Doctor Eggman's flying fortresses

The fictional villain Doctor Eggman from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games uses a large amount of gigantic combat aircraft in his quest for world domination.

The very first one being the Sky Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog for Game Gear. The most widely known airship stage, however, was the Wing Fortress Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. They have reappeared (often with different names) in many games since - one zone in Sonic & Knuckles was aboard a flying fortress called the "Flying Battery", and another in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure which was aboard the "Aerobase".

Sky Base Zone

 * Main article: Sky Base Zone

The Sky Base Zone appeared as the final Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear and Master System. It was Eggman's first flying fortress; a blimp, gray and red in color. It floated above Eggman's Scrap Brain base on South Island.

After Sonic reached Eggman at Act 3 of Scrap Brain Zone, the doctor escaped to the heavens on a floating platform. Sonic followed him to the Sky Base, and fought his way through the airship. At the end, Sonic battled Eggman in the base, and then escaped from the Sky Base.

Though not a flying fortress, a smaller blimp similar to Sky Base would appear in the game, Shadow the Hedgehog. It appears in the level Iron Jungle as Eggman's getaway blimp, and you have the option of destroying it to complete the Hero Mission.

Wing Fortress Zone

 * Main article: Wing Fortress Zone

The Wing Fortress Zone was the second-to-last Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive. It was a large brown airship driven by both propellers and powerful jet engines. It was armed with laser cannons to fight hostile aircraft, along with Clucker Badniks and spherical energy turrets on the exterior. Inside, there was a ceiling-mounted laser that blasted enemies and spike-equipped floating platforms as a last line of defense. According to logos seen on the Wing Fortress, it is classified as "EG-01".

After Sonic and Tails defeated Eggman at Act 3 of the Metropolis Zone, he fled to the Wing Fortress. Sonic and Tails followed him with Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, throughout the Sky Chase Zone. After catching up to the Wing Fortress, the Tornado was blasted by its lasers and crash-landed, but Sonic managed to jump onto the fortress. He ran along the outside of the Wing Fortress until he found an entrance, where Eggman pitted him against the aforementioned ceiling laser. Sonic destroyed it and chased the fleeing Eggman to a spaceship located in the front of the Wing Fortress. Tails reappeared with a repaired Tornado (now with a rocket on the bottom), and Sonic managed to get onto the spaceship and was taken to the Death Egg Zone.

Death Egg

 * Main article: Death Egg

Death Egg is a parody of Death Star from Star Wars. It is the last zone for Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. In Sonic 2, the Death Egg is only a fight with Mecha Sonic and Death Egg Robot. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the Death Egg is a complete zone.

Flying Battery Zone

 * Main article: Flying Battery Zone

The Flying Battery Zone first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where it was colored green and orange, and performed a bombing run on Sonic and Tails near the end of Angel Island Zone Act 2. It appeared again in Sonic & Knuckles as an entire Zone. There it was colored gray and orange, and was apparently a place for manufacturing the Capsules seen throughout the Sonicgames.

After Eggman was defeated at the end of Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2, he fled onto the Flying Battery as it swooped down to get him. Sonic and Tails grabbed onto it, and moved through the ship, fighting a fake robotic Capsule on the way. They eventually reached Eggman, who pitted them against a laser very similar to the one from the Wing Fortress. After the laser was fired a number of times, it damaged the Flying Battery, and Eggman escaped once again. The heroes followed and battled him, and proceeded to flee the airship into the Sandopolis Zone below.

Apparently, the Flying Battery was not destroyed at this point (or there was more than one) as Knuckles' story, which takes place after Sonic's, also features a Flying Battery stage (but not a bombing run prior).

Death Egg II

 * Main article: Death Egg II

Silver Castle Zone

 * Main article: Silver Castle Zone

Egg Carrier

 * Main article: Egg Carrier

The Egg Carrier was another large airship, and a quite important location in Sonic Adventure. It was colored black, red and yellow, and was more heavily armed than the previous ships. It had missile launchers, air mines, lock-on energy cannons and a large laser cannon known as the "Egg Cannon" hidden in the beak-like bulb in the front. The Egg Carrier could transform into two shapes; offensive and defensive. While being somewhat streamlined in its offensive shape (pictured), the defensive shape folded the wings out to the sides and makes it much harder to get from the landing area to the bridge. The Egg Carrier was crewed by Eggman and various robots, including the first E-100 robots, notably E-102 Gamma. According to an eyecatcher card in the Japanese version of Sonic X Episode 30, the Egg Carrier is 789 meters long, and weighs 655 281 metric tons.

The Egg Carrier reappears in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game. It is not told in the game if Eggman rebuilt the old Egg Carrier, or if he built an entirely new one. The Egg Carrier looks mostly like the old design, but is in fact smaller, sleeker, more streamlined, and not as clunky.

Egg Carrier 2

 * Main article: Egg Carrier 2

After Chaos obtains all seven Chaos Emeralds, becomes Perfect Chaos and destroys Station Square, Eggman reveals the Egg Carrier 2, which was a fail-safe to use against Chaos in case he rebelled. However, the Egg Carrier 2 proved to be nothing compared to the power of Chaos, who shot it down with a large energy beam. This is almost ironic; Eggman declared previously and proudly how the original Egg Carrier's power was no match for that of Chaos' potential.

Aerobase Zone / Gigantic Angel Zone

 * Main article: Aerobase Zone
 * Main article: Gigantic Angel

The Aerobase Zone was a Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It was a brown ship largely based on the Wing Fortress Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and had the same kind of Badniks and defense mechanisms.

After Sonic fought Knuckles in the Aquatic Relix Zone, Eggman stole Knuckles' Chaos Emerald and headed for the skies. Knuckles used his brute strength to send Sonic straight after him, and Sonic landed on the Tornado, controlled by Tails. Sonic and Tails went through another Sky Chase Zone, and reached the Aerobase without any real problems. Sonic proceeded along the deck of the fortress, and eventually met and fought a Sonic robot. It was largely damaged, and rammed a wall that opened the way into the Aerobase. Sonic entered, and went through the Gigantic Angel Zone, which was the name of the Aerobase's inside. At the end, he battled Eggman who escaped again, with Sonic following him to space once again.

Egg Rocket Zone / Cosmic Angel Zone

 * Main article: Egg Rocket Zone
 * Main article: Cosmic Angel Zone

Egg UtopiaEdit

 * Main article: Egg Utopia

Eggman FleetEdit

 * Main article: Eggman Fleet
 * Main article: Final Fortress

The Eggman Fleet is an immense group of flying battleships built by Doctor Eggman and appear, in various forms, in Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and Sonic Unleashed.

Sonic HeroesEdit
In Sonic Heroes, Eggman has at his command a large fleet of airships, with which he intends to conquer the world - though it turns out that this was simply Metal Sonic attempting to lure Sonic and his friends to him. Whether Eggman or Metal Sonic built this fleet is unknown. The fleet consists of a large number of smaller vessels with a red and grey color scheme, several larger ships painted blue and a giant flying fortress painted a purple-grey color which takes the general appearance of a Stingray. This fleet appears in the last stages of all stories, and the fortress is presumably the setting for the final fight with Metal Sonic. The fleet re-appears in Shadow the Hedgehog, but has been re-painted in all-over red with yellow details, and equipped with the ability to teleport.
 * Egg Fleet: This stage is the second-to-last stage of all stories, and is set in the general airspace around the more minor vessels. It involves much grinding and many precise jumps to complete.
 * Final Fortress: The final stage of Sonic Heroes for all stories. This is set on the largest vessel of the Egg Fleet and involves many switch puzzles, large numbers of Eggman's more advanced robots and several large laser cannons, the pulses from which must be avoided. Towards the midsection of this stage, having narrowly avoided being blown up by the first of the ships Self-Destruct switches, both Shadow and Omega appear to have a sense that something is going to happen when the stage is complete - Shadow commenting that the skies could be an omen and Omega stating that there is an abnormal electromagnetic field. Many characters make references to the original Egg Carrier (Sonic Adventure) during this stage. Tails and Knuckles' comments being "Wow this thing is enormous" "The Egg Carrier is nothing compared to this". Amy comments "This reminds me about our final attack on the Egg Carrier" she was however describing Tails and Sonic storming the Egg Carrier as she did not attack the Egg Carrier, she escaped the Egg Carrier.

Eggman's Space Armada

 * Main article: Eggman's Space Armada

In the prologue, Eggman has recreated the Egg Fleet (Sonic Heroes) as space ships. The ship he first appears in is possibly the main Egg Carrier.

Dead Line

 * Main article: Dead Line

E.G.G. Station Zone

 * Main article: E.G.G. Station Zone

Sky Fortress Zone

 * Main article: Sky Fortress Zone

Death Egg Mk. II

 * Main article: Death Egg Mk.II Zone

Death Egg

 * Main article: Death Egg

Death Egg / Death Egg Mark 2

 * Main article: Death Egg
 * Main article: Death Egg Mark 2

Two different version of the Death Egg appeared in the Archie comics. The first one was based on the original Death Egg from the games, and was employed by the original Robotnik. A second version, the Death Egg Mark 2, debuted much later in the series. It became Dr. Eggman's airborne base of operations, from which he launched attacks on various areas.

Egg Fleet

 * Main article: Egg Fleet (Archie)

The Egg Fleet also appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comic, commanded by Snively Kintobor (under his uncle's supervision). One of its first uses was in capturing the force of criminals led by Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus. Later on, it assisted Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Turbo Tails in an attack on A.D.A.M.'s "gathering", an effort to assemble all the Chaos Emeralds in the universe. It later massed for a new offensive against the Kingdom of Acorn, inflicting heavy damage via aerial bombardment that destroyed Knothole Village. The Egg Fleet was afterwards seen preparing to launch another assault on the newly-revealed city of New Mobotropolis. Fortunately, thanks to NICOLE's defense shields, the initial assault was thwarted, only to be scaled back to bombardment. They were later deployed again, and used to capture Enerjak so Robotnik could use his power for a new project, but suffered heavy losses when Enerjak escaped from his captivity.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Main article: Blimpnik

Sonic Underground

 * Main article: Fortress of Altitude

In Sonic Underground, Doctor Robotnik has created the Fortress of Altitude, a giant flying fortress in the shape of an egg with eyes, making it very similar in appearance to the Death Egg. It is armed with many cannons, which can easily level an entire forest or village. The fortress is created with solid Mobibendum, a very strong substance that can withstand all of Sonic, Manic andSonia's attacks with no damage at all; the metal weighs a ton, so making it fly would be impossible in normal circumstances, but Robotnik has managed to procure a rare Chaos Emerald to levitate it with tremendous ease, and the emerald also allows it to utilize the chaos energy to disintegrate any intruders who managed to infiltrate the fortress' hallways. Altogether, the royal siblings concluded that if the fortress is left as it is, it would completely wipe out the Resistance, with them having no chance against the flying weapon of destruction. When Robotnik threatenedSleet and Dingo for interrupting his work any further, they fear he would roboticize them for being no longer useful, and decided to rebel by stealing the Chaos Emerald from the fortress' engine room, thus causing the Fortress of Altitude to collapse into the ocean and explode, forcing Robotnik to abandon it.

Sonic X
In the anime Sonic X, Eggman uses several flying fortresses that did not appear in the games.

Egg Fort

 * Main article: Egg Fort

Following the destruction of his stationary headquarters in episode 13, Eggman deploys the first of these, the Egg Fort. The Egg Fort was streamlined, black, and had yellow drill-like points in front. This warship served as his vessel for several episodes before damage inflicted in battles with Sonic and friends left it stranded at the bottom of the sea. Later, the Egg Fort was salvaged by GUN, who turned it into the GUN Fort and deployed it against Eggman.

Egg Fort II

 * Main article: Egg Fort II

Eggman then introduced the Egg Fort II in episode 20, a smaller warship that served as his headquarters until its destruction just before the Sonic Adventure adaption. It was a gray, round vessel with a powerful energy cannon. The Egg Fort 2 was actually made out of three smaller ships: When fused as the Egg Fort II, this vessel was even more dangerous, having the ability to turn into a powerful robot named the E-99 Eggsterminator (or Egg Emperor in Japan) which was powered by six Chaos Emeralds. However, even the E-99 proved ineffective when pitted against Super Sonic.
 * Bang, the largest vessel, controlled by Eggman himself.
 * BaBang, a thin ship that is made up of a cockpit along with two engine-like rods, controlled by Decoe.
 * BaBaBang, a square, less-than-streamlined ship, controlled by Bocoe.

Egg Carrier / Egg Carrier 2

 * Main article: Egg Carrier
 * Main article: Egg Carrier 2

The Egg Carrier and Egg Carrier 2 were both used during the cartoon's Sonic Adventure adaption, where they played the same role as they did in the game. In the comic adaption of Sonic X, the Egg Carrier 2 is used many more times, and it seems that it wasn't destroyed by Chaos.

Egg Giant-Makan

 * Main article: Egg Giant-Makan

In Episode 47, Eggman used the Egg Giant-Makan, another fortress. The Egg Giant-Makan was shaped like an old galley, was 891 meters long, and weighed 766 392 tons.

Grand Egg Imperial

 * Main article: Grand Egg Imperial

In the final episode of the first series, Eggman used the Grand Egg Imperial, a combination of the either recovered or rebuilt Egg Fort, Egg Fort II and Egg Carrier. It was equipped with a massive arsenal of lasers and missiles, and almost managed to destroy Tails and his Hyper Tornado. It was destroyed by Super Sonic.

Crimson Egg

 * Main article: Crimson Egg

In the second series, Eggman used a flying saucer known as the Crimson Egg to traverse the galaxy, all the while clashing with Sonic and the Metarex.