Mighty the Armadillo

Mighty the Armadillo (also known as Maiti za Arumajiro in Japan) is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. His character designer is Manabu Kusunoki.

Mighty is an explorer and a long time acquaintance of Sonic the Hedgehog, and he first appeared in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, where he is voiced by Yusuke Numata.

History
Before Sonic was introduced, he was considered by Sega to be made into either a hedgehog or an armadillo, due to both species having the ability to roll into balls. Due to this, some believe that Mighty is the prototype of Sonic, or was evolved from the armadillo concept.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Mighty's first appearance was in the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, where he was captured by Doctor Robotnik along with Sonic the Hedgehog and Ray the Flying Squirrel. They were taken to Robotnik Island and imprisoned, but managed to escape, destroying the island in the process.

In this game, Mighty played exactly like Sonic and Ray; he was fairly fast and could roll into a ball to perform the Spin Attack and Spin Jump.

Knuckles' Chaotix
Mighty reappeared in Knuckles' Chaotix for the Sega 32X. In the Japanese manual, he just happened to stumble across the island which the adventure is set on during his explorations. In the American manual, he is a friend of Knuckles the Echidna, and happens to visit "Carnival Island" when Eggman attacks.

In both manuals he is captured by Robotnik, and imprisoned in his "Combi-Confiner" machine. When Knuckles arrives, he can pick Mighty out of the machine and use him as a partner. Mighty plays very much like Sonic from the previous Sonic games, using his Spin Attack and Spin Dash. He also has the ability to kick off walls in order to gain height.

His sprites are based off of the Sonic sprites in Sonic Crackers.

Others
Mighty made a cameo appearance in Gale Racer (the Sega Saturn version of the Arcade game Rad Mobile).

Early Life
Mighty was born into a family of thieves. While he was still too young to realize his parent's actions, they were imprisoned by the law. Seeking a method to free them, Mighty was confronted by Mammoth Mogul. Mogul used his powers to grant Mighty his incredible super strength. However, even with his new power, Mighty was unable to free his parents. With failure heavy in his heart, he forced a guilty exile on himself.

Captive
While wandering Mobius in exile, Mighty was captured by Dr. Ivo Robotnik along with Fiona Fox, Ray and other Mobians. With the assistance of Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty was able to escape prison, forced to leave Fiona and Ray behind. Following his escape he wandered for many years before choosing the Angel Island as his new home. The guilt of abandoning Ray followed him even far away from the containment facility.

Joining the Chaotix
During his exile he was startled by Knuckles and Vector. The two asked where he was going and Mighty was unable to give an answer. Sensing that he had no home, the two offered to bring him to Angel Island (then known as the Floating Island) aboard Vector's personally built hovercraft. Mighty began his new life on the island and took up residence in an empty cave where he was finally able to live in peace. Mighty also had his hand in being the first to meet Charmy Bee upon his venture to the Floating Island and introducing the bee to all his friends there. However his peacefull life was disrupted when Renfield T. Rodent and Ivo Robotnik set up a base of operations on the island disguised as a carnival. Mighty was enlisted by Knuckles, along with the rest of the Chaotix, to help force Robotnik off the island. After Robotnik's defeat Mighty has remained a member of the Chaotix.

Rescuing Ray
After the demise of Ivo Robotnik, Mighty was confronted by Fiona Fox to undertake a mission. Fiona and Nic the Weasel had teamed up to returned the the containment facility where Mighty, Ray, Fiona, and Sonic had been imprisoned many years before. Nic and Fiona wanted to return to the facility to raid its power source, a magical gem similar to the Chaos Emeralds. Mighty was contacted to demolish the powerfully armored door that sealed the gem in place. After breaking into the abandoned facility Mighty easily destroyed the door. To Mighty's delight, they discovered Ray clinging to the gem. Apparently after the facilities closing, Ray was unable to escape the facility unlike Fiona. Ray discovered the power source room and clung to the gem. The magical properties of the gem allowed Ray to live for years without food or water. Despite herself and in a rare moment of compassion, Nic destroyed the power gem to free Ray. The bounty hunters left Mighty and Ray behind to catch up. Mighty then promised he would always look after and protect Ray to make up for having to leave him behind in the facility many years ago.

After the Xorda
Following Sonic's year-long disappearance, Mighty accompanied the Chaotix during their raid on Angel Island to liberate a Dingo-run concentration camp and rescue Knuckles' father Locke from captivity. Following this, Might and the others returned to Knothole where they would remain for some time. Mighty was with the rest of the Chaotix in Knothole when the Egg Fleet attacked and destroyed the city. Enraged at the sight of Ray being captured by Snively, Mighty nearly killed Snively, destroying a key part of Snively's attack mech. However, Might, like the vast majority of Knothole's citizens, was transported to the Egg Grape Chambers in New Megaopolis. However, he along with everyone else was freed and transported to New Mobotropolis.

Mighty remained in New Mobotropolis with the rest of the Chaotix during the Enerjak crisis, though when Julie-Su wanted to leave the city and see if Knuckles was okay, Mighty readily assisted her and the rest of the Chaotix in attacking the city's airfield. However, when Sonic and Tails were dispatched to Angel Island instead, the Chaotix remained in the city.

Recent Activities
Shortly after the Enerjak crisis was resolved, Mighty remained in behind to help rebuild Freedom HQ while the other Chaotix members went to Angel Island to comfort Knuckles. During this time, Mighty was mind controlled by Mammoth Mogul who still had a magical hold over him since he gave Mighty his strength as a child. Mogul controlled Mighty like a puppet, along with Tails, and Mina Mongoose to force Sonic to give him a Chaos Emerald from the Special Zone. After Sonic complied, Mogul released Mighty from his spell. The spells lingering effects were completely erased by Merlin Prower and Mogul controlled him no more with Mighty still possessing his strength.

Following this, Mighty and the rest of the Chaotix launched an assault on New Mobotropolis to take out the Dark Egg Legion and destroy one of Dr. Eggman's communications relays.

Sonic the Comic
Mighty is introduced alongside Vector, Charmy, Espio and Nack the Weasel in the 'Knuckles: Total Chaotix' storyline, with the group collectively being known as the Chaotix Crew. Mighty is portrayed as a strong and brave character whose main flaws are his lack of forethought and tendency to forget his own strength.

For instance, when Knuckles and Chaotix attempted to break into the Brotherhood of Metallix fortress, Mighty smashed in through the hull and set off several alarms, jeoporadising the mission. And he once punched a dinosaur through the wall of the Chaotix headquarters.

In this continuity, Mighty has proved to be a valuable asset to the team on a number of occasions and is one of the top fighters in the comic, running very close to Knuckles, making him an ally of Sonic the Hedgehog. He has an intense yet friendly rivalry with Espio. They remain close friends and allies, but neither one will ever admit the other is better and have gotten into some heated arguments and occasional fight over the matter. As with the rest of the crew, he often vents his frustrations on Charmy, though not in a physical manner.

Aside from Charmy, he is the only member of the Chaotix to have his family life revealed. He is the son of a senile super-strong superhero known as Blockhead Bill, who is constantly getting into trouble by mistaking random people (like Sonic) for his old enemies, much to Mighty's exasperation. His partner is Society Max, a similarly-elderly lizard who uses a serum to turn into a mighty dinosaur; unlike Bill, Max remains quite smart and affably points out when his friend is being daft.

Personality
In the games, Mighty is a gentle and caring pacifist, only using his strength and fighting abilities when there is no other option. He loves to travel, and his dream is to journey to all places of the world. According to the Japanese booklet of Chaotix, Mighty enjoys forest bathing, likes peace and nature, and detests violence.

Abilities
Like most characters in the Sonic series, Mighty has some super speed. Mighty can use the Spin Attack, where Mighty curls up into a compact ball and rolls into enemies. He also has the Spin Jump, during which Mighty jumps into the air as a ball. Mighty has the Spin Dash (originally named the "Super Spin Dash") as well, which allows him to charge up a Spin Attack from a standing position, and then shoot off towards enemies.

Mighty's unique move in Chaotix was a wall kick that let him kick off a wall, gaining some height and letting him traverse up shafts as long as the walls are close enough to eachother. Despite his namesake, Mighty has never demonstrated a single feat of super strength in the games continuity and it is never directly stated in any official literature related to Chaotix or SegaSonic Arcade that he has such an ability.

Relationships

 * Father: Blockhead Bill (Sonic the Comic exclusive)

Friends

 * Chaotix
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Doctor Bob Bobble
 * Miles "Tails" Prower

Foes

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Dark Legion (Archie exclusive)
 * Enerjak
 * Lien-Da
 * Mammoth Mogul (Archie exclusive)
 * Ixis Naugus (Archie exclusive)
 * Destructix (Archie exclusive)
 * The Bulk (Archie exclusive)

Trivia

 * Mighty's name was misspelled "Mighity" in the Japanese manual for Chaotix.


 * It has been rumored that the reason Mighty no longer appeared in games was because his creator left Sega and took the rights to use the character with him. However, this rumor has been proven to be a hoax, as Sega of Japan recently had a poll regarding popular characters, with Mighty the Armadillo finishing in 10th place. Sega commented that this means a possible return for Mighty, which proves the rumor to be invalid. Adding to this, Mighty's picture is unlockable in Sonic Gems Collection. It is a possibility that Mighty was cut from the games merely so the Chaotix could fit into the three person team arrangement of Sonic Heroes, the first game in many years to include the Chaotix.


 * In the prototype of Knuckles Chaotix, dubbed in the thought-to-be ROM form as "Sonic Crackers", Sonic the Hedgehog was originally playable along with Miles "Tails" Prower. Sonic's movements and standing animations are exactly the same as Mighty's, thus leading to the belief that Sonic was taken out of Knuckles Chaotix fairly late in game production and got replaced by Mighty.


 * If Mighty falls from a high location in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, his shell will comically stay in the air for a few seconds. He is completely black underneath.


 * Mighty was originally considered to be Sega's mascot but was replaced by Sonic. Mighty and Sonic are very similar because they both have spin attacks, and Mighty's sprite in Knuckles Chaotix is an edited version of Sonic's sprite from Sonic 2.


 * Mighty is often seen as a Sonic clone character despite being an original model with three backups for this: 1) He and Sonic share the exact same movesets and personalities. 2) He and Shadow not only share similar moves, but also color schemes. 3) Danny's shoes are exactly like his, possibly as a reference.


 * Even though he was possibly cut from Team Chaotix for the purpose of Sonic Heroes, he has not been featured in a game with them since Knuckles Chaotix, aside from Sonic Gems Collection.


 * Mighty was never actually part of Team Chaotix, he just happened to come across the group during the events of Knuckles Chaotix. Since then, people have came to the conclusion he was a member, which is incorrect.