Sonic the Hedgehog has been speeding around and collecting rings since 1991, and is one of Sega’s most successful franchises. There have been many video games chronicling Sonic’s adventures throughout the years, and Sonic has remained as youthful as ever. Everyone in Sonic’s world seems to retain their youthful appearance and abilities, helping us enjoy their world without worrying about getting old.
While it’s great to have Sonic be seemingly immortal, it does raise the question about Sonic’s age. Is he actually getting older but it doesn’t show, or does time not pass throughout his adventures? Sonic does have an age, but you can’t calculate said age using regular means.
Sonic’s age in the in-game lore
Sonic is 15 according to Sonic Channel, and has been at that age since the first game. Even though Sonic’s design has changed throughout the years (even gaining some costumes), his age has always been 15 in every adventure. However, Sonic did have a birthday celebration in Sonic Generations, which would make his age 16 in that game.
In the live action film, Sonic has been estimated to be 13-14 by SEGA Fandom. That number has been referenced by TV Tropes as well, which wouldn’t be far from the age in the games. Sonic’s age is potentially 14 due to the time between the two films, but it’s still around the mid-teens.
Sonic’s age by looking at the franchise’s origin
The first Sonic the Hedgehog game was released in North America on June 23, 1991. If Sonic is 15 by the time the first game came out, he would be 46 as of current writing. That’s a long time to be running around and fighting the forces of evil. It would also mean that Sonic is ageing slowly, with his abilities remaining the same after three decades of action.
You could assume that Sonic starts at the age of zero when the series first came out, and note that the franchise is now 31 years old. While this wouldn’t be the correct way to determine Sonic’s age by looking at the game (he starts at 15), it isn’t wrong to say that was the first day fans spent with Sonic. He would have reached his 31st “birthday” on June 23, and that his age would be determined by the length of time people knew of his existence.
