Babylon Rogues

The Babylon Rogues (バビロン盗賊団) are a group of ancient thieves in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The current members of the group consists of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross. Their only playable appearances so far are Sonic Riders, the sequel, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sonic Free Riders. They also make cameo appearances in Sonic Rivals as collectible cards and Sonic and the Secret Rings in the gallery.

In Sonic Riders, the group is hired by Dr. Eggman to compete in his airboard-racing tournament against Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. All members appear to have flames tattooed on their wrists. The Babylon Rogues reside on a large airship.

While initially believed to be descended from genies, it is revealed in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity that the Babylon Rogues are actually descended from aliens.

They also appear in Sonic Free Riders as playable characters.

History
According to history, the Babylon Rogues were an order of technologically advanced thieves known as the Babylonians that existed possibly for centuries. It's been confirmed that they once resided on a floating island known as the 'Babylon Garden' (a reference to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon). All of the original Babylon Rogues were genie-like aliens.

During the events of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, it's revealed that the ancient Babylonians and their descendants were aliens who attempted to harness the power of a black hole for their engine unit, but were forced to land on Earth and disconnect their engine unit into the five Arks of the Cosmos. It explains their technological prowess, as well as why the Babylon Guardian's arena was a large virtual reality chamber. Amy theorizes that the Babylonians may have developed the tradition of wishing on shooting stars, believing that they would have looked to the night sky for the falling Arks of the Cosmos to return, so they could restore their engine and go home.

It is said that the Babylon Rogues excelled in the usage of "Extreme Gear" (an advanced means of transportation seen only in Sonic Riders games), which they used to travel all around the world in their endless pursuit of treasure. A Babylonian artifact called the "Magic Carpet" was said to be the first Extreme Gear ever created and was found to be sealed away in the Babylon Garden.

As for their eventual demise, legend has it the Babylonians angered the gods and as a punishment, Babylon Garden was buried beneath the desert sands (now known as Sand Ruins).

Sonic Rivals series
The three Babylon Rogues also make a cameo appearance in the Sonic Rivals Series, each as their own respective collectible cards.

Current members

 * Jet the Hawk (Speed member, leader)
 * Wave the Swallow (Flight member, mechanic)
 * Storm the Albatross (Power member, brawn)

Previous Members

 * Stolen (Leader)
 * Jet's father
 * Wave's father (Mechanic)
 * The ancient Babylonians

Archie Comics
The Babylon Rogues appear in the Archie Comics's Sonic the Hedgehog in issues #163 and #164. They appear in a backup story that is an adaptation of Sonic Riders like the previous issues' Sonic Rush adaptation. Their part begins when Jet is riding his extreme gear while being chased by robots after stealing something to boost his Gear from Eggman. He is captured and Eggman is intrigued by his speed. He offers Jet the chance to live if he is able to defeat Sonic. Jet agrees if he can bring along some friends—Wave and Storm. They enter Knothole and activate the security system to lure Sonic to them. When he arrives they attack him with Jet using speed, Wave using her technical gear skills, and Storm using brute strength. Despite Sonic's speed, being outnumbered and attacked by enemies using Extreme Gear proved too much for him to handle.

Sonic was sent home to Tails' house and he explained how he gotten beat up. Knuckles jokes around with Sonic for a minute, before Tails comes in holding their brand new Extreme Gear. As the Babylon Rogues are going to enter Knothole City, Sonic and friends come to stop them. After a few healthy insults, they began to race. Storm fought Knuckles, to which Storm admitted that Knuckles was as strong as himself. Tails fought Wave, who made fun of the young fox's board. Finally, Jet and Sonic faced off, speed against speed.

The Babylon Rogues also appeared in Sonic Universe #23, when they descend from their zeppelin and attack Team Hooligan. They stole the Sol Emerald and were about to fly off when Bean had ran up and hugged Jet, referring to him as "Jettison Q. Hawkinton". Nack had then gathered his wits and started attacking the Babylon Rogues, only to be in vain as the rogues fly back to their zeppelin. Nack gave chase in the Marvelous Queen and fired at Jet, hitting the Sol Emerald which burst into flames.

With the Babylon Rogues dazed, and on the ground, Nack takes the Sol Emerald and the Babylon Rogues flew off while Jet orders the zeppelin's auto-pilot to unleash a full bombardment on Team Hooligan. But the attack was thwarted when Bean started "conducting" the bombs, which exploded prematurely. Leaving Wave shocked. Team Hooligan then approached the Babylon Rogues for a fight but they were stopped when Omega fired a shot in between the two teams. Jet became annoyed at the fact of more competition, but Storm remarks, saying "the cute pink hedgehog" showing obvious curiosity of Amy.

During the battle, Storm asked Jet for orders as the leader of the Babylon Rogues puts on his goggles. Then all four teams assaulted each other, Jet saying he doesn't care who anyone is just as long as he gets his treasure. Wave found herself fighting Blaze, Storm says that all the fighting had become boring and Jet agreed, saying "So much for that 'quick buck.'" and deciding that they were better thieves than brawlers anyway and snatched the Sol emerald from Nack. He then ordered a full retreat and the Babylon Rogues descended from the battle. Jet taunts Shadow saying that he's slower than Sonic and much to Jet's dismay, Shadow used Chaos Control to transport on Jet's board and kicked him off. Storm and Wave retaliate and attack Shadow but Rouge and Cream attack them, ending in a collision between Shadow, Wave and Storm. The Sol Emerald then flew into the air and was caught by Amy. Jet then found himself in a mad scramble for the Emerald which was completely useless. Rouge then circled Wave, Jet was stopped in mid-air by Shadow and Storm was challenged by Omega. Eventually all three fell into a pile with Wave on top. The Babylon Rogues were herded into Team Hooligan and Nack warily wonders what's going on. Finally, Blaze snaps her finger and Bean's dead bomb reignites, to everyone's dismay (except Bean). Eventually Jet was dragged by his head feathers by Wave while the Babylon Rogues return to their zeppelin in defeat.

Theme Song
The Babylon Rogues' theme song is Catch Me If You Can, performed by Runblebee.

Reception
While the characters got positive reviews from fans,they got mix reviews from game journalists. IGN said Jet's voice is annoying in Sonic Free Riders. Gamesradar praised the their appearance, which they called "edgy-cute-looking."

Trivia

 * Wave is the only Rogue whose 4Kids voice actress isn't the same as her rival's.
 * In Sonic Free Riders however, it is now Jet who has a different voice actor than his rival.
 * In Sonic Heroes, there are two bosses named the "Egg Hawk" and the "Egg Albatross", but there is no "Egg Swallow".
 * The colors of the Babylon Rogues and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are the same colors of the Chaos Emeralds, save for the Cyan Emerald.
 * Each English language voice actor for the Babylon Rogues have voiced at least one character before the Babylon Rogues debuted in Sonic Riders (Jason Anthony Griffith = Sonic; Bella Hudson = Blaze the Cat; Dan Green = Knuckles).
 * All Babylon Rogues have blue eyes.
 * The Babylon Rogues all have flame like markings on their forearms.