Tangle the Lemur

Tangle the Lemur is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing. She is an anthropomorphic ring-tailed lemur and a heroic ally of Sonic the Hedgehog. She first became aquatinted with Sonic and his friends during the fallout after the Resistance-Eggman Empire war, when she sprung into action to defend her village from one of the Badnik hordes terrorising villages across the world.

Concept and creation
Tangle came about when the staff at IDW Publishing wanted a kick-butt female Sonic character who could accompany Sonic on his adventures. Since none of the main female Sonic characters were able to fit that occupation, Tangle, who would be able to easily go on Sonic's adventures and look cool while doing it, was conceptualized.

Before even being given a name, IDW wanted Tangle "to be like a lot of other great Sonic characters and have a special ability tied to one of her features." She was ultimately inspired by the prototype Sonic design. One of the concepts for Sonic was a rabbit that could use his ears to pick up and throw objects. After brainstorming for animals who could do cool stuff with their features such as bendy rabbit ears and anteater type noses, the staff decided on a ring-tailed lemur, whose tail could prove a very versatile weapon. Finally, she was given the name "Tangle" as a reference to how she likes to "tangle" with bad guys.

Appearance
Tangle is an anthropomorphic ring-tailed lemur with primarily white fur and purple eyes. She possesses a small black nose and a long bushy tail with gray stripes. She also has gray fur around her muzzle and between eyes, and dark gray fur around the sides of her eyes and on her round ears. She also has extra fur on top of head and chest, and small cheek tufts.

Tangle wears a short-sleeved black bodysuit with orange stripes down the sides, a yellow sleeveless top, and detailed yellow hi-tops with white laces and soles, black details, and orange cuffs. She also wears yellow sportstape around her wrists and fingerless black gloves with orange backings.

Past
Tangle has been a resident of Spiral Hill Village for years. She grew up with Jewel, who became her best friend. Jewel would constantly look out for Tangle, as she had a tendency to run into danger head first. Over the years, Tangle would find several items during her adventures, which Jewel used to curate the Mineral Museum. Tangle is a regular customer of Spiral Hill Village's salon as she usually buys their brushes to keep her tail neat.

After the War between the Eggman Empire and the Resistance ended, Tangle would defend her home town by fending off the raids committed by Dr. Eggman's directionless Badniks.

Fallout
While dealing with a large and much more organized Badnik attack on her town, Tangle met Sonic the Hedgehog when he came to help save her town. While fighting Badniks together with Sonic, Tangle heard from Sonic that the Badnik gangs had become more organized as of late. No sooner, the two got cornered by multiple Badniks. Fortunately, Blaze soon showed up and joined the fray. After the Badniks had been dealt with, Sonic introduced Tangle to Blaze, whom she thanked for her aid. Upon hearing from Blaze that she had come to Sonic's world to prevent some kind of "terrible event" however, Tangle brought up the possibility that the recent organized Badniks could be a sign that something worse was on the way. After Blaze decided to stay until she knew what her purpose here was, she offered to help Tangle quell the fires in her town. Amazed by Blaze, Tangle accepted her help and thanked Sonic for his help before he left town.

Battle For Angel Island
Eventually, Tangle was called to Resistance HQ. There, she and the Resistance's other allies were informed that the Resistance needed their help to liberate Angel Island, which had been conquered by Neo Metal Sonic and turned into a flying fortress. To make matters worse, Neo had also secured the Master Emerald for himself on the island. During the meeting, Tangle became a little lost when the others began talking about Burning Blaze, but understood (with amazement) after Blaze gave a brief explanation (and demonstration). Eventually, Tangle was assigned to help two of the assembled group's factions with breaking the Egg Fleet's control over Angel Island while Sonic and Knuckles confronted Neo.

On the way to Angel Island, Tangle spent the time playing card while messing with Silver. As soon as their ship approached Angel Island however, the Egg Fleet shot it down. Fortunately, Tangle and her allies got off the ship before it crashed. Landing then on Angel Island, Tangle and Whisper were assigned to protect Tails while the fox cub did his thing. Soon after, Tangle was busy busting up Egg Pawns. Tangle later tried turning one of the Egg Fleet's cannons against the other vessels. Thanks to cover provided by Whisper, she succeeded. Later, while the last wing unit on Angel Island's shoreline was being blown off by an Egg Fleet battleship that Tails had hijacked, Tangle grabbed Vector with her tail when the crocodile was about to fall over the edge while yelling playfully at Tails to be careful. She subsequently took herself and Vector onboard the battleship that Tails had secured.

Tangle and Amy soon after found Blaze hovering above Angel Island when the island began to fall and got her onboard the battleship. When Neo Metal Sonic―in his new Master Emerald-induced transformation, Master Overlord―then approached the battleship, the crew was instructed by Knuckles to force the robot overlord towards Angel Island while he focused on retrieving the Master Emerald from him. With an opening provided by Sonic, Tangle and her friends joined the fray and followed Knuckles' instructions. During the battle, Tangle got shaken off Master Overlord, but was rescued by Silver with his psychokinesis. Knuckles subsequently got the Master Emerald away from Master Overlord and brought it back to Angel Island, returning the island to the sky while Master Overlord powered down to normal. With the battle over, Tangle was brought down on Angel Island. Much to her excitement, she was told by Amy that this adventure was nothing new to them.

As everyone got ready to leave the island, Tangle found friendship with Whisper. When Sonic came by to talk to them, Tangle told him that she felt that she was not ready to return to her old life as her new one had become so crazy and exciting. After this, Tangle urged Whisper to tell Sonic the joke about a toaster she had told her. Whisper instead shyly put her mask scope back on, leaving Tangle to wonder if this was due to something she said. Sonic then left them, telling Tangle to give Whisper some space.

Bonds of Friendship
Whisper came to Spiral Hill Village to visit Tangle, which pleased her very much. Tangle gave Whisper a tour of the town, including places like the salon and the bakery, where Tangle bought and ate a croissant. Tangle then brought Whisper to the Mineral Museum to meet Jewel. Tangle burst in the doors, startling Jewel. Tangle introduced Whisper and Jewel to each other, telling Whisper that she and Jewel grew up together. Jewel explained to Whisper that Tangle collected many items during her adventures which Jewel used to curate her museum. Soon, the sky started to go dark outside, which upset Tangle as she did not think it would rain that day. Whisper immediately after pulled out her Variable Wispon as she had heard a scream come from outside.

Tangle & Whisper
One day, Tangle began recklessly swinging out in the streets of Spiral Hill Village. Jewel arrived on the scene and asked for Tangle to stop before she ran into someone but Tangle refused as she knows the streets well enough not to. However, Jewel was right in her guess as Tangle crashed into Ron's chili dog cart. The duo then ordered chili dogs and returned to Jewel's museum. There, Jewel mocked Tangle for running into a stationary object and asked why she has been so restless lately. Tangle told her that the reason for that was because after fighting against robot invasions and meeting Sonic and his friends, she no longer wants to return to her boring life in Spiral Hill Village. Jewel asked her what was stopping her from finding adventures on her own, to which Tangle replied that she did not wish to have Dr. Eggman's Badniks attack the town again. She also stated that she would feel lonely without Jewel by her side. Soon, the duo heard a crash from outside. Jewel immediately cowered behind her desk, worrying that the Babylon Rogues had returned. Tangle told Jewel to hide while she checked the situation out. Tangle opened the door to see Sonic running away from someone firing at him. Tangle jumped out to help her friend, only to see that it was Whisper who was attacking the hedgehog.

Personality
Heroic and just as fearless as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tangle is scrappy and loves to tangle with bad guys. Not intimidated by danger in the slightest, she is more than willing to jump into mortal peril and face deadly odds, all while wearing a smile on her face and having the time of her life. However, she can be somewhat careless in battle, like using her tail in a way that gets it injured and focusing more on cheering than watching out for enemies.

Although excitable, Tangle is also friendly, polite, helpful and open. While having seen and overcome her own fair share of challenges in the form of Badniks, she is not as experienced as an adventurer like Sonic, and has thus seen little of the more outlandish subjects that exist out there, like a pyrokinetic princess from another dimension who guards fiery Emeralds. While such signs tend to leave her speechless, she is nonetheless quick to be amazed by them.

Tangle also has a bit of a mischievous side to her. When she played cards with Silver, she would deliberately try to mess with him while using her tail to peek at his cards.

Powers and abilities
Tangle's main draw is a highly prehensile tail that she can use and manipulate in various ways as if it was a third arm. In practice, her tail can whip, snap, grip, curl, and even make a hand to form a fist with. In addition, her tail can extend and contract at will, thus allowing her to wield it as a rope, a bungee cord, a slingshot, or even a pully for herself. It also has enough strength to dent Badnik armor with a single strike.

Physically, Tangle is very fit and agile, possessing the same level of athleticism as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Jewel
Tangle and Jewel have been best friends since their childhood. Jewel would always be there to look out for Tangle and make sure she did not fall into perilous danger. Tangle has become very grateful for Jewel's friendship as she feels lonely without her.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Tangle has been described as a "kindred spirit" to Sonic the Hedgehog, namely their skill and enjoyment in battling Badniks, as well as the confidence they share in doing so. Even after meeting for the first time, the two were able to synchronize with each other in their battle against multiple Badniks, including battling together with Blaze the Cat, who Tangle had also just met during said battle. Although their personalities seem to differ slightly, their enjoyment in fighting is something that they share together.

Blaze the Cat
Tangle seems to look up to and admire Blaze the Cat, as she finds her abilities and status as a princess amazing. Just like with Sonic, Tangle was able to fight together with Blaze, despite their personalities being a bit different. Tangle showed gratitude to Blaze for helping save her town, and when Blaze offered to help calm the many flames in Tangle's hometown, Tangle was very appreciative.

Friends/allies

 * Amy Rose
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Chaotix
 * Charmy Bee
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Jewel (best friend)
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Whisper the Wolf

Enemies

 * Metal Sonic

Trivia

 * Tangle is the first identified character exclusive to the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series that was revealed to the public, and the first not to appear in the Archie Comics.
 * Tangle was first teased as an obscured silhouette in an artwork on Facebook that featured her and Sonic. This image was first revealed five days prior to the release of the first four issues' solicitations for the Sonic the Hedgehog comics. The image was updated regularly to show more of the silhouette, up until her unveiling on 24 January 2018.