Maria's Death (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Maria's Deathrefers to the death of the character Maria Robotnik in several pieces of Sonic the Hedgehogmedia, including the video games Sonic Adventure 2and Shadow the Hedgehogand theanimeseries Sonic X. In each iteration, Maria is shot dead while trying to help Shadow, whom she has a close friendship with, escape from Space Colony ARK. Maria's death has inspiredmemes,fan artand other fan content throughout the 2000s. In February 2024, it was speculated that Alyla Browne would portray Maria in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, resulting in an increase in memes about her death. Throughout the year, memes about peoplecheering when Maria diesin Sonic 3and other Sonicmedia became increasingly popular.