Chao (video game)

Chao (pronounced "Chow", plural form Chao) are creatures found in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, including Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Pinball Party, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut. Earlier forms of the technology behind them, A-life, were also in NiGHTS Into Dreams with the Nightopians, which will be discussed in a later paragraph.

Chao lifecycle

They start life as an egg state, similar to an upside-down blue turnip with a yellow peak. When they hatch, they can be trained to be different attributes and emotional states. The chao from Sonic Adventure 2 can also favour "dark" and "hero" sides which can lead to variations in visual evolution. Depending on the game, they take various times to evolve. When evolving they go back into their cocoon state (similar to their normal egg state) for a small amount of time. In Sonic Adventure 2, it will take about 8-9 hours spent in a Chao Garden before they either die or reincarnate (depending on how you treat them). They can reincarnate infinite times if treated well before dying (although this may vary in different games). Chao can also be trained to "ultimate forms" such as the Chaos Chao, the Devil Chao and the Angel Chao. The three variations are all immortal, but do not have the ability to mate and make more chao.

Raising chao

Chao can be trained with Chaos Drives from GUN robot enemies in Action Stages or animals either found out in the open or in various badniks made by Dr. Eggman. (Getting the drives could also be done by trading them for rings in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.) Animals can also affect their appearance; for instance, rabbits can give chao rabbit ears. Various fruits can be bought either in-game (like in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle), in Chao Adventure, or in the Tiny Chao Garden that serve a similar purpose. Plus, in the first Sonic Adventure, feeding the nuts found on the trees gives chao different stats, but it depends on who you play as (for instance, Sonic raises their speed, Tails raises their flight, Big raises their swim... the only one who has no effect is Gamma).

Miscellaneous

Chao are based on a special technology called A-Life, which originally came from NiGHTS Into Dreams on the Sega Saturn where it was used for the Nightopians. They looked like small elves (peach coloured) with bald heads and little blue clothes. However, despite their lower IQ to chao, the Nightopians did have emotions which were reflected in the music they sang and the music in the stages. They could die and become cross-bred with stage enemies (creating things called Mepians), and were born from small white eggs similar to those of the birds.

Possibly the most famous Chao is Cheese the Chao, the (invincible) partner of Cream the Rabbit (the walking, talking, flying rabbit who is a friend of Sonic the Hedgehog) which can be seen in action in Sonic games (Namely Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Advance 3 and Sonic Heroes) as well as being a character in Sonic X, a Sonic anime that is now airing in America and a cameo in GameCube's 'Sonic Adventure DX, a remake of Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast.

As with the Chao of earlier Sonic manga and magazines, Cheese retorts "Chao Chao Chao" instead of talking. This is said to be taking advantage of the Pokémon craze, but this is not true as many fictional Japanese animals said their name rather then talking long before Pokémon. However, this speech aspect is not true to all Chao, as Chao from the games often purred or make simple noises rather then simply saying their name.

In Sonic Adventure 2, a Chao Walker is an unlockable character for the Shooting Battle 2-Player Mode, obtainable by getting all As for Tails' missions. The Chao Walker is a robot resembling a Chao that was designed by Tails to be a fast but weak battle robot. In Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, however, two versions of Chao are actually playable from the start. One is the Chao Walker, like in the original SA2. The other, taking the place of Big the Cat from SA2, is the Dark Chao Walker, built, appropriately, by Dr. Eggman to be a slower but more powerful version of the basic Chao Walker.