Espio the Chameleon

[Yolanda Riona]

Name: Espio

Age: 18

Species: Male Anthromorphic Chameleon

Alignment: Hero

Appearance: Espio has pinkish-purple skin and yellow eyes. He has a distinct, darker shaded yellow five inch long sharp horn located between his eyes. He possesses a lithe, athletic look from his training. His muzzle and chest are tan colored, and the three downward pointing spines on his back are solid black. He has a long purple tail, which he usually keeps coiled up near the end.

Espio wears tight fitting white gloves, with steel arm bracers affixed over the cuffs. The tips connecting to the gloves are black, with two yellow studs on each side. He also wears a pair of dark purple sneakers, with black bottoms. A large black stripe runs across the midpoints of his shoes. Affixed to the tops of the shoes is a pair of leg bracers, very similar to his arm bracers. These however are considerably larger, and made of a lighter metal. The soles of the shoes are made with a special material that reduces the friction on his shoes. Though rarely seen, he wears a brown backpack, which has tight fitting straps that fit firmly to his arms. It's made with a special material that uses the chameleon’s power of invisibility to remain hidden as long as he wears it. A small holster is located on the right side of the pack for his katana, which is also concealed by the backpack. When drawn, the katana loses its invisibility.


Personality: Espio is a calm, cool and collected person. Unlike the other chaotix members, he's a very serious person, unlikely to joke around much, much less understand the point of it. The chameleon is especially bright, and is able to even hack into computers. He's also a smooth talker, able to get others into seeing things his way with enough persuasion and able to woo ladies with ease. He's a kind and courteous person to his friends and a dangerous individual towards his foes. He can appear uncaring at times due to his serious nature, but he usually does things in the best interest of others. Espio currently has taken up reading, guitar playing and computer programming as hobbies. He also enjoys training often, and sparring with friends. His serious demeanor is often dragged down by his fellow chaotix members, and often winds up looking as goofy as them as well.

Unlike most other people, Espio isn't afraid to "get the job done" should worst come to worst against an enemy. He will usually try to merely incapacitate, or knock out an enemy instead before trying to resort to such tactics if it's possible however. In most cases, if he's alone, he'll simply try to sneak around and bypass most grunts. He doesn't mind helping others in need, and will defend the innocent.

Transport
Aero Glider: Espio has a collapsible metal hang glider located in his invisipack. The bars are silver, and the "wings" are orange, with a white wind symbol on each side. Espio can manipulate the wind currents around the glider to fly. He can keep this up for roughly 10 minutes with ease without having to rest and land. He's unable to turn the glider invisible.

Gear & Weapons

Invisipack: Espio's brown backpack, with straps that fit firmly to its arms. It's made of a special material made in his home village that uses his natural power of invisibility to blend in with the environment, and remain concealed from view. It reduces the amount of burden on the user when it's carried, and is generally soundproof. The pockets inside hold his belongings firmly in place, so they don't shuffle around when it's shaken. The holster for his katana also allows it to be hidden from view until it's drawn. Should Espio remove the invisipack, or if his magic reserves run out, it becomes fully visible.

Samashir- Espio's electric guitar. Vector came up with the concept that the employees should play instruments, and after enough convincing, he picked out and bought a guitar. It runs on batteries that have a five hour charge, and he keeps a replacement set in his backpack. He's quite good at playing it, able to woo small crowds, and found out he can cause damage to enemies by playing a particular stream of notes.

Shrunkens: Espio has two kinds of shrunken at his disposal to use. The normal variety, 10 of which are held in his bag, and 5 in each arm bracer can be thrown a far distance (50 feet), and he's fairly accurate at throwing them. He has 5 bomb shrunken, three in his bag and one in each leg bracer which has a short range, and they explode upon impact after activated via a button in the center. They are slightly larger than the standard kind. They can be shorted out, and WILL explode if ignited.

Smoke Grenade x2: Espio also has a pair of tennis ball sized smoke bombs, which release various colored clouds of smoke when tossed to the ground. He generally uses these to escape, or move to a better position unnoticed. The smoke created by these smoke bombs cover a 5X5 foot area. The windier the area, the lesser the time it takes for the smoke to disapate.

Side Note: Should he run out of weaponry, the only way for him to obtain more gear without buying or seizeing it is to find one of his villages hidden drop boxes, located across the land, one in each location (several in CC), save for cities. These boxes usually carry enough supplies for one refill. They are located in well hidden places, and never in cities.



Biography: Espio was born in a village of ninjas known to few people, who carry out various missions for money and prestige. They can range from simple cleaning jobs, to surveillance and assassination of criminals. They never took on jobs which would hurt the general populace, or be viewed as evil or bad. He was taught the ways of the ninja from day one, and as such developed a calm, serious and disciplined personality, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He was a star pupil at the ninja academy, and performed mission after mission without fail. He even managed to master the extra courses in wind magic he took on at the same time. As a side note, to this day, he still sends a fair amount of what he earns back to his parents.

For his first major mission (which came with a large bonus) was to investigate a mysterious island that had appeared in the sky. Using a special hang glider that was given to him as a down payment for his mission, he flew up to the island. Upon the first few minutes of exploring the island, he was ambushed by Robotinik, and a troop of robots. He was told the island was likely uninhabited, and as such was caught completely off guard. He was captured for the first time in his life, which to this day gives Espio an extreme dislike towards Dr. Robotinik, despite being trained not to hold grudges.

He was about to be carted off, when a red echidna named Knuckles came to the rescue. Fighting off the bots, he freed Espio, and they decided to work tougether and shut down the doctor's plans. Other captives were found, a crocodile named Vector, an armadillo named Mighty, and a bee (who Espio didn't like much at first), named Charmy. There was also a odd pair of robots who joined in too, but he didn't trust them one bit. Knuckles could only free one of the future chaotix members free at a time, and the ninja did his fair part in shutting down Carnival Island. As he soon learned, he was quite fast compared to the others, able to outrun Knuckles rather easily, but he didn't have quite as much endurance as everyone else in combat. He waited pertinently while he imprisoned along with the other captives, hoping for the best while Knuckles was teaming up with someone else. As much as he would have wanted to help in the final battle, it was decided that Mighty was the best for the job, and was chosen. To this day, he still considers this a debt to be repaid, despite his teachings to again, not hold grudges.

After the dust had settled and they were all free, Vector had an idea. Why not use their combined powers to help better the world? Espio figured it wouldn't be a bad idea, and after reporting his mission a success, he joined up with Vector, and gave him some of his mission money to help with starting up the Chaotix Detective Agency (Or C.D.A. as he codenames it at times.)


Knuckles had other duties, and turned them down, and the the robot duo vanished to who knows where. Mighty joined in as well, and Charmy, who with enough convincing forced his way in. He enjoyed sparring with his teammates, and found an interest in computers. Soon enough, Vector came up with the idea of playing instruments. Reluctant at first, he bought a guitar, and soon found out he enjoyed playing it, and was quite good. Things went well, even though Mighty eventually left to go see the world. After a while, he noticed that some of his skills were slipping (which was mostly due to the goofing off of his teammates), and decided it might be best if he honed his skills and performed some additional missions for his village. He left the agency, assuming that Vector and Charmy could handle themselves fine without him while he was gone, and trained in private. Every now and then, he spotted Charmy during one of his missions, or while training, and watched him from the shadows to make sure he was alright. He might have considered asking him what he was up to, but it was ninja custom to avoid seeing others during intense training journeys. He pondered what the bee was doing in the middle of nowhere at times, but paid it little mind. He's recently finished his training, finally confident in his skills and is ready to return to the Agency where his friends should be. Even though he never says it, he considers it a second home.


Skills:

Invisibility: Espio can change his skin color and tone to blend in with the environment around him. He can keep the skill up as long as he wants normally, but as he takes on damage, the time he can stay invisible, and how well he's hidden decreases. If Espio is hit while he's invisible, he's usually left stunned for a few seconds. Espio can be spotted if something like paint or mud is thrown on him.


Advanced Wind Magic: As a student at the Ninja Academy, he took on extra classes at learning wind magic. Though he mastered the course, he has a more limited magic supply than others, and as such can't use devastating spells. He also doesn't use attack wind magic as much as others. With a small bit of effort, he can manipulate the air around him, from a small breeze, to a 20 mph wind gust.

Advanced Ninja Training: As a chameleon, combined with his training, he can stick to, and run across walls and ceilings. If he concentrates hard enough, he can also walk and run on water. And thanks to his training, he can wield a wide variety of melee weapony and explosives with sufficent proficency.

Intermediate Guitar Skills: He can play a guitar quite well, able to woo small crowds if he wanted to for money. He's has even found out he can damage enemies by playing a particular stream of notes.

Beginner Computer Hacking: Espio is able to hack into computers and machinery, but only at a beginner's level. He works best at hacking computers, but is prone to accidentally trip the security systems of Eggman and most major organizational databases.


Moves:

Whirl Dash/Spin: An unorthodox move he learned when he was experimenting with wind magic at his ninja academy. By manipulating the wind around him, he extends his arms horizontally and enters a blindingly fast spin, charging dead ahead. The arm bracers and boots he wears become dangerous weapons, capable of smashing through steel. It's stronger than Mighty's spin dash, but he has little control on left and right movement, and he is unable to turn in reverse. Espio is so used to this move; he doesn't become dizzy during it at the least. He can also jump into a Whirl Dash, and he can carry over whatever momentum he has into the move. He can deflect minor objects, like rocks and such during the move.

Leaf Storm: Espio does a back flip and produces a small tornado using his wind magic, kicking up whatever debris is nearby. As he uses this move, he blends in with the debris, and becomes invisible. If he performs it too often in a fight, it becomes predicable. Also, his magic reserves only allow him to perform this three times in an hour's time period. Any more, and he risks becoming exhausted, with a drop in attack power and endurance. He won't be able to use his invisibility, or wind magic until it recharges 7-10 posts later.


Tongue Grappling: Espio is a chameleon, which gives him an extremely long four foot, sticky tongue. He can use it as a weapon, able to grab mid-to lightweight objects and characters, and throw them in any direction. The heavier the object, the more it tires Espio out tossing or swinging it. It can be a risky move, since if Espio's tongue is caught as it extends, he's rendered virtually helpless till its let go.

Damage Stream: Espio pulls out his guitar, and plays a series of notes, that induces series an ear piercing sound wave directly in front and slightly off to the front sides of him. These particular sound waves can blow an enemy off their feet, and can cause headaches, and occasional dizziness. They have also been known to affect machinery, ranging from malfunctions, to causing them to explode. Espio and anyone behind him are relatively safe from the attack, save for enduring the noise.

Damage:
1-5 feet: Medium-Heavy
6-9: Small damage
10+ None

Strengths:
+His ninja training make him a calm, collected and serious individual. He can stay calm in about any serious situation, and form a plan.

+ Espio is armed to the teeth and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, with a wide range of skills, moves and weapons at his disposal, and the know how to use them.

+His fighting style isn't as predicable as others, with a wide arsenel of weapons.

+ Espio is quite efficient at analyzing the enemy, and locating weak points.

+ He also isn't bad at finding things, and scouting his surroundings.

+He's fast, VERY fast, able to move at around 60-70 miles per hour for 10-20 minutes without tiring. (If I should raise this further, let me know.)

+He can still use his speed in confined spaces, using the walls and ceiling as additional floors.

+Espio has great speaking skills, able to persuade others.

+Espio is able to use most melee weapons, like poles, staffs and swords should he run across them, or have them lent to by an ally. He tends to only use other weapons if he runs out of his ninja gear. If it was seized from an enemy, he'll leave it at the next next drop box he visits for another ninja to use, sell it to someone else, or just leave it behind.

+Espio has a mild knowledge of explosives, and can use them as well.

Weaknesses:
-Espio is rather poor at long ranged combat, only able to use his normal shrunken.

-He lacks physical endurance, unable to take many hits, and can eventually tire out from combat.

-Espio is short sighted, tending to focus only on his current goal at hand, which can cause him to become surprised or stunned at unforeseen and unexpected events.

-Although he can hack, he'll often trip the security systems on the comp, or at least have his hacking attempts noticed by others.

-Espio's bomb shrunken can be set on fire and ignited prematurely.

-His invisibility gets less effective as his damage racks up.

-When with others, his performance in carrying out goals drops slightly.

-If his tongue is grabbed while outstretched, Espio is limited to wildly flailing his arms helplessly as a natural reaction.

-When he's invisible, his allies are also unable to spot him.

-Espio's guitar and some of his equipment can become broken occosionally, and need fixing.

-Although he has martial arts skills, he becomes less confident should he run out of expendable weaponry.

- Espio doesn't know how to pilot or drive vehicles, since his village considers it unessecary for ninja to use them.