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Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
Cassia the Pronghorn[3] is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. She is a mobian pronghorn, who has been subjected to Cyberization to get treatment for a fatal illness, and the sister of Clove the Pronghorn. Along with her sister, she is the regional Egg Boss of the Northamer Egg Army, although she does not hold the same amount of authority as Clove.[4]
Concept and creation
A couple of reasons were behind Cassia's creation. One was that Aleah Baker wanted to introduce related sisters to bring more sibling interaction into the series. From the story "Consequences", Paul Kaminski wanted more world-building by introducing new Egg Bosses, with a more sympathetic angle being suggested, so Aleah Baker made Cassia and Clove to present the story from sisters' point-of-view to create a new dynamic.[2]
While Cassia's basic personality was down from the start, she was early on nearly a badger. Also, early visual concepts had Cassia and Clove in different shades of blue, then yellow and light green respectively, then the dark/light green with the grey and black uniforms. Eventually, Aleah decided to make Cassia a pronghorn for two reasons: to get neat characteristics (Cassia's horns were made short to showcase she was less mature than Clove) and because pronghorns are fast animals which worked well within the series.[2]
Cassia's initial designs were created by Aleah Baker, which was then elaborated on by Evan Stanley. One color scheme she was given during the development was based on a young Pronghorn.[5] Stanley also provided a backstory idea for Cassia, where she had a hypersensitivity disorder that gave her debilitating allergies. As such, her eyes and respiratory system were replaced with cybernetics, giving her super-vision and smell, as well as immunity to toxic gases. Additionally, her tonfas would work as spray-like dispensers with cinnamon extract in an aerosol form, allowing her to spray her opponents in battle.[5] However, Ian Flynn has confirmed that this backstory is not canon.[6]
Appearance
Cassia is a mobian green pronghorn like her sister, who she is slightly shorter than. She has curved, black-tipped ears, small black horn stubs on her forehead, and a dark green pompadour shaped like a stick of cassia (or cinnamon). Her pompadour has a darker green spiral on the front which is turning clockwise (counter-clockwise to the viewer).
Cybernetics have replaced her eyes and augmented her ears, as well as any surrounding/internal structures necessary to support either.[2] Her eyes appear to be glassy black screens with yellow lights that can mimic eyelids and pupils. Her ears are metallic with glowing circuit lines on the inside and have yellow studs on the back, and she has a metallic muzzle with green studs on her cheeks.
She wears a grey Eggman Empire-styled uniform. Her version of the uniform consists of a short gray vest or sleeveless shirt, with the Eggman "white square strip" running down the center, over slightly roomy black pants. She wears gray fingerless gloves over an additional pair of black gloves that go to her upper arm. Her boots are gray and have white segmented strips in the center, matching her shirt, and have yellow rings around the top, matching her gloves. She attaches her tonfas to a white belt with a yellow and green spiral emblem in the center.
History
Past
At some point in her life, Cassia contracted a potentially fatal disease that disabled some of her senses. In desperation, Clove made a deal with Dr. Eggman to have her undergo Cyberization in exchange for their servitude. Cassia felt better afterward, but privately disliked being Eggman's slave.[3]
Shattered World Crisis
Act One
Cassia and Clove were in charge of the operations at Crystal Cave where they had discovered a Chaos Emerald hidden deep inside and tried to obtain it.[7] However, the excavation was put on hold when the cave's terrain proved too dangerous.[8] After taking a leave of absence however, Cassia and Clove returned to find the mine having been attacked and their Badnik workers destroyed. Annoyed over the badniks' ineffectiveness, Cassia wished she had been to stop the intruders while brushing off Clove's concerns for her well-being over that idea. Investing the heist to see if the thieves got away with the Emerald, Cassia and Clove checked the security system's footage and saw the thieves were Miles "Tails" Prower, Sally Acorn, Antoine D'Coolette.[7]
Act Two
Cassia and Egg Soldiers cornering Bunnie, from Sonic the Hedgehog #278.
Later, Sally, this time accompanied by Bunnie D'Coolette, intruded into Cassia and Clove's territory again in search of a Gaia Temple and the cyan Chaos Emerald - the only emerald Eggman had managed to capture and retain. Before Clove left to investigate, Cassia asked to come along, but Clove wanted her to stay at the base where it was safer. To add to Cassia's dismay, the Egg Soldier on monitoring duty was busy playing video games and thus had not noticed the Freedom Fighters' incursion when it happened. Seeing an opportunity, Cassia decided to defy Clove's orders and went to the Chaos Emerald's shrine to investigate herself. Upon arrival, she found herself face-to-face with Bunnie. Refusing to lose another emerald, Cassia challenged Bunnie and the two cyborgs engaged in combat.[9] Cassia was eventually overpowered after angering Bunnie with her taunts, but just then, the floor underneath them collapsed and they fell into a cave. Cassia hurt her ankle in the fall and Bunnie got the emerald. She blamed the rabbit for her misfortune, only to be rebuked, leading to a brief, personal argument. Bunnie, whose own experiences as a cyborg were just as personal, offered to help Cassia out of the cave, and Cassia reluctantly agreed. They eventually reached a storehouse bunker, where the Egg Army was waiting for them. With their truce done, Cassia snatched the emerald from Bunnie and rejoined her troops.[10]
Cassia decided to have Bunnie released for helping her, only for Bunnie to retake the emerald and flee. Despite this, Cassia ordered her troops to stand down, saying Bunnie wanted the emerald more than they did. However, she then fell ill and was carried back to base. While she was recovering, Clove learned from Eggman that Cassia's cybernetics did not, and in fact could not, fully cure her illness, and that he lied to gain their loyalty. Regardless, without her cybernetics, Cassia would die, forcing Clove to continue serving Eggman. Cassia apologized to her sister for her rash behavior, and confided her desire to be rid of Eggman once her condition had been treated; Clove did not tell her what she had just learned to avoid hurting her.[3]
When Clove was later called upon to join her fellow Egg Bosses for a special mission, Cassia oversaw operations in her sister's absence.[11] She and Clove later observed the rise of the Stone Stormlands Zone's Gaia Temple.[12]
Personality
Compared to Clove, Cassia is vocal, hot-tempered, sarcastic, impulsive, and rather overconfident.[7] She has been described as "bratty" by Thunderbolt and talks down to people much older than her, calling Bunnie a "twerp" and sneering cheekily at the lazy Egg Soldier. She is friendly, talkative, and easygoing and seems to be well-liked by the Northamer Egg Soldiers. Cassia dislikes being weak or under-equipped; she blamed the purple Chaos Emerald's loss on shoddy mining and security equipment, claiming she could do a much better job, and expressed jealousy over Bunnie's armaments.[10] Despite her immaturity, Cassia does have a sense of honor and respect, as she let Bunnie go free as thanks for helping her out.[3] She appears to be quite fond of her cybernetics, as they are responsible for making her feel better, and cheerfully references the idea of getting upgrades/further modifications. Cassia seems to be determined to prove she is just as capable as Clove thanks to her cybernetics, and she is deeply frustrated by feeling weak. She is somewhat sensitive about her illness and being wrongly judged by strangers makes her angry and defensive.
Powers and abilities
Weapons
Cassia wields a pair of gray and thick tonfas which she carries on the back of her belt.[7] Her proficiency with them is unknown.
Relationships
Clove the Pronghorn
Clove is Cassia's sister. She has a very typical sister relationship with her. While she understands and appreciates Clove's concern for her, she is frustrated by how Clove worries over her, seemingly as if she is as frail and sick as before, even after she received her cybernetics.[7] As a result she might disobey Clove's orders and do something impulsively behind her sister's back.
Truthfully, she is more frustrated with feeling weak and helpless than with Clove herself—it is not that she doesn't appreciate Clove's concern for her, she is just tired of sitting around and being a burden on everyone, especially her sister, and now that she is feeling better she wants to help out. She loves her sister very much and is willing to admit when Clove was right and she was wrong. She seems to like to do nice things for her sister, as she threw her a surprise party when she returned from Eggmanland at the end of the Eggman's Dozen arc.
Dr. Eggman
Although she works for Dr. Eggman, Cassia feels no true loyalty to him and only sees him as a necessary evil. She also disdains Eggman's reliance on robots, believing she could have defended the Crystal Cave better than the robots she and Clove left to guard the place.[3]
Bunnie D'Coolette
While Cassia and Bunnie are enemies, they have several things in common, particularly regarding their personal experiences as cyborgs. Initially, Bunnie saw Cassia and her cheerful attitude towards her body modifications with disgust, thinking she had voluntarily replaced her perfectly normal body parts with cybernetics as an "upgrade" - upon finding out Cassia only did it because there were no other options to treat her illness, her anger softened. Cassia seems to not really care one way or another about Bunnie beyond considering fighting her a fun challenge. While she envies Bunnie's broad-built in arsenal, Cassia seems to have a degree of respect for her boldness.
Trivia
- Cassia is apparently good at video games, with her high score in Devil Chao May Cry being "Triple S".[9]
- In terms of favorite ice creams, Cassia would indulge in whatever has the most forms of chocolate/marshmallow/sprinkles/etc., as she likes food in general.[2]
- Cassia's illness is inspired by real-life sicknesses.[2]
Gallery
Concept artwork
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Aleah Baker (7 February 2016). Lea's Unimportant Farewell to BK Q&A!. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Aleah Baker . Lea's Unimportant Farewell to BK Q&A!. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Sonic the Hedgehog #279, "Hidden Costs Part Three"
- ↑ Ian Flynn (12 September 2015). Solicits: StH#280, SU#83, SSD#15. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Evan Stanley (8 August 2014). Tumblr. Retrieved on 9 August 2014.
- ↑ Ian Flynn (8 August 2014). Sonic the Hedgehog #263 Spoilers/Discussion. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Sonic the Hedgehog #263, "Consequences"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #261, "The Light in the Dark: Part Two"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #277, "Hidden Costs Part One"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #278, "Hidden Costs Part Two"
- ↑ Sonic Universe #83, "Eggman's Dozens Part One: Hostile Takeover"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #285, "Panic in the Sky Part Two: Falling Into Place"