| “ | Welcome to the Sonic comic universe - a world unique & beyond what you know from the SEGA games! Where Sonic and the heroic Freedom Fighters work to save the world from the forces of evil! | ” |
–introduction at the beginning of nearly every Archie Sonic publication, as of SU#75 | ||
The Archie Sonic the Hedgehog universe, also known as the "Sonic Comic Universe" or "Archieverse", is the fictional universe which is comprised of hundreds of comic books published by Archie Comics surrounding the character Sonic the Hedgehog.
The main Archieverse covers the two continuities seen in the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic series as well as the majority of spin-offs that occur in the same canons. Also included are two other canons that are completely separate from these main canons but are still loosely connected.
The Archieverse canon does not include any storylines, characters or settings from any of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games, TV series or movies unless they also appear in the comics, and will not feature articles pertaining to the other Sonic the Hedgehog media.
What is Considered Canon on this Site
Official canon for this site works on a two-tier system:
- Tier 1 — 100% official canon
- Anything that actually appears in the main comics. (Things can be retconned in future issues, making events or information from previous issues no longer canon)
- Tier 2 — Quasi-Canon, or canon until proven otherwise
- Data files and profiles printed in Sonic the Hedgehog, the Sonic Encyclopedia and various reprint titles (as long as it does not contradict already established canon from tier 1)
- Things stated by the writers/editors in the letters pages (as long as it does not contradict already established canon from tier 1)
- Things said by current/former writers of the series on message boards (as long as it does not contradict already established canon from tier 1)
- Things posted by current writers of the series on the Archie Sonic Blog (as long as it does not contradict already established canon from tier 1)
- Elements of people, places, items, locations etc. provided in the Sega Sonic games (as long as it does not contradict already established canon from tier 1)
- This final point only applies to elements from the games which actually appear in the comics.
- In the event that two tier 2 sources contradict one another, published works take priority. For example, data files from the comics trump statements made by the writers.
Main Archieverse Canons
The main Archieverse canon is made up of two continuities. The first is the original Archieverse canon which first began from the comic's conception in 1993. This canon covered the majority of the published Archie Sonic works all the way up to 2013, after which point no other works covering that canon have been published.
The Original Archieverse canon was comprised of the following comics:
- Sonic the Hedgehog #1-251 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Universe #1-54 (Tier 1)
- Knuckles the Echidna #1-32 (Tier 1)
- Sonic X #40 (Tier 1)
- Original Sonic Miniseries #0-3 (Tier 1, some aspects non-canon)
- Princess Sally Miniseries #1-3 (Tier 1)
- Tails Miniseries #1-3 (Tier 1)
- Knuckles Miniseries #1-3 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Quest Miniseries #1-3 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Specials
- Sonic In Your Face (Tier 1)
- Sonic & Knuckles (Tier 1)
- Sonic Triple Trouble (Tier 1)
- Knuckles' Chaotix (Tier 1)
- Super Sonic vs Hyper Knuckles (Tier 1)
- Mecha Madness (Tier 1)
- Sonic Live (Tier 1; stories two and three only, story one in question)
- Sonic Blast (Tier 1)
- Sonic Super Special #1-15 (Tier 1)
- Free Comic Day Specials #1-7 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Super Special Magazine #1-8 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Super Digest #1-4 (Tier 1)
- Mega Man #24-27 (Tier 1) (four issues of Archie's other series based on the Capcom video game character, which took part in the Worlds Collide crossover event with the Sonic universe)
- The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia (Tier 2; due to various errors that appear throughout the book)
The second and current continuity of the Archieverse began in 2013. While the continuity is, in essence, totally separate from the original one, it is still connected in that it was created due to an event initiated in the latter (the reality-warping Super Genesis Wave). This canon includes several of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games that have been stated to have occurred in this worlds past at numerous points.
The Current Archieverse canon is currently comprised of the following comics and media:
- Sonic the Hedgehog #252-present (Tier 1)
- Sonic Universe #55-present (Tier 1)
- Free Comic Book Day Specials #8-present (Tier 1)
- Halloween Comic Fest Special (Tier 1)
- Mega Man #50-52 (Tier 1) (three issues of Archie's other series based on the Capcom video game character, which took part in the Worlds Unite crossover event with the Sonic universe)
- Sonic Boom #8-10 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Super Special Magazine #9-present (Tier 1)
- Sonic Super Digest #5-present (Tier 1)
- Various Sonic the Hedgehog video games (Tier 2; only if referred to in-book)
Sub-Canons
Some of the published Archie Sonic materials also deal with other canons seperate from the main ones above. From the perspective of the above, these two canons actually appear as some of the various realities that appear in the main canons Multiverse, however due to the fact that the events of these canons are, for the most part, self-contained, they will be treated as separate canons.
The first of these two canons is the universe of Sonic X, the Japanese anime TV series for which Archie created a comic book spin-off. This universe was revealed to exist in the original Archie Sonic multiverse (whether it still exists in the multiverse in the new canon is unknown), which was shown when the main Archieverse incarnations of Shadow the Hedgehog and Metal Sonic passed through the world in #40 during a battle that took them across various realities. Other than this, the events of the Sonic X universe are self-contained from the main Archieverse.
The Sonic X portion of the Archieverse consists if the following:
- Sonic X #1-40 (Tier 1)
- Various episodes of the Sonic X anime series (Tier 2; only if referred to in-book)
The second is Sonic Boom; a sub-brand of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise consisting of video games, a TV show, and a spin-off comic series released by Archie. Like the Sonic X universe above, the world of Sonic Boom is considered an alternate reality in the current multiverse from the perspective of the main Archieverse (due to the worlds involvement in the Worlds Unite crossover) but is self-contained.
The Sonic Boom portion of the Archieverse currently consists of:
- Sonic Boom #1-present (Tier 1)
- Via the Worlds Unite crossover:
- Sonic the Hedgehog #273-275 (Tier 1)
- Sonic Universe #76-78 (Tier 1)
- Mega Man #50-52 (Tier 1)
- The video games Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (Tier 2; only if referred to in-book)
- Various episodes of the Sonic Boom TV series (Tier 2; only if mentioned in-book)
Archieverse Sonic Comics
Pre-Super Genesis Wave Timeline | Post-Super Genesis Wave Timeline