Sonic the Hedgehog by Bar-Kun (Rivals of Aether Workshop)
Channel: ShizukaLoner
Date: 30/03/2024

Sonic the Hedgehog blasts through the world of aether with supersonic speed!

MECHANICS:
ACCELERATION:
Similarly to his games, Sonic's initial movement speed is very slow, but accelerates over time when he holds forward. When he gets fast enough he will go from walking to dashing, and when reaching the speed limit he will play a unique animation to signify that.
He has other means of accelerating such as wavelands and various attacks, but if running into a solid Sonic will lose all his speed.
Sonic will also not lose speed if he falls off platforms and will maintain his speed while attacking and dash turning (assuming forward is still held)

BOOST:
Sonic's main mechanic is an install type of mechanic. When Sonic hits/parries enemies or lets combos end he gains bits of his boost meter, which when fills up will put him in his Boost Mode state (from Sonic Advance 2).
The Boost Mode will increase Sonic's acceleration, maximum dash speed and other stats, as well as becoming slightly heavier.
Boost isn't as easy to build up though, the meter will passively decrease if there's at least one hitable enemy, and decreases on getting hit/parried

AIR TRICKS:

When hitting enemies in the air, pressing taunt and inputting a direction (or not) will make sonic launch high into the air and strike iconic poses. If Sonic has an active combo he would end it but get more boost for his boost meter.
But watch out, Sonic is very vulnerable for the duration of the trick, so you need to find when it would be safe to use it

SPECIALS:

Neutral Special: Homing attack
A somewhat laggy straight shot at the nearest enemy, bouncing off them on hit. If Sonic has nobody around to home to he will do a simple airdash, and missing a target while doing a homing attack will put Sonic in pratfall.
This move can only be used once per airtime unless sonic is hit, and pressing SPECIAL while Sonic is charging will let him use it earlier, but make the attack weaker.

Forward Special: Kick/Rocket Accel
Sonic curls into a ball and charges up for a period of time, having 2 variants. No/weak charge makes Sonic do a quick kick that is jump cancelable on hit and full/strong charge makes him shoot out forward a great distance with decent damage and knockback.
If Sonic had a lot of speed going into the move he would go much further as well.

Up Special: Rainbow Ring
Sonic throws a rainbow ring forward (on the ground) or downwards (in the air), giving him a bit of height. The throw's distance can be adjusted based on Sonic's horizontal(ground) / vertical(air) speed going into the move.
When anyone touches the rainbow ring while it's active it will launch them upwards with the speed they had going into it, with 3 different interactions.
- If Sonic (either the owner of the ring or a friendly Sonic) touch it they will use the 2nd part of their up special and are also allowed to use an air trick.
- If an enemy (including enemy Sonics) touch it they will be flung up in hitstun. Having a ring high next to the blastzone can even secure kills!
- If a friendly player that isn't Sonic touches it they will be flung up without hitstun, which can be useful as a mixup or recovery tool.

Down Special: Bounce Attack
Straight out of Sonic Adventure 2, the bounce attack is a slightly laggy but powerful spike that launches Sonic down quickly, useful for securing kills off stage.
The movement range while bouncing is flexible but extremely risky, even if Sonic will bounce off enemies. It can also be mixed with fastfalling, making him shoot down even faster than before.
If Sonic hasn't hit an enemy with the move he can keep using the move by inputting DOWN + SPECIAL in a short time window, which will make him get a bit of height every bounce.

Final Strong: Sonic Overdrive
While normally using the aid of Tails and Knuckles, Sonic will move around in a set pattern around chaotically until he lands and makes all the enemies in it's range combust.
If Sonic manages to hit an enemy while he moves around they will be stunned in place for the duration of the move.
After the move is over, Sonic will have a short cooldown period where he can still gain meter, but in that time he will not lose any boost.

This move can be accessed through using the corresponding rune or the Final Smash Buddy, and pressing SPECIAL when the meter is full.

Link to Sonic by Bar-Kun: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=3039831352
Game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/383980/Rivals_of_Aether/
https://rivalsofaether.com/