Tornado

The Tornado (トルネード) is a red and white vintage-style biplane in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Ever since its first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the original plane is owned by Sonic himself, but he freely allows Tails to borrow it. During many adventures, Sonic and Tails used Tornado as their main air transportation to travel long distances or high altitudes from place to another around the earth, as Tails is usually piloting it and Sonic fearlessly standing on its top wing.

The biplane is involved in regular in-game Zones usually set on the Sky. The biplane is known to have armed with projectile weapons with machine guns and homing missiles. Usually being shot down multiple times, Tornado has been repaired or being replaced with different variations of the biplane.

Appearance
Early on, the Tornado was an old vintage biplane with a red fuselage and two grey main wings attached with a pair of poles on both sides. The red fuselage has a power plant with a grey tractor screw, small orange forward-pointing arrows close to cockpit, the word "SONIC" written in white on both sides, along with stretchy F-letter labels. The cockpit has only a single seat. Meanwhile, the plane's empennage has two small horizontal and vertical stabilizers, the latter being emblazoned with an emblem depicting a Bumper with wings. It also has three wheels, two under the lower main wing and one below the empennage. Occasionally, the Tornado has a custom jet engine on the bottom as well. This design has been reused in recent games, including Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, Sonic Lost World and Sonic Runners, although with small changes such as short red ends on the wings and a yellow three-headed tractor screw.

The Tornado from Sonic Adventure onwards became more detailed with completely red wings and fuselage outlined with yellow and white lines. It also received a three-headed tractor screw and a black power plant. For this design, the cockpit has either one or two seats and a small windshield. Above the top wing and vertical stabilizer, the Tornado got emblazed with Tails' symbol, and behind the cockpit on the fuselage is the word "SONIC" written in white. The Tornado also got a small jet engine between the front wheels and machine guns on both sides of the fuselage.

Features and abilities
The Tornado can increase its speed to 450 kilometers per second, surpassing the speed of sound. With its custom jet engine bolstering it, the Tornado can keeping up with large space shuttles. As shown in Sonic & Knuckles, the Tornado can also be fitted with a grappling tether for pulling larger objects behind it. In Sonic Adventure, the Tornado was also outfitted with different types of projectile weapons and machine guns. In Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, the Tornado can also perform a maneuver named the Tornado Boost where it spins horizontally while boosting forward to break through obstacles and attack foes.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
The Tornado was first introduced to the series in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, under the ownership of Sonic. In the game's Japanese storyline, Sonic flies in it as he was trying to find new adventures after defeating Doctor Robotnik in previous installment. He then discovers an island known as Westside Island and decided to land the plane there and relax. There, he also meets Tails for the first time.

In the game, Tornado is featured prominently in the Sky Chase Zone. The Zone consists only one act with no boss to fight and the player can move the playable character on the top wing of the Tornado, piloted by Tails (or Sonic if playing as Tails). When the player moves forward, the Tornado follows him, but the player is able to fall off the biplane if he/she is moving way too fast. When the player progresses to Wing Fortress Zone, the Tornado gets shot down by lasers while pursuing Dr. Robotnik and his flying battleship. After Eggman gets away with his space shuttle, Tornado rises up as repaired and fitted with a jet engine. After reaching Robotnik's space shuttle, the playable character jumps off the Tornado and hangs on the space shuttle.

After the destruction of the space station, Tails flies the Tornado to rescue Sonic as he plunged from the sky (or the other way around). In the regular ending Flicky/Cucky herd is flying behind the biplane, while Locky herd appears in the good ending with Super Sonic flying alongside the biplane.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
The Tornado made only a small appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, where Tails is seen piloting it in the background of D.A. Garden. The biplane is seen featured with other background characters and objects such as Robotnik in his escape pod, floating Metal Sonic, flying Flickies and Special Stage UFOs.

Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
The Tornado appears in the opening and ending cutscenes of Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball. In the game, it is given a slight, sleeker redesign, with different wings and propeller engine installed behind the plane. Sonic is seen riding on the wing as usual when the plane is shot down, depositing him into the waters outside Toxic Caves. Later at the ending, Tails saves Sonic as he falls from the sky, while Robotnik falls to the remains of destroyed Veg-O-Fortress.

In the 8-bit version of the game, the Tornado has a another slightly different appearance and color scheme. In the opening, Sonic hangs from the Tornado's bottom rope as he infiltrates the fortress from the downward section.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Tornado was featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and add-on continuation Sonic & Knuckles. In the beginning, Sonic and Tails are seen landing on the Angel Island, when they heard about Death Egg being crashed to the island. While Tails lands with Tornado, Sonic on his Super form gets punched by Knuckles the Echidna, who met them for the first time. At the end of Sonic & Knuckles, if the player hasn't collected all of the Chaos Emeralds, Tails is seen catching Sonic from the sky with Tornado without getting Master Emerald, that falls down to the ocean. While getting all of the Emeralds, the Master Emerald has been caught by using Tornado's mechanical tether as rescuing either one of the three characters (depending on which one was chosen). Sonic and Tails then head to the Angel Island and leave the Master Emerald on the island (where Knuckles later finds it), before continuing their journey to new distances.

In the ending of the Knuckles' story, Sonic with the Tornado is seen saving Knuckles from the destruction of Sky Sanctuary Zone after his duel with Super Mecha Sonic. If the player got all Chaos Emeralds with Knuckles, it is shown that Knuckles lands to the Tornado while also holding the Master Emerald, while getting all Super Emeralds, Knuckles in his Hyper form is seen holding the Master Emerald on the Tornado's wing. After this, Sonic brings Knuckles and the Master Emerald to the Angel Island and leaves the island, which starts flying up or down, depending the if all emeralds are collected or not.

Sonic Triple Trouble
The Tornado then appeared on three Special Stages in Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, where Sonic or Tails has to pilot the biplane and collect certain amount of Rings in the sky in order to face Fang the Sniper and then collect one of six Chaos Emeralds. Sonic and Tails are also seen riding on Tornado to the sunset in the game's end credits.

Knuckles' Chaotix
The Tornado had made a brief cameo appearance in Knuckles' Chaotix. It appears only in the good ending and is shown in the background of the credit roll with Sonic on its wings and Tails as the pilot, hovering behind the Chaotix Crew.

Sonic the Fighters
The Tornado appears briefly during the opening demo of Sonic the Fighters, as Sonic and Tails arrange the tournament to win the Chaos Emeralds in order to reach to the Death Egg II with the Lunar Fox shuttle.

Sonic Adventure
In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, the Tornado got a aesthetic redesign. After defeating Chaos 4 and Eggman escaped in the Egg Carrier, Sonic and Tails used the Tornado to pursue Eggman.

The Tornado is used during the mini-game for Sky Chase Act 1. This mini-game involves shooting down robotic planes with the Tornado's machine guns and homing missiles. After the Act is completed, the Egg Carrier fires a giant laser which blows off the Tornado's right wings, making it spin out of control and crash. As Sonic and Tails are separated, Tails decides to find a Chaos Emerald and build the Tornado 2. The original Tornado was apparently repaired as it is seen in the post-credits after clearing Tails' story.

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
In Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, the Tornado shares its appearance from Sonic Adventure. Sonic lands on to the Tornado's wing after Knuckles launches him up there from the Aquatic Relix Zone. In this game, the Tornado is featured in the Sky Chase Zone where it serves the same as it did in Sky Chase Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

After clearing the final boss of Last Utopia Zone, Tails saves Sonic with the Tornado after he falls down in the game's normal ending. In the extra ending, Sonic lands on the Tornado after defeating clearing Chaotic Space Zone. The Chaos Emeralds will then appear around Sonic before dispersing.

Sonic Advance
The Tornado's next appearance is in Sonic Advance. Sonic (Tails if playing as Sonic) would fly it catching the player after finishing a Special Stage and after finishing the game with the normal ending without getting all Chaos Emeralds. After finishing The Moon Zone, Tails is also seen piloting the Tornado later as he is searching Sonic and discovers Super Sonic flying back into the Earth's atmosphere.

Sonic Rivals
In Sonic Rivals, although it is not known whether it was the Tornado or another variant of it, Tails used the Tornado to escort himself, Sonic and Knuckles to Meteor Base Zone to chase Dr. Eggman who fled there (who is actually Dr. Eggman Nega in disguise).

Sonic Rush Adventure
In the opening cutscene of Sonic Rush Adventure, Tails and Sonic appear flying during a thunderstorm while searching for an anomaly. The Tornado appears to have been modified to fit two passengers, as Sonic sits behind Tails. The Tornado crashes after being hit by lightning and losing engine power, where it is then sucked into a cyclone and transported to Blaze's world. What happened to the Tornado afterwards is unknown, though it was presumably lost at sea following the storm.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Sonic and his party use the Tornado to get around the world during the first four chapters of the game. It is also seen at the opening cutscene after the heroes defeated Eggman and escaped from the destroyed Egg Carrier.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4
In Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and Episode Metal, the Tornado has its original look from earlier games with few slight changes. In these games, the Tornado was used by Sonic and Tails as their means of transportation when they began investigating Dr. Eggman's latest activities on the neighboring continent.

At the ending of Episode Metal, Metal Sonic notices Sonic and Tails flying away in the Tornado and takes Tails' rocket to follow them. This is followed up in the opening of Episode II, where Sonic and Tails are landing in Sylvania Castle Zone Act 1 in the Tornado. The duo later used the biplane to chase down Eggman with his slightly damaged Egg Mobile at the beginning of Sky Fortress Zone Act 1 and boss act against Metal Sonic in the Metal Carrier. During the first and boss act, the second player takes the control of the Tornado which can perform the Tornado Boost to break through wooden crate walls or attack the Metal Carrier. After the boss battle, Sonic and Tails again lands on the Sky Fortress and start chasing after Eggman and Metal Sonic.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Tornado returned with a slight redesign, appearing closer to its original incarnation while having sleeker edges. At the beginning of the game, Sonic and Tails used the Tornado to chase down Dr. Eggman in the sky, who had a capsule full of imprisoned Animals attached to the Egg Mobile. After Eggman dropped the capsule and had Sonic and Tails chase after it, he shot the Tornado's top wing, causing them to land on the Lost Hex. After defeating Zazz, Sonic meets with Tails who has repaired the Tornado.

In gameplay, the Tornado appears in Hidden World Zone 2, where the player can control the biplane with Tails piloting it and Sonic standing on the top wing. In this Zone, the player has to collect Time Bonuses and Dash Rings, and at the same time avoided getting hit by Badniks or edges of the cloud tunnels. Getting hit once make the player loses all Rings and another will make the Tornado crash and Sonic will fall off into the clouds.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Tornado makes an appearance as a S Rare Fly Type Buddy called the RC Tornado. It is one of the smaller RC vehicle that is available on the Premium Roulette. When the player gets hurt, the RC Tornado restores up to 1200 Rings and 1250 for the Fly Type character.

Tornado 2
During Sonic Adventure the Tornado gets shot down by the laser cannon of Dr. Eggman's Egg Carrier. After this accident, Tails headed back to his workshop and finishes the construction of his new blue-tinted experimental biplane, the Tornado 2. Unlike the original Tornado, it required a Chaos Emerald to function. Tornado 2 has been also capable of folding its wings into an X-shape to reach extreme speeds.

Tornado 2 has been frequently used and has made later appearances in Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 3, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Riders.

Cyclone/Tornado 3
By Sonic Adventure 2, Tails has built the Tornado 3 which he primarily dubs the "Cyclone". Unlike the previous Tornadoes, it is a monoplane and carries a large missile launcher behind the single seat. In addition to its default plane setting, the Cyclone can also transform into either a battle-ready mech walker or a car. The walker was Tails' main mode of transportation and offense in the game.

Tornado-1
In Sonic Unleashed, Tails volunteers the use of his Tornado-1 for the team's transportation. Not to be confused with the first Tornado, it is a completely new construction with a more notably streamlined and futuristic design. "Tornado 03" can be found inscribed near the rear, when the plane transforms during both of the Tornado Defense Acts of the Xbox 360/PS3 version. The Tornado-1 also combines features of previous Tornado incarnations: the red paint job and outward construction of the original Tornado, the ability to transform into an X-shape like the Tornado 2, and the homing missiles found on the Cyclone. Tornado-1 has later made appearances in Sonic Generations and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Tornado Racer
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Tails has built a now land-based iteration of the Tornado series called the "Tornado Racer", capable of making fast turns with its short wing span. It was built with parts found after an attempted invasion by Dr. Eggman, and has a special move called the Tails Tornado capable of removing other vehicles and items on the path in front of him by summoning a miniature cyclone.

The Tornado Racer's engine output most likely was limited on purpose by Tails as if it were faster it would take off like a normal plane seeing as it already has enough speed to hover over the ground. This theory is further evidenced by the fact that when it gets launched off of a hill, it has a very slow descent suggesting its capabilities of flight. During Tails' Tornado, the Tornado Racer flies in the air along with the tornado that the technique creates.

Sonic the Comic
The Tornado also appears in Sonic the Comic, and again plays the same role from the games. It was originally kept in a hangar in Sonic's Secret Underground Base and used by Sonic and Tails to reach distant areas like the Wing Fortress Zone, Oil Ocean Zone, Hill Top Zone and the Floating Island. When the base was discovered by Doctor Robotnik, the Freedom Fighters took the Tornado with them when they started going in disguise as Bob Beaky's Travelling Circus. They often towed the plane behind the caravan, hidden under a tarpaulin. The Tornado was eventually destroyed, along with the caravan, when Super Sonic went berserk and attacked his own teammates, leading Sonic to (temporarily) believe that he had killed his friends.

Following Robotnik's defeat, Tails acquired a new, apparently identical bi-plane, which he and Sonic used to travel to Flickies' Island.

Archie Comics
The Tornado has appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, in which it plays the same role as in the games. There was one bi-plane that was used early in the Archie series similar to the Tornado, called the "Winged Victory", but it was later stolen by Warlord Kodos and Uma Arachnis. Its location is currently unknown, but it is presumed destroyed.

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Sonic and Tails used Tornado as their biplane as traveling around the Planet Freedom. On their home, they have large airfield for the Tornado. They used it to enter the Land of Darkness, where it crashes after getting through entering a hole in dark thunder clouds. Tails and Knuckles later somehow get it back to home, where it is repaired and used to go to the frozen icecaps where Sonic and Hyper Metal Sonic are fighting. After arriving, the Tornado is destroyed by a rabbit-shaped missile fired by Dr. Robotnik. It can be noted, that Tails uses his own pilot helmet in the movie while piloting the Tornado.

Sonic X
In the anime series Sonic X, the Tornado originally belonged to Sonic. It was eventually discovered by Tails after meeting Sonic for the first time, and began refitting and repainting it. When Sonic saw Tails' doing, he told him that he liked the new colors for Tornado and made friends with the timid fox. Tails would afterwards continue to upgrade it into its Tornado 2 motif.

Sonic Boom
In the Sonic Boom series, the Tornado is a plane-like vehicle created by a long-lost civilization known as the Ancients. In this media though, it bears a stronger resemblance to the Tornado 2.

After being abandoned for over a millennia, the Tornado was found by Team Sonic who used it during their adventure to stop Lyric the Last Ancient. However, the Tornado was seemingly lost when it sank into a frozen lake during a battle with Dr. Eggman's Burnbot.

Trivia

 * Though the original Tornado is owned by Sonic, it is unknown who built it. All subsequent Tornado machines are created and owned by Tails.
 * In the Sonic the Hedgehog serialized manga published by Shogakukan, Nikki's father Paulie, who is an qualified pilot for the air mail, is seen flying with a red biplane similar to the Tornado. Since the serialized manga predates Sonic the Hedgehog 2, this biplane may have been the early inspiration for the Tornado.
 * When the Tornado appears at the end of Wing Fortress Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, it has a large jet engine attached to the underside, but this engine is gone in the game's cinematic ending. The engine is then back at the beginning of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and it reappears consistently in Sonic & Knuckles and Knuckles' Chaotix. However, it is not seen again in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II.
 * Inside the game's coding can be found unused in-game sprites of Tails piloting Tornado along with unused Super Sonic sprites from Knuckles' Chaotix. This can be imply that, Sonic and Tails would have be involved somehow in the game's plot.
 * In real life, there have been several aircraft with the name "Tornado": a variable wing fighter/bomber/electronic warfare aircraft series called the Panavia Tornado, a fighter prototype called the Hawker Tornado from 1940s, and an early jet bomber called the B-45 Tornado.
 * The original Tornado's design does not seem to come from a specific aircraft; however, following its redesign from Sonic Adventure onwards, the Tornado 2 bears a striking resemblance to the Polikarpov I-153, a 1930s Soviet biplane fighter.
 * At the end of Sonic & Knuckles, the Tornado is shown with "SONIC" written in reverse due to it facing the opposite way it usually is. This is because the sprite is simply flipped horizontally, instead of entirely new sprite being created.
 * "Wing walking" is an actual stunt that is historically associated with biplanes.
 * In the Archie Comics, the Tornado 2 appears in the Sonic Rush Adventure comic adaption, while the game version features the original red Tornado.
 * In Sonic Lost World, Tails is seen fixing the propeller of Tornado, even though before Dr. Eggman is seen shooting the top wing of the biplane.