Part 6: “Reality and Validity”
By Bane Keldare
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You know, the last article I did for this series was in April…which goes to show just how long it’s been since I had anything really worthwhile to say in this format. This is a good thing, especially since it means that nothing’s ticked me off enough to go into a tirade.
Now, Netraptor and I talk every now and then, depending on how much free time she’s got…and she brought up the idea of realism in Sonic fics.
Her reasoning behind it was so profound that I almost didn’t do the article myself. You see, that girl had a lot to say about the subject, even gave me quite a few examples of what she was talking about. I mean, if you want to go ahead and take it away, NR, go ahead. However, since I’m still a bit apathetic with my current writing projects, I figure this would be a good way to kill an hour, ranting about this particular subject.
Hey, at least I’m honest. Just killin’ time here, people.
Anyway, I do know where NR’s coming from in terms of realism. The best example she used was one where a ten-year old drags an adult away and out of danger. We know that kid isn’t that strong, we know it wouldn’t happen, but it’s been written before, obviously because she thought of that particular example.
Want to know why it took so long for me to write this? In the planning of the article, I had a logic snag.
First of all, who are we to judge what is “real” in a continuity we have no control over? This was my first major question to myself. The Sonic fandom itself isn’t ours, it’s Sega’s…we can’t create any official characters, and they can. Any characters we create are not going to be used by them, and we know this. We still do, regardless of this fact.
I got over this dilemma by realizing that we’re creating our own continuities within the Sonic continuity. In that way, we are able to get away with it. We are “controlling the hypothetical,” for you philosophy students out there. We’re merely creating a “what if?” situation, and then answering the questions ourselves.
What was my real snag?
Sonic, and all his friends, have unique abilities that don’t physically work. I was a physics student, trust me, I know Tails just can not fly by spinning his two tails around like a helicopter. Sonic can not be that fast, and Knuckles can not be that strong, when their legs and arms aren’t that big. The only reason I can see for Sonic having that kind of speed is for him to have some incredibly strong legs.
Think about it...your ability to run is determined by how fast you can take that next step. It is determined by how fast you can move your leg from out behind you, to in front of you…and to be able to do it at the speed that Sonic does, indicates some incredible strength. I think Sega noticed this in Sonic X, and gave him a heightened jumping ability as well…which I think only makes sense. However, the further I delved into this idea, the more that logic snag ate away at my brain.
“Who the hell am I to argue about reality in Sonic fics, when the mainstream characters themselves violate reality in some way?”
That was it. It made the entire reality idea completely worthless in my mind for the longest time. I mean, I could argue that the kid dragging the adult away was unrealistic, when Knuckles could walk right up and do the same thing, and he’s the same size as that kid! So, kids can’t, but Echidnas can? Kids can’t carry an adult, or someone who weighs more than they do, but Sonic can carry Chris with relative ease?
I did solve the idea though, and it took NR to help me see what she was really getting at. See, I took this whole idea and ground it down to a simple, base form. I learned to do that in philosophy, it’s a good practice sometimes. Here, however, it turns out that I ground everything away to the point that I had nothing to work with…I had nothing to mold into a solid idea.
What NR was talking about was the validity of what the character was doing…and that I think I can go into for a bit.
Like I said, Sonic has to have really strong legs, right? Ok, so we give him that. This whole fandom is give and take, anyways. So we’re given that Sonic’s legs are stronger, what does that mean? Well, it means he can run fast, jump high, and if he ever gets mad enough to kick something, then it makes sense if he kicks a robot’s head clean off.
There’s only so much before something gets taken too far. Sonic’s speed has always had a few limits to it…basically he couldn’t go an infinite amount of speed, nor could he go much past the speed of sound from my understanding. He has a “top speed,” he has a maximum jump height. There was always a limit to what he could do, and it was these limits that made his situations interesting, because he had to find ways around his obstacles. His speed was not a cure-all to any situation. Sonic can’t heal the sick, he can’t hit something high up in the sky, and it’s been determined that he also can’t swim.
But with the proper tools or training, he could.
Now, there are stories that just take everything too far. I’ve seen the Dragonball Z clones in the Sonic fandom, and they make me shudder. I’m sorry, but I am a DBZ-hating creep…I think that anime brought something to America that killed a lot of our young writers’ creativity. In DBZ, every new problem comes in the form of a new, “invincible” opponent threatening the Earth, and Goku, or some other main character, has to stop them. But every time they do, they get stronger. They get stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger…and…
And I just want to shoot the writers of that show because it just got out of hand. At one point, the show used a number system to evaluate a power level in a fighter, but in the later DBZ episodes, this was just thrown out. See…they got too powerful.
Where is it in the Sonic fandom? It’s evident every time Sonic goes into an even higher form…or worse, when a fan-character does it. People have concocted systems for Sonic’s forms…formulas with particular Chaos Emeralds and amounts of them, and it eventually just gets to damn crazy. Chaos Emeralds, Super Emeralds, I’ve even heard of Hyper Emeralds before! And then, his ultimate form comes from using the Master Emerald, too!
…No.
Just…no.
The writers of the Fleetway Sonic comics were geniuses about this idea. When Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds to go into a super powerful form, he became ultimately malevolent by design. He wanted to kill his friends, and destroy everything, and with that power, he could. It not only made for great plot, and a great “villain,” but it created incentive for Sonic to not use the Emeralds to solve his problems!
This idea had validity. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then ultimate power will ultimately corrupt the user!
Yes, I’m ranting, and I will probably stop soon anyways, so I’d best get to the last-minute summary of what I’m trying to say.
Realism is something that can be used in moderation in the Sonic fandom, like everything else. The characters are already quite unreal, so some other unrealities can also exist, and it is okay to do so. However, know where your limits are. Know what for every action there is a reaction.
Well, after looking at the clock, I’d say this was a rather constructive use of an hour. That’s all for me for now, guys. Take care.
--Bane Keldare, July 29, 2004
Side notes from NetRaptor:
Applause to Bane for doing such a nice job with this article. But since this whole rant came from our discussion anyway, I feel the need to clarify a few points.
I know that implausibilities exist in the Sonic universe. Heck, that's nine-tenths of its charm. We like it that Sonic can run fast, that Tails can fly, and that Knuckles is super-strong, or we wouldn't bother writing in the universe. We also accept the limitations those characters have.
What irks me is when people make up their own characters, and then ignore their limitations. As Bane said up there, the ones that irk me the most are the little kids who can suddenly pick up and carry their older siblings/parents/guardians, when up until that point the kid had no signs of strength beyond what's possible for a "real" child. A six-year-old kid wouldn't be able to lift a two-hundred-pound adult. They'd hardly be able to DRAG them. But does the author think this through before they conk their adult character on the head? No.
The point of this article is when writers don't take their story serious enough to think about it. The 5WH is your friend. (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.) "Why" is especially your friend. Why did Sonic go into this obviously dangerous factory? Why is Tails lost in a cave in the first place? Why would Sonic care if Tails is in trouble? Why did Tails build the Cyclone? Why doesn't Knuckles throw the Master Emerald in the ocean and go have some fun? Why? Why? Why?
The more questions you can ask yourself, the more you will think out your writing, and the better it will be.
--NR