This group exists primarily or exclusively within the Archie Comics continuity. Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity.

The Maverick Hunters are a group that appear in the Mega Man comic series, and the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs, published by Archie Comics. It is a group of Reploids formed to deal with the Maverick uprising, with Sigma appointed as their leader. X, the original Reploid initially refused due to his pacifist tendencies despite several invitations. Unfortunately, Sigma himself went Maverick and took many former Hunters-including Vile-with him. At this point X chose to join the fight, working with Zero and others to battle Sigma's forces and his many plots to take over the world.

History[]

Worlds Unite[]

Eventually, the Maverick Hunters launched a massive attack on Sigma's latest fortress, looking to end his threat once and for all. While Zero, Axl, and other Hunters engaged Vile and Sigma's other minions, X penetrated the inner sanctum in an effort to finish of Sigma. However, the villain proved to be one step ahead of them, as he escaped through a Genesis Portal to Sonic's World.^[1] Determined to stop him, X and his two closest teammates opened another portal with aid from Silver the Hedgehog and Sigma's own portal generator and passed through it in search of their foe. However, Silver's inexperience in creating Genesis Portal led the trio to another zone instead. There they formed an unlikely alliance with Team Sticks, and then press-ganged that world's Orbot and Cubot into opening another portal for them.^[2][3] They managed to reach Sonic's World just as it was being fused together with a past version of their own world to form a Unified World, and found themselves allied with the Freedom Fighters and a number of Robot Masters in the quest to defeat Sigma.^[4]

It soon became evident that the fused planet was in a state of decay, and the leaders of the growing force of Sigma's foes looked to the Maverick Hunters for insight based on their previous engagements with the villain. They were later forced to reluctantly accept the aid of Dr. Wily, Dr. Eggman, and Xander Payne, who informed them that Sigma had taken up residence on the Lost Hex. The Hunters and their allies set their course for the planetoid, and X attempted to contact their comrades in the future with no success. They soon found themselves facing Sigma's Deadly Six minions and an army of Mechaniloids, several of whom were recognized as having been resurrected through the power of the Genesis Portals and Unity Engines.^[5] The Hunters also recognized that the Zeti were under Sigma's control, but focused their attention on getting rid of the Mechaniloids. Unfortunately, they and the Robot Masters, along with Gemer and Bunnie D'Coolette, were later subjected to the aliens' power to manipulate machinery and forced to attack their comrades.^[6] They were subsequently freed from this control by the Egg-Wily Uppity Robot Scrambler Cannon, and with the enemy force defeated Zero called for them to press their assault on Sigma. Unfortunately, the weary heroes were then greeted by the sight of their foe in a massive new robot body fused with the Lost Hex and accompanied by an army of Time-Cloned Mavericks.^[7]

Weakened by their previous battles, the heroes were unable to stop Sigma from dispatching most of his forces to other worlds following a brief attack on the heroes. A handful remained behind to finish them off, only to be engaged by a group of heroes from the world of Street Fighter recruited by Sticks. With these Mavericks defeated, the Hunters were divided into teams with the Robot Masters and Freedom Fighters. Their mission: pursue the Mavericks to the worlds they had invaded, recruit local allies, and stop Sigma from absorbing the power of more worlds. At the suggestion of Dr. Eggman, however, the heroes also prepared a backup plan involving the seven Chaos Emeralds.^[8]

Despite the Hunters' brave efforts, it would fall to Super Sonic and Super Armor Mega Man to face Sigma in the final battle for the fate of all worlds. In the end, the actions of Xander Payne resulted in Sigma's trip back in time being prevented from ever taking place. As such, the Hunters were returned to their own world and time with no memory of these events, though they still had a brief encounter with Silver after he helped them stop Vile.^[9]

Trivia[]

• Alia and Signas both appeared on the cover of Sonic Boom #8, but were not present in that issue nor in any issue of the crossover, though they were mentioned in Sonic Universe #77 by X.

References[]

External links[]

• Maverick Hunters at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.