Sonic.exe originated as a Creepypasta fanfic by Jack Cranely (also known as Sir JC the Hyena) that can be read here. Since then, it has been turned into a video game that replicates the experience (sans X actually coming out of the screen) by MY5TCrimson.

On March 16th, 2023, JoeDoughBoi, the co-owner of the creepypasta in the present day, released a completely revamped version of the game, known as SONIC 2011, that can be downloaded here. This version serves to not only be a much more true-to-the-story experience (with some creative liberties taken to make things more interesting), but also serves as part of a Continuity Reboot of the original creepypasta’s canon.

Sonic.exe provides examples of:

• Adaptation Deviation:
  • Sonic.EXE: The Game differs a bit with the details. Eggman's section is created using Marble Zone graphics, whereas the original story explicitly states that it didn't look like it was from any Sonic game; the curtains are also absent. Tails also trips in the original creepypasta when X catches him, while the fan game has him breaking down into tears.
  • Despite being mostly Truer to the Text, SONIC 2011 features different kills from both the creepypasta and the MY5TCrimson game. In the latter two, X lunged at Tails and Knuckles, but in SONIC 2011, he snaps Tails’/Alan’s neck and slams his fists into Knuckles'/Dave’s chest. What happens to Eggman/Paul is also shown (albeit briefly) and extended from X simply appearing in front of him.
• Adaptational Expansion:
  • Version 2 of the original fan game includes a proper Game Over, where as in the original creepypasta, the game ended with Tom's computer shutting down. Version 4 also added a Japanese message if the player waits around at the screen for a bit (replaced with an excerpt from the creepypasta in Version 666).
  • Versions 5 and 7 of the original game feature Sonic himself having his own playable section not present in the original story. In version 5, this level is simply accessed after the Game Over screen instead of the game ending after Eggman's section. In version 7, however, the player has to trigger it. Backtracking as each character at specific intervals puts them in another playable section separate from what's described in the Creepypasta, after-ward the player is gifted a "negative ring". With all three collected, the Sonic level is triggered after the game over screen like in version five.
  • Versions 666 and 7 includes unique sections for Knuckles and Eggman if the player walks left, though it ultimately ends with them back in their normal levels. Version 7 added one for Tails as well.
• Adaptational Intelligence: In the original story and the original game, when Tails sees "Sonic" (actually X trying to trick him), he immediately falls for his ruse and goes over to see him. In SONIC 2011, Tails sees through his trick immediately and actually automatically attempts to run away from him without the player's input. Not that this ultimately saves him, he is trapped by the screen lock and you have to manually force him to go up to X by holding down the right movement key, but points for trying!
• Ax-Crazy: X. Psychotic, sadistic, and totally devoid of human compassion.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: In Hill Act 1, X is shown to have brutally murdered all of the small animals.
• Big Bad: X is the demon taking the form of Sonic that, in-game, kills Sonic's friends, and outside the game kills people in the real world.
• Black Eyes of Crazy: X has black sclerae.
• Black Eyes of Evil: The Zalgo-ified title screen.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Than the main Sonic series. An Eldritch Abomination brutally and bloodily murders the characters before going after people in the real world.
• Broken Heel: In the revamped version, Tails/Alan slips when running from X in "HIDE AND SEEK".
• Continuity Reboot: The official remaster is actually part of a reboot of the original Sonic.exe canon, with the version of X seen in the game being a new version of the original X.
• Controllable Helplessness: There's nothing you can do to stop any of the characters from meeting a gruesome fate at the hands of X - at least Knuckles can punch, but that doesn't help him, either. By the time you get to Eggman, all you can do is move him forward toward his demise. This trope would become a staple of the EXE games and its derivatives.
• Darker and Edgier: Ditto with Bloodier and Gorier.
• Downer Ending: There is no hope for anyone's survival.
• Evil Is Hammy: Thanks to the voice lines added in Version 7 of the original game, X gets the chance to ham it way the hell up before he butchers his victims.
  X: "I will eat your HEART!"
• Evil Laugh:
  • Infamously, X's laugh in the original game is a direct sample of Kefka's, as opposed to simply sounding similar.
  • The remaster, in line with it being Truer to the Text, switches it out for a more distinct (but still Kefka-esque) creepy, clownish laugh.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: X's voice lines are spoken in a low, demonic rasp.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You:
  • In the original game, several hints of this are seen in the text screens, such as it asking "READY FOR ROUND 2, [PC username]?"
  • In the revamped version, this is taken a step further when X etches "I AM GOD" and cracking the screen, both details remaining after the game closes.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The bloody oceans and X appearance on the title screen, as seen on the page image, is only seen for a fraction of a second before cutting to black. In the revamp, this is changed to X's red eyes and a part of the finger-wagging glove.
• A God Am I: One of the messages that X leaves on the screen is "I AM GOD".
• Gory Discretion Shot: The game cuts to black when X lunges at Tails and Knuckles, followed by a high-pitched scream and a laugh. In the revamp, you only get a slight glimpse of what he does to them, such as X snapping Tails'/Alan's neck and slamming his fists into Knuckles'/Dave's chest.
• Hide-and-Seek Horror: When Tails finds X, the level is titled "Hide and Seek". Tails has a bit less than a minute to get as far away from X as possible, but X ends up catching up to him and killing him no matter what you do.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: You get into one of these when playing as Knuckles. You can try to punch X, but he teleports away every time, and eventually Knuckles will just break down crying.
• Interface Screw: In Version 5, before the next Japanese text appears, the UI starts glitching out with "SCORE" and "RING" being mirrored and eventually the UI slowly disappears altogether.
• Jump Scare:
  • The high-pitched scream that emits from X's victims. Also, the static and some of the images appear as such.
  • The official remaster takes this further, with X's sprite actually showing much more detail, with him actually writing "I AM GOD" on the screen with his blood-stained finger before screeching loudly and lunging at the screen, causing a visible crack. Both details actually stay, even after the game has closed. But before that, things just go From Bad to Worse...
• Nightmare Face:
  • But of course. At the end of Eggman's level, a hyper-realistic representation of X appears on-screen.
  • Thanks to Art Evolution, the mugshots of X's victims in the remaster have become these.
• One-Letter Name: The demon known as "Sonic.exe" also goes simply by "X".
• Precision F-Strike: One song in the OST is called Mindfuckery. Sticks to the same trope as Mind Rape, because of the context in it.
• Psychopathic Manchild: X's childishly taunts Knuckles/Dave as he teleports away from each of his attacks.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The first sign that something is horribly wrong with this version of Sonic.
• Rivers of Blood: The title screen is modified to make the water a bright crimson.
• Sadist: X. He chases after Tails in "HIDE AND SEEK", vanishes to leave the fox crying, then returns shortly after to kill him, He dodges all of Knuckles' attempts to attack him before leaving the echidna to break down and then killing him, and watches Eggman attempt to run for his life before appearing in front of him to finish him off. He can kill these characters anytime he likes, but likes to make them suffer first.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Only in the original game, Tails and Knuckles after X catches up to them.
• Sensory Abuse: Many of the sound effects in the original game are extremely loud. Special mentions goes to the increasingly loud static noise as Tails approaches X disguised as Sonic, and the death scream.
• Shout-Out:
  • X's laugh in the original game is a direct sample of Kefka Palazzo's.
  • The game over screen in all versions until the sixth is taken from the ending of Doom.
• Slasher Smile:
  • In the original, X sports a blood-splattered one in the infamous "I AM GOD" picture at the end.
  • In the remaster, X has one on his face constantly, like he's playing this game with all the sadistic glee he has in the world.
• Suddenly Voiced:
  • Version 7 of the original game gives all of X's lines a voiceover, and includes some completely new lines as well.
  • This applies to the remake as well, where X tell you to keep things interesting for him through a voice line rather than text.
• Truer to the Text: Many additions the official remake by JoeDoughBoi provide aim to make the game much more accurate to the original pasta. This is best seen in "...", where there are curtains around the screen, and the stage assets no longer directly rip off of Marble Zone, as the pasta never says that any of the assets in that stage look anything like something out of that zone.
• Unwinnable by Design: The "games" X presents himself in are actually inescapable traps used to torture and mangle his victims. The control the player has over the characters is simply a façade X uses to torment the player along with the characters.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: The ending to Version 5 of the original, considering the game ends before you even get to see Sonic and X start fighting.
• You Bastard!: In the playable video game versions, where the player can't keep them from dying either.

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