Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) is the main protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and Sega's mascot. He is a 15 year old, blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog, and is a laid-back and cool-headed character, meant to symbolize peace. Artist Naoto Ōshima, designer Hirokazu Yasuhara and programmer Yuji Naka are generally credited with the creation of the character. Like his name and species would imply, Sonic can move as faster than the speed of sound, has lightning reflexes to match (hence the name: Sonic), and can curl up into a ball (like a regular hedgehog), primarily to attack enemies. These are the distinguishing traits that were used to make his character and world-famous video games.
