Chaos Control

In the universe of Sonic, Chaos Control is a phenomena/ability in which one can warp time and space with the mystical Chaos Emeralds, and first utilized by Shadow the Hedgehog during the events of Sonic Adventure 2. Chaos Control is also considered to be related to other general effects brought about through use of the Chaos Emeralds.

History
Although Shadow the Hedgehog is the first to be seen using Chaos Control in Sonic Adventure 2, the earliest known user of the ability is Black Doom, the Black Arms leader, as he could very well be over 2000 years old (as he states before the "Sky Troops" stage in Shadow the Hedgehog that he visited Earth around that time years ago). Black Doom demonstrated that he could use Chaos Control by warping the Black Comet, the Black Arms' homeworld, down to the surface of Earth. In the Shadow the Hedgehog game, Chaos Control is described as being enhanced with each Chaos Emerald added to its usage, until reaching full power with all 7 Emeralds. Furthermore, because the power of the Emeralds can be harnessed without a physical connection to an Emerald, users only need to be in close proximity to one to use Chaos Control.

Its use in the games has been inconsistent. Although cutscenes and bios in manuals and websites often claim activating Chaos Control requires a Chaos Emerald, Shadow the Hedgehog has used it a few times during gameplay and a cutscene without a visible Emerald.

The Sonic X television show and the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series take more consistent approaches. In Sonic X, Chaos Control is never initiated by Shadow or anyone else without an Emerald, or at least a fake Emerald, nearby (it was originally believed that all 7 were needed for Chaos Control but Shadow proved only one was needed). While in the comic's continuity, Shadow is an exception and does not need an Emerald at all, which according to Knuckles, is because he has the ability to tap into the "Chaos Force" to use the power of the Emeralds without a Chaos Emerald, which is something only Angel Island's Guardians could do before him.

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 most notably using a fake emerald), though Sonic has since seemed reluctant to use it too often, as the only times he's ever used it were in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog.

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.

In the title Shadow the Hedgehog, Chaos Control is shown from different perspectives depending on the circumstances. Some points in the game show Shadow moving quickly automatically free from the players control, (which may have just been a method of illustrating Shadow's teleportation) while in boss battles Shadow slows down time and is completely controlled by the player. The alien warlord Black Doom and possibly his Black Assassins can also use Chaos Control. Black Doom also demonstrated that power to teleport others into cyberspace.

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 the final battle, Metal Sonic may use Chaos Control, after he copied Sonic and Shadow's data; this freezes time to prevent Team Super from moving or attacking, and also stops the clock, but their rings still drain away while Chaos Control is in effect. Like in the 2-player mode of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, the duration of Chaos Control can be reduced by rapidly pressing buttons.

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

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. This is known as Cross-Chaos Control. Although, this contrasts to Sonic Adventure 2 where Super Sonic and Super Shadow both use Chaos Control to teleport the ARK, however, this could be because Sonic and Shadow were using it for the same purpose, or that the time traveling effect comes from the Chaos Emeralds that used are from different time periods. This rip gives any who enter it a brief degree of choice in quickly traveling 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 have confused some.

In Super Smash Bros Brawl, Shadow is an assist trophy. He uses Chaos Control to slow down time for everyone (apart from the user of the trophy) for a short amount of time.

It should be noted that the term 'Chaos Control' is an oxymoron, as chaos is something uncontrollable.

Other Chaos Powers
Chaos Control can be warped into offensive and defensive abilities, each of which do not require Chaos Emeralds. Appearing first in Sonic Adventure 2, Chaos Spear is an attack that fires powerful golden lightning bolts at an opponent. Shadow uses this as his projectile attack during 2-Player race mode. This attack has been used repeatedly in Sonic X to great effect, often allowing Shadow to brush aside powerful, and occasionally physically stronger, opponents with ease. Using it he fought off numerous ships, punched holes in the Blue Typhoon and been able to tear the leg off of the X-Tornado, all with minimal effort. In another episode of the series, Super Sonic uses what appeared to be yellow energy bolts, an ability which could possibly be a derivative of Chaos Spear, to strike down a group of Metarex soldiers before engaging in combat with Super Shadow; though it's not confirmed if this truly was Chaos Spear or not, as Sonic never said a word while doing this attack, however, later in the series, Shadow doesn't say a word when performing the move. An attack similar to Chaos Spear, known as Thunder Arrow, was used by Enerjak during his battles with Shadow and Super Sonic in the Archie comics (based on Knuckles' special attack of the same name from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle's 2P 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, capable of paralyzing opponents; Shadow can also use a stronger, red-colored variant named Chaos Lance in his Level-2 (and higher) Chaos Boost.

In Sonic Battle, Shadow possesses his full knowledge of Chaos Control variants. Some of the most prominent are Nightmare Chaos, in which a purple or green 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.

The game Shadow the Hedgehog features another Chaos Control variant 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. A (drastically weakened) variant of this power is available in Shadow's Level-3 Chaos Boost in Sonic the Hedgehog. It does not work unless you are very close to the enemy's head, and is no stronger than a regular homing attack. It only works on one enemy. The introduction to the game shows Shadow using Chaos Control to teleport around and knock out some Black Arms with aerial kicks; this ability is usable in-game during Shadow's Level-1 (and higher) Chaos Boost in Sonic the Hedgehog, and is known as Chaos Snap.

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 Sonic and the Black Knight, Lancelot can use Chaos Punishment, which is basically a combo of Chaos Control and his swordplay. Lancelot glows blue, then he then slashes the enemy when time is still slowed down.

In Episode 78 of the TV Show Sonic X, Sonic and Shadow in their Super Transformation display a technique called Chaos Regeneration to save Cosmo, their plant-type anthropomorphic 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 and unnamed, was possibly used by Sonic to cure Chris from injuries sustained during the battle with Shadow aboard Space Colony ARK. However, a variant of the power may have been used in Sonic the Hedgehog when several characters used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to restore Sonic's life and transform him into Super Sonic.

Various other Chaos Control variations 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 lightning 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 in one issue that Shadow must have direct access to this energy, since he was able to sub-consciously halt a squadron of 'Metal Sonic Troopers' using Chaos Control without an Emerald.

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

Games

 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * The first character ever seen to perform Chaos Control and the one to make the most use of it. 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. Although cutscenes and bios in manuals and websites often claim Shadow requires a Chaos Emerald to activate Chaos Control, Shadow has used it several times during gameplay without a visible Emerald. In Sonic X he has also demonstrated the ability to use a fake Chaos Emerald to transport himself, however after he does, the fake emerald was shown to disintegrate in his hand. This is possible because it held propeties identical to a regular emerald, only weaker.


 * 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 falling behind or forced 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 again used Chaos Control 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.


 * Biolizard
 * Used Chaos Control to merge with the Eclipse Cannon of the Space Colony ARK in Sonic Adventure 2.


 * 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
 * While he can't use it on his own, he has attained Chaos Control using 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 teleport everyone in the nearby vicinity to the other universe where Chris lives.


 * Black Doom
 * The alien leader Black Doom used Chaos Control a number of times to transport Shadow (willingly or not) to various locations on Earth, and can even teleport him into cyberspace. 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. During the last fight in Shadow the Hedgehog, Devil Doom (a transformed Black 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.


 * Blaze the Cat
 * Blaze performed Chaos Control at the end of Silver's story from watching Silver and Sonic perform it right before her and Silver head back to the future.

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.


 * 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, suffering minor injuries from a Chaos Spear fired by King Shadow during the battle. She could be the first female to use Chaos Control in the whole Sonic series (Sonic Next Gen was released 1 month later).


 * 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. The fact that Finitevus' energy is black rather than the normal green is simply of a result of the fact that he wields corrupted Chaos energy.

Trivia

 * If what Blaze did at the end of Silver's Story in Sonic Next Gen. really was Chaos Control, then Blaze could be the first female in the games to utilize Chaos Control, as well as use a super form.
 * Also, because the game's events were erased, there has yet to be a female who uses Chaos Control and retains the powers in later installments.


 * 'Chaos Control' is also the name of a game on the Phillips CD-i
 * Shadow can use Chaos Control without an Emerald as seen in Shadow the Hedgehog in the Last Story he uses it numerous times to navigate in the Black Comet even after Black Doom took his Chaos Emeralds and in Sonic Adventure 2 in the last fight against Shadow whenever Shadow fell he would use Chaos Control and all of the Chaos Emeralds were in the Eclipse Cannon, however whether this is an actual authentic ability or just a gameplay mechanic is debatable.
 * In Sonic Battle, it is mentioned that Shadow had a Chaos Emerald with him until he gave it to Emerl.