Blaze the Cat (Archie)


 * For the version of this character before the Super Genesis Wave, see Blaze the Cat (Pre-Super Genesis Wave).

Blaze the Cat is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. She is a mobian cat, princess, and Guardian of the Sol Emeralds. She hails from the Sol Zone, where she battles robotic pirates and their fiendish master Dr. Nega, whose machinations have occasionally brought her into contact with the villainous Dr. Eggman and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Appearance
Blaze is a mobian lilac cat with gold eyes. Her muzzle is white, her inner ears are peach colored and the tip of her tail dark purple. She wears a long purple flared mantle-like coat of sorts with a gold collar and white tights; the cuffs are fuzzy and white. She has plumes of "hair" done up in a high ponytail with dark purple tips. Her outfit is generally accented in pinks and reds, including her high heeled shoes, hairband, coat trim and a small gem on her forehead.

Past
Not much is known about Blaze's early life. She was born with the power of flames (aka pyrokinesis) and at some point was appointed as the guardian of the Sol Emeralds.

Early adventures
At one point, Blaze's dimension and Sonic the Hedgehog's dimension were in flux with one another, allowing the characters to travel from one to the other through a tear in the space-time continuum. When Dr. Eggman came to her world and stole the Sol Emeralds, the Sol Emeralds summoned her through the space-time tear that led to Sonic's world, where she set about recovering the Emeralds. She eventually defeated Dr. Eggman, but she had to team up with Sonic to defeat the duo of Dr. Eggman and Dr. Eggman Nega, who were attempting to take over the universe. For the first time, she tapped into the power of the Sol Emeralds to transform into Burning Blaze, and she battled alongside Sonic, who tapped into the power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic. After their victory and the tear in the space-time continuum was repaired, the heroes said their goodbyes, and Blaze returned to her world.

Blaze once again found herself up against a threat to her world, this time in the form of Captain Whisker, a robotic pirate, along with his crew (which included Mini &amp; Mum, and Johnny) who planned to steal the mystical Jeweled Scepter, which was acclaimed to have the power to control Blaze's world's geological activities. While trying to protect the scepter, Blaze came across Sonic, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Marine the Raccoon, who Sonic and Tails initially met up with after the Tornado sent them to Blaze's world. Blaze once again collected the Sol Emeralds and defeated Captain Whisker and Johnny. After getting back the Jeweled Scepter, it was once again stolen, but this time by Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega, who were working together to unleash the power of the Jeweled Scepter. Sonic and Blaze used the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds respectively to once again transform into Super Sonic and Burning Blaze and defeat Eggman and Eggman Nega. Afterwards, Tails made a ship to bring him and Sonic home. Sonic then left a Chaos Emerald for Blaze and promised to meet again one day.

Blaze and Marine would soon find Shadow the Hedgehog adrift at sea and help him to shore. They would later find Metal Sonic v3.3 attacking a city in search of the Zone's Dr. Robotnik. With the combined efforts of Blaze and Shadow, along with a well timed cannon blast from Marine, Metal Sonic was destroyed. Blaze then gave Shadow the Chaos Emerald that Sonic gave to her so that he could return home.

Blaze soon traveled to Sonic's World to find another Sol Emerald she would find some unwanted assistance in Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Cheese the Chao and Rouge the Bat. However, the latter would eventually betray her and attempt to take Emerald for herself alongside Team Dark. Though Shadow knew he was helped by Blaze before, he still came at odds with her and both sides fought for the Sol Emerald. The Emerald would eventually be hunted down by Team Hooligan and the Babylon Rogues as well. Eventually being able to defeat the Hooligansand the Babylon Rogues, Shadow allowed Blaze to take the Sol Emerald home for the sake of her world.

Worlds Collide

 * Note: Due to the Genesis Wave, Blaze's history from this point were changed to be nearly identical to that of her game counterpart's.

Not long after these events, Blaze, for the first time in a while, got to enjoy a quiet day while Marine out at sea. Suddenly, however, she was overcome by strange flashes of light. She was then captured on the orders of Dr. Eggman and his new ally Dr. Wily and subjected to a modified form of roboticization to become one of their Roboticized Masters. Under the name Blaze Woman, she was sent with Silver Man to retrieve the green Chaos Emerald, in which they were successful. The duo, along with the doctors and their fellow Masters, then attacked Sonic, Tails, and their new allies Mega Man, Proto Man, and Rush in the Skull Egg Zone. Proto Man, however, refused to participate in the doctors' proposed "tournament" and proceeded onward alone, prompting the doctors to send five Roboticized Masters, Blaze Woman among them, after him before leaving themselves, granting the remaining heroes some breathing room and allowing them to devise a way to use Mega Man's Mega Buster arm cannon to restore their friends to normal. Blaze Woman and Silver Man were subsequently called away from the pursuit for Proto Man as a precaution.

Later, Blaze Woman and Silver Man ambushed Sonic, Tails, Mega Man, and Rush at a waterfall. In the ensuing fight, Mega Man managed to change Silver Man back into normal Silver, who promptly immobilized Blaze Woman with his psychokinesis powers while she was fighting Sonic and Tails. Mega Man then changed Blaze back as well, though the whole process gave her somewhat of a headache. As it turned out, the strange lights Blaze had seen had also affected Mobius Prime and the world of Earth 20XX. While the six heroes rested following the skirmish, Blaze lamented that she and Silver, both exhausted from their ordeals, could not immediately aid their friends. In the interim, she and Silver optimistically agreed to look after each other, wishing Sonic, Mega Man and company luck as they continued on their way. Eventually, Blaze and Silver regained their strength and, on Sonic's instructions, were picked up by Mega Man and Rush for the upcoming battle with the evil doctors and their forces.

The battle unfolded in a major way: the group of heroes against a massive force of Robot Masters. Blaze was set upon by a group of fire-wielding Masters: Heat Man, Pharaoh Man, Flame Man, Solar Man, Burner Man, and Magma Man. However, calling upon her own fiery abilities, she took control of their attacks and creating a raging inferno that consumed her assailants. She would then battle with Toad Man before posing a threat to Wood Man and engaging Pirate Man. As the battle continued, Blaze would engage Pump Man, who hit her with water-based attacks. Eventually, she and her allies were surrounded by the enemy army, but continued to fight their hardest. Help arrived in the form of the Light Labs Robot Master, and the battle continued until all the combatants were caught up in the reality altering effects of first the Super Genesis Wave and then Super Sonic's use of Chaos Control.

Pirate Plunder Panic

 * Note: From the readers point of view, this picks up from where Blaze's original timeline ended.

With her memories of her recent ordeals intact, Blaze found herself back in her home dimension with some unexpected companions: her old teammates Amy, Cream and Cheese. With their memories of home left somewhat hazy, the trio joined Blaze-who sensed that they might have been brought to her world purposefully-on the next leg of her quest: recovering the final Sol Emerald. After a lengthy search, the group learned that it was aboard a ship belonging to the Blackguard Pirates. The Ocean Tornado and this vessel engaged in battle, during which Blaze and her friends-along with the Coconut Crew-were bombarded with fused bombs. Blaze quickly made the decision to board the enemy vessel, leaving her friends to continue the fight, and ended up discovering the source of the projectiles: her old foe Bean the Dynamite, who along with his teammate Bark had also been inexplicably transported to the Sol Zone. Believing him to be a captive, Blaze modified her plan, intending to rescue the pair before sinking the ship, only to learn that Bean was in fact in league with the pirates. She then confronted the ship's master, Captain Metal, and demanded that he surrender his vessel and the Sol Emerald. He responded by destroying the crippled Ocean Tornado, and with it-so far as Blaze was aware-her friends. Heartbreak turning quickly to rage, Blaze ignited her powers and once again demanded the Emerald, though she vowed to destroy Metal regardless of whether he handed it over or not. Unfortunately, her lack of control cost her, and she was knocked unconscious by Buckle.

The Metal Marauder soon delivered the captive Blaze to Pirate Island, where Captain Metal informed her of his intent to use both her and the Sol Emeralds in his grand schemes. Taking her to his lair, the captain unveiled the instrument of his plans for conquest: the Egg O' War. As Blaze continued to refuse him aid, the captain unleashed his Kraken robot, ordering it to devour her. However, Blaze was then surprised and relieved by the arrival of her friends, who had survived the Ocean Tornado's destruction and found her with help from the Sprockets. Adding to the confusion, Bark and Bean stole Captain Metal's Sol Emerald, only for it to be stolen in turn by Captain Whisker's underling Johnny. Blaze and her fellow heroes escaped and pursued the pirate, taking over the Metal Marauder in the process. When the Kraken attacked both their ship and Whisker's, the heroines were forced into an unlikely alliance with Bark and Bean, the latter providing a bomb that destroyed the Kraken. However, the Sol Emerald was sent flying by the explosion, and wound up once again in the clutches of Captain Metal.

Blaze flew to confront the robotic pirate yet again, only to once again be knocked unconscious. Upon awakening, she found herself inside the Genesis Reactor aboard the Egg O' War, where Captain Metal revealed his intentions to power it with all the Sol Emeralds. Blaze attempted to dissuade him, informing him that his actions would destroy their world; however, Metal ignored her due to the potential of his chosen weapon to travel to other worlds. The other six Sol Emeralds were forcibly summoned to join Metal's, and the Egg O' War powered up. However, Blaze's friends came to her aid yet again, freeing her and allowing her to obtain the Emeralds, which she used to transform into Burning Blaze. She reduced Metal to molten slag, only for the Egg O' War's internal security systems to start attacking, Metal having uploaded himself into his battle fortress. Blasting an escape route for her friends, Burning Blaze confronted the Egg O' War, and swiftly dealt it enough damage that it sank to the bottom of the ocean. With all seven Sol Emeralds recovered, her world safe, and her enemies fled or defeated, Blaze thank her allies-both friends and former foes. Using the power of the Emeralds, she then sent Amy, Bark, Bean, Cheese, and Cream back to their world.

Personality
Normally cool and collected, Blaze gives the impression that she keeps a tight lid on her emotions, but this may not be her true nature. Despite her calm appearance she can lose her temper easily and when she does, she is quite scary to be around. Her temper also makes it more difficult for her to think clearly, leaving her prone to sneak attacks. While she may at times be tense, she usually remains at least polite; however, she tends to be distrustful of others, especially when the safety of the Sol Emeralds is involved. She dislikes being referred to by her title of "princess" and prefers just being called by her name. She often speaks her mind bluntly but feels grateful to those who have helped her and will do what she can in whatever way to fulfill the debt. She is also very dedicated to her duty as princess and does whatever she can to protect her people from outside threats. She also has a fondness of Marine, though often has her patience tried by her.

Much of Blaze's coldness comes from the distance that is enforced between others and herself due to her powers. She views her abilities as both a gift and a curse, and her disciplined nature may be due to her efforts to control them. Making friends like Sonic has helped her to become more relaxed and friendly, though any breach to her slowly developing trust is usually received harshly. Perhaps because threats to the Sol Emeralds are threats to the very survival of her world, Blaze holds little back in dealing with thieves, quickly expressing the possibility of employing lethal force. Under this hard exterior, however, Blaze conceals a fear of heights.

Powers and abilities
Blaze is a skilled fighter, gifted with the ability to create and control fire. Using her pyrokinesis, she can conjure fire at any place on or all over her body and even launch barrages of fireballs at enemies. By jumping into the air and twirling, she can become a fiery tornado and attacks using her feet and can also conjure up fields of fire around her hands to protect her from damage, which comes in useful during hand-to-hand combat. She has also been shown to teleport with her flames and has a deep, personal connection to the power of the Sol Emeralds. She has been shown to be able to summon a Sol Emerald in the palm of her hand and read its energies. Additionally, she is fully able to keep up with Sonic's speed. By using this in combination with her fire, she turns into a veritable living comet, and is even capable of brief flight.

Burning Blaze
With the power of the Sol Emeralds, Blaze can achieve a super form and become Burning Blaze.

Allies

 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Marine the Raccoon
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Team Rose
 * Amy Rose
 * Cheese the Chao
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Coconut Crew

Enemies

 * Babylon Rogues
 * Blackguard Pirates
 * Captain Whisker
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Dr. Eggman Nega
 * Hooligans
 * Johnny
 * Mini & Mum

Trivia

 * In the game universe, Blaze seems to have two different backstories as to where she came from, until it was clarified by Takashi Iizuka. In Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure (and most other games afterward) Blaze is depicted as being a Princess and the protector of the Sol Emeralds in a parallel dimension. However, in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Blaze comes from the future where she battles against Iblis. At the end of Silver's story-line, Blaze sacrifices herself by sealing Iblis inside her body and seemingly disappears due to Chaos Control. At the end of the game, it was made so Iblis never existed, causing the events of the game to never happen, meaning that Blaze should still be alive. A common theory that writer Ian Flynn agrees with is that Blaze had removed herself from the universe/dimension and was rewritten after the events of the game were erased into always having lived in the parallel world seen in the other games. The possibility that she and Silver never even met each other is never clarified in the games universe, as in all future appearances they never appear together in their mutual stories and neither of them ever mention each other. Ian Flynn brought an end to the confusion-at least with regards to the comic continuity-when he thoroughly detailed how Blaze and Silver never met.
 * Blaze is the first female character in the Sonic comics to have a super form.
 * While her game counterpart has some confusion as to Blaze's title of being either a princess or a queen, the comic consistently refers to her as a princess.