Espio The Chameleon

Espio is an anthropomorphic chameleon, who mainly serves as an intelligent ninja warrior and a member of the Chaotix Detective Agency alongside Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee. Together, the trio solves whatever cases they are given, where Espio is able to put his skills to good use. He possesses as well the ability to blend in with his environment.

Espio is a calm and quiet chameleon, but also overly cautious and disciplined. However, his wariness and soulful character makes him a vital member of Team Chaotix, where his presence plays an important role as a restraint among his coworkers, who tend to be optimistic and energetic. Espio likewise thrives on the dangers of his missions, and although he is quite confident in his ninjutsu, he feels it is aesthetically pleasing to stay in the shadows as a ninja should.

## Appearance

* Espio, from *Knuckles' Chaotix*.

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Espio is an anthropomorphic purple chameleon with a yellow horn between his eyes. His muzzle and the heart-shaped pattern on his torso are as well peach. He also has a ridge of three spikes going down his spine and a coiled tail.

During his early years, Espio was shorter and stubbier. His purple skin color was also somewhat darker and he had black eyes. He also wore green, black and yellow shoes and simple white gloves. In addition, his back spikes were teal/green in color.

In the present day, Espio's skin is a brighter shade of purple and his eyes are gold-colored, with subtle black accents along their outer edges. He also wears dark purple shoes with black accents, metal-reinforced arm bracers, and white gloves with dark purple pads on the backs. Around his wrists and ankles are also bandage-wrapped cuffs with gold studs on the lower bands. The spikes on his back are also black in color.

## Personality

A straight-laced detective committed to his job, Espio is serious, practical, intelligent and wise. He has a militaristic discipline despite being quiet, calm and laid-back. Espio is additionally portrayed as being stubborn, opinionated and self-obsessed. Despite this, he has an excellent drive to all that he does and flourishes off of peril, getting himself into threatening situations to flex and polish his ninja skills, and, due to his extensive training, he can confront these troubles head-on unconcerned by danger.

Among his colleagues, Espio's opinionated attitude serves a key role in Team Chaotix, allowing him to reign in and balance out the more optimistic and zany behaviors exhibited by Vector and Charmy.

Beneath Espio's reserved demeanor lies a burning sense of justice and an absolute refusal to let evil have its way. As such, Espio gives the impression of a rather ruthless demeanor when facing villains; when encountering Dr. Eggman during the Neo Metal Sonic incident and the Black Arms incident, the usual civil and soft-spoken chameleon would make threats at the doctor's life. Espio is also seen as a ninja-based character; his battle poses and shuriken stars support that portrayal. Also in the Japanese script, the pronouns he uses to refer to himself is usually *ware*, and the more archaic *onushi* pronoun for referring to others.

Like any ninja, Espio has a soulful side to himself too. He is a lover of traditional ways and can play the shamisen, but is left confused by computers and audio-video equipment.

## Powers and abilities

Using speed and stealth to overcome his enemies, Espio is a powerful adversary (by his own accords), as he says it would take no less than a "mighty foe" to outclass him. He is likewise a fierce foe in direct combat, as he has been able to face skilled opponents like Rouge the Bat and Knuckles the Echidna on even ground during the Ifrit incident.

As a Speed Type, Espio possesses a great deal of speed. As demonstrated during the Ifrit incident, he can run at speeds compatible to Sonic and Shadow's, and his swiftness is potent enough to let him fool his enemies and appear in different spots nigh-instantaneously. Also, while having not demonstrated power on a superhuman level, Espio has impressive physical strength too, enough to shatter obstacles and smash Badniks using only hand chops. Espio also has very impressive durability and endurance, having been able to withstand Sonic's Homing Attacks indefinitely and keep on fighting during their duel amidst the Time Eater incident. Espio also has extreme acrobatic skills, being capable of doing complex and nimble jumps even in midair, leap between walls with ease, pull off Spin Attack techniques at high speed, and grind on Grind Rails without any trouble.

Espio possesses a unique stealth camouflage trick that lets him change the hue of his skin to match his environment. His camouflage is so effective that he is rendered completely invisible to the naked eye, capable of passing through photocells, and able to pass by foes unnoticed. Combined with his keen mind, this ability makes Espio a very sneaky and effective spy.

Having undergone extensive ninja training, Espio is a skilled ninja and a master of ninjutsu. With his ninjutsu skills having been described as "powerful", he is proficient with several forms of ninja-based weaponry. He is especially a master of throwing kunai, capable of striking targets with pin-point accuracy while only barely looking at them. He can also expertly throw shuriken stars for offensive purposes, namely for offensive purposes by throwing them as projectiles at enemies. He is also capable of stealth, which combined with his camouflaging abilities makes him virtually undetectable. Espio's signatures moves are likewise ninjutsu moves that utilize his camouflage trick. The Leaf Swirl lets Espio combine his camouflage with a Ninja Leaf Swirl maneuver to create a tornado to blow opponents away while he disappears, his Chroma Camo maneuver hides himself completely from his enemies' perception while increasing his speed, and his Ninja Arts: Camouflage hides himself completely from enemies' perception while he "warps" between places to disorient his enemy as he attacks them.

Espio also possesses an extremely keen sense of awareness of his surroundings on both the physical and empathic plane, detecting Team Dark nearby despite the group being out his field of vision, Sonic's presence aboard the Death Egg, and the soul of the Time Eater.

Like a real lizard, Espio can climb along any surface and stick to them for an unprecedented amount of time. As seen during the Death Egg II incident, he also possesses a prehensile tongue which he can use as a short-range projectile attack in combat and as a grappling hook.

Espio is also able to perform the Spin Attack, a technique where he curls into a concussive ball or cutting disk and directs himself at his targets. With it, Espio can shred or burrow through just about any substance given enough speed. Adept in its usage, Espio can utilize several variants of the Spin Attack for both ground- and aerial maneuvers, including the Spin Dash, Spin Jump, and Homing Attack.

Espio has as well a keen mind and experience in investigation and gathering intel. However, while having experience in solving mysteries alone, he is not as brilliant a detective as Vector. He also has some limited skill in hacking computers as seen during the Black Arms incident. Among other things, Espio can also harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds to empower himself.

### Weapons

As a ninja, Espio favors and employs ninja-based weaponry, such as kunai and shuriken stars. He uses his shuriken stars as a long-range offensive by throwing them at opponents and can do so in rapid succession. By attaching a rope to his kunai, he can also use it as a grappling hook to latch onto suspended targets and swing between them.

### Transformations

#### Hyper Mode

*Main article: Hyper Mode*
A weaker variant of the super transformation. Espio is capable of using this mode for a brief time on his own by drawing power from the Chaos Emeralds. In Hyper Mode, Espio's speed and attack power greatly increase.

#### Color Powers

*Main article: Color Power*
By harnessing different variants of Hyper-go-on from Wisps, Espio can use specific **Color Powers** to transform into a certain form, such as a drill, a laser or even a planet, each one possessing its own unique abilities. So far, Espio has been able to transform into the Cyan Laser, Yellow Drill, and Indigo Asteroid. However, these transformations require a steady supply of Hyper-go-on to be maintained.

## Weaknesses

Espio's camouflaging ability, while practical, is not perfect. Its maintenance is tied to Espio's concentration, meaning it will falter should he lose focus due to things such as being blinded by light, sneezing, coughing, or being covered in a visible substance. His stealth is not flawless either as Rouge the Bat was able to detect his movements thanks to her heightened sense of hearing. He is also not mechanically-minded.

## Relationships

### Vector the Crocodile

As a vital member of the Chaotix Detective Agency, Espio respects Vector the Crocodile as a colleague and boss, as well as a close friend. Espio's ninja abilities often come handy for ongoing investigations and Vector even trusts Espio to handle cases on his own. However, Espio does not bother as much with payment as Vector does, occasionally leading to conflicts between the two, like in *Sonic Rivals 2* where Espio failed to collect evidence to present to their client. Coupled with Vector's free-of-charge charity, this usually leaves the detectives in debt. Espio acts as the voice of reason among the group and may advise Vector against accepting certain jobs, like following their mysterious client's orders in *Sonic Heroes*, but likewise is unsuccessful due to Vector's readiness to take any work that pays. Generally, Espio is very loyal to his boss and always follows his orders.

As the calmest and most serious member of the Chaotix, Espio sometimes goes unnoticed between his louder colleagues. In *Sonic Colors*, Vector wondered about Espio's whereabouts, and neither he nor Charmy, Sonic and Tails realized that Espio had been standing next to them. Espio has also displayed some frustration with Vector's childish side, such as in *Sonic Generations* where the crocodile gobbled up three Chili dogs at once at Sonic's birthday party while Espio shook his head in embarrassment.

On top of being coworkers, the Chaotix share a residence and Vector often refers to Espio and Charmy as his "boys", showing a familial bond between the trio.

### Shadow the Hedgehog

The relationship between Espio and Shadow the Hedgehog has changed very much since their first meeting. During their first meeting, they fought against each other without a question due to their assumption that the other was the enemy. However, they put their differences aside and helped each other stop Neo Metal Sonic and his plan to rule over the world.

During the Black Arms incident, their relationship is more friendly. Espio gladly thanked Shadow for opening the portal to Eggman's computer and after Eggman claimed that he created Shadow, Espio told him to not believe Eggman and aided him in his battle against the doctor. Overall, Espio has put more faith in Shadow since their meeting and the two appear allies in most regard.

### Silver the Hedgehog

When Espio first met Silver the Hedgehog, his mission was to find evidence that Silver was behind the kidnapping of several Chao. As such, Silver was a subject of doubt for Espio as he did not seem like a bad guy despite his actions. At first, Espio treated Silver like an enemy, but as he learned that Silver was working to save the world, he decided to follow his instincts and help him with his mission. During their adventure, the two of them built a good relationship as Espio proved his trustworthiness and helped Silver on many occasions. After finishing their mission, they gladly thanked each other, showing the great admiration and faith they had gained for one another.