Sonic's WORST Rival - Scourge the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog? Shadow the Hedgehog? Whatever! Who cares!? Cuz the new hotness is a real Scourge.

TIME STAMPS:
00:00:00 - Who is Evil Sonic?
00:01:20 - Sponsorship (A Hog Shaves His Scruff)
00:02:14 - Calling in Back-up
00:02:42 - Scourge the Hedgehog
00:08:56 - Father and Son
00:12:25 - Scourge, the God and the Loser

BACKGROUND MUSIC (in order of use)
- Quartz Quadrant, Bad Future (JP/EU) from Sonic CD
- Godmode by Wehrmut
- Who I Am (Instrumental) from Shadow the Hedgehog (Unused)
- Theme of Dr. Eggman from Sonic Adventure
- Father and Son by me
- Glistening Sorrow from Sonic OVA (Unused Track)
- My Perfect Plan from Shadow the Hedgehog
- Scourge (Tension) by me
- Sad Spider-Man Scourge by me

[AkuTenshiiZero]

I just like how Scourge is like all the toxic parts of Sonic's personality amplified. The ego, the bravado, the need for constant action and combat, all stuff that is part of who Sonic is but usually tempered by his good nature and heroism. But take that away, and you have this massive asshole.

[Pikatwig]

So, here's something at least worth a passing mention. While Ian Flynn never got to put this to paper, he did have some ideas for Anti-Shadow. His name would've been "Sparkles". And that just cracks me up.

[LordLucario]

Also I just realized how fucking perfect it is that Scourge is literally "born" on Sonic's birthday. Even when trying to escape the shadow of his Prime self, he just can't

[SamLabbato]

I like how some random fan was like "read archie sonic" and years later he's still covering them

[ピカリFritzyBeat]

My favorite aspect about Scourge isn't the fact that he can say to Sonic "All it takes is one bad day, and you'd be just like me", many villains and anti-heroes that acted as the antithesis of the hero have been able to say that over the years. The best part about Scourge in my opinion, is Sonic can tell him "All it would take is a little bit of selflessness, a little bit of decency, and you'd be just like me", and that affects Scourge. Because the one thing Scourge fears most is being seen as just another version of Sonic from just another reality of Mobius.

Having a villain that plays into the whole "the evil version of the hero" trope but who fears being like the hero more than the hero fears being like him is something I can't recall being done nearly as often, and it's a big part of why I always enjoyed him in the comics when he came up.

[jocosejpeg]

"What you see is what you get: just a guy who loves adventure!"

Scourge is someone who took that first part of the quote and twisted it. He made himself as outwardly flashy as possible in the hopes that others WOULD perceive him the same way he presented himself: as a powerful king who merits fear and respect.

Sonic doesn't have a facade to uphold because he really IS just a guy who loves adventure, through and through.
For Sonic, "What you see is what you get" reflects his honesty and self-acceptance of who he is. He's not superficial.

Scourge IS the facade. He's the mask Moebian Sonic hides behind.
And every time someone looks past it, he breaks, because "Evil Sonic" is a desperate loser and he knows it. His self-reductive thinking bleeds out into the way he views Sonic's allies (and even his own) in a lot of the stories he appeared in.
For Scourge, "What you see is what you get" is a testament to how shallow his worldview is.

[KingoftheBashful]

I love how brilliant it was changing Scourge from blue to green. It not only makes sense from an in-universe perspective since absorbing massive amounts of chaos energy can turn some characters green like Knuckles, but it also works on a thematic level since he's an opposite version of Sonic, he has green fur with blue eyes to counteract Sonic's blue fur and green eyes.

[__-begk]

The pain of being obsessed with writing characters like Scourge but needing heroes for them to interact with

[str]

Like, Scourge is a piece of shit, but he's so iconic

[Tzarina]

One of my favorite parts of Sonic is how he defeats Scourge with literal introspection. These two are egotistically identical, so Sonic had to think of an insult that would make HIM genuinely flinch.

Nobody tell Eggman.

[Tshngo]

I adore Scourge. He is no joke my favorite character in any of the comics. Even though from an outsider's point of view he seems like a cringey recolor OC... well, actually they're right! He's the CRINGIEST recolor OC, and he ROCKS because of it. Love Surge as well, glad she's carrying on the horrible green gremlin rival torch, but it's hard to match the complete loser dork idiot energy Scourge constantly radiated.

[society]

He’s the best evil Sonic we’ve ever gotten in terms of feeling like a complete antithesis to Sonic, where Sonic is self-confident and a healthy ego, Scourge constantly has to validate himself because of his complete lack of self-confidence that he has to cover up.

Scourge is too insecure to become a good person, because in his eyes that would get rid of his individuality, and only distinction from all of the other Sonic’s across the multiverse.

[zeppelin]

When you really think about it, Jules may as well be the biggest chad in all of Archie Sonic

He tells Robo-Robotnik/Eggman to lay his hands off Sonic
Talks down to Scourge like he's nothing
And successfully tells Naugus to f*** off

He stands up to three of Sonic's biggest foes with nothing but an iron-clad resolve to stick up for his son

[xistinspire]

Sonic's retort to Scourge's "One Bad Day" taunt is awesome because it perfectly outlines Scourge's place in this world, and what we, the readers, are supposed to learn from his character. See, Scourge isn't there to just to be a rival, nor a parody of the "edgy self insert." Yes, he's literally "Evil Sonic, " but unlike "Evil Superman" and characters of that ilk, he's not there just to make the hero (and reader) ponder existential questions like "How far is too far?", "What would it take for me to snap?", and "Does my moral code even really help make things better?" No, Archie Sonic keeps it short and simple:

You can be awesome.
You can be cool.
You can have friends who will care for and help you.
You can be a hero.

However, if you're mean. Rude. Selfish. Uncaring. Cowardly. Arrogant. Always looking for the easy way out. If you're any, or all, of those things, then you can have all the confidence and style you want, you'll still be a loser. Uncool. Cringey. Alone. A villain in someone else's story, if not your own. And when you do eventually lose to someone who embodies even just a few of the positive traits that make people like Sonic...Sonic (because one day you absolutely will), it'll be the most humiliating thing you can possibly imagine, completely shattering, even if only temporarily, the false image others have of you...and that you have of yourself.

In world where we've had several decades of people focusing on the "coolness" of villains and little else, freaking Archie Sonic cuts through all the crap and tells us exactly why the villains aren't cool...while also telling us what they would need to do to truly be cool.

[xelldrk]

The irony of Scourge being a worst rival is that he's not only a bad version of Sonic, but he's also BAD at everything else. Like Sonic is so good at being a hero, that the reversed version of him is a villain that sucks as a villain, a failure, as how a mirror works with reversed reflection

[guythatdosethingssometimes]

I love Scourge so much.

He's like a shadow that completely owns his edgy bad boy existence.

He's just so charismatic and in your face personality that it's hard not to get rapped up in his antics.

[stevensmith]

The Scourge/Jules story is genuinely one of the best backups in the series

[bowserbreaker]

That was amazing. This video really shows off the idea that Scourge is just a punk that needs to be justified. He's nothing more than a bully. A loser. Yet he does have a presence, he is charismatic. He is a guy that wants to be at the forefront. But even when he became invincible, the super-powered king was beaten by something better he couldn't be. A hero. Scourge is super evil, and I like it. He could be good, but he's so down in the dumps he's nothing more than awful. But there's one line you didn't show that I love. "I'm just Sonic the Hedgehog at his full potential." In a way, Scourge still views himself as the perfect version of Sonic. The very man he hates. How fascinating.

[DissedRedEngie]

scourge, the definition of "go off queen, but we still gonna humble you".

[somebodyrandom]

Scourge feels like a brutal deconstruction of the concept of an "evil reflection".

He doesnt just invert Sonic's values and morals. He inverts ALL of his positive traits into negative ones. Including his quick wits, his determination, his bravery and his confidence. Even the love of his friends and family.

The result is a dim-witted cowardly bully who is painfully aware that he is nowhere near as cool as he tries to be. Who drives away or kills anyone close to him.

I think that adds a really interesting layer to him. Scourge might be everything that Sonic isn't, but Sonic has everything that Scourge lacks.