Chip

"Want some chocolate?"

- Chip, Sonic Unleashed

Chip (チップ) otherwise known as Light Gaia (ライトガイア) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an ancient deity from the dawn of time and the physical incarnation of light, day and rebirth. Since the beginning of time, Chip has fought Dark Gaia in an perpetual cycle of rebirth and destruction to protect the Earth from Dark Gaia where he awakens after millions years of sleep to put the world back together after Dark Gaia destroys it and then returns to sleep again.

In Sonic Unleashed, Chip was awoken prematurely by Dr. Eggman, who planned to use Dark Gaia to establish his Eggman Empire, losing his memories in the process. He then met Sonic the Hedgehog and the two of them worked together to bring the planet back together after Dark Gaia shattered it. After recovering his memories, Chip and Sonic worked together to defeat Dark Gaia, restoring the balance of their eternal cycle, while Chip returned to dormancy.

Concept and Creation
Chip was supposed to be named "Whip", in a reference to "whipped cream", which is the reason that whipped cream became an early design motif (for example, some early concepts had his hair like a dollop of whipped cream). However, because the word whip has different connotations in English (including the act of punishment, whipping, or suffering injury, as in the term whiplash), Sega of America was not pleased with the name, so they changed the name to Chip.

Early Life
Chip was born in the beginning of time as Light Gaia, the incarnation of light, day and rebirth, and existed as the opposite to Dark Gaia. When the Earth came into existence, Chip and Dark Gaia took residence on this world. There, Chip began his job of projecting the planet from Dark Gaia when the beast desired its destruction, and as such began endless cycle of destruction and rebirth of Earth with Dark Gaia. In this cycle, Chip would awaken from the planet's core after Dark Gaia has dwelled within the Earth's core for millions of years and broken the planet apart during the time of awakening. Chip would then defeat Dark Gaia, returning it to dormancy in the planet's core, and rebuild the planet before going back to sleep in the Earth's core again to await the time where Dark Gaia would awaken once more. Despite protecting the planet over eons, Chip never came to learn about the world itself.

Some tens of thousands of years prior to Sonic Unleashed, Chip had just finished another destruction and recreation of the world where he returned Dark Gaia to slumber and put the planet back together, before returning to sleep himself to await Dark Gaia's next awakening.

Sonic Unleashed
In Sonic Unleashed, Chip was awoken alongside Dark Gaia when Dr. Eggman used his Chaos Energy Cannon to shatter the Earth. Due to this premature awakening, however, Chip lost his memories, forgetting who he was and his ancient duty and only retaining the few moments before he awoke. He then ended up unconscious in Windmill Isle where he unknowingly used his powers to break Sonic the Werehog's fall from space, before being found by Sonic shortly after. As he was awoken by Sonic, Chip was initially frightened when he saw Sonic's Werehog form, but quickly realized he meant no harm. When Sonic asked who he was, Chip realized he could not remember anything and began to panic until Sonic promised to help him regain his memories, much to Chip's gratitude. Drawn then arrived, and Chip was amazed as he saw Sonic the Werehog return to his old self.

When the two of them arrived in Apotos, Chip tried to ask Sonic about his current appearance, but his attention was caught by the Ice Cream Vendor's Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme, which he took an instant liking to. After buying themselves some of these ice comes, Chip was enjoying his when Sonic decided to name him "Chip" after the ice cream, a name which Chip loved. The two of them then began searching Apotos for anyone who knew Chip, but ended up empty-handed as the day came to an end, much to Chip's dismay. Night the fell, and Chip was taken by surprise as Sonic transformed back to Sonic the Werehog. They then found the Ice Cream Vendor in an unexplainable depression where Chip tried to cheer him up, but to no avail.

Soon after, Chip and Sonic came across Tails, who Chip offered some chocolate upon meeting him. After hearing their story, Tails suggested they went seeing Professor Pickle in Spagonia who could shred some light on Dr. Eggman's plan, and Chip, Sonic and Tails left Apotos in the Tornado-1. When they got to Spagonia, however, they learned Professor Pickle had been kidnapped by Eggman, which made Chip worry about how hungry Pickle would be by now. The trio tracked the Professor to Mazuri where they freed him from Eggman's base and reclaimed the Gaia Manuscripts. They then returned to Spagonia where Pickle explained how Dark Gaia was responsible for the planet's shattering and that they could put the planet together and seal Dark Gaia by taking the powerless Chaos Emeralds to the Gaia Temples.

Pinpointing the first Gaia Temple in Mazuri, Chip and Sonic went there to find the village under siege by Eggman. After saving Mazuri, the duo pursued and defeated Eggman, and located the Gaia Temple, which Chip discovered that he could activate as they got inside. Sonic then placed a Chaos Emerald in there, restoring the Emerald and Mazuri's continent.

Later on, Chip and Sonic returned to Spagonia at night where Chip met Amy who was unable to recognize Sonic as Werehog. As Amy then left, Chip noted how different Sonic the Werehog was, unintentionally depressing him. Later, they saw Amy caught in a group of people possessed by Dark Gaia, but Chip unknowingly exorcised them when he took a picture of them. After that, Chip left with Sonic before Amy could see Sonic, but they soon after came clear.

Resuming their mission, Chip and Sonic continuing their journey across the world, fixing the planet one piece at a time, with Chip activating the Temples each time for Sonic to use. At the same time, Chip had a great time experiencing the world's sights, foods and its nice people. When they got to the sixth Gaia Temple, however, Chip felt scared for some reason. While Sonic restored the sixth Chaos Emerald and continent inside the Temple, Chip touched a strange mural there, which sucked him into the wall where he met a mysterious light that restored his memories. Returning to Sonic, Chip explained his and Dark Gaia's history, the cause of his memory loss, and the reason why Sonic remained the same person in his Werehog form. He then thanked Sonic for showing him the world and promised he would never forget him. Chip then tried to fly off alone, since restoring the planet and defeating Dark Gaia was his job and that Sonic did not have to get involved, but Sonic convinces him to letting him help him anyway.

Traveling to Eggmanland and the last Gaia Temple, Chip sensed the Temple below the metropolis and journeyed there with Sonic where they started the process of restoring the final continent. Believing Dark Gaia would be safely sealed, Chip thanked Sonic for all his help, but were then ambushed by Eggman and his Egg Dragoon. Chip and Sonic were then knocked into a hole leading to the planet's core where Sonic saved Chip and defeated the Egg Dragoon. However, Dark Gaia then emerged from the core, knocking Eggman away, and briefly attack Sonic and Chip before sucking its power out of Sonic and regaining all its lost power. As Sonic proved too weak to escape, Chip protected him with a shield as Dark Gaia attacked and called the Gaia Temples to him, turning Chip into the Gaia Colossus.

In his new form, Chip fought Dark Gaia with Sonic's assistance. As Dark Gaia appeared defeated, it instead reached full maturity, becoming Perfect Dark Gaia, and began enveloping the world in darkness. As Sonic harnessed the recharged Chaos Emeralds, Chip and Super Sonic worked together to defeat Perfect Dark Gaia and sealed it back in the planet's core.

With the final continent coming down on them, Chip said his goodbyes to an unconscious Sonic and threw him back up to the Earth's surface and allowed himself to be resealed within the Earth along with Dark Gaia. Leaving his necklace as a gift for Sonic to find, Chip contacted Sonic telepathically when he found it that he would never forget him, and that he would always be with him as a part of the earth he tread.

Sonic Generations
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations Chip appears during the credits in a clip from Sonic Unleashed, and as an unlockable statue in the hidden Statue Room.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
In the third installment of the Mario & Sonic series, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, a Chip costume can be earned by playing the game for five hours. Charmy Bee gives the costume as a present and the costume can then be placed on any Mii for then to be used in any event in the game. The costume gives the Mii the stats of a Skill type character.

Sonic World Adventure (manga)
Chip is the main character from Sonic World Adventure that is based on Sonic Unleashed. Similar to in Sonic Unleashed, Chip was found laying on the ground by Sonic when he fell from space. When they met, Chip got scared off his werehog form and punched Sonic's eyes, telling him that he tasted bad. Chip then realized Sonic was a "gentle person" and became overjoyed when Sonic agreed to get his memory back, promoting Chip to go on about how it was Sonic's fault he lost his memories and he now had to give him ice cream.

At the day time they stop in Apotos, Chip rushed ahead seeking ice cream. When he found an ice cream vendor and his shop, Chip demanded ice cream rabidly, accidentally destroying the shop in his eagerness. When Sonic got there, Chip desperately asked for ice cream, until Sonic promised the crying ice cream vendor they would fix his shop later. Sonic and Chip left to find materials for the repairs, but while Chip was happy to help, he kept finding food instead of construction material, forcing Sonic to repeatedly scold him and eventually kick him in the head. After Sonic destroyed some Egg Fighters, Chip gave Sonic the idea to use the scrap metal to fix the shop. Once Sonic had rebuilt and improve the shop with robot parts, Chip wanted to be the first customer, but when he reached there, the Egg Fighter (who was the shop) shot him with ice cream.

Personality
Chip has a bright personality; he is playful, merry, and carefree, though somewhat not smart and goofy. Though he never has any mean intentions in what he does, he sometimes comes off as a little annoying and blunt as when he accidently made Sonic depressed when he noted how scary he was as a Werehog and the inconvenient times he got up in Sonic's face.

Chip is incredibly gluttonous and absolutely adores food, especially chocolate which he always keeps on him. He is easily distracted by food as he ignored Sonic when he first saw a Sundae Supreme, making him less interested in his surroundings. Regardless of his love for food, Chip will always offer a chocolate bar to those he meet as a sign of friendship and will try to offer people food to help with their issues. Likewise, Chip hates hunger, preferring to be dead rather than going hungry for longer periods of time, and any hunger he feels quickly makes him weak. Additionally, he is also concerned about others' hunger as he was mostly concerned that Professor Pickle could be starving while he was kidnapped by Eggman.

When facing an opponent, Chip will act threatening and scary, striking poses and punches while keeping a confident and serious demeanor. In contrast, as seen in Sonic: Night of the Werehog, he is genuinely terrified of ghosts and scary things, evening faints dead away after Sonic teasingly scares him with a flashlight.

Regardless of his goofy behavior, Chip is very dutiful when it comes to his job of protecting the Earth from Dark Gaia, having followed it for countless ages, and is serious when dealing with it. He also believe that it is his responsibility alone to deal with Dark and that no one needs to get needlessly involved as he tried to leave on his own to defeat Dark Gaia after regaining his memories, even if he is reluctant about it. However, he was convinced by Sonic to allow others to help him.

Powers and Abilities
Despite his small size, Chip is amongst the strongest characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, possessing a level of power comparable or equal to Dark Gaia itself. As an living embodiment of light, Chip possesses the ability to manipulate light energy, allowing to him to create force fields of light and amplify his own attacks with light energy. Similarly with Dark Gaia, Chip can draw power from his element (the day and light) to fuel his own power. He can also achieve flight with the wings on his back and can fly fast enough to keep up with Sonic.

Chip shares a strong connection with the Gaia Temples and can control their inner workings at will. With the aid of the Chaos Emeralds, Chip can call all seven temples to his current location and combine them to form the Gaia Colossus.

Sonic the Hedgehog
There is no one closer to Chip than Sonic, and the two of them are great friends. Sonic first met Chip when he fell from the sky to Earth, when Chip first saw him, he was a Werehog, that look of Sonic frightened Chip and he thought that Sonic was going to eat him. Then Chip realized that he is a nice guy and thanked him for being concerned about his health. Sonic agreed to help Chip with his memory as he couldn't remember anything, not even his own name. Sonic decided to call him "Chip" even when in the end of Sonic Unleashed, Chip got his memory back and told Sonic that his real name is "Light Gaia", however in the end of the game when Sonic passed out lying almost dead on the floor, but heard Chip's voice from somewhere, he whispered, "...Chip...".

Chip also seems to bug Sonic, and thus, Sonic also seems to bug Chip like in Sonic: Night of the Werehog, when Chip didn't want to go in the mansion because he was scared, Sonic just went in, leaving Chip making a "whiny" and "scared" expression.

Sonic and Chip also seem to enjoy engaging in friendly competition. As shown in a bonus cutscene, where Sonic and Chip humorously did battle over a dumpling, which ended in Chip eating the dumpling whole, but crash landing in a decorative clay pot and getting his head stuck, while Sonic laughed helplessly at the display.

In one cutscene Chip said that he'll never forget Sonic and that Sonic is his best friend, he also said that Sonic is so generous that no evil can affect him. When Chip found out his duty, he started going on his own, Sonic stopped him and asked where was he going, Chip told him that their is no reason for him to come to help, Sonic replies, "Do I need a reason to want to help a friend?", then Chip thanked Sonic for being so nice. In the end of the game, Sonic falls from space to Earth and hallucinates Chip lying on the floor, when Sonic comes closer, the image of Chip disappears, but the collar wasn't a hallucination, Sonic then kept the collar as a bracelet and hears Chip's echoing voice saying that he'll always be there for him.

Friends

 * Sonic the Hedgehog/Werehog (Best Friend)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Prof. Pickle
 * Amy Rose
 * Prof. Pickle's Assistant

Foes

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Dark Gaia
 * Bandanna Ghost and Bow Tie Ghost ("Sonic: Night of the Werehog")

Trivia

 * Chip was first seen in the Japanese manga adaption of Sonic Unleashed.
 * Throughout Sonic Unleashed, Chip uses the same camera that the Photographer Ghosts used in the 3D animated movie Sonic: Night of the Werehog.
 * Chip is one of the two oldest characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the other being Dark Gaia.
 * Sonic's naming of Chip after the ice-cream he was eating is similar in nature to how Sonic gave Emerl its name.
 * In the manga that was based on Sonic Unleashed, Chip speaks in third-person, saying things like "Chip wants ice cream!" rather than "I want ice cream!" like in the video game, he would talk in third-person and often refer to himself as "Chip" instead of "Me," "Mine," or "I." This is also apparent in the Japanese version of the game, though this is after Sonic gives Chip his nickname.
 * Chip is rarely seen walking. Only walking in the cutscene where he recovers his memory, the cutscene when the ice cream man is crying, he runs to him, and tiptoeing a few times in Night of the Werehog. Though during the time when Chip first tries to state his name, he can be seen running in a circle while saying he can't remember, as well as running to hide behind a rock beforehand, though this could be due to his amnesia that he took a while to notice his ability of flight.
 * In Speed Highway Act 2 in Sonic Generations, Chip's name can be spotted on a sign.
 * The PS2 Memory Card Icon for Sonic Unleashed is Chip himself.