Fang the Sniper

It has been proposed that Fang the Sniper be renamed and moved to Fang the Hunter. Reason for proposal: This is the current name used by the character since Sonic Superstars.

Fang the Hunter/Fang the Sniper/Nack the Weasel
First seen: Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (1994)
Species: Jerboa (as of Superstars) Jerboa & Wolf hybrid (as Fang the Sniper) Weasel (as Nack)
Gender: Male
Created by: Shinichi Higashi

Fang the Hunter (ファング・ザ・ハンター), also known as Fang the Sniper (ファング・ザ・スナイパー), is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. He was known as Nack the Weasel in the North American and European releases of Sonic Triple Trouble, but reverted to the name Fang in all subsequent games. Despite being called a weasel in his western debut, he was established as being half jerboa and half wolf in Japan.

Fang is a treasure hunter who lives in subspace. He wears a brown cowboy hat, brown boots with white gaiters, a brown belt with a gold buckle and brown gloves with metal plates. He is known as Fang due to his large and pointed upper left tooth. His fur is purple and white and he has a long, thick, tail that he uses for bouncing on and attacking his foes. Sonic the Fighters introduced his signature weapon: a popgun that fires corks. He is often seen on his flying bike, which he takes great pride in.

Character conception

Concept art by Shinichi Higashi.

Fang was created as a character original to the Game Gear series. Tadashi Ihoroi, who was responsible for Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble's planning and setting, came up with the character's personality, while the design was handled by Shinichi Higashi, with permission from Naoto Ohshima. He was the first character Higashi created for Sega.

During development, the character was known as Nack. However, a character named Knuckles had been created for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Since the pronunciation of the two names would be similar in Japan, it was decided to change Nack's name. A contest to decide upon a name for Sonic's new rival ran in the gaming magazine Shūkan Famicom Tsūshin. In the end, the name Fang the Sniper was decided upon. In America and Europe, the name "Nack" was retained for Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, since "Nack" starting with an "N" and "Knuckles" starting with a "K" was deemed to be enough to differentiate the two.

Early screenshot of Fang using a gun not seen in the final game.

Higashi designed the character as a jerboa (トビネズミ tobinezumi), however the sales departments of Sega decided upon him being half jerboa and half wolf in Japan, and a weasel in North America.

Since Fang likes to collect shining things, he was designed with attire evoking that of an explorer. His four fingers, instead of the usual five for a Sonic character, are derived from the species he is based on. However in more recent depictions, Fang now has five fingers instead of four.

In Sonic Superstars, Fang was given a new title of "Fang the Hunter" in an effort to give Fang one name nailed down going forward. It is explained in-universe during the tie-in comic that Fang's alternate names over the years were all false aliases used to cover his tracks. Fang is also officially reclassed as a jerboa, not a weasel or a wolf hybrid. Ian Flynn has said "getting what his name is and what he is nailed down took a surprising number of meetings".

Fang's appearance in Sonic X-treme.

A boss fight against Fang was set to make an appearance in the cancelled Sonic X-treme. Late into the game's troubled development, Sega of America ordered all development moved to Christina Coffin's boss engine (codenamed Project Condor), as it ran much more smoothly than the the game's main engine. As a result, a number of boss fights were hastily coded for X-treme's upcoming press appearances, including a proof-of-concept boss fight against Fang in Jade Gully. While some evidence indicates the fight was possibly available during the game's public demonstration at Sega Gamer's Day 1996, it was not available during its appearance at E3 1996 (which instead allowed visitors to "fight" Gemstone.)

Personality and traits

Fang is a wanted criminal Jerboa, so over the ages he has used many different false aliases to cover his tracks. He often gets caught in his own traps when trying to capture his targets. He is well aware of the price on the black market the Chaos Emeralds hold and wants to sell them, not knowing their true power. He tends to work for Dr. Eggman and with Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite in a gang together. He loves to call everyone a "mook", he tends to give people different nicknames with the term "mook" in them.

He often rides in a hovercraft called the Marvelous Queen, he has remodeled it to help him in battle. He carries with him a cork gun he that uses to snipe his foes, and he knows how to use his springy tail for fighting when outside of the Marvelous Queen. Fang once had a giant mech of himself but it was destroyed by Trip the Sungazer.

History

Sonic Triple Trouble

Fang's appearance in Sonic Triple Trouble.

Fang makes his debut as a thief/treasure hunter in Sonic Triple Trouble (Sonic & Tails 2 in Japan). In this game, Fang antagonizes Sonic and Tails in their quest to claim the five Chaos Emeralds he gathered. He is found at the end of every Special Stage as a boss, except the first, in which his own trap backfires. He attacks Sonic/Tails whilst riding his flying bike, which has different attachments and attack patterns in each boss battle. He later shows up in Atomic Destroyer Zone Act 3, but is scared off by Dr. Eggman's machine before he can confront Sonic/Tails. If the player completes the game without collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds, Fang appears in the "Try Again" screen after the ending, dropping the Emeralds the player had missed.

A prerelease screenshot for the game found in a gaming magazine shows that Fang would have been seen holding a gun up to Sonic in a classic "stick 'em up!" situation.

Sonic Drift 2

Fang is also a playable character in Sonic Drift 2, driving his aero bike, the Marvelous Queen. The Marvelous Queen differs in appearance to his flying bike from Sonic Triple Trouble. His special ability is to drop bombs on the track to stop opponents in their tracks.

Sonic the Fighters

In Sonic the Fighters, Fang is a playable character who holds one of the eight Chaos Emeralds. Although Fang's alignment is generally evil, he is very much willing to destroy the newly designed Death Egg II, and thus save the world from Eggman's potential grip... although he may very well intend on keeping and selling the Emeralds afterwards.

For moves, Fang mostly uses a popgun, which shoots corks. Fang also makes use of his tail and feet in a few fancy moves such as his Tail Whap. Fang can use his magenta emerald to go into Hyper Mode and perform the Cannon Barrage, a move which fires a barrage of corks toward Fang's opponent, potentially hitting them many times. As in previous installments, it appears that Fang is unaware of the Chaos Emeralds' true power, though he can make use of Hyper Mode as mentioned earlier. Fang is the sixth character that must be defeated in arcade mode to reach the Death Egg II. His home stage is Casino Night, based on the same stage from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Sonic Mania

The Heavy Magician's Fang illusion.

In Sonic Mania, the Heavy Magician, a member of the Hard Boiled Heavies, becomes an illusion based on Fang. At the end of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1, the illusion of Fang may show up to shoot down the Tornado and bring Sonic and Tails to the ground. When the player fights the Heavy Magician at the end of Act 2, she can turn into Fang, proceeding to bounce around and shoot corks at the player.

Fang, along with Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear, can also be seen on "Wanted" posters in both Acts of Mirage Saloon (though they can only be seen in Knuckles' Act 1, as well as Encore Mode's Act 1).

Sonic Superstars

Fang's giant mech.

After 27 years absent since his last physical appearance, Fang finally comes back as one of Sonic Superstars main antagonists alongside Dr. Eggman and the newcomer Trip. As in his previous appearances, the jerboa is seen piloting his personal airbike, the Marvelous Queen; constantly upgraded and modified to try and stay one step ahead.

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Other appearances

Tails Adventures has an item named Fang, featuring his face on the icon. Simply having the item in Tails' inventory will increase the chances of enemies dropping rings without any activation necessary.

In Sonic Generations, Fang can be seen on "WANTED" posters dotted around City Escape for theft and extortion.

In other media

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comics)

Fang appears in the Archie Sonic comics with the name Nack the Weasel. He has a sister named Nic, and is a member of Team Hooligan alongside Bean and Bark.

Sonic the Comic

In the UK Sonic the Comic series, Nack initially appears as a member of the Chaotix Crew, but shortly betrays them for profit. He often uses a special device to shrink and grow himself and other objects, which he has used for heists and for him and Grimer to reach Shanazar in order to find Robotnik.

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW comics)

After the events of Sonic the Fighters, Bean and Bark started tagging along with Fang and got into some mischief. Fang continued his job as a bounty hunter, he worked once again with Dr. Eggman to steal the seven Chaos Emeralds after the doctor was kicked out of his own fortress in Winter Caverns Zone by Heavy King. Fang was joined by Bean and Bark, who rode in sidecars on the Marvelous Queen. In the end, Fang's team and Eggman had to work with Sonic and his friends to take the emeralds back from Heavy King before he could have used them to take over the world. Amy Rose once drew a comic with Fang in it. Fang, Bark and Bean later are locked up by Dr. Eggman in Capsules after they botched a job. Amy Rose rescued Fang and offered a chance to team up but Fang decides to go after Bark and Bean alone. In Eggman Island Zone, Fang returned and now helped Amy with locking up the metal menace that put them all in capsules. He then took Bark and Bean back with him off Eggman Island.

Bark, Bean and Fang started searching for the rumored eighth Chaos Emerald together. When traveling to Angel Island in search for Knuckles, Bean and Bark started thinking about splitting from Fang. They realized he needed them more than they needed him. Fang ended up convincing them to do one last job together as a group.

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  Nack as seen in Sonic the Comic.

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  Nack as seen in the Archie comics.

References

Characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog game series
Recurring characters Heroes Sonic (Super, Starfall, Hyper, Darkspine, the Werehog, Excalibur) | Tails (Super, Hyper) | Knuckles (Super, Hyper) | Amy (Super, Hyper) | Mighty (Super) | Ray (Super) | Espio | Charmy | Vector | Cream | Big | Blaze (Burning) | Silver (Super) | Sticks Anti-heroes/Neutrals Shadow (Hero, Dark, Super) | Rouge | E-102 Gamma | E-123 Omega | Jet | Wave | Storm Villains Dr. Eggman | Metal Sonic (Rocket, Neo, 3.0) | Mecha Sonic (8-bit, Mk. II, Super, Mk. III) | Fang | Tails Doll | Metal Knuckles | Chaos (Perfect) | E-Series | ZERO | Biolizard (Finalhazard) | Black Doom (Devil Doom) | Mephiles | Eggman Nega | Orbot | Cubot | Deadly Six (Zavok, Zazz, Zomom, Master Zik, Zeena, Zor) Teams Sonic/Heroes | Rose | Dark | Chaotix | Babylon Other Animals (Flicky) | Froggy | Chao (Hero, Dark) | Tikal | Pachacamac | Omochao | Chaclon | Gerald & Maria Robotnik | President | King Boom Boo | Cheese | Chocola | Vanilla | G.U.N. Commander | Wisps | Mother Wisp
One-off characters Heroes Emerl | Marine | Lumina Flowlight | Chip | Shahra | Knights of the Round Table | Caliburn | Yacker | Avatar | Barry | Trip (Super) Anti-heroes/Neutrals Bean | Bark | Shade | Merlina | Sage Villains Witchcart | Hocke-Wulf | Bearenger | Carrotia | Battle Kukku Army (15th, 16th, Dr. Fukurokov) | E-101 Beta | Void | Chaos Gamma | Gemerl | Shugo-hei | Iblis | Solaris | Erazor Djinn | Captain Whisker | Johnny | Master Core: ABIS | Ix (Super) | Dark Gaia | King Arthur | Hard Boiled Heavies | Infinite | The End | Mirage Express Teams Vector | Eggman Other Birdie | Illumina | Secretary | Elise | Duke of Soleanna | Sonic Man | Coconut Crew | Vikings | Professor Pickle | Wentos | Don Fachio | Dodon Pa | Koco | Ancients | Conductor | Conductor's wife | Ariem | Heavy | Bomb | Tiara | Gazebo | Honey