I've written about Tails' backstory before, so now I'm thinking about Sonic's. Unlike Tails, I think that Sonic's parents are still alive. They just don't want anything to do with him.

It's nothing personal, exactly. It's just—you know how some people think that life has given them a checklist they have to follow, like, graduate, get married, have kids? That's what his parents did. They were pretty young still, just barely adults, and they had a kid because that's just what people do. They grow up, fall in love, get married, have kids. That's another milestone checked off, they're making great progress.

Except as often happens in these situations, these two hedgehogs weren't cut out to be parents. Or maybe they could have been decent parents to a normal kid, but Sonic is not and has never been a normal kid.

To say that he was a little hell raiser is an understatement. All kids are energetic and like to get into things, but he was energetic and liked to get into things with super speed, which his parents very decidedly did not have. Who knows how or why their child was born with super speed, certainly not them, but they weren't equipped to handle it. The house was a mess every single day. He was constantly running—literally running, as soon as he could walk or run upright—off. And after a couple years of this, his exhausted and stressed out young parents were like, okay, you know what? If he wants to Get Gone so badly, he can Go. That's fine with them.

So what they did was, they took him to South Island. He was maybe four? And they dropped him off there and were like, go on! Have fun! And Sonic, being four and full of energy after a really boring boat ride, took off immediately. Just sped off into Green Hill Zone. And his parents looked at each other.

"If he's not back in fifteen minutes we're legally allowed to leave, right?" his dad asked.

"I don't think so," his mom said, "but no one's around to see it, so . . ."

So they left. And sometimes they felt guilty about it and wondered what happened to him, especially when news broke of Dr Robotnik attacking the island. But mostly, they were just very relieved to no longer have a kid to worry about.

Of course, Sonic's exploits would make the news over time. Sonic remembered that his name was Sonic, even though he didn't really remember his parents, so his name was the same and they would have recognized him anyway. There aren't many blue hedgehogs the exact age of their abandoned child with super speed, after all. But while they low-fived each other on producing a child that ended up being a world-renowned hero . . . they also had no desire to make contact again. If anything, he's even more of a little hellion now. They have enough common sense to know that trying to parent him would do nothing but cause them an immense amount of stress and financial strain. Also, he's fine! He's a hero! Clearly he has done just fine without them, they have no reason to feel guilty anymore. And if they run into him in Station Square, no they didn't, they're very pointedly looking in the other direction.

Not that it matters. He barely remembers them. And they aren't wrong that he doesn't need parents; he was happy to explore South Island, and when he went back to where they were and found them and the boat gone, his immediate reaction was, "Cool, now I get to run around some more!" figuring they'd be back at some point. And then they weren't . . . but the flickies and rickies helped him find food, and he was able to find shelter, and the loop-de-loops were REALLY fun to race around on, so . . . it was fine. If anything, now that he didn't have someone always telling him "no" and "stop" and "go sit in Time Out for the tenth time today for breaking yet another thing with your super speed" he was much happier.

So although Sonic wouldn't recognize them either, if he did . . . he would also look in the other direction, not wanting them to see him. Lots of avoided eye contact here. And his parents probably did not have any other children, because what if they turned out like Sonic? They couldn't take that risk, and living the Dual Income, No Kids life suited them much better anyway.

So that's the story. His parents are alive . . . somewhere . . . and they are steadfastly pretending they never had a kid, what, you must have mixed them up with someone else (though their genes together could produce a superhero just saying they know it's true but don't ask them how they know this). And Sonic doesn't remember what happened to his parents, and that's fine by him. Tails is the only family he needs, anyway.