Sonic Forces has added a “Sanic T-shirt” as a piece of apparel, possibly making Sanic a recognizable part of the Sonic Universe. At least, Sega has acknowledged Sanic’s existence and given its fans a bone in the form of this DLC.

For those unfamiliar with this internet meme, Sanic the Hedgehog became popular in 2010 when a YouTuber uploaded a video titled “How 2 Draw Sanic Hedgehog.” Although the official video has since been removed, Sanic has remained a piece of meme culture, manifesting itself in various memes, pictures, videos, and now, Sonic Forces. While he is frequently attributed with different phrases such as “come on step it up” and “gotta go fast,” his appearance – a crudely-drawn Sonic the Hedgehog – and popularity has remained constant.

While this piece of DLC is Sanic’s first legitimate in-game appearance, he is apparently no stranger to the gaming world. In fact, Sanic has appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in the form of modded content, and although this may seem bizarre to some players, his appearance in Sonic Forces hopefully isn’t the strangest mod to date. Moreover, he has appeared in a YouTube video entitled “The Legend of Sanic: Ocarina of Fast” in a modded version of the Nintendo 64 classic.

sonic the hedgehog sanic shirt image

With the prevalence of memes in popular culture, it seems likely it was only a matter of time before a meme crossed the mod/sanctioned DLC threshold. For most, Sanic’s appearance in Sonic Forces may not be a big deal; however, there may be some gamers that want memes to stay on the Internet; Breath of the Wild mods may have gotten out of control. That is not to say, however, that Sonic Forces bridging this threshold with this minor inclusion of Sanic will turn the game into Breath of the Wild as far as mods and DLC are concerned.

According to Metacritic, Sonic Forces received mixed reviews, which is noteworthy considering how important 2017 seemed to the Sonic franchise. With the game having recently released, Sonic Forces seems to approach these mixed reviews by attempting to include popular culture references such as Sanic; in other words, it appears Sega is attempting to “step it up.”

Sonic Forces is currently available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.