For the character in Archie Comics, see Antoine D'Coolette.

Antoine Depardieu^[1] is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog television series. He is a member of the Royal Guard serving the royal family of Mobotropolis.^[2] Antoine is Sonic the Hedgehog's rival, especially when it comes to love of Princess Sally, whom he considers the love of his life. He is, however, cowardly and clumsy, and his characteristic French accent is the object of much heckling from Sonic.

Appearance[]

Antoine is an unspecified species of anthropomorphic animal. He has mainly brown fur with beige fur on his face, around his eyes, and around his belly. He also possesses blue eyes and combed blond hair. For attire, he wears a blue Royal Guard uniform with red trims and large, golden epaulets, as well as high, red military boots.

History[]

TV series[]

Past[]

In the past, Antoine attained an associated with the Royal Guard.^[3] He also had training as a squire in the Delmont Province during his youth.^[2]

Antoine knew the other Knothole Freedom Fighters since childhood, and was with them when they were evacuated to Knothole after Robotnik's coup in Mobotropolis.^[4][5]

Season one[]

While in Knothole Village, Antoine would try seducing Sally instead of helping Bunnie work on the construction of a catapult.^[6]

Antoine, Sonic and Cat later snuck into a hangar in Robotropolis, where they met up with Sally for a mission to sabotage Dr. Robotnik's Stealthbots. When the Swat-Bots detected them however, the heroes began their escape through the air ducts. Although Antoine and Sally managed to escape, they lost Cat. Once the group out outside Robotropolis, Sonic decided to head back and find Cat, while Sally took Antoine with him on a trip to the Dark Swamp because she suspected that her father had sent her a message from there. Upon arriving there, Antoine was very afraid of the swamp, but he successfully managed to reach Ironlock Prison with Sally. While crossing the hanging bridge leading to Ironlock though, the bridge collapsed. Fortunately, the duo got to the edge of the other side, and Antoine managed to pull Sally up when she was left hanging on the edge. A nervous Antoine then joined as they ventured past the prison gate. Inside Ironlock, Antoine was frightened by the closing doors, and later Sonic when he returned to them. After Sally managed to receive a message from a computer inside a cell in Ironlock though, a trapdoor opened and the heroes fell into the sewers. There, they were attacked by a monster, which Sonic managed to break through with the power of a Power Ring. Afterward, the trio discovered that the monster was just a robot. Antoine then went with Sally and Sonic through the sewers until they reached the Stealthbot hangar. There, Sally managed to reprogram the Stealthbots before fleeing from Robotropolis with Antoine and Sonic. When Robotnik then sent his Stealthbots after them, they were destroyed due to Sally's sabotage.^[7]

Sometime afterward, Antoine helped Bunnie get up from her trip down Knothole's tree slide after she returned to Knothole following a mission to Robotropolis. When Sonic then came though the tree slide and landed in its haystack, Antoine would brush off the hay Sonic splashed on him.^[8] Later, Antoine, Bunnie and Rotor met up with Sonic and Sally in the subway in Robotropolis after the trio failed to find old parts from the Roboticizer at the junkyard. There, Antoine and his group learned that Sonic and Sally had seen the roboticized Chuck head for the Crystal Mine. Deciding to follow Chuck, Antoine and his group headed towards the Crystal Mine in a trolley just as they came under attack by Swat-Bots. After later finding and capturing Chuck, the group gave him a Power Ring that restored his mind and free will. Upon regaining his senses however, Chuck took Antoine and his group into the Crystal Mine to stop Robotnik's forces from extracting a giant Energy Crystal; if that crystal was removed, Mobius' ecosystem would be destroyed. Antoine thus joined Sally and Rotor, who helped him get into the control room with the controls for the crane designed to pull the Energy Crystal out of the mine. After the crystal was destroyed, Antoine and the other Freedom Fighters escaped and fled the Crystal Mine in a train. However, they had to leave Chuck behind, as he soon reverted back to an aggressive Worker-Bot once more and could thus hurt their escape from the Swat-Bots.^[9]

Antoine later helped the Knothole Freedom Fighters build the Freedom Stormer airplane so they could fly to Maga and find the Secret Scrolls. When they took off in the Freedom Stormer however, Antoine and his friends almost crashed, but Rotor managed to stabilize the airplane. When Antoine and co. later landed near Maga, Sonic kept them from slipping off a cliff. During the landing, Antoine was so scared that he would seek cower under his seat. While in Maga, Antoine and his group managed to find the Secret Scrolls, but then Dr. Robotnik, Snively and their Swat-Bots appeared to take the scrolls from them. Sonic, however, managed to turned the villains' attention away, giving Antoine and his friends a chance to escape. While escaping from the Secret Scrolls' temple, Antoine accidentally found a secret passage in the wall, which his group used to get outside. Later, Sonic managed to blow Robotnik and his lackeys off a cliff using the Breath of Mobius which was located in Maga. With a successful mission under their belt, Antoine and his friends returned to the Freedom Stormer and flew back home in it.^[10] Antoine later took part in Sally and Bunnie's mission to destroy Robotropolis' backup generator. However, Antoine got bored along the way, which annoyed Sally and Bunnie. When they later reached the backup generator, Antoine volunteered to destroy it himself. However, Antoine ended up tripping along the way, causing him to fall down on a conveyor belt, which he accidentally activated as well. As he then got pulled towards some gears that would surely crush him, Sally called for help, before helping Bunnie slow down the conveyor belt. A moment later, Sonic came running and rescued Antoine by putting a Power Ring in-between the gears. This led to the whole system collapsing and the destruction of the backup generator.^[11]

Antoine and the Freedom Fighters later watched Sonic destroy the Shredder when it began cutting down the Great Forest. After returning to Knothole, Sally kissed Sonic and went for a walk with him. Getting jealous, Antoine began to think about ways to impress Sally. Upon hearing Antoine's trouble, Rotor suggested, as a joke, that he should try and capture Robotnik. However, Antoine took Rotor's joke seriously. When no one was looking, Antoine fished out a Power Ring from the Lake of Rings and put it in his backpack. He then went to Robotropolis, where he managed to get around the Swat-Bots patrolling the city. He later found a Surveillance Orb, through which he relayed a message to Robotnik, saying that if he wanted the Power Ring, he had to meet him alone outside Robotropolis. There, Antoine prepared a trap for Robotnik in the form of a pit trap. When the doctor then personally came to collect the Power Ring, Antoine made him fall into his pit. Antoine then planned to tie him up and take him to Knothole, but Robotnik got out of Antoine's pit with his jet boots and began firing at Antoine using his finger laser. In the end, Antoine lost the Power Ring and was captured. Afterward, Robotnik showed Antoine his Sonic Radar, which, after having the Power Ring inserted into it, could fire large lasers at Sonic with deadly accuracy. When it seemed like Sonic had been destroyed, Robotnik ordered Antoine to be taken away for roboticization. When the Swat-Bots put Antoine into the Roboticizer though, Sonic came and saved him, before taking him to the Great Forest. There, Antoine and Sonic managed to avoid the Sonic Radar's laser when it was being fired at them. Sonic even tricked Robotnik into destroying his second Shredder with it. When Antoine and Sonic got surrounded by Robotnik and Swat-Bots however, Antoine pulled the Power Ring out of the Sonic Radar and handed it over to Sonic. With the Power Ring boosting Sonic's power, Antoine and Sonic managed to escape Robotnik and return to Knothole. There, Antoine started talking about his heroic deeds to the others, but only Tails stayed to hear them.^[12]

Antoine and the other Knothole Freedom Fighters were later woken up during the night by a rocket booster that crashed near Knothole. Antoine subsequently took notes of the messages that Sally intercepted from Robotnik's space satellite, the Sky Spy. Afterward, Antoine helped Bunnie set up the repaired rocket booster so that it had the right angle for take off, all so Sonic and Rotor could use the rocket booster to fly up to the Sky Spy and destroy it before it could locate Knothole. After Sky Spy was sabotaged, Antoine watched its destruction through a telescope. Later, he congratulated Sonic and Rotor for their heroic deeds.^[13] Later, Antoine, Bunnie, and Sally met up with Rotor to receive Swat-Bot disguises. Thanks to them, they were able to get close to the Cloud Burster, which Robotnik planned to spray chemicals into the atmosphere with in order to create toxic rain. During the mission though, Antoine was trembling in fear, forcing Bunnie to calm him down. Infiltrating the Cloud Burster's staff, Antoine and Bunnie stood guard outside while Sally went inside the Cloud Burster to hack its computer. When a Swat-Bot told them to return to their positions however, Antoine tried to walk, only to trip over his own legs and lose his helmet. With their cover blown, Antoine, Sally and Bunnie were arrested and brought to Snively. Snively subsequently took Antoine, Sally and Bunnie to the Island of Nimbus, where they would stand before Robotnik. For a plan to lure Sonic into a trap, the doctor locked the trio up in a cage. When Sonic later arrived to save Antoine and the others though, the Cloud Burster had already begun spraying chemicals into the atmosphere. Sonic, however, managed to destroy the Cloud Burster. Afterward, he gave Sally a Power Ring to break the energy bars of their cage with. As Sally pushed the Power Ring against the bars, Antoine and Bunnie helped Sally hold the Power Ring in place. Once the trio was free, Sonic grabbed them and escaped the Island of Nimbus with them, just before the island sank into the river.^[14]

Later, Antoine, Sally and Sonic successfully destroyed the traffic control center in Robotropolis. During their subsequent escape however, they were surrounded by Swat-bots. Fortunately, they were saved by Griff, who led them to Lower Mobius, an underground city under Robotropolis. On the way there, Antoine was trembling in fear all the time, but he calmed down once they reached Lower Mobius. There, the heroes helped Griff oust some Ratbots, which were plaguing the inhabitants. After returning to Lower Mobius, Antoine noticed that Griff was making a move on Sally, prompting him to inform Sonic about it. In an attempt to gain Sally's favor, Antoine gave Sally a large bouquet of flowers and recited a poem that he had made especially for her. As he got into an argument with Sonic though, Sally broke them up. Sally decided afterward to stick with Griff, who promised to take Antoine and his group back to the Great Forest. However, after they returned to the Great Forest, Griff claimed his Hover Sled had broken down. Sally thus suggested that he spent the night in Knothole, which Griff accepted. Antoine later stood guard at the Lake of Rings when Sally arrived with Griff. Antoine tried to keep them from trespassing, but failed. Later at night, Antoine fell asleep while on guard duty. When he woke up, he discovered that something was wrong with the Lake of Rings and informed Sonic and Sally about it. Discovering that the Power Rock was gone, the heroes soon after came across clues that indicated that Griff had taken it. Fortunately, Sonic regained the Power Rock half after sharing a fragment of it with Griff.^[15]

Antoine and Tails would later deliver fertilizer to their garden in order to rejuvenate the dying trees that they had planted in their garden. When Sonic later returned from fishing however, he would spill some strange green water from the Great River out of his ears, which caused plants to grow rapidly. With the Knothole Freedom Fighters deciding to get more of this green water, Antoine, Sonic, Sally and Rotor began a sailing trip down the Great River. During the cruise though, they were dragged into a contaminated underground lake by a whirlpool. Having lost their boat's engine, Antoine was forced to row in the back. Antoine was soon after kidnapped by the Kraken, however, who placed him in a pool that he was slowly sinking into. Sonic and Sally were later put into the pool as well to share Antoine's fate. Fortunately, Rotor came to the rescue. After getting a Power Ring to Sonic, who used it to free himself and Sally from the pool, Antoine was saved by Rotor. Antoine and his friends then met the Kraken, who turned out to have been trying to kill them because he believed them to be behind the pollution that had infected his underground kingdom. In turn, the heroes explained that the one behind the pollution could be no one else by Dr. Robotnik. Soon after though, the Kraken got bound by Snake Probes, prompting Sonic to head up to the surface to stop the Snake Probes. There, he managed to destroy Robotnik's drilling platform, which was polluting the Kraken's kingdom. Afterward, Rotor purified the water in the underground kingdom using some green water he had found. As thanks for their help, the Kraken gave Antoine and co. a gift to help them with their plants. Returning afterward to Knothole, the group used the Kraken's gift to revive their plants.^[3]

Season two[]

While out in the swamp with the other Knothole Freedom Fighters, Antoine wrote a poem for Sally, which he began reciting until Tails told him to stop because his poem was making him hungry. Soon after, Dulcy scared Antoine just for fun. When Antoine later ran over to Sally to recite his poem to her though, he stumbled and broke the rope that held up a destroyed Hover Unit. As such, the vehicle's remains almost landed on Sally, but Sonic managed to save her in time. During the following evening, Antoine sat together with Dulcy around the campfire, and the next day, he, Sally and Tails flew back to Rotor on Dulcy's back so they could decipher the orders a Swat-Bot had received.^[16]

Antoine would later helped a de-roboticized Uncle Chuck with his work when Tails brought in a sandwich that accidentally fell into Antoine's hands. Antoine wanted to eat the sandwich, but Tails took it from him, saying that it was not for him. After a while, however, Chuck became a Worker-Bot again and kidnapped Antoine and Tails. While escaping Knothole however, Chuck stopped up in the swamps, where he tied up Antoine and Tails, intending to use them as bait for Sonic. When Sonic later came running to the rescue, Sonic fell into a pool of Mega Muck, and Chuck took Antoine and Tails with him to Robotropolis. Fortunately, Sonic soon caught up with them and managed to restore Chuck's free will. When the Shriek-Bot then arrived, Chuck hid Antoine and Tails in a flying vehicle. After the Shriek-Bot had been dealt with, Antoine, Sonic and Tails returned to Knothole Village.^[17] Antoine later learned from Sally that Sonic had been hit by a Memory Scrambler and that Snively was now using the amnesiac Sonic to find Knothole. When Snively and his forces approached Knothole, Antoine and the other Knothole Freedom Fighters hid in an underground shelter. However, they were eventually found by Snively. After being uncovered, Antoine ran out and started kissing Snively's shoes, hoping to earn his pity. However, Snively wanted none of this and treated Antoine and his fellow Freedom Fighters to the Memory Scrambler. Fortunately, Sonic, Sally, Tails and Chuck defeated Snively and stopped his invasion of Knothole.^[18]

Antoine's history was later slightly altered when Sonic and Sally went back in time to stop Dr. Robotnik before he rose to power in Mobotropolis. In the past, young Antoine was left in the care of Rosie together with young Bunnie, young Rotor, young Sally and young Sonic when Chuck had to go meet the King with the time-traveling versions of Sonic and Sally. However, young Sonic ignored their order to stay put and decided to check out what was happening at the palace. As the children decided to join Sonic, Antoine ultimately went along with them. At the palace though, they were caught by Swat-Bots.^[4] Locked in jail, young Antoine and the other children were set to be roboticized. Fortunately, they were saved by Sonic and Sally, and together with Rosie, they fled to Knothole.^[5]

During a trip to Robotropolis, Antoine was supposed to retrieve one of Chuck's message from its hiding place, but he could not get the message out of its container. A Swat-Bot soon after surprised him, but Sonic arrived just in time to save Antoine. Sonic then began scolding Antoine for almost revealing the secret place where Chuck left his messages for them. When Antoine told Sonic that he had everything under control though, Sonic threatened to leave him in Robotropolis and let him find a way back to Knothole himself. Fortunately for Antoine though, Sonic soon came back for him. After returning to Knothole, Antoine asked Bunnie for martial arts lessons. Antoine, however, was terrible at it, and he ended up knocking the training dummy into Sonic's hut. Sonic promptly threw the dummy back at Antoine, but Antoine believed that Sonic was just jealous, and began showing off his skills, only to bounce himself off a branch and into Sonic's hut. After Sonic kicked him out, Antoine wandered around the Great Forest practicing martial arts. Eventually though, he came across the Nasty Hyenas, who began to laugh at him and scare him. When Antoine said that he was the king of martial arts however, the hyenas made him their king. After realizing his new position and receiving a throne, Antoine began ordering the hyenas around until Sonic arrived. When Antoine began to argue with Sonic though, he ordered the hyenas to imprison Sonic after he insulted him. Sonic, however, broke free, and Dulcy, Sally and Bunnie arrived soon after. Antoine proceeded to greet them, and even offered Sally to become his queen. Sally, however, refused and told Antoine to come back to the Freedom Fighters. Antoine, however, decided to remain as the king of the Nasty Hyenas and renounced his membership of the Freedom Fighters. The next day, however, the Nasty Hyenas prepared to eat their king, which was their custom. They thus began to cook Antoine in an cauldron, but Antoine was more terrified by how the hyenas were using the wrong spices to season him. Fortunately, Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters arrived to help him, and Antoine helped defeat one of the hyenas. Meanwhile, he was angry all the time over how the Nasty Hyenas did not known how to cook food properly. After returning to Knothole, Antoine began to brag about how he helped defeat the hyenas.^[19]

Some time later, Antoine joined Sonic and Tails on a training session in the Great Forest. Here, he was supposed to hide from Tails so that the fox cub could track him down as a part of Sonic's training. Antoine, however, supposedly saw a "ghost" that frightened him so much that he fell into a mud pool. When Sonic and Tails pulled him out of there, Antoine told them about what he saw, but Sonic did not believe him. Later at night, the heroes camped out. There, Antoine tried to fall asleep in his bed, only to get scared by the ghost stories that Sonic told Tails. After finally falling asleep, however, Antoine began to sleepwalk. While walking around, he got covered all over in some glowing moss. When Tails mistook Antoine for a ghost, Sonic got suspicious and headed out to check it out. However, Sonic quickly realized that the ghost was Antoine. Antoine later helped Sonic look for Tails, who was hiding from them. When Antoine found him, he explained to Tails that he was not a ghost, and Sonic explained the glowing moss to the fox cub. The next day, Antoine was packing up when Sonic and Tails saw a medal lying on the ground, which was the same as the one from the legend of the Gopher Highwayman. Hearing then a ghostly laughter, the terrified trio escaped from this part of the forest.^[1]

During the winter, Antoine tried helping Sonic navigate Dulcy when she had to land during a snowstorm. However, as a result of Antoine's indications, Dulcy crashed into Sonic's hut, destroying it. As such, Sonic had to move in with Antoine until the snowstorm had subsided so he could get to work on rebuilding his hut. Sonic's presence quickly frazzled Antoine however, as Sonic would carry dirt and snow into his home and cover his kitchen in chili sauce when preparing some chili dogs. When Sonic then began sleeprunning while dreaming that he was fighting Robotnik, Sonic would destroy Antoine's furniture. At that point, Antoine lost his mind and started throwing his things around in order to mess up his house. Had enough of Antoine's behavior, Sonic moved out. Shortly thereafter, a tree fell onto Antoine's hut. However, that did not stop Antoine's maniacal laughter.^[20]

During one stormy night, Antoine helped Rotor with his latest invention: Ro-Becca. Shortly after Rotor went out to get the necessary tools though, Antoine accidentally activated Ro-Becca, who immediately fell in love with him. Not wanting the crazed robot's affection, Antoine began to run away from her. Meanwhile, Sonic and Rotor went looking for Antoine in order to find Ro-Becca. When Ro-Becca finally caught Antoine, she started feeding him metallic food and massaging his back brutally. Fortunately, Rotor soon showed up and turned Ro-Becca off. The next day, Rotor tried to reprogram Ro-Becca. Ro-Becca, however, did not listen to Rotor and soon tracked Antoine down again. Antoine thus brought Ro-Becca back to Rotor, who decided to get to work disassembling Ro-Becca. While waiting for Rotor, however, Antoine had the idea of speaking in a more trivial way instead of his French accent, which disgusted Ro-Becca, who escaped from Antoine. She then fell in love with Sonic when she heard him speak in a French accent to mock Antoine. Sonic, however, escaped Ro-Becca, who fell on Antoine and fell in love with him again, much to Antoine's dismay.^[21]

Soon after, Antoine, Sally, Sonic and Dulcy came to the Great Unknown in search of the Freedom Fighter group known as the Wolf Pack. Upon receiving the shortest route Nicole had to the Wolf Pack's headquarters, Sonic ran ahead of his friends. Antoine and Sally tried following him on Dulcy, but Sonic stopped them when they approached a field with perpetual lightning storms. With the storm field in their way, the Knothole Freedom Fighters followed the second route Nicole pointed out for them. Upon reaching a dead end though, the group found some inscriptions that Nicole translated, revealing them to be a warning about a curse. Horrified by the threat of a curse, Antoine found the entrance to an underground tunnel by chance while panicking. Dulcy, however, could not go in there because she had claustrophobia, so Sonic told her to go back to Knothole. Antoine initially wanted to join Dulcy, but he ultimately decided to stay for the sake of Sally. Just as he descended into the underground tunnel, however, Antoine tripped and started stumbling down the stairs. When the lights in the tunnel then went out, Antoine began to scream about the curse until Sonic ignited some torches. Antoine stayed afterward with Sally until their group met a wolf, whom they asked to show them a way out of the tunnels. Eventually, the wolf took them to a trapdoor, which the trio fell through. As they ended up on a slide, Antoine screamed again about the curse, but Sonic told him to shut up. Eventually, the slide took the trio to the Wolf Packs' home base. There, they met Lupe, the leader of Wolf Pack, who told them the Wolf Pack's history. At the end of their meeting, they agreed to work together in order to get in touch with the other Freedom Fighter groups. They also decided to destroy a Doomsday Pod, which was destroying the area. Later, under the cover of the night, Antoine and the Wolf Pack rolled a cannon out of the caves to use it against the Doomsday Pod. Along the way though, the heroes had to hide from Robotnik's hovercraft which was patrolling the area. When trying to hide from the hovercraft however, Antoine fell and mistook the Swat-Bots' heat sensor rays for the curse. Fortunately, Sonic took him to safety before he was discovered. During their subsequent battle with the Doomsday Pod, Antoine thought that the curse was over them when they failed to destroy the Doomsday Pod. After retreating back to the Wolf Pack's home base, Lupe explained to Antoine that there was no curse; it was only something the Wolf Pack had fabricated in order to scare off intruders. Later, the heroes managed to destroy the Doomsday Pod and returned to Knothole.^[22]

Antoine later took part in Sally's operation to keep Robotnik's Fuel Tankers from delivering fuel to the Doomsday Machine. While Sonic distracted the guards around the Fuel Tanker convoy, Antoine, Sally and Bunnie used magnets to attach themselves to the bottom of the Fuel Tankers' chassis while they poured water into their tanks. While carrying out their operation, however, Sally's magnet got damaged. Fortunately, Antoine held Sally up so that the other guards would not see her. Afterward, Sally managed to fix her magnet. However, the Swat-Bots eventually detected the heroes and surrounded them. Luckily, Sonic came to the rescue and managed to get Antoine and the others away from the site by leading them into the sewer. After returning to Knothole, Sally gave Antoine a kiss as thanks for his help and bravery. Later, during the evening, Antoine bragged about his courage to Rotor. When Rotor received information that Robotnik was close to uncovering Chuck as a spy, however, Antoine, embolden by his own accomplishment, decided to go to Robotropolis himself to warn him. Hitching a ride on Dulcy, Antoine flew to Robotropolis. After arriving there, however, Antoine could not find Chuck in his hideout, and decided to look around the city. Eventually, he came across an open air duct. Although Antoine hesitated to enter it, he eventually did it in order to avoid a bypassing Swat-Bot patrol. While passing through the air duct, Antoine stumbled upon Chuck, but got scared by his sudden appearance. As a result, Antoine fell out of the air duct through an opening and landed right in front of Snively. Antoine was subsequently caught and strapped to a chair in an interrogation room. There, Snively tortured Antoine by mishandling French cuisine in front of him. Just as Antoine cracked however, Sonic arrived and rescued him. Even as he was being taken to safety though, Antoine held a grudge against Sonic for not stopping Snively's horrible cooking. Sonic, however, clogged Antoine's mouth, before delivering him to Dulcy, who took him to Knothole.^[2]

While on guard duty in a watchtower later on, Antoine fell asleep until Sonic woke him up. However, Antoine got such a fright when he woke up that he fell out of the watchtower. Fortunately, Sonic saved him before he hit the ground. Immediately after though, the ground split apart and a Doomsday Pod burst out of it. As the Doomsday Pod began destroying everything, Sonic took Antoine to Knothole and had him ring the alarm bell. After the Doomsday Pod was destroyed, Antoine took part in an attack on Doomsday Machine with Bunnie, Sally and Sonic. After getting into the Doomsday Machine while their allies created a distraction, the heroes eventually reached the machine's Doomsday Pod assembly line. There, after discovering that their allies had all been captured, Sonic convinced his friends to evacuate to safety in one of the Doomsday Pods while he took care of the Doomsday Machine. After doing as Sonic had instructed, Antoine waited for him in the Great Unknown with Sally, Dulcy, Tails and Chuck. When Sonic returned to them and revealed that he could not destroy the Doomsday Machine, Antoine fainted. After the Doomsday Machine was destroyed and Robotnik disappeared along with it though, Antoine returned to Knothole to celebrate their victory with the Freedom Fighters.^[23]

Personality[]

Antoine is clumsy, cowardly, self-centered, vain, pompous, and has an excessively high opinion about himself.^[21] However, his clumsiness can sometimes prove to be useful, allowing him to discover secret passages and other hidden subjects purely by chance.^[22][10] Very French-oriented, Antoine's most characteristic feature is his French accent and tenuous grasp of the English language, which makes it difficult for others to understand him, or vice-versa. This often causes him to get ridiculed by Sonic and his friends, though he typically does not catch onto it. In order to win the affection of Sally (whom he calls "the love of his life"^[12]), Antoine tries to pretend to be someone brave and ready to defend himself. However, when it comes to facing real dangers, Antoine often hesitates and is unable to face the challenge ahead of him.^[2] Once his cowardly nature surfaces, Antoine often screams out of fear and descends into a babbling, trembling mess.

Out of all the Freedom Fighters, Antoine can best be described as fighting for his own safety rather than the freedom of Mobius. Despite often being included in dangerous missions, he is usually the first to suggest abandoning their objectives in favor of returning to Knothole, fearing for his life even before encountering any danger. Despite this, Antoine will adamantly refuse to acknowledge his cowardice, often providing a weak excuse to defend himself. That being said, he will lay down his life when Sally is in danger. ^[2]

In addition, Antoine is jealous of Sonic and his heroic deeds, which prompts him to try proving himself in often foolish or painful ways. This more often than not backfires horribly, resulting in Antoine frequently putting either himself, his friends, or the mission in jeopardy. Despite his bungling nature and frequent missteps, Antoine also likes to tell grossly-embellished stories about his "heroic deeds", which are usually accompanied by very vivid facial expressions and body language.^[12][19]

Antoine is also extremely fastidious about his hygiene, clothes, and well-maintained home. He finds great joy in cleaning his home and clothes, and even the smallest piece of dirt frightens him and makes him panic. Too much clutter can even make him lose his mind.^[20]

Antoine is a gourmand and connoisseur of fine foods, and is well-versed in the ingredients and spices needed to prepare specific dishes. To him, witnessing fine dishes being prepared incorrectly is as bad as physical torture, prompting him to scream, cry, panic or even get angry and complain obsessively about how individual dishes should be prepared.^[2] He is also superstitious, being frightened by ghost stories^[1]and panicking when he heard that the Wolf Pack had a curse.^[22]

Powers and abilities[]

Although trained as a squire from childhood, Antoine has little-to-no physical skills or talent, and is quite clumsy. While he more than once attempted to improve himself, he has achieved very little in the way of progress, even to the point Bunnie once declared teaching him self-defence would be a lost cause.^[19][20] Despite this, his bad luck will now and then work to his benefit, though purely by accident.

Antoine is well known in Knothole for being a master cook.^[24] He is also the recordkeeper of Knothole.^[25]

Relationships[]

Tails[]

Tails dislikes Antoine's strong cologne.^[19][20] Despite this, Tails is the only one who will listen to his exaggerated tales of bravado, as his impressionable youth leaves him as the only one who will believe the stories.^[12]

Rotor[]

Despite being a close friend of Sonic, Rotor was sympathetic to Antoine early on, and once invariantly gave Antoine the idea to try to capture Robotnik. Although Rotor suggested this as a joke, Antoine took it seriously, causing him to steal a Power Ring and travel to Robotropolis alone. This left Rotor feeling both worried and guilty, as he did not expect Antoine to take his suggestion seriously.^[12]

Later on, Rotor often employed Antoine to help him in the lab. Antoine's bumbling frequently led him to mess up Rotor's inventions^[20] and Rotor was often annoyed by Antoine bragging whilst he was working.^[2]

Sally[]

Antoine is deeply in love with Sally and insists on calling her by her title even after the fall of her kingdom.^[26] The interior of Antoine's hut is decorated with portraits of Sally.^[20] Unfortunately for Antoine, Sally displays no interest in him and openly prefers Sonic's company, arousing Antoine's jealousy. Antoine's attraction to Sally sometimes lead him to do rash and foolish actions to impress her.^[12]

Despite being annoyed by Antoine's antics, Sally considers him an essential part of the team and refuses to leave him behind, regardless of the risks his incompetence brings.^[19]

Sonic the Hedgehog[]

Sonic and Antoine have a strong, if one-sided rivalry. A key reason for this being their mutual affection for Princess Sally, with Antoine being extremely jealous of the attention Sonic gets from Sally. Antoine also appears jealous over Sonic's physical capabilities and often wishes he could be as athletic as Sonic. Antoine is typically quick to lay blame on Sonic whenever anything goes wrong, even if he was clearly not at fault for anything. His motivations for such seem to begin and end at his displeasure for Sonic, and often cause others to threaten him to stop. Despite this, Sonic refuses to take Antoine seriously, regarding him as more of an annoyance than a rival.

Another factor at play is the stuffy upper-class Antoine having little tolerance for the messy "lowborn" Sonic. When Sonic temporarily moved into Antoine's hut while repairs were made on his house, Antoine was driven mad by the hedgehog's slobby mannerism in his home.^[20]

Despite their mutual dislike of each other, the two rivals were united in their mistrust of Griff, although they were quick to turn on one another once again when their affection for Sally turned competitive.^[15]

Friends/allies[]

• Ari
• Bunnie Rabbot
• Dulcy
• Griff
• Lupe
• Nicole
• Rotor (best friend)
• Sally (crush)
• Sir Charles Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog (rival)
• Tails

Enemies[]

• Cluck
• Dr. Robotnik
• Nasty Hyenas
• Ro-Becca
• Snively

In other media[]

Archie Comics[]

Main articles: Antoine D'Coolette and Antoine D'Coolette (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Antoine is a mobian coyote, and his full name is Antoine D'Coolette. In this media, Antoine was born to Armand and Marie D'Coolette just before the Great War. Armand had moved the family from Mercia to serve King Maximillian Acorn, somewhat to Marie's discontent. While Armand tried to raise his son in the local language, Marie taught their native tongue. Amidst, the chaos of the Great War, poor Antoine would be doomed to flub both languages.

Antoine was shaken by a stream of tragedy. His father led the first resistance against Dr. Robotnik's takeover and was lost. His mother fell terminally ill shortly after, leaving Antoine orphaned in Knothole. Following in his father's footsteps for direction, he enlisted himself as a soldier in the Freedom Fighters.

Antoine tried to hide his inner doubts and jumpiness with swaggering bravado, earning him endless heckling from Sonic the Hedgehog. His romantic advances towards the princess were snubbed, which worsened his self-esteem. A break came in the form of Bunnie Rabbot, who managed to see the scared but heroic boy beneath the facade. She eventually helped Antoine ease into his true self.

Hardships would not leave Antoine alone, though, Armand was found alive as the robian leader of Dr. Robotnik's forces in Mercia and eventually de-roboticized. Sadly, the love, recognition and family Antoine had always hoped for were nearly swept away by his evil twin, Patch from Moebius, who impersonated him for months. Thanks to Sonic, Antoine was returned in time to save his relationship with Bunnie, but was forced to watch his father succumb to fatal poisoning.

Antoine later proposed to Bunnie. The two were wed in Knothole City just days before it was razed by Dr. Eggman's forces. Some time later, Ixis Naugus's magic returned Bunnie to normal, opening a chance for them to start a family. However, during one of Dr. Eggman's attacks, Antoine made the ultimate sacrifice to save Elias Acorn, and ended up in a coma.

In the rebooted universe, Antoine came to Mobotropolis at an early age to join the Honor Guard, only to get swept up in the Eggman Invasion. Fleeting to Knothole Village, Antoine would join up with the Freedom Fighters. At first Antoine tried to hide his shortcomings and jumpiness behind a facade of bravado and even tried to earn Princess Sally's affection. However, Antoine's advances were snubbed and Sonic the Hedgehog put his bragging to shame. However, Antoine would find inspiration in Bunnie's struggles to regain her mobility after getting roboticized, which helped him ease into his true self. As time passed, Antoine and Bunnie grew closer and they eventually married.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

• Unlike the Archie Comics, Antoine's species is never mentioned in the television series. He also visibly lacks a tail, making his species even more difficult to identify.
• Antoine is one of Rob Paulsen's most popular characters.
• Antoine's French personality is something of an anomaly within the show's setting. There is never once any mention of Mobius having an equivalent to France (unless one counts the Delmont province as such), nor are any other French-oriented characters seen in the show.
  • Despite his French accent and weak understanding of English, Antoine rarely speaks any actual French beyond singular words "oui" "au revoir" "sacre bleu" and possibly "quand" when he was hit with a mind scrambler, instead frequently talking in English mispronunciations with his French accent. He did however sing a slightly butchered version of alouette, so it's likely he never spoke full french for the sake of the target audience not struggling to understand him.
• In the early Sonic the Hedgehog bible, Antoine had the last name, "D'Coolette", which was later used in the Archie Comics. He is also described as having a British accent instead of a French accent.^[27]
  • This would later result in the creation of Bartleby MontClair in Sonic Underground.
• In France, Antoine is known as "Antoine Gontran de la Renardière". The "renard" in his name indicates he is a fox, at least in France. This however makes his design openly incongruous, looking nothing like Tails and completely lacking a tail of his own.

References[]