Amy Rose

Amy Rose (Japanese: エミー・ローズ Emī Rōzu) is a young pink hedgehog character who is usually associated with the modern day Sonic the Hedgehog video game series created by Sega. She has chased Sonic for well over a decade now, trying to gain his heart in everything from animated TV shows, to movies and games.

Original appearances

There is an age old myth that Amy was a Sonic Team made character. However, in truth, Amy (or rather, a prototype of the character) first appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog manga published in 1992, and there she was literally "the girlfriend of Nikki (Sonic)", as the description translates. After that appearance, Sega took the character, and Kazayuki Hoshino redesigned her for Sonic the Hedgehog CD/Sonic CD in 1993. In Sonic CD, she is a hedgehog who dabbled in fortune telling. Upon learning of Sonic's appearance, she chased Sonic in the first Act of the game. In the second act, she gets kidnapped by Metal Sonic. Sonic rescues her in the game, but dashes off. Amy had proclaimed him her boyfriend, even though he didn't think that way of her and from then on was his #1 fan in the games. The official girlfriend/boyfriend status in the actual manga was ditched for a cat and mouse, hero chased by fan relationship.

In Sonic CD, Amy wears a green polo shirt, an orange skirt, and purple sneakers. Her quills were the same style as Sonic's, except for a tuft of bangs.

Later appearances

She later appeared in Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 as a playable character. She made it into the edutainment title Sonic's Gameworld as well. Amy became a minor character in the Sonic Archie Comics, however writer Karl Bollers, lead writer of the Sonic comic has informed fans they will indeed be able to see her more often than in previous years. Unlike in previous years where she was too young to go anywhere near enemy lines, the girl is now finding a voice and is one of the prized fighters on the side of King Max. In Archie's universe, Amy Rose is a girl who likes reading and shopping, and while it's unknown if she has any feelings still for Sonic, it has been announced by Archie that Sonic loves Amy in the way a brother would love a sister. Even if Amy does love Sonic she is not as aggressive about it as her video game and anime counterpart. However, her aggressive pursuit of Sonic was as strong as ever in her early appearances in the United Kingdom publication, Sonic the Comic, where she claimed Sonic to be her boyfriend, and was arrested for consorting with a fugitive. Rescued by Sonic, she joined his Freedom Fighters, and was soon captured by Metal Sonic. As the series continued, Amy's pursuit of Sonic became less and less her defining trait, as she began to have stories centred on her own adventures, and went on a series of trips across time and space with Tekno the Canary.

She appeared in a hidden cameo in Knuckles' Chaotix, and is only seen in the sound test and after a code is entered in the color test screen.

In 1996, she appeared in the arcade game Sonic the Fighters (Sonic Championship in the U. S.). She got her weapon, the Piko Piko Hammer. In the Sonic the Comic (Fleetway), which she had appeared in prior in, she already got the crossbow as her weapon prior to this game.

She also got an appearance in Sonic R as a playable character.

Recent appearances

Sonic Adventure in 1998 thrust Amy in the spotlight. Her coif was redesigned, and she now wore a red dress and red and white boots to take advantage of her more mature 12-year-old form. She was given green eyes, the same eye color as Sonic had. She was playable and still had her weapon of choice, the Piko Piko Hammer. She also kept that weapon for Sonic Advance.

She was a supporting character in Sonic Adventure 2 (as well as being a 2P playable character), but she got a secret playable appearance in Sonic Advance 2.

In Sonic Heroes she leads Team Rose, named after her. Amy represents the team's speed formation. Team Rose is the team intended for beginners here. 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.

Amy is one of the main characters in Sonic X, a new anime.

Amy also appears in Sonic Battle, where the battle robot Emerl calls her "Mom", and the new game Sonic Advance 3, where she again pairs up with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Cream.