Pecky

The Pecky (ペッキー) is a creature in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. They are a race of penguin Animals living in many locations throughout Sonic's world, and are close friends of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies. For years, the Peckies have been hunted by Dr. Eggman who seeks to use them as energy sources for his Badnik army or imprison them in Capsules for later use.

Anatomy
The general Pecky bears several similar traits to the macaroni penguin and the typical Flicky. About half a meter tall, they have a round-shaped head with two large grey eyes (originally black), a soft orange beak, small cheeks, a smaller round torso, medium-sized wings compared to their body, and two orange three-toed webbed feet. Their plumage is mainly black with a white belly, and they have a wide turf of yellow hair on their head which has over time taken the shape of a five-pointed leaf.

Characteristics
Like actual animals, the Peckies can only speak in a language consisting of small quack-sounding noises. Although recognized as animal life, Peckies are remarkably intelligent and sociable, being capable of understanding normal language and establishing their own Animal communities. All Peckies 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.

Habitats
Peckies can be found inhabiting various natural environments 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. While they can reside on dry land, they have a penchant for residing in Zones with water.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
The Peckies first appearance was in the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog. In this game, the Peckies on South Island were some of the Animals Sonic went to save after they were captured by Dr. Robotnik and turned into energy sources for his Badnik army - all as a part of a plot to collect the Chaos Emeralds. The Peckies can be found in Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone Act 3, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the third Acts. They also appear in the ending cinematic where they celebrate Sonic's triumph over Robotnik.

The Peckies also makes an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. In the game, the Peckies only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of Labyrinth Zone Act 3.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
In the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Peckies repeat their role from the first title. In this game, the Peckies of West Side Island, along with the other Animal residents, were kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and turned into energy sources for the doctor's Badniks so Robotnik could get a workforce to finish the Death Egg. They can be found in Aquatic Ruin Zone and Oil Ocean Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the second Acts.

In the 8-bit version of the game with same name, the Peckies only appear in Aqua Lake Zone Act 3, where they, like in their previous 8-bit appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog, only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of the Act.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Peckies are shown to inhabit Little Planet. In this game, Peckies will appear and happily prance around in Wacky Workbench alongside other Animals after certain conditions are met. The players can either ensure a good future for this Round by collecting its Time Stone or destroying Eggman's Machine hosted there to make the Peckies appear in the good future, or they can destroy a Zone's Metal Sonic Projector to make the Peckies appear in every timeframe of said Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Peckies once again reprise their role in the first games. In this game, the Peckies and their fellow Animals of Angel Island were captured by Dr. Robotnik so the doctor could implant them in Badniks and create a workforce to restore the Death Egg. The Peckies can be found in IceCap Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of the second Act.

Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
In Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, Pecky is seen along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and the other Animals. Pecky and Flicky dolls can be collected in the Toy Drop mini-game and in the Concentration mini-game, a pair of Pecky-marked card appear. The Slot Machine and Bakudan Nuki mini-games also feature Pecky icons, though these mini-games are only featured in the Japanese release of the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver
In Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver, the Peckies make a number of 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 Pecky and the other Animals.

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
In Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, a Pecky appears alongside several Animals in the game's perfect ending after clearing Chaotic Space Zone, where they celebrate Sonic's victory.

Mario & Sonic series
In all of the games in the Mario &amp; Sonic series, several Peckies appear amongst the audience of every event along with other characters from both the Sonic and Mario franchises, cheering on the competitors.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4
In Sonic the Hedgehog 4, the Peckies reappeared in all three episodes of the series, reprising their roles from the first games. In Episode I, the Peckies and other Animals were this time captured by Dr. Eggman to power an improved Badnik army meant to defeat Sonic.

The Peckies can be found in Lost Labyrinth Zone in Episode I and in Sylvania Castle Zone and White Park Zone in Episode II, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules after the boss Acts. When Peckies get out of a Capsule in Episode II, they are either slowly walking or quickly sliding away. The Peckies also appear at the end of Episode Metal, where they and the other Animals see Sonic and Tails leave in the Tornado, before being scared off by Metal Sonic when the robot expressed his fury over missing Sonic.

Sonic Generations
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, Peckies appeared alongside other Animals in the Challenge Acts Rescue the Animals! and Rescue the Animals 2!. In these Acts, the player has to find a certain number of Capsules containing the Peckies and other Animals, and free them. Additionally, a statue of the Pecky along other Animals can be unlocked in the Statue Room.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Peckies, along with 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 the Peckies and other Animals to create a new Badnik army. The small group of Animals who managed to evade capture, including a Pecky, 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 Peckies 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 Peckies by defeating Badniks, opening smaller Capsules in the Zones, and opening the larger Capsules at the end of most Zones. Peckies and other Animals can also be collected from Circus tents. The Peckies can be found in Windy Hill, Desert Ruins, Frozen Factory, Silent Forest and Lava Mountain.

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

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

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Peckies play supporting roles to the main cast in the storyline. In this game, most individual Peckies are referred to as "Pecky". Over the course of the game, Team Sonic comes across the Peckies 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 providing information or handling smaller tasks.

In gameplay, Peckies 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 Pecky.

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Pecky along with other animal friends, appears in Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. He appears in few panels in first two stories. In Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 3 ' s story Sonic Rampage!! he, Flicky and Rocky gets kidnapped by doctor Eggman who uses them as baits to get rid of Sonic. During the moment of truth, Eggman threatened to torture them to death if Sonic would not give up. Despite that, Sonic manages to free Tux and others from device of Egg Mobile with the speed of sound and after that he finished Eggman.

Sonic the Comic
In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, Chirps is an anthropomorphic chicken and one of the Emerald Hill Folks, although he was never explicitly named. During the series' early run, he would often be among the unfortunate victims of Dr. Robotnik's schemes for the subjugation of Mobius.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Peckies are a Mobini species native to Mobius during Operation: Clean Sweep, and later Sonic's World.

Sonic X
In the Sonic X franchise, the Peckies 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.

Early Sonic canon
Early on in the series, Sega of America renamed Pecky Penguin for the western media and market in the first draft of the Sonic Bible. Pecky's name would later be changed to Tux in the second draft of the bible. It is stated in each draft of the Sonic Bible that Tux comes from a large family like the other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Peckies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic. It is stated in the second bible that Tux specifically taught Sonic the skills needed to find Air Bubbles underwater, though it is later said in the guidebook Stay Sonic that Tux taught Sonic how to control his breathing underwater for long periods. The Stay Sonic guide also gives a background for Tux, stating he got separated from his friends when an iceberg broken away from his homeland and carried him to the Green Hill Zone. This is however, only stated once in the guidebook.

Trivia

 * The Peckies were presumably created by Naoto Ōshima, the character designer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * DiC Entertainment had plans for a early Sonic cartoon before Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, which was scrapped before it reached production. The single promo picture shows Sonic leading the "Freedom Team" which consists of many anthropomorphic animals, one of which is an angry little penguin named Tux.