![]() |
Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
The Badnik Processing Plants[1] are locations that appear in the Sonic the Comic comic series published by Fleetway Editions. They are both prison and robot facilities where Badniks are being made. It is where Dr. Robotnik's prisoners and slaves are rounded up and taken to when they are sentenced to be installed inside Badnik shells as organic batteries.
During his reign, Dr. Robotnik built several Badnik Processing Plants all over Mobius. However, they were all shut down on the day Robotnik's empire fell due to a worldwide electromagnetic pulse.
History[]
Pre-Ruled By Robotnik[]
On one early occasion, a Badnik itself acted as a mobile Badnik Processing Plant, threatening to imprison Tufftee and turn him into a Badnik. However, Sonic ruined this attempt.[2]
Ruled by Robotnik[]
After Dr. Robotnik conquered Mobius, the Badnik Processing Plants became severe punishments for disobedient Mobians. Those that refused to pollute Mobius agains their will or spent their earnings on funding Robotnik's campaigns would be rounded up and sent to Badnik Processing Plants to be turned into Badniks. Sonic the Hedgehog and the Freedom Fighters often freed the trapped Mobians from their Badnik shells, but rarely make an impact on the Badnik Processing Plants themselves.
One of the most feared Badnik Processing Plants was the Veg-O Fortress on Mount Mobius. Robotnik once decided to round up all the Emerald Hill Folk and convert them there, but the operation was thwarted by Sonic and Captain Plunder.[3]
Emerald Hill Zone was in particular never spared from conversion, as Robotnik's Troopers made regular raids on the Zone to gather organic batteries for the Badnik Processing Plants. During one such raid, Hopper got captured and sent into a Badnik Processing Plant alongside many other prisoners, where he got trapped in a Badnik. In an attempt rescue Hopper, Shorty the Squirrel broke into the Badnik Processing Plant. However, he got captured and was used to power one of the new Cyberniks. By tampering with the Badnik Processing Plant's controls however, Shorty was able to keep his free will.[1][4]
Although Badnik Processing Plants were heavily guarded by Troopers and newly-created Badniks, Sonic and his allies attempted occasionally to destroy these facilities and free the prisoners. One such feat was achieved when intelligence suggested that "Robotnikcon One" was actually an undercover Badnik Processing Plant. In spite of Porker Lewis' protestations, the civilians would pour into the facility, only to come out as Balkirys and Buzzers. After the area was cleared out, Sonic destroyed the Badnik Processing Plant by making a giant Robotnik statue fall on it.[5] An operation involving a similar concept run by "Dr. Sun" was also halted.[6]
When attempting to take the Emerald Hill Folk to safety on the Floating Island, the Freedom Fighters broke into a Badnik Processing Plant disguised as Badniks in order to rescue the Emerald Hill Folk imprisoned in there. They were quickly rumbled though, forcing Sonic to fight the Crocodile Overseer whilst his friends took the prisoners out of there through a Star Post.[7][8]
Eventually, Robotnik developed more secretive ways of using his Badnik Processing Plants, such as hiring Max Gamble to construct the Pit Plunge Roller Coaster, a rollercoaster leading to an underground, mobile Badnik Processing Plant. However, these plans would be foiled by Shortfuse.[9] As time passed, prisoners would be forced to wait in squalid prisons before they could be taken to Badnik Processing Plants, making it easier for Sonic to free them.[10]
Post-Ruled by Robotnik[]
When the Black Asteroid appeared over Mobius and released a worldwide electromagnetic pulse, all technology on the planet was shorted out and the Badnik Processing Plants essentially became useless.[11] Robotnik was deposed and moved to Flickies' Island, where he created a base and Badnik Processing Plant, using Flickies as his new organic batteries.[12]
Robotnik was not the sole user of the Badnik Processing Plant technology. Eventually, the knowledge on how to build Badnik Processing Plants was loaned out to the Woodzone Leader as a means of creating a Badnik army in anticipation of Robotnik's return. Although this operation was ended by Tails, the hero was left puzzled over how he had gained the technology.[13]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sonic the Comic #45, "Enter the Cybernik, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #3, "Mayhem in the Marble Zone"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #24, "The Sonic Terminator, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #46, "Enter the Cybernik, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #46, "The Big Con"
- ↑ Sonic the Summer Special (1994), "Doctor Sun"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #55, "The Great Escape! Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #56, "The Great Escape! Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #85, "Scream Theme Park"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #78, "Plasma"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #100, "The Final Victory"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #105, "Flickies' Island, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #148, "No More Heroes"