Mobius Encyclopaedia
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The subject of this article appeared before the Super Genesis Wave.
Original Continuity


Badnik Horde
Badnik Horde
First Appearance

Sonic Miniseries #0

Form of Group and Statistics
Type 

Military troop and workers

Formed 

3225

Resident location 
Allies
Enemies
  

The Badnik Horde was the robot army that served as the military backbone of Dr. Robotnik's Empire and later the Eggman Empire for over a decade. The units used have changed over time, but their purpose remains the same: overwhelm the enemy with numbers with an easily replenished stock of soldiers. More powerful Badniks are known as "Super-Badniks".[1]

History[]

Sonic Origin[]

Up until the time of the Dark Egg Legion, the Badnik Horde remained the backbone of the army for Dr. Ivo Robotnik's empire, their purpose being to overwhelm enemies with numbers using easily replaceable soldiers. (CSE)

Dr. Ivo Robotnik's Tyranny[]

In 3235, the Badniks were Robotnik's main forces used against Sonic and his allies, along with SWATbots. There were over a dozen of different models of these "classic badniks"—small robots with limited A.I., armament, and often modeled after mobini. They were sent primarily to antagonize the young Knothole Freedom Fighters. In fact, for some time, the classic badnik Crabmeat acted as Robotnik's main lackey, sometimes having higher rank than Snively. (OSM: #0, CSE)

During an outing with Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Sonic had his first encounter with a classic Badnik: Caterkiller. However, he easily outmaneuvered both him and Robotnik and escaped. Later, the Badniks had a meeting with Robotnik when they detected Knothole Freedom Fighters out in the open, prompting Robotnik to attack them alongside Buzzbomber. Regardless, Sonic managed to make them both retreat. Soon after, Buzzbomber would pick up Sally for an arranged meeting between her and Robotnik, only to dump her into Robotnik, Inc. where SWATbots prepared to roboticize her. However, those SWATbots were destroyed when Sonic came to Sally's rescue. Not long after, Jaws would carry out a roboticization operation on underwater mobinis with a waterproof roboticizer when he got caught by Sonic. Escaping, Jaws made Sonic fall into the water where he caught the hedgehog and prepared to roboticize him. Though Sonic broke free, only to nearly drown, Jaws was heavily damaged by the arrival of the Bathysphere and forced to flee when Sonic recovered and smashed his roboticizer. (OSM: #0, #1)

After Robotnik acquired the Freedom Emeralds, he used his Badniks to scatter the four emeralds across Mobius, specifically in are, sea, land, and underground territory, where they would guard them. However, the different Badniks guarding the Freedom Emeralds were tracked down and defeated by Sonic and had their Freedom Emerald claimed from them. A squadron of Crabmeats later chased Sonic to the edge of a mountain cliff, which Robotnik knocked Sonic down from, although Sonic survived the fall. Some time later, Buzzbomber caught news of Sonic having been roboticized. When he tried to tell Robotnik though, Sonic had already been assigned a desk job. When Buzzbomber and Robotnik tried testing Sonic's loyalty though, they got distracted by an alarm at the Crab Compound, which Robotnik sent Sonic out to deal with. When Sonic returned and had to destroy Knothole with a missile attack, Sonic, having only pretended to be roboticized, typed in the coordinates for the factory where Buzzbombers were made instead, resulting in the Badniks inside being blown to pieces. (OSM: #2, #3)

Later, Crabmeat tended to a seething Robotnik when a SWATbot provided the doctor with the Krudzu, a flora-based Badnik that the SWATbot suggested using against the Knothole Freedom Fighters by having a Burrobot spread its seeds through the Great Forest. Although delighted by the plan, Robotnik still disposed of the SWATbot and took credit for the plan. Thanks to Burrobot, Krudzu seeds were soon spread all over the Great Forest, and the Krudzu spread rapidly, threatening to smother the forest and force the Freedom Fighters out into the open where Robotnik had a squadron of Buzzbombers ready for them. Unfortunately, the Krudzu was vulnerable to water, so all of it was destroyed when it began raining. Robotnik thus took his anger out on Burrobot. Later, while tons of Badniks were visiting Renobotnik, a multitude of them would attend Robotnik's unveiling of his newest Badnik in the casino: Orbinaut. That Badnik knocked out Sonic, who was in the crowd, and watched alongside a SWATbot as Robotnik tormented Sonic with his Giant Pinball Machine until Sonic broke free and took out Robotnik and the SWATbot with Orbinaut's mace weapons. (StH: #1)

In an attempt to destroy Sonic, Robotnik created Coconuts, which he successfully tested out on Crabmeat. However, when he got sent after Sonic, the hedgehog and Tails managed to outsmart Coconuts and sent him back to Robotnik in pieces. Soon after, Robotnik sent Scratch and Grounder from the Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad after Sonic as well, but the pair's stupidity and squabbles allowed Sonic to easily defeat them. A while later, Robotnik would discuss the arrangement of the Bug Bomb to clear out the insects in the pantry while Sonic dealt with local SWATbots. A squadron of SWATbots were soon after assembled by Robotnik to help the doctor attack the Knothole Fighters in Robotropolis, only to fall for a trap that destroyed the SWATbots. Afterwards, Rotor, disguised as Robotnik, tried tricking Crabmeat into giving him the Bug Bomb. Crabmeat, however, saw through the disguise, and so lured Rotor into an ambush with other Badniks. However, Rotor ultimately overcame them. With Sonic and his friends escaping with the Bug Bomb afterwards, Crabmeat and Robotnik were left to deal with their pantry's insects. (StH: #2, #3)

In the southern sector of Mobius, two SWATbots would capture Bunnie and put her into a roboticizer, just before Sonic arrived and decapitated them. Soon after, a giant Burrobot sent by Robotnik began tearing the Great Forest apart in an attempt to lure Sonic out, until it was defeated by Sonic and Bunnie. Later, the Bot Brigade brought Robotnik a tiny mobini salamander for roboticization. Furious at their incompetence, Robotnik had the Bot Brigade assigned to the Slag Shop by Crabmeat. Regardless, Robotnik tried turning the salamander into a killer robot. However, due to a mistake made by Buzzbomber, the salamander was turned into the uncontrollable and dangerous Universalamander. After Universalamander's threat had passed, the Badniks joined Robotnik on a company picnic to celebrate the doctor's return before resuming their terrorizing activities. Along the way, Buzzbomber and Orbinaut caught Tails, but the fox cub managed to escape and defeat them. However, Tails soon after got caught by SWATbots. Before they could roboticize him though, Sonic came to the rescue, thus forcing the SWATbots to rig themselves to explode. Regardless, Sonic and Tails escaped before they could blow up. (StH: #3, #4)

A SWATbot eventually informed Sonic of Robotnik's challenge to the Knothole Freedom Fighters in the Robotropolis Olympic Games, where they could earn Mobius' freedom by winning one event, or be roboticized. When the heroes showed up in the Robotnik Stadium though, where Sonic was left unable to compete due to foul play, Sally, Rotor, and Antoine were left to face the Badniks. While the Badniks won the first three events, they lost the last one due to interference from Sonic. When Robotnik then tried roboticizing the heroes anyway, he and his Badniks were forced to free when Sonic overloaded their Port-O-Bot. Later, Robotnik had a SWATbot mail a robotic Termite-Nator to the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Later, a SWATbot brought Robotnik a crate, which turned out to hold Termite-Nator, albeit much larger and hungry for metal. As such, to keep it from eating them all, Robotnik had his SWATbots bring it metal. More Badniks would later be stationed throughout Robotnik's new Veg-O-Fortress. However, they were no match for Sonic when he arrived and traversed through the fortress's pinball defense system. (StH: #5, #6)

When SWATbots discovered the Knothole Freedom Fighters on a treasure hunt in Mobius Natural Park, they reported those news back to Robotnik, which made Robotnik attack the heroes with SWATbots, Burrobot and Buzzbomber. As the villains made the Freedom Fighters scatter, the Badniks cornered Tails, Rotor, and Sally. Sonic, however, came to the rescue and defeated each of the Badniks by using the pollution in the park against them. Later, the Badniks in Robotropolis decided to steer clear of Robotnik for the next few days while the doctor raged over the worthlessness of the treasure he stole from Sonic. Later, Crabmeat saw Robotnik get captivated by an apparent sorceress. Not long after, the Badniks were gathered in Robotnik Haul for the wedding between Robotnik and the sorceress. However, when Robotnik got humiliated by an invisible force, the Badniks were ordered to destroy the sorceress, only for her to escape. (StH: #7)

When Crabmeat was caught reading comics and Robotnik got ready to punish him with the Robot Disposal, Crabmeat's suggestion of using the comic characters as templates for killer robots to eliminate Sonic with inspired Robotnik to create his Super-Powered 'Bot line, although he still scrapped Crabmeat, along with a SWATbot, for parts. When he later lured Sonic out of hiding, Robotnik sent his Super-Powered 'Bots after Sonic. However, they were all defeated. Thanks to a slip-up by Sonic though, Robotnik was able to escape on a rebuilt Crabmeat. Robotnik later summoned his Badnik Horde to Mobius Concert Hall to capture the Knothole Freedom Fighters. However, said group rendered the Badniks harmless by shrinking them with Snively's reduction device, leaving the miniscule robots to return to Robotnik. (StH: #8)

Robotnik soon after came up with the precursor to the Metal Sonic Series: Pseudo-Sonic. This Badnik managed to find and infiltrate Freedom HQ. However, before it could transmit Knothole Village's coordinates to Robotnik, it was short-circuited by Tails. After having being analyzed by Rotor, Pseudo-Sonic was thrown out with the trash. Later, one of Robotnik's forest traps, a Robot Tree Badnik, managed to capture Sally. Another one of these Badniks nearly caught Sonic too had it not been for Thorny. The Robot Tree that caught Sally soon after had its arm sawed off by Sonic when the hedgehog rescued Sally from it. An army of SWATbots later went outside Robotropolis to capture the Knothole Freedom Fighters when they got caught in a trap. However, the group escaped the SWATbots before they could get there. Meanwhile, more SWATbots would aid Robotnik with his underground building efforts until Sonic flushed their underground tunnels. Later, after a pair of Buzzbombers reported back to Robotnik after having popped the Knothole Freedom Fighters' hot air balloon ride, the doctor assembled a squad of SWATbots and Buzzbombers to attack the Knothole Freedom Fighters during their annual picnic. However, the Badniks were stopped by Antoine in his hot air balloon. (StH: #9, #10)

The Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad would be later defeated by Sonic again on the other side of Mobius. (StH: #11)

Robo Hobo Jungle[]

Badniks02

Sonic defeating the badniks at the Robo Hobo Jungle

Following the incident of Sonic's roboticization into Mecha Sonic, the blue blur was given a time frame to prove his innocents before being sentenced to imprisonment. Sonic went to the Robo Hobo Jungle to find information on Nack the Weasel's whereabouts from the obsolete and unused Badniks. Rather than simply giving Sonic the information he wanted, the badniks all converged on Sonic, hoping to redeem themselves in the eyes of their creator by taking Sonic down once and for all. Despite all of them converging on Sonic at once, the Badniks were no match and were taken out of commission. After threatening to drag Caterkiller by his face across the ground at sonic speeds, the bot informed Sonic of Nack's location. (StH: #40)

Island of Misfit Badniks[]

During a stroll, Sonic found one of Robotnik's old lookout posts, which had the blueprints for an island where the old badniks were repaired/retired. Sonic decided to investigate, and was promptly attacked. He took down most of the misfit badniks, but was evenly matched against Pseudo-Sonic, until the two decided to ram each other, and caused the island to sink. Unknown to Sonic, these rogue badniks simply moved the island underwater. (StH #170)

Later, the misfit badniks learned that Pseudo-Sonic could be enlarged, and attempted to do that. Unfortunately for them, the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters fought off all of the Badniks except for Burrobot, who woke up an enlarged Pseudo-Sonic, which led to Pseudo-Sonic defeating everyone- until Big Fluke sat on him and crushed all of the badniks and the island into a cube. Only Coconuts managed to escape. (StH: #185, #187)

Employed by Mammoth Mogul[]

Badnik refugees from the Robo Hobo Jungle were later taken in by Mammoth Mogul to working for him at his new Casion Night Club, along with the only misfit Badnik still functioning Coconuts, who was now working as a butler directly for Mogul while his old partners, Scratch and Grounder, had jobs as a concierge and chef respectively. (StH: #187, #188)

Re-emergence During Genesis[]

When Dr. Eggman reset the timeline of Mobius, he made use of Badniks, each of contained an encased animal that powered it. (StH: #226)

List of Badniks[]

Background Information[]

  • The Badnik Horde is composed of robot characters from one of several groups:
    • Robots introduced in the video games, including Metal Sonic and many Classic Badniks.
    • Robots introduced in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, such as the 6-S or the SWATbots.
    • Robots created for and featured exclusively in the comic series.
  • Starting with Sonic the Hedgehog #226, the Badniks were redesigned to look more like their Sonic Generations designs.

References[]

External links[]

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