Marine the Raccoon

"It's okay. I know what you're thinking. I don't have what it takes. I don't think I can do all this adventuring on my own. But I'm not going to give up. I need to keep trying harder and harder until I succeed!"

- Marine the Raccoon, Sonic Rush Adventure

Marine the Raccoon (マリン・ザ・ラクーン) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series who first appeared in Sonic Rush Adventure. She is an anthropomorphic seven-year-old raccoon and a sailor residing on Southern Island in Blaze's world. As Marine began setting out on her own travels, she encountered Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Blaze the Cat, and joined them in their seafaring search for the Jeweled Scepter, during which she formed everlasting friendships.

Always energetic, Marine is talkative and stubborn, but rarely listens. A spunky rascal through and through, she is a lover of excitement and constantly seeks adventures. She dreams of becoming the captain of her own ship so she can travel the world, and always talks big, but cannot back it up. During her adventures with Sonic though, Marine has matured and sworn to grow as a person.

Early life
Marine was born on Southern Island in the middle of the expansive sea, where she was kept company by the Coconut Crew from a young age. Growing up, Marine dreamt of going out and see the world as the captain of her own ship and have adventures, eventually become tired over staying on her island as if she was trapped there. She would therefore spent her days gazing across the ocean, particular at the Plant Kingdom, while wondering about what lied on the islands beyond her home.

By the time she was seven years old, Marine finally decided to leave her home, and took up sailing and shipbuilding, making numerous attempts to make her own ship with Materials.

Sonic Rush Adventure
In Sonic Rush Adventure, Marine discovered Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower when they washed up on Seagull Beach. Claiming to having "saved" them, introductions were made and Marine promptly invited the duo to stay with her until they could find a way home. The next day, Marine had finished the SS Marine and launched it while Sonic and Tails watched, but she failed to control it and crashed. Her only way of leaving her island now destroyed, Marine was devastated, but Tails offered to built a new boat. While Marine was unsure about it due to several issues, Sonic and Tails made the Wave Cyclone with a shipwright book provided by Marine. Proclaiming herself the captain, Marine "lead" the group out on their journey to different islands, looking for Materials.

While Marine got to see new places, often wandering off alone despite Sonic and Tails' warnings, the group was attacked by several robotic enemies on their journey which Marine suspected was jealous of her adventures. They also met the waterbike racer Johnny, who Marine goaded into challenging her, only to pass it over to Sonic. When reaching Coral Cave, Marine unveiled the isle by poking at an altar. There, they met Captain Whisker, whom Marine antagonized, and his crew, who were the ones behind the robot attacks. They also met Sonic's old ally, Blaze the Cat, who helped fight off Whisker, though the pirates got away with the Jeweled Scepter, an artifact hidden in Coral Cave which Blaze tried to protect. Hearing that Sonic and Tails were actually from another world, Marine had them explain it all, and they decided to help Blaze recover the scepter which posed a threat to both their worlds.

As the crew searched for clues to the pirates' hideout, Marine kept working everyone's nerves with her antics and bratty insistence to follow them despite the dangers. After tracking and losing the pirates at Haunted Ship where Marine tried poorly to hide her fear of ghosts, reaching Blizzard Peaks where they freeing the captive Vikings from the pirates while Marine was introduced to snow, and uncovering the secrets of Sky Babylon which Marine unearthed by fumbling with priceless relics, the heroes located the pirates at Pirates' Island. However, Marine was shocked to hear that her crew wanted to her to stay behind while they faced the pirates, and insisted to go along. However, as Blaze revealed blunt they thought she was a nuisance, she ran off crying.

Not one to let the truth set her back, Marine set off to stop the pirates alone, but quickly got herself caught by Whisker and was set to be tortured by the Ghost Titan. Luckily, Sonic and Blaze came to her rescue and defeated Whisker once and for all while Marine swiped the Jeweled Scepter when Whisker was not looking. Though she still got reprimand for her recklessness, Marine gave the scepter back to Blaze and made up with her friends, apologizing for her mistakes for the first time.

As Marine worked with her friends to bring Sonic and Tails back home with the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds, while working on her own ship, they got news that the Jeweled Scepter had been stolen. Shortly after, Marine and the crew met the true thieves, who turned out to be Dr. Eggman and Dr. Eggman Nega, who revealed from their Egg Wizard that they created the pirates to find the Jeweled Scepter, and then use its incredible power to build Eggmanland upon both worlds. Marine and the crew followed the villains to Deep Core, where Super Sonic and Burning Blaze tried to beat the Egg Wizard as it harnessed the Power of the Stars. On the verge of defeat, Eggman Nega tried to destroy the planet, but Marine distracted the Egg Wizard with an energy blast, giving Super Sonic and Burning Blaze the opening they needed to finish the doctors off.

With the Jeweled Scepter secured, Marine went to see Sonic and Tails off in her SS Super-Marine as the duo left in the SS Tornado EX. Though she was sad to see them go, Marine took solace in their promise that they would meet again, and vowed them that she would have grown even more up the next time they met and become a real captain. With her friends departure, Marine returned home where she was comforted by Blaze.

Sonic Colors
At the time of Sonic Colors, Marine was revealed by Blaze the Cat be doing the "same as ever", meaning she was still getting into trouble despite her growth.

Personality
In terms of personality, Marine is rather dimwitted and so often acts before she thinks. She is relatively bossy and attention-seeking, and characters occasionally find her annoying, but she has many koala friends who are pleased to help Sonic and his companions. Also, due to her age and childish personality, she sometimes has trouble saying some words that Tails can say easily like "hovercraft" and "submarine". Interestingly enough, according to Sonic Channel, Marine is described as a "neat freak". She speaks with an exaggerated Australian accent, using Australian slang words such as 'strewth', 'bonza' and 'cobber' and adding the word 'mate' to the end of her sentences.

She is very afraid of ghosts and been so since very young, but hides this from Sonic and his friends. She is also very focused about proving herself and her image, and will often try to act tough and in control in front of others even when she herself is skeptical or anxious, as she wants to prove her worth as a captain. After the events of Sonic Rush Adventure, she receives some character development after her actions had endangered herself and her friends, and she becomes more down to earth, while still maintaining her passion to become a captain. She is however still quite reckless and gets into trouble.

Powers and abilities
Marine has somewhat impressive mechanical skills as she has successfully made small water vehicles on her own, but only after many tries. By the time she met Sonic and Tails, she had gotten everything right except forgetting to install the brakes. Eventually though, she grew enough in skills to build a complete and fully operational water bike, the SS Super-Marine, on her own.

At the end of Sonic Rush Adventure, Marine is shown to have some sort of special power, as seen in Deep Core where she is seen shooting a light green ball of energy from her fist. The fact that the Egg Wizard was knocked around a little when Marine shot this attack suggests that there is some great power to this ability.

Friends/allies

 * Blaze the Cat (Best Friend)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * The Coconut Crew

Enemies

 * Captain Whisker
 * Dr. Eggman Nega
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Johnny

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Marine first appeared during the comic's adaptation of Sonic Rush Adventure where she helped Sonic, Tails and Blaze recover a Chaos Emerald from Captain Whisker, Johnny and Dr. Nega. Months later, she and Blaze rescued Shadow the Hedgehog from the ocean, who they teamed up with to battle an incarnation of Metal Sonic, and later help him return to his home dimension.

Following the events of Worlds Collide, Marine became virtually indistinguishable from her game counterpart. During the subsequent Pirate Plunder Panic arc, Marine and Blaze teamed up with Blaze's friends from Sonic's World, namely Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit. Having formed into Team Rose the companions did battle with the evil Captain Metal and his crew of pirates to reclaim a Sol Emerald.

Theme Song
The theme song of Marine is "A New Venture" from Sonic Rush Adventure.

Trivia

 * It can be assumed that Marine is very ticklish, as when Captain Whisker threatens to use a tickling device to torture her, she begs for "Anything but that!".
 * Marine's pigtails are shaped like boomerangs, relating to her Australian accent.
 * Marine often uses the word "strewth" in her sentences. In the real world in British English, "strewth" means "God's truth". In Australia and New Zealand it can also be used as an expression of surprise, or to add emphasis.
 * Marine has evealed that she is aware that she's not a real captain but merely pretending. As shown in Sonic Rush Adventure, after the Ghost Titan was defeated and everyone heads back to Southern Island, Marine says that "One day, I'll become a captain for real!".
 * Although Marine is not playable, a costume of her is available for purchase in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
 * Based on the stats of her costume, Marine may be a speed-type character within the Sonic series.
 * Marine's name is featured on the Chao in Space 2 Perfect: Chaos Strikes Back billboard in Sonic Generations.
 * Sticks the Badger bears a heavy resemblance to Marine. As a result, many fans initially thought Sticks was an incarnation of Marine for the Sonic Boom before it was confirmed that Sticks was a new character.