Espio the Chameleon

Live in the darkness... and fight in the darkness. This is my way in life!
— Espio the Chameleon, "Defective Detectives"

**Espio the Chameleon** (エスピオ・ザ・カメレオン, *Esupio za Kamereon*?) is a character that appears in the anime series *Sonic X* and its comic series published by Archie Comics. He is a purple, mobian chameleon and a member of the Chaotix, a group of detectives. He is the master of the special art "ninjutsu".

## History

### Anime

#### Egg Moon Saga

In "Defective Detectives", Espio and the Chaotix were transported to Earth by a sudden Chaos Control that warped their entire office to this new world. As Charmy returned with newspapers and videos on Sonic's adventures, Espio was sent out to get a TV for the videos, though the chameleon questioned the morality of his actions when he was forced to steal one. They were soon after hired by Vanilla the Rabbit to find Cream, and tracked her to the Thorndyke Mansion where they believed Sonic held Cream captive. However, when Espio tried infiltrating the house while invisible, he was knocked out by Amy's hammer and subsequently left behind by the Chaotix after they solved the case.

#### Metarex Saga

In "Stupid idiot", the Chaotix were assigned by Vanilla to get Chris' clothes to the Blue Typhoon. While Vector promised to do it, Espio noted they lacked a spaceship. Fortunately, one crashed nearby which they made into a makeshift spaceship. When the Chaotix got to the Blue Typhoon however, they were beaten up one by one by the crew who thought they were Metarex. Outraged at the treatment, Espio and his team tried leaving in their ship until the Blue Typhoon caught up with them and the crew explained themselves. Espio accepted the crew's apologies and helped transfer their luggage. Amidst tea with the Chaotix however, Cream got upset when Vector asked why she was on the Blue Typhoon. Vector, having misinterpreted Vanilla's wishes, decided to take Cream back to her mother. Though Espio was against this, he was persuaded to go along with the idea and kidnapped Cream without warning, provoking the Blue Typhoon to retaliate. As Sonic returned to rescue Cream and a brief fight ensured, the Chaotix agreed to let Cream stay after hearing her decision.

In "Mission: Match Up," The Chaotix got lost in space, but encountered help in the form of the Blue Typhoon's crew. During the repairs of the Chaotix's ship, Espio was persuaded by Vector to help improve Tails' relationship with Cosmo as thanks for the help, despite Espio's being highly skeptic about it. After several failed plans, which involved an invisible Espio puppeteering Knuckles while unconscious to scare Cosmo and make Tails come to her aid, and planning a handkerchief for Tails to find and give to Cosmos, the Chaotix succeeded by sheer chance when Vector started an accident that Tails saved Cosmo from. During Cosmo's subsequent party though, Knuckles returned to beat up Espio and the Chaotix as revenge. Espio and Charmy received additional punishment by having their faced dyed by Knuckles.

In "Hedgehog Hunt", Espio and the Chaotix had taken up jobs in a galactic shopping center where they helped Sonic and his friends hid from the Metarex and Eggman until they got the items they needed to repair the Blue Typhoon.

In *Agent of Mischief*, the Chaotix helped Shadow get to the Metarex's armada to fight Dark Oak. Along the way, they found Dr. Eggman whom they return to their spaceship with.

In "The Light in the Darkness", Espio and the Chaotix joined the unified allies in battle against Final Mova. During this fight, Espio used his "explosive shuriken stars" on Final Mova before the Blue Typhoon fired its Master Emerald-enhanced Sonic Power Cannon at the beast, only for Final Mova to transform into a more deadly form.

In "A Fearless Friend", Espio and the rest were weakened by the effects of Final Mova's new form until Super Sonic and Super Shadow destroyed it, only for Final Mova to emerge in his most deadly form. Despite the costs, Espio and the rest cheered Sonic and Shadow on and watched with sadness as Cosmo sacrificed herself to defeat Final Mova for good.

In "So Long Sonic", Espio and the Chaotix returned to their home planet where they were awarded with cakes from Vanilla for doing some of her errands, which Espio noted while thanking Vanilla that he had never received such treatment from people before.

## Personality

Espio is very serious, quiet, level-headed, wise and disciplined, but also opinionated and somewhat arrogant at times. In combat, he is very aggressive and uses his ninjutsu arts very wisely, and when he is defeated, he prefers to meditate quietly and improve his abilities. Regardless, he is very gentle and polite, as he gladly accepts others apologies for their mistakes and thanks people for the gifts they give.

Unlike the rest of his team, Espio is dignified and opposes foolish plans, especially around Vector, who usually come with harebrained ideas. However, he always does do what Vector tell him, even if he has a different view of some of his actions. He also dislikes hyperactiveness and overly positive attitudes as seen in his interactions with Charmy.

## Powers and abilities

Espio is a master of Ninjutsu. He makes heavy use of this martial arts and is skilled enough at it to fool enemies. He can also teleport at such speeds that he leaves behind purple afterimages, like when he teleported from the inside to the surface of a spaceship in "Galactic Gumshoes", although it is unknown whether this is a form of ninjutsu or something else entirely. Espio can also jump high up in the air to the point that he can reach the roofs of buildings.

As a special talent befitting his species, Espio can turn himself fully invisible by blending in with the environment, allowing him to walk around without being visually detected. However, he can still give away his position by making noise and his invisibility can be negated if he is covered in substances.

### Weapons

Espio wields a series of explosive shuriken stars that he can set to explode whenever he wants, dealing significant damages to the opponent.

## Trivia

* Espio's quote "*Live in the darkness..."* is actually a recreated line used during the Team Blast Chaotix Recital in *Sonic Heroes*. However, it cannot be heard in the original game.
* This version of Espio is noted to less darker in personality, than his game counterpart.

## References

1. ↑ *Sonic X* #11, "No Thanks for the Memories! Part Two"
2. ↑ Masake, Hiro (22 April 2006). "The Light in the Darkness". *Sonic X*. Season 3. Episode 76.
3. ↑ Masake, Hiro (11 December 2004). "Defective Detectives". *Sonic X*. Season 2. Episode 39.