Universalamander was one of the earlier villains to battle Sonic the Hedgehog and the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Once an ordinary salamander, he was Roboticized by Dr. Ivo Robotnik and transformed into an enormous Robian who tried to conquer Mobius on his own. Despite his seeming victory over Sonic, he was eventually defeated by Super Sonic. He managed to return to Robotropolis in his salamander form, and received a second chance at fighting the Freedom Fighters. Yet again he met defeat, though was shrunk into microscopic size.
History[]
Universal Debut[]
Dr. Robotnik, upset at Sonic having defeated him again, vowed to turn the next being captured by his SWATbots into the ultimate robot. Unfortunately, however, the SWATbots ended up bringing him a small salamander. Robotnik, highly disappointed, decided to Roboticize the salamander, anyway. During the process, however, Buzzbomber accidentally turned the Roboticizer's size control knob, causing the salamander to turn into a gigantic robot. Having a free will of his own, the salamander named himself "Universalamander" and decided to conquer Mobius on his own. After going on a rampage through Robotropolis, he proceeded into the Great Forest, where Knothole Village was located. The Freedom Fighters saw Universalamander coming and Sonic tried to stop him, but ended up almost being eaten. Sonic, realizing he couldn't stop the menacing robot, collected seven Chaos Emeralds and fifty Power Rings, transforming himself into Super Sonic! Super Sonic then ran straight through Universalamander and back to the Freedom Fighters' base, where he got the reduce/enlarge component from the Roboticizer Bunnie Rabbot had been in. He then used the component on Universalamander, turning him back to his regular size and causing him to flee. (StH: #4)
Second Battle[]
While going on a motivational speaking tour through Mobius, Robotnik encountered the still-shrunken Universalamander, who now wanted to work for the doctor and get another chance at defeating the Freedom Fighters. Robotnik turned Universalamander back to his gigantic size, and also made so it that any energy absorbed by him would be reversed, therefore making it so that any reducer used on him would make him even larger. Universalamander attacked the Freedom Fighters while they were playing a game of flag football and threw Sonic all the way into a desert. Rotor tried to use the reducer/enlarger component to shrink the salamander once more, but it only made him larger. Universalamander then kicked the Freedom Fighters around, destroying the unit in the process. While Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie all distracted Universalamander, Rotor went back into the Freedom Fighters' base and, with the help of Sally and NICOLE, built an Ultra Mega Enlarger. He then used it on Universalamander, causing him to shrink thanks to the energy-reversing process. However, Universalamander ended up shrinking too much and turned into microscopic size, an event that depressed even Sonic. (SA: #5)
Abilities[]
Thanks to his enormous size, Universalamander has incredible strength, able to pick up trees and throw people large distances away.
Background Information[]
- The canocity of the "lost story" in Sonic Archives #5 has been questioned, as it features an alternate origin for NICOLE. However, current Sonic comic writer, Ian Flynn, has confirmed that the story is canon "to a point" and that Universalamander is currently trapped at molecular size. Only Nicole's origin fails to fit with the rest of the series.