Stitch

Devonte (cousin)

Markendria (cousin)

Throughout the course of the entire *Lilo & Stitch* franchise, Stitch is depicted as a character that is unlikable to many people except Lilo (on rare occasions, even she falls out with him, most notably in *Lilo & Stitch 2*, where she cries out at him that he is "bad and always will be bad!"), due to his destructive and temperamental behavior. It is interesting to note that people who are averse to Stitch (such as Mertle Edmonds and Dr. Hamsterviel) 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 "koala" 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 as a destructive machine 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 other occupations than evil. It is implied that Stitch destroys only because that is what he is 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 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 as 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 (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 thanks to his friend. At the end of the series, Stitch has friends, family, loved ones and a purpose worth believing in. Before Stitch was rehabilitated, he was a vicious and extremely aggressive and mischievous creature.

After Stitch was rehabilitated, though his mischievous and destructive tendencies remained, he possessed a heart of gold.

He also seems to like turtles, being that there is a picture of Stitch shading two sea turtles in the credits of the original *Lilo & Stitch* movie and snuggling a turtle after a nightmare in *Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch*. As well as having a soft spot for turtles, he also seems to like frogs. He gently move frogs out of harm's way constantly and seems to talk to them as if they are his friends. These likes may be a sign that Stitch may be growing fond of Earth creatures.

Starting off bad as he was programmed by Jumba Jookiba, Stitch was originally designed to create pandemonium and chaos wherever he was. He was also designed to steal people's left shoe, but Lilo changed his ways a while after adopting him at an animal shelter.

Stitch is still prone to having temper tantrums when things don't go his way or he sees that he's been squirted by the water bottle for something that he thought was good. So he's not all good all of the time. He also gets easily angered by inanimate objects, especially the toaster. The toaster has popped toast in his face once, and since then, he has beaten up the toaster and juiced it at least twice.

The last thing about Stitch's personality is that he's got a huge appetite and gets very angry if he doesn't get what he wants to eat. Also, despite his temper tantrums, Stitch can sometimes have a little common sense and be more mature than Lilo. Such an example is when Lilo wanted to use Sprout to win an orchid competition, Stitch wasn't so sure it was wise, and he straight out told Lilo that it was her fault that Sprout had gone out of control.