Blaze the Cat

Blaze the Cat is a fictional character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, created by Sonic Team and owned by Sega. She made her debut in the Nintendo DS video game, Sonic Rush.

Due to heavily conflicting information, she either hails from the future or another dimension. She is a princess and the defender of the Sol Emeralds, a role similar to that held by Knuckles. Blaze is sometimes referred to as a Queen; She is referred to as "Queen Blaze the Cat" on the official Sega of America Sonic mini site, Sonic Central, as well as the next Sonic the Hedgehog game website. However, in Japanese, her title is Kojo (皇女), which translates as "imperial princess," suggesting that the references to "Queen" are simply mistranslations.

In the English version of the games, Blaze is voiced by Bella Hudson. She was mistakenly credited as "Berra" Hudson in Sonic Rush, due to translation errors. She also makes a brief cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a collectable trophy.

Appearance
Blaze is a lavender, female anthropomorphic cat with yellow eyes. She wears gloves similar to those worn by Sonic, only with fuzzy lining on the cuffs. Her shoes have the same motif as Sonic's, but they also have fuzzy lining and are high-heeled. She also wears a purple coat, lined at the neck with gold (possibly a necklace) and at the bottom with red, and a pair of white tights. She has a ponytail, and a jewel-like red orb is present on her forehead.

Sonic Rush
Blaze and Sonic are the only playable characters in Sonic Rush, the game in which Blaze debuted. According to the storyline of the game, Blaze is a princess from another dimension, and the guardian of the Sol Emeralds. Throughout the game, she learns the meaning of friendship from Sonic and his friends, especially Cream the Rabbit. Cream opens her up to the world and the two become close friends, similar to the friendship of Sonic and Tails. It is through the power of friendship that she realizes the true powers of the Sol Emeralds and transforms into "Burning Blaze" as a product of the Sol Emeralds, to help Super Sonic stop Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega from taking over the universe.

After Sonic and Blaze finish their adventure, they promise to see each other again and say their goodbyes as they shake hands, being torn from each other as a result of their respective dimensions being returned to normal. Blaze now understands her power and the meaning of friendship as she thinks of Sonic's words of advice.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Blaze appears in the 2006 game Sonic the Hedgehog. This envisioning of Blaze hails from the future. In the future, she constantly fights the fiery being Iblis, along with her life-long friend, Silver the Hedgehog. This is likely a completely different incarnation of the character, as she shows no connection to the other dimension or her royal heritage.

Blaze follows Silver throughout the game, where Silver shows signs of insecurity when she is not around. At the end of Silver's story, Silver tries to seal Iblis inside of his soul, but the Flames of Disaster will not accept him as the vessel. Blaze ends up sealing Iblis inside her soul, and begs Silver to use Chaos Control to seal her into another dimension. Silver refuses, as Blaze drifts away leaving words of comfort.

Later, Sonic and the others destroy Iblis and Mephiles as Solaris in past, present, and future. Because of this, it is unknown if Blaze was able to return to Silver's dimension, and if the two ever met at all seeing as Iblis never came into being. It is unknown on whether the game may or may not have any continuity to the Sonic Rush series, as Blaze shows no direct interaction towards Sonic; yet it's important to say, that Blaze refers to Sonic early in Silver's story, when Mephiles shows Silver the Iblis Trigger, Silver says "I see it! So, that blue hedgehog's the Iblis Trigger?" Blaze replies "Blue hedgehog..." as if she remembers Sonic, showing a connection between them, but that has been unconfirmed. Notable is the fact that, even though Blaze speaks in the game Sonic Rush, this is the first game in which she actually talks to others (through a voice actor, instead of lines, though she says "Again" to Sonic at the end of Sonic Rush).

Sonic Rivals
Blaze appears in Sonic Rivals as a cameo in one of the game's collectible cards.

Sonic and the Secret Rings
Blaze is a playable character in the game's party mode. She is unlocked when the player collects 105 Fire Souls in Adventure mode.

Sonic Rush Adventure
Blaze returns in the sequel to Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure, as a playable character, once again appearing in her royal alternate dimension incarnation. She runs into Sonic once again right after Whisker, a robotic pirate that stole her precious Jeweled Scepter, both of them surprised to see each other. Blaze believes that Sonic and Tails were brought to her dimension by both sets of the Chaos and Sol Emeralds. Blaze eventually drives Marine away by calling her a nuisance to make her remain behind. By the end of the game Blaze says goodbye to Sonic once again and shake hands like they did before.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Blaze is a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, although her outfit is different. Instead of her princess clothes, she wears sport clothing. In the "Character Selection" screen, she is an "All-Around" character.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Blaze is an unlockable character in the sequel to Sonic Riders. She is a Speed Type character and her default gear is Flame Lance, which can grind on rails.

Sega Superstars Tennis
Blaze makes a cameo in the Green Hill court as shown in a screenshot.

Sonic and the Black Knight
In Sonic and the Black Knight, Blaze appears as Sir Percival.

Sonic Colors
Blaze appears in the DS version of Sonic Colors. She is found in Sweet Mountain, along with Silver. If Sonic approaches her, she will give him a mission. At one point, Sonic asks Blaze about Marine, and she will tell her that she is "same as always", hinting that the raccoon girl is still being mischievous.

Sonic Generations
Blaze is a unlockable character in this game. She and the others were celebrating Sonic's birthday party where she was talking with Cream, until the Time Eater suddenly appears and captures her, alongside all of the others. She is then thrown through time where she ends up in Crisis City and ends up in a colorless, frozen state. If Classic Sonic rescues Blaze, she notices that he looks "less spiky". If Modern Sonic rescues her, she will tell Sonic that the Time Eater was "beyond her skills". At the Center of Time, she encourages both Sonics, alongside Cream and Silver. After the battle, Blaze and the others return to the right time and continue celebrating, where she is seen talking to Silver and possibly Shadow.

Personality
In Sonic Rush, Blaze is somewhat shy and withdrawn when meeting strangers, although she does not let this prevent her from fulfilling her mission. Her lifestyle is similar to that of Knuckles, and like him, she is quite timid, often finding it hard to open up and talk to people. She hates having the spotlight upon herself, preferring to take a backseat. Throughout the course of the games, she develops a more friendly and outgoing personality.

Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure also reveal that Blaze is afraid of heights, like when she goes to zone 5 in Sonic Rush.

She is shown to have respect for Silver, and sometimes they are seen together, suggesting the have a level of affection for each other. Because of this, fans refer to both of them as "Silvaze".

Abilities
Blaze can run moderately fast, although not as fast as Sonic. This has been proven in the multiplayer mode of Sonic Rush, in which she is considerably slower. However, she can jump much higher than Sonic. Attacking by spinning along the ground causes her to lose speed, unlike Sonic's classic spin attack. Blaze is a pyrokinetic, using her ability to manipulate fire and her claws, jumps, and kicks to fend off her enemies. She also uses her pyrokinetic abilities to propel herself in different directions and in Sonic Rush Adventure to protect herself from flames.

Blaze turns into a fiery tornado when jumping, similar to Espio the Chameleon in Knuckles' Chaotix, and does not keep speed or go faster. Despite the speed difference, both her blazing tornado state and the traditional "spindash" forms of other characters function relatively the same. Blaze is very smart with her pyrokinesis, sending different fire attacks from long range like blasts of fire, and infusing her fire into her physical attacks at close range. This makes her one of the most balanced and the most powerful combatants.

By using the Sol Emeralds, Blaze is able to use Super Transformation and transform into Burning Blaze, making her the first and (currently) only female character to have a super form. Her super-form abilities differ from Sonic's in that she is able to throw fireballs similar to the Hadouken.