Rough the Skunk is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog IDW Comics. He, along his brother Tumble, serve as Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline's incompetent hired muscle at the start of the comic series.
Appearance[]
Rough is the smaller of the two brothers, standing quite squat and with a bit of a hunch. Unlike Tumble he still has his tail which stands taller than him.
Personality[]
Rough is generally a brute. He throughly enjoys rhyming with his brother however as part of their introductions, often penning new rhymes to try out whenever confronted by Sonic and his friends.
Between him and Tumble, Rough tends to be the brains of the outfit, despite him being only marginally smarter than Tumble(and arguably even at that).
Whilst mostly viewed as a bumbler, Rough is a proficient fighter when teamed up with his brother Tumble, easily able to overcome Dr. Eggman's mechanical T-rex with their combination attack which even managed to earn the respect of Zavok.
Whilst only truly loyal to his brother, Rough is happy to work alongside anyone who can offer him new tech, and happily teamed up with Dr. Starline upon being promised weaponry. Twice. During their time together during the events of Bad Guys, he and Tumble even attempting to pen the other members into their introduction songs, which is the highest respect the skunks could give another.
Rough isn't above underhanded tactics and is willing to incapicitate opponents with his natural skunk musk.
History[]
During the events of the Eggman war, Rough and Tumble managed to save Barricade Town from invading badniks. However, rather than doing so for heroic reasons, the pair of skunks became the new dictators of the town, taking resources from their Wispon distribution center, treating the townsfolk as their personal servants and mistreating them in petty bullying ways.
Sonic and Knuckles arrived and engaged the skunk brothers in combat, ultimately liberating the town after a brief battle with the skunks being sent to prison for their efforts.
They were soon liberated by Dr. Starline using the Warp Topaz, and were hired to help kidnap the amnesiac Dr. Eggman in exchange for Starline creating weapons that would help them get revenge on Sonic. They agree, and successfully kidnap 'Mr. Tinker', Dr. Eggman's reformed good self, with Tumble simply picking him up over his shoulder and carrying him off.
Rough and Tumble witnessed Starline perform a series of painful proceedures that, combined with Eggman seeing Metal Sonic restored him to his previous evil self. Eggman didn't think highly of the skunk brothers, but after hearing how much they hated Sonic, he agreed to uphold Starline's deal and build them some Eggman tech that would help defeat Sonic.
Upon recieving their new weaponry, Rough and Tumble engaged Sonic and Tails, with Rough attempting to use a stink bomb attack on Tails. This backfired however when Tails calculated the projection and launched the bomb back at Rough, destroying his new weapon.
For their next encounter with Sonic, Rough and Tumble were given 'Back Up Backpacks' and told to use it if Sonic got the upperhand again. Confronting Sonic and Amy this time, the pair fought but were overwhelmed. In order to compete they activated the backpacks which dropped a metalic liquid known as the metal virus onto them and transformed their DNA into Zombots, zombie robots who could infect others with mere touch. During combat Sonic touched the skunks and became infected. To prevent them infecting Amy or anyone else, Sonic knocked the pair into an inescapable pit.
After the Metal Virus was overcome and reversed by the combination of Super Sonic and Super Silver, Rough and Tumble, now no longer infected, were rescued from starvation by the efforts of Tangle and Tails which only upset Tumble more thanks to their tails and his own personal issues.
Having learnt absolutely nothing, Rough and Tumble tried to take over Barricade town again, but the villagers now armed with Wispons defeated them and sent them to a high security prison, which was also holding Zavok and Mimic the Octopus. Dr. Starline once again appeared to break them out, and the skunks became furious at him blaming him for their Zombot fates, but Starline, having been burnt by Eggman himself, suggested a team up to get revenge on Dr. Eggman. The skunks still refused, but Starline won them round by simply offering to make them new weapons which immedietly changed their tunes.
After Starline releases Rough, Tumble, Zavok and Mimic from their cells, they form an uneasy alliance with Rough and Tumble beating up the guards who attempted to apprehend the escapees, and the group casually walk out of the facility.
Trivia[]
- Rough has worked for nearly every major antagonist in the series, working for Dr. Eggman, Dr. Starline, Zavok and Clutch the Opossum at various points.