The Balkiries' design is a hybrid of a bird and plane. Their red and gray metallic bodies have wings on each side, a vertical stabilizer and two rotors on their backs, which let these Badniks move at medium or high speed. Their heads also have small eyes facing the front and a yellow bird beak each. They also have two support legs each with small wheels that resemble eagle feet.
The Balkiries' appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II is more detailed, as their support feet are here removed and it has received two extra wings on their vertical stabilizers. From Sonic Lost World onward though, the Balkiries once again retained their cartoony design from previous games, with the exception of their wheels which are not present on their feet.
In Sonic Forces, Balkiries have a much more streamlined and militaristic design, appearing raspberry in color with a cylinder-shaped body and a rocket engine on their rear. On each side of their body they have an adjustable wing with a magenta front edge, and on their back rear they have three tail fins. Also, situated on their underside is a miniature cargo space with a bottom hatch from where they deploy their bombs. Lastly, they have streamlined bird-like heads with thick lenses for eyes and a thin magenta beak.
In gameplay, the Balkiries fly fast in the opposite direction of the playable character. At the beginning of the Zone, the Balkiries appear one at a time, but as the Zone progresses, they appear in larger groups of two or three, and at much faster speeds. However, the Balkiries have been given a simple pattern; they simply charge towards their target like a missile, from one side of the screen. As such, they are not particularly dangerous, although some of them tend to move quickly and can take the player by surprise. Also, upon their destruction, they will reward the player 100 points and release an Animal.
In gameplay, the Balkiries' behavior is slightly different from the one displayed in Sonic the Hedgehog 2; they are now launched from the Metal Carrier and cascade down on the player from the top of the screen. However in the Boss Act, some Balkiries behave just as they did in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Also, upon their destruction, they will reward the player 100 points and release an Animal.
In the Wii U/PC version of the game, the Balkiries appear as obstacles flying by in the skydiving sections of Desert Ruins Zone 2. In Tropical Coast Zone ? and Sky Road Zone 3 however, they charge from the right in string formations towards Sonic when he is maneuvered through the air, though the player can destroy them from above by performing the Spin Attack. Balkiries also appear in Hidden World Zone 2, where the player can only avoid them while piloting the Tornado.
In the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, Balkiries appear in Sky Road Zone 1 and 3. In Zone 1, they will charge forward until they come across the ceiling, wall or corner where they will turn around and head in the other direction. Here, the player has to destroy them to unlock a switch in a case. In Sky Road Zone 3 though, Balkiries will fly towards Sonic in different string formations, which the player can only avoid while controlling Sonic on the rocket.
Sonic Forces
Balkiries[note 1] appear as enemies in Sonic Forces, having undergone a more militaristic redesign, similar to Dr. Eggman's other robots in this appearance. They are only encountered in Mortar Canyon, appearing in large groups that fly in rows above the routes throughout the stage, all while dropping bombs that cause damage-inducing explosions when they hit the ground. Because the Balkiries stay out of reach, the player cannot destroy them, and must instead focus on dodging their bombs.
In gameplay, the Balkiries have attack patterns similar to those they had in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, except they are now able to move in lateral directions, enabling them to follow the player should they dodge them. Also, upon their destruction, they will release an Animal.
Sonic Runners series
Sonic Runners
In Sonic Runners, the Balkiries 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 flying type characters' stages. In gameplay, they charge from the right direction, and appear separately or in groups.
The player can destroy the Balkiries with any move or offensive power-up in the playable characters' arsenal. When destroyed, a Balkiry will grant the player 100 points.
Balkiries in Sonic Runners come in three types. Aside from the regular Balkiries, 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 Balkiries also appear as part of several episodes' narrative, which features them being defeated time and time again by Team Sonic.
In the Nintendo Switch version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Balkiries appear as enemies in the "Tokyo Sky Flight" mini-game. Here, they have their sprite-based appearance from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. During the "Tokyo Sly Flight" mini-game, the Balkiries fly forward while firing projectiles at the the playable characters. However, they are easily destroyed with one gunshot from the Tornado. Also, upon destroying a Balkiry, the player receives 200 points.
Powers and abilities
Thanks to their design, the Balkiries are capable of flight at various speeds. Certain variants are also shown to be capable of dropping bombs.
In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, the Balkiries are a part of Dr. Robotnik's Badnik army, where they serve as the standard flying units among the doctor's military forces. Unlike most other Badniks in the series, the Balkiries' design remain fairly consistent during the comic's run.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing, Dr. Eggman disappeared while his Balkiries and the rest of his Badnik army remained. Without a leader however, the Balkiries were directionless and no longer a unified threat.[4] Even so, they would still randomly attack anyone they came across[5] (although such incidents were more accidental than aggression-based[4]).
When discovering someone was intruding on one of the Eggnet hubs and a warehouse, Dr. Eggman mobilized a squadron of his Balkirys to carpet bomb the areas.[6] After receiving an updated report which said that Zavok was attacking the Eggnet hub however, Dr. Eggman directed his Balkiry squadron to the Eggnet hub. Although Zavok directed the Eggnet hub's defenses against Balkiries and Eggman when they arrived, the Badniks eventually succeeded in bombing the Eggnet hub into pieces.[7]
Sonic the Hedgehog X Angry Birds
In the Angry Birds x Fearless: Year of Shadow promotional comic, the Balkiries were one of the many Badniks that appeared as part of Dr. Eggman's Badnik army during his invasion of the Angry Birds world. Despite this, the Balkiries and the rest of the Badniks would be defeated by both the birds and Shadow working together to stop Eggman's evil scheme.
Trivia
In Sonic X, the E-11 Beacon resembles the Balkiry, though it has a purple color scheme.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Balkiry has unused in-game sprite showing its landing pose, that can be found in the game's coding. It is possible that they were originally intended to start flying from this pose at Wing Fortress Zone, but the movement has then become unused for unknown reasons.
The unused sprite is also used when the player is placing a Balkiry in Debug Mode.
The Balkiry's Japanese name is not a corruption of "valkyrie," but derived from baru, meaning "to be persistently," and kin, meaning "muscle."
The Vultron is very similar to the Balkiry, both in design and behavior. However, Vultrons are capable of following the player, and lie in wait before doing so, similar to the Balkiry's unused in-game sprites in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
↑Internal files for Sonic Forces refer to the enemy as "Valkeen," the Japanese name for Balkiry. "Valkeen" is also the name used in the internal files for the enemy's appearance in Sonic Lost World, and unused behavioral patterns for the enemy in Sonic Forces suggest it was at one point programmed to behave identically to this appearance.
