And now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Da Bearz! — Sonic in Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior

Da Bearz (commonly said by them together), are a pair of Chicagoan Bears known as Big Griz and Big Mike (although Big Mike later renames himself Mad Mike).

DescriptionEdit

AppearancesEdit

The duo is fairly slow in the head and set to help Sonic stop Robotnik in any way they can, while strong and brawn, they're not that bright and are very gullible and easily tricked, but they mean well and claim to be Sonic's biggest fans. Despite their stupidity, they're extremely loyal to the Freedom Fighters and will never give up a fight. They are skilled drivers and are gifted with considerable strength. Big Griz has gray fur and blue eyes, and wears a blue overalls while Big Mike has brown fur and green eyes, and wears a blue vest.

They made three appearances in the show Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog in the episodes "The Robotnik Express", "Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior" and "Hero of the Year". Big Griz and Big Mike are voiced by French Tickner and Michael Donovan respectively.

"The Robotnik Express"Edit

This episode was the first appearance of Big Griz and Big Mike. Hearing Scratch and Grounder gloat through a long distance mega phone about capturing Sonic on board a train (the Robotnik Express) heading for Robotnik's munitions factory (Robotnik's Emporium of Devastation, Destruction and Demolition), Da Bearz come to the rescue. However, by the time they got there, Sonic had already freed himself and Tails, wrapped up Scratch and Grounder like Mummies and escaped. Da Bearz freed Scratch and Grounder thinking they were Sonic and Tails. Scratch and Grounder played along, telling Da Bearz that they need to capture Grounder who has two tails and Scratch who is spiny and blue.

Throughout the episode, Sonic makes idiots out of Scratch, Grounder and Da Bearz until he realizes he has gone too far and Da Bearz end up stuck to the front of the train which is heading for a large cactus patch. Sonic rescues Da Bearz and convinces them that they had been tricked by Scratch and Grounder. Da Bearz do not believe Sonic and Tails until Sonic runs to Big Griz's cave and brings back his personal pot of honey in a matter of seconds. From there, Da Bearz became allies to Sonic and Tails and assisted them in preventing the explosive-laden train from crashing into a valley village.

"Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior"Edit

With help from Da Bearz, Sonic and co. put a stop to the construction of a Robotnik statue and save the village of a rabbit named Updike. Big Mike is kidnapped by Scratch and Grounder who drag him under a car and interrogate him. Big Mike gets angry and changes his name to Mad Mike. At the end Sonic redesigns Robotnik's statue to depict Mad Mike and Big Griz, to honor his friends, Da Bearz.

"Hero of the Year"Edit

As their final appearance, Da Bearz make a cameo in the episode "Hero of the Year". Tails invites them to Sonic's award ceremony and they agree to attend. Big Mike refers to himself as Mad Mike. Throughout the rest of the episode, the duo can be seen in the background of multiple shots.

TriviaEdit

• The name of "Da Bearz" is taken from a Saturday Night Live sketch titled Bill Swerski's Superfans where a group of sports fans from Chicago talk about their favorite teams, mostly the Chicago Bears, which, due to their accents, were referred to as "Da Bearsss".^[1]

ReferencesEdit