Wave and Storm: The Rogues’ Besties
During the years, l've always seen people picture Jet and Wave to be best friends, with some headcanons even stating that they both already knew each other long before even meeting Storm (which lore-wise I think it doesn't make any sense since they would ALL be knowing each other since birth already, due to their parents and the ones before them being part of the same select dynasty).
But what if I told you the actual best friends were not Jet and Wave, but Storm and Wave?
Hi, It's ILO. This time I wanted to revive and remix a silly topic I spoke about a while ago on my personal blog, so if you've been following me for a while you might find this post familiar.
This post will only mention instances from Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity and Sonic Racing Crossworlds, also because... there isn't much to say about the rest. Aside from Babylon Rising, they don't interact a lot if not at all in the comics. It's always Wave > Jet < Storm and never a full triangle, and if they do share a word or two it's always about their objective or Jet. Idem with Free Riders.
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Judging by the dynamic they hold throughout the first two Riders game i think it's pretty clear they know each other a lot, and seem also to tolerate one another well:
Wave is sassy and gets aggressive easily, and while others find this annoying or intimidating, Storm not only tolerates it but even pisses her off voluntarily because he KNOWS how she would react.
Let's go in order and speak starting from the first Riders, shall we?
In the first cutscene of the Babylon story in OG Riders he does exactly what just cited, by denying her taking the Babylon Garden's key, even mocking her just to get a laugh.
Not only that, but Wave as well, who was getting visibly angry, instead plays along by seeming cutesy.
Pretty sure if it was someone else she wouldn't have tried with puppy eyes but would've straight up snatched the thing from their hands and maybe even slapped them (which she actually still does later on, lol).
And even when Wave happened to actually get mad at Storm, as some scenes later when Storm returns to Jet lamenting how he lost in the Grand Prix, which might've been the fault of Knux 'special gear, he seems to overreact to a comical extent instead of actually getting hurt by her essentially telling him that he's delusional AND sucks ass at riding EGs (just as much as she's prickly since she's misinterpreted completely what he said.
"But what if he actually did get offended?" Maybe he did? But... come on, look at this
He's SO dramatic about it (and before doing the enormous gasp he gives the NASTIEST side-eye ever), and when Jet calls them out he immediately locks in, same with Wave. My guess is, again, he's used to it and likes to make up some drama.
I say this because whenever Storm would enter Jet's office to report/lament about something and Wave had comments to say, like literally calling him worthless, he would just shove it off.
Literally he just looks at her like this. The fuck do you want?
Also, you can see Wave hinting a little satisfied grin in the process. She enjoys mocking Storm just as much as he does with her.
He's used to this; she is used to this. They like poking fun at one another because they know each other enough to be comfortable doing so, and I think that's as high as you can get in a friendship. Something similar happens in Zg as well, but i'll talk about it later on.
However that of course doesn't mean they never get actually upset when being grating;
They did get angry not too long after the banter for the Babylon Garden's key, by continuously interrupting each other to be the first one to break the big news to Jet, even to the point of both pushing the other.
This whole sequence is just so hilariously stupid I don't even blame Jet for rolling his eyes and sighing hard.
Both turned their back and got all pissy, but immediately went back to normal the second Eggman stepped in. It's nothing really serious after all, it's just the adults acting like dumb kids in front of the ACTUAL kid, which is so ironic.
Not to mention the back slap Storm gives Wave that almost had her fall on the ground for telling Jet they should get going because "he wanted to say it", and all Wave does is give him the bro? eye, acting like she wasn't about to spit her whole left lung out and faceplant.
It's not surprising at all that Storm can't measure the amount of force he's got to use with others. I like to think this was the case with Wave particularly because he deems her as strong enough to handle him, but I digress. This also shows very simply Storm's himbo nature as he doesn't really think little things like this through. It’s these small details that makes me appreciate the first Sonic Riders so much.
Again, as I said before with the cube, I'm pretty sure Wave would've been LIVID if somebody else did that to her, but she just lets it slide because Storm did it. Again, another pretty good demonstration they're very comfortable with one another.
And before beginning to talk about Zero Gravity... big shout out to the introduction cutscene: Storm got his board stolen and went flying in the air and instead of leaving him behind, Wave goes and catches him, dragging him until they manage to return Type-S back.
Peak friendship if you ask me.
Point is, having 80kg/176 Ibs of weight attached to your Extreme Gear, not even properly balanced, has to be hard as hell, but Wave still went through the hustle in order to carry him along with her and Jet despite him losing his EG. Thus I'd safely say that they also DO care about each other, which people might not realise immediately due to their love language being shitting on one another.
But actually, there's another example of this care being shown. When Jet and Wave were in Green Cave, waiting for Storm to return from his mission, she was visibly agitated wondering what happened to him, going as far as interrupting Jet's nap because of all the noise she was making.
But actually actually, there's another scene that shows this preoccupation, this one in the second game.
With this premise, let's get onto Zero Gravity...
Unfortunately not much can be said for this game. In general after the first Riders, Wave and Storm spoke to each other very scarcely, in my opinion because of no one knowing how/wanting to properly characterize them, thus washing them down to Jet's personal assistants (which is what they are, but it's NOT a personality trait. It's their damn job), first, and second because this time the game was heavily focusing on story rather than carrying itself mostly by the characters.
However, some moments can still be mentioned.
In Zero Gravity, a similiar situation to the last one occurs, and while she is way more laid back about it, she still is the one to notice him missing in the room, following the others' observation of Amy's absence by stating Storm wasn't in the room as well.
In general she seems to be the one worrying about her mate's presence or not, Storm's in particular as he was the one always going on missions or getting lost.
For example how stupidly they act alike when carefully waiting for Jet to extract the Ark of the Cosmos from the altar, even giving them the facepalm right after.
Nothing too see here. Just two besties sharing the grand total of one single brain cell.
This scene is not a big deal, but it's still remarkable to some degree when talking about their friendship. Wave's the intelligent and cynical one, and yet still manages to act as silly as Storm when found in a situation like this. It's like meeting your comfort person after a long day of work, with whom you can be more open with. Also could be that Storm's energy is so strong to be able to influence even a mind as sharp as Wave's.
Now to the bit I was talking about earlier. I won't analyze too further into it as I basically explained earlier what this kind of interaction makes about their relationship. Wave sees a shooting star, and decides to make a wish. Storm notices that and mocks her and basically calls her immature, until he searches for approval from Jet and sees him doing the same. Despite this. Wave seems to ignore what he had to say completely.
It's basically the situation that once took place in OGSR making its comeback in ZG, with the difference that now the roles are reversed
The results are pretty much the same with Storm making fun of Wave, and her giving him the cold shoulder, just like he used to do everytime he burst into Jet's office and Wave was ready to blast roasts.
Mean words don't necessarily cause emotional weight for them when it's the other saying them because, again, they're probably used to that.
Also Storm's comment could've just been something he didn't really think about, just like the slap, and having that in mind just led Wave to ignore him.
Even in this case there's got to be some degree of understanding to know when to actually get hurt by a mean affirmation.
This actually happens when Wave announces to Jet to have found something interesting about the ancient texts they had discovered. She goes on to say she would paraphrase what was written in them, and basically suggested simplifying as much as she possibly could, throwing shade at both Storm and Jet, insinuating they're too stupid to understand what she can.
She didn't smirk or throw a sneaky eye at all; she launched that bomb, didn't bat an eye and then turned her back on them just to rub more salt to the disrespectful wound.
Wave didn't hint a single bit of sarcasm with that, and in fact Storm genuinely looked just as hurt as Jet's ego.
(side note, this was honestly well deserved on Jet's part. I love him just as much as the next person, but he acts like such a massive prick in ZG to the point of being genuinely irritating. I don't know who decided to write him like this, but good on Wave for reminding him who the actual smartest in the room is).
(This dialogue also has a tiny spot in my heart for being the ONLY thing that brought back some of Wave's mean but witty attitude from the first game. She was so plain and watered down in ZG I'm surprised she didn't change name from Wave to Still).
Unfortunately, after this there isn't much left to talk about, BUT the peculiarity of these last things left is the way they communicate without pronouncing a single word.
This happens twice: the first time after finding Jet and reassuring him about obtaining the Ark of the Cosmos Amy has a hold on, and the second time while reacting to Jet's intention of betting on the Ark of the Cosmos while challenging Sonic to a race on their way to Eggman through Crimson Tower.
They didn't babble a single word, but still managed to convey their thoughts to each other.
The first example displays the scenario of just them being in agreement over the plan for what's to come, as Jet accepted Wave's suggestion.
However, the second one in particular shows their bond pretty strongly, because when they heard Jet say what he said, they IMMEDIATELY looked at one another, trying to see if they were thinking the same about what they've just heard, and by their faces of disbelief, my guess is yeah, they did: "Did you hear the same bullshit I heard or??"
So not only the first thing they did before anything else was going to the other one to know about their opinion, but they ended up having the same one and agreeing, too. Thus, this goes to show Wave values Storm opinion more that anybody else's, and viceversa Storm with Wave (without including Jet, of course), and that despite them being opposites they manage to read the other one very well to the point of just needing a look in the eyes to say something.
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And to the third and last little example: Sonic Racing Crossworlds.
As we are all well aware, CW doesn't have a story, but it has some very entertaining and, surprisingly, on character dialogues.
Fortunately the Rogues are a good example of this! And in this case, Wave and Storm finally go back to speaking to one another without Jet being in the damn middle, and what kind of speak? Banter, yay.
They seemed to have returned to petty fights, and this time Storm might want to actually take his revenge from his messy "coworker".
Wave seemed to have some flashbacks... that slap really left a double mark, huh?
I'm going to be honest, I don't have anything to say about these comments. They're there, and don't really have a specific context unlike some other liners they both have with other characters (especially Wave has some very intriguing ones), so l' just leave these screens here and wrap this up.
Overall, I think Wave and Storm's friendship is quite strong and definitely genuine.
They seem like a duo of best friends I can definitely picture as real people, because this kind of connection and understanding is something you would see happening between two close friends; the snappy comebacks, the kind of pointless but funny arguments...
I'm definitely bitter about the fact that they have been reduced to "Jet's minion and that's it'’s, making them talk exclusively to him and not to each other... at all. I literally cannot picture a single instance in current Sonic media where they have spoken to one another when it was not about Jet, the current situation or any other bullshit.
Again, aside from these examples l've brought up and Babylon Rising, they made them almost completely ignore each other, which is a gigantic shame.
Many people argue that they're just there for comedic relief, and then you don't even properly use them for that purpose? Come on!
Their stupid out of the blue arguments were one of the most entertaining parts of Sonic Riders, and now this schtik is completely gone because no one can bother to properly characterise them and let them have some nuances that make them able to act like ACTUAL people would.
Jet and Wave arguing because Jet wants to be reckless and Wave doesn't isn't funny. Wave isn't the goddamn group mama, she's a cocky control freak, which is why her misunderstanding against Storm after he accused Knuckles of using a modded gear makes more sense than her acting weirdly calm in order to forcefully create contrast between her and Jet.
Storm and Wave are opposites, Jet and Storm are opposites, meanwhile Wave and Jet have several things in common. All can make up for good comedy, but one is UNused, the second is still being used (sometimes too much) and the latter is MISused.
Not to mention that one of the most important aspects that make the dynamics what they are is the group hierarchy.
Jet's got to be more professional and composed around the two because of his status as a leader, thus making him take a more emotional distance from them (which sometimes slips, as already seen: Storm is his loyal sidekick, and Wave is the mechanic/researcher of the group. That's it.
On the other hand, Wave and Storm don't seem to have given actual labels to one another, as they don't need to do so, which allows them to have much less filters with one another, ultimately leading them to act like friends who got put in the same group project. If they did give labels to one another, they wouldn't be based on their group role, but rather on a personality trait.
Remember the first cutscene of the Babylon story in Sonic Riders?
"Nuh-uh, you can't touch that because you're probably gonna do something weird to it!"
That's a label Wave has, the mechanic, but in Storm's head it probably translates to the “workshop-dweller constantly trying to find something to keep her hands busy", even calling her kind of greasy.
(I know it's a common saying to use, but can you imagine if he meant to call her literally greasy? Mean as hell but 10 times funnier).
So, Jet is really the only one who needs to have a precise mind scheme of what the group is as he's the one leading it, whereas Wave and Storm find themselves on the same level, just following orders, which probably had them develop a more sincere bond.
Like, what is more sincere than this?
"This sucks I'll make that mf go here next time". Group project core, and of course all the work goes to the nerd.
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This is all I have to say about this topic, and to conclude this essay, here’s a little compilation of Storm and Wave's interactions!
This was an old one I made with the Japanese dub and no subtitles, unfortunately, but I might leave this as a place holder to replace with the English compilation. So for now just enjoy their Japanese voices, which I personally prefer over the English ones (but not over the Italian's).
As usual, sorry for eventual grammar/syntax errors. In some parts I was rambling a bit so I hope my points are still clear.
This is all from me for now.
Bye, cunt (c u next time).
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