- "Johnny Lightfoot" redirects here. For the character in Sonic the Comic, see Johnny Lightfoot (Sonic the Comic). For other uses of the term, see Pocky (disambiguation).
A Pocky in Sonic Runners.
The Pocky (ポッキー Pokkī?) is a creature in the Sonic the Hedgehog series which first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. They are a race of rabbit Animals which live in various regions all over Sonic's world, and are friends of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies. They are constantly hunted by Dr. Eggman who seeks to use them as energy sources for his Badnik army and often imprisons them in Capsules for later use.
Description
Anatomy
The general Pocky resembles a light blue (originally gray) rotund domestic rabbit about half a meter tall, although their anatomy is remarkably humanoid. They have large heads with large gray eyes (originally black), white furry muzzles, long ears with light peach inner ears, a long black nose each, and two small buck teeth. Other features include small torsos with white bellies, stubby hind legs, long three-toed feet with white tips, a white fluffy tail tassel each, and hair tuffs on their foreheads. They also have small arms with five-fingered hands (although one instance shows they can also have regular paws). Some Pockies are also shown having pink fur however.
Characteristics
Like actual animals, the Pockies can only speak in a language consisting of small eeks.[1] Although recognized as animal life, Pockies are remarkably intelligent and sociable, being capable of understanding normal language and establishing their own Animal communities.[2] All Pockies are generally good-hearted, helpful, friendly and playful, but their small stature leaves them rather defenseless on their own. They also have great respect and appreciation for nature, choosing to live in complete harmony with it.[3]
Habitats
Pockies reside in various natural environments like forests all around Earth and its unusual satellites, such as South Island, West Side Island, Angel Island, Little Planet and the Lost Hex, where they have established their own small villages, more often than not with other Animal species.[2]
Game appearances
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
A Pocky in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).
Pocky first appears in the 16-bit version of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. The Pockies were amongst the South Island Animals whom Sonic went to rescue after Dr. Robotnik captured them and used them to power his Badnik army - all as a part of a plot to collect the Chaos Emeralds.[4][5] The Pockies can be found at Green Hill Zone and Scrap Brain Zone Act 1-2 where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or the Capsule at the end of Green Hill Zone Act 3 (when opened). They also appear in the ending cinematic where they celebrate Sonic's victory in the Green Hill Zone.
Pockies also make an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, they only appear from the opened Capsule at the end of Green Hill Zone Act 3.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
In the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Pockies repeated their roles from the first game. In this game, the Pockies and the other Animals from West Side Island were captured by Dr. Robotnik and used to power new Badnik workers meant to finish Robotnik's Death Egg.[5] The Pockies can be found in Chemical Plant Zone they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules.
Pockies also makes an appearance in the 8-bit version of the game with same name. Here, they can be found in Under Ground Zone and Green Hills Zone where they appear from opened Capsules.
Sonic the Hedgehog CD
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Pockies are shown to inhabit Little Planet. In this game, Pockies will appear and happily prance around in the Zones of Collision Chaos and Stardust Speedway alongside other Animals after certain conditions are met. The players can either ensure a good future for these Rounds by collecting their Time Stone or destroying the robot teleporters hosted there to make the Pockies appear in the good futures, or they can destroy a Zone's Metal Sonic Projector to make the Pockies appear in every timeframe of said Zone.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Pockies in Sonic & Knuckles.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its add-on continuation Sonic & Knuckles, the Pockies reprised their roles from the first installments. In this game, the Pockies and other Animals of Angel Island were kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and turned into Badniks meant to help Robotnik relaunch the Death Egg.[6] The Pockies can be found in Hydrocity Zone and Carnival Night Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and in Sandopolis Zone and Sky Sanctuary Zone in Sonic & Knuckles, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules (excluding the Sky Sanctuary Zone which have no Capsules).
In Sky Sanctuary Zone, Pockies and Cuckies can be seen fleeing fearfully from the towers that EggRobos emerge from to attack the player.
Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
Pocky appears in Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and other Animals. He appears in the background of Gameworld testing its equipments and the slot machine of Concentration Game.
Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver
In Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver, the Pockies make a number small cameos in several of the game's artwork images as one of Sonic's friends.
Sonic Jam
In Sonic Jam, the game's Character House features conceptual sketches of Pocky and the other Animals.
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
While Pocky does not reprise his role as a power source for Badniks, like Flicky and Ricky in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, Pocky appeared alongside several other Animals in the game's perfect ending that appears after clearing Chaotic Space Zone, where it cheers over Sonic's victory over Eggman.
Sonic Advance
A Pocky in the ending of Sonic Advance.
In Sonic Advance, a pink-furred Pocky makes a cameo in the ending cinematic after clearing the Moon Zone. There, the Pocky, alongside with Tails, Knuckles, Amy and other Animals, awaited Sonic's return from the moon.
Sonic Rush
In Sonic Rush, pink-furred Pockies pop up on the screen along with Flickies and Rickies every time the player manages to pull off advanced Trick Actions. A pink-furred Pocky also appears alongside the main characters in the ending of Sonic the Hedgehog's story where they celebrate Sonic's victory.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4
In Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Pocky appeared in all three episodes of the series where they returned to their roles from the first games in the series. The Pockies and other Animals were specifically captured by Dr. Eggman in Episode I to power an improved Badnik army meant to defeat Sonic.[5]
The Pockies can be found Splash Hill Zone and Mad Gear Zone in Episode I and in White Park Zone in Episode II, where they pop out of destroyed Badniks or opened Capsules after the boss Acts. At the end of Episode Metal, Pockies and some other Animals can be seen watching Sonic and Tails leave in the Tornado, only to be scared away by Metal Sonic when the robot expressed its fury over losing Sonic.
Sonic Jump (2012)
In the 2012 remake of Sonic Jump, Pocky, along with Flicky, Picky and Cucky, makes a reappearance. In the game, Dr. Eggman kidnapped Pocky and some other Animals and imprisoned them in the prison unit on the Egg Mobile to take them away, prompting Sonic and the others to try and save them.
In gameplay, the player will encounter a cage with some Pockies after reaching the end of each Boss Act. Touching these cages will set the Pockies inside free.
Sonic Lost World
A Pocky in Sonic Lost World.
In Sonic Lost World, the Pockies and other Animals are shown to inhabit the Lost Hex. During the events of the game, Dr. Eggman, with the assistance of the Deadly Six, resumed kidnapping Animals, the Pockies being among them, to create a new Badnik army. The small group of Animals and a Pocky that managed to escape capture remained with Knuckles and Amy while Sonic and Tails went out to save their friends, during which they had fun at the expense of Knuckles. After Eggman later got buried from landing on Earth after falling from the Lost Hex, a lone Pocky located the comatose Eggman and bit off his mustache in the belief it was a vegetable.
The Pockies and the other Animals serve as collectible content used to progress with the game. Once the players have collected a set amount of Animals, they gain access to the fourth Zone in each World. They player can collect Pockies by defeating Badniks, opening smaller Capsules in the Zones, and opening the larger Capsules at the end of most Zones. Pockies and other Animals can also be collected from Circus tents. The Pockies can be found in the following places (depending on the version of the game):
| Zone | |
|---|---|
| Wii U/PC | Nintendo 3DS |
| Windy Hill Zone 2 and 3; Desert Ruins Zone 1; Tropical Coast Zone 1 and 4; Frozen Factory Zone 3; Silent Forest Zone 2 and 4; Sky Road Zone 1 and 4; Lava Mountain Zone 3; Hidden World Zone 3 | Windy Hill; Lava Mountain |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a Pocky appears alongside other Animals as a part of one of the collectable trophies representing the Sonic the Hedgehog series:
| Name | Picture | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fauna of Windy Hill | 
|
Windy Hill, a plain on the floating Lost Hex continent, is the first area in Sonic Lost World. It has giant windmills and mysterious caves and is home to a wide variety of animals...that Dr. Eggman has gone and used as a power source for his robot collection. Typical... Just destroy the robots and set those animals free.
|
Excluding the trophy, the Pocky also occasionally makes a cameo appearance in the background of the Windy Hill Zone.
Sonic Runners series
Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Pockies played supporting roles to the main cast in the storyline. In this game, most individual Pockies are referred to as "Pocky". Over the course of the game, Team Sonic comes across the Pockies several times, whom they usually save from Dr. Eggman and/or his lackeys. Occasionally, the Pockies will also ask the team for help solving different problems, whether it be either Eggman-related trouble or more personal issues. Sometimes though, the Pockies will help Team Sonic as well, usually by providing information or handling smaller tasks.
In gameplay, Pockies will pop out of destroyed Badniks and bounce a little further down the path before falling behind the player. If the player grabs them as they pass by, the player will build up their Combo and earn 2,500 bonus points on the result screen for each Pocky.
Sonic Runners Adventure
In Sonic Runners Adventure, the Pockies reprised their roles as power sources for Dr. Eggman's Badniks. In gameplay, Pockies will pop out of destroyed Badniks in any stage and then bounce out of the player's sight.
Sonic Mania
In Sonic Mania, and its expansion Sonic Mania Plus, the Pockies reprised their roles from the Sonic games on the Sega Genesis by being organic power sources for Dr. Eggman's Badniks again.
In gameplay, the Pockies pop out of destroyed Badniks or the opened Capsule at the end of the second Act of the Zones they appear in. In 1.03 of Sonic Mania and the versions prior to it, the Pockies can be found in Green Hill Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2, Mirage Saloon Zone, Hydrocity Zone and Metallic Madness Zone. In 1.05.0713 of Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania Plus on the other hand, the Pockies appear in Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Press Garden Zone, Hydrocity Zone, Mirage Saloon Zone and Metallic Madness Zone.
A Pocky during ending of "& Knuckles" mode in Sonic Mania.
A Pocky also appears as a part of the hologram made by the Metal Sonic Projector at the end of Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2. When that projector is destroyed, some real Pockies will occasionally appear until they are chased off by Metal Sonic. Also, during the ending of the "& Knuckles" mode in Sonic Mania, a Pocky can be seen listening to Knuckles' retelling of the game's events.
Sonic Forces
In Sonic Forces, Pockies can be found inside Capsules in blue SOS Mission at random. The objective of these missions is to rescue the Pockies and the other prisoners in the Capsule using either Sonic, Classic Sonic, the Avatar or Shadow. After the Pockies and the other prisoners have been freed from their Capsule, the player has to complete their stage to complete the SOS Mission.
In other media
Animation
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Bunnine Rabbot in the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, Pocky's design most likely served as the inspiration for an anthropomorphic female rabbit named Bunnie Rabbot. In this media, Bunnie lived in Mobotropolis, but was forced into hiding in the sanctuary of Knothole Village when Dr. Robotnik took over the kingdom. There, she became a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. She would later be subjugated to roboticization, rendering half of her body robotic, although she would come to use her new cyborg abilities for the benefit of the Freedom Fighters.
Sonic X
Pocky in Sonic X.
In the Sonic X anime, Pocky, much like in the games, is an animal species native to Sonic's world. Several of them got set to Earth by Chaos Control where they remained for a while until they got sent back home. In this media, they are also portrayed as slightly taller than in games.
Comics
Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Pocky, along with other animal friends, appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. He appears in a few panels in the first and third stories. In the Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic Volume 2 story Clash!! South Island, he is being chased by Caterkiller in Marble Zone until Sonic destroys the badnik and saves both Pocky and Picky from danger.
Sonic the Comic
Johhny Lightfoot in Sonic the Comic.
In the British publication Sonic the Comic, a Pocky was named Johnny Lightfoot. In this media, Johnny was a close friend of Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies, and would later become one of the founding members of the Freedom Fighters, a group dedicated to taking back Mobius from the dictator Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Amongst his team, Johnny was mainly a fighter, using a unique-looking staff-like weapon. Johnny accompanied his team through many battles and against several villains, from the beginning of their war with Robotnik, to the aftermath of the doctor's defeat, although he never had many solo adventures of his own.
Johnny was eventually killed during a confrontation with the water beast Chaos. His death hit Sonic the hardest and caused a serious change in the hedgehog's outlook.
Archie Comics
Bunnie "Rabbot" D'Coolette in the Archie Comics.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the character Bunnie Rabbot from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series which Pocky apparently inspired was adapted as a part of the main cast. In this media, Bunnie was born in the Southern Baronies just before the Great War. Her parents died during the conflict. Bunnie was raised by her Uncle Beauregard and Aunt Lulumae happily for many years. However, things soured when her uncle claimed her parents died in service of the Overlanders due to long-standing tensions between the Southern Baronies and the Kingdom of Acorn.
Rejecting that her parents were traitors, Bunnie ran away from home, cobbling together a small farm on the edge of the kingdom's borders. She was soon found and captured by SWATbots and put in a portable Roboticizer. Sonic the Hedgehog and Rotor Walrus came to her rescue a moment too late; Bunnie was half-roboticized. However, Bunnie took it rather well. Bunnie bonded with Sally Acorn and quickly became one of the Freedom Fighters, providing many facets of aid to her team. While she put on a brave face, she hoped she would one day be returned to normal. But then her body began rejecting her robotic parts. She would accept an upgraded design from Dr. Quack and Nate Morgan, though she could never be deroboticized. With Antoine's love and support, she committed to her cyborg life and eventually married Antoine after many heartaches. When Ixis Naugus attempted to fix Bunnie's cybernetics with magic when he crystallized them, she was miraculously reverted back to flesh and blood. Shortly after, however, Antoine was nearly killed on a mission. Blaming her own powerlessness, Bunnie turned to the Great Desert Dark Egg Legion until the second Genesis Wave.
In the timeline created by the Super Genesis Wave, Bunnie was injured during Dr. Eggman's uprising and was partially roboticized to save her life. Adjusting to her new body, Bunnie joined the Freedom Fighters in the fight against the Eggman Empire, eventually committing to her life as a cyborg, and later married Antoine.
Aside from Bunnie, regular Pockies would over time also appear in the comics, first during Operation: Clean Sweep and later as fauna native to Sonic's World after the Super Genesis Wave.
IDW Publishing
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, the Pockies are a species of rabbit animals native to Sonic's world. Like in the games, they are being used by the Eggman Empire to power its Badniks.
Early Sonic canon
Early on in the series, when all the Animals were renamed by Sega of America for the western regions in the Sonic Bible, Pocky's gender was defined as male and was named Rabbit in the bible's first draft.[7] Pocky would later be renamed Johnny Lightfoot in the bible's second draft.[8] Both bibles would say that Johnny comes from a large family like other Animals (which was intended to explain the appearance of multiple identical Pockies in the games) and helped raise an orphaned Sonic.[7][8] Johnny in particular taught Sonic how to outrun every creature in the forest.[9][10] The guidebook Stay Sonic would later elaborate that Johnny Lightfoot was the sprint champion during his time before teaching Sonic to run at high speed.[11] However, this statement has never been brought back in any other media.
Trivia
- The Pockies were presumably created by Naoto Ōshima, the character designer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
Pocky's card, while he's miscalled as Picky.
- When Pocky was originally featured on his own card in Sonic the Hedgehog Online Trading Cards, he was misnamed as Picky. Picky was misnamed as Cookie in the same card game.
- In the American version of Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld, he is is credited by his Japanese name Pocky, rather than his American name Johnny Lightfoot during that time.
See also
References
- ↑ Sonic Team (February 25, 2015). Sonic Runners. iOS. Sega. Area/Level: Episode 13-1. "Pocky: Eek! Eek!"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sonic Team (February 25, 2015). Sonic Runners. iOS. Sega. Area/Level: Episode 11-1. "Tails: Hey, Omochao, could you ask these guys where they were when Eggman's minions captured them? / Animals: (chatter chirp) / Omochao: They say their village is just east of here, and Eggman built a base right next to it!"
- ↑ Sonic Team (February 25, 2015). Sonic Runners. iOS. Sega. Area/Level: Episode 14-1. "Knuckles: Yeah. This factory closes now. The Animals need to be living in harmony with nature again!"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Mega Drive) Japanese instruction manual, pg. 7-10.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Sonic The Hedgehog 4. Sega. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved on 26 January 2015.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Sega Mega Drive) Japanese instruction manual, p. 4-6.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Sonic's main buddies are Rabbit, Squirrel, Pig, Flicky the Duck, Penguin, Chicken, and Seal. Each comes from a large family, each is playful and friendly" - Description from Sonic the Hedgehog Bible Draft I page 11.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Sonic's main buddies are Johnny Lightfoot, Sally Acorn, Porker Lewis, Chirps, Tux, Flicky the Blue Bird, and Joe Sushi. Each comes from a large family, and each is playful and friendly." - Description from Sonic the Hedgehog Bible Draft II page 15.
- ↑ "From Rabbit, he learns how to outrun every other creature in the forest" - Description from Sonic the Hedgehog Bible Draft I page 6.
- ↑ "From Johnny Lightfoot (the rabbit), Sonic learns how to outrun every other creature in the forest" - Description from Sonic the Hedgehog Bible Draft II page 9.
- ↑ Pattenden, Mike (4 January 1993). "Sonic the Hedgehog". Stay Sonic. Fantail. p. 18. ISBN 978-0140903904. "Johnny Lightfoot, a rabbit and Mobius's undisputed sprint at the time, coached Sonic, and soon he was able to outstrip every other creature in the forest."