Mighty the Armadillo

Mighty the Armadillo (マイティー・ザ・アルマジロ) is a character who appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He makes his first appearance in SegaSonic the Hedgehog arcade game. Mighty is an explorer and a long time acquaintance of Sonic the Hedgehog and good friend of Knuckles the Echidna. Both Mighty and Sonic look very similar in their appearance, abilities and both of them being unexpectedly fast despite the two both being representatives of different animal species.

Concept and creation
Before Sonic the Hedgehog was introduced to the gaming industry, one of the character concepts, an armadillo, was considered as one of mascot choices for Sega to be introduced in new video game series to success in console market business against Nintendo. However, the armadillo was quickly amended to hedgehog, due the spines of hedgehog being fitting in sense of attacking enemies. From this standpoint, Naoto Ōshima designed Sonic the Hedgehog to be new mascot for Sega.

Because of this, some believe that Mighty is one of design prototypes of Sonic. Later, Sega reused the scrapped character concept and created Mighty the Armadillo for the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog and later in Sega 32X title Knuckles' Chaotix.

Appearance
Mighty is based on a real-life armadillo. His fur body is black with red thick armor, which rounds from the forehead above to the lower back up. Mighty's ears are side facing the funnel-shaped like real-life's armadillo. Mighty's skin color along with ears, mouth, arms and belly is yellowish-tan. In some areas, Mighty bears resembles to the Sonic the Hedgehog, main character of the series. Both got interconnected, cartoonish, circular eyes with black pupils, both have white gloves with sock-like cuffs and red shoes with white socks.

In fact at SegaSonic the Hedgehog arcade game, Mighty's shoes were almost identical to Sonic's ones, as sneakers were red with white socks and white straps without golden buckles. Later his shoes were slightly altered in Knuckles' Chaotix, as a pair of shoes are red, having white socks and white shoe soles. Instead of straps, Mighty's shoes have white overlay lines.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Mighty's first appearance is in the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, where he was captured by Dr. Robotnik along with Sonic the Hedgehog and Ray the Flying Squirrel. They were taken to Eggman Island and imprisoned, but they made their way through the island's defenses. After the trio got to the control room of Eggman's Tower, Robotnik activates self-destruction of island. Despite that, the whole cast manages to get out of Eggman Island, which got destroyed 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 Jump. In the game, he was voiced by Yūsuke Numata.

Knuckles' Chaotix
Mighty makes his next appearance 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 English manual, he is a friend of Knuckles the Echidna, and happens to visit "Carnival Island" when Robotnik attacks.

In both manuals he is captured by Robotnik, and imprisoned in his Combi Catcher 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.

Gale Racer
Mighty made a cameo appearance as swinging ornament chain on the windshield in Gale Racer, the Sega Saturn port of the arcade game Rad Mobile released in 1994.

Sonic Generations
Mighty makes a small cameo appearance in console/PC versions of Sonic Generations, where both Mighty and Ray can be seen on missing posters dotted throughout the City Escape. The poster mentions that they've been missing since 1993, referencing the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog. The poster misspells Mighty's species' name as "Armaddilo."

Personality
In the video games, Mighty is described as 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 manual of Knuckles' Chaotix, Mighty enjoys forest bathing, likes peace and nature, and detests violence.

Powers and abilities
Like most characters in the 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 Knuckles' 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 each other. In North American manual of Knuckles' Chaotix, Mighty is described having super strength. Despite his namesake, this has been never demonstrated in any of his games appearances.

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, Mighty was the strongman of the Chaotix Crew. He possessed super strength, making him a valuable asset, but he frequently acts without thinking. He has a rivalry with Espio, and the two sometimes bicker about which is the better fighter.

He is the son of a senile super-strong superhero known as Blockhead Bill, who is constantly getting into trouble by mistaking random people (including Sonic) for his old enemies, much to Mighty's exasperation.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, Mighty the Armadillo 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. He later joined the Chaotix.

Later, Espio reveals that Mighty's long lost sister Matilda, whom Mighty thought was dead, is still alive. She has been forced to join the Dark Egg Legion, along with Bunnie D'Coolette's uncle Beauregard Rabbot, who is the Grandmaster. Mighty sets out on a quest along with Ray the Flying Squirrel, whom he considers a brother, to find his sister. When they first meet, Matilda has no recollection of Mighty, due to her being roboticized at a very young age before being legionized. At first, Mighty was heartbroken, but Ray is able to show Matilda how much Mighty cares for her and she finally opens up her heart. Matilda ends up saving Mighty's life by putting herself in front of an explosion, and is injured in the process. She is unable to return with Mighty to Angel Island, but Mighty promises his sister that they will meet again after she is healed.

Following the Worlds Collide crossover event, the new reality of Mobius found Mighty wandering the planet with Ray, having previously worked with both Sonic and Knuckles. In this reality, Mighty found a mentor in Moss the Sloth, who taught him to master his considerable powers and temper.

Friends

 * Chaotix
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic

Trivia

 * Mighty's name was misspelled "Mighity" in the Japanese manual for Knuckles' Chaotix. This is most likely a direct result of errors in translation.
 * 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.
 * Oddly, Mighty's poster says "Missing since 1993", which is incorrect, since his last appearance was in 1995, in Knuckles Chaotix and refers to his first appearance in SegaSonic the Hedgehog.