Amy Rose

Amy Rose the Hedgehog (エミー・ローズ・ヘッジホッグEmī Rōzu za Hejjihoggu^?), also formerly known as Rosy the Rascal (ロージー・ザ・ラスカル 'Rōjī za Rasukaru'^?), is a fictional, anthropomorphic pink hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She has a major long-standing crush on Sonic the Hedgehog, and has been trying to win his heart by any means since meeting him. Such methods included impressing him by fighting robots, and threatening to leave him locked in prison on Prison Island. Introduced in the game franchise in 1993, Amy was the first — and most recurring — female character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and is also one of the most popular characters, coming in fifth place on an official popularity poll, being the most popular female character.

She was described to be eight years old in Sonic CD, but from Sonic Adventure onward she has grown by four years. With the addition of Cream the Rabbit, Amy seems to have found herself a sidekick similar to how Tails is to Sonic (as implied in Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 3, and Shadow the Hedgehog).

Concept and Creation

Amy Rose is one of the few main characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series to have her first appearance outside the Sega games. She was created by Kenji Terada for the various Sonic the Hedgehog manga published by Shogakukan. She first appeared in the April 1992 issue of Shogaku Ninensei, written and illustrated by Sango Morimoto. She also appeared in the unrelated series from Shogaku Ichinensei, Shogaku Sannensei, Shogaku Gonensei, Shogaku Rokunensei, and Coro Coro Comics Special, all of which were written and illustrated by different mangaka but based on Kenji Terada's initial concept. In these series, Amy (no second name is given) is the girlfriend of Nicky, a nerdy young male hedgehog with the power to transform into the superhero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Amy is also the target of the bully Anton Verruca. Because of the vastly different styles of the illustrators for these series, Amy's design was different in each. She appeared most like her later games appearances in the Coro Coro Comics Specials, written and illustrated by Tanaka Kouichi.

In 1993, the manga character was adapted by the Sonic CD team to be used in Sonic's Mega CD debut. Her final design for this game was done by Kazuyuki Hoshino. She appeared infrequently thereafter, in ensemble spin-off games such as Sonic the Fighters, Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, and Sonic R. She did not appear in any of the early TV series, although she was included in most comics, including the Archie Comics series, the British Sonic the Comic and the French Sonic Adventures.

When Sonic Team reunited and started work on their three-dimensional follow-up to the classic Sonic games, Sonic Adventure, it was decided they would revive the pink hedgehog and give her a starring role in the game. Yuji Uekawa, the man who would redesign all the classic characters, did the most drastic changes to Amy. While Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all received minor design changes, Amy's clothing and hairstyle were completely revamped. She also had her entire figure redesigned to make her appear older, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to a different demographic than the rest of the Sonic characters.

Following Sonic Adventure, Amy became one of the main characters of the series, and has appeared in nearly every Sonic game since, as well as the TV series Sonic X.

History

Before meeting Sonic

All that is known with Amy is that before she met Sonic and to this day even, Amy seems to have skills when using tarot cards or talent with the arts of divination and foresight. It was with these cards that Amy Rose predicted she would finally meet her idol, Sonic the Hedgehog, at the Little Planet.

Personality

Amy in the main series is presented as being somewhat kind and girly. In Sonic CD, she was referred to as an "optimistic tomboy" who loves fortunes and uses tarot cards. Because of her tomboyish nature, she became a playable character as a fighter in Sonic the Fighters. However, after Sonic Adventure, Amy had grown a more feminine personality, such as an interest in shopping and fashion, but that didn't remove her tomboyish nature. However, in the later games, she has the personality of a girly-girl more so than a tomboy unlike the earlier games. In the more recent games, Amy has become bit more obessessive and far more aggressive, much to Sonic's dismay. She often shows her anger by pulling out her Piko Piko Hammer out of Hammerspace, sometimes threatening Sonic with it.

In Sonic Battle, her attraction towards "Boxercise" plays to both elements of her ever-changing personality: the exercise helping her lose weight to maintain her girlish figure, and the boxing to help her train when she's forced to fight. In Sonic Battle, she had shown a very powerful and aggressive attitude, willing to fight whenever necessary.

Despite her aggressive tendencies, Amy has a good heart, never gives up, and is one of the most optimistic and cheerful characters. Amy is always full of hope and is always cheering on for the good side of things. She almost never seems to find anything hopeless, as shown in Sonic Adventure, where she was determined to help the Flicky who had lost his family.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Amy felt strongly that there was a chance for the world to be saved and that people were basically good (as she told Shadow). Amy is often likable person she has rarely met anyone who she did not befriend (including Shadow and Blaze). Amy is a cheerful and caring individual, with a positive outlook on life, and an over sweeping infatuation for Sonic.

Since 2010, after the release of Sonic Free Riders, Amy seems to be more bossy and infatuated with Sonic than before. This is most likely due to the more light and humorous nature of recent Sonic games. Amy's personality has added more a humorous factor in games like Sonic Colors, Sonic Free Riders, and Sonic Generations with her obsession for Sonic, which causes her to say silly and embarrassing things.

Abilities and Powers

Piko Piko Hammer

Amy's trademark weapon is the Piko Piko Hammer, a large and durable hammer that she is able to call out from nowhere at will, and is Amy's preffered means of offense. Though simple in function, Amy can wield the Piko Piko Hammer rather skillfully and utilize it in plenty of ways, such as spinning it around to form a top, slamming it down on foes, swinging it around offensively while flipping, increasing its size or even have it mimic other attack techniques such as the variants of the Spin Attack. Even powerful characters such as Sonic and Knuckles get worried and even downright afraid when Amy pulls out her Piko Piko Hammer, hinting the danger that this weapon poses.

Physical Abilities

In terms of physical attributes, Amy is not exactly gifted with physical abilities on a superhuman level, such as in cases with Sonic, Knuckles, or Shadow. Despite this, however, Amy does possess rather high physical capabilities, making her a powerful character in her own right.

While not strictly superhuman, Amy possesses a high degree of physical strength. She is able to wield her Piko Piko Hammer, which appear to weigh quite a bit, with little effort, and can swing her Piko Piko Hammer around with enough force to smash clean through the armor of Eggman's robots and send enemies sky rocketing. She has even enough strength to swing her Piko Piko Hammer around so fast that she can ascend into the air like a helicopter rotor or generate shockwaves and whirlwinds, and as well provided enough force with her Piko Piko Hammer to send herself into the air by hammering it into the ground. On top of that, in Sonic Generations, when Amy accidentally hits Knuckles, she hits him with enough force to send him flying backwards into a nearby tree without even noticing.

Like most characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Amy is able to run at super speeds, which stem from her innate hedgehog abilities and her practice from chasing after Sonic. Though her top speed while running is unclear, she can run at fast enough to keep Sonic, who is the fastest character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, on a constant lookout for her while escaping her, hinting that Amy possesses a high level of running speed.

Amy has as well good acrobatic skills and agility, being able to handle and swing her large Piko Piko Hammer gracefully and without disturbing her path when airborn, perform various forms of movements and tricks when launched into midair, and grind on rails with ease.

Combat Skills

Though kind and optimistic, Amy is a tough and powerful fighter. Combined with her aggressive approach when provoked, Amy can be a fierce opponent in a confrontation. Though she has not received much training in martial arts, reminiscing more of execises, Amy knows how to defend herself against, and can go up against powerful robots and even highly trained combatants such as the Nocturnus Clan soldiers.

Fighting Style

Amy's fighting style is heavily based on the usage of her Piko Piko Hammer. In battle, Amy uses her Piko Piko Hammer's size and durability to her advantage, either swinging her hammer into the opponent and knocking the opponent a great distance away through midair, or bringing the entirety of her hammer's weight down on the opponent in a downward swing, crushing her opponents with devastating force. When launching more offensive or effective moves, Amy will swirl around with her Piko Piko Hammer, turning herself into a spinning top that mows down everything she comes into contact with or even stir up whirlwinds and shockwaves to send opponents flying, though such maneuvers can leave her dizzy.

Despite preferring to use her Piko Piko Hammer when fighting enemies, Amy can as well fight opponents hand-to-hand in direct combat, though she rarely resorts to this method. As seen in Sonic Battle, when fighting opponents close up, Amy will resort to kickboxing moves, using fast jabs and uppercuts to hit her opponents.

Techniques and Moves

Amy has one of the widest ranges of moves and techniques in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, ranging from techniques involving her Piko Piko Hammer, to the basic Spin Attack maneuvers, to even mimicries of other characters' moves.

Most of Amy's offensive techniques revolves around the variants of her primary offensive technique, the Hammer Attack, a downward swing with her Piko Piko Hammer on opponents. These variants serve to compensate for Amy's lack of superior physical skills and moves. Her Jump Attack lets her swing her Piko Piko Hammer in midair to attack enemies while airborn with increased attack range, and her Spin Hammer Attack and Hammer Whirl lets her spin around with her Piko Piko Hammer to attack whith increased attack range as well. For better movements, Amy can use her Hammer Jump and Mid-Air Hammer Jump techniques to let her somersault higher into the air by setting off with her Piko Piko hammer from where she is positioned, and with her Propeller Hammer she can float through the air like a helicopter for a short while.

Amy's more special moves includes her Tornado Hammer where she throws a whirlwind at opponents to blow them off the ground, and the Rose Typhoon where she creates a dome-like shockwave by hammering into the ground. While she sometimes lacks it, Amy can as well perform the various forms of the Spin Attack, which is a variation on the tendency for hedgehogs to roll into tight balls for protection. The Homing Attack allows Amy to jump and home in on an enemy to get over large gaps she cannot normally reach, the Spin Jump lets her curl into a ball to attack opponent by landing on them, and the Spin Dash lets her shoot herself forward as an acceleration roll at high speeds to break barriers or mow down enemies.

Miscellaneous Skills

Amy has on several occasions proved to possess excellent tracking and searching skills, especially when she is looking for Sonic. As demonstrated during her searches for Sonic, Amy is able to, through a mix of dowsing and just plain searching, locate the general area of the person she is looking for, apparently no matter where in the world it is, and get to the person in question before he/she leaves the general area. In fact, at least in Sonic's case, Amy is able to "feel" that the person she is looking has been in a certain location. Amy's tracking skills is further enforced in Sonic Rush, where Cream told Blaze that Amy was sure to find Sonic for them.

Amy has as well displayed some skills in the mystical field, primarily in reading tarot cards. Using her tarot cards, Amy is able to predict the future and give herself knowledge of future events, such as successfully predicting where Sonic would be in Sonic the Hedgehog CD and later again in Sonic Battle, or even curse others.She has also showen the power to cunjre things up with her move Heads Up in Sonic the Fighters and her traps in Sonic Battle.

In Sonic the Fighters, Amy demonstrated the ability to harness Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emeralds, allowing her to enter the Hyper Mode.

Amy also has good culinary skills, making her a capable cook.

Though not necessarily a special skill or ability, Amy's positive outlook and attitude gives her the ability to convince even the most cold-hearted and cruel people into giving up on their evil ways through genuinely heart-spoken speeches, as seen in the cases of Shadow the Hedgehog and E-102 Gamma.

In the Sonic Riders series, Amy has steadily proven herself as a very talented Extreme Gear rider. Though she did not make it to the finals during the first EX World Grand Prix in Sonic Riders, she had at the time of the Grand Prix in Sonic Free Riders become so skilled at riding Extreme Gear that she was able compete against even the world's best Extreme Gear riders. While riding on an Extreme Gear, Amy is skillful enough to ride on rails, focus on opponents while remaining in control of her Extreme Gear, and as well pulls off highly advanced tricks and techniques on her Extreme Gear while in midair.

Friends

Sonic the Hedgehog (Boyfriend)

Cream (Close as her Sister)

Tails

Knuckles

Brook Taylor

John Gibson

Lizzy the Hedgehog

Jur the Hedgehog

Rivals

Rouge the Bat

Cici the Hedgehog (Sometimes hugs Sonic)

Nikki Roberts (Friendly Rival cause Nikki is in love with Sonic)

Enemies

Metal Sonic

Gallery

Amy in sprite

Amy's look in Sonic Boom