Grounder/Pre-SGW

Grounder is a Badnik created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik in 3228. He is a member of the Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad and one of the oldest Badniks and enemies of Sonic the Hedgehog. Upon his first attempt at capturing Sonic with his non-identical twin Scratch, they failed miserably after Sonic managed to bury them by digging a trench around them that caused a cave-in when the two broke into an argument and became distracted. He along with Scratch and Coconuts later attempted to trap Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in a virtual reality under the supervision of Dr. Robotnik, but failed again. Presumably, Grounder and Scratch then became residents in the Robo Hobo Jungle until Mammoth Mogul came in 3237 and recruited all the Badniks there to work in his Casino Night Club, and Grounder managed to get a job as a chef in the Bottom of the Barrel Bar 'n' Grill.

Creation
After Coconuts blasted himself- with his pieces delivered as a gift- Grounder and his non-identical twin brother Scratch had the task of stopping Sonic. They would have succeeded had they not got into an argument, during which time, Sonic left them buried. Scratch and Grounder, along with Coconuts, later appeared at a villians' tryouts, with predictable results. Grounder, but not Scratch, later appeared at a robot bar called Rusty's. (StH: #2, #4 SSS: #15)

Later Activities
During another ill fated attempt at stopping the Freedom Fighters, Coconuts explained that Gounder was able to last, at longest, 17 seconds against Sonic, beating Scratch by 1 second. Bat Brain lasted 20 seconds longer. (StH: #11)

A subsequent battle had Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts succesfully trap the Freedom Fighters in a virtual reality simulation using sleeping gas, but Sonic used the simulation to his advantage and smashed up the simulator and the badniks. Shortly therafter, Scratch and Grounder had the task of robbing the Mobius Museum of Art, in an attempt to flush out a spy in Robotnik's organization. Sonic knew what was happening and sent the dumb-bots crashing into a toxic waste dump, where Scratch found a note from the spy, which added insult to injury. (StH: #16)

Working for Mogul
Scratch and Grounder, along with Coconuts, returned much later as employees in Mammoth Mogul's newly renovated Casino Night Zone. Scratch has a job as the concierge, while Grounder appears to be a chef. Both, along with butler Coconuts, had developed a fear of Sonic, a complete lack of respect for the Destructix and a (possibly greater) fear of Amy Rose.(StH: #187, #188).

Personality
Of the members of the 6S, Grounder is the least intelligent, and is often blissfully unaware of certain realities. He seems perfectly happy to serve a purpose and be put to work, whereas his somewhat smarter teammates have aspirations to greater position and power.

Abilities
While Scratch seems to be the brains, Grounder is the artillery - his robot body is filled with many accessories, which switch usually in his drill hands with any number of weapons or tools such as ropes, helicopter blades, gas guns, parachutes and boxing gloves. His drill hands can also act as a telephone by using one drill hand as a receiver and the other as a speaker.

Background Information

 * Grounder is loosely based on a mole-based badnik of the same name (known as Handrill in Japan), from the Aquatic Ruin Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis version), the main difference being the color. Oddly enough, a blue and yellow version of the original design appeared in a pin-up in StH #25. Regardless, both are considered an upgraded version of the classic Burrobot design.
 * Grounder was originally a regular in the TV series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which had many elements featured in the comic before they changed the comic's direction.
 * Grounder, along with Scratch, currently holds the third longest resolved "non-appearance gap" in the main comic series at 171 issues (StH: #16-187)
 * In StH: #16, Grounder was mistakenly coloured purple instead of green in the first part of "Sonic Under Glass", and yellow instead of green and purple instead of yellow in the second part.
 * Coincidently in Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog, Grounder's voice actor Gary Chalk also played Dr. Robotnik in Sonic Underground.