Scratch and Grounder (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog)

Scratch and Grounder are the secondary antagonists of the American animated series, mh:besttvshows:Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. They're Dr. Robotnik's cartoonishly incompetent, dim-witted henchmen and they are the new members of the S.S.S.S.S. Squad. They occasionally make appearances in other Sonic Media.

Scratch was voiced by Phil Hayes and Grounder was voiced by Garry Chalk.

Overall

 * 1) They along with their leader Robotnik and even the savvier Coconuts, sometimes steal the show with their failed attempts to subdue Sonic for a huge reward, which usually comes off as both, very enjoyable and fun to watch.
 * 2) * Much to the point that Sonic himself thinks this way about them in the episode "Coachnik" and he even refers to them as a comedy duo during Sonic's hoax as seen in "Robotnik's Rival".
 * 3) A lot like Harry and Marv from the first two Home Alone movies, they make a perfect relationship in crime as a henchman duo.
 * 4) They serve as antagonistic comic reliefs we laugh at because of their bumbling idiocy, goofy jokes & fallible clumsiness, meanwhile Sonic is the cheeky, flippant, sometimes facetious yet guileful and heroic trickster that we root for. This is further exaggerated when they are portrayed as anti-role-models in the Sonic Sez segments compared to the more moralistic Sonic educating Tails about the rights and wrongs of the world.
 * 5) * They may be two comically inefficient & easily deceived crooks, they have had their moments of imposing a credible threat towards Sonic in the show by showing actual skill as a part of the episode without typically screwing things up. Examples of these include the following episodes: "Robotnik's Rival", "MacHopper", "Lovesick Sonic" and the whole "Quest For The Chaos Emerald" saga.
 * 6) ** Likewise, they have had moments of actually spotting Sonic underneath his obvious disguises in episodes such as "Robo-Ninjas" and "Tails Prevails", they can also bring up some very good points for their actions in spite of their general incompetence and stupidity.
 * 7) They have shown to have good chemistry, as many episodes have shown that despite their contrasting looks and their opposed behavior, they always have each others’ backs. Mainly out of the loyalty they show towards Robotnik's goal of getting rid of the hedgehog and the dedication put into it.
 * 8) These two have shown to be gods of durability (considering that these guys are robots, this is saying something).
 * 9) Their accident-prone antics pay a true homage to many old-fashioned cartoon setups with ill-starred characters that provide lots of humor in the process (e.g Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote as prime examples for a villain scenario).
 * 10) Despite being robots, they sometimes show humanlike features like being able to produce tears and showing signs of anger, fear, or joy as emotions.
 * 11) Phil Hayes and Garry Chalk both did a good job at portraying and voicing them.
 * 12) Their character designs are iconic and appealing.
 * 13) They have provided plenty of funny moments because of their silliness, especially when both of them have spouted out some cheeky and jokey dialog. These are two examples from Scratch: "I think we laid an egg!" and "Here's your chili you dirty dog (stammers) I mean your, 30 chili dogs sir".
 * 14) They have also provided some very entertaining scenes because of their antics (alongside Robotnik).
 * 15) They also had spawned some memes out of their idiocy and buffoonery, such examples include Scratch holding his "booze" or both characters dancing in a silly 70s fashion with wearing clownish outfits for example.
 * 16) While they are very humorous and incompetent, it possible for viewers to sympathize with them for what they go through whenever they, alongside Coconuts, fail.

Scratch

 * 1) Despite being an idiotic buffoon alongside Grounder for comedic purposes; he can be slightly competent, individualistic, alert, cooperative, and assertive with some of his plans to defeat Sonic and is logical with decision-making, especially when following most of Robotnik's plans carefully at times, even if he does screw up at doing that in the very end.
 * 2) His laugh is very memorable to hear because of how unique and humorous it is.
 * 3) His harsh-sounding voice fits his character perfectly.
 * 4) The ways his traps for catching Sonic keep backfiring on him are very funny. Especially when his fallible ego or acts of sheer foolishness can be the result of this (e.g being easily sidetracked in a ditzy, credulous way along with Grounder in the first episode "Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad" and when they were paired with other characters like Coconuts in the episode "The Magic Hassle").

Grounder

 * 1) He is easily the dumbest of the two, yet his stupidity is very entertaining and charming to watch.
 * 2) His comedic status of being one of the biggest victims with most of the slapstick abuse or jokes about him being ridiculed by others for being mentally incompetent is often funny and warranted, especially when he often serves as the stupider one between the two.
 * 3) * This is better shown when he can have a cooperative attitude with making traps/etc for catching Sonic that also keep backfiring on him in a comical fashion.
 * 4) Where Scratch can be imprudent or selfish, Grounder has his moments of showing some levels of common sense or friendliness while generally naive and/or being just as dumb as usual. Sometimes to the point of being likable despite wanting to help Robotnik succeed with a level of pride.
 * 5) A lot of the gadgets, gizmos, and features he keeps inside his chest compartment & drills are either very interesting, bizarre, comedic and sometimes useful.

Overall

 * 1) Their backstory, despite having a ton of funny & entertaining moments, isn't too intriguing. Especially when they were both essentially built on the same day for the sole purpose of capturing Sonic.
 * 2) The constant running gag of their sheer ineptitude at their rivalry with defeating Sonic & screwing up at pretty much anything because of their idiocy, carelessness, or continual accident-proneness, can get pretty stale since it can be boring and tiresome for them to lose all the time.
 * 3) They can get irritating, especially when Scratch and Grounder always fall for Sonic's ridiculously obvious tricks & countless practical jokes, and they can sometimes annoy others because of their stupidity in a predictable fashion.
 * 4) * Most viewers tend to hate both characters for their nonsensically opposing arguments as well, especially when they would argue over who'd please Robotnik much better than each other, which either makes Robotnik or Sonic end their arguments.
 * 5) * In "Momma Robotnik's Return", they both betray Robotnik, their creator, and practically their father, over the obnoxious, bossy, and stupidly overbearing Momma Robotnik.
 * 6) Their over-the-top voices and antics can be polarizing, especially when viewers can either find them either charming or annoying by personal preference.
 * 7) They have done some mean-spirited stuff as their job title with being Robotnik's goons, examples of this include them occasionally being seen harassing random Mobian citizens for no good reason, and once they even attempted to beat up an old, anthro (and seemingly weak) crane.

Scratch

 * 1) His loyalty for Robotnik (while faithful and loyal for the most part) can be all over the place with being very inefficient or foolishly tagging along with the protagonists on occasion (e.g teaming up with Sonic in the episode "Blank-Headed Eagle" for naively believing that he was the eagle he saw on TV for whatever reason than being an obliviously heroic fool) if a bit justified at times since Robotnik is just that ruthless in the show (e.g Scratch being a lackey to the domineering, overconfident and smarter version of Grounder in the episode "Grounder The Genius" by being completely disloyal to Robotnik until he foiled Smart Grounder's plans and as a result, Grounder went back to being an idiot like he was before while Robotnik gets deceived by Sonic again).
 * 2) His voice and his braying laugh often come off as completely annoying, groanworthy, and/or badly voice-acted to most viewers.
 * 3) He can be quite arrogant, selfish, sometimes rude, abrasive and pretty smug. Such to the point that his cocky actions often cause him to backfire on his plans and do/say stupid things as a result.
 * 4) * Likewise, he can lack some prudence and sometimes manage to make Grounder look smarter sometimes.

Grounder

 * 1) He often screws things up very easily and can be too dumb to be trusted with following plans correctly, even more so than Scratch sometimes because of his own brand of sheer cluelessness.
 * 2) He can sometimes be abused or ridiculed way too much to deserve it, despite being the dumbest yet the most naive of the two (e.g The episode "Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind" with Scratch cruelly torturing him unprovoked).
 * 3) * His overused, exaggerated yell can be quite grating to listen to (that is normally used when in a destructive mishap, which can be heard in episodes such as "So-Long Sucker" for example).
 * 4) Grounder occasionally wears women's clothing to complement Scratch whenever they find it necessary to put on costumes. Which often comes off as suggestive and even weird for a kids' show (if somewhat silly in an objectively ironic way).
 * 5) * In "Super Robotnik," when Scratch dresses up as a doctor, Grounder plays his role as a nurse, in "Zoobotnik," when Scratch serves as the best man at Robotnik's (forced) wedding, Grounder is the maid of honor, when they transform themselves into wedding cake figurines in "Hedgehog of the Hound Table," Scratch is the groom and Grounder is the bride.
 * 6) Some minor parts of his design can be rather inappropriate and explicit, like having weirdly noticeable buttcheeks in some scenes.

Videos
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Trivia

 * Jim Cummings originally voiced Scratch in the pilot.
 * Scratch is often referred to as a robotic chicken, which seems like it predated a similar name from a certain show on Adult Swim.
 * Robotnik noted that Grounder is Scratch's exact twin, despite them looking nothing like each other.
 * Garry Chalk, who voiced Grounder, would later on voice Robotnik in Sonic Underground.
 * Scratch and Grounder were featured in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. And were rather challenging to beat.
 * Both characters were the biggest influences in creating the ideal of Eggman's right-hand henchmen that exist to this very day (i.e Orbot & Cubot), other forms of Sonic media throughout the years tend to give Robotnik/Eggman a paired duo of dimwitted/bumbling right-hand men to contrast Eggman's comedically threatening personality.
 * Unlike Coconuts and Grounder, Scratch is loosely based on the Cluckoid from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, though he could have been an inspiration for the Cluckoids seen in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.