Red Killer Bee

"The already tricky Killer Bee just got trickier: better, faster and stronger than before."

- Description of the Red Killer Bees in Sonic Unleashed (PS3/Xbox 360).

The Killer Bee (Red Killer Bee) is one of the types of Dark Gaia's minions that are encountered in Sonic Unleashed. It is a powered-up version of the Killer Bee. Faster, stronger, and smarter than the Killer Bees, these insectoid enemies are some of the most dangerous of Dark Gaia's minions than can be encountered. They only appear during the game's nighttime stages.

Overview
The Red Killer Bees and the other types of Dark Gaia's minions were created at the beginning of Sonic Unleashed. Following the premature awakening of the ancient entity Dark Gaia, the beast was unable to support itself and broke into countless fragments. These fragments then gave birth to Red Killer Bees and the rest of Dark Gaia's minions. They first appear in Arid Sands Night Act II: The City of Sand in the PS2/Wii version and in Dragon Road Night Act 1 in the PS3/Xbox 360 version.

As an empowered version of the Killer Bees, the Red Killer Bees are much stronger, faster, smarter and have more health than their relatives, and they are by far the fastest of Dark Gaia's minions. Their physical strength is also very high, even for a Dark Gaia minion, and they can deal great damage to Sonic if they have the chance. These attributes make the Red Killer Bees one of the strongest and most dangerous of Dark Gaia's minions, arguably only second to the mini-bosses and actual bosses. Like the Killer Bees, they are highly vulnerable to damage from flying objects.

In the PS2/Wii version, the Red Killer Bees always appear in large numbers like the Killer Bees, but in the PS3/Xbox 360 version, they always appear alone or in a pair.

All of the Red Killer Bees were later reabsorbed by Dark Gaia following the beast's reconstruction, and soon after resealed inside the core of the earth.

Attack Patterns
The Red Killer Bees can fly about a foot above the ground, which gives them completely free movements. They are extremely nimble and acrobatic, and they can easily and swiftly dodge attacks from Sonic the Werehog with great skill and technique, which eventually allows the Red Killer Bees to launch a quick counterattack.

The Red Killer Bees maintain the same attack pattern as the regular Killer Bees, as they lack a projectile attack and resort to jabbing their foes with their stingers. They can quickly launch themselves at the enemy stinger-first from long distances, and they can deal a lightning-fast barrage of jabs with their stingers at their opponent when in close combat. All of these attacks can deal great damage.

Appearance
Contrary to their name, the Killer Bees look more like wasps than bees. Like most empowered members of Dark Gaia's minions, they bear a strong resemblance to the Killer Bees, but possess a different color scheme. They have long, thin horns and antennae on their foreheads, and their mouths look like beaks with tusks. Their thoraxes are spherical, with small spikes and four wings, and they have purple smoke emitting from their backs. Also, they have stingers on the ends of their abdomens that resemble arrowheads. Finally, they have pinkish-red skin with cyan-green markings.

Their size differs between the versions. In the PS3/Xbox 360 version, the Red Killer Bees are a little larger than Sonic the Werehog, but in the PS2/Wii version, they are only about half his size.