- Overview
- History
Sash Lilac, the Main Protagonist of Freedom Planet , is a Water Dragon Hybrid[1] of unknown origins and believed to be the last of her kind. She is more commonly known by her last name, Lilac.
At a young age, she was raised and trained by the Red Scarves, an underground guild of thieves and assassins.[2] There she met Carol, who, after a brief rivalry, became her best friend.[3] With Spade, another member of the Red Scarves, they participated in martial arts tournaments to earn the prize money. However, in order to find her place in life, Lilac and Carol both left the Red Scarves to live independently.[2] Since then, they've been living in a treehouse hidden deep in the forests of Dragon Valley.
Conception and Redesign
Ziyo Ling's original design for Lilac.
Sash Lilac was originally designed by Ziyo Ling in 2001 as a hedgehog and a Sonic the Hedgehog fan character.[4]
During late 2011, Ziyo was approached by Strife, who requested and was permitted the use of Ziyo's characters for the Sonic fan game he was developing.[5] This game would go on to become Freedom Planet. At some point during development, Strife decided to convert Freedom Planet from a fan game to a commercial property. This meant that Lilac could not remain a hedgehog due to her similarities to Sonic. With this in mind, Strife reinvented her as a dragon.[6]
Lilac would be redesigned again for Freedom Planet 2, this time in the interest of maturing the character and separating her from her roots as a Sonic fan character. A key element of this redesign would be the removal of Lilac's two-toned forehead, which is a prominent feature of Sonic character design, as Strife believed that it was "holding her design back from being considered original, because she was literally the only character who had that two-toned face like a Sonic character would."[7] The task of redesigning Lilac for Freedom Planet 2 was originally given to TheCHAMBA, then later passed to Tyson Tan, who added upon the existing design.
Appearance
Lilac is a purple-colored, teenage mixed breed water dragon of slightly over average height with purple-colored twin ponytails. She at first wears a blue outfit with a dark blue waist belt, blue gloves with yellow trim, and blue shoes with bolts of lightning at the heels. Two years later she wears a white tai chi uniform over her old outfit.
Personality
Lilac is a good-spirited dragon and is more than willing to help those in trouble or in need.[8] She is very motivated and refuses to give up under any circumstances, even when the rest of the team doubts the success of their mission.[9] Lilac can get very angry, but only when pushed to the extreme.
Powers & Abilities
Lilac is very athletic and has an imposing natural physique owing to her dragon heritage. She is stronger, faster, and all-around more powerful than most non-dragons can claim to be. She is adept in combat and has a wide range of moves in the way of both attacking and evasion, and is able to hold her own against some of the most powerful fighters on Avalice.
Physical Abilities
- Super Speed: Lilac is able to run at incredible speeds, this being her most notable ability, which is attributed to her dragon heritage.[10] At top speed, she is able to outrun speeding vehicles and gunfire.
- Durability: She is very resistant to physical damage. She can survive falls from great heights, intense pressure, energy blasts, extreme heat, and strikes from beings with supernatural strength without being weakened. She is also able to blast through walls and heavy metals head-first. However, she is not invulnerable. She can be killed upon taking too much damage and has been shown to sustain extreme injuries while being tortured by Brevon.[11]
- Endurance: She is able to remain physically active for extended periods of time without growing fatigued.
- Hair Manipulation: Lilac has the ability to stretch and stiffen her hair tendrils as needed for attacks.[12]
- Underwater Endurance: Lilac is able to remain underwater significantly longer than any of the other playable characters. However, she is not able to breathe underwater.
Skills
- Martial Arts: Lilac was trained in martial arts by the Red Scarves. She is well-versed in hand-to-hand combat and has won multiple martial arts tournaments.[2] Her abilities rival those of Spade and Neera and she is capable of overpowering Brevon in a one-on-one fight.
- Hair Combat: Lilac has developed a unique fighting style that utilizes her hair tendrils as weapons, using them to whip and cut through enemies and obstacles.
- Intelligence: Lilac is shown to be fairly cunning, able to outsmart and deceive the Magister and Neera,[13] and is able to understand Torque's technobabble where others can't.[14]
Weaknesses
- Lack of Ranged Attack: Lilac only has melee attacks with nothing in the way of range, so she must get up close to opponents in order to fight.
- Deafness: Lilac has a genetic defect that renders her hard of hearing if not completely deaf. Her earpieces are hearing aids that account for this.[1]
Gameplay Attributes
Freedom Planet
Lilac is a close-range attacker built primarily for gaining speed and keeping up the momentum. Her Dragon Boost gives her an instant burst of speed, and she has a number of extra abilities that help carry her momentum across a variety of different terrain types. Her Cyclone allows her to soar over obstacles and her Dive Kick provides an instant drop to the ground. These traits make her an ideal character for speedrunning. Her primary weakness is the lack of a ranged attack, although this is mitigated somewhat by the Dragon Boost granting her temporary invulnerability.
- Health: 7 Petals
- Energy Consumption: Dragon Boost (all), Dragon Cyclone (some)
Freedom Planet 2
In the sequel, Lilac is defined as a Speed Type character. Her moveset has been tweaked for better control and mobility, as well as less energy consumption. The Cyclone no longer uses energy, allowing it to combo into the Boost, and the Boost may be manually cut short by the Boost Breaker. She also now has a Guard and Blink Dash which provide evasive options.
- Health: 6 Petals
- Energy Consumption: Dragon Boost (gradual; consumption may be cut off by Boost Breaker)
Move List
 This section contains information about content that is currently in development. |
| Name | Button/Key | Description | Freedom Planet | Freedom Planet 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hair Whip | Attack | Standard attack. Lilac whips her hair to damage enemies. When running or aerial, she adds kicks into the attack. In FP, it can be powered up by a Dragon Star to fire a short range projectile. |  |
|
| Low Kick | ↓ + Attack (on ground) | A crouching kick that performs faster than the Hair Whip. Exclusive to FP. |  |
|
| Low Hair Whip | ↓ + Attack (on ground) | A crouching hair whip with a faster attack rate. Exclusive to FP2. | ||
| Dive Kick | ↓ + Attack (midair) | Executed midair, drops diagonally at an accelerated rate and damages enemies. | ||
| Rising Slash | ↑ + Attack (on ground) | An uppercut that deals more damage than the standard attack. In FP it can only be executed from the ground, while in FP2 it can be used once in midair. |  |
|
| Dragon Cyclone | Jump (mid-air)
or ↓← / ↓→ + Attack (on ground) |
One of Lilac's signature moves. She performs a spin attack to hit enemies with her hair. Can be executed midair or on the ground; aerial version performs as a double jump, gains height off of springs, and reduces fall speed. Uses energy in FP, does not in FP2. | ||
| Dragon Boost | Special | One of Lilac's signature moves. She rolls up and launches like a comet, accelerating to top speed and expending all of her energy. It may be powered up by a Dragon Star in FP or the Dragon Wings in FP2. Grants temporary invulnerability. | ||
| Boost Breaker | Special (while boosting) | Cancels the Dragon Boost partway through and releases an aerial shockwave to damage any enemy in range. It is automatically executed when hitting a wall. Added in FP2. | ||
| Guard | Guard | A dodge that provides brief invulnerability against enemy attacks. Added in FP2. | ||
| Blink Dash | Guard (hold) | A short dash that allows for dodging an attack, countering an enemy, or gaining speed. Added in FP2. |  |
History
- Main article: Sash Lilac/History
Freedom Planet
One day, on one of Lilac and Carol's planned raids, a mysterious spaceship attacked by some of Shuigang's choppers, crashes into the Valley. Lilac's heroism gets the best of her, so she decides to investigate the crash site.[8] Upon arriving, she meets and saves Torque from one of Serpentine's rockets. Torque, disguised as a "shellduck", informs the two girls about Zao's intentions of stealing the Kingdom Stone and both are making their way to the ancient temple.[15] After witnessing the theft of the relic by their old friend, Spade[16], the cave inside the temple collapses and the girls escape, separated from each other.
They unite again and Carol notices that someone's following them. It is revealed that Milla, an orphan Hound living alone the woods, pulled Carol out of the cave. It doesn't take long for Lilac to befriend her and invite her to live with them in their Treehouse. Later that night, Torque reveals himself as a Chaser and tells the girls about Lord Brevon and his plans to ignite a civil war between the Three Kingdoms to steal the Kingdom Stone to repair his warship, the Dreadnought, so that he and his army can leave Avalice and continue his galactic conquest. Learning of this, Lilac, Carol, and Milla volunteer in helping Torque stop Brevon and his army and to save Avalice from the brink of civil war.
Relationships
Carol
Though they started out as rivals when they first joined the Red Scarves, Lilac and Carol became the best of friends and usually get along famously. [3] However, Carol has been shown to be more reluctant to go along with Lilac's heroics, often calling her "Little Miss Heropants".[8] During the course of their adventure, this contradiction creates tension[9], but they eventually make up when they need to. When Carol saw Lilac severely injured from Brevon's shock torture, she broke down in tears and blamed herself for running off on her own.[17]
Milla
At first, Lilac was a bit weirded out by Milla's mannerisms, like when she asked if she could touch her hair, but she quickly accepted the young hound as a friend. Lilac eventually becomes a big-sister figure to her, also acting as a protector, like when she told her to stay with Carol while she went off to rescue Torque alone.[9] What's more, when Lord Brevon brainwashed and mutated Milla, Lilac went berserk.[18] As she delivered the final blow to the defeated Warlord, she shouted out "Nobody....Hurts....Milla!!!"[19] This shows how much Lilac cares about her young friend and how personal she took it. When everything was said and done, Lilac tried to comfort Milla in her distress.[20]
Torque
After Torque's ship crash-landed, Lilac found and saved him from Serpentine.[15] Later, he tells them that Mayor Zao is about to steal the Kingdom Stone and they make their way to the Ancient Temple[15], just to realize he was right. They agree to help him out after he told him who Brevon was and why he wants the Kingdom Stone.[21] Lilac went to various measures to protect and rescue Torque on multiple occasions. She claimed responsibility for manipulating Torque, painting him as a victim, just to convince the Magister to release him from quarantine[22] and when Brevon abducted him, she rushed off to rescue him on her own, due to doubts from Carol.[9]
Spade
Years ago, Lilac used to be part of the Red Scarves alongside Spade. She feels guilty for something she did to him when she and Carol left the Scarves, stating she was scared and didn't know what she was doing.[14] Any other part of Lilac's history with Spade is currently unknown.
Other Appearances
Sonic After the Sequel
Lilac makes a cameo appearance in the Sonic the Hedgehog fan game Sonic After the Sequel developed by LakeFeperd.[6] She appears in her original design as a hedgehog. She can be found after successfully completing an Easter Egg on the Parhelion Peak stage and when approached will say the following:
- Woah, so this is what that parallel dimension looks like...
- Hey, who are you? and... why do you kinda look... like...
- Whatever, i'm outta here
She then jumps off-screen, leaving behind a spring that the player may use to progress.
Runbow
On April 14, 2016, Lilac was added as a free DLC guest character to the platform racing game Runbow, developed by 13AM Games. She shouts "Cyclone!" when she jumps.
Indie Pogo
Lilac in Indie Pogo alongside Shovel Knight and the protagonist of Teslagrad.
Lilac makes a playable appearance in the auto-jumping fighting game Indie Pogo developed by Lowe Bros. Studios, which features characters from various indie titles. Her inclusion was announced on April 5th, 2017. She was originally intended to be unlockable but was made a part of the initial roster following a poll on the Indie Pogo Discord Server.
Lilac's moveset in Indie Pogo is ripped almost directly from Freedom Planet, with a few additions, mainly her Blink Dash from Freedom Planet 2. She can also summon a Time Gate from Pangu Lagoon and gain a Dragon Star, which powers up her moves and enables her Boost Breaker. Her super move summons the Holodragon to fire a laser beam across the screen.[23]
Her entry animation features her flying in on Torque's airplane alongside Carol, Milla, and Torque and jumping down from it. When she's defeated, she explodes into purple petals just as she does in Freedom Planet. Her various costumes are based on Freedom Planet's scrapped color palettes, with the exception of a costume based on her Freedom Planet 2 design that was added in the 1.0.16.0 patch on July 23, 2018.
While Indie Pogo does not currently have any stages representing Freedom Planet, it has been confirmed that a stage based on Dragon Valley is now in development.[24]
Super Indie Karts
Lilac on the Character Select screen of Super Indie Karts.
Lilac makes a playable appearance in the kart racing game Super Indie Karts developed by OneLeggedSeagull Games, which features characters from various indie titles. She was added in the v0.64a update made on November 1, 2017.[25] Dragon Valley was added as a course alongside her. She drives a pink and purple go-kart and shouts "Cyclone!" when pressing the button to use an item without having one equipped.
She was added to the roster only after Carol, who was added in the v0.42 update made December 21, 2015.
A Hat in Time
Lilac's Headpiece appears in A Hat in Time as an official mod on the Steam Workshop. It comes as a badge that, when equipped, allows Hat Kid to perform Lilac's Dragon Cyclone. She will sometimes shout "Cyclone!" when doing so. This was released on June 7th, 2019.[26]
Trivia
- Lilac's first name, Sash, is a variant of the Russian name Sasha, which means "defender of the people" or "protector of men".
- The purple flower that is Lilac's namesake is often shown to symbolize love.
- Ziyo Ling's version of Lilac likes ghost movies and hip hop but hates onions.[4]
- Lilac's hair is not fleshy as the Thermal Base torture scene implies. Rather, when they're cut off, the spot of blood seen on the end came off of her head.[12]
- Lilac's ears are fish fins, like those seen on Merga. However, they are ineffective due to her birth defect and will likely never be seen as they are always covered by her earpieces.[1]
- Lilac's Dragon Boost move was originally named Comet Dash.
- Strife was inspired to incorporate white into Lilac's design in Freedom Planet 2 by the trope of characters gaining white in their outfit when they grow stronger or more mature. He cited Mega Man X as an example of this.[7]
- It was once planned that Lilac would have a living father. He was going to be an NPC and he looked similar to Lilac in design. His existence was eventually scrapped with the hub worlds altogether. With Freedom Planet 2 portraying Lilac to be the "only water dragon in existence" besides Merga, it's clear he never existed in the current canon, and Strife has confirmed this.[27]
- A Lilac plush was developed and made for purchase by Sanshee in 2016. It has since sold out and is no longer available.[28]
- Sanshee also sells a set of Freedom Planet character pins, including one of Lilac, which is still available for purchase.[29]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Topic: The Lilac OCD Club - GalaxyTrail Forums
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Jiang River (Route to Shang Tu)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Freedom Planet 2 - Characters
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 My Sweet Purple
- ↑ The Evolution of Freedom Planet
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Retro Interviews: The Freedom Planet Invades Florida Supercon Edition". Sonic Retro (interview with Stephen DiDuro)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Freedom Planet 2 In-Depth Interview w/ Creator & Voice Cast! by 1upTV
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Dragon Valley (Meet Lilac and Carol)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Jade Creek Cave (What Do We Do Now)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Lilac's Treehouse (The Kingdom Stone)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Thermal Base (Torturing Lilac)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Royal Palace Dungeon (Lilac's Idea)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Battle Glacier (Team Meeting)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Crash Site (Meet Serpentine and Torque)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Relic Maze (Encounter With Spade)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Thermal Base (Brevon Encounter)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Final Dreadnought 3 (Brevon Appears)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Final Dreadnought 4 (Ending)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Ending
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Lilac's Treehouse (Torque Revealed)
- ↑ Freedom Planet in-game cutscene - Royal Palace Throne Room (Lilac's Apology)
- ↑ Indie Pogo - Lilac Showcase
- ↑ https://twitter.com/LoweBros/status/1158794892384067584
- ↑ [1]Super Indie Karts - Early Access Update v0.64a - Spooky Halloween Update
- ↑ Freedom Planet 2: Lilac's Headpiece on Steam Workshop
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SDiDuro/status/843242995768053760
- ↑ Freedom Planet - Sash Lilac Collector's Plush
- ↑ Freedom Planet - Character Portrait Pin Set
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| Allies |  •  •  •  • 
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| Enemies |  •  •  •  •  •  •  • 
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| NPC |  •  •  •  •  • Soldiers
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| Deceased |  •  • 
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