Nicole the Holo-Lynx

NICOLE is the name of the artificial intelligence program usually resident in Sally Acorn's handheld computer. She's incredibly versatile and able to interact with and manipulate most machinery and computer systems. She is capable of mental and emotional growth, and thus has gradually become more and more lifelike in demeanor during her time interacting with the Freedom Fighters. Eventually she herself desired to "live" as they do and developed a fake physical body that can be projected with the right resources. She later used the nanite city created by A.D.A.M. to create New Mobotropolis and became the city's steward and administrator.

Creation
NICOLE was from a possible future, designed and created by Rotor (having been based on her counterpart from yet another future Mobius) and sent back in time by Queen Sally and King Sonic. Because she was from the future, NICOLE was designed with a firewall to prevent the Freedom Fighters from learning about the future, which the present day Rotor attempted to crack without success. Also noted is the fact that the future Rotor created NICOLE as a request from Queen Sally, whose own version of NICOLE had been destroyed in the final battle with Robotnik. (StH: #119, IYF)

Discovered
NICOLE was then sent to the past in a sphere made out of what the present-time Rotor theorised was some sort of force field. NICOLE landed at night not too far off from Knothole and where Sally sat pondering over love and her early life growing up to be a ruler. NICOLE landed in the sphere with an echoing crash that caught the attention of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and went over to investigate where they found the sphere NICOLE was in and were amazed at how the sphere had managed to keep cool when it came down from space covered in fire. Sally picked up the sphere and gave it to Rotor, who tried everything to open it, even going as far as to use a blow torch, but was still unsuccessful. (StH: #17, #18)

Later, however, when Sally was asleep, the sphere began to glow and Sally awoke and went to it to discover NICOLE. NICOLE offered her greetings and friendship to Sally, and she thought that NICOLE reminded her of someone else who encouraged her to make her own decisions. The rest of the Freedom Fighters then came after they heard Sally talking to NICOLE. Sonic, curious to discover the mystery behind NICOLE, gave her a shake and received a shock for his trouble from NICOLE. Sonic suggested they get rid of NICOLE after this, but Sally refused and said she was staying, like it or not. The next evening at sunset, Sally decided to take NICOLE with her on a mission given to her by her late mentor Julayla, who had died not too long before, into the Forbidden Zone. Sally intended to go it alone except for NICOLE, as it was too dangerous a mission for her to include her friends, but they rounded on her and insisted on accompanying Sally on her mission. They then took a plane to the Forbidden Zone and everyone (with the exception of Rotor) jumped out of it once over the drop-zone right outside Dr. Robotnik's border patrol. After blinding the patrolling SWATbots with paint, Sally and the others entered the Forbidden Zone and made their way passed the monstrous obstacles within it thanks to some assistance from NICOLE and eventually found their "quest's end". At it was a box with a scroll inside that had the words "To thine own self be true" inscribed upon it. These words served the possible future Sally who had had Rotor make NICOLE for two decades and led to her rule and peace on Mobius. (IYF)

Aid to the Freedom Fighters
NICOLE was next taken by Sally into one of Robotnik's factories to investigate rumours that he could make his SWATbots invisible. Sonic led them through the factory, where NICOLE detected a heavy concentration of anti-matter emissions coming from an anti-matter machine. Sonic went into the room the machine was being held in, but it was a trap and he was forced to detonate Rotor's home-made bomb and try to escape with a sonic spin, but he tripped and the bomb exploded. Everyone thought he had died, but the anti-matter machine that was thought a failure actually worked thanks to the explosion and Sonic temporarily became invisible and managed to save the Freedom Fighters from Robotnik before the effects wore off. (StH: #20)

Sally later used NICOLE in a solo-mission into Energy Sub-Station of Robotropolis to by-pass its security devices and acting as a journal during her mission to destroy a total of three sub-stations to collapse Robotropolis's defense system. After electrocuting a SWATbot, Sally used NICOLE on a secured entrance to the airshaft of the sub-station and she opened it for her. Once inside, Sally used NICOLE again to hack into the main computer and initiate the self-destruct sequence, which resulted in the sub-station exploding after 23 seconds. She was used again for that mission once in Robotropolis's secret Auto Automaton factory to detect the main room using NICOLE and her sensors. (StH: #20 PSM: #1, #2, #3)

Sonic later brought NICOLE along when using Rotor's timespace matter project in the hopes of rescuing Maximillian Acorn from the Zone of Silence, but she proved useless as the negative reality wreaked havoc with her circuits and they couldn't penetrate it. (StH: #24)

After the Xorda
NICOLE's mind and feelings changed after a chemical accident caused NICOLE and Sally to switch bodies for a temporary period, allowing NICOLE to discover what it felt like to be a true living being. After the effects reversed themselves, NICOLE attempted to create an organic body in the form of a lynx, but was forced to turn off the program before long, as it consumed too much power. NICOLE continued to use her Mobian form as an on-screen icon. (StH: #146, #151)

NICOLE, among other Knothole citizens with robotic parts, was invaded with Eggman's nanites. They appeared to have an intelligence-gathering purpose, as they could transmit all data they acquire directly to Eggman, and were used by A.D.A.M. to take control of her and all the other citizens infected by them. However, the effects on NICOLE didn't seem to be any worse than disabling her while she attempted to purge the nanites from her system. In addition to developing a personality, NICOLE has also become friendly to other members of the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. This was shown during Espio the Chameleon's infiltration of the fallen Golden Hive Colony on behalf of his friend Charmy Bee. NICOLE, his only "companion", assisted him in downloading information from Dr. Eggman's computer database. She later assisted Shadow the Hedgehog in reading the information on a disk that served as the diary of Professor Gerald Robotnik. Shadow, with Sonic by his side, was transmitted into the disk's database to meet NICOLE in her holographic form and met computerised incarnations of Maria and Gerald before the diary corrupted and they had to make a quick leave. (StH: #168, #169, #171)

New Mobotropolis
During the attack on Knothole by Eggman's Egg Fleet, NICOLE was buried in the rubble of Freedom HQ and thus not captured along with most of the Freedom Fighters. She then helped Sonic rescue all those captive in the Egg Grapes by teleporting them to the redesigned nanite city, which she has dubbed New Mobotropolis. This served as an added bonus to NICOLE, as the holo-matrices set up throughout the city allowed her to maintain her holographic form at all times. NICOLE has also apparently become the artificial intelligence in control of the city's defenses, which unfortunately forces her to deactivate her holographic form in order to provide more power to the shields. Not long after Eggman was defeated for the time being after the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix destroyed his Egg Beater battle armor. (StH: #175, #176, #177)

NICOLE found a new set of problems on the inside: Tails' parents Amadeus and Rosemary Prower contending with Sally's brother Elias Acorn. The Prowers' quest for reform and Elias' determination not to let the monarchy be dissolved brought the Kingdom to the edge of civil war, until NICOLE helped Sally stop a duel between Elias and Amadeus. She then looked on as Sally mediated a peaceful settlement between the two, bringing the Kingdom of Acorn a new form of government in the process. (StH: #178, #179)



NICOLE then worked with Sally to try and contact allies against the threat of Enerjak. Sending a probe to Angel Island, she watched with Sally, Knuckles' girlfriend Julie-Su, and Dimitri the Echidna-the original Enerjak-as the Dingo Regime was toppled, the Dark Legion restored to their normal Echidna forms, and all the Echidnas were sent to the city of Albion. However, Enerjak objected to her spying and crushed her probe, and then demonstrated his sheer power by passing right through New Mobotropolis' defensive shield. She was then treated to a disturbing rhetoric of Knuckles' vision for the future, one that involved eradicating all technology on Mobius-even that which had given her life. Of all the Freedom Fighters, NICOLE suffered the worst in the ensuing battle, as the conflicting energies of both Enerjak and the arriving Shadow wrought tremendous damage on the city and by extension her virtual body. While at the time she had trouble maintaining her form, she was eventually able to restore the city. (StH: #181, #182, #183, #184)

Later, NICOLE attempted to stop Sonic and Ash the Mongoose from apparent theft of the grey Chaos Emerald; because the lives of Tails, Mighty and Mina were in danger (thanks to Mammoth Mogul, they were being used as leverage), they weren't able to explain their actions immediately. When the emerald was given to Mogul, he dismissed NICOLE with a wave of his hand. She was not damaged; rather, he simply stopped her from manifesting until he left. (StH: #186)

NICOLE also assisted Rotor in creating a visual link to New Mobotropolis to broadcast the results of the final battle with Eggman, which Sonic had managed to win. NICOLE told Sally that upon receiving word of Eggman's defeat the citizens started "dancing in the streets". (StH: #199, #200)

The Iron Dominion
Whatever joy NICOLE herself might have felt at the victory faded with the arrival of the Iron Queen, whose Magitek powers thwarted NICOLE's control of the nanites and sent Bunnie Rabbot on a rampage that even NICOLE's best efforts couldn't stop. She then assisted Sonic in freeing Monkey Khan from the Iron Queen's control by rerouting power to the Lake of Rings to expedite the creation of a Power Ring which Sonic used to break the Iron Queen's control over the cyborg primate. (StH: #200, #201, #203, #204)

NICOLE was later seen informing Sonic and later Tails of 'something large' she detected in the Great Forest while scanning for threats to the city, which would turn out to be a delirious Dr. Eggman in his Egg-Tortoise. After a battle between the Freedom Fighters and Iron Dominion forces, NICOLE raised her shield over New Mobotropolis to protect her friends and the citizens from further attack. NICOLE noticed a strange distortion in her system, however, but ensured a concerned Sally that she was alright. She later rebuilt the power generator for New Mobotropolis underground after an attack by the Iron King. (StH: #205, #206, #207)

With another attempted takeover averted, NICOLE returned to her usual duties and asked Tails if he wanted her to build a new plane out of nanites, but Tails declined the offer, wanting to build the plane himself, so NICOLE recycled the nanites used for the old plane he was using. Then the Iron Dominion made another assault, this time much more obvious and reckless. NICOLE raised the alarm and informed Sonic, Tails, Sally and Monkey Khan what was going on while raising New Mobotropolis's protective fields. Once they were up and the Iron Dominion were close enough to the city, NICOLE used her holographic form to issue a warning to the Iron Queen herself, but she used her powers of Magitek to take complete control of NICOLE almost instantly. Now under the name Iron Nicole, she has allowed the Iron Dominion acess to New Mobotropolis. (StH: #208)

Abilities
As a computer, NICOLE possesses a variety of abilities. In her handheld form, she can interface with other mechanical systems, allowing her to access and download information or even provide the Freedom Fighters with control over various unfriendly technologies. NICOLE's computer incarnation also comes equipped with a low power laser, which can be used to cut through metal. (StH: #39)

In her holographic form, NICOLE has a range of other abilities. Like any real Mobian, she has fully functional limbs and the use of several senses-the latter may not include taste, since NICOLE's holographic self doesn't actually eat. However, she also retains many of her computer abilities, and it is quite possible that her Mobian form has attributes of speed or strength superior to those of a biological being. After taking control of Nanite City and reshaping it into New Mobotropolis, she becomes the control program for the computerized city, making her virtually omnipotent within the limited area. Her new abilities in this point, aside from being able to project her holographic body continuously, include control of all the energy shields and the power to teleport individuals from one area of the city to another, such as she did in re-imprisoning Mammoth Mogul, Ixis Naugus, Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear. She also has the ability to almost immediately repair any damage sustained to the city and create new structures on a whim (ie, causing a wall to form between Amadeus Prower and Elias Acorn to halt their duel), as well as direct control over devices created in the city such as spy probes, but these come at a cost as the destruction of such devices causes her pain. For all of her abilities, she refuses to put the New Mobotropolis nanites to use as a weapon. (StH: #176, #177, #178, #182)

Personality
NICOLE's personality was originally logical and to-the-point, and she seemed lacking in autonomy. As time went on, NICOLE became more lifelike, most notably developing a sense of humor. This is shown in her tendency to give Sonic little jolts of electricity when he tries to use her, and in her mocking smugness at Rotor's failure to breach the firewall set in place by his own future self. For all of that, she remains a loyal member of the Freedom Fighters, having helped save Sally and the others from fates such as Roboticization. (StH: #119)

Following the accident in which she switched bodies with Sally, NICOLE underwent a major change in outlook. Having experienced the wonders of having an actual body, she began to desire one for herself. Sadly, her dreams did not seem likely to be realized in the near future, given that she doesn't have the power to maintain the body she created for herself. NICOLE remained hopeful, especially given that one of the things she experienced while in Sally's body was the love that her owner feels for Sonic despite their breakup. For at least a brief period after this incident, NICOLE even considered Sonic a "very appealing Hedgehog". In addition, NICOLE has become somewhat philosophical, having developed the opinion that Eggman creates robots to replace the family that he lacks. Ultimately, she was able to sustain a full-time holographic being after Sonic and the rest of the Kingdom of Acorn were relocated to New Mobotropolis. As a result, she has become more confident in herself, even challenging Eggman to his face after he was defeated in his first attack on the new city. (StH: #146, #151, #169, #177)

Romance
As a newly created sentient artificial intelligence, NICOLE is still refining the emotions that true Mobians have. Because of this, she has not truly displayed any romantic feelings towards any characters. The one exception was during and shortly after her brief time in Sally's body, in which she briefly shared Sally's deep-if at the time unexpressed-feelings for Sonic. She was almost overcome by the emotions while still in Sally's body, and once back in her own body remarked to Sonic that he was "a very appealing Hedgehog". (StH: #146)

Backround Information

 * Had cancelled story ideas for plots after issue #134 come to pass, however, NICOLE would have entered into a romantic relationship with A.D.A.M., though A.D.A.M.'s apparent destruction-and the fact that they were on opposing sides-makes such a development in the future unlikely.
 * Fans question whether NICOLE's animal form was a bit of a joke, since she is a handheld computer, and the "Lynx" was a handheld game system.
 * NICOLE's name can be spelled in all capitals or like a normal name, as Ian Flynn has stated "I suppose if you wanted to make the distinction between the computer and the soul, you could say the computer was all-caps. But at this point I consider her a "normal" part of the cast, so it'd be "Nicole."" The Archie Sonic Wiki will keep it as "NICOLE" because of this reason.
 * NICOLE's present holographic form is comparable to the holograms seen in the Star Trek television series, which would fit with the comics' tendency to make references and parodies of various science-fiction genres. Her computer form is also reminiscent of the tricorders used in that series.

Appearance
As a computer unit, NICOLE’s design has been somewhat inconsistent. In general terms, the handheld was relatively compact, grey in colour, and featured a flip-top, a screen, two buttons and a small keypad. However, the number of keys, shape, size and general positioning of the unit varied from artist to artist, ranging in appearance from a simple calculator to a small laptop computer.

NICOLE’s simulated/projected body takes the form of a brown Mobian lynx; the ends of her ears, hands, and feet (unusually excluding the toes) are black, and her face features a stripe along the bridge of the nose as well as one under each eye. Her eyes are green (though often miscoloured blue) and her black hair features longer sections adorned with purple and orange (sometimes pink) beads. She wears a single-shoulder purple wrap dress that flares out about knee-length. NICOLE’s Mobian design was created by writer/artist Tania Del Rio; a minor character in the manga incarnation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, also by Del Rio, features an almost identical design.

Alternate Name and Origin

 * In the fifth Sonic Archives graphic novel, it featured a lost never before seen story which featured a different origin for NICOLE. In the story, Robotnik had restored the Universalamander robot to once again attack the Freedom Fighters. While Rotor and Sally were trying to figure out a way to stop it, Sally pulls out a box shaped device called the "NICOLE 7000", saying that she "ordered" it and "it just came yesterday". (1) This unpublished story was in the early comedic style that the comic series had, similar to the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, before taking on a more serious tone similar to the Saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog TV series. Thus, this introduction for NICOLE should be considered little more than a simple joke with little regard for serious continuity and non-canon to the main comic.