Big the Cat/History and appearances

Sonic Adventure
Big was sleeping peacefully in his hut one night, when he woke up and saw that his friend, Froggy, had swallowed his lucky charm: the yellow Chaos Emerald. As soon as he noticed that Froggy had grown a tail, Froggy ran off, causing Big to chase after him. Big followed Froggy all over Station Square, from Twinkle Park to Icecap. Big was able to catch Froggy at Emerald Coast, but E-102 Gamma, a robot made by Eggman, snatched him from Big and ran off. Seeing that, Big tried to convince the robot to give him Froggy back, but without any positive results.

Later, Big went on board the Egg Carrier to once again reunite with his pal, Froggy. He had to fish him out of one of the many water tanks on the Hot Shelter. After finally catching Froggy, Big was teleported by Tikal into the past for a while, so she could pass him a message, just like she did to the other characters about Chaos, the god of destruction. In Big's case, he was shown just how important his "lucky charm" really was. When he got back to the present, he decided to try to get out of the Egg Carrier, but was caught by Dr. Eggman and Chaos 4, which then evolved to Chaos 6 when he absorbed Froggy (whose tail and Chaos Emerald had now disappeared). Just then, Sonic appeared to the rescue. Big merely had to fish Froggy out of Chaos 6, leaving the rest to Sonic once he rescued his buddy. After leaving Chaos to Sonic, Big found the Tornado 2 and decided to fly home with it, but crashed it near his house. However, that made the Chaos Emerald inside the Tornado 2 an easy target to Chaos when he was on a vicious rampage to gather all seven by himself. When Perfect Chaos destroyed the city of Station Square, Big gave one of the seven Chaos Emeralds to Sonic so he could go super and defeat Perfect Chaos.

Sonic Heroes
He has an important role in Sonic Heroes. In this game he is the Power Type member of Team Rose and teams up with Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit to find Froggy and Chocola who had recently vanished, supposedly kidnapped. After defeating the Egg Emperor on the Egg Fleet, the Eggman clone piloting the Mech turns into a puddle of liquid, and Chocola and Froggy rise out of it. He later joins the other teams in defeating the true villain behind Froggy's and Chocola's capture, Metal Sonic, by buying Team Sonic enough time to use the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Big is also a character in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. He still maintains his somewhat slow and dim nature, but is an invaluable ally due to his ability to safely make it through harsh environments with his Invulnerability. He has a side-quest revolving around finding Froggy's friend Norton. In battle, he has superior strength, but slow speed, being granted only one turn per round.

Sonic Colors (DS)
Big makes an appearance in the DS version of Sonic Colors, yet again searching for Froggy. Having apparently followed Froggy into the Aquarium Park in Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park, Big tries to search for Froggy at one of the rides, but has to clear a mission to be allowed to enter. He soon after meet Sonic and Tails, and explains that he is looking for Froggy. Sonic then says that he would help looking for Froggy by taking the mission. Sonic soon returns, but says he could not find Froggy, much to Big's disappointment. Big then asks if Sonic and Tails are hungry and they admit they could go for a bite to eat. As they ask Big what kind of snack he was thinking about, Big says fish and shows them a Chopper, much to their displeasure.

Big is later joined in his search for Froggy by Amy who is also trying to find Sonic. They soon run into Sonic and Tails, and Amy asks Sonic to entertain them by clearing a mission. After Sonic clears it, Amy offers to make a picnic for them, which Big eagerly asks if he can join them. He is also inspired to run after seeing Sonic, but Amy says he has to lose some weight first.

Sonic Shuffle
Big is playable in Sonic Shuffle for the Dreamcast as an unlockable character.

Sonic Adventure 2
Big makes several cameo appearances in Sonic Adventure 2, where he can be found in most stages and boss fights, and even some cut-scenes if you look hard enough. He was also unlockable as a character in two-player Mech Battle mode. Perhaps as a reference to the fact he replaces the Eggman option, he's humorously seated in Eggman's mech and the punch attack being replaced with his froggy-like item in his term. In the GameCube version, almost all these cameos were removed, and in two-player mode, he was replaced by Dark Chao. Big still appears in the game a few times if the player hits the buttons repeatedly during cut-scenes. Notable ones include the scene after the battle between Knuckles and Rouge is over, when Amy begs Shadow to help the others in the last episode, or during the scene in the same episode where Eggman is puzzling over why the cannon won't fire. Strangely enough, the GameCube version omits some of his appearances in the Hero Side story, including one exclusive scene where he peaks out of the helicopter as Sonic is ready to jump off. Yet he does not play a role in the game's main storyline, he is just an "easter egg" for the game.

Sonic Battle
Big cameos in Sonic Battle as well. Players can choose to link four Game Boy Advances together using link cables to play multiplayer games with only one game cartridge. In one of these mini games, Big can sometimes be seen fishing as he sits on the platform where the other characters battle.

Sonic Rivals
Big makes a cameo appearance in Sonic Rivals as two collectible cards. Froggy also has one.

Sonic and the Secret Rings
He has a gallery section in Sonic and the Secret Rings. He appears in several missions in each level which usually mounts to two, if the player waits in the certain area for a few seconds Big will appear and a page will be unlocked. In each page it will feature him doing things will befriending a skeleton or lining up in a row of gargoyles and feeling out of place.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Big has an appearance in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games acting as one of the referees.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Big returns in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games as a VIP character and a collectible decal. Once Big has been found as a VIP, a Mii costume of him can be purchased at the Boutique. In the Nintendo DS version, Big plays a part in the Adventure Tours.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
In Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Big appears during the story mode of the Nintendo 3DS version of the game.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
In Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Big appears on the beach amongst other characters from both series.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Big appears as a Sticker:

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Big appears as a trophy:

Sonic and the Black Knight
An item called the Big the Cat Mask appears in Sonic and the Black Knight. It has a 5-Star rarity.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Big appears as a playable character. On the console versions, the player needs to pay 7,500 SEGA Miles to unlock Big, and on the DS and iOS versions, the player can unlock him with 40,000 SEGA miles. For the racing in this game, he is driving the Green Hopper, a small moped with a Froggy paint job.

In gameplay, Big has great speed and turbo-boost, but low acceleration and maneuverability. His All-Star Move, "Giant Froggy", lets Big summon Froggy, who grows in size immensely and begins hopping down the track, trampling on anybody in its path.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
In Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Big makes a cameo on the racecourse Ocean View. Here, he can be seen hiding behind one of the cliffs that stick out of the water, where he catches fish.

Sonic Generations
Big has a couple of cameo appearances in Sonic Generations. He appears as a neon sign in the downloadable mini-game Casino Night in the console version. He also appears as a statue in the hidden Statue Room and in footage during the credits.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, Big is a playable Power Type character. In gameplay, he can perform a midair dash attack and lower the game's speed by 10%, although at the cost of cutting the score in half.

During the "Birthday on Windy Hill" event, Big came to Sonic's birthday party with Team Rose and Froggy, only for him and his team (except Amy) to get kidnapped by Dr. Eggman when he attacked with his Death Egg drones. Thankfully, Team Sonic came to their rescue and a grateful Big went back to the celebration where he wished Sonic, after he returned from defeating Eggman, a happy birthday on behalf of him and Froggy.

During "Tropical Coast Event", Big had come to a beach resort with Team Rose and Froggy. While fishing, Big and Cream met Team Sonic who were looking for Eggman. At the same time, Big caught something and discovered it was Eggman, having accidentally fallen into the water. Once the scientist revealed he planned to turn Mother Wisp evil, Big and his team joined Team Sonic and helped them foil Eggman's plans.

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle
Big is one of the playable characters in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle who was added to the game's roster in the version 1.8.0 update. As an Easter egg, whenever a player chooses to play as Big, they will be able to see Froggy at the end of the track. Big has the following gameplay characteristics:

Team Sonic Racing
In Team Sonic Racing, Big appears as a playable character with his own race kart.

Sonic Adventure 2
In Sonic Adventure 2, the player can see Big in cutscenes by simply press the basic buttons at a certain point (or simply button-mash until he shows up).

Big first appears in the intro for Hero Side, peeking out of the G.U.N helicopter when Sonic is talking outside. When Sonic and Shadow meet, Big will be found circling around the fallen Big Foot. In the cutscene when the Egg Golem first appears, Big will appear on the other side of the door. Big's last cutscene cameo in Hero or Dark Side is thrice during the final Knuckles and Rouge encounter, where he appears in the background. Big appears in two cutscenes in the Final Story - in the intro where he drops down confused with Eggman, and twice with Amy before she decides to confront Shadow. In addition to this, Big appeared in every level of the game (bar Route 101 and Route 280), and appears twice in White Jungle and for each of the five characters in Cannon's Core. On top of that, he appears trapped during the first Sonic vs. Shadow fight, and sometimes appears in other locations in an action stage's hard mode. He is also seen in some stages though it's very hard to find him.

In Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Big's cameos were drastically reduced. He no longer appears in the game's levels (sometimes being replaced by a ring), and does not ride the Egg Walker in multiplayer (he was instead replaced by Dark Chao Walker). He was also removed from the Hero Side cutscenes, but still appears in Dark Side and Final Story, as well as the occasional Chao drawing. The 2012 re-release returned most of Big's cameos except for Wild Canyon and Hero Side, and the Dark Chao Walker still replaces him.

Sonic and the Secret Rings
In Sonic and the Secret Rings, Big made several cameo appearance that include: