Marine the Raccoon

"I don't have what it takes. I don't think I can do all this adventuring on my own. But I'm not going to give up. I need to keep trying harder and harder until I succeed!"

- Marine the Raccoon, Sonic Rush Adventure

Marine the Raccoon (マリン ・ザ ・ラクーン) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series who first appeared in Sonic Rush Adventure. She is an anthropomorphic seven-year-old raccoon originating from an alternate dimension who lives on Southern Island.

History
Seven years prior to Sonic Rush Adventure, Marine was born on the isolated Southern Island, a lone island located in the middle of the vast ocean. Growing up, Marine was kept company by the Coconut Crew and her own wild imagination about travels and adventures. As she grew older, however, Marine began to feel trapped on her own island as her home did not have much to satisfy her thirst for adventures and new experiences. Marine would therefore spend her days gazing upon the vast ocean surrounding her island, wondering what kinds of places and adventures her world had in store (especially the nearby Plant Kingdom) while dreaming of becoming the captain of her own ship so that she could sail around the world. By the time Marine was seven years old, she could no longer stand being cooped up on Southern Island and began making numerous attempts to make her own ship.

In Sonic Rush Adventure, Marine wrecks her ship, the S.S. Marine, by forgetting to install the brakes. When Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower crashes on Southern island, they decide to help her repair her ship, where Tails builds the ships and Sonic goes to find the materials for the ship. Unfortunately, Marine and her new-found friends find themselves confronted by a dangerous menace: the pirate Captain Whisker.

Personality
In terms of personality, Marine is rather dimwitted and so often acts before she thinks. She is relatively bossy and attention-seeking, and characters occasionally find her annoying, but she has many koala friends who are pleased to help Sonic and his companions. Also, due to her age and childish personality, she sometimes has trouble saying some words that Tails can say easily like "hovercraft" and "submarine". Interestingly enough, according to Sonic Channel, Marine is described as a "neat freak". She speaks with an exaggerated Australian accent, using Australian slang words such as 'strewth', 'bonza' and 'cobber' and adding the word 'mate' to the end of her sentences.

She is very afraid of ghosts and been so since very young, but she will not tell Sonic and his friends. She is also very focused about proving herself and her image, and will often try act tough and in control in front of others even when she herself is skeptical or anxious, as she wants to prove her worth as a captain. After the events of Sonic Rush Adventure, she receives some character development after her actions had endangered herself and her friends, and she becomes more down to earth, while still maintaining her passion to become a captain. She is however still quite reckless and still gets into trouble.

Archie Comics
Marine also appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic adaptation of Sonic Rush Adventure. She later reappeared in first issue of Sonic Universe.

In Sonic Universe, she and Blaze are sailing around on the Ocean Tornado. They come across Shadow who apparently just lost a small battle to Metal Sonic. Marine and Blaze pull him onto the boat and Marine considers Shadow as "a sinister looking one". Shadow introduces himself and Blaze wonders if he's related to Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow says that they have crossed paths before and he explains how he got to her world. Blaze then explains that her first meeting with Sonic "didn't go so well". She then retells the story of how she was reunited with him, Tails, and Marine. Before Blaze could finish the proper ending of the story, Marine says she "went all crazy on them and saved the day". Shadow gets annoyed along with Blaze and says if she's the captain, why doesn't she just steer them to the nearest port.

Marine then takes the wheel and steers toward Southern Island. She points out to Blaze that she smells smoke and the three rush out onto Seagull Beach. The three meet Metal Sonic (to Shadow, once again) who is attacking one of the Coconut Crew members. Blaze attacks him for attacking one of her people. She's then knocked back and Shadow tries to fight Metal Sonic, but his Chaos Control fails and that's when Marine hops on top of Metal Sonic. Shadow and Blaze try to attack, but Marine kept getting in their way. Metal throws Marine off and thanks to quick thinking from Blaze, the three throw a combo on Metal Sonic, and Marine then blows Metal Sonic up.

At the end, Marine is excited at his defeat, but Shadow isn't. He says that Metal Sonic had the dimensional engine that was his only way home. He then suggests that maybe Marine could build a boat for him as she did Tails. Marine says she didn't actually build it, and Shadow "isn't very happy". Marine leaves Shadow alone and Blaze tells him to go easy on her and that she means well.

Powers and Abilities
Marine has somewhat impressive mechanical skills as she has successfully made small water vehicles on her own, but only after many tries. By the time she met Sonic and Tails, she had gotten everything right except forgetting to install the brakes. Eventually though, she grew enough in skills to build a complete and fully operational water bike, the SS Super-Marine, on her own.

At the end of Sonic Rush Adventure, Marine is shown to have some sort of special power, as seen in Deep Core where she is seen shooting a light green ball of energy from her fist. The fact that the Egg Wizard was knocked around a little when Marine shot this attack suggests that there is some great power to this ability.

Friends/Allies

 * Blaze the Cat (Best Friend)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * The Coconut Crew

Enemies

 * Captain Whisker
 * Dr. Eggman Nega
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Johnny

Theme Song
The theme song of Marine is A New Venture from Sonic Rush Adventure.

Trivia

 * It can be assumed that Marine is very ticklish, as when Captain Whisker threatens to use a tickling device to torture her, she begs for "Anything but that!".
 * Marine's pigtails are shaped like boomerangs, relating to her Australian accent.
 * Marine is afraid of ghosts, as seen when she acted very nervous in the Haunted Ship stage and by Kylok when they arrived at his island.
 * Marine may have a hobby or skill for surfing as a Sonic Channel calendar depicts her holding a surfboard.
 * Marine has also revealed that she is aware that she's not a real captain but merely pretending. As shown in Sonic Rush Adventure, after the Ghost Titan was defeated and everyone heads back to Southern Island, Marine says that "One day, I'll become a captain for real!".
 * Though not shown in Sonic Colors, in the DS version Tails asks Blaze, "So, how is Marine?", to which Blaze answers, "Heh, same as ever.", causing Sonic to assume, "Getting into trouble, then." This implies that Blaze has encountered Marine at least once since Sonic Rush Adventure.
 * Although she isn't playable, a costume of her is available for purchase in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
 * Based on the stats of her costume, Marine may be a speed-type character within the Sonic series.
 * Marine's name is featured on the Chao in Space 2 Perfect: Chaos Strikes Back billboard in Sonic Generations.