Re: Sally's appearance

From: James Firmiss <firmiss_at_cae.wisc.edu>
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 2:03:36 CST

Oh no... not this again :-)

Anyway... There are multiple refs (from Archie and possibly Sega) stating
that she's a squirrel (ground squirrel to be exact). I've decided to
accpet this.

But how do you explain the lack of tail?

  Well... Some species of ground squirrels have short tails.
    OR
  It could be a 'royalty' thing to have the tail clipped at a young age.
  Much the same way certain species of dogs get their tails clipped often
  (e.g. sheepdogs ... dobermans (sp?) )

  That would explain her father not having a tail either (and possibly why
  Antoine doesn't have a tail... we're not entirely sure what his origins
  are... he could be associated with the royal family somehow... an
  association which would require his tail be 'clipped'. Isn't he
  "Captain of the Guard" or at least trying to be or something?

  I had considered a third possiblity (she could've lost it earlier due to
  a close scrape with Robotnik's forces) however when I saw that she had
  a short tail as a young girl in that 'Blast from the Past' episode I
  dismissed this possibility.... That's too bad... this might've been an
  interesting story to write.

But what about her father being a fox?

  In real life... mixing two species is generally a bozo-nono and will
  either result in nothing, or if you're lucky... a sterile cross-breed
    (e.g. Horse + Donkey = Mule... I THINK this is how it works)

  In cartoons, you're often given a little leeway here. I wrote up
  something about 'cartoon genetics' a while back trying to explain
  all of this. It was long and complicated but generally said
  when an inter-species couple has children there are generally three
  possibilities .. depending on the cartoon series:
 
   (1) The children inherit the species of the parent with the same sex.
       (e.g. A male fox and a female squirrel would bear fox boys and
             squirrel girls.)
   (2) The children are a 'blend' of the two species.
   (3) The children are one species or the other.

  In the 'Sonic' universe, the first seems to be the rule although we can't
  rule out the third possibility.

  I don't think she's a 'blend' because she looks quite different than any
  of the other foxes on the show or in the comics.
   
  The conclusion of all this is that Sally's mother is a squirrel. There
  was a fanfic story which had Sally's mother in it (as a squirrel) so
  someone out there belives this (or something like this) :-)

Anyway... I hope this helps :-)

Received on Mon Jan 15 1996 - 03:10:05 PST