Sonic The Hedgehog Characters

There are many, many Sonic the Hedgehog characters, and that should be no surprise. The game series has been running for twenty years, and has accumulated a number of different protagonists, antagonists, and sidekicks over the two decades. While there may be some disagreement on the best Sonic the Hedgehog characters, the ten listed below have arguably had the biggest impact on the games. Note that the list will only apply to characters from the games, not the comics or cartoon adaptations.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue hedgehog is the star of the series, appearing as the main character of almost every game. For a time, his popularity was on par of that of Mario. While the last few years have not been kind, Sonic had returned to his original 2-D glory in "Sonic the Hedgehog 4".
2. Miles "Tails" Prower. He is a two tailed anthropomorphic fox with a first and last name. Seriously, even the humans in the series do not seem to get that. Starting out as something of a "hidden" second player in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2", he has become a major play in the series.
3. Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles is the third member of the classic trio, and his attitude and design made his a favorite of the target audience. His gameplay, which included punching and gliding, was a refreshing change of pace from Sonic. He is easily as popularity as Sonic and Tails, even starring in "Sonic and Knuckles" along with the blue speedster.
4. Big the Cat. Big is obnoxious. His fishing levels in "Sonic Adventure" were amongst the worst in the game. Regardless of his relative uselessness, he has managed to appear in an astonishing seven games.
5. Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow's introduction may be considered the moment the series jumped the shark. It is sad, then, that he was actually enjoyable to play in "Sonic Adventure 2". Do yourself a favor, though, and avoid his eponymous title.
6. Amy Rose. Amy is Sonic's Princess Peach, if the Princess was a terrible character. However, she has managed to grab the role of Sonic's quasi-love interest, to the point where she has become a playable character. Like it or not, she is now an irreplaceable part of the Sonic universe.
7. Rouge the Bat. It only took one game to get a better playable female character than Amy Rose. She is Knuckles' counterpart in terms of gameplay, and her stages in "Sonic Adventure 2" were quite fun. Though introduced as a member of the "evil" team, she is a fairly good natured thief.
8. Dr. Robotnik/Eggman. The primary protagonist of the Sonic games. His name may have fluctuated, but his appearance has always stayed the same. He even had a fairly good "Dr. Mario" clone, called "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine".
9. Metal Sonic. The other half of the classic nemesis team, he has been somewhat replaced by Shadow. Metal Sonic was always quite difficult to beat, especially if you did not have all of the Chaos Emeralds. He pops up now and again in games, though never as menacingly as in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2".
10. E-102 Gamma. Why E-102 instead of E-100? Because E-102 was charming and fun to play, while E-100 was...not. Both E series robots brought a fun shooter element to a series that previously had none.