Rocky

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A Rocky in Sonic Runners.

The Rocky (ロッキー, Rokkī^?) is a creature in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. They are a race of seal Animals that live in various regions across Sonic's world, and are close friends of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies. They are constantly targeted by Dr. Eggman who seeks to use them as energy sources for his Badnik army and often imprisons them in Capsules for later use.

Description

Anatomy

The typical Rocky is a diminutive form of seal, being less than half a meter tall, although it resembles more a pinniped. They have grey-whitish skin/fur with rotund heads, two large grey eyes (originally black), small triangular flippers, and a fin-like hind flipper each. They each also have a fussy white muzzle reminiscing a mustache and a small black nose.

Characteristics

Like actual animals, the Rockies can only speak in a language consisting of roans. Although recognized as animal life, Rockies are remarkably intelligent and sociable, being capable of understanding normal language and establishing their own Animal communities. All Rockies are generally good-hearted, helpful, friendly and playful, but their small stature leaves them rather defenseless on their own. They also have great respect and appreciation for nature, choosing to live in complete harmony with it.

Habitats

Rockies inhabit various natural environments across Earth, such as South Island, West Side Island, Angel Island and the unusual satellite of Lost Hex, where they have established their own small villages, more often than not with other Animal species. While they can reside on dry land, they have a penchant for inhabiting Zones with water.

Game appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

A Rocky in the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

The Rockies made their debut appearance in the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog. In the game, the Rockies and the other Animals on South Island were the ones Sonic went to save after they were captured by Dr. Robotnik and turned into energy sources for his Badnik army - all as a part of a plot to collect the Chaos Emeralds. The Rockies can be found in Marble Zone, Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone Act 3, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules. They also appear in the ending cinematic where they celebrate Sonic's victory in the Green Hill Zone.

The Rockies also make an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, the Rockies only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of Labyrinth Zone Act 3.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

In the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Rockies repeated their roles from the first installment. In this game, the Rockies of West Side Island and their fellow Animals were kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and used to power a Badnik workforce that Robotnik could use to finish the Death Egg with. The Rockies can be found in Oil Ocean Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of the second Act. In the 2013 re-release of the same game, they can also be found in Hidden Palace Zone.

In the 8-bit version of the game with same name, Rocky can be found in Aqua Lake Zone where they only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of the third Act, like in their previous 8-bit appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Rockies once again reprised their roles from their debut game. In this game, Angel Island's Rockies and other Animals were captured and turned into Badniks by Dr. Robotnik to create a workforce that could help the doctor relaunch the Death Egg. The Rockies can be found in Hydrocity Zone and IceCap Zone where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsule.

Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld

in Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, Rocky appeared alongside Sonic, Tails, Amy and other Animals. A Rocky in particular is seen on a pairs of cards in the Concentration Game mini-game. Rockies are also featured on cards in the Poker Game and Bakudan Nuki mini-games which are exclusive to the Japanese version of the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver

A Rocky in an artwork in Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver.

In Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver, the Rockies make a number of small cameos in several of the game's artwork images as one of Sonic's friends.

Sonic Jam

In Sonic Jam, the game's Character House features conceptual sketches of Rocky and the other Animals.

Mario & Sonic series

In all the installments in the Mario & Sonic series, several Rockies appear amongst the audience of every event along with other characters from both the Sonic and Mario franchises, cheering on the competitors. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, they act as referees for several 2D events.

Sonic Dash

In Sonic Dash, Rocky makes an appearance in the game's update to version 4.0.0. In the game, players are able to collect them by destroying Badniks once the Beach Zone is unlocked, and can then use them to rebuild both the Beach Zone and Snow Mountain Zone. Knuckles, Rouge, Cream and Espio also have an affinity bonus towards the Rockies, which will double the amount of Rockies saved while playing.

Sonic Lost World

In Sonic Lost World, the Rockies and other Animals are shown to inhabit the Lost Hex. During the events of the game, Dr. Eggman, with the assistance of the Deadly Six, resumed kidnapping Animals, including the Rockies, to create a new Badnik army. The small group of Animals, including a Rocky, that managed to escape capture, remained with Knuckles and Amy while Sonic and Tails went out to save their friends, during which they had fun at the expense of Knuckles.

The Rockies and the other Animals serve as collectible content used to progress with the game. Once the players have collected a set amount of Animals, they gain access to the fourth Zone in each World. They player can collect Rockies by defeating Badniks, opening smaller Capsules in the Zones, and opening the larger Capsules at the end of most Zones. Rockies and other Animals can also be collected from Circus tents. The Rockies can be found in the following places (depending on the version of the game):

Zone
Wii U/PC	Nintendo 3DS
Windy Hill Zone 2 and 4; Desert Ruins Zone 3; Tropical Coast Zone 3 and 4; Frozen Factory Zone 1, 2 and 4; Silent Forest Zone 3; Lava Mountain Zone 2	Tropical Coast; Frozen Factory; Silent Forest

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a Rocky appears alongside other Animals as a part of one of the collectable trophies representing the Sonic the Hedgehog series:

Name	Picture	Description
Fauna of Windy Hill		Windy Hill, a plain on the floating Lost Hex continent, is the first area in Sonic Lost World. It has giant windmills and mysterious caves and is home to a wide variety of animals...that Dr. Eggman has gone and used as a power source for his robot collection. Typical... Just destroy the robots and set those animals free. (Wii U): Sonic Lost World (10/2013)

Excluding the trophy, the Rocky also occasionally makes a cameo appearance in the background of the Windy Hill Zone.

Sonic Runners series

Sonic Runners

In Sonic Runners, the Rockies played supporting roles to the main cast in the storyline. In this game, most individual Rockies are referred to as "Rocky". Over the course of the game, Team Sonic comes across the Rockies several times, whom they usually save from Dr. Eggman and/or his lackeys. Occasionally, the Rockies will also ask the team for help solving different problems, whether it be either Eggman-related trouble or more personal issues. Sometimes though, the R0ckies will help Team Sonic as well, usually by providing information or handling smaller tasks.

In gameplay, Rockies will pop out of destroyed Badniks and bounce a little further down the path before falling behind the player. If the player grabs them as they pass by, the player will build up their Combo and earn 2,500 bonus points on the result screen for each Rocky.

Sonic Runners Adventure

In Sonic Runners Adventure, the Rockies reprised their roles as power sources for Dr. Eggman's Badniks. In gameplay, Rockies will pop out of destroyed Badniks in any stage and then bounce out of the player's sight.

Sonic Mania

In Sonic Mania, and its expansion Sonic Mania Plus, the Rockies reprised their roles from the Sonic games on the Sega Genesis by being organic power sources for Dr. Eggman's Badniks again. The Rockies can be found in Hydrocity Zone and Oil Ocean Zone, where they pop out of the Zones' destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules.

A Rocky during ending of "& Knuckles" mode in Sonic Mania.

When the player destroys the Metal Sonic Projector at the end of Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2, several Rockies will occasionally appear until they are chased off by Metal Sonic. Also, during the ending of the "& Knuckles" mode in Sonic Mania, a Rocky can be seen listening to Knuckles' retelling of the game's events.

Sonic Forces

In Sonic Forces, Rockies can be found inside Capsules in blue SOS Mission at random. The objective of these missions is to rescue the Rockies and the other prisoners in the Capsule using either Sonic, Classic Sonic, the Avatar or Shadow. After the Rockies and the other prisoners have been freed from their Capsule, the player has to complete their stage to complete the SOS Mission.

In other media

Animation

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

Rotor in the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, Rocky's design served as the inspiration for an anthropomorphic male walrus named Rotor. In this media, Rotor lived in Mobotropolis during his childhood, his keen intellect serving his gang of misfit friends quite well. When Dr. Robotnik seized power over the kingdom, Rotor was forced into hiding in the haven of Knothole Village. There, he became a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, serving as his team's inventor and mechanic for their operations against Robotnik's empire.

Sonic X

A Rocky in Sonic X.

In the Sonic X franchise, the Rockies are an animal species native to Sonic's world. Several of them got sent to Earth by Chaos Control, but they were returned home not long afterwards.

Comics

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic

Rocky, along with other animal friends, appears in Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. He appears in few panels in first two stories. In Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 3' story Sonic Rampage!! he, Flicky and Pecky gets kidnapped by doctor Eggman who uses them as baits to get rid of Sonic. During the moment of truth, Eggman threatened to torture them to death if Sonic would not give up. Despite that, Sonic manages to free Rocky and others from device of Egg Mobile with the speed of sound and after that he finished Eggman.

Sonic the Comic

Joe Sushi in Sonic the Comic.

In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, Joe Sushi is an anthropomorphic seal and one of the Emerald Hill Folks, although he was never explicitly named. During the series' early run, he would often be among the unfortunate victims of Dr. Robotnik's schemes for the subjugation of Mobius.

Archie Comics

Rotor the Walrus in the Archie Comics.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the character Rotor from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series which Rocky inspired was adapted as a part of the main cast. In this media, Rotor was born to Sherman and Georgette Walrus. Rotor grew up listing to his father's stories of the Great War and was inspired by tales of the impressive machinery of the war. However, his family would be torn apart by Dr. Ivo Robotnik's takeover. In the ensuing chaos, Rotor was among many other children separated from their parents. He soon fell in with a group aiming to stop Dr. Robotnik-the Freedom Fighters.

Rotor lent his inventor's prowess to the team, eventually earning the nickname "Boomer" for his interest in weapons and failed inventions. He was a tenacious Freedom Fighter and one of Sonic's best friends, eager to join the firefights. His analytical thinking gained him a seat on both the Knothole Council during the First Robotnik War and in the Restoration Committee in its aftermath. He also played a role in protecting his herd from Robotnik many times. During Sonic's year in space, however, Robot's disposition shifted. When his weaponry ended up harming his friends, an ashamed Rotor fell upon the kingdom's convention of shunning firearms. He also took a less active role in field operations. During the destruction of Knothole, Rotor rescued Tails from a collapsing celling, but injured his back in the process. He regained most of his mobility but opted to "retire" to a position in the Council of Acorn. When the Ixis Naugus-led council voted to exile Nicole, Rotor resigned out of protest and became leader of Team Freedom until the second Genesis Wave.

In the reality created by the Super Genesis Wave, Rotor left his abusive father Tundra the Walrus for a life in Mobotropolis, but got caught up in Dr. Eggman's takeover. Fleeing to Knothole Village, Rotor became the battle-mechanic of the Freedom Fighters to help stop the Eggman Empire.

Aside from Rotor, regular Rockies would over time also appear in the comics, first during Operation: Clean Sweep and later as fauna native to Sonic's World after the Super Genesis Wave.

Quotes

"Can you find Tails?"

—Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld

"Do you like my mustache?"

—Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld

Early Sonic canon

Early on in the series, along with the other Animals, Rocky was renamed Seal by Sega of America for the western market and media in the first draft of the Sonic Bible. This name would later be changed to Joe Sushi in the second draft of the bible. According to both bibles, Rocky comes from a large family like other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Rockies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic. Joe Sushi in particular taught Sonic how to dive and swim underwater. The Stay Sonic guidebook would stick to the background established for Joe Sushi in the Sonic Bible, while also referring to him as "the unfortunately named walrus". This is however, only stated once in the guidebook.

Trivia

Joe Sushi as he's seen of scrapped Sonic cartoon.

• Before Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, DiC had plans for a much different Sonic cartoon which was never made, but promotional art has been discovered. Among the cast of this show was a very large, buff, angry walrus named Joe Sushi who was part of Sonic's "Freedom Team".
• The Rockies were presumably created by Naoto Ōshima, the character designer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog.