Wisp


 * For the Badnik, see Whisp. For other uses of the term, see Wisp (disambiguation).

Wisps (ウィスプ) are creatures that appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They are a diminutive, yet powerful alien species from Planet Wisp, although they can be found on many other planets across the universe. During one of Dr. Eggman's plots, the Wisps were kidnapped and enslaved by the doctor until Sonic the Hedgehog freed them. While most of the Wisps went home after that, some of them decided to stay on earth after taking a liking to it. Now, in remembrance of Sonic's deeds, the Wisps are ready to offer him and his allies help whenever needed.

There are numerous breeds of Wisps, each with its own special ability and personality traits. When a Wisp enters a person, they bestow upon them a certain Color Power that grant them new and powerful abilities.

Concept and creation
Takashi Iizuka stated in an interview that the Wisps were added to Sonic Colors to "expand and strengthen the platform action gameplay" without forcing the player to switch to other playable characters. Another goal was to encourage players to revisit already-played levels; Sonic Team accomplished this by adding segments requiring certain types of Wisps to levels preceding their first appearances.

Following the success of Sonic Colors, Iizuka has stated that he now considers them a staple in the Sonic series. Since then, the Wisps have appeared in multiple successive Sonic titles.

Anatomy
The Wisps are composed entirely of Hyper-go-on. Overall, they are similar, both in appearance and in motion, to underwater cephalopods such as squids. Physical characteristics all Wisps share include a "head" with tentacles stemming from the bottom.

Regular Wisps have three tentacles each. Their skin color, body shape and number of eyes (ranging from one to three) is determined by their breed. During infancy, regular Wisps have much softer body proportions and shorter tentacles. As they mature, their tentacles get longer and their features become more pronounced. Also, regular Wisps do not get much taller than half a meter.

Mother Wisp is an unique breed of Wisp in terms of anatomy, being almost eight meters tall and resembles more that of a jellyfish with four very long tentacles.

The Nega-Wisps, a sub-breed of Wisps, have their own special anatomy: while they have the head, size and tentacles of their counterparts, they have no eyes and possess wide mouths with sharp teeth.

Characteristics and culture
The Wisps are a halcyon and social species, and are as much sentient beings as the dominant races on Earth, such as humans.

Wisps come in several known natural breeds that determine their appearance and powers. While each breed of Wisp tend to lean towards a certain set of characteristics, the Wisps are overall peaceful, playful, non-hostile and friendly of nature, and enjoy spending most of their time playing with others. If a Wisp has its Hyper-go-on taken however, it will turn into a primal and violent form known as a "Nega-Wisp."

The Wisps appear to possess no technology to speak of and have an extremely minimal level of urbanized civilization, such as simple tree slides. Instead, they live a simple and naturalistic lifestyle that is in harmony with the nature of their homeworld.

The Wisps have their own unique verbal language, which comes off as an incomprehensible, warbling sound to those on earth.

Powers and abilities
The Wisps are an extremely powerful race, especially when they work together. All Wisps are able to levitate at will, which serve as their main method for movements.

All Wisps have the natural ability to generate and store Hyper-go-on, an extremely powerful energy source, inside their own bodies, which is their life source. Each breed of Wisp generates its own distinct version of this energy, resulting in Hyper-go-ons with different effects. When combining their collective Hyper-go-on, the Wisps are capable of unbelievable feats. These include carrying objects through levitation, move at nearly unreachable speeds, undo the mutation on Nega-Wisps, restrain and extinguish black holes made from negative Hyper-go-on, and even teleport planets.

Color Powers
Each breed of Wisps possesses a distinct power known collectively as Color Powers. Using their Hyper-go-ons, the Wisps can phase into the bodies of other beings and lend them a small fraction of their power to temporarily grant them special abilities, such as laser mimicry, enhanced burrowing, elemental powers, forms for flight, etc. The Color Power depends on the Wisp's breed. However, the user can only carry one Wisp at a time to utilize a Color Power's full potential.

Origin
The Wisps live on a lush planet known as Planet Wisp, which was created by the progenitor of all Wisps: Mother Wisp. This being gave life to all known Wisps and raised them as her children. In time, the Wisp would populate other areas of space, such as Sweet Mountain, Starlight Carnival, Aquarium Park and Asteroid Coaster.

Sonic Colors
Prior to the events of Sonic Colors, the Wisps were kidnapped by Dr. Eggman (whom the Wisps named "Baldy Nosehair") when the doctor used his tractor beam generators to pull their planets across the universe into the earth's orbit. There, Eggman made the planets a part of his interstellar amusement park, which the doctor had built under the pretense of making up for past transgressions, by chaining them to the Egg Mecha via his generators. The Wisps, now scattered across the amusement park, were then steadily scooped up by Eggman's forces and taken to a factory in Asteroid Coaster to be drained of their Hyper-go-on, which Eggman planned to use as fuel for a mind control cannon to take over the universe with. The Hyper-go-on conversion process also produced thousands of Nega-Wisps, whom Eggman forced to carry out his orders and further power his mind control cannon.

Other sources reveal that Mother Wisp got captured by Eggman too and turned into the Nega-Mother Wisp after he took her Hyper-go-on. However, the Nega-Mother Wisp could not be controlled and eventually escaped captivity.

Eventually, a White Wisp named Yacker and a Cyan Wisp were saved by Sonic the Hedgehog, who had come to the amusement part with Tails to stop Eggman, when Orbot and Cubot attempted to capture them, prompting the Cyan Wisp to give Sonic his first Color Power. As Sonic got to work foiling Eggman's operations, Yacket met Tails, who began turning his handheld into a Wisp translator so he could understand Yacker. Once Tails was ready, Yacker convinced him and Sonic to save the Wisps after informing them of what was happening to his people. The trio thus began investigating the park's planets in search of captive Wisps, who in turn provided Sonic with Color Powers, while Yacker let Sonic and Tails in on Eggman's activities. Eventually, Yacker helped Sonic and Tails figure out that by destroying all the tractor beam generators, they could free the kidnapped planets, thus foiling Eggman's plan and allowing the Wisps to escape the doctor.

Having already destroyed two generators, Sonic would destroy the remaining three and liberate the captive Wisps. Along the way, he and Tails also put a stop to Eggman's Nega-Wisp factory. The Wisps would then join Sonic and Tails in the Tropical Resort to celebrate their victory. However, they cut the celebration short when Eggman accidently created a black hole that began consuming the Egg Mecha. In their subsequent showdown, Eggman tried using the Wisps against Sonic with his Nega-Wisp Armor. Instead, Sonic used the Wisps to defeat Eggman. Afterward, the Wisp race used their powers to save Sonic when the black hole swallowed him, restore the Nega-Wisps to normal, and neutralize the black hole before it could destroy the earth. Visiting earth one last time with his people, Yacker said goodbye to Sonic and Tails before rejoining his people as they returned their planets to their original places in the universe.

After Eggman's amusement park was destroyed, the Nega-Mother Wisp appeared and went on a rampage. However, she was stopped and returned to normal by Super Sonic upon Yacker's request, allowing her to rejoin her children back home.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, a White Wisp on earth was mistaken for a ghost by Animals, prompting Team Sonic to investigate it. While Team Sonic prepared a device for understanding the Wisp though, Dr. Eggman tried to capture him for its Hyper-go-on. Thankfully, the Wisp was saved by Team Sonic, and he apologized for scaring the Animals before revealing that other Wisps like himself had chosen to live on earth after Sonic saved them and were ready to help him and his friends anytime.

In the time that followed, others Wisps got involved in both minor adventures and innocent escapades. Eggman would also occasionally target the Wisps to use them for world domination. Regardless of their issues, Team Sonic would show up every time to help them.

Sonic Generations
In Sonic Generations, Wisps appear in both Acts of Planet Wisp/Tropical Resort as power-ups for the player. On the console/PC version, the only playable Wisps are the Orange Wisps (Modern Sonic only) and Pink Wisps (Classic Sonic only). In the 3DS version, the only Wisps that are playable are the Cyan Wisps (Modern Sonic only) and the Red Wisps (Classic Sonic only). Both Wisps are used in almost the exact same way as they were in Sonic Colors. White Wisps also make a cameo in the opening of Planet Wisp.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Wisps returned as power-ups for the player. Between the consoles, the Cyan Wisp and the Yellow Wisp appeared in both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS version. Also, the Red Wisp returned for the 3DS and the Orange Wisp returned for the Wii U. The game also introduced new Wisp breeds, namely the Indigo Wisp, the Crimson Wisp, the Magenta Wisp, the Ivory Wisp, the Black Wisp, and the Gray Wisp.

Sonic Forces
In Sonic Forces, the Wisps they serve as Wisp Capsule power-ups for the player to use. The game also introduced Wispons, different weapon for the Avatar that harness the Wisps' Color Powers in new ways by enabling their abilities without triggering a transformation. The game also marked the return of the Violet Wisps, although no explanation was given for the Nega-Wisps' reappearance.

In gameplay, only Sonic, Shadow and the Avatar can utilize Wisps. The Sonic Stages only feature White Wisps, which are used to charge the player's Boost Gauge. The Avatar Stages on the other hand can include any of the other Wisps. Finally, there are the Tag Stages, which features Wisps from both the Sonic Stages and Avatar Stages.

Team Sonic Racing
In Team Sonic Racing, the Wisps are set to return as power-ups for the playable characters. This game features a total of fourteen different Wisp breeds, including a new one that resembles a green ghost-like Nega-Wisp.

In gameplay, the player can obtain Wisps by picking up Item Boxes from the race courses. When using the Wisps in this game however, rather than the playable character transforming, the user manifests the Wisps' Color Powers separate from themselves and uses them either defensively and offensively against rivals. For example, using the Orange or Crimson Wisp will manifest the Orange Rocket or Crimson Eagle respectively and fire them as projectiles against rival racers. Similarly, the White Wisps can be used to give the user's racecar a boost of speed, while the Blue and Black Wisps lets the user drop Blue Cubes or Black Bombs on the racetracks.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Wisps first appeared in the In Another Time, In Another Place reality, mimicing their roles in Sonic Colors. After the events of Worlds Collide though, the Wisps became an official part of the comics' main storyline.

IDW Publishing
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by IDW Publishing, the Wisps appeared early on in the comics' story. In this media, their history are almost the same as in the games. They primarily serve as the fuel source for the various villages' Wispons.

Reception
Critics have given mixed opinions toward Wisps and their integration into the Sonic series. IGN's Arthur Gies called them "the big addition" to Sonic Colors, outshining its polished physics and controls. Dave McComb of Empire called them "cutesy" and "strange", while John Meyer of Wired found them "cuddly" and Dale North of Destructoid called them "a cute little alien race". Randy Nelson from Joystiq called them "plush" and speculated that they could easily lend their image to profitable merchandise. Positive attention has been directed at the variety of Wisps available in Sonic Colors and Sonic Lost World and at the variety of gameplay styles they brought to the titles: for example, Gies stated that "almost all of them add interesting quirks to Sonic's basic abilities." Reviewing the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, Tim Turi from Informer stated that "each adds an interesting new gameplay mechanic" to the game. Gies and Turi also praised the ability to revisit old levels with Wisps unlocked afterwards. Nintendo Power ' s Steve Thomason identified them as "a truly interesting addition to the Sonic formula" amidst a series of missteps, and praised their "cleverly designed" variety. Computer and Video Games writer Chris Scullion described Wisps in Sonic Lost World as "familiar power-ups that emulate mechanics in Mario's Wii adventures" as part of a larger, ambivalent point about the game being derivative of Super Mario Galaxy.

However, control and pacing aspects of the Wisps in general, as well as of individual types, have been criticized: for example, Gies opined that "for almost every useful ability there is a complete dud" and bemoaned the Wii controls. Justin Speer from GameTrailers thought similarly and added that the Wisps "don't really feel like they belong". Hardcore Gamer Magazine ' s review of Sonic Lost World stated that none of the Wisps make satisfying use of the Wii U's gamepad. Chris Shilling of Eurogamer found them to "lead to clumsy touchscreen or gyro interludes that kill a level's pacing."

Trivia

 * The Wisps' name comes from Tails' translation of a word in their language; other characters in the game simply refer to them as "aliens".
 * In the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the Wisps are only referred to by name in the Hint Rings and once by Tails in a cutscene.
 * The Red and the Violet Wisps are not shown in Sonic Colors ' announcement trailer. This is most likely due to the fact that those two Wisps are only exclusive to the Nintendo DS version.
 * On the cover of the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the Blue, Green, Purple, and Pink Wisps are shown. On the Nintendo DS cover they are replaced with the version exclusive Red Wisp and Violet Wisp.
 * According to Cubot, the Wisps "smell good".
 * In one of the scrapped lines for Sonic Colors, Dr. Eggman says that the Wisps' Hyper-go-on power is even more powerful than the chaos energy. As chaos energy and Hyper-go-on have never been compared, this has never been officially confirmed.
 * In Sonic Colors, certain Wisps allow Sonic to use abilities similar to past abilities that he was able to do in past games on his own. For example, the Green Wisp allows Sonic to do the Light Speed Dash, and the Pink Wisp allows Sonic to perform the Spin Dash.
 * The only time they appear to speak native Earth languages is in the cutscene "A New Sonic Legend Begins" when Yacker is telling other Wisps about Sonic (Nintendo DS version only). However, this might be Wisp language translated for the player, as Tails is not there.