Big the Cat (Archie)


 * For the version of this character before the Super Genesis Wave, see Big the Cat (Pre-Super Genesis Wave).

"As long as they're nice, I don't care what anyone is."

- Big the Cat, Sonic Universe #72

Big the Cat is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. He is a large anthropomorphic cat and a member of the New Freedom Fighters. During Dr. Eggman's attempt at using Chaos to destroy Station Square, Big found himself caught in the middle when his friend Froggy became part of Eggman's schemes, where he assisted Sonic the Hedgehog in stopping Perfect Chaos. When the Shattered World Crisis broke out, Big joined the Freedom Fighters in their efforts to restore the planet.

Appearance
Big is a very large and burly anthropomorphic cat. The majority of his body fur consists of two shades of purple: light and dark. A striped pattern runs up his arms and tail. His feet are covered in dark purple fur up to his ankles as well as the outer tips of his ears, while his upper legs, back, and sides are covered in light purple fur. White fur covers his chest, torso, inner ears and his muzzle with the addition of cheek tuffs. His eyes have yellow scleras with black irises. His preferred attire consists of tan gloves, sandals, and a matching belt with a gold buckle. He carries a fishing rod with him at nearly all times.

Searching for Froggy
Nothing about Big's early life is known, other than that he has lived for most of his life at his shack in the Mystic Ruins jungle with his best pal Froggy, completely undisturbed by the world at large. This all changed when a series of events pulled Big into Dr. Eggman's latest scheme involving the ancient water monster Chaos. When Froggy inadvertently swallowed the creatures tail, he immediately caught the attention of Eggman's robots. Big took it upon himself to rescue Froggy when he was captured by E-102 Gamma, chasing the robot back to the Egg Carrier before the ship took off, where the large cat found himself up against the fearsome Chaos alongside Sonic the Hedgehog. After saving Froggy from the monsters clutches, the pair of friends returned to their home in the Mystic Ruins, to continue living in peace

Later, Froggy had gone missing once again, this, it seemed he'd been kidnapped by none other than Sonic, along with Cheese's brother Chocola. Joining Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbot as part of Team Rose, they set off on an adventure to find their friends. The group would later discover that the one behind this elaborate ruse was a self-upgraded Metal Sonic, who attempted to do away with Big and the other heroes in its Metal Overlord form. With the power of teamwork, the heroes where able to defeat Metal Overlord, and Big was reunited with his best buddy once again.

Worlds Collide

 * Note: Due to the Genesis Wave, Big's history from this point were changed to be nearly identical to that of his game counterpart's.

In the altered reality created by this event, Big somehow made his way onto the Wily Egg in the Skull Egg Zone, where he was seen playing a game of cards with Quint, before reality was returned to normal.

Shattered World Crisis

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

During a typical day of fishing in the Mystic Ruins, Big met Sonic and Tails who arrived at his home looking for Rotor and the Sky Patrol. The duo (who had recently returned from the Super Genesis Wave with memories of a different timeline) were puzzled as to why Big was back at his old home and not in Mobotropolis, to which the cat was clueless. Nonetheless, Big was more than happy to help his friends locate Rotor, and ended up running into Rotor's attempt to stop a horde of Badniks. Ultimately, Big showed he still had a heroic bone in his body by fighting off Silver Sonic and protecting Sky Patrol, the cat opting to stick around afterwards. He was later present on Sky Patrol when Sonic retrieved Amy Rose and Sally and had a front row seat to the destruction of the planet.

With the Shattered World Crisis in full swing, Big aided the Freedom Fighters in rescuing people in the nearest location ravaged by the split: Station Square, where he fished people out of the flooded streets and effortlessly tossed a car to one side to rescue people trapped in Twinkle Park. He subsequently took up residence aboard the Sky Patrol with his teammates where they set out to restore their damaged world to normal. Big remained on the Sky Patrol with Bunnie D'Coolette, Cream, Cheese, and Froggy while the other Freedom Fighters went on missions in Meropis and the Crystal Cave. Upon the return of the latter group with a Chaos Emerald, Big cautioned Froggy to stay away from it, remembering their last encounter with such a gem. During a later mission to recover a Chaos Emerald, Big was left behind on the Sky Patrol while most of the other Freedom Fighters were split into teams for the mission. However, when both Team Freedom and their backup squad of Team Fighters were caught in a trap set by Eggman, Big joined Cream, Cheese, Omochao, and T-Pup in flying in to rescue them.

Some time later, Big helped Rotor, Sally, and Tails defend the Sky Patrol from an attack by several of Dark Gaia Monsters, holding them off until the sun caused them to disappear. Shortly thereafter, the group was surprised by Nicole receiving a distress call from the Digital World, apparently sent by her creator Dr. Ellidy. As Nicole disappeared to investigate, Sally recruited Big and Tails to head to Dr. Ellidy's house on Isolated Island and find out exactly what was going on. During the flight, Big questioned whether Ellidy was Nicole's "daddy," which Sally admitted was as good a term as any for the scientist's relationship to their computer friend. The trio arrived on Isolated Island and were surprised to be greeted by several Badniks who made no moves to attack them, instead leading them to Ellidy's house where they arrived just in time to meet the returning Ellidy and Nicole. The following day were shown Ellidy's latest discovery: the Red Star Ring. Big then joined Sally in going to investigate the island's Lake of Rings and its strangely unresponsive Badnik sentry, and along the way was questioned by the princess as to how he felt about Nicole. Big responded that he liked her, and did not care about the fact that she was not a real living being. The pair soon arrived at the lake and retrieved a second Red Star Ring, but were then unexpectedly attacked by the Badnik sentry, whom Big handily dispatched. Returning to Ellidy's home, they gave him the ring and reported the incident before preparing to settle in for the night.

Big was later awakened by an unpleasant development-Dark Gaia Creatures and Ellidy's Badniks were attacking, the later under the control of the evil computer virus known as Phage. After trying to keep the attackers out of the house, Tails and Big were ordered by Sally to go recover a Chaos Emerald that Phage had discovered on the island to keep it out of her hands. Arriving at the Lake of Rings, the pair discovered that the lake was infested with Badniks, preventing them from swimming for it. Undaunted, Big employed his signature fishing abilities to pull the yellow gem out of the water with ease, much to Tails' surprise. Unfortunately, the pair were then forced to deal with an arriving force of Dark Gaia's Minions. Luckily, however, Nicole was successful in shutting Phage out of the digital world, allowing Eggman's robots to rise back to life and fight the monsters off for the heroes. The next day, Big and his comrades left the island to meet up with the rest of the Freedom Fighters in Apotos. They would later travel to Crystal Desert Zone in search of another Chaos Emerald, and succeeded in recovering the jewel and helping a G.U.N. unit that had been attacked by Metal Sonic.

Personality
Big is a kind, relaxed individual who is incredibly loyal to his friends and quick to take action against any enemies. However, he is not highly aggressive, merely acting to defend others or prevent evil beings from causing harm. Big loves fishing, and is happier enjoying the serenity around a pond than he is going on adventures.

Powers and abilities
Big is a massively strong being, capable of throwing heavy objects like cars with ease or stopping such massive and powerful enemies as Silver Sonic completely in its tracks.

Like many others, Big can use the Spin Dash technique, curling into a wheel and rolling across terrain. His particular version of it is quite devastating, capable of tearing through the Mystic Ruins jungle while helping protect the Sky Patrol. Big is an expert fisherman with his trusty fishing rod, capable of casting his line with pin-point precision, and has utilized this skill with some practicality in battle.

Froggy
Big cares very much for his friend, Froggy, and will do whatever it takes to save him.

Friends/allies

 * New Freedom Fighters
 * Sonic
 * Tails
 * Sally
 * Nicole
 * Omochao
 * Rotor
 * Bunnie
 * Antoine
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream and Cheese
 * Chaotix
 * Charmy Bee
 * Espio
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * G.U.N.
 * Team Dark
 * Shadow
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega
 * Knuckles

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic v3.0
 * Badniks

Trivia

 * Ian Flynn indicated in Q&A that Big, as evidenced by his hobby, likes to eat fish.