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To compensate, dragon scales and AiAi ears were added in as a parts. The last species to be chosen was either going to be monkey, dragon or bear, and bear was chosen as it was a power type. Many different species were considered for the Avatar, including raccoons, dogs, squirrels, rats, pigs, lizards and more. Another rule was that the Avatar could not look cooler than Sonic. The team wanted in particular for the Avatars to have a 'plainer' and 'unified' look, yet be identifiable with their distinct species and still feel like different, appealing, unique characters, all while looking cool with their customizable accessories.

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In the opinion of Iizuka, some the hardest things when designing the Avatar were 'realizing what kind of characters want to portray in the world.' Because the Sonic series already had a lot of animals, the team needed to stay true to that representation, yet make the Avatar unique enough to stand out on their own without alienating them from the existing Sonic cast.

Iizuka wanted to let people do that to some extent, but it was only until Sonic Forces that Sonic Team acquired the skills, people, and technology to make this possible in a Sonic game. The idea for the Avatar to be a customizable character first began over twenty years ago when Iizuka took notice of all the Sonic-type characters the fans (especially Americans) were creating and sending him via fan-mail. While a lot of fans wanted more gameplay variety, they still wanted to play as Sonic, so the designers gave this character (which would become the Avatar) the Wispon to give it a unique gameplay style, and movements with emphasis on high-speed running and jumping that made it feel similar to Sonic. According to Takashi Iizuka, the idea for the Avatar came about to make a character with a unique gameplay experience to differentiate them from other characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Sonic character creator