Rocky

The Rocky (ロッキー) is a creature in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. They are a race of walrus Animals that live in various regions across Sonic's world, and are close friends of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies. They are constantly targeted by Dr. Eggman who seeks to use them as energy sources for his Badnik army and often imprisons them in Capsules for later use.

Anatomy
The general Rocky is a diminutive form of walrus, being less than half a meter tall, although it resembles more a pinniped. They have grey-whitish skin/fur with a rotund head, two large grey eyes (originally black), small triangular flippers, and a fin-like hind flipper. They possess no tusks, but instead have a fussy white muzzle reminiscing a mustache and a small black nose.

Characteristics
Like actual animals, the Rockies can only speak in a language consisting of roans. Although recognized as animal life, Rockies are remarkably intelligent and sociable, being capable of understanding normal language and establishing their own Animal communities. All Rockies 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
Rockies inhabit various natural environments across Earth, such as South Island, West Side Island, Angel Island and the unusual satellite of 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 inhabiting Zones with water.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
The Rockies made their debut appearance in the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog. In the game, the Rockies and the other Animals on South Island were the ones 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 Rockies can be found in Marble Zone, 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 victory in the Green Hill Zone.

The Rockies also make an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, the Rockies 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 Rockies repeated their role from the first installment. In this game, the Rockies of West Side Island and their fellow Animals were kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and used to power a Badnik workforce that Robotnik could use to finish the Death Egg. The Rockies can be found in Oil Ocean Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the second Act. In the 2013 re-release of the same game, they can also be found in Hidden Palace Zone.

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

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Rockies once again reprise their roles from the original. In this game, Angel Island's Rockies and other Animals were captured and turned into Badniks by Dr. Robotnik to create a workforce that could help the doctor relaunch the Death Egg. The Rockies can be found in Hydrocity Zone and IceCap Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of the second Acts.

Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
in Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, Rocky appeared along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and other Animals. A Rocky in particular is seen on a pairs of cards in the Concentration Game mini-game. Rockies are also featured on cards in the Poker Game and Bakudan Nuki mini-games which are exclusive to the Japanese version of the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver
In Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver, the Rockies 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 Rocky and the other Animals.

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

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Rockies and 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 Animals, including the Rockies, to create a new Badnik army. The small group of Animals, including a Rocky that managed to escape capture, 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 Rockies 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 Rockies by defeating Badniks, opening smaller Capsules in the Zones, and opening the larger Capsules at the end of most Zones. Rockies and other Animals can also be collected from Circus tents. The Rockies can be found in Desert Ruins, Tropical Coast, Frozen Factory and Silent Forest and Lava Mountain.

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

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

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

In gameplay, Rockies 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 Rocky.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
In the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, Rocky's design served as the inspiration for an anthropomorphic male walrus named Rotor Walrus. In this media, Rotor lived in Mobotropolis during his childhood, his keen intellect serving his gang of misfit friends quite well. When Dr. Robotnik seized power over the kingdom, Robot was forced into hiding in the haven of Knothole Village. There, he became a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, serving as his team's inventor and mechanic for their operations against Robotnik's empire.

Sonic X
In the Sonic X franchise, the Rockies 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.

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Rocky, 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' story Sonic Rampage!! he, Flicky and Pecky 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 Rocky 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, Joe Sushi is an anthropomorphic walrus 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 character Rotor Walrus from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series which Rocky inspired was adapted as a part of the main cast. In this media, Rotor was born to Sherman and Georgette Walrus. Rotor grew up listing to his father's stories of the Great War and was inspired by tales of the impressive machinery of the war. However, his family would be torn apart by Dr. Ivo Robotnik's takeover. In the ensuring chaos, Rotor was among many other children separated from their parents. He soon fell in with a group aiming to stop Dr. Robotnik-the Freedom Fighters.

Rotor lent his inventor's prowess to the team, eventually earning the nickname "Boomer" for his interest in weapons and failed inventions. He was a tenacious Freedom Fighter and one of Sonic's best friends, eager to join the firefights. His analytical thinking gained him a seat on both the Knothole Council during the First Robotnik War and in the Restoration Committee in its aftermath. He also played a role in protecting his herd from Robotnik many times. During Sonic's year in space, however, Robot's disposition shifted. When his weaponry ended up harming his friends, an ashamed Rotor fell upon the kingdom's convention of shunning firearms. He also took a less active role in field operations. During the destruction of Knothole, Rotor rescued Tails from a collapsing celling, but injured his back in the process. He regained most of his mobility but opted to "retire" to a position in the Council of Acorn. When the Ixis Naugus-led council voted to exile Nicole, Rotor resigned out of protest and became leader of Team Freedom until the second Genesis Wave.

In the reality created by the Super Genesis Wave, Rotor left his abusive father Tundra the Walrus for a life in Mobotropolis, but got caught up in Dr. Eggman's takeover. Fleeing to Knothole Village, Rotor became the battle-mechanic of the Freedom Fighters to help stop the Eggman Empire.

Aside from Rotor, regular Rockies would over time also appear in the comics, first during Operation: Clean Sweep and later as fauna native to Sonic's World after the Super Genesis Wave.

Early Sonic canon
Early on in the series, along with the other Animals, Rocky was renamed Seal by Sega of America for the western market and media in the first draft of the Sonic Bible. This name would later be changed to Joe Sushi in the second draft of the bible. According to both bibles, Rocky comes from a large family like other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Rockies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic. Joe Sushi in particular taught Sonic how to dive and swim underwater. The Stay Sonic guidebook would stick to the background established for Joe Sushi in the Sonic Bible, while also referring to him as "the unfortunately named walrus". This is however, only stated once in the guidebook.

Trivia

 * The Rockies were presumably created by Naoto Ōshima, the character designer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * Before Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, DiC had plans for a much different Sonic cartoon which was never made, but promotional art has been discovered. Among the cast of this show was a very large, buff, angry walrus named Joe Sushi who was part of Sonic's "Freedom Team".