Amy Rose

General CVG character
width=226px
name=Amy Rose


caption= Amy Rose, as she appears in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.
firstgame="Sonic the Hedgehog CD" (1993)
series="Sonic the Hedgehog"
creator=Kenji Terada ("Shogakukan")
Kazuyuki Hoshino ("Sonic Team USA")
voiceactor=Video games Lynn Harris (Sonic CD) Jennifer Douillard (1999-2004)
Lisa Ortiz
(2005-present)
Anime
Lisa Ortiz ("Sonic X")
japanactor=Video games
Taeko Kawata
(1998-1999; 2001-present)
Emi Motoi (2000)
Anime
Taeko Kawata ("Sonic X")
inuniverse=Sonic character
species=Hedgehog
gender=Female
nickname=Rosy the Rascal
age= 12When Amy was introduced in Sonic CD, her bio in the game manual gave her age as 8, when Sonic Adventure was released, her bio in the game manual was changed to 12 and has remained 12 in all subsequent bios]
debut=September 23, 1993
height=90cm (2ft 11in)
weight=Secret
skills=Piko-Piko Hammer, Tarot Cards, Dowsing nihongo|Amy Rose|エミー・ローズ|Emī Rōzu, once known as Rosy the rascal, is a video game character who appears in many of the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series of video games developed by Sega's Sonic Team. Amy Rose was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino "(Sonic Team USA Art Director)". She is a pink, female, anthropomorphic, humanoid hedgehog who plays the part of Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend. She has chased Sonic since her first debut in 1993, and has been trying to win his heart in everything from the series' animated TV shows to comics and games. She is the first female character introduced into the Sonic The Hedgehog game universe and is also one of the most popular, coming in fifth place on an official popularity poll.cite web |author=Sonic Team
publisher=Sega of Japan |url=http://sonic.sega.jp/event/016/002.html |title=Japanese "Sonic" character popularity poll |accessdate=2006-07-14]

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, 90cm (2ft 11in) tall, and weighs 4.545kg (10lbs).>cite web |author=Sonic Team |publisher = Sega of Japan |url=http://sonic.sega.jp/chara/amyrose/ |title=Amy Rose's official character profile |accessdate=2007-09-24] She was described as being 8 years old in "Sonic CD", but as of "Sonic Adventure" and onwards she has grown older (by 4 years). Also, with the addition of Cream the Rabbit, Amy seems to have found herself a sidekick similar to Sonic's own Tails (as implied by "Sonic Battle", "Sonic Heroes", "Sonic Advance 3", " and Shadow the Hedgehog").

Creation

Despite her frequent use in Sega games (especially since the Dreamcast era), 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.

History

Games

In her first game appearance, "Sonic CD" (1993), Amy was introduced and 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" [Story Background, instruction manual for "Sonic CD", Sega Mega-CD version] 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 more or less been around as long as Tails.

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 seen since.

In 1998, "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 wore a red dress and red 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" because she had some of the most prominent roles 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 surprisingly many times Amy has saved Sonic rather than the usual opposite. However, she ended up being held hostage at gun-point by Eggman later in the game. He threatened to kill her if Sonic didn't hurry up with an emerald. She even talked Shadow into helping the team stop the destruction of the Earth, as her innocence reminded him of the deceased Maria.

Amy was playable in "Sonic Advance", but unlike the other playable characters, she could not spin and all her attacks had to be triggered.

In "Sonic Heroes", Amy leads Team Rose. She represents the team's speed formation. (Like Sonic or Shadow in teams Sonic and Dark) she's accompanied by Cream the Rabbit and Big the Cat on a mission to impress Sonic, while Big wants to find his friend Froggy (again), 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", "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Sonic Riders", "Sonic and the Secret Rings", and so on through the newer games. Her outfits have changed for certain games, such as the one she wears for "Sonic Riders". Amy is set to appear in Sonic Unleashed. [http.www.gamespot.com/video/945572/6194260/sonic-unleashed-e3-2008-stage-show-demo] She also appears as a playable character in . Depending on what the player makes Sonic say to her, their relationship can improve.Fact|date=October 2008

onic X

Amy was also one of the main characters in "Sonic X", an anime series which is the most recent of the Sonic the Hedgehog TV shows; her first ever appearance in a Sonic TV series.

In "Sonic X", Amy is Sonic's fan, friend, and love interest, although Sonic does not often return his feelings (though in one episode he flirts with her and ends up getting beaten by Amy's hammer). As with her game appearances, her long-term goal is to get him to notice her. She gets mad at Sonic's impatience and aloof attitude, which occasionally are so bad that she is driven to violence. However, she really does care about him. This is further evidenced by the fact that whenever they reunite after being separated, she'll grab him in a warm hug, much to his annoyance.Her personality in the anime is similar to her personality in Sonic Adventure.

"Sonic the Hedgehog" (comics)

In the "Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)" Amy was the same age as depicted in the original games. In a flashback it was shown Amy tried 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 had. 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 awarded a medal and became a Freedom Fighter by Sally, who thanked her for her service to help the Freedom Fighters; Amy was overwhelmed by happiness that one of her wishes came true.

Amy is the cousin of Rob O' the Hedge (a thinly veiled homage to Robin Hood), who sends her to live in Knothole as things get tough in their homeland of Mercia. Echoing her introduction in "Sonic CD", she was captured by Metal Sonic but saved by Sonic the Hedgehog in the landmark issue #25. She fell head over heels for Sonic, but remained distant out of respect for Sally Acorn. After Sonic and Sally's breakup in issue #134, Amy has begun to show her love for the hedgehog once again.

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 she. 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 (the others being Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and NICOLE). 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 now lives in New Mobotropolis.

Sonic the Hedgehog #194 shows a Moebius (the Anti-Universe version of Mobius) version of Amy Rose, taking on her first appearance, before she wished herself to be older.

"Sonic the Comic"

In the 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 offence 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. [ [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sonicthecomic/message/13701 Yahoo! Groups ] ] 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. [Sonic the Comic #61, "The Brotherhood Of Metallix part 3"]

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 [From Sonic the Comic #89, the "Sonic's World" back-up strips] until he returned in #100. At a later part of the comic's life, Amy would be mostly written by Lew Stringer as a straighforward 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/40s "Hollywood screwball comedies" like It's a Wonderful World, but while still being a capable fighter. ("But what Amy was not and never was some weak soppy character who swooned over Sonic like a silly little girl. Well, she did but we were never quite sure if she just doing it for a laugh.") 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. [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sonicthecomic/message/13701 Nigel Kitching on Amy Rose]

"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 for Valentines Day (though this was due to the fact that he lost a bet to Knuckles and just to be nice). However after the date when Amy asked Sonic if they would go on a date again, Sonic answered with: "Maybe."

"Sonic Adventures

Two French-made comic books published by Sirène werereleased 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.

Characteristics

Amy's character is the bright and overly cheerful self-appointed girlfriend of Sonic. When she is with Sonic she may say sometimes "Sigh... wouldn't that be romantic?"] cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Adventure Manual|section = Characters: Amy Rose |publisher=Sega|date=1999|accessdate=2008-09-13|quote=pp 24] She loves soft-serve ice cream and hates boredom, has a natural initiative,cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Heroes Manual|section = Team Rose |publisher=Sega|date=2004|accessdate=2008-09-13|quote=pp 10] and a strong competitive streak, but gets into trouble often.cite web |author=Sega of America |publisher = Sega of America |url=http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters |title=Amy's official character profile from Sega of America |accessdate=2008-03-10] With her strong sense of intuition and great passion,cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Adventure 2 Manual|section = Characters: Amy Rose |publisher=Sega|date=2001|accessdate=2008-09-13|quote=pp 12] Sonic has difficulty escaping her. Because of her pure heart, her character has often been used as the series Ingenue. Amy is quite formidable with her Piko Piko Hammer,cite manual|author = Sega |title = Sonic Advance Manual|section = The Characters: Amy Rose |publisher=Sega|date=2001|accessdate=2008-09-13|quote=pp 4] a weapon she has skills with that are second to none.

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.

External links

* [http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters "Sonic Central" official character profiles]
* [http://sonic.sega.jp/chara/amyrose/index.html Amy at Sonic Channel]