Grounder (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)


 * For the version of this character after the Super Genesis Wave, see Grounder (Archie).

Grounder (created 3228) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. He was an "elite" Badnik created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He was also member of the Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad and one of the oldest Badniks and enemies of Sonic the hedgehog. However, his limited A.I. and armaments led to many embarrassing defeats.

Presumably, Grounder and his teammates became residents in the Robo Hobo Jungle until Mammoth Mogul came in 3237 and recruited all the Badniks there to work in his Casino Night Club, and Grounder managed to get a job as a chef in the Bottom of the Barrel Bar 'n' Grill.

Early assignments
After Coconuts blasted himself- with his pieces delivered as a gift- Grounder and his non-identical twin brother Scratch had the task of stopping Sonic. They would have succeeded had they not got into an argument, during which time, Sonic left them buried. Scratch and Grounder, along with Coconuts, later appeared at a villains' tryouts, with predictable results. Grounder later appeared at a robot bar called Rusty's.

Later Activities
During another ill fated attempt at stopping the Knothole Freedom Fighters, Coconuts explained that Grounder was able to last, at longest, seventeen seconds against Sonic, beating Scratch by one second. Bat Brain lasted twenty seconds longer.

A subsequent battle had Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts successfully trapped the Freedom Fighters in a virtual reality simulation using sleeping gas, but Sonic used the simulation to his advantage and smashed up the simulator and the badniks. Shortly thereafter, Scratch and Grounder had the task of robbing the Mobius Museum of Art, in an attempt to flush out a spy in Robotnik's organization. Sonic knew what was happening and sent the dumb-bots crashing into a toxic waste dump, where Scratch found a note from the spy, which added insult to injury.

Working for Mogul
Grounder, along with Scratch and Coconuts, returned much later as employees in Mammoth Mogul's newly renovated Casino Night Zone, where Grounder appeared to be a chef. There, Grounder and his teammates, had developed a fear of Sonic, a complete lack of respect for the Destructix and a (possibly greater) fear of Amy Rose.
 * Note: From this point, Grounder's history continues from his new life in the altered timeline.

Personality
Of the members of the 6S, Grounder is the least intelligent, and is often blissfully unaware of certain realities. He seems perfectly happy to serve a purpose and be put to work, whereas his somewhat smarter teammates have aspirations to greater position and power.

Powers and abilities
While Scratch seems to be the brains, Grounder is the artillery - his robot body is filled with many accessories, which switch usually in his drill hands with any number of weapons or tools such as ropes, helicopter blades, gas guns, parachutes and boxing gloves. His drill hands can also act as a telephone by using one drill hand as a receiver and the other as a speaker.

Trivia

 * Grounder is based on the character of the same name from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series (which had many elements featured in the comic before they changed the comic's direction), who is in turn based on the Badnik who first debuted in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * Grounder, along with Scratch, currently holds the third longest resolved "non-appearance gap" in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series at 171 issues (Sonic the Hedgehog #16-#187).
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog #16, Grounder was mistakenly colored purple instead of green in the first part of "Sonic Under Glass", and yellow instead of green and purple instead of yellow in the second part.