Hard Boiled Heavies

Heavy Shinobi

Heavy Rider

Heavy Magician

Eggman Empire

Knuckles the Echidna

The **Hard Boiled Heavies**[2] (ハードボイルドヘビーズ *Hādo Boirudo Hebīzu*?), abbreviated as the **"HBH"**, are a group that appears in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. They are a team of elite Egg-Robos created by Dr. Eggman.[3] After being struck with the power of the Phantom Ruby, however, the Hard Boiled Heavies began displaying power that even Eggman could not have predicted.[2]

## Concept and creation

Christian Whitehead came up with the Hard Boiled Heavies after imagining Eggman entering a state of depression after *Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles*; instead of going after Sonic, he would merely lounge at home in his pajamas and that the abandoned Egg Robos would go "a little mad." After thinking about this concept, the term came into being.[4]

## History

### Sonic Mania

Before their transformation, the Hard Boiled Heavies were a group of five elite Egg-Robos tasked with handling the hardest missions that their creator, Dr. Eggman, would have them perform. Upon reading a promising new energy source on Angel Island, the Egg-Robos were sent to investigate and retrieve this energy source, the Phantom Ruby.[5] Upon excavating the mysterious gemstone, they were transformed into the Hard Boiled Heavies when the gemstone caused time-space to warp around them. As a side effect to this newfound power however, the robots went insane.[1]

The Phantom Ruby transported the Hard Boiled Heavies, along with Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna, to the Green Hill Zone. After making their escape, the Hard Boiled Heavies planned to keep the Phantom Ruby for themselves. However, they soon met up with Eggman, who took the Phantom Ruby from them, leaving the Hard Boiled Heavies to take their leave.

As the three heroes progressed onward, they would each encounter and defeat the different members of the Hard Boiled Heavies in specific areas: the Heavy Gunner in Studiopolis Zone; the Heavy Shinobi in Press Garden Zone; the Heavy Magician in Mirage Saloon Zone; and the Heavy Rider (Sonic and Tails only) and Heavy King (Knuckles only) in Lava Reef Zone. The Heavy King in particular made an attempt to steal the Master Emerald, but was stopped by Knuckles.

When Sonic and co. got to the Titanic Monarch Zone, four of the Hard Boiled Heavies, now modified into Phantom Heavies, returned during the heroes' climatic fight with the Phantom Egg, but were unable to defeat the heroes. Upon reaching the Egg Reverie Zone, the Heavy King, now modified into the Phantom King, tried to steal the Phantom Ruby and use it for himself, prompting Eggman to battle the Heavy King using his Klepto Mobile in an attempt to take the gemstone back. Sonic, having all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, transformed into Super Sonic and defeated both of the power-hungry monarchs however.

## Sonic Mania Plus

in *Sonic Mania Plus*, after the first Phantom Ruby incident, the Hard Boiled Heavies, with the exception of the Heavy Magician had been defeated and left for scrap in the Angel Island Zone. In an effort to help its brethren, the Heavy Magician stole the Phantom Ruby following it and Sonic's return to Angel Island after the War to Take Back the Planet. She then brought the ruby to the other Hard Boiled Heavies and the Heavy King used its power to revive them, just as Sonic and his companion caught up to them. The group's resurrection also triggered a warp that sent them all to Green Hill Zone. There, the Hard Boiled Heavies fled with the Phantom Ruby in hand. When they regrouped, they thought they could keep the Phantom Ruby to themselves. However, Eggman showed up again and took the ruby when they would not obey him, leaving the Hard Boiled Heavies to scatter.

Following that, each member of the Hard Boiled Heavies could come across Sonic and his group of friends in the same locations as before. In each encounter however, they were defeated by the heroic group. The Heavy King in particular made an attempt to steal the Master Emerald again, but was stopped by Sonic and co. When Sonic and co. came to the Titanic Monarch Zone, four of the Hard Boiled Heavies, now modified into Phantom Heavies again, returned during the heroes' climatic fight with the Phantom Egg, but were unable to defeat the heroes like before. Following the destruction of the Titanic Monarch, it appeared that at the very least the Heavy King was able to escape with his life intact, as he would afterward surprise Sonic and friends with a giant sundae at an ice cream parlor.

## Trivia

* The Heavy Gunner is the only member of the Hard Boiled Heavies that serves as an Act 1 boss; all other members appear as Act 2 bosses.
	+ The Heavy Gunner is also the only member of the Hard Boiled Heavies that is never hit in the boss fight; instead, the player destroys his accompanying Egg-Robos and helicopter.
* The Heavy King is the only member of the Hard Boiled Heavies who does not use "Hi-Spec Robo Go!" as his boss theme like the others, instead sharing "Havoc Prognosis" with the Weather Globe in Studiopolis Zone and Gachapandora in Metallic Madness Zone.
* All of the Hard Boiled Heavies are bosses in *Sonic Mania* and *Sonic Mania Plus*.

## External Link

* from the Sonic News Network Hard\_Boiled\_Heavies