Saffron Bee

Lady Saffron is a young bee from the former Golden Hive Colony. While somewhat naive, she's brave and always willing to help others. The fiancée of Charmy Bee, Saffron became a member of the Chaotix with him after their homeland was destroyed by the Eggman Empire. Since then she has participated in numerous missions with the group.

Early Life and Pre-Chaotix
Saffron was a childhood friend of Charmy Bee, residing in Golden Hive Colony. When confronted by his Acknowledgment Ceremony, Charmy decided to flee from his royal responsibilities. Saffron was unable to understand why Charmy was so upset, and remained alone for some time after Charmy fled to Angel Island. Almost a year later however, Charmy returned home and accepted his role as prince, becoming Saffron's fiance. (KtE: #14, #15)

Months later, Charmy and Saffron found themselves meeting up with Charmy's friend Knuckles the Echidna, who at this point had evolved into Chaos Knuckles When the two saw scientists from Albion trying to drain Knuckles of his powers, the two shrunk down to bee-sized mode and prevented them from succeeding. (StH: #94)


 * An unforeseen result of their interference was the overload of the Chaos Siphon Suit and the development of Dr. Finitevus into the genocidal sociopath that he is known as today.

Member of the Chaotix
Following the conflict with the Xorda, the Eggman Empire began taking over numerous sections of Mobius In 3237, Eggman had his Egg Pawns attack Golden Hive Colony. The colony was overrun, forcing Charmy and Saffron to flee and take shelter in Knothole. It was at this point that Saffron joined the Chaotix when Charmy re-joined the group. Along with the Chaotix, Saffron participated in the liberation of a Dingo-run concentration camp, freeing numerous Echidnas. Shortly afterwards, she remained behind to protect the Master Emerald while the rest of the Chaotix freed Knuckles' father Locke from captivity. (StH: #138, #139, #140, #141)

When Mammoth Mogul, the Destructix, the Arachne and Ixis Naugus joined forces, Saffron assisted the Knothole Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix in their battle to regain the Sword and Crown of Acorns. Some time later, Saffron was amongst the majority of the Mobians captured by the Egg Fleet during the destruction of Knothole and sent to the Egg Grape Chambers. After Sonic and the few other Mobians who were not captured rescued everyone and transported them all to New Mobotropolis, Saffron tried to help Charmy regain his memories, which he'd partially lost during his brief moments in the Egg Grape Chamber after it was activated. She was relieved that Charmy still remembered her. (StH: #163, #164, #175, #176, #177)

After the Enerjak ordeal, Saffron joined the Chaotix in their mission to defeat the Dark Egg Legion in New Megaopolis as well as destroy one of Eggman's communication relays. Saffron went with Charmy and Ray the Flying Squirrel to set up the explosives in the communications relay station while Sonic and the Chaotix fought the Dark Egg Legion and kept them preoccupied. During this mission she kept in contact with Julie-Su and soon found herself contacting the Chaotix when the Dark Egg Legion's retreat lead them right back to the tower. After the Dark Egg Legion was again distracted by the rest of the Chaotix, Saffron detonated the bombs, destroying the relay station. (StH: #189, #190)

Weeks later, Saffron played a key part in the final push against the Eggman Empire. First, she and the rest of the Chaotix flanked the Dark Egg Legion and forced them to retreat. Following this, she, Charmy and Ray managed to get onto the Egg Phoenix when its flames went out and plant Tails' Neutralizing Mines on its hull, thus enabling Tails to disable it and causing it to crash. Later, during the fight in the Eggdome, Saffron, with the help of Charmy and Ray, managed to save Espio and Mighty who were pinned by laser-fire. After Mighty and Bunnie finished beating down the barricade, Saffron and the groups went in to find that Eggman was defeated. She and Charmy hugged as they all headed back to New Mobotropolis to celebrate. (StH: #198, #199, #200)

Afterwards, Saffron and Charmy went to find more of their people, and thus were absent as the rest of their teammates engaged the Platypus Dark Egg Legion and Dr. Finitevus alongside the Downunda Freedom Fighters. (SU: #11)

Personality
Saffron is a bit girly and slightly naive (as shown when Nack the Weasel describes a malfunctioning vehicle and she thinks he's referring to an injured creature) but despite this, she's extremely brave and supportive, especially of Charmy. Though sometimes easily upset, she shows great loyalty and devotion and does not easily back down from a dangerous situation despite her inexperience.

Romance
Saffron and Charmy are not currently a married couple. While Charmy was seemingly annoyed by her when he fled his home, not long after his return his friends on Angel Island received a letter announcing their engagement. A wedding was never shown; however, since then, Saffron has never left his side.

Background Information

 * Saffron is sometimes accompanied by a Chao-like plushie similar to a Nightopian, an obvious reference to to the game NiGHTS into Dreams.
 * Saffron is named after the saffron crocus flower.
 * Saffron was originally slated to be killed off in the "Return to Angel Island" arc, due to being utterly useless in her initial appearances, but at the last minute, the writers decided to keep her alive. (1)

Appearance
Saffron’s design has been highly inconsistent in the past. In her first appearance, she had long, flowing hair (blue in a flashback, orange in the present), an orange-red face, yellow antennae and wore an elegant gown (white in flashback, green in the present) with simple white gloves. When she next appeared, writer/artist Ken Penders depicted her with shorter brown hair and her face, antennae and body were now pink; she wore a tunic-like dress with a cape, gloves and boots, all in purple.

Artist Jon Gray attempted to solidify the character’s portrayal with a drastic redesign that’s largely been maintained since; Saffron is now yellow with blond hair (the front lifted into a high, curled bang) and blue eyes; she wears a brown bomber jacket with pale yellow cuffs, a short pink dress (with flowers on the hem), pink shoes (with yellow cuffs and pompoms) and gloves similar to those worn by Charmy. She was also given a necklace or choker adorned with a bee emblem just like that on Charmy’s vest, but this (as well as some other details) are often forgotten by other artists. Her hair’s length and shape change somewhat from artist to artist; similarly, her clothing is often miscoloured (yellow dress, red shoes and jacket).