Pocky

Pocky (ポッキー) is a species in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. It is a race of rabbit Animals which live in various regions all over Sonic's world, and are friends of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies. They are constantly hunted by Dr. Eggman who seeks to use them as energy sources for his Badnik army and often imprisons them in Capsules for later use.

Anatomy
The general Pocky resembles a rotund domestic rabbit. Although classified as animals, the Pockies' anatomy is remarkably humanoid. They have a round-shaped head with large dark eyes, a furry muzzle, long ears with light peach inner ears, and two small front teeth. Other features include a smaller torso, stubby hind legs, long tree-toed feet, a fluffy tail tassel and upturned hair tuffs on their forehead. They also have small arms with five-fingered hands (although one instance shows they can also have regular paws). Pockies' fur is usually either gray or light blue, though there has also been cases where it is pink, while having white fur on their belly, feet, tail, muzzle, and usually their hands.

Characteristics
Like actual animals, the Pockies can only speak in a language consisting of small eeks. Although classified as fauna, Pockies are remarkably intelligent and sociable, being capable of understanding normal language and establishing their own Animal communities. All Pockies are generally good-hearted, helpful, friendly and playful, but their small stature leaves them rather defenseless on their own. They also have great respect and appreciation for nature, choosing to live in complete harmony with it.

Habitats
Pockies can be found residing in various natural environments like forests all around Earth and its unusual satellites, such as South Island, West Side Island, Angel Island, Little Planet and the Lost Hex, where they have established their own small villages, more often than not with other Animal species.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Pocky first appears in the 16-bit version of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. The Pockies were amongst the South Island Animals whom Sonic went to rescue after Dr. Robotnik captured them and used them to power his Badnik army - all as a part of a plot to collect the Chaos Emeralds. The Pockies can be found at Green Hill Zone and Scrap Brain Zone Act 1-2 where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of Green Hill Zone Act 3. They also appear in the ending cinematic where they celebrate Sonic's victory in the Green Hill Zone.

Pockies also make an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, they only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of Green Hill Zone Act 3.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
In the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Pockies repeat their role from the first game. In this game, the Pockies and the other Animals from West Side Island are captured by Dr. Robotnik and used to power new Badnik workers meant to finish Robotnik's Death Egg. The Pockies can be found in Chemical Plant Zone they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsules at the end of the second Act.

Pockies also makes an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, they can be found in Under Ground Zone and Green Hills Zone where they appear from opened Capsules at the end of the third Acts.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Pockies are shown to inhabit Little Planet. In this game, Pockies will appear and happily prance around in the Zones of Collision Chaos and Stardust Speedway alongside other Animals after certain conditions are met. The players can either ensure a good future for these Rounds by collecting their Time Stone or destroying Eggman's Machines hosted there to make the Pockies appear in the good futures, or they can destroy a Zone's Metal Sonic Projector to make the Pockies appear in every timeframe of said Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its add-on continuation Sonic & Knuckles, the Pockies reprised their roles from the first installments. In this game, the Pockies and other Animals of Angel Island are kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and turned into Badniks to help Robotnik relaunch the Death Egg. The Pockies can be found in Hydrocity Zone and Carnival Night Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and in Sandopolis Zone and Sky Sanctuary Zone, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules at the end of the second Acts (excluding the Sky Sanctuary Zone which have no Capsules).

In Sky Sanctuary Zone, Pockies and Cuckies can be seen fleeing fearfully from the towers that EggRobos emerge from to attack the player.

Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
Pocky appears in Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and animal friends. He appears at background of Gameworld testing its equipments and from the slot machine of Concentration Game.

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver
In Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver, the Pockies make a number small cameos in several of the game's artwork images as one of Sonic's friends.

Sonic Jam
In Sonic Jam, the game's Character House features conceptual sketches of Pocky and the other Animals.

Sonic Pocket Adventure
While Pocky does not reprise his role as a power source for Badniks, like Flicky and Ricky in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, Pocky appeared along with several other animal friends in the game's perfect ending.

Sonic Advance
In Sonic Advance, a pink-furred Pocky makes a cameo in the ending cinematic after clearing the Moon Zone. There, the Pocky, alongside with Tails, Knuckles, Amy and other Animals, awaited Sonic's return from the moon.

Sonic Pinball Party
In Sonic Pinball Party, a pink-furred Pocky briefly appears. In the game, Dr. Eggman puts a pinball contest against Sonic at Casinopolis where he is threatening to turn all the Animals (possibly Pocky too) into his robots if Sonic loses. Pocky can be seen at bottom of several Sonic-themed boards, watching the player's actions alongside other Animals and Chao.

Sonic Rush
In Sonic Rush, a pink-furred Pocky appeared alongside the main characters in the ending of Sonic the Hedgehog's story where they celebrate Sonic's victory.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4
In Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Pocky appeared in all three episodes of the series where they returned to their roles from the first games in the series. The Pockies and other Animals were specifically captured by Dr. Eggman in Episode I to power an improved Badnik army meant to defeat Sonic.

The Pockies can be found Splash Hill Zone and Mad Gear Zone in Episode I and in White Park Zone in Episode II, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules after the boss Acts. At the end of Episode Metal, Pockies and other Animals can be seen watching Sonic and Tails leave in the Tornado, only to be scared away Metal Sonic when the robot express its fury over losing Sonic.

Sonic Jump
In the 2012 remake of Sonic Jump, Pocky, along with Flicky, Picky and Cucky, makes appearances during the cutscenes. In the game, Dr. Eggman kidnaps Pocky and the Animals and imprisons them in the prison unit on the Egg Mobile to take them away, while Sonic and the others try to save them.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Pockies and other Animals are shown to inhabit the Lost Hex. During the events of the game, Dr. Eggman, with the assistance of the Deadly Six, resumed kidnapping Animals, the Pockies being among them, to create a new Badnik army. The small group of Animals and a Pocky that managed to escape capture remained with Knuckles and Amy while Sonic and Tails went out to save their friends, where they had fun at the expense of Knuckles. After Eggman got buried from landing on the Earth after falling from the Lost Hex, a lone Pocky located the comatose Eggman and bit off his mustache in the belief it was a vegetable.

The Pockies and the other Animals serve as collectible content used to progress with the game. Once the players have collected a set amount of Animals, they gain access to the fourth Zone in each World. They player can collect Pockies by defeating Badniks, opening smaller Capsules in the Zones, and opening the larger Capsules at the end of most Zones. Pockies and other Animals can also be collected from Circus tents. The Pockies can be found in Windy Hill, Desert Ruins, Frozen Factory, Sky Road and Hidden World.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a Pocky appears alongside other Animals as a part of one of the collectable trophies representing the Sonic the Hedgehog series:

Excluding the trophy, the Pocky also occasionally makes a cameo appearance in the background of the Windy Hill Zone.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Pockies play supporting roles to the main cast in the storyline. In this game, all the individual Pockies are referred to as "Pocky". Over the course of the game, Team Sonic comes across the Pockies several times, who request the team's help for different situations. This include either stopping Dr. Eggman from capturing them for his Badniks or terrorizing their homes and friends, or aiding them with more personal issues. Sometimes though, they will help Team Sonic as well, usually providing information or handling smaller tasks.

In gameplay, Pockies will pop out of destroyed Badniks and bounce a little further down the path before falling behind the player. If the players grab them as they pass by, they will earn 2,500 bonus points at the result screen for each Pocky.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
In the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, Pocky's design most likely served as the inspiration for an anthropomorphic female rabbit named Bunnie Rabbot. In this media, Bunnie lived in Mobotropolis, but was forced into hiding in the sanctuary of Knothole Village when Dr. Robotnik took over the kingdom. There, she became a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. She would later be subjugated to Roboticization, rendering half of her body robotic, although she would come to use her new cyborg abilities for the benefit of the Freedom Fighters.

Sonic X
In the Sonic X anime, Pocky, much like in the games, is an animal species native to Sonic's world. Several of them got set to earth by Chaos Control where they remained for a while until they got sent back home. In this media, they are also portrayed as slightly taller than in games.

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Pocky, along with other animal friends, appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. He appears in a few panels in the first and third stories. In the Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 2 story ''Clash!! South Island'', he is being chased by Caterkiller in Marble Zone until Sonic destroys the badnik and saves both Pocky and Picky from danger.

Sonic the Comic
In the British publication Sonic the Comic, a Pocky was named Johnny Lightfoot. In this media, Johnny was a close friend of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies, and would later become one of the founding members of the Freedom Fighters, a group dedicated to taking back Mobius from the dictator Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Amongst his team, Johnny was mainly a fighter, using a unique-looking staff-like weapon. Johnny accompanied his team through many battles and against several villains, from the beginning of their war with Robotnik, to the aftermath of the doctor's defeat, although he never had many solo adventures of his own.

Johnny was eventually killed during a confrontation with the water beast Chaos. He death hit Sonic the hardest and caused a serious change in the hedgehog's outlook.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the character Bunnie Rabbot from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series which Pocky apparently inspired was adapted as a part of the main cast. In this media, Bunnie was born in the Southern Baronies just before the Great War. Her parents died during the conflict. Bunnie was raised by her Uncle Beauregard and Aunt Lulumae happily for many years. However, things soured when her uncle claimed her parents died in service of the Overlanders due to long-standing tensions between the Southern Baronies and the Kingdom of Acorn.

Rejecting that her parents were traitors, Bunnie ran away from home, cobbling together a small farm on the edge of the kingdom's borders. She was soon found and captured by SWATbots and put in a portable roboticizer. Sonic the Hedgehog and Rotor Walrus came to her rescue a moment too late; Bunnie was half-roboticized. However, Bunnie took it rather well. Bunnie bonded with Sally Acorn and quickly became one of the Freedom Fighters, providing many facets of aid to her team. While she put on a brave face, she hoped she would one day be returned to normal. But then her body began rejecting her robotic parts. She would accept an upgraded design from Dr. Quack and Nate Morgan, though she could never be deroboticized. With Antoine's love and support, she committed to her cyborg life and eventually married Antoine after many heartaches. When Ixis Naugus attempted to fix Bunnie's cybernetics with magic when he crystalize them, she was miraculously reverted back to flesh and blood. Shortly after, however, Antoine was nearly killed on a mission. Blaming her own powerlessness, Bunnie turned to the Great Desert Dark Egg Legion until the second Genesis Wave.

In the timeline created by the Super Genesis Wave, Bunnie was injured during Dr. Eggman's uprising and was partially roboticized to save her life. Adjusting to her new body, Bunnie joined the New Freedom Fighters in the fight against the Eggman Empire, eventually committing to her life as a cyborg, and later married Antoine.

Aside from Bunnie, regular Pockies would over time also appear in the comics, first during Operation: Clean Sweep and later as fauna native to Sonic's World after the Super Genesis Wave.

Early Sonic canon
Early on in the series, when all the Animals were renamed by Sega of America for the western regions in the Sonic Bible, Pocky's gender was defined as male and was named Rabbit in the bible's first draft. Pocky would later be renamed Johnny Lightfoot in the bible's second draft. Both bibles would say that Johnny comes from a large family like other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Pockies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic. Johnny in particular taught Sonic how to outrun every creature in the forest. The guidebook Stay Sonic would later elaborate that Johnny Lightfoot was the sprint champion during his time before teaching Sonic to run at high speed. However, this statement has never been brought back in any other media.

Trivia

 * When Pocky was originally featured on his own card in Sonic the Hedgehog Online Trading Cards, he has been misleadingly named as Picky. Apparently, Picky is also another animal friend's name, who's has also been misleadingly called as Cookie in the same card game.
 * In the American version of Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, he is is credited by his Japanese name Pocky, rather than his American name Johnny Lightfoot during that time.