Let us also not forget the fantastic voicework of Long John Baldry, may he rest in peace.

"Scratch and Grounder are his only family".

I'm reminded that once questioned why he never made the botniks, at least the ones that directly engage with him, have hardwired loyalty towards him, they have just enough self-awareness to have at least a sitcom relationship with him, some even breaking out and going independent (borrowing that page where Blaze hits on Metal, going with "mmm you're your own robot now" and stuff).

Since I'm not big on Sonic lore (just know enough to turn around and hit the Penders alarm if I see any echidnas not Knuckles or Nipples), I'm really curious as to why he does that.