Kitsunami the Fennec

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**Kitsunami the Fennec** is one of the artificial creatures created by Dr. Starline alongside Surge the Tenrec as part of his plan to conquer the world by replacing it's heroes with powerful villains under his control.

## Appearance

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Kit is an anthropomorphic fennec fox about the height of a child. He possesses mostly argentinian blue fur with a patch of white fur on the front of his torso that is shaped like a waterdrop, and a medium-long white muzzle with pointy cheek tuffs and a small black nose. He also has purple eyes that sometimes glow, long bangs of fur on his head, and long triangular ears on his head with bice blue tips that hang down the sides of Kit's head. Lastly, he has a long, thick tail with a bice blue tip.

For attire, Kit wears the Hydro Pack, white gloves with black cuffs that are studded with gray studs, and yellow boots with black toes and soles, and six gray studs aligning the tongues of said boots.

## History

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### Past

Both Kit and Surge had been in development for a long time as part of Dr. Starline's Operation: Remaster. In order to finish the creation of the duo, for Kit; Starline used a piece of fur from Tails to help with control of multiple appendages, alongside the data he got from Belle the Tinkerer's emotional intelligence. Starline created Kit for the purpose of aiding Surge, while modeling him after Sonic's sidekick, Tails.

### Imposter Syndrome and Trial by Fire

Following orders from Dr. Starline, at the Forest Ridge Zone Campground, Kit and Surge created a forest fire by having Surge used her powers on the dried-up flora, while Kit used his powers to gather leaves to burn. The two of them proceeded to walk through the fire they had caused. Starline wanted the duo to do this as their first field test, all in an attempt to assassinate Sonic's friends through what appeared to be an accident.

Days later, Starline sent the duo to Central City in order to cause chaos. Surge would end up puzzled by the civilians acting so calm and happy, as if the Metal Virus never happened. Kit states that the Restoration helped the city, and they possibly want to be happy. Kit suggests using his hydro-coil tails to reach underground, access and manipulate the wirings, and throw the traffic lights and power grids into disarray, to which Surge, with little interest, tells him to do and have fun that while she does her thing. The duo cause havoc on the city, unnoticed.

The duo arrive to Emerald Town, where Starline is attempting to enter Tails' Lab to destroy any possible intel he gathered from Belle that may foil his plans. The doctor orders Kitsunami to open the door with his hydro-coil tails, to which Kit has no luck. Surge would attempt to destroy the door, but Starline stops her, finding that time ran out, and they all need to return to the base. They proceed to do so.

They arrive to the base to find their plan failed, as Amy and her friends survived the forest fire. However, Starline finds it the best opportunity for a final test, which infuriates Surge, who demands to be allowed to fight Sonic. Starline explains his plan, only for Surge to interrupt him with a deadpan attitude; Kit suggests they should be careful, as he doesn't want Surge to get hurt. This angers Surge, demanding to know what Kit means by that, which further scares Kit. Surge demands him to be shut up and do his job.

## Personality

Kit is defined by a soft-spoken, somber attitude, with very little in the way of individuality. He speaks politely and formally, referring to Dr. Starline and Surge as "sir" and "ma'am". Kit is also quite nervous and often stutters when he talks. Kit also appears to hold a low opinion of himself, looking for validation from both Surge and his creator, but their constant mistreatment causes him to have emotional breakdowns.

## Relationships

### Dr. Starline

Kit is loyal to Dr. Starline as part of his programming, even respectfully calling him "sir". However, under specific circumstances, Kit will question why he works with him, prompting the doctor to manipulate him with his hypnotic gauntlet to keep him loyal. Starline would later gaslight the duo into pretending nothing happened, as he needs them for his plans.

### Surge the Tenrec

Kit is programmed by Dr. Starline to be loyal to Surge the Tenrec, worrying about her well-being even if she does not return the concern and is emotionally abusive to him. If Surge were to be hurt, the normally apathetic Kit will react in shock. However, his feelings for her are not natural, as why he worries so much about her confuses him.

### Friends/allies

* Dr. Starline
* Surge the Tenrec

## Concept and creation

According to writer Ian Flynn, Kit is inspired by a glitched version of Tails from *Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles*. His appearance was conceptualized by artists Evan Stanley and Mauro Fonseca, with Stanley taking the lead in finishing the design. Fonseca has stated that Kit's design was inspired by the King of Sorrow from *Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil*. His boots originate from an unused design for Dr. Starline.

Kit, along with Surge, was originally pitched for IDW Publishing's *Sonic* comics by Ian Flynn in 2017, before the first issue was even released. They were meant to debut alongside Dr. Starline as part of a trio of characters based on glitches present in the early *Sonic the Hedgehog* video games. Although the pitch was rejected at the time, due to the staff thinking it was too early, the characters would eventually be accepted in 2021. Notably, Kit was originally pitched as a fox, but was changed to a fennec at a later date.

## Trivia

* Kit's full name is a portmanteau of "kitsune" and "tsunami". A kitsune is a fabled Japanese creature, known for its nine tails. This is reflected in Kit's powers, as he can create multiple "tails" out of water.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IDW Publishing on Twitter. *Twitter* (14 November 2021). Retrieved on 14 November 2021. “**David Mariotte**: Surge and Kit actually predate Sonic number 1, as seen on this year one springboard from Ian Flynn. They predate most of the things in IDW Sonic, in fact. When Ian Flynn pitched Surge and Kit in 2017 before the series started, we knew that it wasn't quite the right time for their story to get the justice it deserves. When it came to 2021 planning with Ian, writer Evan Stanley, and assistant editor Riley Farmer, we knew it was the right time.”
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mauro Fonseca on Twitter. *Twitter* (2 September 2021). Archived from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved on 2 September 2021.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Sonic the Hedgehog* #46, “Trial by Fire, Part 2”
4. ↑ BumbleKast for July 6th, 2022 - Priority Q&A Podcast with Ian Flynn (44:30)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 *Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome* #1, story one
6. ↑ STH Imposter Syndrome!. *Reddit* (September 2021). Retrieved on 11 November 2021. “**Ian Flynn**: Dr. Starline was inspired by the "Wechina" sprite error from Knuckles's Chaotix. Likewise, Surge is inspired by the famous "Ashura" glitch of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Kit by a personal glitch I remember getting for Tails in *S3&K*.”
7. ↑ Stanley, Evan (17 November 2021). Kit (and Surge) Design breakdown!. *Tumblr*. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved on 18 November 2021.
8. ↑ BumbleKing Videos (7 January 2019). The Final (For Real) Smash Bros. Ultimate Episode - BumbleKast #82. *YouTube*. Retrieved on 18 November 2021. “**Ian Flynn**: See actually, Starline was meant to debut with two other characters and they were all built around a similar [...], and if they had all come out at the same time I think folks would've gone "Oh, I see where the inspiration is from", but things were revised because our season 2 plans were [...] we need to just push some stuff to the back burner now and focus on [...] so that's why we only have Starline now. Eh, maybe we'll get to it down the line.”
9. ↑ Ian Flynn on Twitter. *Twitter* (17 November 2021). Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved on 18 November 2021.