Characters / Sonic the Hedgehog - Groups

The many species and groups of creatures introduced in the main Sonic the Hedgehog continuity.

Flickies and Other Animal Friends

Debut: Flicky (Flicky), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) (Pocky, Ricky, Cucky, Picky, Rocky, Pecky), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) (Locky, Becky, Wocky, Tocky, Micky)

The current animal friends: Ricky, Pocky, Flicky, Rocky, Cucky, Pecky and Picky.

Flicky the bluebird and other animals that Sonic recovers from destroying Badniks and containers. Flicky made it's first appearance in the 1984 arcade game Flicky, predating the Sonic series by seven years, while the other animals have made their debut in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) onwards.

• Beary Friendly: Becky.
• Bluebird of Happiness: Flicky.
• The Bus Came Back: Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Sonic Lost World and Sonic Mania marked the return of Flicky and other animals being trapped inside robots.
  • Before that, they also made a surprise appearance as audience members in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and its sequels.
• Demoted to Extra: For Sonic the Hedgehog CD where they can be seen on Little Planet, yet are not relevant to the badniks like in the other classic games (instead, flowers pop out of them).
• Everything's Better with Monkeys: Wocky.
• Everything's Better with Penguins: Pecky.
• Letter Motif: The animals' names often ends with 'cky'.
• Nice Mice: Micky.
• Noble Bird of Prey: Locky.
• No Name Given: Subverted with Micky, which was the only animal that did not have an official name until it received a designation when it reappeared in Sonic Mania years later.
• Put on a Bus: In the Sonic Adventure duology, these guys were replaced by generic small animals that could be given to Chao. From most games Sonic Heroes onwards, the robots no longer contain creatures in them, although they still reappear in later games.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter
• Righteous Rabbit: Pocky.
• Sweet Seal: Rocky.
• Turtle Power: Tocky.
• Woodland Creatures

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Chao

Debut: Sonic Adventure

Left to right: a Hero Chao, Neutral Chao, and Dark Chao

Creatures with a connection to Chaos that are commonly seen accompanying Tikal or Cream.They can also be raised in Chao Gardens in certain games.

• Big Eater: This is one of the personalities a Chao can have - they can obtain it from being born with it or having been starved for too long. These Chao will always wildly wolf down food like a starving Chao no matter how hungry they are, and may be unlikely to ditch food if they're full like most Chao do.
• Born-Again Immortality: If raised properly - a Chao's resurrective capabilities depend on how happy it was when it passes away. In fact, dying and being reborn twice is one of the requirements for a Chao to become a perfectly immortal Chaos Chao. On the Dreamcast games, a Chao does not retain any percentage of its stats when reincarnating just like a fresh-born Chao on the rereleases.
• Chrome Champion: Jewel Chao are rare Chao whose coat consists of a single color with a metallic sheen. While they've been around since the original Sonic Adventure, the less-radiant Shiny Chao were only introduced in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.
• Complete Immortality: From Sonic Adventure 2 onwards, Chaos Chao cannot die from any means.
• Cry Cute: If either thrown, punched, spin-dashed, kicked or jumped on several times, a Chao could cry. Same can be said for taking their food away while they're eating. Not to mention they throw a tantrum for not being fed for a while.
• Cuddle Bug: Chao love to be petted and cuddled. A Chao that is in good terms with a character may decide to skip over to and nuzzle them in an attempt to be picked up.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Dark Chao appear as (quite adorable!) little demons. Newborn Chao can become this way if they're shown affection and treated well by otherwise-villains (Shadow, Rouge, Dr. Eggman) or fed Dark Fruits. They act no differently from any other Chao, and those that are interacted with by a character they like show signs of joy and affection.
• Death by Despair: Whether or not a Chao reincarnates at the end of its life depends on how happy it is. In the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure 2, a Chao that is unhappy enough to die will be standing up and looking downward shaking its head as its cocoon envelops it.

• Eggshell Clothing: If a Chao is given a koala or Skeleton Dog, it will gain the ability to wear hats, including eggshells.
• Expy: Outside of three official special Chao who resemble Tails, Knuckles and Amy, certain breeds of Chao resemble Sega characters both from and out of the Sonic franchise. A Neutral/Run resembles Sonic due to its ears and head spines, though it remains green until it becomes older and won't look like a complete copy of him unless it becomes a Neutral/Run/Run; a Dark/Run resembles Shadow, but with green highlights until it grows older and even moreso if it evolves into a Dark/Run/Run to have its highlights become red and for its spines to assume the shape of Shadow's; a Neutral/Fly has NiGHTS' purple coloration and jester horns, which become more prevalent if it evolves into a Neutral/Fly/Fly, and Reala from the same game has a lookalike in the form of the black and purple Dark/Fly, who though may lack Reala's red in most of its further evolutions, will have its horns grow to match if left to its own devices to evolve into a Dark/Fly/None.
• Eyes Always Shut: Chao can be born with their eyes always locked into "happy" closed eyes.
• Fragile Flower: It doesn't take much to upset a Chao to the point of tears. Attacking them on purpose or on accident, taking away a piece of fruit they were eating or having them listen to another Chao who can't sing very well may cause them to cry and remain upset for a while afterward even with lots of petting and snuggles.
• Fragile Speedster: Chao are light, soft and small no matter how fast they become on land or water, and as a result are particularly fragile. In the original Sonic Adventure, they have health points that are unseen outside of a VMU. Outside of the usual ways to hurt them by attacking or jumping on them, they also took damage from falling fruit and the fights in the Chao Adventure minigame, while most fruits replenished their HP and normal coconuts boosted it. Once a Chao's HP hits zero, it immediately forms a cocoon regardless of age and dies. It was rather easy to kill them in that game - aside from the iffy action button mapping making it easy to accidentally hurt a Chao, a Chao that loses a battle in Chao Adventure and returns to the Dreamcast gardens might die shortly after as a result of having no HP, lose a lot of their remaining lifespan if bred via being fed Lifenuts in the gardens and likely die/reincarnate right after reproducing, and a freshly-reincarnated Chao may die almost instantly after hatching if it is not immediately fed due to the way reincarnation resets stats. Due to Early Installment Weirdness, the normally immortal Chaos Chao could be killed if they ran out of HP.
• Fog Feet: A Chao that plays with bats will eventually have its legs disappear; it'll hover above the ground instead. This can be problematic in Chao Karate, where legless Chao will often get roundhouse kicked while getting ready to punch and also lose the ability to perform kicks.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Some Neutral and Dark Chao will throw a tantrum and stomp about angrily in place if they're upset rather than starting to cry, which is just as easy to do to them as it is any other Chao.
• Immortal Procreation Clause: Immortal Chao such as Chaos Chao and the official character Chao are incapable of breeding. Heart fruits won't affect them, and they will skip their natural mating seasons.
• Jiggle Physics: Chao are described as having soft, jiggly skin that feels like pudding. When they move, the separate parts of their model tend to bounce around a bit, especially if you pick one up and jump high into the air.
• Killer Rabbit: Quite so in Chao Karate in Sonic Adventure 2.
• Light Is Good: The Hero Chao in Sonic Adventure 2 when raised by Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles or fed Hero Fruit.
• Lightning Bruiser: A Chao with high Fly or Run will be able to easily dodge attacks or prepare them respectively in Chao Karate.
• Mighty Glacier: A Chao with high Swim or Power will be able to tank more attacks or use strong ones respectively in Chao Karate.
• Mon: The Chao are a race of tiny creatures that can be raised into a variety of breeds with different skills, bred together to create odd colors and inherit a mixture of their parents' skills, and put into competitions like races and karate.
• No Mouth: Chao can be born without a mouth visible on their face.
• Olympus Mons: Chaos Chao are immortal Chao that are created by giving a Chao who has reincarnated at least twice one of every animal available in the game as a child, kept happy and set to evolve into a normal-type adult by keeping their stat sliders equal. Without the worry of reincarnation, a Chaos Chao can easily have its stats maxed out (though, this is easier on the Dreamcast releases due to the lack of grades and levels affecting the stat growth) and become an absolute powerhouse when it comes to competitions. Additionally, the breed's namesake Chaos, of which the neutral Chaos Chao resembles, has been stated to have been a Chao that mutated as a result of exposure to the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds.
• Our Fairies Are Different: Chao are a race of potentially-immortal sixteen-inch creatures with jiggly bodies and the ability to project their emotions with an orb that floats above their head, that are indigenous to a island filled with diverse biomes floating in the sky thanks to a giant emerald (said emerald also being capable of mutating them into destructive water elementals) and who can radically change their appearance by interacting with animals, eating different fruits and drinking the batteries of military robots. They're certainly unique, to say the least.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Chao with high Power will be able to easily scale cliffs and shake trees during Chao Races, while during Chao Karate they'll be able to deliver powerful wallops to their opponents and find minimal difficulty in sending them off the arena. They can't quite defend themselves against bigger creatures, but they're definitely capable of being stronger than what a soft little species barely over a foot tall at adulthood could be assumed to be at first glance.
• Perpetual Expression: The Chao will be painted with random expressions after you hatch their eggs. Outside of a reincarnated Dark Chao (whose eyes will retain the angry eyelids they were set to upon evolving into a Dark Chao), the expressionless Chaos Chao and the original Sonic Adventure (where there was a chance for a Chao to change facial expressions after reincarnating), these facial expressions will stay with them for as long as they live outside of a set few special animations. They could be a Perpetual Frowner due to having a triangular frown, a Perpetual Smiler due to having a toothy grin or a triangular smile, or view everything with Dull Surprise due to having no mouth and wide eyes, partially closed ones, or evolving into a Chaos Chao and losing most of its facial expressions.
• Pokémon Speak: As of Shadow the Hedgehog, the Chao talk by repeating "Chao". This also includes Cream's pet Cheese. They did this in earlier games as well, but usually spoke in childlike gibberish.
• Power Copying: This is how they're able to have their stats boosted by playing with animals according to official guides, both online and in-game. A Chao that interacts with an animal will take on its physical characteristics and have their stats altered to match the animal's own strengths.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: It's what keeps us coming back for them. They're small, childlike and speak adorable gibberish most of the time.
• Slasher Smile: One of the possible mouth styles for a Chao when they're born, including a reversed "Slasher Frown". This type of mouth is associated with Dark Chao in promotional artwork.
• Video Game Caring Potential: In the Chao Gardens, if you are nice enough to a Chao, it will have a big smile on its face and clap whenever your character picks it up. Although it is possible for this to give them a spoiled personality. In Sonic Adventure 2 and the Gamecube games, a Chao will grow up toward the allegiance (Hero or Dark) that is particularly kind to it (in 2) or is linked to the fruits they eat (in DX); keeping a Chao neutral requires roughly equal care from both allegiances.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can also hit them, throw them against walls and put them in water and watch them flail about if they don't know how to swim. In the first game you can even kill them by hitting them enough, and keep in mind they're still newborns. Abuse from a Hero character in Sonic Adventure 2 is an inefficient method of pushing the Chao toward a Dark Chao, and vice versa. Outside of the Chao Garden, Shadow gets the chance to abuse them in his game, which is beneficial if you're trying to fill your evil meter for a Chaos Blast.

Knuckles Clan

Debut: Sonic Adventure

A group of dreadlocked anthropomorphic animals who were native inhabitants of Angel Island 4,000 years ago.

• Dreadlock Warriors: Knuckles gets his dreads honest. All of their clan had dreadlocks, and all of them are tough warriors.
• Kick the Dog: As ordered by Pachacamac, they trampled Tikal and the Chao just to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds, which invoked the wrath of Chaos.
• Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair!: They were the dominant civilization of their era until they went a few steps too far over their own princess and her beloved Chao in the presence of Chaos.
• Mayincatec: Their overall aesthetic, with a giant pyramid turned Temple of Doom, stone mosaics everywhere, and Mayan names.
• Posthumous Character: With the exception of Knuckles, all of them have been dead for millennia.
• Proud Warrior Race Guys: All of them, save Tikal. Virtually all their dialogue is bragging about their strength, fearlessness, and ambition.

Boos

Debut: Sonic Adventure 2

The ghostly minions of King Boom Boo that appear in several haunted stages in Sonic Adventure 2.

• Black Eyes of Evil: The Boom Boos have these which blink every few seconds. However, their eyes will turn yellow once a character attacks it.
• The Bus Came Back: The boos never made any appearances until in the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World where they serve as invisible enemies in Sky Road: Act 4.
• Dark Is Not Evil: In Sonic Runners' Halloween Event, Tails is frightened by the appearance of the boo, but Sonic assures that ghosts aren't always scary and may turn out to be cool.
• Expy: Of the Boos from Super Mario Bros., loosely speaking.
• Game Face: The boos start off seemingly harmless with black eyes and stitched up mouths, but they'll reveal their yellow eyes and creepy grins once a character attacks it or gets close to it, which they'll get jumpscared in the process.
• Giant Mook: The Boom Boos who have black eyes and stitched mouths. It takes three hits to kill them while they reduce in size.
• Heel–Face Turn: They don't appear as enemies in the Sonic Runners Halloween Event; one boo guides Sonic and co. to the castle to stop Eggman's brainwashing of King Boom Boo and the other boos. Also, you can have a boo as a companion character.
• Invincible Minor Minion: Some boos that are not attack types cannot be attacked; they only grab a character from behind and they will disappear once a character breaks free. They are also this in Sonic Lost World where touching them will cause you lose your rings.
• Jump Scare: Some of the Attack Boos are invisible and will reveal themselves once a character gets close to it, at which they will pop up at a character's face while growing large while dissipating. Some will hide behind walls, inside objects, in the floor, etc, while others will be in their smaller forms where they will scare a character once they get close to it.
• Mini Mook: Some boos (smaller versions of the Boom Boo) appear in small sizes, although it's purpose is to Jump Scare a character when they get close to it.
• Mouth Stitched Shut: The Boom Boos have four stitches in their mouths which conceal their creepy grins.
• Patrolling Mook: The boos usually wander around certain areas just before they spot a character and chase them.
• Pokémon Speak: As seen in the Halloween Event in Sonic Runners, boos only communicate by saying "boo".
• Slasher Smile: The Attack Boos have sharped-fanged grins and it makes them look very frightening.

Black Arms

Debut: Shadow the Hedgehog

The marauding alien minions of Black Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog.

• Airborne Mooks: The vaguely-draconic Black Wings, Black Hawks, and Black Volts, in increasing order of strength. Black Wings are generally Homing Attack "stepping stones", while Black Hawks and Black Volts can sometimes be ridden in aerial Rail Shooter sequences.
• Aliens are Bastards: Just like their leader, their goal is to consume the entire human race. In-game, they will attack Shadow no matter what side the player chooses.
• Alien Kudzu: Glowing red fruits grow almost everywhere the Black Arms are found as a "sign of conquest", according to Black Doom. Shadow will lose rings if he touches them, but can shoot them to fill the Hero side of his Karma Meter / Limit Break gauge. Death Ruins features enormous ones in the background.
• Elite Mooks: Black Assassins from the Black Comet levels are stronger than run-of-the-mill Black Warriors. They wear golden armor, carry Reflecting Lasers, and move by teleportation rather than walking.
• Giant Mook: Black Oaks are as tall as G.U.N.'s Powered Armor and generally armed with melee weapons. Some can even block incoming projectiles with their bare hands. Black Doom notes that they are "heralded for their pure strength".
• Heavily Armored Mook: Black Volts are stronger versions of Black Hawks with golden armor plating. Some of them can be ridden in aerial Rail Shooter sequences.
• Ray Gun: Unlike G.U.N.'s firearms and explosive weapons, the Black Arms use an assortment of energy weapons. Their only non-melee kinetic weapons are "Worm Shooters" that fire small worms as HomingProjectiles.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Their trademark color scheme.
• Sand Worm: The Black Annelid sub-species, prone to popping up when least expected and firing smaller worms as HomingProjectiles.

Wisps

Debut: Sonic Colors

A race of friendly squid-like aliens and the titular colors introduced in Sonic Colors. They're unique in that they have the power of "Hyper-Go-On" energy, which Dr. Eggman wants to use to mind-control Sonic's world.

The wisps that debut in Sonic Colors are:

• White Wisps: In Sonic Colors and Sonic Forces, they give Sonic energy for his Sonic Boost.
• Cyan Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Cyan Laser, which allows him to zip through the stage and reflect off cyan diamonds. They reappear in the 3DS version of Sonic Generations and both versions of Sonic Lost World.
• Yellow Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Yellow Drill, which allows him to dig through soft surfaces and dive in water. They reappear in both versions of Sonic Lost World.
• Orange Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Orange Rocket, which allows him to shoot up in the air for a limited time. They reappear in the HD version of Sonic Generations and both versions of Sonic Lost World.
• Blue Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Blue Cube, which can destroy any ground enemies onscreen and turn blue rings into cubes and vice versa. They are exclusive to the Wii version of Sonic Colors.
• Pink Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Pink Spikes, which can climb walls, spin dash, and destroy large blocks. They are exclusive to the Wii version of Sonic Colors. They reappear in the HD version of Sonic Generations.
• Green Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Green Hover, which allows him to hover and Light-Speed Dash on rings. They reappear in the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World.
• Red Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Red Burst, which allows him to jump multiple times in the air and create fiery explosions. They are exclusive to the handheld versions of Colors, Generations, and Lost World, and reappear in Forces.
• Purple Wisps: A Nega-Wisp, they turn Sonic into the Purple Frenzy, which allows him to chomp enemies and large blocks, growing larger as he does. They are exclusive to the Wii version of Sonic Colors.
• Violet Wisps: Another type of Nega-Wisp, they turn Sonic into the Violet Void, which sucks up enemies and obstacles. They are exclusive to the DS version of Sonic Colors.

The wisps introduced in Sonic Lost World are:

• Crimson Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Crimson Eagle, which allows him to fly.
• Indigo Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Indigo Asteroid, which allows him to create a orbiting shield of debris from anything he touches. They reappear in Forces.
• Magenta Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Magenta Rhythm, which allows him to bounce on other music notes to the beat of the music. They are exclusive to the Wii U version.
• Black Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Black Bomb, which allows him to roll around and explode, destroying enemies. They are exclusive to the Wii U version, and only obtainable through Miiverse or through completing the NiGHTMARE DLC.
• Ivory Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Ivory Lightning, which allows him to attract rings and create a larger homing attack chain. They are exclusive to the 3DS version and reappear in Forces.
• Grey Wisps: They turn Sonic into the Grey Quake, which allows him to roll around and create earthquakes. They are exclusive to the Wii U version's multiplayer and 3DS version.

Introduced in Sonic Forces is the Wispon, a gun that the Avatar uses to harnesses Hyper-Go-On energy. The Avatar can use the standard abilities of their Wispon's wisp in addition to a related offensive power that doesn't require having the wisp.

• Burst Wispon: A flamethrower that possesses the powers of Red Burst.
• Lightning Wispon: Allows the Avatar the powers of the Ivory Lightning (which is more akin to the Light Speed Dash/Attack) and gives them a lightning whip to attack nearby foes.
• Cube Wispon: A hammer that freezes whatever it hits in blocks of ice, which shatter into rings upon touching the ground. It can also create block towers that can be used as improvised platforms.
• Drill Wispon: A yellow drill-like lance than can be used as a chargable Dash Attack or a high-speed Wall Crawl.
• Hover Wispon: A green weapon that can fire shockwaves that knock enemies back into each other or be used to to levitate the user upward.
• Asteroid Wispon: An indigo weapon that can attack with HomingProjectiles or be used to create an Orbiting Particle Shield.
• Void Wispon: A violet weapon that can suck rings and enemies into an Unrealistic Black Hole or be used to teleport in a straight line, ignoring all objects and bottomless pits along the way.

Tropes

• All Your Powers Combined: In Colors, the Final Color Blaster, which is all the wisps joining Sonic for a supercharged Homing Attack.
• The Corruption: Nega-Wisps are normal Wisps that have been corrupted through Eggman's processes into nasty-looking purple monsters. Their corrupted energies can be used for darker things like Frenzy and Void powers, mind control, and psuedo-black holes, but the Wisps themselves act no differently aside from the Nega Mother Wisp.
• Cyclops: Most Wisps have only one eye, while the rest have either two, three, or none.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Purple and Violet Wisps look terrifying and give Sonic destructive powers, but they are perfectly willing to help him beat Eggman. The Indigo and Black Wisps also are this due to their darker color and destructive powers, but in the case of the latter there's no confirmation if they're Nega-Wisps like the Purple and Violet Wisps.
• Demoted to Extra: The White Wisps in Generations, who just get cameos since Sonic does not need them to boost, and Lost World for the same reason, only being around to give Miiverse items.
  • The wisps in general in Lost World, since there is no explanation for their presence.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Grey wisps turn Sonic into an iron ball that can do Ground Pound and Shockwave Stomp attacks.
• Elemental Powers: Some of the wisps fall under this.
• Extra Eyes: Blue, Red, Crimson, and Grey wisps have three eyes.
• Eyeless Face: Purple, Violet, and Black wisps have no eyes.
• Fusion Dance: They combine with Sonic to allow him to use their powers.
• Gravity Master: Indigo wisps turn Sonic into an asteroid that destroys enemies that enters its orbit and Violet wisps turns Sonic into a miniature black hole.
• Having a Blast: Black wisps have the Bomb power up.
• Leitmotif: Each wisp except for Violet has a little repetitive tune associated with them that plays while Sonic is using their powers. ^note Violet Void has a distorted version of the level's current theme. Yellow Drill has two of them, one for digging through terrain and another for speeding through water.
• Light 'em Up: Cyan wisps have the Laser power up.
• Living Battery: Eggman planned to use them as power sources.
• Playing with Fire: Red wisps have the Burst power up which turns Sonic into a sentient fireball.

• Shock and Awe: Ivory wisps have the Lightning power up.
• Slasher Smile: Purple and Violet Wisps sport toothy maws that are always bared.
• Starfish Aliens: They're cute, but they come in all sorts of bizarre shapes and colors and grant fantastical powers to those they decide to fuse with.
• Stay with the Aliens: Sonic Runners explains that while most Wisps followed the Mother Wisp back to Planet Wisp after the events of Sonic Colors, some Wisps liked Earth so much that they decided to stay there. They still remember Sonic and will help him whenever he needs it.