Sonic and autism/lolcows - Why are they so drawn to it?

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Scotty G

kiwifarms.net
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I dusted off my Genesis the other day and I got to thinking, why does Sonic have such a massive following among autists? It seems like the franchise has an almost ubiquitous, cultlike hold over so many exceptional individuals who are into video games, far more so than any other franchise except for maybe Pokemon. Something about it resonates with them consistently and with great power. Why is this the case? What is it about these games that holds so much appeal to that kind of person? What is it about the Sonic formula that scratches the autism itch so perfectly? What kind of magic is at play here?
 
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DerSandstrom said:
Because he's considered to be everything they're not: Popular, athletic, charismatic, revered, "cool", and respected. It's wish fulfillment, in simpler terms. They want to be what Sanic is.
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LulzKiller said:
I think the fast-paced speed that the whole franchise has as a tenet appeals to the ADHD part of their brains.
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alex_theman said:
Bright, cartoony characters.
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All of the above. Sonic is usually depicted as a colourful, cheery, morally simplistic world where little of emotional import ever happens and the heroes are cool dudes with unlimited freedom who are always the centre of attention when they want to be and always overcome their enemies through speed and friendship. It's what autistics wish they had. Conversely I think they obsess over the "darker" interpretations like SatAM and the comics because they lack emotional maturity.
 
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RJ MacReady said:
All of the above. Sonic is usually depicted as a colourful, cheery, morally simplistic world where little of emotional import ever happens and the heroes are cool dudes with unlimited freedom who are always the centre of attention when they want to be and always overcome their enemies through speed and friendship. It's what autistics wish they had. Conversely I think they obsess over the "darker" interpretations like SatAM and the comics because they lack emotional maturity.
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this describes a lot of shows autistics latch onto
"bright, cheery, colorful"
"friendships"
"characters have special powers"
"simple problems the heros beat at the end of the day"
and then they take that and change it to
"EDGY KILL DA HATERS DARK EMO"

my little steven unihog
 
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Because Sanic is "way past cool." Honestly, I think it's because Sonic is the cool, edgy mascot. He was blue, fast, and way better than Mario. I won't really blame the original three games, because I think most of the autism started with the Satam cartoon. I've seen the show, and it's honestly not that bad of a 90s cartoon. There were way worst when it came to plots, but the biggest early offender is that cartoon and the comics. With the amount of characters, all of them way too cool and edgy, autists most likely started making OCs and that's the beginning. Sonic Adventure probably increased the fuel to the fire, and by the time deviantArt became a thing it was over for Sonic. He was the lolcow idol.
 
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The only magic at play is how much has this question been asked, and the answers are the same every time.
All sorts of video game fanbases can attract various types of autists. GTA for example is an extremely popular franchise enjoyed by all sorts of people but its hardcore fans are some of the most horrifyingly autistic I've ever seen.
 
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Honestly I'm starting to think that Sonic was made by autists. Maybe not so much at the start but when you get into the Sonic Adventure games you start to see just how fucking autistic this shit is, you start to get Sonic recolours (Shadow), emphasis on Sonic and Amy's love, retarded 2 dimensional characters (big the cat)... It's like they took this stuff straight out of Chris-chan's diary.

I have no doubt in my mind that a number of those autistic kids that used to play Sonic in the 90's have grown up, taken a games design course, and are now working for Sonic Team; hence all the dumb shit like Sonic unleashed.
 
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Valiant said:
I have this theory that the easier something is to draw and replicate the more likely autists will like it. Taking Sonic as an example, especially 1990s versions, there is very little to screw up on with the drawing.
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001-Christophers1stSonic.jpg
 
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generally, autistic people tend to like characters whose motives and emotions are very easy to understand because they lack the social initiative to understand anything more complex. Sonic's motives and emotions are not only pretty easy to understand, but he's also portrayed as a cool and hip.
 
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It's cause they were busy jerking it to Sonic underground and The ever so creatively named "Sonic the hedgehog"
And then the green eyes sonic happened and the spergs split up over his eye color into two factions
Rouge and Shadow were possibly the catalyst to the final form of sonic autism we see today.

Imagine if you will, a parallel timeline where the thay latched onto this version of sonic instead.
Of course, instead of latching onto it and all of the other sonic shit out there.
Okay maybe it wouldn't be much better, but it'd be something.
 
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