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Sonelen is the het ship between Sonic and Helen from the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom.
Canon[]
Sonic the Hedgehog and Helen are good friends. They first met before Episode 14, where Sonic was on one of his hyperspeed walkabouts and saw Helen's wheelchair stuck in the mud. Sonic proceeded to lend her a hand and after exchanging meet and greets, she told Sonic that she comes out there a lot to look at the island island in the middle of the lake. One where it is said to be home to a beautiful species of flowers, according to her father, Doug. She mentions that her father always promises to take the family to visit the island, but he has always been too busy working for long hours and has yet to fulfill that promise to this very day.
To add insult to injury, Helen has no way of getting there herself due to the inoperability of her legs. Seeing the disheartenment in Helen's eyes, Sonic personally makes it his mission to take her to the island himself. Sonic and Helen finally set sail towards the island and Helen can't begin to express her joy over finally visiting this island. The only thing she wishes is that her family could be there to share the moment. Just before they can reach the island, their boat is attacked by the army which forces Sonic to take drastic actions to escape with Helen in his safety onto the island.
He manages to use the grappling hook to swing on over to the cliff with Helen in tow. They don't quite make it, but that doesn't stop sonic from motoring up the cliff. Despite all of the risks, Helen takes it as a thrill ride of an adventure, not something she'd ever expect to experience in her life due to her limitations. Sonic notices the helicopters are refusing to except defeat and he and Helen proceed with their quest. While he and Helen take a moment to chill, she tells Sonic how much she greatly appreciates the effort of her parents to look after her health but admits all she really wants is to spend more time and have fun with them.
She also admits to him that he's done nothing except show her the most thrilling time of her life today. Without much time to reflect on this, Sonic discovers that the army has dispatched a squadron of soldiers pursuing them, leaving Sonic and Helen on the run and ready to rock. They race through the forest and manage to outrun the soldiers to safety. When they come to a cliff, Sonic rockets his way up and they are shocked to discover they have finally arrived at the meadow of flowers which Helen's father mentioned about. This is an adorning sight to Sonic and Helen as they see nothing but beautiful flowers as far as the eye can see.
With their quest complete, Sonic proceeds to pick some flowers for her. But she stops him from doing so to which he understands to leave the flowers as they are so that the beauty will be preserved, especially when Helen returns with her family eventually. The soldiers are still persistent enough to capture Sonic and he can't allow them on top of the cliff or they'll ruin the flowers, so he takes off with Helen again on the opposite side away from the meadow, to which they follow and the flowers are safe. Just then, they hit a dead end against the edge of the cliff leading to the lake and seem to be cornered by the authority soldiers. An authority helicopter flies by as well.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, Sonic manages to trick the authority soldiers and the helicopter into firing their grappling hooks together so that they would tangle into an unbreakable knot, allowing Sonic to use the rope as a path to carry Helen himself into the helicopter. The helicopter pilot tries to grab Sonic only to miss and plunge into the lake. Sonic quickly grasps the ability to pilot the helicopter and uses one of its grappling hooks to retrieve Helen's wheelchair before they fly off. As they make their escape, Helen receives a magnificent view of the top of the island where the meadow is. And it turns out to be even more beautiful from the air.
As it is late, Sonic decides it's time to end their adventure and bring Helen home. However, Helen pleads for Sonic to visit the White House because the President has been waiting for him and she does not want to be the cause for not being able to meet with him. Sonic agrees and they set sail for the White House.
Fanon[]
Because of the fact that Helen is a human whereas Sonic is a hedgehog, Sonelen is often portrayed as a friendship rather than a romantic pairing. Sonelen isn't a particularly popular or heavily discussed ship within the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. It exists, and some people find it cute or interesting, but it doesn't generate the passionate debates or large followings of more prominent Sonic ships like Sonamy (Sonic x Amy) or Sonally (Sonic x Sally), likely due to their species.
Some viewers appreciated the gentle and caring interactions between Sonic and Helen. Helen, being a kind and somewhat vulnerable character (due to being in a wheelchair), brought out a protective and considerate side of Sonic. The contrast between Sonic's speed and energy and Helen's more reserved nature was seen by some as an interesting dynamic. The episode where Sonic prioritized spending time with Helen over meeting the president is often cited as a key moment highlighting his genuine care and friendship with her, which some interpreted as having romantic potential.
For some fans who disliked Chris Thorndyke's role or his interactions with Sonic, Helen was seen as a more likable and less intrusive human character, making a potential relationship with her more appealing.
Some have drawn parallels between Sonic's protectiveness of Helen and Shadow's relationship with Maria (Shadaria), highlighting a theme of a fast, powerful character caring for a vulnerable human.
In Conclusion, Sonelen is a ship that some fans found endearing due to the characters' sweet interactions and contrasting personalities. However, it never gained significant traction within the broader Sonic fandom, likely due to the lack of strong romantic development in the show, the prevalence of other popular ships, and interpretations of Sonic's character as not being particularly romantically inclined. It's generally viewed as a minor or niche pairing rather than a central or widely accepted one.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Helen/Sonic tag on AO3
- Helen & Sonic tag on AO3
