Amy Rose

Amy Rose, once known as Rosy the Rascal, is a video game character who appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games developed by Sega's Sonic Team. She is a pink, 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 game universe and is also one of the most popular, coming in fifth place on an official popularity poll.

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, 90 cm (2'11"ft) tall, and keeps her weight a secret (much like the other female characters); she weighs 4.545 kg (10lbs). Her birthday is September 24, 1994. 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.)

The alias "Rosy the Rascal" is most likely a play on of "Rosie the Riveter", a feminist character and national icon which represents the women that had to work during World War II when all of their husbands were drafted. The name is rather suiting as both characters are extremely tough and motivated females.

History
Amy's first official Sega design had her in a sleeveless red dress held on by a white-trimmed halter strap with matching trim on the skirt, and red go-go boots with a white stripe from the top to the tip, however she still wore her red headband.

Game appearances
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. Robotnik forced Sonic to challenge Metal Sonic in a race for Amy's life, which Sonic had won. Amy was rescued and Metal Sonic was destroyed for the time being. She had the nickname "Rosy the Rascal" at this point, and was named "Princess Acorn" in the Western manuals 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 appeared again in Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 to race in a Grand Prix – her vehicle was a car with a face. She was a playable character in the 1996 arcade game Sonic the Fighters. In 1997's Sonic R, Amy was the only character to drive a car - everyone else ran on foot (or in Robotnik's case, drove an Eggmobile).

Sonic the Fighters introduced her Piko Piko Hammer. 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 short hair being slacked down is now spines, and she now wore a green blouse and orange tutu, similar to Honey's Fighters dress, to take advantage of her more mature 12-year-old form. Interestingly, her boots are identical to Wonder Woman's official costume. She was given green eyes, the same eye color as Sonic had only in a lighter value. Somewhat oddly, in this newer design, Amy often appear to have a more of an 'hourglass'-shape to her body than many other females in the series (such as Blaze, Wave and Marine), despite the fact that she is canonically of a younger age than many of these characters, though this may be a visual effect caused by her dress.

When Sonic Shuffle was released for the Dreamcast, Amy, as well as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles collected rings and other items while walking around on a board game surface.

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. She is also responsible for causing Shadow to realize Maria's true wish by begging him to help everyone, and thus ending up saving the world against the Biolizard, and later with Sonic-- Finalhazard.

Amy was playable in Sonic Advance, but unlike the other playable characters, she could not spin and all her attacks had to be triggered. She had an unlockable playable appearance in Sonic Advance 2 (after collecting all Chaos Emeralds with all the other characters) in which she could spin, as well as Sonic Advance 3

In Sonic Heroes, Amy leads Team Rose. She represents the team's speed formation. 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 appears in Sonic Battle as a playable character. She is considered by some to be one of the stronger and more reliable characters in the game. All of her attacks contain large amounts of speed, power, and balance, her healing ability can quickly raise her HP, and she is the third fastest character.

Amy appeared alongside Sonic and the rest of the cast in Shadow the Hedgehog to try to convince Shadow to join their cause. Amy in particular needs Shadow's help to rescue Cream and Cheese from Eggman's Cryptic Castle.

Amy is a playable character in Sonic Riders from the start, and her type is Speed, as equivalent to Sonic's. She is not playable in the Story Mode, though she is a character in the main story.

Amy appears in Sonic the Hedgehog as an ally in Silver the Hedgehog's storyline to enlist his help in finding Sonic, not knowing that Silver is looking for him too for radically different reasons. Upon finding Sonic, Silver battles him and gets the upper hand, but Amy stops him from finishing Sonic off. Amy also saves the damsel-in-distress Princess Elise and Sonic at one point in the story.

Amy also appears in Sonic's storyline in Sonic Rivals: Amy has been turned into a card by Dr. Eggman and Sonic sets off to save both her and Tails. She also makes cameo appearances as three collectible cards. And although it is said that Rouge will be playable and there seems to be a rivalry between the two in few games. She doesn't appear in the sequel Sonic Rivals 2, except as a few collectible cards.

Amy is a playable character in the Party Mode in Sonic the Pimp alongside Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Cream, Silver and Blaze. Amy is also briefly mentioned in a page of the game's Special Book, which states she is "Sonic's ever-cheerful love interest."

Amy appears in the Mario and Sonic game crossover as a playable character in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Like all the other female playable characters (Blaze, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy) she will wear a different outfit to her normal clothes. Her dress is similar to her old wear (but different around the shoulders) while she wears a different pair of shoes.

Amy is be a playable character in the game Sega Superstars Tennis.

Amy is playable in the Sonic Riders sequel Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.

Amy was absent in Sonic Rush Adventure.

In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Amy went with Sonic to save Knuckles, and later the world from Imperator Ix. In Chronicles Amy states she has a boyfriend named Dexter. The player, however, can engage in a romantic subplot between Sonic and Amy depending on the player's conversation choices, and this would ultimately lead to Amy's confession that Dexter was made-up to make Sonic jealous.

Amy appears in Sonic Unleashed. She made her introduction as she did in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). By plunging into someone who looks like Sonic. And although she got it right this time, since Sonic was in werehog form, she did not recognize him, and apologized then saying that she could of sworn it was him, she then runs off. Amy later finds out about Sonic's new form, saying that although he's changed his look, he's still Sonic to her. She later helps out Professor Pickle and in one cutscene, she talks about being interested in learning.

Sonic 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 (she did not appear in any of the three American produced series).

In Sonic X, Amy is Sonic's self proclaimed girlfriend. 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.

In some episodes, hints that Sonic has interest in Amy himself has been displayed multiple times, namely Amy on the Beach, How to catch a Hedgehog and Memories of the Wind. In Memories of the Wind, Sonic gave Amy a flower and even mouthed the words, "I love you" to her.

Early Life
Amy Rose's origins lie in the country of Mercia, a province of the Acorn Kingdom across the sea. There she lived for a while with her cousin, Rob O' The Hedge, leader of the Mercian branch of Freedom Fighters. When Robotnik took over, he put the Robian General D'Coolette in charge of Mercia. As things went from bad to worse, Rob sent Amy away to live in Knothole where she would hopefully be much safer. It is unknown as to what happened to Amy's parents.

Sonic's Number One Fan
While living in Knothole, Amy became Sonic's "biggest fan", even wanting to marry him one day. 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 that her reason for doing so was 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. She constantly sent fan mail to him, hoping to get his attention. Unfortunately, Dr. Ivo Robotnik found this mail and sent his newest creation, Metal Sonic, to kidnap the young hedgehog. He then used her a hostage to get Sonic to come to the Collison Chaos Zone, which he did. Sonic's best friend, Tails, was also kidnapped and held hostage with Amy. But Sonic defeated Metal Sonic and rescued both, resulting in Amy wanting to marry him even more. (StH: #25)

When Sonic had been put in prison for treason, after being accused of allowing himself to be roboticized so that he could become stronger, Amy naturally protested against it. During Sonic's trial, Antoine humourously "badgered" Amy for trying to get a badger to join her Sonic Fan Club.(StH: #40) After the death of Robotnik, Amy continued to help the Freedom Fighters with certain tasks, such as the rebuilding Mobotropolis.

Upgrade to Teenager
When Nate Morgan and the Freedom Fighters were getting ready to go to the Hidden City of the Ancients (aka Station Square), Amy wondered if she could come along as well. But Sonic and the others were totally against it, saying that Amy was too young. Amy, sad at not being old enough, walked around Knothole until she came across the magical Ring of Acorns and touched it, wishing to be older. The ring granted her wish and although she aged physically, she still had the mind of an 8-year old. 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 still had no fighting experience. But Nate, wanting to examine her, thought that she might as well come along. (StH: #79, #80)

When the group arrived at Station Square, Amy marvelled at its glory and, while exploring, came across a Flicky being attacked by two of Dr. Eggman's newest robots. Amy tried to save it, but the robots kidnapped her and brought her back to Eggman's Egg Carrier. But when E-102 Gamma checked on Amy in her cell, she was the last piece of the puzzle to giving Gamma sentience, and so he freed her. Later, Sonic, who had also come with Tails to save Amy, battled Gamma and was about to deliver the final blow when Amy stopped him, saying how Gamma helped her. Sonic agreed to not destroy Gamma, who then evacuated the ship along with Amy and Tails. Amy had later helped Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters battle Perfect Chaos. (StH: #80, #81, #82, #83, #84, SSS: #13)

Amy continued to help the Freedom Fighters with certain missions. Eventually, her cousin, Rob O' the Hedge, came to visit her and thought Antoine's father, the former High Sheriff of Mercia, was still evil. He later learned the General had indeed turned around, much to the joy of Amy, Antoine, and Bunnie Rabbot. Amy was present during the Mobian's counterattack against the Xorda. (StH: #111, #125)

Freedom Fighter
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. (StH: #142)

After Sonic and Sally's breakup in issue #138, 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.

Amy, now an official Freedom Fighter, helped the heroes of Mobius even more, with such examples as fighting the Metal Sonic Army and helping in the battle against Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus. Amy also showed jealousy towards Fiona Fox, who was Sonic's girlfriend at the time. When Tails told Amy that Fiona was cheating on Sonic with Scourge the Hedgehog, she instantly attacked the treacherous fox. But Sonic was able to calm down Amy before talking to Fiona about whether or not she really was cheating on him for Scourge, which is when the green hedgehog arrived. Sonic fought Scourge and Fiona, and when Amy and Tails decided to help, the diabolical couple fled. Amy was also present when Antoine proposed to Bunnie and was the flower girl for their wedding.(StH: #157, #158, #159, #162, #163, #164, #172, #173, #174)

A while later, Dr. Eggman's Egg Fleet attacked Knothole and captured everyone except for Amy, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. 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, and was also teleported with everyone else to New Mobotropolis. After the escape she is shown supporting Rotor, whose back was injured during the initial attack. She then helped the other Freedom Fighters and Chaotix battle the Egg Beater and they were able to destroy it.(StH: #175, #176, #177)

She also joined the Chaotix and the other Freedom Fighters in the attack on Enerjak. And later when the Suppression Squad attacked Freedom HQ, she went after Patch, who had impersinated Antione and tried to take over the Kingdom, angered that he returned after all he did.

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 offense 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 realized 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. 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.

While it had been planned for her to be a more useful member, unfortunately the first three stories (one a Sonic CD adaptation) she was in had her taken hostage as a plot motivator. In the second of these, however, she showed her maturity and quick thinking by brokering a mutually beneficial deal between her kidnappers (Captain Plunder and the Sky Pirates) and the Freedom Fighters. Her appearance was also changed, likely to further distance her from her Mega Drive/Genesis version - she was often seen wearing combat trousers and a white T-shirt that had various slogans or pictures on it, ranging from "Girl Power!" to a Christian cross. When the Sonic Adventure adaptation was released, her hairstyle was altered to reflect the games and she began wearing a bomber jacket.

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 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 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. After encountering the mysterious Eternity Ring, they both traveled through time and space to help out people in trouble and save multiple planets (including Earth). Adventures included Mobius in the year 5000AD, helping Hercules complete his thirteenth labour to get into Olympus, and witnessing the birth of life on Mobius. (This was done as editor Deborah Tate wanted different locations for the back-up strips, and the Eternity Ring set-up was inspired by UK strips Adam Eterno and Garth )

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.

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 relationship with Sonic developed more closely, Sonic even took her on a date for Valentines Day (though this was due to the fact he lost a bet to Knuckles). However after the date when Amy asked to Sonic if they would go on a date again, Sonic answered with: "Maybe"

''Sonic : Adventures
Two French-made comic books published by Sirène were released on 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.

Personality
Amy in the early games is presented as being kind and sweet, and a good victim for holding hostage by her enemies. Her kind and caring nature seems to have given her the ability to talk almost anybody out of destruction, from Eggman's supposedly single-minded and emotionless robots like E-102 Gamma (who then released her and turned on Eggman) to bitter, revenge-seeking villains such as Shadow the Hedgehog (who after talking to her, helped Sonic save the world in Sonic Adventure 2).

In the more recent games she has become far more violent and aggressive, much to Sonic's dismay. Her former image, that of being what could be described as the series Ingenue (the "sweet and innocent girl"), appear to have been taken over to the new character of Cream the Rabbit. However, she is extremely protective of her friends. Despite her violent tendencies, Amy has a very good heart, she never gives up, and is one of the most optimistic and cheery characters of the series.

Upon being asked by Sega.com if Sonic and Amy will ever get married, creator Yuji Naka said that "there will hardly be any chance, I bet. Amy will continue to pursue Sonic all the time, but Sonic will not ever get married. I think so, because I cannot picture the image of Sonic that he is married and has his children! Also, I feel it is a more Amy's style to always chase Sonic."

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is Amy's love-interest as she cares very deeply for the blue hedgehog and marvels at all his personal traits. Most often, Amy gets involved in the story while searching for Sonic or trying to find information about his whereabouts. She tends to plunge ahead at first glimpse of his figure, this prompting unusual confrontations as she embraced both Shadow the Hedgehog during the events of Sonic Adventure 2 as well as Silver the Hedgehog in Sonic '06, though the latter was dissolved as part of the storyline. Amy travels the world in pursuit of Sonic and won't hesitate to throw herself in the line of danger if it means protecting him. While Sonic appears to dislike her consistent approach of marriage, he values her as a very good friend and has been known to come to her rescue whenever she needs him. It has since been suggested that they are dating, as in "Sonic and the Black Knight" Amy met Sonic at the end of the game asking why he had missed their date, to which he tries to make up for. There is also the pursuit of a romantic storyline in the game "Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood" though some have brushed it off as the game was created by bioware, not Sega. Yet Sega did license for the use of the characters and gave approval to the plot, so technically it is official. Another prime example was Sonic X, which showed numerous occasions of Sonic giving into Amy's affections, including an episode of him giving her a white rose and promising her he won't leave her (while mouthing the words 'I love you' to her)...