instead of just ignoring us they are like "Fine, take Shadow the hedgehog, see we hear our fans". "U want Sonic cast back? Fine, take these fron IDW comics, even with new fun characters", until you realize all of them have a one dimensional personality (except the villains) with cliche and family friendly traits (not to say they try to trick us in that way TAKING ADVANTAGE of the new public that are composed with kids. That's why we got some premises like "IDW aMy iS pErFeCt sHe hAd MaTuRed". "tAnGlE iS tHe bEsT femAlE cHarActEr shE isn't one dimensional wDyM"). And same thing happens to Amy. The poor hedhehog will never be written correctly.

[@TheSultan1470]

​@@criticalbuddy524 No not Tangol

[@hyperentity114]

If someone you know says they prefer the new Amy, ask them what their favorite thing about her is. Enjoy the silence

[@dragondelsur5156]

I always ask that and get no response or they change topic. I love being right.

[@basilplushie2534]

She is nice She is tough She's hardworking AND MOST IMPORTANTLY SHE'S CUTE She also fit team sonic better than knuckle does

[@criticalbuddy524]

@@basilplushie2534 "She also fit Team Sonic better than Knuck does" Ur going to be cooked 💀 Not to say she already has a team (sadly forgotten) and is Team Rose that, with good writing, she fits it millions better

[@basilplushie2534]

@@criticalbuddy524 knuckle character never made sense when he was with team sonic in sonic hero Like why did he abandoned the master emerald in this game That's why team sonic is better with Amy than knuckle And also team rose got disbanded

[@zeanone9257]

Isn't that still being behind the mc or should I say the male mc

[@KgEclispe252]

Back then Amy actually had character besides being a "stalker" but now she's been degraded to "girl one"

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

Finally someone says it. Shes been turned into the modern token girl character you see in every movie and cartoon. Which has removed any character depths or flaws she once had that made her interesting. I've noticed this in boom the most and I can't believe some people think its an improvement. like removing character flaws and making a character "stronger" Doesn't make them better. I really disagree when people say amy wasn't even strong before because that girl had no powers yet managed to keep up with sonic since CD. If that doesn't show power than I don't know what does. Also Any example of her being a "stalker" was from small examples that where overblown by people who didn't even like sonic. This new version of amy is an misguided overcorrection of what was done before. She is not the only one who has had to suffer from this either. Alot of characters have been reduced to stereotypes of themselves now. But we already know that.

[@gutembergnery7985]

Uhhh I swear it's like people don't know what they want when they complain then Sega listens and then it's like they want her back omg lol

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

@@gutembergnery7985 Yeah I remember a few months back or even a year ago people where actually saying modern amy was a improvement over the past. but now people are saying this which I've always agreed with. I guess you can only enjoy a character with no depth for so long and realize it was a mistake to remove those flaws in the first place. Sega also overcorrects on alot of things. Maybe its two different groups of people that have different opinions on the matter. The thing is with sonic is that because of how many different interpretations there are you get so many people who want different things for the series. Its hard to appeal to that.

[@gutembergnery7985]

@@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778 yeah definitely and i wouldn't say this is Amy's fault either id say it's the audience faults lol so you know that saying becareful what you wish for! Lol so we'll just sit back and see If Amy will improve more with her character then her just being the girl!

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

@@gutembergnery7985 Yep. I think Its just because sonic fans are very different from each other. we all want different things and we all like different things.

[@eliasmullen1088]

I really miss Amy’s old personality, not that I hate how she is now, but it feels like she’s a different character.

[@IHateThatPotato]

She’s always felt like a different character, she has a different personality in EVERY game she’s in. And if this is the one they are sticking with, I’m ok with that.

[@tennesseewastelander7931]

I hope you see this, cause I've thought about this a lot: I think Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 really nailed Amy as a character. Amy's crush and admiration of Sonic is always present, but in she's actually one of the most focused and perceptive characters in both games! In SA1 she's the first person to realize that ZERO is hunting after Birdie, she's the person to inspire kindness in Gamma, and she's the one to stop Sonic from destroying Gamma when she realizes he's started to change. Amy is always shown as this really sweet, wanderlust, adventure craving, Sonic admirer that always puts helping other before her crush- and it's great!! In SA2 she's along for the adventure and is actively trying to help the whole time, both because of wanting to be close to Sonic but also because she really does want to help. When she frees Sonic from Prison Island you get a wonderful sense of their actual dynamic, the playful banter between them is wonderful: "If I tell you will you marry me?" "No way!" "Darn, I almost had you this time" just before she lets him out of the cell and tells him what she's knows anyways. Immediately after that she is the only one to notice the writing on the walls- Gerald's writing, which becomes VERY important later. However, Sonic X and Sonic Heroes however kind of lose sight of the fact that there was more to Amy than just her crush on Sonic, and a lot of her better attributes (he focus, her perception, her intuition) take a major backseat when compared to her never ending chase for Sonic- and that stuck for a LONG TIME, which is what lead to people being exhausted of it. Other games would do it better (she's absolutely hilarious in Riders) but for a good chunk of time her character revolved around Sonic instead of just being an aspect of her own agency.

[@WSBM14]

THE MARRIAGE JOKE IN SA2 WAS ABOUT INFO ON SHADOW, NOT THE GODDAMN JAIL CELL

[@tennesseewastelander7931]

@@WSBM14 No need to yell, it was a simple mistake- I've since corrected it.

[@WSBM14]

@@tennesseewastelander7931 this garbage has contributed to the character's reputation for the past 20 years. Sonic fans will misremember cutscenes to make her look worse

[@tennesseewastelander7931]

@@WSBM14 People like you are why we can't have genuine discussions in the Sonic Fandom anymore.

[@yungmuney5903]

Holy shit thank you. Everyone else is saying amy should go back centering around sonic but we actually got a sane one here.

[@claycarmichael4576]

I don’t understand how each Sonic game has been looking worst since generations

[@GregCubed]

You can thank Boom for that. Sega poured a TON of money into that reboot, and it crashed and burned so hard that they're still financially recovering from it a decade later. Frontiers releasing in the state it did would not be acceptable in any other franchise, yet since it's Sonic we all have to accept the dreaded "step in the right direction".

[@felixdaniels37]

@@GregCubed It's even wilder to think about considering Sega outright sabotaged Boom as a franchise literally every step of the way. They are solely responsible for losing so much money on Boom, yet Sonic as a whole only gets mistreated further because of it. It's nothing short of a miracle this dumpster fire of a company survived past the 90s.

[@dragondelsur5156]

Because they've been reusing assets from Generations to this very day.

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Not only did Frontiers save Sonic but the Movies did too, especially the first one, the success of the Movie made Sega change and actually start caring about Sonic again.

[@IHateThatPotato]

This is like, literally wrong. Generations was NOT that good, and frontiers is a step up gameplay wise, and mania is the best Sonic game I have ever played period.

[@33pandagamer]

I like how Amy was in Sonic X. She could do things and care about things that weren't Sonic, but the moment he showed up, or if anything made her think of him, she would hyper-fixate on him. She could also focus on more important tasks when she needed to. And it was sweet to see her plan out these romantic dates in her head, and try her best to make them happen. She would get mad when things didn't work out, or when Sonic didn't even humor her ideas. She never seemed too possessive and she was never afraid to speak her thoughts and feelings.

[@rainbowtoyfunrandomess1982]

And the best part of all, Lisa Ortiz voiced Amy in Sonic X!😍💕

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@Sammy-34079]

@@rainbowtoyfunrandomess1982 im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@maki_zenin892]

W comment

[@_veloxity91]

I agree with you, but Sonic X is where most of the original Amy hate came from anyway. People are too ignorant to read deeper into characters beyond surface level.

[@ians_parks]

Who has 3 arches of hair and is continually scrutinized by the Sonic fanbase? Why its Amy Rose ofcourse!

[@CosmicSponge2004]

I thought it was Tails

[@_memoryleak_]

eh it was really only people outside the fanbase criticizing her personality (much of which has been lost recently). although when i was a kid i really didn’t like her and now she’s grown on me, especially her SA2 and Unleashed appearance

[@zainabs00]

While more of a cutie than a hottie, she still manages to get a lot of controversy!

[@akihikosanada2020]

I really loved her SA1 and SA2 personality where she had her quirky crush on sonic, but was also genuinely a nice person and put that above her crush on sonic. Gamma for example she went out of her way to go AGAINST Sonic because Gamma was her friend and that's the depth I loved about her and has been lost, the balance between her two sides

[@sheacorduroy5565]

Amy has basically had her entire personality stripped away so that she can fulfill the mandatory “strong female” role that every media franchise has to have right now. Look, I’m the biggest ShadAmy shipper in all of history but even I’m incredibly mad they’ve basically reduced her affection towards Sonic to a non factor when it’s a core fucking part of her character. (Oh yeah, and fuck Sonic Movie 3 when it inevitably pulls the same thing X did and steals her most important character moment)

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

See they already had the "strong female" role with many other characters. sally and blaze come to mind at first. By making amy into this and even rouge in prime. They took away anything that made their characters stand out, They are taking away any depth or flaws they had to somehow make them "stronger". But amy was always strong. She never had any powers like sonic did. She wasn't as fast as sonic, she didn't have the spindash. All she had was her hammer and her charms. and despite all of this. She could still keep up with sonic and even save the day by convincing shadow to fulfill Marias wish. If that's not strong than I don't know what is. You don't need to remove all flaws and weakness to make a character strong. Thats what makes a character interesting. regressing amys character to being another generic girlboss doesn't make her any better. removing flaws and weakness from a character doesn't make them better. I see way too many people thinking that removing the struggles or flaws a character has, somehow makes them better. I've seen too many conversations where people say boom amy was somehow an improvement when they really just put her into a token, just like with the rest of the cast. This when it really makes the story more bland and less exciting. its a problem I see with alot of female characters. They aren't allowed to be any other role than "strong female" as an overcorrection of the past and it sucks. Because some people actually think giving them flaws is "problematic" Sticks is one of my favorite female characters in sonic cause she actually is allowed to have alot of comedic moments, I really like trip from superstars because she is actually has a story and character change through out the story. (she starts out shy and scared but later learns to toughen up to stop fang) Also your probably right on sonic movie 3. I doubt they will ever bother to use the game soundtrack since they didn't do that for 1 or 2.

[@kao7143]

i highly doubt movie 3 will leave out amy

[@kao7143]

@@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778 live and learn was confirmed to be in movie 3

[@MusicKat217]

I have the same fear as you for the third movie.. I'm hoping they let Amy be the star for once and be the reason Shadow remembers Maria's promise, because it wouldn't make sense with anyone else. Sonic taking her place would not hit the same.

[@Morales3088]

If it's Maddie instead of Amy I'm fucking crying

[@criticalbuddy524]

"I'm not just a damsel in distress anymore!" Sounds so out of character like the "This is like taking a candy from a baby" dialogue. Wtf do the writers were thinking.

[@rynobehnke8289]

That is just a case of Ian's tell don't show writing which he did often even in the comics.

[@SteveCrafts2k]

She hasn't been a damsel since CD, what is she on about?

[@jamiegioca9448]

@@SteveCrafts2k Since SA1, actually. And even there, she's more than that

[@Megaman12Protoman14]

​@@rynobehnke8289Was that scene from base Frontiers or Final Horizon (genuinely don't remember)? Because if it's the latter, Ian didn't write that. But I don't blame whoever wrote that line because it was kinda a needed course correction after almost a decade of Sonic's friends being sidelined, forgotten, and mischaracterized. Heavy-handed sure, but for the general fan base and audiences, you gotta do something to show the shift in direction with the limited amount of cutscene time.

[@_veloxity91]

@@rynobehnke8289 I don't think Ian wrote that line

[@YeeterDeleter_]

should have seen twitter after a panel from the new IDW Sonic Riders issue, people couldn't comprehend the idea that a character (Lanolin The Sheep) could be somewhat flawed and a bit mean, it really shows how everybody is used to the cast having no edge anymore, it's a shame really

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

Yes this is the issue. Too many people think character flaws are bad. They think characters having problems that they need to face and overcome is bad. So when they remove those flaws. people think the character is better when all your really have done is made the character more of a mary/gary sue. I think sonic boom showed this well because I recall people saying amys character was somehow improved in boom when all they did was dumb down her character to being the token girl character. they have removed alot of her flaws and depth. Just like how knuckles became the token strong and dumb character. All this ever leads too is boring and bland story's that nobody finds enjoyable.

[@YeeterDeleter_]

@@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778 exactly, people ask for better quality stories and writing, but then go onto complain whenever a character shows a single semblance of depth, it's the same thing every time, we get a story like Generations or Colours, people say it's too campy and that the franchise would never return to the more story driven games such as Adventure 2, but then we get better writing (specifically character writing) and everyone throws a fit that Sonic fucking told Tails to calm down or some shit, it's super jarring, it gets me really frustrated

[@felixdaniels37]

I think the issue is less that she's mean, and more so she exists to solely be an obstacle to dance around rather than an actual character. She's always just irrational and clearly in the wrong, yet she inexplicably has a ton of sway in the narrative despite doing nothing to earn that. The fact that she's able to boss around the likes of Silver and Whisper, characters who literally fought in wars and by all accounts should outrank this rookie, is just baffling. Really it's more of an issue with the writing in IDW being bad in general, and how writers brought a lot of the drama tropes and baggage from Archie into this comic. Seriously, she'd fit perfectly in the Archie comics, which is why she's less than ideal here.

[@YeeterDeleter_]

@@felixdaniels37 fair enough, I don't keep up with IDW so I should have probably done more research, it was more about the outcry that shocked me, it's just weird that people could get mad if a character that wasn't someone like Shadow told another character to shut up, they would get angry and complain, I just feel like sometimes in this community we ask for things like better writing in the characters and when we begin to receive it, we just get mad again

[@blobbem]

Personally, I love the angry sheep. It's refreshing to have a "good guy" who is pissed off all the time at how reckless the heroes can be, and how she's a stickler for planning and risk assessment.

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

modern amy is an over correction of problems that she never really had in the first place. problems that where overblown by people who disliked the series back in the 2010s when it was really popular to mock the sonic franchise. Amy was never a "creepy yandere stalker" There's like a few times where she actually is in spin off games but even then. back in CD, SA 1, SA 2 she is a good character and even Her fiery temper was funny. She never needed to be as powerful as sonic to keep up with him. Thats what made her so badass to me. Removing her flaws has ruined any fun her character once had. Honestly It was funny seeing her chase sonic around with the hammer. Without her traits from previous games she has kind of became the generic character. Removing flaws from a character doesn't make them better. That makes them less likeable or iconic. Thats why sonic was so bland in the meta era because he faced zero challenges and could beat everything without any problem. Sonic characters in are too boring and safe nowadays. Even the recent games doing a good enough job at fixing what was done. The quality of writing should be at the same level as SA2. What we have gotten is a slight improvement of the meta era and I've seen too many people act like suddenly things are saved. But more work has to be done. There should be less steps in the right direction and more actual quality. You can't keep settling for mediocre because that only leads to things not improving. I miss characters that had struggles, depth and flaws. I don't even know if they are gonna do shadow good for his upcoming movie and game appearances. Only time will tell.

[@TheArceusftw]

To me at least, it never felt like a situation like Shadow or Big where she felt like a go-to punchline whenever games journalists bring up "Sonic's annoying friends". I felt like that reputation of Amy as nothing more than "An annoying yandere stalker" came more from SonSally shippers.(And No, this isn't me trying to reignite old Sonamy vs SonSally shipping wars, just making an obsersvation.)

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

​@@TheArceusftw Oh yeah. I can see that. Honestly both sides of the shipper wars often stereotyped each others girls as that. People did the same with sally and people would do that with amy. I always found it dumb, it was really up to the writer if they wanted to explore that ship. Anyone could enjoy whatever they wanted there shouldn't have been a cared of what was better. Because its your own fan fiction. But Both ships are sorta canon in their own timelines so I never understood why both sides couldn't enjoy those their own. I always saw sonic as a character who kind of would get every girl he would come by. So I always thought all ships would work anyways. Its sorta like when people ask if Spinosaurus or tyrannosaurus rex would win in a fight. Its whatever the writer wants for the story. You can still enjoy both outcomes. But with all that said, obviously bardoic is the true canon ship of sonic underground.

[@crocodileman94]

Amy was somewhat of a "creepy yandere stalker" in Sonic Heroes.

[@ironmaster6496]

​@@crocodileman94I would blame that game, Rush and specially Sonic X for her bad reputation, i mean she literally was just the SOOOOOONIIIIIC girl and....well nothing else because she still had likeable and interesting traits which is what made the fangirl angle so much more frustrating

[@felixdaniels37]

The fanbase loves to claim that Frontiers was about "fixing" the mistakes of the meta era, but it's extemely flawed logic because it didn't fix anything. Like, at all. Tails is as whiny as ever, dependant on Sonic for any sense of emotional stability. Hell, if anything Tails REGRESSED since the previous games, at least in Lost World he was willing to call out Sonic for being a doofus. Knuckles' whole thing is that he wants to leave Angel Island... something he's already been doing since SA1. Hell, even before that with Knuckles Chaotix. And Amy goes without saying. Nothing has changed, the game just leaves vague promises that maybe, someday, these characters will change. But not now. And why not now? It would've been way smarter to, you know, actually MOVE ON and actually make satisfying arcs that stand on their own, rather than hedging their bets on the next game.

[@somepenguin508]

Amy is such a weird character considering how her very concept was being a Sonic fangirl and believing in her love and fate due to her own tarot cards. Her character was defined by her connection to Sonic since day one, even more than Tails. Ironically by removing those traits to make her less defined by her relationship with Sonic, it really did more damage to her character than improve it, alienating fans of the character while not realizing that it was never really Amy's character or concept that was the issue but the writing.

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

Not really, it was pretty on par with Tails as being audience surrogates to sonic's older-brother hero figure, Tails as boyish and Amy more girly, which are directly shorthanded to mechanic interest and horoscopes, in a very standard Japanese way. The problem is western total language barrier to the BASIC idea of considering two genders as an equal thing, and hence even something like that sort of toy-interest becomes a massive inequality issue. Because you already believe that fiddling with mechanics is some automatic route to a STEM degree while interst in human connections is a waste of effort. You're just flabbergasted that Japan even HAS that very high degree of excellence in exactly that, making their queues straight and streets clean.

[@SwizzleMix]

@@sboinkthelegday3892 WOKE Sonic (Wokenic) DESTROYED by 日本 Samurai Excellence (real) (not clickbait)

[@SoIstice]

@@sboinkthelegday3892 Jesse what the fuck are you talking about?

[@TheSultan1470]

​@@sboinkthelegday3892 LOL weak comment

[@TheSultan1470]

​@@SoIstice About how your streets are dirty. Clean that trash up

[@Change51]

Hey Mark’s friend! I like the video, but I feel like you’re mostly only focusing on Frontiers, because a lot of her other new characterizations have been great imo. In Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, she’s still a very peppy and lively character and I really liked her characterization in Sonic Mania Adventures with her showing sympathy and forgiveness to Metal Sonic and taking care of him. I actually like the direction of making her “the caring one” because that trait was always there to begin with and if you combine it with her peppy personality, it makes for an entertaining character. Like, there’s that entire Lego set of her island where she takes care of Flickies, I think that’s a cool concept if Sega actually explored something like that in the games. She still has endearing elements when you strip away her obsession with Sonic, the problem was just in Frontiers, where her vibrant personality was stripped away as well.

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

its still amazing how better written amy was in mania adventures in about 2 short minutes of animation with no dialogue compared to the last decade of sonic content.

[@ftrwrwbg]

He gave a lot more examples than Frontiers. Amy has been stripped of everything fun about her and made really boring

[@bowtiefries]

Man.

[@mavi3348]

Those are just pieces of side media, not written by the people behind the mainline games. The video is talking about the mainline games, which practically dictate what the characters are suppose to be like. If they change Amy you will stop seeing the Amy you like in smaller projects.

[@usermcskull4713]

​@@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778tbh Mania Adventures is one of my favourite pieces of Sonic media lol, it's basically perfect imo

[@quagtwo]

Modern Sonic characters these days feel like when the cast of a beloved old sitcom from the 90s/2000s gets back together years later for a reunion show but when it actually happens you're just like "oh wait, this is just a bunch of boring 40 year olds now" But the main problem here is that these "40 year olds" are still supposed to be super energetic teenage characters. Sonic & Amy are definitely affected by it the worst.

[@realer2748]

I think they’re lowkey trying to age the characters up but it doesn’t just work for this franchise imo. I think the series is at its best when it’s taking a more whimsical, off the walls, youthful approach while having enough confidence that it can take itself seriously. Sadly, I don’t think that confidence exists anymore which is why they’ve been transforming the series into different trends since 2006. The current stop being “melodramatic open world with mature characters”.

[@ShockwaveFPSStudios]

@@realer2748the aging thing doesn’t work if the characters still look the same. I know the Sonic Boom show had ended and the Sonic Boom games are really mixed by the fans (Or at least the remaining fans. I stopped being a Sonic Fan years ago) but if SEGA just integrate the designs by making those the more mature versions of the characters, than the whole “aging up the characters” bit would’ve made sense in both a character progression thing, and from a narrative standpoint that the newer Sonic games are having.

[@quagtwo]

@@realer2748 I wish they realized that it's okay for these characters to have traits that would genuinely be considered super annoying IRL It's kinda hard to see Sonic himself as bad-mannered, mischievous and impatient if his only confrontations are with objectively evil characters. That's why I've always been 100% for human citizens being fully present in the series as they naturally contrast and bring out Sonic's best characteristics in a way that makes him feel different and exciting.

[@_veloxity91]

@@ShockwaveFPSStudios the designs dont change because sonics design is really hard to alter without making pointless changes that just make it look bad

[@Jetterz1999]

I never understood the consensus that Sonic Frontiers' dialogue fixed the characters. Like yeah they avoided their stereotypical personalities, but when removing their core character traits they neglected to add any specific new ones, so they ironically turned out even *_more_* generic than where we left off from

[@Arbiter-xw3ng]

I only just realised how much her theme from Sonic Heroes sounds like an early 2010s pop song like 5 years early

[@ThatOneMinecraftian]

Probably some of the most misunderstood characters in video games that was turned into a husk of her former self because SEGA would rather play it safe. She also was a sweet girl who would go out of her way to help anyone and anything. In Adventure, she helps a few flickys that were all trapped within Eggmans robots to power the machine. It was really sweet. Now shes just a nice girl. I really needed this video, thanks Mark!

[@starfalchion4404]

For Amy, I think her love for Sonic is an important part of the character. It doesn’t have to be at the forefront but still there. However, what I like about Amy besides the fun dynamic with Sonic is that she was fun and bubbly. She was kind and compassionate as well, but also had an edge where she could be the most dangerous person in the room if you upset her. Just make her fun to watch. Make fun moments out of her overly extroverted personality. Have people cower in fear when she’s angry. My favorite modern Amy scene for example, which is ironically from the Classic styled Superstars, is when she had that scary sinister cartoony look in the promotional cartoon. Serious and independent isn’t the only way to course correct female characters, guys. They can still be fun and girly. Just make them characters that can stand on their own.

[@josiahtheawkward6008]

Amy Rose has joined Amber Bennett at the “characters who writers over-corrected due to fan response but forgot to give an actual personality to them afterward” club

[@AhmedMalaki]

Who is Amber Bennett painter Kirby?

[@josiahtheawkward6008]

@@AhmedMalaki invincible

[@mechajay3358]

Amber was already overcorrected when she was translated from the comic to the TV series, that was the writer's fault, not the fans response.

[@Raichu_chu]

Pretty sure Ian Flynn commented on this. Saying he wrote Amy like this because their situation was serious and it'd be out of place to make jokes. Honestly, even in IDW I don't think he wrote her particularly well. The best Amy has been written by Evan Stanley in recent times.

[@dragondelsur5156]

Which is dumb because, remember, even in the direst of moments, she never stopped being herself. In 06 she cried because Sonic died, but in Frontiers... why is she so emotionless when nothing is happening? Are you not even going to try to lighten up the mood?

[@Supersammy22-z7d5k]

I master----bate looking at Amy rose pictures and i love it

[@gtcproductions4097]

I’ve never really liked Amy all that much, but I can imagine how people who DO like her must feel nowadays.

[@naitsabes6222]

Bruh what’s their to dislike like about her? It’s only if you don’t vibe with her loud cheerful personality , it’s telling when she’s the one to convince shadow to fight for their side lol

[@dragondelsur5156]

And I feel appalled by how Amy's been course corrected and people cheer up on this shit.

[@alexgomez6723]

She seems like the type to annoy me on the surface….but honestly…..I never really minded her. Sure she wasn’t my absolutely favorite character, but all things considered, her Sonic fever was a big trait but never her defining feature, she does care for others, and is willing to face danger head when push comes to shove, it’s just now…..they don’t do much with her, and honestly, I really am not big on SEGA actually wanting to make her and Sonic an item…..it just really undermines both their characters in my eyes from my perspective.

[@poppip10]

“When I was a young boy, around ten I wanna say, one of my favorite video game franchises was Sonic The Hedgehog. The fast and exciting gameplay was perfect for a young lad such as myself. Yet, I also found myself attached to the characters. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, they all brought life into the stories which I held dear. Even Amy Rose, while not one of my favorites, was a fun addition. Watching her chase after Sonic, trying to get his affection. It was fun. But then she changed. A character which once had her own personality, her own stories, and her own charm turned into a girl. And nothing more.”

[@SteveCrafts2k]

Where was that from?

[@poppip10]

@@SteveCrafts2k it’s based on the intros to ls mark’s family guy character retrospectives, check them out sometime they’re pretty cool

[@castform7]

I feel like I'm one of the people who contributed to Amy being so sterile. I subscribed to the idea of Amy being some wacko fangirl who "stalks" Sonic around. But after looking at the 2000s games and recognizing what we lost vs. what we have now, I want to beat my past self with a stick. I really like that Amy. She was passionate, not afraid of letting her thoughts be known and heard loud and clear, spunky and a bit of a hothead at times. Her love for Sonic wasn't reciprocated but Sonic treats it more as who she is and isn't bothered by it. Notice how I can say multiple things about 2000s Amy without needing to pause and think. Meanwhile with Amy from Lost World onwards she's just....nice. Honestly I outright disagree with your point at 11:48 because she did go on her own adventure in Sonic Heroes, the game that cemented her critiques. She led a team of her and 2 people who aren't the best at adventuring and constantly kept them moving for the sake of those 2 same members' friends. Not her own game but her own story and my favorite portrayal of her character in the modern day. I don't even care about the "marry me" cutscene because there are other reasons why they're confronting Sonic and this is the same game that has Rouge pick a fight with the Chaotix for quite literally *no reason whatsoever.* These fights obviously weren't supposed to be serious. I know with how people (including me) critiqued Amy, we probably won't get that Amy back but I hope they can work the new Amy into a character that doesn't boil down to "she's a good person" in the future.

[@WSBM14]

God forbid anyone likes sonic unironically

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

We all make mistakes. Sometimes we give into narratives that aren't really true. but the solution to that is looking into yourself to see if there really is truth behind what people are saying.

[@raybailey2418]

It's really interesting how Amy was created as an antithesis to Princess Peach, but through the years both characters have become stale and almost lifeless.

[@ashesGeek]

Ironically, Peach got her own game and an independent role in Mario movie when Amy doesn't get all of this

[@skipplayz7577]

@@ashesGeek I think Peach have been treated alot better in the modern day compare like the wii and wii u era

[@ashesGeek]

@skipplayz7577 all the girls are, to be honest. Nintendo even hyped up Pauline enough with Mario Odyssey and cameo in Mario movie

[@n50409]

I actually feel the opposite with peach, I mean, Besides the comics, She didn't really have a personality back then

[@NATURALHARMONIAGROPIUSSPRITE]

Ngl I still love peach

[@PixelrushTheFunnyPixelMan]

Thank you for this, Mark. This was genuinely all very vindicating. Amy really deserves better.

[@eliasmullen1088]

Agreed

[@ShockwaveFPSStudios]

Ah, so Mark IS SplashDash.

[@SquidwardSmellsGOOD734]

Sega could’ve EASILY given Amy an arc somewhere in the games where she learns to let go of her obsession with Sonic, and can still keep her cheerful and energetic personality while trying her best to help and support him in any way she can. But just like everything else, because people didn’t like her character in the earlier games, Sega thought, “People don’t like Amy? Okay, let’s just throw her entire personality away. That will definitely make our games a hundred times better.”

[@TheRobloxianBeatSabertist]

But that’s literally what the fans had interpreted her personality as. It’s why they had to downgrade her fangirl part of herself so she could be less annoying and more appealing to the fans. Sonic Team and SEGA were just trying to listen to their fans and didn’t even know that people liked Amy then from how she was. They just thought: “Woah. Gee. Perhaps they really do find her that annoying. I think they probably don’t want her like that. I don’t wanna take a risk on flunking another game because of her fangirl emotions towards the Blue Blur.”

[@ricomannen2502]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKGmf5Z6qKirjsUsi=A7gwta9ej3IaIE9K Pariah 654 has a great video on Amy's character

[@ShockwaveFPSStudios]

If that’s the case, than her being a strong independent woman would’ve been shown as she had character growth, instead of a change out of nowhere.

[@dragondelsur5156]

@@ricomannen2502 Not Pariah, he straight up wants Amy out of the action doing minute things and playing cheerleader.

[@polocatfan]

they literally did this in adventure 1 then immediately forgot about it

[@Itz_Kwame]

Sonic is so…. Sanitised nowadays like, remember in Riders when Amy beat the shit out of Sonic cos he left her From Unleashed onwards she would probably say “thanks for saving me sonic now I would spread love everywhere!” Everyone is too kind to each other now

[@obd9660]

Yeah, they behave more sophisticated middle class people rather than cartoon characters

[@FaizKTG]

True at times I question whether they are friends who'd realistically goof off or fricking colleagues in 9-5 jobs. They are too nice too kind they don't do any shenanigans like their relationship is all professional, friends don't work like that.

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

The problem is they have downgraded sonic into being another mario. Sonic was supposed to be the cool cartoon character who didn't like authority. He's not supposed to be the type of person who is going around preaching the values of morals and ethics. He's supposed to be a rodent who does a little trolling because he feels like it. This also extends to the other characters in the franchise now. They have gotten any flaws or character depth they once had removed from them. as an overcorrection from issues people who didn't even like sonic made about the franchise. its just so bland now.

[@naitsabes6222]

I love that scene in riders , sonic legit just did not think of any other situation and sent Amy launched into the air of course she’s furious about that, I love people genuinely say shit like sonic didn’t do anything wrong 😂

[@kao7143]

​@@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778sonic had those moments in frontiers

[@felixdaniels37]

The whole idea of Amy being this crazed stalker that Sonic wants nothing to do with completely falls apart when you look at Unleashed. There Amy doesn't recognize Sonic in the Werehog form, and he's legitimately hurt be that. If Sonic never really cared for Amy because of her personality, then why did he show more emotion in that scene than he EVER did when she was "attacking" him? Their whole dynamic was clearly a bit between the two of them, both sides were in on the joke. It's a level of nuance unique to the series, and the fact that it's just GONE now is depressing.

[@JeepusChrystler]

I think my favorite characterization for Amy has been in the IDW comic, where she's kind of the team mom but her craziness and temper are more focused into a positive thing. She's kinda on sight with that hammer, like when she smashed Tails' tablet when Tangle ghosted through it, or when she threatened someone at the ski lodge. It's great stuff. She's basically that one meme of the raccoon that says "Cute, but will fight you."

[@kyperactive]

Ironically a character that has no rose tinted glasses

[@NintendoSegaGuys]

I was waiting for someone to make this video and I completely agree. Amy is characterized as equal parts abrasive and caring, her interractions with Gamma in Adventure is a good example and her one-sided love for Sonic is endearing and a good source of comedy.

[@tevineleven11]

3:26 i always hated this thought, "Female character hitting male is seen as abusive". It always felt so dumb, because it almost always is during a comedy scene without an ounce of seriousness

[@tevineleven11]

Sakura from Naruto tends to get the same treatment. So abusive....as she punches Naruto so hard, he flies to the moon

[@PlanetZoidstar]

I think alot of people see that as the issue. Since it downplays the concept of female-on-male violence as a joke. So when it happens in real life it's not taken seriously.

[@obd9660]

​@@PlanetZoidstar To those people, I have this quote from an old movie called Bolt; "It's entertainment for people. It's FAKE! Nothing you think is real is real!"

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

​@@obd9660 ...That movie literally abused a dog by fudzing his perception of reality and fabrication, for the sake of trivial human amusement. Bolt couldn't understand it is fiction. And in every emotinal level it WASN'T, because all this narrative is just invented insanity like humans wearing ties and trading coins. YOU miss the point of genuinely real reality. Bullies make "only words" into a game of theirs, but reality of their victim.

[@ViltrumiteIsRite99]

@@obd9660No, like the guy above you said, it downplays female-on-male violence. If male on female violence is treated seriously, same should go for the opposite. I've been hit and assaulted by women, thinking they could just get away with it or backed up.

[@littenfire3563]

I miss old Amy. People don't know how to handle cartoon humor anymore

[@Supersammy22-z7d5k]

I master----bate looking at Amy rose pictures and i love it

[@Thisisperfect2020]

Amy is one of my favorite characters in Sonic, but I feel like the ruined her character in some of the modern games 😅

[@CometX-ing]

In attempting to remove her toxic trait the made it clear that she really has no character outside of it. Sounds similar to Quagmire.

[@kalebLS_X]

Giggity

[@dNks_BOI]

Giggity

[@Valtronix_Sonic]

Giggity

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

Her character was much different in SA 2 compared to now. She is the one who got shadow to change his mind and to save the world. that type of sweet stuff. She had a character before. But the problem is they removed any flaws or traits she once had to overcorrect an issue that really wasn't that bad to begin with expect for a few games and shows where actually acted like a stalker. Alot of the sonic characters are way too safe and bland right now. They have been since the meta era started and I don't even think boom did anyone any favors either. it made the issues with characters worse by devolving them into stereotypes of themselves. Sure frontiers and the current era are trying to fix the mistakes. But its not good enough and its not working. its a slight improvement of what happened before.

[@naitsabes6222]

Comparing her to quagmire is crazy 😂

[@Gao8lack]

In “The Murder Of Sonic the Hedgehog”, Amy rules shes very well written

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@Benjie6424]

the sonic boom reference in the title is crazy

[@LannyLeArtist]

Yeah

[@leelewis445]

I miss her spark, her energy, passion and adventurous spirit. She was the only character that loved Sonic as much as she did, where as you have characters like Knuckles and Shadow who wouldn't mind punching him through a wall every now and again. However, Amy wore her affection on her sleeve and just like Sonic, what you see is what you get. Her more subdued personality just isn't as interesting. There was no need to "course correct". Yeah, develop her a bit more in a way that feels organic, but listening to the folks that didn't give a rip about her in the first place, or simply didn't appreciate what she brought to the table will always be a mistake. There was nothing wrong with Amy fangirling over Sonic and it was up to SEGA to add more layers, not take essential ones away.

[@haoshydranoid9462]

I think people just don't understand how character engagement works. Yes, she could be seen as annoying and exaggerated, but that's the point and it made it so you could view her differently from others. It adds diversity in personality and makes the story and interactions more rich and memorable. The old Amy was more interesting and the attention she had proved it. Shadow is overly edgy, Knuckles can be thick headed, and Rouge can be overly suggestive. It would be very easy to say these are problematic too but that's what makes them interesting as CARTOON characters. We all grew up with these characters just fine. No one is turning into bad people from cartoon characters and if they are then they didn't spend enough time with friends and family, not the game's fault. If all characters didn't have their flair, flaws, etc, they would be boring and not contribute as much to the story, like with how Amy and most characters in general are nowadays. But if these characters are apparently THAT much a problem anyway, then focus on other characters instead of watering older characters like Rouge and Amy down to boring characters that dull the story. Focus more on characters like Blaze, Tangle, Whisper, many more. There are better solutions then just giving Amy fortune cards and expecting people to like her for existing.

[@33pandagamer]

Sonic never seemed to hate it when Amy chased him around. I feel like if he did, he would have told her to stop, but he never did. Sonic never seemed scared of Amy either, he just found her annoying at times.

[@blurrydawgo5403]

It's been said that the most effective way to turn a static character into a dynamic one is to give them a goal to work towards, rather than just personality traits, a backstory, likes or dislikes. Amy's character was DEFINED by having a goal and an adamant desire to reach it- catching up to Sonic and following his example of being a hero (as much as Sonic doesn't care about being seen as a hero, hence why his more go-with-the-flow nature bounced off of Amy's more bombastic one). I'm glad more and more people are starting to appreciate Amy for who she is. I'm glad that I am, too.

[@SuperJamz64]

As an Amy fan, I agree with this video. The sad part is that they're still capable of characterizing Amy well and hitting a nice balance between her old self and her new self, since they did that in the IDW comics and Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.

[@fryguy9704]

Amy’s personality has become more hallowed then Sonic’s romantic feelings for her

[@supersmashseandx1991]

Damn dude stone cold

[@naitsabes6222]

Bruh you say that and sonic does have a thing for her lol

[@fryguy9704]

@@naitsabes6222 really?

[@Jenamphetam1ne]

​@@fryguy9704 yea there are a few idle lines in sonic frontiers where it's pretty explicit

[@fryguy9704]

@@Jenamphetam1ne cause I never played sonic frontiers before.

[@SnooperStar18262]

With girls with crushes with the main characters go, I'd say that Isabella from Phineas and Ferb does this excellently.

[@indiepunkcrow]

It's interesting how it feels like SEGA was too busy listening to people in the late 2000s who hated all the side characters and "only wanted to see Sonic, not all his friends!!" then they make all the other characters as interesting as a cardboard boxes to make room for Sonic and now we have the character "depths" that Frontiers tried doing to make up for that era of "teammates that stand there doing nothing"

[@ZenithintheMaking]

Thing is they go too far with the criticism. "Why is Sonic getting shafted? Give us more Sonic" "Oh word? All right then more Sonic it is. Say goodbye to his friends." "The game is too easy why can't you make it harder? "Harder you say? I'LL GIVE YOU HARDER!" "Amy is too much! I love her but she's too boycrazy and annoying!" "Hmm.... If that's the case, then I'll leave her with no personality at all. YOUR WELCOME!" It's like you're making a wish on an evil genie😂. Your issue will be solved but in the worst possible way 🤣

[@Glue_Eater06]

​@@ZenithintheMakingsounds more like a monkey's paw kinda thing, always with the ironic twist and going too far

[@ZenithintheMaking]

Real​@@Glue_Eater06

[@ZenithintheMaking]

@@Glue_Eater06 Real

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

Yeah thats just SEGA being way too incompetent with feedback. They are trying to please everyone alot of the time. It feels like your speaking to someone who constantly misunderstands what you want and they do the completely opposite of it. Sega also never wants to salvage anything that has worked from previous games that got heavily dumped on which leads to good ideas being lost. For example shadows character and story in 06 is actually good. But because 06 got so hated on. I can bet thats the reason sega has devolved shadow into nothing but a edge lord with no character depth. Because they think if they do anything from 06, that its bad and people don't like it. This has lead alot of sonic fans to be scared to criticize games because they think sega is gonna completely drop the idea instead of improving on it because they've done that in the past when they got criticized and I think that has lead to a lot of toxic positivity where people shut down any criticism. The problem is obviously sega for not listening to feedback properly and taking it way too far. I should say too. What frontiers and current sonic media is doing is not even good enough of a fix. Its a slight improvement of the meta era. But thats not good enough. I've noticed that alot with the recent sonic media. its always been a "step in the right direction" but its never an actual product worthy of the same quality of what we've gotten before. Settling for mediocrity will never fix anything.

[@user-nk8nj8ut4j]

What I hate about modern Amy is that she's now an example of how studios want to be safe and that they're afraid that if they recreate what they made back in the past, then people are gonna once again hate it. I like Amy when she was in love with Sonic, if anything I find it to be enjoyable watching both her and Sonic having this sort of romantic banter with each other, and it gave her a personality. But she's just known as "The Girl". It just sucks the fun out of these games.

[@Nightsoulgaming0925]

Honestly I really hate the fandom for making Amy a shipping bait character instead of people seeing her as an actual developed character that have so many great opportunities to do with her besides love. Also her aggressive personality gives it more entertaining to her personality as well. Also Maturity is good but can also be very boring

[@CaptainF123]

Amy was honestly fine before Generations. It's fine she never got a deep arc because she never really needed one.

[@Chibiknux]

To me the characters that have been portrayed the weirdest lately are both Sonic and Amy. If Sonic is off then Amy will be off too. If Sonic is a lazy jerk then Amy have to be a hyperactive girlboss. Amy like Knuckles is a foil to Sonic. If Sonic is free, detached and avoidant, Amy works as overly attached, temperamental and emotion driven foil to him. To me that's what made the dynamic work. Japanese Sonic X's Amy is the best portrayal in my opinion. She's still too young and codependent, has a strong will and short temper, she's like Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura, I've always seen her as this shojo manga archetype like Usagi from Sailor Moon. There are so many ways you can make Amy fun, I'd love to write for her character.

[@superradicalsquad6617]

Amy use to be the girl who like had a huge crush on Sonic but now she’s just the girl who’s Sonic’s friend

[@WSBM14]

She gave up like we should've

[@AnimalXing]

Sonic Adventure and The Murder of Sonic Amy is best Amy

[@gutembergnery7985]

Yes I definitely agree!

[@kao7143]

well, kind of everyone in murder of sonic is kind of a dick to each other and it comes off obnoxious

[@dragondelsur5156]

@@kao7143 Amy isn't going to be 100% polite, that's just the reality of it.

[@noone-mo6gy]

I gotta be honest, I really like the way Amy's been handled recently, not to mention I vibe with the whole Terot card thing, but I would still love more of her old personality traits to come back.

[@ashesGeek]

In that case let's hope Sega won't turn Amy into joke character again and use her only for memes like most Sonic want it(screw them)

[@noone-mo6gy]

@@ashesGeek yeah, If anything, I'd like to see her being much more of a protective character to her friends, specifically Sonic, Maybe amplify her crush a little bit, but still keep it subtle, I honestly wouldn't mind her being a therapist of sorts in her offtime, helping people deal with their trauma.

[@naitsabes6222]

@@noone-mo6gywell boom amy is that

[@RaiginAnimator]

7minutes in I appreciate Amy’s Character more but Murder of is her best version.

[@SPIDERKN1GHT0327]

Amy right now is like the Raimi MJ of the Sonic franchise: Going from a women that stands up for herself and is independent, to an annoying, whiny, damsel in distress. Edit: for Raimi MJ, I mean from the comics to the movies

[@ShockwaveFPSStudios]

As a Spider-Man Fan, I know Rami MJ was always an annoying whiny damsel in distress, while every other MJ was independent and could stand up for herself.

[@SPIDERKN1GHT0327]

@@ShockwaveFPSStudios Right like MJ was never a damsel in distress in the comics , that was Gwen’s job

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

I think modern amy is a failed attempt at making amy into a "strong independent woman" But the writers fail to realize she always was a strong character and in trying to fix what wasn't broke has turned her into the very thing they were trying to avoid.

[@Rusty_Spy]

If only she was annoying and whiny, the problem is that she's _nothing_

[@ShockwaveFPSStudios]

@@SPIDERKN1GHT0327Yeah, and look what that got her. *snapped*🫰

[@FizzyChalice]

I think “Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog” was one of the few games to nail Amy’s character.

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@bumblebee4791]

Something i have to say about the amy shaving cats thing is that its basically talking about how she is impulsive and has low self control Its basically how a pursian cats are sweet and gentle she can somewhat emphasizes with that but when she really likes something she has to have it despite having that empathy

[@SKOT_3]

Think the overall issue with Flynn is somehow thinking her being girly makes her a bad character. She doesn't have to sound serious and independent to be a good character. She's a pink hedgehog who has a crush on Sonic. Let her be her. We don't have go change her whole character.

[@blurrydawgo5403]

He's described Blaze as "the only kick-ass female" and stated that Tangle was created because there wasn't a girl who could join in the action as a more peppy and energetic fighter. It's like his only metric for a strong female character is whether they can kick ass without blinking like Lara Croft. It's pretty shallow.

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

"would follow to the ends of the earth" ...shocker. Must be true love.

[@DanielKariuki-er5gi]

9:57 1. She's nice 2. She's cares about creatures 3. She cares about the environment I guess 4. She cares about her friends That's it I honestly have nothing else to say.

[@Supersammy22-z7d5k]

I master----bate looking at Amy rose pictures and i love it

[@somari8591]

You really hit the nail on the head regarding Sonic being tied to the hip of all his friends at all times, it used to be that Sonic and Tails wouldn't see each other for a while, it's why Tails would say "long time no see!" In SA1 cuz you could infer it's been a while and they were doing their own things since Tails has his own property in the Myatic Ruins now. Compare this to games like Sonic Forces where Sonic just inexplicably has a wrist communicator of some kind for Tails to reach out to him while he's out and about, before he would be neccessiated to even be in direct contact like that. I'm not saying Sonic should never have communication with friends when a group effort is taking place, some of my fave Sonic media literally gives Sonic communicators when on a mission (Sonic Adventure 2/Sonic X Episode 2), but he isn't just someone who should have a PowerPuff Girls phone line on him when that rotten Eggman is up to no good, like he's a superhero you ring up, that wasn't his deal and neither was the rest of the cast except arguably the Chaotix whose jobs are to literally solve problems for money.

[@WSBM14]

Maybe if this series wasn't so cheap, characters wouldn't need to constantly be in sonic's inner circle just to get any focus

[@theenjoyer22]

What the fuck man, this video made me realize how much I actually miss the old Amy Rose and I can't cope anymore. Frontiers' Amy is so watered-down in comparison

[@gamefreakDX]

Now that I think about it, I'd like to see what the JP script for Frontiers does for Amy. To my understanding, the JP scripts for the games Colours and onwards, handle the characters like they usually are (within restrictions of the American writers, tone, etc). I heard Amy acts more like the classic Amy we used to know.

[@criticalbuddy524]

Watch it. JP script to Amy in Frontiers is another thing. I highly recommend

[@osmarguadalajara6373]

God i miss a llittle bit of the old amy to be honest at least the idw comics do show a little of bit of the old amy

[@osmarguadalajara6373]

At least

[@Supersammy22-z7d5k]

I master----bate looking at Amy rose pictures and i love it

[@tfazer1985]

I Got The Sonic Boom Reference!!! I Guess I'm One Of The 2 Percent!!!

[@shinysoda6]

"I understood that reference"

[@gutembergnery7985]

Sonic Pizzazz! Amy Pizza! Sonic Pizzazz! Amy Pizza! Sonic Pizzazz! Amy Pizza!

[@fryguy9704]

@@gutembergnery7985 Hey, could you guys hold this door for me?

[@ShockwaveFPSStudios]

That put a smile on my face, but just not in a creepy way.

[@Vil-trix]

Is that the name of her screenplay?

[@boop53]

one of my fave sonamy scenes in the series is in sonic unleashed, where werehog sonic saves amy from the people under control of Dark Gaia. he awkwardly puts her down and swings away as fast as he can since the cutscene before this was amy getting shocked at hugging werehog sonic and thinking he was someone else idk. I kinda read it as sonic actually enjoys the admiration from amy sometimes. and when sonic wasn’t who he really was, cursed by dark gaia into this form, he was actually kinda hurt that he didnt have the girl that was always rooting for him there, even if just for a moment.

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@ftrwrwbg]

I think they took Amy too far in the opposite direction to correct what wasn’t even a big deal other than I guess these days a girl isn’t allowed to like a boy in any media. She was funny back then. It’s fine to tone it down a little bit, but it’s now weird that she went from madly in love to showing zero romantic interest whatsoever. They’ve made her boring.

[@user-vt6dd4kz5t]

Why do I feel like he missed the entire context of her character in frontiers because he really missing some points here and there as someone who likes her character in frontiers and idw this is just frustrating too watch...the one thing i agree with him is that when she called herself a damsel in distress was abit off I'm ngl..but i disagree with pretty much everything he said about her in frontiers.

[@thevioletskull8158]

If Amy was shown growth on screen (same for all the charaters),got that spnuk and they sorted out Sonic and Amy's relationship (Idw is a good example of this), that would be great.

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@stuartbarron7117]

I honestly really like Amy in the IDW comics and how they portrayed her as a capable fighter and ally. She had really strong chemistry with Sonic where they were quippy toward each other but there was a mutual respect between them and they knew they could rely on each other.

[@Nodeathnolife]

I'm starting to question how a cold I had in April led me to go deep into a rabbit hole of a pink rat's oddball reputation who BTW originated from the licensing division of Sega of Japan wanting a Minnie Mouse counterpart for Sonic.

[@PixelyBits]

Had a feeling the “Rose without thorns” was a Sonic Boom thing. Loved the show, the game on the other hand…

[@SpookyScarySkello]

Okok I have a lot of opinions on this. I'm a relatively new sonic fan so i was never there for the Amy hate stuff back then- and let me just say, I ADORE Amy's character in Sonic CD and Sonic adventure (Or at least my own interpretation of the events of those games). She's doesn't just want to be Sonic's girlfriend- she wants to be a part of his life of thrill and danger. She's adventurous, as shown in her very first appearance in CD. Influenced by her tarot cards, she goes to little planet in hopes of finding her hero. She meets Sonic, and believes their meeting to be fate. After the events of CD, she seeks him out. As she says in Sonic adventure, she finds the city life boring. She dreams of the thrill and excitement Sonic showed her. So when she sees him again, she is determined to impress him and not let him go. She's not only determined, but also a pit pushy, and that's what makes their dynamic so fun- Sonic has no idea why shes suddenly following him around and finds it annoying. At the end of the game, she realizes she needs to be more independent. She needs to be able to stand up for herself if she ever hopes to join Sonic. Maybe she realized that she'd only get in the way if she continued relying on him to rescue her. These games are the reason I love Amy. Nowadays, she feels like a shallow husk of what she used to be. She's that girl who looks out for her friends i see in every cartoon i grew up with. Its not BAD, sure... I guess I just miss the Sonic characters acting more childlike. (OH AND I MISS HER OLD VOICE SO SOSO MUCH😭)

[@keyanawhitely7942]

I don't mind Amy's character role and personality in every game or series to this day. I just like her because she's tough, affectionate, bubbly and take care of those she loves. Not just as being Sonic's "girlfriend" but as a valuable member to the team.

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@Themasktrooper]

Amy deserves some respect who convinced 102 Gamma repel against Eggman her who convinced Shadow to help Sonic defeat the bio lizard and keep his promise to Maria her who stop Silver from killing Sonic it wasn’t Tails it wasn’t Knuckles it was Amy this pink little Hedgehog deserves some respect

[@Cortez_blast]

1:22 The flicky turned into herobine

[@user-pf5uc4ms9g]

I like the old amy better

[@hii-fii]

Splash Dash forgot Amy's most important attribute. She likes tarot cards :)

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@CaptainCat101]

Knuckles is a better girlfriend than Amy... despite Sonic never really dating anyone in the games

[@WSBM14]

Too bad he's living with wade now

[@poestsmith6730]

If I had a whole video of my own I would go into this, but recently I've discovered that the components of Amy Rose are not flawed, it is just us, and the creators, who lack the right perspective. Amy's boundless optimism, love, empathy, and embrace of the feminine is something that most people today ignore or brush off. We dismiss a lot of these traits as being "default settings" for a female character, subconsciously believing that a character can only be good if they deviate from these traits in some way. We can see this in modern media as different entries attempt anything but Amy's core personality. Sonic Boom attempted to make her more snarky, "girly but constantly aware of it". Sonic Origins, Frontiers and the comics have all leant into her previously obscure attachment to tarot cards. But each of these comes off as hollow, as people are unwilling to embrace Amy's true core. If Rouge is a manipulative sweet talking fatale, and Blaze is a high strung regal learning to loosen up, then Amy should be the hyperfeminine extrovert. The impulsive, emotionally driven, larger than life whirlwind of girl energy and good vibes that wears her heart on her sleeve. Ironically I feel The Death of Sonic the Hedgehog did the best in this regard. Amy takes full initiative there, organizing her own party, dragging along all friends both introvert and extrovert. She dresses to the nines, brings everybody under her wing, and actively contributes to the story not just by strength, but also by force of heart. That game also shows to me that if Taylor Swift existed in Sonic's world, Amy would be a TayTay fan. A pure distillation of the kind of unabashed pop femininity Amy displays. Such characterisation also reframes Amy's attraction to Sonic as more of an overzealous girlcrush. The character is 12 after all. In a world where everything is so jaded, we need characters that are willing to be open and expressive, like Amy. The games establish Amy as more mature now. Older, at least emotionally. That's fine. The core of Amy would still work. I remember the arcs of IDW where Amy takes the girlies to a ski resort, and then out camping. I loved these arcs because they truly show Amy in her element. She's clearly not a 24/7 hero like Sonic. She doesn't go out seeking adventure. Instead she values connection, and raising up those she loves. Frontiers Amy's mission statement reflects this, even if her characterisation in the game made it fall flat in the moment.

[@DemonDethchase]

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, Frontiers Amy is Mr. Burns high on painkillers! For all Frontiers wants to present itself as a super duper serious story, I just cannot take her seriously when she's saying about wanting to spread love all across the world. Thank god Japan scrapped that rubbish, and also had her talk normally, and not like some old woman. This also goes for the rest of the cast as well, having the characters sound older than what they are, a serious story does not make.

[@WSBM14]

SoA butchering the localization as usual

[@ViltrumiteIsRite99]

Amy's dialogue and writng ate the least. Knux and Tails had way more momentum to work with.

[@mavi3348]

@@WSBM14 Frontiers was written in English first I believe

[@WSBM14]

@@mavi3348 it would've helped if the actors weren't directed to sound like 35 year olds

[@WSBM14]

@@ViltrumiteIsRite99 they botched amy so bad, they can't even acknowledge it happened

[@EccentricSandal]

The issue really is that the series is being written with LESS self-containment in mind. I suspect character arcs for side characters are going to be left open-ended in certain ways so they can work off of them in future titles, which is a problem because NOTHING will be properly resolved if we have to wait for whatever game comes next, and so on. Adventure 1 worked so well because every single character had a PURPOSE to their stories & a clear-cut resolution by the end of the game. The "open-endedness" of character arcs in Frontiers is entirely because they were all about introducing "the next step for these characters moving forward" but not having the gumption to actually SHOW how they got there. It's just characters talking at each other and about things they did instead of showcasing their greatness and lessons learned through action. If the characters had more to do to influence the story/ how these story changes affected gameplay, these issues wouldn't exist to begin with. But since side characters have been nothing but cardboard cutout standees watching Sonic do everything since 2009, SEGA and Sonic Team don't remember what to do with them and/or reject how their personalities are supposed to be.

[@aeon87]

I still love Amy in Sonic X, making her close to Amy in the games. In frontiers, she really has no growth like Tails or Knuckles. Also, like Splash Dash stated, people overblown her characteristics as "crazy stalker". Hell, Amy from Sonic CD in Origins has hints of her original status. Let cartoons be cartoons, for pete's sake! They dont all have to relate to real life, especially with anthropomorphic cartoons.

[@bluecorp8557]

God I hate what they done to all their characterizations. It’s 10 steps backwards. Not just Amy everyone has downgraded in personality.

[@Supersammy22-z7d5k]

I master----bate looking at Amy rose pictures and i love it

[@cerealexperimentsgrain]

would be godly if amy was the first character besides sonic and shadow to go super in the modern series. give her a dragonball-ass character arc

[@dug1115]

I'm glad to see more video's come out sticking up for old Amy. I appreciate it man.

[@p4wz0f_d1rt]

i love how the name of the video is a sonic boom reference, lol.

[@obd9660]

Some just seemed to take Sonic and Amy's older dynamic too seriously. To quote Mittens from Bolt; "It's entertainment for people. It's fake. Nothing you think is real is real!"

[@playerfox1438]

Banger title. 🔥✍️

[@thegamerstg3592]

something i noticed while replaying like all the games recently is how prevelent amy used to be, like shes important in advneture 1 and 2, but also heroes. She's in all the advance games. and she is a huge part of BATTLE and shes really fun in terms of character in that game. Shes also in riders story, ect.

[@backyarddad4198]

amy might be the most inconsistently handled character in the series. she changes based on who's translating her dialog.

[@naitsabes6222]

She def is lol, she’s written based on what the writer feels like , in the 2000s the sega of Jp just wrote Amy as joke cuase they thought it was funny 😭

[@backyarddad4198]

@@naitsabes6222 maybe amy is a bad character maybe the only true vision the series ever had died with the dreamcast? Iizuka is hapless, Ohshima is a fraud, and Naka was a racist. Superstars and Frontiers are vapid, empty, soulless games. The “true lost vision of japanese sonic” was a lie that zoomers bought into hook-line-sinker. The series was never that popular in japan in the first place. It was all of our westernized, “game inaccurate” materials that really took off and gave the franchise so much longevity worldwide. (It certainly wasnt the shitty fucking post-dreamcast games!!)

[@rainbowtoyfunrandomess1982]

I just don't like that Amy Rose is getting some hate just because she has a crush on Sonic and to me I think she deserves better and I know she has a lot of potential especially protecting her friends with her Piko Piko Hammer! Plus she's so gosh darn adorable and I love that she's going to spread love across the world even though she's going to be away from Sonic for awhile!🥺😍🌹🥀

[@Sammy-34079]

im mickey mouse and i j$$ck off looking amy rose pictures "Hot dog!"!!

[@rainbowtoyfunrandomess1982]

​@@Sammy-34079Uhhhhh.