ZERO

Sonic Advance 2

Sonic Rivals 2 (Collector Card)

**ZERO**, also known as **E-100α**[4] or **E-100 Alpha** (Ｅ－１００ アルファ[5] *E-100 Arufa*?) is a character in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. It is the prototype model for Dr. Eggman's E-100 series of robots, designating it as the zeroth E-100 unit.[5] During its last mission to recover Chaos Emeralds, ZERO relentlessly pursued Amy Rose for the Chaos Emerald she unknowingly had until it had harassed her to the point of being on the receiving end of Amy's hammer.

## Appearance

ZERO is a vaguely humanoid green robot with a trashcan-like head. On top of its head is a lid with a black surface and yellow lower rim, and on the bottom of its head is a red stribe. Situated on the bottom of its head up front is a black face section with two red eyes, and extending out in front of ZERO's face is a golden handlebar. On the back of its head are also two green prongs with red tips. On the sides of its head, next to its face, it also has two black bars for shoulders. Attached to these bars are its arms, which have thick green and red forearm armor and mitten-like black hands. Its lower body consists of two stubby rocket trusters attached on the sides of its hips. These thrusters are red on the top and have black exhausts on the bottom. It also has a fin on its rear, and up front it has a gray flap covering its pelvis. This pelvis plate has a black upper and lower rim, and a golden handlebar with a black grip attached to its bottom.

Unlike the E-100 Series robots, ZERO does not have "E-100" on its body, but instead has an "E" on both sides of its head. Additionally, the headlight on ZERO is on its shoulder, in contrast to the E-100 Series robots in which it is on their mid-section.

## History

### *Sonic Adventure*

In *Sonic Adventure*, ZERO made its debut by chasing a blue bird in the possession of a Chaos Emerald that had taken refuge with Amy Rose. ZERO chased Amy around Station Square, Twinkle Park, the Egg Carrier, Hot Shelter, and finally, the Final Egg base in the Mystic Ruins.

When it went back to the Egg Carrier, it saw Amy and the blue bird with its relatives, who were inside E-101 Beta and E-102 Gamma. ZERO then attacked and knocked out the small bird with an extending punch. Amy, thinking that ZERO had killed her companion, became furious and attacked ZERO - finally destroying it by knocking it into an electric fence, scrambling its circuits, before smashing the vulnerable circuitry in its head with her hammer, causing it to explode.

## Other game appearances

### *Sonic Advance 2*

ZERO makes a brief appearance in *Sonic Advance 2*, chasing the player around the Special Stages of the game. In this appearance, it is known as the **Robot Guard** (ガードロボ *Gādorobo*?, lit. "Guard Robo"), but otherwise looks identical to its previous appearance. If it hits the player, they will lose ten rings.

### *Sonic Rivals 2*

ZERO appeared in *Sonic Rivals 2* as collectible card No. 81. It was unlocked by obtaining the high score in Zone 6 Act 3.

## Personality

ZERO pursues its target with a single-minded tenacity, even after birdie's Chaos Emerald had been removed. This also made it possible to trick it, as Amy could hide beneath barrels or around obstacles to elude it. Despite this, it is smart enough to try and use sneak attacks on Amy after their first encounter, and to never reveal the weak spot hidden under its top intentionally. When pushed to the brink, however, it becomes much more aggressive.

## Powers and abilities

ZERO differed greatly from the other E-100 robots as it lacked a projectile weapon, mainly relying on locking onto an opponent and launching its fists to attack its foes, making use of a lock-on system and tethered hands. Unlike the standard E-series model, ZERO lacked legs or a Jet Booster, instead relying on a built-in propulsion unit for locomotion, which helped it to move over all possible terrain. It possessed impressive strength, able to smash through walls in pursuit of Amy and generate shockwaves by punching the ground. It also had strong defensive strength, as Amy could only inflict damage by electrocuting it. It also seems to possess an "overdrive" mode after taking a certain amount of damage, where steam begins bellowing from its smokestack-like head, rendering it invulnerable to any sort of blow from the Piko Piko Hammer.

## Trivia

* Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Similarly, Zero (AKA Alpha) is technically the direct predecessor of the E-100 Series robots.
* It is never explained as to why ZERO continued to pursue Amy Rose and birdie after having successfully captured them once before.
* ZERO is not powered by an Animal, like its immediate successors, as nothing is seen escaping from its body after its destruction.
* ZERO, E-105 Zeta (the second form), E-121 Phi and E-123 Omega are the only earlier E-Series robots that do not follow the same basic design as E-101 Beta.
* On the early Japanese *Sonic Adventure* website, ZERO is dubbed the "Prototype of the Eggrobo E-Series" (エッグロボＥシリーズの試作機?).[4] It is uncertain if this is supposed to be meaning behind the "E" in E-Series, if it was actually intended to be a throwback to Eggrobo, or if this was outdated information by the game's final release.