I'm not asking who is arch enemy is. That's simple, and canon, in the fact that it's Dr. Eggman.

I'm asking, of the five provided choices, who rivals Sonic the best?

Dr. Eggman was Sonic's first enemy. The boss of every level of the first Sonic game, and mostly every level of the original Sega games, Ivo Robotnik has always been one bad dude. His evil brains and robots have made life hard for Sonic from day one. He imprisoned little animals in cages, ripped off Darth Vader's ideas for a giant space-based weapon and he's been the primary villain in everything from games to comics to anime! Eggman is certainly Sonic's archenemy, but is he the perfect Rival for Sonic?

Knuckles was introduced specifically to be the opposite of everything Classic SegaSonic! Whereas Sonic was the master of speed, Knuckles was untouchable in strength. While Sonic couldn't swim, Knuckles can -- and he can fly too! While Sonic is a care-free goof, Knuckles is all business -- and not even Sonic could stand the business end of his fists. With personalities that are as opposite as bacon and a banana, Knuckles was created to be Sonic's first rival... but is he the best rival?

Metal Sonic is Sonic except for the fact he's made of metal, and has a much colder personality. Metal Sonic is just as fast, stronger and smarter than Sonic. Les we not forget he has a computer for a brain and arms and legs of metal! This bad boy believes in the song "Anything you can do, I can do better" and he can play it since his head is a radio! Even with his cool metally-ness, is he the perfect rival of Sonic?

Shadow the Hedgehog is like Sonic in every way; except that he can naturally use powers that Sonic couldn't come close to matching without a chaos emerald. If he can access Chaos Control, not even Sonic can keep up with him. Plus, Shadow's fanbase is probably just as big -- if not bigger -- than Sonic's! This guy was 3D's answer to Sonic's rival, and he's become so popular they gave him his own game. Does that make him the Ultimate Rival?

Though they've never met in the canon universes, no list of Sonic's rivals would be complete without mention of the Italian plumber who is actually a jumping bean in disguise. Mario has been around longer than Sonic, and he's starred in countless games and sold more money than shaving cream (I can't prove that...) For years the Counsel Wars pitted these two mascots against one another, and though Sonic now does a lot of work under the Nintendo label, and though Sega fell before the might of Nintendo, does all of this qualify Mario the title of Sonic's best rival?

I still think Eggman is his biggest rival, due to the fact that they're so different from each other. Sonic is fast. Superman has powers. Eggman has no speed, but he's smart. Lex Luthor has no powers, but he's very smart. See? Very similar... and both Lex and Eggy are bald! Something about being bald...

As for Sega falling to the might of Nintendo... I have to correct you on that. While the Nintendo fangeek in me wouldn't mind giving Nintendo getting credit for that, there's also the part of me that likes people to be well-informed and not mislead. You see, the reason Sega no longer makes consoles is because of the failure of the Dreamcast (a great system, btw). But Nintendo wasn't the one that defeated Sega in its final struggle, it was Sony. The looming shadow of the PS2 is what killed the Dreamcast and, ultimately, any chance of there ever again being another Sega console.

:Shadow: is sonics only real threat.

Sonic X Universe: Dark Oak because he was the only rival that made Sonic actually go "dark super sonic" (all the negitive energy took over for a short time making him glow blackish) In the Japanese version he actually said he wanted to kill him for suposibly killing Cosmo. It was scary how serious he was.



I love this pic :3


As for the other universes I have to say our dear Eggy since he is so darn persistant about getting rid of Sonic. But if it's a serious rival I supose Shadow.

I put Metal Sonic because he's the only one who consistently hates Sonic, as much as an 'emotionless' (O RLY?) droid can.

Knuckles was an excellent rival for Sonic... then they pansified him a little. ;_; Especially in the comics, where he's just hanging around Knothole instead of defending his island. Even in the games, his devotion to his Island is weakening in favor of just hanging around Sonic... but that's not his fault, it's all them creator-peoples...

And the same thing's happening to Shadow! Especially in Sonic X and the later games, he's less off-doing-his-own-thing-and-being-a-badass than just generally hanging around and doing the right thing. Sad!

I'd put Eggman, but Eggman doesn't deserve to be a "rival." The word "rival" implies respect and equality. Eggman is BETTER than that. XD Eggman needs to hate Sonic more than he currently does, IMO, because right now he's more like a Santa Claus with a generally (but not always) grumpy demeanor.

Sonic's never even met Mario... come on SSBB!!!!

Do I sound like a grumpy codger complaining about the changing times? XD Well, maybe I am... but I miss Knuckles and Sonic beating one another... good times...

Anyway: Metal Sonic has never shown any kindness for Sonic, and not verse-vice-a either. Sonic may not respect him as much as his other rivals, and his "plan" in SH kinda takes away from his character a bit, but Metal Sonic is a badass rival who deserves props for lasting the longest without getting pansified. :shrug:

I have to agree with BR. As I’ve said before, I’ll say again.

Metal Sonic pwns all!

This guy is always ready to face Sonic, and vice versa. He’s never, in the games, done anything to aid the blue blur. He’s on his own and ready to destroy Sonic!

This is a difficult choice. All of the choices have been excellent rivals to Sonic and each one has his pros and cons. If I had to guess which one was the best it would have to be a tie between :Knuckles: and :Shadow:.

I say Knuckles because he was the original rival to Sonic. (As put by Blue Rush, I don't count the Doctor) Knuckles came before all the other rivals, making him the original. Also, he had his own set of abilities, as opposed to most of the other rivals who simply match (Or surpass) Sonic's speed. and abilities.

On the other hand, Shadow is the dark incarnation of Sonic. And as far as dark incarnations go, he's better than Metal Sonic. Besides, there have been about five different mechanized Sonics, what's so special about MS. More importantly, if there's any threat to Sonic's fanbase, its definitly Shadow. And I welcome the ever increasing wave Shadow fans. Woohoo Shadow!

While I like Shadow better, I think I'm gonna have to go with Knuckles for best rival.

This was easy.Mario. Without him Sonic would be bored to death.I mean,sonic saves the world on a daily basis.And Sonic was created to rival Mario.every thing sonic in't,Mario is. Sonic:animal,Mario:human.

Wait a minute, I found out Sonic and Mario are friends. :blink: ,It suprised me too. so I'll go with :MetalSonic:

uh, "tailsonic"(bro). mario is not in sonic games and movies. (double doh!) u_u

No, but Sonic's creator (Naka-sama) and Mario's creator (Miyamoto-sama) are both very good friends in real life, and there is no rivalry between Sonic and Mario.

And honestly, I think if it wasn't for the fact that they're owned by different companies, Sonic and Mario's paths WOULD have crossed by now. :3 That'd be sweet.

I think they'd probably be friendly rivals, like Sonic and Knuckles.

Anyway, I'd say Shadow really... Eggman is more of an arch-nemesis, while Shadow is a doppelganger... like Spiderman and Venom, they can be described better as rivals.

Mind you, if Sonic does get in Brawl.. if he's not in there, I'm SURE he'll be in the next one. I mean, if Solid Snake got in, Sonic can't be far behind.

As for Metal, meh, he's more of a universal enemy.

So it's a tricky one.

Eggman or Shadow...since Day Numero Uno, Sonic has been beating up on Egghead...but since Shadow came...it's like a friendly rivalry!

I disagree. Sonic tried to SAVE Metal Sonic when Metal was going to fall in lava in Sonic OVA. The only things that stopped Sonic from saving Metal were Knuckles holding him back, Metal rufused to give Sonic his hand, and Metal Said "There can only be one hedgehog". Even so, I still think that Sonic and Metal Sonic are the best rivals.