Thrash the Tasmanian Devil

This character exists primarily or exclusively within the Pre-Super Genesis Wave continuity. Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity.

Thrash the Tasmanian Devil
Thrash the Tasmanian Devil, from Sonic the Hedgehog #245.
Appearances
First appearance	Sonic Universe #11
Real-world designer(s)
Creator(s) (real-world)	Ian Flynn
Biographical overview
Relative(s)	Two unnamed Tasmanian Devil sisters
Species	Mobian/Tasmanian Devil
Physical description
Gender	Male
Fur	Purple, white, beige
Eyes	Yellow
Attire	Green gloves Green boots Black boot and glove pull strings
Alignment and character traits
Alignment	Neutral
Affiliation(s)	Downunda Freedom Fighters (formerly)
Powers and abilities
Skills	Sonic scream Super strength Expert survivalist Hand-to-hand combat skills

My kind used to flourish on Downunda. Then your people came and turned them into lab experiments. And that's the result! The echidnas messed with our genes, trying to create the Devil Dogs. Nobody remembers why–not that they had the right to do it at all. Mums and dads sired pups instead of babies. Each generations, as we get bred out of existence, are told the stories of who did this to us! And so here we are. The last of the Tasmanian Devils and the last of the echidnas. Eye for an eye, mate.

— Thrash the Tasmanian Devil, Sonic the Hedgehog #245

Thrash the Tasmanian Devil, also known as Thrash the Devil, is a character who appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. Thrash is a Mobian Tasmanian Devil, who is one of the few Mobian Tasmanian Devils to currently exist. As such, Thrash has made it his quest to avenge his kind by exterminating the echidna species as payback for their mutating and driving his kind to near-extinction.

Concept and creation

The said "merge" sprite of the Sonic & Knuckles title screen.

According to Ian Flynn, Thrash is based off of a Sonic & Knuckles sprite where, if you quickly switch between the Sonic and Knuckles sprites on the home screen, a purple sprite is created for several milliseconds.

Appearance

Thrash is an anthropomorphic Tasmanian Devil colored in a purple hue. He has yellow eyes, and a jagged-fur pattern on his chest similar to a customized-"V" shape. He has a beige colored muzzle, and a hairstyle resembling both Sonic the Hedgehog's quills and Knuckles the Echidna's dreadlocks. He has green gloves and shoes with gray, metal squares identical to those of Knuckles' boots. He has a pair of black cuffs on each of his gloves. He has a pair of fangs.

History

Early life

Thrash was born as one of the few, if not the last, Mobian Tasmanian Devil (a race which became mutated into Mobini Devil Dogs by Echidna scientists during the Forgotten War) left in existence. Over the generations following their mutation, the Tasmanian Devils' offspring gave more mutated Devil Dogs, with an increasingly smaller percentage of the Mobian Tasmanian Devils being born. Because of this tragedy, Thrash eventually decided to make it his quest to avenge his kind along with his two Devil Dog-sisters against the echidnas. With no luck, Thrash halted his quest to help out the Downunda Freedom Fighters so he could "bust up a few heads for a good cause."

Halting His Quest

Thrash expressing his hatred for the echidnas against Finitevus, from Sonic Universe #11.

Sometime during Thrash's affiliation with the Downunda Freedom Fighters–Walt Wallabee, Barby Koala, Wombat Stu, and Guru Emu–they encountered the Chaotix–Knuckles the Echidna, Julie-Su, Mighty the Armadillo, Vector the Crocodile, and Ray the Flying Squirrel–along with Doctor Finitevus being ambushed by a horde of Wing Dingoes in search to steal the Master Emerald. The Downunda Freedom Fighters helped the Chaotix, and the Wing Dingoes were disposed off. Both parties had worked out a plan by the afternoon to free Angel Island from the Downunda Dark Egg Legion. Thrash had went with Walt, Barby, and Stu to the Downunda Dark Egg Legion base inside the Great Crater pretending to defeat Finitevus. Walt told Thrash to keep the doctor's "elimination" professional, but Finitevus commented to Walt what to expect from a Tasmanian Devil fighting off an echidna. Thrash, startled, told Finitevus to shut up, as the Tasmanian Devil attempted to punch Finitevus in the face. However, using his Warp Ring abilities, Thrash unintentionally subdued Walt. Thrash attempted to hit the doctor after both Walt and Stu were defeated, but Finitevus used his Warp Ring abilities to kick Thrash in the face, calling Thrash a "remainder of a failed experiment." Thrash and the rest of the heroes were eventually subdued and captured, and they were taken prisoners by the Downunda Dark Egg Legion.

Finitevus later sided with Duck "Bill" Platypus, the Grandmaster of the Downunda Dark Egg Legion, leaving Thrash and the other heroes to Bill. Bill secretly let the heroes escape, telling his story of being forced by his kind to join the Eggman Empire. Once they were released, Thrash led a sonic scream ambush against the rest of the Dark Egg Legion. Thrash and the heroes, excluding Knuckles, Ray, and Julie-Su, had fought against the Dark Egg Legion. Forcing the Playtpi Dark Egg Legion to flee and with Finitevus defeated, Thrash had left the Downunda Freedom Fighters to continue his quest after finding a Warp Ring in the duration of the battle.

Judgement Day

Eventually, Thrash and his sisters had found an abandoned-laboratory at the Second Downunda Colony at Sandopolis Desert on Angel Island. There, he found notes on how to super-charge a Warp Ring along with the location of the Lost Tribe of echidnas, that being Albion. Knowing that his time for vengeance has come, Thrash went to the Shrine Isle, and had ambushed and subdued Julie-Su and Saffron Bee. He disposed the two at an unknown area using his Warp Ring. Thrash had then transported himself and his sisters to Albion. In a bizarre coincidence, the electricity of the city went out during a conflict between Team Fighters–Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose–with Remington and the Echidna Security Team against Lien-Da and her Dark Egg Legion forces. Because the electricity had triggered multiple locations, the majority of the Mobians were knocked out, including the two fighting parties. After finding Sonic and the rest of Team Fighters, Thrash had laid the team together, as he was here to "clean up the garbage". Thrash had successfully lured and forced the rest of the echidnas to his super-charged Warp Ring to the same location as Julie-Su and Saffron were trapped inside, assuring the echidnas that they have nothing to worry about. As he put the last echidna in his Warp Ring, Thrash was caught by Knuckles (who came on the island to help his kind during a distress call) and the awakened-Team Fighters. Thrash elaborated on his quest to exterminate all of the echidnas to an unknown area and that his work is completed. Furious, Knuckles attack Thrash, demanding for his people back, back Thrash blasted the echidna away with his sonic scream. Thrash explained to Knuckles that he let him live because Knuckles let Thrash keep the Warp Ring he found. Sonic then Spin Dashed at Thrash, who also demanded that the Tasmanian Devil free the echidnas. Thrash refused, and he and his sisters began to fight against Team Fighters and Knuckles.

Knuckles and Thrash began to fight each other while Team Fighters handled Thrash's sisters. Thrash and Knuckles argued back and forth about Thrash's decision on banishing the echidnas was the right thing to do. Thrash revealed to Knuckles that his kind was the reason Thrash's barely existed. Thrash claims that what he's doing is even to the echidna's "destroying" the tasmanian devil's, but Knuckles states that had been a long time ago and that the modern echidnas were different and maybe could have helped the tasmanian devils. Declaring Thrash had condemned both their races to extinction, Knuckles demands Thrash to bring his people back. Thrash refuses to do Knuckles' demand and uses his roars to hold him back, but is quickly subdued when the Guardian punched him directly in the face. As Thrash was seemingly defeated, a Krudzu-infused-Metal Knuckles ambushed the heroes. Seeing as his opportunity to flee, Thrash used his Warp Ring to escape. Luckily, Knuckles noticed this and pursued Thrash through his Warp Ring.

Thrash successfully escaping from Knuckles, from Sonic the Hedgehog #246.

Thrash and Knuckles then began to transport through different areas of the planet, as they arrived at Thrash's homeland, the Tasmanian Ruins. Thrash was thrown to a wall of a building, where an elderly Tasmanian Devil-lady (speculated to be Thrash's mother or his grandmother) ordered Thrash to take Knuckles away so she could be safe. Thrash opened another Warp Ring, and Knuckles soon followed. The two arrived at the White Acropolis Peaks, where Thrash used his sonic scream to get away from Knuckles. However, the sonic screams had caused an avalanche on the mountain the two fighters were on. Thrash used a Warp Ring once more, and Knuckles quickly followed. The chase arrived to Angel Island, where Thrash jumped off the island ledge of the Emerald Shrine, opening a Warp Ring behind him. Knuckles quickly dived after Thrash, where the Tasmanian Devil opened another Warp Ring, but it quickly was deactivated when Knuckles grabbed hold of it. Knuckles glided his way back to the Emerald Shrine, but the Warp Ring did not work because Thrash had the original Warp Ring while Knuckles possessed its remnants, thus ending their chase. It is unknown where Thrash transported to.

Personality

A subtle hint of Thrash's hatred of echidnas, from Sonic Universe #11.

Having a strong sense of justice of what he believes is right, Thrash is a rough character who, like the other Tasmanian Devils, have a overwhelming hatred against the echidnas. Although he has a profound hatred against the echidnas, he was willing to let Knuckles live to have a fair game. Thrash's prejudice against the echidnas can be even hinted by just his comments and body language, such as when the Downunda Freedom Fighters defeated a horde of Wing Dingoes, Thrash's first comment was about the plethora of echidnas there was. Another example of is when Thrash decided to lean on a wall when the Downunda Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix were discussing their plan.

While he may be rough against the echidnas, Thrash has some soft spots in his heart, such as joining the Downunda Freedom Fighters just to "bust up a few heads for a good cause". He is also very noble, as seen when he placed Team Fighters alongside each other after the electricity knocked out every civilian at Albion. But, like Knuckles, Thrash has a very short temper, as seen when Finitevus insulted his kind.

Perhaps because of his kind's hatred against echidnas, Thrash does not recognize the modern echidnas of his time and blames all of them (not just the few responsible) for his kind's devastation, despite Knuckles telling Thrash that not only were they good people, but could have also helped restore his kind in repentance for their past sins. Thrash, however, makes no effort in distinguishing between heroic echidnas (like Knuckles and Julie-Su) and villainous echidnas (such as Dr. Finetevus and Lien-Da), and sees them all as "trash" and would repeat their ancestors' crimes.

True to his location of origin, Thrash speaks in an Australian English accent, spouting Australian phrases such as "mate" and "yer".

Powers and abilities

Thrash using his sonic scream to subdue Sonic, from Sonic the Hedgehog #245.

Thrash is incredibly strong and quite the bruiser, possessing a raw level of super strength rivaling even Knuckles, enabling him to easily subdue his foes, like a Wing Dingo, with his fists at barely any effort. Despite his size, he is also noted to be fast and agile. He has demonstrated formidable hand-to-hand combat skills, though Barby Koala has implied his skills are unrefined and he struggled against a more profound fighter like Knuckles in their battles. Thrash is also an expert survivalist, having become so due to his hard life.

Thrash is also gifted with the ability to fire sonic screams at his foes as a concussive force which are powerful enough to send his opponents flying away and make them shield their ears in pain.

Trivia

• Thrash's sonic scream ability is likely a reference to the Tasmanian Devil's power to shriek at high volumes, but to an exaggeration in the case of Thrash.
• Ian Flynn originally stated in Sonic Universe Graphic Novel Vol. 3 that Thrash was meant to be another rogue of Knuckles' which could "throw down with Knuckles and have it mean something", which oddly enough, did not match up with Thrash's role in his debut in Sonic Universe #11. However, this was later conveyed during the Endangered Species story arc.
• According to Ian Flynn, when asked whether the possibility of bringing Thrash into the Post-Super Genesis Wave timeline, he stated that "he would love to bring him back, but it comes with all that baggage... We can't really bring him back without people going 'Oh boy! And here we go!'"

Gallery

Concept artwork, from Sonic Universe Volume 3: Knuckles Returns.

Early concept artwork for Thrash. Art by Ian Flynn.