Sally Acorn

Sally Acorn (サリー・エイコーン Sarii Eikohn), in some cases given the full title Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, and also known as Sal (Saru), is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Though not an official character of the games canon, her existance has been shown (or at least hinted to) in almost every different take on the Sonic universe. She would have been an official character had Sonic X-treme been released.

The character stands as perhaps being the most inconsistently depicted throughout different media of the Sonic franchise, changing in both role, species, personality, and even name and gender. However the most consistant form of Sally (usually via U.S. originated media and merchandise) is a female, anthropomorphic, humanoid squirrel. Sally has brown fur, tan fur muzzle and eye markings, a long tuft of dark red bushy hair and blue eyes, and usually seen sporting a blue vest and knee-high boots. She plays the part of Sonic's girlfriend. Sally had originally yellow fur and blond hair wearing a red dress, then pink fur, brown hair and blue white-trimmed boots.

The creator of Sally's final design (used in later SatAM and the Archie based Sonic comic series) was supposedly Ken Kinoshita (initial character designer for SatAM). The designer of her initial 'Ricky' design from the games is supposedly Naoto Ohshima (aka. 'Bigisland'), character designer for Sonic the Hedgehog.

History
Born into the Royal Acorn monarchy and a midddle name handed down from her mother, Sally is the heir to the throne as the future ruler of Mobius. Her attitude stems from childhood due to a strict upbringing of learning etiquette, royal studies, and the family credo. Two of which are the origins of the Chaos Emeralds and the hidden refuge known as Knothole Village. Becoming overwhelmed with these responsibilities left her isolated and sheltered from the outside. She befriends Sonic the Hedgehog arranged from a play date by Sonic's Uncle Chuck. Their friendship is a conflicting one, since Sonic antagonizes Sally due to her "slowness" while she tries to improve his mannerisms. While escaping to Knothole, her mother is killed in the attempt while her father is imprisoned by Dr. Robotnik. Later in year, Sally and Sonic develop an ambiguous relationship, despite their constant bickering. She also is the sergeant mother of Miles "Tails" Prower where she becomes overprotective of his safety. Most of time she prides herself on her intellect and leadership skills. Whenever she feels stressed out, she consults Bunnie to balance her frustrations. Her tech skills enabled her to design a small device called NICOLE; a portable handheld computer that dispenses versatile information such as geographical navigation and their origins.

When Dr. Robotnik ceases control over the chaos emeralds and captures Bunnie, she becomes more determined to achieve the goal of liberating the planet and claiming her place on the throne. Her loving devotion to her people and friends level out the mood swings she projects at her secret love, Sonic the Hedgehog.

'Ricky Squirrel'
The title 'Sally Acorn' originated from early western media for the franchise. For these the small animals of the initial games were given new titles. The squirrel captive (refered to as 'Ricky' in the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog manual) was renamed Sally Acorn, usually given a pink bow on it's head to distinguish it's gender change. This version of Sally was used in both Stay Sonic (a promotional comic released alongside the first game) and early issues of Fleetway's Sonic the Comic (which was influenced by the former).

Princess Acorn
In 1993, an article in Sonic the Comic announced two new television series starring Sonic the Hedgehog, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog. Within the four pages of plot synopsis and concept art, a group of screen shots that greatly differ from the rest appear without explanation. These screen shots include a character named "Princess Acorn", presumably a squirrel with yellow fur and blond hair wearing a red dress. She shows up alongside characters that have since been featured in Sonic the Comic. This character shares little similarities in Sally's current appearance, but it is possible that this was an early design of Sally.

Early Life
Sally is the daughter of King Maximillian and Queen Alicia Acorn. She has a long-lost older brother named Elias, whom she initially did not know existed. As a child, Sally was taken to Angel Island several times with her father, where she met and befriended Knuckles the Echidna, long before ever meeting Sonic the Hedgehog. )

Sally's family ruled over Mobotropolis for several generations. Their dynasty ended shortly after the Great War, after which a treacherous Warlord named Julian Kintobor-a defector who helped King Acorn win the war- staged a coup d'etat and took over the kingdom. Re-christened Ivo Robotnik, the newly-proclaimed dictator turned the city into a industrial wasteland. In addition, he used his roboticizers to transfigure the city's population into mindless robot slaves called Robians. The five-year-old Sally was hidden from Robotnik's grasp and sent to live in the protected Knothole Village hidden within the Great Forest.

Sally grew up to lead a band of ragtag rebel militiamen from Knothole starting at age 10, living alongside her friends, her governess Rosie, and the elderly Julayla (who Sally sees as her grandmother).

After living in Knothole for a short time, Princess Sally lost her mentor Julayla when she passed away. Immediately afterward, she was sent a "friend" in the form of NICOLE, a sentient compact super computer that originates from an alternative future where Sally is Queen. Feeling that her past self would seriously need a friend, Sally had Rotor design NICOLE and send her back in time.

Freedom Fighter
The ultimate goal of the Freedom Fighters was to oust the oppressive tyrant Dr. Robotnik and restore the Kingdom of Acorn. Hidden deep within the Great Forest in their rebel headquarters of Knothole, the Freedom Fighters carried out guerrilla attacks on Robotnik's operations. Seeing the Princess as a threat to his control, Robotnik made her capture a top priority. A scheme to replace Sally with a malevolent robotic double nearly worked, with a secondary plan of creating a whole line of robots modeled off of each of the Freedom Fighters lined up. The real Sally uncovered this plot, unmasked the fake Sally, and destroyed the rest of Robotnik's duplicates.

Robotnik later managed to infiltrate Knothole with a duplicate of Sally's father, King Max. The traitorous Freedom Fighter named Drago arranged for Sally's assassination, pinning the blame on Sonic in an elaborate frameup. Robotnik then appeared unexpectedly in Knothole after the fake King Max leaked its location. After arriving at the Freedom Fighters' doorstep and holding them all hostage, Robotnik announced his plan to use the rebel headquarters as a testing ground for his super-weapon, with which he intends to eradicate all non-robotic life on the planet. His "Endgame" scheme is nevertheless foiled by the rebellion, and Robotnik is vaporized during the weapon's backfiring.

In the wake of Robotnik's defeat, Sally worked hard to re-establish the old kingdom. The desolate wasteland of Robotropolis was difficult to rebuild, and discrimination against Robians threatened to spark a civil war. A new Robotnik arrived from a alternate reality and quickly retook Mobotropolis. He was destroyed in battle, but through the digital transfer of his mind into a new robotic body, he was able to live on as "Dr. Eggman". For a time, Sally presided over the newly-established Kingdom of Knothole, a haven from Eggman until he too, like Robotnik, learned of its location.

Return to the Front Lines
After Robotnik was killed, Sally was put in charge of reconstruction of Mobotropolis. With Sally busy behind the scenes, other Freedom Fighters took on the role of field commander, with Sonic himself occasionally filling that role. With the return of her parents, Sally could not properly rule either. Sally became frustrated with a lack of control over her life, which culminated in an arranged marriage with Antoine. The wedding was quickly annulled when her groom turns out to be Patch, an evil version of Antoine from a parallel universe. After her brother Elias took the throne and her father fell ill, Sally returned to taking a more active role in overseeing the Freedom Fighters, even joining them in combat.

Sally agreed to be the maid of honor at Bunnie and Antoine's wedding, with Sonic serving as best man. Not long after the ceremony, Sally became Eggman's prisoner during the aerial bombardment of Knothole, but was promptly freed by a rescue mission mounted by the few who weren't taken prisoner: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and NICOLE. With Knothole completely crushed, Dr. Eggman turned his sights on New Mobotropolis. Sally once more led the charge against the enemy forces herself, resulting in the the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix defeating Eggman's Egg Beater battlesuit. Just prior to this, Sally asked Bunnie to make her hair the length and style as her original SatAM look by Bunnie, previously her hair legnth reached past her back, symbolizing that she was her old self again.

Not long after, she interrupted a duel between her brother Elias and Tails' father Amadeus Prower, both of whom were leading separate factions in a schism that threatened to plunge New Mobotropolis into civil war. Reminding them of her own ruling experience, she managed to bring the battle to an end and worked with them to establish a new system of government. Though the new ruling body called for seven council members-including Elias-Sally declined running, apparently quite fine with leaving politics behind for a while. Sadly, her relief at the averted crisis was short-lived, as Dimitri the Echidna arrived with horrifying news: Enerjak had returned.

Recent Battles
After the Enerjak rampage and Mogul's escape, the latter then took over Robotnik's old Casino Night Zone and changed it to his own image. Meanwhile, Sally spent some time alone with Sonic in the ruins of Knothole talking about their past and feelings for one another. Their conversation was interrupted by Bean and Bark and the Destructix. Eventually, Sonic was knocked out by a shot from Nack the Weasel, who then gave Sally ten seconds to run for help while Sonic was dragged off by the Destructix. She soon liberated him with the help of Amy Rose and Geoffrey. When the heroes confront Mogul however, he denies all claims of wrong-doing as his accusers lack any incontrovertible evidence. Sally and her friends were then sent away publicly humiliated.

Recently, she Sally and the other Freedom Fighters have been presented with a new problem, the Suppression Squad.

SatAM Sonic
This Sally is a squirrel and cast in the role of princess similar to the Archie version. Her father, exiled to the Void, is referred to simply as the King; no first name is given (the title 'Acorn' is not refered to either, though is used in the show's bible). Nothing is mentioned about her mother or any potential siblings (though the script for "Blast to the Past" briefly mentions her mother's last words to her; 'rule with honor'). She is a Freedom Fighter, usually working as a strategist and de facto leader. Rosie, who had been Sally's nanny as a child, had been rescued from the fate of robotisation in the second season story "Blast to the Past". She is voiced by Kath Soucie.

Sonic Christmas Blast
Although Sally was normally not in the AoStH continuity, in the special movie produced for AoStH, Sonic Christmas Blast, Sally appeared briefly as one of multiple nods to SatAM. Although Sally had no lines in this television special (aside from a single moaning noise), and of different design (having a pink pallette from early issues of Archie Sonic, abeit with her later design's proportions), she was still easily recognizable.

Sonic the Comic
A Sally based on her initial game sprite design appeared in early issues of the UK based Sonic the Comic. Unlike Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot who were also based on the 'small animal' characters (and their depictions in Stay Sonic) this Sally did not become a Freedom Fighter and faded into obscurity along with the other forgotten civilians of the games.

This Sally was mainly undeveloped due to her minor roles, usually no more than a generic citizen requiring Sonic's help. She did on rare occasions show minor political traits of the SatAm/Archie depiction however.

Personality
Sally is strong-minded, and is very opinionated. Sally is sometimes known to be headstrong and has a tendancy to put too much pressure on herself to react in the most wise way. She is a leader of the Freedom Fighters, second only to, or on level with, Sonic himself. With her father banished to "The Void", Sally is second in line to take the throne, currently held by new King Elias Acorn, her older brother. She can be very caring as well, in many cases Sally goes out of her way to make sure her friends are safe and happy. She can be somewhat insecure at times when Sonic is not around, and is possibly emotionally dependant on him. Even so, as princess of Mobius, she is a firm leader with a strong sense of justice and a warm heart.

Sometimes Sally is refered to as a "Tomboy Princess" since she does not typically dress regally or act as a damsel as many princesses do, but rather acts as a fighter rather than a typical princess.

Sally is practical, being destined to rule whether or not she likes it. She has some technical training, being the second-most technical member of the Freedom Fighters (behind Rotor), and due to her martial art skills she proves to be one of the most formitable Freedom Fighers in battle when the situation calls for it.

Her primary love interest in most media is Sonic, and NICOLE is her longest-known companion in most media depicting her.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Over the years Sally has had numerous flirtations and love-interests, the largest being Sonic the Hedgehog. During their battles against Dr. Ivo Robotnik as Freedom Fighters, the two kept their feelings for each other mostly to themselves, though the idea of marriage had come up on occasion, mostly as a joke. Additionally, because of their clashing personalities, both were reluctant to make anything more out of their relationship. Their mutual feelings for each other became far more obvious when Sonic discovered Sally had survived Operation: EndGame and the two shared a kiss.

When King Max discussed the topic of marriage with his daughter shortly after he'd been freed from the wizard Ixis Naugus's control, Sally requested that Sonic be her future husband. The aged king flat-out refused this offer, saying that the Source of All would ultimately decide who her husband would be, as it had dictated Max's wife and his father's wife before him.

Sonic and Sally spent the next few months apart, while Sonic was chasing after the Ixis Naugus around the planet with Tails. Shortly after his return, Dr. Eggman began his campaign to retake Mobotropolis and roboticize the Mobians, which prevented Sonic and Sally from getting close. To make matters worse, after the Kingdom of Knothole was formed, Sally was forced to be home schooled while Sonic and the others went to public school. Sally's duties as princess kept her both busy and distant from Sonic for some time. When Sally finally attempted to visit Sonic, she caught him being kissed by Mina Mongoose. After this, Sally believed Sonic had moved on. The two later recovered and fully admitted their love for one another when Sonic freed Sally from the bounty hunter Nack the Weasel.

After almost a year had passed since Max's original decision to force Sally to marry Antoine, his opinion had drastically changed, after Sonic had proven himself a worthy candidate for a spouse. Max accepted Sonic and Sally's request for marriage, but shortly after this, the Xorda's attack on Mobius occurred, which resulted in Sonic being lost in space for over a year.

Upon Sonic's return from space, the two wasted no time rekindling their love for one another. However, their relationship took a turn for the worse when Sally was put in charge of the kingdom and requested Sonic stay by her side, as opposed to risking his life on numerous combat missions. Sonic chose the life of a hero, and this resulted in the two breaking up. Since then, Sonic has dated Fiona Fox, but the two broke up when Sonic discovered Fiona actually was interested in his evil double, Scourge the Hedgehog. Recently, after Antoine and Bunnie announced they were getting married, Sally admitted she missed Sonic and felt jealous that it wasn't her who was getting married.

During a nostalgic visit to the ruins of Knothole there appears to be hope for their relationship.

Geoffrey St. John
When Geoffrey St. John first met Princess Sally, he assisted her in training the Substitute Freedom Fighters and foiling Dr. Robotnik's scheme of creating robo-duplicates of the Freedom Fighters. After seeing St. John's heroics, the skunk gained a place in Sally's heart, nearly rivalling Sonic. After the events of Project: Endgame and Sonic's revival of Sally, St. John realized her heart belonged to Sonic, but continued to clash with Sonic on numerous occasions. Some time later, Geoffrey St. John established a relationship with Hershey the Cat, eventually marrying her and loosing his feelings for Sally.

Knuckles the Echidna
Sally had known Knuckles even before she met Sonic, during her father's regular visits to Angel Island. The two quickly became friends as neither one had anyone else their age to play with. Years later, when Knuckles came to Knothole to fight against Mecha Sonic, the two reminisced about their childhood days. Sally even showed signs of interest in Knuckles at this point, especially due to the anger she felt towards Sonic, who everyone thought had deliberately allowed himself to be roboticized. Not long after this however, Knuckles was perused by the fellow Echidna Julie-Su, who is currently Knuckles' girlfriend and soul mate. Sally and Knuckles' friendship was temporarily damaged when the latter decided to remain on Angel Island rather than assist the Freedom Fighters on Mobius against Dr. Eggman, though the two repaired their friendship over time.

Relations

 * Former King Maximillian Acorn (father)
 * Queen Alicia Acorn (mother)
 * King Elias Acorn (brother)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (ex-boyfriend)
 * Manic (possible son)
 * Sonia (possible daughter)

Trivia

 * Queen Alicia's name is Sally's middle name (Sally Alicia Acorn).


 * In Japan, Sally was known by both her real name and a nickname of hers called "Ricki". This never made its way to America.


 * Sally is a main character in the Archie comic series and SatAM TV series, but typically does not appear in the games, although she did make an appearance in Sonic Spinball.


 * Tiara of Sonic X-treme shares a similar appearance with Sally. Christian Senn claims that he did not intend for Tiara to look similar when he designed her.


 * As she was a main character in the comics, she was first officially introduced to the Japanese Sonic audience when Sonic Mega Collection was released.


 * Even though she is not canon to the franchise storyline, she is an official Sonic character, having appeared in 2 official Sonic games and being sponsored by SEGA.