Egg Carrier



The Egg Carrier (エッグキャリア) is a fictional flying fortress created by Doctor Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games. It appeared first in the game Sonic Adventure. It was modeled after Aerial Strike Vessel/Multi-functional Flying Fortress. It is a large, armoured aircraft with red, yellow, black and white coloured hull, super laser cannon, turret laser cannon, air mines and missile launchers.

Similar flying fortresses have been a staple of Sonic the Hedgehog games for a long time, the very first one being the "Sky Base Zone" in Sonic the Hedgehog for Game Gear. The most widely known airship stage, however, was the "Wing Fortress Zone" in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. They have reappeared (often with different names) in many games since - one zone in Sonic & Knuckles was aboard a flying fortress called the "Flying Battery", and another in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure which was aboard the "Aerobase".

Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)
The Sky Base Zone appeared as the final Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear and Master System. It was Eggman's first flying fortress, was gray in color, and floated above Eggman's Scrap Brain base on South Island.

After Sonic reached Eggman at Act 3 of Scrap Brain Zone, the doctor escaped to the heavens on a floating platform. Sonic followed him to the Sky Base, and fought his way through the airship. At the end, Sonic battled Eggman in the base, and then escaped from the Sky Base.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
The Wing Fortress Zone was the second-to-last Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive. It was a large brown airship driven by both propellers and powerful jet engines. It was armed with laser cannons to fight hostile aircraft, along with Clucker Badniks and spherical energy turrets in case intruders get on the fortress itself. In case the intruder managed to reach the bridge itself, there was also a ceiling-mounted laser that blasted enemies. According to logos seen on the Wing Fortress, it is classified as "EG-01".

After Sonic and Tails defeated Eggman at Act 3 of the Metropolis Zone, he fled to the Wing Fortress. Sonic and Tails followed him with Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, throughout the Sky Chase Zone. After catching up to the Wing Fortress, the Tornado was blasted by its lasers and crash landed, but Sonic managed to jump onto the fortress. He ran along the outside of the Wing Fortress until he reached the bridge, where Eggman pitted him against the aforementioned ceiling laser. Sonic destroyed it and chased the fleeing Eggman to a spaceship located in the front of the Wing Fortress. Tails reappeared with a repaired Tornado, and Sonic managed to get onto the spaceship and was taken to the Death Egg Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
The Flying Battery first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where it was colored green and orange, and performed a bombing run on Sonic and Tails near the end of Angel Island Zone Act 2. It appeared again in Sonic & Knuckles as an entire Zone. There it was colored gray and orange, and was apparently a place for manufacturing the Prison Eggs seen throughout the Sonic games.

After Eggman was defeated at the end of Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2, he fled onto the Flying Battery as it swooped down to get him. Sonic and Tails grabbed onto it, and moved through the ship, fighting a fake robotic Prison Egg on the way. They eventually reached Eggman, who pitted them against a laser very similar to the one from the Wing Fortress. After the laser was fired a number of times, it damaged the Flying Battery, and Eggman escaped once again. The heroes followed and battled him, and proceeded to flee the airship into the Sandopolis Zone below.

Sonic Adventure
The Egg Carrier was another large airship, and a quite important location in Sonic Adventure. It was colored black, red and yellow, and was more heavily armed than the previous ships. It had missile launchers, air mines, lock-on energy cannons and a large hidden laser cannon hidden in the beak-like bulb in the front. The Egg Carrier could transform into two shapes; offensive and defensive. While being somewhat streamlined in its offensive shape (pictured), the defensive shape folded the wings out to the sides and makes it much harder to get from the landing area to the bridge. The Egg Carrier was crewed by Eggman and various robots, including the first E-100 robots, notably E-102 Gamma. According to an eye catcher card in the Japanese version of Sonic X Episode 30, the Egg Carrier is 789 meters long, and weighs 655 281 metric tons.

Eggman first used the Egg Carrier to find and destroy the Master Emerald at Angel Island in order to free Chaos. After succeeding, the Egg Carrier landed in his Final Egg base in Mystic Ruins for later usage. This usage came when Eggman brought the Egg Carrier to the place where Sonic, Tails and Knuckles battled Chaos, and then pick up Eggman and Chaos with a tractor beam of sorts. Sonic and Tails followed it with the Tornado, but the plane was shot down. The Egg Carrier then flew over Station Square, scaring the inhabitants. It then flew back to Final Egg, where it was infiltrated by Knuckles and Big the Cat, as pieces of the Master Emerald and Big's friend, Froggy, were located on it. It then took off again and picked up a robot that had kidnapped Amy Rose, and was subsequently chased through a storm by Sonic and Tails in their new Tornado 2. This time the heroes managed to land on the Egg Carrier, where Eggman challenged them to get through the ship. Meanwhile, Knuckles and Big found what they were looking for, and Amy managed to escape from her cell. On the deck, Sonic and Tails defeated E-102, when suddenly the ship started losing altitude (it is not explained why, but Sonic, Tails and Knuckles had caused some destruction in their respective stages), so Tails, Amy and E-102 fled the ship. Sonic stayed to find Eggman, which he did, along with Chaos. Sonic, Knuckles and Big all fought and defeated Chaos, and everyone fled the ship as it crashed into the ocean below and started floating on the surface. E-102 later came back to the floating vessel in order to defeat his brothers, E-105 Zeta and E-101 Beta, which he did. Finally, Amy also came back to look for the relatives of her bird friend. She battled E-100 ZERO and discovered that E-102 and E-101 had held the two birds. It can be assumed that Eggman salvaged the Egg Carrier for parts, as it is revealed in Sonic Battle that he had reused the parts of E-102, whose "corpse" was located on the Egg Carrier.

After Chaos obtains all seven Chaos Emeralds, becomes Perfect Chaos and destroys Station Square, Eggman reveals the Egg Carrier 2, which was a failsafe to use against Chaos in case he rebelled. However, the Egg Carrier 2 is proved to be nothing compared to the power of Chaos, who shoots it down with a large energy beam.

In-game, the Egg Carrier is an "Adventure Field", where the characters can walk around and enter various "Action Stages", the stages that have an actual goal. The Egg Carrier contains three Action Stages and several bosses:


 * Chao Garden: Located in the interior of the Egg Carrier, which requires the password "EGGMAN" to gain access. There is a beach with a small shore and a large satellite.


 * Sky Chase: A mini-game where Sonic and Tails chase the Egg Carrier in their plane, shooting down enemy robots. The first Sky Chase uses the Tornado, while the second uses the Tornado 2.


 * Sky Deck: A stage set on the outside of the Egg Carrier, and split into three parts. The first one is set underneath the battleship, on various platforms attached to the belly of the ship, and ends with a gigantic cannon. The second part is set on top of the ship, and ends with another cannon. The third part is set on the deck in the middle area of the ship which is revealed when the ship is in defensive mode. Here, the gravity is constantly changing as the ship goes through many sharp turns, with the ship apparently pointing straight down at one point! Sonic and Tails go through all parts, while Knuckles just goes through the third one.


 * Hot Shelter: The inside of the Egg Carrier, filled with high-speed transport rails, elevators and other mechanisms. Amy, Big, and E-102 go through Hot Shelter.


 * Character Battle: Sonic and Tails battle E-102, while E-102 battles Sonic. This fight is set on the deck of the Egg Carrier.


 * Chaos 6: Sonic, Knuckles and Big fight Chaos powered by six Chaos Emeralds. He is fought on the green platform in the front of the ship. Sonic and Knuckles both fight Chaos by freezing him with Eggman's ice-mines, while Big simply has to fish Froggy out of Chaos. Knuckles had to fight Chaos 6 on the green platform but at this point some of the sections of glass were shattered


 * E-101mkII: E-102 fights his enhanced brother, E-101 Beta. This battle is also set on the green platform.


 * ZERO: Amy fights ZERO, the robot that chased her throughout the game. This battle is also set on the green platform.

Sonic Pocket Adventure
The Aerobase Zone was a Zone in Sonic Pocket Adventure for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It was a brown ship largely based on the Wing Fortress Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and had the same kind of Badniks and defense mechanisms.

After Sonic fought Knuckles in the Aquatic Relix Zone, Eggman stole Knuckles' Chaos Emerald and headed for the skies. Knuckles used his brute strength to send Sonic straight after him, and Sonic landed on the Tornado, controlled by Tails. Sonic and Tails went through another Sky Chase Zone, and reached the Aerobase without any real problems. Sonic proceeded along the deck of the fortress, and eventually met and fought a Sonic robot. It was largely damaged, and rammed a wall that opened the way into the Aerobase. Sonic entered, and went through the Gigantic Angel Zone, which was the name of the Aerobase's inside. At the end, he battled Eggman who escaped again, with Sonic following him to space once again.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
The Egg Carrier reappears in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game. It is not told within the game if Eggman rebuilt the old Egg Carrier, or if he built an entirely new one. The new Egg Carrier looks mostly like the old one, but is in fact smaller, sleeker, more streamlined in appearance and less clunky in design. It is only referred to as such in textboxes; in all audible dialogue, it is simply referred to as "Eggman's battleship."

Eggman uses the Egg Carrier to attack the city of Soleanna and kidnap Princess Elise, and Sonic chases it in the Wave Ocean stage in order to retrieve her. It is later destroyed due to malfunctioning engines, killing Elise and possibly Eggman. However, Sonic and Silver use Chaos Control to go back into time to save Elise, and as such, Eggman also manages to escape with his life.

Sonic Chronicles
In the prologue of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Eggman has built another Egg Carrier but is defeated by a combined effort of Sonic and G.U.N, Tails shuts down the Carrier when Tails pulls out some cables in the control room and it crashes into Metropolis. Mysteriously the Carrier doesn't look like the other Carriers in Sonic Adventure or Sonic Next Gen but rather the Final Fortress except without the wings or tail.

Sonic Unleashed
In the prologue, Eggman has recreated the Egg Fleet as space ships. The ship he first appears in is possibly the main Egg Carrier.

Sonic X
In the anime Sonic X, Eggman uses several flying fortresses that did not appear in the games.

Following the destruction of his stationary headquarters, Eggman deploys the first of these, the Egg Fort. The Egg Fort was streamlined, purple, and had yellow drill-like points in front. This warship served as his vessel for several episodes before damage inflicted in battles with Sonic and friends left it stranded at the bottom of the sea. Later, the Egg Fort was salvaged by GUN, who turned it into the GUN Fort and deployed it against Eggman.

Eggman then introduced the Egg Fort II, a smaller warship that served as his headquarters until its destruction just before the Sonic Adventure adaption. It was a gray, round vessel with a powerful energy cannon. The Egg Fort 2 was actually made out of three smaller ships:


 * Bang, the largest vessel, controlled by Eggman himself.


 * BaBang, a thin ship that is made up of a cockpit along with two engine-like rods, controlled by Decoe.


 * BaBaBang, a square, less-than-streamlined ship, controlled by Bocoe.

When fused as the Egg Fort II, this vessel was even more dangerous, having the ability to turn into a powerful robot named the E-99 Eggsterminator (or Egg Emperor in Japan) which was powered by six Chaos Emeralds. However, even the E-99 proved ineffective when pitted against Super Sonic.

The Egg Carrier and Egg Carrier 2 were both used during the cartoon's Sonic Adventure adaption, where they played the same role as they did in the game.

In Episode 47, Eggman used the Egg Giant-Makan, another fortress. The Egg Giant-Makan was shaped like an old galley, was 891 meters long, and weighed 766 392 tons.

In the final episode of the first series, Eggman used the Grand Egg Imperial, a combination of the either recovered or rebuilt Egg Fort, Egg Fort II and Egg Carrier. It was equipped with a massive arsenal of lasers and missiles, and almost managed to destroy Tails and his Hyper Tornado. Nonetheless, it was destroyed by Super Sonic.

In the comic adaption of Sonic X, the Egg Carrier 2 is used many more times, and it seems that it wasn't destroyed by Chaos.

Trivia

 * In Sonic Adventure, the Egg Carrier can be seen changing its appearance (rendering state) during certain missions. For example, during the battle between Amy and ZERO, the window bars on the bridge disappear and the yellow topped radar looks grey with red outlining. This may have something to do with what the original Egg Carrier look before drastic changes.
 * During Sky Deck pt.2, Sonic is placed on the tip of the left wing having to run to the fuelsolage of the ship. While running across the wing, the yellow Eggman Logo was blown off (likely during the dogfight). As soon as Sonic grips onto a monkey bar, the wing falls off, this was a warning stating that the Egg Carrier isn't as sturdy as it looks.
 * In Sonic Adventure, after the Egg Carrier crashes into the ocean, if the player uses Amy to go into Robotnik's secret room, there's a minigame that's actually Hedgehog variation of "Whac-A-Mole", where Amy must use her Piko Piko Hammer to smash Sonic and Super Sonic-like robots, Sonic being worth one point, and Super Sonic being worth two. However, Eggman-like robots will also appear, which make you lose points. The reason for this is because it's likely Eggman made this to train his robots, himself, or even help deal with stress.
 * Coincidentally, the both Egg Carriers from Sonic '06 & Sonic Adventure malfunction with six chaos emeralds in the hold. The Sonic Adventure was destroyed after Sonic and Tails fought Gamma and after Sonic fought Chaos 6.
 * In Sonic '06 the Egg Carrier splits into two (leaving the bowel having to crash first following with the stern to crash second). This scene has a similarity to Titanic with Sonic and Elise escaping from the stern.


 * During the final battle under the Egg Carrier, in 06, the Egg Carrier drops charges from the hold. It is not known if the Egg Carrier was lightening its load to stop stalling or if that was a developer's method of making the battle interesting.
 * The BGM played on the Egg Carrier in Sonic Adventure is called Egg Carrier - A Song That Keeps Us On The Move.
 * when you finnish red mountain part 2 the egg carrier seems to change colour