Mighty the Armadillo

Mighty the Armadillo (マイティー・ザ・アルマジロ) is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. His character designer is Manabu Kusunoki.

Mighty is an explorer and a long time acquaintance of Sonic the Hedgehog, and he first appeared in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, where he is voiced by Yusuke Numata.

History
Before Sonic was introduced, he was considered by Sega to be made into either a hedgehog or an armadillo, due to both species having the ability to roll into balls. Due to this, some believe that Mighty is the prototype of Sonic, or was evolved from the armadillo concept.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Mighty's first appearance was in the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, where he was captured by Doctor Eggman along with Sonic the Hedgehog and Ray the Flying Squirrel. They were taken to Eggman Island and imprisoned, but managed to escape, destroying the island in the process.

In this game, Mighty played exactly like Sonic and Ray; he was fairly fast and could roll into a ball to perform the Spin Attack and Spin Jump.

Knuckles' Chaotix
Mighty reappeared in Knuckles' Chaotix for the Sega 32X. In the Japanese manual, he just happened to stumble across the island which the adventure is set on during his explorations. In the American manual, he is a friend of Knuckles the Echidna, and happens to visit "Carnival Island" when Eggman attacks.

In both manuals he is captured by Eggman, and imprisoned in his "Combi-Confiner" machine. When Knuckles arrives, he can pick Mighty out of the machine and use him as a partner. Mighty plays very much like Sonic from the previous Sonic games, using his Spin Attack and Spin Dash. He also has the ability to kick off walls in order to gain height.

His sprites are based on the Sonic sprites in the canceled game: Sonic Crackers.

Others
Mighty made a cameo appearance in Gale Racer (the Sega Saturn version of the Arcade game Rad Mobile).

Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)
In the Archie comics, Mighty was born into a family of thieves. While he was still too young to realize his parent's actions, they were imprisoned by the law. Seeking a method to free them, Mighty was confronted by Mammoth Mogul. Mogul used his powers to grant Mighty his incredible super strength. However, even with his new power, Mighty was unable to free his parents. With failure heavy in his heart, he forced a guilty exile on himself. He later joined the Chaotix.

Sonic the Comic
Mighty is introduced alongside Vector, Charmy, Espio and Nack the Weasel in the "Knuckles: Total Chaotix" storyline (beginning in Sonic the Comic #53), with the group collectively being known as the Chaotix Crew. As with the other members of the team, Mighty is a resident of the Special Zone.

Mighty is portrayed as a strong and brave character whose main flaws are his lack of forethought and tendency to forget his own strength. For instance, when Knuckles and Chaotix attempted to break into the Brotherhood of Metallix's Egg Fortress, Mighty smashed in through the hull and set off several alarms, jeopardizing the mission. He once punched a dinosaur through the wall of the Chaotix headquarters.

In this continuity, Mighty has proved to be a valuable asset to the team on a number of occasions and is one of the top fighters in the comic, running very close to Knuckles, making him an ally of Sonic the Hedgehog. He has an intense yet friendly rivalry with Espio. They remain close friends and allies, but neither one will ever admit the other is better and have gotten into some heated arguments and occasional fight over the matter. As with the rest of the crew, he often vents his frustrations on Charmy, though not in a physical manner.

Aside from Charmy, he is the only member of the Chaotix to have his family life revealed. He is the son of a senile super-strong superhero known as Blockhead Bill, who is constantly getting into trouble by mistaking random people (including Sonic) for his old enemies, much to Mighty's exasperation. Bill's partner is Society Max, a similarly-elderly lizard who uses a serum to turn into a mighty dinosaur; unlike Bill, Max remains quite smart and affably points out when his friend is being daft.

Personality
In the games, Mighty is a gentle and caring pacifist, only using his strength and fighting abilities when there is no other option. He loves to travel, and his dream is to journey to all places of the world. According to the Japanese booklet of Chaotix, Mighty enjoys forest bathing, likes peace and nature, and detests violence.

Abilities
Like most characters in the Sonic series, Mighty has some super speed. Mighty can use the Spin Attack, where Mighty curls up into a compact ball and rolls into enemies. He also has the Spin Jump, during which Mighty jumps into the air as a ball. Mighty has the Spin Dash (originally named the "Super Spin Dash") as well, which allows him to charge up a Spin Attack from a standing position, and then shoot off towards enemies.

Mighty's unique move in Chaotix was a wall kick that let him kick off a wall, gaining some height and letting him traverse up shafts as long as the walls are close enough to each other. Despite his namesake, Mighty has never demonstrated a single feat of super strength in the games continuity and it is never directly stated in any official literature related to Chaotix or SegaSonic Arcade that he has such an ability.

Family

 * Father: Blockhead Bill (Sonic the Comic exclusive)
 * Unnamed Father (Archie Exclusive) (deceased)
 * Unnamed Mother (Archie Exclusive) (deceased)
 * Unnamed Sister (Archie Exclusive)

Friends

 * Chaotix
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Doctor Bob Bobble (Fleetway)

Foes

 * Doctor Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Dark Legion (Archie exclusive)
 * Enerjak (Archie Exclusive)
 * Lien-Da (Archie Exclusive)
 * Mammoth Mogul (Archie exclusive)
 * Ixis Naugus (Archie exclusive)
 * Destructix (Archie exclusive)
 * The Bulk (Fleetway)
 * Dr. Finitevus (Archie exclusive)

Trivia

 * Mighty's name was misspelled "Mighity" in the Japanese manual for Chaotix. This is perhaps a direct result of errors in translation.


 * It has been rumored that the reason Mighty no longer appeared in games was because his creator left Sega and took the rights to use the character with him. However, this rumor has been proven to be a hoax, as Sega of Japan recently had a poll regarding popular characters, with Mighty the Armadillo finishing in 10th place. Sega commented that this means a possible return for Mighty, which proves the rumor to be invalid. Adding to this, several pictures of Mighty are unlockable in Sonic Gems Collection. It is a possibility that Mighty was cut from the games merely so the Chaotix could fit into the three person team arrangement of Sonic Heroes, the first game in many years to include the Chaotix.


 * In the prototype of Knuckles Chaotix, dubbed in the thought-to-be ROM form as "Sonic Crackers", Sonic the Hedgehog was originally playable along with Miles "Tails" Prower. Sonic's movements and standing animations are exactly the same as Mighty's, thus leading to the belief that Sonic was taken out of Knuckles Chaotix fairly late in game production and got replaced by Mighty.


 * If Mighty falls from a high location in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, his shell will comically stay in the air for a few seconds. He is completely black underneath.


 * Mighty was originally considered to be Sega's mascot but was replaced by Sonic.


 * Even though he was possibly cut from Team Chaotix for the purpose of Sonic Heroes, he has not been featured in a game with them since Knuckles Chaotix, aside from Sonic Gems Collection.


 * Mighty is quite a popular character to some fans, despite only appearing in two games.
 * Mighty, along with other classic characters, such as Ray the Flying Squirrel and Fang the Sniper, are prominent characters in the Archie Comics. This is probably to make up for their lack of game appearances.


 * Though Mighty is said to have super strength, being even stronger than Knuckles, in all of his appearances in the games he has not shown any feats of super strength. But he has used it countless times in the comics.


 * In the Archie comics, Mighty is shown to have a super strong shell as well. As when the Dark Legion was shooting at him, his shell was shown to deflect lasers. And in Sonic Universe Issue #11 Knuckles states that Mighty's shell should be able to protect him from the spiked trap Dr. Finitevus placed.
 * In Knuckles Chaotix, Mighty's movements are very similar to Sonic's moves in Sonic Crackers.