Crabmeat

Crabmeats are a species of crab-based Badniks and a recurring enemy in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They first appear in the Sega Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog. Crabmeats are slow-moving Badniks which can shoot projectile balls or homing missiles from their pincers.

Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)
In Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic only encounters Crabmeat in Green Hill Zone and Spring Yard Zone. Crabmeats slowly move back and forth. When a Crabmeat spots Sonic, it begins to charge up its attack. Once ready, they will stop up, extend their claws, and fire two balls of energy from inside their pincers to the sides, which cause damage upon touch. These projects will fly diagonally into the air when launched before dropping to the ground. However, while the Crabmeats charge up their attack, they are sitting ducks. The player can easily defeat these Badniks with a Spin Jump or Spin Attack as they ware vulnerable on all sides. Also, upon their defeat, they release an Animal and award 100 points to the player.

Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)
In Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit), Crabmeats appear as enemies in Green Hill Zone and Jungle Zone. In gameplay, they usually act like their 16-bit counterpart; they scuttle slowly sideways and will fire projectiles from their claws that will slowly drop to the ground. They are also easily destroyed with a Spin Attack or Spin Jump. However Crabmeats, like other Badniks in the game do not have Animals inside of them, like all Badniks in Game Gear and Master System titles. Still, they reward the player with 100 points when destroyed.

Sonic Blast
In Sonic Blast, Crabmeats only appear as enemies in Blue Marine Zone, where they slowly scuttle back and forth, making no effort to attack the player. They also sport a different design in this game, which features a larger body, and smaller claws. Defeating a Crabmeat rewards 100 points to the player, although it does not drop an animal.

Sonic Rivals
In Sonic Rivals, Crabmeat appears on a collectible card.

Sonic the Hedgehog Level Creator
In Sonic the Hedgehog Level Creator, Crabmeats are one of the enemies that users can insert into their custom Zones. The Crabmeat sprites are directly reused from Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis.

In gameplay, Crabmeats slowly move back and forth. When they spot the playable character though, they start charging up their attack. Once ready, they will stop up, extend their claws, and fire two balls of energy from inside their pincers to the sides, which cause damage upon touch. These projects will fly diagonally into the air when launched before dropping to the ground. However, while the Crabmeats charge up their attack, they are sitting ducks. The player can easily defeat these Badniks with a Spin Jump or Spin Attack as they ware vulnerable on all sides. Also, upon their defeat, they release a Ricky and award 100 points to the player.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
In Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Crabmeats appear as a moving obstacle on some of the Sonic the Hedgehog-themed race tracks, such as Whale Lagoon, where they try to block the racers' way. In gameplay, they can be destroyed by drifting into them or by using a Pickup item on them, causing them to disappear.

In terms of appearance, they have cartoony-moving eyes and they also exhibit more realistic crab movements.

Sonic Unleashed (mobile)
In the mobile version of Sonic Unleashed, Crabmeats are enemies encountered in Apotos.

Sonic Colors / Sonic Colors: Ultimate
In the Wii version of Sonic Colors and the remaster Sonic Colors: Ultimate, the Crabmeats reappear again. In this game, they are featured as enemies in Aquarium Park and eventually in other Areas. In gameplay, instead of shooting energy balls, they fire homing missiles from their claws at Sonic.

Sonic Generations
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations and its Nintendo 3DS version, Crabmeats from somewhere across spacetime appear as enemies. In these games, they retain their modernized design from Sonic Colors.

The Crabmeats appear in Green Hill Act 2, and occasionally in Planet Wisp Act 1. In gameplay, they attack the player with homing missiles fired from their claws, like in Sonic Colors. If a Crabmeat manages to hit the playable character, it will fall over in laughter at its accomplishment for while.

Sonic Jump (2012)
in the 2012 remake of Sonic Jump, the Crabmeats appear as enemies in Green Hill Zone. Crabmeat moves normally on platforms and the only way to attack them is to jump towards their underside.

Sonic Dash
In Sonic Dash, Crabmeats make an appearance as enemies. They have their design from Sonic Lost World, but prior to the 4.12.0 update, their design was from Sonic Generations. In gameplay, they only stand in stationary positions without attacking, often appearing in rows to cover all three lanes in the Zone, or lined up one after another on a single lane. The Crabmeats can only damage the playable character if the latter runs into them without attacking. Regardless, the player can easily destroy the Crabmeats by hitting them with a Spin Attack and Dash Boost. Alternatively, the player can avoid them by either jumping over them or switching lanes. As the player starts to run faster, dodging or destroying Crabmeats might become harder.

Crabmeats also make a cameo appearance in Temple Zone, where they appear as objects the player has to remove to build homes for the Animals.

Sonic Lost World
In Sonic Lost World for the Wii U and the PC version, the Crabmeats appear as an enemy. This time around, they have received a cartoon-like design that is similar to their look from earlier games. During the game, Dr. Eggman's Badniks, including the Crabmeats, got hijacked by the Deadly Six. Tails later put Cubot's head on the body of a Crabmeat which caused him to attack the fox cub. However, Eggman blocked the attack and Sonic kicked Cubot's head off of the body.

In this game, there are two types of Crabmeat. The first type is similar to the ones from earlier games, possessing a red color scheme. These types can be found at Tropical Coast Zone 1 and 4. In order to defeat these enemies, the player has to use the Flying Kick to flip them over and make them vulnerable to attack. Trying to attack them without kicking them first will cause them to counter Sonic's attack with a punch. The second type of Crabmeats are featured in Frozen Factory Zone 2 and Lava Mountain Zone 3, which are loosely similar to ones from Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, now with an orange color scheme. When Sonic turns himself into large snowball in Frozen Factory Zone 2, Crabmeats will try to fire their missiles towards the player. These missiles are able to destroy the whole snowball and the player will automatically loses a life, if they have not collected all the Rings sticking to the snowball at previous Star Post.

Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Crabmeats appear as enemies. In this game, they retained their design from Sonic Lost World. They are also some of the more common foes encountered in the Power Type characters' stages. In gameplay, there are only the regular red types of Crabmeats, which do not fire projectiles from their claws, but instead move quickly back and forth or stand still, either separately or in groups.

The player can destroy the Crabmeats with any move or offensive power-up in the playable characters' arsenal. When destroyed, a Crabmeat will grant the player 100 points.

Crabmeats in Sonic Runners come in three types. Aside from the regular Crabmeats, there are golden ones which grant 300 points when defeated, and silver ones that grant 200 points when eliminated and which only Color Powers, Invincible and the power type characters' dash attack can defeat. All three variations also contain Animals that are released when they are destroyed. The Crabmeats also appear as part of several episodes' narrative, which features them being defeated time and time again by Team Sonic.

Sonic Runners Adventure
In Sonic Runners Adventure, the Crabmeats appear as enemies. The player encounters them in Green Hill, Lava Mountain and Sky Sanctuary.

In gameplay, the Crabmeats stand in one place. Also, upon their destruction, they release an Animal.

Sonic Forces
In Sonic Forces, the Crabmeats were briefly mentioned in the Episode Shadow DLC by Infinite, where the latter gloatingly compared E-123 Omega's power as being like a Crabmeat's compared to the power he gained via the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype.

Team Sonic Racing
In Team Sonic Racing, the Crabmeats return with their appearance from Sonic Colors. In this game, they appear on the Whale Lagoon and Lost Palace tracks. In gameplay, they series as moving obstacles, moving right or left across the road. If a racer hits one, they will take damage and spin out. They can be destroyed with Wisp power-ups or Power-Type characters without the player taking damage.

Sonic Speed Simulator
In Sonic Speed Simulator, Crabmeats appear as enemies.

Sonic Frontiers
In Sonic Frontiers, Crabmeats are present as uncommon enemies exclusive to Cyber Space stages, while retaining their appearance from Sonic Colors and the console/PC version of Sonic Generations. In gameplay, they are encountered in Cyber Space stages 1-4 and 1-6, as their attack pattern of firing missiles when being approached by Sonic, is closely the same as in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations.

Despite consisting of multiple hit points, Crabmeats can be easily taken down with single hit by using one of Sonic's basic moves such as Spin Jump, Homing Attack, Spin Attack or Slide. Being digital replicas of Badniks in Cyber Space, Crabmeat gets disintegrated in digital pieces into the air after being defeated without containing Animal inside it.

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, a Crabmeat played a very minor role at the start of the film. Here, the Crabmeat was used by Sonic to snap Old Man Owl out of a shock by having it pinch him. Upon doing so, the Crabmeat then scurried away. It is the only Badnik-based robot to not appear in the Land of Darkness.

Sonic Boom
In the Sonic Boom televisions series, Crabmeats are replaced with an original variant, Crab Bots. Crab Bots are a mass-produced robot model created by Dr. Eggman, serving as both Eggman's sentries and foot soldiers, which the doctor uses for his frequent attacks on Team Sonic and the rest of Seaside Island. However, they are not very powerful and easily destroyed in combat.

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic
Crabmeat appears in Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic manga. In the volume 2 story, "Clash!! South Island," Picky explains to Sonic that Ricky and Cucky have been trapped by the Badniks and so Sonic heads to the rescue. In Sparkling Zone, he confronts Crabmeat and Newtron who attempt to attack him. Sonic defeats them easily and finds out that Ricky and Cucky were inside of them.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Crabmeats were one of the Classic Badniks, the first generation of robots produced by Dr. Robotnik. One Crabmeat unit in particular served as Robotnik's first loyal lackey for some time during the comics' early run. Eventually though, the Crabmeats were rendered obsolete by more advanced robots and got decommissioned.

After the Super Genesis Wave rebooted the Multiverse, the Crabmeats' history became virtually identical as in the games.

Sonic the Comic
In the Sonic the Comic series, the Crabmeats are a part of Dr. Robotnik's Badnik army and some of the oldest models in service. They appear in a few of the early issues during the comic's run. In later issues, parts from some of them were used to create some of the Seven Badniks.

Crabmeats first appear in the "Mayhem in the Marble Zone" story of Sonic the Comic #3. Here, in the Marble Zone, a Crabmeat and other Badniks caught Tufftee when he tried to save his friends like Sonic (implying that he would have killed them). After tormenting the Mobian, the Badniks choose to turn him into a Badnik with the Portable Badnik Processor instead. Unfortunately for them, Sonic the Hedgehog then arrived and destroyed the Badniks, the Crabmeat included as well.

In the "Carnival Night Conspiracy, Part 6" story of Sonic the Comic #44, Crabmeats under the Marxio Brothers' command would assist them in their schemes until Knuckles took them out.

The Crabmeats of the Green Hill Zone eventually had to share their Zone with the Badniks from Palmtree Panic Zone. However, the arrivals refused to share the Zone with old-style Badniks and started destroying the residential Badniks. The Crabmeat that survived escaped with B.A.R.F. and was used to create some of the Seven Badniks, namely Crabinator and Buzznik. This is chronicled in Sonic the Comic #59 (in "The Seven Badniks, Part 1"), #60 (in "The Seven Badniks, Part 2"), and #61 ("The Seven Badniks, Part 3").

Sonic X
In the Sonic X comic series, Crabmeats are among the Badniks within Dr. Eggman's virtual reality in the issue 10 story "No Thanks for the Memories! - Part One". Here, when Sonic and Amy Rose arrived in the Spring Yard Zone, they were ambushed by a group of Crabmeats. Because they did not have any rings, the two of them opted to flee instead of fight the Crabmeats.

IDW Publishing
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing, the Crabmeats are a line of Badniks created by Dr. Eggman. Their past is virtually identical to their game counterparts', up until after the events of Sonic Forces. In addition to actual Badnik models, Eggman also has toy Crabmeats.

Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Convergence
In Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Convergence, a group of Crabmeats along with Shellcrackers and a large Shellcracker mech piloted by D3-COY, were found attacking Amy Rose on a tropical island. However, the robots were all destroyed by the pink hedgehog, alongside Sonic and Tails.

Merchandise
The toy company TOMY released a Crabmeat action figurine during the release of Sonic & Knuckles.

Physical appearance
The original Crabmeat models had red cephalothoraxes with gray underbellies and four gray and short crustacean-based legs with claw-like feet, which allowed them to scuttle around. They also had gray eye stalks protruding from an oblong hole in their cephalothorax, with two cartoonish photo receptors located on top of each of them, and two short antennae above their eye stalks. They also had two cable-like gray arms with large and round pincers on the end of each arm. Hidden inside their pincers are also devices that let them fire either laser spheres or missiles (depending on their model).

In Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, Crabmeats were given sleeker designs with yellow underbellies. In Sonic Lost World, the Crabmeats returned to their overall original appearance, although they come in two variations: regular red types and sleeker orange types.

Powers and abilities
The Crabmeats can build up their store of concentrated energy inside their pincers, which they then can release as volatile balls of energy. Later Crabmeats had their trademark energy weapons replaced with homing Missile launchers. The Crabmeat in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie does not exhibit any of these attributes, and it instead acts like a regular crab.

Sonic Lost World features two Crabmeat models: regular red types that shoot energy projectiles and orange types that shoot homing missiles.

Profiles

 * Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia: "It crawls over a small area, occasionally launching projectiles from its claws."

Trivia

 * In the Sonic X episode "Depths of Danger," there is a single crab that resembles a Crabmeat. It keeps causing trouble for Sonic, who is trying to find a Chaos Emerald throughout the episode.
 * In Ristar, there's a lobster-like enemy in the Planet Undertow level which can shoot fireballs from its pincers, much like Crabmeat.