Chao

The **Chao** (チャオ *Chao*?) are creatures that appear in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. They are a mystical species inhabiting various areas of Mobius.

## Description

### Anatomy

While there is not a defined appearance for Chao, most of them share various common features. Described as cute, they are small creatures, about the size of Wisps, with gelatinous, pudding-like bodies each. In general, Chao have round, waterdrop-like heads with large eyes but no noses, round torsos smaller than their heads, smooth feet with no legs, and arms with no visible hands. Neither their arms or feet have digits. They also have a short tail, small wings, and a floating dot above their heads. It has been noted that, when they grow up, Chao do not show many differences compared to younger Chao.

### Characteristics and culture

Like Overlanders and other anthropomorphic animals, Chao are highly social and sapient creatures, have very flexible facial expressions, and possess self-awareness. They also behave closely like human infants, and possess delightful, pleasant, and lively mannerisms, getting delighted when their owners pat or embrace them gently, or simply carry them around. Conversely, Chao do not like to be attacked, especially with a Spin Attack-related move, thrown, or punished. They also enjoy fruit, which is their favorite food.

Chao live in certain areas of Mobius, known as the Chao Gardens. These gardens are paradise for Chao, and have a nice, clean and shallow pool for them and palm trees with the fruit they eat. Nevertheless, various Chao have demonstrated that they can live in other environments, as long as these have pools of fresh water. The best-known case of this is Cheese, who lives with Cream the Rabbit and her family. Conversely, Chao dislike dried out places like Sandopolis, and are also scared of Dr. Eggman's bases, including the Final Fortress. While Chao are said to live in packs, they hate living in crowded Chao Gardens.

When it comes to biology, all Chao are genderless. They also appear to be oviparous creatures, since they are born from special eggs known as Chao Eggs. Chao are capable of reproduction; when they are ready to mate, flowers will bloom around them. If two Chao with flowers encounter each other, they will make a little dance and generate a Chao Egg. Chao can also mate if they are given heart fruits.

Chao can also grow into adults, though they do not change much in terms of body size. When one "Chao year" has passed (roughly one to three hours), the Chao will create a cocoon and evolve into a more mature form. Like other living beings, Chao have a life span and will eventually die; however, if their owners take good care of them and befriended them, Chao will begin a process known as **reincarnation**, where they will either show a pink-colored cocoon and be reborn from an egg as a child. However, if their owners treat them harshly, Chao will show a gray cocoon and then disappear for good.

Chao can also have their own alignment, which varies depending on their owners and the way they are treated. By default, Chao are **Normal Chao**, and change to either Hero or Dark Chao, with a gentle or a wimpy personality respectively. Regardless, all three types of Chao behave mostly the same. Looking at it this way, Chao may be like some sort of water mirror that reflects their environment.

Besides the normal evolutions, a special Chao called a "Chaos Chao" can be created. This can be done once the selected Chao has transformed at least two times. During that third or higher cycle of its life, if it is happy enough, given at least one of each animal in the game, and all its stats are around equal, it will become a Chaos Chao. Besides looking different than a normal Chao, the Chaos Chao has an endless lifespan. There are three types of Chaos Chao: "Light Chaos", "Hero Chaos" and "Dark Chaos". To get a Hero Chaos or a Dark Chaos, the player should give them one animal from either the Hero or Dark characters respectively, and that all of their stats are around equal. Along with their apparent invincibility, Chaos Chao lack the ability to reproduce.

### Powers and abilities

Chao are capable of flight. As shown during various incidents, some Chao are able to deal great damage to their targets. During Dodon Pa's Grand Prix, Chao have also demonstrated to be able to drive racing vehicles like the Chao Pod, and in other instances, they could drive mechs like the Chao Walker as well. However, they are said to be weak life forms; as noted by Tikal, Chao are too vulnerable without the protection of a guardian.

By giving Chao other lifeforms such as Mobini, they will absorb and learn some of the given beings' skills and traits. Besides a physical change to the Chao, this will also cause a vast change in behavior, abilities, and personality. Similarly, Chaos Drives can be used to raise Chao's abilities. On a similar note, as demonstrated by Chaos, Chao can harness the power of at least the Master Emerald to gain deity-like abilities, though the effects of these on another Chao are unknown.

## Background

At least one Chao colony has existed on Mobius millenia before the Chaos incident. On what is now Angel Island, a small community of Chao was known to live around the Altar of Emerald. Eventually, however, contact with the Master Emerald caused one of those Chao to turn into Chaos, a liquified being with deity-like abilities akin in appearance with the Ancients, the Chao's genetic ancestors. With its new powers, Chaos protected its friends from foreign invaders and kept the water around the altar pure. Thanks to its protection, the local Chao lived singing in peace.

Around 4,000 years ago, the Chao living in the Altar of Emerald met and befriended Tikal, a young echidna from the Knuckles Clan. Shortly after her arrival, Chaos appeared before her. Though the female echidna was surprised by this, Chaos assured her it trusted her. The two soon became friends, with Tikal having become so close to the Chao that she would allegedly go to the Altar of Emerald to play with her Chao friends and Chaos.

Unfortunately, the Chao from the Altar of Emerald were threatened when Pachacamac, the chief of the Knuckles Clan and Tikal's power-hungry father, sought to obtain the seven Chaos Emeralds on the altar for his people. After learning of this, Tikal immediately went to the Altar of Emerald and warned Chaos about the future invasion, begging it to take the local Chao away from there. However, it told her it could not do that, leading to the female echidna promising to try to change her father's mind. Sadly, however, Pachacamac ultimately went along with his plans. On a night, he launched a full-scale assault on the altar and had his troops cramble over Tikal and the Chao. Seeing this horrible treatment towards its friends, Chaos gave in into its anger and used the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds to turn into Perfect Chaos, killing Pachacamac and his men. Now fueled by thoughts of destruction, however, Chaos did not stop its rampage right there, and instead sought to destroy the world. Fortunately, Tikal used an ancient prayer to seal herself and Chaos in the Master Emerald, which would then be guarded by the few remaining people of the Knuckles Clan for the next millennia.

After this incident, the Chao that lived in the Altar of Emerald were endangered, and forced to leave their original home and look for a new place to live elsewhere. A few were able to barely survive, and some had new, artificial homes built by Overlanders.

## Game appearances

### *Sonic Adventure*

In *Sonic Adventure* and its enhanced port *Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut*, Chao are a prominent feature. One of those Chao, Chaos, plays a major role in the games as their main villain until the end, where it gets neutralized by Super Sonic and reunites with its fellow Chao. Ordinary Chao, alongside Chaos, are also found in Tikal's visions of the Knuckles Clan's attack on the Altar of Emerald 4,000 years in the past.

In gameplay, Chao can be raised as virtual pets in the Chao Garden. The games have three of these Gardens in each Adventure Field: one is found in Station Square, the other in the Mystic Ruins, and there is an island-like Chao Garden connected to the Egg Carrier. However, all of these work basically the same. In order to raise a Chao, the player must first get one from Chao Eggs, which are obtained in many ways. Each Chao Garden comes with two Chao Eggs when it is visited for the first time. Chao take some time to be born from their eggs, and depending on the way the player interacts with those eggs, their Chao may behave differently for the rest of their life.

Chao can show a wide variety of emotions that vary depending on the way they are treated. If the owner treats their Chao badly, they will be upset when the player carries them. In more extreme cases, they will shake in fear and cry when the player approaches them. This is done when the player attacks them or interrupts them while they are doing a certain activity, such as drawing. Conversely, if Chao are well treated, they will happily wonder around and laugh or act delighted when the player interacts with them. This can be done if they are feed, given an Animal, or saved while they are drowning (the latter one only if they do not know how to swim). In good conditions, they might also act delighted when the playable character cuddles them.

Chao have seven different ability stats:

* **Swim**: The Chao's ability to swim.
* **Fly**: The possibility a Chao has to take certain paths.
* **Run**: The speed of the Chao on the ground. However, the higher level, the more energy the Chao will consume.
* **Power**: The speed at which the Chao can climb cliff faces and shake trees.
* **Stamina**: The Chao's energy before fainting, as well as the amount of time taken to refill their energy. This was nonexistent in the Dreamcast version of *Sonic Adventure*, as an HP counter took its spot instead.

At first, all of these stats will be at level 0, but can be leveled up to level 99. The first four of these stats can be raised by giving the Chao Animals. When an Animal is given to a Chao, gauges representing certain stats will either be filled up or emptied. Stamina, on the other hand, is leveled up when a Chao is given food to eat. When those gauges are filled, their respective stats will fill up by one. Additionally, a second gauge will also fill up and improve the Chao's performance in its respective stat.

Additionally, the player can take their Chao to compete in a Chao Race. This is where stats come in; the higher levels the Chao has, the more likely are they to win in races. The player's Chao will race against seven other Chao to get to the finish line first. Taking Chao to Chao Races is also important for the player to collect five Emblems.

When the time has come, the Chao will envelop themselves inside of a cocoon. If they have been treated badly in their life, they will disappear, implying they have died. Conversely, if they have received care from the player, they will reincarnate in the form of a Chao Egg. When this egg is broken, the Chao will return as a baby with their levels back to 1, with 10% of their stat points remaining intact, meaning the player will be able to further level them up.

### *Sonic Shuffle*

A Chao is in *Sonic Shuffle* as a secret playable character, unlocked by collecting certain amounts of Knuckles' pictures in the Sonic Room.

### *Sonic Adventure 2*

In *Sonic Adventure 2* and its enhanced port *Sonic Adventure 2: Battle*, the Chao Gardens can be accessed in Chao World.

* **Neutral Garden** - A peaceful looking Garden where the Chao Races take place in a cave called the Chao Stadium. This one is unlocked as soon as you get a Chao Key and finish the level you found it on. In *Battle*, there is also Chao Karate in the cave.
* **Hero Garden** - Another peaceful Garden. To get this raise a Chao into a Hero Chao. It has a small castle your Chao can fly from, a fountain (that your Chao uses to swim in), and a few broken pillars. The music in the Hero Garden is different from the Chao Garden, with the same rhythm, but added sound effects to make it echo and sound comforting. Sometimes described as "Chao Heaven". In *Battle*, the bridge and river are missing, the pool is bigger but also more shallow, meaning Tails cannot drown in the garden.
* **Dark Garden** - Not as serene as the others, it has some graves and a steel fence on some of the walls. It also has a tree with a cage hanging from it where you can put your Chao (it can, however, escape), a pool of "blood", and a small island on the other side of the "blood". The music presented in the Dark Garden is very demented version of the Neutral Garden music. There is also a mountainous region outside of the actual Dark Garden, with a mountain shaped in the face of a bat or demonic creature. A Dark Chao is needed to access it. Sometimes described as "Chao Hell". In *Battle*, the cave and mountain area are gone.

The Chao Gardens in the *Sonic Adventure* series have the ability to send Chao to an attached VMU (Visual Memory Unit) using the Transporter Machine (renamed to the Chao Transporter in *Sonic Adventure 2*). This results in the ability to play with the Chao away from the Dreamcast in a mini-games called *Chao Adventure* and *Chao Adventure 2* respectively. The Chao walks on a path and is given a task. If done correctly, the player is rewarded with a fruit or seed which can be taken off the VMU and back onto *Sonic Adventure 2* for planting. Seeds can be planted by a Chao with a watering can and a shovel, the latter which can be won in races in *Sonic Adventure 2*. In the *Chao Adventure* games, you can also attach two VMUs to breed Chao, check the stats of your Chao, and name them. In *Chao Adventure*, the Chao does not age like it does in gardens.

#### *Sonic Advance 3*

*Sonic Advance 3* has a Chao Playground, which unlike a Chao Garden, is not for raising Chao. Instead, it is an area where the hidden Chao that the player has found during gameplay are located. When all ten of the Chao in the zone are found, the player can look for keys that enable the Special Stage for that particular zone. If the Chaos Emerald is obtained for a Zone, then it will be seen floating in the Chao Playground of the Zone it was found in. The Chao Playground can be visited at any time via Factory Ring.

### *Nakayoshi Chao!*

In *Nakayoshi Chao!*, the player can raise a Chao as a virtual pet, similarly to a Chao Garden.

### *Sonic Heroes*

In *Sonic Heroes*, Chao appear in certain sections of odd numbered Bonus Challenge Special Stages where one Dark Chao and one Normal Chao appear in a balloon and randomly toss a sphere or a mine for the player to collect or avoid respectively.

They are also featured in two of Team Chaotix missions; in Ocean Palace where they must collect one and in Lost Jungle where they must collect multiple Chao.

### *Shadow the Hedgehog*

In *Shadow the Hedgehog*, there are several Chao wandering in Cryptic Castle. Shadow can attack the Chao to fill his Dark Gauge. Cheese can be attacked as well, but once touched is considered to be rescued.

### *Sonic Rivals* series

#### *Sonic Rivals*

Various Chao artwork appear as some of the 150 collectable cards found in *Sonic Rivals*.

#### *Sonic Rivals 2*

The Chao play an important role in *Sonic Rivals 2*. At the beginning of the story, the Chao have appeared to have gone missing and Sonic and Tails suspect that Eggman Nega (masquerading as Eggman himself) is behind the disappearance. Silver, along with Espio, in the meantime tries to hide every Chao he can find from Eggman Nega's sight because of the doctor's intentions with the small creatures: he plans to feed them to a powerful beast named the 'Ifrit' which grants it invincibility and to be unleashed into Sonic's world, conquering the world with it. Later, Eggman Nega reveals to Espio and Silver that he has acquired more than enough Chao kept in a secret room of a mysterious mansion. Despite of this, Sonic and Tails discovered the secret room before Eggman Nega does and escorted the Chao away to safety.

The Chao are featured in one of the Battle games of *Sonic Rivals 2* called Capture the Chao where the player has to find a route to their rival's base and capture the Chao there before the rival does the same to the player but the player's original Chao must still remain at the base for it to be counted. In Free Mode, there are ten Chao deployed in each act of the six zones and the player have to find and collect them (similar to *Sonic Advance 3*) to unlock cards. If the player acquires a Chao Detector (which each is unlocked by unlocking a card) for a Zone, it can be used to find them easily in each zone.

#### *Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood*

*Main article: Chao in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood*
In *Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood*, there is a Chao Garden where all Chao that have been found can be viewed and equipped. All Chao (with the exception of Cheese) can be obtained by collecting Chao Eggs and waiting a while for them to hatch. However, as with *Sonic Advance 3*, the garden is only for storing Chao, not interacting with or raising them. Taken out of the garden, however, they bond with the character they are attached to, and power them up with various effects in battle. A character can only be bonded with one Chao at a time.

Players can trade Chao with each other via the Nintendo DS wireless communications feature which can enhance the battle effects of these Chao.

### *Sonic Unleashed*

In *Sonic Unleashed*, there is a day mission in Spagonia and a DLC Act in Shamar that both require Sonic to collect ten Normal Chao to complete the act. Additionally, the shy traveling merchant Wentos has a Chao hand puppet who does most of the "speaking" for him.

### *Sonic Colors*

In the Nintendo DS version of *Sonic Colors*, a mission in Tropical Resort shows Orbot and Cubot chasing a Chao that they think is an alien and Sonic has to rescue it.

### *Sonic Generations*

In the console/PC version of *Sonic Generations*, there is a Challenge Act called Cream: Chao Hunt where Classic Sonic must collect enough Chao and beat Cream the Rabbit to the goal in Speed Highway. There is also a Challenge Act called Cream: Helping Hand where Modern Sonic must get through City Escape using rings provided to him by Chao.

### *Sonic Runners*

In *Sonic Runners*, Chao appear as equipable Buddies.

### *Sonic Forces: Speed Battle*

*Main articles: Chao Guardians and Chao Chase*
In *Sonic Forces: Speed Battle*, the Chao make an appearance as a part of Tikal's Chao Guardians and Chao Chase power-ups.

### *Sonic Forces*

In *Sonic Forces*, the Chao do not appear physically. However, one of the Costume backpacks the Avatar can wear is designed like a Chao.

### *Team Sonic Racing*

In *Team Sonic Racing*, a group of Chao consisting of a Normal Chao, Hero Chao, Dark Chao and Omochao appear as one of the playable characters (which are collectively referred to as "Chao"). In this game, they are members of Team Rose and Technique-Type characters. Their race car in this game is the Chao Pod. Neutral, Hero and Dark Chao also appear on the stands in the background of the race tracks, serving as the audience.

During the events of the game, Team Rose's Chao joined Amy and Big on a picnic before coming along with their team to join the Grand Prix organized by Dodon Pa. During the races, the Chao spectators would panic when they spotted Zavok, which alerted the other heroes to the red Zeti's presence. At the end of the game, the Chao helped take the non-flying members of Sonic's friends off the Final Fortress, which had begun to crash, in order to save them.

### *Sonic Racing*

A group of Chao that consists of a Normal Chao, Hero Chao, Dark Chao and Omochao appear in *Sonic Racing* as unlockable playable characters with their Chao Pod. They become available by reaching League 4. Several Chao also appear as part of the crowd that watch the races.

### *Sonic Speed Simulator*

In *Sonic Speed Simulator*, Chao appear as both non-playable characters and notable gameplay elements. In the latter case, they serve to increase the amount of Experience Points and Rings that the player collects over the course of the game.

In gameplay, the player can buy Chao from vending machines, earn them from gifts, buy them directly from limited time shops in Green Hill, receive them as rewards when completing specific objectives during an event, receive them from Spin Wheels, or redeem them from codes. There are as well Chao that are only available for a limited time. These Chao tend to appear during different events where they can be earned by completing event objectives or buying them from stands in Green Hill.

Once obtained, Chao can be equipped to the playable character, whom the Chao will appear behind of in an semi-circle formations. The game offers several different Chao to choose from. Each Chao has a unique color and a name that is more or less associated with its look. In addition, each Chao has different attributes. These include the classification of their rarity, the most common of which are "Common", "Uncommon", "Rare", "Epic", and "Legendary", while the rest are exclusive to limited-edition Chao, which include "Chaos", "Exotic" and "Special". Other unique traits each Chao has are the benefits they grant when equipped.

The player can equip the playable character with three of any Chao to accompany them during gameplay, although that limit can be increased to a maximum of five with the +2 Pet Slots gamepass. Also, while equipped to the playable character, the Chao will gain Experience Points to level up with whenever the player collects Chaos Orbs, touches Sky Rings, or buys Experience Points from vending machines. Leveling up a Chao will improve the benefits they grant. The maximum level for all Chao is 99. The Experience Points gained for Chao is also not affected by Rebirth multipliers or the effects of other Chao or Trails.

While the player can carry up to twenty Chao by default, they can expand their number of holding shots for Chao by purchasing additional slots with a large amount of Robux. Additionally, the player can evolve a Chao by collecting five of the same type and pressing the "Evolve" button in the Chao inventory, which will fuse these five Chao into one. Evolving a Chao will combine the base stats of all the Chao involved, but it also keeps the Experience Points and level of the specific Chao that was evolved. The player can also "enchant" a Chao in Enchantment Shrines, which will grant it one of six (originally seven) buffs. There, the player can, for the price of one million Rings, grant a Chao one of the following buffs: speed enhancement, power enhancement, XP heightening, Ring heightening, Magnet enhancement, and increased lucky draws. But that was prior to the Reborn update, so now the player has to make sure those 5 Chao are at the maximum pet level (level 25) in order to fuse them.

## Known Chao

* Chaclon
* Chaoko
* Chaolin
* Chaos
* Chaosky
* Cheese
* Chocola
* Eggie
* Happy
* Lucky (Chao)
* Milk
* Smokey (Chao)
* Stormy
* Wacky

## Reception and impact

Chao and the Chao-raising system have received mixed to positive reviews. In a review of *Sonic Adventure*, GameSpot's Peter Bartholow stated that with "the Chao-breeding simulation and the minigames, *Sonic* offers much more beyond the completion of its story." IGN stated that *Sonic Adventure* "more than has the extras department covered." This enthusiasm was extended to IGN's reviews of *Sonic Adventure 2*, *Sonic Advance*, and *Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut*. GameSpot's Shane Satterfield was critical of the Chao raising feature in *Sonic Adventure 2: Battle*, stating that "there's little in the way of interactivity" and that "the [C]hao training aspect using the Game Boy Advance is little more than a novelty." However, GameSpy's Shane Bettenhausen praised the feature in the game, comparing Chao to Tamagotchi digital pets. GameSpot's Frank Provo noted the appeal to "those people who might only enjoy pinball in passing" that Chao brought to *Sonic Pinball Party*. 1UP.com's Chris Baker called the Chao feature in *Sega Superstars* "ultimately worthless... ...but some might find it amusing." In a review of *Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood*, GameSpot's Shiva Stella praised the level of strategy that the game's Chao system added. Destructoid's Jim Sterling voiced a similar opinion, although saying that Chao had been "rubbish" in previous games. In an official *Sonic* character poll by Sonic Team, the Chao were voted the sixth most popular characters in the series.

A Chao keychain was released as part of a *Sonic X* character keychain series. Between 27 July and 8 September 2002, Sega hosted events at Tokyo-based department stores to promote upcoming Sega video games. Attendees could download a "Chao Mini Garden" and exclusive Chao to their copies of *Sonic Advance*. Chao clothing clips, along with accessories based on other Sega characters, were available.

Chao's notability extends beyond the *Sonic* series and related media; Mary Jane Irwin of IGN used "Chao program" to describe *Pokémon Channel* in her review of the game.

## Trivia

* The Chao were voiced by Tomoko Sasaki in the periods of 1998-2001, 2004, and 2009–present. From 2003-2005, they were voiced by Ryō Hirohashi.

* Chao bear many physical similarities to the Nightopian from the *NiGHTS* series, another series by Sonic Team. This may be due to the Chao system using an advanced version of the A-life system that was originally used in *NiGHTS into Dreams*; additionally, the Neutral/Fly Chao resembles NiGHTS in appearance, while the Dark/Fly/Normal Chao resembles Reala.
* In the cutscenes for *Sonic Adventure*, Chao had different models from those used in the Chao Garden. They had different shaped wings, similar to those of Hero Chao.
* Through a secret mission in *Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II*, a game created by Sonic Team, it is possible to receive a "Tails Chao". This Chao resembles Tails to a great extent and cannot die or reproduce, much like a Chaos Chao.
* Chao were very fragile to raise in the Dreamcast version of *Sonic Adventure*, meaning that they could die quickly if they were abused too much to an extent, even if they were still a child. Players can potentially get locked out of 100% completion if they did this to all of their Chao, including the special ones that can be found in the respective Adventure fields.
* It is possible for Chao to sleep while they're sitting upright, with their wings tucked in like when sleeping on their back.
* On the *Sonic Adventure 2* official soundtrack, *Multi-Dimensional*, there is an instrumental song with Chao singing (or rather making Chao noises) in the background. This song plays in Chao Kindergarten.
* *Sonic Adventure* states that the Chao Gardens were created in protected environments. Ironically enough, it is possible to drown when playing as the character Tails in either water pool in the Egg Carrier or Mystic Ruins Chao Gardens. It is also possible to die by jumping off the cliff or throw a Chao off to make it disappear in the Mystic Ruins Garden. In *Sonic Adventure DX*, this was changed: if a character falls out of a garden by using other glitches, they will appear in the middle of the garden without dying.
	+ Also, in *Sonic Adventure 2*, while playing as Tails in the Dark Garden, going to the deepest part of the pool near the cave is deep enough for Tails to be successfully submerged in the water, causing him to eventually drown in the water. Tails is the only character who can drown because he is shorter than everyone else.
* It is possible to move a Chao from a Nintendo GameCube into a Game Boy Advance without a *Sonic Advance* game. This creates a temporary Tiny Chao Garden and is useful for moving Chao between *Sonic Adventure DX* and *Sonic Adventure 2: Battle*, whilst also making a clone of the Chao that was transferred. This garden also changes version depending on the game the Game Boy Advance downloaded it from.
* In *Sonic Adventure 2* and *Sonic Adventure DX*, Chao can die while still shaking their heads as they enter the cocoon.
* In *Sonic Adventure DX*, a monitor in the Station Square Garden can bring up a hint menu. One of the hints is to watch the Chao's Stamina bar during races, but the stat has no effect on them since it was nonexistent in the Sega Dreamcast version of the game.

* In *Sonic Adventure 2* and *Sonic Adventure DX*, a pacifier was originally meant to be an accessory for a Chao but got scrapped; it can still be used via cheats/hacking, but it makes the Chao's head disappear. The reason for this is likely because a separate model of both the Chao's head and pacifier was to be used in its place. The *Sonic Adventure 2* mod Chao World Extended made the pacifier an accessory slot so that both the Chao's head and pacifier are visible.

* A match toy (dubbed as the "**unknown (glitch toy?)**" in Fusion's Chao Editor) was meant for the Chao in the *Sonic Adventure 2* Chao Garden, but it was scrapped. However, it can still be used through hacking or a Chao editor. When the Chao uses the toy while bored, it holds the match for several seconds without moving, then the behavior stops; it was likely intended to be used to light the unused firecracker and bomb toys.
* Occasionally, a Chao will draw a picture of a Normal Chao on the ground. If a Chao is cared for frequently a lot, it may occasionally draw a picture of the playable character. Sometimes they draw a cake or pizza-like picture to show that they are hungry.
* In the *Sonic Adventure* series, Chao made baby noises, and in *Sonic Heroes*, they could even speak small sentences, such as Cheese saying "It's Chocola Chao". However, the only thing most Chao can say in recent games is the word *chao*.
* In the original *Sonic Adventure*, E-102 Gamma can attack Chao by locking on to them and firing at them. In all other ports, Gamma cannot attack Chao.
* While in a Chao Garden, if there is a Chao above you for whatever reason (in the cage in the Dark Garden or flying around), you can jump to hit the Chao, causing the same effect to happen if you were to throw, jump on, or attack the Chao.
* During the development of *Sonic Adventure*, it was suggested Chao be called "Chicka Monkeys," so not to confuse players with Chaos.

* Chao were originally meant to appear in *Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric*, where they would resemble small dragons.
* Normal Chao have the Fly Type as their ability type.
* According to Takashi Iizuka, Chao need very clean and pure water to survive, which is why they are not seen in too many places.
* According to the *Chao In Space* short animation, Chao are seemingly capable of feats of incredible physical strength, as a sleepwalking Chao was able to punch Eggman in the face with enough force to send him flying.