- This article is about the video game character. For other uses, see Big the Cat (disambiguation).
Big the Cat (ビッグ ・ザ ・キャット Biggu za Kyatto?) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a large, anthropomorphic purple cat who lives deep within Mystic Ruins. Though imposing of stature, Big is a gentle and easy-going, though somewhat dim-witted person with a heart of gold. He also possesses incredible strength and toughness that makes him one of Sonic the Hedgehog's strongest allies. He is also an expert fisherman.
Big spends most of his time fishing in tranquility with his best friend, Froggy. Not one for going on grand adventures, Big prefers his peaceful and quiet lifestyle in the jungle. However, should his friends be in danger or in need of his aid, Big will not hesitate to leave his home to help them out and protect them in any way he can.
Appearance
Big is a very large and burly anthropomorphic cat. The majority of his body fur is purple with dark violet stripes. A striped pattern runs up his arms and long tail. His feet are covered in dark violet fur up to his ankles as well as the outer tips of his large, triangular ears, while his upper legs, back, and sides are covered in purple fur. White fur covers his chest, torso, muzzle, and inner ears. He also has black eyes with pale yellow sclera.
His preferred attire consists of yellow gloves, sandals, and a matching belt with a gold buckle. He usually keeps his fishing rod with him.
Personality
Big is carefree and laid-back. He cares a lot for his friends, especially Froggy. He enjoys fishing and brings his rod with him wherever he goes. He is often giddy and optimistic, especially when with his friends. However, he is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, as he has a short attention span and has a hard time understanding even the simplest of metaphors. Similarly, important things sometimes pass right through his mind. This does not mean Big is stupid, however, but more so that he is a slow thinker.[4] Quite comfortable with himself, Big acknowledges himself that he is not very intelligent without being burden by it. In fact, he is quite surprised himself when he realizes that he is right in an argument. In addition, his simple way of thinking lets him see important points that others, in their considerations of more complicated matters, have overlooked. For example, he genuinely believed Dodon Pa was a good person while everyone else believed him to be evil because he knew that Dodon Pa worked with Wisps, who only like nice people.
Despite his shortcomings, Big is loyal and reliable to his friends, and always sees the best in those he likes, even when others try to convince him otherwise. He also dislikes how many people worry about so many little things and them hurrying about all the time, which is probably why he chose to live in the Mystic Ruins jungle without technology.
Big encourages others and is not the selfish type. Big has an ability to stay calm in any situation, even when he has lost Froggy. Big is amazed by a lot of things and is almost always upbeat, even when he is in danger. One of the only instances of the cat losing his upbeat nature comes in Sonic Heroes, when he momentarily loses hope of finding Froggy and sadly suggests going home before Amy rekindles his spirit.
Powers and abilities
Physical abilities
Big is regarded as one of Sonic's strongest and toughest friends.[5] He possesses superhuman strength, enough to lift and throw entire cars and boulders larger than himself with little effort, shatter rocks and metal with brute strength, and even knock away objects with such force that they ignite fire.
Due to his large size, Big does not possess any noticeable speed or agility compared to other characters. However, as demonstrated in Sonic Heroes, he capable of running at rather high speeds by normal standards and can even keep up with Amy Rose. He also has enough agility to grind on rails.
Big has extreme amounts of toughness and durability due to his bulk. When struck by attacks, Big's bulk will cause most strikes to just bounce right off him, and he can in some cases, when giddy enough, not even feel the attacks at all. Big's toughness also makes him impervious to conditions and substances that would otherwise be hazardous to normal people such as poison gas, waters well below sub-zero temperatures, and harmful energy barriers.
Big is a very capable swimmer as seen in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, being able to swim to far depths and through underwater grottos and even walk on the bottom of pools like he is walking on dry land. Big also seems to have rather advanced climbing capabilities, given how Big is able to appear in high places where there is nearly no means of climbing up there.
Moves and techniques
Most of Big's fighting moves and techniques involves the usage of his Fishing Rod. When using his Lure Attack, Big uses his Fishing Rod to hit opponents or throws his Fishing Rod's lure out and strikes opponents with it from afar. Other offensive moves involving Big's Fishing Rod is his Big Fishing technique, where Big swings his lure around so it becomes a large, lethal weapon to knock opponents into submission, and his Lure Whip, where Big captures opponents in his Fishing Rod's treat and trips them. For traversing the environment, Big can use his Umbrella Descent to glide through mid-air by folding out his Fishing Rod's umbrella during a mid-fall.
When not using his Fishing Rod, Big can attack by using Body Press, where he drops his entire body down on enemies, crushing them and create powerful energy shockwaves. In Sonic Heroes, Big could also perform variants of the Spin Attack, such as the Spin Jump, where Big can leap into the air and curl into a spinning ball to deal damage to anything he lands on, and the Homing Attack, where Big jumps and home in on an enemy to attack. He can also use his Battering Ram to knock down opponents.
When not attacking opponents alone, Big can call upon Froggy to perform special moves, such as Froggy Rain, where Big has Froggy and his friends drop down upon enemies from above, and Froggy Poison, where Big has Froggy poison enemies.
Miscellaneous skills
Big's fishing skills are showcased in Sonic Adventure. In this picture, Big is fishing for Froggy in Emerald Coast.
Big is a highly experienced fisherman, being able to fish just about anything up from the waters with his Fishing rod, ranging from regular fish of various shapes and sizes to hostile robotic Choppers and even Froggy when he was under the influence of Chaos.
Big has an excellent sense of smell. As seen in Sonic Heroes, Big was able to catch Froggy's sense on the outskirts of Bullet Station while the latter was (seemingly) held captured deep within said location. Big's main weakness, his low intelligence, is also a strength in certain situations, such as in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, where Big's simple way of thinking was the reason why he was immune to Voxai mind control.
Big also appears to have some skills with machinery despite his nonurban habitat, seeing as he flew Tails' Tornado 2 from Eggman's airship and managed to land it safely. As seen during Dodon Pa's Grand Prix, Big also has excellent skills when it comes to driving and racing in racecars like the Frog Cruiser.
Color Powers
By harnessing different variants of Hyper-go-on from Wisps, Big can use specific Color Powers to transform into a certain form, such as a drill, a laser or even a planet, each one possessing its own unique abilities. So far, Big has been able to transform into the Cyan Laser, Yellow Drill and Indigo Asteroid. However, these transformations require a steady supply of Hyper-go-on to be maintained.
Relationships
Friends
- Amy Rose (close friend; acts like an older brother to her)
- Blaze the Cat
- Charmy Bee
- Cheese
- Cream the Rabbit (close friend; acts like an older brother to her)
- E-123 Omega
- Espio the Chameleon
- Froggy (best friend)
- Knuckles the Echidna
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Omochao
- Rouge the Bat
- Shade the Echidna
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Silver the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Tikal
- Vector the Crocodile
Enemies
- Chaos (formerly)
- Dr. Eggman
- E-102 Gamma (when he stole Froggy)
- Metal Sonic
- Nocturnus Clan
- Pir'Oth Ix
- Shade the Echidna (formerly)
- Overmind
- Thelxe
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sonic Channel (Japanese). Characters: Big. Sega. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved on 3 July 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Devra Newberger Speregen (2016). Sonic: The Ultimate Character Guide. Scholastic. p. 37. ISBN 978-1338033243.
- ↑ Sumo Digital (23 February 2010). Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/Level: Big the Cat's profile card.
- ↑ Sega of America . Big the Cat. Sonic Characters. Sega of America. Archived from the original on 5 March 2005. Retrieved on 26 October 2017. "This big guy showed up in Sonic Adventure toting his fishing pole and looking for his little friend, Froggy. Sure he's a bit slow, but they say slow and steady wins the race and in the case of Big, they would be right. He's been placed on Team Rose in Sonic Heroes next to Sonic's cutest girl friends, Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit"
- ↑ Big's entry in the Codex in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
