Top 12 Fourth Wall Breaks in Sonic Boom

For a while I’ve wanted to make something more special as a Top 12. It’s been six months since I last discussed Sonic Boom, and Season 2 has had a satisfying 2-part finale. I’ve wanted to make a list about the Sonic series, but I couldn’t find any ideas. I thought about a list of best secondary characters, but the definition of a “secondary character” is pretty elastic from a Sonic game to another – anyone aside from Sonic could count. So, I settled again on what I knew. And what do I know? Sonic Boom.

"I don't get it. We followed the instructions, we did everything required,
we even gave fans what they wanted. And Sonic Forces only got a 57
on Metacritic?"
"Maybe we should try the Mania route again."
"I told you that Infinite guy was a bad idea!"
"Of course it only got a 57. It didn't have enough chili dogs."

As I said time and time again, the Sonic Boom TV show is one of the more impressive tour de force achieved by the franchise. The games associated to the Boom sub-series weren’t too great, and even the current new Sonic games (aside from Sonic Mania) have received lukewarm reception at best. That’s a shame too, because I had high hopes for Sonic Forces. However, the current TV series goes on, undisturbed, with brilliant writing and tons of great ideas. Partway into the first season, the show started breaking the fourth wall more and more. By this point, they aren’t just breaking the fourth wall. They’re punching through it, blowing it up with dynamite, carrying all the remains into an empty field and dropping an A-bomb on it, just to be sure that it’s obliterated for good. And there’s Deadpool on the sidelines, looking at his Adventure Time watch and going “Come on guys, leave some for me!”

There are plenty of ways to break the fourth wall: Address directly the viewer, have the characters acknowledge that they’re in a work of fiction, reference the grander scale of the franchise (if any). The Sonic franchise can even go a step further since, as a long-running franchise that has been going on for over 25 years now, it has gathered a gigantic fanbase (of which the quality is… um… variable) and that fanbase has contributed with fan works and memes, which are all elements that a fourth wall-breaking joke can pick from.

Sonic Boom has broken the fourth wall so often, I could make two lists like this one. But I’ll do only one, because we really don't need more, no matter how many seasons this show ends up having. I could do a Top 12 Sonic Boom episodes, but I feel like I’d be cutting out tons of episodes that I also love. Sure, I could instead do a Top 24 list split over two articles… but that would still be a lot of work. Have the current list where I explore the many ways that a show can break the fourth wall, and many great examples from a single show (and, on a rare few occasions, the games).

Only one rule: Each episode must make the list only once, because many episodes feature multiple noteworthy instances of fourth wall breakage.

12. Lousy security camera (“The Sidekick”)

"Dammit, Cameraman Dave! I know you went on a bender
last night, but do your job correctly!"

Starting this list with… the very first episode of the series? Yep! Have you ever noticed how often villains stare at the camera when expositing their plans? The implication is that they’re speaking to the viewer, or to a character watching the scene. In this case, things are simpler than that – while Eggman gloats, the point-of-view camera falls and he replaces it with an arm so that it frames his face again, and he quips, “Lousy security camera”. So, let me get this straight: Eggman feels the need to talk to his security cameras? He may be more of a nutcase than we thought. This might actually be a subversion as it seems to be a moment where the fourth wall gets broken, but "something" comes to explain why it doesn't.

11. You can see them too? (“Sticks and Amy’s Excellent Staycation”)

"Violence Against Fourth Wall Invites Itself at Peaceful
Tea Party". Now THERE'S an article I could write.

This one needs some explaining. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles went on a road trip in the Season 2 episode “Planes, Trains and Dude-Mobiles”, leaving the girls alone at the village. We follow Sticks and Amy’s "staycation" in the following episode. It mostly involves them trying to relax with various activities like knitting, sports, or going to the spa, until the inevitable Eggman attack. (Or perhaps there’s a goat lady who also wants a spot in the rogues gallery, who knows? This episode is all about girls and women, it’s awesome.) At one point, Amy starts a sentence and finishes it after a cut, which in-universe happens almost an hour later. Sticks tries to figure out why Amy did that, and the pink hedgehog replies that her sentence would only make sense to someone watching them. Sticks replies, “you see them too?” and stares suspiciously at the camera. That’s probably the funniest part about Sticks, she’s very much aware of the fourth wall. Makes it all the easier for her to break it. Repeatedly.

She's hilarious every time she acknowledges that she is
being watched. For once, a conspiracy theorist who
is actually right about something!

10. A great action figure (Fire & Ice)

"BUY OUR STUFF!"
(For the record, as far as I know, no D-Fekt action figures
have ever been merchandised.)

Let’s not forget that the video games, too, have their moments. The Sonic Boom games feature other characters that never appeared on the show, some of which are robots. The main one in Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice is named D-Fekt. It’s a robot who was supposed to help Eggman’s mining operations, but was discarded for being inefficient – or so the doctor thinks. As soon as Amy sees the robot, she has to say that “he’d make a great action figure if our adventures were ever merchandised”. Amy, it's not your call to make. Leave that to the marketing department. You go and be a hero, they’re gonna make the toys.

Shout-out to the comic books, another piece of the multi-media Sonic Boom experience that also dabbled into self-aware humor, even in its first issue. Now they really are stepping into Deadpool’s territory, that’s a dangerous thing to do!

I'm less worried that she can tell her name is being pronounced
as a logo and more worried that she can see speech bubbles.

9. The Jungle Predator Book (“Mech Suits Me”)

"Um, Amy, let's not bite the hand that is animatng us."

Sonic Boom kept the underlying mythos of ancient technology hidden all over the island, with the heroes often finding such items on their adventures. This episode starts as they’re playing Jungle Predator (don’t ask), and Sticks asks the group to come over to check a strange cave. Amy says it’s the oldest trick in the “Jungle Predator Book”, which is apparently a playgroud game AND a work of fiction in their world. Not sure how that works. Anyway, after Sonic asks if said book is any good, Amy replies that it’s better than the movie, what a shock, but then she adds that studios should just use new ideas instead of adapting the same old franchises over and over in different ways. The guys find nothing to say to that, their reactions is them awkwardly realizing the deeper meaning of the statement; they know that they’re in the nth iteration of a franchise that’s been going on for a long time now. I know it’s a commentary on franchises and all, and as a result it’s a precious moment of fourth wall break, but my mind is stuck on the Jungle Predator. Is it a game? A movie? A book? Just what is it???

8. According to the TV listings… (“Spacemageggonocalypse”)

Speaking of TV, if you're wonderingm, that black box at the
top was a huge ad for a Teen Titans Go episode. Because
Cartoon Network is a TTG addict and not even a
functional one. They will ruin other shows just to throw
in more TTG.

If Sticks is perhaps the character most aware of the fourth wall, Knuckles is a close second, As if his idiocy left room in his headspace for a kind of knowledge beyond what characters are supposed to know, like Emmett from The LEGO Movie. Then my theory falls apart when I realize that everyone punches the fourth wall at each chance they get in this darn show. Take this episode, as an example: With the looming threat of an approaching asteroid, Sonic is tasked with saving the world by going in space and destroying the falling rock. On the last minute, everyone decides Knuckles would be better suited for the job, since he’s stronger and more likely to succeed… and this exchange follows.

Sonic: “But how often do I get to literally save the world?”

Knuckles: “According to the TV listings, about once a week.”

And then he holds up a page of TV listings, complete with images from the previous episodes! That’s some dedication to the joke right there.

So wait, is Sonic Boom also a show in their world or...???

7. You missed it! (“Knine to Five Knuckles”)

More Knuckles? Let’s go for more Knuckles. Season 2 added depth to the character, among others by featuring an episode where he looks for his family (a sad episode, as it seems he’s the last echidna in this continuity as well). Other episodes show him getting jobs, because he’s old enough for that. That’s the case in “Knine to Five Knuckles” (Yes, the spellig mistake is in the title), in which he’s scammed by T.W. Barker into buying a (completely broken)  house with credit, and then has to get a desk job in order to pay for it. This episode has three instances where Knuckles references the fact that he’s in a show, but the best one is probably when he returns after his first day at work, to find out that his friends have had the perfect Eggman battle during that time. And they brag about it. The perfect combination of new minions and old favorites! Final boss material! He had a doomsday device, a bomb, hostages, and he even stole forty cakes! And that's terrible. Then Sticks looks at the viewer and goes, “you missed it! That’s what you get for following Knuckles around!” What can I reply to that? I can’t see what the show doesn’t show me! Ah, the limitations of being a mere viewer…

Silly badger, you cannot see me through the screem!

6. All of “The Biggest Fan”

Hes just an obnoxious, critiquing, awkward biggest fan.
What can go wrong?

I mentioned it in my original review of the show; the Sonic fanbase has gained an unfortunate reputation over the years, with some particular fans giving everyone else a bad name. Any episode of a show that focuses on that show’s fanbase, or on the topic of fandoms in general, breaks the fourth wall to an extent as the writers will ultimately compare the fictional fans in the episode to the actual fans of the show. Mark the Tapir is a character introduced in “The Biggest Fan” and is – you guessed it – Sonic’s #1 Fan. He proceeds to enact Stephen King’s Misery with his idol. They thankfully leave out the finger candle from that story. The writers may say that the character wasn’t based on one particularly infamous Sonic fan, and I’d believe them as Mark embodies various negative traits of the fandom, not only those embodied by that one infamous fan. The meta-commentary allows for a lot of jokes and funny moments as well. Not to mention all of the roads it opens to breaking the fourth wall! It is a form of fourth wall break, especially if they get the chance to slip in any statements about fans that sound like they’d fit right into the real criticism of Sonic fans. I like this episode, but ultimately there are better examples for this list.

This. This definitely went wrong somewhere.
Those peach-colored arms are not normal on Sonic.

5. Shadow’s here! (“It Takes A Village to Defeat A Hedgehog”)

Pictured: Eggman on the verge of squeeing like a
hyperactive fangirl.

The Season 1 finale for Sonic Boom featured Shadow, a fan favorite if there ever was one. He has since returned in the Season 2 finale, which makes me think that he’ll be returning once per season, usually as the season finale's villain. In “It Takes A Village to Defeat A Hedgehog”, Dr. Eggman has reunited various villains that appeared during Season 1. His surprise guest, Shadow, shows up, and when someone asks who that guy is, Eggman replies that “He’s only the second most popular character in the whole canon!” Oh sheesh, don’t say that while Shadow is around, he hates to be in second place. That in itself would count as a wrecking ball thrown into the fourth wall with the speed and force of Superman and the Flash reunited, but if that was not enough, the final exchange of the episode hammers the point home. Yeah, the season is over, but we’re gonna keep bashing that wall till it’s nothing but crumbles! While the Sonic Gang defeats Eggman, Orbot and Cubot discuss the possibility of being renewed for another season, even planning to set up an online petition. They bring me into uproarious laughter with the next lines, though: “Just think of all the hundreds more stories to be told using the same eight characters and four locations – the possibilities are limitless!”

4. You keep watching. (“In The Midnight Hour”)

If Sticks breaks the fourth wall so often, it may be because of her conspiracy theorist side. She always thinks “someone” is watching her. That “someone” is us, so she has a point. The episode “In The Midnight Hour” features, among other things, a hypnotic robot called the Dreamcaster, and boy do they milk that name for all its comedic worth. Just in case the references to the old SEGA console weren’t enough, we also get this next gem. Already wary of any form of mind control, Sticks becomes the only one able to stop Eggman’s latest invention. The Dreamcaster uses television to hypnotize the villagers, but Sticks has no TV because, and I quote, “TV is just a big conspiracy to control everyone’s minds!” Then she casually turns to the viewer and tells them, “I wasn’t talking to you. You keep watching.”

SHE KNOWS. SHE STARES INTO THE FOURTH WALL, SHATTERS IT WITH HER EYES.

I keep watching because I want to, not because you tell me to.

Is it any wonder she’s the best example of a conspiracy theorist character that I’ve ever seen? She’s funny but never offensive; she’s exaggerated but never overbearing. She doesn’t scream 75% of her lines like an idiot. Writers should take notes.

3. He’s talking to me. (“Give Bees A Chance”)

So now, characters are officially speaking to their voice
actors? Or is it the voice actors talking to the characters?
Either way, that is one smug face Sonic's got there. 

The episode written by Cindy Robinson, Amy’s voice actress, had its fair share of awesome and hilarious moments. In it, Amy befriends a bee robot among Eggman’s minions, but all the meta humor precedes that part. First, during the intro, Sonic is falling and calls for his friends’ help. Tails, on his plane, replies with a “Roger!”. Knuckles, ever the idiot, asks who Roger is, and Sonic goes “He’s talking to me”. In a voice deeper than what we usually hear from the character. For those who don’t know, Sonic is voiced by Roger Craig Smith in the English dub of the show, and Smith’s real voice is only slightly deeper than Sonic’s voice, so that’s what was peeking through in the scene. I’m more concerned that Sonic had fallen for a full minute during that scene, for a fall that would have lasted a few seconds tops.

The second great moment is when, after Eggman is defeated, an ox businessman gives the Sonic Team a sapphire to keep, as it’s safer to be with them if the evil doctor wants it so badly. Knuckles immediately volunteers to keep an eye on the stone! His reason calls back to a criticism of the show, no less: “People have been complaining that I don’t guard enough rare stones.” Well, there’s his chance.

By this point, it's safe to say that the fourth wall is no
longer broken: They went back in the past and vaporized
it before it even existed. Like what they did to Solaris,
but let's not speak of that.

2. Tomatopotamus 2 (“Fiendbot”)

Huh, I never thought Sonic would be that kind of fan.

Much like in a previous point of this list, referencing the common criticism towards the show makes for fun meta-commentary, though the Sonic franchise is large enough that criticismss aimed at other parts of the series can be used. In this episode, Sonic comes back from the flea market with the retro game “Tomatopotamus 2”, something about a weirdly-colored hippopotamus. His friends rejoice! After all, “Tomatopotamus 2 is the best one in the series!” Apparently things went downhill when they started doing 3D games for that franchise. This entire bit, however short, is a bunch of common lines from gamers about game series in general, and especially the Sonic games. It’s like a number of fourth wall breaks in a row, with the characters themselves bringing points about a game within a show, even though the game that show comes from has received the exact same criticism! Sonic’s line breaks me when he says “They never should have changed the color of Tomatopotamus’s legs.” Yeah, it’s not the first time they joke about the common and petty fan reaction to something as minor as changing the color of a main character’s arms. But it’s always funny, and here it merely tops off a longer series of in-jokes that worked so well together.

1. One too many! (“Just A Guy”)

Not only do we come back to Season 1, we come back to my least favorite episode of the entire show. And yet, it has the best joke of them all. Sonic is being annoyed by Mike the Ox, who really wants to join a battle against Eggman. Using advice given to him by Amy for when he feels annoyed, he imagines himself in a happy place, then in a happy place in his happy place, and that still doesn’t work… until he’s called back into reality by an alarm. But somehow, this goes a step beyond and we cut to… this.

Is that... BOOMY THE CAT? MY FAVORITE!
(Very few of you are actually going to understand that joke.)

“Oops! One too many!”

Apologies, we will resume the planned programming after this weird cut into the real world. Sheesh, that was weird and creepy. But hey, it made for a perfect moment where the fourth wall was not merely broken, but vaporized.

And the items on this list were fourth wall breaks. I said almost nothing of all the references to other things that they threw in!

Was that taken from One Punch Man??

Anyway, that’s the list. Come back soon for my next big review… and boy, is it gonna be big. No more kid-friendliness.