Guardian Units of Nations


 * For other uses of the term, see G.U.N. (disambiguation).

The Guardian Units of Nations, often abbreviated as GUN or G.U.N., is a group in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a worldwide military and law enforcement organization. Run by a man only known as the Commander, G.U.N. seeks to protect the earth from all sorts of threats, including Dr. Eggman and the Black Arms. , but tries to take down Sonic and his friends.

G.U.N. has vast resources, including an army of soldiers and peacekeepers, fighter planes and other instruments of warfare. While G.U.N. receives orders from the President of the United Federation, it operates under the sole discretion of the Commander, who has been known to use G.U.N.'s resources to bring down enemies.

Sonic Adventure 2
In Sonic Adventure 2, the GUN organization was introduced. As the plot is revealed, it is shown that GUN were responsible for the mistaken capture of Sonic the Hedgehog, the ending of Project Shadow, the invasion and subsequent deactivation of the Space Colony ARK, and the death of its inhabitants - including Maria Robotnik. GUN's role in this game is simply to contain the threat posed by Shadow the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman. They send in a government spy, Rouge the Bat, to spy on Dr. Eggman and Shadow, and to retrieve information on Project Shadow via the Ark's database. However, they also attack Sonic and his friends (although, many factors, such as GUN's mistaking of Sonic for Shadow, and Tails' attack on Prison Island, might have provoked this). This proved them to be have caused more harm than good in general. However, this might or might not have been intentional. When the GUN Military Truck pursued Sonic in City Escape, GUN destroyed buildings and cars on its way. In Rouge's first level, GUN is seen holding a turtle at gunpoint. It is unclear as to why they were doing this, and the reason was never explained, though, it is likely that the instance was simply a rushed level design choice. The organization was never specifically called "GUN" by the characters, who instead referred to them as "the government" or "the military". The word "GUN" is instead just seen on G.U.N.'s technology and boxes that are spread around the game.

Shadow the Hedgehog
The role of GUN in Shadow the Hedgehog's plot is to repel the invasion of Earth by the forces of the Black Arms by any means necessary - including the (presumably unwanted) assistance from Sonic and his friends. During the opening FMV sequence, it is shown that Earth is being overrun, with G.U.N.'s forces almost helpless - hence the temporary alliance. It is also strongly hinted during the game and FMV sequences that G.U.N.'s mission is the investigation (and possible destruction) of Shadow himself, depending on the player's moral choices within the game. Their attempts at doing this are caused by the Commander of G.U.N. due to his personal hatred of Shadow, although in two endings he realizes Shadow isn't evil and it was simply a misunderstanding.

G.U.N.'s role in Sonic Adventure 2 was also expanded in Shadow the Hedgehog, where one of the levels takes Shadow and Maria through the colony during the GUN incursion and it also shows Shadow fighting one of their weapons after they try to harm Maria.

If you attack and empty the health bar of a G.U.N soldier while with a hero character, leaving them badly injured, the hero character will tell Shadow to stop it.

Sonic Rush
Huge Crisis Zone in Sonic Rush is a stage centered on infiltrating several of the organization's battleships at sea. The enemies look similar to G.U.N. Hunter and Hawk robots, and they do not release animals or Chaos Drives when defeated. It is unknown why they attacked Sonic and Blaze, but the name of the stage implies that, either through their unnecessary intervening with the events of the story, or by Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega taking over the G.U.N. Battleships and control of its G.U.N. robots, that further delay on the situation could have blown up into a more grave scenario.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
G.U.N. has a small role in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Shadow has now become an agent of G.U.N., whom they requisition to find Rouge the Bat as she has presumably been kidnapped by Eggman and being held at his base in White Acropolis. After Rouge is rescued and the Scepter of Darkness is retrieved, G.U.N. appears even less. At this point, they are occasionally contacted by Shadow and Rouge for various purposes and for Town Missions.

Sonic Rivals
Among the 150 collectible cards in Sonic Rivals, seven are G.U.N.-related pictures. These cards are "The Commander", "Big Foot", "Flying Dog", "Hot Shot", "Gun Wing", "Hornet-6" and "Shield Hunter".

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, G.U.N. is mentioned in the opening cutscene on the radio, when the newscast says that G.U.N. is investigating the out-of-control-robot problem. It is referred to as "[an] international security organization."

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
G.U.N. is involved during the events of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood to help Sonic and friends find Knuckles. They are first seen helping in destroying the Egg Carrier. They appear later fighting off the Nocturnus Clan and have a headquarters in Central City as well as taking patrol in Mystic Ruins. They are investigating Knuckles' disappearance and hired Team Chaotix to learn more about the Marauders. Just before Sonic and friends traveled to the Twilight Cage, they gave Rouge instructions to gather any Marauder technology for the scientists to research and possibly re-engineer.

Sonic Generations
As City Escape reappears in console/PC version of Sonic Generations, many different G.U.N. robots, and also the G.U.N. truck chase scene, re-appears for both Modern and Classic perspectives. For Classic Sonic, the truck's abilities remains unchanged from Sonic Adventure 2, but for Modern Sonic, the truck received several upgrades such as controllable saw-blades and rocket boosters for flight. Again, the GUN truck destroyed buildings and cars on its way.

Commander
G.U.N.'s Commander is an efficient officer, never backing down in the face of danger. In his debut, he commands his forces against the Black Arms, serving as the counterpart to Dr. Eggman, Black Doom, and Shadow the Hedgehog. He also harbors a deep hatred towards the enigmatic hedgehog. His hatred of Shadow was so great in Shadow the Hedgehog he sent G.U.N. forces after him even though the world at large considered Shadow a hero.

Commander claims he saw Black Doom with Gerald Robotnik releasing Shadow. When the government came to shut down the ARK and killed Maria, he blamed Shadow for her death, as well as the deaths of all other ARK inhabitants, when, ironically, it was the G.U.N. army that killed most of them. It is unknown why he was on the ARK, but it can be assumed that he was related to one of the researchers connected to Project Shadow, since he said his family was killed along with Maria. It is unknown why he himself was evacuated instead of killed.

In some storylines, he controls the Diablon robot, G.U.N.'s most powerful creation despite it being unfinished. In three of the endings of the games, he teams up with Sonic to fight Shadow. It is unknown whether he controls it personally or via remote, as both are implied through dialogue/lack thereof.

Once he speaks to Shadow before Cosmic Fall, he realizes that Shadow isn't evil at all and regrets attempting to kill him. After Shadow defeats Devil Doom and destroys the Black Comet, the President states how ironic it was that people treated Gerald like he was evil, and he ended up saving them all in the end. The Commander and the President realize they were wrong about Gerald's intentions and that he was truly a good-hearted person. They decide they will help create peace for the world in honor of Gerald. In Expert Mode, it is revealed that the Commander had become a grandfather one week before the events of the game.

Notably, the Commander appears to have heterochromia, as he has one green and one brown eye.

Rouge the Bat
Rouge the Bat has been a G.U.N. agent for a very long time, and seems to have been working for G.U.N. at least since Sonic Adventure 2. She is one of the most valuable agents of the organization, and she is apparently highly ranked, as she often takes orders from the President himself. Her status seems to be that of a spy. Despite their affiliations, however, they do sometimes come into conflict with each other: A notable example being when she participated in the heist on Prison Island while on an undercover assignment for the President herself, and they attacked her with a Flying Dog mech. She is also Topaz's partner in Sonic X.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog has become a G.U.N. agent years before the events of Sonic the Hedgehog. In the aforementioned game, he was sent on a mission to rescue Rouge from Dr. Eggman's base in White Acropolis. It is unknown what Shadow's status or ranking is.

E-123 Omega
E-123 Omega joins G.U.N. in the Sonic Universe comic series. While in the games series, it is believed that E-123 Omega joined G.U.N. before Sonic the Hedgehog, because Rouge asks a G.U.N. agent to contact E-123 Omega.

G.U.N. Troops
G.U.N.'s forces consist of both human soldiers and a large variety of robots that are just as complicated and powerful as those of Dr. Eggman. The G.U.N. robots are powered by "Chaos Drives ", power cores invented by Gerald Robotnik after researching Chaos Emeralds.

GUN Soldiers
Foot troops of G.U.N. armed with combat knives or a variety of firearms. They first appeared in a cutscene in Sonic Adventure 2, and reappeared as common enemies in Shadow the Hedgehog. They mostly wear black and blue, but they also have green, tan, black and brown camouflage clothes for jungle areas, and commonly are armed with pistols, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and over-shoulder explosives. Some also are equipped with riot shields to protect them from frontal attacks.

Beetle series
These are saucer-shaped one-eyed floating robots that appear in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic X and Shadow the Hedgehog. They function as obstacles that block your path forward or serve as tiny attack platforms. There are several different types of beetles, which hover with a fan, but unlike the Wing that has turbines, they can't move. The Beetles in Shadow the Hedgehog also have the number "05" on them.

Hunter series
Hunters are tall white humanoid robots. They have the number "02" on them. According to an eyecatcher information card from Sonic X, a Hunter is 3.5 meters (11 ft 11 in) tall, 2.5 meters (8 ft 8 in) wide, and weighs 2.5 metric tons (2.75 short tons).

Rhino series
Rhinos are blocky tank-like robots. They usually attack by attempting to ram into their target. They have the number "03" on them.

Hawk series
Hawks are large floating G.U.N. robots that don't really look like anything else. They appear to have two cylinder-shaped engines that they use to hover and maneuver in the air. They have the number "04" on them.

Hornet series
Hornets are flying eye-like robots with several appendages that hold bombs. When they spot an enemy, they fire the bombs toward it. They have the number "05" on them.

Artificial Chaos series
Artificial Chaos are robotic versions of Chaos from Sonic Adventure that exist on the Space Colony ARK and all are prototypes of the Ultimate Life Form. See Gerald Robotnik for more information.

Big Foots
The Big Foot walkers are large bipedal walkers. They can also hover in the air. In Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, they are manned by a G.U.N. pilot, but in Sonic X, they appear to be completely robotic or remote-controlled, somewhat weaker, and mass-produced.

Big Foot Type A

A newer version of the Big Foot colored teal, yellow and red. It appears in Shadow the Hedgehog and usually guards later levels. They are the second strongest standard enemy belonging to G.U.N. In Shadow the Hedgehog, they carry Gatling guns which Shadow can pick up after he has defeated them. It's much stronger than the Sonic Adventure 2 variant, and takes many more homing attacks to defeat.

Big Foot Type B

The Type B is similar to the F-6, except it is camouflage-colored and is armed with two quad missile launchers on its "shoulders". It appears in Shadow the Hedgehog as fairly uncommon enemy. It is also the strongest unit belonging to G.U.N. It never uses its Gatling gun, but fires homing missiles very quickly. After being destroyed, it drops a lock-on missile launcher.

Spider Troops F-6t Big Foot

The F-6t is similar to the Type B, but is teal, yellow and red instead of camouflage-colored. It attacks by flying above Sonic and firing its Gatling gun, occasionally landing to fire its missiles. It appears as one of the first bosses in Sonic Adventure 2 and its Sonic X adaption, where it was fought and destroyed by Sonic. According to Sonic X, this Big Foot is 3.4 meters (11 ft 11 in) tall, 4.8  meters (16 ft 3 in) wide, and weighs 9.2 metric tons (10.14 short tons).

Others
Scorpion Troops B-3x Hot Shot

Nearly identical to an F-6t Big Foot, except for a particle beam cannon built into the torso. Appears only in Sonic Adventure 2 and its Sonic X adaption, where it was fought and defeated by Shadow the Hedgehog. It is very similar to the Big Foot fought by Sonic, but the main difference between the two is that Big Foot makes three overhead machine-gun passes before landing and firing missiles, while Hot Shot only passes overhead once, but is armed with a powerful laser cannon. According to Sonic X, the Hot Shot is 3.4 meters tall, 4.8 meters wide, and weighs 9.6 tons.

Jump Vehicle

A small walker that can jump to very high heights, and has some hovering capabilities. It appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog, where Shadow can use it for himself.

Jump Vehicle (With Cannon)

A walker very similar to the Jump Vehicle, but armed with two machine gun turrets. It cannot jump nearly as high as the Jump Vehicle, but it has hovering capabilities. It appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog along with the Jump Vehicle.

Hovering Mechs
R-1/A Flying Dog

A flying mech identical in equipment to Hot Shot, with the exception of not needing to land, completely lacking legs. It appears in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic X, where it traps Rouge the Bat on Prison Island, but is defeated. According to Sonic X, it is 3.6 meters in both tallness and wideness, and weighs 5.4 tons.

Mantis Platoon HD1 Heavy Dog

Appears in Shadow the Hedgehog in one of Shadow the Hedgehog's flashbacks. The Heavy Dog is a large, disc-like machine that tries to stop Shadow and Maria Robotnik from escaping the Space Colony ARK, but it is destroyed by Shadow. The Heavy Dog is armed with several homing missile launchers all around its body, and can drop floating mines that explode after some time. Its most dangerous armament is its Particle Beam Cannon, a weapon that fires blue energy waves in all directions. Interestingly, blueprints for the Heavy Dog can be seen on the walls of room it is fought in. Presumably, the Heavy Dog was built aboard the ARK, corresponding with what Shadow said about "weapons of mass destruction" being built on the ARK.

LZ-12R Blue Falcon

Also appearing in Shadow the Hedgehog, the Blue Falcon is a different version of the HD1 Heavy Dog, exchanging the bomb-launching en masse capabilities of its counterpart for enhanced speed and strength. It is assigned to guard the Eclipse Cannon from invaders. The Blue Falcon is armed with the same missile launchers and Particle Beam Cannon as the Heavy Dog, but has the ability to drop powerful bombs instead of floating mines.
 * The Blue Falcon is said to be named after Captain Falcon's car in F-Zero of the same name, possibly since Sega happened to help develop F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX.

U78-X/D Diablon

The mech U78-X/D Diablon appears in Shadow the Hedgehog as one of the possible final bosses. It is a humanoid robot, fully equipped with a powerful energy shield, a jet-pack, a strong laser gun and its most powerful feature; the Antimatter Cannon, which after some necessary charging up creates an explosion of energy causing destruction within a large radius. Diablon is controlled by GUN's Commander (whether remotely or internally is unknown, as both ways are implied by dialogue/lack thereof), and is accompanied by Sonic when fought by Shadow. Its serial number and name are displayed on its wrists. It can be confronted in the GUN Fortress, Final Haunt and Black Comet stages. Many fans consider it the most powerful GUN robot there is, even though it was incomplete, speculating it may be stronger if it was completed.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog revealed a much larger and more realistic arsenal of weapons for G.U.N .(and Shadow) to use.

GUN Fortress
G.U.N.'s headquarters appears in Shadow the Hedgehog and is considered the most secure shelter on Earth. The President is taken there for safety when the Black Arms attack Central City. The underground fortress is heavily guarded by three mother computers, armed security cameras, and an immeasurable number of G.U.N. troops and mechs. It is located in a mountain near the sea, as seen on the platform where the goal ring is located. It serves as one of the five final stages of the game.

Prison Island
A large jungle island used as a prison and research base by G.U.N. In Sonic Adventure 2, Dr. Eggman first came there to find G.U.N.'s secret weapon, which turned out to be Shadow the Hedgehog. Some time later, Sonic the Hedgehog was captured by GUN due to a misunderstanding and imprisoned deep inside the island, but he was quickly rescued by Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose. At the same time Shadow, Eggman and Rouge the Bat attacked the island in order to take G.U.N.'s Chaos Emeralds. They succeeded and planted several explosives on the island, blowing it up as everyone escaped.

However, Shadow the Hedgehog revealed that the explosives had only destroyed G.U.N.'s main base and spilled toxic waste into the rivers. G.U.N. still has some overgrown paths and prison cells in the jungle, and they use them to hold captured Black Arms soldiers. In the game, Charmy Bee goes to the island to look for some hidden data disks on behalf of Vector the Crocodile, and the player can choose to help him find them.

Sonic X
In Sonic X, G.U.N. is a military branch of the United Federation. They extracted Eggman's technology and with a few tweaks, they managed to create their own robots. They also took Eggman's Egg Fort and turned it into their attack vehicle, the GUN Fort.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, G.U.N., where its full name is Guardian Units of the Nation, was the sole military resource meant to project the United Federation. Most of their technology was based upon the early 21st Century Earth tech, with some Overlander. G.U.N. was created long after the Gene Bombs when the various remaining human city-states began to communicate and organize. As strange new life began to populate Mobius, it was up to G.U.N. to protect the last of humanity. As such, they were a grim and ruthless organization - sometimes warranted, other times not. Under the leadership of Abraham Tower though, G.U.N.'s ruthlessness and self-importance was greatly diminished and its questionable operations were removed. As G.U.N. began to emerge in the outside world, they would ally themselves with the Kingdom of Acorn/Republic of Acorn in the ongoing war against Dr. Eggman and the Eggman Empire who threatened G.U.N.'s territories.

Following the Super Genesis Wave, G.U.N.'s history became virtually to their game counterpart. In this new continuity, they would aid in the Shattered World Crisis and prevent a second invasion of the Black Arms.

Trivia

 * The full name of the organization was a source of confusion. In the 2012 re-release of Sonic Adventure 2, the helicopter at the start of the Hero story as a clearer texture than earlier versions reading "Guardian United Nation". The official strategy guide of Sonic Adventure 2 in Japan also introduced it as "Guardian Units of Nation". The former is considered an error made by the port team, and the latter is thought to be a small translation error involving singular and plural.
 * The origin of GUN's name probably stems from the Japanese word for "army" which is simply "gun" or "guntai" and then words were made to fit with the acronym.
 * Though the name is pronounced "gun" in most games they are in, the name was pronounced "G-U-N" in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * G.U.N. is based on the United States government, though they have been seen using Russian Aircraft in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * G.U.N. may also be based on the United Nations since both are factions that fight for the peace of the world. A major difference being that G.U.N has an abundant army, to the point of even having robots and battleships while the UN only has a small army of peacekeepers. It being an implied multinational military might also be a reference to NATO and the Military of the USA, both of whom have been criticized for their hypocritical method of using military might to maintain world peace. This reflects the irony of G.U.N.'s name as while 'Guardian Units of Nations' sounds heroic compared to GUN, which is obviously a dangerous weapon.
 * G.U.N. may also be a reference to-or based upon-S.H.I.E.L.D. from the Marvel Universe.