Battle Kukku XVI


 * For the Archie Comics interpretation of this character, see Speedy (Archie).

Battle Kukku XVI (バトルクック16世), also known as "Speedy" (スピーディ) due to his fast flying, is a character and recurring boss in Tails Adventure for the Sega Game Gear. This green-feathered bird is heir to the throne of the invading Battle Kukku Army.

Appearance
Speedy appears to be very similar looking comparing to the soldiers of Battle Kukku Army. Although being a little bit taller than normal soldiers and Tails, he has a green body with a orange beak, feet and wings, but which makes it a tad unclear whether Speedy has green hair or wears a war helmet. It also seems that he also has sort of string hanging behind his head, but due the sprite limitations this is almost impossible to see in the in-game graphics. He wears half of his egg as part of his uniform and brown boots with black belts on them.

During the last duel in Battle Fortress, he now wears armor with a blue and grey color scheme. The armor has blue neck guards and his arms are now laser blasters. He replaced his brown boots with blue shoes with white socks and has now a jet pack which he uses instead of hovering naturally.

History
In Speedy's only game appearance, as the Battle Kukku Army discovers the Chaos Emeralds in Cocoa Island, Speedy and his troops were sent by his father from Battle Fortress to find them. In the game, Speedy can be first seen and encountered in command of the Kukku troops on Polly Mountain. After the battle he drops the Chaos Emerald which he has been found and flees back to the Battle Fortress.

He isn't seen until near the end of the game, as he challenges Tails to another duel in the end of Battle Fortress before Tails encounters his father, but this time he has now battle armor with a jet pack. Despite this Tails manages to defeat him and he's seen to explode and be gone for good.

Powers and Abilities
During the battles against him, Speedy is capable of hovering at high speed in the air and is able to perform corkscrew dive-bombs. As he later uses battle armor, he is capable of hovering with the jet pack on his back. With laser blasters, he can shoot medium and big energy projectiles and with his jet pack he can fire energy waves behind him.

Polly Mountain 1
After fighting his way through the avian soldiers swarming Polly Mountain, Tails finally reaches Speedy, who immediately bolts straight up to the sky. Tails (with a somehow infinite flight gauge) must pursue the crown prince as they dart amidst the mountain's upper limits. Speedy periodically attacks Tails with a corkscrew dive-bomb from above.

There are no means of actually damaging Speedy during the encounter; similar to the Labyrinth Zone boss in the original Sonic the Hedgehog, victory comes simply by making it to the summit of the mountain. At this point, an exhausted Speedy drops the Pink Chaos Emerald and is shown flying back to the Battle Fortress.

Battle Fortress
Speedy is then fought as the second to last boss in Battle Fortress. At the beginning he is seen standing and then starts flying around in battle armor. The battle takes place in a room with four platforms around. Speedy starts moving around the room, and at times he quickly loads and releases a blue energy ball toward the player. When Speedy arrives to the left or right side of room, he will also shoot three waves of fire at the player with his jet pack. After doing his attack he will apparently change his flying pattern as well.

By simply touching Speedy damages the player and takes three rings. Tails has to dodge him, who can fly across the player and his attacks as well. To defeat Speedy, the player has to throw bombs at him 12 times until he starts to exploding and getting completely destroyed. The player has then fly up to the roof of the room, then the player will face his father in final fight.

Archie Comics
Speedy debuts in Sonic Universe #17 (part one of "Trouble in Paradise"). He along with two soldiers see Miles "Tails" Prower, Antoine D'Coolette, and Bunnie Rabbot-D'Coolette, entering Cocoa Island for Bunnie and Antoine's long overdue honeymoon.

The three are then shocked when they see Tails' ability to fly. Then he tells the soldiers to keep watch while he reports to the "Battle Lord". At nighttime, the armada attacks the island. When Tails and his robot, T-Pup, goes off to help Bunnie and Antoine, Speedy zooms out of nowhere. They battle each other, with Tails trying to get answers from Speedy, but he remains silent. Speedy then throws Tails to the roof of his workshop to the ground. He then introduces himself, and calls Tails a "freak".

Trivia

 * Bean the Dynamite and Jet the Hawk both look similar to Speedy, since all three have green feathers and yellow beaks.
 * Speedy wears half of his egg as part of his uniform, which sometimes has been mistaken for a diaper.
 * The Battle Kukku Army appears to operate a rather idiosyncratic system of archontology, pre-emptively granting Speedy an imperial numeral while his father is still very much alive and well.