Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)

Sonic the Hedgehog was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, based on Sega's video game franchise, and as well as DiC's 1993 Saturday morning cartoon adaptation of the same name. Following a four issue miniseries, published from 1992 to 1993, the ongoing series Sonic the Hedgehog began with a July 1993 cover date and ended with 290 issues. In June 23, 2008, Guinness World Records formally recognized it as the longest running comic series based on a video game.^[1]

The series featured a cast of hundreds of characters, both drawn from the games and original creations, and focuses on a crime-fighting organization called the Freedom Fighters (initially consisting of Sonic, Tails, Sally Acorn, Rotor Walrus, Antoine D'Coolette, and Bunnie Rabbot) facing off against series antagonist Doctor Eggman alongside a variety of other villains. While largely consisting of its own continuity, certain issues also implemented aspects of the Sonic video games as well. A 2013 lawsuit by former writer Ken Penders against Archie Comics led to the entire world of the comics being rebooted. After the lawsuit, the story moved closer to the canon of the games, with many of the characters created for the comic no longer appearing.

Spin-off publications include Sonic Universe, a series that featured stories centered on different side-characters, reaching its 75th issue as of April 2015; Knuckles the Echidna, featuring Knuckles as the main protagonist with help from his friends the Chaotix, which ran for 32 issues; and Sonic X, a comic based on the Japanese anime of the same name, which lasted 40 issues. The series also had two crossovers with Archie's Mega Man comic-book series, based on the Mega Man video games from Capcom.

The final issue of the main series was issue #290, released in December 2016. In January 2017, the series overall experienced an abrupt hiatus without any official disclosure, and on July 19, 2017, the official Sonic the Hedgehog Facebook page announced that, after 24 years, Sega and Archie Comics had concluded their relationship, ending the series.^[2] Two days later, Sega announced that IDW Publishing would be releasing a new series of Sonic comics beginning in 2018.^[3]

Publication history

The Sonic the Hedgehog comic debuted in the US as a four-part miniseries (cover-dated 1992 to Feb. 1993).^[4][5] This was followed up a few months later by the ongoing series Sonic the Hedgehog (July 1993 – December 2016 as of April 2017 ).^[6] Numerous one-shot specials and a reprint series followed.^[7]

Synopsis

The comics follow the adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, called the Freedom Fighters, who battle against the evil Doctor Eggman. Initially based on the plot of the 1993 animated series, the comic later incorporated elements from the video games and other media. Ken Penders, former writer of the comic, sued Sega, EA, and Archie Comics for copyright infringements,^[8] leading to a continuity reboot with all established characters created by Penders and other writers being removed, save those of current writer Ian Flynn, who penned the new continuity, and those created directly to animated series (being that SEGA owns the rights of the characters that originated from the animated series, being their intellectual property). The new continuity is a world much more closer to the world depicted in the SEGA 's games.

The original universe, which remained focused on until the comic’s 247th issue, is set on the planet Mobius, an alternate version of Earth where animals were mutated into the anthropomorphic Mobians. Dr. Robotnik is depicted as a tyrant, ruling from Robotropolis, following a coup d’état against the Kingdom of Acorn. A small band of heroes, the Freedom Fighters, fight back against his forces from the secluded village Knothole. Amongst the group are Sonic, Miles “Tails” Prower, Princess Sally Acorn, Antoine D’Coolette, cybernetic Bunnie Rabbot, Rotor the Walrus, Amy Rose, and Sally’s handheld computer Nicole. Other allies like Knuckles the Echidna and Sonic’s Uncle Chuck join them in later chapters. Robotnik in turn is aided by his nephew Snively.

Robotnik meets his demise in the fiftieth issue, erased from existence by his own superweapon. An alternate version of Robotnik from a parallel world becomes the lead antagonist, first introduced as “Robo-Robotnik”, but later takes on the name of Dr. Eggman. New antagonists were introduced, including the evil sorcerer Ixis Naugus; Scourge the Hedgehog, Sonic’s evil counterpart from a parallel universe; and the Dark Egg Legion, a union of other factions like the Iron Dominion and the echidna-led Dark Legion. Game storylines like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were adapted, introducing Shadow the Hedgehog as a recurring character.

The Xorda, an extraterrestrial race whose past actions created Mobius and unintentionally turned humans into anthropomorphic animals, try to destroy the planet. Sonic defeats them, only to end up lost in space, but returns home a year later. Sally’s father, King Maximillian, is poisoned by Antoine’s evil counterpart, Patch, and hands the throne over to his son Prince Elias. For a brief time, Snively defects to the Freedom Fighters only to betray them, bombing Knothole with the Egg Fleet. The citizens are imprisoned in the Egg Grapes, but Sonic frees them. Nicole uses nanites to create New Mobotropolis. Tails’ father Amadeus tries to bring democracy to the city, but Sally prevents a civil war by establishing the Council of Acorn, consisting of royal and public officials.

Eggman has a mental breakdown due to his failed attempts to control the planet, allowing Snively and the Iron Queen Regina Ferrum to take over his empire, leading to a lengthy war against the Freedom Fighters. Naugus comes to rule New Mobotropolis as king due to a deal Sally’s father made with him. Eggman returns to power, unleashing the Genesis Wave, altering the world, but Sonic reverses it. Sally sacrifices herself to stop Eggman’s superweapon, the World Roboticizer, and becomes a robot. The Freedom Fighters reform as Team Freedom, Team Fighters, and the Secret Freedom Fighters to combat Eggman and Naugus.

Eggman activates a second Genesis Wave, transporting himself, Sonic, and other characters into the world of Mega Man, leading to the crossover Worlds Collide. A second crossover Worlds Unite happened in 2015, featuring characters from other Sega and Capcom titles.

The current multiverse ceased to exist when Dr. Eggman launched the Super Genesis Wave in conjunction with Dr. Wily, causing the Prime Zone (Sonic's World Dimension) to be irreversibly rewritten and the multiverse surrounding it to collapse in on itself, destroying every prior known reality (with the exception of the Special Zone and the Sol Zone, Blaze's World Dimension, the latter due to the Jeweled Scepter) and creating new ones in their place.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman maintain their memories of the original continuity, which are then shared with Tails, Sally, Rotor, Antoine, Bunnie, Amy Rose, and Naugus when they make contact with Nicole. However, this world is altered by the second Genesis Wave and Earth is split apart, awakening Dark Gaia, leading to the events of Sonic Unleashed. The comic also introduces Naugus’ sister Wendy, a witch who pledges allegiance to Eggman and plots to gain the Cacophonic Conch.

Spin-offs and other related series

The series was originally published as a four issue mini-series, with the first issue labeled as "issue 0". At the end of the fourth issue of the series, it was announced that Sonic would return in a regular series, and the next issue was published as "issue 1" of the regular series.

Alongside the main Sonic series, Archie Comics published various special issues. Longer than typical issues of the comic, these specials feature stories involving Sonic and other related characters. Several miniseries have also been published, featuring characters such as Sally, Tails and Knuckles.

Because of the popularity of the specials and Miniseries featuring Knuckles, in 1997, Knuckles the Echidna became an ongoing series. Knuckles' stories featured its own cast of characters, including the Chaotix. In 1999, the series was canceled, but the stories were continued in the pages of Sonic the Hedgehog until it was phased out completely by Sonic issue 125. In this form, a typical issue of Sonic included a Sonic story and a second, shorter Knuckles story afterwards, though eventually this phased out as well.

In order to allow for stories that focused more on side characters than primarily on Sonic-most notably the other characters featured in the Sega games-the Sonic Universe comic line was introduced. This series has included a wide range of characters previously introduced in other comic issues, as well as allowing for the introduction of additional characters to the comic cast. Typically, the series is broken up into four-issue long story arcs focusing on a select character or group of characters, though one-issue stories have also been released.

Archie has also produced two Sonic series based on other branches of the Sonic franchise, namely the Sonic X anime and the Sonic Boom cartoon. The Sonic X series began in September 2005, and ended after forty issues, the last of which featured a crossover story with the main Sonic the Hedgehog series that served as a prequel to the first Sonic Universe issue. The Sonic Boom line began in October 2014, and was later incorporated into Worlds Unite before concluding with its eleventh issue in September 2015.

The Archie Sonic series has also produced several Free Comic Book Day issues, which typically feature either reprints of older issues or new stories that fit into the series continuity. Since 2013 these issues have served as a combination free comic special with the Mega Man series; a free Sonic issue serving as a prequel to Sonic Lost World was also released in 2013 for Halloween Comic Fest. Various compilations have also been put together, such as the Sonic Saga Series, Sonic Archives and Knuckles Archives, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe and standalone graphic novels, Sonic Legacy, Best of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Super Digest and Sonic Super Special Magazine. Following Worlds Collide the latter two series and the Free Comic Book Day issues began featuring stories in a series entitled "Sonic Comic Origins", which detailed the histories of various characters in the post-reboot continuity.

A short, three panel comic strip similar to those found in a newspaper at the end of some issues called Off-Panel. It was originally found in the main series of comics, and was later continued in the spinoff series Sonic Universe. Earlier strips involved fictional version of staff interacting with comic characters, while later strips removed this element, it always retains elements of comical gags relating to the issues main story, often containing fourth wall breaking.

Characters

Sega cast

Game protagonists

• Sonic the Hedgehog – Unlike Asia's take on Sonic the Hedgehog media where he is a vigilante hero and is tied with gods, Sonic in this continuity is a national hero as well as a servant of the Kingdom of Acorn and a part of a team of the Freedom Fighters, a group of soldiers who seek to free their world from crime and corruption. Throughout most of the series, he was also featured as a figure of legend who is destined to be a great hero not only in his home dimension, but throughout other dimensions outside of his own. Later issues leading up to the series' reboot also indicated the possibility of Sonic being the incarnation of the chaos factor, the unpredictable element in every scenario. In addition to his faster than light speed, hand-to-hand combat skills, teleporting ability, a golden super form known as Super Sonic (a form powered by chaos energy), and a dark form known as the Werehog (a form powered by dark energy), Sonic was also capable of taking on different abilities such as phasing though metal objects, having the ability to lean any language, a healing factor that allows him to fight longer, and taking on elemental forms such as Ultra Sonic, which had a few Classical element based variations. The Sonic in the reboot universe's history is virtually identical to that seen in the Japanese game series, with the notable exception of him still being a vigilante hero in the past who later on became a national hero of the Kingdom of Acorn throughout the world, a member of the Freedom Fighters and a servant to the Kingdom of Acorn (which is located in the Acorn Archipelago, its capital Mobotropolis, is located on Westside Island). In the reboot universe, when Dr. Eggman and his assistant, Dr. Julian Snively, began strip-mining and processing South Island, Sonic made his first appearance to the two doctors and followed them all the way to their base on the island, battling and defeating the duo within the Final Zone. The two doctors fled to Westside Island, where they continued with their original plans, and Sonic would chase them down; however, his victory over the villains inspired the creation of the Freedom Fighters, who resided in Westside Island's Knothole, a hideaway from Dr. Eggman, who conquered their original home, Mobotropolis. With new friends in tow, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters chased down the two doctors, with Miles "Tails" Prower close to Sonic's side as his sidekick and best buddy.
• Miles "Tails" Prower the Fox – A member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. The original continuity featured Tails as the Chosen One, a being destined to bring about a prophesied "Great Harmony" involving the Chaos Emeralds. Tails supposedly fulfilled this prophecy several times, once by defeating the crime boss Mammoth Mogul by merging with other versions of himself from alternate dimensions, and again by sending nearly every Chaos Emerald in his world into a pocket dimension where they were reduced in form to seven Chaos Emeralds. Tails also possessed the ability to transform into a super form Turbo Tails, Hyper Tails (resembling his super form from Sonic 3 & Knuckles), and Titan Tails (a giant form resulting from the union of various versions of Tails from alternate dimensions). Tails was also notable in having romantic entanglements with comics exclusive character, the first being with a robotic duplicate of future villainess Fiona Fox. Tails' feelings for the robot were later projected onto Fiona, but his hopes were dashed by her involvement with Sonic and subsequent betrayal of the Freedom Fighters. He was also regarded fondly by Barby Koala, seemed to reciprocate an attraction displayed by another female Fox named Li Moon, and in an alternate dimension, he married her and had two children with Mina Mongoose. However, The Tails in the reboot's universe is more in-line with the Japanese game series as helping Sonic for years.
• Knuckles the Echidna – The Knuckles in the original universe was the latest in a long line of Echidnas who protect Angel Island from various threats of corruption and crime, the most usual one coming from a distant branch of his family who lead the power hungry army of the Dark Legion. The Chaotix were also featured as his support team, acting in a similar capacity to the Freedom Fighters for Sonic. His unusual abilities of super strength, martial arts, and other powers are also attributed to Chaos Energy manipulation similar to Sonic and Shadow, resulting in him becoming a "living Chaos Emerald." In addition to his Hyper Knuckles super form (as seen in Sonic 3 & Knuckles), he possessed the ability to transform into a green version of himself with incredible Chaos abilities known as Chaos Knuckles. The new Knuckles in the reboot universe is depicted as the last surviving guardian of the Knuckles Clan on the planet, and Sonic and the Chaotix are occasional allies rather than his constant support team.
• Amy Rose – in this series, Amy was represented—prior to the reboot—as being part of the royal family of the comics-exclusive country of Mercia. The drastic change in appearance from the form she had in the early Sega games to her Sonic Adventure look is explained in the original continuity by her making a wish on a magical ring to become older to serve under Sally. The Amy in the reboot has the same history as her video game counterpart, albeit with some modifications to accommodate comics-exclusive storyline.
• The Chaotix – Knuckles' support team as seen in Knuckles' Chaotix. They retain this role throughout the original continuity of the comics instead of disappearing following that game and returning in Sonic Heroes minus Mighty the Armadillo. As with most of the Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog animated series characters to exist in both universes they possess different origins in the two continuities.
  • In the original continuity, the origins of the characters were also delved into to varying degrees, though game characters Heavy and Bomb notably left the team to join the Acorn Secret Service and later became members of Team Freedom. They are replaced by Mighty's SegaSonic the Hedgehog costar Ray the Flying Squirrel, who was apparently an orphan who met Mighty and Sonic in one of Robotnik's prisons for interfering with his plains for absolute power. Mighty was the son of a pair of thieves, and had a younger sister named Matilda from whom he was separated after he gained his super strength from the magical crime boss Mammoth Mogul. Vector the Crocodile was born on the continent of Downunda and raised alongside members of the future Freedom Fighters of that region, before relocating to Angel Island. Espio the Chameleon was revealed to be a part of the Shinobi Clan of ninja Chameleons, and was originally sent to Angel Island to spy on Knuckles in hidden for important information. Charmy Bee was revealed to be a prince (similar to his incarnation in Fleetway Publications' Sonic the Comic) who left home seeking adventure but later returned, only to be forced to leave when his home was destroyed. Since Charmy's Knuckles' Chaotix bio labeled him as sixteen while the games from Heroes on have featured him as a crazy six-year-old, Charmy experienced severe memory loss following brief imprisonment by Dr. Eggman. The team also featured two comics-exclusive members, Knuckles and Charmy's girlfriends Julie-Su and Saffron (see "Freedom Fighters" section below).
  • The Chaotix in the reboot universe are old allies of Knuckles', but their membership has been reduced to the trio of Charmy (who has now always been six), Vector, and Espio, who are a trio of detectives as seen in the games since Heroes. Mighty and Ray are also old friends of the group and of Sonic and the Kingdom of Acron, but began adventuring by themselves, eventually studying under Moss the Sloth.
• Big the Cat – Big is featured as a member of a civilization of jungle Cats living on the comics-exclusive continent of Soumerca who is ostracized by his fellows due to his simple ways and friendliness towards outsiders. Became a member of Team Freedom prior to the reboot, and subsequently joined the Knothole Freedom Fighters along with Sonic Heroes teammates Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit in the new continuity. Interestingly, Team Rose has been formed in the comics, but in its first appearances included Blaze the Cat in place of Big.
• Tikal the Echidna and Chaos – in the original continuity, Tikal and the water god Chaos were imprisoned in a Black Chaos Emerald, also known as the Ancient Onyx, rather than the Master Emerald. This is due to the Master Emerald being created during the comic's story as opposed to being a powerful gemstone that was created by a group of gods to overcounter the Chaos Emeralds. In an alternate dimension storyline, the two were later merged into a single deity known as Tikhaos; in the Worlds Collide crossover event, Chaos is merged with the vast technology from the Mega Man series' Yellow Devil to create the Chaos Devil. Both have appeared since the reboot-their origins now matching those seen in the games-helping to alleviate the effects of the planet breaking apart to keep the primordial god of known as Dark Gaia from fully awakening.
• Team Dark – A team with an Mobian, a bio-weapon with alien DNA, and a robot who work as agents of G.U.N. in both continuities.
  • Shadow the Hedgehog – in the pre-reboot continuity, rather than being discovered in a stasis capsule by Rouge as in Sonic Heroes, Shadow is saved from his apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 by an alien race and manages to return to the planet's surface. After spending some time as a wanderer, he briefly joins Dr. Eggman's army as a means to learn the secrets of his past, but his morality and innate good nature leads him to turn against the doctor and join G.U.N. in order to battle against evil and dictatorship. The reboot universe's Shadow's history matches his game counterpart's, with the events of Shadow the Hedgehog seeing him briefly working with the invading Black Arms to rule the cosmos before helping to destroy them.
  • Rouge the Bat – Rouge's criminal background is lightly touched upon and connected with other criminals such as Fiona Fox, Nic the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear, and Bean the Dynamite in the pre-reboot continuity. It is also explained that she works for G.U.N. in order to pay off her debt to society incurred by her criminal deeds. Rouge in the reboot universe's history matches the games, and she shows a level of concern for both her teammate Shadow and her worthwhile rival Knuckles.
  • E-123 Omega – A robot of Eggman's E-100 series who turned against his creator for locking him up in a base. Prior to the reboot this was after Omega gained a "soul" through an encounter with his predecessor Gamma, leading him to join Team Dark and G.U.N. After the reboot his history is largely the same as the games, though with noted changes such as his being powered by a Chaos Drive. Both versions of Omega are noted for enjoying the idea of employing his arsenal, destroying enemies of their nation, and demonstrating a sense of humor and pride for his comrades.
• Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao – Cream hails from a comics-exclusive region known as the Southern Baronies, and relocates to Sonic's home city with her mother Vanilla after their home is destroyed. She joins an incarnation of Team Rose that includes the ruler Blaze the Cat, and later became a member of the Kingdom of Acron in the original universe. The Cream in the new universe has become a junior member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, with her mother living in the city of Mobotropolis with Cheese's brother Chocola and the robot Gemerl from Sonic Advance 3.
• Blaze the Cat – in the original continuity she came to Sonic's dimension after dreaming about his role in the quest for the Sol Emeralds because Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega were already attempting to use their devine power to control their words. Only one of the Sol Emeralds is known to have ended up on Mobius, which prompted Blaze to join Team Rose alongside Amy and Cream. Later teamed up with Shadow to battle Metal Sonic, who was later rebuilt as a new foe for Blaze named Captain Metal. As in the games, her allies from her own world include Marine the Raccoon and the Koalas of the Coconut Crew.
• Silver the Hedgehog – The Silver in the original universe has him hailing from a future that had been destroyed as the result of actions taken by a member of the original Knothole Freedom Fighters. Having been mentored by a former nemesis of Sonic, and a descendant of the Knuckle's clan', he carefully made multiple trips throughout the timestream despite the dangers of time travel, most of them in an effort to stop the supposed "traitor" to the Freedom Fighters in order to save his timeline. Eventually, it was discovered that the individual in question, Sally Acorn, had committed these catastrophic acts while Roboticized by Eggman, and thus not of her own volition. The Silver in the reboot universe's history follows that of the games, though he has a friendship with the genuine scientist known as Professor Von Schlemmer.
• Light Gaia/Chip – a primordial god of light and the positive counterpart of Dark Gaia, a major supporting character from Sonic Unleashed. In the Archie comics he is known by Knuckles to be Light Gaia from the beginning, and was discovered by him and the Chaotix rather than by Sonic. Additionally, he received his nickname of "Chip" from Charmy Bee, rather than by Sonic as in the game continuity.
• Honey the Cat – a scrapped character from the original Sonic the Fighters game, later playable in the HD rerelease. Honey is featured in the comics as a fashion designer, mirroring her human counterpart from the game Fighting Vipers. Though something of a trickster, she understands that Sonic and his teammates are trying to save the world, while such individuals as Breezie the Hedgehog may have more hidden motives of her own due to her history with Eggman.

Game antagonists

• Dr. Ivo Robotnik/Eggman – was a power-hungry tyrant who fled from his own people and found sanctuary amongst Sonic's, leading him to his ambitions to conquer the entire planet and establish his Robotnik/Eggman Empire. His original incarnation Julian Kintobor, which was based on his Sonic the Hedgehog animated series character, was later killed off and replaced by an alternate incarnation in order to explain the change in design to the "Dr. Eggman" appearance that was present in the games beginning with Sonic Adventure. Following the reboot his history more matches that of his game counterpart, though with the addition of actions similar to those taken by his animated series incarnation. Additionally, he is revealed to be a former G.U.N. scientist who later betrayed the organization from within alongside his colleague Julian Snively, whose pre-reboot incarnation was Robotnik's nephew.
• Robots
  • Badniks – Robotnik's mass-produced robot armies that come in a variety of forms. In the early comics each Badnik was an individual with its own personality; later they became emotionless automatons dedicated to serving Dr. Eggman. The Genesis Wave and reboot world have featured the Badniks as they are in the games: robots powered by captive animals that are freed upon the destruction of their shells.
  • Metal Series – a group of robots based on Eggman's foes. The group includes game robots but in the pre-reboot continuity also features additional robots, including: Mecha Sally, the Roboticized and weaponized Sally Acorn; Metal Scourge, a Metal Sonic-esque robot modeled after Scourge the Hedgehog; and Metal Tails and Metal Amy, who serve as members of Team Metal.
    • Metal Sonic – Dr. Eggman's top robotic enforcer, based on Sonic himself. His history, like that of many game characters, varies between continuities.
      • In the pre-reboot continuity several Metal Sonic models existed, the first being built by the original Dr. Robotnik. This version challenged Sonic and later Knuckles and the Chaotix before gaining sentience due to its energy source, and proved superior to Sonic during a later confrontation but sacrificed himself to save Sonic and Tails. He would later return as Shard the Metal Sonic, a heroic robot and member of the Secret Freedom Fighters. His data was later used to create the Metal Sonic Troopers, a group of robots designed to protect the Freedom Fighters' home that were commandeered by A.D.A.M. Dr. Eggman later created a number of Metal Sonics, most of whom were emotionless, silent robots built to destroy Sonic. One of these later traveled to Blaze the Cat's home dimension and was destroyed there, one served as a member of Team Metal, and still another battled Shard in a battle that left them both badly damaged. In his battle with the Chaotix, Shard took on a massive form later known as Titan Metal Sonic, which Eggman would replicate on two occasions and use against Sonic.
      • Following the reboot Metal Sonic is a single robot, though strangely the version previously defeated in Blaze's world still exists and was rebuilt as Captain Metal. Metal Sonic is also known to have taken on his Neo Metal Sonic form and a monstrous form of Metal Overlord from Sonic Heroes after copying much data from Sonic and the people around him, but has returned to service as Eggman's enforcer after being rebooted. Another robot known as Mecha Sonic, seen in the game Sonic & Knuckles, is also known to have existed.
    • Metal Knuckles – Knuckles' robotic clone, who in the pre-reboot continuity was deployed alongside the Echidna Dark Egg Legion chapter during their assault on Albion. He was subsequently possessed by a robotic plant known as the Krudzu Hybrid Hydra, but later defeated by the combined efforts of Team Fighters and Shard the Metal Sonic.
    • Tails Doll – a creepy rag doll created in the image of Tails and gifted with bizarre abilities, such as creating a massive, monster-like shell for itself. Prior to the reboot it was used to infiltrate and sabotage New Mobotropolis, and accomplished its task by taking control of the nanites making up the city. Following the reboot it demonstrated the ability to absorb any inorganic matter into its shell, making it very difficult to defeat for Sonic's kind.
    • Silver Sonic – a series of robots based on several that appeared in the game series.
      • In the original continuity three Silver Sonics were seen, the first a massively powerful but slow robot that the original Robotnik created to protect the Death Egg from attacks. A second, more Sonic-like version (based on a robot that appeared in Sonic Adventure) was deployed by Dr. Eggman against Station Square but later reprogrammed to defend it, only to be destroyed by Shadow the Hedgehog. A third version was later deployed as a guard on the Death Egg Mark II, and later rebuilt and used against the Freedom Fighters.
      • The reboot continuity reintroduced the third Silver Sonic design as a commander of Robotnik's Badnik Horde, and also introduced a prototype version through flashback based on a robot from the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
  • E-100 Series – group is expanded upon to include more than just the units seen in Sonic Adventure and subsequent video games. In the pre-reboot continuity, E-102 Gamma didn't perish at the end of the events of Sonic Adventure-the events of his demise having been left out of the comics' adaptation-and instead hunted down his various "brethren" across the planet Mobius while aiding resistance forces. E-123 Omega, instead of being discovered by Rouge the Bat, is awakened from storage by Dr. Eggman and sent to destroy the renegade Gamma. The resulting confrontation resulted in Gamma's destruction and Omega gaining free will, which prompted him to join forces with Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat. Following the reboot, the history of the comic's world has played out to match the games. Comics-exclusive members of the E-100 series who have been featured in actual issues are as follows: pile-driving E-106 Eta, E-107 Theta (mentioned only in an alternate future timeline story), bird-like E-108 Iota, drill-equipped E-109 Kappa, bomb-toting E-110 Lambda, and the tiger-like E-113 Xi.
• Nack the Weasel – is depicted as a mercenary hired multiple times by Robotnik/Eggman for missions against Sonic, Knuckles, and their allies. Before the reboot, Nack also had a family introduced in the form of sister Nicolette "Nic" the Weasel, their combined names being a pun on a line from This Old Man. Briefly led a gang of fellow Weasels, whom he later poisoned to prevent them from seeking revenge on him for their capture. Post reboot he is not known to have any family.
  • Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite Duck – these characters are expanded upon to become soldiers who first appear in the employ of Dr. Eggman to attack Sonic. Bark is depicted as the super strong silent partner while Bean is an insane chatterbox capable of conjuring up bombs from thin air, and a former member of the Battlebird Armada seen in Tails Adventure. The two are also shown to have worked in the original continuity with Nack the Weasel's sister Nic and Fiona Fox, before teaming up with Nack to form a group known alternatively as Team Hooligan (following the naming convention of Sonic Heroes) or the Hooligans. In the current continuity, they found themselves on Blaze's world due to their connection to the Sol Emeralds. Despite the seen allegiance with Captain Metal, they took the chance to steal the last Sol Emerald before joining Blaze, Amy, Cream and Cheese, and Marine in defeating him. After returning to Sonic's dimension, they once again team up with Nack to obtain Chaos Emeralds for Eggman, though Bark was less than thrilled with it because he seemed to be aware of the emeralds' role in restoring the world. After losing one emerald to Knuckles and the Chaotix, and another to Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in Breezie's Chaos Emerald tourney, they later teamed up with Wendy Naugus's Witchcarters to steal the emeralds and Gaia Keys from Castle Acorn, deploying them to Metal Sonic before retreating from the Freedom Fighters.
• Battle Bird Armada – a group of avian villains first featured in the game Tails Adventure. In the comics they are a prejudicial army who believed that only birds can reside in the skies, putting them in conflict with Tails because of his ability to fly with his two tails; they also share a common origin with the Babylon Rogues, being descended from the ancient Babylonians who came to the planet Mobius on the Babylon Garden spacecraft. They were loosely aligned with the Eggman Empire, but received information so slowly that they mistook Bunnie Rabbot for a member of Eggman's cyborg army. They later attacked Sonic's home city of New Mobotropolis, which had been built atop the burial site of Babylon Garden. Prominent members included the super-strong Battle Lord, his son Speedy (who developed a rivalry with Tails), and the armada's head technician, Dr. Fukurokov. The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia also listed Bin and Pin of the game Dynamite Düx (who served as the inspiration for Bean the Dynamite) as possible members. Their role in the continuity reboot is similar from before. After the current Battle Lord was called in to help Eggman and his Egg Bosses retake Eggmanland from the Naugus Twins' occupation, he led the armada to ambush the Sky Patrol through a widespread Eggman Empire attack. They were last heard intercepting a G.U.N. garrison when Eggman was about to reawaken the Gaia Temples.
  • Babylon Rogues – like Bean the Dynamite, they are depicted as renegades from the Battlebird Armada, and their membership at one time included comics-exclusive character Predator Hawk in addition to Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross.
• Black Arms- the warlike alien race featured in the game Shadow the Hedgehog saw some slight modifications in the original continuity, the main one being that their return to the planet Mobius was delayed by a war with another alien race known as the Xorda with their own goals for the planet. The world of the reboot apparently followed the events of the game more precisely, with the evil alien leader Black Doom meeting his defeat by Shadow from ruling over the galaxy. However, another group of Black Arms was revealed to be living inside a second Black Comet. Amongst these new Black Arms, Black Death replaced Black Doom as the hive mind leader of the Black Arms, while Eclipse the Darkling was created specifically to destroy Shadow for his betrayal against the Black Arms by removing his connection to harness the power off Chaos and assuming a powerful, monstrous form in order to defeat Shadow in combat. However, Eclipse gained a desire to reclaim his wayward "brother", and proposed the creation of the Dark Arms-a mix between the Black Arms and the Wisps of Sonic Colors. The inevitable conflict aboard the New Black Comet led to the demise of Black Death and all the Black Arms except for Eclipse, while only four Dark Arms survived his crash landing on Angel Island. He then set out to strengthen his new charges-Blurk, Cyzer, Cregal, and Rhygenta-by stealing the Master Emerald, but ran into opposition from Team Dark and Knuckles the Echidna.
• Eggman Nega – is depicted in the original continuity as a villain out to conquer multiple worlds, putting him at odds with the Zone Cop Police Force. His predations are greatest on Blaze's homeworld, as his actions have resulted in the scattering of her Sol Emeralds.
  • Robot Pirates – mechanical pirates who plague Blaze's world, with one crew answering to Nega under the leadership of Captain Whisker, who is aided by super speedy robot Johnny and plagued by the duo of Mini and Mum. The post-reboot continuity introduced an additional crew led by the rebuilt Metal Sonic Captain Metal, whose minions included the bulky robot Buckle and his skinny, peg-legged best friend Swash.
• Ifrit – apparently survived the events of Sonic Rivals 2.
• The Deadly Six – are featured initially as unwilling allies of Eggman who are freed from his control by Sigma of the Mega Man X series during Worlds Unite. Initially professing loyalty to Sigma, they are outfitted with special armor that augments their abilities, and then turn their enhanced powers against their "benefactor." However, Sigma had planned on such a betrayal, and had Eggman and Dr. Albert W. Wily fit the armor with mind control devices to force the Deadly Six to serve him. As in the games, their membership consists of Zavok, Master Zik, Zeena, Zor, Zomom, and Zazz.
• Wendy Naugus – based on the villain of the game Tails' Skypatrol, here Wendy is the twin sister of Walter Naugus in the post-reboot continuity. The two join forces after he flees Mobotropolis to take over Eggmanland in order to harness the dark energy of the god known as Dark Gaia. Despite them failing and Walter escaping, Eggman decides to conscript her as his twelfth and independent Egg Boss. She would take on supernatural assignments for him and trade him mystic artifacts for his machinations.
  • Witchcarters – based on Wendy's minions from Tails' Skypatrol. They first appear in the post-reboot as weak-minded individuals mind controlled by Wendy with limited magic abilities and skilled with Extreme Gear. However, they actually despise her and have tried to rebel against her, to no avail. The membership consists of: the manic Falke Wulf, the angry Bearenger Grizzly, and the daydreamy Carrotia Rabbit.

Game organizations and ethnicity

• Civilian Allies
  • Professor Pickle – another Sonic Unleashed character who in the comics is the absent-minded colleague of Uncle Chuck.
  • Gregorios – a priest from Apotos who contacts Sonic and the Freedom Fighters to give them information regarding the Gaia Gate and the Gaia Keys, which combined will allow them to access the Gaia Temples. He also provides the team with a list of the families entrusted with safeguarding the keys.
  • Jari-Thure and Sarianna – a married couple who are Guardians to one of the Gaia Keys; they were rescued from the Artika Egg Army by Sonic and Rotor.
• Echidnas – Knuckles' people, of whom he is the most prominent member in either continuity. Both the pre- and post reboot continuities also feature Sonic Adventure's Knuckles Clan, a group of his ancestors that included Tikal. However, the race's history differs between the two:
  • In the original continuity, the Echidnas maintained a hidden island civilization known as Albion, who kept largely aloof from other Mobian and human races, with the rare exceptions of conflicts such as the Forgotten War with Mammoth Mogul's Order of Ixis. During this conflict a group of Echidnas traveled to Downunda and mutated the resident Tasmanian Devils, leading to their regression into a mostly bestial race. Another group of Echidnas later made their way there, stopping briefly on the continent of Soumerca where they clashed with the local Felidae. As a result, the group broke into three factions, with the Knuckles Clan under Pachacamac and the Nocturnus Clan under Pir'Oth Ix (the latter group hailing from Sonic Chronicles) remaining behind to continue fighting the Felidae while the rest continued on to Downunda. The Knuckles Clan was subsequently wiped out by the water god Chaos, the Nocturnus were trapped in the alternate world of the Twilight Cage, and the Downunda group eventually created Angel Island. Knuckles descended from this latter group, which saw constant conflict and division after arriving in Downunda: one group left to return to Albion and became known as the Lost Tribe, which Knuckles later helped complete their journey. The Dark Legion was also formed by a division between the Echidnas who stayed on Angel Island, and the Brotherhood of Guardians emerged to combat them. The Angel Island Echidnas not part of the Dark Legion were later relocated to another dimension to save them from a nuclear attack, and a young Knuckles was left with the impression that he was the last of his kind until they returned. The Echidnas were decimated by Dr. Eggman's assaults on their homelands, with 90% of the population perishing; the survivors, with the exception of Knuckles and a handful of others, were banished to an unknown location by Thrash the Tasmanian Devil.
  • In the new world the history of the Echidna race more closely matches that of the games, with the notable exception of the Nocturnus Clan being left unidentified (this is due to legal issues between SEGA and former writer Ken Penders). As a result, Knuckles is the last guardian to protect the Master Emerald.
• G.U.N. (Guardian Unit of Nations) – As in the games, G.U.N. is a national military organization that works for the president of Central City as a way to protect their country from terrorism and evil such as the Eggman Empire, they share a partnership with the Acon Kingdom, with the Team Dark serving as their agents. The group is led by Commander Abraham Tower, a character introduced-without being named-in the game Shadow the Hedgehog.
  • In the original continuity, its members also included Commander Hugo Brass, Paladin Team Sigma-Alpha-2, and Hope Kintobor,, Robotnik's estranged niece and the half-sister of Snively. With the exception of Hope, all of these operatives were brainwashed and became members of the Eurish chapter of the Dark Egg Legion.
  • The rebooted continuity also featured Commander Tower but added Captain Amanda Tower, Spider Troop (whose members are named for Archie Comics characters such as Archie Andrews) and the new world Snively. The new world also featured G.U.N.'s C.L.I.P. Division, whose members include Agent Madonna Garnet, a character inspired by a scrapped human friend of Sonic from the original Sonic the Hedgehog game.

Characters from animated series

Protagonists

• Knothole Freedom Fighters-Sonic's team of Freedom Fighters, introduced in the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series. The group's members are given two different histories due to the reboot that occurred following Worlds Collide:
  • Sally Acorn – a very hot-tempered Mobian Chipmunk and member of the powerful Acorn family, the royal family of the city of Mobotropolis and its people. She serves as the tactical leader of the Freedom Fighters.
    • In the original comics universe, her mother was thought lost when Sally was young, and Sally never knew that she had an older brother as well. She befriended Sonic during their early days, with their friendship later leading to a tumultuous on-again, off-again romantic relationship between him and the warrior Khan, she is also the leader of Rotor, Tails, and Antoine D'Coolette. After the original Robotnik came to power in order to control the world, Sally and her friends formed the Knothole Freedom Fighters, but following his downfall, Sally found herself shouldered with the desire to have the responsibilities of helping to rule the kingdom. An alternate dimensional counterpart of her had the potential to become a magical girl (which takes inspiration from the Sailor Moon series). Things became more complicated when her mother and brother were found to be alive, and when the new Robotnik/Dr. Eggman-appeared from an alternate timeline to cause trouble. For a time, Sally retired from her duty as a soldier and became somewhat estranged from Sonic, as her feelings for him were such that she didn't want him to fight and risk being killed by a terrorist attack. However, she eventually returned to the field and renewed her relationship with him after breaking up her relationship with Khan for the right cause. Eventually, she sacrificed herself to stop Eggman from turning his World Roboticizer on the entire planet in his desire to control the world, but was turned into the robotic slave Mecha Sally as a result, and continued in this state until the events of Worlds Collide. It's presumed this Sally was de-roboticized later as Eggman left this dimension to travel to the reboot universe This Sally was typically more of a strategist when it came to her foes, but was proficient in hand-to-hand combat.
    • The post-reboot continuity bears some similarities to the Sally from the original series history, but with no mention of her mother or any siblings. She also did not grow up with Sonic in the past, instead taking inspiration from his vigilante heroism to form the Freedom Fighters many years ago, when Sonic and Tails saved the Westside Island from the plans of Eggman. Sally and Sonic are also good friends in this world after he came to work for her of his own personal reason; in combat, she relies upon energy weapons known as Ring-Blades, which emerge from her bracelets.
  • Rotor Walrus – One of the Knothole Freedom Fighters' resident tech geniuses, along with Tails. In both continuities he hails from Mobius' northern polar regions.
    • The original universe Rotor was left behind in Knothole when Robotnik was taken over, with his father Sherman perishing and his mother Georgette returning home with his younger brother Skeeter. He eventually joined the Knothole Freedom Fighters, where his somewhat disastrous early inventing attempts earned him the nickname Boomer. As time went by, he developed a flair for creating powerful weapons for use against Eggman, but he later rejected these methods after inadvertently bringing harm to fellow Freedom Fighters. Rotor enjoyed a long-distance relationship with his family, whom he was often called upon to save when they became victims of Eggman's efforts at conquest. When Knothole was destroyed his back was badly injured, forcing him to retire from active duty for a time and join the Council of Acorn. However, he developed a nanite battlesuit which enabled him to get back into the fight, and after Ixis Naugus was made king he resigned from the council and became leader of Team Freedom. This Rotor was capable of physical combat but tended to rely more upon his inventions.
    • The new comics' alternate universe Rotor was raised by his father Tundra, who disapproved of his son's innovative inclinations, which led Rotor at an early age to leave home and move to Mobotropolis as a way to improve himself. He joined the Knothole Freedom Fighters and became both a skilled engineer and a powerful soldier under Sally's rule. His pride and joy is the Sky Patrol, a flying base designed to counter such threats as Dr. Eggman's Death Egg. This version of Rotor is heroic, but has something of an "ends justify the means" mentality, placing higher priority on actually accomplishing the Freedom Fighters' mission to keep the world safe from corruption and crime than diverting time to assist others for personal problems.
  • Antoine D'Coolette – A French Coyote with a nervous streak who in both words is a swordsman trained by the Royal Guard of the House of Acorn. Both continuities also feature his failed attempts at impressing Princess Sally for his skills, a rivalry of sorts with Sonic's heroism, and his surprisingly successful romance and marriage to teammate Bunnie Rabbot. Curiously, Antoine's surname in the animated series was Depardieu; it is unknown why it was changed in the comics.
    • The Antoine in the original universe hails from the continent of Mercia, with his parents Armand and Marie D'Coolette moving to Mobotropolis in his youth. His father insisted on him learning English while his mother taught them their ancestral French, leading to Antoine having difficulties with both languages throughout his life. His father was seemingly lost shortly before Robotnik's takeover, with his mother killed shortly thereafter. Antoine would later discover that his father had been Roboticized, and set out to restore him to normal. His success in both this and his relationship with Bunnie would be marred when he was abducted and replaced with his counterpart from Moebius, who broke up with Bunnie and poisoned both Armand and King Acorn as part of a plot to become the ruler of the planet. Antoine was eventually rescued and reunited with Bunnie, and the pair were soon married. However, tragedy later struck when Antoine, attempting to defend members of the royal family, was caught in a point-blank range explosion with a Metal Sonic and left in a coma, from which he never recovered prior to Worlds Collide.
    • The Antoine in the reboot universe has him coming to Mobotropolis as part of an exchange program, and fleeing to Knothole when Eggman came to power. His early fear of losing those he cared about led him to dedicate himself to protecting Sally, whom he had a great amount of respect for and an attraction to (even though she did not share that kind of feelings for him). Antoine soon found new inspiration in Bunnie, whose struggles to adjust to her body as a cyborg helped him realize he could overcome his own difficulties. Though Antoine had a somewhat rivalry by the arrival of Sonic when he came to Sally years ago, he eventually developed a form of respect of him due to his actions as a person, though they maintain a teasing relationship. Antoine's parents later died under unknown circumstances, but Antoine managed to find continued happiness through his marriage to Bunnie and helps those who need him.
  • Bunnie Rabbot-D'Coolette – a cyborg Rabbit with mechanical legs, a robotic left arm, and a Southern accent. In both worlds she falls in love with and marries Antoine, and relies upon her cybernetic abilities in battle. Through various upgrades these include extending limbs, super strength, flight, and the ability to produce energy shields or long-blasts that can level a city.
    • The Bunnie in the original universe grew up in a region known as the Southern Baronies under the authority of the House of Acorn. Her parents were killed during the Great War between the Kingdom of Acorn and the Overland, and she was raised by her uncle Beauregard Rabbot and her aunt Lulumae. She left home after a falling out with her uncle, who claimed that her parents had betrayed the Kingdom and sided with the Overland. Captured by Robotnik's forces, she was in the process of being Roboticized when the Freedom Fighters rescued her. Embracing her new cyborg nature and its potential to help her fight Robotnik's tyranny, Bunnie began going by a mispronounced version of her surname (regular pronunciation rah-boh, new pronunciation rah-bot) and joined the heroes of Mobius. She later underwent an upgrade to her cybernetics when her body began rejecting her Roboticized parts, and with Antoine's support chose to retain her cyborg nature despite the fact that she might never be fully organic again. The romance between the pair continued for some time, and was rekindled after it was discovered that a seemingly distant Antoine had been replaced by his evil counterpart from another dimension. The pair eventually married, and an accident involving Ixis Naugus' magic later restored Bunnie to her fully flesh-and-blood form. However, Bunnie found herself weakened on the battlefield, and after Antoine was left comatose she left to find a means of contributing.
    • The Bunnie in the reboot universe grew up in Mobotropolis, and was partially Roboticized by Charles Hedgehog after being gravely injured during Robotnik's takeover. She struggled for some years with the change, but the support of her teammates and Antoine's love helped her to overcome her challenges. As in the old reality she opted for an upgrade that made it unlikely she would ever be fully organic again, but married Antoine and found fulfillment as a Freedom Fighter.
  • Nicole – an artificial intelligence computer program contained in a handheld who eventually gained sentience and began projecting the holographic form of a female Lynx. Of all the Knothole Freedom Fighters, Nicole's origin story varies most between the two continuities:
    • The Nicole in the original universe comes from an alternate future where the Freedom Fighters had succeeded in defeating Dr. Robotnik, and was created by a future Rotor and sent back in time to aid the Freedom Fighters. As such, she contained information about the possible future that she was forbidden to share. As time went by Nicole gained more and more personality, eventually designing a holographic body for herself to enable her to experience "life" as her friends did. For a time she was limited in its use, but after helping create the city of New Mobotropolis she gained full use of this form. Nicole usually helped the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix through her ability to interface with computer systems, and only rare occasions allowed her to actively assist them in battle.
    • The Nicole from the new universe is a creation of Dr. Ellidy, a Lynx scientist who created her during a failed attempt to save his young daughter Nikki. Nicole initially existed as an emotionless program, but developed emotions and later manifested her Lynx form. In this reality her handheld form could be used to project a solid hologram by inserting a Power Ring, and the insertion of a Red Star Ring enabled her to become the incredibly powerful Overclocked Nicole. Her hologram form could project limited energy barriers, while in the digital world her abilities are greatly enhanced.
• Sir Charles the Hedgehog (a.k.a Uncle Chuck) and Muttski – Sonic's uncle and dog, the latter of whom only appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog pilot episode. The Chuck's in both universes are scientists who invented the Roboticizer, a machine that turns living beings into robots, which Robotnik/Eggman stole from him to use as a tool of conquest.
  • Uncle Chuck in the original universe's invension was used on his brother Jules and his sister-in-law Bernadette, Sonic's parents. Due to Robotnik's sabotage, they both lost their free will, and Charles was left to raise Sonic alone, only to see his invention and the kingdom fall into Robotnik's hands. He and Muttski were later Roboticized after aiding the resistance, but their free wills were later restored, allowing them to fight Robotnik's regime from within. The other Robians were similarly freed over time, including Jules and Bernie, but when Chuck and the others were restored to flesh-and-blood form by the alien race known as the Bem, Jules remained stuck in Robian form. Chuck continued to search for a means of curing his brother while aiding the Freedom Fighters, remaining one of Sonic's closest allies despite some tension caused by Chuck's withholding the truth of the continued existence of Sonic's parents from his nephew. Muttski also remained Sonic's firm companion, and the two later were able to communicate due to a translation device Sonic received during a year spent in space.
  • Professor Charles the Hedgehog (a.k.a Uncle Chuck) in the reboot universe is a scientist for the Kingdom of Acorn, with no mention of this universe's Sonic's parents. The Muttski in the new universe is a human, rather than an animal and is Chuck's assistant. Charles is a middle-aged hedgehog who bares many physical similarities to Sonic, such as blue fur (although Chuck's is a few shades lighter than Sonic's). Charles is a well known genius who has always used his research and inventions for the good of the world. He is also a friend and colleague of famed Spagonia University academic, Professor Pickle. It's currently unclear whether or not Chuck is actually related to Sonic in the Post-Super Genesis Wave timeline. According to Ian Flynn, SEGA has mandated that the official video game characters not have any familial relations in the comic (this rule was first enforced in the original continuity, and Ian got around it by having previously established relations not being directly stated as such). On the other hand, Sonic continues to refer to him as "Uncle Chuck", though this could simply be as a sign of affection due to how close they are.
• Dulcy the Dragon – a young female Dragon who befriended the Freedom Fighters.
  • The Dulcy in the original universe is part of a colony of Dragons who escaped Roboticization and established a hidden civilization. However, after the loss of her mother Sabina, Dulcy went to the surface and ended up involved in the fight against Robotnik, for which she was banished from her fellow Dragons. This later led her into a relationship with an abusive Oriental Dragon named Zan, who was later defeated by the Freedom Fighters and G.U.N. Dulcy was eventually welcomed back among other Dragons after thwarting an attack by Robotnik's forces.
  • Dulcy in the reboot universe is a dragon of the Eastern Forest Clan and the leader of the Shijin Warriors.
• Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters-though introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, only this group's leader, Lupe, was introduced by name.
  • The comic's Endgame storyline featured a traitorous member of the Wolf Pack named Drago, who sold out the Freedom Fighters to Dr. Robotnik. He would go on to become a member of the villainous Destructix team, before pledging his allegiance to Dr. Eggman as part of the Dark Egg Legion. Other members of the early Wolf Pack included Leeta and Lyco, a pair of twins distinguished from each other by their green (Leeta) and blue (Lyco) clothing; Reynard and Diablo, two older Wolves who often bicker with each other; and Canus, the team's largest member and chef. Later the group would be joined by Aerial and Athena, two Overlander (human variant) orphaned girls and Lupe's husband and children: Lobo, Marcos, and Maria. Eventually the Wolf Pack resettled on the fictional continent of Soumerca as part of the Wolf Pack Nation. This would lead to occasional conflict with the Felidae, a neighboring race of barbaric jungle Cats led by Queen Hathor, and with a Dark Egg Legion chapter led by Drago and the disgraced Felidae warrior Razorklaw.
  • The reboot universe's Lupe has no history with the people her original series universe's counterpart does.
• Rosie Woodchuck – Sally's childhood nanny who appeared solely in the animated series two-part episode "Blast to the Past." Unlike the animated series, Rosie escaped Robotnik's takeover of Mobotropolis and fled to Knothole, where she lived safely in both continuities. The cartoon saw her Roboticized while the Freedom Fighters were growing up until a time-traveling Sally acted to prevent this occurrence. Both realities and the comics also featured her as a friend of Sonic's Uncle Chuck.
  • The Rosie in the original universe is the cousin of Sally's teacher Julayla, who instructed the princess in virtually every subject before passing away in Sally's teenage years. Rosie cared for the young Freedom Fighters and Sally alike, but as they grew up took new charges into her care such as Sasha the Cat, Snaggle the Tiger, and Rory the Bear.
  • The Rosie in the reboot universe is Sally's nanny and teacher, helping her to recognize the need for heart as well as knowledge when it came to ruling over a kingdom. She also cared for other refugees in Knothole, notably helping Bunnie Rabbot in her efforts to relearn how to function with robotic limbs.
• Professor Von Schlemmer – a comics-version of a character who originally appeared in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and is exclusive to the reboot continuity. He is a scientist who appears to be a red-haired human with greenish-gray skin and circuitry running under some of his skin who speaks with a German accent. Living in the same future from which Silver the Hedgehog originates, he discovers the Genesis Portals and asks Silver to travel back in time and close them using his psychic powers. The two later teamed up to deal with the continuing threat posed by the portals with some help from Gold the Tenrec.

Antagonists

• Snively – a diminutive Overlander/human character from the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series who appears as a villain in the comics as well. He is a technological genius rivaling Dr. Robotnik, with whom his relationship varies depending between the original and reboot continuities:
  • The Snively in the original universe was born as Colin Kintobor Jr.- and is Dr. Robotnik's nephew and the son of Robotnik's hated brother Colin. Rejected by his own father, Snively chose to join his uncle in the city of Mobotropolis and helped him formulate his coup against King Acorn. He served as Robotnik's underling for some time, though his mistreatment led to a hatred of his uncle and a number of attempts at betrayal, culminating in his sabotage of the original Robotnik's master plan, which resulted in Robotnik's demise. For a time Snively operated independently, first attempting to claim Robotnik's empire for himself and then ending up as the unlikely leader of the Destructix mercenary team. However, he would soon be recruited by Dr. Eggman, an alternate version of his uncle from another dimension, who briefly won his favor by helping him take revenge on his father. However, the old cycle of mistreatment and treachery soon began again, going so far as Snively briefly joining the Freedom Fighters. Eventually, he found a partner in his efforts and in romance: Regina Ferrum, the Iron Queen, whom he appointed as Empress of the Eggman Empire following his uncle's descent into temporary lunacy. Following Eggman's return to his usual level of sanity, Snively continued to endure his mistreatment until he decided he'd taken enough, and left Eggman with an eye at reuniting with his half-sister Hope and the imprisoned Regina. Hope rejected his offer, and Eggman defeated him and Regina, imprisoning him while sending an android duplicate to serve Regina in the Dark Egg Legion.
  • The Snively in the reboot universe is named Julian Snively and was a former associate of Dr. Eggman's, who discovered the doctor's plans while they were both working for G.U.N. and joined forces with him under the pretense of spying on him. Eggman bribed him by making him his chief mechanic and he partook in his plans to usurp the Kingdom of Acorn. With help from the royal wizard Walter Naugus, both Eggman and Snively formulated a plan to fool King Acorn into thinking that United Federation was planning to invade his kingdom. Snively aided Eggman in strip-mining South Island in their effort to obtain the Chaos Emeralds. King Acorn eventually caught on to this scam, but was banished to the Special Zone along with Naugus before he could act. Following Eggman's betrayal of King Acorn and Naugus in Westside Island, Snively took part in the doctor's first operations on Angel Island, but later returned to G.U.N. Early in the reboot it became known that he had a plot in motion involving a network of satellites, Space Colony ARK, and the Master Emerald, which he hoped to secure when Team Dark traveled to Angel Island in search of Eclipse the Darkling. His hopes were dashed when Knuckles shattered the Emerald to keep it out of enemy hands, and Knuckles recognized him as a former invader.
• Naugus – an evil wizard (carried over from the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon) who formerly served Sally's father as royal wizard. A hideous, misshapen being with a variety of magical abilities, Naugus-like many of the characters from the cartoon-has different characteristics in the comic's two different continuities:
  • The Nagus in the original comics universe's Ixis Naugus' monstrous appearance was influenced by his origin as three separate beings: Agunus Rhino, Nusgau Bat, and Suguna Lobster, all of them mages trained in the black arts of the evil Order of Ixis following that Order's destruction in the Forgotten Wars. Each had mastered a classical element-Earth, Wind, and Water-and instructed the others in its nuances as well before turning their attention to the one element still outside their control: Fire. The competition between the three resulted in all of them being drawn into the sun, which fused the trio into Naugus. Unaware of his past, this new being pledged his services to the House of Acorn, and eventually sought to claim their kingdom for himself. After helping instigate a war between the Kingdom of Acorn and the neighboring Overlanders-an offshoot of the human race-Naugus entered the mystical dimension known as the Zone of Silence to await the outcome. While there he won the allegiance of Feist, Warlord Kodos, Uma Arachnis, and the banished King Acorn, with Feist being overcome by his magic while the other three relied on it to survive in the harsh environment of the zone. He also gained an apprentice in the form of Geoffrey St. John, who believed Naugus to be a benevolent figure and the rightful king due to King Acorn pledging his loyalty to him. Thanks to Geoffrey's efforts, Naugus escaped the Zone of Silence following Robotnik's defeat, only to be banished there again by the Overlander Nate Morgan after fighting a vicious battle with Sonic and Tails for control of Mobius' magical Power Rings. He briefly escaped again, and upon a third escape joined forces with Mammoth Mogul, the ancient founder of the Order of Ixis. However, a brief time spent as a mindless minion due to Mogul using him as a shield from Eggman's machinations saw the end of their association after Geoffrey St. John restored his mind. Naugus soon managed to lay claim the throne he believed to be rightfully his, but another attack by Eggman resulted in the reawakening of his ancient personas and the affliction of his body by hideous mutations. Opposed by his old enemies, the citizens he attempted to rule over, and a new team of Secret Freedom Fighters, Naugus was on his last legs-possessing Geoffrey's body in a desperate attempt to stay alive-when the second Genesis Wave transported Eggman to another dimension. It's unknown what's happening to them in this universe.
  • Walter Naugus is the name of his reboot universe's counterpart, and he and King Acorn had both been banished into the Special Zone by Dr. Eggman after he began his rise to power. This was Naugus' just desserts, as he had plotted with Eggman and Snively to overthrow the king. The two eventually escaped, and Naugus sought to claim the kingdom for himself, only to lose his powers as a result of Eggman's Genesis Wave. Seeking to restore them, he stole technology from Eggman and imprisoned the king in order to force hologram Freedom Fighter NICOLE to create a means by which he could restore his magic. However, she ended up restoring his memories of the original reality instead, which caused him to flee Mobotropolis in terror, allowing Sonic and Tails to rescue NICOLE and the king. He later joins up with his twin sister Wendy to take over Eggmanland, using several Master Emerald shards to regain his magic. After the plan failed, he gets away and begins to rebuild the Master Emerald supposedly. He later runs into trouble with Knuckles and Amy and Team Dark, responding by compromising Omega and coaxing Knuckles into giving him the Master Emerald shards by pretending to another echidna named Nixus. After some difficulty, he reconstructed the Master Emerald, but his powers were still limited, and he was defeated by Team Dark while Knuckles and Amy replugged the Master Emerald back into Angel Island, thus saving it from crashing onto the restoring planet. Naugus was incarcerated by G.U.N. In this reality his grotesque form, not recognizable as any one species, has apparently been identified as a Troll.
• The Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad (6S) – a group originating from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, consisting of robotic chicken Scratch, tread and drill-equipped automaton Grounder, and the mechanical monkey Coconuts. The trio were introduced as early foes of Sonic during the comic's early comedic period, but were dropped for an extended period as the storylines grew more serious. However, they were later reintroduced alongside other "Badniks"-Dr. Robotnik's older style robots-in the employ of villain Mammoth Mogul. Following the reboot, the trio were established as a team yet again, but ended up in the employ of Breezie the Hedgehog (another character adapted from Adventures). Breezie and the 6S previously lured Sonic into a trap, and ended up running an entertainment network spanning all of Mobius thanks in part to the sponsorship of Neo Metal Sonic during the events of Sonic Heroes.
• Breezie the Hedgehog – is a female hedgehog and businesswoman, who is the head of her own media empire. Breezie first met Sonic the Hedgehog some years back when Sonic "rescued" her from the Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad, after which he temporarily became her traveling companion. However, it would prove to be a trap laid by Dr. Eggman, with Breezie eventually revealing that she had been informing him of Sonic's whereabouts throughout his adventures during his confrontation with the prototype Silver Sonic. When confronted about her choice and how it endangered Sonic's friend Tails, Breezie responded that her own future would be secured by Eggman, from whom she later severed ties. Breezie eventually became owner of Breeze Media, the largest entertainment network in the world, and established herself in Casino Park.

Comics-exclusive heroes

Freedom Fighters

• Before the Reboot Only
  • Arctic Freedom Fighters – a group of Freedom Fighters based on animals from colder climates: Guntiver the Arctic Wolf, Flip the Penguin, Erma the Ermine, Sealia the Seal, and Augustus the Polar Bear. After making their debut helping the Knothole Freedom Fighters do battle with a plot by Dr. Robotnik to freeze them, the group made several more appearances in their homeland, usually helping the Freedom Fighters in their efforts to rescue Rotor the Walrus' people from Robotnik's predations. In later stories they battled the villainous Orca Dark Egg Legion led by Akhlut, and were the last Archie-exclusive Freedom Fighters seen prior to the reboot.
  • Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters – a Freedom Fighter team composed entirely of marine animals who aided Tails during his solo miniseries. Consisting of Ray the Manta, Bivalve the Clam, Bottlenose the Dolphin, P.B. Jellyfish, and Fluke the Blue Whale, this group opposed Robotnik's undersea enforcer Octobot, the aquatic gangster Eel Capone, and a group of villainous robots led by an early Sonic-based robot, Pseudo-Sonic. Unlike many of the characters, the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters are simply talking animals rather than Anthropomorphic people. In the reboot universe their counterparts were born as Anthropomorphic people rather than animals.
  • Downunda Freedom Fighters – Freedom Fighters based in Downunda, a fictional continent based on Australia. Its initial membership included Walt Wallaby, Barby Koala, Duck "Bill" Platypus, Guru Emu, and Wombat Stu, who joined forces to counter Robotnik's robot underling Crocbot. After a number of clashes with Crocbot-including their capture and Bill's temporary brainwashing-alongside the Knothole Freedom Fighters, the group lost Wombat Stu to the Royal Secret Service during an adventure involving the mythical Bunyip. Stu later returned after Bill apparently defected and took over a Platypus chapter of the Dark Egg Legion, and the group was joined temporarily by Thrash the Tasmanian Devil. It would later be discovered that Bill was in fact a double agent sabotaging the Legion from the inside, and that he and Barby shared a common history with Vector the Crocodile. Thrash later left the group in order to pursue a vendetta against the Echidna people of Mobius.
  • Royal Secret Service – a group of elite operatives formed by King Maximillian Acorn and initially tasked with locating his missing wife and son. Led by Geoffrey St. John (a Skunk), the group consisted of Hershey the Cat, Wombat Stu of the Downunda Freedom Fighters, Knuckles Chaotix robots Heavy & Bomb, and Espio the Chameleon's mentor Valdez. This team went on a number of missions together, temporarily replacing the Freedom Fighters. However, Heavy and Bomb were later reprogrammed by Dr. Eggman to attack the royal family, and after being destroyed were rebuilt and sent after them again before being rebuilt as heroes by Rotor the Walrus. The group lost Valdez to Dr. Eggman, who subjected him to Roboticization and reprogrammed him to attack his fellow Chameleons, leading to a fatal showdown with his old pupil Espio. Stu later left the team to rejoin his former group of Freedom Fighters, while Geoffrey and Hershey fell in love and eventually married. However, Hershey later disappeared while on a deep cover mission and was presumed dead, leading Geoffrey to rejoin his former mentor, the dark wizard Ixis Naugus.
  • Mercia Freedom Fighters – a group of Freedom Fighters based in the fictional country of Mercia and inspired by Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Led by Rob O'The Hedge, the deposed king of Mercia, the group were Roboticized by the High Sheriff, who was later revealed to be Freedom Fighter Antoine's Roboticized father. Rob later met and married an Echidna woman named Mari-An (a nod to Maid Marian) and the pair had a son named Jon (inspired by Little John). Other members included Friar Buck (a Deer based on Friar Tuck), Munch the Rat, and Alan Quail (named for Alan A'Dale). Later, Rob and his family would depart (a change forced by the Archie v. Ken Penders legal dispute) and newcomers Bow Sparrow and Thorn the Lop would join the fight against the Dark Egg Legion led by Mordred Hood.
  • Substitute Freedom Fighters – a group of Freedom Fighters formed as a precaution against the Knothole Freedom Fighters being incapacitated. Its membership included four recruits trained by Princess Sally-Arlo Armadillo, Penelope Platypus, Hamlin Pig, and Dylan Porcupine-and two friends made by Sonic during his adventures-Larry Lynx and Cyril the Eagle. However, the team saw little action after its formation, and later disbanded with Arlo and Cyril retiring due to injuries and age, respectively. Larry would become a member of the Secret Freedom Fighters, while the remaining three members of the team would become part of the Council of Acorn, an elected body that would rule over New Mobotropolis alongside Kings Elias Acorn and Ixis Naugus. The Council also included as members Sonic's Uncle Chuck, Tails' mother Rosemary, Rotor (who resigned shortly after Naugus became king), and Isabella Mongoose, mother of singing sensation and former would-be Freedom Fighter Mina Mongoose.
  • Julie-Su the Echidna and Saffron Bee – two members of the Chaotix team featured exclusively in the Archie Comics, and girlfriends of Knuckles and Charmy Bee respectively. Julie-Su was born to Dark Legion Grandmaster Luger and his second wife, and was thus hated by her half-siblings Kragok and Lien-Da. After being entrusted to an elderly couple by her father, Julie-Su's memories of her family were erased by her siblings, who also murdered her parents. She later met Knuckles, whom she recognized as an ideal mate through an Echidna sixth sense known as the Soultouch, and over time fell in love with him and became one of his most trusted allies. Saffron lived in Charmy's homeland of Golden Hive Colony, which Charmy ran away from in his youth. After he returned their to accept his duties as heir to the throne, he and Saffron began dating and were later engaged; however, their home was attacked by Dr. Eggman and their people either lost or scattered. Saffron and Charmy subsequently joined up with the Chaotix, working along with them until both Julie-Su and Saffron were exiled to an unknown location by Thrash the Tasmanian Devil. As Eggman traveled to another dimension to conquer the world there, they are presumed to have been rescued and reunited with their loved ones off screen. Their removal is due to both characters being created by Ken Penders.
  • Monkey Khan – a cyborg Monkey, real name Ken Khan, whose body was modified by the original Dr. Robotnik in an effort to create obedient super soldiers. Gifted with electricity based powers (with both these and his design being inspired by Journey to the West), he initially clashed with Sonic before becoming the defender of the Dragon Kingdom, where many believed him to be a prophesied king. However, he ran afoul of the local ninja clans and the Iron King and Queen, the latter of whom could manipulate his cyborg body with her magic. Despite this, he continued to fight for the kingdom, and even followed the Iron Dominion to Sonic's homeland when they briefly took control of the Eggman Empire. He briefly became romantically involved with Sally, but she chose to break off their relationship; they remained friends afterwards.
  • Original Freedom Fighters – the first group of Freedom Fighters to fight against Dr. Robotnik, led by retired officer Colonel Tig Stripe (a White tiger). With additional members Sir Peckers (a Woodpecker), Spot Long the Giraffe, MP Bull Bones (a Bulldog), and Trey Scales the Cobra, the Original Freedom Fighters launched many a daring raid against Robotnik. However, Trey later betrayed the group to Robotnik, only to share their fate of Roboticization and exile to an alternate dimension. Colonel Stripe left behind a widow, and he and his teammates left behind a legacy that would be taken up by future generations, particularly Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn's team.
  • Secret Freedom Fighters – a group of Freedom Fighters formed by Elias Acorn and Harvey Who, an Owl who was the former head of King Acorn's Intelligence Office. Its membership included Elias, veteran Freedom Fighters Larry Lynx, Leeta and Lyco the Wolves, and two rather unlikely additions: Silver the Hedgehog and Shard the Metal Sonic. Silver had traveled back in time to undo the horrific future from which he hailed, and hoped that Harvey Who would be able to help him identify the individual responsible. Shard had started out as the original Dr. Robotnik's Metal Sonic, but grew into a self-aware being wishing for a life of his own. The group helped defend New Mobotropolis from an invasion by Dr. Eggman before setting out to thwart the designs of Ixis Naugus and his apprentice Geoffrey St. John. However, half the members were created by Ken Penders and thus became unusable, and dimension focused on now only has a Silver known to exist.
• After the Reboot Only
  • Avalon Freedom Fighters – a group of Freedom Fighters led by the new reality's Bow Sparrow and opposed to Mordred Hood's Egg Army Unit.
  • Shamar Freedom Fighters – a group of Freedom Fighters who protect the region of Shamar from the game Sonic Unleashed. However, they have been revealed to be part of an elaborate alliance with the local Egg Army Unit, led by their ally Nephthys: the Eggman Empire would possess a foothold in the region, but it never gains or loses any new territory. Extendedly, they see Sonic as a threat to their plan.

Relatives

• House of Acorn – the Squirrel/Chipmunk royal family of Knothole and the region surrounding Mobotropolis, which is home to Sonic and his team of Freedom Fighters. Princess Sally Acorn and her father were carry-overs from the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, while all other members of the family were exclusive to the comics.
  • Prior to the reboot, this included an extensive line of kings who founded the kingdom and carried it through a number of centuries up until the time of Sally's father, King Maximilian Acorn. The comic also introduced Sally's mother Alicia Acorn and older brother Elias Acorn, both of whom were thought to have perished during a war between the kingdom and Dr. Robotnik's people. Upon being discovered alive, Elias was prepared to assume the throne as firstborn son, but later rejected the responsibility as he felt unqualified. He later married a woman named Megan and became stepfather to her daughter Alexis, and eventually claimed the throne after his father became unable to perform his duties due to a poisoning plot. Elias would continue in this office for some time until he reluctantly abdicated the throne to Ixis Naugus, but prepared to retake it with the aid of the Secret Freedom Fighters.
  • The reboot Sally's father (named King Nigel Acorn) is established as king, and Nicole's name is known to have been taken from a queen of the line; all the previous Archie exclusive characters are presumed to have been removed due to legal issues but still exist as the reboot is actually an alternate timeline to the original main comics starring an alternate universe Sonic the Hedgehog who has latent memories of his counterparts history because of time distortion rather than a cosmic rewrite.
• Brotherhood of Guardians – Knuckles the Echidna's ancestors and protectors of the Echidna people of Angel Island. Consisting of seventeen generations-including Knuckles himself-this group existed in opposition to the evil Dark Legion, the two groups being descended from a pair of Echidna brothers named Edmund and Dimitri. The most prominent Guardians in the series during Knuckles' lifetime were Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk, Athair (who was adapted into a story arc for Sonic Underground, making him the only comics character to appear in other Sonic media), Sabre, and Locke (Knuckles' father). By the end of their time in the series-being cut out to a legal dispute between Archie Comics and their creator Ken Penders-Athair had left the Brotherhood and joined a group known as the Neo Walkers, Locke had died saving Knuckles from possession by an evil spirit, and the remaining four had been exiled to another dimension. Aside from the previous Guardians, Knuckles' family also consisted of his mother Lara-Le, who divorced his father Locke over differences of opinion on how Knuckles should be raised. She and her second husband, Wynmacher, later had a son named Kneecaps. Following the reboot Knuckles does not have any known relatives, and is the last living Echidna.
• Prower Family – Tails' family consists of his parents Amadeus and Rosemary Prower, a soldier and writer who had Tails shortly before Robotnik's takeover as well as his wizardly uncle Merlin Prower. Amadeus was Roboticized by Robotnik, but he and Rosemary would be taken across the galaxy by an alien race known as the Bem, who created a machine that could reverse the process. This machine would later be used to restore all living Roboticized Mobians but Jules Hedgehog back to normal, but it would be some time before Amadeus and Rosemary would be rescued from the Bem homeworld by their brother/brother-in-law and son. Merlin, an acolyte of the Ancient Walkers, spent many years in exile, though he assisted Knuckles and Tails anonymously before returning to reunite with his nephew. With Merlin's help, Tails and his friends traveled to the Bem homeworld and were able to bring Amadeus and Rosemary home. Shortly after their return the two instigated an attempted coup, believing the monarchy to be an outdated institution that had failed to deal with threats to their country; however, Sally was able to convince them and her brother Elias to instead work out a compromise. This resulted in the formation of the Council of Acorn, which Rosemary became a member of while Amadeus continued to serve as a soldier. Shortly after this, Merlin-having been chosen as one of the Neo Walkers-left to continue his studies of the power of Chaos, with Knuckles' great-grandfather Athair serving as his mentor. In the alternate timeline parallel to his original Comics counterpart, Tails has no known relatives, in keeping with his game counterpart.

Other protagonists

• Pre-Reboot
  • Ancient and Neo Walkers – two sets of powerful beings versed in manipulation of the Chaos Force, the mystical energy that fuels the Chaos Emeralds and Rings of Sonic's world. The Ancient Walkers were a trio of anthropomorphic dinosaurs who protected Mobius from various threats down through the ages. After selecting Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to fulfill a grand destiny, they were mortally wounded by the villainous Mammoth Mogul, and chose the Neo Walkers-their pupil Aurora, Knuckles' great-grandfather Athair, and Tails' uncle Merlin Prower-to replace them. Shortly thereafter, the Ancient Walkers perished, leaving the Neo Walkers to carry on their legacy.
  • Zone Cops – an interdimensional police force from a reality that is on a 90 degree turn from all others. The most prominent Zone Cop is Zonic, who happens to be Sonic's counterpart from the No Zone. The Zone Cops are responsible for maintaining order throughout the multiverse, and often call upon Sonic to help them deal with crises in other realities. They also imprison various criminals/villains whose activities threaten worlds other than their own. All No Zone natives have the names of their Mobius counterparts but with a Z at the beginning, such as Zector the Crocodile, Zespio the Chameleon, Warden Zobotnik, Major Znively, and Zouge the Bat.
  • Nate Morgan – an Overlander scientist responsible (in the original comic continuity) for inventing the magic rings that dot the planet Mobius. His initial experiments were sabotaged by his student, Dr. Robotnik, and he was forced into exile, eventually taking up residence in the Kingdom of Acorn where he taught Sonic's uncle Chuck and others. Eventually choosing exile again after being framed for an enemy attack, he eventually settled at the south pole with his new friend Eddy the Yeti, who he saved from near death and upgraded with cybernetics. After helping Sonic and Tails win a battle with his old foe Ixis Naugus that cost Eddy his life, Nate returned to Mobotropolis, and lived there until he was Roboticized by Dr. Eggman after remaining behind to insure that the Freedom Fighters escaped; he subsequently perished when the city of Robotropolis was destroyed.
  • Mina the Mongoose and the Forget-Me-Knots – a super speedy Mongoose singer and her traveling band. Mina was born to Arthur and Isabella Mongoose, her father dying during her youth. The villain Mammoth Mogul granted her super-speed and erased her memory of their encounter Dr. Robotnik's reign of terror, and after meeting Sonic Mina fell madly in love with him. However, his affections belonged to Princess Sally, and Mina eventually turned her attention towards Ash Mongoose. Ash and Sonic clashed for a time, as Ash believed that Mina cared more about Sonic than him, but their relationship was eventually cemented. The Forget-Me-Knots also included Sharps the Chicken, Max the Monkey, and Mach the Rabbit, who were scrapped characters from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Following Mammoth Mogul taking control of her, Mighty the Armadillo, and Tails to force Sonic to help him escape prison, Mina and her band turned their music towards taking action against NICOLE, whom they had come to fear due to her falling under the control of the Iron Queen. However, they later realized that NICOLE was an innocent party and supported the effort to have her brought back into the city after she was exiled.
  • Tommy Turtle – a friend of Sonic's and one of the most-disliked characters exclusive to the comics. Tommy was depicted as having met Sonic in a scenario obviously based on Aesop's fable The Tortoise and the Hare, with Sonic replacing the hare and being defeated in a race by Tommy after falling asleep due to overconfidence. Sonic later learned that Tommy was being held captive the Destructix and attempted to free him, only for him to seemingly perish. He was later discovered to be alive and rescued, and became a friend and ally to the Freedom Fighters. Unfortunately, after his shell was fused with nanites created by Dr. Robotnik, his body was taken over by the computer virus A.D.A.M. and used in a scheme to claim all the Chaos Emeralds in the universe. Tommy managed to regain enough control to open himself to a barrage of fire from Robotnik's forces, destroying A.D.A.M. and himself; the hospital of the city of New Mobotropolis was later named in his honor.
• Post-Reboot
  • Meropis – an underwater city introduced in the post-reboot continuity, ruled by King Puff the Pufferfish and Queen Angelica the Angler, who have a daughter, Princess Undina, who has been traveling the world before running into the Setting Dawn pirates. Other notable residents of the city include the Meropis City Guard, whose officers include Captain Striker the Mantis Shrimp and a Dolphin named Echo (a likely nod to the Ecco the Dolphin game series). The city is protected by an energy shield maintained by a mystical shrine near the city that is home to a number of the mystical Chao who inhabit Sonic's world, which is maintained by the ancient Chao Aquarius, a priestess named Coral the Beta, her apprentice Pearly the Manta, and their protector Razor the Shark, a defector of the Setting Dawn and his pet Chao Crusher.
  • Relic the Pika and Fixit – an archaeologist and her robotic assistant who took up residence on Angel Island following the events of Sonic Adventure in the reboot continuity. Relic is fascinated by ancient culture, especially that of the lost Echidnas, but is no expert in either ancient or modern technology. Fixit resembles the Gizoids of the game series, but moves about by hovering-as he lacks legs-and comes equipped with a storage module on his back. Both remained on Angel Island by Knuckles' allowance, and various characters have suggested or suspected that Knuckles and Relic are a couple, though both deny it. Relic and Fixit kept watch over Angel Island while Knuckles left to search for Light Gaia during the Shattered World Crisis, aided Team Dark when they came in search of Eclipse the Darkling, and remained on the island after Knuckles was forced to shatter the Master Emerald to keep it out of unwanted hands.
  • Moss the Sloth – a tutor to Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel in the post-reboot continuity. After his Werehog form began to take control of him, Sonic turned to Moss for help in learning to control it. Moss helped Sonic to realize that the Werehog was a part of himself that he had to accept rather than try to command. He also agreed with Sonic's assessment of Mighty's ability to be a leader, and suggested that the Armadillo might form a Freedom Fighter group composed of other former students of his.
  • Dr. Ellidy – a Lynx scientist responsible for creating Nicole during an attempt to save the life of his ailing daughter Nikki. A colleague of Chuck's, Ellidy attempted to digitize Nikki's mind into a handheld computer, but was unable to do so. However, his efforts resulted in the creation of an advanced A.I., whom he later gifted to Princess Sally. Ellidy subsequently took up residence on Isolated Island from Knuckles' Chaotix, where he remained a reclusive hermit for some time with only occasional contact with the outside world. He would alter be forced to confront his evolved creation and the painful memory of his daughter's loss when the Freedom Fighters came to help him deal with a villainous virus known as Phage.
  • Gold the Tenrec – a young Mobian who is native to Silver's future in the post-reboot continuity, and who becomes involved in Silver and Professor Von Schlemmer's efforts to close the Genesis Portals.

Comics-exclusive antagonists

• Pre-Reboot
  • Enerjak – an ancient and evil Echidna entity first introduced in the form of Knuckles' great-uncle Dimitri, who became Enerjak after absorbing a massive amount of Chaos energy. After being buried for centuries, Enerjak emerged and attempted to take over Mobius, but was thwarted by Knuckles and the Brotherhood of Guardians. He was later brought back to Mobius and took over the Dark Legion, a group formed and led by his descendants, only to have his powers drained by Mammoth Mogul. Later, Knuckles himself would be possessed by the spirit of Enerjak, going on a brief rampage before being freed by the power of Super Sonic and the sacrifice of his father Locke. The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, a companion to the comic series, would reveal that the original Enerjak had been the husband of Neo Walker Aurora who was corrupted by the power he gained using Chaos energy and scattered throughout the Chaos Force. He would later begin his trend of assuming control of other Echidnas by possessing an unknown Echidna during an ancient war. A dark possible future version of Mobius also introduced another Enerjak-possessed Knuckles who took over most of the planet, only to have his powers-and the Enerjak mantle-stolen by his daughter Jani-Ca.
  • Mammoth Mogul – an ancient woolly mammoth who appears to have been inspired by such comic book villains as Vandal Savage and the Kingpin. Mogul was a primitive hunter who had a Chaos Emerald (which at one point in the series existed in numbers far greater than seven) embedded in his chest that granted him immortality and mystical abilities. He briefly conquered part of Mobius but was overthrown, and formed the evil Order of Ixis after learning to harness his magical energies. This group attempted to conquer the planet as well only to be defeated in a war with an ancient group of Echidnas, leaving only a handful of survivors besides Mogul; eventually this would produce Ixis Naugus. Mogul fell into obscurity over the centuries, all the while planning for future conquests. Towards the present day he began making plans, including imbuing his Fearsome Foursome and Mighty the Armadillo with enhanced physical abilities. He attempted to take over the planet by stealing the powers of the mighty Enerjak using the magical Sword of Acorns, but was defeated by the combined efforts of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, the Ancient Walkers, and the Brotherhood of Guardians. This led to him being imprisoned in the newly created Master Emerald, from which he reached out and granted super-speed to a young girl named Mina Mongoose after determining that she would become someone whom Sonic would care about. He eventually escaped due to Dr. Eggman's machinations, and captured Tails to drain his power and launch an attack that fatally wounded the Ancient Walkers. A confrontation between him and Knuckles led to Knuckles' death and Mogul's theft of his Chaos powers, which he began using to destroy the multiverse before being thwarted by Tails, who reversed the damage he had done. He later escaped and reclaimed the Sword of Acorns and its magical twin, the Crown of Acorns, as well as being joined by Ixis Naugus. Again defeated and trapped, he was stripped of his Chaos Emerald and captured by the Freedom Fighters before managing to claim one of the newly created seven Chaos Emeralds by using mind control on Mighty, Mina, and Tails and forcing Sonic to give him the Emerald as ransom. His task accomplished, Mogul decided that his multiple defeats at Sonic's hands left him only one option: to wait for the hero to die so he could take over. In Silver the Hedgehog's time, however, an aged Mammoth Mogul appeared to lament his former evil path, and mentored the young time traveler in his efforts to undo their horrific future.
  • Crocbot and Octobot – two robotic villains, in the shape of a Mobian crocodile and octopus, respectively, who served as foes to Tails. Octobot first encountered the young Fox during an early solo adventure of Tails', and later menaced him again only to be defeated by the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters. His future efforts to conquer the seas for Robotnik proved ineffective, and he was later ousted by the undersea gangster Eel Capone. Crocbot was Robotnik's chief underling on the continent of Downunda, and a long-time opponent of the Downunda Freedom Fighters. Crocbot secretly planned to betray Robotnik and claim Mobius for himself, but met with crushing defeat when Tails joined the Downunda Freedom Fighters in battling him. Surviving, he established a prison and captured his former enemies, but re-mets with defeat when they joined forces with other rebels, this time Antoine D'Coolette and Bunnie Rabbot. Broken and defeated, Crocbot nevertheless continued to pose a threat, notably brainwashing Bill Platypus of the Downunda Freedom Fighters into aiding in his reconstruction. This plan was thwarted, but the Platypi who followed the brainwashed Bill later formed a Dark Egg Legion chapter, and Crocbot's remains were later recovered by Eggman and combined with Octobot to create the loyal Croctobot. This misshapen machine was deployed against Sonic the Hedgehog, but he found the fused villains amusing and later destroyed them by teaming up with fellow Hedgehogs Shadow and Scourge.
  • Feist – a giant panda-like titan who inhabited the same dimension to which King Maximillian Acorn was banished by Dr. Robotnik. Along with Kodos Lion, Uma Arachnis, and King Acorn himself, he was forced into the service of Ixis Naugus. However, after Naugus left the realm, the Chaos Emeralds collected from across space by A.D.A.M. were sent here, and Feist fused them into seven gems, using their power to reshape the dimension into the Special Zone. He granted one of these gems to Sonic and Tails due to their role in granting him his new powers, but forced them and all other future visitors to his realm to pass obstacle courses in order to obtain further gems.
  • E.V.E., A.D.A.M., and Mecha – a trio of robotic "children" created by Dr. Robotnik and Dr. Eggman. E.V.E., the Exceptionally Versatile Evolvanoid, was created using DNA from Sonic and Robotnik in the hopes of creating a being with his capacity for evil and Sonic's ingenuity. She was gifted with the ability to learn from her defeats and evolve through various forms, eventually becoming a large tentacled being with a crystalline brain. However, she eventually surpassed Robotnik's programming and betrayed him, and after talking with Sonic decided to seek a new destiny amongst the stars. However, she found herself feared, and set out on a quest to "liberate" other artificial intelligences by absorbing them into herself. After destroying a number of worlds, she was confronted by a space-traveling Sonic, who convinced her of the error of her ways, leading to her self-destruction. A.D.A.M., the Autonomous Digital Assault Microbe, and Mecha, also known as M, were created by Dr. Eggman during Sonic's time in space: A.D.A.M. was a computer virus who gained sentience, while Mecha was a robot designed to look like human female in the prime of her life. A.D.A.M. developed a complex about earning his "father's" love, which led him to orchestrate various schemes under the alias of Anonymous. He eventually framed Mecha for his crimes, and Eggman ordered her to self-destruct. However, Eggman later learned the truth and attempted to delete A.D.A.M., only for him to escape by taking over a swarm of nanites fused with Sonic's friend Tommy the Turtle. This led to an attempt to collect all the Chaos Emeralds from across reality, which were later fused into seven Chaos Emeralds; A.D.A.M. perished after Tommy managed to reclaim control of his body and exposed himself to an attack by Eggman's Egg Fleet.
  • Fiona Fox – a female Fox who was captured by Dr. Robotnik in her youth and shared her captivity with Sonic, Mighty, and Ray the Flying Squirrel. Fiona was used as the basis for an Auto-Automaton robot, and regrettably left behind when Sonic and Mighty made their escape. Eventually breaking out of the prison herself, she became a hardened mercenary alongside the likes of Nic the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear, and Bean the Dynamite. She eventually crossed paths Mighty and Sonic again, and ended up joining the Knothole Freedom Fighters upon recognizing Sonic's heroism and that he had not intended to leave her behind. Unfortunately, incidents of her criminal past-including dealings with Rouge the Bat-continued to plague her, and she found herself attracted to Sonic's evil doppelgänger Scourge, who was impersonating Sonic at the time. Fiona attempted for a time to establish a relationship with the real Sonic-much to the dismay of Tails, who had fallen in love with her robotic clone-but found herself drawn to the darker and more dangerous Scourge. She eventually defected from the Freedom Fighters, joining the Destructix alongside Scourge and later taking over the Suppression Squad alongside. After being betrayed by Scourge's original teammates, Fiona recruited the leaderless Destructix, and later brought Scourge back into the group after helping him escape from prison.
  • Dr. Finitevus – an Echidna scientist who gained corrupted Chaos powers after attempting to remove Knuckles' Chaos powers. As a result, he took on a drastically altered appearance: white furred with yellow eyes and black sclera. Driven to purify the "corrupt" Mobius, he joined the Dark Legion in order to learn more about Chaos power by studying the Brotherhood of Guardians, Moritiori Rex, and Dimitri. He set out to create a new Enerjak, and examined Lien-Da and former Constable Remington as candidates before settling on Knuckles, and recruited such villains as Scourge the Hedgehog, Fiona Fox, and the Destructix to aid him in his plans. After tricking Knuckles' father Locke into entrusting him with the protection of Angel Island and the Master Emerald, he managed to brainwash Knuckles and turn him into a new Enerjak. After Knuckles was returned to normal, Finitevus forged an alliance with the Downunda Dark Egg Legion in an effort to re-seize the Master Emerald, but was defeated by the combined efforts of the Chaotix and the Downunda Freedom Fighters. Finitevus also created the magically charged Warp Rings that became a means of rapid travel for many of the characters, which inadvertently allowed Thrash the Devil to exact his revenge on the Echidnas.
  • Thrash the Devil – the last sentient Tasmanian Devil remaining on the planet Mobius after his species was altered in ancient times by a group of renegade Echidnas, resulting in the other Tasmanians becoming savage Devil Dogs (resembling Taz from Looney Tunes). Having grown up with stories of the crimes committed against his people, Thrash set out to exact revenge, though he briefly fought alongside the Downunda Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. He eventually obtained a Warp Ring and learned how to super charge it, and attacked the Master Emerald Shrine to do so. As a result, he was able to send Julie-Su, Saffron, and almost every Echidna remaining on Mobius to an unknown location. He and his Tasmanian Devil Dog pack engaged Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, and Amy in battle, and he and Knuckles ended up battling across Mobius before Thrash managed to escape.
• Post Reboot Only
  • Phage – a malevolent, amorphous being with a feline face known to inhabit the Digital World. A computer virus created by Dr. Eggman, she infected various systems and grew more powerful and intelligent with each new conquest. Eventually she would attack the systems of Nicole's creator Dr. Ellidy in an attempt to seize his research and a Chaos Emerald that had ended up near his home, leading to a confrontation between her and the Freedom Fighters. Her attempt to redeem herself in her master's eyes was thwarted by Nicole, who underwent a transformation and gained the power to exile Phage from Ellidy's systems. She was later confronted by Eggman for her failures, but was given a second chance by playing a role in turning the tables on the Freedom Fighters before they could restore the world, by distracting NICOLE so her allies could steal the Chaos Emeralds and Gaia Keys and kidnap Chip.

Teams

• Before and After the Reboot
  • Army Robots – both Dr. Robotnik and Dr. Eggman employ extensive armies of mass-produced robotic soldiers in the comics. The first of these were known as the SWATbots (taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon), and came in a number of variants. While they towered over Sonic and most of his allies and possessed weaponry, these SWATbots were usually defeated easily, and in earlier stories often served in comedy relief roles. Robotnik also employed camouflaged Combots, more intelligent units with greater armament and capabilities. Eggman utilized more menacing SWATbots, some known as Shadowbots due to their black armor, as well as employing the Egg Pawns of the video games. These were later replaced by the Egg SWATS, robots that combined elements from the SWATbots and Egg Pawns. The Egg SWATs would survive following the events of Worlds Collide, with the Egg Pawns also serving a lesser role as Eggman's forces.
  • Roboticized Masters – villains exclusive to the Worlds Collide and Worlds Unite story arcs. The Roboticized Masters are allies of Sonic's subjected to the Roboticization process to take on Robot Master-like qualities such as special weapons. These units are designated Tails Man, Knuckles Man, Rose Woman, Shadow Man (the subject of some jokes playing on the existence of a Robot Master named Shadow Man), Silver Man, Blaze Woman, Vector Man (whose name coincidentally is a near match for another Sega video game, Vectorman), Charmy Man, Espio Man, and Rouge Woman. It was eventually discovered that the combined energies of Sonic's Spin-Dash attack and Mega Man's Mega-Buster could return these beings to their organic selves, allowing Mega Man to claim their special weapons. After being forced to work together by the evil Sigma, Wily and Eggman orchestrated the capture of Sonic and Mega Man and their transformation into two more master, Sonic Man and M'egga Man, both armed with a wide array of weapons that made them more than a match for the defenders their worlds.
• Before the Reboot
  • Auto-Automatons/Infiltrators – robots designed to look like living beings and utilized by both Dr. Robotnik and Dr. Eggman. Originally intended to infiltrate the Freedom Fighters, Robotnik's early models proved to have a fatal flaw: exposure to water caused them to rust rapidly and become useless. Despite this, Robotnik nearly ensnared Tails with one modeled after a young Fiona Fox, and later replaced King Acorn with one in a scheme that nearly proved the undoing of the Freedom Fighters. After Robotnik's demise, Eggman employed improved models that suffered from other flaws that limited their use.
  • Anti-Freedom Fighters/Suppression Squad – counterparts of the Knothole Freedom Fighters from an alternate dimension known as Anti-Mobius or Moebius. Whereas the Freedom Fighters stood to restore order and freedom, the Anti-Freedom Fighters wrought anarchy upon their home, including deposing King Maxx Acorn. This group appeared to impersonate and pester the Freedom Fighters on several occasions after Sonic first visited their home dimension, and Antoine's counterpart impersonated him for an extended period of time that led to the poisoning of King Acorn and the poisoning and death of Antoine's father Armand. After absorbing energy from the Master Emerald and gaining a new appearance, the former Evil Sonic rechristened himself Scourge the Hedgehog and joined the evil Destructix. Having previously dated several of the women from his world, he found a permanent love interest in Mobius Prime's Fiona Fox, whose unfortunate life experiences led her to embrace the dark path offered by Scourge. After serving in the Destructix under Dr. Finitevus, the pair returned to Moebius, where Scourge made himself king and forced his former teammates to undergo drastic changes. Now known as the Suppression Squad, their membership included Princess Alicia (Anti-Sally), Miles (Anti-Tails), Boomer (Anti-Rotor), and Patch (Anti-Antoine). Former members of the group also included Jeffrey St. Croix, who later ended up in the No Zone Jail with Maxx, and Buns Rabbot, Bunnie Rabbot's fully organic counterpart who dated Scourge before developing a disease that led to her expulsion from the group. Enemies of the Suppression Squad included O'Nux, the Anti-Knuckles and his Orderix associates; Dr. Kintobor, a kindly version of Dr. Robotnik; and Rosy the Rascal, a deranged counterpart to Amy Rose. The Suppression Squad later teamed up with the Freedom Fighters to defeat Scourge, putting an end to his and Fiona's membership in the team.
  • Destructix – a group of criminals whose membership has fluctuated over the years. The core members of the group were formerly Mammoth Mogul's Fearsome Foursome: Sergeant Simian, Lightning Lynx, Predator Hawk, and Flying Frog. All four were outcasts of one type or another: Simian had embraced warlike ways before the rest of his people; Lightning Lynx had been banished from his ninja clan for loving its leader and losing to her in battle; Predator Hawk had deserted the Battle Bird Armada (of Tails Adventure) with the Babylon Rogues (of Sonic Riders) after attacking one of its higher-ranking members; and Flying Frog was exiled from Mercia for his sadistic habits. After being captured in service to Mogul, the Foursome were sent to prison, and upon breaking out were joined by a number of other criminals: Wolf Pack traitor Drago, Intelligence double agent Sleuth Dawg the Hound Dog (name undoubtedly inspired by Snoop Dogg), bounty hunter Nack the Weasel, and two former minions of Ixis Naugus: former Kingdom of Acorn warlord Kodos the Lion and Spider ninja Uma Arachnis. For a time these criminals served under Robotnik's nephew Snively, but after his apparent demise Kodos, Uma, and Nack left the group, with Kodos and Uma later perishing. The remaining half dozen eventually took the name Destructix, and remained cohesive as a team for some time, undergoing Roboticization together, serving Mammoth Mogul alongside Ixis Naugus and Uma's children after being returned to normal, and then being employed by the Echidna villain Dr. Finitevus. Under this last employer, the Destructix were briefly joined by Scourge the Hedgehog and Fiona Fox, who later left the group after their employment with Finitevus was terminated. Drago subsequently left the group to join up with Dr. Eggman, while Lightning briefly left to rejoin his ninja clan and a retiring Sleuth passed leadership to a returning Fiona. The team worked together with several Freedom Fighters to retrieve Lightning, and the five criminals then broke into Zone Jail to rescue Scourge before traveling to Moebius.
  • Sand-Blasters – a renegade group of Freedom Fighters who initially worshiped Sonic as a hero but decided to hold him hostage in their city. He subsequently escaped, leaving them exposed to an attacking horde of Roboticized Mobians, whom they eventually captured and attempted to unleash on Sonic's teammate Bunnie Rabbot. Later the Roboticized Mobians were returned to normal, and the Sand-Blasters briefly took them into their midst, but proved suspicious of their new neighbors. This led them to drive the former robots out of their city, where they ended up becoming the Great Desert Dark Egg Legion. The Sand-Blasters are led by Jack Rabbit, and their membership consists of Shift the Wolf, Jolt the Roadrunner, Tex the Lizard, and Avery the Bear. The members of the Sand-Blasters are inspired to various degrees by Looney Tunes: Jack resembles Bugs Bunny, Shift and Jolt are similar to Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner, and the remaining two are named for Tex Avery.

Organizations

• Before the Reboot
  • Dark Legion/Dark Egg Legion – initially a society of cyborg Echidnas who broke away from the rest of the Angel Island population under the leadership of Menniker, who was the son of third Enerjak Dimitri. Dedicated to their people's advanced technology, the Legion went so far as to replace parts of their bodies with cybernetics, and declared war on their fellow Echidnas. They were banished to an alternate dimension by the Guardian Steppenwolf, and found that time flowed more slowly for them than for their brethren. Menniker was succeeded by his son Moritori Rex, who later enacted a diabolical scheme in which he replaced and impersonated Guardian Tobor for decades. His son Luger proved less hostile, and was eventually murdered by his children Kragok and Lien-Da, who also cast out and erased the memories of their sister Julie-Su. Kragok also had a son named Remington, whose mother fled the Legion out of fear for his life; Remington would become a Constable among the Echidnas and even oppose Kragok and the rest of the Legion, though a period of enforced amnesia would allow Dr. Finitevus to remake him in Kragok's image until he was returned to normal. When Dimitri returned-first as Enerjak and then after his powers were drained-he took over the Legion from Kragok, who eventually died in battle. Moritori rejoined the Legion after his deception was discovered, but was banished back to the Legion's dimension of exile by Dr. Finitevus along with the surviving members of the Brotherhood of Guardians. Lien-Da later took over the Legion due to Dimitri's failing health, and fought a civil war with Remington until the Legion was stripped of its cybernetics and resources by the fourth Enerjak. The group-again under Dimitri's leadership-later joined the Eggman Empire as a chapter of the Dark Egg Legion, with the rest of the organization adopting its Grandmaster and Kommissar offices and in many cases the black robes of its members (under his command, they were given new cybernetics, which would detonate if they disobeyed him). Lien-Da would later become Grandmaster after betraying Dimitri under the leadership of the Iron Dominion, and continued to serve Dr. Eggman until almost all the Echidnas on Mobius were exiled by Thrash the Tasmanian Devil. Other chapters of the Dark Egg Legion are as follows:
    • Downunda D.E.L. – a group consisting of Platypi and led by Bill Platypus, who was secretly a double agent for the Downunda Freedom Fighters, which served as the primary opposition to this group.
    • Soumerca D.E.L. – a group led by Drago Wolf and Razorklaw, a disgraced warrior of the Felidae culture composed of Big cats native to Soumerca. Opposed by the Wolf Pack Nation and the Felidae; this group's membership included missing/exiled members from both societies.
    • Orca D.E.L. – a group of cyborg Orcas led by Akhlut-named for the Akhlut of Inuit mythology-out to dominate the Northern Tundra and enslave the Walrus Herd; opposed by the Arctic Freedom Fighters.
    • Great Desert D.E.L. – a group of mixed race Mobians who joined the Eggman Empire out of desperation due to being persecuted by the Sand-Blasters, a renegade group of Freedom Fighters. Its membership includes Baron Beauregard Rabbot, Bunnie's estranged Rabbit uncle, as leader and Matilda the Armadillo, Mighty's long-lost sister, as one of his loyal underlings.
    • Mercia D.E.L. – mixed Mobians led by Mordred Hood, a Cobra with hypnotic powers who fights against the Mercia Freedom Fighters and who is named for Mordred of the King Arthur mythos.
    • Nerb D.E.L. – a chapter consisting of Nerbs, a subterranean race exclusive to the comics. Its leader was the Foreman, a Nerb inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon's Dr. Robotnik, and it was opposed by the Nerb Freedom Fighters, Nerb parodies of the Knothole Freedom Fighters.
    • Efrika D.E.L. – a chapter consisting of the Bear Pack, who opposed Knuckles on one adventure, and the Nasty Hyenas (a group introduced in the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series). Led by Diesel the Bear and equipped with hover-motorcycles.
    • Eurish D.E.L. – a chapter consisting of humans, primarily brainwashed agents of G.U.N. (Guardian Units of the Nation, an organization from the SEGA games). Formerly led by brainwashed G.U.N. Commander Hugo Brass, leadership later taken over by Regina Ferrum, the former Iron Queen.
  • Dingo Regime – the Dingos were ancestral enemies to the Echidnas of Angel Island, launching multiple attacks against them over time. In the present day they came under the leadership of General Helmut von Stryker, who led a takeover attempt of the Echidnas' capital city that was thwarted by Knuckles. His son Kage later struck an alliance with Dr. Eggman, who supplied the Dingos with weaponry that allowed them to take over the island and oppress the Echidnas in Nazi-esque fashion. However, the fourth Enerjak-a possessed Knuckles-later stripped the Dingos of their weaponry and sent most of them to join the exiled Helmut in Angel Island's desert region, while Kage and the Dingo city were atomized by his powers. The most notable Dingo besides the Strykers was Harry, a former soldier who became a cab driver after the Dingos took up residence in the Echidna city prior to Kage's alliance with Eggman. He was later forced back into the army under Kage but acted as a double agent, but was severely punished for his disloyalty to Kage.
  • Iron Dominion – a group that attempted to take over the Dragon Kingdom and thus opposed Monkey Khan. It was led by the Iron Queen Regina Ferrum, a human woman, and the Iron King Jun Kun, a male Ox. Regina commanded magical energies that allowed her to control technology, while the Iron King possessed powers similar to those of Marvel Comics' Juggernaut. The two were sponsored by Dr. Robotnik as his regional enforcers in the Dragon Kingdom and later served the same function under Dr. Eggman, despite an early defeat at the hands of Khan, Sonic, and Tails. They eventually succeeded in coercing the four ninja clans of the region into serving as their army, and added the Echidna Dark Egg Legion to their force after taking over for a temporarily deranged Dr. Eggman. After a number of encounters, they managed to claim the city of New Mobotropolis through Reinga temporarily taking control of NICOLE and the nanites that composed the city. However, Khan and his allies convinced the clans to break their ties with the Iron King and Queen, and the Legion turned against them and eventually returned to Eggman's service. Regina was imprisoned in the Dragon Kingdom and eventually freed by her boyfriend, Eggman's nephew Snively, and instated as Grandmaster of the Eurish Dark Egg Legion. The Iron King was defeated by the heroes using the magical Fan of Fen Xing, which had been employed by Sonic and Tails previously to defeat him. The four clans were as follows:
    • Yagyu Clan – a group of ninja Bat thieves who preyed upon the inhabitants of the Dragon Kingdom. The Iron King murdered their leader, the Bride of Rich Nights, but allowed the Iron Queen to claim credit for it so that the Yagyu would pledge their allegiance to her, an act that led the other clans to do the same. However, one of the Yagyu Lords was convinced to abandon the clan system for the ancient ways of Yagyu as assassins, and the Yagyu severed their ties with the Iron Dominion.
    • Gossamer Clan – a group of spider ninjas whose membership included Uma Arachnis. Led by the Bride of Endless Reach, they took guidance from the ancient Web of Fate, a web that supposedly held all the possible paths that the future might take. Khan and the Freedom Fighters managed to convince this clan to break ties with the Iron Dominion and pursue a course of peace after informing them of the fate of Uma and her children, the Arachne, all of whom perished in their efforts to save Mobius from a greater evil.
    • Raiju Clan – Lynx ninjas whose membership previously included Lightning Lynx, who was exiled for loving the Bride of Conquering Storm who led the clan in the present day. The Bride eventually invited Lightning back after learning that he had been living in the territory of their new Freedom Fighter enemies, but banished him yet again after he lost a battle to Sonic the Hedgehog that would determine whether or not the Raiju remained aligned with the Iron Dominion. In their quest for power, however, the Raiju joined Eggman's Dark Egg Legion, though they were slow to submit to the process of receiving cyborg implants.
    • Shinobi Clan – a group of Chameleons whose membership included Espio, his mentor Valdez, and childhood friend Liza. Several of the Shinobi relocated to Angel Island at an unknown point in time, with one of them always being assigned to monitor the current Echidna Guardian. Espio was the most recent Chameleon to undertake this task, but violated his orders to help Knuckles fight Dr. Robotnik and other threats. The Shinobi had long maintained a policy of trying to police the Dragon Kingdom and the rest of the planet by acquiring information, but gave up peace-keeping efforts due to diminished numbers. The group was led by Espio's mother, the Bride of Constant Vigil, who joined the clan with the Iron Dominion but later broke their alliance after the other clans had been convinced to do likewise. She also allowed Espio, who had rejoined the clan, to return to the Chaotix and act as he saw fit.
• After the Reboot
  • Egg Army – after the Worlds Collide special event, the Dark Egg Legion was replaced by the Egg Army, a group of cyborgs who wore uniforms inspired by Eggman's attire rather than black cloaks. Their cybernetics would, instead of detonating, paralyze their entire body if they were to step out of line.
    • Artika Egg Army Unit – a unit based in the northern pole region of Mobius, led by Tundra the Walrus, estranged father of Freedom Fighter Rotor the Walrus. He was unsupportive of Rotor's mechanical ambitions. When the Eggman Empire invaded, Tundra was allowed to lead because he surrendered.
    • Efrika Egg Army Unit – a group replacing Diesel's Bear and Hyena Legion, led by Axel the Water Buffalo and utilizing Extreme Gear and land vehicles instead of the air motorcycles of the Legion. They were considered a threat before and after the emergence of the Eggman Empire.
    • Eurish Egg Army Unit – a revamped version of the Mercia Dark Egg Legion, relocated to the new region of Eurish but still led by Mordred Hood.
    • Metropolis Egg Army Unit – a unit based in the Metropolis Zone featured from the game Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Unlike other units, this one doesn't have an Egg Boss, as their assignment is only for R&D, led by a Foreman instead.
    • Midesta Egg Army Unit – the Egg Army Unit led by female Egg Boss Nephthys the Egyptian Vulture, named for the Nephthys of Egyptian mythology. She formed an alliance with the Shamar Freedom Fighters, to keep the Eggman Empire and its local resistance in a stalemate.
    • Northamer Egg Army Unit – a unit led by a pair of pronghorn sisters named Cassia and Clove, after the plant products cassia and clove. Unlike other members of the Eggman Empire, they joined out of desperation, as Clove intended for Eggman to cure Cassia, who was diagnosed with an unknown disease; the latter was fitted with cybernetics, but she has to take a medicine to keep herself from deteriorating further (Eggman revealed that he doesn't know what is ailing her, and that he will continue with the rehabilitation as long as the sisters stay loyal to him.)
    • Northern Oceans Egg Army Unit – Akhlut's Orca Legion relocated to Mobius' oceans, also known as the Great Blue Realm. He possesses an old hatred against rival and fellow Egg Boss Tundra the Walrus; they end up reviving their rivalry when they were assigned on a mission together.
    • Soumerca Egg Army Unit – a force replacing Drago and Razorklaw's Legion, led by Thunderbolt the Chinchilla. Thunderbolt is incredibly loyal to Eggman, and she expects the same from everyone else.
    • Southern Oceans Egg Army Unit – a unit of pirates led by Abyss the Squid. She joined on only to get resources necessary to plunder the oceans. Like Axel and his gang, Abyss and her pirates were menaces even before Eggman surfaced.
    • Tralius Egg Army Unit – a new unit stationed in Mobius' Australia, led by Maw the Thylacine He is always looking for ways to perfect himself through robotics and such, and supports Eggman's bid for world domination, believing that it is all for the "greater good".
    • Yurashia Egg Army Unit – a revamped version of the Raiju Clan, relocated in the region of Chun-nan but still led by Conquering Storm, who is no longer referred to as a "Bride".
  • Onyx City Council – a body of five hooded and masked beings, one of them being formerly Gold the Tenrec, who rule over Onyx City in Silver's time. They enforce a dystopian society using their Civil Protection Robots, and later launch a scheme involving the Genesis Portals.
  • Pirates of the Setting Dawn – a small group of pirates sailing the oceans searching for treasure and glory. The current lineup consists of Captain Shellbreaker the Otter, den father Mr. Bristles the Yeti Crab, Opal the Jellyfish, Blade the Shark, and Dive the Lemming. Razor, Blade's younger brother, was a previous member before being kicked out, and Abyss took a chance to join the Eggman Empire with other members. When Princess Undina was kidnapped for a ransom, she ended up staying because she was able to read seacharts that supposedly led to a bounty of treasure. Her disappearance led to Razor and Crusher heading out to search for her, and Meropis lieutenant Echo the Dolphin hired the Chaotix Detective Agency to help out.

Series and reissues

Development

Shortly after Archie Comics acquired the rights to produce the comic series, editor Daryl Edelman approached writer Michael Gallagher (whom he worked with at the time on Betty and Veronica) via a phone call on July 23, 1992 to write stories for the comic. Edelman believed that Gallagher would be well-suited writing for the comic for several reasons, one of them being his work over at Marvel Comics. After briefly discussing the series' concept and that the four-issue miniseries would have three self-contained stories in each issue, Gallagher was told by Edelman to "establish the characters quickly through strong exposition" using "visuals from the game" (which would be faxed to him) and needed the first script in a week. Gallagher then took the job and went to work after receiving a full page of "Sonic Line Art" (showing the character in various poses), four pages of model sheets showing illustrations of the characters, and three pages of character descriptions, locations, and the series' back story. He later stated that the characters eventually became "very familiar to him and began to suggest their own stories". After the miniseries, he ceased being the only writer of the issues, though he continued to contribute throughout its run.^[9]

Reception

The comic has been received positively. Destructoid praised the comic series, especially the earlier issues during the 1990s, for adding more backstory and character interaction than was presented in the Sonic video games for the Sega Genesis.^[10]

See also

• Knuckles the Echidna (comics)
• Sonic the Comic
• Sonic Universe
• Sonic X (comics)
• Archie Comics
• Mega Man (Archie Comics)
• Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante

Notes

References

External links

• Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog homepage
• SEGA's official page for the Sonic comics
• Interview: Daryl Edelman On His Comic Book Journeys & More! Interview with Editor for Sonic the Hedgehog comic book, Daryl Edelman, by Nicholas Yanes