Bunnie Rabbot
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| Bunnie Rabbot | |
 The current design of Bunnie Rabbot as seen in StH #177. |
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| Publication information | |
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| Publisher | Archie Comics |
| First appearance | Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog # 3 |
| Created by | DiC Animation |
| In story information | |
| Team affiliations | Antoine D'Coolette (husband), Kingdom of Acorn, Sonic the Hedgehog, Freedom Fighters, Knuckles the Echidna and the Chaotix |
| Abilities | DiC:
Archie:
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Bunnie Rabbot-D'Coolette (known simply as Bunnie Rabbot in the animated series and in Sonic the Hedgehog comic issues preceding #174) is a fictional character featured prominently in the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series and Sonic the Hedgehog comic book. She was voiced by Christine Cavanaugh in the cartoon, which was known to fans as SatAM. She is a female, anthropomorphic rabbit, and she is also a cyborg. In both the show and the comic, Bunnie is a member of the "Freedom Fighters" dedicated to combating the evil Dr. Robotnik. She speaks with a thick Southern accent, and shows her affection with folksy slang like "Hon'" or "Sugah" (similar to Rogue from X-Men).
Bunnie is a golden rabbit with green eyes. She is partially roboticized: both legs, her left arm, and shoulder are all robotic, because Dr. Robotnik started turning her into a robot but she was then saved by Sonic. In the cartoon and in early issues of the comic, her parts were primitive-looking, as was Dr. Robotnik's technology; a later upgrade gave her a more 'natural' shape. Despite being roboticized from the waist-down, Bunnie retains her natural tail. She originally had a pink stomach, but over time it transitioned into becoming a pink leotard. It has been confirmed by editors that her torso is also roboticized. Bunnie was shown to have a white stomach in an alternate future timeline, where she is de-roboticized.
Her normal wardrobe consists of the aforementioned leotard (which is more pink than purple in the comic version), sometimes augmented by a jacket of some type (usually a cowboy jacket with tassels). More recently, she can be seen carrying a pair of revolvers and wearing a cowboy hat. Bunnie was also depicted wearing an outfit reminiscent of Daisy Duke from Dukes of Hazzard while attending Knothole High School [1].
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[edit] Sonic the Hedgehog ("SatAM")
Bunnie Rabbot is a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Little is revealed about her past, other than she had been friends with the other team members since childhood. The series does not detail how or when Bunnie became partially roboticized although an unused storyboard from the series indicates that such an origin was originally in the works. Her voice was done by Christine Cavanaugh. Bunnie is seen only twice in her un-roboticized form during the TV series; in the episode "Sonic Conversion" a de-roboticizer is tested on her and is successful, although the effects are only temporary, and she returns to her previous state later in the same episode. The two-part episode "Blast to the Past" features Bunnie as a child, prior to her transformation. Sonic time travels back in time, and rescues Bunnie from being turned into a robot earlier in history. Although his efforts ensure that the Freedom Fighters still exist in the present, Bunnie remains half-roboticized. She is also shown to be knowledgeable in martial arts, even attempting to teach some of the other Freedom Fighters such as Antoine, with mixed results.
Bunnie's main asset was the tremendous strength afforded by her robotic limbs. Although her metal half works flawlessly for the most part, in the episode "Sonic Past Cool", the telescoping ability of her legs (referred to as 'leg ladders' and 'ladder legs') cause her problems several times. In "Sonic and Sally", her robotic arm malfunctions at one point; when Antoine tries to help her up, he accidentally pulls her robotic arm off at the shoulder (this scene is edited out of the syndicated version of this episode, although it is included in the 2007 DVD release).
[edit] Sonic the Hedgehog (Comic series)
[edit] Origin
Bunnie first appeared early in the comic storyline in during "Rabbot Deployment" (StH #3). After being thrown into one of Robotnik's mobile roboticizers by SWATbots, Sonic and Rotor rescued her by shutting it down mid-way through the process: As a result, Bunnie's left arm, internal organs, and everything from the hips down were replaced with cybernetics. In gratitude for saving her life (and partially out of reverence for Princess Sally, her idol), Bunnie put her new super-strength to work by joining the Freedom Fighters. Although not part of the original team, she has remained a constant among their ranks.
Bunnie is the only Freedom Fighter whose parentage is never explored. In a scrapped plotline by the Archie staff, Bunnie would have made a trip to her home town, where her real name, Scarlett O'Hare (a spoof of Scarlett O'Hara) would have become known. Because this plot will not come to pass, it is not considered canon. Like the rest of the Freedom Fighters, it is assumed that Bunnie lost her parents before or during Robotnik's coup.
[edit] Freedom Fighter
In "Animal Magnetism", Robotnik attempted to use a machine called the 'Magnabot' (a robot piloted by Robotnik and Snively fitted with a giant magnet) to capture Bunnie via her robotic parts and use her as bait to trap the other Freedom Fighters. Sonic was able to avert this threat, and Rotor applied a non-magnetic coating to Bunnie's cybernetic limbs to prevent future attempts of the sort.
In "Saturday Night's Alright For A Fight!", Bunnie and the rest of the Freedom Fighters are forced to defend themselves when Sonic, having been brainwashed by Robotnik into thinking they were his enemies, launches a full-out assault on Knothole. Bunnie almost succeeded in subduing Sonic using her 'Tight Leg Crush' (a leg scissor hold augmented by her cyber-strength), but Sonic ultimately managed to get free; he was able to knock her and almost all the other Freedom Fighters unconscious, before he too was finally knocked out by a sneak attack from one of Sally's trainees.
In "Bunnie's Worst Nightmare", Robotnik capitalized on her fears of becoming fully roboticized; using a hologram device, she convinced herself and others that a microdot in her roboticized body had activated, and was slowly finishing the job. As the circuitry crawled through her body like a virus, Bunnie started exhibiting violent behavior and realized she was losing her free will to Robotnik. Believing herself too much of a threat to remain in Knothole, a tearful (and fully-roboticized) Bunnie left a farewell note to her loved ones and fled into the night. It eventually turned out to be a bad dream (hence the story's title).
In "Rage Against the Machine", Sonic proposed that he let himself get roboticized while wearing a neural overload device, so he would retain his free will and be able to decimate Robotnik's empire from the inside. Most of the Freedom Fighters strongly vetoed the plan, Bunnie included (especially due to her harrowing experiences with roboticization). However, before Sonic can enact his plan, Nack the Weasel abducts him, and Robotnik roboticizes Sonic without the neural overload device on him. Being the only Freedom Fighter who can match Mecha Sonic's robotic might, Bunnie must take her friend in a battle at Knothole, using some enhancements provided by Rotor including rocket-powered flight as well as a Mega Man-esque blaster and a miniature shield generator in her arm. This story was resolved in the "Mecha Madness" special. Although Bunnie gave her all to protect Knothole, she was no match for Mecha Sonic and was badly beaten. Fortunately, Bunnie's assault wore Sonic down to the point where he lost the match against Mecha Knuckles, who temporarily roboticized himself to take Sonic down.
Later, when Sonic was put on trial for the crimes of his robotic self, a vengeful Bunnie served as his bailiff during his court-martial (the Freedom Fighters believed Sonic had disobeyed orders and gone through with the plan without permission). Bunnie's arm was fitted with a 'Hedgehog Hunter' missile designed to seek out Sonic's unique aura, though she thankfully didn't need to use it.
Bunnie co-starred with Sonic in "Enemy Mine", but the story did not suit her strengths, instead being a tale about deception and mystery. In it, Bunnie accompanies Sonic when he sneaks out at night to Robotropolis to try to save the Overlanders that Robotnik had tricked into going there, only to find them living comfortably in the city, much to Sonic and Bunnie's puzzlement. She and Sonic then come upon a maddened Warlord Kodos fighting Uma Arachnis in the great forest. Sonic forces Bunnie to return to Knothole, fearing she might get hurt when the two get caught up in the feud.
In "Bat Fight!", Bunnie had her own story: an eight-page 'duel' versus Rouge the Bat. Although the fight started when Rouge mistook Bunnie for a SWATbot, the fight became personal as the two duked it out in the ruins of Old Megopolis (an abandoned, post-apocalyptic version of New York City). Eventually Sonic stepped in and broke it up.
In "Spin City", the free sample comic which Archie distributes away to promote the StH, Sonic and Bunnie infiltrate a 'seedy dive' populated by Robotnik's robots. The pair's cover is inevitably blown, and a brawl ensues, resulting in the demolition of the establishment when a bomb inside a vanquished Combot detonates; Sonic and Bunnie barely manage to escape the blast. The comic is an obvious parody of Sin City, with Milleresque black-and-white artwork and a hard-boiled voiceover provided by Sonic.
In the Sonic Special comic "Girls Rule", Bunnie was upgraded from her SatAM design with a more modern-looking, stronger set of cybernetics, including abilities such as flight (though she has been shown being capable of flight with her previous parts as early as the aforementioned issue #39, where she briefly engaged a roboticized Sonic in mid-air melee combat). This upgrade was necessary as her immune system finally caught up with Robotnik's technology, and attempted to reject her robotic parts; the 'upgrade' made her body symbiotic with the cybernetics, so now nothing short of an extreme plot device can remove it. This was also the point where she fully accepted her half-robotic nature; before then, she dreamed of becoming 'normal' again, and continuing with her original life's dream to be a hairdresser. This upgrade also resulted in Bunnie and Jules being the only members of the Mobian population unaffected by the worldwide de-roboticization by Ceneca 9009, since neither of them could survive in a 100% organic form. Bunnie, along with every other able-bodied Mobian was also involved in the battle against the Xorda in the "Sonic Adventure 2.5: Ώmega" storyline, though was unable to breech the defenses of the Quantum Dial. She is later seen mourning along with her comrades when Sonic appeared to have died destroying the doomsday weapon.
[edit] After the Xorda
Bunnie and the other Freedom Fighters would later travel to Old Megopolis to back up Sonic in preventing Robotnik from launching nuclear missiles targeted at Station Square and Knothole from his aircraft carrier anchored in the harbor. After saving a wounded Sonic from Mecha, she proceeded to singlehandedly destroy Robotnik's carrier, punching so many holes in the ship that it sunk and exploded, taking the nuclear threat along with it.
Several of the female Freedom Fighters-including Bunnie-accompanied Sonic on a mission to investigate and neutralize a swarm of nanites unleashed by A.D.A.M. that were overrunning everything in their path. During the investigation, Bunnie was captured by the nanites, which intended to absorb her into the 'contiguity', the nanites' collective consciousness. She was saved when Sonic arrived and convinced the nanites that she couldn't be absorbed since she's a fusion of both organic and cybernetic material and therefore incompatible with the contiguity, thus prompting the nanites to release Bunnie unharmed.
A.D.A.M.'s nanites were later used to infect Bunnie's robotic parts, as well as Sonic's father Jules, and NICOLE as part of a future scheme, which manifested itself when A.D.A.M. used the nanites to take control of her limbs and smash a computer monitor NICOLE was occupying at the time and throw Tails outside, where Jules was waiting to take him to the 'city' the nanites had constructed during their initial rampage. She was finally stopped when Rotor took her cybernetic limbs offline, but the damage had already been done.
Bunnie was also one of the Freedom Fighters/Chaotix who took part in the battle for the Artifacts of Acorn against Mammoth Mogul, Ixis Naugus, the Destructix, and the Arachne. She was also part of a sting operation to capture villains lured in by the prospect of an auction of the Master Emerald held by Rouge the Bat, the mission resulting in the capture of Nack the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear, Bean the Dynamite, Naugus, and Mogul. Just prior to this, Bunnie accepted a proposal from Antoine, and asked Sally to be her maid of honor. Bunnie and Antoine were married without incident. Shortly afterwards, Bunnie and Antoine were both taken prisoner by Robotnik during the destruction of Knothole, but both were freed quickly in a rescue mission devised by NICOLE and transported to a new home in New Mobotropolis. Bunnie soon did Sally a favor by cutting her hair back to its original length, representing Sally's hopes of returning to the good old days of the Freedom Fighters, and realizing her dream of becoming Sally's hairdresser. She then joined the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix in battle under Sally's command, using the laser cannon in her arm to help obliterate Eggman's "Egg Beater" power armor. She was also one of several Freedom Fighters who were part of a mass attack launched at the new Enerjak, but like most of her allies was unable to even land a blow on him due to his immense powers.
[edit] Possible Futures
Like many other characters, Bunnie has been featured in a possible future (a frequently-used plot device in the comic). The only glimpse of Bunnie's future came from the same time as NICOLE's creation. Bunnie is shown to be de-roboticized and standing with the other Freedom Fighters in Mobotropolis, where Robotnik is no more and peace reigns.[2] It should be noted that this is only one possible future, and thus is not the official canon future.
[edit] Romance
While Bunnie had no romantic ties in SatAM (though did sometimes engage in flirtatious behavior), she showed her gratitude to Sonic for saving her life in the comics with mild flirting ("You're fast, and cute! What's your name, sugah?"). The unexpected happened when Bunnie gradually ended up falling in love with Antoine D'Coolette, although there were arguably hints as far back as StH #23; After an unseen character rescued Antoine from several near-death situations in Robotropolis, the story ended with Antoine planting a kiss on Bunnie's cheek (this, coupled with a lapine shadow seen on a wall in Robotropolis, suggests that it was Bunnie watching over him all along; the Sonic the Hedgehog Archives Volume 6 trade paperback officially acknowledges this).
When the normally foppish Antoine shows his vulnerable side during a suspicion-laced conference among various Freedom Fighter groups (StH #46), Bunnie tries to comfort him with a kiss. Their relationship began quietly, just before the EndGame storyline, and went on rather peacefully until the Xorda attack. During Sonic's exodus in space as a result of this event, Antoine seemingly dumps Bunnie, but their breakup is later revealed to be a ruse perpetrated by his "Anti-Mobius" counterpart Patch.
Not realizing what is going on, Bunnie believes that Antoine no longer loves her. This results in Bunnie becoming more reckless and emotional; She even goes as far as kissing Sonic (who is actually the lecherous Evil Sonic in disguise) in an attempt to make Antoine jealous, and hopefully win him back. Sonic later discovers the swap and brings the real Antoine back, leading to a happy reunion, as Bunnie had never truly given up her feelings for him. She also accompanies Antoine when he bids farewell to his father, General D'Coolette, whom is dying from Patch's poisoning. The General voices his approval of Bunnie's relationship with his son, and beseeches them to cherish their relationship. Afterward, Antoine proposes to Bunnie, and she accepts; the two are finally wed, with Sonic and Sally serving as best man and maid of honor, respectively.
Aside from her relationship with Antoine, Bunnie has been shown to be somewhat affectionate with other male characters. Her attraction to Sonic has not cooled completely, as evidenced by her diminishing reluctance to date Evil Sonic (although Bunnie was unaware that it wasn't the real Sonic). Numerous occasions, including Sonic saving her from A.D.A.M.'s nano-machines, have also earned him grateful kisses from Bunnie for his heroism.
On a humorous note, Bunnie's fondness for nicknames like "Hon" and "Sugah" is identical to the catchphrases used by Rogue, a superheroine from X-Men. Antoine often refers to Bunnie as his "cherie", which is what Rogue's love interest, Gambit affectionately called her.
[edit] Alternate Versions
Similar in fashion to several other characters from the comics, Bunnie has multiple counterparts from other dimensions. In one instance, Sonic is sent to an alternate dimension where all his friends are now gargantuan monsters running a rampage. In that dimension, Dr. Julius Kintobor was experimenting with the Master Emerald on a distant island, when it cracked in two, releasing radiation that mutated local creatures to Godzilla proportions. He then developed the robo-virus to paralyze them, but by the time he roboticized Bunnie, the monsters were developing an immunity, resulting in the cyborg-lizard-rabbit monster "Rabbot-Zilla".
In the Guardians of the Galaxy possible future, there is a version of Bunnie with flaming hair and enormous feet who can attack with an energy blaster on her left glove, named Bunni. In her alternate universe, the Freedom Fighters lost the war against Robotnik, so the last four took separate ships to form colonies on other planets. Over the generations, the new environments caused their clans to evolve. Bunni is the original Bunnie Rabbot's descendant. She joins up with descendants of the other Freedom Fighters to challenge Robolactus, a giant planet-eating descendant of Robotnik, ala Galactus.
Bunnie, like most of her friends, has an evil counterpart among the Anti-Freedom Fighters. Anti-Bunnie was never Roboticized, given the fact that there was no evil entity with a Roboticizer on Anti-Mobius. She was not originally part of the team, but joined later to get revenge on Evil Sonic, who was dating her and several other Anti-Mobian females at the same time. During the brief period where Sonic and Evil Sonic switched places, Anti-Bunnie and Anti-Sally were knocked into a pool containing creatures known as Octopods while attacking Sonic.
[edit] Games
Like the other TV show and comic characters, Bunnie does not appear in any of the games as a regular character, but she makes a cameo appearance in the Trapped Alive bonus stage of Sonic Spinball.
Bunnie was intended to be a playable character in the planned Sega Genesis game Sonic Mars, which would incorporate characters and elements from the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series. However, when the project was changed to Sonic Xtreme (which was later cancelled), Bunnie, along with the other TV show elements, were dropped from the game.[3]
[edit] Beta-Bunnie
Issue 2 of the original 4-issue mini-series featured a splash page artwork of the Freedom Fighters battling Robotnik's robots, with Bunnie already included in their ranks. But her coloring scheme and overall design was different from both her SatAM counterpart and her future appearance in the comic.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
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