Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
Queen Aleena Hedgehog[1] is a character in the Sonic Underground television series. She is an anthropomorphic hedgehog, the rightful queen of planet Mobius and the biological mother of triplets Sonic, Manic, and Sonia. She is also the original leader of the Freedom Fighters.
Concept and creation[]
Aleena was originally created under the name "Rachel", intended to serve as one of the major characters in "Sonic 97", the codename for a planned show which eventually evolved into Sonic Underground. In the initial pitch for the show, Rachel was established as a runaway queen who was forced into hiding after her brother-in-law, Dr. Robotnik, killed her husband, the King of Mobius, in an attempt to force Rachel to marry him. Like in the final show, Rachel was planned to split up her children for their own safety, but unlike in the final show, instead of working against Robotnik from the shadows, she instead would have worked odd jobs across Mobius in secrecy.[2] All of these concepts were soon scrapped, including her husband (leading to the mystery of the triplets' father's identity and whereabouts in the final show).
In a later pitch, Aleena was changed to be the princess of Mobius, simply known as "Princess Hedgehog". This idea was apparently dropped for the final show, returning the character to her queen persona and renamed "Aleena" (meaning "light").[2]
In regards to her appearance, early concept art made during the development of Sonic Underground, Queen Aleena was featured with red fur instead of purple.[3] This design for the character, however, was eventually scrapped through unknown circumstances.
As for the voice of the queen, Canadian actress Gail Webster was cast in the role after an audition and several callbacks, as she had the "maternal yet regal" tone that they were looking for with the character.
Appearance[]
Queen Aleena is an anthropomorphic hedgehog with really long dark purple hair, as well as lighter purple fur and black eyes. She wears a gold crown with a single jewel in the center. While her armor covering her body is white, the jewel on the middle of it is cerise. She wears a white dress with a gold decoration on the skirt and a long yellow cape with a heart-shaped pendant on the front. Aleena is taller than her children. When Aleena was younger, she wore a pale pink and heart-shaped pendant made from a crystal-like material for her debutante ball. In To Catch a Queen, one of her scarves is a red scarf that matches the cloak she was wearing; Sonia correctly identifies is as belonging to her.
She wears a purple cloak when she is keeping an eye on her children. However, she was seen wearing a red hood when giving up the triplets in the theme song and in the episode, "To Catch a Queen".
History[]
TV series[]
Queen Aleena was the former ruler of Mobius but was deposed at the hands of Doctor Robotnik. The Oracle of Delphius informed her that she was forced to leave her children in a basket and gave them to three separate families (by placing them in front of their house and knocking the door) in order to protect them. However, Manic was sadly stolen from the doorstep of his intended foster family (a poor family living in Mobotropolis' slums), and he was raised by thieves instead.
Throughout the series, she helps Sonic, Manic, and Sonia, whose main goal is to find her so they can reunite and form the Council of Four, which they fail to do despite everything. Along the way, she leaves cryptic messages and clues for them to find, and several times intervenes directly to save her children. According to a prophecy foretold by the Oracle of Delphius, the Queen and her children will one day reunite and form the Council of Four, bringing about Robotnik's defeat and the restoration of the planet to peace, prosperity and fun. Due to the cancellation of the series, however, this never occurred in an episode, but it is highly likely that if it wasn't canceled and more episodes were written, the prophecy would have come true, and she would have reunited with her three children. And perhaps even more adventures could have been had, but with them as a reunited family.
Among the current pieces of information that the triplets gathered on their beloved mother, it was revealed that at some point in her life she was imprisoned in a prison tower sometime before the events of the series.
Archie Comics[]
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie comics, Queen Aleena appears as a resident of the Sonic Underground Zone, where she has a similar backstory to her television counterpart. Queen Aleena made an appearance as a part of a flashback Sonic told to Prime Sonic and Zonic the Zone Cop when they came to their Zone.
Personality[]
Queen Aleena is caring and does her best to help her children—she once openly fired on a group of Swatbots and a Roboticizer to save Manic. Unlike Robotnik, she also cared about the people of Mobius since before Robotnik ruled, everyone lived peacefully and prosperously. In fact, if she was not risking the fate of her children, she would have joined them and become a Freedom Fighter but she believes that if she reunites with her children before the time is right, the prophecy will not come true and something horrible will befall upon them.
Influence[]
Aleena's past (most of what we see of it) often influences the adventures of her children. In the episode "Friend or Foe?", for example, she is revealed to have visited the Floating Island in the past and met Knuckles the Echidna. She left a message on the island in a runic language that her daughter could read, saying that Knuckles would be the first in a series of allies who would join her children in their quest. She also built Mobius' Hanging Gardens for her children before they were even born—how she accomplished this and how long it took is unknown. The Gardens housed a specimen of the Velocitree, which Robotnik used to make Sonic Tonic, a liquid that when poured on the feet made one go super fast. She also attended a debutante ball when she was younger wearing the same pendant that she gives to her daughter. Had the series not been cancelled, more of the queen's past may have been uncovered.
Powers and abilities[]
Queen Aleena appears to possess certain magical abilities, such as projecting her image to other locations and teleporting from place to place. Her golden crown contains a jewel that acts as a signal device; if separated from her, it will pinpoint her location. She also has a Royal Scepter, but she rarely uses it.
Throughout the series, the Queen has shown exceptional skill in stealth, as she was able to conduct operations, spy on the enemy, and sneak around without people, friend or foe, finding out.
Trivia[]
- Queen Aleena was Gail Webster's only voice acting role.
- Queen Aleena's concept name of "Rachel" was possibly meant as a reference to the biblical figure of the same name, who was also known for her children. However, unlike Aleena, Rachel was not a queen and had five children rather than three.
- It's never been explained what happened to the siblings' father, as he never appeared nor was mentioned in the show (though he was planned to appear but ended up being scrapped for unknown reasons), the French theme song of the show however implied that there was no king at the time that Sonic and his siblings were born, which could mean that he either went away from court, was imprisoned, roboticized, or killed.
- As the series was cancelled with no real ending, her actual fate is unknown, its also never been revealed if Sonic and his siblings reunited with her, and restored peace on Mobius or if Dr. Robotnik successfully won the war against the Resistance, and finally defeated and roboticized/killed them.
References[]
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, "Sonic Underground"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dropbox Script
- ↑ Luty, Dave (20 July 2012). FREAK-OUT FRIDAY: THE ORIGINAL SONIC UNDERGROUND CONCEPT & DIC. Sonic Stadium.