Stitch

*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
**Stitch** (also known as **Experiment 626**) is an illegal, genetic experiment created by Jumba Jookiba, whose primary function was to destroy everything he touches. After escaping the lawful Galactic Armada, Stitch crash lands on Earth in Hawaii, where he met a girl named Lilo.

## Appearance

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 a dog throughout much of the franchise, as the humans (except Lilo, Nani, Cobra, and David) are completely oblivious to the fact he is an alien. He has sharp teeth within 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, as he can retract his second set of arms, his claws, his antennae, and the three spines on his back into his body.

When Stitch was created 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, and similar patches on the elbows of the sleeves, square patches consisting of a dark red border and orange center on each of his legs, a black belt with a crimson square buckle, both black collar, cuffs, and anklets. The suit survived when he crash landed on Earth in Hawaii, but it was torn to pieces when he was run over by a convoy of trucks.

## Personality

At first, Stitch is depicted as a character that is unlikable to many people except Lilo due to his destructive and temperamental behavior. It is interesting to note that people who are averse to Stitch 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 also his cousins: they do not correspond to many established criteria of good physical appearance, having an extra pair of arms, misshapen heads or other odd features.

When Stitch is in his "evil" form (which is his true alien form), he is undeniably worrying as his somewhat botched physique underlines his at the time twisted behavior; in his "good" form, however (the "dog" form that is trademarked and the form that the audience most often sees), Stitch's display of emotion at being rejected for his misbehavior and looks while trying to act good for Lilo are meant to make him seem more adorable to the audience. Despite his surface destructiveness, which does not go away completely even after he has become "good", Stitch is a complex character. According to his creator Jumba, Stitch is a destructive machine who was not given a greater purpose in life. Since Stitch is trapped on an island in Hawaii, where there are relatively few things to destroy, he has many occasions to reflect on occupations other than evil. It is implied that Stitch destroys only because that is what he was programmed to do; but since he has a personality of his own (a fact that only Lilo and Jumba truly understand), he also has the choice, and even the will, not to do so.

Despite having superhuman strength and a high level of computer intelligence, Stitch is emotionally fragile and has a childlike personality beneath his monsteresque exterior. Lilo believes that one reason why he originally pursued his destructiveness was for reasons similar to her own naughtiness—that it was because he was emotionally scarred (for having been made a monster by Jumba), but received little or no understanding or sympathy from others. Stitch becomes much more well-meaning after his betterment but is frequently unable to control all of his impulses to anti-social actions. Fortunately for him, Lilo is always there to support him and he returns her support willingly.

## Biography

Stitch was created by "evil genius" Dr. Jumba Jookiba, who called him "Experiment 626." Both Jumba and 626 were captured and put on trial by the United Stellar Alliance where 626 is then sentenced by the Grand Councilwoman to life imprisonment until 626 manages to break out of the room he is secured in and is found by the lizard alien security guards who attempt to shoot him with their plasma guns. 626 then gets into the ship’s ventilation system where Gantu attempts to shoot him, but misses. He then hits the power grid in the system causing the ship’s lights to go out and when he finally reaches the end of the system, he breaks out of the ship and hijacks the red police cruiser to get away. He is then chased by a huge fleet of Alliance vessels. He flies back toward them attempting to shoot them, but ends up having the navigation system in his ship disabled, though he is still able to use its hyperdrive to make a massive jump through hyperspace and successfully escape. A few hours later, he crash-lands on Earth in Hawaii. That night, he gets run over by three plantation trucks and falls unconscious. When 626 wakes up, he finds himself in a kennel without his suit or his plasma cannons.

Disguising himself as a dog to hide from his captors, 626 is adopted by a Hawaiian princess named Lilo, who names him "Stitch." Meanwhile, Jumba and his supervisor, Pleakley, travel to Earth to arrest the fugitive. Following his adoption, Stitch continues to use Lilo as a mere shield against Jumba and Pleakley, with his efforts proving to be a success, as the bounty hunters have strict orders to both remain hidden and prevent harm against the humans in their attempts. At the strange timing, snow began to cover the island (including half the planet) with snow and in his sleep, Stitch received a strange call to find the hook from the shrine. There he was ambushed by his creator and Pleakley, until he used the power of the hook and transformed into an eagle to fly back to the palace.

## 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)**:** 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."
* **Dense body tissue:** Although we rarely see Stitch shot at with a bullet, he does survive the crash of his spaceship with not 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:**
* **Bulletproof skin:** Weapons fired from plasma guns seem to cause him discomfort, although he can hold it in his hands long enough to throw the plasma back at his enemies.
* **Shockproof:** He also has some resistance to electricity; However, he can still feel pain from such shocking, despite his immunity to electricity.
* **Hypercognition:** 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 post card; 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; builds a "bucking bronco" out of a toaster, a vacuum cleaner, and a lamp; reads aloud a description of a local museum's display he is able to understand at a remarkable speed; uses a human being as a shield from Jumba near Pleakley's presence; and generally picks up quickly on what is happening around him.
* **Parallel computing:** He is an information repository, with a 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 coming as simple as a tricycle to as complex as intergalactic spaceships.
* **Enhanced strength**
* **Wall crawling:** The pads on Stitch's hands and feet can secrete a sticky substance, allowing him to scale and adhere to almost any surface, such as buildings and walls.
* **Spherical form:** His skeletal system is very flexible, allowing him to put his feet into his mouth and become a rolling ball, allowing him to squeeze through tight spaces.
* **Enhanced speed:** His speed is also usually used when he's in his spherical form.
* **Enhanced jump:** Stitch's legs are small but, thanks to the muscle advancements mentioned above, powerful enough to enable him to jump several feet into the air.
* **Electromagnetic vision:** His eyes can pick up various forms of light and he can filter out one or the other if necessary. Stitch can see in normal vision; during this mode, his eyes are a glossy, solid black. Furthermore, he can also magnify his vision.
	+ **Night vision:** Where his eyes turn green.
	+ **Infrared vision:** Where his eyes turn red.
	+ **X-ray vision:** Where his eyes turn bright green.
* **Audio amplifier:** He also can act as an audio amplifier, radio, and/or microphone, illustrated when he uses his claw as the needle on a record player, and the music comes out of his open mouth.
* **Enhanced hearing & 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, they could blanket the Earth.
* **Skilled hand-to-hand combat:** He is also dexterously skilled in hand-to-hand combat, using all four arms or just his main two.
* **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.
* **Alien form:** In his alien form, he has three spines on his back, two antennae on his head, and can grow an extra pair of arms.
* **Dog form:** Stitch can hide his spines, antennae and extra pair of arms in his body, taking the form of an ordinary Earth dog; he used this to become Lilo's dog.
* **Vacuum adaptation:** Along with the rest of his "cousins", Stitch can survive in the vacuum of space due to being a genetic alien.
* **Shapeshifting:** When he was granted the powers of Maui’s Fish Hook, Stitch can now change into any form of animal.

### Weakness

* **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, which causes him to instantly sink like a stone is he so much as falls in. Stitch originally had an instinctive aquaphobia, but was able to overcome it thanks to the power of the Fish Hook.
* **Strength limit:** As stated above, he cannot lift even an ounce past the 3,000 time limit.

## Equipment

### Hook of Maui

After his arrival to Hawaii, Stitch somehow came into being the wielder of the legendary fishhook that belonged to the legendary Demi-god Maui and pulled it out form the shrine, granting him the powers of a the previous wielder of the hook.

## Background Information

Stitch is one of the titular protagonists of the *Lilo & Stitch* franchise.

## Trivia

* Stitch is the second character to be chosen as the successor of a legendary artefact, the first being Johnny Bravo who wields Thor’s Hammer, the Norse God of Thunder.