Actions

Mighty the Armadillo

From Sonic Retro

(Redirected from Mighty)
Sonicretro-round.svg This article needs cleanup.
This article needs to be edited to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Specifically, issues with this article are:
  • There are not enough references to back up claims
  • Superfluous plot information should be covered elsewhere on Sonic Retro
    • Plot information contains too much real world information mixed in

After the article has been cleaned up, you may remove this message. See How to Edit a Page for help.


Mighty chaotix.png
Sonic-mania-plus-s-2.png
Mighty the Armadillo
First seen: SegaSonic the Hedgehog (1993)
Species: Armadillo
Gender: Male
Age: 16Media:Chaotix 32X JP manual.pdf[1]
Created by: Manabu Kusunoki

Mighty the Armadillo (マイティー・ザ・アルマジロ) is a fictional character in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. He is a red anthropomorphic armadillo who first appeared in the 1993 Sega System 32 arcade game, SegaSonic the Hedgehog.

Character conception

An early sighting of Mighty (second from left), drawn by Naoto Oshima.

Mighty the Armadillo was created by Manabu Kusunoki as a "friend" of Sonic the Hedgehog alongside a small cast of other animals, including Ray the Flying Squirrel and Naoto Oshima's creations, Vector the Crocodile and Sharps. While armadillo designs are thought to have been considered when designing Sonic in 1990/1991, Mighty's design is not thought to have been finalised until at least 1992, specifically with the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog in mind.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog was designed to support three simultaneous players with the same controls and movesets, so Mighty's initial role was to emulate Sonic in that game, albeit with a new set of sprites and a deeper voice. Western media has used his name to suggest Mighty has super strength (as opposed to Sonic's super speed), though the character was left undeveloped by Sega of Japan.

In video games

Unlike characters such as Tails or Knuckles, Mighty has been used sparingly in official Sonic produce. Following the release of SegaSonic the Hedgehog, he returned in 1995 for the Sega 32X game Chaotix, but outside of small cameo appearances, was not seen for than twenty years in a video game, finally returning in a starring role in 2018's Sonic Mania Plus (alongside Ray, who hadn't been seen properly since SegaSonic the Hedgehog).

Personality and traits

Mighty at a SegaSonic the Hedgehog arcade, drawn by Yui Karasuno.
Sonicretro-round.svg This short section needs expansion. You can help Sonic Retro by adding to it.

History

SegaSonic the Hedgehog

Mighty has very little backstory in his first game appearance. Captured alongside Sonic and Ray by Dr. Eggman, SegaSonic the Hedgehog sees the trio attempt to escape Eggman's Prison Island while avoiding death-traps.

Chaotix

Mighty returned in the 1995 32X game Chaotix, having travelled to Newtrogic High Zone only to be captured by Dr. Eggman. He is subsequently freed by Knuckles the Echidna alongside Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee, and works with the rest of the cast (including former Eggman mechanics Heavy and Bomb) to put a stop to Eggman's plans.

Chaotix had an unusual development period, in that it was originally set to star Sonic and Tails, only for other characters to be substituted in as replacements. Mighty was inserted in the slot previously reserved for Sonic, and both looks and behaves similarly to Sonic's appearance in the Chaotix prototype, Sonic Crackers. Mighty can perform a wall jump move, though is arguably one of the least effective characters in-game, given that Espio can run up walls, Knuckles and Vector can climb, and Charmy can fly.

The US instruction manual states that Mighty is "strong, smart and confident" and "can't stand weakness in anything"Media:Chaotix 32X US manual.pdf[2].

Sonic Mania Plus

After 23 years of absence, Mighty returned as a playable character alongside Ray in Sonic Mania Plus, a definitive version of Sonic Mania. In this game, Mighty has a move known as the Hammer Drop, which is a downward slam attack, and his shell can protect him from enemy attacks whenever he is curled up. He can also bounce off spikes harmlessly, but only once per jump. In Encore Mode, he is trapped in a capsule with Ray in Angel Island Zone and has to be rescued by Sonic.

If the player collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, Mighty can become Super Mighty.

Cameo appearances

Mighty has made a guest appearance in the Sega Saturn title Gale Racer, where alongside other Sonic characters, he appears as a toy that swings from side to side in the player's cockpit. He also makes a cameo appearance in Sonic Generations, where he and Ray can be seen on a "Missing" poster in City Escape.

Mighty was added to Minecraft as an official player skin, as part of the Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration on June 22nd, 2021[3].

In other media

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)

Mighty was introduced as having super strength in the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series in the Knuckles' Chaotix special, where he becomes one of the founding members of the "Chaotix" group. He later went on a solo adventure to find Ray.

Sonic the Comic

In Sonic the Comic, Mighty is introduced as part of the Chaotix Crew alongside Charmy, Espio, Vector and at the time, Nack the Weasel. Mighty never leaves the Chaotix throughout the series' run, and is again presented as a strongman, as well as having a friendly rivalry with Espio. He had some trouble to keep his half-crazed father, Blockhead Bill, under control.

Sonic Mania Adventures

Mighty has also been featured in Sonic Mania Adventures, where he was apparently missing, but showed up in time to save Ray from being attacked by Metal Sonic. With the two reunited, they made their way to Eggman's base and helped Sonic and Tails fight a supercharged Metal Sonic.

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW comics)

Mighty and Ray continued to go on adventures together after the events of Sonic Mania. They first got to meet Amy Rose in Spring Valley Zone. He also met Bark the Polar Bear in Autumn Forest Zone, who he saw as a kindred spirit. He and Ray helped Sonic and his friends to stop the returning threat of Heavy King.[4] Amy later drew comics of Mighty and Ray's adventures which got Mighty to chuckle.[5] When Mighty was captured by Metal Sonic, Ray, Amy and Bark rescued him from Eggman Island Zone.[6]

Voice actors

References


Characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog game series
Recurring characters
Heroes Sonic (Super, Starfall, Hyper, Darkspine, the Werehog, Excalibur) | Tails (Super) | Knuckles (Super, Hyper) | Amy (Super, Hyper) | Mighty (Super) | Ray (Super) | Espio | Charmy | Vector | Cream | Big | Blaze (Burning) | Silver (Super) | Sticks
Anti-heroes/Neutrals Shadow (Super) | Rouge | E-102 Gamma | E-123 Omega | Jet | Wave | Storm
Villains Dr. Eggman | Metal Sonic (Rocket, Neo, 3.0) | Mecha Sonic (8-bit, Mk. II, Mk. III, Super) | Fang | Tails Doll | Metal Knuckles | Chaos (Perfect) | E-Series | ZERO | Biolizard (Finalhazard) | Black Doom (Devil Doom) | Eggman Nega | Orbot | Cubot | Deadly Six (Zavok, Zazz, Zomom, Master Zik, Zeena, Zor)
Teams Sonic/Heroes | Rose | Dark | Chaotix | Babylon
Other Animals (Flicky) | Froggy | Chao (Hero, Dark) | Tikal | Pachacamac | Omochao | Chaclon | Gerald & Maria Robotnik | President | King Boom Boo | Cheese | Chocola | Vanilla | G.U.N. Commander | Wisps | Mother Wisp
One-off characters
Heroes Emerl | Marine | Lumina Flowlight | Chip | Shahra | Knights of the Round Table | Caliburn | Yacker | Avatar | Barry | Trip (Super)
Anti-heroes/Neutrals Bean | Bark | Shade | Merlina | Sage
Villains Witchcart | Hocke-Wulf | Bearenger | Carrotia | Battle Kukku Army (15th, 16th, Dr. Fukurokov) | E-101 Beta | Void | Chaos Gamma | Gemerl | Shugo-hei | Iblis | Mephiles | Solaris | Erazor Djinn | Captain Whisker | Johnny | Master Core: ABIS | Ix (Super) | Dark Gaia | King Arthur | Hard Boiled Heavies | Infinite | The End | Mirage Express
Teams Vector | Eggman
Other Birdie | Illumina | Secretary | Elise | Duke of Soleanna | Sonic Man | Coconut Crew | Vikings | Professor Pickle | Wentos | Don Fachio | Dodon Pa | Koco | Ancients | Conductor | Conductor's wife | Ariem | Heavy | Bomb | Tiara Boobowski | Honey