Rouge the Bat

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Rouge the Bat
First appearance	Sonic Adventure 2
Appears in (games)	Sonic Adventure 2 Sonic Heroes Sonic Battle Shadow the Hedgehog Sonic Riders Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Sonic Rivals Sonic Rivals 2 Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Appears in (other media)	Sonic X, Archie comics
Creator (real-world)	Sonic Team
Voice actor(s) (English)	Lani Minella Kathleen Delaney
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Rumi Ochiai
Also known as	Bat Girl
Species	Bat
Gender	Female
Height	105cm (3 ft 5 in) [This could be due to her high heels]
Weight	Secret; 35kg (77 lbs)
Birthdate	June 6, 1991
Birthplace	Unknown
Age	18
Fur	White
Eyes	Aqua green
Attire	Heart boots White gloves Dark leggings Heart shirt
Alignment	Neutral
Likes	Shadow, Omega, Jewels, Gems, Knuckles, precious stones, making Amy jealous, flirting, Winning a fight with Dr. Eggman.
Dislikes	Anyone taking gems from her, Mephiles, Omega's constant talk of revenge, Losing a Fight with Dr. Eggman
Skills	Spin Attack(rarely performs it), Spin Jump, Screw Kick, Flying, Climbing, Swimming, Digging, Drill Drive, Hip Drop, Black Wave, Charm Wave, Thunder Shoot, Bomb Snipe, Bat Guard, Tornado Kick, Jewel Storm, Rising Knuckle(requires Knuckles), Plunder, Distract, Shriek, Cloaking, Stealth(Her main ability)
Ability type	Flight/Power

Rouge the Bat (ルージュ・ザ・バット, Rūju za Batto^?) is a video game character who is a determined treasure hunter and part-time government agent who plans to make all the gems and treasures of the world hers. Her current jewel obsessions are the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds. She made her debut in Sonic Adventure 2 and has been featured in the Sonic the Hedgehog console games, along with two handheld games since. She is considered to be the sex symbol of the series.

In seven of the ten games she has appeared in to date, Rouge wears a skintight black body suit with a large pink heart-shaped breast plate, long white gloves, and white thigh-high boots with pink hearts on the toes. She also has long eyelashes and wears blue or pink make-up on her eyelids. Rouge is 18 years old, measures 105 cm (3ft 5in) tall and weighs 35 kg (77 lbs). In Sonic Heroes she wore a different outfit with similar color schemes and heart-shaped details. In the Sonic Riders series, her outfit had a Hawaiian print.

Contents 1 History 2 Sonic the Hedgehog (comics) 2.1 Treasure Hunter 2.2 Agent of G.U.N. 2.3 Heroics and Schemes 2.4 Hidden Agendas 3 Personality 4 Relationships 4.1 Shadow the Hedgehog 4.2 Knuckles the Echidna 4.3 E-123 Omega 4.4 Amy Rose 4.5 Tails 4.6 Topaz 4.7 Friends/Allies 4.8 Enemies/Rivals 5 Abilities 5.1 Sonic Adventure 2 5.2 Sonic Battle 5.3 Sonic Heroes 5.4 Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity 5.5 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood 6 Voice actresses 7 Theme songs 8 Cultural impact 8.1 Promotion and merchandising 8.2 Critical reception 9 Quotes 10 Trivia 11 Notes 12 Gallery 13 See also 14 External links

[edit] History

Rouge first appears in Sonic Adventure 2 as the treasure-hunting character of the Dark Story, making her the equivalent of Knuckles, her goal being to seek out the pieces of the Master Emerald. She primarily attacks with kicks. She also drives a car in one level. She makes a deal with Eggman, that she would help him find the Chaos Emeralds to power his Cannon if he gave her an Emerald tracker to find the Master Emerald pieces. Rouge does find many of emeralds during the game after breaking into "Security Hall" and stealing them, however she is revealed by Shadow the Hedgehog to be a Secret Agent and stops Rouge from taking the emeralds from the Eclipse Cannon. Rouge cheers Sonic and Shadow on during the final battle to save the earth from the Biolizard and is given Shadow's ring by Sonic after his supposed death.

In Sonic Heroes, Rouge is the flight member (and presumptive captain) of Team Dark, as the player can have the ability to fly when they choose her to be playable. She releases Shadow from his stasis pod, and (accidentally) activates E-123 Omega, who attempts to destroy all of Eggman's robots, including Shadow, who Omega thinks is a robot clone. Rouge stops Shadow and E-123 Omega from fighting, suggesting that they work together as a team to find Eggman. She looks different than in Sonic Adventure 2, with the heart being on her belt.

In Sonic Battle, Rouge is one of the most prominently featured characters in the game, with her story being the third to be played through. She is the owner of Club Rouge in the Night Babylon area in the story mode. Most of her fighting techniques appear to be derived from kickboxing. Her special attacks include sending a round bat that blows up towards her enemies, doing a powerful kick and sending what appears to be a ball of glittering energy into her opponents.

Rouge also appears in Shadow the Hedgehog, and helps on hero missions in the Digital Circuit, Death Ruins, and GUN Fortress levels. In Expert Mode, Caren Manuel lends her voice to Rouge at the beginning of Cryptic Castle, Lava Shelter (along with Omega's), and The Last Way (along with the voice of every other character that appears in Expert Mode). She is working for GUN in this game, in her levels she rescues the Chaos Emerald, and fights the Black Arms army when they are pushed back into the forest and Defends the GUN base when it comes under attack by them.

Rouge appears in Sonic Riders as an unlockable racer. She is a Flight type, and is the strongest Flight type character in the game. Rouge plays no role in the story of the game. Rouge returns in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity as a secret character. The official website states that Rouge has some kind of rivalry with Wave the Swallow.

In Sonic the Hedgehog, Rouge appears as an "Amigo" character, playable in stages White Acropolis, Kingdom Valley, Flame Core, and Tropical Jungle. She first appears escaping Eggman's base with Shadow after stealing the Scepter of Darkness as part of a mission from GUN. After escaping, Rouge and Shadow go to Kingdom Valley to find the GUN rendezvous point, however they are ambushed by Eggman and the Sceptre is broken after a struggle. Mephiles the Dark emerges from the broken scepter and is re-born in Shadow's shadow and send the two into the future. Rouge then teams up with Sonic and his friends to find two Chaos Emeralds that enable them to return to their own time. Rouge returns to the future alone and realizes that Shadow has stayed in the future. Rouge then goes about finding E-123 Omega and programs him to wake up in the future and help Shadow. Rouge eventually finds Omega and Shadow have found a way back from the future and so teams up them once again to find Mephelis and after encounter with him, Omega confesses he betrays Shadow in the future and that one day the whole world will turn against him. Rouge assures her friend that "even if he believes everyone in the world will turn against him, she will always remain by his side". Rouge then helps Shadow along with Omega to try to defeat Mephiles and seal him in the new Sceptre of Darkness. However this attempt does not work because Mephiles is using Shadow's form. The trio escape Mephiles though before he can launch his attack. She later helps the rest of the cast Save Sonic.

Rouge appears as a playable character in Sonic Rivals 2. During the storyline she teams up with Knuckles the Echidna to find the "Master Emerald" and the "Chaos Emeralds". She steals Eggman's emerald tracker to find them. She and Knuckles find themselves having to battle with other rivals and Eggman Nega in order to find the Chaos Emeralds while Knuckles is unable to find the Master Emerald. Rouge finds six emeralds which are then taken by Eggman Nega who opens a portal to another dimension, Rouge is dragged into the portal by Knuckles, leading to her finding herself separated from Knuckles in another dimension. When she finds Knuckles, she sees that his mind is being control by the Ifrit, a big fire monster that could destroyed the world. Rouge manages to defeat the Ifrit and saves Knuckles, she then finds the emerald detector destroyed and sees the Master Emerald inside it. The two return to their own dimension. Knuckles takes the Master Emerald but is then distracted when Rouge calls him dashing, giving her enough time to steal it and run from the scene.

Rouge also appears as a playable in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.^[1] She is the fourth person to join Sonic's group and is assigned by the GUN Commander as a "representative" of the organization. of Her overworld abilities allow her to fly (better than Knuckles but worse than Tails and Cream) and the Stealth ability - one that she shares only with Shade. In battle, she has low attack power and low armour, but gets to attack twice per round. She can weaken, distract and even steal items from her foes.

Rouge also appears in Sonic Rivals as a "Card" and has dialogue during the Story mode.

[edit] Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)

[edit] Treasure Hunter

Rouge is fond of riches, especially rare, beautiful gems, and has often searched for or stolen jewels. She has had several run-ins in the past with Fiona Fox and Nack the Weasel, often beating them to rare treasures, and thus has something of a past rivalry with the pair.

[edit] Agent of G.U.N.

When Sonic the Hedgehog was mistaken for Shadow in a plot that seemingly involved both Dr. Eggman and the events of a mysterious project from fifty years prior, Rouge was hired by the President to investigate. As Eggman expanded his war, she became more active in events concerning the safety of Station Square and has occasionally acted as liaison with the Freedom Fighters.

[edit] Heroics and Schemes

While Rouge more often than not works in a self-serving manner and will do almost anything it takes to get what she wants, she does tend to do the right thing on occasion. She saved the President of Station Square when Eggman remotely steered his limo toward a dock. Later on, she took part in the battle against the Xorda, aiding Knuckles when he couldn't glide.

When Evil Sonic came to Mobius Prime and replaced Sonic, he quickly fell for Rouge upon seeing her in Knothole. Rouge had been transported to Knothole after attempting to seduce Locke into telling her where the Master Emerald was. The two returned to Angel Island where Rouge acted as a decoy, again seducing Locke, until the latter sensed trouble by the Master Emerald. Evil Sonic was defeated by the combined might of Sonic Prime and Locke, and although Rouge was disappointed, she was won over when Evil Sonic presented a shiny gem.

Later she and Evil Sonic again attempted to seize the Master Emerald. This time Rouge helped Evil Sonic fight Locke until he was able to transform into Scourge. Scourge easily defeated Locke, but Rouge prevented him from killing the echidna. She followed Scourge to Knothole to watch Scourge fight and defeat both Sonic and Shadow and joined him in their escape through a Warp Ring provided by Dr. Finitevus. The two ended up joining Finitevus, but Rouge left his operation when she discovered he was planning to use nuclear weapons. After sabotaging them all, she fled to Knothole seeking refuge via a stolen Warp Ring. After revealing everything she knew to the Chaotix who were interrogating her, she was released from custody.

In order to prove to Knuckles she'd "gone legit", Rouge accompanied the Chaotix in their investigation of Renfield Rodent's Casino set up in Station Square. Rouge, along with Vector the Crocodile and Espio the Chameleon, fell under the hypnotic spell of the slot machines. However, Renfield's schemes and plans to produce new Auto Automatons for Dr. Eggman were eventually put to an end by Knuckles, Julie-Su and Mighty the Armadillo.

It seemed that she was up to her old tricks even after this when it was reported that she'd stolen the Master Emerald and planned to sell it off to the highest bidder. As it turned out, it was all a ploy she'd set up to lure in villains and allow the Freedom Fighters to capture them. She claimed to have done it in order to show Knuckles that she could be good as well, though not everyone was impressed by her manipulations and deceit.

When Espio was seemingly late in returning from his solo mission into Eggman's territory, she offered to assist Knuckles in finding him, though it seemed that she was once again more concerned with getting close to the echidna than anything else.

Rouge was captured by Eggman during his assault on Knothole and transported to the Egg Grape Chamber with roughly all but a handful of the city's inhabitants. Rouge was promptly freed along with the other prisoners in the ensuing rescue mission orchestrated by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, and Sally's computer NICOLE. As a result, she was transported to the city of New Mobotropolis by Eggman's capture beam, which had been reprogrammed by NICOLE to teleport victims to the city.

Afterwards, she returned to working with G.U.N., and was reached by Sally through a badly garbled communication requesting aid against the new Enerjak, Knuckles's arch-foe reborn as Knuckles himself. Obliging, Rouge promised the aid of G.U.N.'s newest agent: none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.

[edit] Hidden Agendas

After the Enerjak incident, Rouge found Knuckles watching the Chaotix from the concealment of some nearby vegetation, too ashamed of what he'd done as Enerjak to reveal himself to his friends. She then talked him out of his decision to dedicate himself solely to the Master Emerald and cut off contact with the outside world. Rouge then watched as Knuckles rejoined his friends, making comments that suggest she may have had ulterior motives for her talk with the echidna.

Whatever her motives, she left Knuckles behind to team up with Geoffrey St. John, the two of them going to Mammoth Mogul's new casino to investigate the recently re-immortalized villain. Later, it was revealed that Mogul paid Rouge to relay a message to the Destructix. She told them of how Mogul was going to pay them for publicly humiliating Sonic which they proceeded to do.

[edit] Personality

Rouge is a strong-minded young woman, a fearless, ambitious, independent, flirty, greedy, ruthless, calculating narcissist who most people see as only caring for herself and her gems. She has been known to seduce people with her strong sex appeal to get what she wants. However, she has, on occasion, shown that she can be heroic. In the final events of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, she helped to save the planet. In Sonic Heroes, she stopped Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega from killing each other, and is seen battling Chaotix and Sonic as liabilities to her quest to finding Dr. Eggman's supposed hidden treasure room. In Sonic Battle, when Shadow was injured and needed a place to stay, Rouge helped him. In Shadow the Hedgehog, she did other laudable things, such as rescuing a Chaos Emerald from the doomed mainframe, destroying the evil monster Black Bull, and assisting Shadow in defeating Black Doom as well as showing concern for Shadow's welfare at the end of the game. She has also been known to curse, as she did in one episode of Sonic X. Recently, she has been becoming less selfish, as can be seen by her actions towards Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Rivals.

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Shadow the Hedgehog

They're teammates in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and often work together.

In Sonic Heroes, Rouge seems concerned for Shadow saying his name in a worried tone when he sees the Shadow robot. Rouge also seemed upset when she told Omega that Shadow was a robot but perked up when Omega revealed that their Shadow could be the real Shadow.

In Sonic Battle, Rouge calls Shadow "not bad-looking" and "a prince," and also lets him stay with her when he is injured and lacks a place to stay. Moreover, in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow saved her life when she was trapped in Security Hall. He later claimed he was just saving the Chaos Emeralds she had with her, however he might have said this only because he felt embarrassed of her remark about how impressive and unexpected it was for him to come back and rescue her.

In Sonic X, when she first established the business transactions for helping Eggman and Shadow find the Chaos Emeralds, she seemed oddly interested in Shadow. Even calling him handsome. However, she was interested in him mainly because of his close resemblance to Sonic and later finding out the he was the main part of her mission: to find out whether or not the claims of his being the "Ultimate Life Form" were true.

In Sonic Universe, in issue #3, she called Shadow "handsome" before they went to the special zone to get a Chaos Emerald.

[edit] Knuckles the Echidna

Some official sites confirm that Rouge has a crush on Knuckles in the Sonic Central site and the 4kids Rouge biography mentions that Rouge has a secret crush on Knuckles but it is unknown if he likes her back since there is no proof but there is proof if she likes him. The Sonic Chronicles Codex states "There's a sort of unstated connection between Rouge and Knuckles that neither is overly willing to explore". Despite their mutually antagonistic professions (jewel thief vs. protector of the Master Emerald), the games imply there to be some sort of mutual attraction between the echidna and the bat, though both are too stubborn to act on their feelings. In Sonic Rivals 2, Rouge called Knuckles 'dashing' and in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Rouge called him 'cute'.

In Sonic X, Knuckles and Rouge's relationship is more advanced, both have regular encounters and conversations with one another along romantic lines such as in Episode 14, where Rouge and Knuckles get into an arguement aboard the Egg Fort 1 and Rouge tells him that he's cute when he's angry. Or Episode 39, where Rouge tells Knuckles on them two living together but Knuckles blushed and refused. In episode 52 Rouge seems to jump on Knuckles and the camera turned up to the moon and all that can be heard is laughing and Knuckles said "Haha! Stop that! That tickles!" and Rouge said "Didn't I warn you to behave.(in a happy way)" maybe she was tickling him, in episode 74 Sonic asked Knuckles which girl does Knuckles like most, Knuckles looked at Rouge and started sweating, probably because if he said someone else, she would attack whoever he said. Even the awkward conversations between the two can enable other characters in the series to acknowledge the duos admiration for each other. Episodes 39, 48, 52 and 73 to 78 drops several hints that they could take things further. But they probably wouldn't

In the Archie comic series, Rouge's interest in Knuckles is challenged by Julie-Su.

[edit] E-123 Omega

Rouge's second best friend, after Shadow, is Omega, who is very loyal to her. She prevented Shadow and Omega from killing each other in Sonic Heroes, showing that she cares about Omega's well-being. The two are close allies, and she shows signs of caring for him, such as in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, where she says she is saddened by the thought of Omega rusting away in Metropolis, and not with her and Shadow "blowing things up". She has sometimes shown annoyance at Omega, saying that he is too serious and that she is tired of hearing him ramble on about revenge and hatred.

[edit] Amy Rose

Rouge and Amy are generally portrayed as hostile towards each other. In Sonic Battle', the two fight several times over Emerl, and in Sonic X, they appear to hold some sort of rivalry and compete with on another in the Battle Tournement. Yet even through this, she and Amy might just share a friendship as shown in Shadow the Hedgehog when Shadow had saved the world in the last story, when Rouge is the only one who looks up at the sky with a worried look in her face saying, "I hope he(Shadow)'s okay." Amy comforts her saying, " I'm sure he's fine Rouge. After all, he is Shadow." Rouge looks back at her, and nods.

[edit] Tails

Rouge and Tails have only really interacted in Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but in both these games, Rouge displays a certain affection towards the two-tailed fox. Although she enjoys teasing him even if the fox doesn't win against her, In Sonic X she defeats him in battle by kissing him on the cheek.

[edit] Topaz

Rouge only met Topaz in Sonic X where she is Rouge's partner. Though at first the regimental Topaz disapproves of the scheming Rouge, (who keeps calling her an old lady), the two become friends fast. Their main assignments involved striking at Eggman and locating the Chaos Emeralds as well as serving as envoys between Sonic and the government. Topaz said farewell to Rouge when she had to return to her planet, Rouge gave her a ring as a goodbye gift. This is quite unusual, as Rouge usually keeps any piece of jewelry she comes across. After Topaz sees Rouge step through the portal back to her home planet, Topaz has an out of character moment where she bursts into tears crying, as opposed to her usual tough and serious nature, suggesting there was a strong friendship between the two.

[edit] Friends/Allies

• Shadow the Hedgehog (Best friend; Another possible crush)
• E-123 Omega
• G.U.N.
• Shade the Echidna
• Topaz (Sonic X)
• Eggman (depending on the situation)
• Amy Rose
• Knuckles the Echidna (Crush)
• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Silver the Hedgehog

[edit] Enemies/Rivals

• Dr. Eggman (depending on the situation)
• Metal Sonic
• Black Arms
• Knuckles the Echidna (Especially when the Master Emerald is involved; Crush)
• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Amy Rose
• Julie-Su (Archie comics)
• Ix the Echidna
• Bunnie Rabbot (Archie comics)
• Fiona Fox (Archie comics)
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Silver the Hedgehog
• Wave the Swallow

[edit] Abilities

Rouge, as a treasure hunter, has similar skills to those of her rival Knuckles (with the exception that she has a strapping lower body as opposed to his muscular upper body). Rouge can fly and glide with her wings, and her flying speed is able keep up with characters like Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles as, in Sonic X she is able to keep up with Sonic and Knuckles as they are making a charge at Chaos.

[edit] Sonic Adventure 2

Rouge's special attacks in 2-player mode are "Hip Drop", which causes a small earthquake to trip opponents, "Black Wave", a black energy wave which confuses opponents, and "Charm Ray", which freezes her opponent for 10 seconds. Since Sonic Adventure 2 had upgrading for each character, Rouge also has some upgrades to make her and her skills stronger.

• Mystic Melody: A flute made of light that causes something special to happen if used in front of an ancient shrine.
• Pick Nails: Hard additions the tips of her boots that allows her to dig through grounds and walls.
• Treasure Scope: A GUN-made device that allows her to see invisible items.
• Iron Boots: Stronger boots that allow her to break solid metallic items.

[edit] Sonic Battle

Rouge has many different abilities, all of which can be copied by Emerl. She has low gravity, affording her considerably more air-time than any other character, uses her voice to attack, can release "Bat Cracker" bombs and uses a large number of kick-boxing moves.

One of Rouge's most obvious distinguishing characteristics in Sonic Battle is her flight ability. While other characters have a double jump (achieved by pushing A twice, jumping higher with each push and then falling due to gravity), Rouge flies into the air and floats there slowly with the first jump, and quickly lands on the ground when A is pushed again.

[edit] Sonic Heroes

As the flight member of her team, Rouge can use "Thunder Shoot", where she charges her teammates with electrical energy and kicks them towards enemies. While Sonic Heroes gameplay differs from other Sonic titles, Rouge's ability in this game can be enhanced by just collecting a yellow colored Power Core. Rouge has up to 3 levels of powering up, just like the rest of the others.

• Level 1: Thunder Shoot stuns enemies for a longer period of time depending on the strength of the enemy.
• Level 2: When she launches her team mates, Shadow and Omega, using Thunder Shoot, it is able to destroy a targeted enemy sometimes and also enhances her attack powers.
• Level 3: When she launches Shadow and Omega with Thunder Shoot, they are able to attack and defeat many enemies at once. Also, when Thunder Shoot is used, it has the ability to pick up rings like a magnet.

In a fight, when her other teammates are not available, she is able to throw out dummy rings, which shock opponents.

[edit] Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

In the racing games Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Rouge can level up by collecting rings, and has three different attacks depending on the level she is.

• Level 1: Blows a kiss at the opponent, stunning them.
• Level 2: Delivers a powerful kick to the opponent.
• Level 3: Releases a flying Bat Cracker bomb like that in Sonic Battle.

[edit] Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

• Tornado Kick: Rouge delivers a rapid series of kicks that create a damaging wind attack.
• Jewel Storm: Rouge throws counterfit gems at the opposing team. These gems, while small, are armor piercing.
• Rising Knuckle: Rouge and Knuckles team up for a dive-bomb double attack that may leave the target stunned.
• Plunder: Rouge feints an attack while stealing an item from her target. The stronger it is, the better the item.
• Distract: Rouge shows off near an enemy to keep their mind off the fight.
• Shriek: Rouge unleashes a supersonic scream at her foe, leaving the target sluggish.

In the Sonic X anime and Sonic Rivals 2, Rouge is depicted as also have heightened hearing like a real bat. This proved to be a strength and weakness, since in one instance she proved very vulnerable to loud noises.

[edit] Voice actresses

• Video games, Sonic X - Rumi Ochiai (Japan)
• Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle - Lani Minella (US)
• Sonic X, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders, Sonic the Hedgehog - Caren Manuel (US)

[edit] Theme songs

The Sonic the Hedgehog video games have featured several theme songs for the character.

• Sonic Adventure 2: "Fly in the Freedom" - Tabitha Fair, Todd Cooper.
• Sonic Heroes: "This Machine" - Julien-K. This was a team theme shared with Shadow and Omega.

The background music for the stage Security Hall (titled I'm a Spy) in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is generally attributed to Rouge, despite technically having no relation to her. Like most characters, Rouge is associated with a genre of music, specifically smooth jazz/bossa nova/fusion with some feminine sighs thrown in (similarly to how Knuckles is associated with the rap genre). It is interesting to note that the background music in her Club Rouge stage from Sonic Battle also has feminine sighing. No other BGM in the game has any form of vocal.

Also in the anime, Sonic X a BGM plays in the background of most of her events and appearances. The BGM is called "Mysterious & Sexy Thief Rouge" and was first heard in episode 11. In the American 4Kids dub, a saxophone jingle often plays in the same scenes.

[edit] Cultural impact

[edit] Promotion and merchandising

Rouge has been featured in many advertising campaigns and advertising for the Sonic the Hedgehog Series in North America and Japan. At the launch of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Rouge and a few other characters were featured in a line of plushes advertising the game. Another Rouge plush was released as a prize for crane games in Japan at the launch of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.^[2][3] As a campaign for the Sonic X anime in North America and Japan, keychains were distributed for the main characters in the show, one of whom was Rouge.^[4] Sega and McDonalds released a series of LCD Sonic Themed Games at McDonalds in 2004, the games were bundled with Happy Meals. Rouge was featured in the game Amy & Rouge Volleyball in which, "Players are challenged to move Amy from side to side to return Rouge's serves and volleys.".^[5]

[edit] Critical reception

Upon Rouge's introduction in Sonic Adventure 2, many game reviewers commented on her similarity to Knuckles,^[6][7] including such critical remarks as "Knuckles with bat wings and breasts",^[8] whilst some further criticized her design.^[7][8] Her "daring attitude" and narcissism received further comment.^[9][10] Rouge appeared on GamerRadar's list of "The Sexy Lady Beasts of Gaming", in which she is described as "Proof that voluptuous curves, thigh-boots, sexy eyes and rubber gloves can make any animal in the kingdom an object of lustful ferverted desire. No matter how freaky-looking their real-world inspiration might be."^[11]

[edit] Quotes

"My name is Rouge the Bat. Better known as the treasure hunter, Rouge." - Rouge in Sonic Adventure 2

"How was that? Perfect? Like Me?"-Rouge after getting an A Rank.

"Im Rouge the Bat, but you can call me Rouge"-Rouge introduces herself.

"You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you?"-Rouge after being saved by Knuckles.

"All the world's gems will be mine."-Rouge after winning in Sonic Adventure 2.

"Aw yeah baby, this makes us a team!"-After assembling Team Dark for the first time in Sonic Heroes.

"Long time no see boys! Too bad you came out all this way for nothing, we'll take it from here!"-Taunting Team Sonic on their way to Eggman, before fighting each other.

"Even if you believe everybody in the world will be against you, know that I will always remain by your side. Remember that." Rouge to Shadow after hearing the world will turn against him.

"Better behave yourself!" Rouge in Sonic Riders.

"These boots are made for racing." Rouge after winning a race in Sonic Rivals 2.

"You're cute when you're angry . . ." Rouge flirting with an irritated Knuckles, Sonic X

"I think...no. See ya later, silver boy." Rouge after arguing with Silver about Chao and Chaos Emeralds in Sonic Rivals 2

[edit] Trivia

• If you look at Rouge in first person view as anyone from Team Dark in Sonic Heroes, Rouge will stare back and wink.
• Rouge has had a total of three different costumes, not including unlockables. While her costume in Shadow the Hedgehog features a purple body glove instead of a black one during gameplay, it is not considered one of her "official" costumes, as it is merely an effect of the bright lights of the level in which she appears.
• Rouge may have been named after the Jewel, the rouge, relating to her "jewel stealing".
• She may also have been named Rouge due to the fact that in her name also means "red" in French for her crush of Knuckles the "red" echidna
• Her name could also come from a type of makeup applied to the cheeks (also called "blush").
• Her name is also a pun on the City, Baton Rouge, due to her first name being Rouge and she is a bat. Her name also means "red" in French.
• In two episodes Of Sonic X, Rouge stole a pink heart shaped necklace, although doing this seemed to have no real importance to the series. In a comedic note, that necklace was Bokkun's locket and it held a picture of Cream.
• In four episodes of the English version of Sonic X (all in the third season) Rouge's cleavage was erased or shortened, making her breast size appear smaller.
• Rouge is, by a country mile, the most controversial character in the Sonic series, mainly among parents concerned about her general appearance and mannerism. Despite this, Rouge is one of the most popular characters in the series.
• Rouge is also the only female character who uses make-up.
• Rouge's only playable Wii appearance was Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. She was going to be in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games as a playable character, but was taken out because the outfits showed much of her cleavage, and the producers were concerned that the game may affect the mode of operation of young children.
• After many fans complained about her not appearing in the first Olympic game, she may appear in Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games as new characters have been confirmed.
• Rouge (along with Omega and Shadow) is one of the few "regular" Sonic characters to not have a labeled favorite food. (Omega does not have one because he is a robot and as such does not need to eat, while Shadow has generally not been seen eating- he may not need to eat as it is, though online fan communities speculate that Shadow is a big fan of applejuice.)
• Rouge's taunt to Team Sonic in Sonic Heroes, ("Too bad you had to come all this way for nothing!") has been used in a lot of Youtube Poops.
• Rouge may be the strongest fly type character in Sonic Heroes, due to the fact that she can fly even with Omega (the heaviest character in any game at one ton) holding on to her legs. (Although this may not be true, as the PC version's characters can be swapped using a piece of software called the Sonic Heroes Memory Editor, and so Tails, Cream or Charmy can fly with Omega without a change in the action.)
• Rouge's former voice actor, Lani Minella, appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as the voice actress of newcomers Pit and Lucas.
• Rouge's heels seem to increase her height.
• Rouge is usually depicted with blue eyelids, although in Sonic Heroes her eyelids were pink.
• Not counting team members in the support class, Rouge has the least team POW moves in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, with only one.
• While people often say that Rouge is 18, she is actually 17 according to the Sonic Heroes game manual. However in her Sonic X eyecatcher card it says she's 18, meaning that in Sonic X she may be 18, but in the video games she's 17.
• In Sonic Chronicles, Rouge is the only character with an Armor-Piercing move that hits all onscreen enemies instead of targeting one enemy. She is the second member of the Shifter class, and the only Shifter class member in Team Dark (Shadow and Omega are both in the Power class).
• People speculate that Rouge likes shadow, but there is no proof of this because shadow has never shown any real affection towards her.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Gallery

Rouge on Sonic Channel.	Rouge artwork for Sonic Adventure 2.	Rouge's Sonic Heroes outfit.	Rouge in Sonic Heroes
Rouge from Sonic Battle.	Rouge from Shadow the Hedgehog.	Rouge from Sonic Riders.	Rouge from Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
Rouge from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.	Rouge in Sonic X.

[edit] See also

• Sonic X pilot

[edit] External links

• Rouge the Bat at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Rouge's Sonic Adventure 2: Battle profile
• Rouge the Bat Concept: "Mobius" (REAL Character Profile)