Rouge the Bat is one of the more beloved female characters in the Sonic canon.
Appearing in the very early 2000s, the character quickly grew a following, and has made numerous
appearances in the Sonic games, television shows and comics alike.
But how much do you really know about Rouge the Bat?
Well today, we’re counting down our favourite 10 facts about the character, with our list
of the top 10 Rogue the Bat surprising facts.
Some of these facts may be no surprise for seasoned Sonic fans, and for others, it may
put the character in a better light.
So let’s get to it!
10 Nails the Bat Originally, Rouge was supposed to be named
Nails the Bat.
Her name was changed before her first appearance in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2 to better suit
her personality.
Since then, the character has appeared in 28 games in the franchise, with some of those
appearances being playable, and others simply making an appearance, like Sonic Jump Fever,
being a brief cameo.
The character has also been used as a trophy, like in Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3Ds.
Outside of the games, Rouge’s first appearance in the Archie comics was in Sonic the Hedgehog
#98, which was a cross promotion issue with the release of Sonic Adventure 2.
9 Yuji Uekawa Speaking of her creation, the individual responsible
for Rouge is Yuji Uekawa.
Yuji is one of the character designers at Sega, and a member of Sonic Team.
He started his career at Sega working on Sonic R, and was responsible for the series redesign
that occurred in 1998 with Sonic Adventure.
Aside from Rouge, he’s also responsible for creating another Sonic fan favourite - Knuckles
the Echidna.
8 Her Espionage Career Rouge is more than just a pretty face.
The character is a jewel thief and government spy working for the President of the United
Federation.
If those credits weren’t enough, she also works as an agent on load for the Guardian
Units of Nations, also known as G.U.N, who are a worldwide military and law enforcement
organization.
In addition to her stacked resume, she’s also a world-famous freelance treasure hunter,
and definitely loves her some jewels, including the likes of the Master Emerald and Chaos
Emeralds.
Her career in espionage has given her a ton of training and experience when it comes to
combat, stealth and infiltration.
7 Sonic Forces Mod One of the many complaints fans had with the
most recent Sega developed Sonic game Sonic Forces was that you weren’t able to play
any of the beloved cast of supporting characters.
This includes Rouge.
But, luckily, someone has made a mod for the game, in which you can play as Rouge.
It’s also available for other characters, too.
6 Voice Actors There are two voice actors who have lent their
talents to Sega for Rouge.
Rumi Ochiai of Japan has voiced Rouge in 15 titles, and Kathleen Delaney has voiced her
in 8, including the likes of Sonic 06, Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2.
Rumi is known for her work in the Naruto franchise, while Kathleen has voiced multiple characters
in the You-Gi-Oh! franchise, including Man Valentine.
5 Her Furry Fandom It should be no surprise to you that the Sonic
franchise has a pretty extensive furry fandom.
If you don’t know what a furry is, maybe go give that a google right now.
With safe search on.
Trust me.
Got it?
Good.
All things physically considered, it makes sense why Rouge has a big following in that
fandom, with her often being portrayed as a “fleeting seductress who uses her raw
sexual appeal with great liberty”.
The community also have a few running jokes about Rouge, joking that her breasts are filled
with gas which is why she’s able to fly with such large ones (that they themselves
often inflate in fan art), and that her adoration of jewelry is a sexual euphemism.
4 Her Relationship with Knuckles Knuckles and Rouge are usually depicted as
rivals - the two have been fighting over the Master Emerald ever since Rouge’s introduction
into the Sonic universe.
But often, they’re relationship has been depicted as a romantic one.
By the end of Sonic Rivals 2, when they team up, she’s calling him dashing and daring.
Rouge’s flirtations also carry over into her interactions with Knuckles in the comics,
making his comic beau Julie Su pretty jealous from time to time.
3 Her Name We mentioned earlier that Rouge initially
was intended to be Nails the Bat, but her name was changed.
So why did Rouge stick?
Well, there’s a lot of debate over that.
First off, some believe that it comes from her being introduced as a love interest for
Knuckles, who is red, hence calling her Rouge (which is the French word for red).
Another popular theory is that the word rouge has some historical connotations to certain
kinds of behaviour - most of which Rouge herself exhibits - that behaviour being ‘less-than-wholesome’,
ie flirting, dancing, drinking, etc.
Other fans have connected her name to the city of Baton Rouge in Louisiana, which is
home to a large population of bats.
2 Parents Rouge is one of the only characters to ever
talk about her parents in the franchise.
Rouge mentions her mother, who she refers to as “mama” in the Nintendo DS game Sonic
Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
Aside from familial relationships, those platonically closet to Rouge are Shadow the Hedgehog and
E-123 Omega, with Shadow being her best friend and Omega making for a close second.
1 Dominatrix Outfit For years, Rouge has been criticized as being
too much of an overtly sexualized character in the Sonic games.
She’s even gotten heat from parents of kids who play the games for having inappropriate
mannerisms.
Whether or not you agree, turns out you can actually make the character even sexier if
you wanted to in Sonic Adventure 2.
The game features multiple unlockable outfits for various characters, and one of Rouge’s
includes a Dominatrix inspired outfit.
It’s unlocked after clearing all of Rouge’s missions in the game.
There’s also a Christmas and Halloween themed outfit, and a risqué two piece outfit available
too.
There we have it friends!
How do you feel about Rouge the Bat?
Great Sonic character, or useless supporting nobody?
Let us know in those comments below!
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