Bunnie D'Coolette


 * For the version of this character before the Super Genesis Wave, see Bunnie D'Coolette (Pre-Super Genesis Wave).

Bunnie D'Coolette, birth name Bunnie Rabbot (pronounced rah-BOW), is a protagonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. She is a mobian rabbit (though partially robotic), the wife of Antoine D'Coolette and a member of the Freedom Fighters. Originally she was a regular person, but when Dr. Eggman made his first attack on Mobotropolis, Bunnie suffered severe injuries and the only way to save her life was by having parts of her body replaced with cybernetics by Charles the Hedgehog. Since then, she has used her cybernetics to better serve the Freedom Fighters, and together with her friends, she has been fighting the evil forces of the Eggman Empire.

Appearance
Bunnie is a mobian golden rabbit with pale yellow fur, a white muzzle, and vibrant emerald-green eyes. Her eyelids (as well as around the eyes themselves) are generally violet or pink and her right ear is often flopped, though this is not a constant feature. Her hair, starting off as a tuft of bangs on the back of her neck and forehead, grew from childhood into shoulder-length, and then down to her waist which she began tying back in a single ponytail.

Bunnie most pronounced feature are her cyborg limbs as a result of her roboticization, with her left arm and lower torso from the waist being cybernetic. Originally being more clunky and heavy in appearance, her robotic parts were replaced with sleeker, more modern versions.

As a child, Bunnie wore purple overalls, a white shirt, gloves, and bows at the tip of her ears. After her roboticization, Bunnie began wearing a pink singlet instead and eventually discarded her bows after becoming older. She originally had jet-black eyes.

Early life
Much of Bunnie's early life is unknown. As a child, she was found in the Royal Hills Zone by Rosie Woodchuck and Uncle Chuck, with no indication of where the young rabbit had come from. She was taken to Mobotropolis where she was raised under Rosie's care, until the city was taken over by Dr. Eggman. It was during this attack that Bunnie sustained some severe injuries. She was taken to Knothole Village and in order to save her life from these injuries, she was forced to have half of her body replaced with cybernetic limbs by Chuck.

Learning how to walk with her new robotic limbs was not only painful, but embarrassing (becoming more clumsy as a result), which would lead to her and being picked on by other children, who purposely pronounced her last name as "Rab-BOT". Her spirits were lifted when Miles "Tails" Prower, another child under Rosie's care, reassured her that he did not care that she has robotic parts, and that he saw her as a big sister. Some of her fellow refugees expressed similar feelings, and treated her as no different, inspiring Bunnie to make the most of this, striving to live her life to the fullest. Under Rosie's supervision, Bunnie tried with all her might to function properly with her cybernetics. Her bravery inspired Antoine D'Coolette to become braver, though Bunnie reassured him that it was not him "being brave" that made him brave, but him overcoming his fears were the reason he was brave.

A hedgehog by the name of Sonic came by the village, promising to defeat Dr. Eggman and save King Nigel Acorn. Though Bunnie and the others had their doubts, Sonic managed to pull through on South Island. This inspired her to join Sally Acorn, Tails, Rotor the Walrus and Antoine in forming the Freedom Fighters, fully abandoning her wheelchair. As time passed, it became apparent that Bunnie's limbs needed an upgrade. She accepted, even though it would greatly decrease the chances of her ever getting her old limbs back. But Antoine reassured her that it wouldn't affect her courageous heart and beautiful spirit. The two had become close before Antoine asked for her hand in marriage, which she happily accepted.

Countdown to Chaos

 * Note: From the readers point of view, this picks up from where Bunnie's original timeline ended.

Operating as a Freedom Fighter, Bunnie was sent on an undercover mission to the Metropolis Zone in order to obtain a Shield Generator, while under the guise of an Egg Army underling named Scarlett. During the mission, Sonic and Tails, both of whom had received memories from a different timeline due to the effects of the Super Genesis Wave, arrived at the base. Knocking out the the foreman, she revealed herself to her friends, who were stunned to see her cybernetic parts. The trio-along with Nicole-then worked together in order to secure the generator and escape the city, though they had to deal with an unexpected earthquake.

Upon returning to the Sky Patrol, the Freedom Fighters' new base, Bunnie was reunited with her husband Antoine. Her memories of the previous timeline were then restored. She was happy to see her husband was out of the coma, but also sad that she had her robotic parts again, this time permanently. Overcome, she was left to deal with the revelations, comforted by a sympathetic Antoine.

Bunnie would later find herself in the position of providing comfort to a friend shaken by their restored memories, warning Sally Acorn beforehand and then taking charge of her as she attempted to get a handle on the revelations. Unfortunately, the friends had little time to recover, as the planet then broke apart beneath them.

Act One
Determined to help, the Freedom Fighters traveled to Station Square and were split into Team Freedom and Team Fighters to help contain the crisis and provide aid to victims of the Shattered World Crisis. During the adventure, Bunnie and Antoine both struggled with conflicting memories, as they remembered visiting a flooded Station Square before-but also NOT doing so. Their efforts helped to prepare the way for the arrival of G.U.N. relief forces, but the Freedom Fighters were soon called away for a new assignment: rescuing the kidnapped Professor Charles the Hedgehog and his colleague Professor Dillon Pickle from an Bullet Train. Once again split into teams, the heroes searched the train for the professors; a frustrated Bunnie was about to start smashing her way into cars when Amy warned her of the volatile nature of some of their contents. Continuing their search together, the pair were alerted that the train was picking up speed at a dangerous rate. Bunnie soon became occupied dealing with Badnik forces aboard the train, but was later instructed to break off when the professors were rescued. The Freedom Fighters were then given a new task: restoring their planet's wholeness by finding the legendary Gaia Temples and collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds.

The Freedom Fighters soon learned that the planet's fragmented state was causing other problems, such as the nightly appearance of strange creatures that threatened all who they came across. Determined to complete their mission before things became worse, the Freedom Fighters were split into teams, with Bunnie remaining aboard the Sky Patrol with Big the Cat and Cream the Rabbit while their friends left on other missions. She would later greet Antoine upon his return with a Chaos Emerald, and jokingly questioned whether he was planning on upgrading her wedding ring with the jewel. The pair would later go on a relief mission to Harbor Heights, where they saved a pair of newlyweds and others from tragedy. Seeing Antoine in danger-from which he admittedly emerged unscathed-prompted Bunnie to approach her husband with her fears about losing him. However, as always, he comforted her and assured her that they would always be together. Along with their teammates they were later treated to a tour of the Sky Patrol, which was briefly interrupted by the attacking War Walrus. They also took part in a training simulation orchestrated by Nicole, which prompted Bunnie to think back on her life.

While Sonic was on leave from the team to deal with his Werehog transformation, the Freedom Fighters set out to recover another Chaos Emerald. Bunnie thus joined Sally and Antoine on Team Freedom, only for them to be ambushed by the E-100 Series robots E-108 Iota, E-109 Kappa, and E-110 Lambda. Outgunned and outmatched, the trio lost the Emerald and were in danger of being taken out when Team Fighters-Rotor, Tails, and Amy-came to their aid. Unfortunately, such a rescue had been anticipated, and a trap was sprung that ensnared both groups. Luckily, a small and unexpected reserve team led by Cream came to their aid, rescuing both groups and helping them back to the Sky Patrol. Battered and demoralized, they were bolstered by the return of Sonic, and soon faced their next objective: the Chaos Emerald Championship. Sonic shared what he knew of organizer Breezie the Hedgehog, one of a handful of unpleasant accounts of earlier adventures that he mocked; Antoine mused that he thought he would enjoy learning about more of them, prompting Bunnie to gently reprimand him despite her own amusement. Sally was forced to inform the others that only Sonic, Tails, and Amy had been accepted into the tournament despite her efforts to get them all on the roster. Undeterred, Bunnie joined her teammates in watching the competition, keeping an eye on the concerned Cream and garnering obvious amusement when the younger Rabbit expressed outrage at Honey the Cat's tactics during her bout with Tails.

Worlds Unite
Bunnie, alongside the other Freedom Fighters, attempted to fight off M'egga Man when he invaded Mobotropolis, although it was a losing battle. After Sonic's World and Earth in the year 20XX merged into a Unified World, Bunnie, finding the Robot Masters Snake Man and Spark Man nearby, asked for orders to the Freedom Fighter leader Sally Acorn as to whether to engage them or fall back, only to learn that Sally was not sure what to do because the robots were also fighting against Sonic Man. Eventually, she, alongside fellow Freedom Fighter member Gemerl, were ordered to save the civilians of 200X when they were falling off a building due to damage it sustained from the worlds being merged. Having worked together, the Robot Masters and Freedom Fighters joined forces, their numbers bolstered as Mega Man and Sonic were returned to normal and the Maverick Hunters and Team Sticks arrived to join them. Together, the expanded group boarded the Sky Patrol in search of the villainous Sigma.

Sigma was eventually learned to be based on the Lost Hex, and the heroes proceeded there only to run into an army of Mechaniloids led by the Deadly Six. Bunnie and her friends fought bravely, but were then forced to contend with the villains' ability to take control of technology. Bunnie was barely able to keep herself from attacking her own friends due to their power over her robotic limbs, and Big the Cat had to restrain her to keep her from causing any harm. She was soon freed by the effects of the Egg-Wily Uppity Robot Scrambler Cannon, only to be forced to join her weary friends in battle with the Maverick army Sigma had created. She and Flash Man teamed up to save Bubble Man from Rainy Turtloid, but the overwhelming force proved too much for them to contain. Most of the Mavericks scattered to various worlds through the Genesis Portals, leaving a handful of their comrades behind to finish off Bunnie and her friends. Fortunately, help arrived in the form of Chun-Li and her fellow Street Fighters, who dispatched the Mavericks. The heroes then prepared to pursue their foes to the various worlds they had invaded.

Pairing up with Zero, Bunnie followed some Mavericks to the world of Ghosts 'n Goblins. There, she then explained to the irate and confused archdemon Astaroth the Mavericks' plot, resulting in the Mavericks being incinerated by the demon, and forcing the dark lord to call a true with the knight Sir Arthur (whom he had entered a duel with earlier) to deal with Sigma while sending Firebrand to aid him. She then returned to the unified world with the others and reunited with everyone to proceed to fight with Sigma and his Mavericks.

Act Two
Bunnie and her friends' search for the Gaia Keys led them to Northamer's Thunder Plains Zone, where they met Lupe the Wolf, an old friend and current leader of the Wolf Pack. After doing away with E-118 Tau and the area's Badnik Horde, the heroes chose to split up, with Bunnie, Sally, and Nicole heading to a nearby Gaia Temple to retrieve the final Chaos Emerald. Arriving in Stone Stormlands Zone, Bunnie and Sally decided to split up again to comb the temple grounds to avoid alerting the Northamer Egg Army. Bunnie came across an alter in hopes of finding the Emerald there, only to run afoul of Cassia the Pronghorn, the region's co-Egg Boss. The two raced one another for possession of the Emerald and ended up in a fight over who would claim the gem.

Their battle did not last long, however, as the weakened altar floor ended up crumbling beneath both combatants and causing them to fall through. The two landed in a cave, illuminated by the Chaos Emerald. Cassia was enraged at having been injured again, knowing how her sister would react, and placed the blame on Bunnie. However, Cassia was eventually convinced to cooperate with Bunnie when reminded of her sister. En route to an exit that would lead to the temple grounds, Cassia learned about Bunnie's first experiences as a cyborg, and how she had her friends to help her through her struggles. Once arriving in a bunker, Bunnie prepared to leave on her own with the Emerald, only for Egg Soldiers to arrive, taking Bunnie by surprise long enough for Cassia to seize the Emerald for herself and rejoin her troops.

Bunnie was led back onto the temple grounds, where Cassia ultimately chose to let her go without the Emerald. This decision did not last long, as Bunnie would suddenly rush the Egg Soldiers, grab the Emerald and flee. Bunnie found Sally elsewhere on the grounds and began to depart alongside her. Bunnie inferred from the experience that not everyone affiliated with the Eggman Empire shared the exact same characteristics as Dr. Eggman himself. With the mission a success, and all seven Emeralds in their possession, Bunnie, Sally, and Nicole, returned to the Sky Patrol, where they were met by Antoine, Cream, and Cheese.

With all the Emeralds secured, Bunnie traveled with Tails to Adabat to retrieve a Gaia Key from its guardian Teanchi. However, they found him distraught over the loss off his ancestral home, which led him to behave stubbornly. After gathering his family, Bunnie told Teanchi about how she felt when losing everything after gaining her robotic limbs, as well as never truly knowing her place of origin. Her main point was that she was able to move on with her life and overcome her struggles because she had friends to support her, like how Teanchi has his family. Teanchi, now seeing things in an entirely new light, realized Bunnie was right and tearfully embraced his children before giving both Freedom Fighters the Gaia Key as his thanks.

With all the keys obtained, Bunnie was aboard the Sky Patrol sneaking food off the group's celebratory feast for when they would restore the planet. However, their early celebration was cut short when the Battle Bird Armada ambushed them via the Battle Fortress. Bunnie was sent by Sally alongside Antoine and Sonic to fend off the attackers while the rest of the group got the situation below under control. Despite a close call involving a Mole Mech, the trio were able to hold their own until the armada triggered some explosives that had been planted on the Sky Patrol's engines, causing the vessel to plummet from the skies. As the Battle Bird Armada departed with Chip in their clutches, Bunnie attempted to rescue Sonic and her husband from the fall, but found it difficult to maintain flight. Fortunately, Nicole managed to get the Sky Partrol's thrusters working in time to save the three from perishing. Bunnie and the others regrouped with the rest of their team. Later, after helping Rotor and Sonic with the engines, Bunnie and the others carried out a three-way counter-offensive, where she was joined by Tails, Sally, and Antoine in breaking Eggman's control of the Dark Gaia Energy at Eggman Land. The four were met by resistance in the form of multiple E-100 units,  though they and all the other Badniks in the area were rendered defunct when Dark Gaia started drawing in all its energy from across the globe. Bunnie and the others were led a safe distance away from the ruined refinery while Super Sonic and Chip fought Dark Gaia in its complete form. Despite being no match for the godlike abilities of Dark Gaia, they still could lend moral support to Sonic and Chip, and did as such until the monstrous deity was sealed away in the core, and the planet restored. However, this came at the price of Chip's presence, too, meaning he would have to remain asleep with his dark counterpart. Though saddened by this at first, Bunnie and her friends were glad for the crisis to finally be over, and collectively witnessed the sunrise.

Personality
Bunnie has always been kind and friendly, and grew up with the expectation that she would marry a gentleman and settle down to a calm life as a hair stylist. That all changed during Dr. Eggman's takeover, when grievous injuries to Bunnie's body forced Uncle Chuck to partially Roboticize her. This change proved quite the struggle in Bunnie's life, but her fellow Freedom Fighters helped her to find a sense of normalcy by embracing her regardless of her cyborg nature. Bunnie thus developed into a fiery but good-natured individual with a firm desire to help save her world from evil and prevent the suffering of others. She is incredibly courageous and self-sacrificing, but not to the point of recklessness; her greatest fear is that something might befall her husband or their friends.

Powers and abilities
Though she initially struggled with her cyborg nature, Bunnie eventually embraced her new form and its abilities, which-among various upgrades-included the powers of flight and conversion of her left forearm into a laser weapon. She also gained a built-in computer in her arm that could form a wireless connection with Nicole. Bunnie also gained the ability to fire lasers directly from the palm of her hand, without having to transform her arm into a cannon. However, the power of her arm-laser seems to be limited to an extent, as seen by how she could create only a small hole in one of the Egg Train's roof hatches, instead of outright destroying it. Her mechanical limbs also grant her strength beyond that of a normal person.

Antoine D'Coolette
Antoine first noticed Bunnie in Knothole where he watched her ongoing struggles to function, which inspired him to do more. In his own words, Bunnie gave Antoine the answer to what would make him brave. The two joined the Freedom Fighters together and over the years of fighting as team-mates, they became very close. Years later, Bunnie revealed to Antoine that he had inspired her with his own courage, and the comradery between the two blossomed into romance, and the two were eventually married. Upon having his memories of the original timeline restored, Antoine's first thought was of his wife, and he went to great lengths to be with her at the time of her own memory restoration, knowing that she would need support.

Trivia

 * Bunnie's current design is a slight reworking of her planned redesign for the Pre-Super Genesis Wave continuity, with the design of her robotic body parts (originally obtained through Legionization) being simplified.
 * The design of Bunnie's original cybernetic limbs originally resembled the ones for her television series counterpart, though designed to match Patrick Spaziante's drawings of them.
 * A Q&A from Ian Flynn indicates that Bunnie likes making "good comfort food," and that she and Antoine have made it an unwritten rule not to get in the way of each other in the kitchen.
 * Bunnie knows how to play the guitar.