Ray the Flying Squirrel


 * "Ray" redirects here. For other uses of the term, see Ray the Flying Squirrel (disambiguation).

Ray the Flying Squirrel (レイ・ザ・フライングスクイレル) is character who appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic flying squirrel who was once captured by Dr. Robotnik, but escaped with the aid of fellow prisoners Sonic the Hedgehog and Mighty the Armadillo.

Appearance
Ray has golden yellow fur and dark tan skin on his muzzle, inner ears and torso. He has black eyes, a small tapered hair tuft at the top back of his head (making it appear somewhat teardrop-shaped), a furry skin membrane connecting his waist to his lower arms, small, perky triangular ears, a shiny, bulbous black nose and long, durable club-shaped tail.

He wears white gloves with large cuffs, red sneakers with a white buckle-strap, and white sock-like tops. These shoes are almost identical to Sonic's iconic sneakers, but are a slightly darker shade of red. In Sonic Mania, Ray wears blue sneakers with white soles and two white straps, seemingly based on his Archie counterparts.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Ray's first major appearance is in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, an arcade game. In the intro, Ray gets captured by Doctor Eggman along with Mighty the Armadillo and Sonic the Hedgehog himself. After that, Eggman took them to Eggman Island where the trio teamed up to escape from the island's dangerous hazards and traps. As the trio got to the doctor's tower, Eggman actived a self-destruction sequence. Luckily the trio and Eggman managed to escape the island before its destruction.

Sonic Mania Plus
Ray is set to appear as a playable character in Sonic Mania Plus, the updated edition of Sonic Mania.

Sonic Generations
Ray makes a cameo appearance in console/PC version of Sonic Generations, where he and Mighty can be seen on missing posters dotted throughout the City Escape. The poster mentions that they've been missing since 1993, referencing Ray's debut appearance in SegaSonic the Hedgehog.

Personality
Not much is known about Ray's personality, but it is shown during SegaSonic the Hedgehog that Ray acts as a semi comic-relief character of the trio. He's also shown to be slightly more fearful than Sonic and Mighty.

Powers and abilities
Due to Ray's sole playable appearance, Ray's moveset is very limited. In the arcade game, Ray shares the same abilities that Sonic and Mighty have, including the basic Spin Jump, and he is also rather agile. Being a flying squirrel, he has yellow prehensile tail that he is seen capitalizing as a third hand.

Friends

 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Sonic the Hedgehog

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Ray is an old and close friend of Mighty the Armadillo, having met him while both were held prisoner by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. During an escape attempt, Ray ended up got trapped in a time warp when he grabbed the prison's Power Gem. Years later, Mighty found and freed him, bringing him back to Angel Island where he joined the Chaotix. A loyal, if timid member, Ray helped his team them face various foes on the island and then later on the surface as they fought Doctor Eggman alongside the Freedom Fighters. He later joined Mighty in his search for his sister.

As a result of reality getting rewritten by the Super Genesis Wave, Ray and Mighty became an adventuring duo under the tutelage of Moss the Sloth with ties to-but not membership in-the Chaotix or the Freedom Fighters.

Trivia

 * According to an interview on Sonic Central, Sonic does not know the whereabouts of Ray, Bark the Polar Bear, Bean the Dynamite, Nack the Weasel, Chaos, or Tikal.
 * Ray is the first Sonic character depicted with toes on his feet, which can be seen in one of his animations in the SegaSonic the Hedgehog.
 * Ray is one of the first characters to have a voice which was heard in SegaSonic the Hedgehog and provided by Hinako Yoshino (credited as Hiroko Kanamaru).
 * Ray made cameo appearance as a key chain along with Sonic and Mighty in the Sega game Gale Racer, the Sega Saturn version of Rad Mobile released in 1994.