In a World… there are heroes and villains, constantly duking it out for the fate of the world. But what the ordinary people stuck in between the two. Enter Reginald the Rabbit, a mobian who, thanks to some impulsive decisions, has the dubious honor of working for Dr. Ivo Robotnik aka Dr. Eggman. He soon finds himself in way over his head as he discovers just how serious the consequences of his hasty actions are.
Red the Rabid is a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic by Legionary. It follows the Original Character Reginald the Rabbit as he serves under the megalomaniacal Mad Scientist Dr. Eggman. It can be found on Spacebattles
, Sufficient Velocity, Fanfiction.net, and Archive of Our Own.
This story contains examples of:
- Ace Custom: After getting promoted, Reginald is given the resources to modify several badniks to his liking. He picks three: Saffron; a large Buzzbomber meant to serve as a scout and emergency getaway vehicle, Lady; a motobug designed to serve as his primary form of transportation on the field, and Dessy aka Destroyer; an oversized and heavily armed caterkiller meant to serve as Reginald’s bodyguard.
- Achievements in Ignorance: When Reginald comes across a village unable to pay Robotnik’s taxes, he chooses to harvest and sell the village’s recreational crops. Unbeknownst to Reginald, the village was planning selling those crops to fund the local resistance and his harvesting wound of up depriving them of some much needed funding.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Cream and Vanilla make their first appearance during this story’s version of Sonic Adventure.note
- Adaptational Heroism: A very downplayed case with Hunter. While it is all but stated that he still has the comic counterpart's hobby, he’s put his habits on hold and is working as a Freedom Fighter, unlike his canon self who wound up working for Robotnik.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Reginald longed to be part of the massive "heroes vs villains" dynamic and is excited when Robotnik gives him his first real assignment. Then on his very first outing he is nearly killed and accidentally kills a fellow mobian in self-defense.
- Bloodier and Gorier: This story is much more violent than canon and we’re treated to several bloody deaths in just the first few chapters.
- Crusading Widower: Annabelle Jackson vows revenge on Reginald after he kills her husband and son.
- Didn't Think This Through: Reginald joined Eggman because he wanted to be the one to provide the mad scientist's side of story once he was inevitably defeated by Sonic. Unfortunately, he failed to realize just what being a minion of Dr. Robotnik would entail.
- Dirty Coward: Reginald views himself as one for going along with Eggman's orders. He knows what he's doing is wrong, but values his own life far too much to ever risk directly defying Eggman.
- The Dreaded: Metal Sonic feared far and wide as Eggman's top enforcer. Part of the reason Reginald hasn’t immediately jumped ship is because he’s terrified that Eggman might sic the robot on him.
- Everyone Is Armed: When Reginald comes across a human mining town, he notes that almost everyone, even the children, possesses a weapon of some kind.
- Fantastic Racism: There are some tensions between mobians and humans with the story makes it clear that goes both ways. Reginald in particular has some very low opinions of humans.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Alfa, the prototype Coconuts that is assigned to Reginald on his first assignment, spends most of time mocking the rabbit. After going through several fights with him he starts to warm up to Reginald and Reginald finds himself surprisingly missing the robot after it sacrifices itself for him. When Reginald discovers that he wasn’t completely destroyed he immediately makes plans to personally repair the badnik, even smashing the overseer robot who suggested scrapping him for parts.
- In Medias Res: The story starts just as things are transitioning into the Modern Era of Sonic, with Reginald having been "employed" for several months.
- Mistaken for Badass: From an outside perspective Reginald is a cunning and sadistic warrior who somehow managed to impress Dr. Eggman enough to receive a position in his empire. In actuality Reginald is just an ordinary mobian who made an incredibly stupid decision and is stuck desperately stumbling through the consequences of his actions, with most of his early accomplishments being mostly dumb luck on his part.
- Mythology Gag: Reginald muses that Eggman seems to be obsessed with finishing off Sonic the right way.
- No Endor Holocaust: Subverted. When Angel Island fell in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, several nearby coastal cities were devastated by the waves caused by it crashing into the ocean. We later get to see effects of that firsthand on Station Square when Eggman smashes the Master Emerald.
- Our Nudity Is Different: The reason mobians wear gloves is because they considered their hands to be sacred. So while mobian standards of dress may vary removing their gloves is considered their equivalent of stripping down naked.
- Outside-Context Problem: Reginald's very existence is noted to be one by a group of freedom fighters. Aside from the occasional hired gun, Eggman's never had an actual organic minion before, making Reginald something of a Wild Card in the grand scheme of things. His recruitment also sets up the possibility of Eggman recruiting more organics to his side, something that would negatively impact the resistance groups. After all, it's much easier to gun down a soulless machine than it is to gun down a living person.
- Patchwork Fic: While the setting story is primarily based on the canon of the games, elements from other parts of the franchise are thrown in as well.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite their small size, mobians possess physical abilities that far outstrip those of an average human.
- Shout-Out: A fedora wearing Adventurer Archaeologist named Jones makes several appearances throughout the story. His first appearance has him dodging a boulder while retrieving a golden statue and later narrowly avoids being poisoned by a Chun-nan crime boss.
- Super Prototype: Alfa thinks he is one for the Coconuts line of robots, having managed to survive every encounter with Sonic and outlast the rest of his now obsolete line, even developing a personality. Whether or not he actually is one is up for debate, but he is certainly proves to be more dangerous than an average Coconuts.
- Trapped in Villainy: By the time Reginald finally realizes what a terrible idea working for Eggman is, it is far too late for him to get out. Eggman would never let him quit and trying to desert would just result in him getting hunted down.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: At the start of the story Reginald's role in the hierarchy of Robotnik's forces is rather nebulous, mainly just doing any odd task the Doctor gives him.
