Most classic video game heroes have their romantic admirers, and
Sega's
Sonic the Hedgehog is no different. During his mission to stop
Dr. Robotnik's scheme to control
Little Planet in
Sonic CD he encountered a
pink hedgehog who followed him around for a while. She was quickly abducted by
Metal Sonic, however, and held as bait in a trap to catch the blue blur. The pink hedgehogette is Amy Rose,
Sonic's greatest fan and self-proclaimed girlfriend.
Although Amy was created ten years ago we haven't seen much of her in Sonic lore until recently. She was absent from the classic series of Sonic the Hedgehog games on the Sega Genesis and appeared twice on the Game Gear in both Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2. It wasn't until the release of the Dreamcast that Amy was thrust into the spotlight and given a personality and characterization of her own. She was fully playable in Sonic Adventure (and its ports Sonic Adventure International, Sonic Adventure: Limited Edition, and Sonic Adventure DX) as she worked with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to save the town of Station Square from another of Dr. Robotnik's evil schemes. She showed up again as a member of the supporting cast in Sonic Adventure 2 (and it's Nintendo GameCube port Sonic Adventure 2 Battle). She made her playable 2D debut in the Game Boy Advance title Sonic Advance and returned for the sequel, Sonic Advance 2, albeit as a hidden character. Her other appearances include Sonic R, Sonic's Gameworld, Sonic Championship, and Sonic Shuffle.
Amy's weapon of choice is a massive mallet that she hefts and heaves with ease. In Sonic Advance she was considered a character for advanced players to wield as she was incapable of performing the spin jump and spin dash maneuvers. Jumping on a badnik as Amy results in her taking damage. Sonic Advance 2 changed this, however, and in the sequel she can pull off the maneuvers with the rest of the cast.
Amy's origins come from a series of concept art for a cancelled Sonic the Hedgehog RPG title called Sister Sonic. Sega had planned to create an RPG for the Sega CD starring Sonic's previously unseen sister by taking the game Popful Mail and replacing the elements in the game with characters and levels from Sonic lore. Fans protested, however, and Sega scrapped the concept. The pink hedgehog was renamed "Rosie the Rascal" and used in Sonic CD, however Sega of America wanted to tie in the game with the new set of characters created for the animated adventures of Sonic and christened the character Princess Sally Acorn (totally disregarding the fact that the real Princess Sally Acorn character looked nothing like Amy). The next time she appeared in a game she had been redesigned slightly and renamed Amy Rose.
Amy is becoming one of the key characters in Sonic lore. It's a good bet that we'll see her again.