Guardian Units of Nations

The Guardian Units of Nations (often abbreviated G.U.N. or GUN) is a military organization featured in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.

Its status within the Sonic the Hedgehog canon (aside from its Sonic X incarnation) is that of a worldwide military/emergency law enforcement organization, and its duty is to protect the world.

The origin of the name probably stems from the Japanese word for 'army' which is simply 'gun' or 'guntai'. It is similarly likely the full title of the organization - G.U.N., or Guardian Units of Nations - is a backronym. Though the name is pronounced "gun" in most games they are in, it was pronounced "G-U-N" in Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic Adventure 2
In Sonic Adventure 2, the GUN organization was introduced. As the plot is revealed, it is shown that GUN were responsible for the mistaken capture of Sonic the Hedgehog, the ending of Project Shadow, the invasion and subsequent deactivation of the Space Colony ARK and the death of its inhabitants - including Maria Robotnik. GUN's role in this game is simply to contain the threat posed by Shadow the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman. However, they also attack Sonic and his friends (although many factors, such as GUN's mistaking of Sonic for Shadow, and Tails' attack on Prison Island, might have provoked this). In Rouge's first level, GUN is seen holding a turtle at gunpoint. It is unclear as to why they were doing this, and the reason was never explained, though it is likely that the instance was simply a rushed level design choice. The organization was never specifically called "GUN" by the characters, who instead referred to them as "the government" or "the military". The word "GUN" is instead just seen on GUN's technology and boxes that are spread around the game.

Shadow the Hedgehog
The role of GUN in Shadow the Hedgehog's' plot is to repel the invasion of Earth by the forces of the Black Arms by any means necessary - including the (presumably unwanted) assistance from Sonic and his friends. During the opening FMV sequence, it is shown that Earth is being overrun, with GUN's forces almost helpless - hence the temporary alliance. It is also strongly hinted during the game and FMV sequences that GUN's mission is the investigation (and possible destruction) of Shadow himself, depending on the player's moral choices within the game. Their attempts at doing this are caused by the commander of GUN due to his personal hatred of Shadow, although in two endings he realizes Shadow isn't evil.

GUN's role in Sonic Adventure 2 was also expanded in Shadow the Hedgehog, where one of the levels takes Shadow and Maria through the colony during the GUN incursion and it also shows Shadow fighting one of their weapons after they try to harm Maria.

Sonic Rush
In the Huge Crisis Zone of Sonic Rush, the enemies look similar to GUN Hunter and Hawk robots, and they do not release animals when defeated. It is unknown why they attacked Sonic and Blaze but perhaps Doctor Eggman and Eggman Nega must have took over the G.U.N. Battleships and took control of its G.U.N. robots.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
GUN has a small role in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game. Shadow has now become an agent of GUN, whom they requisition to find Rouge the Bat as she has been kidnapped by Eggman. After Rouge is saved, GUN appears even less, and is just occasionally contacted by Shadow and Rouge for various reasons.

Sonic Rivals
Among the 150 collectible cards in Sonic Rivals, 7 are GUN-related pictures. These cards are "The Commander", "Big Foot", "Flying Dog", "Hot Shot", "Gun Wing", "Hornet-6" and "Shield Hunter".

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
GUN is mentoned in the opening cutscene on the radio saying that they are investigating the out of control robot problem.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
They appear to help Sonic and friends find Knuckles. They are first seen helping in destroying the Egg Carrier. They appear later fighting off the Marauders and have a headquarters in Central City as well as taking patrol in Mystic Ruins. They are investigating Knuckles' disappearance and hired Team Chaotix to learn more about the Marauders. Just before Sonic and friends traveled to the Twilight Cage they gave Rouge instructions to gather any Marauder technology for the scientists to research and possibly re-engineer.

Commander
GUN's Commander (also known as the General) is an efficient officer, never backing down in the face of danger. In his debut, he commands his forces against the Black Arms, serving as the counterpart to Dr. Eggman, Black Doom, and Shadow the Hedgehog. He also harbors a deep hatred towards the enigmatic hedgehog. His hatred of Shadow was so great in Shadow the Hedgehog he sent GUN forces after him even though the world at large considered Shadow a hero.

Commander claims he saw Black Doom with Gerald Robotnik releasing Shadow. When the government came to shut down the ARK and killed Maria, he blamed Shadow for her death, as well as the deaths of all other ARK inhabitants, when, ironically, it was the GUN army that killed most of them. It is unknown why he was on the ARK, but it can be assumed that he was related to one of the researchers connected to Project Shadow, since he said his family was killed along with Maria. It is unknown why he himself was evacuated instead of killed.

In some storylines, he controls the Diablon robot, GUN's most powerful creation despite it being unfinished. In three of the endings of the games, he teams up with Sonic to fight Shadow. It is unknown whether he controls it personally or via remote, as both are implied through dialogue/lack thereof.

Once he speaks to Shadow before Cosmic Fall, he realizes that Shadow isn't evil at all and regrets attempting to kill him. After Shadow defeats Devil Doom and destroys the Black Comet, the President states how ironic it was that people treated Gerald like he was evil, and he ended up saving them all in the end. The Commander and the President realize they were wrong about Gerald's intentions and that he was truly a good hearted person. They decide they will help create peace for the world in honor of Gerald. In the Expert Mode, it is revealed that Commander had become a grandfather one week before the events of the game.

Notably, the Commander appears to suffer from heterochromia, as he has one blue and one amber/yellow eye.

Rouge the Bat
Rouge the Bat has been a GUN agent for a very long time, and seems to have been working for GUN at least since Sonic Adventure 2. She is one of the most valuable agents of the organization, and she is apparently highly ranked, as she often takes orders from the President himself. Her status seems to be that of a spy. She is also Topaz's partner in Sonic X.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Like Rouge, Shadow the Hedgehog has become a GUN agent. In Sonic the Hedgehog, he was sent on a mission to rescue Rouge from Dr. Eggman's base. It is unknown what Shadow's status or ranking is. It is also unknown if Shadow or E-123 Omega are still part of GUN, as the events in Sonic06' (only game were they are in GUN) were erased from time.

E-123 Omega
Some speculate that he is a member of G.U.N. like his friends since Rouge asked them for his location in Sonic 06, but this has yet to be confirmed. Although he does join GUN in the Sonic Universe comics series.

Sonic X
In Sonic X television show and Sonic X comic, GUN is a military branch of the United Federation. They took Eggman's technology and, with a few tweaks, created their own robots. They also took Eggman's Eggfort and turned it into their attack vehicle. In the English version of the show, GUN is not referred to as such in the whole series.

Known members

 * Topaz
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Captain Westwood

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie)
The Archie-published Sonic the Hedgehog comic book features GUN as an elite military unit of humans. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters first encountered them when both teams went to Pyro Island, the lair of Zan the Dragon. Working together, they were able to seemingly kill the formidable beast.

Known members

 * Commander Abraham Tower
 * Commander Hugo Brass
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega
 * Unnamed G.U.N. colonel
 * Paladin Team Sigma-Alpha 2:
 * Unnamed team leader
 * Honch
 * Rico
 * Spike
 * Unnamed trooper
 * Hope Kintobor

GUN Troops


GUN's forces consist of both human soldiers and a large variety of robots that are just as complicated and powerful as those of Dr. Eggman. The GUN robots are powered by "Chaos Drives", power cores invented by Gerald Robotnik after researching Chaos Emeralds. Also used for Chao raising and reappeared in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

GUN Soldiers
Foot troops of GUN armed with combat knives or a variety of firearms. First appeared in a cutscene in Sonic Adventure 2, and reappered as common enemies in Shadow the Hedgehog. They mostly wear black and blue, but they also have green, tan, black and brown camouflage clothes for jungle areas, and commonly are armed with pistols, rifles and over-shoulder explosives.

Beetle Series
These are saucer-shaped one-eyed floating robots that appear in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic X and Shadow the Hedgehog. They function as obstacles that block your path forward or serve as tiny attack platforms. There are several different types of beetles, which hover with a fan, but unlike the Wing that has turbines, they can't move. The Beetles in [Shadow the Hedgehog] also have the number "05" on them.

Hunter Series
Hunters are tall white humanoid robots. They have the number "02" on them. According to an eyecatcher information card from Sonic X, a Hunter is 3.5 meters tall, 2.5 meters wide, and weighs 2.5 tons.

Rhino Series
Rhinos are blocky tank-like robots. They usually attack by attempting to ram into their target. They have the number "03" on them.

Hawk Series
Hawks are large floating GUN robots that don't really look like anything else. They appear to have two cylinder-shaped engines that they use to hover and maneuver in the air. They have the number "04" on them.

Hornet Series
Hornets are flying eye-like robots with several appendages that hold bombs. When they spot an enemy, they fire the bombs toward it. They have the number "05" on them.

Artificial Chaos series
Artificial Chaos are robotic version of Chaos from Sonic Adventure that exists on the Space Colony ARK and all are prototypes of the Ultimate Life Form. See Gerald Robotnik for more information.

F-6 series
The F-6 Big Foot walkers are large bipedal walkers. They can also hover in the air. In Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, they are manned by a GUN pilot, but in Sonic X, they appear to be completely robotic or remote-controlled, somewhat weaker, and mass-produced.

F-6 Big Foot

A newer version of the Big Foot colored teal, yellow and red. It appears in Shadow the Hedgehog and usually guards later levels. They are the second strongest standard enemy belonging to G.U.N. In Shadow the Hedgehog, they carry gatling guns which Shadow can pick up after he has defeated them. It's much stronger than the Sonic Adventure 2 variant, and takes many more homing attacks to defeat.

F-6r Big Foot

The F-6r is similar to the F-6, except it is camouflage-colored and is armed with two quad missile launchers on its "shoulders". It appears in Shadow the Hedgehog as fairly uncommon enemy. It is also the strongest unit belonging to G.U.N. It never uses its gatling gun, but fires homing missiles very quickly. After being destroyed, it drops a lock-on missile launcher.

Spider Troops F-6t Big Foot

The F-6t is similar to the F-6r, but is teal, yellow and red instead of camouflage-colored. It attacks by flying above Sonic and firing its gatling gun, occasionally landing to fire its missiles. It appears as one of the first bosses in Sonic Adventure 2 and its Sonic X adaption, where it was fought and destroyed by Sonic. According to Sonic X, this Big Foot is 3.4 meters tall, 4.8 meters wide, and weighs 9.2 tons.

Others
Scorpion Troops B-3x Hot Shot

Nearly identical to an F-6t Big Foot, except for a particle beam cannon built into the torso. Appears only in Sonic Adventure 2 and its Sonic X adaption, where it was fought and defeated by Shadow the Hedgehog. It is very similar to the Big Foot fought by Sonic, but the main difference between the two is that Big Foot makes three overhead machine-gun passes before landing and firing missiles, while Hot Shot only passes overhead once, but is armed with a powerful laser cannon. According to Sonic X, the Hot Shot is 3.4 meters tall, 4.8 meters wide, and weighs 9.6 tons.

JII-G

A small walker that can jump to very high heights, and has some hovering capabilities. It appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog, where Shadow can use it for himself.

CV-4

A walker very similar to the JII-G, but armed with two machine gun turrets. It cannot jump nearly as high as the JII-G, but it has hovering capabilities. It appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog along with the JII-G.

Hovering mechs
R-1/A Flying Dog

A flying mech identical in equipment to Hot Shot, with the exception of not needing to land, completely lacking legs. It appears in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic X, where it traps Rouge the Bat on Prison Island, but is defeated. According to Sonic X, it is 3.6 meters in both tallness and wideness, and weighs 5.4 tons.

Mantis Platoon HD1 Heavy Dog

Appears in Shadow the Hedgehog in one of Shadow the Hedgehog's flashbacks. The Heavy Dog is a large, disc-like machine that tries to stop Shadow and Maria Robotnik from escaping the Space Colony ARK, but it is destroyed by Shadow. The Heavy Dog is armed with several homing missile launchers all around its body, and can drop floating mines that explode after some time. Its most dangerous armament is its Particle Beam Cannon, a weapon that fires blue energy waves in all directions. Interestingly, blueprints for the Heavy Dog can be seen on the walls of the level you fight it in. Presumably, the Heavy Dog was built aboard the ARK, corresponding with what Shadow said about "weapons of of mass destruction" being built on the ARK.

LZ-12R Blue Falcon

Also appearing in Shadow the Hedgehog, the Blue Falcon is a different version of the HD1 Heavy Dog, exchanging the bomb-launching en masse capabilities of its counterpart for enhanced speed and strength. It is assigned to guard the Eclipse Cannon from invaders. The Blue Falcon is armed with the same missile launchers and Particle Beam Cannon as the Heavy Dog, but has the ability to drop powerful bombs instead of floating mines.
 * The Blue Falcon is said to be named after Captain Falcon's car in F-Zero of the same name, possibly since Sega happened to help develop F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX.

U78-X/D Diablon

The mech U78-X/D Diablon appears in Shadow the Hedgehog as one of the possible final bosses. It is a humanoid robot, fully equipped with a powerful energy shield, a jetpack, a strong laser gun and its most powerful feature; the Antimatter Cannon, which after some necessary charging up creates an explosion of energy causing destruction within a large radius. Diablon is controlled by GUN's Commander (whether remotely or internally is unknown, as both ways are implied by dialogue/lack thereof), and is accompanied by Sonic when fought by Shadow. Its serial number and name are displayed on its wrists. It can be confronted in the GUN Fortress, Final Haunt and Black Comet stages. Many fans consider it the most powerful GUN robot there is, even though it was incomplete, speculating it may be stronger if it was completed.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog revealed a much larger and more realistic arsenal of weapons for GUN (and Shadow) to use.

GUN Fortress
GUN's headquarters appears in Shadow the Hedgehog and is considered the most secure shelter on Earth. The President is taken there for safety when the Black Arms attack Central City. The underground fortress is heavily guarded by three mother computers, armed security cameras, and an inmeasurable number of GUN troops and mechs. It is located in a mountain near the sea, as seen on the platform where the goal ring is located.

Prison Island
A large jungle island used as a prison and research base by GUN. In Sonic Adventure 2, Dr. Eggman first came there to find GUN's secret weapon, which turned out to be Shadow the Hedgehog. Some time later, Sonic the Hedgehog was captured by GUN due to a misunderstanding and imprisoned deep inside the island, but he was quickly rescued by Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose. At the same time Shadow, Eggman and Rouge the Bat attacked the island in order to take GUN's Chaos Emeralds. They succeeded and planted several explosives on the island, blowing it up as everyone escaped.

However, Shadow the Hedgehog revealed that the explosives had only destroyed GUN's main base and spilt toxic waste into the rivers. GUN still has some overgrown paths and prison cells in the jungle, and they use them to hold captured Black Arms soldiers. In the game, Charmy Bee goes to the island to look for some hidden data disks on behalf of Vector the Crocodile, and the player can choose to help him find them.

Voice acting

 * Topaz - Kayzie Rogers (US)
 * Commander - Marc Thompson (US)
 * GUN soldiers (including Blue Falcon and Heavy Dog) - Andrew Rannells (US)

Trivia

 * Although Rouge has been a long-time agent in the video-game series, in Sonic X, she was an agent for quite a short while as she only joined when she reached Earth.