TOP 10 OFFICIAL SONIC CHRISTMAS IMAGES

For whatever reason, "Sonic" fans love Christmas. Maybe it's because we all just connect the series to childhood nostalgia around receiving the games and merchandise at the holidays. Maybe Sonic and his friends being fuzzy and huggable makes pairing them up with the coziest holiday of them all is inevitable. Whatever the reason, if you Google "Sonic Christmas art," you get roughly a hundred pieces of festive fan art in the results. Some of these pieces are by artists that have worked on the series in an official capacity, making them practically canon bits of hedgehog-y Christmas cheer.

Probably owing to his status as a corporate mascot, and Sega's desire to sell lots of games or consoles or other miscellaneous crap during the most capitalistic of seasons, Sonic Christmas art is not just a phenomenon among fans. In fact, there's been quite a lot of official "Sonic" art that puts the characters among various holly jolly trappings. And because I want to celebrate the holidays and have absolutely nothing else to write about, I've decided to arbitrarily rank my favorite official Christmas Sonic art this year, with my absolute favorites at the bottom here. 

I am tempted to kick things off with one of those trivia-filled, rambling dissertations that I love so much. Though a character born of a myriad of European folkloric traditions, and thoroughly mutated by American sensibilities, Japan has eagerly adopted Santa Claus. Perhaps it's because the Christian roots of Christmas are largely ignored in an Eastern culture like Japan, allowing secular traditions like Ol' Saint Nick to dominate the holiday's pop culture headspace. Japan has certainly put its own wacky spin the Jolly Old Elf over the decades.

Among these far-flung riffs on the holiday's ultimate symbol has been lots of images of Sonic in the famous red suit and hat. Maybe putting Sonic in a Santa suit is just too irresistible an image. Perhaps it's the hedgehog's speedy status that makes him a good match for Santa garb. Of these many pieces of art, my favorite is probably this one, originally published in Harmony, the  newsletter published strictly for Sega's employees in the nineties. (And later, more famously, collected in 1996 as part of a screensaver program.) I like the image of Sonic leaping over a snowy city with a big sack full of gifts on his back. He looks so happy to be delivering gifts!

Since 2005, Sega of Japan has run Sonic Channel, a website devoted entirely to providing updates on everyone's favorite blue hedgehog related franchise. Lots of neat bits of promotional tie-ins have filtered out from this site. Here in the English language Sonic-sphere, Sonic Channel is best known for the monthly art uploaded to the site, much of it provided by Yui Karasuno. Due to these pieces being updated monthly, they frequently tie-in with the holidays and events that occur at the time. Which means quite a lot of super cute Christmas art comes from this avenue. 

The first of this illustration I want to highlight is from Christmas 2020 and was actually created originally for the Life in Sonic's World art book. It depicts an utterly adorable seasonal scene: Silver, while dressed as Santa, uses his telekinesis to fill a set of stockings presumably belonging to the napping Chao on the floor in front of the fireplace. Their toys and coloring pages are strewn on the floor before them, while little references to the rest of the franchise are on the tree, via Christmas ornaments featuring Big the Cat and a Chaos Emerald. It's a moment of pure domesticity, exuding warmth and nostalgia. Which is perfectly suitable for Christmas and maybe for the Sonic series too, even if I don't have much nostalgia for these particular characters. 

Other examples of Sonic Channel art you see circulating on social media all the time are the little monthly character portraits. These are still coming out every month and here's proof of that. This particular image here literally just came out this month. But how fucking cute is this, right? Metal Sonic is, by design, not the cuddliest cast member of this particular series. One imagines he wouldn't react with much appreciation – or at all – to a Christmas gift. To actually see that scenario play out is highly amusing though. Especially when the gift is a little plush doll of Sonic, the robot's often sought enemy. It's funny that a machine that is, by design, emotionless can express so much with just the angle of his face. In this case: Bemusement.

One of the joys of the Sonic Channel art is getting to see the “Sonic” cast members in different clothes and situations than you'd see in the video games or comics. It's clear that the artists behind these images really enjoys dressing the different characters in various cute little outfits. So, yes, of course, that means putting Rouge in a sexy Santa skirt for a Christmas image. That would probably be enough to make this memorable. The bat's body language is full of poise and attitude, as always. Yet what really seals this one for me is that the tree is decorated extensively with Rouge's favorite thing: Shiny jewels. If we are to assume that Christmas exist in Sonic's world, Rogue decorating her tree in such a manner is canon in my eyes. 

Sega once made an entire Christmas-themed sequel to “NiGHTS Into Dreams.” There have been at least one Halloween themed level in a “Sonic” game, alongside numerous snow and ice themed levels. All of this makes it surprising that there's never be a straight-up Christmas themed stage in any of the Sonic games. Yet, if one where to exist, it would probably look a lot like what we see in this image. Sonic grinding down candy cane patterned rails around festively festooned Christmas trees while snow falls overhead would surely be features in such a level. This painting shoves in as much holiday iconography as possible. Bells, ribbons, stockings, bulbs, lights, candy canes, Santa hats, gifts, holly sprig. As well as a lot of Sonic imagery, like Omochao, Sonic's shoes, a Chaos Emerald. I don't know about the giant billiard balls but otherwise this looks like a lot of fun. 

If you thought that Silver image was adorable, get a load of this shit. Ya know, we don't imagine gruff, cynical Shadow getting much into Christmas. He's pretty much the opposite of a sentimental guy and that means he would probably reject the most sentimental holiday. What this image suggests is a scenario where Shadow sits down to take a little nap, after a hard day of fighting robots or Chaos-Controlling or whatever it is he does. It seems his little Chao friend took it upon himself to decorate Shadow with seasonal accessories while he sleeps, including about to pin a Santa-like mustache on his snoozing face. It's cute as fuck and, when you think about how Shadow will react once he wakes up, it becomes pretty funny too. 

Last December, Sega sold a “Sonic”-themed Ugly Christmas sweater and mug – perfect for hot cocoa! – through their website. The sweater and mug where pretty fucking adorable and I wish I could've bought one or the other. Yet this quick little image assembled to promote the duo is even more delightful. Sonic is holding what I'm assuming is a carol book and wearing a sweater with Eggman's face on it. That raises some interesting questions. But what's really delightful about this one is how happy Sonic looks. Look at that smile! Pleased as punch to sell schlock with his face on it. What a consummate pitchman. I want to buy six now.

We are not done talking about napping yet. As cute as the previous images focused on curling up and passing out around the tree were, this one takes the cake. Sonic sleeps in a comfy chair, in the glow of the Christmas tree, with a Chao and a warm blanket on his chest. There's some plates and forks near-by, suggesting they probably just filled up with Christmas cake and passed right out. The little drawings on the frost on the windows makes this all the more precious. God, it looks so fucking cozy! If Christmas is fundamentally a holiday rooted in warm memories of home and childhood, this particular image really captured that.

My number two pick here, which is a much older image, invokes a lot of the same feelings. It has that warm glow to it, of gathering around the Christmas tree for a totally relaxed evening at home... Except there's a weird twist to this one that makes it all the more intriguing. First off, Sonic is alone inside his home(?), with his modest little tree. There's what appears to be a bottle of wine and a champagne glass on the table before him. If sipping on an adult beverage seems like an uncharacteristic behavior for Sonic, he's also sitting on a coach and reading a book, another very laidback activity for someone associated with speed. 

But that's just the most front-forward sign that something isn't off with this image. Beneath a massive, ominously yellow moon, Tails peers in through the window at his mentor. What exactly is going on here? The Christmas tree and the barren mountain tops in the distance implies the chilling cold of December outside this cozy home. Why is Tails outside looking in? Did he track Sonic down, in some sort of obsessive stalker scenario? The big, slightly unnerving smile on the little fox's face seems to imply that. The inverted smirk on Sonic's face, which suggest he's kind of grouchy in this moment, implies that maybe he was annoyed by Tails and threw him out.

They say a picture is worth a million words and, I guess, this is an image that really makes you wonder. Obviously, the weird or slightly unsettling undertones to this one is why I love it. Or maybe it's just a random hodgepodge of elements, thrown together to be marketable, that we weren't supposed to think about too hard. 

This image went low-key viral when it was new and, holy shit, how could it not? A Christmas card circulated among Sega staff in 2009, it's a deeply baffling and powerful image. Sonic, Bayonetta, and a xenomorph from the “Alien” series – three characters with wildly contrasting styles that appeal to totally different audiences – sitting in front of a festive fireplace, wearing Christmas sweaters would be enough for most artists. Yet this postcard goes even further. Bayonetta's hair is done up like a Christmas tree, topped with a star. She holds one of the “Super Monkey Ball' primates, bundled up like the Christ child, in what appears to be a wrapping paper/stocking combo. 

Sonic and Bayonetta smile with absolute glee while the xenomorph – who wears a Santa cap on the end of its phallic head, naturally – snarls. Is the alien monster smiling too? Or is he greatly annoyed to be here? Is the monster a minute away from attacking the other characters? Or is this as tranquil a gathering as can be expected between a seven foot tall dominatrix witch, two wacky cartoon animals, and a rape demon from outer space? I like to think it's the latter, truthfully. Because that's funnier to me. I think the xenomorph is wearing jeans too? And the angle suggests that the stool Sonic is sitting on is like five feet tall. The more I stare at this postcard, the more secrets it reveals. 

And with that, I'll sign off for tonight. Thank you for everyone who read Hedgehogs Can't Swim in the last year. Sorry I missed so many updates. I'll try and do better next year. I'm going to go ahead and start my coverage of “Sonic Prime” on Monday, hopefully. If you're celebrating this weekend, I hope everything goes swimmingly and you have a wonderful holiday. And if you're not celebrating, have a good one anyway because, if you're reading my words, obviously you're a way past cool dude.