The Thunder Spinner^[3] (サンダースピナ^[4], Sandā Supina^?), also known as the Electro Spinner,^[1] or the Spanner^[2] (スパナ^[5], Supana^?) is an enemy that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a mass-produced, bat-based Badnik model created by Dr. Eggman, and a variant of the Spinner. These robots can both fly and discharge an electrical field to protect themselves.

Appearance[]

As with other Spinners, they mostly resemble bats, while their design details vary between games. In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, Electro Spinners are nearly identical to Bladed Spinners. They have a hemisphere-shaped purple head with pointy yellow ears and menacing black and cyan eyes with white sclera. Below their head they have a conical frustum-shaped gray body, and on the bottom of it they have two cylinder-shape attachments. On the bottom and the upper edge of their body they have a line of black and yellow hazard stripes. Between their head and body, Electro Spinners have a pair of giant hook-like blades spinning around them like a helicopter rotor.

In Sonic Unleashed, Thunder Spinners underwent a major redesign. In this game, their entire body is orb-shaped and they are primarily colored turquoise. They have yellow drill-like ears, empty yellow eyes and a row of yellow lights on the front, resembling a mouth. Also, around the middle of their body, they have a yellow ring with a transparent semicircle (reminiscent of wings) attached on a turquoise point on each side.

In Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, the Thunder Spinners' design resembles a hybrid of those they had in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Unleashed. While their upper head and wings resemble those in Sonic Unleashed, their lower body look like they did in Sonic Adventure. Noticeable changed details, however, include their ears which look like they did in Sonic Adventure, their eyes having yellow irises and black pupils and sclera, their mouths being white, their mouths being colored white, their spinning wings being solid and are colored turquoise, white and yellow, and a lack of hazard stripes on their bodies.

In the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost World, the Thunder Spinner models retained the same appearance as their model design from Sonic Generations, only with the addition of a more "cartoon"-stylized design, along with cartoony eyes.

Game appearances[]

Sonic Adventure[]

These enemies made their debut in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, where they were officially known as Electro Spinners^[1] (スパナ^[6], Supana^?, lit. "Spanner"). They appear in the following Action Stages for each character:

In gameplay, the Electro Spinners remain stationary in one place in mid-air where they spin their blades and periodically discharge electrical fields which the player can take damage from when touching them. To strike them successfully, the player has to attack them when their electric field is down. Additionally, when attacking a Electro Spinner, the player has to hit the Electro Spinner either from above or below, as hitting them where their blades are spinning will damage the player.

Sonic Unleashed[]

In the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version and Wii/PlayStation 2 version of Sonic Unleashed, the Electro Spinners are called Thunder Spinners (サンダースピナ, Sandā Supina^?), and serve once again as enemies. They also received a more modernized and less-menacing design for this title. Notably, Sonic Unleashed was also where the Thunder Spinners received a turquoise color scheme to distinguish them from Spinners. This color scheme would remain with them in subsequent titles.

In Sonic Unleashed, Thunder Spinners can only be encountered in the game's daytime Action Stages/Stages. In gameplay, Thunder Spinners retain the same attack patterns they had in Sonic Adventure. When taking damage from the Thunder Spinner's electrical field, Sonic will briefly be paralyzed in mid-air. However, the player will not lose a life when touching the electrical field when the player has no Rings.

Sonic Colors[]

In both the Wii version and Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, and the remaster Sonic Colors: Ultimate, Spanners (スパナ, Supana^?) appear as enemies, referred to as such in English for the first time. In these games, Spanners received a new redesign, which resembles a hybrid of their Sonic Adventure and Sonic Unleashed designs. In gameplay, they retain the same attack patterns they had in the previous games. In the Wii version and Sonic Colors: Ultimate, they only appear in Planet Wisp and Starlight Carnival.

Sonic Generations[]

In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, Spanners from appear as enemies in Speed Highway, Seaside Hill and Rooftop Run. In this game, they have their design from Sonic Colors. In gameplay, like in the previous games, the Thunder Spinners retain the same attack patterns they had in Sonic Adventure.

Sonic Lost World[]

In the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost World, the Spanners appear as enemies once more, and are encountered in Tropical Coast Zone 2, Frozen Factory Zones 1, 2 and 3, Silent Forest Zones 2 and 3, and Sky Road Zone 3. They were brainwashed by the Deadly Six's magnetic field manipulation, much like the rest of Eggman's robots that appear in the game. In gameplay, they retain their attack pattern from the previous games they appear in.

Sonic Frontiers[]

Spanners appear as enemies in Sonic Frontiers' The Final Horizon update and act the same as in previous appearances once again. They share the same appearance as their Spinner relatives for the first time since Sonic Adventure, though Spanners encountered in Cyber Space still have their design from Colors and Generations.

Powers and abilities[]

Thunder Spinners have the ability to fly in mid-air by rotating their wings. They also come equipped with the ability to discharge electricity around their bodies in the form of a shield, allowing them to both protect themselves and electrocute those making physical contact with them.

Gallery[]

Concept artwork[]

Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Colors (Wii)

Artwork[]

Gallery
Sonic Adventure Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3) Sonic Generations (console/PC) Sonic Rumble

Screenshots[]

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Lost World (Nintendo 3DS)

Sonic Frontiers

References[]