Chaos Control

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In the fictional universe of the Sonic the Hedgehog games, Chaos Control is a power that can be enhanced through use of the mystical Chaos Emeralds. Chaos Control refers to both the specific power first utilized by Shadow the Hedgehog in the video game Sonic Adventure 2, and for other general effects brought about through use of the Chaos Emeralds.

Knuckles, Amy and Tails (left to right) witnessing the massive Chaos Control that teleports them to Earth. (From the Sonic X TV show.)

[edit] History

Chaos Control is said to date back to ancient Echidna times. Chaos was the god of destruction and could in turn possibly harness all of the Emerald's powers. Chaos Control was said to be one of the abilities that he used when in battle, as rarely as that might have occurred.

But Black Doom, the Black Arms leader, was able to use Chaos Control to teleport the Black Comet, their spaceship, down to the surface of Earth. Black Doom could very well be over 2000 years old, as he states before the "Sky Troops" stage that he visited Earth over 2000 years ago. According to Black Doom:

"The Chaos Emeralds amplify the space-time control powers of Chaos Control."

This suggests that the Chaos Emeralds are not the source of the Chaos Control power, but are merely a tool to amplify a person's innate ability to use Chaos Control. This fits well as there are numerous instances throughout the series where Chaos Control is used without the presence or possession of a Chaos Emerald. This includes the later portion of Sonic Battle, where Shadow uses his "love for Maria" to use his Chaos moves. This would make sense with the "ancient saying" in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 recited by Knuckles and Tikal:

"The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."

According to Knuckles in the Archie Comic series, only Guardians have ever been able to use Chaos Control without a Chaos Emerald. However, Shadow was able to use it, so the Ultimate Lifeform is apparently an exception. Otherwise, Knuckles,the Brotherhood of Guardians, Lara-Su (in a possible future), and Sonic (who used a fake Chaos Emerald made by Tails to escape a pod), have been the only characters to use Chaos Control in the comics.

[edit] Teleportation

Chaos Control was introduced along with Shadow the Hedgehog in the game Sonic Adventure 2, when Shadow uses a single Chaos Emerald to warp space and time and thereby teleport himself across varying distances. Shadow used the ability several times, and was even able to take other objects or beings with him, with varying amounts of effort. Later, both the Biolizard and Sonic the Hedgehog himself displayed the ability to use Chaos Control (Sonic notably using a fake emerald), though Sonic has since seemed reluctant to use it too often. In fact, the only times he's ever used it were in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog, in which it was required of him to, either to save his own life or the world.

The ability was first displayed when Shadow and Sonic first met face to face, and later when Shadow saved Rouge the Bat from the vault where the Chaos Emeralds were stored on Prison Island. Sonic used it almost subconsciously to save himself when he was ejected into space. It was also used in Sonic and Shadow's final conflict and later to save the world from the collision of Space Colony ARK with the planet.

After Sonic Adventure 2, Chaos Control appeared sporadically, but nevertheless had an important role. Metal Sonic acquired the ability to use Chaos Control at the end of Sonic Heroes upon copying Sonic and Shadow's data. Many of Shadow's attacks during Sonic Battle also involved Chaos Control of some description.

Shadow is capable of using Chaos Control when he fills his "hero" meter in the recent Shadow the Hedgehog game. The effects appear noticeably different from before, as Shadow is apparently transported at high speeds to a farther point in the level, but this is actually just an illusion. Technically Shadow is being transported across distances like in the previous games. During boss battles, however, Shadow temporarily slows down time. The alien warlord Black Doom and possibly his Black Assassins can also use Chaos Control.

[edit] Other Uses of Chaos Control

Usually, Chaos Control is synonymous with teleportation, although it can affect reality in a multitude of manners. When used by the player, Chaos Control stops time or moves the player through the level at a high speed, often releasing bursts of energy.

In Sonic Heroes, Chaos Control is part of Team Dark's Team Blast, "Chaos Inferno". When activated, the power stops time for everything around them for a few seconds and the "Chaos Inferno" is unleashed, destroying everything in the direct vicinity.

In Sonic Battle, almost all of Shadow's attacks involve Chaos Control in some form or another.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, Chaos Control has two uses. In normal stages, Shadow blasts through parts of the level automatically (although there are some glitches; Shadow sometimes stops over water or a bottomless pit). If Chaos Control is used during a boss level, everything will slow down significantly except Shadow and he will get unlimited ammo. Note that while Shadow is glowing (and it looks like super shadow) after filling either his Dark or Hero Gauge, he is totally invulnerable (except for falling down a bottomless pit) and has infinite ammunition for every weapon he is carrying.

Chaos Control is a plot device in Sonic Advance 3 that separates the world into several different regions. Similarly, in the anime Sonic X, Chaos Control brings Sonic and his friends from their own planet to Earth. Note that Sonic X occurs in a subtly different continuity to the games, which canonically all occur on Earth.

In Sonic the Hedgehog, if two people with an Emerald each activate Chaos Control in close proximity to one another, the two attempts cancel each other out and create a rip in the fabric of space-time. Although, this contrasts to Sonic Adventure 2 where Super Sonic and Super Shadow both use Chaos Control to teleport the ARK. This rip gives any who enter it a brief degree of choice in quickly travelling to another location as well as backwards or forwards in time. Chaos Control is also used by Shadow to seal Mephiles the Dark inside the Scepter of Darkness.

In the English dub of Sonic X, Chaos Control is used incorrectly as the name of Eggman's base. In the first episode, when Chaos Control transports the entire cast to the human world, Amy asks Knuckles "What is that?" and Knuckles replies "It used to be Chaos Control," which may confuse some.

[edit] Other Chaos Powers

Appearing first in Sonic Adventure 2, Chaos Spear is an attack that fires golden lightning bolts at an opponent. Shadow uses this as his projectile attack during 2-Player race mode.

Chaos Spear is also featured in the final level of Shadow the Hedgehog. In this iteration, Shadow can charge up Chaos energy into a spear-shaped lightning bolt in order to wound Devil Doom. If it is released before being charged to its peak, Shadow unleashes smaller blue lightning bolts. Despite being somewhat weaker, they have the advantage of a faster rate of fire. Chaos Spear is also one of Shadow's attacks in Sonic the Hedgehog.

Although it is debatable if they are actual Chaos powers, in 2P VS Mode of Sonic Adventure 2/Battle, Chaos 0 can use three special attacks with "Chaos" in them. Namely Chaos Impact, a ground-punching technique called that knocks enemies of their feet, Chaos Strike, a blue energy pulse that harms and disorientates enemies, and Chaos Bind, a technique that freezes the air around enemy for 30 seconds. His spinning aerial attack (Activated by turning around once, then attacking) is called Chaos Screw, but it is doubtfully a real Chaos power, as it doesn't involve energy usage in any way.

In Sonic Battle, Shadow possesses his full degree of Chaos powers. Some of the most prominent are Chaos Nightmare, in which a purple energy aura is generated around his hands and allows Shadow to deal out considerable damage to surrounding enemies, Chaos Burst, during which he hides in space-time, and then reappears while releasing a variation of Chaos Blast (see below) on a smaller scale, Chaos Magic, where Shadow snaps his fingers to create a vortex of Chaos energy, and Wandering Chaos, in which Shadow releases a small orb of Chaos energy which follows him around and impacts opponents. Chaos 0 also uses a variety of attacks starting with the word "Chaos", but they are only named after the character, and do not involve actual Chaos energy usage.

The game Shadow the Hedgehog features another Chaos-based power called Chaos Blast. This power is available when Shadow fills his "dark" meter and starts glowing red, and is used to destroy surrounding enemies with a large energy explosion.

In Sonic Riders, Shadow has the ability to throw small Chaos projectiles at enemies, or throw a large Chaos Control orb that freezes the enemy in time.

In the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, Shadow uses four new abilities, some of which need to be unlocked by purchasing them in the store. Chaos Boost is when Shadow starts to glow red (similar to when Chaos Blast is activated) and he becomes invincible to most enemy attacks. Chaos Snap allows Shadow to instantly teleport in front of up to five enemies in a chain of attacks. Chaos Lance is when Shadow fires multiple lightning bolts, although he glows red during this attack. Chaos Attack is when, after using a Homing Attack on an enemy, Shadow rapidly attacks the enemy, doing consecutive damage with each hit.

In Episode 78 of the TV Show Sonic X, Super Sonic and Super Shadow display a technique called Chaos Regeneration to save Cosmo, their Seedrian (a plant-type anthropomorphous) ally from certain death. As demonstrated in the episode, it is not quite as effective as its title would suggest, because all they managed to produce from their efforts was a small seed. It is unlikely that this Chaos power will appear in a game due to the cartoon's significant yet limited relevance to the games' overall storyline. The same power, though displayed at a more limited degree, was used by Sonic to cure Chris from injuries sustained during the battle with Shadow aboard Space Colony ARK.

Various other Chaos abilities appear in the Archie Comics, where a wider array of characters possess the capacity to utilize Chaos energy. At their most basic, these techniques include energy bolts, force fields and teleportation. More advanced wielders, such as Mammoth Mogul or Enerjak can achieve mind control and molecular dissection.

The teleportation ability appears to be a subtly different form of Chaos Control. All Chaos powers in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics come from the greatest power in the universe, the Chaos Force (also referred to as "The Power Chaos"), a mystical energy field that serves as wellspring for all Chaos powers. Knuckles states at one point that Shadow must have direct access to this energy, even without an emerald, displayed when Shadow sub-consciously halted a squadron of 'Metal Sonic Troopers' using Chaos Control in the absence of an Emerald.

Also in the comics, Knuckles evolved for a short time into "Chaos Knuckles", a living Chaos Emerald, and became the most powerful Chaos entity on Mobius. However, his powers departed upon his return from the dead.

[edit] Users of Chaos Control

[edit] Games

Shadow the Hedgehog

The first character ever seen to perform Chaos Control. He first used it to warp in Sonic Adventure 2 and to stop time in the game's 2-Player Mode. In Sonic Heroes, he used Chaos Control to stop time in his team's Team Blast named "Chaos Inferno". In his own game Shadow the Hedgehog Shadow used Chaos Control to quickly warp through stages or slow down time during boss battles. Chaos Control is Shadow's signature move, despite the fact that there are others capable of using it. We see in Sonic Battle and Shadow the Hedgehog that Shadow can use Chaos Control, or any of its modifications without a Chaos Emerald, even though an Emerald can be used to "amplify" the technique's power. In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is without any Emeralds in the final stage "The Last Way", which requires Chaos Control to proceed,and throughout most of Sonic Battle Shadow has an Emerald, but still uses his Chaos powers after handing it over to Emerl. Shadow tends to use Chaos Control the most, due to the fact that he can withstand the power unleashed from it at any given state.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Used Chaos Control to save himself from dying in Sonic Adventure 2, most notably with a fake Chaos Emerald, which had the same properties as an actual Emerald, although it was weaker. Also, when playing Dark side and battling Sonic for the second time, he'll use Chaos Control to catch up with Shadow if Shadow is ahead of him or forces him to fall off the platform. Later, Super Sonic also uses Chaos Control along with Super Shadow in order to teleport the Space Colony ARK back to its original orbit. Sonic's latest usage of Chaos Control was in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, where he uses Chaos Control together with Shadow, and later with Silver the Hedgehog, in order to create warps in time. Sonic appears to be as skilled at Chaos Control as Shadow but prefers not to use it and rely on his speed.

Biolizard

Used Chaos Control to merge with the Eclipse Cannon of the Space Colony ARK in Sonic Adventure 2. Notably, The Biolizard did so while surrounded by all 7 Chaos Emeralds, as well as the Master Emerald.

Metal Sonic

In Sonic Heroes, after copying Sonic and Shadow's life data and using parts from Dr. Eggman's base to build himself a more powerful and fearsome body, Metal Sonic was able to use Chaos Control to stop time as a defense mechanism against Team Super. He uses the ability again to slow opponents to a crawl in Sonic Rivals, however he only uses it against Shadow.

Dr. Eggman

He used Chaos Control with a machine at the beginning of Sonic Advance 3 to break the world into seven pieces, forcing Sonic and Tails to head for the Master Emerald in order to undo the mess. He also used a machine that could activate Chaos Control twice in the Sonic X anime. Sonic caused Eggman's sentry guns to fire upon it, causing it to malfunction and Chaos Control everyone in the nearby vicinity to the other universe where Chris lives.

Black Doom

The alien leader Black Doom used Chaos Control a variety of times to transport Shadow (willingly or not) to various locations on Earth. He later stole and used all seven Chaos Emeralds to teleport the Black Comet, the Black Arms' home, to Earth, as the Black Comet's velocity can never become high enough to pass through a planet's atmosphere on its own. After that, he used the seven Emeralds to transform into a large hideous creature known as Devil Doom (although this is actually not possible as he stated he underestimated the power of the emeralds while fighting Shadow, meaning he didn't need them to transform, showing that he is powerful enough to take on super transformations without chaos emeralds, which is extremely different from the other villains, who often use them to attain a final form). During the last fight in Shadow the Hedgehog, Devil Doom used Chaos Control several times to evade the close-range assaults of Super Shadow.

Silver the Hedgehog

Silver also has the ability of Chaos Control, which he learned while watching Shadow perform it, that he uses with Shadow and later Sonic to go back and forward in time.

Mephiles the Dark

Mephiles gained Chaos abilities from knowledge of Shadow's past while using Shadow's silhouette as an avatar. Aside from Chaos Control, Mephiles desplays chaos abilities that are considered distinctive from the rest of the cast.

[edit] Comics

Scourge the Hedgehog

Scourge is an exclusive character to the Sonic comics published by Archie Comics. He is able to use Chaos Control by using the Master Emerald. Scourge has only used this ability once, and he tells Rouge that he needs a Chaos Emerald to perform it. Whether this is fact or Scourge's own ignorance to his abilities has yet to be confirmed either way.

Lara-Su

Lara-Su, the possible future daughter of Knuckles the Echidna and Julie-Su, is also from the Archie Sonic comics. She comes from an alternative timeline, and is able to use not only her father's powers but also Chaos Control. In the Mobius: 25 Years Later storyline, she fought the evil King Shadow and imprisoned him with Chaos energy by using Chaos Control.

Brotherhood of Guardians

Though never specifically calling it Chaos Control, Knuckles' relatives have a variety of powers derived from Chaos energy, among them teleportation.

Dr. Finitevus?

When he appeared to help Locke save the Master Emerald from being stolen by A.D.A.M., Dr. Finitevus used a form of teleportation somewhat similar to Chaos Control. However, Finitevus' energy was notably black rather than the usual green, suggesting that it is either not Chaos Control or that it is some unique form of Chaos energy that Finitevus wields.