Babylon Rogues

The Babylon Rogues (バビロン盗賊団) are a group of ancient thieves in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The current members of the group consists of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross. Their only playable appearances so far are Sonic Riders, the sequel, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sonic Free Riders. They also make cameo appearances in Sonic Rivals as collectable cards and Sonic and the Secret Rings in the gallery.

In Sonic Riders, the group is hired by Dr. Eggman to compete in his airboard-racing tournament against Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. All members appear to have flames tattooed on their wrists. The Babylon Rogues reside on a large airship.

While initially believed to be descended from genies, it is revealed in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity that the Babylon Rogues are actually descended from aliens.

They also appear in Sonic Free Riders as playable characters.

History of the Babylon Rogues
According to history, the Babylon Rogues were an order of technologically advanced thieves known as the Babylonians that existed possibly for centuries. It's been confirmed that they once resided on a floating island known as the 'Babylon Garden' (a reference to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon). All of the original Babylon Rogues were genie-like aliens.

During the events of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, it's revealed that the ancient Babylonians and their descendants was aliens who attempted to harness the power of a black hole for their engine unit, but were forced to land on Earth and disconnect their engine unit into the five Arks of the Cosmos. It explains their technological prowess, as well as why the Babylon Guardian's arena was a large virtual reality chamber. Amy theorizes that the Babylonians may have developed the tradition of wishing on shooting stars, believing that they would have looked to the night sky for the falling Arks of the Cosmos to return, so they could restore their engine and go home.

The Babylon Rogues were said to have excelled in the usage of "Extreme Gear" (an advanced means of transportation seen only in Sonic Riders games), which they used to travel all around the world in their endless pursuit of treasure. A Babylonian artifact called the "Magic Carpet" was said to be the first Extreme Gear ever created and was found to be sealed away in the Babylonian Fortress.

As for their eventual demise, legend has it the Babylonians angered the gods, and as punishment the Babylon Garden was buried beneath the desert sands.

Sonic Rivals Series
The three Babylon Rogues also make a cameo appearance in the Sonic Rivals Series, each as their own respective collectable cards.

Current Members

 * Jet the Hawk (Speed member, leader)
 * Wave the Swallow (Flight member, mechanic)
 * Storm the Albatross (Power member, brawn)

Previous members

 * Stolen (Leader)
 * Jet's father
 * Wave's parent (Mechanic)

Archie Comics
The Babylon Rogues appear in the Archie Comics's Sonic the Hedgehog in issues #163 and #164. They appear in a backup story that is an adaptation of Sonic Riders like the previous issues' Sonic Rush adaptation. Their part begins when Jet is riding his extreme gear while being chased by robots after stealing something to boost his Gear from Eggman. He is captured and Eggman is intrigued by his speed. He offers Jet the chance to live if he is able to defeat Sonic. Jet agrees if he can bring along some friends—Wave and Storm. They enter Knothole and activate the security system to lure Sonic to them. When he arrives they attack him with Jet using speed, Wave using her technical gear skills, and Storm using brute strength. Despite Sonic's speed, being outnumbered and attacked by enemies using Extreme Gear proved too much for him to handle.

Sonic was sent home to Tails' house and he explained how he gotten beat up. Knuckles jokes around with Sonic for a minute, before Tails comes in holding their brand new Extreme Gear. As the Babylon Rogues are going to enter Knothole City, Sonic and friends come to stop them. After a few healthy insults, they began to race. Storm fought Knuckles, to which Storm admitted that Knuckles was as strong as himself. Tails fought Wave, who made fun of the young fox's board. Finally, Jet and Sonic faced off, speed against speed.

Theme Song
The Babylon Rogues' theme song is Catch Me If You Can, performed by Runblebee.

Trivia

 * Wave is the only Rogue whose 4Kids voice actress isn't the same as her rival's.
 * In Sonic Free Riders however, it is now Jet who has a different voice actor than his rival.
 * In Sonic Heroes, there is an "Egg Hawk" and an "Egg Albatross", but no "Egg Swallow".
 * The colors of the Babylon Rogues and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are the same colors of the Chaos Emeralds, save for the Cyan Emerald.
 * Each English language voice actor for the Babylon Rogues have voiced at least one character before the Babylon Rogues debuted in Sonic Riders (Jason Anthony Griffith = Sonic; Bella Hudson = Blaze the Cat; Dan Green = Knuckles).
 * Strangely, in all the in-game cutscenes for Sonic Riders and its sequels, the Rogues all have teeth even though they are birds.
 * All Babylon Rogues has blue eyes.
 * The Babylon Rogues all have flame like markings on their forearms