Trip the Sungazer: The Heroine of Sonic Superstars

She wears armor, an intimidating helmet, she hangs out with Eggman and sets traps. Everything about Trip the Sungazer screams "villain." That's exactly the point: Sonic Superstars' newcomer is a red herring, and her true face is one of the most touching in the recent saga.

Who is Trip the Sungazer?

Trip is the character introduced with Sonic Superstars, released on October 17, 2023. A small chronological clarification: her very first appearance was not the game but the animated short film "Trio of Trouble," broadcast on September 20, 2023, almost a month earlier.

Her species is worth a look because it informs her entire design. A sungazer is not a generic lizard: it is the giant girdled lizard (Smaug giganteus), a very real, large, armored lizard from South Africa. And the pun is intentional — in Japanese, sungazer is ヨロイトカゲ (yoroi-tokage), literally "armored lizard." Hence her armor. Naoto Ohshima, co-creator of Sonic, explicitly confirmed it: the character was born from her species name.

Under the helmet, Trip is shy, clumsy, and helpful, constantly devaluing herself. Her official Sonic Channel profile lists her at 73 cm and 25 kg — she is smaller than Sonic. She is a native of the Northstar Islands, the unexplored archipelago where the game takes place, and a member of a sungazer clan whose charge her grandfather passed on to her.

Superstars' fake villain

We discover her helmeted and armored, an unsettling silhouette, alongside Fang the Hunter and Dr. Eggman, as they transform the archipelago's giant animals into Badniks. The game lets you draw the obvious conclusion. She's a fake.

The prequel comic "Fang's Big Break" reveals the truth: Fang captures a giant Flicky, Trip tries to challenge him with a spear, stumbles, drops her weapon — and Fang blackmails her into guiding him and Eggman through the Northstar Islands, which only she knows. Trip is never evil: she is extorted and abused. Her traps, moreover, systematically blow up in her face — she is utterly useless with technology.

This was a design intention. Takashi Iizuka explained that he wanted to portray her against the grain of the usual villain, "not in an obvious 'I'm super strong' way," so that people could identify with her. To call her a "reformed villain" is therefore a misinterpretation: she never had anything to repent for.

Her Superstars companion

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Amy's apple, or how everything changes

The character's pivotal moment belongs neither to Sonic nor to Fang. It belongs to Amy Rose.

In Lagoon City, Trip tries to activate a trap against the heroes. The mechanism jams. She goes to check — and falls in. Stuck underground, she waits. Fang, meanwhile, does nothing to get her out. It is at this precise moment that she understands he is truly evil, and she bursts into tears.

Then Amy descends. She pulls her out of the hole, offers her an apple, and leaves without asking for anything. That's all. This tiny gesture is what tips Trip to the side of the heroes — not a speech, not a battle, not a revelation. A helping hand and a piece of fruit.

The guardian of the Black Onyx

Let's correct a common misconception: Trip is not a "knight." No official source uses that word. The canonical term is guardian — she is the protector of the Black Onyx, descended from a line of sungazers charged with this vigil, and her armor is a ceremonial armor linked to this duty, not combat gear.

She is unlocked by completing the main campaign: after the credits, she becomes playable in all modes, including story mode. "Trip's Story" is a separate, more difficult mode where she is the only playable character.

Her playstyle borrows from both Amy and Knuckles: she performs a double jump then, by holding the button, transforms into a spiked wheel that adheres to walls and ceilings and rolls along the surface, opening up areas inaccessible to others. Her ability related to the gray Emerald is even more unexpected: she breathes fire, up to three bouncing fireballs in a row — and without needing her super form.

Her super form is a dragon

This is where Superstars makes its biggest splash. With the seven Chaos Emeralds, Trip does not become a golden, hedgehog-like character. She transforms into a true dragon. The official name for this transformation is Dragon Form, never "Super Trip."

The design loop closes here: an armored lizard named after the Japanese "armored lizard," who already breathes fire, and who ends up becoming a dragon for good.

Be careful not to confuse two dragons in the same game: Trip's Dragon Form has nothing to do with the Black Dragon, the creature sealed in the Black Onyx that serves as the final boss of the Last Story. Trip does not become the Black Dragon — she reseals it. Her Dragon Form, she uses to defeat Fang. The little abused guardian settles her score with her blackmailer as a dragon.

Recap

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is Trip a villain?
  No, and that's her whole arc. She only acts alongside Eggman and Fang because Fang blackmails her: he forces her to guide them through the Northstar Islands that only she knows.
• What is a sungazer?
  The giant girdled lizard (Smaug giganteus), a very real armored lizard from South Africa. In Japanese, its name literally means "armored lizard," which explains the character's armor.
• How to unlock Trip?
  By fully completing the main campaign of Sonic Superstars. She then becomes playable in all modes, and has her own "Trip's Story" mode, which is more difficult.
• What is Trip's super form?
  The Dragon Form: with the seven Chaos Emeralds, she transforms into a true dragon instead of turning golden. Not to be confused with the Black Dragon, the final boss she reseals.
• Who makes Trip switch to the side of the heroes?
  Amy Rose. Trip falls into her own trap in Lagoon City, Fang doesn't lift a finger to get her out, and it's Amy who descends to free her and offers her an apple.

🔎 To go further: 🔫 Fang the Hunter, 🎮 the complete discography and 🥚 Dr. Eggman.

🐉 Fang, Trip, and the whole Superstars gang await you in our Sonic figurines.