Jet the Hawk

"No way I'm gonna lose!"

- Jet the Hawk

Jet the Hawk (ジェット・ザ・ホーク) is a fictional anthropomorphic hawk from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Jet is the 14 year-old leader of the Babylon Rogues and is often nicknamed the "Legendary Wind Master" due to his mastery of Extreme Gear. He is Sonic's most potent rival in the Sonic Riders series. He uses a Type-J board that allows him to reach high speeds. Although he can be a tad bit annoying when he is bragging about how fast he is, whenever he confronts Sonic, Jet also possesses a mysterious "control box", passed down from his ancestors, that is said to awaken the fabled Babylon Garden. Only the power of the Chaos Emeralds can activate its fabled power.

Some fans believe Jet to be modeled after Bean the Dynamite from Sonic the Fighters. In some cases, people even mistook Jet to be Bean. Nintendo Power Magazine played a joke on this fact by giving an image of Jet a caption reading; "Bean? Is that you, Bean? Oh! How we've missed you!". Few people notice that Jet has the opposite color scheme to Sonic. Sonic is blue with green eyes, but Jet is green with blue eyes.

Sonic Channel reveals info about Jet that was not stated in Sonic Riders. Apparently, Jet is 14, and is the same height as Sonic and Shadow (100 cm). He also weighs 33 kilograms--two kilograms fewer than Sonic or Shadow. Jet's original name was intended to be "Wind".

Origin
It is revealed in the Sonic Riders series that Jet's ancestors are technological, intelligent, and professional Extreme Gear riders from the Babylon Garden. In the ending of Sonic Riders, it is revealed that the ancestors of Jet were actually Genies who had invented a "secret treasure", which was a magic carpet (the first Extreme Gear).

In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, it is revealed that Jet's ancestors were actually aliens. Jet's ancestors use to utilize an ultimate power from the Ark of the Cosmos, but all five of the Ark of the Cosmos had crashed into the Earth forming "shooting stars". However, not much is known about the ancestry.

Sonic Riders
Jet first appeared when he is chased by Sonic because he has stolen a Chaos Emerald. He later entered the EX World Grand Prix with Wave and Storm. He advances to the finals of the EX World Grand Prix and (unintentionally) unfairly wins after Wave detonates an explosive placed on the bottom of Sonic's board near the end of the race. Again, he races against Sonic after Doctor Eggman steals the control box in order to steal the ancient treasure of Babylon. This time, he is defeated fairly. Sonic, who retrieved the box from Eggman, willingly hands it to Jet, as he is not intending to use it.

At the doors of the Babylonian Fortress, Jet, Wave, and Storm awaken and are confronted by the Babylon Guardian, a large purple genie, and only succeed in defeating it with the help of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. They discover the fabled Babylonian Treasure to be the ancient Extreme Gear Magic Carpet.

Jet and Sonic finally decide to be more friendly to each other, even though Jet still thinks of Sonic as a rival. Jet concedes to the fact that Sonic is faster than him. However, this doesn't make him want to beat Sonic any less than in the beginning. Jet and Sonic later have many other races.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Jet wishes upon a shooting star for the power to beat Sonic, then when the shooting star crashes it causes an avalanche, making a newly found artifact activate, revealing to Jet the powers of gravity control. Proclaiming himself the fastest thing in the universe, Jet sets off to find the rest of the Ark's of the Cosmos, and prove to Sonic the Hedgehog once and for all he is the best.

Jet and Sonic meet up again at MeteorTech and Jet immediately jumps at the chance to prove once and for all to Sonic that he is the fastest in the universe. Later on, at the end of the game, Jet and Sonic have a race to prove who gets the title of fastest and all of the Ark of the Cosmos. Jet and Sonic tie and Sonic gives his Ark of the Cosmos to him. Tails figures out that the Arks use black holes to use Gravity Control and that if all of them are close enough to Babylon Garden, the entire world would be sucked into the massive black hole it would create.

One of Eggman's robots flies into the room and steals the Arks from Wave and flies them to Babylon Garden. Babylon Garden reverts back into it's usual form as a space ship and a black hole appears at it's center and begins sucking in the world. Jet, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Wave and Storm fly to the Garden and defeat the Master Core: ABIS program. The last cutscene from the game is Sonic, Tails, Knuckles driving through a city and Jet flying up beside them and challenging Sonic to yet another race.

Sonic Free Riders
Jet once again rivals Sonic alongside Wave and Storm in the game Sonic Free Riders, exclusive for the Xbox 360 Kinect.

Sonic and the Black Knight
Jet appears as Sir Lamorak in the Wii-exclusive video game, Sonic and the Black Knight. Although he doesn't appear in the main story mode, he's unlockable afterward, and uses two twin swords. Like Gawain, his Soul Surge is Gail Meteor. He is unlocked by obtaining 5 Mastery Stars in Great Megalith.

Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games
He was going to appear in the crossover Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games, but was removed from the last version for unknown reasons. However, his data still remains in the game and he is still playable by hacking.

Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games
Jet was revealed in a Nintendo Magazine to appear in Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games, but appeared as a boss. Like Rouge, he is one of the rivals that challenges you every couple of days in the Festival Mode. In the DS Adventure tour Jet is in Cubyrinth waiting for Sonic to arrive so he can challenge him to see if he can beat him in Deluxe Halfpipe and when defeated he runs off promising to come back for a rematch later. In the Wii version, he challenges the player in Snowboard Cross.

Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Jet appears as a boss in the 3DS version of the game. When he runs into Sonic, Tails, Yoshi, Shadow, and Silver, who are looking for a fog machine, he says that he will claim it for the Babylon Rogues. He competes against Shadow in 3000m Steeplechase. When he is defeated, Tails asks for his help to find the fog machine. Jet tells him that the machine was already near them. He tries to destroy the machine (which is what Sonic wanted to do so the Games wouldn't be postponed) but bounces off the machine and gets dizzy.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Jet appears as a collectible trophy and sticker.

Trophy Description

Music
Jet's theme, often associated with the entire Babylon Rogues group, is called Catch Me If You Can. A remixed version was created for the OST, and a new version was created for Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.

Quotes

 * "No way I'm gonna lose!" - Jet before a race starts in Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "I'm the best!" - Jet after winning a race.
 * "Hmph! So YOU'RE supposed to be the fastest thing alive?" - When Jet attacked Sonic in the opening scene of Team Heroes in Sonic Riders.
 * "Now you'll see my TRUE POWER!" - Jet before doing a gravity dive in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "You may be the fastest... for now... But I'll be back. Sonic the Hedgehog!" - Jet at the end of Sonic Riders.
 * "Why'd you do that? I was just having this great daydream!" - Jet after dreaming of being surrounded by bags of gold.
 * "Feel the wrath of Babylon!" - Jet when he attacks his opponent in Sonic Riders.
 * "No sweat!" - Jet after performing a trick properly.
 * "Ugh! I'll get you next time!" - Jet after losing a race in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "The dirt suits you so well!" - Says that to Sonic when he wins from the EX World Grand Prix.
 * "Hmph! He may be the fastest creature on the ground, but in the air, with me and my Extreme Gear, he's just a joke!" - Jet in the opening cutscene of the Babylon Story, in Sonic Riders.
 * "It's been a while, Sonic the Hedgehog." - Jet appearing before Sonic and the others in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "I'll show you!" - Jet in attack mode in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "Rush? I'm the fastest thing in the universe! And today, I'm gonna prove it." - When Sonic was telling him that "girls hate guys who rush them".
 * "Hmph! I lost! So don't play games with me! I don't want your pity, nor do I need it!" - When Sonic was handing him over the box, even when Jet lost against Sonic.
 * "Let's Fly!" Jet boosting in the race in Sonic Free Riders.
 * "H-hey! Wait!" - When Sonic leaves Jet in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
 * "What's with the temper tantrum? Is this kindergarten?" - Jet in one of the cutscenes of Sonic Free Riders.

Storm the Albatross
Since Jet is the leader of the Babylon Rogues, Storm does not call Jet by his name; he calls him "Boss" and does whatever he can to please Jet. Jet doesn't really seem to take Storm as a friend as he is always acting like a leader and appoints him missions.

Wave the Swallow
Jet is also Wave's boss. But Wave doesn't bother calling him "Boss", she simply calls him by his name. She is the creator of Jet's Extreme Gear, Type-J. She also helps Jet by her intelligence, But Jet seems to be bothered by her "long and boring speeches".

Sonic the Hedgehog
Jet and Sonic have been rivals ever since they met. At first, when Jet was better than Sonic in Extreme Gear riding, Jet used to make fun of Sonic. In the last court in the World Grand Prix, Jet was surprised that he was actually losing against Sonic, so he (albeit unknowingly, due to Wave's deception) cheated which made him win. In the end of Sonic Riders, the two had a more friendly relationship, friendship and promised each other to compete once again. In addition, although Jet desires to beat Sonic in racing, he does not wish to do unfair tactics to win against him, as he told Wave to not sabotage Sonic's Extreme Gear, and later told Wave off when he learned about the actual reason behind his win was indeed due to Wave sabotaging Sonic's Extreme Gear. Wave tells Jet that it's time to split up. And everyone hops on to their gears and went home. In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, they met again and had a race, but it ended up as a draw, Sonic then says in the end of the game that he'll compete Jet again in the World Grand Prix. But however, in the final ending, when Sonic was in the car, Jet called his name and came in-front of a car asking for another race, Sonic accepts it and the two are competing against each other. It is unknown which one of them won the race since the credits of the game came in between.

Amy Rose
In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, when Jet found out that Amy had one of the Ark of the Cosmos, he had gone after her. When he caught her, he said "Alright, girly. Hand over the Ark of the Cosmos!", Amy told him that she has no idea what was he talking about, Jet thought she was lying and told her not to play dumb. When Jet had reached Eggman's Computer Room, he found out how important the Ark of the Cosmos were and knew that Amy still had them, but since she wasn't around he couldn't get it from her, but Storm got it from her, along with another one.

Friends

 * Wave the Swallow
 * Storm the Albatross

Enemies/Rivals

 * Dr. Eggman (after being betrayed)
 * Metal Sonic
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (rival in speed)
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Cream the Rabbit

Extreme Gear
Like the other Babylon Rogues, Jet's Extreme Gear board gets it's name from the first letter of Jet's name. His board is called Type-J. (Another good example of this is Wave the Swallow's, which has a W as the first letter of her name, therefore her board is named Type-W.)

Attacks
Sneeze: Jet sneezes directly in his opponent's face to catch them off guard, distracting them and slowing them down considerably. (Sonic Free Riders)

Bashyo Attack: By using one or both of his Bashyo fans, Jet can take a direct swipe at his enemies, inflicting damage and with enough power stopping them in their tracks. (Sonic Riders)

Personality
Jet the Hawk's personality is greedy, conceited and selfish. He is normally very lazy and rude, seen as when he ordered Wave and Storm around, and has also shown to have a really short temper, by stomping around and aggressively kicking whatever he sees, whenever he gets angry. Despite him being greedy, he can at times act nice to others and treat them fairly, even if they are his rivals. When he and Sonic first met, Jet teased him about his skills and having no chance in competing with him in the air, but, it was then shown in Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, he seemed to have become more mature and level-headed, by no longer kicking things, when he gets angered and instead of raising his voice, he simply ignores Storm and Wave's frequent arguments. However, when listening to Wave's boring (and sometimes complicated) talks, he tells her to shorten her information down and put them in simple terms. Despite that, he seemed to have become a better leader of the Babylon Rogues, compared to his debut. In Sonic Free Riders, he still shows some signs of arrogance, but seems to have become more mature. Before one of his races with Sonic, towards the end, he asks Wave, if she had messed with Sonic's Gear in any way, meaning that unlike in Sonic Riders, in which he was interested in cheating, in order to win, in Sonic Free Riders, he was shown to be more keen on having a fair race.

Reception
IGN had said that Jet's voice in Sonic Free Riders is more annoying but they had said that they think it's fine because he is a "jerk." Many fans believe that Jet is a great character, as seen on SEGA's website, where they took a poll on Jet. Other than IGN, most websites leave no comment on Jet's personality or behavior.

Trivia

 * Jet is the youngest member in his group, the Babylon Rogues. He is also the youngest rival Sonic has ever had in the game series alongside Silver who, like Jet, is also 14.
 * Coincidentally, both of them have a seiyuu that shares the same given name (Daisuke).
 * Oddly enough, in Durarara!! Both Daisuke Ono and Kishio voice characters related to each other (the Heiwajima brothers.)
 * Jet is currently the only Babylon Rogues member to have a playable appearance outside the Sonic Riders series, in Sonic and the Black Knight in the multiplayer mode.
 * Jet also makes the most appearances than Storm or Wave do outside the Sonic Riders series.
 * Jet was intended to be playable in Sonic Rivals and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Jet appears as a rival character though.
 * In the early days, many fans mistook Jet for Bean the Dynamite, as both had green feathers and shared the same yellow beak.
 * On that note, there is a similarity between Speedy the Kukku, Bean the Dynamite, and Jet the Hawk, since they are all bird characters who have green feathers and yellow beaks.
 * In the European version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, if you hack the game, Jet is playable along with Silver, Donkey Kong, Cream, Big, Birdo and Espio.
 * In Jet's quarters of the Babylon Rogues' hovercraft, there is a portrait of a bird that is most likely Jet's father.
 * Jet's species may have chosen as a reference to the famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk, as they are both skilled board riders.
 * In Jet's 2D images, he has nostrils on his beak. However, in his 3D renders he doesn't. This could be the exception with his Sonic and the Black Knight artwork, though it is hard to confirm due to his helmet blocking the "nose" of his beak.
 * Jet's laughing is similar to Sonic's, because they were both voiced by Jason Griffith. Jet's voice can be traced back to the anime One Piece, as one of the characters, Usopp.
 * Jet is the only rival Sonic has that he hasn't made friends with. Jet is still competitive with Sonic every time they meet. This does not, however, affect their teamwork.
 * Jet and Sonic seem to have their colors inverted, in terms of eye and fur/feather color. Jet's appearance is mostly green, but he has blue eyes, the color of Sonic. Sonic's appearance is mostly blue, but he has green eyes, the color of Jet. This is especially noticeable on the cover of Sonic Riders.
 * Jet, along with Wave and Storm, is the only characters in the Sonic Riders series to wear their goggles when racing in-game, though in the opening cutscene in the first Sonic Riders, that was the only time he wore his goggles in any cutscene of some sort.
 * Also, most characters tend to wear their goggles when using skates in the first two Sonic Riders games, Jet basically wears his goggles more often compared to others, possibly noting to his experience on an Extreme Gear.