Badnik (Sonic the Comic)

The Badniks are a group that appears in Sonic the Comic, published by Fleetway Editions. The are the private robots used by Dr. Ivo Robotnik as his footsoldiers and enforcers in his mad schemes for the conquest and suppression of the planet Mobius.

Overview
There have been many different types of Badnik, many of which use an "organic battery" - a living creature imprisoned within it - as a power source. These batteries also acts as a defense mechanism, usually forcing their opponents to hold back in battle, for fear of harming any prisoner. Some Badniks also had the ability to capture their own organic batteries, including Badniks models like Badnik Sonic and Badnik Tails.

The intelligence of Badniks is wildly variant. Some appear to be near-mindless drones that solely work for Robotnik, while others are intelligent enough to show sadism, fear, boredom, rivalry, and humor. One particular Badnik even as far as to go rogue and befriended an Mobian.

History
The Badniks were developed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik following his transformation from Dr. Ovi Kintobor as his means of both enslaving Mobius' inhabitants and building his personal army. All early Badniks were powered by organic batteries, the name given to the helpless Mobian trapped inside. These Badniks came from mobile factories, which were basically large Badniks that ingested a Mobian and then encased it in a metallic shell, releasing it as a Badnik.

It was not long before the stronger Prime Badniks appeared, which could operate without the need of an organic energy source. The first such Badnik was Arachbot who captured Tails and was resistant to Sonic's attacks until he torched it using the weapon from another Badnik he had destroyed.

After Robotnik successfully conquered Mobius, several important types of Badnik were made. Particularly the Trooper Badniks&mdash;large, powerful and completely mechanical humanoid robots&mdash;became commonplace. Robotnik also created huge processing plants which he used to churn out Badniks in large numbers. One named Badnik processing plant was the Veg-O-Fortress, but it was never seen. Despite new advances in the Badnik technology though, most Badniks continued to use organic batteries (possibly because Dr. Robotnik was hesitant to discard still potentially-useful equipment and his means of maintaining a sense of fear in his citizens).

When Sonic and his allies resurfaced, Sonic initially had trouble defeating the powerful Troopers until he learned that they were not powered by organic batteries and that he therefore did not need to hold back when attacking. Troopers, with their menacing appearance, were one of the most frequently met antagonists the Freedom Fighters faced in their campaign against Robotnik's tyranny. The most notable Trooper Badnik was Commander Brutus, who was elevated above the ranks and programmed with Robotnik's own brainwaves. As Brutus attempted a coup against the dictator, he learned how to make his own Badniks. These Badniks were stronger than Robotnik's, arrogant, intelligent, and possessed a wild variety of garish, ugly forms. After killing Brutus, Robotnik took control of these Badniks.

During his late reign, Robotnik authorized the creation of more advanced Badniks. One important type of Badnik was the Metallix series, which were based on Sonic's own appearance and abilities. Like Commander Brutus, they rebelled against Robotnik, forming their own society, the Brotherhood of Metallix, which too was destroyed. The most powerful Badniks produced however, were the Cybernik Badniks, made of the indestructible metal known as Megatal. Despite their heightened status, Cybernik Badniks were built using organic batteries. Only two were ever constructed. The first, named Shortfuse, incorporated an unwilling squirrel named Shorty, who was able to take control of his Badnik casing, rebelling against Robotnik and joining the Freedom Fighters, unable to escape from his metal shell. The second was a rat named Vermin, designed largely to combat Shortfuse. Both were destroyed; Vermin was tricked by out of his shell by Shortfuse who blew it up, and Shortfuse sacrificed his shell to stop a machine created by the alien Plax.

An advanced batch of Badniks were dumped in Palmtree Panic Zone. However, when Robotnik planned to relocate these Badniks to the Green Hill Zone, the plan went south when they decided they were not going to share a Zone with inferior outdated Badniks, and obliterated the locals in a violent frenzy. B.A.R.F. had to bring them under control using upgraded superhuman versions of the Green Hill Badniks, known as the Seven Badniks, and forced them back to Palmtree Panic where Sonic swiftly destroyed them.

Deviating from the rest of the Badniks was a Roller Badnik (named Badnik) who befriended a young Mobian called Smokey, and protected him from a Trooper attack. Sonic spared the robot once he saw it was harmless.

All the Badniks on Mobius were immobilized along with all the electrical systems on Mobius when Super Sonic burst out of the Black Asteroid in Mobius' orbit (transported from the Special Zone by the Omni-Viewer), causing an electromagnetic pulse which covered the planet. A few of the older models would be rebuilt by D.R.A.T. but were easily defeated.

Robotnik soon after created a new batch of more dark, demonic and menacing-looking Badniks from his new base on Flickies' Island and launched multiple attacks, but never regained control over the planet again. These Flicky-powered Badniks were much more powerful than normal ones, as it took all of Sonic's strength to defeat just one, and only just barely. Following the loss of Flickies' Island as a base, these Badniks ceased to be used.

List of identified Badniks

 * Anton
 * Aquis
 * Arachbot
 * Asteron
 * Badnik Amy
 * Badnik Johnny
 * Badnik Ruff
 * Badnik Sonic
 * Badnik Stripes
 * Badnik Tails
 * Badnik Tank
 * Balkiry
 * Ball Hog
 * Bat Brain
 * Battery Hen
 * Bugernaut
 * Burrobot
 * Buzz Bomber
 * Buzzer
 * Buzznik
 * Buzzorgsky
 * Caterkiller
 * Choppalien
 * Chopper
 * Clamer
 * Clucker
 * Coconuts
 * Combinik
 * Construction Robot
 * Crabaton
 * Crabinator
 * Crabmeat
 * Crawl
 * Crawlton
 * Cybernik
 * Shortfuse the Cybernik
 * Vermin the Cybernik
 * EggRobo
 * Flasher
 * Flyzipper
 * Grabber
 * Grounder
 * Hulko-Droid
 * Jawz
 * Mantis
 * Masher
 * Mecha Sonic
 * Mekanik
 * Metallix
 * Emperor Metallix
 * Knuckles Metallix
 * Metallix (Mecha Sonic)
 * Metamorphia
 * Metamoto
 * Mister Blobnik
 * Moto Bug
 * Motobotnik
 * Needlenose
 * Nebula
 * Newtron
 * Nutzan Bolt
 * Octus
 * Pata-Bata
 * Penguinator
 * Pointdexter
 * Portable Badnik Processor
 * Receptionik
 * Rexon
 * RhinoBot
 * Robofox
 * Robot Gorilla
 * Roller
 * Badnik
 * Sandworm
 * Savage Skunk
 * Slicer
 * Snownik
 * Spider-Moth
 * Spikes
 * Spikebonker
 * Spiny
 * Splats
 * Trooper
 * Bucket
 * Commander Brutus
 * Predicto
 * Rust
 * Tunnelbot
 * Turbo Spiker
 * Turtloids
 * Uni Uni
 * Whisp

Trivia

 * Unlike several other media, the Badniks in Sonic the Comic were directly based upon the robotic drones that appeared in the games.