{
  "id": "sonic-paramount",
  "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog — Paramount",
  "description": "The Paramount screen universe: three released films, Knuckles, three narrative shorts, comic and manga tie-ins, movie novelizations and illustrated adaptations. The game-inspired film continuity has its own clock; Sonic 3’s 2024 anchor does not make every film’s release year a story date.",
  "continuities": [
    {
      "id": "paramount",
      "label": "Paramount films — inclusive screen chronology",
      "note": "Films, Knuckles and licensed film stories share this timeline. Film-inspired crossovers / promotional narratives remain visible with their status identified. Main Sega games, Archie, IDW’s game-continuity monthly and the other TV cartoons are outside this explicitly selected scope, rather than unresearched claims about all Sonic."
    }
  ],
  "entries": [
    {
      "id": "shadow-origin",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — Project Shadow recollections",
      "type": "Film segment",
      "date": "1974; fifty years before the Tokyo crisis",
      "order": 1974,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Shadow and Maria’s time at the research facility ends in tragedy.",
      "note": "Optional historical scenes within Sonic 3. Different from the space-colony version in Sonic Adventure 2; do not import game dates or events into the film.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "clock3",
        "clock3b"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "1974 · −50 years",
      "segment": true,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQLTRXQ1",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital",
      "productMatch": "Exact corresponding format surfaced in current Amazon search. Confirm selected region / edition; not a box set of all three.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "shadow-origin",
      "container": true
    },
    {
      "id": "longclaw",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog — Longclaw & childhood escape",
      "type": "Film segment",
      "date": "est. 2010s; roughly ten years before the first film’s modern story",
      "order": 2013,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2020",
      "description": "Longclaw sends young Sonic to Earth.",
      "note": "Childhood opening and later recollections; not a standalone prequel. Calendar is a broad estimate from the ten-year exile and later 2024 anchor. The arrival anniversary in Sonic 3 is not evidence that all ten years disappeared.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "watch",
        "novel3",
        "clock3"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2010s · −10 years",
      "segment": true,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog — 2-Movie Collection, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Actual Amazon title checked. Contains films 1 and 2; confirm extras, region and seller condition. No guarantee of exclusive comic booklet.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "longclaw",
      "container": true
    },
    {
      "id": "film1",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog — first film",
      "type": "Film",
      "date": "Early 2020s; est. 2022–2023 in the later film’s calendar",
      "order": 2022.5,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2020",
      "description": "Sonic and Sheriff Tom evade Robotnik on a cross-country journey.",
      "note": "Working calendar uses Sonic 3’s 2024 anchor, the reported novel last-year Green Hills battle and eight-month first-to-second interval. The novel passage is secondary-reported and screen dialogue is looser, so this remains estimated. Do not equate theatrical release with setting.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "watch",
        "clock2",
        "clock3",
        "novel-gap"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2022–2023",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog — 2-Movie Collection, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Actual Amazon title checked. Contains films 1 and 2; confirm extras, region and seller condition. No guarantee of exclusive comic booklet.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film1"
    },
    {
      "id": "novel1",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Movie Novelization",
      "type": "Novel",
      "date": "Early 2020s; est. 2022–2023 source-film position",
      "order": 2022.5,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2020; 2024 bind-up",
      "description": "Kiel Phegley retells Sonic and Tom’s first Robotnik encounter.",
      "note": "Grouped with the film. The selected bind-up contains this story and the second film’s novelization; these are not two new adventures in 2024.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "novels12",
        "watch"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2022–2023",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593891511",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Movie Novelizations — films 1 & 2 bind-up",
      "productMatch": "Publisher confirms ISBN 9780593891513 and contents. Each film’s novelization shares its own story position; this one containing volume covers both. Current Amazon stock not independently asserted.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film1"
    },
    {
      "id": "donut-lord",
      "title": "The Adventures of Sonic & Donut Lord",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Early 2020s; est. 2022–2023 source-film position",
      "order": 2022.5,
      "canon": "Promotional only",
      "release": "2020",
      "description": "A sprite-art mini-comic retells the first film.",
      "note": "Official promotional adaptation at the same story position, not a later mission. Full booklet was not legally acquired / inspected. The closest verified product is the film; it does NOT promise the exclusive comic insert.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "donut",
        "watch"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2022–2023",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog — 2-Movie Collection, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Nearest verified official product: the source films’ Blu-ray set. The exclusive first-film SteelBook booklet is not guaranteed or claimed to be included.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film1"
    },
    {
      "id": "world-short",
      "title": "Around the World in 80 Seconds",
      "type": "Short film",
      "date": "est. 2022–2023; within the first eight months of the shared-home period",
      "order": 2022.7,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2020",
      "description": "Sonic’s illustrated travel diary tours the world at speed.",
      "note": "Placed shortly after the first adventure because he now calls Green Hills home. Exact order against the Pre-Quill vignettes is not established; the eight-month cap is a working first-to-second-film window.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "world",
        "world-clock",
        "clock2"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2022–2023 · 0–8 months",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Era known; exact sequence open",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog — 2-Movie Collection, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Actual Amazon title checked. Contains films 1 and 2; confirm extras, region and seller condition. No guarantee of exclusive comic booklet.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "world-short",
      "eraWindow": true
    },
    {
      "id": "prequill",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill — five stories",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "est. 2022–2023; first-to-second-film interval, roughly 0–8 months",
      "order": 2022.8,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "March 2022",
      "description": "Five vignettes follow Sonic, Knuckles, Robotnik, Stone and Tails toward the second film.",
      "note": "Includes Hedgehog Day Afternoon; Always Bet on Red; Mushroom With a View; The Secret of My Distress; Two For the Road. Official interquel purpose supports the window. The five parallel stories have no fully verified common day or strict internal sequence; one anthology card avoids inventing it.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "prequill",
        "prequill-index",
        "clock2"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2022–2023 · 0–8 months",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Era known; exact sequence open",
      "inspection": "Legally released preview vault scene visually read. Remaining story interiors / all captions not acquired; not declared undated.",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09P9SP48S",
      "productName": "Sonic 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill — Kindle",
      "productMatch": "Exact historical Kindle product identifier recovered; current Amazon listing failed to render, so availability is unconfirmed. No unrelated IDW volume sold as its collected edition.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "prequill",
      "eraWindow": true,
      "productLinks": [
        {
          "productUrl": "https://www.sonicstadium.org/articles/sonic/preview-pages-and-story-titles-for-sonic-the-hedgehog-2-pre-quill-comic-released-r1465/",
          "productName": "Read legal preview",
          "productMatch": "Published preview pages reproduced with IDW / Apple attribution; not the full five-story issue.",
          "actionLabel": "Read legal preview"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "film2",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 2 — second film",
      "type": "Film",
      "date": "est. 2023; reported eight months after the first adventure",
      "order": 2023,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2022",
      "description": "Tails joins Sonic as Robotnik and Knuckles search for the Master Emerald.",
      "note": "Reported eight-month interval and the third novel’s reported last-year battle support this working 2023 placement against the 2024 screen anchor. Full source-page / film-dialogue reconciliation remains open.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "watch",
        "clock2",
        "clock3",
        "knuckles",
        "novel-gap"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2023 · +8 months",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog — 2-Movie Collection, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Actual Amazon title checked. Contains films 1 and 2; confirm extras, region and seller condition. No guarantee of exclusive comic booklet.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film2"
    },
    {
      "id": "novel2",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Novelization",
      "type": "Novel",
      "date": "est. 2023; same eight-month sequel position",
      "order": 2023,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2022; 2024 bind-up",
      "description": "The Master Emerald quest is retold in prose by Kiel Phegley.",
      "note": "Same story as film two, with adaptation differences; do not move to 2024 merely because this containing edition was reissued then.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "novels12"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2023 · +8 months",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593891511",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Movie Novelizations — films 1 & 2 bind-up",
      "productMatch": "Publisher confirms ISBN 9780593891513 and contents. Each film’s novelization shares its own story position; this one containing volume covers both. Current Amazon stock not independently asserted.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film2"
    },
    {
      "id": "hero-trio",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Get Up To Speed — The Adventures of The Hero Trio",
      "type": "Picture book",
      "date": "est. 2023; retelling of the second film",
      "order": 2023,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "A short illustrated retelling introduces Tails, Knuckles and the fight against Robotnik.",
      "note": "Despite Sonic 3 on the cover, the publisher identifies a recap of the previous adventure. It belongs with Sonic 2 rather than after Sonic 3.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "get-speed",
        "watch"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2023",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/059388941X",
      "productName": "Get Up To Speed: The Adventures of The Hero Trio — paperback",
      "productMatch": "Publisher ISBN 9780593889411 identifies the exact recap storybook. Retail availability not guaranteed.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film2"
    },
    {
      "id": "gadgets",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gears",
      "type": "Illustrated companion",
      "date": "est. 2023–2024; earlier adventures recalled",
      "order": 2023,
      "canon": "Promotional only",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Rings, Emeralds and Robotnik’s machines are introduced through illustrated scenes.",
      "note": "Grouped with the previous adventure as a companion / recap window; branding does not establish a new third-film mission. Complete interior not inspected, so any original framing episode remains unverified.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "gadgets"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2023–2024",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593889428",
      "productName": "Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gears — paperback",
      "productMatch": "Corresponding publisher ISBN 9780593889428; exact object-story companion, not the movie novelization.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film2"
    },
    {
      "id": "drone-home",
      "title": "Sonic Drone Home",
      "type": "Short film",
      "date": "est. 2023; early shared-household period after the Emerald crisis",
      "order": 2023.1,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2022",
      "description": "A library detour brings Team Sonic face to face with a poetry-loving Badnik.",
      "note": "Tails and Knuckles now live with Sonic and the Wachowskis. Good fit in the same household-adjustment era as Knuckles; exact order between these stories is open, rather than an exact day invented.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "drone",
        "knuckles"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2023",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Era known; exact sequence open",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog — 2-Movie Collection, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Actual Amazon title checked. Contains films 1 and 2; confirm extras, region and seller condition. No guarantee of exclusive comic booklet.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "drone-home",
      "eraWindow": true
    },
    {
      "id": "knuckles-show",
      "title": "Knuckles — Episodes 1–6",
      "type": "TV series",
      "date": "est. 2023; shortly after film two, within the 2024 upper bound",
      "order": 2023.2,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Knuckles trains Wade Whipple for a bowling showdown in Reno.",
      "note": "Official production notes directly connect this run to the end of Sonic 2. All six related episodes grouped; the rock-opera retelling / dreams are embedded storytelling, not extra years of real travel.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "knuckles",
        "watch",
        "clock3",
        "novel-gap",
        "knuckles-product"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. 2023",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2224FBT",
      "productName": "Knuckles — six-episode season, Blu-ray",
      "productMatch": "Exact Blu-ray product recovered from the home-video release and its Amazon title checked. Confirm format / region / seller condition.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "knuckles-show",
      "productLinks": [
        {
          "productUrl": "https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/knuckles/",
          "productName": "Watch on Paramount+",
          "productMatch": "Official streaming alternative for the same six episodes; subscription / region may apply.",
          "actionLabel": "Watch on Paramount+"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "christmas-short",
      "title": "A Very Sonic Christmas",
      "type": "Short film",
      "date": "est. Christmas 2023–2024; first shared holiday with Tails & Knuckles",
      "order": 2023.8,
      "canon": "Promotional only",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "The trio help Santa finish his deliveries.",
      "note": "Promotional narrative retained in the inclusive chronology. Household context gives a strong era; Shadow’s cameo makes a rigid pre-Sonic-3 placement uncertain. This overlapping holiday window is not asserted to be an exact canonical December.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "christmas",
        "christmas-clock",
        "clock3"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "est. Christmas 2023–2024",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Era known; exact sequence open",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2QIiOy6aw8",
      "productName": "Watch on YouTube",
      "productMatch": "Official Paramount upload of the complete short; no unrelated Amazon purchase needed.",
      "actionLabel": "Watch on YouTube",
      "storyGroup": "christmas-short",
      "eraWindow": true
    },
    {
      "id": "episode-zero",
      "title": "Sonic × Shadow: Tokyo Mission — Episode 0",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "2024; immediately before the Tokyo / Shibuya clash",
      "order": 2024,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Shadow’s Tokyo movements lead into his encounter with Team Sonic.",
      "note": "Japanese distributor announcement explicitly places this cinema-giveaway story just before the film’s confrontation. It stays beside that story rather than being declared unplaceable because the full booklet is inaccessible. The other Shadow manga excerpt in the booklet is a separate rendition.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "japan",
        "japan-press",
        "clock3"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "2024",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Official Japanese announcement / contemporary distributor text checked. Complete legal manga interior not obtained.",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://sonic-movie.jp/sonic-movie/page/3/",
      "productName": "View official manga announcement",
      "productMatch": "No exact Amazon listing or containing retail edition verified. Announcement / access information, not a promise of complete free manga. The source film is a separate available edition.",
      "actionLabel": "View official manga announcement",
      "storyGroup": "film3",
      "groupLabel": "2024 TOKYO CRISIS · CONNECTED STORY & FORMATS",
      "productLinks": [
        {
          "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQLTRXQ1",
          "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital",
          "productMatch": "Exact corresponding format surfaced in current Amazon search. Confirm selected region / edition; not a box set of all three.",
          "actionLabel": "View on Amazon"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "film3",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — third film",
      "type": "Film",
      "date": "2024; fifty years after Project Shadow",
      "order": 2024,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Team Sonic confront Shadow and the Robotnik family’s past.",
      "note": "The 2024 story anchor is tied to Shadow’s in-world discovery of the date, corroborated by film references. Historical 1974 scenes can be shown separately; do not import game-continuity Space Colony ARK events.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "watch",
        "clock3",
        "clock3b"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "2024 · +50 years",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQLTRXQ1",
      "productName": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital",
      "productMatch": "Exact corresponding format surfaced in current Amazon search. Confirm selected region / edition; not a box set of all three.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film3"
    },
    {
      "id": "novel3",
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 3: The Official Movie Novelization",
      "type": "Novel",
      "date": "2024; source-film position",
      "order": 2024,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Kiel Phegley retells the film’s Shadow conflict.",
      "note": "Same story position; shortened / changed adaptation material is not an independently dated sequel. Opening legal sample inspected; complete ending equivalence not claimed.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "novel3",
        "clock3"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "2024",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJBBC2GC",
      "productName": "Sonic 3 official novelization — publisher-linked ebook",
      "productMatch": "Exact selected ebook Amazon destination supplied by PRH; print edition differs. Publisher’s legal sample was opened.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "film3"
    },
    {
      "id": "movie-pack",
      "title": "Sonic × Shadow Generations — Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Movie Pack",
      "type": "Game DLC",
      "date": "Modern era; 2024-inspired Tokyo rendition",
      "order": 2024.1,
      "canon": "Non-canon connected",
      "release": "2024",
      "description": "Shadow races through Shibuya after a dimensional displacement.",
      "note": "Official developer explicitly says this DLC has no story directly related to the movie. Retained beside its inspiration with non-canon connected status, not mislabeled a canonical prequel or merged with the base game’s history.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "dlc",
        "dlc-store"
      ],
      "continuity": "paramount",
      "railLabel": "Modern era · 2024-inspired",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Era known; exact sequence open",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/UP0177-PPSA17597_00-DLCADD0000000000",
      "productName": "View official DLC",
      "productMatch": "Exact licensed expansion listing. Requires the base game; ordinary physical editions are not assumed to contain it. No exact Amazon DLC purchase verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View official DLC",
      "storyGroup": "movie-pack",
      "eraWindow": true
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "watch",
      "title": "Paramount+ — official screen watch guide",
      "url": "https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/how-to-watch-all-the-sonic-the-hedgehog-movies-in-order/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Released film inventory and Knuckles placement between films two and three. Does not equate the film release gaps with story intervals."
    },
    {
      "id": "knuckles",
      "title": "Paramount production notes — Knuckles",
      "url": "https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/paramount-plus/shows/knuckles/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Six episodes, April 26, 2024 US launch. Showrunner says it picks up very soon after Sonic 2; the six-part bowling journey is one continuous run."
    },
    {
      "id": "four",
      "title": "Paramount Pictures — Sonic the Hedgehog 4",
      "url": "https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-4",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official March 19, 2027 release announcement. Upcoming film is listed in scope without invented completed plot / fictional date."
    },
    {
      "id": "sega-four",
      "title": "Sega Sammy — fourth film announcement",
      "url": "https://www.segasammy.co.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/pdf/ja/ir/20250122_sonic_movie3_e.pdf",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official fourth-film confirmation; cross-check for the Paramount release listing and established screen audience."
    },
    {
      "id": "clock2",
      "title": "Sonic 2 — contemporary eight-month interval reference",
      "url": "https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2",
      "kind": "Secondary / film reference",
      "note": "Reports eight months after the first film. Used as a qualified interval, not proof of an exact calendar. Main film / novel frame verification remains open."
    },
    {
      "id": "clock3",
      "title": "Sonic 3 — screen-year / historical plot cross-check",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3_(film)",
      "kind": "Secondary / film chronology",
      "note": "1974 Shadow arrival and 2024 release from confinement. These are fictional events, not simply release-year assignments."
    },
    {
      "id": "clock3b",
      "title": "Sonic 3 — 2024 in-story advertisement reference",
      "url": "https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3_(film)",
      "kind": "Secondary / screen-detail reference",
      "note": "Records the advertisement Shadow reads to learn it is 2024 after fifty years. Cross-check with the film chronology; the complete film was not frame-audited here."
    },
    {
      "id": "novel-gap",
      "title": "Sonic 3 novel — reported previous-year Green Hills battle",
      "url": "https://soniccinematicuniverse.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000067623",
      "kind": "Secondary / reported novel-interior clue",
      "note": "Discussion reproduces / reports the novel’s last-year description of the Green Hills battle. Used provisionally for estimated 2023 / 2022–2023 back-placement; the complete printed passage was not acquired directly. Film dialogue uses less precise years wording, so calendar is not called exact."
    },
    {
      "id": "novels12",
      "title": "PRH — official films 1 & 2 novelization bind-up",
      "url": "https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/775737/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Kiel Phegley; November 5, 2024; ISBN 9780593891513. Explicitly contains the first TWO film novelizations, not Sonic 3."
    },
    {
      "id": "novel3",
      "title": "PRH — Sonic 3 novelization and legal interior sample",
      "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768722/sonic-the-hedgehog-3-the-official-movie-novelization-by-kiel-phegley/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Kiel Phegley, December 20, 2024. Opening sample pages visually inspected: camping, anniversary and old-cave passages (printed pages 5, 9, 12–16 sampled). Anniversary wording does not by itself mean Sonic first arrived only one year earlier. Publisher ebook Amazon B0DJBBC2GC."
    },
    {
      "id": "get-speed",
      "title": "PRH — Get Up To Speed: The Adventures of The Hero Trio",
      "url": "https://penguinrandomhouselibrary.com/book/?isbn=9780593889411",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Charlie Moon, November 5, 2024. Retells the previous adventure involving Tails / Knuckles and Robotnik, so belongs with Sonic 2 despite Sonic 3 branding."
    },
    {
      "id": "gadgets",
      "title": "PRH — Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gears",
      "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768674/sonic-the-hedgehog-3-gadgets-gizmos-and-gears-by-brandon-t-snider/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Brandon T. Snider, 2024, ISBN 9780593889428. Illustrated storybook / object companion, not a new post-film mission."
    },
    {
      "id": "prequill",
      "title": "IDW Pre-Quill — legally released Apple preview pages",
      "url": "https://www.sonicstadium.org/articles/sonic/preview-pages-and-story-titles-for-sonic-the-hedgehog-2-pre-quill-comic-released-r1465/",
      "kind": "Publisher preview reproduced by specialist press",
      "note": "Published preview includes actual comic pages, not just a summary. Vault-scene page visually inspected. Five story titles supplied; full interiors / every caption were not obtained."
    },
    {
      "id": "prequill-index",
      "title": "Grand Comics Database — Pre-Quill issue inventory",
      "url": "https://www.comics.org/issue/2384146/",
      "kind": "Independent comics bibliography",
      "note": "IDW one-shot, five stories / variants are not five separately released issues. Different March 2022 on-sale references exist; retain month precision."
    },
    {
      "id": "prequill-product",
      "title": "Pre-Quill — historical Kindle product match",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09P9SP48S",
      "kind": "Retail edition / access limitation",
      "note": "Exact titled Kindle identifier recovered from a contemporary retailer-link record; current listing did not render on inspection. Product availability is not asserted."
    },
    {
      "id": "japan",
      "title": "Paramount Japan — Episode 0 manga announcement",
      "url": "https://sonic-movie.jp/sonic-movie/page/3/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "December 16, 2024 official news archive: Yuki Imada’s cinema-giveaway Episode 0 precedes the Tokyo confrontation. Companion excerpt of the separate Shadow manga is not automatically film canon. Official archive search text was readable; live page / complete manga access failed."
    },
    {
      "id": "japan-press",
      "title": "Japanese distributor announcement — Episode 0 detail",
      "url": "https://www.cinema-life.net/p241216_scpr/",
      "kind": "Distributor announcement reproduced by press",
      "note": "Contemporary release report: nationwide December 27, 2024 giveaway and story immediately before the Shibuya clash. Supports close placement despite inaccessible complete booklet."
    },
    {
      "id": "donut",
      "title": "The Adventures of Sonic & Donut Lord — edition contents reference",
      "url": "https://sonicgear.org/MovieSonic/MovieMerchandise2.html",
      "kind": "Secondary / photographed merchandise inventory",
      "note": "Documents sprite mini-comic in the first-film exclusive SteelBook. It retells that film; a generic Blu-ray purchase does not guarantee the booklet."
    },
    {
      "id": "world",
      "title": "Paramount home-video announcement — original film short",
      "url": "https://screen-connections.com/2020/03/20/sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-early-digital-4k-uhd-blu-ray-dvd-details-art-paramount/",
      "kind": "Studio release reproduced by home-video press",
      "note": "Reproduced Paramount announcement identifies Around the World in 80 Seconds and edition supplements. Short’s modern travel diary is not a new 2020 calendar anchor."
    },
    {
      "id": "world-clock",
      "title": "Around the World in 80 Seconds — narration / story cross-check",
      "url": "https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Around_the_World_in_80_Seconds",
      "kind": "Secondary / short-film reference",
      "note": "Diary narration places the journey after making a home in Green Hills. Exact day relative to the comic’s vignettes remains open."
    },
    {
      "id": "drone",
      "title": "Sonic Drone Home — narrative dialogue cross-check",
      "url": "https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_Drone_Home/Transcript",
      "kind": "Secondary / dialogue transcription",
      "note": "Team Sonic’s library trip / Maddie’s late fees establish the shared-household sequel context. No exact date appears in the transcribed scene; full video frame check remains open."
    },
    {
      "id": "christmas",
      "title": "Paramount — A Very Sonic Christmas",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2QIiOy6aw8",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official December 11, 2024 stop-motion short. Christmas story with Team Sonic and Santa; upload year is not declared its fictional year."
    },
    {
      "id": "christmas-clock",
      "title": "A Very Sonic Christmas — story cross-check",
      "url": "https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/A_Very_Sonic_Christmas",
      "kind": "Secondary / short-film reference",
      "note": "First shared holiday with Tails / Knuckles; Shadow cameo complicates rigid placement against the third film. Keep a broad holiday window, not a confidently exact prequel day."
    },
    {
      "id": "dlc",
      "title": "Sega developer interview — movie-inspired DLC story boundary",
      "url": "https://blog.playstation.com/2024/09/24/movie-shadow-coming-to-sonic-x-shadow-generations/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Shun Nakamura states the pack has no story directly related to the movie. This prevents presenting the game’s dimension travel as an unseen canonical film scene."
    },
    {
      "id": "dlc-store",
      "title": "PlayStation — Sonic 3 Movie Pack",
      "url": "https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/UP0177-PPSA17597_00-DLCADD0000000000",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official digital DLC listing: Shadow transported to an unknown dimension / modern Shibuya. Requires containing game; ordinary physical base-game edition is not assumed to include this DLC."
    },
    {
      "id": "publishing",
      "title": "PRH — Sonic publishing catalogue",
      "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/SO2/sonic-the-hedgehog/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Movie novelizations / 2024 movie-three storybooks checked against game / Prime books. Meet Sonic!, Tales of Terror and 5-Minute Stories do not become Paramount stories merely because they share a shelf / author."
    },
    {
      "id": "films-product",
      "title": "Amazon — actual two-film containing edition",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPW79XP",
      "kind": "Official retail edition / direct listing check",
      "note": "Actual Sonic The Hedgehog 2-Movie Collection [Blu-ray] title inspected. Corresponding first and second films; not a three-film set."
    },
    {
      "id": "knuckles-product",
      "title": "Knuckles — physical season release / edition",
      "url": "https://hd-report.com/2024/09/08/knuckles-is-releasing-on-blu-ray-physical-media-with-dolby-atmos/",
      "kind": "Studio home-video information reproduced by trade press",
      "note": "Paramount home-video release reported, six episodes. Exact Blu-ray outbound product B0D2224FBT recovered and its Amazon Knuckles title checked without affiliate query."
    }
  ],
  "scope": [
    {
      "title": "Sonic the Hedgehog 4 / announced further film projects",
      "type": "Film",
      "status": "Upcoming / outside released chronology",
      "note": "Fourth film officially due March 19, 2027. No completed story or in-universe date verified; do not use 2027 release as a fictional year. Later spin-off claims require separate official story evidence.",
      "sources": [
        "four",
        "sega-four"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Sega main games, Archie / Fleetway / IDW monthly, cartoons and Sonic Prime",
      "type": "Other continuities",
      "status": "Outside selected Paramount scope",
      "note": "These are substantial different renditions, not omitted Paramount sequels. No claim that this guide exhausts all Sonic media. Movie-inspired DLC is included because its direct connection is verified.",
      "sources": [
        "watch",
        "publishing",
        "dlc"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Movie cosmetics in Sonic Dash / Forces / Speed Simulator and Roblox promotions",
      "type": "Game events",
      "status": "Narrative not separately verified",
      "note": "Character skins / races are not automatically new movie events. No original licensed mission script was inspected; a verified narrative quest can be added without importing every unrelated game event.",
      "sources": [
        "dlc",
        "publishing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Meet Sonic!, Tales of Terror, 5-Minute Stories and Prime readers",
      "type": "Books",
      "status": "Not automatically movie tie-ins",
      "note": "Current publisher catalogue mixes several Sonic renditions. Film-specific storybooks are included above; shared author, brand or 2026 anniversary reissue alone is not evidence of Paramount continuity.",
      "sources": [
        "publishing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Trailers, deleted scenes, bloopers, music videos and sticker / Mad Libs books",
      "type": "Promotion / supplements",
      "status": "Containing-film material or activities",
      "note": "Three independently released narrative shorts are included. Recut movie footage and puzzles are not separate adventures; exclusive booklets are not promised with generic movie sets. Deleted / alternate scenes remain supplements rather than exact canon sequels.",
      "sources": [
        "world",
        "christmas",
        "publishing"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "audit": {
    "checked": "2026-10-20",
    "status": "Research edition — verification gaps disclosed",
    "checks": [
      "Three released features, one complete six-episode series, three narrative shorts, all three film novelizations, two additional 2024 storybooks and three film comic / manga releases inventoried.",
      "Pre-Quill’s five named stories grouped as one anthology window; actual legal preview page read, remaining interior limits disclosed.",
      "Get Up To Speed is a Sonic 2 retelling despite its Sonic 3 cover branding; adaptation formats share positions.",
      "Japanese Episode 0 announcement supplies an immediate film-three placement. Separate manga excerpt is not silently treated as another film prequel.",
      "Official DLC developer interview prevents confusing a licensed movie-inspired game level with film canon.",
      "2024 / 1974 screen anchors and the eight-month reference checked; earlier calendar is explicitly estimated. Sonic’s anniversary does not erase his ten-year childhood exile."
    ],
    "gaps": [
      "Full films / novel endings / every comic and storybook interior have not been inspected. Some short-film placement relies on dialogue or story reference cross-checks rather than full frame audits.",
      "Earlier estimated 2022–2023 / 2023 calendar positions remain provisional because the complete first-to-third elapsed interval was not directly verified. The ordered stories are firmer than those years.",
      "Complete Episode 0 / Donut Lord booklets not obtained; Japanese official archive currently fails to render in direct access. No unsupported exact manga date asserted.",
      "Pre-Quill’s historical Kindle listing did not render during current inspection. Retail stock, exclusive insert contents and all movie-promotional game quests remain unverified."
    ],
    "publishReady": true
  }
}