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lilydoindeedlive · 11 months

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Cream the Rabbit Was Always a Hero...

(Wallpaper cover by: foxlee)

The fact that Cream the Rabbit is described to be a "spirited go-getter" who always gives it her all in everything she does in most of her profiles is more reason for her to be recognized as a heroine. She has great potential. I mean, she's even been firmly established as a member of Team Rose. It's just sad that she's taken a backseat these days with the excuse of, "she's just a kid" or "it's far too dangerous for someone her age" when she's proven herself time and time again that she's more than capable of taking care of herself despite her youth. I've seen people say, "oh well she was only a member of Team Rose to fill in the fly type character slot and nothing more", while that isn't necessarily wrong I think her purpose goes a bit deeper than that.

While the song "We Can" expresses how everyone in the team has their own special abilities, it also talks about how combining those abilities and working together can get the team through anything life may throw at them. Sonic and his friends can be unstoppable if they all are in it together. Coming together was only the beginning. Walking in and out with unknown why's and how's. And a collection of joyful experiences shared with friends. Because alone the team can do so little but when they're together they can do so much.

While on the topic of Heroes—Cream is extremely strong here, being able to carry her whole team through the air on her own. And Big the Cat is said to be around 616 pounds (or just about). Talk about strength.

And I know people usually say things like, "Oh, well Cheese usually does all the work for her in combat", but that's not completely true—it's more of a team effort than individual kind of thing. And who do you think taught and utilized these various attacks she can do with her companion so it can lead them to victory? They're a collaborative duo after all. Cream also has a lot of durability. She was able to go through atmospheric re-entry and land on the ground unscathed in Sonic Advance 2, saved her mother all on her own, and she's able to keep up with Sonic in flight with the help of her long floppy ears which allows her to move around + she can run at super speeds too and use shortcuts to her advantage so she won't be left behind. And has a healing skill in Sonic Battle which gives her the ability to heal herself from the pureness of her heart. And similar to Sonic Battle, Cream is able to replenish POW points to all party members in Sonic Chronicles which are like magic points in other RPGs (if you even wanna count that as a feat.) Not only that but when push comes to shove and she becomes very determined, Cream is able to defeat strong foes. Such as the Emerald Shard-empowered Chaos Gamma while she was stuck in the Gimmie Shelter and had to defend Emerl. The robot recognizes the young girl's strength too.

I have my issues with the IDW comics but I have to commend how in the Zombot arc, while she lost both Cheese and Chocola who got infected in the process of trying to protect their family + her mother.. Cream didn't let that pain destroy her. Instead, she allowed it to propel her. She allowed the experience to build herself instead of knock her down. Cream didn't want to just sit around and not act on her feet while everyone was doing everything they could. She made it clear that she wanted to help. I'm going to ignore the bit where she attends Hero Camp to "learn how to become a real hero" since she's accomplished this long before the IDW comics existed, imho.

It's always been implied and showcased in games that Cream saves others whenever she can, going beyond just rescuing her mother. So that excuse has to be left at the door because that's just not true.

Let's recap Sonic Heroes: Team Rose's story. Sure, the initial goal of Team Rose was to find their missing friends which is why they formed the team in the first place but they have run-ins with "Dr. Eggman", overcome attacks from his machines, end up defeating him and his Egg Albatross. And yes, it was just a copy of Eggman but because of Amy suspecting that Eggman was behind Froggy and Chocola's disappearance, the Team still search for the doctor despite knowing the dangers ahead of them. Thankfully, they have Amy as their morale whenever they're afraid and are met with doubt. Because of Amy, they have a newfound determination to get their friends back. Of course, not long after their misunderstanding with Team Chaotix.. they meet yet another fake opponent whom they defeat. But, they lucked out that time because they were able to be reunited with the ones they were looking for all along. The Team then find out who the true kidnappers of their companions were which was Neo Metal Sonic. After discovering this fact, Neo Metal Sonic transforms into Metal Madness and because all Teams had collected the Chaos Emeralds in their adventure, Eggman figures they use the Emeralds against Metal Sonic. But Team Rose volunteer to be the ones to stall Metal Madness while Team Sonic prepared the Chaos Emeralds. This bought the other team a lot of time as Metal transformed into Metal Overlord, they were able to become super thanks to this. I know you can get the same results using other Teams but I just wanted to point this out with Team Rose. Thanks to the other Team for being able to stall the bad guy, Team Sonic was able to do their thing. They all contributed though and were able to save the world together. So this certainly counts for something?

Back to the question on whether Cream is or is not a hero.. I'd say she is. If we just include her abilities, defending her friends, contributing to saving the world itself, and strong-willed nature. That's all it takes to be a hero. Making her more than just a civilian that got caught in the midst of things and ended up tagging along or just because it regarded someone important to her (Vanilla). Doesn't mean she can't be counted as a hero like all of her friends. None of these things exempt her from being a hero at all nor should they. Because with Cream, it is when she's faced with adversity that the hero within her is revealed. Her youth has nothing to do with whether or not she's worthy for the hero title since there are other young characters like Charmy or Tails who are closer to her age that are seen as such. I know Vanilla meant well when she said Cream's just a little girl in the IDW, simply because that's her child and she cares a lot about her well-being and perhaps a part of her even feels as if her dear Cream is growing up too fast and she'll lose her innocence on these dangerous missions.. These are valid concerns as a mother. But I personally don't think Cream will ever lose that pureness in her heart as that's one of her most endearing traits.

Although her character can be fleshed out more if Sega just included her more in the narrative and allowed her to join in on the action. Why put her in a game with "Heroes" in the title if she's not worthy of such a title? My main gripe is when Vanilla also adds that they're not heroes like Amy Rose or the others which to me is just one big flat lie. Since Amy started out small and worked her way up from a stranger to close friend and trusted ally Sonic knows he can rely on. What started out as a small meeting to him was actually something much larger for her. To such an extent, she made it her goal to become more independent and stronger. Cream may have to rely on Sonic a lot of times, but she has shown that she can do anything she sets her mind to as well and tries to help whenever she's actually involved.

As Zeus told Hercules, "a true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart."

I'd like to think that this line holds true to a character like Cream the Rabbit.

Now as much as I enjoy Cream, I'd like her to have a dream and goal much like Tails and Amy. In the comics, she says she wants to become a true hero but maybe expand on that idea a bit more. Why does she want to become this? Does she aspire to be like someone someday? Does she want to be less reliant on Sonic & Co? Is she tired of her mother coddling her and she feels as if she's holding her back from becoming something? Now none of this means Cream isn't a hero by any means, but it would improve her character or make her a more interesting one for the ones who already believe she's boring to begin with at the very least. We need to see more of her passions. Fortunately for her, it's never too late for Cream to focus on her dreams as she's still pretty young. She just seems incomplete compared to other cast which is why I can see why people aren't really bothered by the news of her just being some civilian and even being completely okay with it. But I'd like SEGA to go more in depth with this. I doubt they will, so I won't hold my breath... would make me rejoice though. Just imagine Cream saying something along the lines of:

"I am a work in progress. I don't feel as good as I want to be and I don't feel as good as I should be...I need to do better! Not just for my family and friends, but for me!"

This would also show her unwavering determination. But also show us flaws! Because flaws are what make a character beautiful. Perhaps Cream has feelings of failure but her avoidance tactic prevents her from thinking bad thoughts? And Sonic or Amy can give her big sibling advice? But I can definitely see Amy giving it more. Something like, "Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. We say wrong things. We do wrong things. We fall. And we find the strength to get back up again." And Cream can ask, "How do we do that?" And they reply with, "Here–" (By touching her heart) "within yourself." Things like this would not only expand on Cream's character but show us more interactions between her and her close friends.

Note: I wanted to mainly mention the games. And I know I mentioned the IDW comics but it connects with the gameverse, so that's why. But there's another moment of Cream I'll always cherish and that's in the anime, Sonic X. 1) It shows how Emerl becomes berserk after the red Chaos Emerald absorbs the robot. 2) Cream was able to save Sonic and Knuckles from falling into the ocean. 3) Cream & Cheese were able to deliver one final kick causing the robot to plummet to his very end. It's a very heartbreaking scene, especially in Japanese version. The fact that Sonic told Knuckles and Rouge that Cream needed to do that on her own.. showed that he acknowledged how close the two had become. My interpretation was that Sonic wanted Cream to have closure aside from him believing that it was something she could do by herself. And I really believe this to be true because it helped Cream know why her connection with Emerl began and why it ended. A decision that would break her heart but give peace to her soul.

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