- Not to be confused with the transformation Phantom Rider.
The Phantom Rider is a transformation that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a disguise used by Sonic the Hedgehog created as a distraction from the Clean Sweepstakes event, using a suit made by Dr. Eggman as vengeance against Clean Sweep Inc. The Phantom Rider persona was later used by Mimic the Octopus to tarnish his reputation in order to frame the true perpetrator, garnering the distrust of fans of the Clean Sweepstakes race.
Appearance[]
The differences between the Phantom Rider suits (left is Mimic, right is Sonic), from Sonic the Hedgehog #71.
When transformed, the Phantom Rider wears a gray and black holographic-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.[1]
History[]
Phantom Riders[]
Following their disqualification in the Clean Sweepstakes entry race, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose begin to suspect someone sabotaged their Extreme Gears before the race. As they are about to enact a plan to investigate Clean Sweep Inc. from within to find answers, Dr. Eggman approaches the trio with a proposition. Having been personally insulted by Clean Sweep's Dr. Yolk mascot, Eggman offers the Eggstreme Gear and the capabilities of becoming the Phantom Rider to Sonic, as a means to sabotage the Clean Sweepstakes as punishment for their mockery of Eggman. The doctor promises no strings attached in however Sonic and his friends wish to use his gifts, be it for truth or justice, prompting Sonic to accept the alliance so that Tails and Amy can sneak aboard the Clean Sweepstakes shuttle.[2]
The Phantom Rider reveals himself to everyone, from Sonic the Hedgehog #70.
The following day, Sonic transforms and makes his debut as the Phantom Rider for the first time during the Central City survival round. The Phantom Rider grabs a recording-Omochao to announce his debut, threatening all the participants as the tournament's heel before interfering with the race and its challengers. The Restoration referees (consisting of the Diamond Cutters and "Duo") aid the racers' knocked off course by the Phantom Rider, resorting to more security called in to help subdue the new challenger. During this, Jet the Hawk chases down the Phantom Rider, who instigates the hot-headed bird before using smokescreen to escape from his sights. However, the Phantom Rider is ambushed by Lanolin the Sheep, the Restoration referees and security. Lanolin uses her Golden Bell to slam down the mysterious menace, breaking the glass tube used during the race. The glass tube breaks apart but luckily Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf help save the challengers and security from being injured or falling; Sonic's heroic instincts even saves one of the racers' despite his current disguise, prompting him to escape before things get any worse.
Suddenly, Surge the Tenrec rams into the Phantom Rider with her Extreme Gear, immediately wanting a fight against the masked menace. She punches the Phantom Rider in the face, with her electrical currents causing the suit to briefly glitch and expose part of Sonic's face. Covering his face, Sonic jumps away and lands on the Eggstreme Gear to finally escape the chaos before his identity is exposed. As the round ends and the day reaching sunset, Clutch the Opossum and "Duo" are discussing the Phantom Rider: Clutch notes the increased viewership during his intrusion, but doesn't want it to become something, or rather someone, he can't control. He tells Duo to unmask the Phantom Rider in his next appearance, but not in front of anyone else so he knows who the true perpetrator is.[3]
Phantom Rider's identity is revealed, from Sonic the Hedgehog #71.
During the Misty Spire round of the Sweepstakes, Sonic prepares to cause more commotion as the Phantom Rider, but is caught off-guard by someone posing as the Phantom Rider. This "faker" taunts the crowd and holds Duo's scarf as an accomplishment in the Diamond Cutter's defeat against him, before rushing onto the challengers to cause even more chaos. Lanolin attempts to stop him, but is personally subdued by the faux-Phantom Rider. He lures the Babylon Rogues, Surge, Kitsunami the Fennec and Tangle and Whisper deep within the fog, with the real Phantom Rider following close-by. Shrouded in the thickness of the fog, Mimic uses his shape-shifting abilities to instigate a fight between Whisper and Surge, with Tangle, Kit and even the Babylon Rogues caught up within it. Nearby, Sonic is about to intervene to stop the fighting when Mimic unmasks him, revealing his identity. During this, Mimic presses a button on the Phantom Rider's wrist, launching all the weapons inside the Eggstreme Gear which blows up a nearby rock-tower. As Mimic disappears, Sonic is faced with the Babylon Rogues, Tangle, Whisper, Surge and Kit, who all know the Phantom Rider's true identity as well. Tangle is in disbelief, but before Sonic can explain, the rock tower collapses between the parties, leaving Sonic exposed and alone as the rain begins to fall.[1]
Amidst a cloudy storm, Sonic follows the Sweepstakes battleship and the caravan right behind, attempting to fix the wrist-switch that lets him put his mask back on but to no avail. Sonic hopes Tails and Amy are faring better than he is during all of this, but suddenly lightning strikes, causing a traffic jam. The cloaked-Phantom Rider is quickly blamed for the traffic commotion, but as lightning continues to strike, a car is struck and begins to fall downward. Luckily, Storm the Albatross saves the car and Jet and Wave the Swallow help guide traffic via marshalling wands. Jet suddenly sees the cloaked-Phantom Rider and guns for him, attempting to stop Sonic from sabotaging the event any further. Sonic throws his cloak onto the hawk to escape.
Left without a disguise, Sonic thinks of a plan to catch up with the caravan later, but is pulled in by Nite the Owl in his van. Sonic prepares to fight but recognizes Nite as the announcer of the Sweepstakes event. Nite introduces Sonic to his partner Don the Rooster, who's driving the van. Don compliments Sonic's performance at the last round, but Sonic defends himself saying it wasn't him. Don suspected as much, but before Sonic can comment any further, Don pushes Sonic out of sight as Jet appears in front of the van, looking at Nite and Don before flying off. Nite offers Sonic cocoa and the hedgehog recounts his story, revealing that someone is posing as the Phantom Rider. Nite asks Sonic if he's worried they'll reveal his identity, to which Sonic doesn't care, trusting the pair of birds. Nite then reveals to Sonic their relationship with the Chaotix Detective Agency: they've been investigating the organization for some time but have gone silent since the Sweepstakes began. Sonic informs them that his friends are on the battleship currently and that, if Nite and Don can find them, they can find the Chaotix. During all of this, Don returns with a repaired control panel that lets Sonic transform into the Phantom Rider once again. He thanks the pair of birds and sets off to get to the bottom of this situation.[4]
Surge removes the Phantom Rider's disguise, outing him as Sonic, from Sonic the Hedgehog #73.
At the next event, Sonic as the Phantom Rider looks to the battleship and hopes Tails and Amy are close to finishing gathering clues. As the challengers begin their freefall drop down towards Central City, the Phantom Rider appears once more, gathering the attention of Jet and Surge alike. A frustrated Surge quickly makes haste of the Phantom Rider, punching him off his Eggstreme Gear before he's surrounded by the Diamond Cutters and the Babylon Rogues. As they attempt to stop the Phantom Rider, Surge intervenes to beat the masked menace by herself, with Kit holding back the other racers and referees. Tangle attempts to get Surge off of the Phantom Rider but she electrocutes the lemur for getting in her way. Sonic sees this and brings Surge back into their fight, where they both deliver a finishing blow to each other. Just as the Phantom Rider falls back onto his Eggstreme Gear, Surge, falling down, smiles confidently, holding the control panel that reverts the Phantom Rider and exposes his identity as Sonic the Hedgehog for all the crowd to see. Sonic is bewildered and asks Surge what her endgame is, to which she says she's just following orders from her boss, in an attempt to set off Clutch.[5]
Game appearances[]
Sonic Speed Simulator[]
In Sonic Speed Simulator, The Unmasked version of the Phantom Rider appears as a playable character. he was added in v2.99, which released on 23 November 2024.
| Image | Unlocking Requirement | Bonus Stat(s) | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
 Phantom Rider Unmasked |
|
|
Limited |
On 22 March 2025, the Phantom Rider was re-released with the mask. He first appeared during the "Phantom Rider Event".
| Image | Unlocking Requirement | Bonus Stat(s) | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
 Phantom Rider |
|
+5 Magnet |
Exotic |
Personality[]
The Phantom Rider displays traits that are uncharacteristically unlike Sonic, such as being more rough and flippant with those around him, instigating those even further than he normally does. A daredevil, Sonic plays into the theatrics of having a disguise that allows him to butt-heads with rivals like Jet and Surge. He'll use underhanded tricks like throwing his cloak on Jet to escape from a situation.[4] Despite this, he's still shown to have the same sense of justice and heroics that Sonic always had, saving a racer during the Central City survival round.[3]
When Mimic disguised himself as the Phantom Rider, he was much more abrasive and cunning, actively going out of his way to attack others and rush into challengers, compared to Sonic as the masked menace, who only attacked those who approached him too closely.[1]
Powers and abilities[]
Sonic transforming into the Phantom Rider, from Sonic the Hedgehog #70.
Using a power switch on a control panel on his wrist, the Phantom Rider can disguise himself with a press of a button. This also lets him remote summon the Eggstreme Gear at his command. Like Sonic, the Phantom Rider is fast, slick and proficient at using Extreme Gear. The Phantom Rider uses hand-to-hand combat and displays good reflexes, dodging multiple attacks. The Eggstreme Gear not only has built-in hardlight camouflage, but also holds a variety of weapons, mainly a variety of comical weapon traps such as golf clubs, bowling balls, paint, banana peels, and even a piano.[1]
Weaknesses[]
As such, without the control panel, Sonic is prone to being exposed. A large volt of electricity is also enough to glitch out the Phantom Rider's disguise, as seen when Surge punched him in the face.[3] Additionally, someone can entirely deactivate the nano-suit to revert the user back to normal by removing the device from the suit itself.[5]
Gallery[]
Concept art[]
Artwork[]
Trivia[]
- The Phantom Rider is the second comic-exclusive transformation to appear in a Sonic game, the game in question being Sonic Speed Simulator.
- Although the Phantom Rider is the first playable comic-exclusive skin as Super Neo Metal Sonic not being playable.
- Phantom Rider may be a reference to Kamen Rider, a tokusatsu television show that started airing in 1971.
- Mostly Kamen Rider Ghost.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sonic the Hedgehog #71, "story three"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #69, "story one"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sonic the Hedgehog #70, "story two"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #72, "story four"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #73, "story five"
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