KMC Forums - Respect Espio the Chameleon

Espio the Chameleon is a purple anthropomorphic chameleon, who is an expert ninja. Espio's name is thought to either have come from the word "espionage", another word for spying, or to be a reference to the Spanish word "esp�o" (meaning literally "I spy").

[edit] Personality
Espio, unlike the majority of the Sonic characters, is very serious, calm and disciplined. He is talented with computers, and plays the shamisen as a hobby. According to the Japanese Chaotix game manual, Espio especially dislikes Dr. Eggman, although it's not stated precisely why. During a cut-scene in Sonic Heroes, the usually civil and soft-spoken chameleon even threatened the doctor's life. He is also able to see through Eggman's tricks very easily in Shadow the Hedgehog, and tells Shadow to destroy the villain. Espio tries to do his job well, but due to Vector and Charmy, who are mostly goofing around, he will usually end up embarrassing himself with the rest of the Chaotix.

[edit] Abilities
Espio can render his skin to match the environment, making him appear completely invisible, unless he gets something on him that allows him to be seen. An example of this can be seen in episode 59 of Sonic X, where Amy Rose disrupts his invisibility by smearing paint on him. He is quite skillful with shuriken, and is said to own the biggest collection of them known to man. Some of his shuriken are also modified to explode within a certain time once they make contact to a target, like small time bombs (also seen in Sonic X episode 59). He also can run quite fast, as he is the Chaotix speed member in Sonic Heroes. He can also perform the homing attack like the other speed members, and can create small tornadoes (known as "Leaf Swirl") while turning invisible. Due to being a chameleon, he can also stick to and walk on walls and ceilings, and can quickly extend his long tongue in order to damage enemies and to get out of tight spots. He can perform the standard Spin Attack and Spin Jump attacks, along with his own variations of them, the Whirl Attack and Whirl Dash (appeared in old games; he uses the spin versions in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog). Espio can also charge forward destroying all enemies in his way, and, as mentioned above, throw over-sized shuriken as well as kunai. The "Chaotix Recital" Team Blast in Sonic Heroes suggests that Espio is also a skilled shamisen player.

[edit] Appearances
In Espio's first appearance in Knuckles' Chaotix, the Japanese manual states that Espio, being a detective, goes to investigate the mysterious island that has emerged from the sea. He is the first unlocked character, and his abilities include walking on walls and ceilings, and uses his own Whirl Attack instead of the common Spin Attack.

Espio next appeared as one of eight playable fighters in the arcade game Sonic the Fighters. In the story, Espio is one of the eight characters who try to collect the eight Chaos Emeralds in order to travel into space and destroy Eggman's Death Egg II. Espio is the fourth character to fight in story mode, and his stage is Mushroom Hill, a part of Angel Island that appeared in Sonic & Knuckles. In the game, Espio is a medium-strong fighter, and his special abilities include using his Whirl Attack and attacking with his long tongue.

In Sonic Heroes, Espio is the "speed" member of Team Chaotix, meaning he can run quicker than the others, and creates small whirlwinds for various purposes. Unlike the speed members of the other three teams, Espio can also turn invisible, throw large shuriken and stick to walls.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, Espio appears with the Chaotix in the cutscene prior to the "Mad Matrix" stage, in which he and Shadow the Hedgehog somehow enter the cyberspace of Eggman's computer system. The player can then choose whether or not to help Espio retrieve encrypted data from the computer, with Espio being a partner character. He is also present for the following battle against Eggman.

In Sonic Rivals 2, after a very long absence, Espio returns as a playable character. [9] On orders from Vector, he investigates the Chao disappearances and follows Silver the Hedgehog, who has hidden most of them. Eventually, the two work together.

Espio appears in the cross-over game, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, although he presents himself as a referee.

[edit] In the Comics
In Sonic the Comic Espio is a not-so-friendly rival to Mighty and has an extremely short temper. The two of them will end up clashing and arguing who's the best on almost any subject, to the extent of demanding a defeated enemy says which of them had punched him the hardest.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comic, Espio became friends with Knuckles like the other Chaotix, and joined the group some time prior to Knuckles' first meeting with Sonic. In Mobius: 25 Years Later, he has two daughters named Salma and Juanita. When the Chaotix were staying in Knothole to aid in the fight against Eggman, Espio went on a mission (with NICOLE) to investigate the state of Charmy's former home, the Golden Hive Colony. After discovering that there were no survivors present and that Eggman had turned the hive into another of his outposts, Espio had it destroyed. At roughly the same time as the wedding of Antoine D'Coolette and Bunnie Rabbot, Espio appeared to have been captured by Eggman after going on a solo mission into New Megaopolis. However, it was revealed in the next issue that he was not killed, but was teleported to the Egg Grape Chamber. During Eggman's destruction of Knothole, all of the other members of the Chaotix were teleported to the Egg Grape Chamber, but both the Chaotix and Espio were soon rescued by the efforts of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose, and were transported to New Mobotropolis.