Phantom Rider (IDW)

Not to be confused with Phantom Rider.

You want a challenge, huh?

— Phantom Rider, Sonic the Hedgehog #70

The Phantom Rider^[1] is a transformation that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing. He is the "alter-ego" of Sonic the Hedgehog created as distraction on the Clean Sweepstakes race. It was later used by Mimic in an attempt to frame Sonic from an attack he caused, unfortunately the people who witness it, were able to tell the differences between both events.

Appearance[]

When transformed, the Phantom Rider wears a gray and black nano-suit accented with blue at the chest and shoulder plates. His gloves are white with a yellow control panel and a centralized gray and red hexagon on the back of the hands. The Phantom Rider's boots are blue and white with the same red and gray hexagonal detail from the gloves at the outer sides. Additionally, he wears a black and gray helmet accented in blue and red. The helmet has a pair of red and yellow-accented goggles embedded into it.

Mimic's version notably has orange accents instead of red, including on the visor, gloves and boots. Additionally, he wears Duo's scarf.^[2]

History[]

Clean Sweepstakes[]

After suspicion arises between Amy Rose, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Sonic the Hedgehog over the mysterious way their Extreme Gear became faulty in the middle of the Clean Sweepstakes qualifying race, Dr. Eggman appears and interrupts the trio. After explaining what he had been doing in the aftermath of the Eggperial City's collapse, Eggman expresses his annoyance at being mocked by Clean Sweep Inc. with Doctor Yolk and requests Sonic's assistance in his resurgence. In return for assisting Eggman, the Doctor reveals his state-of-the-art; Eggstreme Gear, and with it the proposition to Sonic: to create a distraction as the Phantom Rider, while Tails and Amy investigate the airship to figure out who is behind Clean Sweep Inc.^[3]

On the next day, Sonic listens to Nite's announcement about the next race. As the race began, Sonic transforms into the Phantom Rider and begins interfering with the race.

Sonic Transforms into Phantom Rider — Sonic transforming into the Phantom Rider, from *Sonic the Hedgehog* #70.

As the Babylon Rogues take the lead, the Phantom Rider appears in front of Jet. He grabs Omochao, who is holding the camera, introducing himself to everyone as the Phantom Rider, and threatens everyone to turn the whole place "upside down". As the race continues, Jet begins trash talking the Phantom Rider, while Wave tells Jet to ignore him since he is not a part of the event. Sonic compliments Eggman's Eggstreme Gear.

The Phantom Rider activates the Eggstreme Gear's boost, causing one of the racers to fall off the track and get saved by Tangle. Lanolin tells Duo to call in more security to take down the Phantom Rider.

The Phantom Rider reveals himself to everyone, from *Sonic the Hedgehog* #70.

Meanwhile, Jet is trying to catch up to the Phantom Rider, only to be blinded by gas released from Eggstreme Gear. As the Phantom Rider attempts to exit from the race, he is surrounded by Diamond Cutters and security. Lanolin uses her Golden Bell to subdue the Phantom Rider, lodging him and the Eggstreme Gear into a glass tube. The Phantom Rider warns security to not get any closer, but they land on the tube, causing the glass to break. This allows the Phantom Rider to escape, and he saves one of the falling racers, telling them not to mention it. Most of the other racers are caught by Tangle.

As the Phantom Rider flies away from the chaos, Surge rams into him with her Extreme Gear. She forcefully introduces herself and threatens to give the Phantom Rider 'a good thrashing', before punching him in the face. This causes the Phantom Rider's helmet to glitch, exposing part of Sonic's face. He manages to cover his face and jump away from Surge's Extreme Gear before anyone can see. While in freefall, he summons the Eggstreme Gear and flies away.

Later, during sunset, Duo and Clutch are discussing the Phantom Rider. Clutch comments that his appearance has increased viewership for the Clean Sweepstakes, but tells Duo to quietly unmask the Phantom Rider during the next event.^[1]

The biggest "oh, no" moment — Phantom Rider's identity is revealed, from *Sonic the Hedgehog* #71.

In Misty Spire, the next round of Clean Sweepstakes is underway Sonic, still disguised as the Phantom Rider, prepares to enter the game using the Eggstreme Gear's camouflage feature as Lanolin flies by. Nite is heard attempting to calm the audience and assuring them that the referees will deal with the situation. Another individual wearing nearly the exact same disguise as Sonic but riding the Omnitempus Extreme Gear has appeared in the arena, holding Duo's scarf as he mocks the Diamond Cutters for being unable to stop him. The new Phantom Rider charges at the racers, knocking one off his board with one hand and catching a ball with the other.

Sonic watches from below, only to notice Whisper and Tangle ahead of him. Sonic hides behind one of the area's rock towers, thinking about his next move when Mimic suddenly grabs his helmet from behind, unmasking him and accidentally launching all of the Eggstreme Gear's weapons at the same time, one of which blows up a nearby rock tower. Mimic slips away into the mist before Sonic can see who he is, leaving the hedgehog face-to-face with the other racers. Confused, Tangle asks Sonic why he is doing this, but the rock tower falls over, separating Sonic from the rest of them as they are forced to flee.^[2]

Sonic hiding amidst the sky near the battleship aboard the Eggstreme Gear. He tries to equip his mask but to no avail and hopes that Tails and Amy are faring better than him. A bolt of lightning suddenly strikes nearby, alerting the hedgehog to the sudden change in weather, and causing a couple of the cars to crash into each other. Some of the drivers spot Sonic, who uses a hood to conceal his face, with one of them questioning if "Phantom Rider" is responsible for the storm. A bolt of lightning hits a nearby car and causes it to start falling. Sonic is then spotted by Jet amidst the crowd and begins chasing him down, determined to stop whatever Sonic is up to. Sonic throws his hood at Jet, distracting the hawk long enough for Sonic to lose him.

However, before he can plan his next course of action, he and the Eggstreme Gear are grabbed by Nite the Owl and pulled into his van. Sonic prepares for a fight, only to recognize Nite's voice as that of the event announcer. Nite is amused by Sonic's reaction and introduces himself and his vehicle to the hedgehog. Sonic also meets Nite's partner, Don, who comments the events in Misty Spire. Sonic states that that was not him, which Don had already suspected to be the case. Don sees Jet ahead of them and pushes Sonic out of sight until the hawk leaves, after which Nite offers Sonic cocoa. After listening to Sonic's explanation of what happened, Nite asks if he is worried about them possibly revealing his identity, but Sonic answers that it is a bit late for that. He explains that although he would have preferred to keep it a secret, he will still do what he needs to do regardless of what the world thinks since his friends are counting on him. Sonic asks Nite what he and Don are up to. Nite explains that the Chaotix Detective Agency have been investigating Clean Sweep Inc. for a while and were going to search around the shuttle, but he and Don have not heard from them since, which is why they approached Sonic. Sonic tells them that Tails and Amy are on the shuttle and might know something about Team Chaotix if they can find them. Don returns from repairing the Phantom Rider's control panel, and Sonic is able to transform into his full disguise again, setting off to get to the bottom of the situation.^[4]

Sonic is waiting for the race to start and says that this is his last chance and that whatever Tails and Amy are up to it better be wrapped up and soon after the race begins with Nite announcing it is set right in the streets of Central City.

Suddenly the Phantom Rider appears, and Jet immediately goes after him while Wave crashes trying to remind him to be gentle when Surge and Kit blast through the crowed when Surge tries to run into him, but he does it when suddenly Surge jumps from her Hang-On and knocks him off the Eggstreme Gear after trying to taunt her while Kit grapes her using his Hydro Pack tails. Soon the Diamond Cutters surround him with lanolin telling him that he is done and it's enough and Lanolin counties saying that he would not like her kick on her wispon. Sonic disagrees when suddenly the Babylon Rogues surround him when Nite announces a halt in the race, saying that everyone is going after the Phantom Rider with him dogging attacks from Lanolin, Surge and Kit who Surge manages to grab on to his Eggstreme Gear while Whisper uses her Variable Wispon to fire. Jet than orders the rouges to attack but are stopped by Kit's tails when Tangle uses her to grab Surge until she zaps her and tells her to not get in her way while the Phantom Rider continues to taunt her saying their fights aren't it. The Phantom Rider launches at her while Surges also blast towards him and Surges gets knocked by the collision when after she laughs at him saying she got the device turning the Phantom Rider back to Sonic while Kit ask Surge is she's okay and she replies saying she's fine and did not ask any stupid questions. Sonic then ask her what the game and Surge replies is saying that she is following order and ask her boss if he is happy.^[5]

Personality[]

Unlike Sonic the Hedgehog, the Phantom Rider appears rude and flippant, grabbing Omochao in an rough manner and boldly announcing his presence, before throwing Omochao away. The Phantom Rider is also shown to be a daredevil. During the first round of the Clean Sweepstakes, he butted heads with Jet the Hawk, taunting him and calling him a 'greenhorn'. In order to get a leg up, he sprayed Jet with gas from his Eggstreme gear, showing that he is not afraid to use underhanded tricks. Despite this, he still has Sonic's heroic heart, instinctively wanting to save those who are compromised by his actions and even secretly saving one of the racers after Lanolin's Golden Bell caused a glass explosion.^[1]

While being used by Mimic, the Phantom Rider acts more aggressive and shows joy when he hurts people, despite this he can still act wary as he realizes he is about to be attacked by the other competitors.^[2]

Powers and abilities[]

It is shown that the Phantom Rider is good at riding the Eggstreme Gear.

Equipment[]

The Phantom Rider uses the converted Eggstreme Gear built by Dr. Eggman. The Gear is said to have high speed, power and handling and even has built-in hard-light camouflage.^[3]

The Phantom Rider appears to have a control panel on his gloves which he can use to summon the Eggstreme Gear whenever it is needed. This control panel can also summon gas to obscure the vision of his rivals.^[1]

Weakness[]

The Phantom Rider's nano-suit appears vulnerable to physical attacks, as shown when Surge punched him in the face, and half of his face was unmasked. It appears the effect is temporary, and the suit is able to mend itself shortly after.^[1]

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