Chroma Key

> "The name's Chroma Key! Officer for MCPD, Ray Trace's sidekick and boyfriend, and the 2nd best Protector out there!" - Chroma Key
>
>

## Chroma Key

### Aliases

The 2nd Best ProtectorRay Trace's Sidekick

## Physical description

### Eye color

Silver

Chroma Key is a self-proclaimed Protector, whose main goal is to officially become a member of the small team. He claims himself to be the sidekick of Ray Trace, and he accompanies him almost everywhere he goes. Chroma Key was originally an off-shoot of Mario's personality, created by Mario's amnesia.

He is named after Chroma Key Compositing, a video-editing method allowing two separate videos to be stitched together using color hues (Chroma Range).

## Backstory

Chroma Key initially didn't exist, only being a by-product of Mario's amnesia. However, Professor E. Gadd extracted the Chroma Key part of Mario into a physical body, making Chroma Key his own entity.

## History

Chroma Key first appears as his own entity in post 9,084, where he walks into the Protectors base and asks Dark Light why she seems so sad. Dark Light and the other Protectors (sans Ray Trace) immediately question Chroma, leading Dark Light to call Mario. Mario explains that Chroma Key was extracted from his body and given his own, much to the annoyance of Dark Light. She then tells Chroma that he can only stay in the base until closing time, however, Chroma decides to sleep in Ray Trace's bed, as he was, at the time, in the Metro Kingdom with Cappy. After two days, the Protectors start to grow tired of Chroma staying in the base, with Ultra Violet suggesting that Chroma Key should stay in Yoshi the SSM's spare house. By sheer coincidence, Yoshi the SSM was walking right outside the base, causing Chroma Key to ask him if he needed any protection.

### The Vacation Arc

Wanting to take a vacation with Ray Trace, Chroma Key inadvertently leads the entire Protector group to Tokyo, albeit in the Anime Dimension, where anime is reality. Chroma Key immediately fanboys over this fact. However, after getting into an argument with SARS, the Protectors leave Tokyo and head to Boggly Woods, leaving Chroma Key behind. He decides to make up for his poor behavior by looking after the Protectors Base. However, what Chroma Key didn't know was that Baby Luigi was in the base, since he was under the care of the Protectors. Realizing that he is the only adult at the base, he decides to take care of the baby.

### *Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door* Adaptation

Seeing a mysterious book with no title suddenly show up in the Agency's Firehouse, Chroma decided to read the book out of curiosity and boredom. Within seconds, Chroma was warped into the World of Paper Mario, teaming up with Paper Luigi to help save the Waffle Kingdom from the mutated Chestnut King.

## General information

### Physical appearance

Chroma Key, unlike the rest of the Protectors, resembles Baby Mario more than Baby Luigi. He has a big nose, an unusually big head-to-body ratio, and is shorter compared to an average human.

He also has some facial differences from Baby Mario. His hair is silver and very, very, *very* shiny, and his eyes are grey. His sideburns also resemble Star-Lord's. He is taller than Baby Mario (while also being a tad bit shorter than Ray Trace).

Chroma Key's voice is best described as a slightly higher pitch of Mario's voice. Chroma's voice is also raspier.

### Personality

> "Running away from problems isn't helpful. Sometimes, you gotta charge at them screaming "Leeroy Jenkins" at the top of your lungs." - Chroma Key
>
>

Being described by Kontrast as a "diet Ray Trace", Chroma Key's personality is like an extreme version of Ray's. Chroma Key often flings himself into dangerous situations in order to prove himself as a hero, often backfiring spectacularly.

The biggest thing about Chroma Key is his ego, believing himself to be the 2nd best Protector (after Ray Trace). Chroma Key is more than willing to leap into battle, even if he is unfit to do so, in order to prove himself to Dark Light. Chroma Key also doesn't have very bright wits, allowing others to outsmart him. However, he still has common sense and can avoid being outsmarted if he takes a few seconds to think, which he almost never does.

Chroma Key is also a fan of Japanese Anime, with him fanboying at almost every passing mention of the subject.

Chroma suffers from Monophobia, the fear of being all alone.

### Powers and abilities

Chroma Key is the strongest and the 2nd fastest out of all the Protectors. However, his wits aren't too bright, which can lead to him being outsmarted when others would simply know better.

Chroma Key finds the dual-energy blades that other Protectors wear uninteresting (though he has only used such technology only once), and as such, his main weapon is his trusty blaster, which can shrink to fit into his pocket using nanotechnology. His reliance on his blaster has made him into somewhat of a sharp-shot.

Chroma Key is also adept at fighting without his blaster, using his speed and strength to surprise and overcome enemies. Chroma Key is also not as fragile as some of the other Protectors, allowing him to outlast most of his comrades in battle. He is also, unsurprisingly, great at parkour and can jump almost as high as Mario.

### Relationships with other characters

Chroma Key and Ray Trace share a special bond stemming back from when Chroma Key was only Mario's Amnesia. Chroma Key somewhat idolizes Ray Trace, going as far as declaring himself as Ray's sidekick. One of their key bonding elements is their similar egos, which mesh very well together.

Mija is Chroma Key's best friend. On the surface, they don't seem like they would have much in common, however, they share similar interests, including over-enthusiasm for "Ass-kicking".

Due to Chroma Key's inspiration being taken from Ray Trace, including his strong, egotistical outlook, Kontrast cannot stand him and has stated that "*Chroma Key is like taking care of a lost puppy. It's cute at first, but then he gets on your nerves!*"

Dark Light acts like a mentor towards Chroma Key whom Chroma Key deeply respects, where Grayscale herself mocked Chroma Key for having Dark Light as a "mother". Despite the mocking, Chroma Key brushes it off, saying that he "wish she was my mom.", causing Dark Light to react in disapproval towards that statement.

Grayscale herself hates Chroma Key, often calling him a "little pest" or "worm", thinking he's a large nuisance. She finds every opportunity to mock his age, his career, his intelligence, and especially his relationship to Ray Trace and Dark Light, proclaiming that Chroma and Ray should simply spend time kissing each other rather than disrupt her. When Chroma Key has made The Agency, Grayscale viewed the organization with much derision and spat on it, accusing Chroma Key of ripping her off and demanding that he will never be officially associated with the Protectors.

Chroma Key views Aqua Marine like a daughter to him, stating that he thinks that she's cute and he often goes out of his way to make her feel loved.

## Trivia

* Chroma Key has a pick-up truck which he put a stock-car engine in. It serves as his main method of transportation.
* Chroma Key's favorite NASCAR Driver is Jeff Gordon.
* Chroma Key bears a striking resemblance to Mark from *NES Open Tournament Golf* (pictured)*.* However, this was unintentional.

## Quotes

* "***I'm gonna kick your robo-ass! Come over here!***" - Chroma Key to Neo Metal Sonic, Eggman's Revenge (Part 1)
* "Who just saved your speedy little ass? Me!" - Chroma Key to Movie Sonic, Eggman's Revenge (Part 1)
* "Commander! I just took down that big aircraft! ***BY MYSELF!***" -Chroma Key to Dark Light, Eggman's Revenge (Part 1)
* "Who saved the speedy blue guy? Me! Who took down the most robots? Me! Who did literally all the work? ***ME!***" - Eggman's Revenge (Part 1)