Bark the Polar Bear (バーク・ザ・ポーラーベアー Bāku za Pōrābeā?)[2] is a playable character in Sonic the Fighters. He is an anthropomorphic yellow polar bear who competed in a fighting tournament for the Chaos Emeralds and the right to destroy the Death Egg II. He specializes in throws and flattening an opponent but lacks in speed.
History
Bark was one of the participants in a fighting tournament when Dr. Robotnik constructed the Death Egg II to conquer earth with his robots. He is found as opponent in Aurora Icefield. If Bark won this tournament, he would get the Chaos Emeralds belonging to the other participants in addition to his own and earn the right to use them for Tails' single-seat Lunar Fox which would take him to the Death Egg II to destroy it.
At the end of the tournament, the victor used the Chaos Emeralds to go to the Death Egg II and made it self-destruct moments after escaping it.
Other game appearances and cameos
Sonic Generations
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, Bark makes a cameo appearance as one of the characters in the wanted posters alongside Bean the Dynamite dotted throughout the City Escape.
Sonic Mania
Bark makes a cameo appearance in Sonic Mania. Right before the start of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 2, he, Fang the Sniper or Bean the Dynamite (depending on the random pattern) can be seen standing on a Badnik while taking down the Tornado. Like in Sonic Generations, he is also seen on wanted posters through the Zone.
Bark also appears during the boss battle of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 2, where he is revealed to be one of the illusions created by the Heavy Magician. During the battle, Bark hops slowly around the arena and occasionally smashes his hands into the ground, causing rocks and other obstacles to drop down from the roof. Hitting him will make the Heavy Magician reveal herself.
Fighting Vipers
Bark breifly appears as toy in Sega Saturn version of Fighting Vipers. He is only visible from the waist down during the intro of the game.
Fighters Megamix
Bark also makes appearance as an unlockable character in Fighters Megamix, along with Bean the Dynamite. He is unlocked after clearing the 'Muscle' submode of the arcade mode and he plays like any regular Virtua Fighter character in the game. He also has alternate costume is a Santa Claus-esque suit. His home stage is Aurora Icefield from Sonic the Fighters, albeit without the ice walls.
Shenmue and Shenmue II
Bark appears as a collectible small toy in both Shenmue and its sequel Shenmue II (misspelled as "Berk") along with all characters from Sonic the Fighters, sans Honey the Cat.
Personality
In his appearance of Sonic the Fighters, Bark is shown to be serious during his matches. Accordingly, Bark is blunt and quiet due of being a shy guy, but he is known to have a gentle and loving heart.[1]
Powers and abilities
Bark's main asset is his immense brute strength which is easily on par or greater than Knuckles the Echidna's, allowing him to flatten opponents and deal maximum damage with little effort. Bark also has the ability to harness chaos energy from the Chaos Emeralds to bolster his innate abilities, allowing him to enter Hyper Mode.
Bark is a good close range fighter in hand-to-hand combat, matching the likes of renowned fighters like Sonic and Knuckles. His fighting style specializes in brute strength with grappling throws and powerful punches, though he does utilize a few combo attacks.
In other media
Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Bark is the silent partner of Bean the Dynamite. Bark himself was a walking enigma as no know knew where he came from or what his motivations are. He used to be part of a mercenary group which included Fiona Fox, Bean and Nic the Weasel. Later on, Bark and Bean were hired by Dr. Eggman to ambush Sonic on his birthday, but the duo was soon outnumbered and retreated. After being captured and escaping jail, Bark and Bean worked for Mammoth Mogul for some time before joining Nack the Weasel's Team Hooligan to secure a Sol Emerald, but failed.
Following the events of Worlds Collide, Bark became nearly indistinguishable from his game counterpart. During the Shattered World Crisis, he and the Hooligans would aid Dr. Eggman in controlling the world's restoration.
Trivia
- Bark is North Island's #1 snowboarder.[1]
- Bark made a cameo on the front cover of Sonic X #15 in the form of a stuffed toy, along with Storm the Albatross and Amigo.
- His home stage theme Fairy of A.I.F has been remixed and can be found as unlockable song in Sonic Gems Collection.
- In Sonic the Fighters, Bark's fur in his character select picture is darker than his in-game model.
- According to an interview on Sonic Central, Sonic doesn't know the whereabouts of Bark, Ray the Flying Squirrel, Bean the Dynamite, Nack the Weasel, Chaos or Tikal.[3]
- Like Bean and Honey the Cat, Bark was most likely designed by Masahiro Sugiyama, the character designer of Sonic the Fighters.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 SoftBank (24 February 1997). "Bark". ファイターズメガミックス オフィシャルガイド (in Japanese). p. 202. ISBN 978-4797302127.
- ↑ File:Bean and Bark.png
- ↑ Sega of America (March 2007). Sonic Central. Sega of America. "Stephen F. (a.k.a Sonic's number 1 fan.): Will Ray the Flying Squirrel, Bean the Duck, Chaos, Nack, Tikal, and Bark reappear? P.S: COOL SITE!!! / Sonic: Actually, I don't know exactly where they are…but we do have some old faces from the past that will be with me in Sonic Heroes…make sure to check 'em out!"
- ↑ The staff team of Sonic the Fighters listed on the GHZ.
Notes
- ↑ Bark's height is taken from the official Japanese guide for Fighters Megamix, in which it was comparable to the human characters in the game. This appears to be inconsistent with his height in Sonic the Fighters, which was relative to the rest of the playable characters (for reference, Sonic stands at 100 cm).
Playable characters | Sonic (Super Sonic) | Tails | Knuckles | Amy | Espio | Bark | Bean | Fang | Dr. Robotnik* | Metal Sonic* | Honey* | |
---|---|---|
Non-playable characters | Mecha Sonic Model No.29 | RoboEgg | |
Arenas | South Island | Flying Carpet | Aurora Icefield | Mushroom Hill | Canyon Cruise | Casino Night | Dynamite Plant | Giant Wing | Death Egg's Eye | Death Egg's Hangar | |
Moves/Techniques | 16t | Aerial Bomb | Air Espio Spin | Air Hammer | Air Kick | Air Punch | Air Spin | Air Snipe | Airplane Drop | Airplane Throw | Back Hammer | Back High Kick | Back Low Punch | Back Punch | Backhand Chop | Bark Elbow | Bark Elbow Combo | Bark Punch | Bark Strike | Bark Uppercut | Barrier Walk | Beak Dive | Beak Rush | Beak Shot | Beak Slip | Bean Warp | Biff-Baff | Blind Fire | Blind Fire Dash | Body Dive | Bomb Shoot | Bomb Toss | Bonk Kick | Cannon Barrage | Crush Punch | Crush and Wham! | Dash Peck | Dash Spin | Dash Tongue | Dizzy Spin | Double Beak Slip | Dodge Beak | Dodge Beak Dive | Dodge Body Dive | Dodge Bonk Kick | Dodge Dive | Dodge Hammer | Dodge High Kick | Dodge Lunge | Dodge Punch | Dodge Snipe | Dodge Spin | Dodge Spin Dive | Dodge Tongue | Double Beak | Double Beak Slip | Double Cork | Double Feint | Double Hammer | Double Jump Kick | Double Kick | Double Punch | Double Scissor | Double Side Kick | Double Slap | Double Tail Kick | Double Tail Whap | Double Upperslap | Drop Kick | Dual Hyper Upper | Emerald Dive | Espio Chop | Espio Spin | Espio Warp | Fierce Attack | Fire 'Em Up! | Fist Drop | Foot Crush | Giant Swing | Girly Punch | Guard & Attack | Hammer Attack | Hammer Dive | Hammer Spin | Hammer Throw | Hammer Uppercut | Headbutt | Head's Up! | Head Slide | Head Spin | Head Throw | High Kick | Hip Attack | Hip Dive | Holding Punch | Hop Hammer | Hop Kick | Hop Punch | Horse Kick | Hyper Uppercut | Jab | Jab-Reversal | Jab, Straight | Kick | Knuckles Glider | Knuckle Special | Leg Throw | Low Hook | Low Punch | Long-Tongue | Magical Hammer | One-Two Punch | One-Two Reversal | One-Two Throw | One-Two Uppercut | One-Two Wham! | Propeller Dash | Propeller Dash-F | Propeller Dash-L | Propeller Dash-R | Pummel Combo | Pummel Punch | Punch | Punch-Kick | Punch Rush | Punch-Spin | Push Away | Rapid Peck | Rapid Shoot | Rapid Straight | Rising Uppercut | Rocket Missile | Roundhouse Kick | Rush Spin | Scissor Punch | Shadow Followup | Shadow Punch | Skip Kick | Side Kick | Sit Punch | Slap Attack | Slap Kick | Slip-Around | Smackback Kick | Sniper Set! Snipe 1,2,3,4 | Spin Attack | Spin Dive | Spin Double Kick | Spin Hammer | Spin Kick | Spin Punch Bomb Throw Combo | Spin Rocket | Spiral Feint | Spiral Spin | Spinning Uppercut Bomb Throw Combo | Stomp | Stomp Dive | Strike | Submarine Sniper | Super Cork | Super Rush | Swing Uppercut | Tabletop Flip | Tail Attack | Tail Combo | Tail Down Attack | Tail Kick | Tail Spring Kick | Tail Throw | Three-Bomb Toss | Tongue-Down | Tongue Punch | Tongue Throw | Tongue Throw + | Toss & Attack | Triple Beak | Triple Cork | Triple Hammer | Triple Kick | Triple Punch | Triple Scissor | Triple Side Kick | Triple Tail Kick | Turnaround | Twin Hammer Dive | Twin-Dodge Snipe | Twin Punch-Spin | Uppercut | Volley Toss | Wall Beak Dive | Wall Dive | Wall Hammer | Wall Spin | Wall Stamp | Wall Twin Hammer | Weapon Grab | Wheel Dash | Wheel Punch | Wimpy Punch | Windup Kick | Windup Punch | | |
Music | Sonic the Fighters Sound Tracks | |
Other | Chaos Emerald | Death Egg II | E-Mech | Health Gauge | Hyper Mode | Lunar Fox | Mirror fighter | Ring | South Island | Tails' Lab | Tornado | Sunset Town | |
*Appears in the 2012 remaster only V·T·E | Category |