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Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
The Tornado is a vehicle that appears in the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions. It is a vintage-style biplane used by the Freedom Fighters. It is typically piloted by Miles "Tails" Prower, with Sonic standing/seated on its wings.
Description[]
Appearance[]
The Tornado is an old vintage biplane with a fuselage and two main wings attached with a pair of poles on both sides. The fuselage has a power plant with a tractor screw and a cockpit with only one seat (although it would in some cases have two). The plane's empennage has two small horizontal stabilizers and one vertical stabilizer. It also has three wheels, two under the lower main wing and one below the empennage.
Originally, the Tornado had a red fuselage with grey wings, tractor screw and power plant. The horizontal stabilizers were grey with red ends and the vertical stabilizer was red with a white stripe. Finally, its sides were emblazoned with white stretchy F-letter labels which occasionally had the word "SONIC" written in white over them. Later, the Tornado became purple with a yellow-edged vertical stabilizer and wings, yellow horizontal stabilizers, and yellow lines across the fuselage. The tractor screw also became purple with a yellow bolt.
Features and abilities[]
In addition to high-speed flight, the Tornado has a storage compartment on the bottom where it can release a net to capture and haul in prey.[1]
History[]
The Tornado's original appearance, from Sonic the Comic #34. Art by Richard Elson.
The Tornado was originally kept in a hangar in Sonic's Secret Underground Base and used by Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower to reach distant areas like the Wing Fortress Zone,[2] Oil Ocean Zone,[3] and Hill Top Zone.[4] The duo also once used it to pursue the Sky Pirates and take back the Chaos Emeralds they stole.[5] Shortly after, the Tornado was used by the Freedom Fighters to look for Sonic and Amy when they got trapped on Miracle Planet.[6]
Sonic and Tails put the Tornado to action again to reach the Floating Island where Tails caught Dr. Robotnik with the Tornado's net.[1][7] After Robotnik escaped with the aid of Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic and Tails used the Tornado to catch them.[8][9] When the Freedom Fighters' base was destroyed by Dr. Robotnik, the heroes took the Tornado with them when going undercover as Bob Beaky's Travelling Circus. They often towed the plane behind the caravan, hidden under a tarpaulin.[10][11]
The Tornado crashes into a building, from Sonic the Comic #151.
One time the Tornado was used for a direct attack on a Badnik transport at Emerald Valley Bridge.[12] It was also used by the Freedom Fighters to travel around the Floating Island during the uprising of the Death Egg II.[13][14] The Tornado was eventually destroyed, along with the Freedom Fighers' caravan, when Super Sonic went berserk and attacked his own teammates, leading Sonic to (temporarily) believe that he had killed his friends.[15]
Following Robotnik's defeat, Tails rebuilt the Tornado, which he and Sonic used to reach Flickies' Island.[16] During one of their travels in the Tornado, Sonic and Tails briefly got caught in a Tantaror's games.[17] Another time, the Tornado got wheel-clamped before Tails could use it to stop Windy Wallis.[18] The Tornado faced further hardship as the Freedom Fighters used it to reach the Chemical Plant Zone,[19] Knuckles in order to test his skills (where it got buried in an avalanche),[20] the Floating Island during a Drakon Empire invasion,[21] and the Sun Valley Zone where it almost crashed,[22] before it was shot down during a Badnik attack.[23]
Tails working on the Tornado, from Sonic the Comic #177. Art by Richard Elson.
Rebuilding the Tornado, it was used by Sonic and Tails to go to Flickies' Island, and by Tails to lure the Skeleton Crew ghosts away until they were forced to return at midnight.[24][25] When used to reach D.R.A.T.'s island base though, the Tornado had to turn around when a force-field threatened to blank it out.[26] Another time, it was shot down by Claws during Tails' trip to the Polarzone.[27] A redesigned Tornado (or possibly a new model entirely) would later on be used by Tails and Amy to reach the Floating Island, only for them to leave the island in said vehicle (with Knuckles and Porker Lewis onboard) when the island fell from the sky.[28][29]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sonic the Comic #34, "Enter Knuckles, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #6, "Attack on the Death Egg"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #7, "Super Sonic"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #20, "Hill Top Terror"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #24, "The Sonic Terminator, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #27, "The Sonic Terminator, Part 4"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #33, "Enter Knuckles, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #35, "Power of the Chaos Emeralds, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #36, "Power of the Chaos Emeralds", Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #37, "Robotnik's Revenge, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #38, "Robotnik's Revenge, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #44, "Badniks Bridge, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #47, "Mystery of the Sandopolis Zone, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #53, "Disaster! Part 3"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #81, "Running Wild, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #104, "Flickies' Island, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #113, "The Detour"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #115, "Weather Beaten"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #114, "Crisis in the Chemical Plant Zone, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #120, "New Year Twister"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #123, "Order & Chaos, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #127, "Fog Warning"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #131, "Shady Characters, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #133, "Sun-Trap"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #141, "The Skeleton Crew"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #149, "Forbidden Island"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #151, "Northern Frights"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #177, "Night Terrors!"
- ↑ Sonic the Comic #178, "Splash-Down!"
External links[]
- Tails' Bi-plane at the Sonic the Comic Wiki.