Babylon Rogues

The Babylon Rogues are a fictitious group of avian thieves in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series of video games. The known members of the group consists of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross. Their only playable appearances to date are "Sonic Riders" and its sequel, "". However, they make small cameo appearances in "Sonic Rivals" as collectable cards and "Sonic and the Secret Rings" in the gallery. Jet was a secret character in the Beta version of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. All three also appear in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" as stickers, while Jet also appears as a trophy.

Debut

Jet and his two companions, Wave and Storm, first appeared in "Sonic Riders". In "Sonic Riders", the group is hired by Dr. Eggman to compete in his airboard-racing tournament, the "EX World Grand Prix", against Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna. All members have flames tattooed on their wrists and they reside on a large airship. It is said in Sonic Riders that the Babylonians are descendants of genies, but in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity the Babylonians are revealed to be descendants of aliens.

History of the Babylon Rogues

According to the games' plot, the "Babylon Rogues" (A.K.A. “The Divine Wings") were an order of technologically advanced thieves that existed possibly for centuries. They once resided on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a floating island (the name "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" was changed to "Babylon Garden" in the English version of the game). All of the original Babylon Rogues were genies, but legend has it that the Babylonians angered the gods, and as punishment, the Hanging Gardens were buried beneath the desert sands.

The Babylon Rogues were said to have excelled in the usage of "Extreme Gear" (a fictional term describing advanced means of transportation in the Sonic universe), which they used to travel all around the world in their endless pursuit of treasure. A Babylonian artifact called the "Magic Carpet" was said to be the first Extreme Gear ever created, had been found to be sealed away in the Babylonian Fortress.

Following the traditions of their ancestors, the Babylon Rogues became a triad of thieves that went on down through the years. Passed down through their ranks was a power cube capable of restoring the Hanging Gardens to the skies. Eventually, it came to Jet and his group, who set their sights on recovering the legendary treasure of the original Rogues.

In "", it is said that the ancient Babylonians are descendents of aliens. As they were crashing into Earth, they released the 5 Arks of the Cosmos which crashed into the planet, leaving behind a streak like a shooting star. Every time the ancient Babylonians saw shooting stars, they made wishes to go back to their home planet. Amy claims in the ending of the game that it could be the reason people began wishing on shooting stars.

"Sonic the Hedgehog" (comic)

The Babylon Rogues appear in the Archie-published "Sonic the Hedgehog" comic book in issues #163 and #164. They appear in a backup story that is an adaptation of "Sonic Riders" like the previous "Sonic Rush" adaptation. Their part begins when Jet is riding his Extreme Gear while being chased by robots after stealing something to boost his Gear from Eggman. He is captured-mentioning that he had been struggling since leaving an unknown armada-and Eggman is intrigued by his speed. He offers Jet the chance to live if he is able to defeat Sonic. Jet agrees if he can bring along some friends—Wave and Storm. They enter Knothole and activate the security system to lure Sonic to them. When he arrives they attack him with Jet using speed, Wave using her technical gear skills, and Storm using brute strength. Despite Sonic's speed, being outnumbered and attacked by enemies using Extreme Gear proved too much for him to handle.

Sonic was sent home to Tails' house and explained how he had got beaten up. Knuckles jokes around with Sonic for a minute, before Tails comes in holding their brand new Extreme Gear. As the Babylon Rogues are going to enter Knothole City, Sonic and friends come to stop them. Naturally, the Rogues are quite miffed at Team Sonic's use of Extreme Gear. After a few healthy insults, they began to race. Storm fought Knuckles, to which Storm admitted that Knuckles was as strong as himself. Tails fought Wave, who made fun of the young fox's airboard. Finally, Jet and Sonic faced off, speed against speed. The story ended leading into the plot of the "Sonic Riders" game, so it can be assumed that the Rogues were defeated and driven off.

Members

Jet the Hawk

nihongo|Jet the Hawk|ジェット・ザ・ホーク|Jetto za Hōku is a 14-year-old green anthropomorphic hawk. Sources describe him as the leader of the Babylon Rogues,cite web |url=http://sonic.sega.jp/chara/jet/index.html |title=Sonic Channel |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Characters: Jet |publisher=Sega |date= ] who is nicknamed the "Legendary Wind Master"cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Riders Manual|section = Characters |publisher=Sega|date=2006|accessdate=2008-07-09|quote=pp 7] due to his mastery of Extreme Gear.cite web |url=http://www2.sega.com/gamesite/sonicriders/ |title=Sonic Riders official website |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Characters: Jet |publisher=Sega |date= ] This mastery comes from his forefathers, and Jet is the best in the techniques. His skills make him a possible match to Sonic the Hedgehog, whom he considers a rival. Jet is aware of his duties as leader but must sometimes be helped by his team. Filled with extreme pride, the thing he likes most other than treasure is himself. He despises losing and those who are faster or more confident than him and fights using Bashyo Fans.

He's Sonic's most potent rival in "Sonic Riders", and he uses a Type-J board that allows him to reach high speeds. Jet also possesses a mysterious "Babylonian Control Box", passed down from his ancestors, that is said to awaken the fabled Babylon Garden. Only the power of the Chaos Emeralds can activate its mythical power.

Jet advances to the finals of the EX World Grand Prix and unfairly wins after Wave detonates an explosive placed on the bottom of Sonic's board near the end of the race. Again, he races against Sonic after Doctor Eggman steals the control box in order to steal the ancient treasure of Babylon. This time, he is defeated fairly. Sonic, who retrieved the box from Eggman, willingly hands it to Jet, as he is not intending to use it.

At the doors of the Babylonian Fortress, Jet, Wave, and Storm awaken and are confronted by the Babylon Guardian, a large purple genie, and only succeed in defeating it with the help of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. They discover the fabled Babylonian Treasure to be the ancient Extreme Gear Magic Carpet.

Jet and Sonic finally decide to be more friendly to each other. Jet concedes to the fact that Sonic is faster than him. However, this doesn't make him want to beat Sonic any less than in the beginning. Jet appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. [ [http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/stray-coward-lion/2008-02-22 ジェット・ザ・ホーク：弱虫ライオン：So-net blog ] ]

In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity Jet wishes upon a shooting star the power to beat Sonic, then when the shooting star crashes it causes an avalanche, making a newly found artifact activate, revealing to Jet the powers of Gravity Control. Proclaiming himself the fastest thing in the universe, Jet sets off to find the rest of the Ark's of the Cosmos, and prove to Sonic the Hedgehog once and for all he is the best.

Jet and Sonic meet up again at MeteoTech and Jet immediately jumps at the chance to prove once and for all to Sonic that he is the fastest in the universe. Later at the end of the game Jet and Sonic have a race to prove who gets the title of fastest and all of the Ark of the Cosmos. Jet and Sonic tie and Sonic gives his Ark of the Cosmos to him. Tails figures out that the Arks use Black Holes to use Gravity Control and if all of them are close enough to Babylon Garden the the entire world be sucked up by the massive Black Hole it would make.

One of Eggman's robots flies into the room and steals the Arks from Wave and flies them to Babylon Garden. Babylon Garden reverts back into it's usual form as a space ship and a black hole appears at it's center and begins sucking in the world. Jet, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Wave and Storm fly to the Garden and defeat the Core: ABIS program. The last cutscene from the game is Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy driving through a city and Jet flying up beside them and challenging Sonic to another race.

Wave The Swallow

nihongo

"Wave the Swallow"'|ウェーブ・ザ・スワロー|Uēbu za Suwarō is an 18-year-old purple anthropomorphic swallow. Offical profiles say that like her father was for the previous generation of the Babylon Rogues, she is the current team's mechanic.cite web |url=http://www2.sega.com/gamesite/sonicriders/ |title=Sonic Riders official website |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Characters: Wave |publisher=Sega |date= ] Gifted in this craft, she is a superb mechanic who's knowledge of Extreme Gear surpasses both Miles "Tails" Prower and Dr. Eggman.cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Riders Manual|section = Characters |publisher=Sega|date=2006|accessdate=2008-07-09|quote=pp 8] Because of this knowledge, she is full of confidence.cite web |url=http://sonic.sega.jp/chara/wave/index.html |title=Sonic Channel |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Characters: Wave |publisher=Sega |date= ] She hates thick-headed or stupid people and notices everything, but her advice tends to be understandable only to her. Although she looks on Jet the Hawk as an "unreliable younger brother" and can be quite stubborn, she follows his leadership.

In the EX World Grand Prix, she beats Amy Rose at Splash Canyon, but is knocked out of the tournament by Tails at Green Cave. Wave uses a Type-W airboard, which is specially designed to fly well, and the red jewel she wears around her neck is actually a small computer capable of playing back media files via holographic projection.

Wave is something of a voice of reason amongst the Rogues, often reminding Jet and Storm of their responsibilities. Wave has something of a rivalry with Tails, in which she scorns the way he made Sonic's Extreme Gear, calls him "Shorty" a number of times, and also "a twerp" in one of her mission reports, though this diminishes by the end of the game. She also has a strained relationship with Storm, with one such instance being criticizing his skills on Extreme Gear. In a cutscene before Sky Road, she angers Knuckles by calling him a "Red Mutt".

Wave often refuses to admit when someone has talent, as noted in some of her mission reports. She either says that she will continue to deny a person's skill or flat-out denies that they have any skill at all. She also says in the opening of White Cave, that if she doesn't take charge, nothing will ever get done.

torm the Albatross

"Storm the Albatross" is a 19 year old anthropomorphic albatross. He is described as the muscle of the Babylon Rogues and Jet the Hawk's "right hand man."cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Riders Manual|section = Characters |publisher=Sega|date=2006|accessdate=2008-07-09|quote=pp 9] The strength of his loyalty to Jet is greater than any other and he hates rivals to the team.cite web |url=http://sonic.sega.jp/chara/storm/index.html |title=Sonic Channel |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Characters: Storm |publisher=Sega |date= ] When he is angry, he becomes destructive; and the raw power of his physical strength makes up for his lower intellegence and lack of speed.cite web |url=http://www2.sega.com/gamesite/sonicriders/ |title=Sonic Riders official website |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Characters: Storm |publisher=Sega |date= ] With his quick temper, he may stutter when flustered, and he hates having to wait.

During the EX World Grand Prix, Storm loses to Knuckles at the location "Egg Factory". This defeat is compounded by the fact that just before the match they both tried to fight each other (even though they both end up hitting one of Eggman's race robots during the struggle). Later, under orders from Jet, Storm discovers a page of Dr. Eggman's diary stating that Eggman had deceived the Rogues into believing the treasure within the Babylonian Fortress was a gem.

Storm uses "Type-S Extreme Gear", which is capable of keeping balance when smashing through obstacles. However, he seems to be the least skilled of the Rogues, partly because Knuckles easily knocks him off his board in the introduction; in the Babylon Rogues story, he falls off his board when meeting Jet and Wave after stealing Eggman's diary entry.

Storm is very loyal to Jet, and believes his loyalty is greater than anyone else's. Because of this, he is always ready for an assignment. Storm's profile on "Sonic Channel" actually lists Jet as one of his "favorite things". He dislikes new rivals to the Rogues. "Sonic Riders game and manual"]

Theme song

The theme of the Babylon Rogues is "Catch Me If You Can", introduced in Sonic Riders. It is performed by Runblebee, with techno-rock influences.

*"Sonic Riders" - "Catch Me If You Can" - Runblebee
*"" - "Catch Me If You Can" (remake) - Runblebee

References