Jet the Hawk

Jet the Hawk is the (former) secondary antagonist of Sonic Riders, and the deuteragonist/anti-hero of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and Sonic Free Riders. He is an anthropomorphic hawk and the leader of the current generation of Babylon Rogues. He is known as the "Legendary Wind Master" due to his mastery of Extreme Gear riding, which has earned him an impressive reputation.

Cocky and brash, Jet is very arrogant, prideful, and always seeks riches and fortunes. While also the Babylon Rogues' leader, Jet rarely takes his responsibilities seriously, though he knows how to assert his authority. For all his shady characteristics though, Jet is an honorable Extreme Gear rider.

Since losing to Sonic the Hedgehog in Extreme Gear, Jet has kept an intense rivalry with the hedgehog. Ever competitive, Jet has made it his foremost goal to best Sonic in speed and claim his title as the fastest thing in the universe.

Early life
Jet was born into the Babylon clan of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues. He is a descendant of the Babylonians, an alien race that got stranded on Earth in ancient times and eventually became a legendary band of thieves which continued their legacy of theft for generations.

At some point, Jet became a member of the Babylon Rogues. When Jet's father retired from the Babylon Rogues, he passed down the position as leader of the Babylon Rogues and the Key to Babylon Garden to his son. Joined by Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross, the three of them formed the newest generation of Babylon Rogues and continued their clan's legacy of theft, with Jet taking leadership of his group.

During his carrier as one of the Babylon Rogues, Jet and his group went through a number of unknown criminal activities, achieving an infamous status. Over time, Jet's skills at Extreme Gear riding became renowned worldwide, earning him an impressive reputation, eventually reaching the point where he was called the "Legendary Wind Master" and a legendary rogue. Meanwhile, Jet was determined to uncover the secret treasure in Babylon Garden, having heard the stories of the hidden treasure within it and that the Key to Babylon Garden could unlock it.

Personality
Jet is highly arrogant, confident, conceited and holds high standards. He has a massive ego, considering himself the fastest, and holds everyone else in low regard, often bragging about his skills. While he is willing to praise others, he usually makes his complements short and follows up with an insult. Over time, Jet has matured slightly and become more of a sport as he gave Shadow and Rouge genuine compliments on their skills.

Jet is usually very rude and disrespectful, and has a snide sense of humor. He enjoys insulting others and rubbing his victory or other's losses in their faces. Even when dealing with his own teammates, Jet cite both Storm and Wave with insults and ignore them.

Jet is extremely prideful and protective of his reputation, not wanting to look bad. He is also a sore loser and refuses the pity of others as he considers it a direct insult to his character. Regardless, he stands by his losses, even if it was because of unexpected events, and will work hard to overcome them. He also despises those who are faster or more confident than him.

Mostly, Jet is laid-back and nonchalant, though he choses not to show this to people he does not explicitly know, as he is too prideful to show his less-likable traits. While he knows his duties as leader of the Babylon Rogues, he does not takes his responsibilities very seriously and remains unconcerned in the face of issues. However, he knows when to assert his authority. As a team leader, Jet is strict, has little tolerance for failure and dislikes showing any sign of weakness to anyone. Over time, Jet has become a better leader and leads his team with a better attitude.

Jet is shown to have a very short temper, throwing a fit when a portrait fell on top of him and even twitching with build-up anger. While Jet has become more level-headed in some fields, such as ignoring Wave and Storm's frequent arguments, he is still prone angry outbursts at times.

Jet has a defined love for money and treasure, which he likes the most besides himself. His primary motivation in life is to acquire as much wealth as possible, even having daydreams of stacks of gold, and if it turns out there not a profit to be gained from a heist, Jet quickly loses all interest in the matter. When it comes to acquiring wealth, Jet is very greedy and selfish, given that when he went after Eggman to get the Key to Babylon Garden back, it was because he wanted the Treasure of Babylon, rather than stopping Eggman from using it to conquer the world.

Jet enjoys Extreme Gear racing or pretty much any kind of activity that requires extreme stamina and skill, and takes enormous pride in winning. While extremely competitive and only wanting victory, Jet opposes cheating and strives to win fairly. If he cannot win using his own skills, his victory is meaningless to him, and he will actively seek a rematch to achieve absolute victory. While he may not always show good sportsmanship, Jet enjoys racing worthy opponents and can be content with the whatever the outcome may be after a good race.

Physical abilities
Jet possesses well above average acrobatic skills and agility, enough to reach impressive heights when jumping and leap through treetops with ease. He also has very high physical strength in at least his legs, great enough to knock away an entire desk with a single kick. He also has noticeable combat skills, as he could take on a couple of MeteorTech security robots by himself.

Extreme Gear skills
Jet is a master at Extreme Gear riding, a talent that he has inherited from his forefathers. Having received the moniker the "Legendary Wind Master", Jet's skills at Extreme Gear is renowned the world over, signifying the immense level of skills that he possesses and he is presumably the greatest Extreme Gear rider on the planet, second only to Sonic. He is likewise very knowledgeable on the field, knowing many of the secrets to becomes the fastest at Extreme Gear.

On an Extreme Gear, Jet has enough skills to supposedly match or even surpass Sonic's running speed. He can perform amazing fast and complex tricks and body movements with his Extreme Gear while in midair, balance and grind perfectly on rails, stir up wind currents that can blow opponents away and engage in combat with other Extreme Gear riders without losing control.

Miscellaneous skills
Apart from his physical abilities and skills, Jet is a talented and professional thief. Having pulled off many successful heists and escaped captured from the authorities, Jet is a seasoned thief and talented with sleight of hand.

Beside Extreme Gear, Jet likewise has advanced piloting skills, being able to pilot the Babylon Rogues' entire airship on his own.

Jet also has the special ability to accurately read the wind streams, allowing him to ride Extreme Gears to the fullest.

Weaponry and equipment
Jet's choice of equipment is his Type-J Extreme Gear. The Type-J is a Board type speed-based Extreme Gear, especially made for Jet by Wave and is meant for racing at high speed. Over time, the Type-J has been redesigned to be full of quirks so that only Jet can master it.

Jet wields a pair of large green feather fans called the Bashōsen which he uses with proficiency. With one fan, Jet can release wind currents to blow opponents off course and disorientate them. He can also use both fans in melee combat, either smacking his opponents or spinning then around to knock away anyone that gets too close.

Trivia

 * Jet's name came from the prototype name of the character in the classic games, Nack the Weasel, as when Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble was first announced in a Magazine article in 1994, Nack the Weasel was referred to as Jet, but was later changed. This could also show how both characters resemble a lot in personality.
 * Jet is the youngest member in the Babylon Rogues. He is also the youngest rival Sonic has ever had (besides Silver).
 * Both Jet's and Silver's counterparts in Sonic and the Black Knight don't appear in story mode.
 * Unlike most characters, Jet has a tendency to refer to Sonic by his full name, "Sonic the Hedgehog", as shown in the cutscenes of the Sonic Riders series. He started doing this at the end of the final story of the first game.
 * Jet can be considered ambidextrous. In the Sonic Riders series Jet attacks with his fans on both hands and in Sonic and the Black Knight, Jet's counterpart, Lamorak fights with two swords.
 * Jet makes more appearances than Storm or Wave do outside the Sonic Riders series.
 * Jet was intended to appear as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, but was removed for unknown reasons.
 * In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Jet's data still remains in the game. In the European version of the game, if you hack the game, Jet is playable along with Silver, Donkey Kong, Cream, Big, Birdo and Espio.
 * Some fans believe Jet to be modeled after Bean the Dynamite from Sonic the Fighters. In some cases, people even mistook Jet to be Bean. Nintendo Power Magazine played a joke on this fact by giving an image of Jet a caption reading; "Bean? Is that you, Bean? Oh! How we've missed you!".
 * Jet's species may have chosen as a reference to the famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk, as they are both skilled board riders.
 * In Jet's 2D images, he has nostrils on his beak. However, in his 3D renders he does not. This could be the exception with his Sonic and the Black Knight artwork, though it is hard to confirm due to his helmet blocking the "nose" of his beak.
 * Jet and Sonic seem to have their colors inverted, in terms of eye and fur/feather color. Jet's appearance is mostly green, but he has blue eyes, the color of Sonic. Sonic's appearance is mostly blue, but he has green eyes, the color of Jet.
 * Jet, along with Wave and Storm, are the only characters in the Sonic Riders series to have worn their goggles when racing in-game.
 * Also, most characters tend to wear their goggles when using skates in the first two Sonic Riders games, Jet basically wears his goggles more often compared to others, possibly noting to his experience on an Extreme Gear.