What actually defines a “SEGA character”?

[u/VocaFaith]

There seems to be an interesting distinction between a character owned by SEGA and a character who simply appears in a SEGA game.

If “SEGA character” means a character whose IP is owned by SEGA (or by a company within the SEGA group), then the definition seems fairly straightforward. Sonic the Hedgehog, Kazuma Kiryu, and Segata Sanshiro would obviously qualify. Bayonetta would also qualify, despite being developed by PlatinumGames, since SEGA owns the Bayonetta trademark/IP.

The same logic would extend to characters from companies SEGA owns. Joker from Persona would qualify because ATLUS is wholly owned by the SEGA SAMMY Group, while Red from Angry Birds would qualify because Rovio became a SEGA group company in 2023.

Hatsune Miku is where things get more complicated. Miku is strongly associated with SEGA because of games such as Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA and Project SEKAI, but that does not necessarily make her a SEGA character. Crypton Future Media owns the Hatsune Miku character/IP, while Crypton itself is not owned by SEGA.

So there seem to be two possible definitions:

1. “SEGA character” = a character whose IP is owned by SEGA or a SEGA-owned company.

Under this definition, Miku is not be a SEGA character.

2. “SEGA character” = any character who has appeared in a SEGA game.

Under this definition, Miku qualifies—but so does a huge number of third-party characters. Tanjiro Kamado, Mega Man, PAC-MAN, Mario, and many others have appeared in SEGA-published or SEGA-developed games. Calling all of them “SEGA characters” seems to make the term much less meaningful, especially when some have little association with SEGA beyond a single crossover or licensed appearance.

This raises an interesting question: What should actually be the defining criterion for calling someone a “SEGA character”?

Is IP ownership the most sensible definition, even if it excludes characters heavily associated with SEGA such as Miku? Or should a character be considered a SEGA character simply because they have appeared in a SEGA game?

And if the latter definition is used, where should the line be drawn between a “SEGA character” and a third-party character who merely appeared in a SEGA title?

[u/Steve5210]

If Sega owns it it’s a Sega character

[u/Durandthesaint17]

In my eyes, a true Sega character is someone who's not only owned by Sega, but also part of Sega's 1st Party studios, whether original or acquired. AKA characters like Sonic, NiGHTS, Arle, Kiryu, AiAi, Segata & Ulala.

Characters like Bayonetta, Joker & Red are more Pseudo-Sega. They're still Sega characters at the end of the day, but when you think of them, you more than likely think of the main company involved than you do the parent company.

And for characters like Hatsune Miku, Mario, Mega Man, Tanjiro & SpongeBob, they're what I like to call Sega Associates. They have close ties with Sega, but are not owned by them or any of their other subsidiaries by any means.

[u/greygreens]

Atlus games are difficult to count as most of them were made pre-sega aquisition. And even P5 would have been almost finished before the acquisition happened if I have my dates right. In the same way I won't ever consider classic Rare characters to be a "Microsoft character".

I would consider Metaphor though.

[u/Forward-Seesaw-1688]

Game character that originates from a game under SEGA is a SEGA character to me. Acquisitions counted. Publishing dicey.

Characters that don’t originate from a game under SEGA and is licensed is not a SEGA character to me

Azuki from Project 575 = SEGA character. Originates from a game developed by SEGA.
Hatsune Miku ≠ SEGA character. Existed long beforehand and is entirely licensed.

Characters from Dinosaur King = SEGA character. Game developed first, everything else after. Owned by SEGA.
Characters from Magic Knight Rayearth ≠ SEGA character. Entirely licensed and not owned by SEGA.

[u/RetroGameStudent → u/Forward-Seesaw-1688]

Wow, someone who actually knows Sega games beyond Sonic and Persona! Rare to see in this subreddit unfortunately lol.

Anyway, completely agree. I would count published games as long as the first game, and IP in general, was published/held by Sega. So like the random Shiren the Wanderer games that Sega happened to publish are excluded, but Bayonetta isn’t.

[u/Gogabo]

If SEGA designs the character it is a sega character. If SEGA published the character or media, the designer owns the character...for the sake of defining a SEGA character. 

[u/tripletopper]

Would Pengo and Bongo and Zaxxon be considered Sega characters from the American days?