Octus

Octus (オクター) is a octopus-type Badnik created by Dr. Robotnik. It makes its first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Octus can float in the air and shoots energy projectiles towards into targets from its small snout.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Octus in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is seen sitting on the ground in Oil Ocean Zone, mostly seen on stair sections of the zone. There can be also be one or two Octus Badniks in one area as well. When it sees the player, it quickly starts hovering in the air by spinning its tentacles, a few seconds later it stops moving up and shoots one, small energy projectile straight ahead and lands to the same place repeats its pattern after for while.

The player has to avoid Octus and its energy projectile while moving forward, although due the fast speed, it might become challenging. Despite that, the player is able to destroy these Badniks by using a Spin Jump or quickly doing a Spin Dash.

Sonic Free Riders
Octus makes a reappearance in Sonic Free Riders as a power-up item. It has a slightly different look as it has a red switch on its head, which by pressing it activates the feature. The game features two variations of the Octus Badnik, that can be found in item boxes and the player is holding onto its hand. If a player receives an pink Octus, the other players' screens will get distorted with ink. The player must use a wiping motion to get the rid of the ink. When the player holds blue Octus, it gives its user a burst of speed, allowing him/her to catch up to his/her opponents.

Sonic Lost World
Octus appeared in Sonic Lost World, where they serve again as enemies. During the game, it turns out that Badniks, including Octus Badniks, got hijacked by the Deadly Six. While having their original design from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Octus Badniks are also seen to be able to fire energy projectiles from their snouts.

In Tropical Coast Zone 4, single Octus Badnik can be found sneaking on the surface of the water. In Frozen Factory Zone 4, some of Octus Badniks are seen floating and firing projectiles above the oil fields inside the factory. In Silent Forest Zone 3, they are seen slowly skating with their tentacles towards the player, while firing projectiles.

Physical Appearance
Octus as based on the octopus, it has pink round shaped head, which features white eyes, small corkscrews ears on each side of the head and a tiny snout. The most known feature on Octus is having six mechanical tentacles, which these Badniks can spin around in order to float in the air. These tentacles have small suction cups, which make Octus able to stand on the ground. These tentacles are part of the lower body which is colored yellow in the middle section and blue on the bottom. In Sonic Lost World, Octus badniks have got eyelashes, as they can be considered as female robots.

Abilities
Octus usually can be seen sitting on the ground motionless with an angry stare until the player approaches it. Once it spots the player, Octus will open its eyes wide and starts floating in the air until it starts moving and shoots its small, yellow projectile out of its small snout. It then moves back to the ground and repeats the same pattern. In Sonic Free Riders, Octus is seen able to shoot black ink instead of the energy projectile.

Sonic the Comic
In Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, Octus has only made a few brief appearances, normally being a part of Dr. Robotnik's Badnik army. Octus Badniks are first seen in Sonic the Poster Mag Issue 5' story, "Ocean of Horror!", where they try to take down Sonic in Oil Ocean Zone at the beginning of the story, but easily got destroyed. Octus do make appearances in issue 131 the first part of the "Shady Characters" story, where two modified Octus Badniks are seen with extendable tentacles to grab Amy and Tekno.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
An Octus appears in the pilot episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. The Octus is in a group of Mashers and Chop-Chops that chase Sonic as he tries to stop Doctor Robotnik's attempts to drain a lake. The Mashers, Chop-Chops and Octus are all defeated when they become entangled in seaweed that whips up behind Sonic as he swims past at high speed.

This footage is reused in the episode "Untouchable Sonic", on a TV being watched by Scratch and Grounder.

Archie Comics
Octus makes an appearance only once in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic issue 5. In the issue, Doctor Robotnik challenges the Freedom Fighters to a challenge in his Olympic games and an Octus is used to be Sally's challenger in the swimming competition. The Octus passes Sally and wins. This was Octus' first and only appearance in the comics, but a similar Badnik appears in the comics called Octobot.

Related Badniks

 * Tashiya
 * Unnamed octopus badnik of Gene Gadget Zone.
 * Octopus
 * Oct
 * Balloon
 * Takkon

Trivia

 * In the Simon Wai prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, there is another movement for the Octus Badnik after shooting its energy projectile, as it then starts quickly fly away horizontally if the player is approaching it. The movement has been later removed from final version of the game. Additionally, it is internally called "oct".
 * The Sonic X episode "The Last Resort", a similar robot appears called E-38 Octoron.
 * In the 2013 re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Octus has an added minor sound effect when it fires the projectile. This sound effect is taken from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.