List of Sonic the Hedgehog (video game series) characters
The Sonic the Hedgehog universes and continuities have several minor characters, many of whom are anthropomorphic animals. Minor characters are arranged here according to the continuity in which they appear.
For characters that appear exclusively in the SatAM and Archie comics continuities, see the seperate article Minor characters in Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie).
Characters from the games and multiple continuities
Bark the Polarbear
Bark the Polarbear is a yellow polar bear who appears in the games Sonic Championship and Fighters Megamix alongside Bean the Dynamite. He lacks speed and has a low IQ, but he has incredible strength
Bean the Dynamite
Bean the Dynamite is a green duck in the game Sonic the Fighters, also known in Japan and Europe as Sonic Championship.
Bean likes to throw bombs at his enemies, and seems to have an endless supply of them (it is believed that he has the ability to instantly manifest any type of explosives). The character was modeled after Bin and Pin, two characters in the arcade game Dynamite Dux.
He has also starred in Fighters Megamix, along with Bark the Polarbear.
Big the Cat
Big the Cat is a simple-minded, 18-year-old purple tabby cat who lives in the jungle surrounding the Mystic Ruins. He seems to be a fisher for a living, and he lives with his friend/pet, Froggy (Kaeru-Kun), a frog. In Sonic Adventure, Froggy was possessed by Chaos' tail. The possessed frog sprouted a tail of his own, stole Big's lucky charm, a Chaos Emerald, and ran away. Big chased after him and eventually wound up on the Egg Carrier. Dr. Eggman gave Froggy to Chaos, both for Chaos' tail and the Chaos Emerald, but Big, with Sonic's help, rescued Froggy. Big took his friend and found the remnants of Tails' crash-landing of the Tornado II, and managed to fly it home to the jungle.
Big the Cat's gameplay mode is considered by many to be one of the strangest in the game. Simply put, he's the only Sonic character before or since that has had fishing levels.
He is seen in brief cameos unrelated to the story in Sonic Adventure 2 (the cameos seem to have been taken out in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, the Nintendo GameCube remake {though a few involving pressing "A" repeatedly during certain scenes are still there}). He is the power member of Team Rose in Sonic Heroes, in which he is able to use an umbrella to float around. He also appears as a somewhat minor character in the Sonic X television series.
Big is voiced in the english-speaking version of the games by Jon St. John - the voice of Duke Nukem.
Blaze the Cat
Blaze the Cat is a 14-year-old queen female cat who will make her debut in the upcoming Nintendo DS video game, Sonic Rush. She's from an alternate dimension, where, similar to Knuckles in Sonic's dimension, she is the defender of the Sol Emeralds, and is now trying to save her kingdom. She is incredibly shy when meeting strangers, though this does not prevent her from doing her job. Her dimension and Sonic's are supposedly in flux with each other, allowing the characters to travel from one to the other. Blaze is the only revealed playable character aside from Sonic himself.
Emerl
Emerl is a robot or cyborg [he says he is a living being] said to be a destructive weapon called the Gizoid, as discovered by Professor Gerald Robotnik. His grandson Ivo took him in the hopes of using him to rule the world, but tosses him aside when he finds no use for him. Sonic the Hedgehog finds him on a beach and he and his friends teach him how to fight. As the player plays the Story Mode, the player reveals abilities for Emerl to use. These abilities are the various moves known by Sonic and the other characters in the game. Also, in the original japanese version of Sonic Battle, Emerl is known as 'The Ultimate Being', as opposed to Shadow being 'The Ultimate Lifeform'. At the end of the game, Emerl's ancient Gizoid powers are awakened, causing him to go crazy and try to destroy the world. He is defeated by Sonic in an attempt to stop him, but self-destructed in the process.
In Sonic X, Emerl (Emell in the English dub) is a robot who learns abilities by copying those Sonic and co. use. Emerl later goes insane after absorbing the red Chaos Emerald, and is brought down by Cream the Rabbit.
In Sonic Advance 3, Eggman finds pieces of Emerl, and creates the ultimate fighting robot, Gemerl from those pieces. In the end, he is re-programmed by Tails to be like the old Emerl again.
Gemerl
Gemerl is a character in Sonic Advance 3. Built by Dr. Eggman, he has a very similar appearance to Emerl, beacuase he was rebuilt from Emerl's ruined parts. He is black and yellow with red and blue eyes. You fight him on various occasions, and he also co-pilots Eggman's mechas in boss stages. In the final battle, Gemerl uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into a powerful sphere shaped machine. He then betrays Eggman and flies off. Sonic then becomes Super Sonic and teams up with Eggman to defeat Gemerl. At the end of the game, Cream finds his broken body on the beach, and takes him to Tails. Tails then re-programs him to be just like Emerl again.
Metal Knuckles
Just as Metal Sonic is the robot counterpart to Sonic, Metal Knuckles is the robot doppelgänger of Knuckles. He has Knuckles' strength, with even greater speed. In terms of videogames, Metal Knuckles appears only in Sonic R, but a counterpart of the same name made various appearances in Sonic the Comic in the UK.
Another robotic Knuckles copy called Mecha Knuckles made an appearance in Sonic Advance, in which he took on the role as a boss for Angel Island Zone. He had virtually every move Knuckles had, plus the ability to shoot rockets. He had to be hit 6 times, the first 3 only remove his armor.
In the Archie Comics series the Freedom Fighters were once forced to roboticize Knuckles to combat a roboticized version of Sonic, and Knuckles was dubbed "Mecha Knuckles".
Omochao
Omochao is a robotic Chao in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. He is used as the 'help' feature during the games. Omochao is featured in the games Sonic Adventure 2 for Sega Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for Nintendo GameCube, and Sonic Advance 3 (you pick him up when pressing the control pad up when your'e right next to him) for Game Boy Advance. He appears throughtout the levels and is activated when touched. He also appears as the menu navigator and on the Sea Gate level (voice only) in Sonic Heroes and in Sonic Battle as Cream's chao bombs.
Omochao is often the source of major abuse, as many players find his "help" more annoying than helpful. The little robot can be picked up and thrown as well as used to destroy enemies. (He often hints at this, saying in reverse, "I'm not a weapon to throw at enemies, you know!"). Many fans also compare him to Jar-Jar Binks from the Star Wars prequels.
Omochao's name is a play on the Japanese word omocha, which means "toy".
Ray the Squirrel
Ray the Squirrel has only appeared in one video game, the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog with Sonic and Mighty the Armadillo. Ray is also known as Ray the Flying Squirrel.
In the comic continuity, Ray was kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik as a part of Robotnik's robot replication program along with Fiona Fox. Though he attempted to rescue Fiona Fox with the help of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mighty the Armadillo, they were forced to escape without him when the plan went haywire. He was later rescued by Fiona and his old partner, Mighty, along with the brother / sister bounty hunter team of Nack the Weasel and Nic the Weasel. He has since returned to Angel Island with Mighty and has joined the Chaotix (along with Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and Julie-Su the Echidna). After the return of Charmy Bee and his fiancé Safron Bee to the Chaotix team, Ray accompanied them, along with Sonic and Knuckles, to join forces with a mysterious group known as the Dark Legion, to fight off Robotnik and his ally General Kage, and return Angel Island to its free state once again.
Tails Doll
The Tails Doll is a secret character in the game Sonic R, unlocked by finding the 5 tokens in the "Radical City" track and finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the race. Tails Doll has poor handling, average acceleration and average top speed. Its jumping abilities are quirky, too, since it cannot jump very high, but seems able to float.
An in-joke with some fans is that Tails Doll's vacant expression actually contains a sinister personality. [1]
Because Sonic R was released in the late years of the SEGA Saturn, Tails Doll is a very little-known character with only a small fanbase. With the release of Sonic Gems Collection, however, including a port of Sonic R, it is not out of the question that he could win the hearts of a whole new audience.
Tails Doll seems to be one of Dr Robotnik's creations. Sonic R features metal versions of Sonic and Knuckles. This is likely due to the fact Metal Sonic had long been established as one of Sonic's most deadly foes. However, in place of a "Metal Tails", there is the Tails Doll, an unusual move. Tails Doll was most likely created by Traveller's Tales, the team that worked on Sonic R. This likely explains why he- and Metal Knuckles- have not yet appeared in another Sonic game.
If Sonic R is to be taken as canon, then we must assume that Tails Doll and Metal Knuckles did not, unlike Metal Sonic, gain sentience and therefore would likely have been deactivated by Robotnik or destroyed by Sonic, whereas Metal Sonic appears to have gained a sort of will to live. It is not particularly likely that Tails Doll will make a reappearance in the Sonic Universe, but it could all hinge on just how well he is recieved by new fans playing Sonic Gems Collection.
Tikal the Echidna
Tikal is a fictional ancient echidna of the Sonic Adventure games who originates from the same tribe as Sonic's friend Knuckles.
Tikal lived in a city similar to that of the Maya. She has a strong relationship with the creature Chaos, a water spirit who watched over and protected the chao. Tikal's peaceful temperament and beliefs drastically contradict that of her father's, Pachacamac's, who was fierce and warlike. Though she begged him to stop in his conquest, his greed and ambition overcame everything else.
To escape from her father's evil wishes, Tikal took refuge at the shrine which held the seven Chaos emeralds and the Master Emerald. In the waters of the fountain lived an unseen force, which seemed to protect the shrine and the Chao that lived there. Unfortunately, Pachacamac and his army got to the shrine, and, though Tikal resisted, the warrior echidnas knocked her unconscious and the Chao were hurt. When the army got to the top of the temple and prepared to take the Master Emerald, Chaos, the force in the water, stopped them and, apparently, killed them (though after Tikal woke there were no bodies). Hoping to prevent further destruction, Tikal implored the Master Emerald to use its vast powers and seal away Chaos. It did so, but at the same time, Tikal herself was sealed inside the Master Emerald as well, perhaps due to her proximity to the Master Emerald, or perhaps as a price for granting her request.
Tikal and Chaos remained inside the Master Emerald for centuries. Years later, during the events of Sonic Adventure, Dr. Eggman broke open the Emerald and released Chaos and Tikal. Tikal accompanied and helped the heroes in Sonic Adventure as a little ball of light, and occasionally showed them flashbacks from her life, probably to uncover the mystery behind Chaos. In the end of the game, Tikal showed her true form and was distressed upon Chaos' transformation, convinced that he would 'destroy the world again'.
After Perfect Chaos was defeated, Chaos fell to the earth as Chaos Zero. Chao resurfaced and gathered to Tikal and Chaos, but they both floated up into the sky. It is unknown where they have gone, as the next time the Master Emerald was broken in Sonic Adventure 2, they did not return (aside from multiplayer mode, which may slightly clear up the plothole).
Tikal is named after a ruined Mayan city, and her father shares the name of both an Inca solar deity and a city of the Inca Empire. The pyramid in the Mystic Ruins resembles Tikal's, and the Lost World level retains aspects of Maya ruins, such as the rotating snake and the jade.
She also appears in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle as a 2P extra character in Treasure Hunting. In the SA2 for the Sega Dreamcast, you can obtain her for the 2P mode by getting all A ranks in Knuckles' stages. As a multiplayer character, her unique abilities are offset by the apologetic remarks that accompany each (ex. Tikal says "I'm sorry." when she uses Wrath of Gaia, her stunning ability).
Vanilla the Rabbit
Vanilla the Rabbit is introduced as Cream the Rabbit's mother in Sonic Advance 2. Dr. Eggman kidnaps Vanilla and she is rescued by Super Sonic.
Vanilla also makes a short appearance in the ending of Sonic Advance 3 after the player defeats G-mel (also known as Gemel) with Super Sonic. She and Cream find the defeated G-Mel on the beach. He is repaired by Tails and now lives peacefully with Vanilla and Cream.
In Sonic X, Vanilla was separated from her daughter when Cream was kidnapped by Doctor Eggman. Vanilla shows up with the Chaotix team of Vector, Charmy, and Espio, when they went looking for Cream and Sonic. Tracking down the speedy hedgehog, they find him and his friends at the mansion of Chris Thorndyke. The staff at the mansion meet Vanilla for the first time, and Cream is happy to see her mom. Cream stays with her mom throughout the new episodes, helping her with meals as she did with Ella and Amy at the mansion.
Sometimes there is some confusion about where the name "Vanilla the Rabbit" comes from. It was actually given in the Japanese version of Sonic X. Episode 40 has a profile of Vanilla with her name, height, etc. A screenshot of that profile can be seen here (Credit to Team Artail for this screenshot).
Characters from Sonic X
Bokkun
Bokkun, featured in Sonic X, is employed by Doctor Eggman to send messages to Sonic that come in a form of a TV that blows up in anyone's face. Bokkun gets mistreated and is very easy to cry, due to Eggman always hurting him. His pleasures include annoying people with bombs or eating various desserts, and he is very loyal to Eggman, who he treats like a father or creator. Bokkun can fly and has a boiling point temper. He even once called upon the Egg Golem also seen in Sonic Adventure 2.
Bokkun looks like a black, gold eyed Chao with blue and white patches without his bauble, and a pale green rucksack over his shoulder, where he keeps his privileged bombs.
Chris Thorndyke
Christopher "Chris" Thorndyke is a fictional character in the anime Sonic X.
Christopher's mother, Lindsay Fay, is a actress, and his father, Nelson, is a CEO of a computer company. After saving Sonic the Hedgehog from drowning in a swimming pool, Chris becomes friends with him. Christopher joins in Sonic's adventures to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. This involves going against Eggman's plans to rule the universe.
During the original 52-episode run of Sonic X, many Sonic fans disliked Chris (however, it's fair to say in the original Japanese version Chris is brought out less selfishly). These fans complained that not only did he upstage the other characters, notably Miles "Tails" Prower and sometimes even Sonic himself, but he was often seen as selfish and overly attached to Sonic. Chris has also been accused of stealing or filling plotlines to make it easier for TMS to write Sonic X (i.e. he often gets kidnapped and replaces other characters in scenes of the game adaptations). However, in the second series (known in America as the third season), Chris is given less screen time and matures significantly, enabling him to contribute to the plot without angering fans. It remains to be seen whether this will save him from the reputation he already has, however, many feel this is too late a move by TMS. He also strangly resembles Sora from Kingdom Hearts.
Cosmo
Cosmo is a fictional plant-like character who first made her appearance in episode 53 of the cartoon Sonic X, looking for the "legendary hero that can use the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic the Hedgehog". Her home world was apparently destroyed by the Metarex, who planted a tracking device on her. She and Sonic's gang go from world to world, destroying the Metarex that inhabit it and freeing its Planet Egg.
She, at first, likes Knuckles (as seen in episode 56), but then later develops a relationship with Tails. Her love for him is shown in her devotion, kindness, and gentle nature towards him as well as her undying trust. It is this love which drives her on to help and protect everyone she cares about at the eleventh hour when all hope is lost. Tails would do anything to protect her and Cosmo would sure do the same.
Cosmo is not one to get into fights, but she does have a few tricks, being a plant herself, such as having the ability to see how a plant, a tree, or the planet is feeling.
She sacrifices herself to save the universe in Episode 77 by infusing herself with the Dark Oak planet, to make it weaker so Tails, Super Sonic and Super Shadow could destroy it with the Sonic Driver.
Dark Oak
Dark Oak is a fictional villain from the Sonic X cartoon series. He is the leader of the Metarex, an army of bio-robots that scours the galaxy for the Planet Eggs, jewels that contain the life energies of the planets. Dark Oak has one large, green eye and carries a golden sword.
Dark Oak first appears to challenge Super Sonic in orbit around Mobius. Despite Super Sonic's seeming invincibility in his previous battles, he is unable to defeat Dark Oak. In order to prevent Oak from stealing the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic uses Chaos Control to send them away. As Sonic falls toward the planet, Oak departs for space, revealing damage that Sonic had not noticed. His final act in that incident was to alert his forces to search for the Chaos Emeralds and to send a Metarex to remove Mobius' Planet Egg.
Other continuities
Queen Aleena Hedgehog
Queen Aleena Hedgehog is a fictional cartoon character in the television cartoon Sonic Underground, in which she is the mother of famous video game character Sonic the Hedgehog, and his less famous siblings, Manic and Sonia.
In the series, Queen Aleena is the deposed monarch of Mobius at the hands of Dr. Robotnik, much like King Acorn of the Archie Comics series. Throughout the series, the main goal of Sonic and his siblings is to find her, which they fail to do despite everything. Along the way, she leaves cryptic messages and clues for them to find, and several times intervenes directly to save her children. According to legend, the Queen and her children will one day reunite and form the Council of Four, bringing about Robotnik's defeat.
Her existance, while seemingly permissable by the absence of any parents for Sonic, interferes with the standard canon of the other DiC series and Archie in which Princess Sally and her parents were the royal family. It is possible that in these continuities, Sonic could be part of a prior royalty, and that 'Underground' occured somewhere between the childhood identified in 'Blast to the Past' and SatAM. Afterwards, Sonic must have lost his guitar's power at some point, so it can no longer change size or fire energy blasts. He does still have it though, as he plays it during an episode of SatAM. Such theories are generally considered nothing more than speculation, and have little or no bearing on canon.
Johnny Lightfoot
The character of Johnny Lightfoot in Sonic the Comic was originally based on the standard rabbit creature that could often be seen hopping away from a defeated badnik in early games of the series, though he was later adapted to a more humanoid form and gained clothes (including a red jacket). Johnny fought with a unique-looking staff-like weapon.
The character of Johnny Lightfoot was killed by Chaos in one of the final issues of the comic.
Porker Lewis
In Sonic the Comic, Porker Lewis was originally little more than a helpless pig that Sonic freed from badniks (and was the only Sonic character besides Sonic himself to appear in the first issue of the comic). However, he was quickly adapted into the technical expert of the team. It was later revealed that Porker had originally come from the Special Zone, where he was known as Oscar, but that he had left his old life behind him when he fled from the Special Zone's resident gangsters.