Miles "Tails" Prower

"Sonic! You took a nasty hit! Are you okay?"

- Tails expressing concern for his best friend.

Miles Prower (better known as Tails) is a young fox who has been at Sonic's side for much of his young life and is considered his most trusted companion, having helped him and the Knothole Freedom Fighters defeat Dr. Eggman and other evil forces time and time again.

Early Adventures
At a young age, Tails began traveling in search of adventure, and soon found it alongside Sonic the Hedgehog, who would become a firm friend to the young Fox. Early on in their friendship Tails was captured by the villainous Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik on South Island, forcing Sonic to rescue him despite interference from the treacherous Breezie the Hedgehog. Following his rescue, Tails would join Sonic in his efforts to save Westside Island, home to their future friends the Knothole Freedom Fighters, who were also suffering under Robotnik's tyranny. Tails adventures were not confined to being Sonic's sidekick, however, as he once faced a threat of his own in the form of the Battle Bird Armada on Cocoa Island. During this adventure he was aided by his robot T-Pup, which he built with help from Nicole. However, most of his journeys found him fighting alongside Sonic, such as when the pair followed Eggman's fallen Death Egg to Angel Island where they met future friend-and occasional rival-Knuckles the Echidna. The pair would later confront Eggman as the doctor attempted another takeover of the Little Planet. (StH: #252, #269, VG: StH2(8), TA, StH2, StH3, S&K, StH4; SSD: #11)

Tails' pride and joy would become the Tornado plane that he and Sonic used to get around, which underwent serious upgrades during their efforts to stop Eggman from conquering the world using the creature Chaos. The Fox would find himself facing off with Eggman, genius against genius, on multiple occasions during both this adventure and the conflict that would culminate on Space Colony ARK. Tails would also adventure alongside friends like Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit, before teaming up with Sonic and Knuckles to form Team Sonic. Together with Team Rose-made up of Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Big the Cat-and Teams Dark and Chaotix, the three friends would battle Eggman's treacherous underling Metal Sonic, ultimately defeating him even after he transformed into Metal Overlord. Tails also took part in the battles that involved the ancient robot Emerl, and later reprogrammed Gemerl with the memories of its fallen predecessor. (VG: SA/SADX, SA2/SA2:B, SAd, SAd2, SH, SB, SAd3

Like many of Mobius' heroes, Tails helped fight the Black Arms during their invasion, and also worked with the rest of Team Sonic against the Babylon Rogues. He would also join Sonic on two adventures with a new ally named Blaze the Cat, the latter taking them to the Sol Zone where they befriended Marine the Raccoon. Another adventure brought the heroes up against the evil Solaris, though these events were later erased from history, while still another found Sonic and Tails teaming up with their younger selves to save their friends from the evil Time Eater. Tails later took part in an adventure along with Sonic to save the Wisps, during which they ran across occasional ally Silver the Hedgehog. After being away on adventure, he and Sonic returned to Mobotropolis to follow up on Nicole and to rescue King Acorn, who had been captured and imprisoned by Walter Naugus. Upon their return they found the city being attacked by the transformed Tails Doll. As the two heroes battled the monstrous enemy, Sonic took a particularly nasty hit as the world faded to white. (VG: ShaH, SRu, SRuA, SR, SR:ZG, SFR,, SG, StH: #252)

Strange New Worlds

 * See also Tails Man.

After the second Genesis Wave swept Mobius, Tails was targeted by Dr. Eggman and his new partner, Dr. Wily. Tails was attacked while working in his house by their top minions, Metal Sonic and Bass, and was captured, along with Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow. The four of them became the first Roboticized Masters: Tails Man, Knuckles Man, Rose Woman, and Shadow Man. Tails Man was dispatched alongside his teammates to rob the Mega City bank in Dr. Wily's reality. There they encountered Proto Man and Mega Man, the former attempting to stop them and the latter coming to his rescue. Subsequently, Tails Man was employed alone to observe a battle between Mega Man and Sonic in the Green Hill Zone, relaying footage as he did so to the two doctors. (SU: #51, MM: #24)

After some time, the battle unexpectedly transitioned into Mega Man's world, where Sonic and Mega Man started arguing over who did what. Fearing that talking to each other would eventually lead to them discovering the deception, the two doctors ordered Tails Man to attack them. Sonic almost immediately recognized the Roboticized Master as his own best friend as Tails Man assailed him and Mega Man with powerful wind-based attacks. After saving some innocent bystanders caught in the mayhem, Sonic and Mega Man stunned Tails Man, allowing Mega Man to successfully use his copy ability on him, surprisingly de-roboticizing Tails in the process. Sonic rushed over to embrace his buddy as Tails explained the details of his kidnapping, clearing things up for his blue companions. (STH: #248, MM: #25)

With hostilities having ceased, the trio made for Mega Man's home, Light Labs, where they caught Metal Sonic and Bass kidnapping Dr. Light himself. After Mega Man explained about the two Mobians to his sister, Roll, and his other companions, Tails worked with Proto Man on a Warp Ring portal that Light had been working on prior to his capture. After they successfully activated it, Sonic volunteered to go with Mega Man in search of Light, prompting Tails to volunteer as well. Roll assured them the lab was in good hands, although Tails was briefly confused After this, Joined by Mega Man's dog, Rush, and Proto Man, the heroes stepped through the portal into a strange new world: the Skull Egg Zone. After briefly discussing the zone's strange nature, the heroes pressed onward only to be attacked by Copybot and the Genesis Unit. Tails ended up facing off with Hyper Storm H, whose vortex powers proved overwhelming until he received a much needed assist from Mega Man that allowed him to finish the battle. Tails and Sonic were then informed that it was very strange that the four villains could have appeared, as they had previously been completely destroyed and were virtually impossible to recreate due to losing their Integrated Circuit chips. Pressing onward, the group eventually caught sight of the Wily Egg, and Tails voiced his concern that they hadn't found any sign of their missing friends. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that the eight other Roboticized Masters appeared to attack the heroes. (MM: #25, SU: #52)

The heroes and the Masters became engaged in a heated battle, which abated somewhat as Proto Man departed, drawing all the Masters after him except for the Roboticized versions of the Chaotix: Vector Man, Espio Man, and Charmy Man. Tails quickly determined that some means of stopping them was required, and questioned how he had been restored to organic form. After learning that a combination of Mega Man's Mega Buster charged shot and Sonic's Spin-Dash had immobilized him, Tails set to work modifying the Buster so that it would have the qualities of both attacks. While Sonic distracted the three Robians, Tails astonished Mega Man with his quick action, and they were quickly able to restore the trio to normal. The Chaotix were then sent to find Proto Man, while Tails and his companions continued their search for the other Roboticized Masters and Dr. Light. They hadn't gotten far when Shadow Man attacked in company with one of Dr. Wily's Robot Masters, also named Shadow Man. After a brief but intense battle, Shadow was restored to normal, destroyed an immobilized Shadow Man, and left in a huff over his capture. His use of Chaos Control had an effect on the minds of the heroes, who began remembering what their realities had been like before the evil doctors' tampering. Determined to undo the damage, the heroes pressed on only to run into Silver Man and Blaze Woman, whom they likewise restored to normal. (StH: #249, MM: #26)

Shortly thereafter, Tails and his companions were forced to battle the last two Roboticized Masters, Knuckles Man and Rose Woman. The fight became more urgent as the two activated their self-destruct sequences in a bid to destroy the heroes. Mega Man was astonished by their raw power, and asked Tails whether or not they had been modified, but Tails was quick to explain that Knuckles and Amy had always been rather formidable. Fortunately, Mega Man was able to stun Rose Woman and restore her to normal, and her Piko Hammer weapon helped him gain the edge on Knuckles Man. Tails then joined Sonic and Rush in a tag team attack on Knuckles Man, resulting in his return to normal. Tails was then sent with Knuckles to meet Proto Man and the Chaotix at the Wily Egg, near a teleporter pad they had discovered, while the others went to round up their various other allies. The group of heroes were then forced to face a massive army of Robot Masters who had been time-cloned by the doctors to oppose them. Tails proved as reliable as ever, rescuing Amy from Splash Woman and other water-based Robot Masters even as Tornado Man, Gyro Man, and Wind Man were mobbing him. Shortly thereafter, he was called away from the fight by Sonic to assist him as he and Mega Man-likewise aided by Rush-set out to board the Wily Egg. They hadn't gotten far when suddenly they spotted Dr. Light falling from the fortress, too far away for them to reach in time. (SU: #53,StH: #250)

Fortunately, Shadow came to Dr. Light's rescue with Chaos Control, and was able to give Tails' party some intelligence as they made their way aboard the Wily Egg. Tails managed to hack the teleporter and get the party aboard, only to run into the Mega Man Killers. Tails teamed up with Rush to take on Enker, but was saved from his onslaught thanks to Sonic tricking Punk into destroying his teammate. The two Mobians then went after Ballade while Mega Man and Rush finished off Punk, but Tails ended up being hit point blank by one of Ballade's bombs. Badly injured, Tails was loaded aboard Rush to be taken outside, assuring Sonic that he would be fine and asking the Hedgehog to give the doctors "one for me." The pair soon rejoined their allies outside, with Amy taking up a worried vigil by Tails' side. Unfortunately, the fight went poorly, with the others desperately trying to hold off the attacking Robot Masters while Dr. Light tended to Tails, unable to do anything for his wounds. Tails tried to buoy the doctor's confidence, confident that Mega Man and Sonic would succeed, only for Light to point out that they needed a miracle to escape their current situation. As if on cue, a miracle occurred: Elec Man and the other original Light Labs Robot Masters arrived to join the heroes in battle. The entire group then bore witness as the Super Genesis Wave washed over the Skull Egg Zone and both their realities, but before the Super Genesis Wave could finish rewriting the two realities Mega Man restored his world to normal, while Sonic's restoration attempt was scuppered by Eggman's interference...(MM: #27, SU: #54, StH: #251)

Countdown to Chaos

 * From the perspective of readers, these events pick up following Worlds Collide.

With the second Genesis Wave apparently reversed without any problems, Tails took a moment out to see to Sonic. He found that Sonic was noticeably confused over what was going on. Tails was completely clueless over Sonic's claims that they were just aboard the Death Egg saving Sally. As far as Tails was concerned, the duo had come to New Mobotropolis to rescue King Acorn, as well as to check in on Nicole. As the battle raged on, Tails became even more confused, as Sonic mentioned nanites that make up the city and claimed to have no knowledge of the Tails Doll's Control Gem. An unexpected encounter with a damaged NICOLE restored Tails' memories of the original reality, while leaving those of the new one intact. Realizing that Sonic was right, and that things had changed drastically, Tails stood in shock as the Tails Doll was about to flatten him. Sonic managed to get him out of the way, and advised him to finish the battle first before dealing with the new problem at hand. The two succeeded in defeating Tails Doll, and rescued King Acorn from his cell after Naugus fled the city. After talking with NICOLE, the pair determined that their best course in understanding what had become of their world lay in finding the other Freedom Fighters. (StH: #252)

Beginning their search in the Mystic Ruins, Tails and Sonic found Big the Cat and Froggy at their shack. Getting the initial confusion of were they last met the large feline out of the way, Big takes them to where they can find Rotor the Walrus, when the group were ambushed by a Badnik horde led by Silver Sonic. Once Rotor showed up to lend a hand in bashing the 'bots, the walrus introduced the duo to the Freedom Fighters new flying base of operations: the Sky Patrol (a name of which Tails himself suggested). After Rotor's memories of the old world are restored, the walrus fills Tails and Sonic in on the current locations of the other Freedom Fighter members, which quickly led them to their next stop: Knothole, where they were reunited with Uncle Chuck, Ben Muttski (to the confusion of the duo who remembered him as a Mobini dog in the previous reality) and finally, Antoine D'Coolette. After Antoine's memories were restored, the area was rocked by an earthquake, and some of the strange energy Chuck and Muttski had discovered seeping out of the planet was inhaled by Sonic. However, the Hedgehog brushed off his friends' concerns, and he and Tails traveled to the Metropolis Zone to find Bunnie Rabbot-D'Coolette, Antoine's wife. After helping Bunnie bring a new Shield Generator back to the Sky Patrol, the pair restored her memory of the old reality as well. (StH: 253, 254, 255)

Tails and Sonic then returned to Mobotropolis just in time to save Amy, Cream, and Sally from an attacking Metal Sonic. After Sonic lured his metal twin outside the city, Tails launched a missile that crippled the robot, forcing him to retreat. Following a brief reunion between Sally and her father the king, all the Freedom Fighters reunited aboard the Sky Patrol, where Nicole proceeded to restore Sally and Amy's memories of the previous timeline. She then instructed the Freedom Fighters to launch their new base, having managed a scan of the planet and realized what was about to happen. To the startled Freedom Fighters, she reported that the energies of the Super Genesis Wave that had reshaped reality had dangerously destabilized the planet. As the heroes watched in horror, their world began to break apart. (StH: 256)

Shattered World Crisis
The Sky Patrol quickly flew into action, traveling to Station Square to assist its beleaguered citizens. Divided into Team Freedom and Team Fighters, Tails and his friends raced to save the endangered civilians, and managed to hold out until the G.U.N. vessel Letter of Gabriel arrived to relieve them. Unfortunately, Muttski then called them to inform them that they had another problem on their hands: Chuck and his colleague Professor Pickle had been abducted. Traveling quickly to the Soleanna Forest Zone, the Freedom Fighters split into teams again to intercept the Egg Train carrying the captive professors. After a harrowing series of developments-not the least of which was the presence of Horde Commander E-106 Eta-the heroes managed to rescue the two scientists. They were then told that Chuck and Pickle had been doing research on the Gaia Manuscripts, which they believed held the key to restoring the planet to normal. Upon reporting their findings regarding the properties of the energies emerging from the planet, Tails was immediately concerned for Sonic, but once again the Hedgehog refused to acknowledge that there was anything wrong with him. The Freedom Fighters thus took on a new mission: recovering the Chaos Emeralds and bringing them to the Gaia Temples so that Mobius might be made whole again. (StH: 257, 258, 259)

Tails soon joined Sally and Antoine on a mission to Crystal Cave to retrieve one of the Emeralds, and managed to sneak in with no problem due to deactivating the Badnik forces stationed there. However, Sally then decided to reactivate the Badniks and fight through them on their way out to make sure they knew that the Emerald was gone. Recognizing that Sally hoped to protect the beautiful cave from being damaged, her teammates agreed, and fought their way through Batbots, an E-1000 unit, and various other robots. They then returned to the Sky Patrol, where Tails proudly showed off their prize to an admiring Cream. Unfortunately, their efforts were reported by Egg Bosses Cassia the Pronghorn and her sister Clove, leading Eggman to prepare traps at the sites of other discovered Emeralds. After Sonic's exposure to the energy resulted in him transforming into the Werehog, he left the Sky Patrol for a time to learn mastery from Moss the Sloth, though Tails felt that the Freedom Fighters could have done just as much for him. Regardless, the heroes soon located another Emerald, and Tails was selected for Team Fighters with Amy and Rotor while Sally and the D'Coolettes formed Team Freedom and went down first. When the expected trap went off, Tails and his teammates flew into action, only to be caught by another surprise attack. Fortunately, Cream and a handful of their friends-including Tails' creation T-Pup and Omochao-came to their rescue as well. Defeated and dejected, the team picked up Sonic, who bolstered their spirits with an encouraging speech. (StH: 260, 261, 262, 263, 266, 266)

The next Emerald would be found in the possession of Sonic and Tails' old foe Breezie, who offered it up as the prize to the winner of her Chaos Emerald Championship. Tails, Sonic, and Amy were registered for the tournament as Team Fighters, and were the only Freedom Fighters to make it onto the roster. After a brief-and tense-reunion with Breezie, the trio made a new acquaintance in the form of fashion designer Honey the Cat. Honey was quick to say she would give the Emerald to the Freedom Fighters in the event of her victory, but wanted them all to model for her. When Tails tried to get out of it by noting his limited wardrobe, Honey replied "You can ACCESSORIZE!" Much to his dismay, the Fox found himself facing Honey in the first block of the tournament, and proved to be no match for the dangerous designer. Now forced to be a spectator, he also found himself the unwilling model of one of Honey's bow ties. Later, while watching a match between Nack and Bean, he expressed to Sonic that his moodiness came from Honey embarrassing him in front of the world. Sonic encouraged him, reminding him how he trusted him to back him up, which raised Tails' spirits. Tails was then avenged as Sonic achieved victory during his own match with Honey before moving on to face Knuckles. (StH: 268, 269, 270)

Following the tournament, Tails returned to the Sky Patrol, and in the absence of Amy, Sonic, and the D'Coolettes found himself helping defend it from Dark Gaia's Minions. A group of them swarmed Tails one night just before dawn, only to be cut down by a diving Sally, with Tails returning the favor by rescuing her from a bad fall. When Nicole received an unexpected distress call from the Digital World and left to investigate, Sally selected Tails and Big to accompany her to Isolated Island. On the way, the trio discussed Nicole's departure and its relation to her creator Dr. Ellidy, whose residence they were heading to. Tails noted with some enthusiasm Ellidy's contributions to the Kingdom of Acorn, including the Mobotropolis Grand Archive that had proved a fascinating source of knowledge for him. Arriving on the island, the trio were escorted to Ellidy's home by one of his repurposed Badniks, and arrived just in time to greet Ellidy and Nicole. The next day Nicole announced her fear that someone was trying to take over Ellidy's systems after the doctor showed the Freedom Fighters the Red Star Ring that had recently emerged from the nearby Lake of Rings. In an effort to locate any intruders, Tails and Nicole teamed up, she examining the software of Ellidy's computers while Tails took a crack at the hardware. After a hard day's work, Tails and Big retired to the living room. (SU: #71, #72)

Tails was later awakened by an unpleasant development-Dark Gaia's Minions AND Ellidy's Badniks were attacking, the latter under the control of the evil computer virus known as Phage. After trying to keep the attackers out of the house, Tails and Big were ordered by Sally to go recover a Chaos Emerald that Phage had discovered on the island to keep it out of her hands. Arriving at the lake, Tails attempted to swim for it but was attacked by aquatic Badniks. Fortunately, Big was able to retrieve it using his fishing prowess. The pair were then set upon by more of Dark Gaia's Minions, but fortunately Ellidy's Badniks came to their aid after being freed from Phage's control. Tails and his teammates subsequently departed to join the other Freedom Fighters in Apotos. He and his teammates later headed for a rendezvous with a G.U.N. unit that had acquired the final unaccounted for Chaos Emerald, only for it to be stolen by Metal Sonic. Tails, Bunnie, and Sonic pursued the thief through the Crystal Desert Zone, only to have him escape through a Genesis Portal into another dimension with Sonic in tow. Luckily, Sonic recovered the Emerald with help from Silver, who also helped him return to Mobius and rejoin the Freedom Fighters. (SU: #73, #74, #75)

The Merging of Many Worlds
Tails later located a Chaos Energy signal near the Green Hill Zone and sent Sonic to investigate. However, the blue Hedgehog disappeared, and the Freedom Fighters soon received word that Mobotropolis was under attack. This led to a battle between them and M'egga Man, Mega Man corrupted on the orders of Sigma-1. Despite their brave efforts and the assistance of Gemerl, the heroes proved to be no match for the reprogrammed hero, who set up one of Sigma's Unity Engines. This resulted in Mobius being merged with Earth 20XX into a Unified World, where Tails and his friends were horrified to find Sonic corrupted in similar fashion to Mega Man, becoming Sonic Man. The Freedom Fighters found themselves teaming up with several Robot Masters to help civilians from their world. After Sonic Man and M'egga Man cured each other-a plot devised by Eggman and Wily-the two teams were then joined by other heroes-the Maverick Hunters and Team Sticks. Having determined Sigma's involvement, the strange alliance boarded the Sky Patrol in order to hunt down their mutual foe. (SU: #76; SB: #8; StH: #273; MM: #50)

The heroes quickly determined that the Unified World was breaking down as a result of Sigma's scheme, and the unexpected arrival of Eggman and Wily in company of Xander Payne set them on a course for the Lost Hex. Along the way, Tails examined the Robot Masters and Maverick Hunters, whose technology he found fascinating. Unfortunately, the new friends were forced to deal with a Mechaniloid army led by the Deadly Six. Worse, just when it seemed they were gaining the upper hand, the Deadly Six used their powers to force the robots to attack their friends. Fired upon by their helpless allies and pursued by Rush, Tails retreated into the Sky Patrol with his friends, where they were saved by Eggman and Wily's Egg-Wily Uppity Robot Scrambler Cannon. Sigma's next assault came quickly, as the Maverick overlord appeared in a massive new body with an army of Mavericks that descended on the heroes. Luckily, Sticks the Badger managed to recruit some new allies from the Street Fighter Zone, who dispatched a handful of Mavericks who remained to finish off the heroes. Tails and his friends then prepared to disperse in pursuit of the other Mavericks, who had scattered to various worlds on Sigma's orders. (SU: #77; SB: #9; StH: #274)

Abilities
Tails' most unusual ability is derived from the twin tails that inspired his nickname, which he can spin to enable him to travel through the air or at high speeds across the ground. Though physically capable, he is more of a mechanic than a fighter, and often employs his brains and his inventions to defeat enemies. He is a capable pilot, particularly when it comes to his prized Tornado plane, and is apparently better handling hardware than software. His inventions include his robotic "dog," T-Pup, and the MilesElectric computers/communicators that are utilized by members of the Freedom Fighters and their close associates.

Personality
Tails is a good-natured, intelligent youth who is fiercely loyal to Sonic and his other friends. Though he is at times intimidated by the obstacles he faces as a hero, he continues to press forward with Sonic as his inspiration. Despite having been involved in conflict for some years, he retains a childlike positivity and fun-loving demeanor, though he's not without a certain amount of pride.

Romance
Undoubtedly due to his young age, Tails is not known to be romantically interested in anyone.

Allies

 * Freedom Fighters
 * Sonic
 * Big
 * Sally
 * NICOLE
 * Rotor
 * Bunnie
 * Antoine
 * Chaotix
 * Charmy
 * Espio
 * Vector
 * Team Rose
 * Amy
 * Cream and Cheese
 * Big the Cat
 * Blaze
 * Marine
 * Omochao
 * G.U.N.
 * Team Dark
 * Shadow
 * Rouge
 * E-123 Omega
 * Silver
 * Light Robot Masters
 * Mega Man
 * Proto Man
 * Roll

Enemies

 * Eggman Empire
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Badnik Horde
 * Metal Sonic
 * Battle Bird Armada
 * Dr. Eggman Nega
 * Mephiles
 * Black Arms
 * Hooligans
 * Bean
 * Bark
 * Nack
 * Babylon Rogues
 * Wave the Swallow
 * Dark Gaia
 * Dark Gaia's Minions

Appearance
Tails was originally colored with brown and cream fur, as in the early cartoons. He later adopted his game colors of orange and white, though his family members remain brown. His eyes, initially simple black like other characters, gained blue irises around the time of the Sonic Adventure redesign. Typically his attire consists simply of white gloves and red shoes with white toes. He has occasionally worn other outfits, including battle armor based on Horizont-Al's robot appearance and a tuxedo at Bunnie and Antoine's wedding.

Background Information

 * Tails' name is a pun on the term "miles per hour."
 * According to Ian Flynn, Tails' food choices lean towards gastronomy cooking, but he's also a fan of peanut butter and jelly and mint candy.
 * In fact, it's been stated that in the video game series, Tails' favourite food is mint candy.
 * Ian Flynn has also indicated that Tails was amongst the refugees from Mobotropolis who fled during Eggman's takeover, but was cut from Sonic Comic Origins #1 for unknown reasons.

Origin
Tails made his debut in 1992 in the video game Sonic the Hedgehog 2, holding the honour of being the second oldest hero character in the series next to Sonic himself. He was created by game designer Yasushi Yamaguchi during an internal contest held at Sega to design a sidekick for Sonic. Yamaguchi originally conceived the character with the name "Miles Prower", however the rest of the creative team where not keen on the idea, and they instead went with the suggested name of "Tails". Unsatisfied with this decision, Yamaguchi, who handled the visual designs for Sonic 2's levels, snook the "Miles" in as one of the many neon signs that could be seen in the Casino Night Zone. Aditionally, the life counter in the HUD icons also used the name "Miles". As a compromise, the team settled on naming the character "Miles "Tails" Prower", with "Tails" being the characters nickname.

Tails unique physical abnormality of possessing two tails is in fact derived from a common Japanese folklore, in which the supposedly magical Kitsune (Japanese for "Fox") is said to be capable of growing multiple tails - nine tails at maximum - with it being said that the more tails it has, the more old, wise and powerful it is.

Off Panel
Tails appears in a number of the series' Off Panel humor strips.