Chao (Sonic) - Appearances

Appearances

Chao have appeared in numerous Sonic the Hedgehog video games as digital pets. They made their first appearance in the 1998 Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure. The player can raise them, enter them in races, and export them to Chao Adventure, a game for the Dreamcast's VMU peripheral. The player can also trade Chao or post their high scores online using the Dreamcast's Internet capabilities. The Chao raising feature was expanded in Sonic Adventure 2; Chao may become "Hero Chao" or "Dark Chao" depending on whether the game's "hero" characters (Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna) or "dark" characters (Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and Rouge the Bat) are nicer to them. Chao can enter karate competitions in this game, as well as racing. The Game Boy Advance (GBA) games Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, and Sonic Pinball Party feature a "Tiny Chao Garden", similar to the Chao Gardens of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 but with minigames in place of racing and karate competitions. Chao can be traded between Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut—Nintendo GameCube ports of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure—and the GBA games featuring a Tiny Chao Garden.

Chao have also appeared in the series as minor characters and gameplay elements. Two Chao—one Normal and one Dark—who drive Chao-styled mechas are playable characters in the two-player battle mode of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. On the Sonic the Hedgehog-styled pinball board in Sonic Pinball Party, one of the player's objectives is to hatch several Chao eggs. Each world in the 2004 GBA game Sonic Advance 3 features Chao-inspired minigames to earn extra lives for the player, and a sidequest that involves finding Chao to obtain Chaos Emeralds. 2007's PlayStation Portable installment Sonic Rivals 2 hides Chao throughout levels to be found in a free play mode. In the 2008 Nintendo DS role-playing game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Chao eggs are hidden throughout the in-game universe for the player to find and hatch. The resulting infant Chao can be equipped to characters. This affects the characters' performance in battle; for example, one kind will increase the character's hit points. The game features a multiplayer mode in which Chao can be traded between players who each have a copy of the game. Chao take the form of an item in the "Panel Flip" party game of the 2009 Wii and DS game Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Each player's object is to claim as many panels as possible in a six-by-six grid; finding a Chao upon flipping a panel claims all panels in a given row or column for the player.

Cream the Rabbit, a prominent character in the series, has a Chao named Cheese as a partner. In a move to keep her image safe, she often uses him to attack enemies instead of doing so herself. Other notable Chao include Chaos, guardian of the chaos, who serves as an antagonist in Sonic Adventure; and Omochao, a robotic Chao who appears in several games as a means of player tutorial.

Chao have also made appearances in video games outside the Sonic the Hedgehog series. In the 2004 PlayStation 2 game Sega Superstars; the player uses points earned during the game to please a pet Chao. Marking the introduction of the character Sonic the Hedgehog to the 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Chao and other characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series appear as collectible trophies and stickers.

Chao were recurring characters in the Sonic X anime that ran from 2003 to 2006.