Mighty the Armadillo


 * For other uses of the term, see Mighty the Armadillo (disambiguation).

Mighty the Armadillo (マイティー・ザ・アルマジロ) is a character who appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a peaceful anthropomorphic armadillo with a passion for traveling. Although he dislikes violence and roughness, Mighty is more than capable when trouble arises.

Concept and creation
Mighty the Armadillo was designed by Manabu Kusunoki, for the three-player arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Kusunoki reasoned that in order to control like Sonic, the new characters would need to be animals that could have the same proportions as Sonic. Additionally, since Sonic is a hedgehog, a relatively obscure animal, Kusunoki wanted his companions to be equally unusual. With this in mind, Kusunoki decided upon an armadillo and a flying squirrel.

Appearance
An anthropomorphic armadillo, Mighty's body is black with red thick armor, which rounds from his forehead above to his lower back. His tail is black, like his body. Mighty's ears are side facing and funnel-shaped, and he has a medium-long and sharp black nose. Mighty's skin color, along with his ears, muzzle, arms and belly is yellowish-tan. He also has interconnected, cartoonish, circular eyes with black pupils, and wears white gloves with sock-like cuffs.

Initially, Mighty wore shoes that were almost identical to Sonic's Power Sneakers at the time, being red sneakers with white straps and white cuffs. However, Mighty's shoes were a slightly darker shade of red. Later, Mighty began wearing slightly different shoes - thick white soles were added and the white straps rounded off at each end and do not reach the soles.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog
In SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Mighty was captured by Dr. Robotnik and imprisoned on Eggman Island where he was to be executed along with Ray the Flying Squirrel and Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The trio joined forces though and managed to break out of their cell, only to get blown to the other side of the island by a geyser triggered by Robotnik. Regardless, Mighty and his friends mangaged to get through the island's defenses and confront Robotnik in his control room. However, Robotnik proceeded to activate the island's self-destruct sequence. Despite that, Mighty, Sonic and Ray managed to get off Eggman Island in time, which got destroyed in the process.

Knuckles' Chaotix
In Knuckles' Chaotix, Mighty happened to stumble upon Newtrogic High Zone's island during his explorations. As it turned out however, Dr. Eggman had occupied the island at the time while he carried out a plan to steal the Master Emerald. Mighty himself ended up getting captured by Robotnik and turned into a statue by Robotnik's Combi Catcher. He was soon freed by Knuckles the Echidna and Espio the Chameleon however, and joined their growing group in order to stop Robotnik's operations.

While securing the prestigious Chaos Rings, Mighty and his crew stopped Robotnik's usage of his evil Dark Rings on several occasions. When the time came for final showdown, the team was attacked by Metal Sonic. During the resulting battle, Mighty and the Chaotix fell into another room where they were attacked by a large, Metal Sonic-like robot, Robotnik's final trump card. Regardless, Mighty and his crew still defeated it, thus restoring peace to the island.

Sonic Generations
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, Mighty and Ray make a cameo. In this game, both Mighty and Ray can be seen on missing posters dotted throughout the City Escape. The poster mentions that they have been missing since 1993, referencing their debut in SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Curiously, the poster misspells Mighty's species' name as "Armaddilo."

Sonic Mania Plus
Mighty is set to appear as a playable character in Sonic Mania Plus, the upgraded edition of Sonic Mania.

Personality
Mighty is described as a gentle pacifist who detests violence and roughness. However, he is willing to use his strength and fighting abilities when there is trouble afoot and when there is no other option. He loves to travel, and his aim in life is to journey to all the places in the world. Some of the things Mighty enjoys includes forest bathing, peace and nature.

Powers and abilities
In spite of being a pacifist, Mighty is said to have great fighting abilities. Like most characters in the series, Mighty is capable of running at high speed. As seen during the Eggman Island incident and Chaos Ring incident, he has some agility as well; noticeably, he is able to jump between walls. Western sources also state that Mighty possesses great strength, having been described as "strong".

Mighty can also perform the Spin Attack, Spin Jump, and the Spin Dash, which are techniques where he curls into a concussive ball or cutting disk and directs himself at his targets. With these techniques, Mighty can shred or burrow through just about any substance given enough speed.

Friends

 * Chaotix
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, Mighty was the strongman of the Chaotix Crew. He possessed super strength, making him a valuable asset, but he frequently acted without thinking. He had a rivalry with Espio, and the two sometimes bickered about who was the better fighter.

He is the son of a senile super-strong superhero known as Blockhead Bill, who was constantly getting into trouble by mistaking random people (including Sonic) for his old enemies, much to Mighty's exasperation.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, Mighty the Armadillo was born into a family of thieves. While he was still too young to realize his parents' actions, they were imprisoned by the law. Seeking a method to free them, Mighty was confronted by Mammoth Mogul. Mogul used his powers to grant Mighty his incredible super strength. However, even with his new power, Mighty was unable to free his parents. With failure heavy in his heart, he forced a guilty exile on himself. He later joined the Chaotix.

Later, Espio reveals that Mighty's long lost sister Matilda, whom Mighty thought was dead, is still alive. She has been forced to join the Dark Egg Legion, along with Bunnie D'Coolette's uncle Beauregard Rabbot, who is the Grandmaster. Mighty sets out on a quest along with Ray the Flying Squirrel, whom he considers a brother, to find his sister. When they first meet, Matilda has no recollection of Mighty, due to her being roboticized at a very young age before being legionized. At first, Mighty was heartbroken, but Ray is able to show Matilda how much Mighty cares for her and she finally opens up her heart. Matilda ends up saving Mighty's life by putting herself in front of an explosion, and is injured in the process. She is unable to return with Mighty to Angel Island, but Mighty promises his sister that they will meet again after she is healed.

Following the Worlds Collide crossover event, the new reality of Mobius found Mighty wandering the planet with Ray, having previously worked with both Sonic and Knuckles. In this reality, Mighty found a mentor in Moss the Sloth, who taught him to master his considerable powers and temper.

Trivia

 * In the prototype of Knuckles' Chaotix, dubbed in the thought-to-be ROM form as Sonic Crackers, Sonic the Hedgehog was originally playable along with Miles "Tails" Prower. Sonic's movements and standing animations are exactly the same as Mighty's, thus leading to the belief that Sonic was taken out of Knuckles' Chaotix fairly late in game production and got replaced by Mighty.
 * Mighty's name was misspelled "Mighity" in the Japanese manual for Knuckles' Chaotix. This is most likely a direct result of errors in translation.
 * If Mighty falls from a high location in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, his shell will comically stay in the air for a few seconds. He is completely black underneath.
 * Oddly, Mighty's poster in Sonic Generations says "Missing since 1993", which is incorrect, since his last appearance prior to Sonic Generations was in 1995 (in Knuckles' Chaotix) and may instead refer to his first appearance in SegaSonic the Hedgehog.
 * Mighty made a cameo appearance as swinging ornament chain on the windshield in Gale Racer, the Sega Saturn port of the arcade game Rad Mobile released in 1994.
 * According to Takashi Iizuka, Mighty is considered to be part of the "Classic world" and the "Classic group of characters" and that he still exists in that world. He also added that there is a possibility of bringing him back in the future in some "Classic iteration". This was proven true during SXSW 2018, where Mighty was confirmed to appear in Sonic Mania Plus, alongside Ray the Flying Squirrel.