Speedy

Speedy is a Mobian bird and the Sixteenth Battlekukku of the Battle Bird Armada. As the son of the current Battle Lord, Battlekukku XV, he is the heir-apparent to the Battlekukku lineage and next in line to lead the armada, For a while he sought to avoid that fate and even attempted to escape with the Babylon Rouges, but was rejected and left behind. While their Battle Fortress was disguised as a tropical island for the Battle Bird Armada to investigate their heritage, Speedy and the rest of the Battle Birds discovered three members of the Knothole Freedom Fighters had come to the island; Antoine D'Coolette, Bunnie "Rabbot" D'Coolette and Miles "Tails" Prower. Speedy led a successful surprise attack and captured all but Tails, whom he formed a vendetta against. After a final confrontation aboard the Battle Fortress, Tails saved Speedy from the wreckage of the Mole Mech and offered the bird his friendship, but Speedy declined and told him to escape as the fortress took off.

Born to Lead
As the heir to the Battlekukku lineage, Speedy was always expected to become the next Battle Lord of the Armada like his forefathers, due to the leadership being established through nepotism. This granted Speedy with privelages not allowed to regular soldiers in the organization. Depsite these advantages, Speedy did not always want this position as it meant he would be answering to his father's overbearing will all his life, and looked for a means to get away. (SU: #30, #33)

When the Babylon Rogues decided to desert the Armada, Speedy confronted them in the fortress hanger in an effort to keep them from leaving. He tried to remind them of the commitment they were walking out on, only to be brushed off by Jet, who impressed him until then. After discovering he could not stop them with words or force, Speedy realized this would be his only chance to escape as well, and pleaded with the Rogues to take him along. However, Jet threw him aside, telling Speedy he had to find his own destiny instead. (SU: #33)

Speedy remained with the Armada afterwards, keeping up the appearance that he was content with the destiny his lineage had set before him. Unlike those who worked their way through the ranks, Speedy had the power and freedom of a leader from the start without being limited by the Armada's rules and restrictions. This did not sit well with everyone, namely Predator Hawk who trained for years and was promoted, only to find his purpose and future held back. Believing Speedy was weak and his privelages given without earning them, Predator attacked him in a hallway one day when he was younger, grabbing Speedy by the neck until his father caught Hawk in the act and had him jailed for his mutiny. (SU: #30)

Cocoa Island Conflict
While the Armada was stationed at Cocoa Island, Speedy was one of the first to notice the arrival of some members of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Observing them briefly, Speedy went to inform the Battle Lord of the suspicious intruders upon witnessing that Miles "Tails" Prower could fly. Speedy then lead the task force that attacked Tails and the honeymooning Antoine and Bunnie D'Coolette. Speedy's troops dealt with the married couple, while Speedy went straight for Tails and assaulted him in the skies with his amazing speed. (SU: #17)

Eventually, he threw Tails to the ground and declared him a freak because of his twin tails and unusual ability to fly when he was not a bird. After accusing Tails and his companions of invading the Armada's training ground, Speedy was attacked by T-Pup, enabling the fox to attempt an escape. Speedy gave chase through a seaside tunnel, but found himself struggling to keep up with his prey. He finally caught up, only to Tails as he hid on a sheltered ledge. Speedy begrudgingly returned to the Battle Fortress after being ordered back by Battlekukku XV. (SU: #17, #18)

The next day, Speedy walked in on Antoine's escape, sounding an alert that interrupted the Battle Lord's meeting with Bunnie. Using the ruse that she was a Dark Egg Legion Kommissar, Bunnie joined Speedy in cornering Antoine at an escape hatch. Speedy quickly challenged Bunnie's authority in the matter, claiming she was subordinate to the Battle Lord while on Armada ground. Their argument was ended as Antoine, believing his wife had turned traitor, leaped out of the hatch. Suspicious of Bunnie's reactions being too emotional for a double-agent, Speedy did not buy her excuse of being upset over the damage control she had to do. (SU: #18, #19)

Speedy then went to the base's workshop where he had an awkward moment with Doctor Fukurokov over pronouncing the scientist's name. His mood shifted to triumph when he found Bunnie's file on the Egg Network and learned she was not a legionized ally, but a spy. Speedy then commissioned Doctor Fukurokov to upgrade the Mole Mech to prepare for their enemy's next move. Alerted to an attack on the Armada's base from their own underground entrance, Speedy reported to his father and was told Bunnie had been sent to deal with the situation and to stay out of her way. He became frustrated at how the Battle Lord was only helping their foes, but decided to have Fukurokov finish the upgrades as planned. (SU: #19)

After the Mole Mech was upgraded, Speedy piloted it attacking Tails, the D'Coolettes, and T-Pup when they arrived in the fortress' storage bay. Speedy at first had the upper hand--even able to knock Bunnie across the room with the mech's fist--but Tails came up with a plan for T-Pup to drop bombs onto the Mole Mech to damage and distract it while he loosened several of its bolts. Eventually, Speedy managed to grab Tails as he confronted Dr. Fukurokov, smashing one of T-Pup's legs as he did so. However, Tails merely tossed his wrench at the mech, causing it to collapse into pieces. An alarm began and Speedy--trapped inside with smoke coming out of it and filling his lungs--tried calling for help, causing Tails to realize that he was the pilot and rescue him. Speedy soon recovered and complimented Tails on his fighting skills. The young fox introduced himself and then told Speedy that they could try to be friends. However, Speedy declined and smacked Tails away before telling him to get out of the fortress. Tails tried asking him what was going on, but lost his balance when the fortress shook. When he regained it, Speedy was gone. (SU: #19, #20)



Later, after the Battle Fortress rose out of the sea and left Cocoa Island, Speedy and Dr. Fukurokov went to Battlekukku XV's throne room. Here, Battlekukku yelled at Speedy for not alerting him that Bunnie was a Freedom Fighter. While his father went on to sate that "this little brat will pay most dearly" as he held up a holographic image of Tails, Speedy told XV the fox's name. (SU: #20)

Rogues' Reunion
A while after leaving Cocoa Island, the Armada headed for the Gigan Mountains to investigate a Babylonian energy signature that had been detected. Speedy was then dispatched with a large task force to find the energy source, only to come across the Babylon Rogues with the object in their possession. (SU: #33)

Personality
Speedy is an aggressive bird with a vehement hatred for any flying creature that isn't a bird, particularly Tails. However, he will acknowledge that a number of other species that fly at least have something like wings. He seems to regard birds as superior to other Mobians, and feels that all birds belong to the Battle Bird Armada. He showed racism to Tails, since Tails isn't a bird. Though he respects the authority of the Battle Lord, he has little regard for anyone else's, even treating supposed allies with disdain. However, he seemed to have gained a little respect for Tails after the young fox saved his life.

Abilities
As a bird, Speedy is capable of flight, and as his name indicates is particularly fast. However, his abilities appear to be limited in narrow airspaces that are more challening to navigate as opposed to wide-open areas when compared to Tails'. He has also displayed impressive strength while in flight, breaking through rocks in pursuit of enemies.

Background Information
Speedy is based on the recurring boss character, Battle Kukku 16th (グレイトバトルクック16世 Gureito Batoru Kukku Juuroku Sei), aka "Speedy" (スピーディ Supīdi) from the classic Tails' Adventure game for the Game Gear system. Their appearences are quite similar but with a few notable differences; Speedy's game counterpart has no goggles or ascot/bandana and instead of a tan eggshell flight harness, his lower half is completely white, leading to a long-time belief amongst fans of the game that he is actually wearing a diaper. His fingers are also significantly longer.

Appearance
Speedy is a lime green bird with orange-ish red eyes and a yellow beak. His attire consists of a tan flight harness made from his eggshell, a red ascot, brown gloves, matching goggles with red lenses and brown shoes with an orange stripe running across them.