“We were casually going through some levels when I realized the avatar on my game file was still Ian Jr., which I of course asked [the Sega rep] to try and keep in,” Mutchler told Kotaku via email.

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2017’s Sonic Forces banked on the overwhelming popularity and prevalence of Sonic fan characters by allowing players to create their own custom avatar to zip through the game’s desolate, war-torn environments. As is often the case with these kinds of character creation systems, Sonic Forces gave rise to monstrosities galore, but a good boy named Ian Jr. stuck out from the crowd of Sonic clones and grimdark self-inserts.

At some point, a friend of Mutchler’s even got prolific Sonic the Hedgehog artist Tyson Hesse to draw fanart of the custom character. Hesse is also known for directing Sonic Mania’s amazing cutscenes and redesigning Sonic’s horrendous original appearance in the live-action movie, so it’s safe to say his sketch was a pretty big step towards cementing Ian Jr.’s canonicity within the Sonic universe. The concert simply sealed the deal in his creator’s mind.

“Ian Jr. is now canonically best friends with Sonic the Hedgehog and should be considered when making ‘best Sonic characters of all time’ lists,” Mutchler added.