# Big the Cat

Big the Cat (Japanese: ビッグ・ザ・キャット, Hepburn: Biggu za Kyatto) is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. He is an anthropomorphic cat and fisherman who he usually with his pet Froggy and plays small roles. He was first introduced in Sonic Adventure (1998). Big would appears in other Sonic games including Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood which the developers wanted to revitalize him. He has been gained strong criticism by critics and fans, listed as one of the worst video game characters for his lack of intelligence and gameplay in Sonic Adventure.

## Concept and creation

Big the Cat was created for Sonic Adventure because the developers had a fishing video game programmed in and needed a character to make it interesting for players. Big was designed in the game to had small roles. During development of Sonic Chronicles, BioWare's founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk announced that they are going to revitalize Big alongside with Sonic's other friends. BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka stated about the fact that many people hated Big which the game's developers are trying to counterclaim the fact by making people feel emotional attach to Big and it could be dislike which it's an emotion.
Big's English voice actor has changed few times. Jon St. John was the first to assume the role for Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes. but was replaced by Kyle Hebert, who voice Big in Sonic Colors, Team Sonic Racing and Sonic Frontiers. In Sonic Prime, Big is voiced by Ian Hanlin.

## Appearances

In hist first appearance Sonic Adventure, Big wakes up in his hut to see that Froggy has swallowed Big's lucky charm, a Chaos Emerald, and grown a tail. Froggy hops off, and Big chases him through a number of levels. Each time, Big must find Froggy in a body of water and fish him out, only for Froggy to hop away. At the last of these, Big finally catches Froggy, but E-102 Gamma steals the creature and leaves. Determined to rescue his friend, Big finds Doctor Eggman's airship, the Egg Carrier, and boards it. He quickly finds Froggy in a water tank and catches him. He meets Tikal the Echidna, who tells Big of the significance of his Chaos Emerald: it controls the other seven. When Big reaches the deck of the Egg Carrier in hopes of escaping, Chaos absorbs Froggy to reach a more powerful form, since Froggy is still possessed by Chaos' tail. Since Chaos' body is permeable, transparent, and filled with liquid, Big is able to fish Froggy out of Chaos. Satisfied that he has done his part to help defeat Chaos, Big departs the Egg Carrier using Tails' airplane, the Tornado 2, but it crashes near Big's house due to a lack of proper landing gear.
In his second playable appearance Sonic Heroes, Big teams up with Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit as the power-style character in their trio. Big alongside his team travel through several stages while he looked for Froggy and eventually reach the Egg Fleet, one of Dr Eggman's aircraft. They find a mecha piloted by a clone of Dr. Eggman. When they conquer it, the clone dissolves into a puddle of liquid, and rise Chocola and Froggy. Big, Amy, and Cream go on to help the other playable characters defeat the game's antagonist Metal Sonic. Big also would be a playable character in Sonic Chronicles. Sonic and Tails find him after using Tails' first Tornado plane to escape from soldiers; he helps them locate the base of the Marauders. He also has a sidequest involving finding Froggy's friend Norton. In the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, Big appears several times, though he is not playable. He follows Froggy, who has escaped into the Aquarium Park section of Dr. Eggman's "Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park." He meets Sonic and Tails and explains his problem; Sonic agrees to help and takes on a mission, but Froggy does not turn up. Big later meets Amy, who is trying to find Sonic, and they continue their searches together. Eventually, they do find Sonic, as well as Tails. Amy encourages Sonic to complete a mission; when he does, Amy offers to throw a picnic and Big eagerly participates. Froggy's location and well-being are left ambiguous. In Sonic Frontiers, Big appears in a portal, and introduces a fishing minigame which the player can be rewarded with tokens that can be spent on Portal Gear fragments, Vault Keys and many other items, with additional chances to fish acquired through purple coins around the Starfall Island.
In the party video game Sonic Shuffle, Big is playable character who he can use Froggy to move extra spaces if the player gets a dice roll of six, and can throw boulders as his special attack. Big is also a playable character in the racing game Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing, where his special move involves Froggy growing massively and stomping other racers. Big has made a cameo in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Lego Dimensions, and as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. Big would later be a playable character in Team Sonic Racing in which he is a power-type character. Big plays a minor role in the anime television series Sonic X. He's first appear in the series' first episode "Chaos Control Freaks", as he was showed sleeping by a river with Froggy. As one story arc is based on Sonic Adventure, Big plays a role similar to his from the game. Big and Froggy also appear in Netflix's Sonic Prime.

## Reception and promotion

Big the Cat has generally received strong criticism from critics, ranked as one of the worst video game characters. Brian Taylor of Paste shared that Big has caught strong criticism from fans who thought increasing the Sonic the Hedgehog cast size cause disservice to the integrity of the series. GamesRadar+ writer Jim Sterling wrote that anyone with a vision of human decency can described him as "a blight." He also discussed that he's like an overstuffed Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men, criticize his voice as it sounds like Barney Rubble choking, and he has mostly been involve the multiple rescues of Froggy. Official Nintendo Magazine writer Thomas East discussed how annoying Big was, criticizing his lack of intelligence, obsession with Froggy, and the incompatibility of fishing gameplay and elements with the Sonic franchise.
Andrei Dumitrescu of Softpedia wrote that he unsure why Big is a well-disliked character in the series, but it seems unwise to create an experience centered around an aspect of a game that not liked. Eurogamer writer Tom Phillips found the addition of Big in Lego Dimensions as "a bit of surprise" despite of being a joke among Sonic fans, which is a shame officially retired from future Sonic games due to negative fan reaction to him, although he has sporadically appears in cameo roles. Kotaku writer Ruby Innes wrote that Big has often been in a Waluigi-type position, mainly appearing in spin-off games since his introduction and Big played like a Duke Nukem-voiced cat as he searched for his friend Froggy and went fishing. PCGamesN writer Chris J Capel noted that fans of the Sonic franchise constantly complain there hasn’t been a fishing minigame in the franchise since Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes featured an upsetting lack of fishing. Jesse Lab of The Escapist felt that Big is emblematic of the franchise’s problem with recurring characters that considered worthless as Big become a punchline of the franchise for decades since his introduction In Sonic Adventure. While the writer prepared for the worst when he was announced to appear in Sonic Frontiers. Despite his hatred over the character, his fishing section is the most enjoyable features in the game.
Big was featured in a McDonald's promotion around December 2004. One of eight handheld dedicated consoles packaged with Happy Meals featured Big recreational fishing. In 2016, an image of the Game Grumps holding a Big plush appeared on the franchise's official social media account with the captions that more stuff are planned on the year. Destructoid writer Ben Davis noticed at the bottom of the image were numbers that omit him that a game involving Big is coming soon. For April Fools, Sega released a game called Big’s Big Fishing Adventure 3, a point-and-click browser game.