- This article is about the video game character. For other uses, see Charmy Bee (disambiguation).
Charmy Bee (チャーミー・ビー Chāmī Bī?) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic bee and the youngest member of Team Chaotix, a detective agency he helped co-found.[6][7] Although he is a certified detective, this frivolous and scatterbrained bee is more akin to a mood maker who helps excite Team Chaotix and make his coworkers look professional.[8] He is as well generally seen by others as his detective agency's entertaining and incredibly cute mascot.[8][9] Regardless, he is an excellent flier and possesses a sharp stinger to boot.
Charmy's trademarks are his flight suit and helmet.[3][10] Always flying around energetically and annoying his coworkers, Charmy is hyperactive, childish and loves more to play than work. However, his intuition is nonetheless an invaluable assist to the Chaotix Detective Agency,[3] and he serves as a crucial part of their team.
Concept and creation[]
Charmy's first appearance was in the Sonic the Hedgehog serialized manga published by Shogakukan, but was later used for the games, in which he first debuted in Knuckles' Chaotix.
Appearance[]
Charmy is a small, yellow-and-black striped anthropomorphic bee with yellow-and-black striped antennae, translucent sky-blue wings on his back, and orange-amber eyes. He also has exposed peach skin on his muzzle and arms, a tiny black nose, and a silver stinger.
For attire, Charmy wears an orange vest with a bee emblem on the left, a yellow zipper, and a white collar resembling that of a polo shirt. He also wears orange-and-white sneakers cuffed with black rings and topped with yellow zippers, white gloves with similar cuffs, small black shoulder pads, and a black pilot's helmet with a raspberry and two orange-circulated trims, alongside orange and silver flight goggles with light blue lenses.
During the Chaos Ring incident, Charmy was depicted with black eyes, a slightly longer nose, a yellow stinger, and a more pinkish tint to his skin. His striped torso was completely exposed, and he wore red sneakers with white details and laces, alongside orange flight goggles with dark blue lenses and large red shoulder pads.
Personality[]
Good-shaped yet sloppy,[8] Charmy is a hyperactive and scatterbrained funny-kid.[7][3][10] Not remarkably clever,[10] Charmy is the type of person who takes action first and asks questions later, and when he realizes the error he has made, it is too late.[3]
Charmy is curious, playful, always upbeat, and likes to fool around and crack jokes.[9] In fact, as a child, he loves to play above all else (especially work), and he can always be seen flying around energetically.[6][8][3] When the team is receiving their first mission at the beachy Seaside Hill, Charmy is hovering around singing "Sea, sea, sea". However, he works hard to help his partners.[7]
Not known for his temperament, Charmy is generally good natured and light-hearted, and does not get angry very often.[3][10] When he does get provoked however, he often introduces the source of his anger to his stinger and delivers a painful sting to them.[6][3][10]
Due to his age, Charmy is not the best of detectives.[7] However, he is the life of the party who enlivens the Chaotix Detective Agency with his cheerfulness and carefree attitude.[3] Also, he is super-keen.[7] In addition, because his childlike innocence gives him a viewpoint his elder coworkers does not have, he has excellent intuition, and he often points out things that no one else would notice.[3] Charmy is also great at coming up with ideas that that no one would think of.[7] This makes him an essential member of the Chaotix Detective Agency. If any puzzling cases occur, Charmy will be on the case with his flexible mind.[7]
It appears that Charmy has a fondness for money as well, much like Vector, as they got the same glint in their eyes when they were promised a handsome reward for their services at the beginning of the Neo Metal Sonic incident.[11]
IDW Publishing[]
Charmy is an immature, fun-loving kid. Hyperactive and beebrained, he loves to play and can be seen buzzing around everywhere. However, he is also very friendly, lighthearted and cheerful. He also loves to prank around, like when he annoyed Vector for being wrong, and is rather gullible, having an easy time to quickly forgive and forget, as seen by how he was the first to befriend Dr. Eggman after he had seemingly turned over a new leaf due to amnesia while the rest of his team remained apprehensive.[12]
Because he is a child, Charmy would rather play than work, as shown by his disgruntled disposition whenever he is called into action while busy playing. That does not mean he does not enjoy his work, as he can often find ways to play and entertain himself while on the job, even while fighting Badniks. He also loves anything flower-related, be it either flowers themselves or honey tarts.[12]
Though young, Charmy is a very trusting individual and tends to see the good and fun in people, sometimes even when they are evil. He also has a strong sense of justice and is willing to help those in need, no matter the situation.[12][13] Sometimes though, he does not understand the rules of the world or the decisions of his friends. He can thus be stubborn when it comes to pursuing his goal, refusing to listen to anyone if he thinks he is right.[13]
Powers and abilities[]
Although neither clever nor strong,[10] Charmy has proven himself an asset to the Chaotix Detective Agency. Thanks to his wings, he is capable of flight.[9] In fact, unlike most other fliers and their Propeller Flying methods, the bee appears capable of sustaining flight indefinitely on his own without his flying appendages ever tiring out, as he is always seen flying around.
The self-proclaimed fastest insect in the world, Charmy is the first of his species to break the sound barrier (at 767 mph),[5] making him almost as fast as Sonic himself, who can surpass the speed of sound as well. He is even able to fly around so fast that he can create miniature vortexes of such density that they can be stood on. Despite his age, the bee is also quite strong in his own right; during the Neo Metal Sonic incident, he was able to carry his team through the air and across large distances on his own. In addition, while not being an expert in the field, he is also shown to have great reflexes and acrobatic skills, enough to let him do unique tricks and movements while in mid-air, pull off various Spin Attack maneuvers at high speed, and grind on Grind Rails with ease.
Charmy possesses a powerful stinger that is capable of dealing painful stings.[6][3] With it, he can land sharp strikes strong enough to pierce lesser Badnik armor, and he knows how to use it with both speed and agility.[14] His stinger aside, the bee is also able to perform the Spin Attack, a technique where he curls into a concussive ball or cutting disk and directs himself at him targets. With it, he can shred or burrow through just about any substance given enough speed. Adept in its usage, he can utilize several variants of the Spin Attack for both ground- and aerial maneuvers, including the Spin Dash, Spin Jump, and Homing Attack.
As a member of the Chaotix Detective Agency, Charmy has some investigative skills, but he is far from being as clever a detective as Vector or Espio. Out of everyone on Team Chaotix, the bee is the tracker, his innocent nature giving him an excellent sense of intuition that lets him point out important details that others would have missed.[3] These sharp moments result in him occasionally contributing the most actual detective work out of the trio.[15] Charmy excels as well in following hunches and uncovering hidden objects.[10] He also has some mysterious talent which enables him to warp between flowers[10] and activate bee-themed devices at will.[16]
IDW Publishing[]
Thanks to his wings, Charmy is capable of nearly perpetual flight as he is always flying around. He can also fly very fast.[17] He is also gifted with a sharp stinger that can pierce even metal.[18]
Despite his size, Charmy is surprisingly strong as well, being able to carry his two teammates through midair, though with noticeable effort.[19]
Color Powers[]
By harnessing different variants of Hyper-go-on from Wisps, Charmy 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, Charmy 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.
Weaknesses[]
Charmy cannot go into the water. In addition, he can be too careless for his own good.[9]
IDW Publishing[]
Despite being quite strong for his age, Charmy can get exhausted from carrying people for a certain amount of time.[20][21] Due to Charmy's young age, he is very reckless and can end up in dire situations when not supervised.[22][23]
Relationships[]
Vector the Crocodile[]
Vector the Crocodile is Charmy's boss from Team Chaotix and he jumps at every opportunity to make fun of him, like calling him a fool during the Wisp incident for giving Sonic a clue that led to nothing. Thanks to his bad temper, Vector almost always responds to Charmy's provocations and is seen arguing with him most of the time, with Vector screaming at Charmy. Alternatively, Vector sometimes simply deals with Charmy by putting his hand over the face of the bee, especially when the Chaotix is in a hurry. They can also end up fighting over the smallest of issues; during Final Haunt in Expert Mode, the two would fight over who ate their pudding.
Despite his many arguments, Charmy really admires Vector. He has a habit of repeating Vector's statements and imitating him; when the new Chaotix customer during the Neo Metal Sonic incident promised to pay generously, dollar signs appeared in Vector and Charmy's eyes, even though Charmy is not known for worrying about money. In addition, Charmy usually takes Vector's side when there are differences within the Chaotix.
Due to his age, Charmy prefers to play than to work and calls Vector boring for not leaving him be most of the time. However, Vector has faith in Charmy and appreciates his skills as a tracker, even sending him to dangerous jobs from time to time, although he is fully aware that Charmy uses his time alone mainly for fun. On top of being coworkers, the Chaotix share a residence and Charmy is often referred to as one of his "boys" by Vector, showing a familial bond between the trio.
Vector acts as one of Charmy's supervisors, as well as one of his friends and mentors in the Chaotix. Despite this, he enjoys making fun of Vector when he is wrong, to the point where it annoys him. He tends to act quite rebellious under Vector's orders as a result of this. The pair have a good working relationship and Charmy does what he can to support the team. However, he has been known to question Vector's leadership when it conflicts with his own pure sense of justice and wanting to help others, which prompts him to try getting his own way.
Espio the Chameleon[]
Espio the Chameleon acts as a supervisor, as well as a friend and mentor, to Charmy. The bee does not take as much fun in annoying Espio as he does Vector so he tends to leave him be. Espio respects Charmy well enough as a detective and the pair have a good working relationship in their working environment. However, there have been times where Charmy has acted equally as rebellious to Espio as he has to Vector.[24][25][26]
Shadow the Hedgehog[]
Charmy has exercised a more enthusiastic relationship with Shadow the Hedgehog, having demonstrated how much he respects and admires him by often saying how "great" Shadow is and why he looks at him as a role model. He is even shown helping Shadow with missions during the Black Arms incident.
Friends/allies[]
- Amy Rose
- Avatar
- Barry the Quokka
- Big the Cat
- Blaze the Cat
- Bomb
- Cheese
- Chocola
- Conductor
- Conductor's wife
- Cream the Rabbit
- E-123 Omega
- Elder Scruffy
- Froggy
- Gemerl
- Guardian Units of Nations
- Heavy the Robot
- Knuckles the Echidna
- K-TBR 199.2 (good friends)
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Mighty the Armadillo
- Restoration
- Rouge the Bat
- Shadow the Hedgehog (role model)
- Silver the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sticks the Badger
- Tangle the Lemur
- Team Chaotix
- Espio the Chameleon (co-worker and close friend)
- Vector the Crocodile (father figure, co-worker, and close friend)
- Vanilla the Rabbit
- Whisper the Wolf
Neutral[]
Enemies[]
- Black Arms
- Clutch the Opossum
- Clean Sweepstakes Security
- Dr. Starline
- Rough the Skunk
- Tumble the Skunk
- Metal Virus
- Deadly Six
- Zombots
References[]
- ↑ Szczepaniak, John (21 February 2018). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers: Volume 3. SMG Szczepaniak. p. 302. ISBN 978-0992926083. "Naoto Ohshima: I don't think I was directly involved with this. But... I believe I was asked to design this character, Vector the Crocodile, and this character here, Charmy Bee."
- ↑ ●SonicJPNews● on Twitter (12 November 2019). Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved on 12 November 2019.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Sonic Channel (Japanese). Characters: Charmy. Sega. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved on 3 July 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Devra Newberger Speregen (2016). Sonic: The Ultimate Character Guide. Scholastic. p. 43. ISBN 978-1338033243.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Chaotix (Sega 32X) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 8.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Sonic Team (4 November 2011). Sonic Generations. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/level: Collection Room. "Charmy's character profile: Hyperactive, bee-brained Charmy is one of the co-founders of the Chaotix Detective Agency. He loves to play and can be seen buzzing around everywhere. Although he usually doesn't get angry, he uses his powerful stinger to attack enemies when provoked."
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Sonic City. Sega. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Sega . Official Sonic Heroes website (Japanese). Characters: Team Chaotix. Sega. Archived from the original on 11 December 2004. Retrieved on 25 May 2021.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Devra Newberger Speregen (2016). Sonic: The Ultimate Character Guide. Scholastic. p. 42. ISBN 978-1338033243.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Sonic Heroes (PlayStation 2) United States instruction booklet, pg. 11.
- ↑ Sonic Team (6 February 2004). Sonic Heroes. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/level: Opening Sequence (Team Chaotix).
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Sonic the Hedgehog #5, "The Fate of Dr. Eggman, Part 1"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #17, "Plague"
- ↑ Sonic Team (6 February 2004). Sonic Heroes. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/level: Ending sequence (Team Chaotix).
- ↑
SonicOfficialJP on Twitter (Japanese). Twitter (9 April 2022). Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved on 12 April 2022. "<チャーミー・ビー>
カオティクス探偵事務所のムードメーカー😁
遊ぶことが大好きなお調子者🐝
探偵らしからぬ無邪気な性格ですが、
直感的に大事なことを口にする鋭い場面も💡
実は探偵業務に一番貢献してるのかも?🤔" - ↑ Sonic Team (4 November 2011). Sonic Generations. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/level: Charmy: Don't Bug Me!.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #5, "The Fate of Dr. Eggman, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #10, "The Battle for Angel Island, Part 2"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #11, "The Battle for Angel Island, Part 3"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #9, "The Battle for Angel Island, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #11, "The Battle for Angel Island, Part 3"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #17, "Plague"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #30, "Cured"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #5, "The Fate of Dr. Eggman, Part 1"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #17, "Plague"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2020, "Flock Together"