Apotos


 * You may be looking for the Action Stage/Stage on this continent, Windmill Isle.

"With a lovely ocean backdrop, this port town marks the start of Sonic's adventure."

- Description, Sonic Unleashed

Apotos (アポトス) is a Town Stage/Village that appears in Sonic Unleashed. It is a quaint port town located at a coastal region with a lovely view over the ocean. It is the first location Sonic the Hedgehog goes to after crashing during the opening and meeting Chip.

Description
Apotos is based on the Cycladic-styled architecture of Greek cities, and its windmills are derived from the Greek island of Mykonos. It also has a slight resemblance to the Greek city of Santorini. It is located on a peninsula on the same continent as Spagonia. This port town is well known for its ocean-side view, beautiful architecture, friendly people, as well as its Chocolate Chipped Cream Sundae Supreme.

History
During the beginning of Sonic Unleashed, Apotos' continent was torn away from the Earth's mantle when Dr. Eggman awoke Dark Gaia, resulting in the planet shattering into pieces.

After meeting an amnesiac imp-like creature in the outskirts, Sonic traveled with him to Apotos, hoping to find someone there who knew who the creature was. As they entered the city, Sonic thought about his earlier form and the currently powerless Chaos Emeralds before beginning a conversation with his new friend. However, the creature was immediately drawn to the Ice Cream Vendor's Chocolate Chipped Creme Sunday Supreme, completely ignoring their quest to recover his memories. After buying themselves some of these ice cream cones, Sonic decided to name his new companion "Chip", which the creature took a quick liking to. The two of them then began asking around for anyone who knew Chip.

After a whole day of search, the duo still had no luck finding anyone who knew Chip. As their daytime search came to a close, night fell and Sonic transformed back into Sonic the Werehog, making him finally figure out that whenever the nighttime arrived, he transformed into his Werehog form. No sooner, Sonic and Chip found the Ice Cream Vendor in an unexplainable depression. As Chip fruitlessly attempted to cheer him up, he nearly dropped an ice cream cone, but Sonic managed to catch it by stretching his arm. This allowed him to discover of one his Werehog form's unique abilities. Shortly after, Sonic and Chip heard from the townspeople of Apotos that a two-tailed fox had passed through the town recently, and the duo headed out to Windmill Isle to find him.

Some time later, Apotos and its continent were returned to its proper place when Sonic and Chip used the Gaia Temple in Mazuri and the Chaos Emeralds to restore their fragment of the planet.

Notable locations
In the point-and-click HUB world of the Wii/PS2 version, many of the featured parts of Apotos are shown. These spots include:
 * Flower Street
 * Bell Square
 * Windmill Coast Street
 * Cafe Terrace
 * Sacred Shrine (as Sonic the Hedgehog)

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series and its spin-offs, Apotos is a location on Sonic's World. However, it was not until Sonic the Hedgehog #273 that the town actually appeared. Here, Sonic the Hedgehog, Chip and Antoine D'Coolette came to town get vital information from Gregorius on how to resolve the Shattered World Crisis.

Trivia

 * Apotos is one of the two locations in Sonic Unleashed, which does not have a Gaia Temple, the other being Empire City.
 * The Ice Cream vendor bears a striking resemblance to the shopkeeper, Morshu, from the Zelda CD-I game, Link: The Faces of Evil.
 * In the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed, Apotos' Sacred Shrine is the only one where Sonic is playable as his normal, hedgehog self, meaning it is the only temple that is playable in the daytime.
 * The Kebab from Apotos is based strongly off of a Gyro, a food dish native to Greece.
 * The town resembles Mobodoon from Sonic Underground in architecture though decorated with jewelry (as Sonic Underground was created by several years before Sonic Unleashed, it is possible for Apotos to be inspired by Mobodoon in some way).
 * In the Xbox 360/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed during gameplay, there are some chain held signs that are written in Greek and say " Κρατήστε έξω", which in English means "Keep Out". In Greek there is not an exact meaning for the phrase "Keep Out" and it is also grammatically wrong. Instead the sign should be saying "Απαγορεύεται η Είσοδος", which is the exact English translation is "No Entry".
 * On some buildings, the phrase "παραδοσιακό εστιατόριο σαφράνι" can be seen, which means "traditional restaurant saffron."