Eggman's ultimate masterpiece in mid-air sized anti-Sonic weaponry. It boasts extreme durability and a wide variety of attacks. At present only one has been made, but it dogs Sonic through multiple scenes.
The Interceptor[1] (ビッグチェイサー[2],Biggu Cheisā?, lit. "Big Chaser") is an enemy that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a large and powerful Super Badnik[3] created by Dr. Eggman and is the doctor's ultimate masterpiece in mid-air sized anti-Sonic weaponry. While initially only one of these Badniks was produced at first,[1] several more Interceptor models have since been made.[3]
The Interceptor's main body consists of a split sphere, which is joined together by an axle and has cyan lights on the inside. On the front, it has a single cyan eye with a curved line of white lights below it resembling a smile, and above its eye, it has a rotating antenna similar to a marine radar. Joined on its torso's axle, the Interceptor has two arms with a sphere-shaped shoulder and a cyan light in the middle, a bulky forearm and a roller for a hand. It is mainly carolina blue with green outlines.
In gameplay, the Interceptor appears in multiple scenes. Its attack patterns vary between versions however. When appearing, the Interceptor will chase after Sonic from behind until the player finishes its section.
Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
In the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version, the Interceptor appears in Savannah Citadel Act 5, Dragon Road Acts 1 and 1-2, Skyscraper Scamper Acts 1, 1-2, and 3, and Jungle Joyride Acts 1 and 1-2. In this version, the Interceptor is immune to Sonic's attacks. As such, the player has to avoid its attacks until Sonic can escape it. When chasing after Sonic, the Interceptor has three attacks. Its first and primary attack consists of it firing a laser along the lane which can be avoided by Quick Stepping to a free lane; its second attack is a ground pound that will spread a shockwave across the field which can be dodged by jumping; and its third is a roundhouse punch that it executes if Sonic gets too close to it. While avoiding the Interceptor, the player will also have to avoid incoming bombs from the front, which the game will show where they will appear on-screen.
Wii/PlayStation 2
In the Wii/PlayStation 2 version, the Interceptor appears in the second Windmill Isle Stage and Eggmanland, and its appearance is heralded by the day boss music. In this version, the Interceptor can be damaged and even defeated by the player; whenever the Interceptor overtakes Sonic and the camera moves behind it, its main body will be vulnerable for a short time, thereby allowing the player to attack it with the Sonic Boost. If the Interceptor is hit five times, it will be destroyed. The Interceptor's attacks consist of it trying to run over Sonic with the rollers on its hands. When attacking this way, it will either place both its arms on the central lane or each of its arms on the outer lanes, before moving forward for a short period of time. The player can avoid both of these attacks by switching over to one of the open lanes using the Quick Step.
Powers and abilities
The Interceptor is capable of flight (even while deactivated)[3] and can move at speeds in mid-air rivaling that of Sonic's speed. It is also quite strong, capable of creating shock waves by pounding into the ground, destroy half a bridge,[3] and even being able to damage other Interceptors (as seen when Charmy hijacked an Interceptor and used it to fight the other Interceptors).[3] Additionally, it has enough physical durability to barge through trees and wooden gates without slowing down and even withstand exploding bombs and a direct Homing Attack from Sonic[3] without as much of a scratch. The Interceptor is also able to shoot powerful laser beams from its eye and shoulders, and it possesses shredding rollers on its hands that let it mow down anything it comes into contact with.
While only one Interceptor model was initially made at first,[1] several other models of these Super Badniks were stationed in a Clean Sweep Inc. facility located in Rainstorm Forest as part of an automated defense system, allowing them to overwhelm their foes by sheer numbers alone.[3]
Weaknesses
Despite being pretty bulky overall, the Interceptors are not completely invulnerable, as they can be destroyed by accidentally ramming though several meter-thick brick walls, Sonic Boosting into it enough times, or being overwhelmed by group attacks. Additionally, if someone were to rip the antenna off of the Interceptor, someone smaller could climb inside of the Badnik in order to hijack its wiring and control it like a mech (even using it to attack other Interceptors).[3]
The Interceptors in Rainstorm Forest also relied on the Clean Sweep Inc. facility stationed in the forest for their power. As such, if someone were to destroy the computer controlling the defense systems of the facility, all of the Interceptors would soon power down and deactivate.[3]
The Big Chaser is a Badnik in Sonic Colors that acts very similarly to the Interceptor's appearance in the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of Sonic Unleashed, attacking Sonic with lasers down the tracks and a punch attack when Sonic gets too close.
Later on during the investigation, the Interceptor would stalk the Chaotix and Sonic while they were exploring Rainstorm Forest,[5] eventually ambushing the group from the trees in an attempt to pummel them. In retaliation, Sonic runs up the arm of the Interceptor to land a Homing Attack on the large Badnik, though in doing so the Interceptor would retreat back into the trees in an attempt to ambush the heroes once again. As Sonic and the Chaotix anticipate the Interceptor's next move, the huge Badnik would then quickly lunge towards Charmy, though before the Interceptor could land its next move, Shadow would quickly take it out by performing a sneak attack behind its back. Not long after, several more Interceptors would ambush the group, leaving Sonic, Vector, Charmy, and Shadow to fend off against the horde of Super Badniks while Espio and Rouge go and search for the Clean Sweep Inc. facility located in the forest. During the fight, Vector would manage to get on top of one of the Interceptors and rip its antenna off, allowing Charmy to climb inside of the Badnik and take control of it like a mech to use against the other Interceptors, with Sonic and Shadow also managing to take down several more Interceptors as well. Meanwhile in the Clean Sweep Inc. facility's control room, Espio and Rouge find out that the facility is fully automated and that it is sending out more Interceptors as part of its defense system. Fortunately however, Espio manages to deactivate the facility's defense systems by destroying the computer in the control room, causing all of the Interceptors that were previously fighting the other heroes to go offline and deactivate, rendering them harmless.[3]
Additionally, if Sonic manages to outrun the Interceptor, without damaging it from behind, it will eventually crash into an archway and be destroyed just as Sonic reaches the Goal Ring.
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