Tails' Lab, also known as Tails' Workshop or Tails' House, is Tails' basic operating location which he uses to construct his inventions. It also functions as his second home, where he usually can be found hard at work. In most games, the workshop's main purpose is to store the Tornado, a plane owned by Sonic but typically piloted and maintained by Tails.
The first operating related function is seen in Tails Adventure. Since then the location or even the appearance of the workshop has been different in every appearance it has made. Tails either has many of these workshops or moves the same one from place to place, as it is never in the same location in the games.
The first time Tails had an operating location is in Tails Adventure, where it is named Tails' House (テイルスハウス,Teirusu Hausu?). It serves as Tails' base and home on the south shore of Cocoa Island. The Japanese instruction manual states the game taking place before Tails met Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as the house could be his temporal living place. However, the English instruction manual has its own variation, stating the game taking place after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and describing Tails being on vacation at the his favorite holiday spot (dubbing it "Tails Island"). It is a small house with a hammock being set on the yard. The house has two main rooms for different purposes.
During Tails Adventure, Tails' house operates as a hub for swapping equipment and other mundane affairs, but not as a full playable stage. There also is the research lab where the Sea Fox is stored and is the place where the player can equip it.
The second, different operating lab is only seen at the intro demo and preclude scene of the Death Egg II fights in Sonic the Fighters, where it is located on the beach of an undisclosed tropical island. It is large grey house with yellow roof with large satellite dish on it, which can be utilized to get signals from the space. It has the large door of round shaped Tails' double-tail symbol on it. The Tornado is seen parked right next to the lab. The front yard has round launch area.
The inside of the lab is actually a large storage area and launchpad for the Lunar Fox. There are seen boxes and large computer table connected to the satellite on the roof. The upper layer leads to the cockpit of Lunar Fox. In the game, Sonic and Tails notices the terror of Death Egg II and tries to get eight Chaos Emeralds to power source of Lunar Fox. After for doing that, Lunar Fox is then moved to the outside to the round launch state and thus launched to the Death Egg II.
Sonic Adventure
Tails' Workshop initializing the airfield in Sonic Adventure.
A similar workshop owned by Tails is seen in Sonic Adventure, this time located at the Mystic Ruins, close to the Angel Island (which is located in the air before landing) and a wooden train station tower, that leads to Station Square. It is very similar to the one from Sonic the Fighters with the exception of it its size and having a separate small apartment on the top. It is seen that the workshop is powered with hydro power, as the generator is rotating next to the workshop. The player is only able to go to the small hall, where the first Tornado is always parked.
During the game, Sonic and Tails have to collect a crystal item on a small staircase of the workshop's door to access Windy Valley. As Eggman gets away with the Egg Carrier, after getting the fourth Chaos Emerald, Tails engages the airfield on the peninsula to launch the Tornado into the air. The small walking path disappears and the palm trees get moved horizontally while the airfield rises from below. After Sky Chase becomes a failure with the Tornado getting destroyed and the duo becoming separated, Tails got another Chaos Emerald, proceeding to build another Tornado at the workshop. Tails uses a separate launch tunnel for this new Tornado. It is located underground, leading out from beneath the waterfall near the workshop.
In Sonic Battle, Tails' Workshop is separate from Tails' House, although both are located in Emerald Town. The lab contains a battle arena and a training area, as well as computers which fail in analyzing Emerl.
Tails' Workshop appears in Sonic Battle as his battle area when Emerl is chosen to train with him in the story mode. It also has a unique Virtual Training mode to truly test the Gizoid's abilities. The arena is almost entirely open, with only a few cylinders in the corners.
In Sonic Jump, Tail's Research Facility is where he does research and builds experiments.
Sonic Rush
Tails' Workshop in Sonic Rush.
Tails' Workshop is seen briefly in Sonic Rush, where it is located to the west of Water Palace in Sonic's story. In this game it cannot be accessed. Based on its icon, the workshop has a similar appearance to the lab which appeared in Sonic Adventure.
In the game, the workshop serves as the team's first stronghold. Here, it serves as a rest stop so that the team can rest and fully replenish their HP and PP after a battle and allows the player to select their party's characters upon leaving. In the game, there are other strongholds that also serve this purpose.
Sonic Lost World
Tails' Lab on Sonic Lost World.
Tails' Lab reappears on the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost Worldto the left of Windy Hill. After Sonic collects enough Material, Tails can build items and RC vehicles that can be used in-game. The Lab also allows the player to change settings, listen to music/re-watch cutscenes, and play in multiplayer modes.
Tails' Lab can be upgraded through the use of Material up to 4 times. Each upgrade adds additional decorations to the interior and also unlocks more RC vehicles. Once the lab reaches Level 3, RC vehicles can be sent to the Wii U version of the game, to be controlled by a 2nd player. In the Wii U version, the RC vehicles can assist Sonic in co-op mode by collecting Rings and other items while he progresses through the stage.
In other media
Archie Comics
Tails' workshop on Cocoa Island in the Archie Comics.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Tails' workshop on Cocoa Island appeared. After discovering Cocoa Island, Tails dealt with Sonic's year-long absence by building his workshop on the island, amongst other things. Tails later returned to his workshop when he took Antoine and Bunnie on their honeymoon to Cocoa Island. There, he built T-Pup before the Battle Bird Armada attacked. After dealing with the armada, Tails and allies would celebrate in the workshop.[1][2][3][4]
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Tails' lab is the welling place of Sonic and Tails on one of the floating islands at Land of the Sky. The island has ruins of a crashed Boeing 747 and USS Enterprise, that has a workshop inside, where Tails works. It is seen to have a satellite to collect radio signals.
In the anime series Sonic X, Tails established his own workshop at Mystic Ruins after a confrontation with Dr. Eggman. It would serve as his private residence until he returned to his own world.
In the Sonic Boom franchise, Tails has his own workshop next to his house on Seaside Coast. Here, Tails spends his time building the inventions furnishing his mind to not only give his team the edge but also make life easier.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing, Tails has his own workshop where he works on inventions, like the Tornado. He has a second workshop based in Central City where he keeps other inventions, like the Cyclone.
In Tails' Workshop in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, there seems to be a pot with a sprout inside it. According to rumors, this is a possible reference to the seed Sonic found when Cosmo sacrificed herself in the anime series Sonic X.
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