Wisp


 * For the Badnik, see Whisp.

Wisps (ウィスプ) are aliens in Sonic Colors (entitled Sonic Colours outside of the U.S. and Japan) that were stolen from their home planet by Dr. Eggman to power an interstellar amusement park. They can give Sonic special powers to help him in the game's levels; the type of power depends on the Wisp's color. Their Hyper-go-on energy can be used once Sonic hits a "Wisp Capsule". When Sonic use the powers, a voice will tell the player which Wisps they are using by shouting things like, "DRILL!", "LASER!" "HOVER!" etc. Overall, the Wisps seem to be rather playful and friendly, spending most of their time with others and playing around. They are also rather similar, both in appearance and in motion, to underwater cephalopods such as squid.

DS and Wii versions
The power of the Wisps vary between the DS and the Wii versions of Sonic Colors, with the Wii version having eight Wisps and the DS version having six.

Yacker
Yacker is a specific White Wisp, who is different from all of the other Wisps; it has a huge blue curl on his head. Yacker plays a huge part in the storyline of Sonic Colors by befriending Sonic and Tails. It cannot speak English, but makes an audible chittering noise and can understand English very well. It could only be understood by Sonic and Tails through a specially-built machine created by Tails from spare parts.

Co-Op
In Co-Op mode, if both players with the same Wisp use their Color Powers at the same time, some sort of special effect happens. For example, when two Pink Spikes are used, a laser beam will appear between the two players that destroys any Badniks that touch it. The Green Hover has a similar effect.

Another example is that when two Yellow Drills are used, the players will spin around each other, the resultant Drill is magnified in power, and the players will gain a magnetic effect that attracts rings, similar to the Lightning Shield in previous Sonic games. The Cyan Laser and Orange Rocket have similar effects in which the reach of the power-ups are doubled.

Sonic Generations
Once again, in Sonic Generations, the wisp will appear in the throwback stage Planet Wisp, which is confirmed to be the last level. The only Wisps that will be playable are the Rocket and Spike Wisp.

Trivia

 * The Wisps seem similar to Flickies. However, one could also say they resemble Chao.
 * In the Wii version, the Wisps are only referred to by their true name in the Hint Rings and once by Tails in a cutscene: everyone else simply refers to them as "aliens."
 * The red and the violet wisps are not shown in the announcement trailer. This is most likely due to the fact that those two Wisps are only exclusive to the DS version.
 * Wisps and Flickies are both released from capsules.
 * On the cover of the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the Blue, Green, Purple, and Pink Wisps are shown. On the DS cover they are replaced with the version exclusive Red Wisp and Violet Wisp.
 * Despite being only exclusive to the Wii version, the Blue, Green and Pink Wisps appear in a few cutscenes from the DS version and in the final cutscene in the Wii verison Red Wisps and Violet Wisps are seen.
 * It is possible that the Wisps have some kind of teleportation ability, most likely due to their Hyper-go-on power. As seen in the final cutscene, the Wisps are seen transporting their planets, supposedly to where they came from.
 * Once Sonic transforms into the Purple Frenzy, he is be able to attract rings.
 * According to Cubot, the Wisps "smell good".
 * The Purple Wisp is the only Wisp that doesn't appear in the Sonic Simulator.
 * The Violet Wisp is not present in the Sonic Colors comic adaptation in Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 219 but the Purple Wisp is.
 * Acording to Eggman in a deleted voice clip, the Wisps Hyper-Go-On power is even more powerful than the Chaos Energy.
 * All of the Wisps have a similar body structure; a head/body, with three appendages extending from said head/body.
 * The Orange Rocket bears some resemblance to NiGHTS' rocket persona power, except that it will only blast Sonic upwards while the rocket persona allows NiGHTS to move around freely.
 * The Red Burst bears some resemblance to the fiery head in the Sonic Battle logo.
 * In Sonic Colors, certain Wisps allow Sonic to use past abilities that he was able to do in past games on his own. For example, the Green Wisp allows Sonic to do the Light Speed Dash and the Pink Wisp allows Sonic to do the Spin Dash.
 * The Wisps will reappear in Sonic Generations in the Planet Wisp stage, but only the orange rocket and pink spikes Wisps will be useable.