Scratch


 * Not to be confused with Scratchy.

Scratch is one of the main antagonists in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. He is a Badnik chicken created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik as an adversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. Along with his counterpart Grounder, he is a member of Robotnik's Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad, and one of Robotnik's main henchmen.

Scratch and Grounder serve largely as the comic relief in the series. Though he and Grounder are in charge of capturing Sonic and his friend Tails, they are incompetent and almost always fail. These repeated failures frequently result in Scratch and Grounder receiving a lot of abuse (both verbal and physical) from Dr. Robotnik.

Appearance
Scratch resembles a tall, lanky, roughly humanoid rooster or chicken with white feathers, scaled feet, wing-like arms, silver body armor, black collar and belt, a red rooster comb on top of his head, a red two-feathered tail, and a yellow beak and legs, similar to Cluckoids or Clucker.

History
Scratch was originally created by Robotnik to be a super-robot that could easily catch Sonic for him, since all of his other mechanical bounty hunters had failed. Unfortunately, the machine malfunctioned and spawned Scratch, a product almost exactly the opposite of what Robotnik wanted. After being created, Scratch has one of his tail feathers plucked and put into a cloning machine by Robotnik to make him twice as effective, but Scratch pulled an extra lever that caused it to make Grounder. Despite both being on the same team, they do not get along well and are often fighting with each other (sometimes literally); usually about which of the two is Robotnik's favorite.

The two were occasionally aided by Coconuts, although most of the time, he would be competing with them rather than helping them, in hopes of being promoted out of his janitor status.

Personality
Like his counterpart Grounder, Scratch is very incompetent and stupid, possessing an IQ of 40, and usually fails at almost everything he does. One example of Scratch's stupidity is when he got zapped by Dr. Robotnik's Stupidity Ray, but did not change at all because he was already dim-witted. He is also highly gullible, easily being deceived by Sonic no matter how pathetic or bizarre his disguises are. Regardless, Scratch is said to be the smartest in the S.S.S.S.S. Squad, but that is not saying much considering how stupid they all are. At times, he would see through Sonic's disguises, but it would be too late or it would be a trick within a trick.

Like Grounder, Scratch is quite persistent. He is also incredibly short-tempered and would take his anger out on Grounder invariably. He is distinct by his prominent cock-a-doodle-like laugh, "Ba-ha! Ha-ha!"

Powers and abilities
Scratch does not have many significant abilities. Like a real rooster/chicken, Scratch is capable of pecking foes, with the pecking more reminiscent of a woodpecker. He also seems to have a telescopic neck which can extend and retract - his head often retracts into his torso to protect himself. He can also pull a drawstring on his hand and make it into the shape of a beautiful woman, but that trick was only used once. He also carries a hand-held ray gun.

Like Grounder, Scratch is fairly durable; whenever he get damaged or blown to bits (which is very often), he can be repaired very easily and always come back for more.

Grounder
Scratch and Grounder always bicker and fight over who is the better robot or who is more of an idiot and many other things. Sometimes they even imply that they want to be separated. However, there are rare moments when they get along.

Dr. Robotnik
Scratch is usually loyal to Robotnik and does whatever he says, but when he fails, Robotnik gets really angry with him and abuses him. Sometimes Scratch betrays Robotnik when he thinks he's had enough.

Coconuts
Coconuts is jealous of Scratch because he gets to capture Sonic and Coconuts has been demoted to sanitation duty. Coconuts tries is best to make himself look better than Scratch, but usually fails, except in Super Robotnik (episode)

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts all appeared as opponents in the game Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, which was based around the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog show. Scratch and Grounder were also in the game's cut scenes along side Dr. Robotnik. In the game, Scratch is the second last opponent before the Dr. Robotnik and plays like the character Rulue from Puyo Puyo, the game on which Mean Bean Machine is based.

Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
Scratch appeared in the third bonus stage of Sonic Spinball. In this bonus, a number of identical Scratches circle around a large Egg Capsule. Sonic must use his pinball skills to kill all the Scratches and then destroy the capsule to free Flicky, Wocky and the Freedom Fighters from the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series. Scratch makes the same clucking sound as Cluck and Clucker.

Archie Comics
Scratch and Grounder also appeared in the earliest issues of the Sonic comic book published by Archie Comics. However, the characters themselves were prominently featured only in their first appearance there, published in issue #2. Subsequent appearances of the two were minor; their last appearance in the comic was part of a flashback in issue #57. However, Scratch appears in issue 4 (Tails' Little Tale) without Grounder and Grounder appears (without Scratch) in the story "Sonic Spin City!", published in Sonic Super Special #15. Recently in issue #187 Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts have all returned, now as employees of Mammoth Mogul who has taken over Casino Night Zone and employed the old Badniks as workers. Scratch now serves as a body guard to Mogul, standing outside his office in a suit and tie, stopping anyone who attempts to disturb his new boss. Although he looks tough, Scratch's cowardliness is still present evidences by how he did allowed Geoffrey St. John to see Mogul out of sheer intimidation.

Quotes

 * "You've been scratching around here for too long, worm-bait. Time to cross the road and head home, pal. I'm winning this one by fair means or fowl." - Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
 * "No way, tin brain. Dr. Robotnik loves me best, so it is always my turn." - Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Robotnik Express
 * "Ba Ha Ha Haaa!" - Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
 * "Who says chickens are stupid?! I just out-foxed a fox!" - Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Tails' New Home
 * "Am I that ugly?!" - Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad
 * "86 on the chicken!" - The Mobius 5000

Trivia

 * It is believed that Scratch is based off Clucker, a Badnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit) on the Wing Fortress Zone. Coincidentally, Scratch's Japanese name was Cluck.
 * In Japan, Scratch's name was Cluck, which happens to be the name of Robotnik's pet chicken in the Sonic the Hedgehog television series.
 * Scratch and Grounder started a trend of Dr. Robotnik having two incompetent sidekicks. Example: Sonic Underground had Sleet and Dingo, Sonic X had Decoe and Bocoe, and the Sonic the Hedgehog series and the Sonic Boom series had Orbot and Cubot.
 * Scratch and Grounder, as well as Orbot and Cubot, are the only sidekicks to appear in all forms of Sonic media like games, TV shows, and Comics. Sleet, Dingo, Bocoe, and Decoe only appeared in TV shows and comics.
 * Though Scratch has a lack of gadgets like his brother, in "Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad" Scratch's fingers transformed into a pair scissors. In "Grounder the Genius", Scratch has a "fastpeck mode" where he becomes shaped differently and acts like a jackhammer. Though this was inputted by Grounder (who became a genius) as a form of punishment whenever Scratch refuses to do something or is very rude.
 * In the Sonic the Hedgehog (Play-a-Sound Book) Dr. Robotnik was accompanied by Grounder and Clucker, both sporting their Sonic the Hedgehog 2 designs even though Robotnik looks like he does in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * In Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, he plays like the character Rulue from Puyo Puyo, the game on which Mean Bean Machine is based. Ironically, since Rulue is the second-to-last enemy, Scratch's MBM AI is the smartest in the game aside from the final boss (Robotnik), whereas he is very stupid in AoStH (though smarter than Grounder, who is the eighth opponent), outclassed in smarts by Coconuts (who was placed as the fourth opponent).