Wave the Swallow

"Let's just collect the prize and be on our way."

- Wave

Wave the Swallow (ウェーブ・ザ・スワロー) is a fictional anthropomorphic swallow from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She is the Babylon Rogues' resident technical genius, and a bit of a trash-talker. Wave is the daughter of the tech expert of the Rogues' previous generation, and her knowledge of Extreme Gear far surpasses that of Tails and Doctor Eggman. Because of this knowledge, she is brimming with self-confidence; and as a result she "gives advice understandable to herself but not to others". However, she still considers Tails and Eggman to be worthy mechanical opponents when it comes to building. She's the only female in the Babylon Rogues. She is often mistreated by the other members of the Rogues, as if she is only good at helping build things. She has been brought down from the tough person she was in the first game and dragged into a quiet and loyal friendship with Jet. She allows herself to take the blame for something that is not her fault.

Although she looks at Jet the Hawk as an "unreliable friend" and can be quite stubborn, she follows his leadership.

In the EX World Grand Prix, she beats Amy Rose at Splash Canyon, but is knocked out of the tournament by Tails at Green Cave. Wave uses a Type-W airboard, which is specially designed to fly well, and the red jewel she wears around her neck is actually a small computer, capable of playing back media files via holographic projection.

Wave is something of a voice of reason amongst the Rogues, often reminding Jet and Storm the Albatross of their responsibilities. Wave has a kind of rivalry with Tails, in which she scorns the way he made Sonic's Extreme Gear, calls him "Shorty" a number of times, and also "a twerp" in one of her mission reports, though this diminishes by the end of the game. In a cutscene before Sky Road, she angers Knuckles the Echidna by calling him a "red mutt".

Wave often refuses to admit that someone has talent, as noted in some of her mission reports. She either says that she will continue to deny a person's skill or flat-out denies that they have any skill at all. She also says in the opening of White Cave that if she doesn't take charge, nothing will ever get done.

The Japanese manual for Sonic Riders hints that a rivalry of some sort exists between her and Rouge the Bat. In addition, her profile on "Sonic Channel" states that she likes treasure and mechanical knowledge, and dislikes thick-headed and stupid people.

Jet the Hawk
Unlike Storm, Wave would not be bothered if she would call her leader, Jet, by his name. She is the creator of Type-J and always does whatever Jet tells her to do. She seems annoyed when Jet told her that her speeches are boring. However, despite almost always listening to Jet, she says in Sonic Riders, "Unless I take charge, nothing ever gets done here!". In Sonic Free Riders, she acts much more loyal towards Jet when she shows concern for his disapproval of Team Dark, telling him that he should just ignore them. Also, in one cutscene, she slightly bows towards Jet, approving of his riding skills. Despite this attitude change, she lies to him in the game. In the Babylon Story, before Jet was about to race Sonic, he told Wave not to cheat by doing "something" to Sonic's Extreme Gear. Wave tells him that she did not do anything to his gear, and they race. Suspiciously, Jet won, much to his concern, and found out that Wave did mess up Sonic's gear. Wave apologized and claimed herself guilty, while Sonic and Jet were ready for their rematch without Wave cheating.

Storm the Albatross
Storm and Wave are friends, but the two seem to get into small arguments, much to Jet's annoyance. When Storm lost against Knuckles, he complained to Wave and Jet that he must have cheated. Wave then thought he was criticizing how she built his Extreme Gear, which angered her and caused her to shout "What!? Are you implying that you lost because of MY Gear!!? No one can tune a Gear the way I can!!! Accept it, buddy! It's not the board. Your skills just suck!". Storm, feeling shocked and disheartened by this, repeated "Wh-wh-what?! Su...S...S...Suck!?" to which Wave replied; "Yes. 'S-U-C-K. Suck."

Miles "Tails" Prower
Wave and Tails are rivals at inventing, since they are both intelligent. In Sonic Riders, Wave was impressed by Tails' inventions but couldn't admit it, so she insulted it instead, saying that he made "a piece of junk". She also teased Tails by calling him "shorty". In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, the two did not seem to rival each other at anything. When Wave was injured by the robots in the game, Tails was seen trying to help her get up. In Sonic Free Riders, she called him "shrimp" instead. Once again, they did not talk much or show much rivalry until one scene, when Tails examined the Extreme Gear she made and commented, Your Gear is still as amazing as ever, Wave...". Wave ungratefully replied, "Is that supposed to be sarcasm, shrimp?"'', much to Tails' dismay, and he told her that he actually meant it. Wave and Tails have not spoken to each other since.

Friends/Allies

 * Jet the Hawk
 * Storm the Albatross

Rivals

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Rouge the Bat

Physical appearance
Wave has a purple-feathered body with flame-shaped highlights of a darker purple shade on her arms, a smooth, curved, golden yellow beak with two nostril pits, blue eyes with pink eyelids, two plumes of feathers behind her head that are tipped dark purple and flare out towards the ground, and two scissor-shaped feathers serving as a tail. She wears white gloves with red-accented, sock-like cuffs fastened with tan hoops, red boots with white accents, a zipper and durable gray soles, large golden-yellow sunglasses, white flared trousers with violet flame patterns on the bottom of each leg, a fluffy white tube top, and a necklace complemented by a large, spherical red gem. This gem is actually a utility device, with abilities ranging from loading data and showing it via holographic projection to being a personal alarm clock. She also sports a white bandana fastened in a Doo Rag style and seems to apply pink eyeshadow.

Abilities
Wave is well-known within the series as being a skilled Extreme Gear rider and can build and fix them with ease. She has never displayed any signs of hand-to-hand combat, but she uses a wrench and dynamite to attack enemies while riding her Extreme Gear. When it comes to Extreme Gear, she can even outsmart Tails and Eggman. Other than being a gifted Extreme Gear rider, she is also very smart. Many times in the Sonic Riders series, she shows her knowledge of other machines apart from Extreme Gear. For example, she created a bomb which she planted on the bottom of Sonic's Extreme Gear to prevent him from winning.

Attacks
Scowl: Wave scowls directly at her adversary's face, causing damage and great slow-down.

Wrench/Spanner: Wave strikes her enemies with her giant wrench/spanner, inflicting damage and slow-down on the enemy.

Dynamite: Wave places a lit bundle of dynamite on her adversary, causing damage and stalling when it detonates.

Quotes

 * "Get ready...for this!" Wave about to perform a Gravity Dive in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "You think you could win with that board?" Wave before starting a race in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Eat my dust!" Wave after passing or attacking an opponent in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Excellent!" Wave after properly performing a trick in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "And that's the way!" Wave after completing a race in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Accept it buddy! It's not the board. Your skills just suck!" Wave taunting Storm after he loses to Knuckles in Sonic Riders.
 * "Long time, no see, Shorty." Wave speaking to Tails after they meet up in MeteorTech.
 * "Sorry loser!" Wave as she runs with her wrench.
 * "You think you could win with a board like that?" Wave before starting a race in Sonic Free Riders.
 * "Yes. S-U-C-K. Suck!" Wave telling Storm that his skills are unsatisfactory.

Trivia

 * Wave is the only female member of the Babylon Rogues.
 * Even though her 2D art shows her hair with a dark part, this is nowhere to be found in her 3D art, but it can be seen in her Sonic Free Riders artwork.
 * An odd trait that Wave has is her curved beak. However, her species have straight beaks.
 * Her beak also has nostrils in her 2D artwork, as is the case for Jet and Storm.
 * When Wave is scolding Jet about his responsibilities in Sonic Riders, she starts speaking quickly, to the comical point where the cutscene is sped up for an unknown reason. When the scene is slowed down, it is revealed that she is speaking with her Japanese voice in the English version.
 * Both her English and Japanese voice actresses play Sakura Haruno in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden as of 2010.
 * Wave seems to be more loyal to Jet in Sonic Free Riders than in the first and second Riders games, possibly due to the fact that Jet has noticeably matured.
 * Wave makes a cameo appearance in Speed Highway in Sonic Generations.
 * Wave is shown to be very competitive and can't stand losing almost as much as Jet. However, she usually uses some dirty trick to sabotage Sonic and his friends.