Sonic fans just realising why iconic hedgehog is blue ahead of fourth film

Sonic the Hedgehog fans have only just realised why the iconic video game character is blue - and it turns out there's even a reason for the colour within the franchise's lore. Sonic is one of the most popular video game characters of all time, and he's been featured in over 100 gaming titles since his first appearance in 1991's Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis.

In 2020, Sonic became the subject of his own live-action film, which has since spawned two further films, with a fourth on the way in 2027. With interest in the super-fast mammal still rising, fans are now starting to ask one very pertinent question - why on earth is he blue?

The real-world reason for Sonic's striking blue coat is simple. Sega created him in 1991 as a mascot that was supposed to rival the success Nintendo was having at the time with their mascot, Mario. As Mario is predominantly red, Sonic was made blue as a direct contrast, as well as blue being the primary colour in the Sega logo.

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As for Sonic's red shoes, they were actually inspired by both Santa Claus and Michael Jackson, with the design team particularly taking inspiration from the latter's 1987 album, Bad.

A TikTok video from Byte Sized Science explained: "Sega made Sonic to rival Mario, and they needed a bold mascot. Blue matched Sega's logo colour, and the red shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson's Bad cover. Even his attitude was designed to feel edgy and Western, unlike Mario."

But Sonic's blue colour isn't just something that can be explained away by good marketing strategies. The character actually has an in-game reason for his blue hue, and it's all to do with his arch-nemesis in the games, Doctor Robotnik.

In a Sonic comic it was revealed that Sonic was originally a regular hedgehog with natural brown fur. Everything changed when he stumbled into the laboratory of a scientist named Ovi Kintobor, who was looking for the seven Chaos Emeralds so that he could lock the world's evil away inside them.

Sonic decided to help him by using his superspeed to find the last Emerald. The scientist was so fascinated by his skills that he began running tests on the hedgehog.

But when Sonic ran so fast that he broke the sound barrier, the sonic boom destroyed the testing gear and turned Sonic blue in the process.

The hedgehog stuck around with Kintobor after the incident, but later, another accident occurred in which the scientist fell into his evil collecting machine while holding an egg. The evil stored in the Chaos Emeralds was transferred into Kintobor and the egg, fusing them into the evil Doctor Ivo Robotnik - the Eggman.

The Blue Blur will star in his fourth film in 2027, where Ben Schwartz is expected to reprise his role as the voice of the titular hedgehog. Jim Carey has played Dr Robotnik in the past three instalments, but it is not yet known if he will return for the upcoming fourth flick.

It's also believed that Sonic's love interest, Amy Rose, could make her debut in Sonic 4, but no actress has been confirmed to be voicing her as of the time of writing. According to IMDb, however, both Lady Gaga and Scarlett Johansson have been considered for the role.

For Sonic fans who can't wait for the new film, a new Sonic racing game titled Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, is scheduled to be released on September 25th this year for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 release is planned for a later date.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is expected to be released on March 19, 2027.