Egg Pawn

The Egg Pawn (エッグポーン) is an enemy in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a mass-produced model of Badniks created by Dr. Eggman and based on the Doctor himself. They serve as Eggman's main force of weapon robots in his army.

Although each one of them may be weak, the Egg Pawns' immense numbers make them perhaps the greatest threat in Eggman's army. They also come in different varieties, each having its own unique abilities.

Appearance
The Egg Pawns are humanoid robots based on Dr. Eggman. The typical Egg Pawn is primarily orange in color, with a round body and a dome-shaped head that come together in an egg-like shape. It also has blank blue eyes, a sharp yellow nose, a wide glowing panel for a mouth, and a black lower section on its torso.

The very first few generations of Egg Pawns had gray cable-like limbs with four-fingered hands, vermilion/orange feet, yellow cuffs around their wrists and ankles, and short shoulder guards. Later generations of Egg Pawns received additional armor, like thicker forearms and armored legs, but less articulated shoulders. Those that later appeared during the Lost Hex incident and several subsequent events were designed with more soft shapes and more colors, but otherwise remained the same.

During the Phantom Ruby incident, the Egg Pawns received a more modernized and militaristic design. These Egg Pawns had spherical white-gray bodies with no heads, thin black limbs with red joints, and light gray visors on the front with two red eyes. They also had light gray feet with soles, and armored light gray forearms with no hands, although they had a cannon on their right arm.

Sonic Heroes
The Egg Pawns first debuted in Sonic Heroes as enemies. They serve as the most common enemy in the game, and can be encountered in pretty much every stage, except for Power Plant and Lost Jungle.

In gameplay, the Egg Pawns may come equipped with a variety of weaponry, including the Egg Spear, Egg Gun and Egg Bazooka. Egg Pawns that are not carrying ranged weapons will charge at the player while the ones that do will attack the player from a fixed position. Occasionally, the Egg Pawns will simply stand still and not attack despite noticing the player. Each type of Egg Pawn has very little health and awards 200 points when destroyed.

Some Egg Pawns have shields that can temporarily negate the damage they receive. These shields come in three different styles: smooth shields, spiked shields and heavy metal. The smooth shields are the most common and can usually only take one hit from a Power Formation attack before they are destroyed. The spiked shields take a few more hits to he destroyed and playable characters that are send flying into them by attacks will be stunned briefly when touching them. The heavy metal shields are the most sturdy and takes approximately six hits from a Power Formation attack to be destroyed. Alternatively, the player can use the Tornado Jump or a Homing Attack with three Power Cores to just blow the shields away.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, the Egg Pawns appear as enemies. In this game, they work on Dr. Eggman's side in the war against the Black Arms and in the doctor's hunt for the Chaos Emeralds. They player encounters them in Cryptic Castle, Circus Park, Sky Troops, Mad Matrix, Iron Jungle and Lava Shelter.

In gameplay, the Egg Pawns wield weapons similar to those in Sonic Heroes; Shadow can pick these up after defeating the Egg Pawns and use them himself. They also wield shields, though only one type of them, unlike in Sonic Heroes, which take one hit to destroy with the Homing Attack. However their shields cannot be destroyed by gun-type weapons as they can deflect all manners of projectiles, except the Satellite Gun.

Sonic Rush
In Sonic Rush, the Egg Pawns returned as enemies. In this game, the player encounters them Leaf Storm and Mirage Road. In gameplay, when they spot the playable character, they will attack by running into them. Also, upon their destruction, they release an Animal.

Sonic Rivals
In Sonic Rivals, the Egg Pawns appear as enemies. In this game, the player encounters them in nearly every Zone, except for Death Yard Zone. In gameplay, the Egg Pawns will attack the playable character with a spin of their fists when they get close enough.

Outside normal gameplay, the Egg Pawns also appear on the 106th collectible card in the game.

Sonic Rivals 2
In Sonic Rivals, the Egg Pawns appear once more as enemies. In this game, the player encounters them in Blue Coast Zone, Sunset Forest Zone, Neon Palace Zone and Frontier Canyon Zone. In gameplay, they behave just like they did in Sonic Rivals.

Like in Sonic Rivals, the Egg Pawns also appear on the 115th collectible card in the game. To collect it, the player has to get an S Rank in Mystic Haunt Zone Act 1.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the Egg Pawns appear as enemies that the player can shoot in the Dream Shooting competition. In this game, Egg Pawns are similar to Goombas from the Super Mario series.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
In Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Egg Pawns appear as goalies. They are color coded for what team they are on. Additionally, the Egg Pawn can be unlocked as a costume and appears in Dream Fencing.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
In Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Egg Pawns retain their design from Sonic Generations albeit with different color schemes, ranging from blue to maroon. They appear during certain events, like Rugby.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, the Egg Pawns act as obstacles that are seen on Casino Park and Final Fortress racetrack. In gameplay, they usually move around on certain parts of racetracks, and jumping around. If a racer hits one, they will spin out. If a racer boosts right into an Egg Pawn on the other hand, it will be gone for a few seconds before coming backs.

Sonic Colors
In both the Wii and Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, the Egg Pawns appear as common enemies. In this game, they have undergone a general redesign; they are more overtly mechanical, with jointed limbs, and are generally slightly shorter and stockier. On the Wii version, the player encounters the Egg Pawns in nearly every Act, except for Starlight Carnival Act 3 and 6, Aquarium Park Act 5, Asteroid Coaster Act 4, and the entirety of Terminal Velocity. On the Nintendo DS version on the other hand, the Egg Pawns appear in every Act.

In both versions of the game, certain Egg Pawns have been personalized more by matching the Area themes with Area-specific clothes and weapons:

In gameplay, Egg Pawns have multiple behavior patterns. On the Wii version of the game, plain Egg Pawns will either stand in one place or coming running towards the playable character. Also, some will attack with punches while others do nothing. If the Egg Pawn is equipped with a tool however, it will always try to attack the playable character with it. On the Nintendo DS version of the game, regular Egg Pawns try charging into Sonic while those with tools will try attacking him with them.

The Egg Pawns also appear in the Sonic Simulator on the Wii version of the game. Like in Shadow the Hedgehog, they can wield shields which take multiple hits to be destroyed, though one hit from the Stomp can take them out. In the simulator, they can also be destroyed by environmental objects, like Spheres.

Sonic Generations
In Sonic Generations, the Egg Pawns retained their design from Sonic Colors. On the console/PC version of the game, the player encounters the Egg Pawns in Seaside Hill and Planet Wisp. On the Nintendo 3DS version, the player only encounters them in Tropical Resort. In this game, they are equipped with weapons based on what era they appear in: Egg Pawns in Seaside Hill wield Egg Spears and Egg Guns, Egg Pawns in Tropical Resort wield street signs, and Egg Pawns on Planet Wisp carry hard hats and pickaxes. However, some regular Egg Pawns also appear in the various stages.

In gameplay on the console/PC version of the game, Egg Pawns without weapons simply attack Sonic by punching him when he gets close. Egg Pawns with weapons on the other hand slowly move towards Sonic (at least in the second Acts) before attacking him with their weapons. The Egg Pawns on Planet Wisp in particular, throw their pickaxes like boomerangs instead of using them like melee weapons in Sonic Colors. In the Nintendo 3DS version, regular Egg Pawns mainly serve the purpose of standing in Sonic's way, while the Egg Pawns with street signs attempt to attack Sonic with whacks.

In the Challenge Act Rouge: The Temptress on the console/PC version of the game, the Egg Pawns wield shields which can block any of Sonic's attacks. To make them vulnerable, the player has to use Rouge's character skill which makes them lower their shields. A statue of the Egg Pawn can also be unlocked in the console/PC version's Statue Room.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World, the Egg Pawns received a slight, simplified redesign, somewhat resembling their appearance from Sonic Heroes. During the game, it turns out that all of Eggman's robots, the Egg Pawns included, got hijacked by the Deadly Six.

On the Wii U version of the game, the Egg Pawns are featured in Tropical Coast Zone 1, Frozen Factory Zone 3, Silent Forest Zone 1, Sky Road Zone 1 and 3, and Lava Mountain Zone 3. On the Nintendo 3DS version, the Egg Pawns are featured in Tropical Coast Zone 2, Frozen Factor Zone 2 and 3, Silent Forest Zone 3 and Sky Road Zone 1, 2, and 3. In gameplay, they typically exhibit two kinds of behavioral patterns: those that stay in lines waiting for the player, or those that will start chasing the player around when they spot him. They also lack weaponry, meaning they will simply charge Sonic in melee. They will also sometimes pop out of small holes at tubular stages and start attacking.

It takes two hits from the Homing Attack and Bound Jump to destroy an Egg Pawn, as the first hit only makes it lose balance, and one hit from the Flying Kick. Also, upon its destruction, it releases an Animal.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, Egg Pawns appear as enemies. In this game, they retain their design from Sonic Lost World. They are also some of the most common enemies in the flying type characters' stages. In this game, In gameplay, the Egg Pawns are either stationary or run back and forth. They are also placed either separately or in groups.

Egg Pawns in Sonic Runners come in three types. Aside from the regular Egg Pawns, there are golden ones (dubbed Golden Pawns in the game's story) which grant 300 extra points when defeated, and black ones called Super Egg Pawns which only Color Powers and power type characters can defeat. All three variations contain Animals inside them and are featured as part of each episode of the game's narrative, which features them being defeated time and time again by Team Sonic.

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle
In Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, the Egg Pawns from Sonic Forces appear on the race tracks. In gameplay, they act as stationary obstacles for the player to run into, perpetually charging their arm cannons. When encountered, they can easily be destroyed using the Slide or Spin Jump. When destroyed, the player will be awarded five Rings.

Sonic Forces
In Sonic Forces, the Egg Pawns underwent a complete redesign so they would sport modernized, militaristic designs. In this game, they are the most common enemy the player can encounter, appearing in every stage, and often in large groups.

In gameplay, the Egg Pawns usually remain on standby in the spots they are standing in. When they see the playable character(s) however, they will take aim for a few seconds before firing a straight-moving energy blast at them. Other than that, they can be destroyed with a single attack. They also have silver-colored variants with red visors. These models have Gatling guns for hands and can fire a barrage of lightning-fast shots for a few seconds. However, these ones are destroyed just as easily as the common Egg Pawn.

Personality
While usually acting as Dr. Eggman's loyal foot soldiers, the Egg Pawns are apparently programmed with some degree of emotions. When Metal Madness appeared, they demonstrated noticeable fear by trying to escape him. They additionally tend to taunt their enemy after scoring a hit.

Overall they seem to act rather cowardly when confronted with a dangerous foe.

Powers and abilities
Compared to most machines Eggman has produced, the Egg Pawns are weak robots, although they have their numbers to make up for it. They usually also possess no special abilities, relying more on their weaponry and tools. However, the Egg Pawn during the Infinite incident were equipped with arm cannons that could fire small laser blasts.

Weapons and equipment
The Egg Pawns' standard arsenal include lances named Egg Spears, single-shot recoilless rifles named Egg Bazookas, and automatic blasters named Egg Guns. They also occasionally carry shields of varying durability.

During the Wisp incident, the Egg Pawns also wielded a wider selection of weaponry, which depended on the Area they were assigned to; the ones in Tropical Resort wielded street signs; the ones in Sweet Mountain wielded giant whisks; the ones in Starlight Carnival wielded blaster-like trompets; the ones on Planet Wisp wielded pickaxes; the ones in Aquarium Park wielded katanas; and the ones in Asteroid Coaster wielded spiked clubs.

Egg Knight
The Egg Knights are gold-plated Egg Pawns. Possessing more stamina that the ordinary Egg Pawn, they typically wield Egg Spears and lead a small group of Egg Pawns. Consequently, the destruction of an Egg Knight will result in any and all Egg Pawns under its command being automatically destroyed with it.

Casino version
These are-casino themed Egg Pawns that appear in casino-themed stages. There are three variants known such as the neon blue Casino Managers with black tie suits, neon pink Casino Bunnies, and neon green Casino Clowns that have weird meters above their heads, and typically wield the same weapons that the regular Egg Pawns can wield. They appear in the fifth and sixth stages and third boss of Sonic Heroes (Casino Park, Bingo Highway and Robot Carnival respectively).

Flapper
In Sonic Heroes, there was also another enemy known as the "Flapper". These enemies look similar to Egg Pawns, except they fly. Again, they were featured in Sonic Rush and they also appear in Sonic and the Black Knight as enemies in the Legacy missions.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Egg Pawns were created by Dr. Eggman to replace his decommissioned SWATbots. When the fourth Enerjak surfaced however, the Egg Pawns were destroyed while attempting to subdue the chaos demigod.

After the events of Worlds Collide, the Egg Pawns became nearly identical to their game counterparts. In addition, Breeze Media has bought several outdated Egg Pawns to serve as her staff.

IDW Publishing
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by IDW Publishing, the Egg Pawns are Badniks created by Dr. Eggman. Their past is virtually identical to their game counterparts' up until after Sonic Forces. After the war, the Egg Pawns began launching coordinated attacks on villages under a guiding force.

Merchandise
With the Sonic Generations announcement in 2011, Jazwares had made figures of the characters from the game series. A Knuckles figure and an Egg Pawn figure were made by Jazwares.

Trivia

 * The Egg Pawns are one of the most frequently appearing Badniks in the Sonic franchise.
 * The Egg Pawn's foot design from Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations is near identical to Metal Sonic's.
 * The Egg Pawns are very similar to the Eggrobo.
 * In Windmill Isle Act 1 on the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 of Sonic Unleashed, orange-colored Egg Fighters appear, which are very similar to the Egg Pawn's coloration.