Tails (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Miles Prower, better known by his nickname Tails (Japanese: テイルス), is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, and animated cartoons released by Sega.
The name "Miles Prower" is a pun on "miles per hour", a reference to the famed speed of Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters in the series of games. He is a young fox with two tails, which enable him to fly by spinning them in a helicopter-like motion. He's 8 years old, 2'7", and weighs 44lbs. His birthday is mostly likely October 16, the release date of his 1992 debut, the Master System and Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, although most players' intruduction to the character was in the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. His first appearance was orange, and then changed to yellow-orange for Sonic Adventure, and yellow for Sonic Heroes. In 1995 he starred in his own game, Tails Adventure for the Game Gear.
The concept of a two-tailed fox stems from Japanese folklore. According to the mythology, foxes (called "Kitsune") are magical and incredibly wise beings, and the older they get the more tails they grow.
Storyline from the video games
The western and Japanese manuals differ somewhat in the story of how Tails first met Sonic, but, for the most part, are still rather similar.
In the western manual, Tails first appeared as a fan of Sonic, who began following him after being rescued by the hedgehog. After following his hero relentlessly for a long time, Tails eventually became fast enough to keep up with him by spinning his two tails like a propeller. Eventually Sonic and Tails became best friends.
In the Japanese manual, Tails lived on Westside Island, which Sonic arrived at shortly after the first game in his plane, the Tornado. Tails, being a mechanics buff, took to Sonic's plane almost instantly, and took the time to look it over when Sonic had gone away. However, around the same time, Eggman began demonstrating the power of his spacestation, the Death Egg, close by. Tails, having defended Cocoa Island in the past from the Battlekukku Army (in Tails Adventures), was more than willing to help stop Eggman, effectively teaming up with Sonic. The added details about his mechanical abilities explain why Tails was so quick with repairs during Wing Fortress Zone, and have since been referenced in later titles, such as Sonic Adventure where he made a new plane to replace the old one, or Sonic Adventure 2 where he created a fake Chaos Emerald.
He is also one of the fastest characters in the Sonic universe, alongside Sonic, Shadow and Metal Sonic. Besides Sonic, Tails' friends include Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, and Cream the Rabbit.
He smells really bad, but cheese comes in pairs of 80. HI MOM!
Personality
Tails was very shy when he first met Sonic, but gradually opened up and became Sonic's loyal, docile friend. In Sonic Adventure Tails proved his independence by saving Station Square from Dr. Eggman all by himself. He now has many different creations and his intelligence matches Eggman's. He does have a few weaknesses though; he is very afraid of thunder and has a bad tendency of talking too much. In the Archie Comics he is taken care of by all the other Freedom Fighters but grows up to be an invaluable member.
Relations
Family
Like most of the characters, Tails is often depicted without any known family. However, in the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics, he does have a few relatives:
- Amadeus Prower (father)
- Rosemary Prower (mother)
- Merlin Prower (uncle)
Love interests
Unlike Sonic and Knuckles, Tails is very rarely portrayed as having a love interest. This is likely attributed to his young age. Despite this, Tails has had a few such relations. In the Archie Comics, he has crushes on Fiona Fox and Barbie Koala, though the two take little notice of him, being much older. In the Mobius: 25 Years Later story, which is a non-canon future, Tails is shown to be married to Mina Mongoose. In the TV series Sonic X, he is involved with the plant-alien Cosmo. In addition, there are numerous fan stories that depict Tails with various love interest, including female foxes, Amy Rose and Rouge the Bat, Cream the Rabbit, and even stories of Tails being bi-curious and in love with Sonic. However, at the moment, Tails has no love interest in the main continuity.
Alternate selves
In the Archie Comics, Tails has a variety of other-dimensional counterparts. Among these are a superhero Tails, teamed up with a group of Freedom Fighters descended from the originals who are styled after the Justice League. There's also Anti-Tails, an evil version from the same dimension as Evil Sonic and Anti-Knuckles. There is also a slew of various other Tails, who appear to help the main one battle Mammoth Mogul.
Character design
Yasushi Yamaguchi, originally the main artist and zone designer for Sega's Sonic Team, designed Tails for an internal competition for the sidekick. His entry won, but Sonic Team decided to change his character's name from "Miles" to "Tails". Yamaguchi ended up with a compromise. He snuck the name "Miles" in as his legal name; "Tails" would be his nickname, ending up with the full name of Miles "Tails" Prower.
Tails' mechanical creations
Although Tails can fly by twirling his two tails like the blades of a helicopter, he also enjoyed flying Sonic's red biplane, the Tornado. As the series progressed, it was obvious his interest in the old biplane went further than just piloting it - Tails is a prodigy with mechanical (but not robotic) intelligence comparable to Dr. Eggman's (Robotnik), and soon many modifications to the Tornado, as well as new biplanes, were added to his arsenal. He also operates a small blue submarine called the "Sea Fox", a space ship called the "Lunar Fox", and a race car called the "Whirlwind S7", a vehicle clearly based upon the Lotus/Catherham Super Seven (hence the name).
In Sonic Adventure, Tails was experimenting with a Chaos Emerald-powered prototype plane based on Sonic's Tornado, the Tornado II. The Tornado II had two modes. One was quite similar to the old Tornado, but with a button press, Tails could make it transform into a rather futuristic-looking little plane, which outperformed the Tornado in all but one important function-- landing gear. Big the Cat ended up flying the wrecked Tornado II to his home after Sonic and Tails crash-landed on Eggman's flying fortress, the Egg Carrier.
In Sonic Adventure 2, Tails uses the Tornado II's greatest upgrade: the Cyclone. The Cyclone has three modes: the plane mode, the car mode, and the mech mode. The mech mode gets the most use in the game, the car is used on only one level and in multiplayer, and the airplane is only seen in cutscenes. Tails drives the mech during all other gameplay, except when visiting the Chao Garden.
Sonic X features a much improved model of the Tornado, more high tech than the one in the games. Known as the X Tornado, two of these models exist, one yellow, one silver. These machines are equipped with weaponry, and can transform into robots known as the X Cyclones: one a ground-based plane with legs, the other a flying torso. Sonic X also features the Hyper Tornado, a superior version of Tails' biplane. Finally, Tails' greatest achievement is the Blue Typhoon warship. This vessel is equipped for deep space travel, and is equipped with a wide arsenal, the most powerful weapon in which is the Sonic Driver. This giant cannon uses Sonic as a living cannonball, creating a much-improved version of his super spin. The Blue Typhoon is powered by the Master Emerald.
The original Tornado that appears in the Sonic series and Sonic Heroes resembles the Polikarpov I-153 Chaika, a Soviet biplane from WWII; the I-153's engine is a Wright "Cyclone".
Moves and abilities
Like many of the other characters in the Sonic universe, Tails can do the Sonic Spin and the Spin Dash, as well as doing his own attacks, such as attacking with his tails by twirling around. In Sonic Adventure, he obtained the Rhythm Badge, which enabled him to do a continuous tail attack. In Sonic Heroes, he is the flying member of Team Sonic, which means that he can also use the Thunder Shoot attack, whereby he electrically charges Sonic and Knuckles and kicks them at his enemies (without Sonic or Knuckles being harmed). When alone, Tails can also throw fake rings, which electrocute enemies who try to pick them up. He can also swim quite well, which is an ability Sonic never had. This, when combined with his flying ability, actually makes him quite a 'cheap' character in some games.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (Sonic 3 with Sonic and Knuckles expantion cartrage) for the Genesis/Mega Drive, Tails was also the only character that could not normally transform with the seven Chaos Emeralds. In order for Tails to transform into Super Tails, he must have the Super Emeralds, which are more powerful versions of the original Chaos Emeralds. As Super Tails, he has all the same abilities as Super Sonic, but he also has 4 Golden (Super) Flickies that follow him and attack nearby enemies.
Tails plays major roles in almost all Sonic games released since his debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. However, there is reason to believe that in the unreleased Sonic X-treme, which was in development for the Sega Saturn platform, there were no signs of Tails appearing in this game. In similar fashion, Sonic CD only contains Tails in the form of a cameo piece of artwork that features him standing next to a racecar with the caption "SEE YOU NEXT GAME" -- which was a reference to Sonic Drift for the Game Gear.
In the Archie Comics, Tails possesses all his usual abilities. However, his "Super" form was known as Turbo Tails: basically, a super-powered Tails with a cape. He could also turn into Super Tails, as counterpart to "Ultra Sonic". However, Tails also obtained the ultimate super form: Titan Tails. This entity is a result of Tails merging with all his various alternate selves. The finished product is a massive, muscular version of Tails, a cosmic-powered being with great knowledge and power equal to that of the Chaos Force.
Aside from his excellent mechanic's and driving/piloting, he does an all right job at sports like grinding and boarding, which he learned (possibly) from Sonic.
Comics and TV shows
Tails has appeared in several cartoon shows, such as SatAM (voiced byBradley Pierce), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Christopher Welch), and Sonic X (voiced by Amy Palant). He is absent from Sonic Underground, however.
In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog he a lot younger than his game self. He is often, in Sonic's opinion, a slight annoyance due to his irritating tendency of being captured easily. But still, Sonic sees him as like a surrogate brother and best friend, and is usually overprotective of him (this often leads to capture). Even though, Tails seems to have a vast intelligence in mechanics and can operate independently in drastic situations, such as in one instance lacing an entire building with booby-traps (in a similar manner to Home Alone) in order to revive Sonic from a nasty ailment. He is also evidenced to have a large appetite, and like Sonic his favorite food is chili dogs.
He also appears in the British Sonic the Comic, published by Fleetway, where he hails from the Nameless Zone, a region which can apparently only be accessed by a space warp. A misunderstanding led Tails to the Emerald Hill Zone, where the streets of which he believed were paved with real emeralds, but once there, Tails immediately became fascinated with Sonic, and eventually became his sidekick and eventually best friend. Unfortunately for him, though, he exaggerated the relationship in letters home, professing that HE was the great hero of Mobius and that Sonic was HIS sidekick, which resulted in the elders of the Nameless Zone often calling him back, and gifting him with a suit of enchanted armour to defend their Zone from assorted evil - and poor old Tails never did quite manage to explain the truth.
Tails also appears in the American Archie Sonic Comics, where he is developed upon as the chosen one and the son of Rosemary and Amadeus Prower, also having an uncle named Merlin. In the Archie Sonic comic, he seemed to have lost his parents at an early age, and admired the Freedom Fighters, particularly Sonic. He has grown pretty close with the Princess Sally, as he calls her Aunt Sally. He is also Sonic's surrogate little brother. Jules and Bernie Hedgehog (Sonic's parents in the comic version) also view Tails as a son to them. During his journey through space, Sonic met Tails's parents on Argentium, home planet of the Bem aliens.
When he absorbs fifty rings and seven Chaos Emeralds, he becomes Turbo Tails. His fur color changes from orange to dark orange, all natural abilities are upgraded and he is, like Super Sonic, immune to all attacks that come his way. He has only once made an appearance as Super Tails after he had absorbed the power of a thousand power rings in a battle along side Ultra Sonic against the evil wizard Ixis Nagus. He was aided by four flickies that have chaos energy and that will attack whatever he wishes them to. Tails, like Sonic, has multiple other-dimensional counterparts, whom he teamed up with to fight his nemesis, Mammoth Mogul. When this proved ineffective, Tails merged with his alternate selves to become a massive cosmic being known as Titan Tails.
Archie Comics produced a supplementary 3-issue mini-series in the mid-nineties, in which Tails embarked on a solo adventure to the land of Downunda, a supposed parallel of Australia, where several marsupials befriended him including one Barby Koala. Leading into the story arc featured in the mini-series was a two-part mini-adventure in which Tails encountered a disguised robot named Fiona Fox, a robotic duplicate of a young vixen. He fell in love with her before discovering her robotic nature. The organic counterpart of Fiona is now featured in the Archie comic and Tails seems to have a crush on her, although she is less than interested in him as she is several years older.
How Sonic and Tails met
In every version of the Sonic series, there is a different version of how Sonic and Tails met (excluding Sonic Underground, since Tails was absent from it). In the video game version (as taken from the the official Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog 2 manual) Sonic instantly became Tails' idol when Tails first witnessed Sonic's incredible speed. After Sonic sees that the young fox is actually able to catch up with him he recruits him as his sidekick.
In Sonic X, Tails and Sonic became friends after Tails rebuilt and repainted Sonic's antique airplane.
In a flashback shown in the Adventures Of Sonic the Hedgehog episode "Tails' New Home", Tails literally landed on top of Sonic. Perplexed by this baby fox's claim he can fly, the fox kid proves it by showing him. The kid then requests that Sonic adopts him after telling him he got separated from his parents and has been an orphan for a long time. At first Sonic declines but after heavy bugging from him he finally lets him tag along. After the fox kid tells Sonic his name, Miles, and says he hates it, Sonic swears he will not tell anyone. Sonic instead gives him his nickname.
In Sonic The Comic, Sonic saved Tails from drowning in a swamp when they first met when he saw two tails peering from the swamp, the rest of Tails' body completely submerged. Mistakenly believing there were two foxes in the swamp, Sonic only had time to grab one tail and believed one fox had drowned; he soon realised that both tails belonged to the same fox.
The Saturday morning cartoon did not give an explanation as to how they met, but the comics based off of it did. In the flashback story "Eve of Destruction", the five-year-old Sonic witnesses Tails' birth and immediately befriends the newborn fox a few minutes (or two pages) later.
Rumors
Some people claim that Tails could be female, even though Yasushi Yamaguchi, Yuji Naka, and/or the rest of Sonic Team have always designed him as a male character. In the Spanish dub of some of the TV shows (including Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog), Colitas (lit.: Tails) was referred to as ella (she), and she called herself zorra (vixen). This comes from many things, such as that the Spanish language has masculine and feminine words, and cola, the word for tail, is feminine, the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 pre-development, and the fact that Tails seems to have a big attraction to Sonic (see below). If this were true, this would also wipe away allegations that Tails was instead bi/homosexual. However, his real name, Miles, is not a female name, and in the original Japanese, he uses a male mode of speech, so the theory only evolves in fan fiction.
It is also rumored by some fans that he was the original guardian of the Chaos Emeralds, and that when Hidden Palace Zone was scrapped from Sonic 2, the role was given to a new character, Knuckles. But recent interviews with Sonic Team Lead Designer Yuji Naka yielded that the Hidden Palace Zone was originally designed as a place for Sonic to be granted the power to become Super Sonic, as well as a place for the Chaos Emeralds to originally come from. Though, the zone artist for Sonic 2, Craig Stitt, said that the emerald was merely an object for the player's character to break through. [1]
Tails is also rumored, by some egalitarianists, to be Sonic's subordinate. This rumor came about when Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in 1992 when Tails started following Sonic around. This rumor is supplemented in the many animated series, when Tails is treated like a bullied little brother by Sonic on occasions.
Recently, allegations of Tails-Amy or Tails-Cream relationships have come into prominence (despite that in the games, Tails has never had any dialogue with Cream). They may be touched upon by the TV series, or may simply never be expanded upon. The same goes for the possible Tails-Fiona Fox relationship that could be present in the comic. The only continuity in which Tails has officially fallen in love is Sonic X; he falls in love with the new character, "Cosmo".
Some say that maybe Tails is in love with Sonic and some even go as far to say the two have a shonen-ai or yaoi relationship based on Tails' odd obssession and admiration of the hedgehog. This is largely discredited, due to the fox only being eight years old, and Tails's likely attitude towards Sonic as a big brother figure. These rumours have helped to fuel the Female Tails rumor (see above).
Gameplay quirks
In Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Sonic Adventure, when the player has opted to play in 'Sonic and Tails' mode (controlling Sonic while the AI makes Tails follow him), it's not readily stated in the manual, but a second player can use the 2P controller to use Tails. The action will continue to follow Sonic on the screen, making him the focal point, but Tails is fully controllable in every way that he is when playing as Tails alone. This can potentially be exploited by players who are having trouble with some problem areas or bosses, as Tails has the benefit of being completely invulnerable, with any "death" he suffers being quickly resolved as the character flies harmlessly back onto the screen after a few seconds. Moreover, in Sonic 3, Tails is granted the ability to fly as he pleases, which can allow the Tails-using player to airlift Sonic wherever he might need to go.
There is also a small glitch in Sonic 2 which arguably gives him a 'Super Tails' form before its official appearance in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Again, playing in Sonic & Tails mode is a prerequisite. After becoming Super Sonic through whatever means necessary (code or legitimately), the player can use the in-game debug mode to place a normal item monitor on the ground, giving himself a monitor with the teleport item normally only available in 2-player split screen. After jumping on this, the characters will stay in their location, but while Super Sonic's abilities will be apparently gone, Tails will now have an invicibility ring surrounding him. Sonic must collect another 50 rings and jump to return to Super status. Super Tails will remain in his state for as long as he doesn't "die" through drowning, crushing or falling, and he actually runs as fast as Super Sonic, though he lacks the height of his jumps.
Video game appearances
Tails was first seen on Sonic 2 for the Master System but made his first hit in Sonic 2 for the Megadrive (Genesis), where he played the part of Sonic's sidekick and also as a playable character. He could not be made to fly until Sonic Chaos (Sonic and Tails in Japan), and then in Sonic 3 when he made his second major appearance. This was a big step forward for Tails; he became much better known and respected at this point.
Quotes
- Here I come, Sonic' (Sonic Adventure)
- I did it, Sonic! (Sonic Adventure 2)
- Glad that Sonic and Knuckles are on my team! (Sonic Heroes)
- Ok, time to fight!! (Sonic Battle)
- I must be getting stronger! (Sonic Battle)
- Hey, cut it out!' (Shadow the Hedgehog)
Voice Actors
- In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails is voiced by Christopher Welch.
- In Sonic X and all future games beginning with Shadow the Hedgehog, Tails is voiced by Amy Palant.
- In the Sonic Adventure games, Tails was voiced by Corey Bringas.
Theme songs
- Tails' theme song in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX is called "Believe in Myself". It is sung by Karen Brake.
- Tails' theme song in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is also called "Believe in Myself". It features many of the same lyrics, but set to a different tune. It is sung by Kaz Silver.
- His team, Team Sonic's, theme in Sonic Heroes is called "We Can", and actively mentions him in the line "Tails keeps us flying high to stay above trouble".
External links
- Tailman Team A general Tails information website.
- Prower Power A large, but growing Tails website.
- Mystic Fox Large Tails community.
- Tails Archive Another Tails site with some misc. information, including a large Tails plushie archive.
- Tails Domain Tails site with plenty of media downloads.