Thunder Spinner

"Think of these like a normal Spinner and you'll be in for a world of hurt when it discharges a jolt of electricity your way. Wait for their zap to end, then take them out!"

- Description, Sonic Unleashed

The E-16 Electro Spinner (スパナ), also known as the Thunder Spinner, is a recurring enemy in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in Sonic Adventure. They are a model of Badniks in the E-Series line created by Dr. Eggman and a variant of the E-06 Bladed Spinner. These robots can both fly and discharge an electrical shield to protect themselves.

Appearance
The Thunder Spinners mostly resemble bats, while their detailed design vary between games. In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, the Thunder Spinners are nearly identical to the E-06 Bladed Spinners. They have a hemisphere-shaped purple head with pointy yellow ears and menacing black and cyan eyes with white sclera. Below their head they have a conical frustum-shaped gray body, and on the bottom of it they have two cylinder-shape attachments. On the bottom and the upper edge of their body they have a line of black and yellow hazard stripes. Between their head and body, the Thunder Spinners have a pair of giant hook-like blades spinning around them like a helicopter rotor.

In Sonic Unleashed, the Thunder Spinners underwent a major redesign. In this game, their entire body is orb-shaped and they are primarily colored turquoise. They have yellow drill-like ears, empty yellow eyes and a row of yellow lights on the front, resembling a mouth. Also, around the middle of their body, they have a yellow ring with a transparent semicircle (remising wings) attached on a turquoise point on each side.

In Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, the Thunder Spinners' design resembles a hybrid of those they had in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Unleashed. While their upper head and wings resemble those in Sonic Unleashed, their lower body look like they did in Sonic Adventure. Noticeable changed details, however, include their ears which look like they did in Sonic Adventure, their eyes having yellow irises and black pupils and sclera, their mouths being white, their mouths being colored white, their spinning wings being solid and are colored turquoise, white and yellow, and a lack of hazard stripes on their bodies.

In Sonic Lost World, the Thunder Spinner models retained the same appearance as their model design from Sonic Generations, only with the addition of a more "cartoon"-stylized design, along with cartoon eyes.

Powers and abilities
The Thunder Spinners have the ability to fly in mid-air by rotating their wings. They also come equipped with the ability to discharge electricity around their bodies in the form of a shield, allowing them to both protect themselves and electrocute those making physical contact with them.

Sonic Adventure
The Thunder Spinners made their appearance in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, where they were officially known as the E-16 Eletro Spinners. They appear in the following Action Stages for each character:

In gameplay, the Thunder Spinners remain stationary in one place in mid-air where they spin their blades and periodically discharge electrical fields which the player can take damage from when touching them. To strike them successfully, the player has to attack them when their electric field is down. Additionally, when attacking a Thunder Spinner, the player has to hit the Thunder Spinner either from above or below, as hitting them where their blades are spinning will damage the player.

Sonic Unleashed
The Thunder Spinners made their return in both the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version and PlayStation 2/Nintendo Wii version of Sonic Unleashed where they were renamed Thunder Spinners. In this game, they received a more modernized and less-menacing design.

In Sonic Unleashed, the Thunder Spinners can only be encountered in the game's daytime Action Stages/Stages. In gameplay, the Thunder Spinners retain the same attack patterns they had in Sonic Unleashed. When taking damage from the Thunder Spinner's electrical field, Sonic will briefly be paralyzed in mid-air. However, the player will not lose a life when touching the electrical field when the player has no Rings.

Sonic Colors
The Thunder Spinners made another appearance in both the Wii version and Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors. In this game, the Thunder Spinners received a new redesign, which resembles a hybrid of their design in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Unleashed. In gameplay, they retain the same attack patterns as they had in the previous games. On the Wii version, they only appear in Starlight Carnival.

Sonic Generations
The Thunder Spinners reappeared in the console/PC version of Sonic Generations. In this game, they have the same design from Sonic Colors. They appear in Speed Highway, Seaside Hill and Rooftop Run. Like in the previous games, the Thunder Spinners retain the same attack patterns they had in Sonic Adventure.

Sonic Lost World
Thunder Spinners reappear on the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost World. They appear throughout most of the stages, namely in Windy Hill, Frozen Factory, Silent Forest, and Sky Road. They retain their attack pattern from the previous games it appeared.