>>539778871
One must ask what "actual canon character" you are referring to. The one made by the current Sonic Team? It is rather generous to call them the same entity that once employed visionaries like Mr. Naoto Ohshima and Mr. Judy Totoya. The real talent has long since departed for greater pastures.
To hold Mr. Iizuka's direction as some pure, untainted source is quite amusing. He is a producer, not a writer. His job is to manage a brand, not to create a world. To suggest his vision is the definitive one is laughable.
This brings us to the core issue. What is the "actual canon" for these characters? Outside of Mr. Sonic, the Japanese cast are little more than poorly defined brand mascots. They have designs and abilities, but no consistent characterization. Fans construct "headcanons" because they are filling a void left by the writers.
The old American lore could be shoddy, I will concede. But it provided a world with stakes and characters with purpose. The modern Japanese canon offers only vague themes and the ghost of talent that has long since left the company. There is no solid execution, merely the impression of it. Fans are not rejecting a rich canon. They are building one from the scraps they have been given.