Amy Rose
| Amy Rose | |
|---|---|
| 'Sonic the Hedgehog' character | |
| File:AmyUnleashed.png Amy's design for Sonic Unleashed | |
| First game | Sonic CD (1993) |
| Created by | Kenji Terada (Shogakukan) Kazuyuki Hoshino (Sonic CD) Yuji Uekawa (Sonic Adventure) |
Amy Rose (エミー・ローズ, Emī Rōzu), known earlier as Rosy the Rascal, is a video game character and cartoon character who appears in most of the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games developed by Sega's Sonic Team. Amy Rose was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino and based on one of Kenji Terada's characters. She was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa for Sonic Adventure. She is a pink, female, anthropomorphic hedgehog who plays the part of Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend. She has chased Sonic since her debut in 1993, and has been trying to win his heart in everything from the series' games to animated TV shows and comics. She was the first female character introduced into the Sonic The Hedgehog game universe and is also one of the series most popular characters, coming in fifth place in an official popularity poll.[1]
Like Sonic and other characters in the series, Amy is significantly shorter and lighter than humans her same age. To be precise, she is 12 years old, 90 cm (2ft 11in) tall, and her weight is a secret.[2] She was originally described as being 8 years old in Sonic CD, but as of Sonic Adventure and onwards, she has grown older. Also, with the addition of Cream the Rabbit, Amy seems to have found herself a sidekick similar to Sonic's sidekick, Tails.
Creation and conception
Despite her frequent use in Sega games, Amy was not actually created by Sonic Team. A prototype version of her appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog manga published on September 23, 1992, and there she was literally "the girlfriend of Nikki (Sonic)", as the description translates. After that appearance, Sega took the character, and Kazuyuki Hoshino redesigned her for Sonic CD in 1993. Her character's use in Sonic CD was as Sonic's "main love interest," with the twist that Sonic was not interested in Amy's affection.[3]
Characteristics
Amy's character is the bright and overly cheerful self-appointed girlfriend of Sonic.[4] She loves soft-serve ice cream and hates boredom,[2] has a natural initiative,[5] and a strong competitive streak,[4] but gets into trouble often.[6] With her strong sense of intuition and great passion[7] Sonic has difficulty escaping her.[5] Because of her pure heart,[7] her character has often been used as the series Ingenue. Amy is quite formidable with her Piko Piko Hammer,[8] a weapon with which her skills are exceptional.[4]
History
Games
In her first game appearance, Sonic CD (1993), Amy was kidnapped by Metal Sonic. Doctor Robotnik then used the time stones to set time back on the Little Planet. She had the nickname "Rosy the Rascal" at this point, and was named "Princess Sally"[9] in the American manual to tie in with the cartoon, though all later games called her Amy. Being a Genesis-era game (though technically a Sega CD game), Sonic CD's plot was minimal. Amy's only personality trait was that she was a big fan of Sonic, and no real reason was given for her kidnapping besides as bait for Sonic. Though Sonic CD was released after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, it was in production at the same time, meaning that Amy has approximately been around as long as Tails has.
Amy's first use of the Piko Piko Hammer was in Sonic the Fighters. This game used her "Rosy the Rascal" nickname as well, though it has not been used since, except in the Archie comics series, when used to describe her Moebius counterpart.
In 1999, Sonic Adventure thrust Amy in the spotlight. She is a playable character in the game and uses her weapon of choice, the Piko Piko Hammer, to defend herself during her quest to find the family of a bird that escaped Eggman and crashed into her. Like the other major characters in the series, Amy was redesigned significantly for this game. Her quills were redesigned into short hair being slacked down, and she now wears a sleeveless red dress held on by a white-trimmed halter strap with matching trim on the skirt, and red go-go boots with a white stripe from the top to the tip to take advantage of her more mature 12-year-old form. She was given green eyes, the same eye color as Sonic had only in a lighter value.
She was an important supporting character in Sonic Adventure 2(2001) and was playable in 2-player mode. When Sonic was kept in an island prison, with Tails' help she managed to free him. This happened to be one of the many times Amy has saved Sonic rather than the opposite. However, she ended up being held hostage at gun-point by Eggman later in the game. He threatened to kill her if Sonic did not quickly get a Chaos Emerald. She even talked Shadow into helping the team stop the destruction of the Earth, as her innocence reminded him of the deceased human Maria whom he befriended years ago.
In Sonic Heroes(2004), Amy leads Team Rose. She represents the team's Speed formation. She is accompanied by Cream the Rabbit and Big the Cat on a mission to impress Sonic, while Big wants to find his friend Froggy and Cream and Cheese want to find Cheese's sibling, Chocola, all the while inspiring the whole team, cheering her friends on.
Amy has appeared alongside Sonic and the rest of the cast in Shadow the Hedgehog(2006), Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders(2006), Sonic and the Secret Rings(2007) and most of the newer games. Her outfits have changed for certain games, such as the one she wears for Sonic Riders. She also appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl(2008).
She appeared as a playable character in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood(2008) for the Nintendo DS, the first Sonic RPG game, in which her relationship with Sonic can be improved depending on the player's choices. In this game, Amy indicates that she has a boyfriend. Although, in the end, Amy reveals that she was lying to make Sonic jealous, this is revealed when the best Sonic and Amy ending is seen.
In Sonic Unleashed(2008), she fails to recognize Sonic in his were-hog form though after he saves her the whole incident is explained by Professor Pickle. She then proceeds to help the professor to help Sonic. Towards the end of the PS3 & Xbox 360 version of the game, players can reply "yes" or "no" to Amy's request for a date.
She is a playable character in the upcoming game called Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing due for a release early in 2010. Also playable character in the upcoming game Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2009-2010.
Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)
In the Sonic the Hedgehog (comics), Amy was the same age as depicted in the original games. In a flashback, Amy was shown trying to become a part of the Freedom Fighters but was denied by Sally Acorn. Amy accused Sally of the reason so she "won't get closer to Sonic" however the true reason was that Amy was far too young at the time, as she was only 8 years old and did not have the experience like Tails did. However, during the Sonic Adventure adaptation she makes a wish on the Ring of Acorns, which caused her to grow physically older, reaching the age of 12, while maintaining her childish mindset and making her appear to be something of a ditz. After this Amy once again requested to join the Freedom Fighters, but was denied again by Sonic, who told her having an older body is not enough, she still had the mentality of an 8-year old and no fighting experience. A year later when Sonic returned to Mobius, Amy was finally allowed to join the Freedom Fighters after being awarded a medal by Sally as thanks for her service in helping the Freedom Fighters. Amy was overwhelmed with happiness that one of her wishes came true.
Amy undergoes combat training with the former Dark Legion soldier Julie-Su. When Julie explains that Amy should want this training to better herself rather than to impress Sonic, Amy replies that she does want to better herself so that no one else will be more worthy of Sonic's affection than her. While not the first to discover it, Amy was the first to oust Fiona Fox for cheating on Sonic with Scourge, enraged that anyone would play with Sonic's emotions so cruelly. She serves as the flower girl at Antoine and Bunnie's wedding and, not long after, is one of the few to avoid capture during the destruction of Knothole. While initially distraught, she immediately takes part in the rescue mission; with her hammer, she and Knuckles destroy the Egg Grapes and free several captives. After the escape, she is shown supporting Rotor, whose back was injured during the initial attack. She would go on to help Sally save Sonic from Mammoth Mogul.
Later, she travels with Sonic to Moebius (the Anti-Universe version of Mobius) to find help to stop Scourge. However, Rosy the Rascal, a Moebius version of Amy, was all that was available. Unlike Amy, she hates Scourge and wants to destroy him. She used the Ring of Acorns to make herself older so she'll appear as more of a threat to Scourge. However the transformation had a few side effects, which made Rosy insane. Her character design resembles her look from Sonic CD. Eventually Sonic defeats Scrouge and she goes back to Mobius, leaving the fate of Rosy unknown. She then goes on to help Sonic in the ultimate battle against Eggman, even attempting to confort him after Sonic shows sign of gulit towards Eggman's mental breakdown.
Sonic the Comic
In the now defunct UK publication Sonic the Comic, Amy first appeared in a two-part story where she was arrested by Dr. Robotnik's Trooper Badniks for the criminal offense of association with Sonic; she had been saying she was his girlfriend. While annoyed at the fact she had been lying about them being an "item", Sonic still had a duty to rescue her and did so, but to his horror realised that she was now a fugitive and would have to stay with the Freedom Fighters.
Amy's character swiftly matured as the comic went on and became one of the most valuable members of the Freedom Fighters, especially due to her expert marksmanship with her crossbow, which she created herself. The notion of a love interest in Sonic was, for the most part, underplayed and one of the comic's writers, Nigel Kitching, revealed he saw it partly as Amy just trying to annoy Sonic.[10] Several times, Sonic would be left exasperated by either civilians assuming the two were dating, which Amy would play along with or her playing up the crush. Because of this, when trapped on the Miracle Planet with her, he faked being lost for two days.[11]
She appeared often in strips, with a few solo stories by Lew Stringer where she saved the day without the others noticing. She constantly showed self-righteousness, pragmatism and quick thinking: in the story "Plasma" in #78, she both worked out how to defeat the villain and let Sonic believe he had as she knew that, as a symbol of hope for Mobius, "it's important that they think it's him who saves the day!". She also took a second-in-command role, taking full control when Sonic was absent or transformed into Super Sonic. When Sonic was lost in the Special Zone, she led the Freedom Fighters[12] until he returned in #100. At a later part of the comic's life, Amy would be mostly written by Lew Stringer as a straightforward adventurer and had a long series of back-up strips teamed up with her best friend Tekno.
Nigel Kitching originally planned for Amy to be more of an irritant for Sonic, influenced by 1930s and 40s "Hollywood screwball comedies" like It's a Wonderful World, but while still being a capable fighter. However, Deborah Tate wanted the character to be of a role model for girls, as she was the only female regular character at the time, and dictated that she be more sensible and mature.[13]
Sonic X: The Comic
Amy Rose's appearance in the Sonic X comic is similar to the one in the Sonic X anime. In this comic book version her and Sonic's relationship developed more closely. Sonic even took her on a date once, but only because he had lost a bet with Knuckles. After the date, much to her displeasure, when Amy asked Sonic if they would go on a date again, Sonic's only answer was maybe.
Sonic Adventures
Two French-made comic books published by Sirène were released in 1994. Amy appears in the first volume Sonic Adventures: Dans Les Griffes De Robotnik being kidnapped by Robotnik as bait to get Sonic. This version of Amy had the same design as in Sonic CD.
Reception
A Games Radar article called Amy's introduction "the only bitter taste" in Sonic CD, but added that "she's just a pink hedgehog here and not a whiny, annoying brat like in Sonic Adventure."[14] In an IGN article "Smash It Up", Lucas M Thomas stated that "one of the coolest things about [Amy Rose's character] is her enormous, walloping hammer" that is often used for comedy in the series.[3]
Notes and references
In addition to information taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog games themselves, the instruction booklets of the US and Japanese versions of the games were also used as references for this article.
- ^ Sonic Team. "Japanese Sonic character popularity poll". Sega of Japan. Retrieved 2006-07-14.
- ^ a b Sonic Team. "Amy Rose's official character profile". Sega of Japan. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ a b "Smash It Up! - Sonic Team". 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Sega (1999). "Characters: Amy Rose". Sonic Adventure Manual. Sega.
pp 24
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b Sega (2004). "Team Rose". Sonic Heroes Manual. Sega.
pp 10
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Sega of America. "Amy's official character profile from Sega of America". Sega of America. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ a b Sega (2001). "Characters: Amy Rose". Sonic Adventure 2 Manual. Sega.
pp 12
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Sega (2001). "The Characters: Amy Rose". Sonic Advance Manual. Sega.
pp 4
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Story Background, instruction manual for Sonic CD, Sega Mega-CD version
- ^ Sonic The Comic Yahoo! Group
- ^ Sonic the Comic #61, "The Brotherhood Of Metallix part 3"
- ^ From Sonic the Comic #89, the "Sonic's World" back-up strips
- ^ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sonicthecomic/message/13701 Nigel Kitching on Amy Rose
- ^ Justin Towell. "Sonic's 2D Classics Re-reviewed". Games Radar. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
External links
