Dark Gaia Phoenix

"When the temple lit up, the beast woke up. And it appears it's returned to its senses."

- Zonshen after the restoration of the emerald

"So, you went crazy after the emeralds lost their power?"

- Sonic to Zonshen

"Well, it's great to have you back again!"

- Chip

"Want some chocolate?"

- Chip offering the chocolate the Gaia Phoenix accepted

Dark Gaia Phoenix (聖獣ダークガイアフェニックス Holy Beast Dark Gaia Phoenix) is a boss you face after you complete Act III of Chun-Nan: Path to Darkness in the Wii/PS2 versions or Act 1 of Chun-Nan in the 360/PS3 versions.

He is the guardian of the Gaia Temple of Chun-nan. He went berserk after the Chaos Emeralds lost their power in Sonic Unleashed and ended up being corrupted by Dark Gaia's energy. However, once Sonic and Chip restored one of the emeralds, he came back to his senses and his dark appearance turned into a beautiful light yellow, purple, and pink phoenix-like bird, and he returned to his duty, (but not before accepting the chocolate Chip offered him). According to Zonshen, he has been taking care of the phoenix.

Wii/PS2
thumb|290px|right|Dark Gaia Phoenix Battle (PS2) The Dark Gaia Phoenix starts off by firing 6-8 tiny feathers at Sonic. Dodge them. When the boss charges up for a larger spike attack, jump up to one of the platforms and throw a water barrel at him and his fire aura will fall for a bit, giving you a window of attack. A button sequence will play, giving you a chance to damage him. The amount of water barrels to erase his fire aura temporarily increases by one every time you take a third off his health bar. After attacking him, he stomps the ground and creates a fire earthquake. After 3 attacks, he will fall. If you do not attack the Dark Gaia Phoenix, he will launch out feathers that will hone in on Sonic and might even destroy the barrel. This must be done three times to defeat him.

360/PS3
He starts out by shooting homing feathers at you. Then he will fly around and land with a fire earthquake. You can only hit him with the water jugs after he uses this attack, otherwise he'll destroy it. After getting hit, he flies over to one of the platforms to rest. Go over to him and hit him a few times to initiate a short QTE. After attacking him, he'll fly around a bit before charging at you, then fly up and come back down with a fire earthquake before repeating his usual pattern. This time, instead of homing feathers, he might just shoot a barrage of feathers at you. Use your shield to dodge this attack. After completing the third QTE, which requires you to push the A/X button six times, you will win.