Characters / Rocket Knight Adventures

A list of characters who appear in Rocket Knight Adventures and its sequels.

The Good Guys

Sparkster

The leader of the Rocket Knights.

• Always Someone Better: Sparkster being chosen to be the new leader of the Rocket Knights is what led to Axel's path of villainy.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: On the box art for US Rocket Knight Adventures, Sparkster was edited to have a grimace. A rare case of it actually slipping into the original Japanese version since in all versions of Sparkster he is conveyed as less cartoonish and happy.
• Anime Hair: He has some under his helmet.
• Armored But Frail: The higher the difficulty, the less his armor will protect him from enemy attacks, to the Logical Extreme of becoming a One-Hit-Point Wonder.
• Badass Adorable: Especially his end-of-level victory animations.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: It can't even be handwaved in the original game because the Pig Soldiers and Axel Gear wear spacesuits when fought in space. For all it's worth, Sparkster did have some kind of spell cast on him by the princess...
• Big "WHAT?!": Does this a lot in Sparkster (SNES), most notably at the end of the first stage when Axel Gear steals Princess Flora.
• Blue Is Heroic: He wears a suit of light blue armor.
• Call to Agriculture: In between the events of Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 and Rocket Knight, Sparkster took up farming, got married, and had a son.
• The Cameo: Sparkster appeared as a cameo in several Konami games, such as Snatcher, Contra: Shattered Soldier, Mitsumete Knight, Ganbare Goemon 2, and New International Track & Field. Most oddly of all, a human version of Sparkster appears in Konami's Jikkyou Powerful Pro Wrestling '96: MAX VOLTAGE, where he bears a passing resemblance to Hulk Hogan.
• The Comically Serious: In the SNES version of Sparkster, his general disposition is much more serious and far less cheerful than in the Megadrive series. He is still prone to spurts of comical slapstick or panic however. He also still looks adorably content when dangling by his tail, seems to be a possum thing.
• Flying Brick: Sparkster is this when he uses his jet pack, and it is even capable of flight in certain levels.
• Golden Super Mode: In Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, if the player collects all seven Keys to the Seals, Sparkster's armor will become the Legendary Armor, and the true ending will be shown after the Big Bad, King Gedol is defeated. Gold Sparkster charges his jet pack faster and his attacks do more damage, but unlike Super Sonic, he can still take damage.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A male example; Sparkster has blonde hair and is the series' hero.
• Immune to Mind Control: In the "Last of the Rocket Knights" comic from Sonic the Comic, he is immune to King Gedol's mind-control spell due to his enchanted armor protecting him.
• Jet Pack: Sparkster's primary method of transport.
• Jump Jet Pack: This is Sparkster's jet pack's primary function. Only in a select number of levels does it grant real flight.
• Mascot with Attitude: Though much more-down-to earth than others of his time.
• Mighty Glacier: In lower difficulties, Sparkster is as resilient as he is slow and cumbersome, relying on his Jet Pack for agility. Averted in higher difficulties, which reduces his durability to add to the difficulty, going as far as making him a One-Hit-Point Wonder.
• One-Man Army: He's able to take on entire armies singlehandedly. In fact, he seems to be the only Knight in his entire Kingdom despite being the Leader of the Rocket Knights.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: He does this in the original game whenever he gets scared or surprised. In the SNES version of Sparkster, he even lets out a few chipmunk-ish squeals.
• Younger Than He Looks: Abiding by this commercial, Sparkster is a young boy whose voice hasn't even dropped.

Princess Sherry

The daughter of King El Zebulos.

• Damsel in Distress: She is captured by Axel Gear in the original game.
• Demoted to Extra: While she appears in the opening and ending cutscenes in Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, her Damsel in Distress role is taken by her cousin, Princess Cherry, and her appearance in Rocket Knight is a cameo in the ending cutscene.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: In the cutscene before Stage 6, when Emperor Devligus Devotindos escapes to the Pig Star, after Sparkster rescues her, she casts a spell on him that allows him to fly through space.

King El Zebulos

The king of Zebulos.

• Demoted to Extra: In Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, he only appears in the ending cutscene, and in Rocket Knight, he is only mentioned in the story.
• The Good King: He is beloved by the kingdom of Zebulos for his tolerance and fairness. In his youth, he was friends with Mifune Sanjulo and went on many adventures with him.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: He is notably shorter than Princess Sherry and Sparkster.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: In the cutscene before Stage 4, he catches up to Sparkster at a canyon and provides a cannon as a means of transport to the Big Barone.

Princess Cherry

Princess Sherry's cousin and King El Zebulos' niece, who appears in Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2.

• Damsel in Distress: She is kidnapped by Axel Gear, and the goal of the game is to rescue her.

Princess Flora

The daughter of King Eginasem, who appears in Sparkster (SNES).

• Damsel in Distress: She is kidnapped by Axel Gear, and the goal of the game is to rescue her.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: As Sparkster (SNES) has a separate continuity from Rocket Knight Adventures and Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, she fulfills the roles of Princess Sherry from the former game and Princess Cherry from the latter game.

The Bad Guys

Axel Gear

The leader of the Black Knights, a group of renegade Rocket Knights, and Sparkster's rival.

• Arch-Enemy: He serves as this to Sparkster. The Big Bad may vary depending on the game, but Axel Gear is always there to face Sparkster again.
• Black Knight: He is the leader of a squadron of Rocket Knights who have gone rogue.
• The Dragon: Axel Gear serves as enforcer to whoever the game's Big Bad is.
• Dragon with an Agenda: His main reason for serving under each Big Bad is usually to have another go at Sparkster
• Driven by Envy: Sparkster's promotion to leader of the Rocket Knights is what fuels Axel Gear's jealousy.
• Enemy Mine: In Rocket Knight, he and the Pig Soldiers team up with Sparkster to stop the Wolf army.
• Evil Counterpart: To Sparkster, having similar abilities, plus a jet pack and a sword.
• The Heavy: The sole recurring villain across the series and usually the one who initiates the plot of each game, as well as the one Sparkster has to fight multiple times throughout.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Axel Gear is The Dragon to each game's Big Bad, but is the one Sparkster has a personal rivalry with..
• Joker Immunity: Even though Sparkster always kills the Big Bad, Axel Gear always survives every battle he loses against Sparkster.
• Mirror Boss: Like Sparkster, he uses a jet pack and a sword to battle. However, it should be noted that Axel is always stronger than Sparkster, as he can rocket boost without losing control and even fly freely, whereas Sparkster has to deal with the wild recoil of his rocket boosts and cannot fly or even hover.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: When Sparkster is chosen by their master instead of Axel Gear to lead the others, Axel Gear retaliates by killing his master.
• Pre-Final Boss:
  • In the original game, Sparkster fights him a third time in the Pig Star before facing off against the Pig Star Computer.
  • In Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, Sparkster fights him in the heart of King Gedol's castle before facing off against King Gedol himself.
• Purple Is Powerful: In the first three games, he wore dark purple armor.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: In Rocket Knight, he dons a suit of red and black armor and also has black hair.
• The Rival: He serves as this to Sparkster.
• The Starscream: The manual for the original game states that he wants to overthrow Devligus and take over the Devotindos Empire once he's out of the picture.
• Stealing the Credit: In Rocket Knight, Axel Gear takes credit for defeating a Wolf Army mech that Sparkster had beaten.
• Terrible Trio: He forms one with Emperor Devligus Devotindos and Captain Fleagle in the original game, one with King Gedol and Paeli in Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, and one with Generalissimo Lioness and Colonel Wolfhiem in Sparkster (SNES).
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: In the original game, he and Emperor Devligus serve as the Vile Villains to Captain Fleagle's Laughable Lackey. Axel Gear's motives are to destroy Sparkster and help Devligus achieve his goal of reactivating the Pig Star, then take over the Devotindos Empire once Devligus is out of the picture.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: An odd example; Axel Gear always lives to fight another day, while the Big Bad always dies.

Emperor Devligus Devotindos

The leader of the Devotindos Empire, and the Big Bad of the original game.

---

• Big Bad: Of the first game, which is centered around his plot to unseal the Pig Star and use it to take over Zephyrus.
• The Emperor: Ruler of the Devotindos Empire.
• Fat Bastard: He is notably stouter than his minions.
• Killed Off for Real: His robot body is destroyed by Sparkster, and when his consciousness returns as part of the Pig Star's core it gets eliminated when Sparkster destroys the Core.
• Large and in Charge: He is much bigger than his minions.
• Pig Man: He and his minions are all pig-like creatures.
• Sinister Swine: He's the leader of the pig-like Devotindos Empire and a sinister tyrant.
• Robotic Reveal: In the battle against him, Emperor Devligus is revealed to be a robot. It later turns out he is one of many such robots stocked aboard the Pig Star.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: He and Axel Gear serve as the Vile Villains to Captain Fleagle's Laughable Lackey. His motive is to reactivate the Pig Star and destroy Planet Elhorn.
• Villainous Legacy: The manual for Rocket Knight Adventures 2 states that the chaos the Devotindos invasion caused and the power vacuum it left behind are what allowed the Gedol Empire to rise to power.

Captain Fleagle

The boss of the Big Barone.

---

• Butt-Monkey: He gets progressively more beat-up looking as the stage goes on.
• Death Throws: When you can finally cut him down directly, he falls off the screen upon defeat.
• Green and Mean: Like most of the other Pig Soldiers, he wears a green uniform.
• The Napoleon: He even dresses like the Trope Namer.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Fleagle is fairly goofy and incompetent throughout most of Stage 4, but he does prove he can be fairly formidable when he takes control of the stage's boss, a giant robot in his likeness.
• Sinister Swine: Like the other members of the Devotindos Empire, he's a pig and a villain.
• Tennis Boss: In the first battle against him, he tosses explosives at you. You can't reach him with your normal attacks due to a laser blocking your path, so you have to hit the bombs back at him to damage him.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: He serves as the Laughable Lackey to both Emperor Devligus and Axel Gear's Vile Villains. He's a clumsy oaf who suffers a series of Amusing Injuries in his attempts to defeat Sparkster.

Pig Soldiers

The minions of Emperor Devligus Devotindos.

---

• Comedic Underwear Exposure: When they are attacked, they will lose their armor and run away in their underwear.
• The Goomba: They are the most common enemies in the original game.
• Green and Mean: Many of them have green armor and vehicles.
• Sinister Swine:
  • In the original game, they want to wield the power of the Pig Star to rule the planet.
  • In Rocket Knight, they help Sparkster's people to push back the Wolf Army, as a ploy to gain their trust so they could invade them once the Wolves were pushed back.

King Gedol

The Big Bad of Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, and the leader of the Gedol Empire.

• Attack Its Weak Point: The red gem on his head is his second form's weak point.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Whereas Devligus was a pig who mainly made use of technology, Gedol is a lizard who uses magic. Also, unlike Devligus Gedol isn't a robot.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: One of his attacks is a spell where he can swap bodies with Sparkster, and the player can briefly control Sparkster in Gedol's body.
• Green and Mean: He has green skin and is a cruel warlord.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Sparkster delivers the final hit to him by splitting him in half down the middle.
• Interspecies Romance: In the "Last of the Rocket Knights" comic from Sonic the Comic, he attempts to marry Princess Sherry in order to unite the kingdom under his empire.
• Killed Off for Real: He is killed by Sparkster at the end of the game.
• Large and in Charge: He is much bigger than his minions.
• Lizard Folk: He and his minions are all anthropomorphic lizards.
• One-Winged Angel: After the first phase of the battle against him, King Gedol grows to an enormous size and shoots lasers from his eyes. Sparkster has to attack the jewel in the center of his head to damage him. This phase of the battle is skipped on the easiest difficulty.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: He and his minions all serve as the game's enemies.

Paeli

The boss of Stage 3.

• Green and Mean: He has green skin like King Gedol and the rest of the Lizard soldiers.
• Lizard Folk: Like the rest of the Gedol Empire, he's an anthropmorphic lizard.
• Shrink Ray: He can use this on Sparkster, rendering him harmless for a few seconds.

Lizard Soldiers

The minions of King Gedol.

• The Goomba: They are the most common enemies in the game.
• Green and Mean: Like King Gedol, they all have green skin.
• Lizard Folk: They're all anthropomorphic lizards.
• Purple Is Powerful: Like Axel Gear, they all wear purple armor.

Generalissimo Lioness

The Big Bad of Sparkster (SNES) and the leader of the Yellow Dogs.

• Gender-Blender Name: He is actually a male lion.
• Killed Off for Real: Although he dies at the end of the game, how he dies depends on which mode you play. If you play on Normal, he dies before he can launch a warhead to destroy planet Eginasem, but if you play on Hard, he dies just after he launches the warhead.
• Robotic Reveal: When you defeat him, he is revealed to be a robot. He uses his last ounce of strength to get Princess Flora's key to the seal, but whether he dies before or after he launches the warhead depends on which difficulty of the game you play.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's a lot like Emperor Devligus Devotindos from the original game, being the game's Big Bad who rules over a militaristic force that makes use of technology to invade Zephyrus and who's revealed to be a robot in his defeat.

Colonel Wolfheim

The mini-boss of Stage 3, and the boss of Stage 4.

• Dead Hat Shot: After his battle mech explodes in Stage 4, his hat's all that's left.
• Savage Wolves: A wolf who's a brutal commander in Generalissimo Lioness' army.

Wolf Soldiers

The minions of Generalissimo Lioness.

• Comedic Underwear Exposure: Like the pigs in the original game, when they are attacked, they will lose their armor and run away in their underwear.
• The Goomba: They are the most common enemies in the game.
• Savage Wolves: These lupine solders are in service to a tyrant.

Ulfgar the Merciless

The leader of the Wolf Army, and the main antagonist of the first half of Rocket Knight.

• Cool Crown: He wears one to indicate his status as king.
• Death Throws: Sweinhart's finishing blow drops him off the screen.
• Disc-One Final Boss: The main antagonist for the first half of the game. Once he is defeated, General Sweinheart takes over as the game's Big Bad.
• Great White Beast: He has snowy fur, befitting the mighty leader of a northern tribe of barbarians.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He waves the white flag after Sparkster defeats him. Sadly, General Sweinhart isn't one to take prisoners...
• Large and in Charge: He's one of the tallest characters in the game, and leader of his people.
• Made of Iron: Sparkster can't harm him with direct attacks. The only way to do damage is to hit his own bombs back at him, or trick him into charging into stone blocks.
• Savage Wolves: He's the leader of such a tribe.

General Sweinhart

The new leader of the Devotindos Empire, and the main antagonist of the second half of Rocket Knight.

• Big Bad: The real main antagonist of Rocket Knight.
• Evil All Along: Though he presents himself as a friend to the kingdom of Zephyrus, his real agenda for over a decade was to deceive his way into power, then take the kingdom for himself.
• Flunky Boss: Not content to just fight you with a huge robot, General Sweinhart will call in minions to help kill Sparkster.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He ends up being defeated by having his hover-capsule knocked out of the air and onto the electrified hands of his own mecha.
• Humongous Mecha: Not being a skilled fighter like Axel Gear, the General fights from the cockpit of a giant robot built in his own image.
• The Napoleon: Like Captain Fleagle from the original game, he dresses like the Trope Namer.
• Pig Man: Like his minions, he is an anthropomorphic pig.
• Puzzle Boss: First, you have to hammer his giant robot's snout several times. Then, as Sweinhart deploys in his hover-capsule and flies around shooting at you, you have to hit him so that when he topples out of the air, he lands on top of his mech's electrified hands.
• Sinister Swine: He's the leader of the Devotindos Empire in Rocket Knight.