Rouge the Bat

Rouge the Bat (ルージュ・ザ・バット) is a fictional supporting character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She is an anthropomorphic white bat, and jewel thief working as a part-time government spy for the President of the United Federation, and an agent on loan for the Guardian Units of Nations. A world famous freelance 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 very smart, sassy and seductive, and knows how to get what she wants.

Background

 * Sonic X (Anime)

Not much is known of Rouge's origins or past whatsoever, although it is reveal at some point that she gained an obsession with jewels and became a treasure hunter. She also joined the Guardian Units of Nations as an undercover agent, and was paid for her services with gems and other riches as a award. She gained possession of the blue Chaos Emerald at some point.

Personality

 * Sonic X (Anime)

Rouge is an enigma whose voluptuous, and daring attitude turns any man's head. Her only policy though is that duty comes first, but she has a big interest in jewels. Her figure, speech and behavior masks her true identity. She is very secretive about everything and very little has actually ever been disclosed about her. She would often switch sides with either the good or bad to confuse them.

Appearance

 * Sonic X (Anime)

She is a white bat with purple wings. She wears blue mascara on her face, and has red lipstick on her lips. Her eyes are black, and the inside of her ears are orange. The bottom of her face is orange and her body is orange. She wears a pink heart bra and has purple leggings. Her boots her whit with pink hearts and her gloves are also white.

Season 1
Rouge had been eavesdropping on Dr. Eggman when Sonic and his friends attacked his base to rescue Cream and Cheese and retrieve the Chaos Emeralds, but was caught up in the Chaos Control that resulted from damage done to the Doctor's device the Chaos Emeralds were in, sending her to Earth with everyone else.[2] Rouge decided to focus her attention on her thievery skills, stealing valuable gems, and purposefully leaving her calling card behind after she escapes. Overhearing a plan by G.U.N. to lure Sonic into a trap via rumors of a Chaos Emerald to convince him to aid them against Dr. Eggman, Rouge went ahead and changed the sign, luring Sonic and his friends in the wrong direction, while she fell into the trap and was caught by the waiting G.U.N. troopers, including a female agent named Topaz, who Rouge quickly got on the bad side of with her insults.[3]

Meeting with the President, Rouge was granted immunity to her crimes and permission to keep all the gems she had taken if she agreed to aid G.U.N. on a stealth mission into Eggman's headquarters to map it out for a future attack on the base. Rouge agreed (if only to use the government to find the Chaos Emeralds), but since she was not fully trustworthy yet, she had a bomb attached to her wrist, so if there was the slightest hint of treachery from her, they would detonate it. However, Rouge proved herself by helping the commando team enter the base and explore it, but with dawn approaching, most of the commandos retreated, while Topaz remained with Rouge to continue the mission, running into E-70 Noizi, who alerted Eggman to intruders, and he sent E-12 Behemoth, E-13 Guardbot, and E-14 Sneezer to investigate. Rouge was unable to fight back thanks to Noizi's amplified siren reaching levels that even her sensitive bat ears could not handle, but when Rouge busted the bomb off her wrist and jammed it in Noizi's speaker, Topaz detonated the bomb, damaging Noizi long enough for Rouge to finish it off with her Screw Kick, before she grabbed Topaz and fled past Eggman before Noizi exploded completely.[3]

Thanks to the intelligence that Rouge and Topaz collected during that mission, the President prepared the attack on Eggman's headquarters. While G.U.N. launched a frontal assault with naval and air forces, a commando team, including Topaz and Rouge, sneaked into the base to plant explosives in the Power Room.[4] However, Eggman returned from going after a Chaos Emerald, and after chewing out Decoe and Bocoe for firing on him when they thought he was a G.U.N. aircraft, he sealed Topaz, Rouge, and the commando team in the Power Room with the explosives armed and ready to detonate in a few minutes. As Topaz gave up hope, Rouge attempted to bust the door down, soon aided by Knuckles. Luckily, Sonic, after defeating E-18 Guerra-Hard and getting its two Chaos Emeralds, broke the door down, allowing Knuckles, Rouge, Topaz, and the commando team to escape just in time before the explosives blew and wiped out Eggman's headquarters.[5]

Video Games
Rouge the Bat is a playable character in all the following video games:
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Sonic Adventure 2
 * Sonic Battle
 * Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood
 * Sonic Colors (DS)
 * Sonic Free Riders
 * Sonic Generations
 * Sonic Heroes
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
 * Sonic Riders
 * Sonic Riders Zero Gravity
 * Sonic Rivals
 * Sonic Rivals 2
 * Team Sonic Racing

Quotes

 * (in Sonic X) "I got one lose some weight".
 * I despise anyone who takes jewels from me... All the world's gems are mine to keep!

Shadow the Hedgehog
The two are teammates and current best friends in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes and often work together during mission stages, but are not seen together outside of duty alliance and do not spend time in one another's presence unless it is business. Nonetheless, Shadow is one of the few people Rouge cares about, other than herself.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow saw a comparison to Maria in Rouge and saved her life when she was trapped in Security Hall. Despite how he later dismissed his actions saying he only returned for the Chaos Emeralds that she had acquired, she suspected that there was more to his reason for saving Rouge than he let on.

In Sonic Heroes, Rouge forms Team Dark with Shadow and Omega. During this time, Rouge and Shadow are much closer than they were in Sonic Adventure 2; interacting more within Team Dark as partners alongside Omega. Rouge is willing to help Shadow get answers about his past and is shown to have some sympathy for him when they discover the existence of Shadow Androids.

In Sonic Battle, Rouge calls Shadow "not bad-looking" and "a prince". She also lets him stay with her at Club Rouge when he is injured during a fight after carrying him inside when he passes out in front of the club. Also, while Shadow is dreaming, an image of Rouge appears and he whispers, "Ally." Rouge seems offended when Shadow doesn't thank her for saving him, but later he thanked her when she told him that she actually rescued him.

In Sonic Rivals, after Shadow saves Rouge from Eggman Nega, Rouge tries to persuade him into going treasure hunting with her and suggests the two "take a peek" into their own future using Eggman Nega's device. Shadow declines and the story ends with Rouge still trying to convince Shadow to join her in hunting for the remaining cards.

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Rouge makes an attempt to draw Shadow into a conversation that doesn't involve Mephiles' plan to destroy the world, and at one point she says, "It's always business with you." when Shadow ignores her and rejects the off-topic sessions. Although, Shadow also shows he is protective of Rouge's wellbeing. Once, when catching her from a fall after she was momentarily knocked out by one of Dr. Eggman's robots. And again, when he jumps in front of her defensively, after a fake Chaos Emerald explodes. After E-123 Omega reveals to Shadow that he is the one who traps him in the future, Rouge tells Shadow, that she will always be on his side no matter which side he takes, Shadow pauses, then replies strongly replies that he will. Though, in the original Japanese version of the video game, Rouge simply says, "You always have friends to whom you can rely on."

In Sonic Free Riders, both Shadow and Rouge appear as Team Dark along with E-10000B. Their main focus during the game is winning the treasure and prize money. Unlike in previous games, Shadow seems perfectly content with helping Rouge obtain the treasure she covets. (Note: This is the only time Shadow has appeared in a game with the intent on making money, rather than his usual ulterior motives, although the manual implies that Shadow also joined for the sake of competing against Sonic of who had the better skills).

Sonic the Hedgehog

 * Sonic X

Miles "Tails" Prower
Tails and Rouge have a friendly relationship but Rouge sometimes adds complications to it. They will usually get along but Rouge will sometimes playfully tease Tails to just get a reaction from him.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Tails was basically unaware of Rouge's presence, but this was because Rouge was sent by Eggman to spy on Tails when he was trying to find the President. After that their interaction stopped until the Ark was set to on its course for collision with earth. In Sonic Battle, Rouge would use her charm to tease Tails because she thought it was cute and funny how he reacted. She was however very helpful in Tails' story as she gave him the access card for the Central Computer Room, distracted Shadow, and told Tails how to escape the Guard Robos. Later on in Rouge's story Tails had to stop Rouge from stealing a Chaos Emerald. In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, while in Metropolis, Rouge would sometimes be snarky with the plans Tails and Eggman would come up with but still show a playful affection for Tails.

Vector the Crocodile
Rouge and Vector have interacted a couple of times in games, usually in an uncomfortable manner. She seems to dislike him and marks him foolish. In Sonic Heroes in Team Dark's Story, when Rouge was representative for Team Dark, the Chaotix budged in her way, both started trash talking to each other until Rouge found him foolish and asked for a fight. In Team Chaotix's side, Vector claims Rouge's team as the enemies and their client adversary which lead to a fight.

In Sonic Free Riders, in the finals, both seem to have a common interest in winning the prize money when Rouge gets angry that their robot partner breaks down just one race before the cash prize. Cream complains about her behavior, but Vector says that he can relate with her in wanting the money of the Grand Prix, though it is not worth sacrificing a teammate.

In Sonic Generations, they don't really interact with each other but they attend the same party and face the same conditions as everyone else. However, when the player gets all Red Star Rings in the Classic version of Spagonia, Vector says, "Aw man, you got all five Red Star Rings. Rouge is gonna have my hide for this one."

Trivia

 * Prima's Game Guide for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) states that there are rumors that Rouge has feelings for both Shadow and Knuckles,[15] although it is unknown how much of this is valid due to the book possessing a large amount of errors and contradictions. It also erroneously says above that in Omega's back history that it was his rampage that unleashed Rouge from Eggman's base.[16]
 * In Sonic Adventure 2 and its re-releases, Rouge's character model features breast physics. This is most easily visible in the brief pause before her intro sequence for multiplayer in the Dreamcast version. This was the only game to feature this trait with her.
 * In Sonic Riders, Rouge has blue eye shadow on the character select screen and in gameplay but when you see her icon on the race results screen she has pink eye shadow on, very similar to the eye shadow in Sonic Heroes.
 * Rouge may have been named after the jewel, the Rouge, relating to her jewel obsession. Her name could also come from a type of makeup applied to the cheeks (also called "blush"). It is also possible that her name is a pun on the capital of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, due to her first name being Rouge and her being a bat. Her name also means "red" in French, possibly named after Knuckles' color or the fact that red is a color symbolizing love and Rouge is having a flirtatious and romantic attitude. Another possibility is that her name is a play on the word "Rogue", often used as a synonym for "Thief", mirroring how she often steals other peoples’ jewels.
 * Although she told Knuckles at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 that she was done with jewelry, she is still hopelessly obsessed with jewels in later games.
 * Not counting team members in the support class, Rouge has the least team POW moves in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, with only one. Also, 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).
 * In Sonic Heroes, while selecting Shadow or Omega to be Team Dark's leader, if you use the first-person camera to look at Rouge, she will occasionally turn her head in the player's direction and wink.
 * Rouge and some other characters have a few locations named after them in Empire City, as seen on the street signs of the level's day time stages in Sonic Unleashed.
 * At one point in Sonic Battle while Rouge was around, Sonic says, "I smell perfume. Maybe Rouge is around.". This might mean that Rouge wears perfume, or Sonic was only making a joke.
 * After Sonic Battle, Rouge's design changed a bit, her wings become less detailed and only one color, also her blue eye shadow got darker after Sonic Adventure 2, (while becoming lighter again in Sonic Generations).
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge's outfit appears to be a purple/lavender color in game, but the concept art from the game has the outfit in its regular black color.
 * To date, Rouge has never appeared in any Sonic game without Shadow appearing in the same game, cameo or not.
 * In her alternate outfit model in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle her mid-driff shows her navel. However, in Sonic Riders and onwards it isn't present. It is also true that Sonic characters do not have a navel (such as Wave and Tikal). Notably, though, Wave, as a bird, and Tikal, as an echidna, both hatched from eggs, which could account for the lack of a navel.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2 Rouge had fangs, but afterwards, they were absent. From Sonic Free Riders though, they have started to become visible again.
 * One of Rouge's unused lines ("Pleasure before business!") of Sonic Adventure 2 is used in one episode of Sonic X.
 * After Sonic Adventure 2, Sega decided to change Rouge's outfit (explaining why she wore something different in Sonic Heroes) to make her look less provocative, but they ultimately decided to change it back as they found the new outfit to be even more provocative than the old one.
 * Rouge was going to appear in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing as a playable racer alongside Vector, Espio, Silver and Blaze, but was scrapped from the final product.[17]

Voice Actresses
all information on Rouge the Bat came from http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Rouge_the_Bat
 * Japanese : Rumi Ochiai (all media)
 * English : Lani Minella (2001 – 2005), Kathleen Delaney (2005 – 2010), Karen Strassman (2010 – Present)