Grounder (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog)

Grounder is a badnik created by Doctor Robotnik as an adversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. Along with his partner Scratch, he is a member of Robotnik's Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad. They are Robotnik's main henchmen, and two of the main antagonists of the series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Grounder was based on a badnik, also named Grounder, from the game Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which was itself based on the badnik Burrobot from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Grounder has also appeared in the Archie Comics continuity.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
In the game Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Grounder is a red badnik that appears in the Aquatic Ruin Zone. It is similar in design to Burrobot from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Grounder made a return in Aquatic Relix zone of Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Scratch and Grounder are largely comic relief characters, and though charged with the capture of Sonic and his friend Tails, they almost always fail. Not only this, but the two are also highly gullible, easily being deceived by Sonic no matter how bizarre his disguises. These repeated failures frequently result in the two hapless robots receiving a lot of abuse (both verbal and physical) from Dr. Robotnik.

Grounder is a sort of "clone" of Scratch with different abilities and body structure. While being created by Robotnik in the cartoon, Scratch has one of his tail feathers plucked and put into a cloning machine, but Scratch pulled an extra lever that caused, as Robotnik put it, some "slight modifications".

The two were occasionally aided by a robotic monkey named Coconuts (also based on an enemy from Sonic the Hedgehog 2), although most of the time, he would be competing with them rather than helping them, in hopes of being promoted out of janitor status.

Physical appearance
Grounder is a small, short, stocky teal machine with tank tracks for feet, an antennae on the back of the top of his head, compass bellybutton as well as drills instead of his hands and nose. Grounder's design was purposefully derived from the Grounder enemy Badnik from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ' s Aquatic Ruin Zone, though those Grounders (named ハンドリル "Handrill" in Japan) were massproduced, their color schemes were different and they attacked by bursting out of walls. He has a IQ of 25, and is notably less intelligent than Scratch, but once acquired a chip that made him super-intelligent - it was subsequently lost. Grounder also seems to be the most fragile of Robotnik's robots, getting blown to bits slightly more often than the others.

Abilities
Scratch does not have much in the way of abilities. Like a real rooster/chicken, Scratch is capable of pecking foes, with the pecking more reminiscent of a woodpecker. He also seems to have a telescopic neck which can extend and retract - his head often retracts into his torso to protect himself. He is also said to be the smartest of the badniks, which doesn't say much for the badniks in general.

While Scratch seems to be the brains, Grounder is the artillery - his robot body is filled with accessories, which switch usually in his drill hands with any number of weapons or tools such as ropes, helicopter blades, gas guns, parachutes and boxing gloves, stores assorted equipment (commonly, a telephone) in his torso and even has the components of a Swiss Army knife installed in his tongue. His drill hands can also act as a telephone by using one drill hand as a receiver and the other as a speaker.

Either way, both robots are amazingly stupid and fail at almost everything they do. However they are also quite persistent and fairly durable - whenever they get damaged or blown to bits (which is very often) they can be repaired very easily and always come back for more. Robotnik himself wondered in one episode why he always has to repair them.

In the episode "Trail of the Missing Tails", Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts are temporarily transformed into giant monster versions of themselves. Scratch looks more like an ordinary chicken in this state, almost resembling Cluck, the mechanical chicken pet of Robotnik in the "SatAM" animated series. Grounder acquires a blocky, humanoid body with hands and legs instead of drills and tracks. Coconuts, meanwhile, becomes a hulking, tusked, mechanical ape. In this state, they are much bigger and stronger than normal, but it is unknown if they have any further new abilities.

Games
Grounders first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as a regular enemy in the Aquatic Ruin Zone. This version looked a little different from its AoSTH counterpart. Instead of being a green color he was red and did not have a mouth.

Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts all appeared as opponents in the game Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, which was based around the AoSTH show.

Archie Comics
Scratch and Grounder also appeared in the earliest issues of the Sonic comic book published by Archie Comics. However, the characters themselves were prominently featured only in their first appearance there, published in issue #2. Subsequent appearances of the two were minor; their last appearance in the comic was part of a flashback in issue #57. However, Scratch appears in issue 4 (Tails' Little Tale) without Grounder and Grounder appears (without Scratch) in the story "Sonic Spin City!", published in Sonic Super Special #15. Often times Grounder would be Purple instead of green. Recently in issue #187 Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts have all returned, now as employees of Mammoth Mogul who has taken over Casino night zone and employed the old badniks as workers. In issue 15 of Sonic Universe, Grounder makes a cameo, simply appearing in the foreground of one panel.

SatAM
For the SatAM Pilot, Scratch and Grounder seemed to have been replaced with Cluck and Snively, having a similar rivalry with each other. This rivalry did not continue throughout the entire show, since Cluck was phased out of the second season.

Trivia

 * Scratch and Grounder started a trend of Dr. Robotnik having two incompetent side kicks. Example: Sonic Underground had Sleet and Dingo. Sonic X had Decoe and Bocoe.
 * In Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Grounder shares the same dropset as Witch from Puyo Puyo, the game on which Mean Bean Machine was based.
 * As a running gag in multiple episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Grounder often says he wants his mama. Scratch then reminds him that he doesn't have a mama then Grounder states that he wants one.
 * Grounder can be compared to R2-D2 from Star Wars, in that he has a limitless number of bult in gadgets, slides around and has a tall annoying counter part.

Quotes
"I'm Grounder...but you can call me SAM - 'cos I'm like a Surface to Air Missile...and I'm gonna have you for launch." - Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

"You heard them Sonic, No Pain,(Crashes) No Gain....." Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Ep. 14 "The Robotnik Express"

"Its the hedge...(fixes his nose) its the hedgehog all right." Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Ep. 14 "The Robotnik Express"