Rouge the Bat

"I despise anyone who takes jewels from me... all the world's jewels are mine to keep!"

- Rouge

Rouge the Bat (ルージュ・ザ・バット) is a video game character who is a determined treasure hunter and part-time government agent who plans to make all the gems and treasures of the world hers. Her current jewel obsessions are the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds. She made her debut in Sonic Adventure 2 and has been featured in the Sonic the Hedgehog console games, along with two handheld games since.

In seven of the ten games she has appeared in to date, Rouge wears a skintight black body suit with a large pink heart-shaped breast plate, long white gloves, and white thigh-high boots with pink hearts on the toes. She also has long eyelashes and wears blue or pink make-up on her eyelids. Rouge is 18 years old, measures 105 cm (3ft 5in) tall and weighs 80 lbs to 96.8 lbs In Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog gameplay she wore a different outfit with similar color schemes and heart-shaped details.

Double Agent
Rouge first appears in Sonic Adventure 2 as the treasure-hunting character of the Dark Story. She is the Dark side's equivalent to Knuckles, her goal being to seek out the pieces of the Master Emerald. At the beginning of her story, she is seen arguing with Knuckles over the Master Emerald as she tries to convince him to 'just give it up'. Their argument is interrupted when Eggman appears to take the emerald for himself- which doesn't go as planned, as Knuckles flies up and smashes it. This prompts both Knuckles and Rouge to find all of the shards before the other does.

Later on, she's seen sneaking into Eggman's base. Once inside, she makes a deal with Eggman, offering her jewel-hunting skills to find the Chaos Emeralds to power his Cannon. In exchange, he gives her an Emerald tracker to find the Master Emerald pieces. On Prison Island, Rouge steals three of the Emeralds after breaking into "Security Hall". After the following boss fight, she is trapped in the building as Eggman's bomb is about to go off, and is saved by Shadow the Hedgehog.

She later was supposed to try and guard the ARK from intruders (IE, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails), after Eggman failed to stop them (and ended up having to get out of the mess he got himself into), but she then starts snooping around about the Ultimate Lifeform (presumably for the President), and later discovers that Knuckles' stash of the Master Emerald Shards have been accidentally jettisoned into space, and uses the opportunity to try to complete the Master Emerald. However, shortly after finding them, she encounters Knuckles at a Space Structure Planetoid and duels with him for the Emerald Shards. However, she gets reckless and nearly falls into the pit of Lava. She's saved by Knuckles, and seemed to be somewhat disgusted that he touched her. She later returns her stash of the Emerald Shards to him, in exchange for an apology for hurting her.

She continues to assist Shadow and Eggman, until she is revealed by Shadow to be a secret agent working for G.U.N., who also stops Rouge from taking the emeralds from the Eclipse Cannon shortly after overhearing her plans. Rouge cheers Sonic and Shadow on during the final battle to save the earth from the Biolizard, and is given Shadow's ring by Sonic after his supposed death.

Team Dark
In Sonic Heroes, Rouge is the flight member (and presumptive captain) of Team Dark, as the player can have the ability to fly when they play as her. She releases Shadow from his stasis pod, and (accidentally) activates E-123 Omega, who attempts to destroy all of Eggman's robots, including Shadow, who Omega assumes is a robot clone. Rouge stops Shadow and E-123 Omega from fighting, suggesting that they work together as a team to find Eggman. She wears a different outfit than in Sonic Adventure 2, sporting a more futuristic pink-and-purple design with the heart motif on her belt rather than her chest.

Researching Emerl
In Sonic Battle, Rouge is one of the most prominently featured characters in the game, with her story being the third to be played through. She is the owner of Club Rouge, a casino in the Night Babylon area of Story mode. Most of her fighting techniques appear to be derived from kickboxing. Her special attacks include sending a round bat that blows up towards her enemies, a powerful kick and sending what appears to be a ball of sonar energy into her opponents.

Helping G.U.N.
Rouge also appears in Shadow the Hedgehog, and helps on hero missions in the Digital Circuit, Death Ruins, and GUN Fortress levels. In Expert Mode, Caren Manuel lends her voice to Rouge at the beginning of Cryptic Castle, Lava Shelter (along with Omega's), and The Last Way (along with the voice of every other character that appears in Expert Mode). She is working for G.U.N. in this game. In her levels she rescues the Chaos Emerald, and fights the Black Arms army when they are pushed back into the forest and Defends the G.U.N. base when it comes under attack.

The Extreme Gear Rider in Makeup
Rouge appears in Sonic Riders as an unlockable racer. She is a Flight type, and is the strongest Flight type character in the game. Rouge plays no active role in the story- however, the official website states that Rouge has some kind of rivalry with Wave the Swallow. Rouge returns in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity as an unlockable racer,but again not in the storyline.Also, she is a Flight type, and can change her gear to an AIR RIDE like Tails and Wave.

Project: Solaris
In Sonic the Hedgehog, Rouge appears as an "Amigo" character, playable in stages White Acropolis, Kingdom Valley, Flame Core, and Tropical Jungle. She first appears escaping Eggman's base with Shadow after stealing the Scepter of Darkness as part of a mission from GUN. After escaping, Rouge and Shadow go to Kingdom Valley to find the GUN rendezvous point, however they are ambushed by Eggman and the Scepter is broken after a struggle. Mephiles the Dark emerges from the broken scepter and is re-born in Shadow's shadow and sends the two into the future.



Rouge then teams up with Sonic and his friends to find two Chaos Emeralds that enable them to return to their own time. Rouge returns to the present alone and realizes that Shadow has stayed in the future. Rouge then goes about finding E-123 Omega and sends him to help Shadow.

Rouge eventually finds that Omega and Shadow have found a way back from the future and so teams up them once again to find Mephiles and after an encounter with him, Omega confesses that he betrays Shadow in the future and that one day the whole world will turn against him. Rouge assures her friend that "even if he believes everyone in the world will turn against him, she will always remain by his side". Rouge then helps Shadow, along with Omega, to try to defeat Mephiles and seal him in the new Scepter of Darkness. However this attempt does not work because Mephiles is using Shadow's form. Thanks to Shadow, the trio then defeat all of Mephiles' clones only to find out later than Mephiles actually escaped. She later helps the rest of the crew save Sonic.

Racing With the Boys
Rouge appears in Sonic Rivals as a "Card" and has dialogue during the Story mode.

Rouge appears as a playable character in Sonic Rivals 2. During the storyline she teams up with Knuckles the Echidna to find the "Master Emerald" and the "Chaos Emeralds". She steals Eggman's emerald tracker to find them. She and Knuckles find themselves having to battle with other rivals and Eggman Nega in order to find the Chaos Emeralds while Knuckles is unable to find the Master Emerald. Rouge finds six emeralds which are then taken by Eggman Nega who opens a portal to another dimension, Rouge is dragged into the portal by Knuckles, leading to her finding herself separated from Knuckles in another dimension. When she finds Knuckles, she sees that his mind is being control by the Ifrit, a big fire monster that could destroy the world. Rouge manages to defeat the Ifrit and saves Knuckles, she then finds the emerald detector destroyed and sees the Master Emerald inside it. The two return to their own dimension. Knuckles takes the Master Emerald but is then distracted when Rouge calls him dashing, giving her enough time to steal the Emerald and run from the scene.

An Agent's Mission Chronicled
Rouge appears as a playable character in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. She is the fourth person to join Sonic's group and is assigned by the GUN Commander as a "representative" of the organization. When the group reaches the Kron Coloney it is revealed that Rouge was sent by GUN to gather some Nocturnus technology. The player can choose to help her by obtaining various ammounts of Nocturnus Tech.Her overworld abilities allow her to fly (better than Knuckles but worse than Tails and Cream) and the Stealth ability - one that she shares only with Shade. In battle, she has low attack power and low armour, but gets to attack twice per round. She can weaken, distract and even steal items from her foes.



Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Rouge appears in the game Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games as a boss in Festival Mode that the player may compete against, as well as Jet, Omega, and Eggman Nega. She is the boss of the figure skating event, and after beating her, the player can buy her costume, which gives Rouge stats to the selected Mii. Rouge also appears in the DS Adventure Tours working for Mario and Sonic to find stolen objects from the museum for White Stones. However, she will challenge Mario and Sonic to a Figure Skating match since Bowser and Dr. Eggman bribed her with a huge White Stone. Rouge will help recover the next Snow Spirit from Eggman and Bowser after her defeat and continue working for Mario and Sonic.

Treasure Hunter
Rouge is fond of riches, especially rare, beautiful gems, and has often searched for or stolen jewels. She has had several run-ins in the past with Fiona Fox and Nack the Weasel, often beating them to rare treasures, and thus has something of a past rivalry with the pair.

Agent of G.U.N.
When Sonic the Hedgehog was mistaken for Shadow in a plot that seemingly involved both Dr. Eggman and the events of a mysterious project from fifty years prior, Rouge was hired by the President to investigate. As Eggman expanded his war, she became more active in events concerning the safety of Station Square and has occasionally acted as liaison with the Freedom Fighters.

Heroics and Schemes
While Rouge more often than not works in a self-serving manner and will do almost anything it takes to get what she wants, she does tend to do the right thing on occasion. She saved the President of Station Square when Eggman remotely steered his limo toward a dock. Later on, she took part in the battle against the Xorda, aiding Knuckles when he couldn't glide.

When Evil Sonic came to Mobius Prime and replaced Sonic, he quickly fell for Rouge upon seeing her in Knothole. Rouge had been transported to Knothole after attempting to seduce Locke into telling her where the Master Emerald was. The two returned to Angel Island where Rouge acted as a decoy, again seducing Locke, until the latter sensed trouble by the Master Emerald. Evil Sonic was defeated by the combined might of Sonic Prime and Locke, and although Rouge was disappointed, she was won over when Evil Sonic presented a shiny gem.

Later she and Evil Sonic again attempted to seize the Master Emerald. This time Rouge helped Evil Sonic fight Locke until he was able to transform into Scourge. Scourge easily defeated Locke, but Rouge prevented him from killing the echidna. She followed Scourge to Knothole to watch Scourge fight and defeat both Sonic and Shadow and joined him in their escape through a Warp Ring provided by Dr. Finitevus. The two ended up joining Finitevus, but Rouge left his operation when she discovered he was planning to use nuclear weapons. After sabotaging them all, she fled to Knothole seeking refuge via a stolen Warp Ring. After revealing everything she knew to the Chaotix who were interrogating her, she was released from custody.

In order to prove to Knuckles she'd "gone legit", Rouge accompanied the Chaotix in their investigation of Renfield Rodent's Casino set up in Station Square. Rouge, along with Vector the Crocodile and Espio the Chameleon, fell under the hypnotic spell of the slot machines. However, Renfield's schemes and plans to produce new Auto Automatons for Dr. Eggman were eventually put to an end by Knuckles, Julie-Su and Mighty the Armadillo.

It seemed that she was up to her old tricks even after this when it was reported that she'd stolen the Master Emerald and planned to sell it off to the highest bidder. As it turned out, it was all a ploy she'd set up to lure in villains and allow the Freedom Fighters to capture them. She claimed to have done it in order to show Knuckles that she could be good as well, though not everyone was impressed by her manipulations and deceit.

When Espio was seemingly late in returning from his solo mission into Eggman's territory, she offered to assist Knuckles in finding him, though it seemed that she was once again more concerned with getting close to the echidna than anything else.

Rouge was captured by Eggman during his assault on Knothole and transported to the Egg Grape Chamber with roughly all but a handful of the city's inhabitants. Rouge was promptly freed along with the other prisoners in the ensuing rescue mission orchestrated by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, and Sally's computer NICOLE. As a result, she was transported to the city of New Mobotropolis by Eggman's capture beam, which had been reprogrammed by NICOLE to teleport victims to the city.

Afterwards, she returned to working with G.U.N., and was reached by Sally through a badly garbled communication requesting aid against the new Enerjak, Knuckles's arch-foe reborn as Knuckles himself. Obliging, Rouge promised the aid of G.U.N.'s newest agent: none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.

Hidden Agendas
After the Enerjak incident, Rouge found Knuckles watching the Chaotix from the concealment of some nearby vegetation, too ashamed of what he'd done as Enerjak to reveal himself to his friends. She then talked him out of his decision to dedicate himself solely to the Master Emerald and cut off contact with the outside world. Rouge then watched as Knuckles rejoined his friends, making comments that suggest she may have had ulterior motives for her talk with the echidna.

Whatever her motives, she left Knuckles behind to team up with Geoffrey St. John, the two of them going to Mammoth Mogul's new casino to investigate the recently re-immortalized villain. Later, it was revealed that Mogul paid Rouge to relay a message to the Destructix. She told them of how Mogul was going to pay them for publicly humiliating Sonic which they proceeded to do.

Personality
Rouge is a strong-minded young woman, a fearless, ambitious, independent, flirty, greedy, ruthless, calculating narcissist who most people see as only caring for herself and her gems. She has been known to seduce people with her strong sex appeal to get what she wants (such as kissing Tails in Sonic Battle and Sonic X). However, she has, on occasion, shown that she can be heroic. In the final events of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, she helped to save the planet. In Sonic Heroes, she stopped Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega from killing each other, and is seen battling Chaotix and Sonic as liabilities to her quest to finding Dr. Eggman's supposed hidden treasure room. In Sonic Battle, when Shadow was injured and needed a place to stay, Rouge helped him. In Shadow the Hedgehog, she did other laudable things, such as rescuing a Chaos Emerald from the doomed mainframe, destroying the evil monster Black Bull, and assisting Shadow in defeating Black Doom as well as showing concern for Shadow's welfare at the end of the game. Recently, she has been becoming less selfish, as can be seen by her actions towards Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Rivals.

Something interesting about Rouge is that she acts noticeably more like animals of her said species than any other character. While many of the characters maintain abilities and habits like that of their real animal counterparts (i.e. Sonic and Shadow's ability to curl into a ball, or Vector the Crocodile's ability to swim.), Rouge seems to do this more. Like real bats, she has the ability to fly, hang upside down, hear ultra-sonic sounds, and let out piercing screeches. In Sonic X, she also mentions to Topaz that she would prefer a dark cave to a sunny beach (a reference to the fact that most bats live in caves), and states later in the episode (episode 40, Sunblock Solution), "What could be better for a bat than a planet that's dark everyday?" In the Archie Comics (Issue 165) she is seen attempting to shield herself from the light of a lamp with her wing (a reference as to the fact that most bats do not like light.) And she also apparently lives in a city where it is perpetually night (Night Babylon).

Shadow the Hedgehog
The two are teammates in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, and often work together during mission stages, but are not seen together outside of duty alliance and do not spend time in one another's presence unless it has been business. Shadow is one of the few people Rouge cares about, other than herself.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow saved her life when she was trapped in Security Hall, though when Rouge questioned him about his actions later aboard the ARK, he told her he only returned for the Chaos Emerald that she had acquired. Although, Rouge suspected that this wasn't "the whole story". Their conversation was then interrupted by Dr. Eggman. Though it would not be suspicious of Shadow's character to having indeed also cared for Rouge's being, since it has been stated he was given the heart of Maria, and is indeed a caring person who shows it in ways that differ from Sonic the Hedgehog, and quite possibly will also save anyone in desperate need of it, leaving he and Sonic not so very different in this aspect. Yet, during Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow had also been in the brief phase of revenge, where it seemed he put his goal to avenge Maria upon everything and anyone else, so his real motives were unknown. Rouge's ending dialogue in response to him might've indicated that she too detected he was not the cold and callous person he often bluffed to be. Other examples of his caring nature can be found in a few encounters with Sonic the Hedgehog during the ending episodes of Sonic X both Japanese and English, Omega, and Metal Sonic himself, so it would not be considered rare of his character or any kind of exception.

In '"Sonic Heroes", Rouge shows more consideration for Shadow. When they find a broken Shadow Android, Rouge looks over to Shadow with pity and asks, "Shadow...?" in a sympathetic mannerism, while he simply dismisses the situation.

In Sonic Battle, Rouge calls Shadow "not bad-looking" and "a prince." She also lets him stay with her at Club Rouge when he is injured during a fight after carrying him inside when he passes out in front of the club. Also, while Shadow is dreaming, an image of Rouge appears and he whispers, "Ally." Rouge seems offended when Shadow doesn't thank her for saving him as an insertion for comic relief.

In Sonic X, Rouge first established the business transactions for helping Eggman and Shadow find the Chaos Emeralds. The two do not have the teamwork relationship if any kind at all like they do in the video game series, whereas Shadow is even more distant from the other characters than originally portrayed in the games and solely focused on vengenance. Yet at the end of the series when she is seen staring at the empty caspule she'd found Shadow in, Eggman notices her quietly mourning his supposed death with her expression and says, "I can't believe it! You're worried about Shadow, aren't you?" Rouge denies this, but after asking Eggman where he thinks Shadow might be, she suspects that he knows something that he's not telling her. In the Japanese version, Eggman does not ask her this at all, and in the French version, he asks if Rouge is worried about Knuckles.

In Sonic Rivals, after Shadow saves Rouge from Eggman Nega, Rouge tries to coerce him into going treasure hunting with her and suggests the two "take a peek" into their own future using Eggman Nega's device. Shadow declines and the story ends with Rouge still trying to convince Shadow to join her in hunting for the remaining cards.

In Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), Rouge makes an attempt to draw Shadow into a conversation that doesn't involve Mephiles' plan to destroy the world, and at one point says, "It's always business with you," when Shadow ignores her and rejects the off-topic sessions. After E-123 Omega reveals to Shadow that he is the one who traps him in the future. Rouge tells Shadow, "Even if you believe the entire world will be against you, remember that I will always remain by your side... Remember that..." Shadow pauses, then replies strongly, "I will." Though, in the original Japanese version of the video game, Rouge simply says, "You always have friends to whom you can rely on." In the Sonic The Hedgehog Official Game Guide, it states that Rouge has feelings for both Shadow and Knuckles. However, this has not been stated on Sonic's Central official character profiles or in the Japanese guide of Sonic the Hedgehog Official Game Guide.

Whether Shadow sees Rouge as a platonic friend or romantic interest is, as of yet, unknown by officiality. Though it should be noted that Shadow does not return the same responses, feelings, or general emotionality with the same depth that Rouge does as proven within the information above, leaving most to believe that any kind of romantic interest is one-sided, which is also more believable for Shadow's character. Rouge has been touched by Shadow, while on the other hand, there is a lack of reciprocation and mutualism from him. Some may say this has to do with Shadow's natural nature to be withdrawn, but he has shown mutualism for other characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog, where mutual effect is concerned.

Knuckles the Echidna
Knuckles the Echidna is Rouge's secret crush, and is the only love-interest that has been plainly stated by Sega themselves and multiple sources under them, such as The Sonic Central website, the 4kids Website, and the Sonic the Hedgehog Official Game Guide.

It is official information that Rouge has a secret crush on Knuckles that she'll never admit to. The Sonic Central website also mentions that she admires his devotion to the Master Emerald and his general strong will. Rouge was designed to be Knuckles' compatibility in the same gesture Shadow was designed to be Sonic's compatibility when it comes to basic rivalry and skills.

In Sonic Adventure 2: Battle when Rouge steals the Master Emerald, Knuckles tries to hunt her down, but when he finds her he saves her life instead because she was going to fall into the lava pits after having slipped off the edge. After the act, Rouge and Knuckles share a long pause between gazes, before Rouge snatches her hand out of his and retorts to ungratefulness by teasing that he just wanted to hold her hand. In the end, Rouge gives him the remaining pieces of the Master Emerald and complains that, "They stink like echidnas do," to imply her stubbornness to give him a direct, "Thank you." Knuckles gathers the shards and glances over to her, before muttering, ""I'm sorry if I hurt you..."" and runs off. Before the scene fades out, Rouge gives a thoughtful smile over her shoulder before also heading out.

In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, codex states that, ""there's a sort of unstated connection between Rouge and Knuckles that neither are overly willing to explore."" Rouge even admits that Knuckles is cute during the game. During that game, when Shade mentions that she is four-thousand years old, Rouge says, ""You always were into older women, eh Knuckles?"" meaning that Rouge believes Knuckles likes both her and Shade.

In Sonic Rivals 2, the two are teamed up. Rouge's reason for this is because she had a mysterious client who told her that if she found all the Emeralds, she would be rewarded, so she believed with Knuckles she might find her client to know exactly who he was. Rouge fights Ifrit to get Knuckles back to normal, but in the end when Knuckles does find his Master Emerald, she steals it from him.

In Sonic X comics and series, the two are rivals the way they are in the games, except there is more aggression. Yet, the series focuses on plenty more interaction between the two that is both comical, flirtatious on Rouge's end, and romantic, while one of the latter left Knuckles to blush awkwardly. Their relationship is very hate/love oriented during the series. Near the end of it, the two also have a brief team work collaboration, and even have a humorous tickle-fight with each other.

E-123 Omega
Rouge's second best friend, after Shadow is Omega, who is very loyal to her. She prevented Shadow and Omega from killing each other in Sonic Heroes, and soon after formed Team Dark to help her find Eggman's 'secret treasure room'. Instead of finding treasure, of course, they end up saving the world, and Team Dark has been a tightly-knit bunch ever since. The two are close allies, and she shows signs of caring for him, such as in Sonic Chronicles, where she says she is saddened by the thought of Omega rusting away in Metropolis, and not with her and Shadow "blowing things up". She has sometimes shown annoyance at Omega, saying that he is too serious and that she is tired of hearing him ramble on about revenge and hatred.

Amy Rose
Rouge and Amy are generally portrayed as hostile towards each other. In Sonic Battle, the two fight several times over Emerl, and in Sonic X, they appear to hold some sort of rivalry and compete fiercely against each other in the Battle Tournament. Their rivalry is also apparent in Sonic Chronicles, They aren't always bickering, however, as shown in Shadow the Hedgehog. When Shadow had saved the world in the last story, Rouge wonders, "I hope he(Shadow)'s okay." Amy comforts her by saying, " I'm sure he's fine, Rouge. After all, he is Shadow." Rouge then looks back at her, and nods.

Sonic
Rouge and Sonic don't really show a dislike for each other, despite him being Shadow's rival. In Sonic Battle, Rouge challenges him to a battle, if she wins, Sonic will have to get her gems and work for her. But, Sonic later wins. Later, Sonic gave Emerl to Rouge for a limited time, somehow trusting her. In Sonic Chronicles, Rouge flirts with Sonic and gave him a nickname "Big Blue". She only flirts with him with to make Amy jealous. Sonic also seems to be a bit annoyed when she flirts with him.

Tails
Rouge and Tails have only really interacted in Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles, but in both these games, Rouge displays a certain playful affection towards the two-tailed fox. She enjoys teasing him, and in the tournament arc of Sonic X, she defeats him in battle by kissing him on the cheek.

Topaz
Rouge only met Topaz in Sonic X, where she is Rouge's partner. Though at first the regimental Topaz disapproves of the scheming Rouge, (who keeps calling her an old lady), the two become friends fast. Their main assignments involved striking at Eggman and locating the Chaos Emeralds as well as serving as envoys between Sonic and the government. Topaz said farewell to Rouge when she had to return to her planet, Rouge gave her a ring as a goodbye gift. This is quite unusual, as Rouge usually keeps any piece of jewelry she comes across. After Topaz sees Rouge step through the portal back to her home planet, Topaz has an out of character moment where she bursts into tears crying, as opposed to her usual tough and serious nature, suggesting there was a strong friendship between the two.

Friends

 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Close ally and friend)
 * E-123 Omega (Close ally and friend)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Ally and Rival)
 * Espio (Sonic Rivals 2)
 * Topaz (Sonic X)

Rivals

 * Knuckles the Echidna (Rival & Secret Crush)
 * Amy Rose
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Metal Sonic (Sonic Rivals 2)
 * Julie-Su (In Archie only)

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Eggman Nega (But she never recognized him)
 * Mephiles the Dark (Sonic 06 only)
 * Chaos (Sonic X Only)

Abilities
Rouge, as a treasure hunter, has similar skills to those of her rival Knuckles (with the exception that she has a strapping lower body as opposed to his muscular upper body). Rouge can fly and glide with her wings, and her flying speed is able keep up with characters like Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles as, in Sonic X she is able to keep up with Sonic and Knuckles as they are making a charge at Emerl, yet she doesn't have enough stamana to keep it up. She has also shown to use Dummy Rings and in Sonic the Hedgehog(2006) use bombs possibly from hammerspace.

Sonic Adventure 2
Rouge's special attacks in 2-player mode are "Hip Drop", which causes a small earthquake to trip opponents, "Black Wave", a black energy wave which confuses opponents, and "Charm Ray", which freezes her opponent for 10 seconds. Since Sonic Adventure 2 had upgrading for each character, Rouge also has some upgrades to make her and her skills stronger.


 * Mystic Melody: A flute made of light that causes something special to happen if used in front of an ancient shrine.
 * Pick Nails: Hard additions the tips of her boots that allows her to dig through grounds and walls.
 * Treasure Scope: A GUN-made device that allows her to see invisible items.
 * Iron Boots: Stronger boots that allow her to break solid metallic items.

Sonic Battle
Rouge has many different abilities, all of which can be copied by Emerl. She has low gravity, affording her considerably more air-time than any other character, uses her voice to attack, can release "Bat Cracker" bombs and uses a large number of kick-boxing moves.

One of Rouge's most obvious distinguishing characteristics in Sonic Battle is her flight ability. While other characters have a double jump (achieved by pushing A twice, jumping higher with each push and then falling due to gravity), Rouge flies into the air and floats there slowly with the first jump, and quickly lands on the ground when A is pushed again, another possible ability is that Rouge could use a gust of wind, shown in a episode in Sonic X.

Sonic Heroes
As the flight member of her team, Rouge can use "Thunder Shoot", where she charges her teammates with electrical energy and kicks them towards enemies. While Sonic Heroes gameplay differs from other Sonic titles, Rouge's ability in this game can be enhanced by just collecting a yellow colored Power Core. Rouge has up to 3 levels of powering up, just like the others. In a fight, when her other teammates are not available, she is able to throw out dummy rings, which shock opponents.
 * Level 1: Thunder Shoot stuns enemies for a longer period of time depending on the strength of the enemy.
 * Level 2: When she launches her team mates, Shadow and Omega, using Thunder Shoot, it is able to destroy a targeted enemy sometimes and also enhances her attack powers.
 * Level 3: When she launches Shadow and Omega with Thunder Shoot, they are able to attack and defeat many enemies at once. Also, when Thunder Shoot is used, it has the ability to pick up rings like a magnet.

Sonic Riders
In the racing game Sonic Riders, Rouge can level up by collecting rings, and has three different attacks depending on the level she is.
 * Level 1: Blows a kiss at the opponent, stunning them.
 * Level 2: Delivers a powerful kick to the opponent.
 * Level 3: Releases a flying Bat Cracker bomb like that in Sonic Battle.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

 * Tornado Kick (トルネードキック): Rouge delivers a rapid series of kicks that create a damaging wind attack.
 * Jewel Storm (ジェルストー� ): Rouge throws a handful of counterfeit gems at the opposing team. These gems, while small, are armor piercing.
 * Rising Knuckle (ライジングナックル): Rouge and Knuckles team up for a dive-bomb double attack that may leave the target stunned.
 * Plunder (Item Thief アイテ� シーフ): Rouge feints an attack while stealing an item from her target. The higher-leveled this attack is, the better the item.
 * Distract (Allurement ゆうわく): Rouge tempts the enemy with her feminine wiles to keep their mind off the fight.
 * Shriek (Supersonic Wave ちょう音波): Rouge directs a shrill scream at her foe, leaving the target sluggish.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Other than gliding and climbing like Knuckles, Rouge has three other abilities:
 * Bomb- Rouge can throw bombs, or release a torrent of explosives while hovering in air.
 * Blast Jump- Rouge uses her exploding bombs to gain serious height while jumping.
 * Bomb Snipe- A first Person view lets Rouge target enemies with greater accuracy.

In the Sonic X anime and Sonic Rivals 2, Rouge is depicted as also have heightened hearing like a real bat. This proved to be a both a strength and weakness- though she could hear things from far away, in one instance she proved very vulnerable to loud noises.

Voice actresses

 * Video games, Sonic X - Rumi Ochiai (Japan)
 * Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle - Lani Minella (US)
 * Sonic X, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders, Sonic the Hedgehog - Caren Manuel (US)
 * Rosane Correa (Brazilian version in all series)

Theme songs
The Sonic the Hedgehog video games have featured several theme songs for the character.


 * Sonic Adventure 2: "Fly in the Freedom" - Tabitha Fair, Todd Cooper.
 * Sonic Heroes: "This Machine" - Julien-K. This was a team theme shared with Shadow and Omega.

The background music for the stage Security Hall (titled "I'm a Spy") in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is generally attributed to Rouge, despite technically having no relation to her. Like most characters, Rouge is associated with a genre of music, specifically smooth jazz/bossa nova/fusion with some feminine sighs thrown in (similarly to how Knuckles is associated with the rap genre). It is interesting to note that the background music in her Club Rouge stage from Sonic Battle also has feminine sighing. No other BGM in the game has any form of vocal.

Also in the anime, Sonic X a BGM plays in the background of most of her events and appearances. The BGM is called "Mysterious & Sexy Thief Rouge" and was first heard in episode 11. In the American 4Kids dub, a saxophone jingle often plays in the same scenes.

Promotion and merchandising
Rouge has been featured in many advertising campaigns and advertising for the Sonic the Hedgehog Series in North America and Japan. At the launch of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Rouge and a few other characters were featured in a line of plushes advertising the game. Another Rouge plush was released as a prize for crane games in Japan at the launch of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. As a campaign for the Sonic X anime in North America and Japan, keychains were distributed for the main characters in the show, one of whom was Rouge. Sega and McDonalds released a series of LCD Sonic Themed Games at McDonalds in 2004, the games were bundled with Happy Meals. Rouge was featured in the game Amy & Rouge Volleyball in which, "Players are challenged to move Amy from side to side to return Rouge's serves and volleys.".

Critical reception
Upon Rouge's introduction in Sonic Adventure 2, many game reviewers commented on her similarity to Knuckles, including such critical remarks as "Knuckles with bat wings and breasts", whilst some further criticized her design. Her "daring attitude" and narcissism received further comment. Rouge appeared on GamerRadar's list of "The Sexy Lady Beasts of Gaming", in which she is described as "Proof that voluptuous curves, thigh-boots, sexy eyes and rubber gloves can make any animal in the kingdom an object of lustful ferverted desire. No matter how freaky-looking their real-world inspiration might be."

Quotes
"My name is Rouge the Bat. Better known as the treasure hunter, Rouge." - The beginning of Rouge's recap in Sonic Adventure 2.

"Because I don't like your attitude, you're just a jewel theif so you wouldn't know!" - Rouge immitating Knuckles in Sonic X after she punched him.

"So, you finished your homework? I'd say thats and invasion of privacy" - Rouge talking to Shadow in Sonic Adventure 2.

"How was that? Perfect? Like me?" - After getting an A Rank.

"Im Rouge the Bat, but you can call me Rouge." - Rouge introduces herself.

"You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you? (teasingly) You're such a creep!" - After being saved by Knuckles.

"All the world's jewels will be mine." - After winning in Sonic Adventure 2.

"I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now...it'll all work out; you'll see." -To Knuckles, during the credits on Sonic Adventure 2.

"Aw yeah baby, this makes us a team!" - After assembling Team Dark for the first time in Sonic Heroes.

"Long time no see boys! Too bad you came out all this way for nothing, we'll take it from here!" - Taunting Team Sonic on their way to Eggman, before the teams fight.

"Better behave yourself!" - Sonic Riders.

"Hey, ladies first!"- When losing a race in Sonic Riders

"These boots were made for racing." - After winning a race in Sonic Rivals 2.

"You're cute when you're angry . . . " - Flirting with an irritated Knuckles, Sonic X

"I think...no. See ya later, Silver boy." - After arguing with Silver about Chao and Chaos Emeralds in Sonic Rivals 2

"I despise anyone who steal jewels away from me." - After Eggman took the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2

"You guys don't fool me, I know what you're after! Better stay out of my way!" - Before fighting Team Chaotix in Sonic Heroes

"This is a bit too much!" - Said in Sonic Heroes while she's running on a loop.

"Well? Believe what you wanna believe!" - Said to Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2.

"You're weak!" - Whenever she wins a race in Sonic Riders:Zero Gravity

"What are you saying? What else is a famous treasure hunter supposed to do?" - Talking to Shadow at the end of Sonic Heroes - Last Story

"Who's your charming little friend here?" - Rouge complimenting Shadow in Sonic X after joining Eggman.

"I"m counting on you guys!" Selecting Team Dark in Sonic Heroes.

"Let's see what you've got..." Rouge before a battle in Sonic Battle.

"Winning is everything..." Rouge after winning a battle in Sonic Battle.

Trivia

 * In the Sonic 06 Manual it is stated that Rouge has feelings for both Shadow and Knuckles.
 * Rouge was originally going to be called "Nails the Bat" but was later renamed.


 * Rouge may have been named after the Jewel, the rouge, relating to her "jewel stealing".
 * Her name could also come from a type of makeup applied to the cheeks (also called "blush").
 * Her name is also a pun on the City, Baton Rouge, due to her first name being Rouge and she is a bat. Her name also means "red" in French.
 * Although she announced at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 that she was done with jewelry, she is still hopelessly obsessed with jewelry in later games.
 * Rouge (along with Omega and Shadow) is one of the few "regular" Sonic characters to not have a labeled favorite food. (Omega does not have one because he is a robot and as such does not need to eat, while Shadow has generally not been seen eating)
 * Rouge may be the strongest flight type character in Sonic Heroes, due to the fact that she can fly even with Omega (the heaviest character in any game at one ton) holding on to her legs.
 * Rouge's former voice actress, Lani Minella, appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as the voice actress of newcomers Pit and Lucas.
 * Not counting team members in the support class, Rouge has the least team POW moves in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, with only one.
 * Also, Rouge is the only character with an Armor-Piercing move that hits all onscreen enemies instead of targeting one enemy. She is the second member of the Shifter class, and the only Shifter class member in Team Dark (Shadow and Omega are both in the Power class).
 * In Sonic Heroes, while selecting Shadow or Omega to be the leader in Team Dark, if you use the first-person camera to look at Rouge, she will turn her head in your direction and wink at you.
 * The only time Rouge is seen with fangs is in Sonic Adventure 2, the rest of her appearances show her without fangs.
 * In Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Rouge doesn't have her lipstick on.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast you can unlock Rouge with black fur, and also unlock her dressed as a witch.
 * Rouge, like other characters, have their names on the Empire City street signs in the day time stages from Sonic Unleashed.
 * At one point in Sonic Battle, Sonic says, "I smell perfume, maybe Rouge is around." This might mean that Rouge wears perfume, but Sonic might also be making a sarcastic statement.
 * Rouge is the only character in Sonic Adventure 2 who's theme is played with lyrics.

Gallery
For more pictures, see Rouge the Bat/Artwork