Sally Acorn

Princess Sally Alicia Acorn is the daughter of the former King Maximillian Acorn and sister to the current king, Elias Acorn. She was sent to the sanctuary of Knothole Village by her father when the Great War was going badly for the Mobians, and led the Knothole Freedom Fighters against Dr. Ivo Robotnik when he took power shortly after the Great War's end. She continues to play an active role fighting against the evil Dr. Eggman despite her royal obligations.

Early Life
The daughter of King Maximillian and Queen Alicia Acorn, Sally was born during the Great War. In the first few years of her life, Sally lived carefree, unaware of the conflicts surrounding her. She would often accompany her father to the Floating Island, where she first met Knuckles the Echidna. While King Max and Knuckles' father Locke would go off to discuss matters, Sally and Knuckles would keep each other company, forging a close friendship. However, after Sally's final visit the two would not see one another again for many years. (StH: #118, KtE: #29, SSS: #9)

Back in Mobotropolis, Sally befriended the brash blue hedgehog called Sonic. The two would often play together in the royal palace and cause mischief. As the Great War escalated and Mobotropolis came under siege, Sally, Sonic and most of the other children in the city were evacuated to the safe haven of Knothole Village. During her stay there, Sally's mother and brother Elias, whom Sally had no memory of, were sent to Angel Island to hide during the remainder of the war. Their air craft was shot down however and the two were presumed dead for over a decade. (StH: #43, #69, KtE: #20)

Following the end of the Great War, Sally and the other evacuated families returned to Mobotropolis. However, not long after this, the Warlord at the time, Julian Kintobor, unleashed in long-planned schemes of betrayal. Changing his name to Dr. Ivo Robotnik, he launched a full scale coup d'état, capturing Sally's father and rounding up millions to be roboticized. Present in the castle at the time of the coup, the five-year-old Sally was quickly taken to Knothole along with many other children by Rosie and Julayla where she would meet up again with Sonic and other childhood friends, including Antoine D'Coolette and Rotor Walrus. There they would remain in safe hiding and live free from Robotnik's tyranny. (StH: #43, #142, SSS: #5)

Sally and Sonic were deeply inspired by the Original Freedom Fighters and their resistance of Dr. Robotnik. Following the defeat and disappearance of the Original Freedom Fighters, Sally forged a pact with Sonic and her friends to continue the fight in their stead. As early as age ten, Sally began leading the Knothole Freedom Fighters in their struggle against Robotnik. (StH: #143, SSS: #5)

After living in Knothole for some time, Sally's mentor and teacher Julayla grew ill. Sally had a deep respect for Julayla, and was deeply saddened when she died of old age. Before she died, Julayla gave Sally the Acorn Royal Signet and told her she was ready to lead the Freedom Fighters. Julayla also left for Sally a blue vest which she continued to wear for years. Immediately afterward, Sally was sent a "friend" in the form of NICOLE, a sentient compact super computer that originates from an alternative future where Sally is Queen. Feeling that her past self would seriously need a friend, Sally had Rotor design NICOLE and sent her back in time. (StH: #18, #120, IYF)

Leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters
The ultimate goal of the Freedom Fighters was to oust the oppressive tyrant Dr. Robotnik and restore the Kingdom of Acorn. Hidden deep within the Great Forest in their rebel headquarters of Knothole, the Freedom Fighters carried out guerrilla attacks on Robotnik's operations. Seeing the Princess as a threat to his control, Robotnik made her capture a top priority. A scheme to replace Sally with a malevolent robotic double nearly worked, with a secondary plan of creating a whole line of robots modeled off of each of the Freedom Fighters lined up. The real Sally uncovered this plot, unmasked the fake Sally, and destroyed the rest of Robotnik's duplicates. (PSM: #1, #2, #3)

Robotnik later managed to infiltrate Knothole with a duplicate of Sally's father, King Max. The traitorous Freedom Fighter named Drago arranged for Sally's assassination, pinning the blame on Sonic in an elaborate frameup. Robotnik then appeared unexpectedly in Knothole after the fake King Max leaked its location. After arriving at the Freedom Fighters' doorstep and holding them all hostage, Robotnik announced his plan to use the rebel headquarters as a testing ground for his super-weapon, with which he intends to eradicate all non-robotic life on the planet. His "Endgame" scheme is nevertheless foiled by the rebellion, and Robotnik is vaporized during the weapon's backfiring. (StH: #47, #50)

Rebuilding the Kingdom
In the wake of Robotnik's defeat, Sally worked hard to re-establish the old kingdom. The desolate wasteland of Robotropolis was difficult to rebuild, and discrimination against Robians threatened to spark a civil war. A new Robotnik arrived from a alternate reality and quickly retook Mobotropolis. He was destroyed in battle, but through the digital transfer of his mind into a new robotic body, he was able to live on as "Dr. Eggman". For a time, Sally presided over the newly-established Kingdom of Knothole, a haven from Eggman until he too, like Robotnik, learned of its location. (StH: #51, #75, #76, #78)

Return to the Front Lines
After Robotnik was killed, Sally was put in charge of reconstruction of Mobotropolis. With Sally busy behind the scenes, other Freedom Fighters took on the role of field commander, with Sonic himself occasionally filling that role. With the return of her parents, Sally could not properly rule either. Sally became frustrated with a lack of control over her life, which culminated in an arranged marriage with Antoine. The wedding was quickly annulled when her groom turns out to be Patch, an evil version of Antoine from a parallel universe. After her brother Elias took the throne and her father fell ill, Sally returned to taking a more active role in overseeing the Freedom Fighters, even joining them in combat. (StH: #50, #78, #93, #94, #99, #155, #156, SSS: #2, #4)

Sally agreed to be the maid of honor at Bunnie and Antoine's wedding, with Sonic serving as best man. Not long after the ceremony, Sally became Eggman's prisoner during the aerial bombardment of Knothole, but was promptly freed by a rescue mission mounted by the few who weren't taken prisoner: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and NICOLE. With Knothole completely crushed, Dr. Eggman turned his sights on New Mobotropolis. Sally once more led the charge against the enemy forces herself, resulting in the the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix defeating Eggman's Egg Beater battlesuit. Just prior to this, her shoulder-length hair was restored to its original length and style by Bunnie, symbolizing that she was her old self again. (StH: #175, #176, #177)

Not long after, she interrupted a duel between her brother Elias and Tails' father Amadeus Prower, both of whom were leading separate factions in a schism that threatened to plunge New Mobotropolis into civil war. Reminding them of her own ruling experience, she managed to bring the battle to an end and worked with them to establish a new system of government. Though the new ruling body called for seven council members-including Elias-Sally declined running, apparently quite fine with leaving politics behind for a while. Sadly, her relief at the averted crisis was short-lived, as Dimitri the Echidna arrived with horrifying news: Enerjak had returned. (StH: #178, #179)

Recent Battles
After the Enerjak rampage and Mogul's escape, the latter then took over Robotnik's old Casino Night Zone and changed it to his own image. Meanwhile, Sally spent some time alone with Sonic in the ruins of Knothole talking about their past and feelings for one another. Their conversation was interrupted by Bean and Bark and the Destructix. Eventually, Sonic was knocked out by a shot from Nack the Weasel, who then gave Sally ten seconds to run for help while Sonic was dragged off by the Destructix. She soon liberated him with the help of Amy Rose and Geoffrey. When the heroes confronted Mogul, however, he denied all claims of wrong-doing as his accusers lacked any incontrovertible evidence. Sally and her friends were then sent away publicly humiliated. (StH: #187, #188)

Following this, the Suppression Squad came to Mobius Prime through the Star Posts and began attacking Freedom HQ. Sonic arrived back at Freedom HQ just as Scourge emerged. Unfortunately, the Freedom Fighters found themselves matched blow-for-blow with the Suppression Squad, and the battle was taking its toll on the base so Sally convinced Sonic and the rest to retreat. (StH: #189, #190)

Later, Sally told Sonic he was being sent on a mission to invade Anti Mobius with Amy Rose. While they were gone, Miles from the Suppression Squad was sent to bomb New Mobotropolis. Sally and the Freedom Fighters arrived on the scene, only to find that Miles was actually willing to propose an alliance against Scourge. After Miles explained how Scourge took over their world, Sally agreed to helping him. (StH: #192, #193)

However, the Freedom Fighters and Suppression Squad were no match for Scourge. After Sonic returned to take on Scourge, they were both blasted by Boomer and thrown back into Moebius by Miles. Afterwards, Boomer shut down the star posts; therefore, Sonic and Scourge were unable to return to Mobius. (StH: #194)

Sally and Alicia ended up arguing about stranding Sonic and Amy in Moebius, but the two were interrupted when Rob O' the Hedge and Silver the Hedgehog arrived. Sally proceeded to explain to them what had happened to Sonic and Amy and how they were stranded in Moebius. Silver then used the warp ring to go there with Rob O' the Hedge. Sally then told Tails to start fixing up the star posts. (StH: #195)

Sonic the Hedgehog
Over the years Sally has had numerous flirtations and love-interests, the largest being Sonic the Hedgehog. During their battles against Dr. Ivo Robotnik as Freedom Fighters, the two kept their feelings for each other mostly to themselves, though the idea of marriage had come up on occasion, mostly as a joke. Additionally, because of their clashing personalities, both were reluctant to make anything more out of their relationship. Their mutual feelings for each other became far more obvious when Sonic discovered Sally had survived Operation: EndGame and the two shared a kiss. (StH: #18, #50)

When King Max discussed the topic of marriage with his daughter shortly after he'd been freed from the wizard Ixis Naugus's control, Sally requested that Sonic be her future husband. The aged king flat-out refused this offer, saying that the Source of All would ultimately decide who her husband would be, as it had dictated Max's wife and his father's wife before him. (StH: #60)

Sonic and Sally spent the next few months apart, while Sonic was chasing after the Ixis Naugus around the planet with Tails. Shortly after his return, Dr. Eggman began his campaign to retake Mobotropolis and roboticize the Mobians, which prevented Sonic and Sally from getting close. To make matters worse, after the Kingdom of Knothole was formed, Sally was forced to be home schooled while Sonic and the others went to public school. Sally's duties as princess kept her both busy and distant from Sonic for some time. When Sally finally attempted to visit Sonic, she caught him being kissed by Mina Mongoose. After this, Sally believed Sonic had moved on. The two later recovered and fully admitted their love for one another when Sonic freed Sally from the bounty hunter Nack the Weasel. (StH: #58, #66, #94, #99, #123)

After almost a year had passed since Max's original decision to force Sally to marry Antoine, his opinion had drastically changed, after Sonic had proven himself a worthy candidate for a spouse. Max accepted Sonic and Sally's request for marriage, but shortly after this, the Xorda's attack on Mobius occurred, which resulted in Sonic being lost in space for over a year. (StH: #124, #125)

Upon Sonic's return from space, the two wasted no time rekindling their love for one another. However, their relationship took a turn for the worse when Sally was put in charge of the kingdom and requested Sonic stay by her side, as opposed to risking his life on numerous combat missions. Sonic chose the life of a hero, and this resulted in the two breaking up. Since then, Sonic has dated Fiona Fox, but the two broke up when Sonic discovered Fiona actually was interested in his evil double, Scourge the Hedgehog. Recently, after Antoine and Bunnie announced they were getting married, Sally admitted she missed Sonic and felt jealous that it wasn't her who was getting married. (StH: #130, #134, #151, #172, #173)

Since Antoine and Bunnie's marriage, Sonic and Sally have once again showed signs of interest in one another. Sally in particular has flirted and hinted at this with Sonic. At one point, the two almost kissed each other, but were interrupted by Bean the Dynamite, Bark the Polar Bear and the Destructix. (StH: #187, #189, #190)

Geoffrey St. John
When Geoffrey St. John first met Princess Sally, he assisted her in training the Substitute Freedom Fighters and foiling Dr. Robotnik's scheme of creating robo-duplicates of the Freedom Fighters. After seeing St. John's heroics, the skunk gained a place in Sally's heart, nearly rivaling Sonic. After the events of Project: Endgame and Sonic's revival of Sally, St. John realized her heart belonged to Sonic, but continued to clash with Sonic on numerous occasions. Some time later, Geoffrey St. John established a relationship with Hershey Cat, eventually marrying her and losing his feelings for Sally. (StH: #46, #50, #130, PSM: #3)

Knuckles the Echidna
Sally had known Knuckles even before she met Sonic, during her father's regular visits to Angel Island. The two quickly became friends as neither one had anyone else their age to play with. Years later, when Knuckles came to Knothole to fight against Mecha Sonic, the two reminisced about their childhood days. Sally even showed signs of interest in Knuckles at this point, especially due to the anger she felt towards Sonic, who everyone thought had deliberately allowed himself to be roboticized. Not long after this however, Knuckles was perused by the fellow Echidna Julie-Su, who is currently Knuckles' girlfriend and soul mate. Sally and Knuckles' friendship was temporarily damaged when the latter decided to remain on Angel Island rather than assist the Freedom Fighters on Mobius against Dr. Eggman, though the two repaired their friendship over time. (StH: #136, #165, KtE: #28, #29, SMM)

Background Information
In the Original Sonic Miniseries, Sally's colour scheme was brown and yellow. She was changed to pink and black for the first 15 issues of the main Sonic series. In issue #16, the comics changed her colours to match her Sonic SatAM counterpart. The change in colours was explained later on as a result of falling into a chemical mixture during one of her missions in Robotropolis.

When the four-part saga "EndGame" was first written, the intent of the writers was to remove Princess Sally from the comic permanently. The idea was to kill the character with enough dignity to not drive away any of the character's fans. During a mission inside Robotroplis, Sally is slain after her rappel wire is cut, sending her falling several stories to the ground; Sonic was framed for her death. The reasoning on the part of the writers was that the arrival of King Max would displace Sally's power, making her unnecessary, and that the restrictions placed on the book by SEGA made it too difficult to continue writing the character as having a relationship with Sonic. SEGA, however, had promotional plans for the character and ordered her to be revived. The character's return was written into issue #50, which interfered with scheduling and caused several pages to be cut. The issue was later revised and reissued as a Sonic Super Special.