Stitch (Experiment 626)

:“Monstrosity? What you see before you is the first of a new species. I call it Experiment 626. He is bulletproof, fireproof, and can think faster than [a] supercomputer. He can see in the dark, and lift objects three thousand times his size. His only instinct... to destroy everything he touches!”―Jumba Jookiba explaining his experiment
Stitch, also known as Experiment 626, is one of the titular protagonists of the Lilo & Stitch franchise. He is an illegal genetic experiment created by Jumba Jookiba, whose primary function is to destroy everything he touches. He is designed to be abnormally strong, virtually indestructible, super-intelligent, and very mischievous. His one true place is with Lilo and her ʻohana.
==Background==
===Development===
Chris Sanders first created the character of Stitch in 1985 for a planned children's book that never came to be.
Years later in 1997, when production on Mulan was currently wrapping up, he had the opportunity to pitch a film version of his planned story, beginning the development of the film.
In early drafts, Stitch was originally slated to have landed in Kansas, but the setting was changed to Hawaii since the location would provide a greater degree of isolation from large cities, and the islands were among some of Chris Sanders' favorite places. Also, the character himself started as an intergalactic gangster rather than a recently created genetic monster. In these early drafts, his gang (including ex-gang member Jumba) would have been the ones hired by the Galactic Federation to hunt him down.
===Personality===
:“626 was designed to be a monster, but now he has nothing to destroy. You see, I never gave him a greater purpose. What must it be like to have nothing, not even memories to look back on in the middle of the night?”―Jumba giving an example of Stitch's instincts
Throughout the course of the entire Lilo & Stitch franchise, Stitch is depicted as a character who is unlikable to many people except Lilo (on rare occasions, even she falls out with him, most notably in Lilo & Stitch 2, where she declares that he is "bad and always will be bad!" after he has an uncontrollable glitch attack) due to his destructive and temperamental behavior. It is interesting to note that individuals who are averse to Stitch (such as Mertle Edmonds, Gantu, and Dr. Hämsterviel) describe him as "ugly and deformed", while those who do love him (like Lilo, Nani, and Jumba) describe him as "cute and fluffy". This reflects the basic idea behind Stitch (and his cousins) that counters what societal standards are for good physical appearance. Despite having odd features such as an extra pair of arms, misshapen head, or unusual coloring, Stitch and his kin prove that you don't have to look "normal" to fit in.
Whether Stitch is displayed in his true alien form; complete with an extra set of arms, antennae, and spines on his back, or in his "dog" form (the one the audience is accustomed to seeing), sans the aforementioned features, his overall "cuteness" belies his extremely aggressive and destructive personality. This is especially apparent during and immediately after his escape from the Galactic Federation. He proves to be a complex character as he comes to terms with his own "good" and "bad levels" and struggles to find his place in the world. According to his creator Jumba, Stitch is a "machine" who was made without a greater purpose than to destroy. The fact that he becomes trapped on the island of Kauai, which has no large cities, he has more time to contemplate and reflect on alternative occupations. Although Stitch seeks to destroy because of his innate programming, he has a personality of his own (a fact that only Lilo and Jumba truly understand) and shows that he has the will and ability to make the choice not to follow his original design.
In comparison to his super strength and computer-like intelligence, Stitch is emotionally fragile, behaving almost like a child having a tantrum at times. Lilo relates to this and believes that a couple of main reasons for his naughtiness are because of some past trauma and receiving little to no understanding or sympathy from others. Of course, Stitch eventually becomes much more well-meaning after his betterment, but is frequently unable to control all of his impulses toward antisocial actions. Fortunately for him, Lilo (and later Reuben and Angel) is always there to support him, and he returns her support willingly.
There is a common misconception from viewers that Lilo is dependent on Stitch for protection and support; if anything, it is Stitch who is more dependent on Lilo. Despite her having her own troubles to contend with, Lilo makes every effort to help Stitch in life and, as the story progresses, he becomes more self-conscious and capable of making the right decisions. By the end of the series, Stitch has friends, family, loved ones, and a purpose worth believing in.
Stitch is still prone to having temper tantrums when things do not go as well as he hopes. He also gets easily angered by inanimate objects, especially the toaster. After it popped toast in his face once, he has since beaten the toaster and juiced it at least twice. Despite these tantrums, Stitch can sometimes display a little common sense and be more mature than Lilo. For instance, he occasionally sees when Lilo goes too far in using the other experiments for her own personal gain (examples of which were seen in her schemes involving Sprout, Checkers, Morpholomew, and PJ), believing it to be very selfish of her.
===Physical appearance===
Designed by his voice actor Chris Sanders, Stitch is a blue alien genetic creation standing around three feet tall. He strongly resembles a koala or a French bulldog and is referred to as both throughout the franchise, especially since humans (with the exception of Lilo, Nani, Cobra, and David) are completely oblivious to the fact he is an alien. He has sharp teeth inside his mouth along with a long pink tongue. A short, stumpy tail cuts out from his rear. He has a limited ability to change his physical appearance, only able to retract his second set of arms, his antennae, and the three spines on his back into his body.
When Stitch was first introduced by Jumba, and during his time as a criminal, he donned a red spacesuit with an upside-down triangle consisting of a red border and yellow center on the chest. Similar patches adorned the elbows of the sleeves and square patches consisting of a dark red border with an orange center showed on each of his legs. He also wore a black belt with a crimson square buckle, and his cuffs, anklets, and collar were also black. The suit survived when he crashed on Earth, but it was torn to pieces when he was run over by a convoy of trucks.
When Stitch was captain of the B.R.B. 9000, he donned a black spacesuit similar to that of Gantu's which consisted of a black shirt with thick red brims on his shoulders. Unlike Gantu's tank shirt, this suit features wrist-length sleeves with red cuffs, along with matching vertical linings on both sides of the shirt and trousers. He also wore a gray belt with a light gray "V" on the front, along with a small gray mark on the upper left chest that resembles a tear drop with a black dot on it. The suit was destroyed during his fight with Leroy.
===Powers and abilities===
While explaining his creation to the Galactic Council early on in Lilo & Stitch, Dr. Jumba gives the following rundown of Stitch's powers: "He is bulletproof, fireproof, shockproof, and can think faster than [a] supercomputer. He can see in the dark and can move objects 3,000 times his size. His only instinct: to destroy everything he touches!"
*Feral mind (temporarily): In the original Lilo & Stitch film, Jumba claimed that Stitch's "destructive tendency was taking effect" and that he would be irresistibly drawn to large cities to "back up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everybody's left shoe."
*Superhuman durability/Dense body tissue: Even though we rarely see Stitch shot at with a bullet, he does survive the crash of his spaceship without even a scratch, is only briefly stunned by a fall of several thousand feet, and has to be run over by three tractor trailers in succession to be knocked out.
*Fireproof skin: He drives a tanker truck of gasoline into a volcano and ends up only a little singed from the resulting explosion.
*Bulletproof skin: Rounds fired from plasma guns seem to cause him some discomfort, although he can hold the material in his hands long enough to throw the plasma back at his enemies.
*Shockproof: He has some resistance to electricity since he was able to take a direct electrical attack from Sparky, quickly recovering from it. However, he can still feel pain from these types of shocks despite his immunity to it.
*Hyper-cognition: Thinking faster than a supercomputer is harder to quantify, but he does escape from captivity fairly ingeniously; builds a model of San Francisco after only glancing at a postcard; grabs a crossword puzzle from the table and finishes it in about seven seconds; builds a bomb out of a plasma bolt, a doll, and a roller skate; creates a "bucking bronco" out of a toaster, vacuum cleaner, and a lamp; reads aloud a description of a local museum's display, showing he is able to understand written language at a remarkable speed; manipulates his moral compass by using a human being as a shield in Jumba and Pleakley's presence; and generally picks up quickly on what is happening around him.
*Lingual intuition: Stitch can converse fluently in over twenty different languages, but prefers Tantalog (his native language).
*Parallel computing: He is an information repository, containing an internal dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and experiment catalog, and records every moment of his life in a reserved portion of his brain that can theoretically store up to 300 PB.
*Instrument player: He is also skilled at playing musical instruments, most notably the ukulele, thanks to his quick learning.
*Vehicle intuition: Stitch can drive any sort of vehicle from something as simple as a tricycle to complex machinery like intergalactic spaceships.
*Superhuman strength: His ability to lift objects 3,000 times his own size and weight is seen several times throughout the franchise, including incidents where he picks up a descending blasted door, hits Dr. Jumba with a thrown Volkswagen Beetle (shouting gleefully, "Blue punch buggy! No punch back!"), and stops an 18-wheeled tanker of gasoline dead in its tracks. The reason why Stitch can lift 3,000 times his own weight, even though he has small arms, is because his muscles contain excessively compressed amounts of myofibril within one muscle cell. This muscular arrangement makes Stitch's muscles contract 1,000 times faster than a human's, making him much, much more powerful. The ability is sometimes joked about in the later series; for example, in Stitch! The Movie, when Hämsterviel has Stitch physically restrained for a cloning experiment, Stitch's restraints counter his strength at, as Hämsterviel loudly declares, to "three thousand and one!" times Stitch's weight, though he later admits it was intended as a joke. This was further validated in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Swirly", when Gantu correctly guessed that Stitch cannot lift even an ounce more than 3,000 times his size when he adds a small ticket to the given load.
*Quadrupedalism: Stitch can run and walk on all fours in a quadrupedal manner, similar to a dog.
*Wall crawling: While Stitch's claws are very strong, the pads on his hands and feet can secrete a sticky substance, allowing him to scale and adhere to almost any surface, such as buildings and walls. He can also stand on walls and ceilings.
*Spherical form: His skeletal system is very flexible, allowing him to put his feet into his mouth and roll like a ball. This allows him to squeeze through tight spaces.
*Superhuman speed: Stitch can move and run faster as shown when moving past Lilo and Pleakley while carrying Jumba, during a bet made with Lilo to catch Experiments 501 (Yin) and 502 (Yang), and hurrying from Gantu's ship back to the fundraiser while carrying Lilo. His speed is also usually used when he's in his spherical form. When Stitch runs, his speed doesn't automatically increase and can only achieve this by putting effort into his muscles.
*Superhuman jump: Stitch's legs are small but, thanks to the muscle advancements mentioned above, are powerful enough to enable him to jump several feet into the air.
*Superhuman agility: Stitch has extraordinarily greater agility, dexterity, balance, and body coordination, capable of doing feats far beyond an acrobat, such as leaping far distances, jumping off from wall to wall, swinging from vines, and standing on branches, wires, and narrow platforms. He is also capable of standing and walking on his paws. The reason is Stitch has a very flexible skeletal system that also allows him to squeeze through tight spaces.
*Superhuman reflexes: Stitch is able to react and dodge plasma bolts from the plasma guns from Jumba and Gantu. When Jumba tried to shoot him, Stitch caught the plasma bolts in his hands. He was also able to catch some tennis balls with his four arms and even threw them back in the pitching machine.
*Superhuman stamina: Stitch's advanced musculature produces fewer fatigue toxins, allowing him to exert himself for extended periods of time. Stitch can still fight, run, and even eat without tiring out; even when hunting for other experiments, he would hunt them for an entire day to when night comes.
*Electromagnetic vision: Stitch's eyes can magnify objects and pick up various forms of light, filtering out one eye or the other if necessary. Using normal vision, his eyes are a glossy, solid black and also magnify his vision for better visibility.
**Night vision: When activated, Stitch's eyes turn green, permitting him to see clearly at night or in dark places.
**Infrared vision: When activated, Stitch's eyes turn red, permitting him to locate targets by their body heat. He most notably uses this in "Houdini" to track the titular experiment who can turn things, including himself, invisible.
**X-ray vision: When activated, Stitch's eyes turn bright green, permitting him to look through walls and other obstacles.
*Audio amplifier: He can act as an audio amplifier, radio, and/or microphone, illustrated when he uses his claw as the needle on a record player and plays music through his open mouth like a sound horn.
*Enhanced hearing and smell: He has an acute sense of smell and hearing. Concept designs detailing Stitch's anatomy describe the sensory filaments of his nose being so dense and extensive that, if unraveled, could blanket Earth. While listening for Jumba and Pleakley, who were hiding on a hill outside the dog shelter, he was able to detect Pleakley speaking at a whisper.
*Skilled hand-to-hand combat: He is dexterously skilled in hand-to-hand combat, whether using all four arms or just two.
*Marksmanship: He is also dexterously skilled in marksmanship, using plasma blasters (even loaded with net to capture experiments).
*Venomous spines: In anatomy drawings of Stitch from the film's production, his spines are described as being poisonous and connected to venom sacs in his spinal cord.
*Shapeshifting: In his alien form, he has three spines on his back, two antennae on his head, and an extra pair of arms. However, he is able to retract all of these features to look more like a dog while on Earth and used this to become Lilo's "pet".
*Semi-immortality: Stitch cannot age. When Skip flashed ten years ahead, he did not age whatsoever, but, for some reason, Babyfier's powder regressed him into an infant. This could simply mean he stops aging once he is physically mature.
*Vacuum adaptation: Along with the rest of his "cousins", Stitch can survive in the vacuum of space due to being a genetic alien.
*Power immunity: Stitch has some resistance but not total immunity to the other experiments' powers. He is shown to be immune to some of the experiments' powers, such as Angel's siren song and Checkers' hypnosis, since Stitch was created after them. While Stitch was put to sleep by Drowsy, he was able to wake up on his own without the need to be sprayed with water.
Both of the two East Asian animated spin-offs add additional abilities to Stitch not shown in the original Western continuity.
*Battery Storage: The third season of the Stitch! anime shows that he also has a natural battery in his body that can supercharge his powers.
*Transformation: In Stitch & Ai, it shows that Stitch has a metamorphosis code in his DNA to assist him in carrying out his primary function. When the metamorphosis programming is activated, he transforms into a gigantic and unstoppable monstrosity with four tentacle-like blasters capable of destroying not just cities, but planets and potentially entire star systems.
*Quill Retraction: In "Tell the World", he is also seen sprouting quills around his neck.
*Gliding: In "The Phoenix", Stitch sprouts a patagium—a parachute-like membrane found in bats, birds, and other animals that assists in gliding or flight—to glide through the air, mainly for the sake of having some fun while he, Ai, and her cousin Bao head to a shrine that the titular phoenix heads to. (The trio were using a hang glider during their journey, and Stitch deliberately jumps off it so he can glide through the air without hanging on to the glider itself.) Unlike the metamorphosis program, neither the quills nor the patagium have any major factor into the episodes' plots or the metamorphosis program itself.
===Weaknesses===
*Program limits: Stitch's primary weakness lies in his programming.
**Water: Stitch's greatest weakness is his inability to float, let alone swim, in water due to his molecular structure being much denser than the average human or animal. This causes him to instantly sink like a stone. Stitch originally had an instinctive aquaphobia (which was even used against him by Spooky), but he was able to overcome it thanks to Lilo's influence.
**Glitch (formerly): In Stitch Has a Glitch, it is revealed that Stitch's molecules were not fully charged after his creation, which is proven to be very deadly once his molecules run out of power. As a result, Stitch frequently experiences periodic glitches that have him revert to his original destructive programming; basically, suffering from a seizure disorder and having nightmares of destroying everything and everyone in his path, including Lilo. However, his suffers from these glitches were gone permanently after Lilo's love for him caused him to be fully charged at last.
**Memory erase from Crezonyte: It is shown in "Kixx" that if Stitch consumes two different elements which form to create a particular chemical compound called Crezonyte, all of his training skills will be wiped. Eating the rubber of a tennis shoe and palmitoleic acid (found in macadamia nut oil) together will result in this.
**Mucus drain: Stitch is 62.7% mucus, which is similar in chemical composition to Snootonium. If this is drained from his body, he will become temporarily exhausted from dehydration (evidenced when Snooty siphoned Stitch's mucus).
**Sonic blasts/Sensory overload: Another weakness is the fact that his super-sensitive hearing can lead to temporary deafness when exposed to sonic blasts, such as Yaarp's destructive sound blast.
**Strength limit: As stated above, he cannot lift even an ounce past the "3,000 times his weight" limit.
**Experiments' powers: While Stitch is immune to Angel and Checkers' powers since he was created after them, there are some experiments whose powers he is vulnerable to, such as Amnesio, Babyfier, Spike, Bugby, Lax, Dupe, Frenchfry, Swapper, Swirly, and Houdini. Stitch can also be put to sleep by Drowsy, but he was able to wake up on his own without the need to be sprayed with water.
**Blades/Durability limit: While Stitch can withstand plasma bolts, being beaten, and even the most hazardous environments, it is implied that Stitch isn't resistant to bladed objects. This is shown when Stitch was pierced by a Sample Extractor and able to take out his blood.
**Trash ingestion: If Stitch consumes vast amounts of trash, he will become incredibly sick as shown in "Ploot". He first gets sick to his stomach and sneezes, then his fur turns yellow, his tongue becomes orange, and his nose turns red. Another symptom is, with each sneeze, an arm grows from random areas of his body. Stitch's garbage-eating illness was theorized as a rare space disease by Jumba. Stitch was cured when he drank a barrel of orange juice and took medicine from an eyedropper, though it was only for a few seconds. When he sneezed again, he developed yellow stripes and grew legs instead. The only permanent cure is inhaling steam from a vaporizer.
**Sauerkraut: According to Lilo, Stitch is apparently allergic to sauerkraut. However, it was never shown what kind of allergic reaction he has to sauerkraut or if he even actually has an allergy to it.
==Appearances==
===Lilo & Stitch===
As revealed in Lilo & Stitch, Stitch was created by "evil genius" Dr. Jumba Jookiba, who dubbed him "Experiment 626". Both Jumba and 626 were put on trial by the United Galactic Federation following Jumba's arrest on suspicion of illegal genetic experimentation. When the Grand Councilwoman tries asking 626 to show them something inside himself that is good, he says, "Meega, nala kweesta!" (which means "I want to destroy!"), which horrifies everyone. Jumba tries to reassure to the court that he didn't teach Stitch such a thing.
Jumba is incarcerated and 626 is sentenced by the Grand Councilwoman to banishment on a deserted asteroid. Captain Gantu (who despises him to no end) transports him on his ship, escorted by a fleet of police cruisers. During the trip to, 626 outsmarts the plasma guns which are locked onto his genetic signature and manages to break out of the holding cell. He escapes security into the ventilation system, makes his way to the power grid (disabling the ship's power), and steals a red police cruiser. Despite damage to the cruiser, he activates the hyper-drive and escapes the fleet. The Grand Councilwoman supervises a team which track's 626's location and they project that he will land on Earth. Hoping that his ship will crash in water, stating that his molecular density is too great, the Councilwoman is dismayed to see that 626's final destination is on a string of islands; a.k.a. Hawaii. A decision to gas the planet is rejected by Agent Pleakley, an expert on life on planet Earth. In order to capture 626 discreetly, the Grand Councilwoman instructs Pleakley to accompany Jumba to Earth, the deal being that, if 626 is captured, Jumba will be freed.
A few hours later, after his escape, 626 crash-lands on Earth on the island of Kauai. Almost immediately, he is run over by three plantation trucks and knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, 626 finds himself in a dog kennel without his suit or his plasma cannons. He escapes the kennel, but only briefly; Jumba and Pleakley are already waiting for him outside and fire plasma rounds at him. When Lilo enters the kennel, 626 decides to disguise himself as a dog and uses Lilo as a shield from Jumba and Pleakley. Lilo names 626 'Stitch'. Throughout the course of the day, Stitch continues to evade Jumba and Pleakley while the bounty hunters keep a safe, but noticeable, distance as they are under orders to remain discreet. As Stitch's destructive programming takes effect, he begins to cause trouble for Lilo and her older sister, Nani, who is currently struggling to keep custody of her sister following the deaths of their parents. Stitch's destructive and mischievous behavior causes tension between Lilo and Nani, especially when it causes Nani to lose her job. The only thing that keeps Stitch with them is Lilo's persistence.
Over the course of time, with nothing of substance to destroy, Stitch finds himself questioning his purpose in life, coming to realize he has nothing if he cannot wreak havoc and destroy because he was only created to be a monster. After going through Lilo's collection of books, Stitch discovers the story of The Ugly Duckling and is immediately taken by the tale. When Lilo explains the duckling was sad because he was lost, but became happy again after finding his family and a place to belong, Stitch tries afterward to fit in with Lilo's family. However, his proclivity for mishaps and interference from Jumba and Pleakley turn this into a futile effort. Eventually, and just when he thinks that things might be happening for the best, one final bit of mayhem (thanks to the alien bounty hunters) results in Nani losing custody of Lilo. Heartbroken by his destruction of the family he has learned to care for, and realizing everything is his fault, Stitch runs away into the night, believing she has a better chance at happiness without him and seeking to find a family of his own. He takes the Ugly Duckling book with him.
The following morning, Jumba confronts Stitch and chases him back to the house. Stitch finds Lilo alone, since Nani ran out early to apply for a job. Because both he and Pleakley now have been fired by the Grand Councilwoman that morning, Jumba is less discreet this time, to Pleakley's dismay, and the ensuing battle leads to the house being completely destroyed. Nani comes home in time to see Lilo being taken by the social worker. When Lilo hears that she's to be taken away, she runs away. Stitch finds her shortly afterward, and reveals that he's an alien, but Lilo had enough of the trouble he's caused, so she denies Stitch's apologies and pushes him away. At that moment, Gantu arrives and captures both Stitch and Lilo. Though Stitch escapes, Lilo is taken prisoner aboard Gantu's ship. In order to save her, Stitch allies himself with Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley. He then steals a tanker truck, and an air battle between Gantu's and Jumba's ships ensues until Stitch is able to board Gantu's ship. Gantu attempts to destroy Stitch during the confrontation, and though he nearly succeeds, Stitch gains the upper hand and manages to both save Lilo and destroy Gantu's ship. They then run into David, who gives them a ride back to shore.
Landing just off shore, everyone makes their way to the beach where the Grand Councilwoman is waiting with her ship and entourage. She immediately arrests Stitch who asks permission to bid farewell to Lilo and Nani before he departs. The Grand Councilwoman accepts, surprised by Stitch's sudden gentle and loving nature toward what he calls his family. Though she then admits she cannot change the council's decision to apprehend Stitch, as the council has made the firm decision to do so, and it is outside of her power to overrule such a decision. However, Lilo then reveals her certificate of adoption from the dog shelter, meaning he belongs to her, and taking him away would be illegal. With aliens being all about rules, the Grand Councilwoman happily agrees to allow Stitch to remain on Earth, sentenced to a 'peaceful' exile. She then announces that Lilo's family will be under protection of the United Intergalactic Federation.
During the finale shows that Lilo and Nani's house was rebuilt with the help of Jumba and Pleakley who have remained on Earth. Stitch is shown to have adjusted well to life on Earth, spending most of his days spending time with Lilo, Nani, David, Jumba, and Pleakley, and finally finding his one true place in the world: as a member of their ʻohana.
===Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch===
In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (set shortly after the first movie), Stitch is now living, along with the also-exiled Jumba and Pleakley, in Lilo and Nani's house.
Although still hot-tempered and mischievous, he is reasonably well-behaved, but then begins to malfunction unintentionally. Since his molecules were not fully charged after his creation, Stitch frequently experiences periodic glitches that have him revert to his original destructive programming; basically suffering from a seizure disorder and having nightmares of destroying everything and everyone in his path, including Lilo. Seeing this, as well as the severity of the situation which could eventually lead to Stitch's death once his molecules run out of power, Jumba strives to create a proper fusion chamber in which to recharge Stitch.
Stitch wants to prove to Lilo that he can still be good, so he goes around doing good deeds for the citizens of the town to prove himself. When his goodness chart is finished, he goes to show it to Lilo, but she is too busy preparing for the contest, resulting both of them to end up fighting, which consequently gets them sent to their room by Nani. Once Stitch accidentally destroys one of the costumes and set pieces for Lilo's hula contest because of his glitch, an enraged Lilo ignores Stitch and tells him to get lost, deeply hurting him.
Before Lilo goes on to perform her hula dance, Stitch wanted to wish her luck, but thanks to his glitch he accidentally scratches her face and hurts her, just like in his nightmare. Believing himself to be too dangerous, Stitch attempts to leave Earth for a remote planet while Lilo, Jumba, and the others desperately try to have him return so they can recharge him. When Stitch crash-lands the ship on a mountain, Lilo manages to get him into the fusion chamber, but she pulls the switch too late. As Stitch dies, he says his last words, "Stitch sorry." Jumba says that they're too late and there's nothing Lilo can do. However, she tells Stitch that he needed her more than she needed him because he is Lilo's ʻohana, and she will always love him in accordance with her belief that love is more powerful than death. With these words, Stitch is successfully revived and his molecules fully charged.
===Stitch! The Movie===
At the start of Stitch! The Movie, Stitch is shown having a difficult time connecting with the island locals during a beach party, feeling that he doesn't fit in and is too much of an outcast. Though Lilo tries to comfort him, he seeks Jumba in hopes of learning about having others like he and the evil scientist. However, Jumba explains that, in the vast universe, he and Stitch are alone and lack, what Lilo calls, "cousins".
Later on, Stitch discovers Jumba's first 625 genetic experiments locked in a crate, in the form of dehydrated pods. In order to rescue a kidnapped Jumba, a trade between Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel and Jumba for the experiments is organized, but it instead results in the freedom of the experiments and the capture of Lilo and Stitch. Hämsterviel then tries to clone Stitch, but he was rescued by Experiment 221 (Sparky). Stitch then rescued Lilo and landed Hämsterviel's spacecraft back in Kauai, where the Grand Councilwoman waited to arrest the evil rodent. She then puts Stitch and Lilo in charge of capturing and taming the other illegal genetic experiments scattered on the island.
===Lilo & Stitch: The Series===
In Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Stitch and Lilo have to capture Jumba's experiments, turn them from bad to good, and find them each a home before Gantu, 625, and Hämsterviel capture them and use them for evil. Along the way, Stitch meets his match 627 (who is tougher than him), and he eventually defeats him.
He is also affected by fourteen experiments' powers: Amnesio wipes out his memory; Babyfier turns him into a baby; Spike makes him goofy; Bugby turns him into an insect; Spooky turns into water and nearly drowns him (and therefore turning him into a coward in the process until he overcomes it); Lax makes him lazy; Dupe clones him into four, weakening his strength; Frenchfry serves him unhealthy meals (along with Lilo and Pleakley) and fattens him up into a giant bowling ball; Swapper switches Stitch and Lilo's minds; Yaarp blasts his megaphone, temporarily deafening Stitch; Snooty sucks out his mucus, temporarily putting him out of commission; Swirly hypnotizes him; Drowsy (in the episode "PJ") puts him to sleep; and Houdini makes him invisible. He also meets Experiment 624 (Angel), who is introduced as a love interest for Stitch.
Over the course of the series, he and Lilo have also had adventures with Kim Possible, Jake Long, Penny Proud, and the Recess gang.
===Leroy & Stitch===
After Stitch, Lilo, Jumba and Pleakley have successfully captured and redeemed all the remaining experiments (except 625) the Grand Councilwoman offers Stitch the chance to become the new captain of the Galactic Armada and its new flagship, the BRB (Big Red Battleship) 9000. However, that would require Stitch to be separated from Lilo. Not wanting to make Lilo sad, he chooses to return to Kaua'i. However, Lilo tells him he should go. Before he leaves with Jumba and Pleakley, Lilo gives him a necklace with a tiki of the god Ku Tiki to give him strength. She also gives Pleakley an Earth rock and Jumba an Elvis record.
When Gantu breaks Dr. Hämsterviel out of prison in an action of frustration, Stitch is sent on his first mission as captain to capture the evil rodent once more. But when he arrives at Galactic Defense Industries, Stitch faces off against a new experiment – Leroy, who is an enhanced red doppelganger of Stitch. After Leroy is named, Stitch bursts into the lab and starts to fight against Leroy. Stitch fights well and is about to beat Leroy when Pleakley shows up unexpectedly, allowing Leroy to take advantage of Stitch's lapse in concentration and beat him. He is knocked into a capsule and sent with Jumba and Pleakley heading towards a black hole, while Leroy disguises himself as Stitch. After they are sent towards the black hole, Leroy heads off towards Earth to capture all of the other experiments for Hämsterviel. Luckily, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley escape from the black hole and arrive on the planet Turo. There, they rescue Lilo, 625 (now known as "Reuben") and Gantu, and then fly Pleakley's car pool van back to Earth to assist the other 624 experiments in the defeat of an army of Leroys. Now, with Leroy defeated, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley return to Earth with Lilo, realizing that family is more important than spaceships, laboratories, and prestige.
===Stitch!===
In this anime spin-off, which starts years after Leroy & Stitch, Stitch seems to have reverted to his original destructive nature as seen in the original film.
He is first seen being chased in a spaceship by authorities and Jumba before he crash-lands on Earth on Izayoi Island, off the coast of Okinawa. Soon joined by Jumba and Pleakley, they make a new life with a young girl named Yuna, and Stitch seeks the mythical powers of the Spiritual Stone, a sacred island object that can grant any wish, which is, in Stitch's case, wanting power. But the powerful wish only works by doing and getting 43 good deeds and Stitch now faces the return of Hämsterviel and a once-again disgraced Captain Gantu along with various experiment threats, all while juggling, getting, and losing (due to his own mischief) good deeds. After spending time with Yuna, Stitch finally gave up his vow to be the most powerful of the universe to stay with her.
Lilo originally never appeared or was mentioned in the anime, but many would still question her absence. In the English dub, it completely changed the story by implying that Stitch ran away out of jealousy of Lilo having a boyfriend, as mentioned by Jumba, "Just because little girl, has new boyfriend now and is all washed up by 626 is no reason to act bad," which leaves us to believe that this takes place years after the events of Leroy & Stitch. Despite this, when Yuna once confronted Stitch, telling him that his previous family forgot about him. Offended, Stitch quickly states, "Lilo didn't forget!" which implies that he still deeply cares about her, and is certain that Lilo still feels the same way about him. It wasn't until Episode 23 of sequel series Stitch! ~Zutto Saiko no Tomodachi~ that Lilo makes her appearance for the first time.
She, now fully grown, visits Okinawa New Town with her daughter (whom Stitch thought was Lilo in the beginning). Both friends reunite, and we learn that there was never any boyfriend. Lilo had gone to college, and they planned to meet by the beach when she returned, but when that day came, Nani was in labor and caused Lilo to be a little late. Stitch, for unknown reasons, was never aware of Nani's condition (although the English dub states that Stitch had been away on a mission), and since Lilo didn't arrive at the time they planned, he thought Lilo had forgotten about him. He leaves his tiki necklace on the beach before flying away in his ship, and by the time Lilo arrives he had already left, and cries when she find his necklace. In the end, before Lilo and her daughter could board the plane, Stitch arrives in time to see her again. They both have a happy reunion, she hugs him, promises to visit him again, and asks Stitch to take good care of his new family. She gives Stitch his tiki necklace back before leaving.
===Other appearances===
In Treasure Planet, Stitch made a brief cameo as a stuffed toy on a shelf in Jim Hawkins' bedroom when he was a child.
Stitch appears in the Virtual Magic Carpet Ride game included on Disc 2 of the 2004 Aladdin Platinum Edition DVD, riding in his spaceship while passing by Aladdin and Carpet briefly three times.
In Brother Bear, Stitch makes a surprise cameo in the outtakes.