Vector the Crocodile

Vector the Crocodile (ベクター・ザ・クロコダイル) is a fictional anthropomorphic crocodile from the Sonic the Hedgehog series who debuted in Knuckles' Chaotix. Vector is the current leader and head honcho of the Chaotix Detective Agency. Large and imposing with a kind heart beneath his scaly exterior, Vector is always ready to take jobs that pay good money, but is also always willing to help those in need for free, leaving his agency in its eternally poor state. Known for his great love of music, Vector's trademark accessory is a set of headphones which he always listens to, even during missions.

Concept and creation
Vector was originally going to appear as one of the members of the Sonic the Hedgehog Band during the early development of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). Sonic the Hedgehog Band was created to be part of the early idealized Sound Test, which was eventually dropped from the final version of the game due to time constraints. Vector was going to be the keyboard player of Sonic's band. Many early concept sketches featured in the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis Collected Works art book show Vector and the other band members having a more prominent role in the game, appearing even on the SEGA screen and in the game's ending. In terms of game appearances, Vector is thus among the oldest characters of the series alongside Flicky, Dr. Eggman and Sonic himself.

In the early development of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Vector looked quite different compared to his later designs and was more resembling an ordinary crocodile. The scales seen on his back and tail lacked their red color, and despite his taller and sturdier build, his hands and feet were smaller than in later designs. Furthermore, Vector's belly, neck and the underneath of his tail were gray rather than light green. He also wore shoes identical to Sonic's, just like every other member of the band. While missing most of his attire such as his gold chain, Vector was already wearing his pair of headphones, which later returned as his trademark accessory.

A later revision of the band artwork stepped away from Vector's bulky build and made him more lanky, and also reworked his head, eyes and snout, looking closer to following interpretations of the character.

Sega Software R&D Dept. 8 created a different design for Vector, illustrating the character wearing sunglasses, hat and tie. The design was found alongside concepts for the Sonic the Hedgehog manga published by Shogakukan, where characters Amy Rose and Charmy Bee debuted. Sometime prior to the release of SegaSonic the Hedgehog, former Sega employee Naoto Ohshima revised the character design, into something eventually used for Knuckles' Chaotix.

Appearance
Vector is a large, green-skinned crocodile with spiky red scales down his tail and vermilion-colored eyes. Vector sports a thick body resemblant of a S-shape, with a broad upper body starts including his long arms, getting slimmer towards his tail and legs. His stomach, snout and arms are light green, while the rest of his body is dark green. He wears small, black shoulder pads, white gloves with black-and-orange cuffs, embellished with gold buckles as well as black shoes figured with white and orange colors. Vector also wears a gold chain around his neck, serving as his trademark accessory alongside his pair of black-and-grey wireless headphones, and the crocodile is rarely seen without one or the other. With the exception of his chain, Vector's complete attire is frequently shown to be made out of leather.

For the purpose of Extreme Gear racing, Vector has been using more sporty shoes of the same color scheme as his regular pair, with white shoelaces fixated with golden clamps.

In Knuckles' Chaotix, Vector's build was a bit shorter and more slim in general, and his red scales, while similar, parted into two arrays starting from his upper body, forming a V-shape. Compared to his Sonic Heroes incarnation, his arms had a darker shade of green matching the rest of his body, while his belly and snout had a more ochre color tone. His attire was also different: Vector wore yellow-and-blue circular headphones, connected to a walkman which he had attached to his body using a belt. Furthermore, Vector wore dark blue-colored shoes with yellow zip-cuffs.

Personality
Vector is easy-going, loud-mouthed and has the heart of a child. The brains behind the Chaotix Detective Agency's operations, Vector is a true leader that keeps a cool head even in the most difficult situations. Unfortunately, his position as leader tends to get to his head, which makes him bossy. This often leaves Vector split between the "bossy" and "easy-going" parts of his nature. Nevertheless, Vector enjoys his profession as a leader and detective. He takes his profession seriously and uses his powers of deduction to solve any case with dignity and respect, although he is not above showing them off.

Vector normally displays a tough exterior. He speaks in a rough tone, may not sweat the details and is quick to start a fight, often taking an aggressive approach when facing troubles. Though he is able to find a peaceful solution to a problem, he will only do so as a last resort.

Deep down, Vector is a gentle giant with an optimistic viewpoint and a wealthy personality. While keeping a calm head and a decisive determination when on a case, Vector can at the same time show a cool and relaxed sense of humor with some attitude. At the same time, Vector is charismatic and charming, allowing him to get along well with others no matter how different they may be, which is especially shown in the case of Espio. Equally, Vector cares deeply for his friends and is always loyal to them. Nonetheless, Vector has a short temper and aggressive manners. His pretended gentle behavior quickly changes to a rough demeanor with a snappy attitude when things do not go his way, especially when he feels insulted or peeved, and behaves very direct in front of his friends. He always says what is on his mind, often ending up being downright rude. While Vector is aware he has a big mouth, however, he is not bothered by the fact. He also demonstrates a degree of common sense, as shortly after he and the rest of Team Chaotix defeated the Egg Albatross and began suspecting their client was tied to Dr. Eggman, he implies that he suspects their client was actually Dr. Eggman.

One of Vector's most defined traits is his dream of getting rich. His behavior is mostly geared around earning money, and his policy is to never turn down work that pays. He will do almost any kind of work if it means a good income and gets motivated by the thought of money alone. Because his business does not run as expected very often, Vector often worries about rent payments and bills. He likewise hates working for the landlord, who he is constantly at odds with. As a consequence, he may ask friends for jobs and is willing to do things that have nothing in common with detective work at all.

Despite his love for cash, Vector has strong morals and will not getting involved in anything illegal or dirty. Similarly, Vector has a strong sense of justice and kindness, despite his argumentativeness. As such, Vector is very charitable and is known for helping those in need for free, such as finding a lost child or take up meager chases for children. Because of this, Vector will take up cases without any sort of compensation. Despite any money problems his charitability may present, however, Vector believes that helping out those less fortunate is the best reward.

Next to money, Vector's other great passion is music, which he always listens to. He is often being seen turning up and grooving to his current jam and usually becomes oblivious to the world around him. He also likes to perform in his own band, converting his detective team into one whenever feeling like it, and believes himself to possess a great singing voice. Even if Vector listens and plays music loudly, he only enjoys the music if it sounds good, while disliking general noise.

Investigation skills
Although he may not look like it, Vector is the brains behind the Chaotix’s investigations and an accomplished detective with a knack for solving riddles and mysteries, and is as well a surprisingly clear thinker with remarkably good instincts. While he is not as intelligent as Dr. Eggman or Tails, he can piece clues and other minor hints together to often reach correct conclusions that his team mates and most others would have overlooked or failed to reach. His skills in this field have been proven very profound, especially during his investigations, as Vector seldom, if ever, chooses the wrong individual as his prime suspect. Additionally, he can use his investigative technique for other purposes, like locating lost things or even predicting his enemy's movement.

Physical abilities
Classified as a Power Type, Vector possesses remarkably high physical strength which easily rivals the likes of Knuckles the Echidna, Big the Cat and E-123 Omega. He has demonstrated great power in his arms, able to destroy boulders and thick metal alloys with a single punch, and can throw objects high into the sky and out of eyesight. By combining it with his weight, Vector can land downward blows with his whole body that can crush nearly any enemy, even producing a large, fiery shockwave when touching the ground. However, Vector’s true strength lies in his powerful jaws, which are a formidable weapon. He can effortlessly crush enemies and almost any kind of substance with his jaws or even spit out projectiles with such force that they catch on fire. Nevertheless, Vector has great control over his jaws’ power, being able to carry his team mates around in his mouth without harming them at all.

As a crocodile, Vector is naturally very skilled in swimming, using the typical movement of a crocodile in water to accelerate effortlessly. His unique swimming stroke is known as the "Crocodile Paddle" or the "Gator style". He can also carry this kind of movement over to the ground or even the air by sliding forward head-first on his stomach, allowing him to accelerate and plow through even the hardest obstacles.

Like most other characters in the series, Vector is able to run at super speed, being able to keep up with even the fastest characters in the series like Espio and Shadow. Vector is able to form into a ball either to accelerate while running or to jump on and attack enemies. On rare instances, he has also showcased the ability to curl into a larger, donut-like form with the same kind of effects. To travel through rails, Vector can grind on them, fast enough to keep up with his team.

Miscellaneous skills
Vector's breath is not only known to be quite putrid, but also effective. Possessing multiple forms of breath, he can spit out sound waves and even fire to attack foes. The former ability might be connected to his singing voice, which he can use to generate extremely destructive sound, causing all nearby robots to explode as a result to the noise. Additionally, Vector is very skilled at blowing chewing gum. He can at anytime blow a huge bubble to ride through midair or knock smaller projectiles away from him, and, combined with his breath skills, spit out multiple bubbles that detonate into large explosion upon impact.

Vector has proven to be a capable Extreme Gear rider, having established himself as a worthy competitor in the EX World Grand Prix amongst the best of riders. Specializing in Bike Gear, he can perform various athletic stunts and punch his way through giant obstacles while riding. Vector actually refactored his Extreme Gear "Hard-Boiled" himself, indicating he might have some skills in machinery.

Color Powers
By harnessing different variants of Hyper-go-on from Wisps, Vector can use specific Color Powers to transform into a certain form, such as a drill, a laser or even a planet, each one possessing its own unique abilities. So far, Vector has been able to transform into the Cyan Laser, Yellow Drill and Indigo Asteroid. However, these transformations require a steady supply of Hyper-go-on to be maintained.

Charmy Bee
The youngest member of Team Chaotix often gets on Vector’s nerves. Charmy Bee jumps at every chance to tease Vector, like calling him dumb in Sonic Colors for giving Sonic a lead to nowhere when it actually came from Charmy himself. Thanks to his short temper, Vector almost always rises to Charmy's provocations and they are seen bickering most of the time, with Vector shouting at Charmy. Alternatively, Vector sometimes simply deals with Charmy by putting his hand over the bee’s face, especially when the Chaotix are in a hurry. They also start quarrelling over the smallest of matters, like during their conversation with Shadow in Final Haunt’s Expert Mode where Charmy accuses Vector of eating all of his pudding, leading to a huge fight.

Despite their many arguments, Charmy actually looks up to his boss. He has a habit of repeating Vector’s statements and imitating him. When the Chaotix’s new client in Sonic Heroes promised to pay handsomely, dollar signs showed up in both Vector’s and Charmy’s eyes, although the bee is not really known to care about money otherwise. Also, Charmy sticks with Vector rather than Espio when there are differences within the group and helps persuade the other side.

Due to his age, Charmy would rather play than work and calls Vector boring for not letting him most of the time. However, Vector has faith in Charmy and appreciates his abilities as a tracker, even sending him on dangerous jobs from time to time, though fully aware Charmy uses his alone time mostly to have fun instead.

Espio the Chameleon
As a vital member of the Chaotix Detective Agency, Vector respects Espio the Chameleon as a colleague as well as a close friend. His ninja abilities often come handy for ongoing investigations and Vector even trusts Espio to handle cases on his own. However, Espio does not bother as much about payment as Vector does, sometimes leading to a conflict between the two, although Vector is the one to accept many requests for free. Espio acts as the voice of reason among the group and advises Vector against taking certain jobs, like following their mysterious client's orders in Sonic Heroes, but likewise is unsuccessful due to one of Vector's policies always to accept work that pays. Generally, Espio is very loyal to his boss and always follows his orders.

As the calmest and most serious member of the Chaotix, Espio sometimes goes unnoticed between his louder colleagues. In Sonic Colors, Vector wondered about Espio's whereabouts, and neither he nor Charmy, Sonic and Tails realized that Espio had been standing next to them all the time. Espio has also displayed some frustation with Vector's childish site, like in Sonic Generations where he gobbled up three Chili dogs at once while Espio shook his head in embarrassment.

Amy Rose
Amy Rose and Vector first encountered in Sonic Heroes. After saving the Chao in Lost Jungle, Vector addressed Amy politely to ask her a question, but was turned down by her, saying it would have to wait if it was about a date. Vector, who was not going to ask her out, called her a little brat in his fury, eventually leading into a fight between the two teams, Amy calling Team Chaotix a bunch of losers. They later put their differences aside to work together and distract Metal Madness before going separate ways again.

Later, Amy hired Vector to join Team Rose for the new Ex World Grand Prix in Sonic Free Riders, promising him to get half the prize money if he would help her and Cream to their victory. Unsurprisingly, they did not get along once again. Despite only hiring him half an hour prior to the championship, Amy blamed Vector for appearing almost too late to sign in. Then, Vector destroyed Amy's illusion about fate by calling her “a terrible actress” for pretending not to know about Sonic’s participation. Amy, on the other hand, claimed him to be the one and only useless kid on Team Rose. Vector also had some trouble communicating with Amy due to their age difference, as Amy was outraged when Vector used a figure of speech to describe he was getting serious, believing they lost earlier because of him. Quarrelling their way through the Grand Prix with Cream caught in between, they eventually faced Team Dark in one of the finals, where Vector said “We’ll show you what a team that actually cares for each other can do!”, indicating they at least share some kind of sympathy for each other. However, this might as well have been pretended, as the one time they really worked together as a team, they lost the race. In the end, Amy was not sorry for Vector for having to return home broke, stating he should be happy for having had the chance to race with two cuties.

Despite their differences, Amy and Vector seem to hold some respect for each other. Amy appreciates Vector's reliability as a detective for hire, shown in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games when she first turned to him for help after finding out a trap was being prepared for Sonic.

Cream the Rabbit
Just like with Amy, Cream the Rabbit and Vector first met when getting into a fight in Lost Jungle, but unlike with her pink friend, Vector and Cream did not throw insults at each other thanks to the rabbit's good demeanor even in the most intense situations. Later, Vector and Cream teamed up in the Ex World Grand Prix thanks to Amy hiring the crocodile. The two generally seemed to get along with each other well, as Vector treated her more respectfully than Amy and likewise, Cream actually showed sympathy for him, being sad when it turned out Vector had worked for nothing. However, Cream was frustrated about her team mates' constant arguments, knowing her mother and Cheese were both watching them, and also was a bit annoyed at him day dreaming about the cash prize and often reminding her how they would split it. Just like with Amy, Vector was irritated by Cream's naivity, as due to her age, she did not understand Vector's figures of speech and was upset when she believed he did not take the competition seriously.

Rouge the Bat
Vector and Rouge the Bat first met in Sonic Heroes during a big misunderstanding. Rouge believed Team Chaotix were after Eggman's secret treasure and attacked them as she wanted to have it for herself, while Vector only wondered who the broad was shouting at them, but decided to give her a fight if she wanted one. Rouge later doubted her actions, and they eventually worked together to fight Metal Madness.

Rouge and Vector have a common interest in everything valuable. In Sonic Free Riders, they both joined the World Grand Prix solely motivated by the prize money. When facing Rouge in the finale, Vector tried to reach through to her by saying while he could empathize in wanting the prize money badly, it would not be worth sacrificing her own team mate for it. However, Rouge brushed him off, not understanding why he, Amy and Cream would get worked up so much over a machine.

When both Vector and Rouge were transported to White Space by the Time Eater, Rouge showed big interest in aquiring a Red Star Ring for herself. It was hinted she hired Vector to collect one for her in Rooftop Run, because as soon as Sonic collected all of them in the stage, Vector worried about getting into trouble with her.

Knuckles the Echidna
After being kidnapped by Dr. Eggman in Knuckles' Chaotix, Knuckles the Echidna freed Vector from the Combi Catcher in the Newtrogic High Zone, making them form Team Chaotix with Espio, Charmy and Mighty to stop Eggman's plans. In the present day though, Vector and Knuckles do not interact much, making their relationship unclear. Regardless, Vector gave advice to Knuckles when Team Super Sonic was fighting Metal Overlord, apparently acknowledging his great power.

In Sonic Free Riders, Knuckles felt underwhelmed having to race against Vector and the rest of Team Rose, treating them like a joke as he was irritated by their loud behavior. Although Vector managed to defeat Knuckles one time, the echidna still said he would not get far with brute force, enraging the crocodile.

Vector was a high-ranking member of the Resistance in Sonic Forces, acting under Knuckles as the commander. He unsurprisingly appreciated the echidna for his aggressive (yet sometimes short-sighted) generalship considering Vector's own liking of non-peaceful methods.

In contrast, the two of them are on good terms in the Mario &amp; Sonic universe. In Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, they trained together prior to the Olympics and later teamed up to track down Bowser. They also have a special winning animation in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Dr. Eggman
In Knuckles' Chaotix, Dr. Eggman kidnapped and froze Vector in the Combi Catcher as an attraction for his Newtrogic High Zone. With the help of Knuckles, Vector escaped and later battled both Eggman and Metal Sonic, eventually freeing Carnival Island. Strangely, it is indicated they have not known each other prior to Sonic Heroes, which may be a result of Vector, Espio and Charmy being rebooted for the game.

In Sonic Heroes, Eggman somehow sent a walkie-talkie to the Chaotix Detective Agency after being locked up by Metal Sonic, claiming he heard good things about them and persuaded Vector to work for him by promising a great reward. Despite facing their client's supposed adversary, "Dr. Eggman", many times during their mission, Vector soon figured out they were hired by the real Eggman but decided to help him anyway, holding on to his promise to pay them handsomely. When it turned out Eggman was unable to pay them, however, Vector at last had enough of his lies and Team Chaotix beat him up. After helping the others fight Metal Madness, the trio caught Eggman trying to sneak away and chased after him, though it is unlikely they ever got their reward.

As a result, Vector loathes Eggman and prefers not having to deal with him, but often gets pulled near his presence due to the Chaotix's investigations. Eggman also kidnapped him in Sonic Generations and Sonic Runners as bait for Sonic. Despite flattering them in Sonic Heroes, Eggman does not have a good opinion about Vector, because when the detectives escaped their holding place in Sonic Runners, Eggman planted some information to prepare a trap, knowing "those idiots" would pass it on to Sonic.

Avatar
In Sonic Forces, Vector got to know the Avatar, most often referred to as "the Rookie", when they joined the Resistance. Vector initially did not hold the Rookie in high regard: after their rescue mission in Prison Hall, Vector noted how the Avatar kept shivering throughout the operation, and advised Knuckles against sending the Rookie on a mission with Sonic. However, Vector's tone changed after cooperating in an evacuation mission in Park Avenue. While initially worried the Death Egg Robots might be too much for the Rookie to handle, Espio and Charmy soon commented at the Rookie's skills, leaving Vector somewhat astounded. After the mission, Vector half-jokingly added the Rookie would hog all of his glory. During later operations, Vector was a lot more supportive and had full confidence in the Rookie's abilities. In the end, Vector admitted he was not sure of the Rookie at first, but had changed his mind about that.

Friends/allies

 * Espio the Chameleon (coworker)
 * Charmy Bee (coworker)
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese
 * Big the Cat
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Blaze the Cat
 * G.U.N.
 * The Commander
 * Classic Sonic
 * Avatar

Rivals

 * Rouge the Bat
 * Babylon Rogues
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Wave the Swallow
 * Storm the Albatross

Enemies

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Black Arms
 * Black Doom
 * The Time Eater
 * Infinite