Light Gaia - also known as Chip - is a benevolent spirit from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. He is a primordial entity that has existed within the Earth since the dawn of time, forever locked in a state of conflict with his antithesis Dark Gaia. These two beings perpetuate an eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth, destroying the world and remaking it anew over countless millennia.
In Sonic Unleashed, Sonic's arch-nemesis Dr. Eggman prematurely awoke Dark and Light Gaia when he shattered the planet to pieces with an orbital super-weapon. Light Gaia awoke without any memory of who he was and shortly after he met Sonic, befriending the heroic hedgehog and embarking on a journey to find out his past and to restore the broken planet.
History[]
Sonic Unleashed[]
Chip was born in the beginning of time and existed as Dark Gaia's opposite. When the earth came into existence, Chip and Dark Gaia took residence there, where Chip began his job of projecting it from Dark Gaia who sought its destruction, starting an endless cycle of destruction and rebirth of the planet. In this cycle, Chip would awaken from the planet's core after Dark Gaia had incubated in it for millions of years and broken the planet apart during the time of awakening. Chip would then return Dark Gaia to dormancy in the planet's core, rebuild the planet, and go back to sleep in the core again, thus restarting the cycle. Despite his many years of duty, Chip never came to learn about the earth itself.
Some tens of thousands of years ago, Chip had just finished another cycle of destruction and recreation of the world with Dark Gaia, before returning to dormancy for Dark Gaia's return.
In Sonic Unleashed, Chip was awoken prematurely when Dr. Eggman used his Chaos Energy Cannon to awaken Dark Gaia and shatter the earth, giving Chip retrograde amnesia. He ended up unconscious in Windmill Isle where he unknowingly used his powers to save Sonic the Hedgehog's life when Eggman had jettisoned him from his space station. When he was found by Sonic, Chip was briefly frightened when he saw Sonic's Werehog form. Chip soon realized his amnesia though and panicked until Sonic promised to help him regain his memories. Dawn then arrived, and Chip saw Sonic return to his old self.
When the two arrived in Apotos, Chip took an instant liking to a local ice cream vendor's Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme, which Sonic named him after. After fruitlessly searching Apotos for anyone who knew Chip, night fell and Chip witnessed Sonic become a Werehog again. Soon after, Chip and Sonic found Tails, who took them to Spagonia to see Professor Pickle, who could shed some light on Dr. Eggman's plan. When they got there however, they learned Professor Pickle had been kidnapped by Eggman. The trio tracked the Professor to Mazuri where they freed him from Eggman's base and reclaimed the Gaia Manuscripts. Back in Spagonia, Pickle explained how Dark Gaia was responsible for the planet's shattering and that they could restore the planet and seal Dark Gaia by taking the powerless Chaos Emeralds to the Gaia Temples.
Sonic and Chip shortly after visited Mazuri where Sonic saved the villagers from Eggman before they pursued and drove Eggman off. They then found the local Gaia Temple, which Chip discovered he could activate, allowing Sonic to restoring the Emerald and Mazuri's continent. Chip and Sonic returned to Spagonia at night where they met Amy Rose who was unable to recognize Sonic in his Werehog state. As Amy left, Chip unintentionally depressed Sonic by noting how different he was. When Amy later was caught by people possessed by Dark Gaia, Chip unknowingly exorcised them when he took a picture. Though they left before Amy could see Sonic, they soon after came clear.
Resuming their mission, Chip and Sonic continuing traveling the world, fixing the planet one piece at a time. Meanwhile, Chip had a great time seeing the world. As they restored the sixth continent though, Chip got sucked into a mural inside the temple where he got his memories back. Returning to Sonic, Chip explained his history, the cause of his memory loss, and the reason why Sonic retained his true personality while in his Werehog form. He thanked Sonic for everything and tried leaving to restore the planet alone, but Sonic convinced him to let him help.
Traveling to Eggmanland and the last Gaia Temple, Chip led Sonic to the Temple where they started the process of restoring the final continent. As they thought their mission was over, they were ambushed by Eggman and his Egg Dragoon and knocked into a hole to the planet's core where Sonic defeated the Egg Dragoon. However, Dark Gaia then emerged from the core, knocking Eggman away, and briefly attacked Chip and Sonic before sucking its remaining power out of Sonic. With Sonic too weak to escape, Chip protected him and called the Gaia Temples to him, turning him into the Gaia Colossus.
In his new form, Chip and Sonic fought Dark Gaia. However, Dark Gaia soon reached full maturity, becoming Perfect Dark Gaia, and began enveloping the world in darkness. Fortunately, Chip and Super Sonic defeated Perfect Dark Gaia and sealed it inside the planet. With the final continent coming down, Chip said goodbye to an unconscious Sonic and threw him back up to the surface while he was sealed within the earth. Leaving his necklace as a gift for Sonic, Chip contacted Sonic telepathically, promising him that he would never forget him and he would always be with him as a part of the earth he tread.
Appearance[]
Chip appears as a small anthropomorphic canine-like creature similar to a chihuahua, with a disproportionately large head, rounded ears that taper to a point, tufts of white fur on his head and around his neck. He has a pair of tiny fairy-like wings on his back which he uses to fly everywhere. Around his neck is a necklace with a bright green gem.
Personality[]
Chip has a bright personality; he is playful, merry, carefree and very goodhearted, though also somewhat goofy. He is naive and very curious about the world, often asking simple but ponderous questions, and enjoys the slower things in life. Though he is never mean of intention, he sometimes comes off as a little annoying and blunt, accidentally pointing out the ugliness of Sonic's Werehog form and often getting up in Sonic's face.
Chip is incredibly gluttonous and absolutely adores food, especially chocolate which he always keeps on him, and can be utterly distracted by it. Regardless of his love for food, Chip will always offer a chocolate bar to those he meets as a sign of friendship and will try to offer people food to help with their issues. Likewise, Chip hates hunger, preferring to be dead rather than going hungry for longer periods of time. Additionally, he is also concerned about others' hunger as he was mostly concerned that Professor Pickle could be starving while he was Eggman's prisoner.
When facing an opponent, Chip will act threatening and scary, striking poses and flaunting his fists while keeping a serious demeanor. Behind this front however, he is relatively scared in such encounters and would, at least prior to recovering his memories, seek cover behind Sonic where he would resume acting threatening. Also, as seen inSonic: Night of the Werehog, Chip is genuinely terrified of ghosts and scary things, even fainting after Sonic teasingly scares him with a flashlight.
Chip is very dutiful about his job of protecting the earth from Dark Gaia, having followed it for countless ages. He also believes that it is his responsibility alone and that no one has to get needlessly involved as he tried to leave on his own to defeat Dark Gaia after regaining his memories, even though he was reluctant. However, following Sonic's conviction, Chip came to accept others' help with his job.
Powers and abilities[]
Contrary to his small size, Chip is actually one of the most powerful beings in the Sonic universe. By using his wings, Chip is able to achieve flight in mid-air. While in flight, he can move at speeds high enough to keep up with Sonic.
As a counter to Dark Gaia's abilities, Chip can bring the Earth back together after Dark Gaia splits it apart, though it is unknown if he uses the Gaia Temples for this process or it is an ability of his own. Being a living embodiment of light, Chip possesses photokinesis, allowing him to use light to either form highly durable force fields and amplify his own attacks. Additionally, he can draw power from the light and day to increase his own strength. Due to being an eternal force, alongside darkness, Chip is also immortal and can presumably never be destroyed as his presence is a natural part of the world. He is also shown to have telepathic abilities as he could talk to Sonic telepathically on the surface to say goodbye.
Chip shares a strong connection with the Gaia Temples, allowing him to control their inner and outer workings at will, and can sense their locations. By using the Chaos Emeralds in conjunction with the Gaia Temples, Chip is able to levitate the entire Gaia Temples and move them through air so fast that it looks like they are teleporting.
Gaia Colossus[]
Using the seven Chaos Emeralds, Chip is able to combine the structures of the Gaia Temples into a gargantuan humanoid golem called the Gaia Colossus. Chip's spiritual essence then merges with the Colossus, making it his own body.
The Gaia Colossus has the ability of flight, and can dash forward at speeds that let it evade Dark Gaia's projectiles through midair. Due to being powered by Light Gaia, it has impressive physical strength that makes it able to harm and fend off Dark Gaia by destroying the boulders hurled at it, use a light-fuelled energy punch with both hands, and even tear through Perfect Dark Gaia's defensive shield. It can also take a great deal of damage, as it goes toe-to-toe with Dark Gaia and manages to hold off a point-blank energy blast from it. Its main weakness is that it cannot move very fast during battles, and is therefore more liable to attacks.