IDW Sonic The Hedgehog (#1-74) - Sonic The Hedgehog #64

I’m going to defend lanolin
I’m going to explain why I completely disagree with Lanolin being a bad character and why she wasn’t really doing anything wrong.

She doesn’t know that Duo is Mimic. It seems to me that many people who get angry at Lanolin for believing that Duo isn’t Mimic simply don’t understand other points of view. Lanolin has no evidence that Duo is Mimic, so it is natural that she would believe that he’s just a normal person, but the reader knows that Duo is actually Mimic. This is called “dramatic irony,” and it is a writing tool where the reader knows something more than another character. The whole point of it is that Lanolin not realizing that Duo is Mimic while we do is supposed to engage the reader. While I do find the trope tiring since it causes me frustration, it doesn’t change the fact that Lanolin didn’t know that Duo is Mimic. It would be completely unrealistic for a logical character like Lanolin to just suddenly realize that Duo is Mimic without any evidence at all. And don’t get me started on the whole “Whisper and Silver are more experienced than her” argument, I think it’s irrelevant because it relates to combat, not detective work.

While referring herself as a soldier was a bit arrogant, that’s literally the point; she’s supposed to be flawed. People say that Lanolin is too bossy and criticize the mistakes she makes when that’s literally what every character needs to be an actually good character. Lanolin is supposed to be arrogant and bossy so that she can develop as a character. If she has little to no flaws and/or makes no mistakes, then that would make her a mary-sue. Yes, if a character has too many unlikable qualities especially if those qualities bring no consequences, then they will become unlikable, but that doesn’t apply to Lanolin because she has a lot of positive character traits; she’s smart, logical, hard-working, loyal, a good leader, and helpful.

On the topic of pushing Whisper to the ground, that was literally the only thing she can do because Whisper literally grabbed her on the wrist. What do you think she’s gonna do, politely ask Whisper to move aside when she is literally making physical contact with Lanolin and is about to charge at a person who she believes is innocent? Absolutely not! Whisper started the fight, so Lanolin had the full right to push her away.