Roller

The Roller (アルマ) is a armadillo-type of Badnik created by Dr. Eggman. The Roller made its appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), and is one of Dr. Eggman's first creations that could keep up with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Appearance
Roller is blue colored, round-shaped Badnik which has above the body has red spike that is divided into the two ends. The Badnik has interesting design as the above part of the body is actually upwards opening hatch, which reveals paired of eyes and small gray hands. It also reveals two mechanical feet and sharp tail. All these little parts hide in the body, as the Badnik will changes its shape to the ball and come out after that.

Powers and abilities
The Badnik's signature ability has been to roll into ball and travels at high speeds with the intention of plowing through their prey. One screen is not simply enough to notice the Roller, as they can come any moment behind its victim with its high speed.

Overview
Roller's only game appearance has been in the original 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog, as it can be found from Spring Yard Zone. It is the most easily defeated when it stops to open their casing to check the surroundings, but can be defeated with a Spin Attack whilst moving (albeit with some difficulty).

Rollers have a tendency to plow through Sonic right when he least expects it, but the player should be particularly wary when crossing areas with steep hills nearby as these places are where Rollers are more common.

Sonic the Comic
In Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, a kindhearted Roller Badnik (named, simply, "Badnik") once befriended a young boy named Smokey. Sonic allowed the Roller to survive when Smokey begged the hedgehog to let it go.

Besides of "Badnik", Roller Badniks appear normally in the comic as part of Robotnik's Badnik army. In issue 3's story Mayhem in the Marble Zone Roller along other Badniks got Tufftee's friends to the depths of the gorge in Marble Zone. As the Tufftee himself shows up, Badniks first thought to crushing him, but later changed their mind and attempt drop in some lava. After that failing, Badniks decided to call Badnik Processing Badnik in order to turn him into one of them. It didn't turn at all, as Badniks and Roller with them got defeated by Sonic after while. Roller has also been featured in two pin-ups thought the the comics run.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Roller have also appeared in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode Untouchable Sonic. Roller's design in the series is significantly different with the exception of his head as it resembles more of a long-necked lizard with business suit which can transform to the bowling ball.

Ballhog and Roller are part of Dr. Robotnik's Or Else Protection Service, where they bully Mobians into paying them to not destroy their business. They are easily defeated by Sonic. Later at the end of the episode, Tails had converted Ballhog and Roller's remains for an attraction for Bert's Diner.

Archie Comics
Roller appears briefly in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics' issue 18. Roller was part of team which also has Crabmeat, Buzz Bomber, Newtron, Coconuts and Slicer, as all of them were sent by Robotnik to ruin the wedding of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sally Acorn. However Roller along with other Badniks got easily defeated as the wedding revealed to be part of a play.

Merchandise
The toy company TOMY has released Roller action figurine during the release of Sonic & Knuckles as it also includes a series of 21 Sonic figurines and these figurines came in packs of four under the Sonic & Knuckles label and were also released individually under a Sonic the Hedgehog label.

Trivia

 * As the Spring Yard Zone was originally called "Sparkling Zone", Roller Badnik was showed to be purple colored instead of blue.
 * In Spring Yard Zone, for odd reason Roller's sprites may start to get messed up (looking like part of a Caterkiller's head), which reveals to be graphical glitch in the game. This can happen if the player keeps following it for while.
 * Roller Bakniks bear some similarities to Sonic the Hedgehog: Both have a blue and red coloration, are able to roll into balls, and can move at high speeds.
 * It seems that Roller is cable to performing Spin Jump, as they do this from a short distance and then disappear from the screen. However this hasn't never been officially confirmed.
 * It can be noticed that Roller has similar looking legs as Ball Hog and Bomb in artwork illustration.
 * Roller is one of badniks (with Bat Brain) that hasn't made appearance in the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog, since Spring Yard Zone doesn't appear in 8-bit version. Unlike Bat Brain, none of Roller's sprites aren't found from game's data.
 * Roller is also the only badnik from the original Sonic the Hedgehog that hasn't made any game appearance since then.