Trip the Sungazer
Trip the Sungazer[3] (トリップ・ザ・サンゲイザー[4] Torippu za Sangeizā?) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She is an anthropomorphic sungazer[2] that inhabits the Northstar Islands. She was once hired by Dr. Eggman and Fang the Hunter to guide them through the archipelago's areas[5] before defecting from them and joining Sonic and his friends. Being descended from a group of protectors, she is the current guardian of the Black Onyx, located in the Northstar Islands.[6]
Concept and creation[edit | edit source]
Trip was jointly created by Takashi Iizuka and Naoto Ohshima as part of the development on Sonic Superstars. As the pair were discussing the game's story, they felt they needed to introduce a new character; one that would have a background and unique characteristics, as well as being a character that people could empathize with and enjoy. That the character would fit in with the setting was of particular importance to Iizuka and the team, as he recognized that previous games had tended to introduce new characters as enemies, and strong ones at that (he has cited Infinite as an example of this). For the new character, they wanted to do something different.[7]
Trip was primarily designed by Ohshima, though worked closely with Iizuka to come up with ideas for the new character. They sent visuals back and forth and had an ongoing dialogue as to the character's personality. Ideas for the character included an armored lizard and the ouroboros. Trip was made a sungazer. The Japanese translation of sungazer is "armored lizard", so her being covered in armor is a reflection of this.[7]
While Trip is initially treated as an antagonist, her style of presentation was designed to be different from previous villains, in that when players first see her, she's presented as clumsy, this acts as a way to subtly show that she isn't truly an antagonist in the end.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
Trip is an orange-scaled anthropomorphic sungazer with black eyes and peach skin covering her muzzle and arms. She has two eyelashes on each side of her eyes, a small brown-pointed horn on her muzzle, three yellow spikes across her brown scales area, which rounds from her forehead above to her "hair" back, and a brown and orange zigzag-striped tail. She also has two ear-like bumps on both sides of her head.
For attire, she wears a brown and yellow zigzag-layered dress-like sleeveless shirt with a gold patch on the chest, white gloves with gold cuffs that possess two studs, black tights, and orange shoes with gold toes that possess two studs and brown cuffs and heel-squared regions.
As for Trip's armor, it consists of blocky bronze pieces attached to her cuffs, a bronze bucket-like helmet with black circular eye lenses that has gold frames, a darker row of three gold spikes on its front and studs, a bulky bronze armor with studs on the waist front covering her torso, and brown shoes with circular bronze pieces attached to her cuffs and blocky bronze soles with studs on the toes.
History[edit | edit source]
Past[edit | edit source]
Trip is a part of a clan of sungazers and was assigned to protect the Black Onyx by her grandfather. Her armor was given to her as ceremonial armor to wear as guardian of the Black Onyx. Shortly after the arrival of Doctor Eggman and Fang the Hunter, Trip would warn her clan of their evil plans and tell them to hide until they were gone.[8]
Sonic Superstars: Fang's Big Break[edit | edit source]
Trip first appears wearing her armor after Fang the Hunter runs afoul of a Giant Flicky and captures it in retribution, causing her to try and fight him with a spear, though she trips and drops the weapon, causing Fang to strong-arm her into working for him and Dr. Eggman in discovering the Northstar Islands' secrets.
Sonic Superstars: Trio of Trouble[edit | edit source]
After Fang jolted awake from his nightmare, he continued to escort Eggman and Trip through an unnamed temple. However, while Fang and Eggman were trying to locate the hidden message, Trip crawled through a crevice to find a flower, which, to her dismay, is crushed by Eggman. Eggman also was trying to decode the message while Fang and Trip were busy fighting a giant snake. In the final scenes of the fight, Trip throws Tails' battery at Fang, of which he used to recharge his Marvelous Queen. That said, both Fang and Trip defeated the snake. When Fang was rejoicing however, it appears as if he took all the credit for himself, and left nothing for Trip, leaving her seemingly distraught. Worse still, she proceeded to walk up to and touch the snake of whom Fang "defeated", with some connotations of her feeling seemingly regretful.
Sonic Superstars[edit | edit source]
Main Story[edit | edit source]
During the game's intro, Trip oversaw the conversion of the giant Animals of the Northstar Islands into Badniks with Dr. Eggman and Fang. In a panic, she also follows Fang as he is closely studying the drawing Eggman made earlier, only for Trip to collide with him before he exited the facility, causing him to berate her before the alarms reveal Sonic and Tails' impending arrival.[5]
Some time later, Fang accidentally runs into Trip during his pursuit of Sonic at the end of the hedgehog's personalized act in Speed Jungle Zone. This causes Fang to be very angry at Trip for standing in his way. At the end of Speed Jungle Zone Act 2, Trip would follow the four protagonists (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy) with Fang in hot pursuit, still furious. This caused her to trip and drop her remote control, accidentally activating a trap which captured Fang. This prompted Trip to panic as Fang yelled at her.[9] At the end of Lagoon City Zone Act 1, Trip presses a button on her remote control to activate a trap door that the protagonists run over, but the trap door doesn't open up, which causes Trip to worry. Later, Trip steps onto the trap door and presses the button again, but still nothing happens. Fang gets a bit impatient from all this, causing Trip to repeatedly press the button in panic before realizing she made a big mistake before the trap door opens and she falls down, much to Fang's horror.
Upon getting back up and looking around, Trip finds herself all alone and cries from fear and isolation. Amy comes across Trip, still crying, during the hedgehog's personalized act in Lagoon City Zone (much to Trip’s fear) and calms down the armored lizard. Amy then carries Trip through the remainder of the former's personalized act until they reach the end, where Amy gives Trip an apple that she picked up earlier, making her very happy. Trip happily waves goodbye to Amy as she continues on her journey with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. At the end of Golden Capital Zone Act 1 and near the beginning of Knuckles' personalized Act in the said zone, Trip is seen getting kidnapped by Fang. At the end of Golden Capital Zone Act 2, Trip arrives to keep Fang from using the Chaos Emeralds that Sonic and his friends collected throughout the game, but that only results in Fang kicking Trip away. Finally fed up with Fang's abuse, Trip gets back up on her feet in rage, which shocks Fang, right before she takes off her armor, revealing her true self. Trip then uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform into her Golden Dragon form. But that doesn't stop Fang as the four protagonists and Trip watch Fang getting inside his colossal mech. Trip then breaks into the mech and destroys it, taking Fang with it. Trip changes back into her normal form as the Chaos Emeralds return to Sonic and company. Feeling very happy to see each other again, Amy and Trip both run up to each other. Amy introduces her new friend to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, but Trip’s shyness kicks in and puts on her helmet. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles chuckle before Trip peeks from under her helmet and smiles.
The first part of the game's ending cutscene shows Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Trip escaping the exploding Egg Fortress Zone in Tails' renovated Egg Mobile. The second part of the ending cutscene show the crew back on solid ground in the Northstar Islands as the newly freed Animals celebrate Sonic and co.'s victory over Eggman, with Sonic and Trip shaking hands to celebrate their new friendship.
Trip's Story[edit | edit source]
Trip's story begins with the lizard playing with the Animals, before noticing one of Eggman's creations flying right by them. Trip then takes off her helmet and goes on her own journey to see what's going on. During Egg Fortress Zone Act 2, Trip has a one-on-one battle with Fang, first in his heavily armored Marvelous Queen, then in his fully restored colossal mech. Trip destroys Fang's mech once and for all, causing the purple jerboa to fly right towards the screen and crash into it. The first part of the ending cutscene is a shortened version of the main game's ending, where a renovated Egg Mobile escapes the exploding Egg Fortress Zone. The second part of the ending cutscene shows the Animals, Sonic and Tails, celebrating Trip's return to the Northstar Islands after her battle against Fang. The cutscene ends with Sonic giving the lizard a thumbs up and Trip blushing a bit before putting on her helmet.
Last Story[edit | edit source]
This story's ending cutscene has Trip holding up the Black Onyx and using it to seal the Black Dragon inside once and for all. Once the beast is sealed back inside its "egg", Sonic returns in his Super form before reverting back into regular Sonic. The Animals, along with Sonic's friends, celebrate Sonic and Trip's victory. The cutscene ends with Eggman's crudely drawn picture of the dragon from the intro cutscene floating back down towards the ground.
Personality[edit | edit source]
While Trip initially seems rather sinister in appearance with her armor, she is quickly shown to be very non-threatening, worrisome, and clumsy, as well as being the most under-credited of the trio, with all the credit going either to Fang or Eggman even in her few moments of success under their lead. Despite being depicted as an antagonist at first, it is made clear that there is a degree of good intent in her from the start, as evidenced by her expressions of sadness whenever she sees nature being mistreated before her eyes, like when Eggman steps on some flowers or when Fang captures a giant Flicky.
In truth, Trip is a docile and empathetic sungazer girl, that gets easily shy by the simple gaze of anyone to her face if not using her characteristic helmet, and has a sensible side, bursting into tears when in desperation and also being innocently friendly to anyone who approaches her without malice. As seen with her interactions with Amy, and later the rest of Team Sonic, Trip is willing to open up to anyone who shows kindness to her. Although sensible and with a heart of gold, even Trip has her limits on tolerating villains. After being hurt by Fang one last time, Trip finally lost her patience and revealed her face in front of everyone, finally deciding to fend for herself after being encouraged by Amy's kind actions. Past this point, Trip braves up and is more willing to fight for what is right, as shown when she willingly uses the Chaos Emeralds to turn into her Dragon Form to stop Fang and later in her own story where she sets out on her own to protect her home when she notices Eggman's robots are still around. She also seems to have knowledge on ancient magic powers, as seen when she impulsively uses the Chaos Emeralds' power without question and later uses the Black Onyx to seal the Black Dragon. When Trip isn't wearing her helmet, she seems to be significantly less clumsy and much more capable, implying that the helmet might be impeding her abilities when she wears it.
Though she sides with the heroes in the end and gets braver, Trip is still very shy, still putting her helmet on in fear when noticing strangers and generally leaving her helmet on most of the time, only taking it off when she's either around her friends or when she goes off to stop wrongdoers on her own. She also seems to put on her helmet to hide strong emotions, such as when she puts on her helmet after blushing when her friends celebrate her return after defeating Fang in her story. Despite this, Trip is easily overjoyed over having her new friends.
In the IDW comics, Trip's personality is fleshed out further, as she is shown to be cheerful, whimsical, and energetic when around familiar faces. She is also shown to feel bad and belittle herself for failing to do her job as a guardian. It is shown that Trip dislikes wearing her armor, as she does not like how heavy and clunky it is, and only wears it because it is ceremonial to do so. While her age is not confirmed, the IDW comics reveal that she is younger than Knuckles and is often referred to as a kid, likewise acting child-like in her actions.
Powers and abilities[edit | edit source]
Trip has a double jump ability that allows her to reach heights that some others cannot. Despite her clumsiness she can be quite agile. She also has the ability to stick to both walls and ceilings with her spiky exterior, allowing her to roll up a wall, scale different surfaces or climb on a ceiling. Trip is also capable of breathing out a small fireball on her own without a super form (as shown with her extra Emerald ability).
Weapons and equipment[edit | edit source]
In Fang's Big Break, Trip is seen provoking Fang with a spear before tripping on a vine and dropping it, causing the jerboa to snap it with his foot. In the main game, Trip is seen with multiple triggers for different traps and a trap door. It is likely these traps were provided by Eggman or Fang and that Fang forced Trip to activate them for him, as Trip struggles with activating them properly and generally doesn't seem to have much technological knowledge, leading to them all backfiring.
Dragon Form[edit | edit source]
By using the seven Chaos Emeralds, Trip can enter a Super State, transforming her into her Dragon Form. In this state, all of Trip's abilities far surpass her normal ones. She is also able to fly, breathe streams of fire, and is invincible.
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Animals[edit | edit source]
Trip loves playing and having fun with the Animals on the Northstar Islands. She not only loves the animals but everything on the Island as she fought alongside Amy, Tails, Sonic, and Knuckles once she was informed on Fang's evil ambitions to stop him and Dr. Eggman from trying to harm them. Trip was even hesitant when Fang defeated the snake from harming them which proves how much she loves animals and her passion to help them on the island she guards.
Fang the Hunter[edit | edit source]
Initially, Trip was afraid of disobeying Fang the Hunter, as he was bossing her around and treating her poorly due to her clumsiness. Fang had little-to-no care about Trip's safety, not even helping her to get out from her own trap at Lagoon City, which caused Trip to cry in despair realizing that Fang was really evil. After such situation and befriending Amy and her friends, Trip gains determination to stop Fang, and after he injures her with a kick, Trip finally lost her composure and fought back the jerboa. Past this point, Fang and Trip have formed a rivalry, as seen when Fang later tries to get revenge on her for betraying him.
Amy Rose[edit | edit source]
At Lagoon City, Amy Rose found Trip, who was sobbing in distress at the time, who quickly becomes afraid of Amy, only to realize that Amy was trying to help her. After helping Trip on getting out from the trap, Amy and Trip built a friendship together, with Amy giving an apple to Trip, an act of kindness that causes Trip to be overjoyed. They then meet up after Trip, in her Dragon Form, defeats Fang and are very happy to see each other. The two later also appear together during the fight against the Black Dragon, riding a Giant Flicky and providing extra rings for Super Sonic.
Knuckles the Echidna[edit | edit source]
Sometime after the events of the Northstar Islands incident, Angel Island passed by the Northstar Islands. After noticing this, Knuckles the Echidna decided to go down and give Trip a visit, intending to train her to become a better guardian. At first, things didn't go very well, as Knuckles pushed Trip too hard and made her get emotional and run off. However, after some retrospection, Knuckles decided to give himself another chance at training Trip, apologizing to her and telling her his story. Trip was amazed by his feats despite his situation. The two then made up, with Knuckles reassuring Trip that she'll make a great guardian. The two now have a more positive relationship with each other and Trip looks forward to their next training session.[8]
Friends/allies[edit | edit source]
- Amy Rose
- Animals
- Gramps (grandfather)
- Knuckles the Echidna (mentor and good friend)
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Sonic the Hedgehog
Enemies[edit | edit source]
- Black Dragon
- Dr. Eggman[5]
- Eggrobo
- Fang the Hunter[5]
- Metal Fighters
- Metal Amy
- Metal Knuckles
- Metal Sonic
- Metal Tails
- Metal Trip (robotic doppelgänger)
In other media[edit | edit source]
IDW Publishing[edit | edit source]
Knuckles' 30th Anniversary Special[edit | edit source]
Sometime after the Northstar Islands incident, Trip is seen playing with the animals in Bridge Island. Suddenly, Knuckles lands in front her, causing Trip to hide in her helmet before recognizing him as Amy's tough friend. Knuckles explains that he's here to toughen her up, further saying that if he was a real threat Trip would not be able to help the animals. Trip responds saying that he's not a threat, leading to Knuckles telling her he knows what it's like to be on her own with no one. Trip rebukes, revealing that she's not the only person on the islands. Soon they arrive to a village of Sungazers deep within the Speed Jungle that greet Trip. Knuckles then asks where they came from, prompting Trip to tell him that they have always been here. Knuckles recalls that when he ran through there was nothing but Badniks and traps. Trip answers by explaining that when she heard Eggman arrived, she warned her people to hide until he was gone, but she got stuck with him. She then laments the fact that she was supposed to be the new guardian but ended up being bullied into helping the bad guys. Knuckles nervously responds when Trip asks if he'd also been bullied like she was.
Suddenly Trip is called over by her grandfather, who berates her for belittling herself again, telling her that's no way for a guardian to act. Trip apologizes to her grandfather, who tells her to stick to her training and wear her ceremonial armor with pride. Trip refuses, saying that the armor is heavy and clunky. Her grandfather tells her she'll grow into it as she gets used to her role. Trip asks Knuckles about his armor, but Knuckles tells her he does not have any. Trip's grandfather's attention is caught by her mentioning that Knuckles is also a guardian. Trip confirms this to him and tells him that he is going to train her to be the best she can be. Knuckles nervously agrees saying how there were close calls last time but after she's done training with him that Trip will be ready for anything. Her grandfather agrees, telling them to have fun and not to run off into trouble. Trip thanks him, but then nearly falls over, before telling Knuckles they can start training over there. Soon, Knuckles teaches her the first lesson which is to patrol her territory quickly and efficiently. Trip says that she's pretty quick, but Knuckles tells her there's more to it, mentioning it's also about maneuverability and knowing the terrain. He further tells her to know what her body can do and move in sync with herself and her surroundings without thinking.
Trip tells him that she already is all those things and Knuckles tells her to prove it. Soon they start racing, with Knuckles having the upper hand, but then Trip uses her Ring Rolling technique to catch up. The race eventually leads them into Sky Temple, where Trip asks for a lunch break. Knuckles yells at her, as they had just gotten started. Trip tells him that she is already tired, but Knuckles continues onto his next lesson to test her endurance. Knuckles tells her to get her helmet and says they're going to spar. Trip tells Knuckles that she doesn't want to hurt him, but Knuckles ignores her worries and assures that she won't. The fight starts, and Knuckles starts moving too fast for Trip to keep track. Knuckles swings at her helmet, causing it to spin around and hurting his hand. Trip gets dizzy and falls over, with her helmet hitting Knuckles' foot, causing him to yell in pain. Trip asks if she won while Knuckles helps her adjust her helmet. Knuckles demands for a second round, but Trip asks for a break. Knuckles continues push her to fight, but it becomes too much, and Trip runs off crying.
Later on, in Golden Capital, Trip is still sad about the situation. Knuckles soon comes over wanting to talk, but she runs away and hides behind a giant Picky and Rocky. The two block him, but Knuckles is able to gently push them aside. Knuckles then tells Trip the reason why he acts the way he does is because nobody was there to teach him. Knuckles tells her about Angel Island and how he guards it by himself. However, Trip is amazed by this and praises him for his feats. Knuckles asks Trip if she guards a gemstone as well, to which Trip reminds him that she guards the Black Onyx. Trip takes Knuckles to a mural which he recognizes from his first time exploring the island. Trip tells Knuckles the meaning of the mural, explaining that it shows her ancestors protecting the Black Onyx by using the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles asks if it's really been around that long to which Trip confirms, however she worries she may never measure up to her ancestors. Knuckles responds by reassuring her that she has potential to be a great guardian, causing the sungazer to hug him and thank him for his support. Knuckles waves goodbye, saying he needs to head home. Trip tells Knuckles that she looks forward to the next time they train together. Knuckles then realizes he doesn't know how he will get back up to his island. Trip then remembers that there is still Eggman tech on the island and the two find a leftover Egg Mobile, which Knuckles uses to fly back home.[6]
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Trip is the first character since Knuckles' Chaotix that Naoto Ohshima has personally created. Additionally, her spin attack is also similar to Vector's spin attack from that game.
- Trip is the third female character in the game series to have a super form, following Blaze and Amy.
- She is also the second one to have a super form caused by the Chaos Emeralds, following Amy.
- She is also currently the only character to have her species change upon transformation, that being from a sungazer to a dragon.
- She is also the second one to have a super form caused by the Chaos Emeralds, following Amy.
- According to Sonic, Trip is still on the Northstar Islands in the Modern Era.[10]
- She is one of the rare characters from the mainline continuity to have relatives, in the form of her unnamed grandfather, as Sega mandated game characters to not have familial relationships, with a few exceptions. It is possible that either she is also a rare occasion or that the mandate itself was lifted.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Tracker on Twitter. Twitter (8 June 2023). Retrieved on 8 June 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Meet Trip, The First New Sonic Character Created By Naoto Ohshima In Decades. Game Informer (2 August 2023). Retrieved on 2 August 2023.
- ↑ Sonic Superstars Official Site Characters|SEGA. Sonic Superstars. Retrieved on 24 September 2023.
- ↑ 『ソニックスーパースターズ』公式サイト キャラクター|SEGA (Japanese). 『ソニックスーパースターズ』. Retrieved on 24 September 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Sonic Superstars (8 June 2023). Retrieved on 8 June 2023.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles' 30th Anniversary Special "Story one"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Meet Trip, The First New Sonic Character Created By Naoto Ohshima In Decades. Game Informer (2 August 2023). Retrieved on 5 August 2023.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles' 30th Anniversary Special "Story one"
- ↑ 原点回帰の2Dソニック『ソニックスーパースターズ』10分のゲームプレイ. YouTube (9 June 2023). Retrieved on 9 June 2023.
- ↑ Sonic Twitter Takeover #7
External links[edit | edit source]
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