Another Sonic characterization thought(TM) that applies mostly to Sonic X but can work with other versions too - I want to see more of his independent attitude being both his greatest virtue and a notable flaw depending on the circumstance

A virtue in the sense that he's very true to himself - he doesn't care if people think badly of him as long as he's doing what he feels is right, and he has a way of inspiring that same self-confidence in others.

But a flaw in the sense that it can lead him to struggle with socializing. I think Sonic is so self-sufficient and values his own personal time so much that he's not always the most communicative, and tends to vanish on people without warning.

It gets to the point where Chris wonders if Sonic even likes hanging out with them (although this is still pretty early in the series)

The others assure him that this isn't the case, and I'm inclined to agree. But I also feel like Sonic might not quite realize that people want him around that frequently?

Not in a self-deprecating way, just in the sense that he assumes everyone else is as self-sufficient as he is. Sonic doesn't need to spend a lot of consistent time around his friends to know they care about him, so it just. doesn't occur to him that people are going to miss him that much, or that they'll interpret the lack of time he spends with them as him not liking them.

He's more of an "acts of service" guy when you get down to it, which isn't necessarily related to the independence thing but I thought it was worth noting. Like gee, no wonder he struggles around Amy sometimes, they show affection in completely different ways

I just think that's a really interesting angle for his character; the idea that he's this cool independent hero who lives by his own rules, but also doesn't know how to balance that with spending adequate time with his friends.

This also makes Knuckles, Shadow, and weirdly Big into good parallels to Sonic, seeing as they also prefer to be by themselves a lot and don't always make an active effort to hang out with their friends, despite caring for them and protecting them if they're in trouble.

In conclusion, give Sonic weird complex social interactions again I'm thriving on it

(Pictured above: Sonic, seconds away from ditching his friends to go pick flowers somewhere)