Mighty the Armadillo (マイティー・ザ・アルマジロ Maitī za Arumajiro?) is a character who appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a peaceful anthropomorphic armadillo with a passion for traveling. Though he dislikes violence and roughness, Mighty is more than capable when trouble arises.
Mighty appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. He is a mobian eastern armadillo who took up residence in the mountains of Angel Island, though he was born planet-side in the Kingdom of Mercia. He has known Sonic the Hedgehog since his childhood, though after their first adventure together they did not meet again for roughly six years. After spending much of his youth wandering, he was brought to the Angel Island by Knuckles the Echidna and Vector the Crocodile. One of the original members of the Chaotix, Mighty has fought by their side in numerous battles, and would often back up Sonic's old team, the Knothole Freedom Fighters. His adventures eventually led to being reunited with his long-lost sister, Matilda the Armadillo, long after both their parents had died.
History[]
Born in the Kingdom of Mercia to a family of thieves, Mighty and his younger sister Matilda the Armadillo-whom Mighty affectionately called Tilly-were too young to realize that the actions of his parents ("oblivious in [their] innocence" as Mammoth Mogul put it) were illegal, recognizing only the love their parents had for them. After his parents were subsequently sent to prison for their crimes, Mighty sought a method to free them. Discovered by Mammoth Mogul, the ancient Mobian granted Mighty his tremendous strength in exchange for a favor-one that Mighty would forget due to Mogul's hypnotic powers. Even with his new powers, Mighty failed to rescue his parents however, and imposed exile on himself in addition to that appointed by Rob o' the Hedge's father, who was at that point Mercia's king.[1][2][3][4]
Still a young child and wandering Mobius in exile, Mighty was captured by Dr. Ivo Robotnik along with Fiona Fox, Ray the Flying Squirrel and other Mobians. Upon capture he was fitted with special shackles as a precaution against his unusual strength. Taken to a forced labor camp, the captured Mobians were also used as experiments towards the creation of the first Auto Automatons. When a young Fiona Fox was grabbed by Robian guards to be taken away for such an experiment, Mighty angrily lunged at the guard, causing a brief riot in which he, Ray and Fiona were quickly subdued. Fiona was taken away and Mighty and Ray were locked in isolation. The camp was later infiltrated by a young Sonic the Hedgehog, who helped free Mighty from his shackles, allowing Mighty to destroy the bars of his cell.[6] The two went on to cause an uprising in order to free the camp's prisoners. After freeing Ray, the three somehow wound up in an alternate zone due to a Power Gem connected to equipment they'd hoped to disable. Due to a difference in time flow, they appeared to only be gone momentarily. However, Ray was not with them upon their return, and Mighty, angry at the loss of his friend, began to destroy the lab, forcing Robotnik to flee with Fiona. Having lost both Fiona and Ray, Mighty returned to wandering on his own.
Joining the Chaotix[]
After his escape from the prison complex, Mighty continued to wander the lands searching for a place to call home and soon encountered Knuckles the Echidna for the first time. Attempting to explain to the Echidna terms like "slave labor", "prison camp" and "lab rat", Mighty eventually found himself confused when Knuckles tried to explain what a crocodile was, as he was hoping to find Vector. After the two realized they both had something in common, each having lost their parents, Knuckles offered Mighty the chance to accompany him and Vector back to the Floating Island, which Mighty accepted. Despite their death-defying ride aboard Vector's Gyro, which ended up crashing, the group made it to Mighty's new home. There, he was the first to meet Charmy Bee when the latter arrived on the island.
Mighty began his new life on the island where he was finally able to live in peace. However, his peaceful life was disrupted when Renfield T. Rodent and Dr. Ivo Robotnik set up a base of operations on the island disguised as a carnival. Mighty was enlisted by Knuckles along with Vector, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee to help him force Robotnik off the island. After Robotnik's rebuilt Metal Sonic was defeated, Mighty joined the newly formed group, the Chaotix.
He later went on to enjoy a somewhat peaceful life with the Chaotix. However, this peace was disrupted repeatedly because of battles with Enerjak, a Chaos-powered version of Knuckles' distant uncle Dimitri; the Dark Legion, a group of cyborg Echidnas led by Enerjak's descendants; the Freedom Fighters, who fought the group after being tricked by a common enemy; and the Fearsome Foursome and Mammoth Mogul, who invaded Angel Island several times seeking first its Chaos Emerald and then the Sword of Acorns. Despite all these powerful enemies Mighty's super strength usually helped both he and his friends through. His home on Angel Island was a furnished cave (complete with weight-training equipment) up a cliff in a region called Rocky Hill. Things continued to change in Mighty's life, as the destruction of the Ultimate Annihilator Dr. Robotnik had built brought the city of Echidnaopolis back to Mobius, and a former Dark Legion soldier named Julie-Su joined the team.
