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Late in her design phase, it was decided to add jawlines under Belle's mouth in order to make it clear that she was a robot.<ref name="NWCC"/> |
Late in her design phase, it was decided to add jawlines under Belle's mouth in order to make it clear that she was a robot.<ref name="NWCC"/> |
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| − | Her design is somewhat inspired by the huldra, a creature in Scandinavian mythology. Her earlier designs took in form as a mouse.<ref="EvanStanleyTumblr">{{Cite web |author= [[Evan Stanley]] |date=8 October 2020 |url=https://spiritsonic.tumblr.com/post/631375651234021376/what-kind-of-animal-is-belle-i-realize-shes-a |title=Post on Draw many Cartoon |work=Tumblr |accessdate=19 March 2021}}</ref> |
+ | Her design is somewhat inspired by the huldra, a creature in Scandinavian mythology. Her earlier designs took in form as a mouse.<ref name="EvanStanleyTumblr">{{Cite web |author= [[Evan Stanley]] |date=8 October 2020 |url=https://spiritsonic.tumblr.com/post/631375651234021376/what-kind-of-animal-is-belle-i-realize-shes-a |title=Post on Draw many Cartoon |work=Tumblr |accessdate=19 March 2021}}</ref> |
==Appearance== |
==Appearance== |
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Revision as of 21:05, 19 March 2021
Template:IDW
Belle the Tinkerer[5] is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing. She is a robot based on a female anthropomorphic animal from Sonic's world. Unlike normal robots, Belle is made entirely of wood.[1]
Concept and creation
Belle was conceptualized and designed by Evan Stanley. The crew at IDW Publishing wanted to introduce a character with a recognizable design and concept that would them stand out and yet fit into Sonic's world and cast. Eventually it was decided that Belle would be a robot (a common concept) designed like a marionette doll (a new concept).[1]
Late in her design phase, it was decided to add jawlines under Belle's mouth in order to make it clear that she was a robot.[1]
Her design is somewhat inspired by the huldra, a creature in Scandinavian mythology. Her earlier designs took in form as a mouse.[6]
Appearance
Belle is a robot made entirely out of oak hardwood,[7] giving her a marionette doll-like appearance. Modeled like an antropomorphic animal, she has orange fur and a tan muzzle, along with medium-long braids that are held together with green ties at the ends and a large fuzzy hair tuff on her forehead. She also has blue eyes, three freckles on each cheek, buck teeth, and a round pink nose (akin to a clown nose). Her eyelashes also have thick ends. Her arms and legs on the other hand are tan and rectangular in shape. Lastly, she has an orange thread with a tuft at the end for a tail. For attire, she wears a pink shirt with a white collar and puffy shoulders, a pointy green cap, green overalls with yellow buttons and short legs, white cuffs on her wrists, white socks, and pink Mary Jane shoes with yellow buttons. Though her hands also appear to wear gloves, they are actually just white.
History
Past
Accordingly, Belle was created to aid with work in places like machine shops.[8]
Sometime after Belle was created, her creator (whom Belle referred to as her "Dad") went missing and she decided to look for him. During her search, she came across an abandoned Eggman base near Windmill Village.[9][7]
Chao Races and Badnik Bases
Sonic fighting Belle, from Sonic the Hedgehog #34.
When Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower entered the abandoned Eggman base, Belle would sneak through the shadows of the base, avoiding the boys' attention, and later hide in a pile of scrapped robots.[9] Eventually though, Belle fell out of her hideout when Sonic accidentally kicked a screw into it. Sonic immediately mistook her for a Badnik and attacked while trying to guess her name. However, Belle kept avoiding Sonic's attacks until he pulled her tail. This caused her to kick Sonic with both legs by reflex, which she apologized for. Eventually though, Tails stopped Sonic and explained to Belle that they usually meet robots that belong to Eggman's army. Belle explained that she was not created by Eggman, but by another creator she had been trying to find for a while. Tails was likewise impressed that she was made entirely of wood. However, they were interrupted by an alarm in the base that was triggered after Tails forgot to turn off the local computer's firewall. Beats then arrived and surrounded the heroes. While Sonic and Tails were discussing how to get out of their current situation, Belle noticed that an Egg Keeper was trying to catch Tails. She thus pushed Tails away, leaving her to get immobilized by the Badnik herself. Fortunately, Tails destroyed the Egg Keeper and freed Belle. Sonic then told Belle that they would have to take advantage of her unusual abilities as the situation around them got worse.[7]
After Tails made an escape route for them, Belle rescued Tails when he was caught by an Egg Keeper by making a leap that pulled Tails out of the Egg Keeper's grasp after pulling her tail. Sonic then dragged both of them outside the base. Afterward, Belle asked them to take her with them to White Park Zone as her current hideout had been taken over by Badniks. After Tails convinced Sonic to let her come along, the latter had Belle chosen a wing on the Tornado to ride on all the way to White Park Zone but did not enjoy the ride. After being sat off at the White Park Grand Chateau, Belle was still shaky from the flight. Amy then led Belle and Sonic to the suite of Clutch the Opossum, who was lying unconscious on the floor. At the same time, Cream wanted to release the Chao Clutch had locked in a cage with numerous locks. Upon hearing this, Belle decided to help Cream open the cage since tinkering was her specialty. Cream then introduced herself to Belle. Soon after, Clutch got up and activated the Badniks in his suite, before escaping himself. Belle was then surrounded by hostile Badniks again.[2] While protected by the others, Belle worked on opening the cage that the Chao were imprisoned in, but encountered some tricky padlocks. Eventually, however, she got the padlock open and the Chao helped destroy the Badniks. Tails and Rouge appeared shortly afterward, warning them of an avalanche that closing in on the chateau. The heroes tried to evacuate the chateau, but Dr. Starline soon appeared and stood in their way. While Starline was being held off, Tails told Belle that Starline was merely an Eggman wannabe. When Starline grabbed Tails and tried to kidnap him however, Tails pulled Belle by the tail, making her kick Starline right in his beak and allowing the heroes to escape the incoming avalanche as it hit the chateau and buried Starline. Sonic later apologized to Belle for how he initially treated her when he found out about how she had helped his friends out. Tails, in turn, asked her to help him in his workshop, something which Belle enthusiastically accepted. Later in said workshop, Belle helped Tails fix Omega. Afterward, Tails noticed that she could read Eggman's ciphers without any problems, something which only the doctor himself, or one of his creations, would be capable of. Belle, however, still insisted that Eggman did not create her and refused to give Tails a straight answer.[3]
Test Run
Belle was later led to the Restoration's new HQ by Sonic and Tails in hopes of instating Belle into the organization and give her a new home. There, they were welcomed by Amy and Jewel. After Belle said that she was good at carpentry work, Jewel sent her to the machine shop. There, Belle tried to help the chief there, but her clumsiness only got her into trouble. When a forklift later ran over her tail, Belle automatically kicked the crate she was carrying into a boat hanging from a frame and broke its restraints. This caused a panic in the shop, but Tangle quickly came and stooped the boat's fall. Belle, however, lost her job in the workshop because of her screw-up. As Tangle took Belle with her, Belle confessed to Tangle that that she had a difficult time in the Restoration. Tangle, on the other hand, quickly became excited over the function Belle's tail had, which she could relate to. Moments later, they both heard rumors that a new Eggman tower, which was causing unnatural storms, had appeared outside the coast. Tangle and Belle thus went to Jewel, where they met Sonic, Tails and Amy. While the others talked, Belle wondered if "he" might be in the tower. However, she refused to say anything because she would then have to explain herself. Regardless, she gave Tangle the idea of the two of them getting to the tower and helping Sonic investigate it themselves. Belle subsequently took Tangle to an unused Big Bang Extreme Gear that she had hotwired. Immediately after, Belle and Tangle rode it out of the HQ.[8]
Personality
Belle has a good heart and loves helping out people by fixing things and solving problems.[3] However, while enthusiastic, she is rather clumsy and naive, which leads her into all kinds of trouble and mishaps. Apparently insecure, she tends to worry about what other people think of her.[8]
While Belle is quite shy and a bit timid, in the face of real danger, she is capable of leaping into action. Apparently a pacifist, she cannot fight, nor does she like it, so she tries her best to avoid conflict.[7]
Despite being outwardly helpful, Belle is rather uncomfortable speaking honestly about herself and is unwilling to talk about her past, especially about her creator.[3]
Powers and abilities
Belle explains how her kicks work, from Sonic the Hedgehog #37.
Belle is quite flexible and has great reflexes, as she was able to successfully dodge all of Sonic's hand-to-hand combat attacks when they first met.[7]
Belle's fingers conceal various handyman tools inside them that she can reveal by opening her fingers.[2] Her tail also possesses a unique function that makes Belle kick outwards automatically when it is pulled.[7] This functionality can be used by Belle to make herself perform enhanced jumps or surprise kicks.[2][3]
Besides physical talents, Belle is a capable mechanic, being able to hotwire something as advanced as an Extreme Gear.[8] She is also able to read Dr. Eggman's blueprint ciphers perfectly.[3]
Relationships
Miles "Tails" Prower
Miles "Tails" Prower is an associate of Belle, whom she saw with Sonic when they were searched for data to fix Omega with. Tails was the only one who showed sympathy and affection towards her from the beginning. In fact, he presented himself to her without the slightest sign of spite from her, but with admiration from her for being a robot made of wood. Belle pushed Tails away from an Egg Keeper and got carried away in his place. In return, Tails freed Belle, before picking her up and asking her if she was okay. Cream's account of the release of Clutch's former Chao later convinced Tails that Belle would be useful to him in his workshop, so Belle accepted the request. Although he understood that she did not come by accident, but rather intentionally and that she could be a creation of Dr. Eggman's, Tails continues to believe in Belle's kindness and sincerity, in wanting to be of service and help Sonic and the others.[7][3]
Sonic the Hedgehog
Despite that she knows about Sonic the Hedgehog's "thing" with robots, Belle decided to follow him and Tails in the hope of finding her creator.[2] When they first met, Sonic treated her as a Badnik and tried to destroy her until Tails interrupted them.[7] Sonic initially remained suspicious about Belle and her creator, but after seeing her and Tails help each other, he decided to take Belle with them.[2] When Sonic later learned from Tails and Cream about how Belle had helped them, Sonic was convinced to apologize to Belle for having acted badly towards her and finally accepted her as an ally.[3]
Tangle the Lemur
Tangle is another worker at the Restoration, and Belle's colleague. She came to Belle's rescue on her first day of work at the Restoration and then helped integrate her into the crew. Tangle quickly became buddies with Belle after learning of Belle's tail's function, which Tangle qualified as "weird". After that, Tangle named them "weird tail buddies." Belle in particular is comforted by Tangle's optimism and over-confidence despite her own awkwardness.[8]
Friends/allies
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Amy Rose
- Cheese
- Cream the Rabbit
- Gemerl
- Restoration
- Team Dark
Enemies
Trivia
- Belle was first revealed at the online New York Comic Con IDW Sonic Panel on 9 October 2020.[1]
Gallery
Model sheet
Artwork
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Green, B.A. . IDW Sonic Panel Shows Off New Characters and Stories. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved on 17 October 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Sonic the Hedgehog #35, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 3"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Sonic the Hedgehog #36, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 4"
- ↑ Belle's model sheet.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #35, "Roll Call"
- ↑ Evan Stanley (8 October 2020). Post on Draw many Cartoon. Tumblr. Retrieved on 19 March 2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Sonic the Hedgehog #34, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 2"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Sonic the Hedgehog #37, "Test Run, Part 1"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #33, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 1"
