Ricky

The Ricky (リッキー) is a creature in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. They are a race of squirrel Animals that live across various regions all over Sonic's world, and are close friends of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies. The Rickies are constantly targeted by Dr. Eggman who seeks to use them as energy sources for his various Badniks and often imprisons them in Capsules for later use.

Anatomy
The general Ricky resembles a brown-furred and round-shaped tree squirrel slightly less than half a meter tall, although their anatomy is slightly humanoid. They have large heads with a smaller torso, arms with five-fingered hands, thick yet stubby legs with long feet and three toes, a long and curled bushy tail, two large grey eyes (originally black), and round ears on top of their head. Additionally, they have peach fur around their face and on their belly. Other features include cheek tuffs, a medium-long brown nose, and a hair bang on their forehead.

Characteristics
Like actual animals, the Rickies can only speak in a language consisting of small ook-sounding noises. Although recognized as animal life, Rickies are remarkably intelligent and sociable, being capable of understanding normal language and establishing their own Animal communities. All Rickies are generally good-hearted, helpful, friendly and playful, but their small stature leaves them rather defenseless on their own. They also have great respect and appreciation for nature, choosing to live in complete harmony with it.

Habitat
Rickies inhabit various natural environments like forests all around Earth and its unusual satellites, such as South Island, West Side Island, Little Planet, Angel Island and the Lost Hex, where they have established their own small villages, more often than not with other Animal species.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
The first appearance of the Rickies was in the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog. In this game, the Rickies were some of Sonic's animal friends on South Island whom Sonic went to rescue after Dr. Robotnik captured them and turned them into power sources for his Badniks - all as a part of a plot to collect the Chaos Emeralds. They can be found in Marble Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of the third Act. They also appear in the ending cinematic where they celebrate Sonic's victory.

Ricky also makes an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, they only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of Jungle Zone Act 3.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
In the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Rickies repeat their role from the first title. In this game, they and the other Animals of the West Side Island were captured by Dr. Robotnik and used to power Badnik workers which Robotnik needed to finish the Death Egg. The Rickies can be found in Emerald Hill Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of the second Act.

In the 8-bit version of the game with same name, the Rickies only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of Green Hills Zone Act 3, much like in their earlier 8-bit appearance,

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Rickies are shown to inhabit Little Planet. In this game, Rickies will appear and happily prance around in the Zones of Palmtree Panic and Quartz Quadrant alongside other Animals after certain conditions are met. The players can either ensure a good future for these Rounds by collecting their Time Stone or destroying Eggman's Machines hosted there to make the Rickies appear in the good futures, or they can destroy a Zone's Metal Sonic Projector to make the Rickies appear in every timeframe of said Zone.

Sonic & Knuckles
In Sonic & Knuckles, the Rickies reprise their role from the first main installments. In this game, the Rickies and the other Animals of Angel Island were kidnapped and turned into Badniks by Dr. Robotnik to aid with the relaunch of the Death Egg. The Rickies can be found in the Mushroom Hill Zone, Flying Battery Zone and Death Egg Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the second Acts (excluding the Death Egg Zone which has no Capsules).

In the beginning of Knuckles' storyline, a herd of Rickies and Cuckies play around in the Mushroom Hill Zone where Knuckles is relaxing until an EggRobo scares them away by dropped a bomb down in front of Knuckles.

Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
In Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, Ricky is seen along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and other Animals. Here, Ricky appears on a pair of cards featured in the Concentration mini-game. The Japanese version of the game also features Ricky in the Poker Game and Bakudan Nuki mini-games.

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver
In Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver, the Rickies make several small cameos in several of the game's artwork images as one of Sonic's friends.

Sonic Jam
In Sonic Jam, the game's Character House features conceptual sketches of Ricky and the other Animals.

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
In Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, the Rickies reprise their role from the first main titles where they are captured by Dr. Eggman and used to power his Badniks. In this game, they have either light brown, red or light yellow fur.

Rickies can be found in every Zone in the game where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the second Acts. Animals, including Ricky, are also seen in the game's perfect ending after clearing Chaotic Space Zone, where they cheer over Sonic's victory.

Sonic Rush
In Sonic Rush, Rickies pop up on the screen along with Flickies and Pockies every time the player manages to pull off advanced Trick Actions.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Rickies and other Animals are shown to inhabit the Lost Hex. During the events of the game, Dr. Eggman, with the assistance of the Deadly Six, resumed kidnapping Animals, the Flickies being among them, to create a new Badnik army. A single Ricky and a few other Animals who managed to escape capture, remained with Knuckles and Amy while Sonic and Tails went out to save their friends, where they had fun at the expense of Knuckles.

The Rickies and the other Animals serve as collectible content used to progress with the game. Once the players have collected a set amount of Animals, they gain access to the fourth Zone in each World. They player can collect Rickies by defeating Badniks, opening smaller Capsules in the Zones, and opening the larger Capsules at the end of most Zones. Rickies and other Animals can also be collected from Circus tents. The Rickies can be found in Windy Hill, Desert Ruins, Silent Forest and Sky Road.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a Ricky appears alongside other Animals as a part of one of the collectable trophies representing the Sonic the Hedgehog series:

Excluding the trophy, the Ricky also occasionally makes a cameo appearance in the background of the Windy Hill Zone.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Rickies play supporting roles to the main cast in the storyline. In this game, most individual Rickies are referred to as "Ricky". Over the course of the game, Team Sonic comes across the Rickies several times, who request the team's help for different situations. This include either stopping Dr. Eggman from capturing them for his Badniks or terrorizing their homes and friends, or aiding them with more personal issues. Sometimes though, they will help Team Sonic as well, usually by providing information or handling smaller tasks.

In gameplay, Rickies will pop out of destroyed Badniks and bounce a little further down the path before falling behind the player. If the players grab them as they pass by, they will earn 2,500 bonus points at the result screen for each Ricky.

Sonic Mania
In Sonic Mania, the Rickies reprise their roles from the Sonic games on the Sega Genesis. In this game, they are once again used as organic power sources for Dr. Eggman's Badniks. The Rickies can be found in Chemical Plant Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 and Lava Reef Zone, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the second Acts.

Aside from the aforementioned appearances, the Rickies also make an appearance at the end of Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2. When the player destroys the Metal Sonic Projector in that Act, several Rickies will appear until they are chased off by Metal Sonic. Also, during the ending of the "& Knuckles" mode in Sonic Mania, a Ricky can be seen listening to Knuckles' retelling of the game's events.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
In Sonic the Hedgehog television series, Ricky's design served as the inspiration for an anthropomorphic female chipmunk named Sally. In this media, Sally is the princess and heir to the kingdom of Mobotropolis, but was forced into hiding when Dr. Robotnik overthrew her father. Finding sanctuary in Knothole Village, she became the field leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters to reclaim their home. Over the years, she developed romantic feelings for her teammate Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic X
In the Sonic X franchise, the Rickies are an animal species native to Sonic's world. Several of them got sent to Earth by Chaos Control, but they were returned home not long afterwards.

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Ricky along with other animal friends, appears in Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. He appears in few panels in first and third stories. In Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 2' story ''Clash!! South Island'' Picky tells to Sonic that Ricky and Cucky have become badniks. Later in "Sparkling Zone" Sonic destroys these badniks and rescues Ricky and Cucky, who then lead Sonic to the "Star Land Zone" where they saw animals getting imprisoned to the capsule. Sonic defeats Eggman and saves the animals from capsule.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the character Sally from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series which Ricky inspired was adapted as a part of the main cast named Sally Alicia Acorn. In this media, she was born during the Great War. She was raised as an only child to the "widower" King Maximillian Acorn and would not know the fate of her mother and older brother until years later. Sally was also raised and tutored by her royal mentor, Julayla Chipmunk, and royal nursemaid, Rosie Woodchuck.

After Dr. Ivo Robotnik's takeover, the young sally dedicated herself to the rescue of her father and kingdom. Inspired by the Original Freedom Fighters, Sally rallied her own band of friends and led them in raids against Robotropolis. Despite her youth, Sally showed an uncanny ability to lead, strategize, and hold her ragtag team of would-be heroes together. late in the First Robotnik War, Sally discovered a mysterious handheld device. The A.I. running it identified itself as Nicole and would be Sally's mentor and friend after the passing of Julayla. As Sally lead the Freedom Fighters to victory in the battle against Dr. Robotnik, she regained her family but faced a great deal of personal hardship. Her life of guerrilla warfare conflicted with the formalities of royalty. Torn between the life she had and the one she thought she wanted, Sally's spirit was strained. The final blow came when her first love, Sonic the Hedgehog, appeared to give his life for Mobius and then return from the dead. At her most confused, she broke up with Sonic for a time to prevent further heartbreak for herself.

Eventually she recovered to her old self, chose her role as the team's field leader and repaired her damaged friendships. However, Sally barley skirted death after the first Genesis Wave. She used her second chance at life to sabotage the Death Egg Mark 2's World Roboticizer. Her sacrifice saved Mobius but turned her into one of Dr. Eggman's minions until the second Genesis Wave arrived.

After the Super Genesis Wave, Sally's history remained basically the same, although with subtle differences. After retaking Mobotropolis from Dr. Eggman after he seized power, Sally now leads the Freedom Fighters against the Eggman Empire.

Aside from Sally, regular Rickies would over time also appear in the comics, first during Operation: Clean Sweep and later as fauna native to Sonic's World after the Super Genesis Wave.

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, Ricky was renamed Sally Acorn. In this media, she is an anthropomorphic female squirrel living alongside the Emerald Hill Folk. Before Dr. Robotnik's takeover, Sally would often be involved in Badnik businesses and would need Sonic's help with them. After Robotnik conquered Mobius, she would help the Freedom Fighters protect their Zone until she became a news reporter.

Early Sonic canon
Early on in the series, when all the Animals were renamed by Sega of America for the western media and market in the Sonic Bible, Ricky's gender was defined as female and was named Squirrel in the bible's first draft. It would later be reimagined as Sally Acorn in the bible's second draft. According to the Sonic Bible, Sally Acorn comes from a large family like other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Rickies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic. In the bible's first draft, Sally Acorn taught Sonic how to lob acorns down from trees to pester the unsuspecting victims below. In the bible's second draft and in the guidebook Stay Sonic though, it is said Sally Acorn taught Sonic how to leap incredible instances.

Usually sporting a pink bow, Ricky made a number of appearances in early Western media for the franchise, including the promotional comic released alongside the first game.

Trivia

 * The Rickies were presumably created by Naoto Ōshima, the character designer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * When Ricky is featured on his own card in Sonic the Hedgehog Online Trading Cards, he has been misleadingly named as Pocky. Pocky is also the name of another Animal, who has been misleadingly called as Picky in the same online trading card game.
 * In the American credits of Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld he is labeled with his Japanese name, "Ricky" instead of his western name Sally Acorn during that time.
 * Ricky is one of Animals in the series that has not make any appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 or any of the three episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4.