Espio the Chameleon

**Espio the Chameleon** (エスピオ・ザ・カメレオン*Esupio za Kamereon*?) is a character from the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series. He is a mobian chameleon, who mainly serves as an intelligent ninja warrior and a member of the Chaotix Detective Agency. There, he works together with Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee to solve whatever cases they are given, where he puts his skills to good use. While initially a hothead when introduced, Espio has since become a calm, soft-spoken, serious, and disciplined person whose wariness and soulful character makes him a vital member of his team, and balances out the foolishness of his friends.

## Personality

A straight-laced detective,[5] Espio is serious, practical, intelligent and wise. He has a militaristic discipline despite being quiet and laid-back. Espio is additionally portrayed as being stubborn, opinionated and self-obsessed.[6] Despite this, he has an excellent drive to all that he does and flourishes off of peril,[7] 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.[6]

Espio values his freedom more than anything else, and in the wake of being caught in Dr. Robotnik's Combi Machine, he looked to stop the evil scientist no matter what. This is due to his reserved demeanor, which hides a burning sense of justice and a refusal to let evil have its way.[5] As such, Espio gives the impression of a rather ruthless demeanor when facing villains; when encountering Dr. Eggman in *Sonic Heroes* and *Shadow the Hedgehog*, 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.

## Powers and abilities

### Physical abilities

As a Speed Type, Espio possesses great speed. As demonstrated in *Sonic Rivals 2*, he can run at speeds compatible to Sonic and Shadow's and his swiftness is potent enough to let him fool his enemies by appearing in different spots nigh-instantaneously.[7][8] While not shown to the same extension as Knuckles, Espio has impressive physical strength, using sharp karate chops powerful enough to shatter obstacles and smash robots.[9] Espio also has extreme acrobatic skills, doing complex and nimble jumps in midair[10] and grinding on rails with ease. Espio also has very impressive durability and endurance, seen as he is able to withstand Sonic's Homing Attacksindefinitely and keep fighting in Espio: Master of Camouflage.

Being a chameleon, Espio possesses a stealth camouflage trick that lets him change his color scheme to match his environment. His camouflage is so effective that he is rendered completely invisible to the naked eye and allows him to pass by unnoticed.[6] Being a skilled ninja he is also a master of non-camouflaged stealth[7] which combined with his camouflaging abilities makes him virtually undetectable. 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 and was even able to perceive the soul of the Time Eater.[11][12]

Like a real lizard, Espio is able to climb along any surface and stick to them for an unprecedented amount of time.[8][13] As seen in *Sonic the Fighters*, he also possesses a prehensile tongue which he can use as a short-range projectile attack in combat and as a grappling hook. Espio has also demonstrated the ability to harness chaos energy from the Chaos Emerald to enter Hyper Mode.

### Combat skills

By his own accords, Espio is a powerful adversary as he says it would take no less than a "mighty foe" to do him in.[14] Having undergone extensive ninja training,[6] Espio is a master of ninjutsu,[1][7] a form of material arts that employs stealth and trickery against foes. He is likewise a fierce foe in direct combat as he was able to match Rouge the Bat in battle, who has undergone similar forms of combat training and could fight Knuckles the Echidna to a standstill.

#### Techniques and moves

Though not a hedgehog, Espio is able to use the Spin Attackand the various techniques derived from it, where he curls tightly into a concussive ball while in locomotion to damage, mow down, or burrow through obstacles and foes. The Homing Attack allows Espio to dash in mid-air toward a target, the Spin Jump lets him curl into a ball and attack opponent by landing on them, and the Spin Dash lets him shoot himself forward as an acceleration roll at full speed while mowing down enemies and obstacles.

Espio's signatures moves are the ones that combine his ninja skills with 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,[5] his Chroma Camo maneuver hides himself completely from his enemies' perception while increasing his speed, and his Ninja Arts: Camouflage both hides himself completely from enemies' perception while he "warps" between places to disorient the enemy while attacking. Another ninja-based attack includes his Shuriken where he throws a shuriken star at foes.

### Miscellaneous skills

As one of the founders of the Chaotix Detective Agency, Espio has a keen, analytical mind and experience in investigation and gathering intel. While also having experience in solving mysteries,[15] he is not as skilled in that field as Vector. He also has some skill in hacking computers for data as seen in *Shadow the Hedgehog*, although he has admitted it is not his specialty.[16]

Thanks to his ninja training, Espio is proficient with several forms of ninja-based weaponry. He is especially a master of throwing kunai,[5] capable of striking targets with pin-point accuracy while only barely looking at them.[17]

### Weapons

As a ninja Espio 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 on his kunai, he can also use as a grappling hook to swing between targets.

### Color Powers

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.

## Weakness

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 or sneezing.[1][8] His stealth is not flawless either as Rouge the Bat was able to detect his movements thanks to her heightened sense of hearing.[18]

## Theme songs

"Team Chaotix" (although this theme is shared with Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee, Espio is mentioned in the two lines: "And the ninja stars fly, too!" and "Espio is clearly ready to go".)

## Memorable Quotes

"*Roger that.*"
—One of Espio's more common phrases.

"*I've got a bad feeling about this.*"
—Espio in the first level cutscene of *Sonic Heroes*.

"*Insulting. Your training has been a waste of time.*"
—Getting an E rank with Espio Sonic *Heroes*.

"*IMPOSSIBLE FEAT! ULTIMATE NINJA POWER!*"
—Getting an A rank with Espio in *Sonic Heroes*.

"*Forgive me, but this is our duty.*"
—Espio when you get any rank in the fight against Team Rose in *Sonic Heroes*.

"*Death to the Evil One! Prepare to die, Eggman!*"
—Espio after getting any rank after the fight against the Egg Hawk in Seaside Hill in *Sonic Heroes.*

"*Behold! Ninja power!*"
— After getting a 2000-point combo in *Sonic Heroes*.

"*Spirits unite!*"
—After getting a 1000-point combo in *Sonic Heroes*.

"*Damn! We've been detected!*"
—When Eggman discovers him and Shadow in his mainframe in Shadow the Hedgehog.

"*Hey, back off! Data retrieval isn't exactly my specialty.*"
—Espio in *Shadow the Hedgehog* when Charmy and Vector are rushing him to hack into Eggman's database.

"*Easier said than done. Who signed me up for this anyway?*"
—Espio talking to Vector after he was being rushed to hack into a database in *Shadow the Hedgehog*.

"*My name is Espio, a mere citizen I say not.*"
—Espio introducing himself to Silver.

"*My skills exceed yours.*"
—Starting a battle in *Sonic Rivals 2*.

"*Thank you, my friend. Beware, for I have looked into the soul of our enemy and saw only darkness.*"
—Espio after Classic Sonic rescues him at Seaside Hill in *Sonic Generations*.

"*It takes a mighty foe to trap a ninja. Be on your guard, Sonic.*"
—Espio after Modern Sonic rescues him at Seaside Hill in *Sonic Generations*.

"*Focus your spirit.*"
—Espio cheering on Sonic in *Sonic Generations*.

"*There's been a misunderstanding, but I doubt they'll listen to us.*"
—Espio when fighting Team Dark.

"*Prepare yourself*"
—Espio when beginning to fight someone in *Sonic Rivals 2.*

"*You reap what you sow, Eggman Nega!*"
—Espio when Eggman Nega requested help at the end of Silver/Espio's story in Sonic Rivals 2.

"*Victory was inevitable.*"
—One of Espio's lines when winning a battle in Sonic Rivals 2.
## TMNT X Pokemon

Espio has been spying on the Turtles throughout Season 1 until the last few episodes when he first appeared to help them fight against the Shredder.

## Trivia

* According to Takashi Iizuka, Espio and the Team Chaotix in *Sonic Heroes* were recreated as new characters from the same characters in *Knuckles' Chaotix* when *Sonic Heroes* was designed, ignoring certain traits that had been established in *Knuckles' Chaotix* that would have contradicted their intent in the game.[22]
* Espio's name is thought to either have been derived from the word "espionage", meaning spying; it also may be a reference to the Spanish and Portuguese word "espío" (literally meaning "I spy").
* Espio is the only member of Team Chaotix to appear in a game (*Sonic the Fighters*) released between *Knuckles' Chaotix* and *Sonic Heroes*.
* Espio is the second-most used member of Team Chaotix. He has less game appearances than Vector but more than Charmy.
* In *Sonic Heroes*, Espio is the only speed formation character whose shoes are not partly red. He is also the only speed formation character who is not a hedgehog.
* Throughout the series, Espio's color gradually lightens from a dark purple to a light pinkish purple.
* In the *Shadow the Hedgehog*boss Egg Breaker, when Shadow destroys any of Eggman's robots, Espio says, "Stop that! We can't let Eggman know we're here!" which is repeated from the previous level. However, Eggman already knows that Espio and Shadow were in his base as he is fighting them.
* In *Shadow the Hedgehog*, Espio is one of the five characters to swear (the others being Shadow, Sonic, Knuckles, and the GUN Commander).
* Espio is the only playable character in *Sonic Rivals 2* who did not appear in the story mode of *Sonic Rivals*.
* In *Sonic Generations*, Espio is the one of the two characters who did not notice Sonic was different after being rescued. The other was Vector.
* Espio is the only animal character in *Knuckles' Chaotix* to have been created originally for that game, as Vector, Mighty, Charmy, and Knuckles had all appeared (or in Vector's case, was going to appear) in previous media: Knuckles (*Sonic the Hedgehog 3*), Mighty (*SegaSonic the Hedgehog*), Vector (*Sonic the Hedgehog*), Charmy Bee (*Sonic the Hedgehog* manga).
* In a cutscene from *Shadow the Hedgehog*, Eggman calls Shadow and Espio "Rodents" although Espio is a reptile.
* Espio is the only new character in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games available from the start in the 3DS version to appear as a playable character in the Wii U version.