Draft:Big the Cat

Big the Cat
Sonic the Hedgehog character
First appearance	Sonic Adventure (1998)
Created by	Takashi Iizuka Shiro Maekawa
Designed by	Naoto Ohshima
Voiced by	Japanese Shun Yashiro (1998-2000)[1] Takashi Nagasako (2003-present)[2] English Jon St. John (1999-2004) Oliver Wyman (2005-2010; 2016) Kyle Hebert (2010-present)
In-universe information
Species	Cat

Big the Cat^[a] is a character created by Japanese game developers Takashi Iizuka, Shiro Maekawa, and Naoto Ohshima. He is typically a minor character in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. An anthropomorphic purple cat, Big has one of the most unique designs in the series, being the tallest character in the series standing at over 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) tall.^[3] Big often doesn’t play a major role in most games, and he usually only gets involved in the main story when his pet and best friend, Froggy goes missing. Big is very laid-back and peaceful, and he prefers not to go on adventures, but rather have a peaceful and fun day out fishing with his best friend. Because of this, Big rarely has significant interactions with other characters in the mainline storyline. Big is voiced by Shun Yashiro and Takashi Nagasako in Japan, while his English voice has been portrayed by Jon St. John, Oliver Wyman, and Kyle Hebert.

Big first appeared in the Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure (1998). Big was quite an unusual addition to the roster of characters, as Sonic Team wanted to create a character to break up all the action going on with the other characters. Since Sonic Adventure included a lot of water, they created the character to present fishing gameplay.

Big has a widely unknown backstory to the player, however it is known that he lives in a hut deep in the Mystic Ruins jungle. He often gets involved into the main storyline of games unintentionally when trying to chase after Froggy. Froggy is what usually ties Big into the events of the games. In Sonic Adventure (1998), Froggy eats Big’s Chaos Emerald, and ends up getting absorbed by the game’s main antagonist, Chaos. Similarly, in Sonic Heroes (2003), Froggy as well as Cream the Rabbit’s best friend, Cheese’s twin brother, Chocola, is kidnapped by Metal Sonic, which makes Big team up with her and Amy Rose to get them back.

Big was initially one of the most despised characters in the series, with critics and fans heavily criticizing his fishing levels as frustrating or broken, and the character having an annoying voice. However, Big has received a more positive reception in recent years, with his hate having died down significantly, and him becoming a major meme icon with even Sega themselves leaning into his huge meme status.

Concept and creation

File:Beta concept art of Big the Ca in SA1.jpg

Early concept art of Big the Cat (left), next to his finalized design (right).

Big was created to be a more minor supporting character in Sonic Adventure, to break up all the action from the other characters’ campaigns.^[4] Since Sonic Adventure had so much water in it, Big was created for the sole purpose of introducing a new gameplay style; fishing.^[5]

Voice portrayal

Big has been voiced by many different voice actors over the years. His Japanese voice was provided by Shun Yashiro for Sonic Adventure (1998) and Sonic Shuffle (2000). His now current Japanese voice is Takashi Nagasako starting from Sonic Heroes (2003) and henceforth.

His English voice is provided by Jon St. John, the famous voice actor for Duke Nukem, from Sonic Adventure (1998), up to Sonic Heroes (2004). Oliver Wyman, who had voiced the character in Sonic X, replaced Jon St. John and only voiced Big in 2010's Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing before the 4Kids Entertainment cast would be replaced by the Studiopolis cast. Kyle Hebert replaced Wyman in Sonic Colors (Nintendo DS) onward. Wyman would reprise his role as the character in Lego Dimensions. In Sonic Prime, Big was voiced by Canadian Ian Hanlin.

In Sonic Adventure (1998), Ryan Drummond auditioned to voice Big in-game, and while Sega liked his interpretation as Big, they decided to give the role to Jon St. John instead.^[6]

Characteristics

As his name suggests, Big is a large, anthropomorphic purple cat

Notes

1. Japanese: ビッグ・ザ・キャット, Hepburn: Biggu za Kyatto

References

1. "Big the Cat Voices (Sonic the Hedgehog)". Behind the Voice Actors.
2. "Big the Cat Voices (Sonic the Hedgehog)". Behind the Voice Actors.
3. "Sonic Channel". Characters: Big (in Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
4. "Sega Unveils Sonic Adventure". Edge: 6–7. October 1998.
5. Retro Game staff (28 December 2018). "The Making Of: Sonic Adventure". Retro Gamer.
6. "Ryan Drummond on Twitter". Twitter. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020.