Amy Rose

"My name is Amy Rose. I'm cute and full of energy!"

- Amy Rose

Amy Rose (エミー・ローズ), also formerly known as Rosy the Rascal (ロージー・ザ・ラスカル), is a fictional, anthropomorphic pink hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She has a major long-standing crush on Sonic the Hedgehog, and has been trying to win his heart by any means since meeting him. Such methods included impressing him by fighting robots, and threatening to leave him locked in prison on Prison Island. Introduced in the game franchise in 1993, Amy was the first — and most recurring — female character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and is also one of the most popular characters, coming in fifth place on an official popularity poll, being the most popular female character.

She was described to be eight years old in Sonic CD, but from Sonic Adventure onward she has grown by four years. With the addition of Cream the Rabbit, Amy seems to have found herself a sidekick similar to how Tails is to Sonic (as implied in Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 3, and Shadow the Hedgehog).

Concept and Creation
Amy Rose is one of the few main characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series to have her first appearance outside the Sega games. She was created by Kenji Terada for the various Sonic the Hedgehog manga published by Shogakukan. She first appeared in the April 1992 issue of Shogaku Ninensei, written and illustrated by Sango Morimoto. She also appeared in the unrelated series from Shogaku Ichinensei, Shogaku Sannensei, Shogaku Gonensei, Shogaku Rokunensei, and Coro Coro Comics Special, all of which were written and illustrated by different mangaka but based on Kenji Terada's initial concept. In these series, Amy (no second name is given) is the girlfriend of Nicky, a nerdy young male hedgehog with the power to transform into the superhero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Amy is also the target of the bully Anton Verruca. Because of the vastly different styles of the illustrators for these series, Amy's design was different in each. She appeared most like her later games appearances in the Coro Coro Comics Specials, written and illustrated by Tanaka Kouichi.

In 1993, the manga character was adapted by the Sonic CD team to be used in Sonic's Mega CD debut. Her final design for this game was done by Kazuyuki Hoshino. She appeared infrequently thereafter, in ensemble spin-off games such as Sonic the Fighters, Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, and Sonic R. She did not appear in any of the early TV series, although she was included in most comics, including the Archie Comics series, the British Sonic the Comic and the French Sonic Adventures.

When Sonic Team reunited and started work on their three-dimensional follow-up to the classic Sonic games, Sonic Adventure, it was decided they would revive the pink hedgehog and give her a starring role in the game. Yuji Uekawa, the man who would redesign all the classic characters, did the most drastic changes to Amy. While Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all received minor design changes, Amy's clothing and hairstyle were completely revamped. She also had her entire figure redesigned to make her appear older, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to a different demographic than the rest of the Sonic characters.

Following Sonic Adventure, Amy became one of the main characters of the series, and has appeared in nearly every Sonic game since, as well a