Wisp


 * For the Badnik, see Whisp.

Wisps (小束, Shōtaba) are aliens in Sonic Colors (entitled Sonic Colours outside of the U.S. and Japan) that were stolen from their home planet by Dr. Eggman to power an interstellar amusement park. They can give Sonic special powers to help him in the game's levels. The Hyper-go-on energy can be used once Sonic hits a "Wisp Capsule". Overall, the Wisps seem to be rather playful and friendly, spending most of their time with others and playing around.

DS and Wii versions
It is revealed that the power of the Wisps will vary between the DS and the Wii versions of Sonic Colors, with the Wii version having eight Wisps and the DS version having six. However, in the DS version, each Wisp will be able to do two attacks (two types of "Color Power"), whereas in the Wii version, each of the eight can only grant one form of Color Power.

Yacker
There is a specific White Wisp, which is different from all of the other Wisps; he has a huge curl on his head. His name is Yacker and he will take a huge part in the storyline of Sonic Colors. He cannot speak, but makes an audible chittering noise.

Co-Op
In Co-Op mode, if both players with the same Wisp use their Color Powers at the same time, some sort of special effect happens. For example, when two Pink Spikes are used, a laser beam will appear between the two players that destroys any Badniks that touch it. The Green Hover has a similar effect.

Another example is that when two Yellow Drills are used, the players will spin around each other, the resultant Drill is magnified in power, and the players will gain a magnetic effect that attracts rings, similar to the Lightning Shield in previous Sonic games. The Cyan Laser and Orange Rocket have similar effects in which the reach of the power-ups are doubled.

Trivia

 * The Wisps seem similar to Flickies. However, one could also say they resemble Chao.
 * The red and the violet wisps are not shown in the announcement trailer. This is most likely due to the fact that those two Wisps are only exclusive to the DS version.
 * Wisps and Flickies are both released from capsules.
 * The Wisps look very similar to cephalopods: i.e Squids, Octopi, and Cuttlefish.
 * On the cover of the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the Blue, Green, Purple, and Pink Wisps are shown. On the DS cover they are replaced with the version exculsive Red Wisp and Violet Wisp.
 * Strangely enough, the opening of the DS version changes some of the Wisps in the later half to reflect exclusives, but the blue cubes and pink spikes show up in the beginning.
 * When two Robo-Sonics use a Wisp in Co-Op mode at the same time, an 8-bit version of Reach For The Stars is played.
 * It is possible that the Wisps have some kind of teleportation ability, most likely due to their Hyper-go-on power. As seen in the final cutscene, the Wisps are seen transporting their planets to some other place.
 * It is currently unknown why the Purple/Violet Wisps help Sonic despite being evil. One thoery is that some wanted to get revenge on Eggman for forcing them to work by helping Sonic. Another theory is that some somehow retain their friendly nature and use their new powers to help Sonic.