Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Sonic the Hedgehog 3; read at your own caution.

About

Cheering When Maria Dies In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 refers to a series of memes about cheering at the character Maria's death scene when it presumably appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, as well as when it appears in the Sonic franchise in general. The earliest known meme about cheering for Maria's death was posted to X in late 2023 after the trailer for the film premiered. The memes became increasingly frequent as the December 2024 release of the film neared, as some both encouraged and discouraged people from cheering at the theater after Maria's death scene.

Origin

On November 29th, 2023, X^[1] user @SuperMarioT_YT quote-reposted the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with a video of a crowd of people from Smiling Friends cheering, writing, "Every Sonic fan in the theater after a young, innocent girl gets shot by the government on screen," garnering over 52,000 likes and 8,000 reposts in a year. This is the earliest known meme about cheering for Maria's death.

Maria's death by gunshot is an iconic moment in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and is considered notably dark in contrast to the tone of other pieces of Sonic media, making it an ironically funny moment to cheer on. It has also been suggested that cheering at the scene if it appears in Sonic 3 could be a sign of admiration for the writers and their respect for the canon.

Spread

On November 29th, 2023, the X post by @SuperMarioT_YT was reposted to /r/SonicTheHedgehog,^[2] garnering over 1.900 upvotes in a year. On February 4th, 2024, X^[3] user @VAMcKnight posted an edit of a crowd of people in a bar cheering at a screen showing Maria's death scene from Shadow the Hedgehog, garnering over 25,000 likes in nine months.

On February 5th, 2024, Redditor u/Itch-HeSay made a post to the subreddit /r/SonicTheHedgehog^[4] asking that people don't actually cheer when Maria dies in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, writing that it would be "obnoxious," garnering around 90 upvotes in nine months.

On June 8th, X^[5] user @saltydkdan posted a photo from the Sonic Symphony concert, showing Maria's death on the screen behind the band, writing, "People fucking cheered when Maria got shot on screen at Sonic Symphony I felt like I was losing it," garnering over 39,000 likes in five months.

On June 30th, 2024, YouTuber^[6] MVPando posted a video purportedly showing a crowd of people at Sonic Symphony cheering after Maria's death is shown on screen, garnering over 573,000 views in five months. On September 24th, TikToker^[7] @breetonboi posted a similar video, garnering over 240,000 views in two months.

On November 22nd, Redditor u/Zakatsuki_joestar posted a photoshop of a sign in a movie theater discouraging moviegoers from cheering at Maria's death to the subreddit /r/SonicTheHedgehog,^[8] titling the post, "This sound like the beginning of a dictatorship," garnering over 5,300 upvotes in five days.

On the same day, X^[9] user @nescartridges posted, "the mom who knows nothing about the series looking over at her children celebrating when a gunshot goes off on screen," garnering over 49,000 likes in five days.

On November 26th, 2024, X^[10] user @SPD64 quote-reposted a post sharing an image from the film of Shadow and Maria holding hands, writing, "👏DO👏NOT👏CHEER👏WHEN👏MARIA👏DIES. It's one thing to do it at a Sonic Symphony where the audience is encouraged to be loud and consists of Sonic fans who are in on the joke. It's another to do it in a cinema where you're not supposed to be noisy and families in the audience," garnering over 47,000 likes in a day.

Later that day, X^[11] user @DynamoSuperX quote-reposted the same post, writing, "I know it's a joke but as somebody who works at cinemark, I'm begging y'all, DON'T cheer and clap when maria dies. don't do it. 💀," garnering over 36,000 likes in the same span of time.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References