The Chaotix Topic

[MetalSkulkBane]

We had topics about Tails characterization or Cream's under usage. Blaze had a topic, Silver. Shadow waaay more than one. But for a life of me I can't remember last time this forum had larger debate about Chaotix and I'm here to rectify it. (at least certain Dr. Detective should be interested in this conversation).

I had 3 though I wanted to discuss.

1) Would you want to see Chaotix more often separated or they work best as a team? I know that in games it's kinda a moot point, and Olympics and such force that split, but image we're talking about IDW comics or theoretical cartoon.

2) Espio character.
Other two are straightforward in who they are (or at least who I would want them to be). Charmy is hyperactive kid, try to make him fun not annoying. Vector is a greedy loud goofball, but also surprisingly smart detective. Now balance it. But Espio is a strange beast. Ninja are usually the baddest guys in the room, but Espio is rarely portrayed that way, not like Shadow, Knuckles or even Blaze. This days he's mostly a sane man of Chaotix, who sometimes acts as goofy as rest of his team.
And then I remember him in Heroes and Shadow Game, when one of his lines was "Beware my Ninja powers" and "Evil must die". Or assuming Shadow is an "assassin". Does anyone remember that Espio was a little...strict in his ninja ways back then? It's funny how we mellowed down since then.

3) Lastly I'm curious what people think about other versions of Chaotix. Like "Knuckles Chaotix", is that game even canon in your eyes? Was Sonic X faithful adaptation or they exaggerated our detectives? How about Vector in Boom or Archie new backstories, with Espio clans and Charmy being a prince (we don't have to talk about his brain damage, I think internet reach consensus on that). If you feel really obscure, how about them in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic?

They're detectives you want on your side, so let's share your thoughts.

[Diogenes]

The Chaotix unfortunately fall into the category of characters I like in concept more than in execution. It's not that I dislike them, but a team of oddballs with a relatively-mundane-but-still-interesting job should be a slam dunk, but they just don't quite gel for me.

Vector's the most straightforward and probably lands the safest because of it. He's a big tough guy, very much wants to get paid but mostly for practical reasons rather than plain greed, and seems the most focused on detectiving out of this detective crew. I certainly wouldn't say he's my favorite character but the pieces fit together, even though he's never gotten a huge amount of focus in the games I feel I pretty much get who he is. The one thing that kind of sticks out is his design; it communicates his interest in music but doesn't really say "detective", despite that being more of a focus for modern Vector than the music.

Espio is...a bit odd. The ninja thing really came out of nowhere; it's something you could reasonably derive from a chameleon's traits but it doesn't really line up with classic Espio. Regardless, I don't dislike it. If anything I prefer when they went in on it harder back in Heroes; this is, again, a team of oddballs, and I think playing that up, making him something like a weeb/chuni but actually mostly functional, works better than just flatly accepting the existence of a ninja chameleon in this detective team like that's an everyday thing.

Charmy is annoying. Deliberately so, but that's a hard archetype to nail, and I feel they've failed with it on average. And it's not that I don't like the archetype, because Marine operates on a similar wavelength and she's one of my favorite minor characters. I think the biggest problem is that we've never really been let in on why we should like him in spite of being annoying. Like, who is Charmy, aside from "hyperactive child"? Rush Adventure spent a lot of time showing us who Marine was, she's a kid with ambitions beyond her current skills, and she had to learn a lesson about chilling out, knowing her limits, and working to improve herself rather than always going full-tilt. Charmy just...is around. And it's not clear why beyond them needing a flying character for the team in Heroes. I will say that, of all things, ShtH might've been onto something; the game leans a bit hard into Shadow-worship at times, but I think I could get behind Charmy in particular being the kind of kid who thinks Shadow is, quote, "so cool ". He's here for the bang zoom smash up some bad guys action and he's having a good time...something like that.

But, again...as a group, something doesn't quite click. Part of it might just be a matter of screen time; they're kind of a tertiary group, so it seems hard to make time for them both when the story is relatively small-scale and when it's big and stuffed with characters competing for attention. Being introduced in Heroes as they were, they never had a chance to be the focal point of a game like a lot of other characters, so what we see of them is mostly just squeezed in around the edges. And I kinda think that's the right role for them anyway, they're not the big world-shakers with the dramatic backstories and epic destinies, they're a bunch of weirdos doing their best with what they've got. But it does make it harder for the games to explore them. Even aside from that, though, I dunno. Something doesn't quite land, and I can't put my finger on it.

[Splash the Otter]

I'd like to see each member of Team Chaotix (especially Espio) get more development as individual characters. Right now it feels like they're joined at the waist.