Sonic’s Fortnite Appearance Is Upsetting Fans Of The Character

Sonic Fans Really Don't Like Character’s Fortnite Redesign Published Aug 17, 2026, 3:44 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Sonic redesigns rarely tend to go down well. Hearken back to 2019, when the design for the Blue Blur's silver-screen debut was revealed. It was heavily mocked, with the Hedgehog looking more like a rat, which led to a huge redesign and a delay for the movie. It all worked out well in the end, with the three movies grossing more than $1 billion combined, but it could have been so different. Now, following the reveal of Fortnite's latest season, Override, Sonic and friends are set to make another appearance, but their designs are once again being scrutinized, with the Hedgehog looking surprisingly lanky. Sonic The Hedgehog's Fortnite Redesign Has Been Met With A Mixed Reception Fortnite's latest season is going to be a bumper celebration of the history of video games. Characters from series like Mega Man, Kingdom Hearts, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Persona are all set to make their debuts in Epic Games' shooter. Naturally, to fit into Fortnite's world, many of these characters have faced redesigns or slight tweaks to make them more appropriate, and it's Sonic's that has gone down the worst. The new look was first posted on Twitter by user Kennythedevil, who showed off a new Fortnite x Sonic the Hedgehog comic. The comic is fronted by Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles, with each of the three characters having decidedly longer legs. You can get a glimpse of them below: These designs then made their way across social media, with users on Reddit sharing their distaste towards the trio's new looks. "Certainly… off. Having to fit in with Fortnite proportions means their hands must be smaller and arms thicker, and it just looks so weird…" said EconomyThick9271. Splabooshkey added, "They feel like mid-tier fanart. If a fan made this, I would be very pleasantly impressed - but if this is official? It just seems kinda ass to me." While most of the comments are disparaging of the artwork, there are some a little more understanding. " Could have been worse. The proportions are scuffed as all hell, but unfortunately, that's unavoidable when you need skins to fit a standard skeleton and hitbox," said mrturret. Given the season starts in around three days, there will be no time for a movie-esque redesign, so this is one look fans will just have to settle for. Released September 26, 2017 ESRB T for Teen - Diverse Content: Discretion Advised, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact Developer(s) Epic Games Publisher(s) Epic Games