is a
video game franchise created and owned by
Sega. The franchise centers on a series of speed-based platform games, but several are spin-offs in different genres. The protagonist of the series is an anthropomorphic blue
hedgehog named
Sonic, whose peaceful life is often interrupted by the series's main antagonist,
Doctor Eggman. Typically, Sonic—usually along with
some of his friends, such as
Tails,
Amy, and
Knuckles—must stop Eggman and foil any plans of world domination. The
first game in the series, published in 1991, was conceived by Sega's
Sonic Team division after Sega requested a mascot character; the title was a success and spawned sequels, and transformed Sega into a leading video game company during the
16-bit era in the early to mid-1990s.