Ricky

Ricky (リッキー) is the name given to brown squirrels, who also are one of Sonic's animal friends. Ricky made the first appearance in original Sonic the Hedgehog. Ricky's role in many games has being captured by Dr. Eggman to power his Badniks as a energy source or being imprisoned in capsules. Ricky has brown fur, round ears, wide eyes and a thick, bushy tail.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
The first appearance of Ricky was in the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog. In the game's storyline, Ricky, along with other animal friends got South Island, got captured by Dr. Robotnik and were turned into power sources for the doctor's Badniks. Ricky himself only appear at Marble Zone where he was either released from inside the Badniks when they are destroyed or freed from capsules at the end of Act 3.

Ricky also makes an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, the Rickies can only be found in Jungle Zone, when the Ricky along with other animals are released from the capsule of the Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Ricky's next appearance was in the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where he and the other animal friends of the West Side Island were captured captured by Dr. Robotnik to power his Badniks. In the game, Ricky can only be found in Emerald Hill Zone.

In the 8-bit version of the game with same name, Ricky only appears in the Green Hills Zone, where they, like in their earlier 8-bit appearance, are released from the hovering capsule in the Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Rickies are shown to inhabit the Little Planet, where they are seen hopping around along with Flickies in Palmtree Panic and Quartz Quadrant. This scenario is only shown if the player destroys the Metal Sonic Projector of the Round in the past timeline or manages to get good future by destroying Eggman's Machines or getting the Time Stones.

Sonic's Gameworld
Ricky is also seen along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and the other animal friends in Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld. here, Ricky is seen on a pair of cards featured in the Concentration mini-game, while the Japanese version of the game also features Ricky in the Poker Game and Bakudan Nuki mini-games.

Sonic & Knuckles
Ricky makes another appearance in Sonic & Knuckles, where he reprises his role from previous installments, where he and the other animals are captured by Dr. Robotnik and turned into power sources for his Badniks. Ricky can be found in Mushroom Hill Zone, Flying Battery Zone and Death Egg Zone where he will appear from destroyed Badniks or capsules. In the beginning of Knuckles' storyline, a herd of Rickies and Cuckies are around in freedom in Mushroom Hill Zone where Knuckles was relaxing, until they ran away when EggRobo dropped an exploding bomb down in front of Knuckles.

Sonic Pocket Adventure
Ricky along with the Flickies reappeared in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure where they reprise their basic roles where they are captured by Eggman and used to power his Badniks. Like in the previous games, they also appear when destroying Badniks or capsules. Ricky and Flicky can be found in every Zone of the game, though the Rickies in this game come in three different color schemes: light brown, light yellow and red. Animal friends including Ricky are also seen in the game's perfect ending.

Sonic Lost World
Ricky along with other animal friends appeared in Sonic Lost World, where they are shown to inhabit the Lost Hex. During the events of the game, Dr. Eggman, with the assistance of Deadly Six, resumed kidnapping animals, as Ricky being among them, to use them as the energy source for his badnik army. The small group of animals, including another Ricky, that managed to escape capture remained behind with Knuckles and Amy while Sonic and Tails went out to save their friends, where some of them had fun at the expense of Knuckles and even carried him around.

Ricky, along with other animals in Sonic Lost World, are collectible content used to progress throughout the game. Once the player has collected a set amount of Ricky and other animals, the player gain access to the fourth Zone in each area. Sonic is able to free animals from badniks, smaller capsules and even regular large ones at the end of each Zone. Ricky and animals can also be collected from Circus tents of each Zone. Ricky type of companions are featured in Windy Hill, Desert Ruins, Silent Forest and Sky Road.

Other Appearances

 * Ricky appears along with other animal friends at background of pictures in Sonic the Screen Saver.
 * Ricky is featured on several artworks in Sonic Jam and Sonic Gems Collection.

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Ricky along with other animal friends, appears in Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. He appears in few panels in first and third stories. In Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 2' story ''Clash!! South Island'' Picky tells to Sonic that Ricky and Cucky have become badniks. Later in "Sparkling Zone" Sonic destroys these badniks and rescues Ricky and Cucky, who then lead Sonic to the "Star Land Zone" where they saw animals getting imprisoned to the capsule. Sonic defeats Eggman and saves the animals from capsule.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
In Sonic the Hedgehog television series, Ricky was heavily resigned from an semi-anthropomorphic squirrel into a fully anthropomorphic female chipmunk named Sally. In this media, Sally is the princess and heir to the kingdom of Mobotropolis, but was forced into hiding when Dr. Robotnik overthrew her father. Finding sanctuary in Knothole Village, she became the field leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters to reclaim their home. Over the years, she developed romantic feelings for her teammate Sonic the Hedgehog.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the character Sally from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series which Ricky inspired was adapted as a part of the main cast named Sally Acorn. Much like in the animated series, she was the heir to the Kingdom of Acorn, although her brother Elias Acorn would take over the mantle for her. She was sent to the sanctuary of Knothole Village by her father Maximillian Acorn when the Great War was going badly for the Mobians, and led the Knothole Freedom Fighters on many field missions against Dr. Ivo Robotnik when he took power shortly after the Great War's end, and later his successor Dr. Eggman. Over the years, she formed a strong romantic relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog. On one mission though, she was turned into Mecha Sally and served Eggman until the timeline was rewritten by the Super Genesis Wave.

After the Super Genesis Wave, Sally's history remained basically the same, although with subtle differences and elements removed. After retaking Mobotropolis from Dr. Eggman after he seized power, she now leads the New Freedom Fighters against the Eggman Empire.

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, Ricky was renamed Sally Acorn. In this media, she is an anthropomorphic female squirrel living alongside the Emerald Hill Folk. Before Dr. Robotnik's takeover, Sally would often be involved in Badnik businesses and would need Sonic's help with them. After Robotnik conquered Mobius, she would help the Freedom Fighters to protect their Zone, eventually becoming a news reporter.

Sonic X
In the Sonic X anime, Ricky, much like in the games, is an animal species native to Sonic's world. Several of them got set to earth by Chaos Control where they managed to coexist peacefully with humans until they were returned home.

Early Sonic canon
Early on in the series, when all the animal friends were renamed by Sega of America in Sonic Bible, Ricky's gender was defined as female and was named Squirrel in the bible's first draft. It would later be reimagined as Sally Acorn the bible's second draft. According to the Sonic Bible, Sally Acorn comes from a large family like other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Rickies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic. In the bible's first draft, Sally Acorn taught Sonic how to lob acorns down from trees to pester the unsuspecting victims below. In the bible's second draft and in the guidebook Stay Sonic though, it is said Sally Acorn taught Sonic how to leap incredible instances.

Usually sporting a pink bow, Ricky made a number of appearances in early Western media for the franchise, including the promotional comic released alongside the first game.

Trivia

 * When Ricky is featured on his own card in Sonic the Hedgehog Online Trading Cards, he has been misleadingly named as Pocky. Pocky is also the name of another Animal Friend, who has been misleadingly called as Picky in the same online trading card game.
 * In the American credits of Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld he is labeled with his Japanese name, "Ricky" instead of his western name Sally Acorn during that time.
 * Ricky is one of Animals in the series that has not make any appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 or any of the three episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4.