Wisp (IDW)

The Wisps are creatures that appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by IDW Publishing. They are a diminutive, yet powerful alien species from Planet Wisp. After their planet was saved by Sonic the Hedgehog, countless Wisps have since taken up residence on Sonic's world where they help the world's inhabitants out from time to time.

There are numerous breeds of Wisps, each with its own special ability. Being made of energy, these aliens can lend their energy to others, granting them incredible powers. The residents of Sonic's world harness their powers with gadgets called Wispons.

Anatomy
The Wisps are composed entirely of energy. Overall, they are similar, both in appearance and in motion, to underwater cephalopods such as squids. Physical characteristics all Wisps share include a "head" with tentacles stemming from the bottom. Also, regular Wisps are no bigger than the head of an average anthropomorphic animal.

Regular Wisps have three tentacles each. Their skin color, body shape and number of eyes (ranging from one to three) is determined by their breed. However, Wisps like the Violet Wisps have their own special anatomy: while they have the head, size and tentacles of their counterparts, they have no eyes and possess wide mouths with sharp teeth.

Characteristics and culture
The Wisps are a social species, and are as much sentient beings as the dominant races on Sonic's world. Halcyon and non-hostile, the Wisps do not like to fight. However, they are still immensely brave and good-hearted beings who do not approve of amoral actions and threats to their friends.

Wisps come in several known natural breeds that determine their appearance and powers. Overall however, the Wisps are peaceful, playful, helpful and friendly of nature, and enjoy spending their time with others. They get especially well along with the good people of Sonic's world, whom they gladly show affection for and will help out whenever they need them.

The Wisps have their own unique verbal language, which comes off as an incomprehensible, gibberish sound to those on Sonic's world.

Powers and abilities
The Wisps are said to be a powerful race. All Wisps are able to levitate at will, which serve as their main method for movements.

All Wisps have the natural ability to generate and store an extremely powerful energy inside their own bodies, which they can lend to others by phasing into the recipient. Each breed of Wisp generates its own distinct version of this energy, resulting in energies with different effects.

Past
At some point in the past, the Wisps and their planet came under the threat of Dr. Eggman. Fortunately, they were saved by Sonic the Hedgehog, who was able to communicate with them using a translator provided by Tails. Afterward, a bunch of Wisps settled down on Sonic's world. The Wisps would later help out on Sonic’s world whenever they could, such as lending their power to Sonic during his adventure on Lost Hex.

Eventually, gadgets called Wispons, which were designed to clear out crowds of robots using the Wisps' power, were developed. At some point after this, Whisper the Wolf also gathered a crack team of Wisps who would aid her in her endeavors.

The War
Shortly after the War between the Resistance and the Eggman Empire began, the former asked the Wisps for assistance in the war. The Wisps happily volunteered, even choosing to wait in Deployment Pods for when the Resistance's troops could enter an area.

Shortly before the war ended, the mercenaries Rough and Tumble took over a town and hoarded all the local Wisps (whom they imprisoned in Deployment Pods and their Wispons) for themselves.

Fallout
After the war ended, the Wisps seemingly stuck around in the various town that still needed them to power their Wispons.

In the town Rough and Tumble had taken over, the Wisps found salvation when Sonic and Knuckles arrived to stop the two mercenaries. During the heroes' subsequent fight with Rough and Tumble, the Wisps were convinced by Sonic to not let the two villains boss them around. As such, the Wisps in Rough and Tumble's Wispons left, leaving their arsenal powerless and allowing Sonic and Knuckles to defeat them. Afterward, the now-liberated Wisps decided to stick around and help the villagers defend their town by powering their Wispons.

The Fate of Dr. Eggman
During a trip to one of Dr. Eggman's bases, Whisper and her team of Wisps encountered Sonic and Silver. Despite Whisper's mistrust of the strangers, once her Wisps openly greeted Sonic, Whisper chose to team up with the duo. When the newly-formed trio then took on E-107 Theta and a horde of Spinas, Whisper's Wisps came to Whisper's defense when she was at the mercy of the robots. Fortunately, Sonic and Silver destroyed the robots before they could harm them.

List of Wisps

 * Blue Wisp
 * Cyan Wisp
 * Green Wisp
 * Indigo Wisp
 * Ivory Wisp
 * Orange Wisp
 * Pink Wisp
 * Red Wisp
 * Violet Wisp
 * White Wisp
 * Yacker
 * Yellow Wisp

Trivia

 * The Wisps are based on the species of the same name that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games.