Animals

Animal friends, or just Animals, are creatures that appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They are small animals that come in a variety of different species and the friends of Sonic the Hedgehog. They are often the target of Dr. Eggman who uses them to power Badniks. In later Sonic games (Sonic Adventure onwards), the animal friends appeared to be scrapped in favor of a wider variety of small animals. However, in most recent Sonic games, the concept of using animals to power robots is less frequent. Animal friends are inhabits of many places around the Sonic's world such as South Island, Westside Island, Angel Island and Lost Hex.

Although only a small number of animal friends are named (that is, one character per depicted species), numerous animals appeared as captives, either in Badnik shells or capsules. Certain drafts of the Sega of America Sonic Bible explained that Sonic's animal friends all have large families, and that it is the family members who must be rescued. This was never depicted in any Sonic publication, however, one of the animal friends, Ricky is said to be an incarnation of Sally Acorn.

List of animal friends
Animals from Sonic Adventure onwards are different looking and much more reliable. The player can collect them after destroying one of E-series robots created by Dr. Eggman. After collecting them, they can be bring to Chao Garden, as they enhance specific skills for Chao's. In Sonic Adventure 2, they can be collected again by destroying one of E-series robots, but also from pipes and cages, while G.U.N. robots only contain Chaos Drives. In Sonic Advance games and Sonic Rush, these animals do replicate simple role of animal friends from earlier games and cannot be collected.

Sonic the Comic
Many of the early animal friends have made appearances in the British publication, Sonic the Comic. The most notable ones are Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot, who are valued members of the Freedom Fighters.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, three animal friends appear in the episode "Momma Robotnik's Birthday": Pocky, Ricky, and a Mouse.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series) / Archie Comics
The Knothole Freedom Fighters are based on the original animal friends from the first Sonic game. The most obvious is Princess Sally Acorn, who shares her name with the corresponding animal friend. Rotor the Walrus is based on Joe Sushi, while Bunnie Rabbot is based on Johnny Lightfoot.

Flickies have made a few appearances in the Archie comics, most notably in the Sonic Blast 48 page special. Powerful, yellow Flickies were also seen helping Hyper Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog #66 (similar to the Flickies that help Super Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles), and another Flicky appears as a travel companion for Amy in the Sonic Adventure storyline. Other animal friends (referred to as "mobini") have appeared in the Sonic Lost World tie in, as well as the Genesis story arc.

Sonic X
Three Flickies, Porker Lewis, and Joe Sushi are shown on the news in "Defective Detectives" after they are teleported to Earth through Chaos Control. In "Mean Machines", Chirps, Tux and Ricky all appear in a local park. In "Running Out of Time", when Sonic's friends return to their dimension, Pocky, Tux, Ricky and two Flickies are seen being transported back.

In the Sonic X comics, many of the original animal friends make cameos on the cover and in the story of issue 11.

Trivia

 * Super Smash Bros. for Wii U features the trophy of animal friends that contains erroneous information. The trophy uses uncommon name Fauna of Windy Hill Zone (Animals of Windy Hill Zone in PAL regions), that is never used in any games and the description does not mention animals being inhabited other places around the Sonic's world. The first appearance of the trophy is also incorrectly said to be Sonic Lost World, while animals have first appeared way before the previously mentioned game.
 * If the player hits a Caterkiller on any part of its body other than its head, an animal friend will not be freed.
 * In the good ending for Sonic and Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, dolphins are seen jumping from the sea. Sonic is also seen riding with similar, cartoon-looking dolphin in artwork of a rectangle cake box that was part of early Japanese SegaSonic merchandise. More realistic looking dolphins can also be found in later games such as in Emerald Coast in Sonic Adventure and its reincarnation in Sonic Generations for Nintendo 3DS.
 * Similarly, cartoon-looking seagulls are seen flying in good ending of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, that are later seen again, albeit more realistic, in Emerald Coast in Sonic Adventure and its reincarnation in Sonic Generations for Nintendo 3DS.
 * In many artwork pictures of Sonic the Screen Saver, many cartoon-looking animals are seen alongside animal friends, such as snails, snakes, crabs and birds.