"Evil Sonic? Anti-Sonic? Old news. The new hotness is a real Scourge." — Scourge the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog #161
Scourge the Hedgehog, formerly known as Evil Sonic or Anti-Sonic, (born day 174, 3220) is a character in Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog series, exclusively appearing in the Pre-Super Genesis Wave.
He is the Moebius counterpart of Sonic the Hedgehog and his antithesis, as well as being the ruler of said dimension.
As Anti-Sonic, he was little more than a rival to Sonic, with occasional fights between the two hedgehogs. However, Anti-Sonic attempted to steal the Master Emerald along with Rouge the Bat. Anti-Sonic used the Chaos energy of the emerald to intentionally become stronger than Sonic, but after Locke punched the hedgehog while absorbing energy from the emerald, Anti-Sonic transformed into Scourge, a green-hued individual that could be finally distinguished from Sonic.
Despite being a constant thorn in the Freedom Fighters' side, he has refused to work with Dr. Eggman, instead wanting to be his own leader, having formed a group called the Destructix.
Concept and creation[]
The idea of Anti-Sonic/Scourge originated from the very first story pitch created by writers Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders in 1993. In the pitch, Anti-Sonic was known as "Doctor Sonic" and was an evil version of Sonic with skills and a personality more akin to those of Dr. Robotnik. When the script was sent in for review, however, Sega licensing representative Bob Harris opposed the evil Sonic being characterized similarly to Robotnik, and instructed Kanterovich and Penders to submit a revised script depicting the evil Sonic as a dark reflection of the regular Sonic's personality instead. Kanterovich and Penders did as instructed, and their revised script was printed in Sonic the Hedgehog #11 as "The Good, the Bad, and the Hedgehog!"
Initially, the character was simply referred to in stories as "Sonic the Hedgehog", but would later have his name changed to "Evil Sonic" on the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #24, and was retroactively given the title "Anti-Sonic" in Sonic the Hedgehog #160.
Curiously, an early cover for Sonic the Hedgehog #9 features a character referred to as "Anti-Sonic", albeit with a different design than the Anti-Sonic later seen in Sonic the Hedgehog #11. This suggests that Anti-Sonic may have originally been intended to debut earlier in the series. On the final cover for Sonic the Hedgehog #9, however, the Anti-Sonic character is replaced with Pseudo-Sonic, and all references to him are removed.
At some point during or prior to early 2006, editor Mike Pellerito considered options for making Anti-Sonic more unique of a character. After a conversation with artist Patrick Spaziante, Pellerito decided that Anti-Sonic would be reinvented by giving him a new name, appearance, and personality. Spaziante was tasked with creating the redesign, while Ian Flynn was given the opportunity to write it into the narrative in Sonic the Hedgehog #160. When creating the new design, Spaziante took inspiration from the glitched Green Sonic design in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Appearance[]
Before becoming Scourge, Anti-Sonic (or Evil-Sonic, as he was called) had the exact same appearance as Sonic; blue fur, black eyes (later green), and six quills on his head, along with two spines on his back, but Anti-Sonic wore a black leather jacket (later with flames on the sleeves), and black boots. Anti-Sonic also had vintage-styled shades that he wore most of the time.
When Anti-Sonic became Scourge, he was changed into a green-hued fur color, most likely because of the Chaos energy. Scourge also received a pair of slash marks on his torso from Locke when the Guardian attacked him. Scourge's eye color was also changed from green to light blue, his leather boots were changed to green sneakers and his vintage shades were changed to red shaded sunglasses. For a short time, shortly before being thrown into the Zone Jail, Scourge wore a crown-like object on his head, which was gray with three spikes rising on it.
When he conquered Moebius, he draped with a silver crown and changed the cuffs on his boots to gold.
History[]
Early life[]
During his childhood, Scourge was largely ignored by his weaselly father, Anti-Jules Hedgehog, a diplomat who contributed to Great Peace, leading Anti-Sonic to later remark that his father was a man of "empty words". During a ceremony amidst the Great Peace in particular, a young Anti-Sonic was ignored by his father.
Taking Over Anti-Mobius[]
After ten years passed following the beginning of the Great Peace, Anti-Mobius fell into a state of decline and stagnation and when it reached rock bottom, Anti-Sonic was ready to seize power. He presumably killed his own father. Following this, Anti-Sonic along with Anti-Sally threw King Anti-Max, the evil alter ego of King Maximillian Acorn into the Zone of Silence, taking control of Mobotropolis and ruling it with an iron fist. Their only opposition was the kindly veterinarian Dr. Julian Kintobor, whose units of Sweep-bots would clean up the litter left behind by the Anti-Freedom Fighters.
Interactions with Alternate Zones[]
Anti-Sonic first encountered Sonic the Hedgehog from the Prime Zone while the latter took a detour through the Cosmic Interstate. After getting lost along the way, Sonic wound up in the Anti-Verse. The two briefly fought one another until Dr. Ivo Kintobor helped Sonic apprehend his evil self. Sonic then continued his trip along the Cosmic Interstate back to Mobius Prime.
Later on, he was summoned by Robo-Robotnik with the task of stopping all of his counterparts from guarding a giant hand which would activate the Giant Borg, a mission he gladly accepted, and accomplished, as Robo-Robotnik teleported the hand to his base while Anti-Sonic distracted the other Sonics.
Later still, Anti-Sonic traveled to Mobius Prime, this time accompanied by Anti-Sally, Anti-Tails, Anti-Rotor and Anti-Antoine, all dressed like their Mobius Prime selves. While Sonic, Tails and Antoine were absent in the Negative Reality trying to get to the Zone of Silence to rescue King Max, and Sally was occupied training the Substitute Freedom Fighters, the gang's evil counterparts began terrorizing the locals. Sonic and the others eventually showed up and confronted their evil selves, eventually sending them back to Anti-Mobius. Anti-Sonic would later return, acting as Dr. Robotnik's ally, and fool Anti-Knuckles into helping him steal the Chaos Emeralds from the Floating Island on Mobius Prime. Though the plan seemed feasible at first, Anti-Knuckles' overall good nature and the aid of the Freedom Fighters enabled Knuckles to trounce Evil Sonic, leaving him in his counterpart's care.
After Robotnik-Prime's demise, a different Robo-Robotnik recruited Anti-Sonic to help him locate the fragments of the Giant Borg battle-suit, having called upon him once before to thwart an army of good alternate versions of Sonic in their quest to stop that same weapon. Defeated the first time, Anti-Sonic proved somewhat more competent on the second try, successfully amassing all but one of the Giant Borg components. Unfortunately, he mistook yet another alternate Robotnik for his current employer, and was thus trapped in the Mobius of Sonic Underground. Freed from prison by Sonia the Hedgehog and Manic the Hedgehog, siblings to the Sonic from that dimension, Anti-Sonic was caught yet again, this time by Zonic the Zone Cop, who imprisoned Anti-Sonic in No Zone and then revealed to him that his old gang had replaced him with Evil St. John.
Evil Sonic also appeared in the dimension of Litigopolis, a city ruled by a computerized version of Dr. Robotnik known as Judgmental Unrelenting Digitized Government Enforcer (J.U.D.G.E.). As usual, Evil Sonic amused himself with random acts of vandalism, and J.U.D.G.E mistook him for Sonic Prime and thus took that Sonic prisoner to punish him for the crime.
Escaping and knocking out Zonic, Evil Sonic made his way to Mobius Prime once again, only to fall in battle against Antoine D'Coolette, who mistook him for a disguised Sonic trying to help him impress his father. He was then taken back to the No Zone again, only to escape and return to Anti-Mobius.
Impersonation[]
Back on Anti-Mobius, Evil Sonic was confronted by Patch, the Anti-Freedom Fighter version of Antoine and his long-time rival. Handily defeating his nemesis, Evil Sonic hatched a scheme for revenge, knocking out Antoine Prime and bringing him back to Anti-Mobius while leaving Patch in his place to torment them both. Patch's quick adaptation and moves to seize power inspired Evil Sonic, who performed a similar switch with his own counterpart. While impersonating Sonic, Evil Sonic made advances on Bunnie Rabbot (who at the time was trying to inspire jealousy in Patch, not realizing that he was not the Antoine that she loved), Amy Rose, and a number of other girls in Knothole. However, he soon focused his energy on the most attractive looking, in his superficial opinion, girl he had yet met on Mobius Prime: Rouge the Bat.
Not as easily taken in as some of Evil Sonic's other targets, Rouge was just as willing to manipulate Evil Sonic as he was to use her, and she wanted his help in stealing the Master Emerald from Angel Island. Ready to do anything to satisfy his own desires, Evil Sonic agreed, sneaking in while Rouge distracted Locke, the Guardian at the time. However, Sonic Prime proved more resourceful than Evil Sonic had anticipated, and returned to Mobius Prime to engage his counterpart in battle. The two struggled briefly before Locke, realizing Rouge's deception, appeared and used the Master Emerald to teleport Evil Sonic away. Found by Rouge, the hedgehog managed to appease her disappointment with a smaller gemstone, and their partnership continued.
Revealed as Scourge[]
Evil Sonic and Rouge's next plan to lay hands on the Master Emerald appeared as though it would be similarly disastrous. Both thieves, their interest in each other obviously surpassed by their greed, planned to have the other get caught by Locke, and in the end were both found by him on the Emerald Shrine. They ended up fighting him, with Rouge taking most of the heat from the angry Guardian. Instead of assisting her, however, Evil Sonic made for the Emerald itself and attempted to go Super using its energy, declaring it a birthday gift for himself, stating: "Sorry Rouge, but the birthday boy gets dibs on the goods!" Locke quickly intervened, striking the hedgehog with a Chaos-infused punch just before he could attain full Super status. However, the hedgehog soon recovered and revealed himself as having attained some transformation; bearing twin marks from Locke's attack, his fur now being permanently green and his strength being considerably enhanced.
Declaring himself a "real Scourge" and claiming that the "evil-twin shtick" was over, he brutally beat Locke into submission. Rouge prevented him from doing more, saying that by her rules they wouldn't kill, so Scourge decided he should use his newfound power to get revenge on someone else: Sonic. Working by intuition, he invoked Chaos Control with the Master Emerald and transported both himself and Rouge to Knothole. Fueled with arrogance, though he briefly helped Sonic defeat the Croctobot - Eggman's birthday present to Sonic - he soon turned on him. However, he would made the mistake of attacking Shadow, and the two Mobius Prime hedgehogs teamed up on him. He then became overwhelmed when the other Freedom Fighters joined in. In this, he also learned that Shadow was considerably more violent and angry than Sonic, and was pursued by the enraged hedgehog. Rouge told him to teleport them back, but he replied that he couldn't without an Emerald. She then told him to go faster and he replied, "Maybe if I didn't have this dead weight to tow." They escaped Shadow's wrath when an unknown Warp Ring portal appeared and the two jumped through it.
Working with Finitevus[]
Not long after Scourge and Rouge had escaped Shadow's wrath, a Warp Ring supplied by Dr. Finitevus led the duo to an unknown location where Finitevus stood asking if they were interested in joining him in his goals. Scourge was quick to oblige so long as it involved harming Sonic in any way, shape or form. Thanks to his power, Scourge served as Finitevus' right hand man, teaming up with the Destructix on various occasions. His most scathing blow to Sonic and the others came when he revealed that he had become romantically involved with Fiona Fox, who then left with him after they briefly battled with Sonic, Amy and Tails.
Scourge would remain on Finitevus' side despite Fiona's misgivings and his own doubts about Finitevus' plans. Fearing that Finitevus' plan might fail, he charged up his Warp Ring with energy from the Master Emerald and was witness to Finitevus' tirade on how "corrupt" the world had become and his plan to "cleanse" all life in a wave of Emerald fire.
Scourge's fears reached their breaking point during the fight between Super Sonic and Enerjak. Scourge recognized that with Enerjak on the loose, nowhere on Mobius would be safe, so he convinced Fiona to leave the planet altogether. Scourge admitted that ever since his battle with Sonic, he had been deeply considering Sonic's comments that he and Scourge weren't so different. Knowing he had changed since his transformation, Scourge resolved to find answers to who he was now, and left with Fiona through the enhanced Warp Ring to the places he could find them. Scourge promised Fiona, however, that it would be fun.
The Suppression Squad[]
Scourge, still shocked at the realization that he and Sonic truly weren't so different, returned to Anti-Mobius, intent on distinguishing and separating everything from their Mobius Prime counterparts. Within a matter of days, Scourge took control of the entire planet, crowning himself king and making Fiona his queen. He then took back control of the Anti-Freedom Fighters, renaming and reshaping them into the Suppression Squad. Upon stealing a pair of Globe Posts, Scourge plotted, with Fiona's aid, to launch an assault and invade Freedom HQ. When the Posts were repaired and reactivated, Scourge sent the Squad ahead, who found the base's defenders surprised and unprepared. A pitched battle ensued, until Sonic returned from his duties with the Chaotix in New Megaopolis to turn the tide, only for Scourge to make his grand entrance and appear before them. Scourge then proceeded to battle Sonic, and in the midst of the battle, it was hinted he holds some unknown incentive that keeps the Squad loyal to him. Eventually the pitched battle between the two groups led the base dangerously close to collapse, forcing the Freedom Fighters to retreat, leaving Scourge victorious, though his taunting towards Sonic enraged him to the point he vowed to return for revenge.
Time in Mobius and the Suppression Squad's Betrayal[]
A couple of days later, Metal Sonic, under the direct control of Dr. Eggman, arrived and told Anti-Miles he was here to see Sonic. Anti-Miles, instead, summoned Scourge to inform him Metal Sonic had arrived on the scene. Instead of leaving, Eggman had Metal Sonic attack Scourge, saying "why pass up one uppity hedgehog for another?" As they battled, Sonic himself arrived, intent on battling Scourge and re-taking Freedom HQ on his own, as the Council of Acorn opted to focus their attacks on New Megaopolis and they doubted Scourge would make his gains on Mobius Prime as easily as on the newly renamed Moebius. Scourge was manipulated by Anti-Miles into ordering the Suppression Squad to allow himself to battle Metal Sonic, but soon found himself out-matched. Sonic saved him at the last second and offered another temporary truce. Scourge told Sonic to save his sympathy, as he was happy to bust two Sonic heads. Metal Sonic felt the same way, and Sonic found himself battling both. During the fight, Scourge suggested that Sonic join him and conquer Mobius, and then they could work together to conquer the multiverse. Before Sonic could give his answer, Eggman dispatched reinforcements to deal with both hedgehogs, in the form of Metal Scourge.
The battle started up again, with the robotic duplicates quickly holding their own. Sonic asked Scourge to reconsider a truce, but instead Scourge pointed out Sonic hadn't yet answered his question about conquering Mobius and then the multiverse. Sonic didn't refuse, as such, instead insisting he was too preoccupied with the present right now. Grinning evilly, Scourge took that as a "yes". As the battle amplified, Scourge's temper began to flare, refusing to give the robotic duplicates any ground when the battle began damaging Freedom HQ. Scourge also arrogantly insisted to Fiona that he could handle them, when she asked if she and the Squad should step in. In the end, however, he broke down and asked the Squad for help, leading to Metal Sonic and Metal Scourge's destruction.
Not long after, Scourge sent Anti-Miles to bomb New Mobotropolis. When Anti-Miles returned, having been apparently chased by the Freedom Fighters, he and the rest of the squad, except Fiona, revealed their planned betrayal. Angry at Scourge for constantly abusing them, they attacked him alongside the Freedom Fighters. At first, Scourge and Fiona were getting the upper hand against both teams, but Sonic returned from his trip to Moebius and attacked Scourge. However, Boomer then blasted both hedgehogs and Anti-Miles threw them into the portal leading back to Moebius before it closed. Scourge, now trapped on Moebius with Sonic and Amy, promised to get revenge on his team, but then looked in fear at his old stalker, Rosy the Rascal, who told Scourge how she had an "extra-special smash" for him.
Super Transformation and Defeat[]
The fight was interrupted when Shadow arrived using Chaos Control. Though he was actually looking for the Special Zone, Sonic asked if he wanted to destroy Scourge, to which Shadow agreed. Metal Sonic arrived later, followed by Silver and Rob, as well as Amy and Rosy. A confused Silver was unable to determine which one was Sonic Prime, and attempted to ask the others as they fought. Because they ignored him, he got angry and impatient and captured them all with his psychic powers. Silver stated that he had come from the future to destroy Sonic, and then proceeded to attack the hedgehog. Rob threatened Silver for an explanation, and Silver stated that during this point in time one of the legendary Freedom Fighters betrays and destroys them, dooming the future. He then stated that only Sonic was remembered to have had that kind of power. However, Scourge jumped in and attacked both of them, claiming that Silver should use his powers to give himself "a less-stupid haircut." Shortly afterwards, Sonic made a proposal to everyone to stop attacking each other and strictly finish off Scourge. But Scourge didn't give up. He rushed to the throne room, followed by Sonic and Shadow. Scourge turned the tables on everyone, claiming he placed an Anarchy Beryl in his throne. This managed to turn Scourge into a stronger, even more evil form: Super Scourge.
Despite their efforts, the numerous hedgehogs were no match for Super Scourge, who defeated all of them. Super Scourge then proceeded to defeat the combined might of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Suppression Squad (minus Boomer and Fiona), who had returned to Moebius expecting Scourge to be defeated. While he seemed to be unbeatable, Sonic eventually realized the Anarchy Beryl would have a different (and negative) effect on Scourge to contrast the positive effect the Chaos Emeralds had on him once the transformation ended. Luring Super Scourge away from the others, Sonic managed to trick Scourge into de-transforming. As Sonic speculated, the Anarchy Beryl drained him of what energy he had left in his normal form, leaving him vulnerable. Sonic subsequently defeated Scourge and easily captured him.
Zone Lockdown[]
While Sonic was taking Scourge to the Zone Cops via the Cosmic Highway, Scourge broke loose and tried to escape, but he and Sonic were then arrested by Zone Cops Zector and Zespio for going through zones during a zone lockdown. The cops then took Sonic and Scourge to see Zonic via a Warp Ring. They arrive in a ruined No Zone and Scourge managed to escape by kicking the others out of the way and attempted to fully destroy the No Zone before going back to Mobius. Sonic and the Zone Cops then meet up with Zonic and they battled Scourge. They quickly captured him thanks to Sonic's skills and Zonic's special Control Collar. Because of Scourge's mutation, he had now become a wild card in the "cosmic scheme of things." Scourge then said that he was "Sonic the Hedgehog at his full potential" before being taken to jail.
Busting Out of Prison[]
Thanks to his Control Collar and his spikes being pruned, Scourge was now the bottom of the food chain at the prison and was bullied constantly. Fiona and the other Destructix arrived to bust him out. Scourge was furious, convinced that he would be beaten up further for trying to form a gang, but Fiona convinced him to help make a plan to bust out. After winning the Destructix back, the six then broke out of prison. Fiona then says they have to work for Dr. Finitevus, but Scourge tossed the idea aside, saying he was the leader now. With that, he and his new gang start making plans on both Moebius and Mobius.
Scourge's plans were never revealed nor got the chance to unfold before the Super Genesis Wave irreversibly rewrote the entire multiverse.
Personality and traits[]
Since he was an evil alternate version of Sonic the Hedgehog, Scourge had all of Sonic's traits, just darkened and at times, turned on their head. While Sonic enjoyed the company of his friends, Scourge had none, and saw his allies as pawns to help him prove he was the best. In addition, where Sonic often considered his battles as sport, Scourge fought to prove that he was the greatest by introducing his opponents to excruciating pain, and, if given the chance, killing them. However, his arrogance, amplified from Sonic's usual cockiness, made it easier to defeat him, but also quite dangerous and psychotic by nature.
When he was imprisoned in the No Zone, he was given a collar that suppressed his speed and stamina, and his quills were trimmed. Without these abilities, Scourge was almost helpless. He became nothing more than a common punk, right at the bottom of the convict food chain. During this period, Scourge became constantly fearful and paranoid, a shadow of his former self. But thanks to a pep-talk from Fiona, he started to rediscover his meddle, and as soon as his collar was off, he wasted no time in taking revenge against everyone who bullied him.
Powers and abilities[]
Scourge's shares skills near-identical to Sonic Prime's, making him a virtual to the equal to Hero of Mobius. Following his transformation, Scourge seems to have acquired even greater strength and stamina than he had previously, having once single-handedly fought Sonic and Shadow at the same time. Following his transformation, Scourge seemed to acquire much greater strength and stamina than he had previously, as seen with his quick defeat of Locke the Echidna and how he momentarily fought both Sonic and Shadow at the same time. With his newfound strength he was also capable beating his Anti-Freedom Fighter group into submission single handedly, forcing them to rebrand as the Suppression Squad. He then took down the big powers of his world and anyone who opposed him, like O'Nux, and eventually conquered it for himself, becoming the king of Moebius. Scourge could also use a Chaos Emerald to perform Chaos Control.
Scourge shares Sonic's super speed, allowing him to easy keep pace with his counterpart; when they first met, Scourge could easily run circles around Moebius, with Sonic unable to stay more than two seconds ahead of his counterpart at most. He can as well perform Sonic Spin and Spin Dash where he curl into a concussive ball or cutting disk. With these techniques, Scourge can burrow through almost anything given enough speed, such as giant rocks and metal alloys, while dealing massive damage.
Curiously, similarly to his Prime counterpart, Scourge seems to have some degree of the "Embodiment of Chaos" quality to him, which is what likely allowed him to power his Warp Ring using the Master Emerald despite it being Hexed by Dr. Finitevus, with the echidna scientist himself being surprised on what Scourge was doing with it.
Transformations[]
Super Scourge[]
Instead of absorbing chaos energy from the Chaos Emeralds like most others, Scourge transforms into Super Scourge using the energies from Moebius’ equivalent to them, Anarchy Beryl. While in his super state he is given a significant increase in strength, speed and reflexes. He also gains the standard super form abilities of flight, limitless stamina and virtual invulnerability. However, unlike Super Sonic, who gains a power boost after the transformation is over, Scourge is heavily drained of his stamina upon the transformation ending.
Relationships[]
Friends/allies[]
- Destructix (teammates)
- Drago Wolf
- Fiona Fox (girlfriend)
- Flying Frog
- Lightning Lynx
- Predator Hawk
- Sergeant Simian
- Sleuth "Doggy" Dawg
- Dimitri
- Dr. Finitevus
- Horizont-Al (to a degree)
- Robo-Robotnik v.1.0
- Shadow SWATbots
- Verti-Cal (to a degree)
Enemies[]
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Trivia[]
- Scourge was originally believed to have been removed from the comics due to the Super Genesis Wave; this was contradicted when he appeared on the cover of Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Rivals. However, a CG model of him that was made to be used on a cover was later cancelled.
- While Scourge has never returned to the franchise in any form since, he does have a successor character of sorts in the form of IDW's Surge the Tenrec. Like Scourge, Surge is a green-furred hedgehog-like copy of Sonic who considers themselves Sonic's true enemy.
- Scourge's eyes are the color of Sonic's fur, whilst his fur is the color of Sonic's eyes. He shares this look with another rival of Sonic, Jet the Hawk from the Sonic Riders series.
- Also, Scourge's super form is purple, the contrasting color to Super Sonic's yellow.
- On the side of Scourge's shades, the reader can see the word "SEGA".
- Scourge has been seen saying censored swear words on some occasions.
- Similar to how Amy's rage is the one thing Sonic is truly afraid of, Scourge has shown to only really fear Rosy's insanity.
- His suggestion to Sonic that their only difference is "one bad day" is a reference to a line said by The Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke, where the villain states that all it takes to drive a man to insanity is "one bad day".
- As Scourge never spent a year in space like Sonic did, this would mean that Scourge is effectively physically older than Sonic by a year. However, this has never been confirmed.
- The reason why Scourge needed a charged up Warp Ring to travel from Mobius to Moebius is due to the fact that it is very difficult to travel between two dimensions without having enough power behind it. This is, of course, also due to the fact that the Cosmic Interstate was in lockdown as the Zone Cops were at war with Dr. Eggman Nega. Zonic has also stated that the Zone Cops are the only ones who allow access to the Cosmic Interstate.
- It has been suggested that Scourge did not have his Warp Ring later as he may have lost it due to his recklessness or Miles may have taken it for himself.
- In 2020, Scourge was licensed by Ken Penders to an indie company named Rush! Comics, as the protagonist of their comic book miniseries Scourge: The Speed Demon. However, the comic book was cancelled 4 days after its announcement due to backlash against the creators and Penders.