Rouge the Bat [Sonic the Hedgehog]

Rouge the Bat (ルージュ・ザ・バット, Rūju za Batto?) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She is an anthropomorphic bat and jewel thief who has worked as a part-time government spy for the President of the United Federation and in close association with the Guardian Units of Nations. A world-famous treasure hunter, Rouge has a weakness for jewels, like the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds, which she always obsesses about. As a spy, Rouge is trained in combat, stealth and infiltration, and possesses both super-level kicking power and flight. Rouge is in short, an enigma, as her motivations are always in question. In truth, she is usually just out for herself. She is incredibly smart, sassy, and seductive, and knows how to get what she wants. Once she has a target in mind, she always goes for it, regardless of the costs. Beneath her ditsy exterior though, she is a calculating realist and her motives are always mercenary in nature. Regardless, she is loyal to her closest friends and has more than once helped Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies save the world. Concept and Creation: During the development of Sonic Adventure 2, Takashi Iizuka wanted to explore the dichotomy of good and evil, leading to the creation of characters that would challenge the established heroes and assist Doctor Eggman. One of these characters would become Shadow the Hedgehog, while the other was Rouge. Her design was inspired by famous Latin-American women such as Jennifer Lopez. She was originally known as "Shadow" - in the final game, this name was instead given to the character that was called "Terios" in early builds of the game.

Appearance

Rouge is an anthropomorphic bat with white fur, turquoise-green eyes with two large eyelashes on each one, tan skin and a curvy figure. She has large pointy ears, small fangs, a small black nose on her muzzle, a short pointy tail, and a pair of dark purple wings on her back. Only her head appears to have fur, which flares out into six points at the back. Rouge usually wears makeup consisting of powder-blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick. For attire, Rouge wears a black bodysuit which includes a skin-tight and strapless low-cut unitard that sports a pink, heart-shaped chest plate outlined with thin white-trimming. She also wears elbow-length white gloves and thigh-high high-heeled boots with pink cuffs to match them, with the latter featuring both gray soles and heels, along with steel toes in the appearance of pink hearts, matching her leotard's chest plate.

Personality

Rouge is a strong-minded female bat with a collected and convivial voice. Nothing short of an enigma, she is a person of many mysteries, always playing an active role on both sides of the truth in many global affairs. Her appeal is very complex, but it is not too far off to describe her as an elusive, mysterious, and mature woman who is true to her desires. To most people, Rouge appears as a brave, ambitious, independent, flirtatious, greedy, calculating narcissist who only thinks about herself and treasure. In Sonic Generations she is referred to as a temptress, due to her seductive ways. A gem-enthusiast, Rouge specializes in gem heists and gem-based treasure hunts, and has an unquenchable thirst for gemstones. The latter is due to a certain philosophy of hers: once you get a good gem, you will want a better one. However, a jewel that she cannot actually hold in her hand has no value to her, although a beautiful scenery matching the finest of jewels is equally valuable to her. Rouge's carefree and playful devil-may-care attitude can be fun to some people, like the easygoing Sonic, or annoying for others, like the gruff Knuckles. While she may appear ditzy though, Rouge is in truth a cunning, calculative, and pragmatic realist; though she pretends to know nothing, she always manages to gets closer to the heart of the matter than anyone else; she shows lax behavior but manages to conduct delicate research; she can be on the enemy's side but then turn into a reliable ally while keeping her eyes on seizing the monetary prizes for herself. Overall, she has a way of taking off a figurative veil to reveal a dramatic new side of herself. Regardless, this unpredictable and mysterious aspect of Rouge may be her appeal. Rouge can also show a bashful side, such as the time she saved you from falling to his doom and became very embarrassed. She can also be a bit of a hypocrite, especially in regard to thefts. This is especially evident when, after witnessing the Master Emerald being stolen, she refers to the one stealing it as a thief despite the fact that she herself had stolen it from Knuckles earlier, something the echidna even noted by saying "Look who's calling who a thief", and in Grand Metropolis stage when she calls robots energy thieves. Rouge is also at times a government spy who often works for her own gain. Rouge has a great obsession for jewels which she loves more than anything else, or even anything else that shines or glitters. Known to be a brilliant spy one minute and a gem-obsessed treasure hunter the next, she has little to no qualms about lying and manipulating others, often using her charms and attractiveness to seduce and take advantage of others, just to get what she wants. In truth though, below her outward demeanor, she possesses a kind heart. In fact, on many occasions, Rouge has shown she can be heroic, possess loyalty, care about others, or, at least, have some degree of morality. In the final events of Sonic Adventure 2, she helped save the planet from destruction. In Sonic Heroes, she jumped between Shadow and Omega's hectic fight as the mediator. 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 his welfare at the end of the game. She also is not fond of hearing Omega constantly talking about vengeance. Recently, she has been seen less selfish, as can be seen by her actions towards Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Rivals. However, as shown in her portrayal in Sonic Free Riders, which depicts her as very cold and callous from her desire for the cash prize, suggesting she still possesses her interest in jewels and riches. This is proved as she couldn't care less that E-10000B broke down and even went on to insult it as well. Cunning, confident, sassy and fearless, Rouge knows how to get what she wants. While she might appear to be ditsy and carefree at first glance, her mind is always actively scheming and making up new strategic plans. A calculating and manipulative realist who can arrange situations to go the way she wants them to, she acts mainly on her mercenary instincts. Because her motivations do not always appear as what they seem at first, Rouge is quite enigmatic, and her intentions are not always entirely clear. Rouge is an ideal spy, able to be cunning, manipulative, deceitful, strategic, observational and tactful at the drop of a hat, such as when she delayed Shadow from finding Eggman and tipped off the Chaotix to Eggman's location, all to bring in Sonic to reign in Shadow and keep the situation from getting too violent. This suggests a more compassionate side to her, or at least that she is not narrow-sighted or willing to act without a full story. Also, despite her profession as a jewel thief/treasure hunter, Rouge is not completely selfish, though she also sees good deeds as ways to achieve her personal goals. She is likewise fond of riches and jewels, such as the Master Emerald. For this reason, she is ready to help defend the world so there will be a civilization in which she can live the high life. Nonetheless, her compassionate side does show up at times, and she will not hesitate to protect those in need, showing a selfless side beneath. However, she does not consider herself a type of person who will sacrifice herself for the greater good, nor someone who is too helpful. Abilities and Skills: A part-time government agent who has undergone extensive special and secret training, and the "world's greatest thief," Rouge has proven herself a most fearsome individual in terms of both skills and physical might and is arguably one of the strongest female characters in the Sonic series. Notably, she has been able to outmatch Amy more than once, and during the Space Colony ARK incident, she was able to fight the combat-versed Knuckles the Echidna to a stalemate during their clash. Much like Knuckles and you, Rouge possesses enormous strength. However, while Knuckles' strength lies in his upper body, Rouge's strength lies in her lower body, particularly in her legs and feet, which provides her with incredible kicking power. With a basic kick, she can shatter boulders and dent walls. She can likewise knock opponents high into the air or blow them away with a single kick. She can even perform powerful High Kicks that pack enough power to split an opponent in half. She can as well strike the ground with such force that it creates widespread tremors and carry the entirety of Team Dark through midair. In some cases, her kick attacks can take a surgical approach instead of typical blunt force (the kind that Knuckles is famous for). To this extent, her kicks have demonstrated the capacity for slashing clean through any sort of barriers, such as glass cases and metal doors as if by a blade. Besides physical strength, Rouge also possesses an innate quickness, reaching those of super speeds; she was able to keep up with her teammates during the Neo Metal Sonic incident and run at speeds compatible to various other speedy individuals during the Ifrit incident. Rouge is also shown to have sharp reflexes, agility and acrobatic skills on both the ground and in midair, enough to let her effortlessly do special tricks and all other kinds of actions while in mid-air, effortlessly pull off cartwheels, pull off various Spin Attack maneuvers at high speed, and grind along Grind Rails without any trouble. Rouge possesses powerful bat wings that let her fly and glide through the air with ease. A very skilled flier, she even has a Sudden Descent Flight maneuver that allows her to get whatever she lays her eyes on. Also, thanks to her training, she can sustain flight, without losing altitude. Alternatively, she can use her wings to slowly fall while gliding through the air, like Knuckles and you. Rouge is also a skilled swimmer, being able to swim into incredible depths and with both great speed and skill. She also excels at climbing, being able to scale any kind of wall, no matter the material it is made of. She is also excellent at burrowing and tunneling through subterranean regions, often by using a drill-like spin maneuver with her boots. As a seasoned and greatly skilled spy and the "world's greatest thief" to boot, Rouge possesses a keen and tactical mind and is an expert in a diverse set of skills that includes gathering intel, manipulation, infiltration, lockpicking and much more. These abilities let her out-think, out-maneuver, or simply out-class her opposition. Most of the time though, she uses these skills to pull different kinds of heists. With all those skills at her disposal, Rouge can surreptitiously enter enemy-held territory using only her expertise and sharp intellect; during the Space Colony ARK incident, she not only snuck onboard the Space Colony ARK undetected, but also tricked Shadow and Dr. Eggman into believing that she was willing to help them when she was actually sent to investigate the doctor on behalf of the United Federation while repeatedly toying around with them and eventually getting closer to the truth about Project Shadow than anyone else. She is similarly an expert in the art of stealth, as she can masterfully enter even the most fortified of locations nearly undetected, such as Prison Island,Eggman's headquarters or Space Colony ARK, and sneak up on people without bringing attention to herself. She also has skills in hacking computers and breaking codes in record time with successful results every time. She is likewise skilled in utilizing bomb for combat and demolition; she can both throw showers of bombs at foes or snipe foes with bombs with pinpoint precision. Rouge is also capable of performing the Spin Attack, a technique where she curls into a concussive ball or cutting disk and directs herself at her targets. With it, Rouge can shred or burrow through just about any substance given enough speed. Adept in its usage, Rouge can utilize several variants of the Spin Attack for both grounded and aerial maneuvers, including the Spin Dash, Spin Jump, and Homing Attack. However, she favors her basic Kick Attack and Drill Drive maneuvers, which let her utilize her powerful legs. Her signature skill in particular is the Screw Kick, a technique where she leaps up and spins her body to form an upwards drill, feet-first. Even when not making use of her specialized techniques and equipment, Rouge is a swift and powerful combatant and has proven herself a force to be reckoned on the battlefield. Said to boast excellent footwork in a fight, she possesses kickboxing-like prowess with a fighting style derived from her special training. As such, she utilizes a large number of skillful and specialized kicks, never resorting her fists or arms. Using her agility in combination with her special training, Rouge can perform moves such as high kicks, side kicks, rolling sobats, spin kicks, axe kicks and back thrust kicks where she strikes her opponents with pinpoint precision and efficiency. She can as well launch tail spin kicks that send her flying forward while spinning like a drill and let her pierce through her opponents. Rouge can also take her fighting techniques into the air with her flight skills, allowing her to hit her opponents with aerial kicks and downward tail spins. Like real-life bats, Rouge has an excellent sense of hearing, enough to let her to hear even Espio, who is a master of stealth, when he is in her proximity. In addition, she can produce ultrasonic waves with her voice which she can turn into a concussive force to attack foes with. Rouge can also clutch on surfaces with her feet and dangle upside down. As a world-famous treasure hunter, Rouge is as well a skilled treasure hunter, as seen during her hunt for the Emerald Shards and numerous searches for the Chaos Emeralds. Rouge has also proven herself as very talented Extreme Gear rider; during the second EX Grand Prix, she was able to go toe-to-toe with some of the best Extreme Gear riders in the world. While in midair, she is capable of doing several acrobatic tricks with her Extreme Gear and dash through midair with her Extreme Gear to pass through shortcuts. As seen during Dodon Pa's Grand Prix, Rouge also has excellent skills when it comes to driving and racing in racecars like the Lip Spyder. In addition to being a super spy specializing in intelligence gathering, Rouge is capable of flight using the wings on her back. She is also strong enough to carry another creature to her own size at ease with just one hand. She is also a very competent combatant, often employing kicks with her powerful legs. Highly intelligent, Rouge is a seasoned spy who can disguise her true identity and motivations from others. She is as well quite stealthy and resourceful, being able to elusively infiltrate the most remote and isolated Eggman bases, where she can remain hidden until the very end while waiting for the right time to strike. Equipment: Rouge makes use of different types of personalized mines and bombs. For example, she carries around numerous heart-marked bombs that she can deploy from midair and will detonate when touched by a foreign target. She similarly carries around other kinds of bombs for either combat and demolition. She also makes use of floating mines that are able to guide themselves towards enemies using a simple AI. During the Neo Metal Sonic incident, she also made use of Dummy Rings. When not relying on her combat skills, Rouge carries around personalized gadgetry such as heart-emblazoned bombs powerful enough to blow a regular Badnik to bits.