Sally Acorn


 * For the squirrel character from the games known as Sally Acorn in Western localizations, see Ricky.

Sally Acorn, in some cases given the full title Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, and also known as Sal, is a fictional character and a protagonist from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

The character of Sally Acorn went through several appearance changes in the early comics, however the final draft form of Sally is a female, anthropomorphic, humanoid squirrel. Sally has brown fur, which is tan on her face, chest and stomach, a long tuft of dark red bushy hair and blue eyes, and usually seen sporting a blue open vest and knee-high blue boots. Sally had originally yellow fur and blond hair wearing a red dress, then pink fur, brown hair and blue white-trimmed boots.

The creator of Sally's final design (used in later SatAM and the Archie based Sonic comic series) was supposedly Ken Kinoshita (initial character designer for SatAM). The designer of her initial 'Ricky' design from the games is supposedly Naoto Ōshima (aka 'Bigisland'), character designer for Sonic the Hedgehog.

History
Born into the Royal Acorn monarchy and a middle name handed down from her mother, Sally is the heir to the throne as the future ruler of Mobius. Her attitude stems from childhood due to a strict upbringing of learning etiquette, royal studies, and the family credo. Two of which are the origins of the Chaos Emeralds and the hidden refuge known as Knothole Village. Becoming overwhelmed with these responsibilities left her isolated and sheltered from the outside. She befriends Sonic the Hedgehog arranged from a play date by Sonic's Uncle Chuck. Their friendship is a conflicting one, since Sonic antagonizes Sally due to her "slowness" while she tries to improve his mannerisms. While escaping to Knothole, her mother is killed in the attempt while her father is imprisoned by Dr. Robotnik. Later in year, Sally and Sonic develop an ambiguous relationship, despite their constant bickering. She also is the surrogate auntie of Miles "Tails" Prower where she becomes overprotective of his safety. Most of time she prides herself on her intellect and leadership skills. Whenever she feels stressed out, she consults Bunnie to balance her frustrations. Her tech skills enabled her to design a small device called NICOLE; a portable hand-held computer that dispenses versatile information such as geographical navigation and their origins.

When Dr. Robotnik ceases control over the chaos emeralds and captures Bunnie, she becomes more determined to achieve the goal of liberating the planet and claiming her place on the throne. Her loving devotion to her people and friends level out the mood swings she projects at her secret love, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Ricky
Sally Acorn is sometimes thought to have come from the character of Ricky The Squirrel (referred to as Ricky in the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog manual). Ricky was originally one of the "natural batteries" captive animals released by destroying badniks and Egg Capsules in the early games of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Ricky is sometimes thought to have been renamed and changed to 'Sally Acorn' by Sega of America in their Sonic Bible. Usually depicted with a pink bow on her head, Sally made frequent appearances in early Western media for the franchise.

This version of Sally was used in the guidebook Stay Sonic, the promotional comic released alongside the first game, and early issues of Fleetway's Sonic the Comic (which was influenced by Stay Sonic in particular), among others. (See below for information about the Sally Acorn in Sonic the Comic.)

Princess Acorn
In 1993, an article in Sonic the Comic announced two new television series starring Sonic the Hedgehog: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog. Within the four pages of plot synopsis and concept art, a group of screen shots that greatly differ from the rest appear without explanation. These screen shots include a character named "Princess Acorn", presumably a squirrel with yellow fur and blond hair wearing a red dress. She shows up alongside characters that have since been featured in Sonic the Comic. This character shares little similarities in Sally's current appearance, but it is possible that this was an early design of Sally.

Early Life
Sally is the daughter of King Maximillian and Queen Alicia Acorn. She has a long-lost older brother named Elias, whom she initially did not know existed. As a child, Sally was taken to Angel Island several times with her father, where she met and befriended Knuckles the Echidna, long before ever meeting Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sally's family ruled over Mobotropolis for several generations. Their dynasty ended shortly after the Great War, after which a treacherous Warlord named Ivo Robotnik-a defector who helped King Acorn win the war-staged a coup d'état and took over the kingdom. Becoming Supreme Emperor: Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the newly proclaimed dictator turned the city into a industrial wasteland. In addition, he used his roboticizers to transfigure the city's population into mindless robot slaves called Robians. The five-year-old Sally was hidden from Robotnik's grasp and sent to live in the protected Knothole Village hidden within the Great Forest.

Sally grew up to lead a band of ragtag rebel militiamen from Knothole starting at age 10, living alongside her friends, her governess Rosie, and the elderly Julayla (who Sally sees as her grandmother).

After living in Knothole for a short time, Princess Sally lost her mentor Julayla when she died. Immediately afterward, she was sent a "friend" in the form of NICOLE, a sentient compact super computer that originates from an alternative future where Sally is Queen. Feeling that her past self would seriously need a friend, Sally had Rotor design NICOLE and send her back in time.

Freedom Fighter
The ultimate goal of the Freedom Fighters was to oust the oppressive tyrant Dr. Robotnik and restore the Kingdom of Acorn. Hidden deep within the Great Forest in their rebel headquarters of Knothole, the Freedom Fighters carried out guerrilla attacks on Robotnik's operations. Seeing the Princess as a threat to his control, Robotnik made her capture a top priority. A scheme to replace Sally with a malevolent robotic double nearly worked, with a secondary plan of creating a whole line of robots modelled off of each of the Freedom Fighters lined up. The real Sally uncovered this plot, unmasked the fake Sally, and destroyed the rest of Robotnik's duplicates.

Robotnik later managed to infiltrate Knothole with a duplicate of Sally's father, King Max. The traitorous Freedom Fighter named Drago arranged for Sally's assassination, pinning the blame on Sonic in an elaborate frameup. Robotnik then appeared unexpectedly in Knothole after the fake King Max leaked its location. After arriving at the Freedom Fighters' doorstep and holding them all hostage, Robotnik announced his plan to use the rebel headquarters as a testing ground for his super-weapon, with which he intends to eradicate all non-robotic life on the planet. His "Endgame" scheme is nevertheless foiled by the rebellion, and Robotnik is vaporized during the weapon's backfiring.

In the wake of Robotnik's defeat, Sally worked hard to re-establish the old kingdom. The desolate wasteland of Robotropolis was difficult to rebuild, and discrimination against Robians threatened to spark a civil war. A new Robotnik arrived from a alternate reality--(Robo Robotnik)-- and quickly retook Mobotropolis. He was destroyed in battle, but through the transfer of his mind into a new real human body, he was able to live on as "Eggman Robotnik" by the reborn (by Eggman Robotnik's salvaging of his brain) Dr. Robotnik. For a time, Sally presided over the newly established Kingdom of Knothole, a haven from Eggman Robotnik until he too, like Ivo Robotnik, learned of its location.

Return to the Front Lines
After Robotnik was killed, Sally was put in charge of reconstruction of Mobotropolis. With Sally busy behind the scenes, other Freedom Fighters took on the role of field commander, with Sonic himself occasionally filling that role. With the return of her parents, Sally could not properly rule either. Sally became frustrated with a lack of control over her life, which culminated in an arranged marriage with Antoine. The wedding was quickly annulled when her groom turns out to be Patch, an evil version of Antoine from a parallel universe. After her brother Elias took the throne and her father fell ill, Sally returned to taking a more active role in overseeing the Freedom Fighters, even joining them in combat.

Sally agreed to be the maid of honor at Bunnie and Antoine's wedding, with Sonic serving as best man. Not long after the ceremony, Sally became Eggman's prisoner during the aerial bombardment of Knothole, but was promptly freed by a rescue mission mounted by the few who weren't taken prisoner: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and NICOLE. With Knothole completely crushed, Dr. Eggman turned his sights on New Mobotropolis. Sally once more led the charge against the enemy forces herself, resulting in the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix defeating Eggman's Egg Beater battlesuit. Just prior to this, Sally asked Bunnie to make her hair the length and style as her original SatAM look, symbolizing that she was her old self again.(During that time, her hair was below-waist length.)

Not long after, she interrupted a duel between her brother Elias and Tails' father Amadeus Prower, both of whom were leading separate factions in a schism that threatened to plunge New Mobotropolis into civil war. Reminding them of her own ruling experience, she managed to bring the battle to an end and worked with them to establish a new system of government. Though the new ruling body called for seven council members-including Elias-Sally declined running, apparently quite fine with leaving politics behind for a while. Sadly, her relief at the averted crisis was short-lived, as Dimitri the Echidna arrived with horrifying news: Enerjak had returned.

Mogul, Destructix, and the Suppresion Squad
After the Enerjak rampage and Mogul's escape, the latter then took over Robotnik's old Casino Night Zone and changed it to his own image. Meanwhile, Sally spent some time alone with Sonic in the ruins of Knothole talking about their past and feelings for one another. Their conversation was interrupted by Bean and Bark and the Destructix. Eventually, Sonic was knocked out by a shot from Nack the Weasel, who then gave Sally ten seconds to run for help while Sonic was dragged off by the Destructix. She soon liberated him with the help of Amy Rose and Geoffrey. When the heroes confront Mogul however, he denies all claims of wrongdoing as his accusers lack any incontrovertible evidence. Sally and her friends were then sent away publicly humiliated.

Recently, Sally and the other Freedom Fighters have been presented with a new problem, the Suppression Squad. The Freedom Fighters were thrown out of Freedom HQ by their Anti-selves. The Acorn Council voted to focus on the weakening Eggman Empire but Sonic and later the other Freedom Fighters disobeyed and threw the Suppression Squad back to Moebius and locked Scourge in the No Zone.

New Enemies
After Eggman's defeat, New Mobotropolis seemed peaceful for a time. While attending Mina and her Forget Me Knots concert, Monkey Khan appeared and told everyone that a new enemy is nigh and Sonic and Monkey Khan head to Eggdome. When Sonic and MK returned, Sally was the first to learn that New Megaopolis was under new leadership, along with Espio's betrayal. Sally later led the Freedom Fighters to the Iron Queen and Snivley when they invaded New Mobotropolis, alone, but later called for backup from the Chaotix when Bunnie's cybernetics were being controlled by the Iron Queen's Magitek. Sally then watched in horror the Regina took control of Monkey Khan using the same Magitek. Once Sonic returned from taking Bunnie to Freedom HQ, she briefed him on the situation and warned him to to hurt the controlled cyborg. She later served to stall Monkey Khan while Sonic got a Power Ring to break Monkey Khan from Regina's spell. She later became one of the many Mobians to witness the Iron Dominion take full control of New Mobotropolis (through the use of Iron NICOLE). Sally, along with Sonic, Ken, and Tails managed to escape the now over-run New Mobotropolis and flee to Freedom HQ, where she and Sonic were transported into the virtual world, where she managed to free NICOLE from Regina's control while Sonic kept the Iron Queen occupied. NICOLE would then serve as a spy for the Freedom Fighters. After saving NICOLE, Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Ken decided to go to the Dragon Kingdom and sever the Iron Dominion's ties with the other four clans.

Color Scheme and Appearance
In Archie Sonic (Mini-Series) Issue 0 she had orange fur and blonde hair. This color scheme did not last long at all. By the next issue she had black hair and pink fur. This is the same color scheme Sally fashioned in the SatAM pilot and Sonic Christmas Blast special. The first season of SatAM, Sally's color scheme changed to brown fur and red hair. After Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 16 She changed to the cartoon series color scheme and no longer wore a headband. In season 2 of SatAM Sally wore a blue vest. The origin of this vest was revealed in Archie Sonic: In Your Face! Issue 1. Sally's appearance stayed the same until Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 130 where her hair is grown out very long. She eventually cuts her hair back down to its traditional standard length.

In an early issue of the comic, Sonic teases Sally about her hair color changing from blond to black, Sally was not amused. It is later in Archie Knuckles the Echidna Issue 29 where Sally reveals that on a mission in Robotropolis, she fell off a walkway while under laser fire and fell into a chemical vat that fortunately only discolored her fur, making it orange and her hair blond. After bathing, Sally's fur came out pink and her hair black. Sally was still very upset by this and it took weeks of bathing before the chemicals were completely washed out and she was back to her natural color scheme.

SatAM Sonic


This Sally is a squirrel and cast in the role of princess similar to the Archie version. Her father, exiled to the Void, is referred to simply as the King; no first name is given (the title 'Acorn' is not referred to either, though is used in the show's bible). Nothing is mentioned about her mother or any potential siblings (though the script for "Blast to the Past" briefly mentions her mother's last words to her; 'rule with honor'). She is a Freedom Fighter, usually working as a strategist and de facto leader. Rosie, who had been Sally's nanny as a child, had been rescued from the fate of roboticization in the second season story "Blast to the Past". Sally is voiced by Kath Soucie.

Sonic the Comic
A Sally based on her initial game sprite design appeared in early issues of the UK based Sonic the Comic. Unlike Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot who were also based on the 'small animal' characters (and their depictions in Stay Sonic) this Sally did not become a Freedom Fighter and faded into obscurity along with the other forgotten civilians of the games.

Personality
Sally is strong-minded, and is very opinionated. Sally is sometimes known to be kind but headstrong and has a tendency to put too much pressure on herself to react in the most wise way. She is a leader of the Freedom Fighters, second only to, or on level with, Sonic himself. With her father banished to "The Void", Sally is second in line to take the throne, currently held by new King Elias Acorn, her older brother. She can be very caring as well, in many cases Sally goes out of her way to make sure her friends are safe and happy. She can be somewhat insecure at times when Sonic is not around, and is possibly emotionally dependant on him. Even so, as princess of Mobius, she is a firm leader with a strong sense of justice and a warm heart.

Sometimes Sally is referred to as a "Tomboy Princess" since she does not typically dress regally or act as a damsel as many princesses do, but rather acts as a fighter rather than a typical princess.

Sally is practical, being destined to rule whether or not she likes it. She has some technical training, being the third-most technical member of the Freedom Fighters (behind Rotor and Tails), and due to her martial art skills she proves to be one of the most formidable Freedom Fighters in battle when the situation calls for it.

Her primary love interest in most media is Sonic, and NICOLE is her longest-known companion in most media depicting her.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Over the years Sally has had numerous flirtations and love-interests, the largest being Sonic the Hedgehog. During their battles against Dr. Ivo Robotnik as Freedom Fighters, the two kept their feelings for each other mostly to themselves, though the idea of marriage had come up on occasion, mostly as a joke. Additionally, because of their clashing personalities, both were reluctant to make anything more out of their relationship. Their mutual feelings for each other became far more obvious when Sonic discovered Sally had survived Operation: EndGame and the two shared a kiss.

When King Max discussed the topic of marriage with his daughter shortly after he'd been freed from the wizard Ixis Naugus's control, Sally requested that Sonic be her future husband. The aged king flat-out refused this offer, saying that the Source of All would ultimately decide who her husband would be, as it had dictated Max's wife and his father's wife before him.

Sonic and Sally spent the next few months apart, while Sonic was chasing after the Ixis Naugus around the planet with Tails. Shortly after his return, Dr. Eggman began his campaign to retake Mobotropolis and roboticize the Mobians, which prevented Sonic and Sally from getting close. To make matters worse, after the Kingdom of Knothole was formed, Sally was forced to be home schooled while Sonic and the others went to public school. Sally's duties as princess kept her both busy and distant from Sonic for some time. When Sally finally attempted to visit Sonic, she caught him being kissed by Mina Mongoose. After this, Sally believed Sonic had moved on. The two later recovered and fully admitted their love for one another when Sonic freed Sally from the bounty hunter Nack the Weasel.

After almost a year had passed since Max's original decision to force Sally to marry Antoine, his opinion had drastically changed, after Sonic had proven himself a worthy candidate for a spouse. Max accepted Sonic and Sally's request for marriage, but shortly after this, the Xorda's attack on Mobius occurred, which resulted in Sonic being lost in space for over a year.

Upon Sonic's return from space, the two wasted no time rekindling their love for one another. However, their relationship took a turn for the worse when Sally was put in charge of the kingdom and requested Sonic stay by her side, as opposed to risking his life on numerous combat missions. Sonic chose the life of a hero, and this resulted in Sonic getting a slap across the face and an end to their relationship. Since then, Sonic has dated Fiona Fox, but the two broke up when Sonic discovered Fiona actually was interested in his evil double, Scourge the Hedgehog. Recently, after Antoine and Bunnie announced they were getting married, Sally admitted she missed Sonic and felt jealous that it wasn't her who was getting married.

Since Antoine and Bunnie's marriage, Sonic and Sally have once again showed signs of interest in one another. Sally in particular has flirted and hinted at this with Sonic. At one point, the two almost kissed each other, but were interrupted by Bean, Bark, and the Destructix. Immediately prior to Dr. Eggman's final defeat and push into insanity, Sally shows intense concern for Sonic's personal safety, along with her hugging him before Sonic dove into the hole leading to Eggman, telling him to be careful.

After Monkey Khan showed up, Sally decided to fully rekindle her friendship with Sonic, and start a romance with Ken. It has been hard for Sonic to get used to the change, though unbeknownst to him Sally came to feel that she had ended their romance badly and thus been unfair to him. However, Sally informed him after returning from the Dragon Kingdom that she wasn't ready to become seriously involved with Khan yet, and then took Sonic out to lunch. Since then Sally and Sonic have remained close friends like they always have been, leaving their romantic relationship a little undefined.

Antoine D'Coolette
Early in the series, Antoine very openly declared his love to Sally on a regular basis, but the feeling was never mutual. Antoine always considered Sonic to be his rival for Sally's affection. After Sonic got into a fight with Geoffrey St. John, Antoine stepped in and rescued the Hedgehog who had ridiculed him for so many years. This act of heroism won Antoine the heart of Bunnie Rabbot and from there on he no longer had interest in Sally.

Years later, King Maximillian Acorn was in bad health and commanded Sally to marry Antoine, so he could help her rule the kingdom. Sally was not happy about this arrangement, but went through with it out of obligation towards her nation. It turned out Antoine was actually Patch D'Coolette in disguise, and he had set it all up, and was poisoning the king to try and get himself into power. After Patch was defeated and the real Antoine was found, he went back to Bunnie and Sally was once again single.

Griff
In the Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series), a goat named Griff welcomed Sonic, Sally and Antoine to his home in Lower Mobius. While they were there, Griff attempted to court Sally, which inflamed both Sonic and Antoine in jealousy. Sally was pleased with Griff's attention and went along with him, partly to make Sonic even more jealous. However Griff was actually just trying to charm Sally into showing him where Knothole is so he could steal their Power Rock.

Geoffrey St. John
When Geoffrey St. John first met Princess Sally, he assisted her in training the Substitute Freedom Fighters and foiling Dr. Robotnik's scheme of creating robo-duplicates of the Freedom Fighters. After seeing St. John's heroics, the skunk gained a place in Sally's heart, nearly rivalling Sonic. After the events of Project: Endgame and Sonic's revival of Sally, St. John realized her heart belonged to Sonic, but continued to clash with Sonic on numerous occasions. Some time later, Geoffrey St. John established a relationship with Hershey the Cat, eventually marrying her and losing his feelings for Sally.

Knuckles the Echidna
Sally had known Knuckles even before she met Sonic, during her father's regular visits to Angel Island. The two quickly became friends as neither one had anyone else their age to play with. Years later, when Knuckles came to Knothole to fight against Mecha Sonic, the two reminisced about their childhood days. Sally even showed signs of interest in Knuckles at this point, especially due to the anger she felt towards Sonic, who everyone thought had deliberately allowed himself to be roboticized. Not long after this however, Knuckles was perused by the fellow Echidna Julie-Su, who is currently Knuckles' girlfriend and soul mate. Sally and Knuckles' friendship was temporarily damaged when the latter decided to remain on Angel Island rather than assist the Freedom Fighters on Mobius against Dr. Eggman, though the two repaired their friendship over time.

Monkey Khan
Some time after of her break up with Sonic, Sally began to show romantic interest in Monkey Khan. Feelings seemed to be reciprocated and they quickly became a couple. Though the two seemed very happy together, Sally felt a little funny because she knew she was still fighting feelings she had for Sonic. After the defeat of the Iron Dominion, Monkey Khan told Sally that he could use a "Queen of the Free People", implying that he wanted Sally to be his queen. However Sally rejected the offer, just in case there was a chance that she could patch things up with Sonic.

Relations

 * Former King Maximillian Acorn (father)
 * Queen Alicia Acorn (mother)
 * King Elias Acorn (brother)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (husband in possible future)

Trivia

 * Sally is one of the only Sonic characters to not be introduced into the games (with the exception of Sonic Spinball), despite her large role in the comics; in the Archie comic's "Mobius: 25 Years Later" arc, she is even married to Sonic.


 * Sally's middle name is Alicia, which is also her mother Queen Alicia's first name. This is also the name of her anti self.


 * In Japan, Sally was known by both her real name and a nickname of hers called "Ricki". This never made its way to America.


 * Sally is a main character in the Archie comic series and SatAM TV series, but typically does not appear in the games, although she did make an appearance in Sonic Spinball. In this game her fur was the pinkish color it was in early issues of the comic.


 * She appeared in Sonic Christmas Blast, although she had pink fur instead of brown. However, she did not speak.


 * Tiara of Sonic X-treme shares a similar appearance with Sally. Christian Senn claims that he did not intend for Tiara to look similar when he designed her.


 * As she was a main character in the comics, she was first officially introduced to the Japanese Sonic audience when Sonic Mega Collection was released.


 * In the English-language manual of Sonic CD for the Sega CD, Amy Rose is credited as Princess Sally, in an attempt to support the SatAM TV series (though the PC version and all later games called her Amy).


 * Sally was originally supposed to die during the "Endgame" saga. But Archie rejected the idea and made the current writer at the time change the storyline, so that she would in a coma instead.


 * In the first SatAM episode, Sonic Christmas Blast, and the early Archie comics Sally had pink fur, as mentioned above, but it was later stated in the Archie comics that it was because of a reaction when she fell in a vat of chemicals during a mission against the original Robotnik.
 * According to a remark made by Espio and Sally's reaction to it, her royal family birthmark is in a very embarrassing place.