Silver the Hedgehog

Silver the Hedgehog (シルバー・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) is a fictional supporting character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic hedgehog hailing from at least two hundred years into the future where his role is to protect his time by changing the catastrophes of the past, thus preventing the ruining of his era. To aid him, Silver makes use of his psychokinesis, an ability from his time that is considered the norm, which allows him to move objects with the power of his mind. Silver is a kindhearted, and well-meaning individual, driven by a strong sense of justice to right the wrongs of the past to uphold peace, though he is somewhat naive and immature. Despite the monumental tasks he may have on hand, he is an optimist and will do whatever it is required to protect the world.

Background
Silver lives in an unknown destroyed future, and goes to the past to change the future for the better. Silver is from at least two hundred or more years in the future of Sonic's world. In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), while Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are exploring the city in which he lives, Knuckles says, "How could this be our future?". The second and third times the player discovers that Silver's world is the future of Sonic's world is in Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2 respectively. Right before Eggman Nega turns Sonic’s world into a card, Silver clearly states “What?! But that will mean my future will be destroyed too!”. In Sonic Rivals 2, he says to Espio and Knuckles, "I have to save your world or else my world will be destroyed as well!".

Personality
Silver is best described as having "a strong sense of justice", and it is this personality trait that motivates him to head back into the past to correct the future that he lives in. He believes in standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves. This led him to accept Blaze the Cat when everybody else was teasing her for her pyrokinetic abilities. When he pursues an enemy, he does so with a relentless determination. He makes many alliances, and rivalries very easily and takes people's word without question; this makes him easily tricked by others as well. According to his character profile in Sonic Generations, he is an optimist.

Although seemingly serious on the outside, an interview states that Silver is young and somewhat immature. Blaze comments on this several times and describes him as being naïve and insecure when he is alone. Silver is also a regular sweetheart, always ready to protect those in need and lend a helping hand. He generally keeps a positive attitude and never gives up hope, no matter how objectively hopeless the situation is.

Silver wears his heart on his sleeve. He feels anger and joy intensely and loudly, but his sadness is silent and hardly, if ever, marked by tears. He lets his rage control him and cheerfully remarks on the things that make him happy, but hardly says a word in his sadness, though it is visible to everyone. However, though he may feel sad, he never gives in to despair, always looking for a solution the right way. His determination and little regard for pain can make him a very frightening opponent.

Silver is also very courageous and brave, willing to fearlessly sacrifice himself for another in a heartbeat. Utterly unflinching in the face of danger, he is courageous almost to the point of foolishness and is the focus on snuffing out evil with little regard for his own safety or others around him.

Despite Silver's naivete and general lack of critical thinking, he is not outright stupid. Even Eggman Nega called him perceptive, and Silver was the first to see through his otherwise perfect disguise. With little information to draw upon, he lets his intuition guide him, but as a relatively isolated person, he has little understanding of interpersonal relations or the subtle tools of manipulators.

He apparently has a competitive streak and gets a little snotty and a prickly attitude in the heat of the moment, as seen in Sonic Rivals 2; when you play as him and pass your rival, he'll say, "I'm better". Or if you win a race or battle, he says, "Who's the best?" In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, when you win a race he says, "I am not to be trifled with!" and in Sonic Free Riders he sneers "'LATER!'" upon cruising past a fellow competitor. In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), he generally refers to the Iblis monsters and Eggman's robots as "trash," and typically congratulates himself with a smug tone upon dispatching a roomful of them.

When meeting anyone that gets in his way, particularly in Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2, Silver can be very short-tempered and bossy towards anyone that's not explicitly helping him in his mission, sometimes even becoming directly hostile and start a fight on a bad choice of words.

When Silver is not focused on his current mission or does not have a task at hand, however, he is very friendly, helpful, and a good companion to have around.

Appearance
He is a white silver hedgehog. He has yellow eyes, and white gloves. He wears red white sneakers. His mouth is yellow and her wears blue sneakers.

Video Games
Silver the Hedgehog appears in the following video games:
 * Team Sonic Racing

Quotes

 * "This world was devastated before I was born. A harsh bleak place, where we live in eternal darkness. Life is a struggle, and people live without hope. How did this happen? No one will answer me directly. But they always point to the flames".
 * "Circumstances have changed. I need to rescue the Princess."
 * I have to save your world or else my world will be destroyed as well!

Blaze the Cat
Blaze the Cat is Silver's best friend who is like an older sister to him.[20] In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) exclusively, she has lived with him in his time period for a while. She works with Silver as a partner and because she is able to sense his flames, it is she who informs him when Iblis reincarnates. They constantly work together to beat the infant Iblis back into the lava from whence it came. Silver is also emotionally dependent upon Blaze; he becomes very insecure when alone, and it is usually Blaze who helps Silver back on his feet. Before she vanishes from their world at the end of Silver's story, Blaze reveals that she always liked Silver's naivete, leaving Silver deeply saddened after he is forced to seal her in another dimension. Ironically, while Silver's main enemy is a creature called the Flames of Disaster, and controls fire, Blaze also controls fire, which is why Iblis could be sealed inside Blaze.

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Silver respects Blaze and looks to her for guidance, validation, and emotional support. He was also one of the few who did not tease Blaze about her pyrokinesis. Aside from that, they both share the same core desire to help others and bring evil to justice at any cost, and they both pursue their goals with unwavering determination. Because they share ideas and because Blaze's logical mind grounds Silver's more emotional one, she keeps him pointed in the general vicinity of the right direction. Her maturity and focus make up for Silver's immaturity and inexperience.

After the defeat of Solaris, the timeline was altered and it appears that Silver's encounter with Blaze was erased, leaving them with no personal relation or knowledge of each other.

Silver and Blaze reappear together in the DS version of Sonic Colors in the 3rd mission on the Sweet Mountain where Silver points out how their fighting styles are similar. While Silver was not able to recall his memories of his partnership with Blaze in Sonic the Hedgehog, he was able to recall the familiar feeling of having worked together with her. In Sonic Generations, Blaze and Silver can be seen talking to each other at Sonic's birthday party.

Even though the erasing of timelines left Silver and Blaze with limited personal knowledge of each other, references about their former partnership has been presented many times in the series after Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), such as in Sonic and the Black Knight where Sir Galahad and Sir Percival (Silver's and Blaze's counterparts) are described as companions and in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS version), where Silver and Blaze reappear together and challenge the player to a Ice Hockey and Dream Ice Hockey (Fever Hockey) game.

In Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Silver and Blaze have a unique gold medal pose if they work together in a team event.

Trivia

 * The chorus for Dreams of an Absolution bears a resemblance to the Green Hill Zone background music. Composer Lee Brotherton stated that this was not intended, but is appreciated.
 * Silver bears some resemblance to Future Trunks from the Dragon Ball franchise, as both of them are from the future, live in an apocalyptic world and have tried to change another timeline. Shiro Maekawa, the writer of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), later confirmed that Silver's character was indeed based on Trunks. Super Smash Bros. Brawl references the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) on Silver's trophy, despite the game not being released on Wii or any Nintendo console. The trophy also looks similar to Super Sonic.
 * One controversy based around Silver are the 5 spines on his forehead. Fans think it resembles a cannabis plant (aka marijuana, or pot). In actuality, the spines are based on the Japanese Red Maple leaf.
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the opening cutscene of Sonic's story shows Silver saying "I've finally found him, the Iblis Trigger" while clenching his right fist. Behind him, sparks are flying around, presumably remnants from Eggman's fiery attack on the Festival of the Sun. However, in Silver's story, he clenches his left fist and there are no sparks to be seen.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Silver is the only hedgehog whose trophy can only be obtained once. (Shadow and Amy's trophies are obtained randomly and Sonic's trophies can be won by clearing Classic Mode multiple times).
 * Silver is the only hedgehog that isn't a Speed type. Instead, Silver can be considered a Flight type character since he uses his psychokinesis to fly. However, in Sonic Runners he is a Speed type character, making him the first character to officially change formation in different games, followed by Blaze the Cat in the same game who's gone from Speed type to Power type. This excludes the more recent ESP Silver character in the game, in which case he is again classified as a Flight type character.
 * In an interview with Shun Nakamura, Silver was intended for a different game about psychokinetic powers with a realistic aesthetic; they ended up scrapping the title and borrowing its concepts for use in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). The interview also reveals that, during the design process, Silver's hair and boots were finalized first and last, respectively.
 * A screenshot of Silver using his ESP was used in the Psychic section of the book Encyclopedia Horrifica.
 * It is unknown how Silver travels through time in Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2 and the DS version of Sonic Colors. In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), he travels through time with the help of either Mephiles, Shadow, or Sonic. In Sonic Generations, it is assumed that Silver is brought from the future by the Time Eater, though this is never seen. It is also never seen how Silver travels back to his future after the game. On one of the Sonic Channel backgrounds, however, Silver is said to travel through time by using Chaos Control.
 * Sonic, Shadow and Silver have the same height and weight: 3 feet and 3 inches (1 meter) and 77 lb (or 35 kg).
 * Silver is the only rival boss in the console/PC version of Sonic Generations that does not face the player at his original location, as he is fought in Crisis City.
 * Despite many fans having speculated that Silver is related to Shadow due to Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad's relationship in Arthurian lore (where the latter is the son of the former), Takashi Iizuka has confirmed that Silver is not a descendant of Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * Silver was going to appear in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing as a playable racer alongside Rouge, Vector, Espio and Blaze, but was scrapped from final product.

Voice Actors

 * Japanese : Daisuke Ono (all media)
 * English : Pete Capella (2005 – 2010), Quinton Flynn (2010 – Present)