The Ray the Squirrel Story ▸ From Forgotten to Beloved
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- This is the seventeenth in a series of Sonic character profiles. Let me know in the comments who you want me to talk about next!
"The Ray the Squirrel Story▸ From Forgotten to Beloved"
Chapters :-
00:00 Introduction
01:25 Concept & Early History
05:17 SegaSonic the Hedgehog
08:46 Archie Comics Ray
15:53 Sonic Mania & Beyond
In this video we'll be taking a look at Ray the Flying Squirrel; one of my most frequent character profile requests! Ray debuted back in 1993 in the rare arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog. After this initial appearance, Ray pretty much vanished from the Sonic universe, except for a few cameos, with only the Archie comics continuing his legacy. That is, until Sonic Mania Plus came along! Here we'll be looking at Ray's long, storied development, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, any-and-all Ray cameos and his triumphant return to prominence in recent years.
Music used in this video :-
- "Sunshine Cassette (Save Select)" from Sonic Mania
- "Marble Zone '12" by @TeeLopes ( • Tee Lopes - Marble Zon... )
- "Trap Tower" from Sonic Mania Plus
- "Ocean Palace" from Sonic Heroes
- "Angel Island Zone" from Sonic Mania Plus
Links :-
- "Can the Steam Deck Play EVERY Sonic Game?" by @chaomix ( • Can the Steam Deck Pla... )
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Find me on Twitter: / thejohnnyvector - เกม
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Seeing Ray and mighty get added to Mania plus was so surreal at that point I was really interested with the Obscure characters of Sonic so seeing that got me so hype. While Ray did get the end of the short stick since he was not in chaotix or Fleetway and was less known than mighty ( also mighty's got a lot of attention due to a certain game) It was still great to see him come back in a mainline game.
i see you everywhere
@@ovatails fr
Mania was a true love letter than anything Sega tried in decades.
@@ikagura was it really necessary to add that last part💀 such a 2017 thing to say.
@@Sonicmid Maybe because when Sega tries doing nostalgia stuff they fail.
Ray is a character that I've loved for over 15 years, purely from his design alone. It's just very simple, cute and pleasing to look at. I enjoyed seeing him in the archie comics and his relationship with Mighty, but I honestly thought he would never ever appear outside of them. Having him in Mania Plus was the absolute best thing about the game for me, I'm so happy he's still getting love and spotlight from Sega. Though I wish they would use him more. Ray is simply a precious bean and I love him very much.
I always had this vibe of him being similar to Michelangelo from the TMNT, super jokester, never takes things seriously, and its the heart and soul of the team, but when somebody messes with his brothers Mikey will do anything in his power to get back at the people hurting the ones he loves the most.
Ray might look like he is just a dumb little kid, but he is Tails if his adventure side was magnified by 100% and had no cares in the world, love Ray because he is always bright and tries his best to help everybody he meets, he never negates a smile and he is always cheerful.
I just wish we got more classic sonic stuff. They could have easily gotten some fan devs to make more games on the side while we wait for modern games and expand on the young versions of the characters we know and love. I just want to see more of classic amy, ray and mighty. Or even the hard boiled heavys. They where so good.
Mania seems to be an alternate timeline at this point so we just might get to see these guys more
I agree, I actually prefer the Classic Sonic side of the brand.
I’m not even sure but the Sonic 30th Anniversary Comic that released last year features all the classic characters and feels like a sequel to Sonic Mania.
Thanks sega for fucking over the mania team 😠
@@softsounds8453 Thats what I don't like. Instead of using zeti as eggmans lackys they could easily just use the hard boiled heavys. They are more memorable
This year we got Origins (with completely new Mania-style cutscenes) and a Tails anniversary comic set in the Classic era. Also check out the 30th anniversary comic! Plenty of Classic content this year, and there will certainly be more someday in the future!
The Archie comics are defiantly how i originally got to know Ray and Mighty and i've loved them since people don't give Archie enough credit for keeping old characters around letting people still know about them.
The Battle Bird Amada i think would be cool to do a video on they only got to be in one game but the Archie comics made me really like them.
Or Eggman Nega he may not be obscure but i think he's interesting when you look at everything about him
The fact that Tails has a rival though! That has so much potential!
Ah yes, defiantly. Not Definitely.
Ray having blue shoes makes me kinda wish Mighty had yellow shoes. It would create a neat pattern with the SegaSonic trio. Sonic: blue with red. Ray: Yellow with blue. Mighty: Red with yellow. :)
You're right Leon. I honestly never thought about it, but a neat pattern for the SegaSonic trio actually works. Your idea is amazing😄👍
I love ray and Mighty, would still love to see them return in more story focused games
Where's the modern version of 06 but with Ray an Mighty
Ray is my favorite character, if that happened I would die happily
10:49
To explain this, Ray learned a trick from Knux which lets him attract the emerald’s energy to him, in a way that makes him look like he’s going super.
Oh
I like when Vector pokes it an losses self esteem by getting basically no response
Fun fact: the pre-Super Genesis Wave continuity put Mighty the Armadillo as stronger than Knuckles, and post-SGW Mighty was able to go toe-to-toe with Werehog Sonic.
Though there is no official statement, my head-canon is that Mighty IS physically stronger and more durable than Knuckles (its in Mighty's name), but Knuckles is a more experienced, more skilled fighter.
Ray is definitely my favorite character fron the comics next to Mighty. Shame he never got to join chaotix in the games, but him and mighty are trapped in classic universe. Hopefully we can get some mods for frontiers if Tails is gonna be playable.
Ray is a great character! I can’t wait to see what he appears in next…
Okay he might not appear again but I hope he does
Then again, he could appear in the movies
Idk bout that
doubtful, but that would definitely give me more of a reason to wanna see it. Even though I've just learned of him, he's quickly become a favorite.
If he appears in the mordern games or the movies I would be able to die happily
realizing i didn't know about Archie Comic series, that i was Sonic Fan before Mania Plus and that i don't recall REALLY seeing Ray, i'm surprised i wasn't "Who the Heck is that?" when he returned. maybe i did saw him somewhere (that seems like only answer)
He & mighty were on a lost poster in gen's city escape
@@johnblunt6693 I don't remember knowing about it then.
Ray is essentially the Tails to Mighty's Sonic. He can even fly!
I think Ray has potential to be in more Sonic stories, alongside Mighty. He doesn’t just have to be like Mighty’s Tails, even, I can see him having his own nuance.
I’ve been considering making a Sonic fanfiction recently, to fallback on while I’m figuring out my Ed Edd n’ Eddy AU. He’ll likely be in it, so more Ray content upcoming I guess!
Before Edge’s Royal Rumble 2020 return and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fuelled’s numerous character returns, Mighty and Ray’s returns were the most hype unexpected comebacks.
Though I suspect Christian Whitehead’ team had more to do with Ray’s return than Iizuka.
Maybe Ray & other characters trapped in the Classic continuity will be freed some day. Since Sega's scrapped the "two worlds" concept, it's possible they could change their mind on there being Classic-specific characters and let them be in more games and/or comics.
4:29 that actually does make a lot of sense
Also it’s such a shame we never got ray over here in the fleetway comics
My younger cousin loves Ray a lot 😊 so Sonic mania was great for introducing Ray and Mighty to the next gen of children at least 🤷♀️
Yesterday I was in a Target store and in the toy aisle I saw a Mighty and Ray plushies and my heart stopped. I should have bought them, but holy smokes!
I’m still waiting on those videos for Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis. They where main characters in Fleetway after all.
Ray is my favorite Sonic character and I just got his plush recently.
I believe SegaSonic is still a lot of fun with a traditional analogue stick and doesn't need a track ball/track pad. But that's just me
And it would make it too easy.
I still think it's weird that a squirrel was considered an obscure animal that hasn't been a cartoon character yet. Certainly there was MGM's Screwball Squirrel and Jay Ward's Rocket J "Rocky" Squirrel by the time of the game's inception. I'm not sure which of those cartoons got Japanese dubs, so I don't know what exposure Sega's staff would have had. I'm glad that we're seeing more of Mighty and Ray, if only as DLC and merchandising. But the character I'm missing the most now is Sticks the Badger. I know they don't like to canonize cartoon characters, but she appeared in one of the Mario and Sonic Olympic Games, so technically she is out of that Sonic Boom video game and cartoon bubble. I wish they'd at least use her in the IDW comics.
I think it was the flying squirrel, specifically, that the creator considered obscure but you raise an interesting point. In the UK, hedgehogs are pretty common so I always think it's weird when the team who designed Sonic say they wanted to pick an obscure animal. Maybe the UK's familiarity with hedgehogs helped make the character so popular here?
I always wondered about that, actually. I heard those hedgehogs were common over there, so I've always sort of had a theory that's why he was just that much more popular in the UK. Well, aside from Sega's gaming systems being cheaper and more accessible than Nintendo over there. I can't think of any pre-Sonic hedgehog characters, except for Spiny Norman from that one Monty Python skit and Kippi from the Israeli Sesame Street co-production (and even then, certain outlets referred to him as a porcupine). I give them a lot of credit at Sega for trying to expand the animal cartoon character roster with a mix of weirder animals like echidnas (never heard of them before Knuckles), with more common place things like cats and foxes.
These videos are super informative! I was hoping for a video on Ray since he's one of my favorites.
Ray was a surprise for me when I first learned of him. Mighty I was familiar with thanks to Sonic The Comic (likewise with Nack/Fang before I got to play any of the games he appeared in) but Ray didn't appear much, if at all, outside of his one game debut until an Easter egg in Sonic Generations.
2:22 - Whilst as a Tails fan, I'm glad he was the chosen pick, Boomer the Turtle is a pretty cool concept. Having a slow creature as a parallel to the fast Sonic is cool in it's own right and the specific application of hovering over spike traps is neat. They clearly utilised the concept later to a degree through being able to jump on top of the Turtloid enemies.
5:49 - This seems to suggest that the Wii U/DS touch-screen or even the PS4 touch-pad could have serve as the basis for a decent SegaSonic port. It's a shame it has never managed to re-release in any form, especially now that so many more folks are familiar with Mighty and Ray.
8:17 - Given Metal Sonic is the main villain of the game, the concept of having the team-up be him, Ray and Mighty seems pretty odd. When I've seen fan concepts of additional Sonic Heroes team, I've typically seen Honey the Cat used for the 3rd choice.
17:10 - I think I may have heard this interview question and answer before (some of it sounds vaguely familiar) but it's great to hear included here. That sealed character line remark is certainly an interesting, as is the obscure pick of Ray and Mighty in general. Wonderful coverage of Ray here!
Maybe Metal Sonic and Neo-Metal Sonic were meant to be separate characters during Heroes’ pre-conception.
Seeing official Mighty and Ray figures on the shelves at my local toy shop is probably one of the most surreal things I've ever experienced. Who would have thought? Nothing is impossible when it comes to Sonic.
Seeing them only makes me yearn for burner money to get imported merch of other obscure characters
YAY! new johnny vector!
If Sonic Team were to bring back Mighty and Ray in a new mainline game, and give them their own dedicated roles in the story, the question would then be how to characterise them, without making them look like carbon copies of Sonic & Tails.
Both share a familiar bond with one another, but so does Sonic with his best friend. Mighty has a strong sense of justice, but so do a lot of characters in the series. Ray is cheerful and goofy, but the same could be said for Bean and Charmie (though Bean is more spiratic and unstable in nature, and usually on the wrong side of the law).
So one way I think their resurgence in a story-driven Sonic game could work is by having Mighty embody a true role model. After the events of the arcade game, maybe Mighty was inspired by Sonic, and vowed to become a stronger person so he could protect Ray. To this end, they travelled the world together on their own adventures, helping those in need, and Mighty's general demeanour becomes that of a superhero, one who inspires hope and confidence in others. Coupled with his indestructable shell, he'd earn a reputation as a "Shield of Justice" or something along those lines. Ray would be like a sidekick to him, or more like a tag-team partner, and the two would be a dynamic duo whose strengths make up for each other's weaknesses. Ray could be more naive than most characters due to his kind nature, and prone to deceit from other characters, while Mighty's tireless peace-keeping could occasionally wear on his mind, which further enforces the two as an insperable pair who compensate for each other's shortcomings.
I haven't read the comics, so I'm not sure if any of this has already been done before, but if they leaned into the "superhero duo" aspect, I reckon that could help differentiate the two quite well from other mainstays in the series.
When I learned of Segasonic Arcade I was pretty convinced Ray was just a scrapped tails prototype.
He's a cute mascot design, but going forward I hope they scale him down to the correct size (slightly bigger than tails).
Hopefully he returns once again as DLC along with many others.
2:19 Huh, that makes me think that Tommy Turtle from the Archie Comics may have been inspired by Boomer, whom also shared an "old friend" sort of relationship to Sonic in that timeline.
For 2023, could you delve into some of the IDW characters? Tangle the Lemur, Whisper the Wolf, Jewel the Beetle & Belle the Tinkerer all deserve videos!
Ray: A cute lil lighthearted goofy guy
His backstory: Was rescued from a slave labor camp
ah, my exact type of character
I really hope Sega lightens up on the dumb classic only restrictions and we can see a modern Mighty and Ray or Team Hooligan in the games or IDW comics at some point
Can't wait for the Bomb & Heavy video Lol
Honestly
Funny story: I used to think Ray was flipping the bird when completing a stage
Lol
You don't have to *stop* thinking it. I certainly haven't despite knowing it was a thumbs up from the beginning.
Thank you so much for an amazing year of content Johnny! See you in 2023!
I like to think of some Sonic characters in the classic era being an evolving Sonic Trio, starting with the scrapped Segasonic Bros having Sonic and his red and yellow counterparts, then Segasonic the Hedgehog had Sonic, Mighty, and Ray, being the colors Blue, Red, and Yellow, and then Tails and Knuckles joined Sonic in countless appearances, again being Blue, Red, and Blue!
There’s a reason that Sonic Heroes has blue, red, and yellow as the colors.
….that and it’s the colors of the most recognizable trio….
I love Ray so much he's so cute. A real little ball of sunshine, and he's the best in Mania so (:.
Also Metal Knuckles and Eggrobo yadda yadda yadda.
Thumbnail: Who is Ray the flying squirrel
Me: His a flying squirrel
Ah Ray….I heard he and Mighty were meant to be in sonic heroes…..I really wish that had happened 😅 I could have learned about them WAAAY sooner
Hello Johnny - I believe I have come across a bit of obscure Sonic media in my childhood that I think would be right up your alley in covering. The Sonic the Hedgehog Gamebooks were 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style Sonic books published exclusively in the UK under Fantail and Puffin publishing. I do not believe I have seen these books covered anywhere before on TH-cam, and given their UK-exclusive release, most people don't know about them.
I remember enjoying one a lot as a kid, in which you'd choose to turn to specific pages to collect rings, or jump on a badnik, or run through a loop, in an attempt to reach the end. I would love to see a video about this someday!
Hey Johnny! Glad to see a new video covering to slightly more obscure side of Sonic that SEGA doesn't touch often. Do you think sometime in the future if you haven't already you could cover all the iterations of Metal Knuckles (kind of like your Tails Doll video) or Dr. Enerjak and the Prelates from the Sonic Archie comics?
Thanks!
I definitely didn't make a request, but I just learned about Ray's existence today(well, last night). I avoided Sonic for a LOOOOONG time. I've never been a big fan of companies taking a well established franchise in a different direction or just transitioning things to 3D for no good reason, so I haven't really played any of the 3D ones. I have seen enough reviews and footage though to know that I'm not gonna lose any sleep because of it. However, like many other kids who grew up in the 90s, I loved Sonic, so I was pretty excited to learn about Mania(albeit a bit late, I haven't exactly kept up with gaming until recently due to finances, but I found a switch for sale for 100 bucks). Finally, a new 2D Sonic game after what, about 25 years?
So I got Mania and saw there was a DLC which I also got... and then I'm like "wait, who the heck are these new characters?" There seems to be a lot of info on Mighty, but not a lot on Ray for whatever reason. I was able to find out that both of them originated in a trackball arcade game called SegaSonic The Hedgehog that came shortly after Sonic 1, but that's about it.
Thank you for making this video, but all this kinda makes me sad that he's been around for so long but never really properly utilized... until now anyway. Makes me wanna go play some romhacks.
The lore of the comics are insane 2 issues of a comic series you get a whole big thing to think about XD in 4 issues Tails gets a robot GF then years later talks to the none robot version of his crush it does not work out lol
Ray being trapped in that alternate zone for six years and then re-emerging reminds me of Avengers: Endgame, where Ant-Man was trapped in the Quantum Realm for five years. Much like from Ray’s perspective, five years was more like five hours in the alternate zone.
Yes! Ray’s time to shine is here!
It would probably be a short video, but I would love to see a video on the witchcarters. I’ve always wanted to see a video on them ever since they showed back up in the IDW tails anniversary comic.
The fact we live in a day and age where I can go to the supermarket for milk and see ray and mighty merch while I'm there is crazy
GREAT video and also rly good coverage of Rays reception over the years
Maybe you could do a video on that sonic manga and all the stuff exclusive to it?
when you become a toy you are no longer obscure
uuuh well did you know the Speed Racer movie by the Matrix creators toys where obscure lol
Could you cover Porker lewis and Jonny lightfoot?
I was always a fan of them in the Fleetway comic.
I'd love to see more forgotten characters come to the Sonic Dash/Forces mobile games too
OMG new video from my favorite youtuber
I wish they would add more ray into the games
And Mighty. ;)
Agreed
I’ll tell you who Ray is, he’s the best sonic/mighty partner, 10/10 best boy.
I freaking liked Ray as a kid. To this day, I like him more than Mighty. Heck, I made FOUR recolors of Ray back then. Not one, not two, four of those things xD
It made me so upset to find out that Ray was only in one obscure arcade game at the time (especially when Sonic Retro says Ray was to be the announcer of Sonic Retro but was scrapped..?). Comics were also out of the question, because I couldn't find most of them back then.
Idk why I liked Ray at the time, I guess I found his design more appealing than other characters. The overall fluid animation of SegaSonic might've also boosted his appeal to me.
Either that, or it was just Ray's obscurity & overall, lack of history, that made my imagination go wild back then xD
When Mania Plus was announced, man, I couldn't believe it - it felt like Ray wasn't ever coming back, but it happened anyways. (The blue shoes kinda irked me at first, but anyways). Then we'd see him in animation and comics. It's like people at Sega really did like having some room for their lost characters
It's so great to see that Sega was able to bring this little lad (and many more) back to action.
I was so happy when Sonic Mania brought back Mighty and Ray
i wish that ray and mighty were in more sonic stuff, hell, I would love to see them in a sonic movie
16:33 I love Sonic Mania Plus' Uncle Mode
I Absolutely Love Ray And Mighty, Probably My Favorite Sonic Characters
This might be a bit of a dumb recommendation, but who knows? Have you considered looking into some famous historical Fan-characters such as Nazo The Hedgehog or everyone's favorite Coldsteel The Hedgehog? Your video on Ashura sort of inspired this suggestion, but either way, really cool content, keep it up!
Another great video Johnny glad to see you made a video on ray, now how about you make a video dedicated to heavy and bomb 💣
cool i love your video's on sonic characters
I headcanon Feels and Boomer as characters from the past of the Sonic universe, heroes who defended the planet before Sonic's time
Always liked Archie’s concept of Mobius having a pathos and history that isn’t about Sonic or Eggman.
"The final character in this series of obscure characters!"
Heavy and Bomb: "........"
I love the way you say “jacket” 👀
happy new year
it would be cool if you did marine the racoon or emerl as i think they are quite forgotten. Or even mephiles.
8:15 heroes was going to be such a different game
I can kinda imagine Mighty and Ray being Scottish
Ray is only the second flying squirrel to be made famous Rocky J Squirrel from Rocky and Bullwinkle was first.
Before you end this series, I have a request. Can you cover Anton Veruca from the Manga?
Why is ray flipping us off 16:52 😂😂😂
1:56 seeing tails on these concept Art with only a single tail is weirder then i excpeted to be
Have a Happy New Year Johnny!
Johnny, would you mind doing a video on the The Deadly Six & the Zeti race?
the new interpretations of ray are just so good
sadly, i doubt he'll come back unless he cameo's in idw, which is unlikely
i mean in modern idw btw
he'll probably come back in classic
Can you do heavy and bomb please also nice video I know more info about his design and his attitude
Pretty fun video.
Clap for the series
every time he says the word Ray I feel like he's gonna sponsor raid shadow legends
Mighty being a flying character and ray the FLYING squirrel being the strength type?
Ray is best boy!
It’s interesting how his Minecraft skin shows him with Blue Eyes which implies it’s a modern design for him.
Cool
I only knew ray from watching a playthrough of the sonic arcade game then mania
"Dear Johnny Vector, when I seen your video about fleetway Amy, and honestly think it's pretty silly people want her not to be sonic's girlfriend because technically she never offically was"!
I think you should make videos on popular sonic fan characters like Coldsteel
I’d love to see you make a video on metal knuckles
The theory that Ray and Mighty being based off the Sonic's different color schemes could be possible. Mighty especially looks a bit like Sonic.
imagine being ace from one piece and using mightys shell to withstand the magma akainus tryna use like mighty did with metal sonic
I have missed that serie
huge day for little guy fans
20:25
With Frontiers and Ian Flynn’s interviews, I don’t think there really is such a thing as Classic character when Classic Sonic is now the past of Sonic again.
Can you make a video on Fleetway Chaos ?
I actually don't think Ray would've been the flight character in Heroes. Considering the type of flight used by Tails, Cream, Rouge, and Charmy, I think it's more likely that Ray would've been the speed character and Metal Sonic would've been the flight character, since we already know Metal can fly effortlessly all the time.
i think it would be intresting if you were to talk about the unoffical sonic character debug the hedgehog in a video because he is a hedgehog who goes to different worlds including, one of the worlds he goes to is mario's world. i know you talked about ashura in a different video and he is an unoffical sonic glich like character, so i thought it would be interesting for you to do a video about debug the hedgehog because he is kinda similar because he is also an unofficial sonic glitch kinda character as well kinda like how ashura is.
ray best character
some my fav panels are from him hanging out with Vector and him hangout next to Saffron an Charmy hehe
When Ray gets the Power Stone: *thanos*
Could you do one of these on Zonic The Zone cop?
Cool i love sonic