Freedom Fighters (Sonic the Hedgehog)

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caption=The Freedom Fighters (clockwise from left), Bunnie Rabbot, Rotor, Tails, King Elias, Sally, Sonic, Amy Rose, Antoine, and ex-recruit Fiona Fox face off against Bark the Polarbear. Art by Tracey Yardley.
team_name=Freedom Fighters
publisher=Archie Comics
debut="Sonic the Hedgehog", Sonic the Hedgehog # 1
creators=DiC Animation
base=Knothole Village (formerly), New Mobotropolis
members= Sonic
Princess Sally
NICOLE
Bunnie Rabbot
Rotor
Antoine D'Coolette
Miles "Tails" Prower
Amy Rose |memberlist=
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hero=
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Freedom Fighters are characters in several of the Sonic the Hedgehog fictional universes. The most obvious are the protagonists of the SatAM animated television series and the Archie comics. In most continuities, they are depicted as being Robin Hood-like outlaws, opposing the tyrannical oppression of Doctor Robotnik. Characters from the games, including Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose, are frequent members of all groups, though each continuity has several unique and original characters also. The Freedom Fighters do not appear in the video game series (with the exception of cameos by Sally, Bunnie and Rotor in "Sonic Spinball"), although there were plans to include them in a game titled "Sonic Mars". However, the Freedom Fighters and all other SatAM elements were dropped when the project became "Sonic X-Treme", which was ultimately cancelled.

Freedom Fighters in the Archie comics

Archie comics adapted the Freedom Fighters when adapting the plot point for the animated television series "SatAM". Basically they had the same agenda in the comic as they did in SatAM, but after Robotnik's "death", the king returned and the kingdom has been reestablished in Knothole, and with the status quo changing from a group of ragtag rebels to soldiers fighting a terrorist owning a small portion of the globe. Sonic and his friends are more like Soldiers instead of Freedom Fighters. However before the term Freedom Fighters began to leave as a term for Archie's fighters and protagonists they had over time included more characters such as Mina Mongoose, who works with the freedom fighters while juggling a singing career, and Amy Rose, the newest member of the team.

Soon, an alternate version of Robotnik called Robo-Robotnik attacked and the Freedom Fighters of Knothole Village relaunched and their old base at the foot of the great oak slide was rebuilt, and Fiona Fox was considered a member, until revealing her alliance with Scourge the Hedgehog. The Freedom Fighters suffered a major blow when an all-out assault by Robotnik's Egg Fleet left much of Knothole devastated and all but a handful of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix taken prisoner. However, quick actions taken by the surviving members of both groups resulted in a successful rescue mission and the safe recovery of the captives.

It is unsure exactly how many other groups of freedom fighters exist in Archie Comics' universe, as well as Sally's Substitute Freedom Fighters, a back-up group for the Knothole Team. The Dowunda Freedom Fighters operate in their namesake land of Downunda (a parody of Australia) The Wolf Pack, also carried over from Sonic SatAM but with a different membership (though still lead by Lupe) operate in the Great Unknown, The Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters were an undersea group (Who were recently featured in the back up story.) and Knuckles and the Chaotix have all been shown, but even more 'leaders' have appeared, sans their teams.

The Archie Comics also features a group known as the Original Freedom Fighters. These five were dedicated to defeating Robotnik, and served as the inspiration for other groups. However, they were betrayed by one of their own, and were Roboticized and banished to the Zone of Silence. And other people living in Knothole Village have helped the Freedom Fighters (such as Mina Mongoose).

Life for the Freedom Fighter

The Freedom Fighters trained and (aside from a brief period during peacetime) did not go to regular school in the Archie comics, because they never knew when a mission would be assigned, so they had school when they could fit the time. It is dangerous to be a Freedom Fighter. Sonic and Sally would always tell one another in SatAM to take care because once a Freedom Fighter went on a mission, there was no guarantee they'd be coming back.

Alternate Versions

Many members of the Freedom Fighters had alternate selves from other dimensions, who usually ended up in the same groups of Mobians. These include the Anti-Freedom Fighters, a group of law-breaking versions of the group from Anti-Mobius. Others include: the Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy, based on the comic Guardians of the Galaxy; the Cyber-Freedom Fighters, cyborg versions from the same dimension as Robo-Robotnik aka Dr. Eggman.

Freedom Fighters in Sonic Underground

In the "Sonic Underground" television series, there was another organization of Freedom Fighters. The Freedom Fighters in Sonic Underground differ from the other groups in that they do not have an established main headquarters and consist of a loose collection of cells (known collectively as "the resistance") spread across Mobius rather than a single group. While the most famous cell was Sonic and his siblings Sonia and Manic, there were also many other members, ranging from minor recurring characters to one-off local Freedom Fighters & groups. Trevor and Cyrus, both of whom were old friends of Sonic, are the main recurring Freedom Fighters; Trevor is well-connected and often gave Sonic the details of plans & missions, while Cyrus was a highly driven tech expert acting as Q to Sonic's James Bond. Cyrus had the most backstory, being initially blackmailed into working for Robotnik and then losing his father to the Roboticiser, leaving him a very driven person.

Single-episode local Freedom Fighters include Captain Squeege, a sea sponge who serves as the sole resistance agent at Port Mobius; Stripes, leader of a resort town who originally collaborated with Robotnik to keep the town safe; Rudy, a lizard leading a desert-based team who was based on The Road Warrior; and A.R.T., a sentient super-robot built by Robotnik who defected to the Freedom Fighters and died saving the Sonic Underground.

Sonic's Uncle Chuck was a major Freedom Fighter and got Sonic into the resistance, working with him on the destruction of many Swatbot factories; unfortunately, he was caught and Roboticised. Unlike in SatAm, it doesn't seem he was Sonic's actual uncle but a friend of Sonic's adoptive parents (who weren't hedgehogs) that was known to Sonic was "Uncle".

They also raise their children in a hidden village called Sanctuary, a place that only Freedom Fighters know about and that Robotnik is constantly trying to find & destroy.

Freedom Fighters in Sonic the Comic

Sonic and Co. remained condemned to live the lives of fugitives even in the UK's fortnightly comic publication, Sonic the Comic. When Sonic and several of his friends were cast six months into the future by Doctor Robotnik, the evil genius used their absence from the timestream to conquer Mobius utterly. Upon his return, Sonic quickly established an underground cell of Freedom Fighters. At first comprised of only himself, Tails, Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis, the Freedom Fighters occasionally added new members including Amy Rose, Tekno the Canary and Shortfuse the Cybernik. In this continuity, the Freedom Fighters were eventually successful in overthrowing Robotnik, in a landmark 100th issue of the comic that saw the culmination of many disparate storylines.

The only other notable team of freedom fighters shown were The Flock, a group in the Chemical Plant Zone made up of sheep. Only two, Sab and Sol Furic, were named, and all bar them were later killed.

Mention was made of Zonerunners, freedom fighters who travel the Zones fighting Robotnik, but none outside of the regular cast were ever seen.

The Freedom Team

A set of freedom fighters depicted in a small series of concept art shown in Sonic The Comic, possibly by mistake, for a television series that never aired (and may have never even have started production) their members were Sonic, Sally Acorn, Flicky, Porker Lewis, Tek, Johnny Lightfoot, Chirps and Joe Sushi. They appear to have been redesigned versions of the small animals freed in the very first Sonic the Hedgehog game, as they share the names given to them by Sega Of America and Sega Of Europe, as well as similar traits. These may have been the prototypes for the freedom fighters used in Sonic SatAM and the Archie Comics series, though this is not confirmed.