Chao (Sonic the Hedgehog)

This article is about the video game species. For other uses, see Chao.

Chao
'Sonic the Hedgehog' character
File:Sonichannel chao.png
First game	Sonic Adventure

A Chao (Template:PronEng, singular and plural form Chao) is an artificially intelligent, virtually generated lifeform from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. Their role in the games is to be raised by the player in mini-games, similar to Tamagotchi. Chao are somewhat complex, responding to stimuli; they have moods, they require food, and they can be loving or fearful. The word Chao is a pun on Chaos, a word commonly used in the Sonic series.

Making their first appearance in Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast (both in the plot and in a Chao-raising aspect of the game), later in Sonic Adventure 2, and further enhanced in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic Advance, Chao have recently come to be a large part of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The A-life system used for the Chao was introduced in Nights into Dreams... as the Artificial Intelligence in the Nightopians.

Chao-raising and the main Sonic games tie together in a number of ways: items which you encounter in the main game can be used to raise the player's Chao, collected Rings can be used to buy things for them, and several unlockable features are related to Chao.

During raising, Chao have statistics: Swimming, Flying, Running, Power, and Stamina, as well as luck and intelligence, which are not quite as obvious. These statistics can be raised through proper Chao raising, and will enable a Chao to do better in their competitions: racing and karate.

Life cycle

Eggs

Chao start life in an egg state. There are many different eggs, reflecting the type of Chao that will hatch from them. Speckled eggs, found in the Gardens when no other Chao are present, hatch neutral chao; these Chao are blue with yellow highlights, but may change color as they grow. Colored, shiny and jewel Chao are purchased and maintain a single color throughout their lives; additionally, shiny Chao sparkle and jewel chao have a metallic sheen.

Ways of hatching them include rocking the egg or throwing the egg against a wall or even simply waiting for the egg to hatch on its own. If an egg is thrown to hatch it, the chao will not be pleased at first, but the throwing method doesn't cause permanent negative influences on the chao. In Sonic Adventure 2 Battle the eggshells can be sold for half of their value when purchased, excluding speckled eggshells, sold for 50 rings in the black market, but not in Sonic Adventure 2. In both versions, however, the eggshells can also be used as hats once a chao is given a skeleton dog (see "Attributes").

Evolutions

When Chao hatch, they may be trained and have different attributes and personalities. Chao from Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle can also favor "dark" and "hero" sides as well as the default "neutral" side which can lead to variations in visual evolution. Depending on the game and environments, they take varying times to evolve.

After awhile,or when stamina is level 16, a Chao creates a cocoon and evolves into a more mature form. When evolving, they go into a cocoon state, which is white in the SA2 Dreamcast version of the game and blue for the GameCube version. When the Chao comes out of this cocoon, it is an adult and can mate. The Chao ages by one year around every three to four hours, depending on a number of environmental influences. In no fewer than eight hours, the Chao will enter another cocoon; if the Chao was treated lovingly, it will be surrounded by a pink cocoon, and it will come back to life again as an egg, and all its stats will be one tenth of their original value. However, if it was treated cruelly, or not looked after at all, it will be surrounded by a gray cocoon, and it will die.

Note: All chao cocoons are white in the Dreamcast version of SA2, this includes the evolution cocoon, the reincarnation cocoon, and the death cocoon.

The Chaos Chao

Through regular care, a Chao will follow the same pattern of Birth then Evolution then Reincarnation, as long as the Chao is treated well by the player. But there is a way to have a Chao evolve so it will become immortal: The Chaos Chao. The Chaos Chao is named after the Sonic Adventure character Chaos who was the original guardian of the Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds and Chao, and is very similar in appearance. In the original Sonic Adventure there was only one form of Chaos Chao, the "Light Chaos Chao" or just "Chaos Chao". With the inclusion of alignment based evolution forms in 'Sonic Adventure 2', two more Chaos Chao forms were added for Hero and Dark, with the Light Chaos Chao being the neutral form. The Hero evolution form is also known as Angel Chao, and the Dark evolution also called a Devil or Demon Chao. Colored Chao retain their special colors, creating interesting and unique looking Chaos Chao. When a Chao becomes a Chaos Chao, they lose the ability to mate and giving them animals will no longer give them special parts (but they still gain stats), however they can still wear Hats if the player wants them to.

To obtain a Chaos Chao, a player must follow the following steps:

• 1. Choose the Chao you want to become a Chaos Chao.
• 2. Raise the Chao so its goes through at least two life cycles.
• 3. On its third (or later) life cycle, give the Chao one of every one of the 21 animals, with no duplicates and no Chaos Drives.
• 4. Depending on the game you are playing will determine this step.
  • 4a. If you're playing Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast you have no choice but to get the Light Chaos Chao.
  • 4b. If you're playing Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut for the Gamecube you can choose the form depending on which alignment fruit you feed the Chao, Hero to get Angel; Dark to get Devil; or nothing to get the Light Chaos Chao.
  • 4c. If you're playing either Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast or Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the Gamecube. If you want the Angel Chaos Chao, take care of the Chao with a Hero character; if you want the Light Chaos Chao take care of the Chao with both Hero and Dark Characters evenly; to get the Devil Chao take care of the Chao with only Dark characters.
• 5. Have patience and wait for the Chao to evolve.

Alignment

Alignment is determined by how the Chao was treated before its evolution. The three alignments are Dark, Hero, and Neutral. There are three Hero characters (Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails) and three Dark characters (Shadow, Rouge, and Dr. Eggman) in Sonic Adventure 2. Petting, holding, or cuddling a Chao with a character makes the Chao favor the character's alignment. Attacking, throwing, or stepping on a Chao makes it favor the opposite alignment of the character. Every time that a heart appears above a Chao's head and replaces the standard emotion, the Chao darkens or lightens a shade, a darker shade coinciding with becoming a Dark Chao, and vice versa. A Chao's physical appearance is the chief indicator in understanding the alignment of a Chao. It will become whichever type has influenced it the most by the end of its child lifespan. It is not based on stats. One type of Dark Chao have bat wings, a spike ball above its head, a bent tip on its head and a devil's tail, and are colored black, brown, and red. One type of Hero Chao have feathery wings, a split tail, an Angel's halo, and a cowlick type object on its head. They are colored white, blue, and gold. Neutral Chao are created by balancing contact by both Hero and Dark characters. They are able to look like a lot of different characters. In Sonic Adventure DX, due to only heroic characters being playable, the Chao instead become Hero or Dark depending on the fruits it is given. Hacking can also give the player character Chao, such as Amy, Knuckles, and Tails Chao (although Tails Chao can be legitimately obtained from Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II). On a different note, there have also been many instances of "glitch chao", which usually resemble a mass of polygons. These chao only display a glitch in the graphics, and do not belong to any alignment. There are 5 character chao. Three of them were given away in Japan. The Chao that were given away were Knuckles, Tails and Amy. The Chao that you can breed are Sonic (by making him a neutral run/run) and Shadow (by making him a dark run/run). There are also chao that resemble NiGHTs/Reala from NiGHTs Into Dreams (neutral fly/fly and dark fly/fly) and a special black Reala chao that can be obtained via hacking.

Reproduction

After evolving, Chao gain the ability to reproduce. Chao are genderless, and therefore can breed with any other adult Chao. Chao are in mating season when surrounded by a circle of flowers. While this happens twice naturally, it can also be achieved by purchasing 'Heart Fruit' from the Black Market in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle games and by finding them while playing the Chao Adventure 2 V.M.U. mini-game. Giving them to an adult Chao will make the chao go into a mating season. 'Heart Fruit'-induced mating seasons will not affect a Chao's lifespan. Depending on two Chao's opinions of one-another, they may mate naturally when one realizes the other is in mating season. It is interesting to note that if you breed a normal chao with a coloured or shiny chao the result will be different.Normal and colour changes the colour of the chao's markings. Normal and shiny might be the same but it also has a chance to give a shiny hue.... which gives the potential for a shiny normal. Every time a chao mates it loses two hours of its life span.

Attributes

A red Chaos Drive (Power)

By giving a Chao a "small animal", it will acquire some of the animal's characteristics. Besides a physical change to the Chao, this will also modify the Chao's stats based on the type of animal given. There are five types of animals in Sonic Adventure and 7 in Sonic Adventure 2. They consist of Running (Green), Power (Red), Swimming (Yellow) and Flying (Purple). The fifth color, Blue, is an even mixture of some or all of the other classes. The two additional types featured in Sonic Adventure 2 are Ghost (Black) and Imaginary (Orange), sometimes called Legendary. The Imaginary Animals consist of the Phoenix, Dragon, and Unicorn while the Ghosts consist of a Bat, Skeleton Dog, and Sea Creature (also known as a Kappa and Half-Fish). Giving a Chao a Skeleton Dog allows it to wear hats that are given to them by the playable characters. When this happens, the Chao will be able to wear any kind of hat for it's life span, but this is not required (The only way to force a hat off is to attack the chao wearing it). The Ghost and Imaginary animals give better than average stat increases and do not lower any stats. Some special Chao look the same, but do special tricks. For example, giving a Dragon to a Chao will give it the ability to breathe fire. Also, through evolution, it is possible to make a Chao that look like Sonic, Shadow, or even NiGHTS. To make it look like Shadow or Sonic, give it run things only and raise it with Dark characters(Shadow) or both Hero and Dark characters (Sonic).

In Sonic Adventure 2, Chaos Drives appear and, like the small animals, also raise a Chao's stats. Chaos Drives are items that come out of machines created by the police organization G.U.N. when they are destroyed. However, neither animals nor Chaos Drives can raise a Chao's stamina, only food can. Also, a certain fruit called the Chao Fruit raises all stats, including Stamina, when it is given to a Chao. These are only in Sonic Adventure 2 and the GameCube adaptations Sonic Adventure: DX and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Like the small animals, the different colors each raise a certain stat. Yellow raises swim, purple raises fly, green raises speed, and red raises power. There is a rumor that there is a blue Chaos Drive, but these do not exist. Chaos Drives only raise the stat the color represents. A Chao's statistics control what type of Light/Dark/Neutral Chao it will become. For example, a Dark Power Chao looks different from a Dark Running Chao. Also, a Chao can have two different skill types if it is in its second life. For example, a Dark Power/Power Chao looks different from a Dark Power/Run Chao. Also, a Dark Power/Run looks different from a Dark Run/Power. Some of the more well known examples are the Sonic Chao (Neutral Run/Run) and the Shadow Chao (Dark Run/Run)

Chao Gardens

In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Station Square is the first garden you can go to in the game. It's inside a hotel, it has a pool for the Chao to swim in. Mystic Ruins is the second garden. It is found by going near Tails's workshop in the cave, then you ride the cart. It has a big pool, an island in the middle of the pool, and a few rocks. The last garden in the game is found in the Egg Carrier. You have to put in the password "EGGMAN". It is like a beach.It has one chair in it and a large missile where Chao can jump off and fly.

In Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, The normal garden is the first garden with a pool, and a cave near the pool where you can do the Chao Race. Chao Karate was added in the Gamecube port, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Raise a Hero Chao, and an upwards staircase will appear in the lobby. This garden has a large pool, fallen down marble pillars, and a gazebo-like structure with a ledge where Chao can get up and fly. Raise a Dark Chao, and a downwards staircase will appear in the lobby, this one leads to the Dark Garden. It is decorated with tombstones, a large dead tree with a cage hanging from one of the branches(by throwing chao at the cage they will be stuck there, when you exit the garden it will not be in the cage) and a pool of blood. It is said that the original SA2 gardens are slightly different from the SA2: B gardens, aesthetically. Raising chao in certain gardens does not have any effect on their alignment, the garden themes are only aesthetic.

fuck you bitch

Appearances

Video games

File:ChaoGarden.png

A Dark Chao (left), and a Hero Chao (right).

There are "Chao Gardens" in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 to raise the Chao. In Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle two more gardens are unlocked, there will be stairs from the main Chao Lobby. The one upwards leads to the Hero Garden and the downwards leading to the Dark Garden.

The gardens in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 have the ability to send Chao to an attached VMU (Visual Memory Unit), and play with the Chao away from the Dreamcast in a game called "Chao Adventure". The Chao walks on a path and is given a task. If done correctly, you are rewarded with a fruit or seed which can be taken off the VMU and back onto Sonic Adventure 2 for planting. Seeds can be planted by a Chao with a shovel and a watering can. The shovel can be won in races in Sonic Adventure 2. On Chao Adventure, you can also attach two VMUs to mate Chao, check the stats of your Chao, and name it. In Chao Adventure, the Chao doesn't age like it does in gardens.

Every Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Pinball Party also has a "Tiny Chao Garden" of its own, which is a small simple garden with a small pool that is universal to every game. There is a shop where fruit and toys can be bought for the Rings that the player has collected during gameplay, and some minigames. The Chao can be transferable between these games and Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle via a GameCube/Game Boy Advance link cable.

Sonic Advance 3 has a Chao Garden, but it is not for raising Chao. Instead, it is an area where the hidden Chao that the player has found during gameplay are located. When all ten of the Chao in the zone are found, the player can look for keys that enable the Special Stage for that particular zone.

In Sega Superstars, an Eyetoy game for the PlayStation 2, there is a simplified Chao Garden, where you can pet and tickle a single Chao by waving your hand on its head, or its belly. It includes many elements from the other games, such as feeding, toys and pool, though it omits any breeding aspects.

Chao appear in Sonic Rivals 2. Several of them are kidnapped by Eggman Nega to feed to an inter-dimensional beast called "Ifrit". Silver the Hedgehog and Espio the Chameleon hid most of them, while Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower set out to rescue the rest (with success).

Despite the lack of being a more centrally interactive feature since Sonic Adventure DX the Chao have finally been confirmed to have an important role in gameplay in the Bioware game;: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood The important role is said to be abilities,similar to The badges in the Paper Mario series. Although not actually told what the abilities are,It is speculated they are Strength and Speed enhancements for battle. They are also rumoured to be a feature the same as the Sonic Adventure series but the chao's stats effect your character's strength and speed.

External links

• Official Sonic Team Chao Website
• Sonic City Chao
• Chao Island
• Unofficial Chao Help Site