Everyone knows that Metal Sonic is cool as fuck. But did you know that he's... a GIRL?
I've always praised 1993's Sonic CD for its take on the damsel-in-distress trope. It's still there, and it doesn't do quite enough to shake the bad taste the trope leaves in my mouth to be wholly exempt of criticism, but it's handled in a way that I've always found at least a little sweet. First of all, the trope's traditional roles are entirely reversed; Sonic the Hedgehog is a love interest to Amy Rose, and not the other way around. That may seem like a bit of inconsequential and semantic phrasing on my part, and it totally is, but that one small change within their dynamic carries so, so much weight and influence on both of their characterizations. At least in canon, Amy's feelings for Sonic are wholly unreciprocated, and that leads to a lot of interesting and (bitter)sweet interactions—Sonic moving on from Amy after saving her before she can even thank him in Sonic CD comes to mind—and even if that fact often leads to Amy falling into something of a "crazy psycho ex" trope (particularly from around 2001-2017 (which I greatly despise), the potential for interesting characterization and interactions between to the two makes the risk of any potential weird misogynistic shortcoming at least a little worth it. Sonic and Amy, in the hands of a skilled and intentional writer, can be something beautiful, and I think, if done right, that can eclipse even the worst of their portrayals.
There's someone we're leaving out of this damsel-in-distress discussion, though—Metal Sonic. Typically, the "abduct-er" in damsel-in-distress stories is the least fleshed out of the trio; sure, the woman is reduced to an object of desire worth saving specifically for a man's potential romantic or sexual gain, which is a) greatly dehumanizing to all women and b) leads to some pretty one-dimensional characters, but the person who puts her in that situation to begin with (typically also a man) most often does so purely to create a narrative in which a helpless woman is in the position to be saved by a heroic man, with little-to-no genuine thought put into their plot in terms of making a good, impactful story; analyzing their motivations within the context of the narrative (as in, without getting meta with it) often reveals their plans to be grievously nonsensical. Shit doesn't make sense in Super Mario Bros. any more than it does in Sonic CD; these characters are most often moustache-twirling, blank slates of villains who exist to act as nothing but a framing device. In fact, within Sonic CD, Metal Sonic is so underdeveloped that he appears twice across the entire game; once in Collision Chaos Act I, in which he kidnaps Amy, and once in Stardust Speedway Act III, where he races Sonic and is accidentally and unceremoniously killed by Eggman's laser wall of doom, never to be seen again. He also appears in hidden holograms, depicted beating up some animals (serving both as a deterrent to the local wildlife and as a character assassination of the real Sonic), but those are side content within side content; they're entirely missable, and unless you're doing a 100% run, there's basically no reason to find them. So, if that's the extent to which Metal Sonic appears in his debut title... why do we find him so compelling?
Well, I guess I'd chalk that one up to his design. I mean, a character who appears twice throughout an entire game with ~1 minute of screen-time doesn't just manifest on a game's box art on accident. It's because Metal Sonic's design—and pardon my French, here—fucking owns. It's punchy, it's edgy, it's memorable, and if there's anything that can describe Sonic the Hedgehog in the 90s and 00s, it's those three words. The character's concept—a menacing, robotic facsimile of Sonic the Hedgehog; the clawed antithesis of everything Sonic stands for that practically wears his skin—also captures the imagination. Sonic CD's Metal Sonic is appealing just for the suggestion of his character, and that may seem like a negative, but given the hardware, that's really all they could have done (at least with those FMVs on the cart); this is further demonstrated by the years and years of talented writers' interpretations of the character, from Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie and Sonic Heroes to, like, all of the comics—all stemming from this one, simple appearance. He's literally just that interesting conceptually.
Still, I mean, you've seen the title of this post—I'd imagine that, even with all of this in mind, it's a little weird to be considering Metal Sonic from a feminist perspective beyond what I've done already, and even weirder to be considering him from a transgender one. Maybe that's true, but it seems you've forgotten something; you're on my blog, bitch. I can talk about whatever I want!!! Graghhhh!!!!!!!! *T-Rex roar*
... Anyway. Let's return to that damsel-in-distress dynamic I outlined at the top. for now, we'll leave Metal Sonic out of the discussion; we're only considering the relationship between Sonic and Amy for the moment. Within their relationship, Sonic acts as something of the epitome of healthy masculinity; he's not afraid to help people in need, and he doesn't expect anything in return for his heroic actions—he doesn't even stick around for thanks. This is a common theme for Sonic's character, and it's the crux of a lot of Sonic stories; we're presented with Sonic, the perfect version of masculinity, who is contrasted with a male antagonist who reflects an imperfect, more toxic version of masculinity that is flawed in some critical way, whether that be over-independence, arrogance, or what have you. By contrast, Amy Rose is the epitome of femininity, at least when written well; it's not super obvious in CD (given that she has no dialogue and has even less screen-time than Metal), but in most games she's prevalent in, she is the ambassador to healthy femininity—in Sonic Adventure, she's able to compassionately resolve Gamma's turmoil by appealing to emotions he didn't even know he was capable of having; in Sonic Adventure 2, she performs a similar miracle by unintentionally echoing the dying words of Maria Robotnik (who, if you subscribe to a particularly Windiian school of thought, is the other 'epitome of femininity'; I dunno, not my area of expertise. Go talk to her about it. Also, tell her happy birthday if you're reading this when it's published!), which flips Shadow's moral framework in an instant. In a way, a lot of Sonic is about dealing with toxic masculinity by appealing to either a healthier version of it, to femininity, or both at once. So, if Sonic is the epitome of masculinity, and Amy is the epitome of femininity... then what's that?
Metal Sonic is a hollow imitation of Sonic the Hedgehog. Does that mean, then, that Metal Sonic is a hollow imitation of masculinity? Ehhhh, kind of. The thing with Metal is that he isn't necessarily more feminine than he is masculine; he's directly in the middle, and not really in a non-binary way (though that would also be cool), since he is, in body, a direct imitation of a male figure. In mind is a different, more muddy story. In canon, Metal, especially in the hands of later writers, is defined by his desire to be the 'true' Sonic the Hedgehog; something that he generally plans to achieve by killing and replacing Sonic, along with anyone similar enough to him to be a threat (most often Shadow, sometimes Silver). This suggests that mentally, Metal is comfortable with the idea that he is Sonic the Hedgehog. Yet, still, I imagine that the imagery of this cold, emotionless mockery of masculinity, host to a mind that is theoretically separate from its body, is incredibly evocative to a lot of trans people, specifically (but obviously not limited to) trans women—I know that it rings a bell for me. I don't find it all that much of a stretch to introduce Metal being innately feminine into the equation; Metal's body and mind unwillingly being the malleable property of Eggman, affront to his self-actualization, is a distinctly feminine piece of body horror—but introducing the more specific and nuanced aspects of gender into the equation leaves trans people with a fresh piece of representation and, perhaps more impactfully, a powerful and evocative symbol. This reading has brought new life into this character, and I'm happy to see that other people seem to have independently come to it, as well. If you're interested, there's a truly countless amount of fantastic fanworks relating to this interpretation of Metal; below is a panel from one of my favorites, to get you started. Additionally, you'll find a lot of great, similarly-themed stuff in the MetAmy sphere; given what we've talked about, hopefully you're able to piece together why. T4T MetAmy yuri FTW.
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| Panel from "reformed metal sonic she/they struggle" by scolo-centipede on Tumblr. The image of the disillusioned Metal in that long dress has stuck with me for a long time. She's literally me... |
Anyway, that's about all for this post. I've got more to say, trust me, but all of it's a little out of the scope of a simple blog post, and, after the few weeks I've had, I, truthfully, can't be fucked. This is certainly a call for further ink being spilled on the subject, both from me and from others; this isn't the last you've heard from me on this issue. Sorry about the wait for this one, everybody! Between a hellish streak of personal and work-related issues to dealing with a fucking infestation in my home, I haven't been able to catch a break. I haven't had a good day in, like, a month. God, please save my soul. If that doesn't work, can someone buy me a pack of cigarettes? Pretend I have a Ko-Fi or something. I really should open one of those... then again, I'm not sure if this is worth money. Is this worth money? Tell me. Comment it to me (you can't). E-Mail me. I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. Someone, anyone, free me from my hell...
I'd like to say thank you for the support this blog has gotten so far, by the way. Even if we immediately went into an impromptu hiatus and missed the majority of May, you all have been great. Big thanks, specifically, to those who have gone out of their way to give me scoops and recommendations for posts. It's really heartwarming to see that people are so interested in the blog that they'd like to pitch in with ideas and suggestions; I never once thought something like that would happen, especially so many times, and it's a really nice feeling. I'm, like, entirely booked up—I've got topics easily stretching most of the summer, and, if you recall how I feel about time pressure from my last newsletter, you know that that makes me very happy. If you'd like to send me some tips or recommendations (or anything, really), my Bluesky DM's are open, my E-Mail (sonicsegajp@gmail.com. Nice name-snipe, right? *Evil laughter*) is there for you, and my Tumblr asks are open for those who'd like to remain anonymous. Not everything can be turned into a post, obviously, but I'm more than happy to get your input.
Metal Sonic is a scary thing. She's an unwilling imitation of masculinity, her body and mind are not her own, and she wants to kill everybody. If that's not girlhood, what is, am I right?!?!?! Aha. Ha. Ha... okay, I'll go. See you next week... sniffle... sniffle hic...
-Kim