The following contains spoilers for Sonic Frontiers, out now from Sega Games.
The release of the Sonic Frontiers video game has already been deemed by Sonic the Hedgehog fans as a spectacular return to form after the mediocre reception of Sonic Origins. However, what has particularly excited fans of the IDW Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book is that Ian Flynn (writer of both the comic book series and Sonic Frontiers) has left a sneaky Easter Egg that confirms one of his comic-exclusive original characters is officially canon within the video game franchise.
Ian Flynn has been an incredibly influential writer within the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise for his work on the fan-favorite Archie Comics and IDW Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book runs, creating some of the best Sonic stories the franchise has to offer. So of course, when Sega asked Ian to help write the story for Sonic Frontiers, the video game was being put in the right hands to becoming critically acclaimed. While the video game stories of Sonic the Hedgehog have been kept separate from the comic book universe, it seems Ian Flynn was given enough freedom to leave a small Easter Egg within the game that officially brought the comic-exclusive character; Tangle the Lemur into the Sega video game canon.
Who is Tangle the Lemur?
Tangle the Lemur was one of the first original characters Ian Flynn introduced when he began working on IDW Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog comic series in 2018. Tangle's energetic and bubbly personality quickly made her a fan-favorite character when she made her debut in Sonic the Hedgehog #4 (by Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley, Matt Herms, and Corey Breen) where she helped Sonic defend Spiral Hill Village from a legion of Doctor Eggman's Badnik robots. From there she would make frequent appearances within the comic series as one of Sonic's numerous allies he could call upon in desperate situations, being especially prevalent within the Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Virus Saga (by Ian Flynn, Shawn Lee, Tracy Yardley, Priscilla Tramontano, and Leonardo Ito).
Tangle's popularity thanks to her appearances within the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series even landed the character her own spinoff comic miniseries with fellow comic-exclusive original character; Whisper the Wolf. The two acted as the titular lead protagonists of Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle and Whisper (by Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley, Matt Herms, Leonardo Ito, and Shawn Lee) in April 2020. From there the two comic book characters would form an iconic duo within the spin-off series, rivaling that of Sonic the Hedgehog and his partner Tails the Fox, with the character duo still making frequent appearances within the main comic line.
How Was Tangle the Lemur Referenced in Sonic Frontiers?
While Tangle has made an appearance in the mobile game; Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, this was a non-canon moment meant to act as fan-service for the increasing fans of the lively comic book character. However, as the story writer for 2022's Sonic Frontier video game, Ian Flynn was seemingly given permission by Sega to officially canonize his original character through a bit of ambient dialogue from Sonic. While transversing the strange Chronos Island, Sonic has a chance to say "I bet Tangle would love climbing around these ruins", signifying that within the video game canon, the two characters have already been acquainted.
This marks the first time ever that a member of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book cast has been officially recognized as canon within the Sega video games. The main reason the comic book characters have seldom received the same treatment as Tangle the Lemur comes from a legal dispute with Archie Comics writer Kenneth Penders, who was able to win a legal battle against Sega to claim a vast quantity of the Archie Comic Sonic the Hedgehog characters as his legal property. This was in an attempt to start his own independent series called the Lara-Su Chronicles, meant to feature the Echidna character Lara-Su and Sonic's evil clone; Scourge the Hedgehog. However, this series has not received any recent news on its development.
Will Other Sonic the Hedgehog Characters Transition to Video Games?
However, with the IDW Publishing Sonic the Hedgehog comic cast not being effected by the same messy legal complications as their Archie Comics counterparts, it may be entirely possible that they could receive the same treatment as their contemporaries. Tangle's comic book co-star; Whisper the Wolf has also made a non-canon appearance in the Sonic Forces: Speed Battle mobile game, so there is a possibility that she too could make a cameo appearance within another game. Now with Sega producing a multitude of spin-off video games in the form of Team Sonic Racing or Sonic Rivals, there is ample opportunity to even feature the likes of Tangle and Whisper as genuine playable characters within the games.
Other IDW comic book characters with enough fans to warrant a video game appearance includes the two villainous characters Professor Starline the Platypus and his subordinate Surge the Tenrec. With the unexpected amount of freedom Sega has given writer Ian Flynn within the narrative of Sonic Frontiers, there is a very real possibility that fans will finally get to see some of their favorite comic characters appear fully animated and vocalized within the Sonic the Hedgehog video games. While it is unknown if Ian Flynn will be brought back onboard to help write the story for the next Sonic video game, the success of Sonic Frontiers may be enough to warrant another character from the comics making the leap to video games.