Animals

Animal Friends freed from the capsule in IceCap Zone.

Animals are various fluffy forest critters which inhabit Sonic's world. In the original Sonic the Hedgehog, they are imprisoned by Dr. Eggman for use as "organic batteries" in his robot army and further his plans for world domination. This provides the main motivation for Sonic in his first outing, and remains a recurring theme in the Sonic games which follow - free the animals and stop Dr. Eggman!

In the games, animals are usually freed by destroying badniks individually, or released en masse by popping open capsules which appear at the end of many zones.

The original seven

In the Sega Mega Drive release of Sonic the Hedgehog, six animal friends were introduced: Cucky (a chicken), Pecky (a penguin), Picky (a pig), Pocky (a rabbit), Ricky (a squirrel) and Rocky (a seal). When localised the gang were given new names: Chrips, Tux, Porker Lewis, Johnny Lightfoot, Sally Acorn and Joe Sushi, respectively.

In addition, Flicky, who made her debut in the eponymous 1984 arcade game of the same name was also included as part of the Sonic lore (although as a male). Further animals have been added to the series since, but with only Sonic and Eggman as other characters in the original game, each of the original seven regularly appear in early Sonic promotional material and merchandise. In Western lore these characters were said to have taught Sonic the abilities he uses in his first video game outing, and many of their designs formed the basis for characters in the 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon and well as the UK's Sonic the Comic.

Appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)

In this game there are always two animals per stage, one per badnik released and a large number of them released from a capsule at the end of Act 3, the latter with an exception in Scrap Brain Zone, which has no capsule.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Cucky	Spring Yard Zone, Scrap Brain Zone
	Flicky	Green Hill Zone, Star Light Zone
	Pecky	Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone
	Picky	Spring Yard Zone, Star Light Zone
	Pocky	Green Hill Zone, Scrap Brain Zone
	Ricky	Marble Zone
	Rocky	Marble Zone, Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)

In this game there are always two animals per stage, as in Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), but they only exist in the capsule at the end of Act 3. Scrap Brain Zone and Sky Base Zone lack the animal capsule.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Cucky	Bridge Zone, Jungle Zone
	Flicky	Green Hill Zone
	Picky	Bridge Zone
	Pecky	Labyrinth Zone
	Pocky	Green Hill Zone
	Ricky	Jungle Zone
	Rocky	Labyrinth Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)

In this game there are always two animals per stage like in Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit) but as in the previous title, the animals are only present at the end of Act 3 capsule, which is different from the norm: an Eggman ball floating around that needs to be hit. Scrambled Egg Zone and Crystal Egg Zone have no animal capsule.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Cucky	Sky High Zone, Gimmick Mt. Zone
	Flicky	Under Ground Zone, Sky High Zone, Gimmick Mt. Zone
	Pecky	Aqua Lake Zone
	Pocky	Under Ground Zone, Green Hills Zone
	Ricky	Green Hills Zone
	Rocky	Aqua Lake Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

In this game there are always two animals per stage like in Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), one per badnik released and a large number of them released from a capsule but instead of Act 3 at the end of Act 2. There is also an animal in Mystic Cave Zone which has remained unnamed in officially-published sources to date and appears to be a mouse or rat; Sonic Mania retrospectively names this animal Micky internally. Sky Chase Zone and Wing Fortress Zone have no animal capsule at the end. If playing Knuckles in Sonic 2, the Flickies are red instead of the usual blue.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Becky	Casino Night Zone
	Cucky	Mystic Cave Zone, Sky Chase Zone
	Flicky	Emerald Hill Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, Casino Night Zone
	Locky	Chemical Plant Zone, Hill Top Zone, Metropolis Zone, Wing Fortress Zone
	Micky	Mystic Cave Zone, Hidden Palace Zone
	Pecky	Aquatic Ruin Zone, Oil Ocean Zone
	Picky	Death Egg Zone
	Pocky	Chemical Plant Zone
	Ricky	Emerald Hill Zone
	Rocky	Hidden Palace Zone, Oil Ocean Zone
	Tocky	Sky Chase Zone
	Wocky	Hill Top Zone, Metropolis Zone

Note: Though Picky is in this list, there are no badniks or capsules in Death Egg Zone, so he's never seen. He does however, appear in the credits of 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

In this game, animals are not released from badniks. Instead, Metal Sonic projectors appear in the past of each zone in the game, displaying holograms of Metal Sonic kicking and harassing the animals. Should Sonic destroy them, the animals will be free to roam the zone the projector was destroyed in. Animals will also roam about in the Good Future regardless of the projector being destroyed or not. Flicky, Pecky, Pocky and Ricky appear in this game, along with various unnamed animals not seen in other games such as fish and sheep.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

In this game there are always two animals per stage, as in Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), one per badnik released and a large number of them released from a capsule at the end of Act 2 like in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit). As a curiosity, the Flickies in Launch Base Zone with Knuckles are red instead of the usual blue with Sonic.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Cucky	Angel Island Zone, Marble Garden Zone, Launch Base Zone
	Flicky	Angel Island Zone, Marble Garden Zone, Carnival Night Zone, Launch Base Zone
	Pecky	Icecap Zone
	Pocky	Hydrocity Zone, Carnival Night Zone
	Rocky	Hydrocity Zone, Icecap Zone

Sonic & Knuckles

As expected, this game follows the formula of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Hidden Palace Zone has no animals whatsoever and neither Sky Sanctuary Zone or Death Egg Zone has animal capsules - though the former Zone does see the diminutive creatures fleeing from Eggrobos inside the level's towers.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Cucky	Mushroom Hill Zone, Sandopolis Zone, Lava Reef Zone, Sky Sanctuary Zone, Death Egg Zone
	Flicky	Flying Battery Zone, Lava Reef Zone
	Pocky	Sandopolis Zone, Sky Sanctuary Zone
	Ricky	Mushroom Hill Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Death Egg Zone

Sonic Adventure

There are 15 different animals in Sonic Adventure, found both inside Badniks and capsules at the end of the level like in Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit) or any game that follows this format but they serve a purpose this time around. Colour coded according to their stats for five different categories, collecting, bringing them to a Chao Garden and giving them to a Chao will raise its stats according to the equivalent of the animal collected. Every level has five different animals, regardless of the character playing, three of them matching the level’s theme (for example, Emerald Coast has all the swimming types, Windy Valley have all the flying types and so on), another from some other specific stat and finally a last from the random category. When released, there’s a green light sphere around them, which disappears shortly. When in a Chao Garden, there’s a sparkle around them that disappears after giving it to a Chao. Once its sparkle is gone, the animal itself will also disappear after a while.

Color	Type	Animal	Name	Level
Green	Running		Deer Kangaroo Rabbit	Twinkle Park, Speed Highway, Final Egg; Hot Shelter Twinkle Park, Speed Highway, Final Egg Twinkle Park, Speed Highway, Final Egg; Emerald Coast, Casinopolis
Purple	Flying		Parrot Peacock Swallow	Windy Valley, Casinopolis, Sky Deck; Red Mountain Windy Valley, Casinopolis, Sky Deck Windy Valley, Casinopolis, Sky Deck; Speed Highway
Red	Power		Elephant Gorilla Lion	Red Mountain, Lost World; Twinkle Park Red Mountain, Lost World; Icecap, Final Egg Red Mountain, Lost World; Sky Deck
Yellow	Swimming		Penguin Sea Otter Seal	Emerald Coast, Icecap, Lost World; Hot Shelter Emerald Coast, Icecap, Hot Shelter Emerald Coast, Icecap, Hot Shelter; Windy Valley
Blue	Random		Koala Mole Skunk	Emerald Coast, Casinopolis, Twinkle Park, Speed Highway Windy Valley, Icecap, Red Mountain, Lost World, Final Egg Sky Deck, Hot Shelter

Sonic Adventure 2

There are 21 different animals in Sonic Adventure 2. Eight of them come from Sonic Adventure; the rest of them are new, and they serve the same purpose as the previous game, for raising Chao according to the stats they possess. They’re not found in capsules anymore, since the game lacks them, but they can still be found inside enemies. Addictionally, animals can be found inside the second and third Chao containers, and in several locations in each stage.

There are two new categories to add to the previous five and there are always five specific animals per stage. Four of these animals are common (Running, Flying, Power and Swimming), found with nor restrictions and in the second Chao container. The fifth is always a rare or special animal (Ghost and Legendary, with the exception of the Bat which is treated as common) and they are found either in hidden or difficult to reach locations and in the third Chao container.

The number of animals hidden in a stage (see the stage’s entrance for their location) is always the same (20 when playing as Sonic or Shadow, 15 as Tails or Eggman, and 10 as Knuckles or Rouge). Collecting all of them will award an extra-life. There are several levels where there are more animals than they should (one notable case is Security Hall); Cannon's Core doesn't seem to have a proper tally and Green Hill doesn't have any wandering animals at all.

Colour	Type	Animal	Name	Level
Green	Running		Boar Cheetah Rabbit	*Pumpkin Hill, Mission Street, Eternal Engine; Radical Highway, Lost Colony; Cannon's Core (Rouge) *Wild Canyon, Pumpkin Hill, Green Forest; Radical Highway, Weapons Bed, Cosmic Wall; Cannon's Core (Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge) *City Escape, Green Forest, Mission Street, Death Chamber, Meteor Herd; Iron Gate, Lost Colony, Cosmic Wall; Cannon's Core (Sonic), Green Hill
Purple	Flying		Condor Parrot Peacock	*Wild Canyon, Aquatic Mine, Pyramid Cave, Eternal Engine, Final Rush; Security Hall, Sky Rail; Cannon's Core (Rouge) *Green Forest, Eternal Engine; Sand Ocean, Egg Quarters, Security Hall, White Jungle, Mad Space; Cannon's Core (Sonic) *Wild Canyon, Metal Harbor, Pyramid Cave, Final Rush; Dry Lagoon, Sand Ocean, White Jungle, Mad Space
Red	Power		Bear Gorilla Tiger	*Crazy Gadget; Egg Quarters, White Jungle, Sky Rail; Cannon's Core (Tails, Eggman) *Prison Lane, Mission Street, Death Chamber; Iron Gate, Egg Quarters, Mad Space; Cannon's Core (Tails), Green Hill *Prison Lane, Hidden Base, Death Chamber, Crazy Gadget; Iron Gate, Security Hall, Sky Rail, Final Chase
Yellow	Swimming		Penguin Sea Otter Seal	*Metal Harbor, Aquatic Mine, Hidden Base, Meteor Herd, Final Rush; Dry Lagoon, Final Chase, Green Hill *Prison Lane, Hidden Base; Dry Lagoon, Weapons Bed, Cosmic Wall, Final Chase; Cannon's Core (Knuckles, Eggman) *Metal Harbor, Aquatic Mine, Meteor Herd, Crazy Gadget; Radical Highway, Weapons Bed; Cannon's Core (Tails, Knuckles)
Blue	None		Raccoon Sheep Skunk	*City Escape, Metal Harbor, Green Forest, Eternal Engine; Radical Highway, Lost Colony, Security Hall, Mad Space; Cannon's Core (Knuckles, Eggman), Green Hill *City Escape, Wild Canyon, Prison Lane, Mission Street, Pyramid Cave, Meteor Herd, Final Rush; Dry Lagoon, Sand Ocean, Weapons Bed, Sky Rail, Cosmic Wall *City Escape, Aquatic Mine, Hidden Base, Death Chamber, Crazy Gadget; Iron Gate, Egg Quarters, White Jungle, Final Chase; Cannon's Core (Sonic, Tails, Rouge)
Silver	Ghost		Bat Half Fish Skeleton Dog	*Pumpkin Hill, Pyramid Cave, Sand Ocean, Lost Colony *Pumpkin Hill, Green Forest, Hidden Base; Egg Quarters *Pumpkin Hill, Pyramid Cave, Death Chamber; Sand Ocean, Lost Colony
Gold	Legendary		Dragon Phoenix Unicorn	*Wild Canyon, Aquatic Mine, Eternal Engine, Final Rush; Iron Gate, White Jungle; Cannon's Core (Sonic) *Metal Harbor, Mission Street, Meteor Herd, Crazy Gadget; Weapons Bed, Security Hall, Sky Rail, Mad Space, Final Chase, Cannon's Core (Eggman) *City Escape, Prison Lane; Dry Lagoon, Radical Highway, Cosmic Wall; Green Hill

Sonic Lost World

Rescuing animals becomes an important thing in Sonic Lost World, as they are required to unlock levels and thus progress through the game. Animals are, as always, rescued by destroying badniks, but they can also be rescued by breaking open mini-capsules dotted around the game's levels. In the Wii U version only, the player can also earn more animals by playing circus minigames or by collecting plenty of Rupees in The Legend of Zelda Zone. Due to the removal of circus minigames in the PC version, the animal requirements are lower than the Wii U version's.

	Requirements
Level	Wii U	PC
Windy Hill Zone 4	100	100
Desert Ruins Zone 4	300	300
Tropical Coast Zone 4	1000	800
Frozen Factory Zone 4	1500	1100
Silent Forest Zone 4	3000	1400
Sky Road Zone 4	4000	1700
Lava Mountain Zone 4	5000	1900
Hidden World Zone 4	7000	2300

The animals that appear in this game are the original seven from Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic Mania

The seven original animals from Sonic the Hedgehog return in this game, alongside the additional five introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Similar to the 16-bit titles, only two animals appear in most stages; the two exceptions to this are Press Garden Zone, which only features Flicky, and Stardust Speedway Zone, which features different pairings of animals between Act 1 and 2. Several kinds of animals also appear at once when the Metal Sonic projector is destroyed in Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2 and during Knuckles' intro in Angel Island Zone.

Sprite	Name	Level
	Becky	Stardust Speedway Zone (Metal Sonic projector only)
	Cucky	Metallic Madness Zone
	Flicky	Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Press Garden Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone, Lava Reef Zone
	Locky	Mirage Saloon Zone
	Micky	Studiopolis Zone
	Pecky	Studiopolis Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone (Metal Sonic projector only), Oil Ocean Zone
	Picky	Stardust Speedway Zone (Metal Sonic projector only), Titanic Monarch Zone
	Pocky	Green Hill Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone (Act 2), Hydrocity Zone, Mirage Saloon Zone, Metallic Madness Zone
	Ricky	Chemical Plant Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone (Act 1), Lava Reef Zone
	Rocky	Stardust Speedway Zone (Metal Sonic projector only), Hydrocity Zone, Oil Ocean Zone
	Tocky	Stardust Speedway Zone (Metal Sonic projector only), Titanic Monarch Zone
	Wocky	Stardust Speedway Zone (Metal Sonic projector only)

Other appearances

• Cucky, Flicky, Locky and a red bird appear in the four levels of Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball.
• Animals resembling Wocky and Flicky appear in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball's Trapped Alive Bonus Stage.
• Flicky and Ricky appear in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure. Flicky, Ricky, Pecky, Picky, Pocky and Cucky appear in the ending.
• Flickies are the most ubiquitous tiny critters of the games, appearing (in addition to the aforementioned) in: Tails Adventures, Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, Sonic Jam, Sonic R, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Advance 3 Sonic Rush, Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics and more. (See Flicky entry for further details.)
• Cucky, Flicky, Pecky and Picky reappear in Sonic Generations as part of the Rescue the Animals! missions and as trophy in the secret Trophy Room.
• Flicky and co. appear as background characters on the Windy Hill Zone stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. They also appear as a collectable trophy.