- “I am the guardian of the Sol Emeralds... It is a fate that forces me to live with my curse, my flames... Because of my powers, I have always been alone... It's also why I must do this alone! It is my responsibility! ”
- ―Blaze the Cat, Sonic Rush
Blaze the Cat (ブレイズ・ザ・キャット Bureizu za Kyatto) is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. She is an anthropomorphic cat and princess hailing from an alternate dimension, where she is both the regent of the Sol Empire and the appointed guardian of the Sol Emeralds, a role similar to that of Sonic and Knuckles combined.[1] As her name suggests, she is gifted with the power of pyrokinesis, which lets her create and manipulate fire in any way she pleases.
Blaze is normally calm and elegant, but tends to conceal her true feelings. Devoted to her position, she sometimes gets herself bogged down by her own strict discipline, which made her anti-social, shy, and unfamiliar to the concept of having friends. After spending time with Sonic and Cream, however, Blaze has discovered the true meaning of friendship, allowing her to accomplish tasks for the good of her people and the innocent which she could never do alone. Despite the initial boundaries separating them, Blaze now travels freely between her dimension and Sonic's to visit her friends.[2]
Concept and creation[]
Concept art for Blaze the Cat.
Blaze was designed as a character who was equivalent yet an alternate version of Sonic's character. An undated concept of Blaze which was very similar to her final design except her eyes were rounder and her ponytail was turned front instead of back, she was supposed to wear clothing similar to the Arabs, since she was wearing a shalwar and a mid-riff top.[3]
According to the early character spread sheet files of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) it is mentioned that Blaze wears a cape to hide her flames because she was teased. However the games have never shown her wearing a cape besides her purple outfit. This was later clarified by the concept artwork gallery in the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations where one of the pictures showed Blaze wearing a white and pink laced cape.
An ex-member of Sega on Sonic Wrecks released concept art of Blaze which was said to be done in early 2005 in PowerPoint documents.[4] Her design was very similar to Shadow's however it is possible the character was in a mere silhouette form.[5][6]
Appearance[]
Blaze is a lavender and violet-furred, anthropomorphic cat with gold eyes, a small black nose and a white-furred muzzle. She has triangular ears with peach colored canals and a long tail with the end frayed and dark purple. Her fur is longer on each side of her head and sweeps slightly upwards. She has four plumes of hair with dark purple tips done up in a high ponytail with a red hair tie. She also has a red oval gem on her forehead, resembling a bindi.
For attire, Blaze wears a purple tailcoat with dark pink trim, a gold collar, and white leggings. She also wears white gloves with fluffy cuffs and dark pink, high-heeled shoes with white stripes and fluffy cuffs, like her gloves.
During the Olympic Games, Blaze sports a number of different outfits depending on the event and the environments she faces:
- For regular sporting events in the summer, Blaze wears a purple tracksuit that leaves some of her belly exposed, and dark pink sports shoes with white stripes and light gray soles. The bottom of her shirt and the waist of her pants has dark pink trim, with the latter having a golden stripe and also a pink one on each side at the pants only. Also, she retains her standard gloves.
- For winter and equestrian events, Blaze wears a purple tailcoat with white leggings similar to her normal attire, except the former has shiny gold and dark pink trims. Her white gloves have magenta fluffy cuffs instead of being white. She also wears purple boots with dark pink and yellow stripes, dark pink and silver straps, and dark gray soles.
- For swimming and gymnastics, Blaze wears a purple, backless, sleeveless minidress with a pink rim on the skirt, a gold necklace and long black skin-tight shorts. She also wears white gloves with red bracelets for cuffs, and dark pink flats.
For the purpose of Extreme Gear racing, Blaze wears a purple zipped catsuit with yellow stripes over the chest, elbows and knee areas, and dark pink and white strapped boots. She also wears her standard gloves with a dark gray band around each wrist.
Personality[]
Blaze's profile, from the Xbox 360 version of Sonic Generations.
A noble soul,[7] Blaze is normally calm, solemn and level-headed, but tends to conceal her true feelings.[8] She is often described as elegant, which is demonstrated through her body movements and her ballerina-like fighting style. Being royalty, Blaze is quite mannerly and typically maintains a relatively quiet, stoic and formal air among others. She tends to have body language less casual than most others, such as in Sonic Generations, where she stands straight and tight rather than relaxed like the rest of the cast. She also usually speaks in a polite and lady-like tone. While honored of her heritage as royalty, Blaze is down-to-earth and dislikes being called by her title.[9] Blaze is likewise highly perceptive; due to having people that lie to her daily because of her status as a princess, she has developed a keen intuition, allowing her to sense and see through the lies of others.[10]
While Blaze gives the impression that she keeps her emotions in check, she is inwardly highly emotional. She possesses a fiery temper, and when she loses her composure she is quite frightening, aggressive, harsh, and prone to making bad decisions. She is similarly very serious about her position as princess and guardian of the Sol Emeralds, initially suspecting anyone even looking at the Emeralds the wrong way. Also, when dealing with enemies, she never holds back her strength and is not above the idea of using lethal force.[11] She is usually highly disciplined and focused, never allowing herself to lose control, and can be quite stubborn and impatient once she has put her mind to something. Her intensive demeanor however, is motivated by her own genuine concern for others' safety. In truth, Blaze has a kind heart, and always stands up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.[7] Because of her own self-imposed strict discipline though, she is often tense and frequently suffers from great self-pressure.
Initially, she held a personal dislike of her pyrokinesis because it left her to bear her responsibilities alone and it made other children tease her for her inability to control it,[12] which made her view her flames as a curse. She later learns to accept them from Sonic's advice and came to see them as a blessing.
Because of her past and devotion to her duty, Blaze developed a habit of being self-reliant, which led her to building up walls between her and other people. This made her anti-social, withdrawn and shy. As a result, she would bottle up her secret feelings, leaving herself in an inner turmoil. She also lacks in social skills and has a hard time opening up and talking to people. She was also initially wary and curt towards strangers and frequently rejected offers to help, even becoming defensive and angry. This attitude also made her somewhat selfish as she berated Sonic's offers to help and eventually ended up fighting him.
After interacting with Sonic, Cream and their friends, Blaze socially developed much more, making her more amiable, friendly and gentle towards others. She also came to understand the true meaning of friendship, making her willing to trust and accept help from others. While she still prefers handling things on her own and remains somewhat reclusive, she will accept her friends' help and is genuinely grateful for their aid. Recently, she is seemingly much more sociable, participating in Sonic's birthday party simply for the sake of friendship and is much quicker to open up and relax in front of her friends.
Blaze is very honest and almost blunt when dealing with annoyances such as Marine. Notably, she tried to leave Marine behind on missions due to Marine's risky behavior and even went far enough to hurt her feelings by calling her a 'nuisance' to keep her from coming along with her to Pirates' Island. This caused Marine to go after the pirates unchaperoned which also caused her to be captured by them. Blaze also had a rather bad habit of getting over-confident in threatening people to whom she thinks "deserves" it. This was shown several times in Sonic Rush Adventure, a few times in Sonic Rush and finally once in Sonic Colors (DS version only).
Blaze sometimes have a tendency to judge others poorly and seeing less value in others. Notably, she expected no one to know that their worlds were in great danger during Sonic Rush, but was proven wrong when Sonic and Tails were also aware. Her poor judgment of others led her to have a fight with Sonic and misjudge Cream until she realized how helpful she was.
Blaze's blunt honesty causes her to comment harshly. In Sonic Rush Adventure she tried to leave Marine behind in missions due to Marine's risky behavior and even went far enough to hurt her feelings by calling her a 'nuisance' to keep her from coming along on a dangerous mission to Pirate Island. This caused Marine to go after the pirates without Sonic, Tails, and Blaze, which also caused her to be captured by them.
Blaze suffers from acrophobia[13] and just the sight of heights makes her terrified, nervous and uncomfortable as seen in Sky Babylon. However, she is not much for admitting her fear and will try to hide it.
Powers and abilities[]
Being the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, Blaze is a force to be reckoned with. She is arguably the strongest female character in the series, being the only female so far who has been able to tie with Sonic in battle,[14] and is as intense in battle as she is graceful.
Blaze's trademark power is her pyrokinetic ability to brandish,[15] create,[14] and control[7] the elemental force of fire with her body[1] at will[16] in any way she pleases. This ability is so deeply rooted in her that even her soul is alit with flames.[17] Though Blaze initially had trouble controlling her flames,[12] she has since become very adept at using them, being able to handle them delicately enough to create small embers in the palm of her hand[18] or defrost frozen creatures without harming them.[19] Her power over fire is so advanced that she is even completely invulnerable to certain kinds of fire[20] and can manipulate foreign flames at will too.[21]
Blaze enveloping herself in flames to increasing her kicking power, from Sonic Rush
With her pyrokinesis, Blaze can conjure up flames for various offensive effects, the most basic maneuvers of which involve turning herself into a tornado of fire by spinning around. Notably, she can cloak herself in flames with a midair twirl for strikes, trigger high-speed twirls empowered by flames in order to form fiery tornadoes around her that destroy anything they collide with, envelop herself in flames to become an explosive meteor with enough impact power to create a crater in bedrock,[22][23] or increase the power behind her strikes to such levels that she can send the Egg Mobile and its passanger flying into the horizon with a single, fire-charged kick.[24] She can even create pressurized blasts of fire and have them burst out of the ground from afar.[23] Purely offense usages aside, Blaze can also use her pyrokinesis to propel herself forward or upward with short bursts of fire or obtain limited flight by creating propulsive flames underneath her feet to slow her descent. However, her signature move with her flames[25] lets her turn herself into a burning projectile that not only enhances her running speed, but also lets her plow through opponents while running. Also, because Blaze's soul is alight with flame, she can serve as a vessel for Iblis, who would otherwise reject anyone not a member of the royal family of Soleanna, although his power would still leak out of her body.[17]
Like many others, Blaze possesses no small amount of speed,[26] allowing her to run at super speeds almost reaching those of Sonic's. In line with her graceful nature, Blaze is as well incredibly athletic considering her impressive dexterity and nimbleness when executing her various ballerina-like moves. Notably, she has enough skills in the area of athletics, reflexes, and agility to let her execute unique tricks and movements at high speed while in mid-air, pull off various Axel Jump maneuvers at immense speed, and grind on Grind Rails with ease. On the ground she is also able to perform top spins and axel jumps. In addition, she has amazing jumping skills, enough to jump very long distances from rooftop to rooftop on top of tall towers with ease while landing safely.[27]
As the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, Blaze has a deep connection to them. Before she understood the meaning of friendship though, Blaze was unable to harness the Sol Emeralds' power.[28] After embracing the friendships she had forged however, she gained the ability to tap into the Sol Emeralds' energies and use them to empower herself.[29]
Blaze performing the Burst Dash, from Sonic Rush.
In combat, Blaze makes use of her own type of hand-to-hand combat skills. In fact, many of Blaze's moves focus on graceful and delicate movements similar to ballerina moves to strike precise and hard blows. When attacking, she tends to use her feet when launching physical blows. Also, most of her fighting moves relies heavily on her pyrokinesis. By using her pyrokinesis in conjunction with her attacks, Blaze can create unique and dynamic moves that deal destructive damage to her targets. She can likewise perform an attack similar to the Homing Attack, where she quickly launches herself at an enemy and attacks them.
In some instances, Blaze is shown being able to levitate in midair.[23][30] Being royalty, Blaze also has much knowledge about the various aspects of her world, such as its history, ancient languages and legends, and knows much about the various powers of the Jeweled Scepter. As seen during Dodon Pa's Grand Prix, Blaze also has excellent skills when it comes to driving and racing in racecars like the Royal Chariot.
Transformations[]
Burning Blaze[]
- Main article: Burning Blaze
Burning Blaze, from Sonic Rush Adventure.
After realizing the importance of friendship and allowing herself to open up to people, Blaze learned how to harness the power of the seven Sol Emeralds to transform into Burning Blaze. In this state, all of Blaze's abilities far surpass her normal ones, including her pyrokinesis, which allows her to fire and charge up destructive fireballs in this state. She is also able to fly and is nearly invulnerable. However, this transformation consumes a lot of energy, meaning it cannot be maintained for long.
Color Powers[]
- Main article: Color Power
By harnessing different variants of Hyper-go-on from Wisps, Blaze can use specific Color Powers to transform into a certain form, such as a drill, a laser or even a planet, each one possessing its own unique abilities. So far, Blaze has been able to transform into the Cyan Laser, Yellow Drill and Indigo Asteroid. However, these transformations require a steady supply of Hyper-go-on to be maintained.
Weaknesses[]
- “Heights are not my strong suit.”
- ―Blaze, Team Sonic Racing
Suffering from slight acrophobia,[13][25] Blaze gets uncomfortable when faced with great heights,[31] which is perhaps her greatest weakness. Blaze's temper also makes her prone to harsh and rough decisions. Notably, Blaze completely lost her temper while threatening Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega in Deep Core, causing her to lose sight of how she had to not recklessly endanger herself for the sake of her world and people until Sonic calmed her down.[32]
Gallery[]
Relationships[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog European site. Archived from the original on 15 March 2007. Retrieved on 5 May 2015. “Blaze is a queen from another dimension who protects and controls the Sol Emeralds - a role similar to that of Sonic and Knuckles combined. She has the power to control flames with her body, but since she was teased about it when she was younger, she wears a cape to disguise her abilities. However, when needed, she will toss the cape in a heartbeat.”
- ↑ Sonic Runners, Blaze's profile.
- ↑ File:BlazethecatConceptArt.jpg
- ↑ http://lastminutecontinue.com/news/protoblazesoniccounterpart/
- ↑ http://lastminutecontinue.com/news/christmasdayblaze/
- ↑ http://lastminutecontinue.com/sw/depository/proto-blaze-returns-a-closer-look-at-the-concept-kitty/
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Sega (23 June 2016). Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Wii U. Nintendo. Area/Level: Collectibles (Flags). "A noble princess from another dimension who is also guardian of the Sol Emeralds. Blaze has a kind heart, and always stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves. In addition to being athletic, she also has the power to control flames. After a bit of time away, she's once more crossed over from her dimension in order to rekindle old friendships and test her skills in the Olympic Games."
- ↑ Sonic Rush (Nintendo DS) United states instruction booklet, p. 5.
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (14 September 2007). Sonic Rush Adventure. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Southern Island. "Gardon: Your Highness! I must Speak with you! / Blaze: Haven't I told you not to call me that?"
- ↑ Sumo Digital (21 May 2019). Team Sonic Racing. PlayStation 4. Sega. "Blaze: I would say you are here for other reasons besides winning. / Vector: What? No. I'm totally here to win the money. / Blaze: Vector, I am a princess. People lie to me daily. It is my job to find the truth so I know who can I trust. / Vector: Not too shabby, princess. All right, you got me."
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Dead Line. "Blaze: ... ... ... You stole the Sol Emeralds, and jeopardized my world... Just so you could get "ultimate power"?! I'll destroy you!"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 BradyGames (1 November 2011). Sonic Generations Official Strategy Guide. BradyGames, page 6. ISBN 978-0744013429. "Born with pyrokinesis, the ability to make flames, she endured a lot of teasing from other children due to her initial inability to control her gift. Seeing her abilities as a "curse" she became shy, withdrawn, and self-reliant."
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Dead Line. "Blaze: We're going to fly again? Uh, wait a sec. I'm kinda scared of heights... Aaah!"
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Sonic.
- ↑ Bandai Namco Studios, Sora Ltd. (21 November 2014). Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Wii U. Nintendo. "Blaze the Cat trophy: A princess charged with guarding the Sol Emeralds, Blaze comes from another dimension. She used to be a bit of a withdrawn loner— it wasn't until she met Sonic and co. that she really opened up. She can brandish fire at will, and she can use the Sol Emeralds to change into Burning Blaze."
- ↑ Bandai Namco Studios, Sora Ltd. (28 November 2014). Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Wii U. Nintendo. "Blaze the Cat trophy: A princess from another dimension charged with guarding the Sol Emeralds. She used to be a bit of a withdrawn loner, and it wasn't until she met Sonic and Co. that she really opened up. She can wield the power of fire at will, and can even transform into Burning Blaze by using all seven of the Sol Emeralds."
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Sonic Team, Blindlight (24 November 2006). Sonic the Hedgehog. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/Level: Ending sequence (Silver Episode). "Blaze: Don't worry. My soul is already alit with flames. I will be accepted."
- ↑ Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (14 September 2007). Sonic Rush Adventure. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Blizzard Peaks. Cutscene: Legendary Ancient Ruins.
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (14 September 2007). Sonic Rush Adventure. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Sky Babylon.
- ↑ Sonic Team (4 November 2011). Sonic Generations. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/Level: Blaze: Piercing the Flames.
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (14 September 2007). Sonic Rush Adventure. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Blizzard Peaks. Cutscene: Reunion.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Blaze.
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Egg Libra (Blaze).
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Devra Newberger Speregen (2016). Sonic: The Ultimate Character Guide. Scholastic, page 38-39. ISBN 978-1338033243.
- ↑ "Blaze the cat, another one of Sonic's friends, is an All-Around competitor. As her name indicates, she also possesses no small amount of speed and will be a formidable contender in events like the vault." - Blaze the Cate's profile, from the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games website
- ↑ Sonic Team, Blindlight (24 November 2006). Sonic the Hedgehog. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/Level: Opening sequence (Silver Episode).
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Opening sequence (Extra). "Eggman Nega: Hmph! Once we're at optimal strength, it'll be easy to get the Sol Emeralds back. A pity that Blaze has no idea how to use the emeralds."
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (15 November 2005). Sonic Rush. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Opening sequence (Extra). "Sonic: As long as you have the power of friendship, the Sol Emeralds... will never lose their glow! / Blaze: ! The Sol Emeralds...! / Sonic: Ready to do this together? Blaze should be able to use the Sol Emeralds now. / Blaze: It's so warm! I can feel the power energizing me!"
- ↑ Sonic Team (4 November 2011). Sonic Generations. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/Level: Chase After Blaze.
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (14 September 2007). Sonic Rush Adventure. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Sky Babylon. "Marine: Oh, CRIKEY! Th-th-those are clouds! / Sonic: Yow! Talk about a view! / Tails: Strange as it sounds, it looks like we got blasted off of that island and ended up here. / Blaze: It... sure looks that way. Guess that, ah... it must've, y'know, been set so that... / Sonic: Hm? / Blaze: Hey, S-Sonic? Why... why don't we just back away from the edge, here... yeah? / Sonic & Tails: ? / Marine: Blaze, is something wrong? / Blaze: No, no, come on. We just need to back away, mm? Th-then everything'll be fine. / Marine: Oy, Blaze! Don't shove!"
- ↑ Sonic Team, Dimps (14 September 2007). Sonic Rush Adventure. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/Level: Deep Core. "Eggman Nega: Now, the world shall be my plaything! I shall bring about an age of fear and chaos! And it shall be glorious! / Blaze: I... MUST... STOP HIM!!! / Sonic: Blaze! You're the princess, remember? You need to keep a level head! Who's going to look out for the people of this world if something happens to you? / Blaze: !! / Sonic: Who else is going to be able to give the people of this world peace? / Blaze: Yes... That is my duty as princess. My duty... and my honor! I will not allow my people to come to such suffering! Let's go, Sonic!"
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