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Amy Rose

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Amy Rose
Sonic the Hedgehog character
A cosplay of Amy at the Japan Expo 2023
First appearanceSonic the Hedgehog (1992)
Created byKazuyuki Hoshino
Voiced by
Information
Nickname(s)Rosie the Rascal (Sonic CD)
SpeciesHedgehog
GenderFemale
PositionLove interest to Sonic

Amy Rose is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series created by Sega. She is a pink anthropomorphic hedgehog who has a crush on the main character, Sonic. Amy is known for being optimistic, bubbly, and always eager to help her friends. She is often depicted carrying a large hammer, which she uses to defend herself and her friends. Amy first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog CD (1993) and has since become a recurring character in the series.

Amy was designed by Kazuyuki Hoshino and first debuted in the Sonic the Hedgehog manga published by Shogakukan, followed by her official debut in the 1993 video game Sonic CD under the name Rosie the Rascal; since then, she has appeared in several games, television series, comics, and anime as the main character.

Amy is among the series' most controversial characters; although many video game journalists have found her character cute and powerful, others have found her annoying, with several also criticizing her implications in gender representation in video games; despite this, Amy Rose is consistently ranked as among the most popular characters, having appeared in several pieces of merchandise since 1993.

Concept and design

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Amy Rose was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino, who was a character designer and visual designer for Sonic CD.[1] Naoto Ohshima, who'd originally created Sonic and who was spear-heading the project, influenced Amy's design of her headband and trainer shoes.[1] Her hair was originally color red, and her skirt orange.[2] Amy was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa in Sonic Adventure with a red dress and boots.[3][4] Although Sonic CD was Amy's intended debut, she ended up appearing a year prior in Kenji Terada's Sonic the Hedgehog manga.[5]

In the Japan, Amy Rose is voiced by Taeko Kawata,[6] with the exception being Sonic Shuffle where she is voiced by Emi Motoi.[7] Her English voice actor has changed several times; she was originally voiced by Jennifer Douillard from Sonic Adventure to Sonic Advance 3, before being replaced by Lisa Ortiz, who'd previously voiced the character in Sonic X;[8] she was replaced with Cindy Robinson in 2010 who continued voiced the character until announcing her departure in 2021.[9]

In the Japanese version of Sonic CD, Amy was named Rosie the Rascal,[10][11] while the American version instead calls her Sally Acorn, a character who appeared in the American television series and Archie comic book.[10][12]

Appearance

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Amy Rose is an anthropomorphic pink hedgehog appearing in the video game series Sonic the Hedgehog, published by Sega. She first appeared in Sonic CD (1993), the first and only Sonic game released for the Sega Genesis add-on the Sega CD.[13] Her roles in the games varies, with several main series games including Sonic Adventure (1998),[14] Sonic Heroes (2003)[15] and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) featuring her as a playable character.[16] Others, including Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) limit her to a non-playable role.[17]

In the series, Amy is generally depicted as cheerful, yet strong. She also tends to insists that she is Sonic's girlfriend and follows him, despite Sonic tending to ignore her.[18] Due to her not possessing the speed of other character, Amy defends herself with a large hammer.[19]

Reception

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Amy Rose has been met with a polarizing reception from media critics. Lucas Thomas of IGN spoke positively of the character saying "one of the coolest things about Amy is her enormous, walloping hammer".[19] Contrarily, both Thomas East and Jim Sterling consider her among the worst Sonic characters, with them criticizing her personality.[20][21] Justin Towell of GamesRadar considers her introduction in Sonic CD one of its flaws, although he added that she is not the "annoying brat like in Sonic Adventure".[22] Cindy Robinson's voice acting has also been met with criticism, with several drawing comparisons to Minnie Mouse's voice.[20][23]

In addition, Amy has been criticized for her implications in gender representation in video games; the Electronic Gaming Monthly staff noted that her pink coloring and tendency to run away from danger are in common with Japanese female characters.[24]

Despite the divisive reception, Amy is among the most popular characters in the series by fans; in a Japanese poll in 2006, Amy ranked as the fifth most popular character, behind Knuckles, Tails, Shadow and Sonic respectively.[25]

Notes

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Reference

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stuart, Keith (2014). "Interview with Kazuyuki Hoshino, Art Director". Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Read-Only Memory. pp. 289–290. ISBN 9780957576810.
  2. ↑ "NewsZone: Sonic Booms!" Sonic the Comic 5: 18 (July 1993)
  3. ↑ "Sonic's Back! It's the Dreamcast game we've all been waiting for!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 36. October 1998. p. 18.
  4. ↑ Cook & Becker (April 17, 2017). "How Sega moved Sonic from 2D to 3D". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  5. ↑ Kenji Terada (w). "エイミー姫をすくえ!" Sonic the Hedgehog (1992), Shogakukan, retrieved on July 17, 2021
  6. ↑ Sonic Team (December 23, 1998). Sonic Adventure. Vol. Dreamcast. Sega.
  7. ↑ Sega/Hudson Soft (November 14, 2000). Sonic Shuffle. Vol. Dreamcast. Sega.
  8. ↑ Joscelyne, Svend (September 12, 2005). "Sonic Voiceover Cast Replaced". The Sonic Stadium. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  9. ↑ CindyRobinson [@RedHeadSaidProd] (February 3, 2021). "It's true. I'm loading out with my brilliant compadres" (Tweet). Retrieved July 17, 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Sonic the Hedgehog CD/Manuals". Sonic Retro. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Sonic CD: Next Month!". MegaTech. EMAP. September 1993.
  12. ↑ "NewsZone: Sonic Booms!" Sonic the Comic 5: 18 (July 1993), retrieved on July 19, 2021
  13. ↑ "Sega Game Feature: Sonic CD". Sega Visions. December 1993 – January 1994. pp. 30–31.
  14. ↑ Thorpe, Nick (December 28, 2018). "The Making of: Sonic Adventure". Retro Gamer. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2021 – via PressReader.
  15. ↑ Sonic Heroes (GameCube) instruction manual, p. 10.
  16. ↑ Castro, Juan (November 30, 2006). "Sonic the Hedgehog Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  17. ↑ Chau, Anthony (June 22, 2001). "Sonic Adventure 2". IGN. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  18. ↑ Sega (1999). "Characters: Amy Rose". Sonic Adventure Manual. Sega. pp. 24–26.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Thomas, Lucas (October 12, 2007). "Smash It Up! - Sonic Team". IGN. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 East, Thomas (May 29, 2013). "The best and worst Sonic characters". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  21. ↑ Sterling, Jim (January 19, 2011). "The 10 worst Sonic friends". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  22. ↑ Towell, Justin (April 16, 2008). "Sonic's 2D classics re-reviewed". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  23. ↑ Farren, Patrick (January 7, 2014). "15 Worst Video Game Characters Of 2013". WhatCulture. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  24. ↑ "The Great Blue Hope". Electronic Gaming Monthly. November 1998.
  25. ↑ "ソニック キャラクター 人気投票 結果発表！". Sonic Channel (in Japanese). Sega. June 23, 2006. Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
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