Sonic and Tails Build a Gadget

About this drawing

Sonic and Tails gadgets sums up what Tails brings to the team: brains, tools and a lot of loyalty. The little two-tailed fox joined the series in 1992 as a kid who idolized Sonic and tagged along everywhere he went.

His two tails are more than a cute detail. When he spins them fast, they act like helicopter blades and let him fly for short stretches. That trick lets him carry Sonic through the air and reach spots a running hedgehog never could.

Tails is also the group's engineer. He builds planes, scanners and all kinds of machines, and his biplane, the Tornado, shows up again and again for chases across islands and skies. His full name is Miles Prower, a playful nod to the phrase miles per hour.

Real foxes only have one tail, but it is long and bushy and helps them balance when they turn quickly. They also wrap it around their noses like a blanket on cold nights. Old Japanese folk tales describe magical foxes with many tails, said to grow wiser as each new tail appears.

• sonic
• tails
• fox
• gadgets
• video games