Spike (Dark Gaia's Minions)

"Don't touch the floating bombs!"

- Description of the Spikes in Sonic Unleashed (Wii/PS2)

The Spike (スパイク) is one of the types of Dark Gaia's minions that appears exclusively on the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. While these floating orbs cannot attack, they will self-destruct a short while after being touched. They only appear during the game's nighttime stages.

Overview
The Spikes and the rest of Dark Gaia's minions came into being when Dark Gaia broke apart into millions of fragments in the beginning of Sonic Unleashed due to its premature awakening by Dr. Eggman. These fragments were then spread across the Earth and became Dark Gaia's minions, with the Spikes some amongst them. They first appear in Cool Edge Night Act I: The Aurora Snowfields.

The Spikes possess rather high defenses and a large amount of health, which mostly prevents a weaker player from destroying them in time before they can self-destruct. While the Spikes can be quite the nuisance, they can also be picked up by the player and be used as grenades by throwing them into walls or other enemies which will not only instantly destroy the Spikes, but can also break down blockades and deal extra damage to enemies.

Near the end of Sonic Unleashed, all of the Spikes were returned to Dark Gaia, who was later defeated and sealed within the planet's core.

Physical Appearance
Physically, the Spikes are the most simple of Dark Gaia's minions. They are shaped like orbs that are about half the size of Sonic the Werehog, and possesses one large eye, a wide smile and amethyst skin. On the top of them they have an opening that reveals an internal orange mass that will expand into a large orb when they are about to explode.

Powers and Abilities
The Spikes are able to move around by emerging from black puddles on the ground. As a Dark Gaia minion, the Spikes can possess people by latching onto the deepest, darkest part of the heart, and generate despair, negative emotions or even erratic behavior that are completely opposite to the person's personality.

The Spikes possess the innate ability to levitate and can move through mid-air, albeit at a slow pace.

The Spikes' signature skill is their ability to self-destruct. By buliding up a charge inside their own bodies, the Spikes can release a powerful explosion from themselves that damages everything within its range, at the cost of utterly destroying their own bodies.

Attack Patterns
The Spikes have no means of their own to attack the player. Instead, the Spikes will try to close in on the player so that the player will touch them. Once a Spike has been physically touched from either being walked into or from being attacked, they will begin a countdown lasting about seven seconds, before self-destructing, damaging anything caught within the explosion, be it the player or other enemies. During the process of their countdown, the Spikes will try to follow the player around in order to stay close to him/her once they explode.

Trivia

 * The Spikes do not release any orbs or Dark Gaia Force upon their defeat, since their ability to self-destruct could earn the player some "easy" points.
 * Sometimes Spikes can be found in the Gaia Gates to help solve some of the puzzles.