Princess Sally
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Princess_Sally_(Archie_Style).jpg
Princess Sally (or Sally Acorn) is a fictional character appearing in the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons in 1994 and Archie comics.
She is a female, part chipmunk part squirrel and appeared in one of the Sonic the Hedgehog games ran by STI (Sonic Spinball) as nothing more than a captured freedom fighter in a bonus stage that needed to be freed. She is in many of the Archie comics, has made a cameo appearance in Sonic's Christmas Blast, and was a main character of the early 1990s Sonic cartoons dubbed by Sonic fans as SatAM.
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Fleetway Sally
Fleetway's Sally Squirrel has no title and resembles the small furry animal known as Ricky Squirrel all the Sally's were based off of. Of course, this version of Ricky Squirrel gains a sex change, is more rotund and is a bit of a crybaby, and has a brother just like Archie's Sally.
SatAM Sally
Princess_Sally_(SatAM_Style).jpg
In SatAM, Sally is the leader of the Freedom Fighters. She holds feelings of love/possessiveness (its debatable amongst the fanbases) for Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero who fought with Antoine D'Coolete for the prize (Sally) to be won so to speak. Sally is also something of a mother to Tails, Sonic's surrogate younger brother and a "girlfriend" for Bunnie Rabbot. Sally is trying to defeat Doctor Robotnik and to free her father. Initially, Princess Sally would be the adapted version of SEGA's Ricky squirrel, one of Sonic's small furry friends. Of course in SatAM and beyond Ricky would be given a gender change and be given the title "Princess Sally of the House of Acorn". In SatAM, Sally is voiced by Kath Soucie.
Archie Sally
In the Archie comics, Sally is currently about 17 years old (according to Ken Penders) and is the Daughter of King Maximillian Acorn and Queen Alicia Acorn. She is also the younger sister of Elias Acorn, sister in law to Elias' wife Meg and aunt of Alexis Acorn, the child of Meg and Elias. Her family ruled over all Mobians and their respective territories for many generations. Their official dynasty ended shortly after the Great War, to which the treacherous Warlord Dr. Julian Ivo Kintobor (an overlander defector) staged a coup d'etat, usurping the Acorn throne. Rechristened Ivo Robotnik, the newly proclaimed dictator turned the capital of the Mobian territories into an industrial hell and used the horrific roboticization process to transfigure 85% of the city's population into his mindless robot slaves. Dominion over Mobian territory soon turned to the domination of the entire planet, with him as its supreme overlord.
A young Sally, of only five years, was hidden from Robotnik's grasp and sent to live in the protected village of Knothole within the bowels of the Great Forest. Sally grew up to lead a band of ragtag rebel militiamen from Knothole starting at age 10, living with her friends, her governess Rosie, and her mentor Julayla. Early on in the fight, princess Sally would lose her mentor Julayla, but through the long period of fighting lying ahead of her, Sally would rely on her deceased mentor for strength to lead the Freedom Fighters. The goal of the "Freedom Fighters" would be to oust their oppressive ruler. In relatively close proximity to Robotropolis (capital of Mobius), they carried out numerous guerrilla attacks against Robotnik, constantly striving for his overthrow. The Knothole Freedom Fighters soon discovered that they were not the only ones to start an insurrection... and united their cause around the globe.
Finding the former Princess a definite threat to his reign, Robotnik devised an elaborate assassination plot, nearly taking the now 15 year old rebel leader's life. Victory seemed to be in the dictator's grasp when he discovered the location of Knothole, to which he built a massive superweapon in order to wipe it off the face of his world. His "Endgame" scheme was foiled by the rebellion and Robotnik ended up MIA during the weapon's destruction, presumed killed by its backfiring. During the years to follow, Sally worked hard to reestablish her father's government... encountering a myriad of hardships, including the arrival of an alternate reality Robotnik (Robo-Robotnik), who retook Mobotropolis. Robo-Robotnik was destroyed in battle, but through the digital transfer of his conscious into a new robotic body, he was able to live on as "Doctor Eggman". Now she presides over the newly established Kingdom of Knothole, once a haven from the destructive powers of Eggman until he too, like his mighty predecessor, learned of the location.
She has a compact super computer with her called Nicole, which can speak and perform other tasks and helps with research, this nifty computer being sent from an alternative future where Sally is queen, feeling that apparently this reality's Sally would seriously need a friend. Sally is also among the few individuals who can wield the Sword of Acorns; other characters who have been able to use it include: Sonic the Hedgehog, Mamoth Mogul and King Max Acorn.
Love life
There is conflict regarding whether princess Sally is truly in love with Sonic or is just simply possessive. She has had old love interests who were used to make Sonic jealous, which in SatAM, some refer to as the contraversial Griff incident. In instances involving the comic she has at points of its history been a bit of flirt or lover to males such as Geoffrey St. John, (who is now romantically involved with Hershey the Cat), and Knuckles the Echidna Sally's childhood friend (who has now fallen for Julie-su echidna). Geoffery's being the more serious case of the two, as in the beginning Sally had felt she was in love with Geoffery, in the end only to find out she did not and found herself leading Geoffery on. In recent issues though some would say she's gotten "a taste of her own medicine", as Mina Mongoose is a rival for Sonic's heart.
In issue #99, Mina kisses Sonic, and while he had a little pleasure in the kiss, Mina would walk away unsatisfied in the end because she knew he was more shocked by her actions than he was pleased. Sally watches, misinterprets the situation as something that sealed a girlfriend/boyfriend commitment between Sonic and Mina, gets upset, and runs off, nearly destroying her 10-year friendship with Sonic. Issue 109 when Sally learns the kiss was a "thank you" kiss, not a symbol of Mina and Sonic becoming more than friends or "dating" as she called it, and in the very next issue, she acts kinder and seems more loving to Sonic. Some say that she is only nice to him if she knows she will have him, which is a debated subject even today. In the end, in Archie comics, her love life with Sonic takes a halt when the king and queen leave the throne to see the world for awhile and put Sally in charge. Sally wants Sonic by her side but as Sonic is probably the more adventurous type he does not want to be at hers. So after arguing with Sonic, she slaps him and runs away crying. That said, she is expected to very possibly hook up with Antoine according to Karl Bollers, so we can pretty much say that indeed their relationship is not going to be developing romantically anytime soon but her relations with Ant may just be blossoming.But let's not bet on it.
Other friends
Other members of her circle of friends include Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Bunnie Rabbot, Amy Rose, Antoine D'Coolette, Hershey the Cat, Lupe the Wolf, and Geoffrey St. John.
Her role
Sally once commanded a ragtag militia called the "Knothole Freedom Fighters" to take on the dictator Ivo Robotnik. However it is revealed that as of Sonic 132, Sally is now a royal princess of a now established kingdom and is no longer leading the former rebels behind enemy lines because the kingdom cannot risk their only heir to the throne. According to Karl Bollers, the main writer of the Archie Sonic comic book, there IS no more "Freedom Fighters" as the status quo has changed from a group of "ragtag" rebels to soldiers fighting against Doctor Eggman's terrorism. The soldiers now listen to Sonic more so, even if Sally outranks him; and now that her parents have been reunited, Sally is no longer Knothole's voice of authority.
Endgame
A saga known as the "Endgame" (issues #47-50) was written, intended to remove Princess Sally from the comic with dignity so that she did not truly lose any of her fans. In issue #47, which was written by Ken Penders, Sally was killed, since the king's arrival would displace her power, making her unnecessary. However, SEGA ordered her to be revived, due to current promotional issues, and so she was in issue #50. (This interfered with the schedule and caused many pages to be cut for issue #50; later it was revised and reissued as a Sonic Super Special.) Her role in the story (and the popularity of the character) waned slowly after her revival.
Christmas Blast Sally
Sally is her old "pink Sally" self in Sonic's Christmas Blast, and has no spoken lines. Sonic gives her Christmas presents at the end of the special. Pink Sally is an interesting version of the princess seeing that there are three versions: Pink, red and brown Sally. These discolorations are explained by Archie as something in response to immersing with chemicals in a chemical vat while on a mission.