Vector the crocodile

Vector the Crocodile (ベクター・ザ・クロコダイル) is a video game character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series and leader of the Chaotix detective team who debuted in the game Knuckles Chaotix. Vector is a large anthropomorphic crocodile. He is 20 years old, weighs 200 kg (440 lb), and appears to be 160 cm (5'3"), although the official website, Sonic Channel, and the TV show, Sonic X, claim that he is 180 cm (5'10½"). Vector's trademark is a set of headphones which he always listens to, even during missions.

Knuckles' Chaotix
Vector's first actual appearance was in Knuckles' Chaotix (simply Chaotix in Japan) for the Sega 32X. The Japanese manual states that after an island rises from the ocean depths, Vector travels there as he interpreted the islands sudden appearance from out of nowhere as a miracle from God. Upon arriving, he is captured by Doctor Eggman, who is building his Newtrogic High Zone base on the island, and the villain places Vector in the "Combi-Confiner". In the American manual, he is a friend on Knuckles the Echidna, and is captured when Eggman attacks "Carnival Island", out to steal its power source.

In both stories, Knuckles the Echidna arrives at the island in order to stop Eggman, and can choose Vector as a partner character after the initial training stage. Vector can do mid-air dashes and climb on walls.

Sonic Heroes
The Chaotix surprisingly reappeared in Sonic Heroes, where Vector, Espio the chameleon and Charmy bee have created their own detective agency, with Vector being the leader of the group. They are hired by an anonymous character that contacts them via a walkie-talkie, and perform several missions for the voice after being promised a hefty reward. Throughout the game, Vector is the "power" member of Team Chaotix, and as such uses his strength to destroy obstacles and enemies, along with destroying the metal door holding their client. (Even though they had the keys.)

In the end of their story, Team Chaotix rescue their client, who turns out to be Doctor Eggman, framed throughout the game by Metal Sonic. After Metal Sonic transforms into Metal Madness, Team Chaotix help out giving Team Sonic their collected Chaos Emeralds and by attacking Metal Madness's left side, buying time for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles to turn into their super forms and defeat him. After this, the Chaotix chase after the fleeing Eggman in order to get their payment.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Vector works on an unknown case with the rest of the Chaotix. He appears in a few cutscenes throughout Story Mode and is mentioned by Charmy on one stage, but most notably he is a partner character on the Cosmic Fall stage. In that stage, Shadow goes to the Space Colony ARK where he runs into Vector, who is looking for the ARK's main computer room. The player can choose to help him or not, and if one does help him, Vector also appears in the boss fight against Black Doom. After Black Doom is defeated, he reveals that Shadow is just a failed experiment, and Shadow slowly walks away as Vector desperately tries to comfort him.

That ending is however only a possibility, and not canon to the storyline. In the real ending, Vector and the rest of the Chaotix are again on the ARK, where they accidentally activate a video created by Gerald Robotnik, which gives Shadow the determination he needs to defeat Black Doom once and for all.

Personality
Vector is the head honcho of the Chaotix Detective Agency, and will take almost any job so long as the pay is right. He has a rough demeanor, and at times he is even downright rude, but deep down he's actually quite a kind soul, and has been known to occasionally do cases for free (such as finding children's lost toys). He often acts very goofy and childish. As stated in the Japanese Chaotix manual, he is, surprisingly, also quite religious.

Abilities
Like most Sonic characters, Vector can curl up into a ball to jump on enemies, in a move known as the "spin jump". He is also known to be quite powerful, as he was the power team member in Sonic Heroes. He has some super speed, as seen in Chaotix, although he isn't as fast as Sonic or Shadow or even Espio. Vector can use bubbles blown up with bubblegum to slowly descend and is able to slam his body on the ground to cause massive damage. In Sonic Heroes, he can also hold and throw Espio and Charmy using his mouth, spit musical notes, fire exploding bubblegum, and can use his sharp teeth to bite through hard obstacles. He can also sing somewhat well, which he does during the Team Chaotix' Team Blast, "Chaotix Recital" though it could be argued that his singing is so bad that it destroyed the robots.

Sonic X
In the anime Sonic X, Vector and the rest of the Chaotix play a very minor role in Season 2, only appearing in one episode. They were hired by Vanilla the Rabbit to find her daughter, Cream the Rabbit. After finding Cream at the Thorndykes' residence, they start to believe that Sonic kidnapped her, which couldn't be more wrong. After a failed sneak attack from Espio, Vector and Charmy get in a fight with Tails, Amy, Cream, and Ella. When Sonic comes in to see the fight, Vector calls him "Sonic the Kidnapper", but the fight ends when Vanilla arrives with Sonic. Vector is thanked by Vanilla for finding Cream and he gets confused when she thanks Sonic for taking care of Cream.

They play a much larger role in Season 3, where Vector and the Chaotix take supplies from Chris Thorndyke's parents to the Blue Typhoon, the warship that Tails built that Chris is aboard. When they arrived, they were attacked numerous times on the thought that they were evil Metarex aliens. After a understanding between Vector and others, they deliver Chris' stuff and Vector plans to catch Cream and bring her to their homeplanet. However, he captures Cosmo as well, and they end up back at the Blue Typhoon. Vector and the others soon leave without Cream. However, they get lost on the way back and meet up with heroes some time later.

The second time, Vector also seems to be in love with Vanilla the Rabbit.

Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie Comic, Vector is a crazy punk who likes having things his way and listening to loud music. So loud are his "tunes" that he once single handily stopped the Dark Legion army in its tracks by turning his music volume up to its highest setting and pointing it at the enemy. Vector and Knuckles met some time after Knuckles' father left to join the Brotherhood of Guardians, and after a few tussles, the two became fast friends. Vector also somewhat disliked Knuckles' girlfriend Julie-Su for some time after her first appearance, but they later came to mutually respect each other. Together with Espio, he is one of the only Chaotix members featured in Mobius: 25 Years Later, where he has a son named Argyle.

In Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, he is the intelligent leader of the Chaotix crew and a close friend to the Omni-Viewer, with links to the Equionix Research Center. He acts as the basic straight man of the group and takes out enemies with his powerful jaws.

In the Archie Sonic X comic, Vector and the Chaotix appear in issue #10, when they help Vanilla the Rabbit find her daughter, Cream. They later disappeared without a trace, but in issue #16, they returned and helped Sonic come with a plan to take Amy on a date, on Valentine's Day.

Voices

 * Video games, Sonic X - Kenta Miyake (Japan)
 * Sonic Heroes - Bill Corkery (US)
 * Sonic X (Episode 39) - Jimmy Zoppi (US)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic X (Episodes 59+) - Carter Cathcart (US). This is a controversial among fans, as many find Cathcart's voice very annoying and out of character, as opposed to the gruffer, New Yorker-accented voice Bill Corkery provided for the character.

Trivia

 * Vector was originally slated to be one of the characters in the scrapped Sonic the Hedgehog sound test, and is thus among the oldest of the Sonic characters alongside Sonic himself and Eggman.
 * Vector's appearance has changed a lot since Knuckles Chaotix. In Chaotix, Vector was slightly taller and much skinnier. In his new design, he is considerably broader, especially in the chest.
 * Vector appears on two collectable cards in Sonic Rivals.