Amy Rose (Japanese: エミー・ローズ Emī Rōzu) (also known as Rosy the Rascal) is a fictional character appearing in many of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games released by Sega. She is a young pink hedgehog, reported as being 12 years old, 2'11" tall, and weighing 50 lbs. Her birthday is September 23rd, when she made her video game debut. She has chased Sonic for over a decade and has been trying to gain his heart in everything from animated TV shows to comics and games.
Personality
Amy is an adolescent who is convinced that Sonic is her boyfriend. She constantly showers Sonic with affection, causing him to feel awkward and run.
She is quite cheerful and optimistic, but loves Sonic so much that some people believe she is delusional.
When she is angered, she sometimes chooses to use her Piko Piko Hammer to resolve the dispute.
Some of her team members think she is annoying and useless, but she is actually has value.
Amy also has tarot cards, which she used to divine that Sonic is the true love of her life. She has excellent culinary skills, as well.
In Sonic Battle, some people believe Amy has a strong dislike for Rouge the Bat, but they were actually arguing over Emerl.
Appearances
Original appearance
Despite her frequent use in Sega games (especially since the Dreamcast era), Amy was not actually created by Sonic Team; her first incarnation 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 CD in 1993. In her original look, she had a blonde ponytail with a green ribbon, and she wore a peach-colored dress with a bow in the back. It's quite likely that she was based on Princess Peach.
Game Appearances
In her first game appearance, Sonic CD (1993), Amy was introduced and kidnapped by Metal Sonic. Eggman then used the time stones to set time back on the Little Planet. Next, Sonic challenged Metal Sonic to a race to save Amy and won. Amy was rescued and Metal Sonic was destroyed for the time being. She had the nickname "Rosy the Rascal" at this point. Being a Genesis-era game (though technically a Sega CD game), Sonic CD's plot was minimal. Amy's only excuse for appearing was that she was a big fan of Sonic, and no real excuse was given for her kidnapping. Amy was described as being eight years old in Sonic CD, though as of Sonic Adventure she is 12 while the other characters have not aged. Many fans have tried to come up with theories and speculation for the sudden jump in age, though the general consensus is that her age has been ret-conned and she has now, officially, always been 12 years old in-continuity.
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, even if she didn't play a very large role in the series until 1999's Sonic Adventure.
Amy appeared again in Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 to race in a Grand Prix. 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 Eggman's case, uses his Egg Machine). Most of these games are available on the Sonic Gems Collection video game.
Sonic Adventure in 1999 thrust Amy in the spotlight. Her coif was redesigned and was no longer mistaken for Sonic, 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. (No official explanation was given for Amy's change in appearance, but in the Archie Sonic comic books, it was explained that she made a wish on the Ring of Acorns to become older.) She was playable and still had her weapon of choice, the Piko Piko Hammer. She also kept that weapon for Sonic Advance. At the end of Sonic Adventure, Amy decides that she needs to become stronger and more capable, and thus began to train herself.
A Mario Party-like game named Sonic Shuffle was released for the Dreamcast. Amy, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles collect rings and other items while walking around on a boardgame surface. To say that fans did not like this game is an understatement.
She was a supporting character in Sonic Adventure 2, but she had an unlockable playable appearance in Sonic Advance 2, as well as the latest in the Gameboy Advance series Sonic Advance 3, in which she again teams up with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Cream. At this point, it seems that her skills are improving, as she is no longer as slow as she was in the original Sonic Adventure. Amy also appears in Sonic Battle as yet another playable character.
In Sonic Heroes, she leads Team Rose, named after her. Amy 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/pet Froggy (again), and Cream and Cheese want to find Cheese's sibling, Chocola. At this point, Amy's speed has gotten up almost to par with Sonic's, and she manages to catch up to him a couple of times. She plows forward with even more confidence this time, not having nervous reactions to her speed or attack abilities as she does in Sonic Adventure 2.
Amy appeared alongside Sonic and the others in the Shadow the Hedgehog game to try to convince Shadow to join their cause. Amy, in particular, needs Shadow's help to rescue Cream (She helps in the Hero Mission of Cryptic Castle and the Egg Breaker boss of the same stage).
Amy has also been confirmed as a character in the upcoming game Sonic Riders.
Sonic X
Amy is currently appearing as one of the main characters in Sonic X, an anime series which is the latest of the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons.
In Sonic X, Amy is constantly pursuing Sonic, trying to get him to notice her. She often gets angry, as Sonic's impatience and aloof attitude drive her to violence. However, she really does care about him. Amy grows to understand Sonic more as time goes by, even learning the reason he loves to run when she uses a racecar to travel at sonic speed. She also tries to help him with things, including making a bracelet of shells so he won't drown.
Despite Amy's dedication, she can be a bit of a pain. Several times, she has been separated from Sonic, and runs up and throws her arms around him when they reunite. This can lead to trouble, as Sonic is unable to react to a threat while in her grip. She also gets into trouble on several occasions for running off after him. She also bawls without pause when he disappears for a long time, which can bother others around her.
Despite his annoyance at her antics, Sonic's feelings are still unclear about her. He has promised to go on a date with her, and even gave her a flower after a particularly long absence (this event varied between countries, In the Japanese version, Sonic says something to Amy but it is muted, in the American version he says he will never leave Amy, and in the French he says he loves Amy). Amy had also once dressed up so beautifully that it left him speechless. Rumours are that in Sonic X, Sonic has a secret crush on Amy though that hasn't been clarified; there is a lot of evidence in the show between them. The final espisode of Sonic X displayed strong evidence that a possible relationship between them could bloom, but this is all left to speculation from there on.
Archie Comics
In the Archie Comics, Amy is the youngest member of the Freedom Fighters, and has a crush on Sonic which he tends to ignore. Amy is the cousin of Rob O' the Hedgehog (a thinly veiled homage to Robin Hood), who sends her to live in Knothole as things get tough in their homeland of Mercia. She falls head over heels for Sonic, but remained distant out of respect for Sally Acorn. However on Sonic The Hedgehog #142 it showed that Amy wasnt always nice to Sally but that chanced when Sally made her a freedomfighter.
Originally, Amy was the same age as originally depicted in the games. However, she later makes a wish on the Ring of Acorns, which causes her to grow physically older, reaching the age of 13-she's really 10. Amy's skill with her hammer is not decreased, and she is one of the Most Wanted enemies of Dr. Eggman.
at the current comics when Evil Sonic pretended to be Sonic in 150 and 151 Archie Amy is led to believe Sonic is intrested her romanticly its unknown if Amy found out it was Evil Sonic or if Sonic told her the truth.
Sonic The Comic
In the UK publication Sonic the Comic (STC), Amy first appeared in the 2-part story "Girl Trouble", where she was kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik's Trooper Badniks for the criminal offence of association with Sonic (she had been saying she was his girlfriend). While angered at the fact she had been lying about them being an "item", Sonic still had a duty to rescue her and did so, but not before Robotnik transformed himself into a new, more despicable form (that is to say, the writers of the comic decided to alter Robotnik's appearance so it matched up with the cartoon series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog).
In the first 6-part Sonic story in STC's history, "The Sonic Terminator", which was based on Sonic CD, Robotnik had Metallix kidnap Amy as bait for Sonic, so that Metallix could then destroy both of them on the Miracle Planet. Sonic eventually defeated Metallix but was stuck on the Miracle Planet for the rest of the month with Amy, until it reappeared in the skies over Mobius. During a later mission to the Miracle Planet, Amy commented that Sonic had gotten lost an awful lot during that month. Sonic replied that that was just what he wanted her to think; he'd actually been hiding from her!
For a long time, a running joke was that a character - either friend or foe - would make a comment to Sonic about how he and Amy were a couple, which would result in Sonic immediately going on the defensive, enraged that anyone could even dare to think he had feelings for her. Amy occasionally used this to her advantage to get a rise out of Sonic, when she recognised a pattern emerging in his behaviour.
As the comic went on over the years, Amy's character matured greatly to the point where she was unrecognizable in terms of character compared to her game counterpart. She became one of the most valuable members of the Freedom Fighters, especially due to her expert marksmanship with her crossbow. The notion of a love interest in Sonic was, for the most part, underplayed. It was even hinted that Johnny Lightfoot, one of the team's best fighters, was in love with her (something writer Nigel Kitching later admitted was completely intentional), though this was later dropped since it was never properly developed. Her appearance was also changed, likely to symbolise how her personality had matured- she was most often seen wearing combat trousers and a white T-shirt that often had a different slogan or picture on it, ranging from "Girl Power!" to a Christian cross. When Sonic Adventure was released, her hairstyle was altered to reflect the games, but her clothes didn't change.
At a later part of the comic's life, Amy spent most of her adventures teaming up with Tekno the Canary as they both traveled through time and space to save a vast selection of an infinite number of dimensions, even visiting Earth. These strips were, like all but the main Sonic ones, dropped to make room for reprinted strips in later issues. Interestingly, though, Lew Stringer, who became sole writer on the comic for a while, gave Sonic a similar set of adventures in the main strip, at the request of the editor. When Nigel Kitching was brought back as sole writer for the comic's final non-reprint story, a new editor was in place and the character of Tekno was not used despite Amy's longstanding friendship with her, as Kitching preferred not to use Stringer's own created characters.
In the aforementioned final story, which was based on Sonic Adventure, Amy seemingly got "lost in the shuffle", so to speak. There were a vast number of characters and plot points that needed to be used and only 10 issues to do it in. The most important thing Amy did during this story arc was save Knuckles the Echidna's life when he had a fit of hysterics when he had to jettison the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald to avoid them being absorbed by the Chaos beast, leading to the Floating Island falling from the sky. Wanting to "go down with the ship", Knuckles was convinced otherwise with the help of Amy and an iron bar she knocked him out with!
No new stories were written after issue 184, so Amy's STC persona was not further developed until after the comic was cancelled following issue 223. However, she has made several appearances in STC Online, the online continuation of the comic which, while written by fans of the original, has received acclaim from the original writers, so it can be logically explained that STC Online's Amy is the "official unofficial" continuation of her character development.
Abilities
The Piko Piko Hammer
The preferred weapon of Amy Rose is the Piko Piko Hammer, a large hammer or mallet. She uses it in many of her attacks. The hammer may have been created to differentiate her abilities from Sonic’s, as they are both hedgehogs, or it could be a reference to a common running gag in Japanese anime, in which a girl pulls out a huge hammer from thin air and hits a perverted boy. (Ranma ½'s Akane is the archetypal example of this.)
The hammer has several powerful abilities, including the power to create tornados. Amy is also able to conjure multiple hammers, allowing her to continue attacking even if she's lost one. The hammer first appeared in Sonic the Fighters, where it appeared to be a toy squeaky mallet, which squeaked when it struck an enemy. When the hammer next appeared, its final design seems very hard indeed and instead of squeaking, it makes a tapping sound.
Game-specific abilities
- Sonic Adventure 2 2-Player: Amy can use Storming Heart, Speed-Up, and Amy Flash.
- In the Sonic Advance series: Amy can somersault and hammer vault.
- Sonic Advance 2: She is able to do the spin attack and spin-dash like other characters.
- Sonic Adventure: When Amy acquires the Warrior Feather, she can use the Spin Hammer attack.
- Sonic Heroes: Amy can use Tornado Hammer, Propeller Hammer, and Flower Festival.
- Shadow the Hedgehog: Amy can use the homing attack and punch.
Others
- Amy can use her hammer to propel her into the air.
- Amy can use tarot cards, although this isn't often mentioned. It's possible this may have been dropped entirely. However, in Sonic Battle, Amy claims that "her cards tell her Sonic's here," "here" probably meaning near Emerald Town.
Family
(Archie Comics)
- Father-Henry Rose
- Mother-Elizabeth Rose
- Uncle-James Rose
- Cousin-Rob O' The Hedge
- Cousin-Mari-An
- Grandmother-Jennifer Rose
- Grandfather-George Rose
Love Life
Amy's love life is Sonic the Hedgehog. Ever since Sonic had rescued her, she has fallen in love with him and been trying to win his heart ever since. Only in the Sonic manga is it clear that she's succeeded in this, because it states she was his girlfriend. In the SoJ games, she constantly asks him to marry her and sometimes thinks that they're a couple. This has become a running gag, with Amy remaining oblivious to Sonic's indifference towards her. If anybody shows any interest in Sonic, Amy may think that person is going after her 'boyfriend' (as seen in Sonic X with Cosmo). In Sonic Rush, Amy appears to try and keep Blaze the Cat away from Sonic. Apparently, since Blaze is a two years younger than Sonic, Amy sees her as a threat and at the end of Sonic Rush , Sonic showed interest in Blaze, though not exactly romantic.
In the Archie series, she does not marry Sonic in the possible future timeline of that series. Yet because it is a possible timeline, it is not set in stone whether or not Amy herself will truly end up with Sonic. In the Archie comics, Amy has a crush on Sonic, but for the most part has not taken the time to recognize her feelings. Amy has feels she has a slight rivalry with Sally Acorn (before, Sally told Amy she could not be a Freedom Fighter, being too young, but Amy accused Sally of wanting to keep Sonic to herself), though usually, despite that, Amy and Sally have a good, almost sisterly relationship. Yuji Naka made it clear in a interview that Amy will always chase Sonic but they will never get married so its safe to say it will be a Cat-Mouse chase forever.
Voice Actors
- In Sonic X and the games beginning with Shadow the Hedgehog, she is voiced by Lisa Ortiz.
- Previously, she was voiced by Jennifer Douillard for the Sonic Adventure games and Sonic Heroes.
- Her Japanese voice actor is Taeko Kawata.
Theme Songs
- Amy's theme song in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut is called "My Sweet Passion". It is sung by Nikki Gregoroff. The song was also in Sonic Adventure 2.
- Her team, Team Rose, in Sonic Heroes has a theme called "Follow Me". It is sung by Kay Hanley.
Trivia
- When Sonic CD was released in America, Amy's name was given as "Princess Sally" in the game manual as a tie in with the cartoon, even though the two characters were quite different.
- According to the Japanese manual for Sonic CD, Amy's nickname is "Rosy the Rascal". This name is kept as her title in Sonic the Fighters.
- In the Archie comic series, she has a cousin named Rob O'Hedge from the Kingdom of Mercia.
- Amy looks very similar to Sonia the Hedgehog, Sonic's sister from the series Sonic Underground. Amy and Sonia are both pink female hedgehogs.
- Yuji Naka, creator of the original Sonic games and head of Sonic Team, has mentioned that Amy will probably never get to be with Sonic, as having Sonic marry and settle down would ruin the series.