I am not here to harass or insult anyone who actively uses a recolor for their character. I'm just here to tell you how you can differentiate yours from the crowd.

This guide is not related to Sonic Forces in particular, but this is the only Sonic game here on Steam with a customization feature... until Colors Ultimate eventually gets ported over from the Epic Games Store. That'll happen soon... right?

Most of this guide contains examples. You can feel free to substitute them for whatever you decide.

The character on the left of the guide's icon is just some recolored Sonic I drew in two minutes. The character on the right, however, is one of mine. If you're curious, his name's Grene. He's a dark artist who enjoys performing on-stage, this role has been inspired by Maxwell from Don't Starve.

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this guide.

In order to separate your character from a recolor, it's important to come up with a design. How you create it is up to you, but it needs to at least stand out from the rest of the crowd. Let's start by coming up with their attributes, such as color, size, gender, and species. The first three can be determined later, but for now, let's focus on the species.

All Sonic OCs have a defined species, whether that be cat, bear, bird, wolf, or some more bizzare choices like sharks or turtles. Whatever it is, it will need to be defined in order to continue, as that would give the basic silhouette of your character.

In addition to choosing a species, you may want to give them a hair style. It could be something as simple as two small tufts of fur on the sides, or something more complex, such as dreadlocks or spines.
If, for some reason, you chose one of the more established species for your character, you're gonna have to get a bit more creative. Sonic Forces has a small variety of hairstyles for you to choose from, but sometimes it just isn't enough. For this reason, you may want to give them some crazy head full of hair.

After those have been established, you can now put your color/size/gender combination together with the body, and you'll have a good foundation for your character.

Now, you can begin detailing your character. Most of this is up to personal preference, but let's get started with the easier part regardless.

Typically when making a character, you may want to take the time to give them some clothing, such as a jacket, or more commonly some gloves and shoes. You could either go for something simplistic, or you could go for a themed set. Either way though, this is kind of an important part, even more so for female characters. If you can't decide, a simple gloves & shoes set works almost flawlessly, even if it does get bland.

You can also decorate the character themselves. A prime example of this would be Blaze's... whatever you'd call that little red thing on her head. I couldn't get an answer. Regardless, this part is completely optional, so you can skip it if you'd like. For the most part though, you're able to give them anything, such as electricity running down their body, a tattoo, or maybe a birthstone. Again, if you're unsure, just feel free to skip this part.

If you want to make them easily referable, you should give your character a name so that people don't just say something like "that red echidna character". If you're having trouble finding a good name for them, I'd suggest basing it off of their personality, abilities, appearance, religion, or even occupation. If you still can't figure out a good name, you can always just make their name unknown to whoever asks.

Personality will help a character stand out even more for those who want to go that extra mile. Self-explanatory, this could be a wide range of things such as energetic, timid, friendly, or bossy. You can also elaborate on this more than just a single adjective. For example, you could say they're a brave and fierce warrior who has no sympathy for others. Again though, these are just examples and you do not need to use any of them.

If you want to picture what they could be able to do in animations or stories, you can try abilities. They can represent what a character is capable of, whether it be physically, mentally, artificially, or spiritually. Maybe your character can manipulate the air around them. Maybe they are extremely athletic. Regardless of how you go about doing this, it's a good idea for animators and writers.

Hopefully you've learned how to turn a recolor into a unique and original character! Yes, I know this isn't related to Sonic Forces in particular, but there's only so many Sonic games on Steam that have a method of customization. If you like this guide, feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button at the top. Or don't, I'm not your boss after all. If you want to, you can also share this guide with others who are just starting to create their characters. And remember, stay hydrated.