Freedom Fighters (Sonic the Comic)


 * This article is for fictional characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise that appear exclusively in Sonic the Comic, who served as core supporting cast and Freedom Fighters in that continuity, produced by Egmont Fleetway. For minor characters in the same continuity, see List of characters in Sonic the Comic.

The Freedom Fighters were first formed in STC issue 8, The Origin Of Sonic, which sparked off the status-quo of Mobius being ruled by Robotnik until the 100th issue. While Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis were both Sega-created characters (based on the animals rescued at the end of the game levels), Tekno is a creation of Lew Stringer.

The Freedom Fighters originally operated out of a subterranean base, but when Robotnik learnt its location (thanks to Knuckles the Echidna) they were forced to flee it and roamed Mobius disguised as Bob Beaky's Travelling Circus. This base was lost as well when Super Sonic destroyed it during a rampage. In their last days before Robotnik's defeat, they operated out of Tekno's secret underground lab. Sonic is the leader of the team, and when he is absent Amy Rose takes command.

Johnny Lightfoot
Not to be confused with the robot named Johnny in Sonic Rush Adventure

The character of Johnny Lightfoot was originally based on the standard rabbit creature that could often be seen hopping away from a defeated badnik in early games of the series, though he was later adapted to a more humanoid form and gained clothes (including a red jacket). Johnny fought with a unique-looking staff-like weapon, and was one of the most loyal and reliable of the Freedom Fighters, often being a more sensible counter to Sonic. He was said to have many relatives (as actual rabbits tend to have).

Unlike the other Freedom Fighters, he never had much in the way of his solo adventures or major storylines, only having the Agent X saga (see below) and a battle against the forces of Commander Brutus; he even once openly expressed a desire to have his own solo adventure, right before Brutus' Badniks attacked. He would later be briefly turned into a Badnik by Brutus.

A storyline in later issues introduced a villain called Agent X, one of Robotnik's minions. After several appearances, Agent X sabotaged the Freedom Fighter's attack on Robotnik's old Flickies Island base and, after capturing them, revealed himself to be Johnny. It soon turned out that it was not the real Johnny at all, as due to a rip in time and space, he had been captured & replaced by shadow-like aliens. Sonic saved Johnny from the shadow's home dimension and Agent X was destroyed.

The character of Johnny Lightfoot was killed in the final story arc of STC based on Sonic Adventure. Where he attempted to reconnect power to an object the characters needed to defeat the rampaging Chaos. As he reconnected the power, Chaos attacked him and killed him with a powerful blow.

In the unofficial continuation of Sonic the Comic, a nightmare creature took the form of a malevolent undead Johnny in order to feed off Amy's fear. She eventually got rid of it by facing her fear over Johnny's death.

Trivia
Nigel Kitching's tongue-in-cheek explanation in his original pitch for the Sonic Adventure adaptation for Johnny's death was "Johnny is dull, Johnny has always been dull and that is why Johnny must die".

Kitching has also said that he once planned Johnny to be in a love triangle with Sonic and Amy Rose. Though the idea was hinted at in a few stories, this storyline was never developed within the comic. Lew Stringer originally planned for Agent X to actually be Johnny, but Nigel felt that | Johnny was "too nice a guy" to do that; the original plan would also have involved Robotnik, but he was involved in the Drakon Empire plot at the time.

Porker Lewis
Porker Lewis was originally little more than a helpless pig that Sonic freed from badniks (and was the only Sonic character besides Sonic himself to appear in the first issue of the comic). However, he was quickly adapted into the technical expert of the team. It was later revealed that Porker had originally come from the Special Zone, where he was originally called Oscar. The crimelord Hammerhead had duped him into making a powerful bomb and after sabotaging it, he was forced to flee from both the police and an irate Hammerhead, finding a portal to Mobius and changing his name.

Once on Mobius, he resided in the Emerald Hill Zone and became a friend of Sonic. He had the dubious honour of being one of the first Mobians turned into Badniks, and afterwards became a core Freedom Fighter, albeit an extremely timid one.

The most prominent character development Porker saw during the comics was his encounter with the Brotherhood of Metallix, whereupon he found himself spending a month aboard the Miracle Planet as the Brotherhood's prisoner. Porker suffered a nervous breakdown as a result and left the Freedom Fighters to go live in the Mushroom Hill Zone. He made sporadic appearances helping Knuckles with the ancient technology on the Floating Island, occasionally being drawn into situations such as a raid by high-tech thieves on the island. After Robotnik was deposed, Porker would occasionally assist Sonic and the gang again, most notably against Chaos.

His name is likely parodying the popular comedy character Parker Lewis.

Tekno the Canary
One of the more noteworthy characters designed and created by Lew Stringer, Tekno debuted in Sonic The Comic 64 and is a scientific genius and engineer. She is one of the key Freedom Fighters on Mobius. While she possesses similar attributes to Porker Lewis, she is far more adventurous and spends her days building up a backlog of inventions for every eventuality & then seeking out chances to use them against villains in the field.

She was originally a weapons designer for Robotnik and was responsible for the creation of the super-alloy Megatal. When Robotnik caught her working against him by making anti-Badnik weaponry, he had her taken away to the Badnik Processing Plants; Shortfuse the Cybernik intervened to save her in The Cybernik Strikes Back [STC issues 63-67]. In exchange she fixed and repainted his armour and helped him in a mission to bomb one of Robotnik's Chemical Plant Zone factories. Tekno would assist Shortfuse several times after this by giving him repairs and logistical support. When Sonic was missing in the Special Zone, she was introduced to the Freedom Fighters and allowed them to use her secret Emerald Hill Zone lab as their base.

When Robotnik was deposed, Tekno began to team up more with Amy in keeping Mobius secure from the hordes of random criminals & (more frequently) nutters who were springing up, including the Doctor Robotnik Appreciation Tribe, Max Gamble and Agent X. She also helped rescue Shortfuse from the alien Insectra Empire, helping end their war with the Bluurgh in the process, and visited Earth while returning to Mobius, making an enemy of Colonel Granite in the process. Eventually she and Amy were sought up by the mysterious Eternity Ring, a sentient dimensional warp which sent them on missions to right wrongs & fight injustice throughout time and space (possibly inspired by Quantum Leap as it features a similar premise). She even witnessed the beginning of life on Mobius, discovering it was created by dinosaurs (in space suits) working for an unspecified employer (hinted to be God).

Eventually she & Amy returned to Mobius, and Tekno began assisting Sonic in investigating the New Zones. Her final appearance in STC had her & the other Freedom Fighters attempting to stop Robotnik from draining the life-force from Mobius and causing a devastating environmental collapse.

In unofficial continuation Sonic the Comic Online, Tekno built a new suit of armour for Shortfuse so he could continue to fight crime. When it appeared when he was responsible for a series of crimes, she reluctantly investigated and discovered the armour had been tampered with so an unknown figure could control Shorty. She saved him by deactivating the armour, but the two of them were subsequently sucked through the Eternity Ring to an unknown dimension...

Trivia

 * Tekno makes a brief uncanonical cameo appearance in #134 of the Archie Sonic comics, done as one of several admitted in-joke tributes by the artist Jon Gray. This happened without the consent of Tekno's creator/copyright-holder Lew Stringer which is why it is not considered part of the STC canon.