The Wisps (ウィスプWisupu?) are creatures that appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They are a diminutive, yet powerful alien species from Planet Wisp, although they can be found on many other planets across the universe. During one of Dr. Eggman's plots, the Wisps were kidnapped and enslaved by the doctor until Sonic the Hedgehog freed them. While most of the Wisps went home after that, some of them decided to stay on the hedgehog's home, Earth, having been living happily there ever since.[1] Now, in remembrance of Sonic's deeds, the Wisps are ready to offer him and his allies help whenever needed[2]
There are numerous breeds of Wisps, each with its own special ability. When a Wisp enters a person, they bestow upon them a certain Color Power that grant them new and powerful abilities, but only if that person is someone they can trust.[1][3]
What is the origin of the Wisps in the Sonic the Hedgehog series?
In the Sonic the Hedgehog universe, Wisps are small, energy-based alien beings. They are native to Planet Wisp and possess abilities such as flight and energy bestowment. Their existence in the comic series aligns with their game counterparts following the reality-altering Super Genesis Wave.
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What powers do the Wisps provide in Sonic Colors?
In Sonic Colors, Wisps provide Sonic with Color Powers, derived from their life force, Hyper-go-on. Absorbing a Wisp grants Sonic new abilities. The Indigo Wisp transforms Sonic into the Indigo Asteroid, enabling object destruction. The Magenta Wisp gives Sonic the Magenta Rhythm, allowing him to bounce and collect notes. The Orange Wisp turns Sonic into the Orange Rocket, enabling skyward bursts. These powers are used to navigate the environment, defeat enemies, or advance through the game.
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How were the Wisps enslaved by Dr. Eggman?
Dr. Eggman enslaved the Wisps by chaining their planets to his Egg Planet Park and using tractor beam generators to pull them into orbit around Sonic's world. He harnessed their Hyper-go-on power for a Mind Control Ray and turned Mother Wisp into the Nega-Mother Wisp. The Wisps were scattered across the park and had their Hyper-go-on extracted.
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What is the home planet of the Wisps?
Planet Wisp is the home of the Wisps, a creation of Mother Wisp. These alien lifeforms, known for their powerful form of energy called Hyper-go-on, have also populated areas like Sweet Mountain and Starlight Carnival. In the Sonic Colors storyline, they were kidnapped by Dr. Eggman.
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Why did some Wisps decide to stay after being freed by Sonic?
After Sonic freed the Wisps, some chose to stay to help Sonic and Tails disrupt Eggman's plans. They also worked to liberate their siblings across the planet. A notable example is a female Jade Wisp who, after rescuing her siblings, joined the mission.
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Concept and creation[]
Takashi Iizuka stated in an interview that the Wisps were added to Sonic Colors to "expand and strengthen the platform action gameplay" without forcing the player to switch to other playable characters.[4] Another goal was to encourage players to revisit already-played levels; Sonic Team accomplished this by adding segments requiring certain types of Wisps to levels preceding their first appearances.[5]
Following the success of Sonic Colors, Iizuka has stated that he now considers them a staple in the Sonic series.[6] Since then, the Wisps have appeared in multiple successive Sonic titles.
Description[]
Anatomy[]
The Wisps do not have any internal organs, because they are composed entirely of Hyper-go-on.[7] Overall, they are similar, both in appearance and in motion, to underwater cephalopods such as squids. Physical characteristics all Wisps share include a "head" with tentacles stemming from the bottom.
Regular Wisps have three tentacles each. Their skin color, body shape and number of eyes, ranging from none to three, is determined by their breed. Also, regular Wisps do not get much taller than half a meter.
Mother Wisp is a unique breed of Wisp in terms of anatomy, being almost eight meters tall and resembles more that of a jellyfish with four very long tentacles.
The Nega-Wisps, a sub-breed of Wisps, have their own special anatomy: while they have the head, size and tentacles of their counterparts, they have no eyes, dark skins, and possess wide mouths with sharp teeth.
The Wisps are a mysterious,[1] halcyon and social species, and are as much sapient beings as the dominant races on Sonic's world. Also, rather than aliens, with their floaty movements, they are more like fairies.[1]
Wisps come in several known natural breeds that determine their appearance and powers. While each breed of Wisp tends to lean towards a certain set of characteristics,[8][9] the Wisps are overall peaceful, playful, non-hostile and friendly of nature, and have been described as bright, energetic, and pure of heart.[1] Living in complete harmony with their own kind,[1] the Wisps enjoy spending most of their time playing with others. Due to their overall good nature, they easily get along with everybody, except bad guys.[1]
The entire race of Wisps has a very loving relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog. To the Wisps, Sonic is their "hero", "comrade-in-arms", and "best friend". Notably, he is a hero to them due to how he freed them from Dr. Eggman's clutches. As such, they love him dearly. He is also their comrade-in-arms because he fought with them against Eggman with their Color Powers. Their adventures throughout the Wisp incident likewise made Sonic and the Wisps best friends. As such, they play together when they meet and rush to the aid of each other whenever something happens. Also, while Sonic and the Wisps may not be able to communicate verbally without a translator, they can always communicate with each other with their hearts, giving them a very good heart-to-heart relationship.[1]
If a Wisp has its Hyper-go-on taken, it will turn into a primal and violent form known as a "Nega-Wisp."[10] However, even with their minds degraded in their Nega-Wisp states, it does appear not appear to impede the Wisps' moral compasses.
The Wisps appear to possess no technology to speak of and have an extremely minimal level of urbanized civilization, such as simple tree slides. Instead, they live a simple and naturalistic lifestyle that is in harmony with the nature of their home world.
The Wisps have their own unique verbal language, which comes off as an incomprehensible, warbling sound to those on Sonic's world.[11]
Powers and abilities[]
The Wisps are an extremely powerful race, especially when they work together. All Wisps are able to levitate at will and not be affected by disease as shown with the Metal Virus; flying also serves as their main method for movement. They can perform extremely swift and quick movements while in midair, and have even been able to keep up with Sonic himself, who can reach light speed.
The Wisps restraining a void with Hyper-go-on, from the Wii version of Sonic Colors.
All Wisps have a mysterious and formidable superpower inside their own bodies[1] in the form of their ability to generate and store Hyper-go-on inside themselves, which is an extremely powerful energy source and the Wisps' life source.[7] Each breed of Wisp generates its own distinct version of this energy, resulting in Hyper-go-ons with different effects.[8] When combining their collective Hyper-go-on, the Wisps are capable of unbelievable feats. These include carrying objects through levitation, moving at nearly unreachable speeds, reversing the Nega-Wisp mutation, restraining and extinguishing voids made from negative Hyper-go-on, and even teleporting entire planets.
Color Powers[]
Each breed of Wisps possesses a distinct power known collectively as Color Powers.[8] Using their Hyper-go-ons, the Wisps can phase into the bodies of other beings (provided that the Wisp trusts said being[3]) and lend them a small fraction of their power to temporarily grant them special abilities,[7] such as laser mimicry, enhanced burrowing, elementalpowers, formsforflight, etc. The Color Power depends on the Wisp's breed. However, the user can only carry one Wisp at a time to utilize a Color Power's full potential.[12]
Prior to the events of Sonic Colors, the Wisps were kidnapped by Dr. Eggman (whom the Wisps named "Baldy Nosehair") when the doctor used his tractor beam generators to pull their planets across the universe and place them in orbit around Sonic's world.[13][16][17] Eggman then made the planets a part of Egg Planet Park, which the doctor had built under the pretense of making up for past transgressions, by chaining them to the Egg Mecha with the aid of his generators.[17][18][19] The Wisps, now scattered across the amusement park, were then steadily scooped up by Eggman's forces and taken to a factory in Asteroid Coaster to be drained of their Hyper-go-on, which Eggman used as fuel for a mind control cannon to take over the universe with.[17][20][21][22] The Hyper-go-on drainage process also produced thousands of Nega-Wisps, whom Eggman forced to carry out his orders and further power his mind control cannon.[8][23]
Other sources reveal that Mother Wisp got captured by Eggman too and turned into the Nega-Mother Wisp after he took her Hyper-go-on. However, the Nega-Mother Wisp could not be controlled and eventually escaped captivity.[24][25]
Eventually, a White Wisp named Yacker and a Cyan Wisp were saved by Sonic the Hedgehog, who had come to Egg Planet Park with Tails to stop Eggman,[26] when Orbot and Cubot attempted to capture them. This prompted the Cyan Wisp to give Sonic his first Color Power. While Sonic went to work foiling Eggman's operations, Yacker met Tails, who began turning his handheld into a Wisp translator so he could understand Yacker's language.[27] Once Tails was ready, Yacker convinced him and Sonic to save the Wisps after informing them of what was happening to his people. The trio thus began investigating the park's planets in search of captive Wisps,[28] who in turn provided Sonic with new Color Powers, Meanwhile, Yacker let Sonic and Tails in on Eggman's activities. Eventually, Yacker helped Sonic and Tails figure out that by destroying all the tractor beam generators, they could free the kidnapped planets, thus foiling Eggman's plan and allowing the Wisps to escape the doctor.[17]
Having already destroyed two generators,[17] Sonic destroyed the remaining three and liberated the captive Wisps. Along the way, he and Tails also put a stop to Eggman's Nega-Wisp factory. The Wisps then joined Sonic and Tails in Tropical Resort to celebrate their victory.[29] However, they had to cut their celebration short when Eggman accidentally created a black hole that began consuming the Egg Mecha. During their subsequent showdown, Eggman tried using the Wisps against Sonic with his Nega-Wisp Armor, only for Sonic to harness the Wisps instead and defeat Eggman. Afterward, the Wisp race used their powers to save Sonic when the black hole swallowed him, restore the Nega-Wisps to normal, and neutralize the black hole before it could destroy Sonic's world. Visiting Sonic's world one last time with his people, Yacker said goodbye to Sonic and Tails before rejoining his kind as they returned their planets to their original places in the universe.
Additionally, in the Nintendo DSversion of Sonic Colors, the Nega-Mother Wisp appeared on Earth and went on a rampage. In response, Sonic transformed into Super Sonic upon Yacker's request to stop his mother, defeating her and returning her to normal. Afterward, Mother Wisp and her children went back home.
In Sonic Generations, Modern Sonic and his past self Classic Sonic encountered some Wisps when their adventure through time and space took them to Planet Wisp/Tropical Resort during the time of the Wisp incident. Both Sonics made use of the Wisps during their mission to restore the damaged space in those areas, with Modern Sonic making use of the Orange/Cyan Wisps and Classic Sonic making use of the Pink/Red Wisps. Both Sonics were also greeted by some White Wisps when they began their trek across Planet Wisp.
When the War to Take Back the Planet broke out, the Wisp Capsule-encased Wisps were used by the Resistance and their allies to combat the Eggman Army. During the war, a new type of weapon called the Wispon also made an appearance. The Wispons are different weapons that can harness the Wisps' Color Powers in new ways by enabling their abilities without triggering a transformation and were used by the Resistance's soldiers.
Known individuals that made use of the Wisps before and during the time of the War to Take Back the Planet were Sonic, the Avatar, and Shadow. The lands Sonic and Shadow travelled through only featured White Wisps. The Avatar on the other hand would encounter the other breeds of Wisps in the areas they traversed and use them to charge their different Wispons. Also, when Sonic and the Avatar teamed up on missions, the duo would encounter Wisps they both could use.
During one of the first races in the Grand Prix, Dr. Eggman showed up unannounced to race Team Sonic and Team Dark. To give himself an advantage, Eggman shamelessly used the Wisps on the racetrack against the other racers. However, Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose and Team Vector soon joined forces and beat Eggman by using multiple Wisp powers against him at the same time.[30]
In Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, the Wisps make an appearance during the Dream Event "Sonic's Figure Skating Spectacular". At the beginning of the event, Yacker appears and asks the four participating characters to free his friends and defeat Rotatatron. As the player(s) proceed down the event's course, they will free Wisps from Wisp Capsules. When the player then has to defeat the Rotatatron, the Wisps will join up with the four characters to perform the Final Color Blaster, which deals the final blow to the Rotatatron. Afterward, Yacker and a large amount of White Wisps join the characters to celebrate the victory, where they will mimic the characters' movements as the player(s) continue with the event.
In Sonic Runners, a White Wisp on Sonic's world was mistaken for a ghost by Animals, prompting Team Sonic to investigate it. While Team Sonic prepared a device for understanding the Wisp though, Dr. Eggman tried to capture him for its Hyper-go-on. Thankfully, the Wisp was saved by Team Sonic, and he apologized for scaring the Animals before revealing that other Wisps like himself had chosen to live on Sonic's world after Sonic saved them and were ready to help him and his friends anytime.
In the time that followed, other Wisps got involved in both minor adventures and innocent escapades. Eggman would also occasionally target the Wisps to use them for world domination. Regardless of their issues, Team Sonic would show up every time to help them.
In all of their appearances, the Wisps are accompanied by an announcer that calls out the Color Power that is being used. The following is a list of all of the voice actors for the Wisp announcer.
In the Sonic the Hedgehogcomic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Wisps were a species that Sonic once met. After the Super Genesis Wave re-wrote reality, the Wisps' story is now the same as their game counterparts'.
IDW Publishing[]
Reception[]
Critics have given mixed opinions toward Wisps and their integration into the Sonic series. IGN's Arthur Gies called them "the big addition" to Sonic Colors, outshining its polished physics and controls.[31] Dave McComb of Empire called them "cutesy" and "strange",[32] while John Meyer of Wired found them "cuddly" and Dale North of Destructoid called them "a cute little alien race".[33][34] Randy Nelson from Joystiq called them "plush" and speculated that they could easily lend their image to profitable merchandise.[35] Positive attention has been directed at the variety of Wisps available in Sonic Colors and Sonic Lost World and at the variety of gameplay styles they brought to the titles: for example, Gies stated that "almost all of them add interesting quirks to Sonic's basic abilities."[31] Reviewing the Nintendo DSversion of Sonic Colors, Tim Turi from Game Informer stated that "each adds an interesting new gameplay mechanic" to the game.[36] Gies and Turi also praised the ability to revisit old levels with Wisps unlocked afterwards.[31][36]Nintendo Power's Steve Thomason identified them as "a truly interesting addition to the Sonic formula" amidst a series of missteps, and praised their "cleverly designed" variety.[37]Computer and Video Games writer Chris Scullion described Wisps in Sonic Lost World as "familiar power-ups that emulate mechanics in Mario's Wii adventures" as part of a larger, ambivalent point about the game being derivative of Super Mario Galaxy.[38]
Control and pacing aspects of the Wisps in general, as well as of individual types, have been criticized: for example, Gies opined that "for almost every useful ability there is a complete dud" and bemoaned the Wii controls.[39] Justin Speer from GameTrailers thought similarly and added that the Wisps "don't really feel like they belong".[40]Hardcore Gamer Magazine's review of Sonic Lost World stated that none of the Wisps make satisfying use of the Wii U's gamepad.[41] Chris Shilling of Eurogamer found them to "lead to clumsy touchscreen or gyro interludes that kill a level's pacing."[42]
Trivia[]
The Wisps' name comes from Tails' translation of a word in their language;[43] other characters in the game simply refer to them as "aliens".[44][45][46]
In Sonic Colors, the Wisps are only referred to by name in the Hint Rings and once by Tails in a cutscene.
In one of the scrappecd lines for Sonic Colors, Dr. Eggman says that the Wisps' Hyper-go-on power is even more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds. As Chaos Emeralds and Hyper-go-on have never been compared, this has never been officially confirmed.
In Sonic Colors, certain Wisps allow Sonic to use abilities similar to past abilities that he was able to do in past games on his own. For example, the Green Wisp allows Sonic to do the Light Speed Dash, and the Pink Wisp allows Sonic to perform the Spin Dash.
The only time they appear to speak native Earth languages is in the Nintendo DSversion of Sonic Colors, in the cutscene "A New Sonic Legend Begins" when Yacker is telling other Wisps about Sonic. However, this might be Wisp language translated for the player, as Tails is not there.
During the sixth official Sonic twitter takeover, a user asks the group which out of the Koco, Chao, Wisps, or Flickies are the cutest, as Sonic The Hedgehog states that the Wisps are up there for him, as he appreciates their hyper-go-on energy powers that the wisps can grant him.
↑ソニック & ウィスプ 前編(Japanese). Special: Wallpaper Cover Story - September. Sega. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved on 27 August 2021.
↑ 7.07.17.2Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/level: Sweet Mountain. "Tails: So anyway, these aliens are made up of a REALLY powerful energy source called Hyper-go-ons. It's inside of them... / Sonic: Like a battery? / Tails: No... Well... Sort of. It's their life source. You only got a taste of it and look at what happened. "Battery" is sort of an understatement."
↑{{Cite game |dev=Sonic Team |date=16 November 2010 |game=Sonic Colors |system=Wii |pub=Sega |area=Tropical Resort |quote=Tails: I wish I knew what you were saying, little guy. Or gal. Or whatever you are."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Nintendo DS. Sega. "Tails: He also says only one colored Wisp will fit into the gauge at once, so to use its power again, you need to free another one."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/level: Planet Wisp. "Tails: Yeah, they're totally freaked out. It sounds like they're in shock because of public transportation and a loony nurse. Oh, no wait, scratch that. They're in shock because of their planet's strange transformation and having been dragged across the universe! / Sonic: Well I still can't believe he kidnapped a whole planet. How do somebody do that? / Tails: They are saying it was either ice cream or a tractor beam."
↑ 17.017.117.217.317.4Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Starlight Carnival. "Sonic: Do we know how Eggman is getting all these aliens? / Tails: Yeah. Yeah. At first I thought Yacker was talking about how Baldy Nosehair was using burps to do it. / Sonic: Hmmm, he is pretty gassy. Maybe the smell would knock 'em out. I dunno, something doesn't seem right with that. / Tails: That's what I said! It made no sense. Then I made a TINY adjustment and realized he was saying "generators." / Sonic: So no burps? That's a relief. / Tails: Tell me about it. So basically, Eggman is using five tractor beam generators to hold their planet in orbit while he scoops the aliens all up. / Sonic: Hold a whole planet?! / Tails: Well, it's tiny, but still... yeah. / Sonic: Ok fine. Five generators? Well, I've already leveled two. / Tails: So, if my math is correct that leaves us three more of these bad boys to take out. / Sonic: Nobody said there'd be math, but I'm with you, buddy! / Tails: We should get moving. Yacker says the aliens don't have much time."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Tropical Resort. "Eggman (over intercom): Welcome to Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park, where you can enjoy five planets for the price of one!"
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Tropical Resort. "Eggman (over intercom): This amusement park has been constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Starlight Carnival. "Eggman: Me? I did nothing at all. Unless shooting him with my mind control beam that runs on alien energy counts as doing something to him. Does it?"
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Asteroid Coaster. "Sonic: What is this place? Whoa. This is where he converts them into the strange... negative... aliens with the freaky energy."
↑Sonic Team, Dimps (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Nintendo DS. Sega. "Eggman: Oh ho ho ho! After nabbing that giant alien, the mind-control cannon is nearly full! Now go herd up the rest of those aliens on the double!"
↑Sonic Team, Dimps (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Nintendo DS. Sega. Area/level: Asteroid Coaster. "Tails: Give me just one second and I'll crack his system wide open. Project 'Mother' a success... Massive energy source secured. 'Mother' beyond control. Subject escaped. Current whereabouts unknown. Looks like the results from some experiment."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Tropical Resort. "Tails: No doubt, but now I'm not sure why we're here? This place looks totally harmless! / Sonic: Because Eggman plus secretly built amusement park equals evil plot for us to foil. Lucky for us he's not very good at keeping things hidden."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Tropical Resort. "Tails: Looks like the aliens are happy to be going home too. Uh, I think we're in the middle of a party. / Sonic: The middle? We ARE the party. I think we're their guests of honor. / Tails: Totally."
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Nintendo DS. Sega. "Eggman: Oh ho ho ho! After nabbing that giant alien, the mind-control cannon is nearly full! Now go herd up the rest of those aliens on the double!"
↑Sonic Team (16 November 2010). Sonic Colors. Wii. Sega. Area/Level: Ending sequence. "Cubot: Hey, remember when we were chasing all the little alien guys? What's up with those guys anyway? They sure were funny looking. Hahaha. Smelled good, though."
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