Why does Sonic appeal to Chris and others with autism?

I was wondering this myself and I someone said it might be because of the spinning but I have no goddamn idea because I have Aspergers and I liked Sonic when I was really little but later on he just didn't do it for me.
Much like Fialovy I was all into the Pogeymans
 
Yeah, Pogeymans was created by spergs for spergs
 
Grew up playing Pogeymons and I grew up playing Sonic. I've since outgrew those though.

Nowadays, I think the only things that attracts Autists/'Spergs to Sonic is the bright colors and characters (which to be honest, are pretty flat and stereotypical).
 
As an aspie, I have no idea. I personally gravitate more towards the Zelda series for its puzzle solving and exploration factors. While my siblings and I did have a Sega Genesis for a little while when we were growing up, it quickly broke somehow. So therefore we all ended up becoming Nintendo kids. We did name our pets after Sonic characters however. We had two gerbils named Sonic and Tails, and a (female!) parakeet named Knuckles. :lol:

I agree with others that other aspies make like Sonic because of the brightly colored, fake-cool, cartoon animals.
 
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I still like Sonic, Mario and Pokémon, simply because they were games I played when I was younger so they have more of a nostalgic appeal for me.
 
MysticMisty said:
I think autistics can closely identify with Sonic is because of the fake cool factor. They don't pick up on the fake aspect of it because of how desperately they want to be cool, and hang out with the (genuine) cool kids. Chris, of course, not only sees himself as the definition of (fake) cool, but he wants Sonichu to be a good role model as well.
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Wow, this is a resurrection from the dead, but...

Essentially, this. I imagine it's very difficult for an autistic person to be considered "cool." They're hard-wired to rigidly abide by the rules (for the most part), which is at odds with one of the most important factors of "cool," to wit, breaking the rules, coloring outside the lines, et cetera. In this regard, Sonic was marketed brilliantly. He was hip, used the youngsters' slang, and had no fear sticking it to his buffoonish nemeses with extra "attitude." At the same time, though, he was also a total square, as any Sonic Sez segment can testify.

In short, a win-win: autistics get their artificial cool and the feeling of being part of something bigger, and their parents can rest assured that their kids won't end up as dead-end freaks.
 
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Let us not forget that It's because of Sonic that Chris was able to get a shit-load of games and toys from K.B. Toys as a child. That may have a lot to do with his personal love and loyalty to the blue, sneaker wearing furry fodder.

As far as other ASD-afflicted individuals I have nothing.more profound to add that hasn't been discussed already.
 
I'm an Aspie, but I was never a Sonic fan since my first exposure to video games was by way of N64 and GBA. (I did pick up Sonic Colors about a year back to see what all the hype was, I actually really liked what I played but I haven't finished yet.)

But I am an MLP sperg, and I think one of the reasons I like MLP can also explain kind of what the attraction is to Sonic.

I don't watch "adult" shows except Arrested Development and Seinfeld, and a big part of that is because of something that a lot of autistics tend to have at least in part: face blindness. I legitimately have trouble keeping multiple characters straight in live-action TV shows and movies because I can't distinguish them, and this detracts from my enjoyment of them because I can't just sit and enjoy, I have to ask whoever's with me "who's that guy again?" or whatever and it just results in me getting unnecessarily confused. By comparison, MLP and Sonic are both super-colorful, cartoonish and feature animals instead of people - nobody who was paying attention to a Sonic game or an MLP episode would ever have trouble keeping the characters straight from one another, when the designs are very much intended to differentiate them. Especially given that lighting changes are never an issue in cartoons like that. It's easy to just watch an MLP ep/play a Sonic game without having to worry about trying to keep characters straight, which is how both those things differ from more mature series that depict humans that can be hard to distinguish from one another for an autist.

I also think that animal-based media in general tends to attract more autistics than otherwise. I mean, anyone who knows anything about Temple Grandin knows that her contributions to society took the form of understanding how cows might be thinking and the problems they might be facing when people are herding them around man-made things. I think it's legitimately easier for autistic people to connect to animals - see: Chris caring more about Patti than anyone else, except perhaps when Bob died; see: my best friend who has mild Asperger's really hating interacting with people but having a ton of animals; see: my feeling like my now-deceased cat was my friend. I think autistics find it so hard to relate to people that it's easier to relate to animals, because animals never hide their feelings the way humans do. Social norms are the most obvious thing that autistics fail to grasp because a lot of the time they're counter-intuitive (why the hell do we ask "How are you?" if we don't expect an honest answer?) when autistics tend toward honesty. Animals are honest. And even if they act like humans, I think that autistics still kind of feel the connection to them moreso than humans. At any rate, it might explain the excessive number of spergs in the Sonic, MLP, Pokémon, and Warrior Cats communities (Chris being the former three; myself being the latter three; my best friend being the latter two - we actually met over a Warrior Cats forum).

Sonic I think is especially a symbol for autistics because of what people mentioned before: he's "cool" and yet at the same time he does not go against autistics' tendency to follow the rules to the letter. I think there's a similar reverence in the MLP community for Rainbow Dash, who is essentially a female pegasus version of Sonic. I actually kind of look up to Rainbow Dash - despite being a 19-year-old girl who's not super autistic either - because she kind of represents the personality I wish I could be: bold, brave, fearless, and above all not shunned by society, and I think the same thing might apply with Sonic to some autistics who don't have any friends but desire them.

I think the fact that Sonic's whole gimmick is "gotta go fast" is extremely appealing, though for what reason I couldn't tell you.
 
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Well, I wouldn't say all autistics are slow by definition. But I also kind of know what you mean.
 
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Well, I was only 5 when Y2K rolled around, so I don't really have a lot of memories from the '90's. Even so, I think Sonic's personality is a soft stereotype of 1990's culture (and by "soft stereotype", that's opposed to a "hard sterotype" which would be something like Wayne's World), and for whatever reason, that just makes me feel comfortable. Maybe it's unconscious nostalgia? I don't know, I don't care. Not always about snappy attitudes and all that; I like how, even though that's games' feel most of the time, there are the rare few games that amazingly pull off a dark and serious vibe. Like Knuckles' Chaotix (one of my favorites), or Shadow The Hedgehog on mute while you put on some metal.
There's also the in-game art. I don't know if it's just because I'm autistic, or if anyone can relate to this, but I can find beauty in an artificial landscape, as long as it's made well enough. And that can be applied to sooooooooo many Sonic levels it's not even funny. And the music? Don't even get me started! The only way you could say you don't like the soundtrack to at least 1 Sonic game is if you just didn't like music. Well, that's how it feels to me, anyway. On top of that, some Sonic games feel like works of art on their own. Sonic And The Black Knight is like an interactive feature-length film; so is Sonic Unleashed, if you actually care to get through those Werehog levels.
I've got a few more reasons, but, I don't really want to type it out right now.
 
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Have a Pepsi said:
Well, I was only 5 when Y2K rolled around, so I don't really have a lot of memories from the '90's. Even so, I think Sonic's personality is a soft stereotype of 1990's culture (and by "soft stereotype", that's opposed to a "hard sterotype" which would be something like Wayne's World), and for whatever reason, that just makes me feel comfortable. Maybe it's unconscious nostalgia? I don't know, I don't care. Not always about snappy attitudes and all that; I like how, even though that's games' feel most of the time, there are the rare few games that amazingly pull off a dark and serious vibe. Like Knuckles' Chaotix (one of my favorites), or Shadow The Hedgehog on mute while you put on some \M/ETAL.
There's also the in-game art. I don't know if it's just because I'm autistic, or if anyone can relate to this, but I can find beauty in an artificial landscape, as long as it's made well enough. And that can be applied to sooooooooo many Sonic levels it's not even funny. And the music? Don't even get me started! The only way you could say you don't like the soundtrack to at least 1 Sonic game is if you just didn't like music. Well, that's how it feels to me, anyway. On top of that, some Sonic games feel like works of art on their own. Sonic And The Black Knight is like an interactive feature-length film; so is Sonic Unleashed, if you actually care to get through those Werehog levels.
I've got a few more reasons, but, I don't really want to type it out right now.
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:story:
 
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