Espio the chameleon

Espio the Chameleon (エスピオ・ザ・カメレオン) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games. He is a male anthropomorphic chameleon, who is a skilled ninja and a member of the Chaotix detective team. He is 16 years old, 110 cm (3 ft 7 in) tall and weighs 36 kg (79.3 lb).

Knuckles' Chaotix
Espio first appeared in Knuckles' Chaotix (simply Chaotix in Japan) for the Sega 32X. The Japanese manual states that Espio, being a detective, goes to investigate the mysterious island that has emerged from the sea.

In the American manual, he is a friend of Knuckles the Echidna, and is visiting "Carnival Island" when Eggman attacks it.

In both cases, he is attacked by Doctor Eggman and Metal Sonic who try to capture him. Knuckles saves him from the two, and Espio automatically becomes his partner character for the training stage. After this, Espio can be chosen in the "Combi-Confiner" prior to stages. Espio can walk on walls and ceilings, and uses his own Whirl Attack instead of the common Spin Attack.

Sonic the Fighters
Espio appears as one of eight playable fighters in the arcade game Sonic the Fighters (Sonic Championship in the US). 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.

Sonic Heroes
The Chaotix made a new appearance in Sonic Heroes, where Espio, Vector the crocodile and Charmy bee have formed a detective agency (previously, only Espio was a detective). They are contacted by an anonymous client via a walkie-talkie. Espio doesn't entirely trust the voice, but Vector and Charmy quickly go help after they are promised a reward, with Espio tagging along anyway. In the game, 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 turn invisible, throw large shuriken and stick to walls.

In the end of their story, the client is rescued from Eggman's base, and turns out to be Doctor Eggman himself, to Espio's surprise. Eggman reveals that he had been framed and captured by Metal Sonic, who transforms into Metal Madness shortly after. Team Chaotix help out by giving Sonic the Chaos Emeralds they had collected throughout game, with Espio giving him the red one. Chaotix then stall Metal Madness in order to buy time for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles to turn into their super forms.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, the Chaotix work on a new mission. He appears 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. In the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of the game, the second controller can be used to control Espio, who attacks with punch combos and homing attacks.

In the game's ending, the Chaotix are all on the Space Colony ARK, where they activate an old video created by Gerald Robotnik for Shadow to see. When Shadow sees it, he gains new strength and defeats the main villain, Black Doom.

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. In Sonic Heroes, he plays the instrument in the Chaotix' Team Blast, "Chaotix Recital". 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.

Abilities
Espio, being a chameleon, can render his skin to match the environment, which makes him completely invisible, unless he gets something on him, such as paint, that allows him to be seen (and he did get paint smeared on himself in Sonic X episode 59). 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. He can perform the Spin Attack and Spin Jump, 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. In the Archie comic, Espio has been shown using his tongue as a grapple.

Sonic X
Espio appeared with the Chaotix in the anime Sonic X. Along with Vector and Charmy, Espio played a minor role in season 2, only appearing in Episode 39 to help find Cream when Chaotix was hired by Vanilla, Cream's mother (though in the end, it is Sonic who unites the two). They play a larger role in Season 3, first appearing to bring Chris supplies from his parents. The second time Espio appears, he reluctantly helps Vector and Charmy help Tails get Cosmo, a girl he likes, to like him back, and after that appears with the others to help fight the Metarex. Espio states in his first appearance that he is the brains behind the Chaotix, when in the Sonic Heroes instruction manual, Vector is stated to be the brains.

Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, Espio is a bonafide hothead, which causes his friend Charmy to constantly remind him of his manners. It can be noted that this appearance has green eyes instead of golden ones. In Sonic the Comic, he is a friendly (or sometimes not so friendly) rival to Mighty and has an extremely short temper. Both of these incarnations of the character differ significantly from the Espio portrayed in the games and Sonic X.

Espio is one of only two Chaotix members featured in Mobius: 25 Years Later, where he works as Knuckles' secretary and is married with two children: Salma and Juanita.

Voice actors

 * Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic X - Yuuki Masuda (Japan)
 * Sonic Heroes - Marc Biagi (US)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic X - David Willis (US)

Trivia

 * 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 "espio" (meaning literally "I spy").
 * Espio appears on two collectable cards in Sonic Rivals.