Sticks the Badger

Sticks the Badger is one of the main characters in the Sonic Boom series. She is an anthropomorphic jungle badger and a force of nature in every way. She has spent most of her life living alone and flourishing in the wilderness and is as such new to friends in general.[1] After meeting Team Sonic, however, she forms a strong bond with the group, particularly with Amy Rose, and joined the team as their wild card.

Concept and Creation
According to Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Chief Content Officer for the Sonic Brand, Sega of America, "Sticks is a significant addition to theSonic Boom universe and the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise" and is meant to form the core ensemble featured throughout the Sonic Boom franchise alongside Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles. She is meant to bring a quirky personality and perspective to the team dynamic and her character adds an endless amount of humor and surprise to the Sonic Team.[1]

Early artwork of Sticks shows she was supposed to have white sports tape for her hair locks and only have one eyelash. The sports tape was eventually changed to auburn strings and she ended up having two eyelashes.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Sticks appeared a non playable character in the Wii U version ofSonic Boom: Rise of Lyric at Bygone Island. If interacted with, Sticks will tell the player that if they could find Shinies, she will exchange them for Crowns. She was then last seen at the village, taking an item and thanking them for their help.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Sticks entered a ravine for the purpose of "gettin' info from the rocks" where she was caught in a rockslide, but was saved by Sonic, Tails and Knuckles and Amy. Back on safe ground, Sticks told her friends that an underground army would rise and destroy them all, but was met with severe skepticism. Later on, Sticks teamed up with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles to track down and save Amy who had been kidnapped byLyric and his robot army, who sought to use her archaeological knowledge to find a Lost Crystal of Power and seize unlimited power.

TV Series
When Sticks and her friends visited Tails' house, they discovered that Sonic and Tails were letting Dr. Eggman, Orbot and Cubotstay here while their lair underwent repairs. Sticks however, believed it was an evil plot to destroy them with an "Obliteratorbot". Though her paranoia was dismissed, Sticks' fears were confirmed two days later, after Eggman had kept Sonic and Tails up all night, where Eggman revealed he lied about his lair to exhaust Sonic and Tails, and summoned his Obliteratorbot to destroy them, as Sticks predicted. However, the robot got Eggman's orders wrong and attacked his lair instead. Convinced by Eggman to help them, Sticks and her team got to the lair where she,Knuckles and Amy distracted Obliteratorbot long enough for the others to reach its kill switches, though they were too late to save the lair.[3]

As Sticks was relaxing with Sonic, Amy and Knuckles on the beach, Tails came and demonstrated his inventionUT, a robot capable of translating any language, to them. However, tension was created between Sticks and the team when UT translated their private thoughts from the subtext of their speech. The next day, Tails and UT came back where the robot "translated" their comments into insults. As every began fighting, Tails learned this UT was a fake send by Eggman to tear the team apart. However, Sticks and the others did not come with Tails on his mission to save the real UT, thinking UT was too troublesome. Later, UT returned to Sticks and the others with a message from Tails and translated it into a call to rescue Tails from Eggman's lair. Sticks and the team soon got to Eggman's lair where they freed Tails and defeated Eggman's guard robot. While the rest of her team liked UT now, Sticks did not and threw it into the sea.[4]

When Eggman attacked the local village with his Anti-fire Bot, Team Sonic came and put a end to it. After the mission though, Sticks showed a kitten ill treatment which made her team-mates convince her to get a pet to learn compassion. While out finding a pet with Sonic, Sticks chose a disgusting robo-dog who she namedBuster. While Sticks loved her new pet, Buster was an annoyance to her other friends. After Buster ruined the team's chances to stop Orbot and Cubot from robbing a warehouse, they tried to make Sticks get rid of Buster, but she refused. Eggman then came by with a gift for Buster and revealed he created the robo-dog. However, Eggman's gift turned Buster into a large robot that caught everyone except Sticks, but Sticks managed to assume control over Buster and had him release her friends and get rid of Eggman. Knowing though that Buster was too dangerous, Sticks released Buster after a heartfelt goodbye.[5]

Coming to the village with her team, Sticks saw that meteors were raining down on them. Using a defense system she had prepared for this occasion though, she saved the village. Later, Sticks got a letter that said she was nominated for an Awardy Award for saving the town. However, Sticks did not want to go to such an elegant event, fearing she would embarrass herself with her feral behavior, until Amy promised to teach her to be a lady. With Sonic as her escort, Sticks managed to get the basics down from Amy's lessons. At the gala, Sticks got a good start, but still struggled despite her attempts. When it was time for the award however, Sticks met Eggman who was also a nominee (by cheating). When Eggman did not get the award and retaliated with his robots in vengeance, Sticks refused to fight as "a lady doesn't fight." After her friends got caught however, Sticks snapped, dropped her composure and managed to free her friends and drive Eggman off. With the gala saved, Sticks took the Award Award from the winner Leroy and agreed to teach Amy to listen to her instincts.[6]

While Sticks was helping Amy with a decorative lunch for their team, they were met by Dr. Eggman who wanted to hire Amy to redecorate his lair for Modern Lair Magazine. To Sticks' shock however, Amy agreed, feeling unappreciated for her designing skills by the others. Eventually, Sticks and the others began to miss Amy and went to Eggman's lair to check up on her. There, Eggman claimed Amy wanted to stay with him, but Sticks and the others did not believe it and broke into the lair where they got Amy out of a cage and she made peace with the others. Sticks and the team then trashed Eggman's lair and his robots on the way out, which meant Eggman did not get a place in Modern Lair Magazine.[7]

During a visit to Sonic's shack, Sticks found a batch of cookies and ate one. However, it turned out to be an evil cookie made by Eggman which turned Sticks into a clone of Eggman. Now evil, Sticks joined Tails, Knuckles and Amy (who had also eaten the evil cookies) under Eggman's tutelage where they plotted Sonic's destruction. When Sonic came to save them, Sticks and the rest cornered him. However, they then began fighting over who deserved the honor for capturing Sonic. During the fight, Sticks and the others were returned to normal by Sonic and Eggman (who Sonic turned good with a cookie containing his DNA). Eggman now thought they would work together, but Team Sonic did not like the idea, so Sticks restored the doctor to normal.[8]

Archie Comics
While her friends were fighting Dr. Eggman Sticks saw a "cyborg rock golem" rise up from underground beneath Tails' house and left with the whole house on top of it. In panic, Sticks hurried out and found Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy and told them that Tails' house had been "robbed". However, it was first when Sticks brought her friends to the former site of Tails' house that they understand what she meant and she explained what had happened to the house.[9]

While her friends tried to make a plan, Sticks found the Rock-cyborg's footprints and began following them while sniffing the grass out of enjoinment (which gave the others the impression that she had picked up the robot's scent). When she finally cleared up the misunderstanding though, she had lead the whole group to the Rock-cyborg. There, Sticks climbed up on the top of the Rock-cyborg to check Tails' gutters for "illegal wire taps" as Sonic was leading it into an ambush. There, she met Tails who told her to get to safety, but she believed she would be safer up here. As Amy and Knuckles crippled the Rock-cyborg, Sticks and Tails struck it from behind and made it fall, giving Sonic the chance to destroy it and bring Tails' house back on its foundation. With the battle over, Sticks was liking how the Rock-cyborg's remains adorned the surroundings.[9]

Not long after, Sticks faced Dr. Eggman's Big Boy mech with Sonic, Tails and Amy. During the battle, Knuckles attacked and trapped his own team, claiming he worked with Eggman now because he got tired of Amy criticizing him. Sticks however, got ahead of Knuckles and trapped herself in her own cage. Sticks and the other were then loaded into the Big Boy's cargo hold where Knuckles revealed to them that he was faking being Eggman's ally to fool him. Once Knuckles left to defeat Eggman (after Amy and Tails convinced him that his plan was brilliant despite its flaws), Sticks freed Sonic who in turn broke them out of the Big Boy as Knuckles made Eggman retreat. Shortly after the team took care of Orbot and Cubot though, Sticks found Amy in a panic over having lost her piko hammer.[10]

In Super Sonic Team Possible
Sticks the Badger makes her SSTP fanfic appearance in the reboot/spinoff fanfic series, Super Sonic Team Possible: Boom, loosely based on the Sonic Boom TV series. Sticks will also be casted in the Blaze Possible fanfic series as the movie theater box office worker, Zita Flores, who were both voiced by Nika Futterman.