Silver the Hedgehog

Silver the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog character
First game	Sonic the Hedgehog (as playable character)
Created by	Sonic Team
Voiced by	Pete Capella (2006-2010) Quinton Flynn (2010-present)

Silver the Hedgehog (シルバー・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Shirubā Za Hejjihoggu) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Silver is a silver-furred anthropomorphic hedgehog from 200 years in the future of the main timeline. He first appeared in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog. His individual episode revolves around him traveling back in time with Blaze the Cat to find and kill Sonic the Hedgehog, who they believe is the cause of their world being destroyed in the future. Silver's primary ability is telekinesis; he is able to levitate objects and use them as projectiles to either defeat enemies, or interact with his environment. Like Sonic and Shadow, he is able to transform into "super form" by using the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

Creation

Silver's creation was inspired by the game's early development stages, where the development team was making huge levels with multiple paths through them, and decided they wanted to include a new character with unique abilities for an alternate way to play through the levels. The design team developed over fifty different concepts for the character. At one point he was to actually be a mink, but the developers ultimately decided against this, fearing a mink would not blend in with the rest of the characters. They ended up deciding to make another hedgehog instead. Orange was originally decided for his fur, but they soon moved away from that in color, in favor to a white-gray one. While developing the character models and textures, they focused on using the hardware to develop the textures rather than just use white-gray, which lead to Silver's color and name.

History

Silver has three conflicting back stories for Sonic the Hedgehog. On the game website, it states he came from a happy future that was never destroyed, and ended up in the past where he learned his future would be destroyed and tries to prevent it from changing for the worst. In the game guide, it is implied Silver is from the present and ends up in the future where he learns that it was destroyed during the events in Sonic the Hedgehog and goes to seek what would destroy the future when he returns to the past (though it is mentioned in his walkthrough that he is from the future; see below). In Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 video game, Silver lives in a destroyed future and goes to the past to change it for the better. He is from 200 years or possibly more in Sonic's future where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are exploring there.

Since his first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), he has mainly appeared in the Sonic series spinoffs, multiplayer games, and small cameo roles. He is one of the playable characters in Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2, a playable character strictly in the multiplayer modes in Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight, a playable racer in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sonic Free Riders, and a playable athlete in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and the 2012 Olympic games sequel. He appears in Sonic Generations as a boss in the Crisis City stage. Additionally, Silver was one of a few Sega characters to make a cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in the background of Sonic's Green Hill Zone stage, and as a trophy and sticker.

Reception

Both IGN and 1UP.com gave positive remarks about Silver's telekinesis abilities, but the latter conceded that ultimately "his sluggish pace gets tiresome quickly...Thankfully, you can opt out of playing as...Silver for the most part".