WTF Facts About “Sonic the Hedgehog” You Never Knew Before

In 1991, times were simpler. Gas was $1.12 a gallon. A new home would set you back only $120,000. And gamers fell in love with an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog in sweet sneakers who could run fast.

Really fast. When Sega released the side-scrolling platform game Sonic the Hedgehog, it wasn’t expecting it the level of success the game achieved. Who could have guessed that a running hedgehog and his fast friends would revolutionize the gaming industry? But this franchise is full of surprises.

So here are some fun Sonic the Hedgehog facts you never knew.

Sega’s Other Mascot

Meet Alex Kidd, the OG mascot for Sega throughout the ‘80s. He was a white kid who also kinda looked like a monkey, and his biggest hit was called “Alex Kidd in Miracle World.” So when Sega decided they needed a character to compete with Nintendo’s Mario, it’s obvious to see why he was dumped.

Sonic was originally a rabbit

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The “Sonic” series could have looked a lot different, had it not been for the difficulty in working with a big-eared design. Keep in mind kids, this was 1991. Peak technology was a fast moving animal in a basic round shape. Bunny ears? Years down the line.

His name was almost “Mr. Needlemouse”

Mr. Needlemouse doesn’t sound like the kind of guy who could attack his enemies by rolling into a ball and running into them. He sounds like the kind of guy who’d order an extra dry gin martini.

So as dapper as the monicker might have been, we kinda prefer the one Sega went with.

His look is a mashup of some other famous characters

So like, if Felix the Cat had a baby with Mickey Mouse (assuming it was biologically feasible, of course) and then had Michael Jackson dress it, the baby would be Sonic the Hedgehog. Because well-dressed hedgehogs come from cat and mouse breeding. They teach this in 3rd grade science class.