Once upon a time, Sonic The Hedgehog was on top of the world. He was starring in one of the most popular franchises of the time, all while giving the all powerful Nintendo a reason to fear losing market dominance. The Blue Blur had a hit cartoon, a cult favorite comic from Archie Comics, and the future looked bright. And then the Sonic games got bad. Real bad. While many of Sonic's most loyal fans jumped ship for more dependable franchises, the die hard Sonic fans stuck around, and these fans started making fan art of the beloved Sega mascot. And this fan art got weird. REAL weird.

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With Sonic Mania netting stellar reviews, and with Sonic Forces attracting plenty of interest thanks to its character creation tool, lapsed fans are finally starting to return to Sonic. But those die-hard fans never left; while gamers were busy playing Mario and Rayman, these committed fans were busy churning out all manner of artwork of Sonic and pals. From fat interpretations of Sonic, to oddball crossovers, to fetishes a-plenty, these fans have been creating some truly weird fan art. So, before Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces makes you forget the dark underbelly of Sonic fandom, join CBR as we take a look at the 15 WEIRDEST pieces of Sonic fan art.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IMAGERY MIGHT BE DISTRESSING FOR SOME READERS. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

15 SONIC AND AMY IN THE LION KING

Sonic and Amy The Lion King

Fan crossovers are nothing new. Since time immemorial, fans have been taking totally unrelated properties and mashing them together to create the kinds of crossovers that only fans could imagine. Sometimes these dedicated fans go an extra step and combine the properties, creating something entirely new that brings the best of both properties into one mash-up. Well, "best" might be a strong word. Case in point: this fan art bringing Sonic and Amy into The Lion King.

This uncredited artist took Sonic and Amy and lion-fied them. Also, Sonic/Simba was stamped with what appears to be the Star of David, for reasons unknown. Just when you think you've seen everything the internet has to offer, along comes a Lion King/Sonic crossover riddled with spelling errors starring a devout Jewish lion Sonic to prove you wrong.

14 SONIC'S GOT WEIRD EYES

Sonic One Eye

Sonic the Hedgehog requires a certain level of disbelief; after all, this is a blue hedgehog running at the speed of light, all while fighting robots and occasionally going Super Saiyan. But there is one part of Sonic that has never really made sense: his eyes. After all, Sonic has two pupils and two irises, but they appear to share the same eyeball. Thankfully, artists Patrick Alexander has created fan art that shows just how terrifying Sonic's eyeball situation is.

With a simple peel back of the flesh found between Sonic's eyes, it is revealed that Sonic has one massive eyeball, inhabited by two separate eyes. This is horrifying enough as is, but Alexander ratchets up the terror, melding the eyes to create one giant, thoroughly unnerving eye. It's scary, it's weird, and it definitely deserves a place on our list.

13 RIDICULOUSLY BUFF TAILS

Buff Tails

Miles "Tails" Prower has proven himself time and again as Sonic's best friend and perpetual right hand man. When things get tough, this two-tailed fox is always ready to help Sonic save the day. While Tails might be a fan favorite character, if you were to ask the uncredited artists responsible for this fan art, Tails is missing just one thing: an obscene amount of muscles.

Tails must have renewed his gym membership and invested in some Muscle Milk, because the Tails found in this picture is positively shredded. With his mountains of muscles, this Tails would have a hard time touching his hands over his head, never mind flying Sonic across a gap using his tails. We're all for self improvement, but when you start looking like you're smuggling beach balls under your skin, it might be time to put down the weights.

12 TOO MANY CHILI DOGS

Fat Sonic and Tails

Sonic likes chili dogs. This is well-established. The guy couldn't practically go five minutes without discussing the delicious American comfort food staple. But it looks like the Blue Blur's love of chili dogs may have gotten the best of him, judging from this fan art.

Gone are the slim Sonic and Tails of old; now, Sonic and Tails are considerably more bulbous, looking like someone got a little overzealous with a bicycle pump. We get it, everyone's got that thing that revs their engine, but Sonic and Tails are gonna have a hard time zipping through Green Hill Zone when they're pushing 600 pounds. But the next time Doctor Eggman has a bomb hidden in a Golden Corral, give these guys a call.

11 STALIN THE HEDGEHOG

Stalin The Hedgehog

A political movement needs a central figure to rally around. Be it a powerful leader or a martyr willing to perish for the cause, the people need a a face to promote the movement. For many communists of an era, it was the tyrannical Joseph Stalin. While Communism has plenty of vocal proponents and detractors all over the world, one fan artist thought the former Premier of the Soviet Union was missing one thing: a hedgehog fursona.

Stalin the Hedgehog features an appropriate Communist red hue, replete with his infamous walrus mustache. Wielding the hammer of the industrial laborers and the sickle of the peasantry, this is a Hedgehog that would make the gruff Communist leader proud. Well, provided he could wrap his head around what a fursona is and how drawing hedgehogs helped the plight of the people. But otherwise, he would be totally proud.

10 SONIC AND AMY'S PREMATURE BABY

Sonic and Amy's Premature Baby

Having a baby born prematurely is terrifying. The ever present fear that your child might not live to see tomorrow is enough to overwhelm the strongest of people. When confronted with such a frightening situation, people find plenty of ways to cope. Apparently, one uncredited fan artist opted to use Sonic fan art to confront the feelings of dealing with a premature birth.

Sure, Sonic might not seem the obvious choice to deal with such an intensely personal subject, but as Sonic and Amy stand watch over their baby, you can understand the choice. Many people find it easier to express themselves through proxies, so dealing with a complicated matter such as premature birth via Sonic makes sense in a way. But let's be real: when Yuji Naka was working on Sonic The Hedgehog, he probably didn't envision the character hanging out next to an incubator.

9 SONIC'S GIANT FOOT FETISH OUTING

Giant Sonic by CrazyKat

Listen, everyone has that something that gets their engine running. Sometimes it's vanilla and completely innocuous, and sometimes it's... not. And that's fine! It takes all types to fill the freeway. You like what you like and you can't change that. So if seeing a giant, shoeless Sonic The Hedgehog run around with someone's fursona taped to his heel gets you all hot and bothered, well, more power to you.

Artist CrazyKat gives the world this fan art, depicting the Blue Blur taking a leisurely run as one unlucky (or lucky, depending on how you feel about this kind of thing) cat person gears up for a world of pain. Sure, you might wonder how Sonic got giant sized or why the Hedgehog agreed to tape a man to his heel, but the giant foot smooshing activities of two consenting adults isn't any of our business. You do you, fellas.

8 TERRIFYING REALISTIC SONIC

Realistic Sonic by Key Campbell

There are certain characters that work best when viewed through the lens of imagination. Such is the case with Sonic The Hedgehog; as a blue hedgehog capable of running at the speed of light that fights a mad scientist, he doesn't exactly work when you bring realism into the equation. Case in point: this utterly horrifying picture from artist Key Campbell.

Sonic becomes a humanized Hills Have Eyes style hedgehog/human amalgamation, while Tails becomes an emaciated slobbering monstrosity. And poor Chao; gone is the cute little fella that fans remember, replaced by an overweight, sagging, dead-eyed blob. Sega has taken Sonic in some interesting directions over the years, but judging from this fan art, they would be wise to keep the Blue Blur far, FAR away from a realistic interpretation.

7 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC AND GARFIELD

Sonic and Garfield

Sonic the Hedgehog and Garfield the Cat seem like they couldn't have less in common. Sonic runs fast, while Garfield prefers to stay stationary. Sonic goes for chili dogs, while Garfield opts for lasagna. The verdict is still out on Sonic's opinion on Mondays, but Garfield isn't a fan. But despite their many difference, fan artist Casey Decker has brought these two icons together to ring in a birthday.

Sure, one might wonder what brought Garfield and Sonic together for a birthday celebration, but it's not so far fetched; in fact, Sonic and Garfield headlined a demo disc together back in the day, which definitely isn't a fact the author had to Google to find out. The world could learn a lot from Sonic and Garfield; if a video game hedgehog and newspaper comic cat can put aside their differences, well, why can't we? Really makes you think...

6 SONIC AS JESUS ON THE CROSS

Sonic as Jesus

Okay, we get it. This one is sure to raise a few eyebrows. But religion and faith is a deeply personal thing; how it manifests varies wildly from person to person. Some people may decide to go to church every Sunday. Some people may opt to attend bible study. And some people might decide to draw Sonic the Hedgehog as Jesus on the cross.

Artists have been bringing religion into their art for hundreds of years, and despite millions of pictures of the guy, there has never been one uniform look for Jesus. So when Sonic fan William Gename decided to portray Jesus Christ as Sonic The Hedgehog, well, more power to him. We might not get it, but you can't deny: it's interesting and it's certainly unique.

5 SONIC X APPLEJACK = OTP

Sonic and Applejack

Fandom has never let a pesky thing like "different franchises" or "having literally nothing in common" stop them from pursuing a crossover romance. Why, when a fan decides two characters from different franchises are their One True Pairing, no force in the universe will stop them from shipping this OTP. So sure, it might not make a whole lot of sense to have My Little Pony's Applejack lock lips with Sonic the Hedgehog, but here we are.

As the Blue Blur and country horse hold each other tenderly glove-in-hoof, Knuckles and Rainbow Dash look on in rage. Rather than getting mad, let this fan artist ship SonicXApplejack in peace and devote your time to a more noble endeavor: figuring out what the pair's shipping mash-up name will be. Sapple? Hogjack? We'll figure it out...

4 GIANT BUFF SHADOW PRAYS IN HIS FAVORITE SPEEDO

Shadow and Chao pray at the cross

Okay, remember earlier, when we were talking about how faith manifests in different ways? Good times. So while some may honor the Lord through stained glass or poetry, one Sonic fan opted for a different approach: having a monstrously buff Shadow the Hedgehog pray to the cross while a ridiculously jacked Chao thumbs through the bible.

Sometimes, the subject of a piece of art only makes real sense to the artist. As such, we may never know why Shadow is clad in a speedo while praying, nor how he got so darn swole, but at the end of the day, it's not our business to know why. With the uplifting words of Isaiah 41.10 framing the scene, this is clearly fan art that intended to convey faith in its own personal, utterly unique way. You do you, religious Sonic fan that likes to draw ridiculously buff Shadow the Hedgehog. You do you.

3 SONIC AND SHADOW MEMORIALIZE 9/11

Sonic and Shadow 9/11

When confronted with a great tragedy, everyone deals in their own way. When the senseless terrorist attacks on 9/11 shocked the world, many struggled to figure out how to process the disaster. Musicians released songs to commemorate those that died, artists put paint to canvas to honor the brave souls that died saving others, even Marvel rushed out a comic book where Doctor Doom cried. Then there was supershadow781, who used the Sega mascot to honor those lost in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Like some of our earlier subjects, Sonic might not seem the most obvious choice for dealing with 9/11, but fans often look to their favorite characters to work through tough situations. Having a fan use the Hedgehog to honor those lost in the attacks makes sense to that fan and who are we to judge how people cope? At the end of the day, as long as the art helps the artist, that's just fine.

2 AMY EATS SHADOW

Amy eats Shadow

Everyone has something that stokes their fire. Everyone has that one thing you would never discuss publicly, that really gets your tractor cranking. And that's totally fine; whatever does it for you, that is your business. It just so happens there are some people that are into people eating other people whole, and there are some people specifically interested in Sonic the Hedgehog characters eating each other whole... which brings us to this picture.

In this fan art, an uncredited fan artist depicts Shadow the Hedgehog having been gobbled up by Amy. You might wonder why Shadow didn't use Chaos Control to avoid getting eaten, but let's not think too hard about this picture of one Sonic character eating another Sonic character. This is practically fetish Inception; the rarely seen fetish in a fetish. It might be confusing for many, but if it makes someone out there happy, it ain't that bad.

1 SHADOW X SHREK FOREVER

Shrek and Shadow

One is a genetically engineered doppelgänger of Sonic the Hedgehog. The other is a cranky ogre voiced by Michael Myers. Despite what must be a world of differences, someone, somewhere on this crazy blue marble thinks that Shadow and Shrek are the perfect couple. But judging from the misty eyes of Shadow found in this fan art, these star-crossed lovers just couldn't make it work.

Perhaps Shadow wouldn't relocate to the swamp. Perhaps Shrek found a way to work things out with Fiona. Whatever the cause, Shradow (Shadek? Shrekdow?), much like many celebrity couples, weren't able to stick it out. The uncredited artist really went above and beyond in conveying the longing and hurt in this mini comic, letting the viewer know that even though love abounds between the pair, this relationship... is ogre.

Have you seen any other unique Sonic the Hedgehog fan art? If so, let us know in the comments!