Christopher "Chris" Thorndyke (クリストファー・ソーンダイク, Kurisutofā Sōndaiku^?) is the main human protagonist in the Sonic X anime series and its comic series published by Archie Comics. He is a kind and caring boy who lives in Station Square on Earth. At the start of the series, Chris finds Sonic the Hedgehog at the bottom of his swimming pool and saves him from drowning. He then hosts him, Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit and Cheese for most of the series. Chris, very much like Tails, looks up to Sonic like an older brother figure and is always willing to do whatever he can to help his new friends.

Appearance[]

Chris is a young human boy with peach skin, short brown hair and blue eyes. At the age of twelve, Chris usually wore a black long-sleeved shirt with a light blue stripe on each side under a red t-shirt with white sleeves and yellow details, a olive belt hanging off the edge of his jeans with light blue stripes, white socks, and blue and yellow stylish shoes with a light blue stripe and gray soles. At the age of eighteen, Chris began wearing a cream long sleeve turtleneck, blue jeans and brown shoes. He started wearing a lab-coat around the time when he created a teleporter to go to Sonic's world.

When arriving at Sonic's world, he reverted back to his twelve year old self as his clothes as a teenager became loose before it was replaced by his primary clothes from his twelve year old self.

History[]

Anime[]

Past[]

Chris grew up with his grandfather Chuck Thorndyke, his bodyguard and butler Mr. Tanaka, and his housemaid Ella. He lives in a large, luxurious mansion due to his parents' success in their individual fields of work. Chris' father Nelson Thorndyke is a big-wig businessman who is the president of a software company, while Chris' mother Lindsey Thorndyke is a movie star. As a child, Chris hardly ever saw his parents given how they decided to focus more on their careers to give Chris the best things possible. Even though his grandfather was generally around to keep him company while his parents were away, Chris become very lonely from the absence of his parents, and from having to spend most of his time alone inside his luxurious mansion as he found it to be pretty empty and boring.^[3] At some point, Chris made friends with Danny, Frances, and Helen, who were his classmates, but his relationship with them was not enough to mend his loneliness since he still spent most of his time inside his mansion outside of school.

New World Saga[]

One late night, Chris was awoken by the sound of a splash outside of his mansion. Thinking it came from the swimming pool, Chris rushed out of the mansion to investigate, discovering that Sonic the Hedgehog had landed in the pool. Without a second thought, Chris dove into the pool to rescue Sonic from drowning.^[4] The next morning, Chris was on the phone with his parents, having admitted his actions last night. Eventually, he heard that Sonic's friends Cream and Cheese were captured by the military and held hostage at Area 99. Chris and his grandfather Chuck aided Sonic as he infiltrated the facility to rescue Cream and Cheese. After rescuing them, Chris also met Tails.^[5]

When Chris discovered that Sonic was missing, he informed his friends about this and set out with Tails and Chuck to look for Sonic. When they were unsuccessful in doing so, Chris then heard the news of Dr. Eggman attacking Station Square with his E-23 Missile Wrist, announcing his plans for taking over the world. Tails and Chris set out on the Tornado 2 in an attempt to stop Eggman. They attempted to attack Missile Wrist but were useless against it as Missile Wrist fought back. When all hope seemed to be lost, Sonic finally arrived and defeated Missile Wrist, while Tails and Chris escorted Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles back to Chris' home (though the latter leaves).^[6]

Sometime later, Chris learned how Sonic and his friends were sent to Earth by a Chaos Control phenomenon caused by the seven Chaos Emeralds, making Chris figure they could get Sonic and his friends home if they got the Emeralds together again. Later, Chris got a new homeroom teacher at school named Mister Stewart, who was actually an undercover G.U.N. agent sent to observe Chris for anything that could prove useful against Eggman. As Sonic and his friends went to get a Chaos Emerald that had just appeared though, Chris followed them. However, right before Eggman could get the Emerald, Chris picked it up first, but Eggman quickly snatched it away. Refusing to let him take it, Chris climbed onto Eggman's Egg Mobile to retrieve it. After a struggle between the two, Eggman threw Chris off the Egg Mobile, only to discover Chris took the Chaos Emerald with him. Fortunately, Sonic managed to save Chris, securing the first of the Chaos Emeralds.^[7]

When signs of a Chaos Emerald having surfaced in Silver Valley appeared, Chris went to investigate with Tails and Amy. After arriving however, Chris and co. discovered it was a trap laid by Eggman, who captured them in E-47 Pumpty while he lured Sonic and Knuckles into fighting one another thanks to duping Knuckles with his deceitful lies. However, Chris and co. managed to escape E-47, and when Sonic and Knuckles joined forces, they managed to defeat Eggman together.^[8]

Afterwards, Chris learned that his parents were taking a break from their work to visit him back home. However, on the day of their arrival, Chris found his class interrupted as Mr. Stewart was abruptly thrown out by Eggman's E-51 Intelligente, who took over the class, and quickly gained the respect and support of the kids. However, when Eggman arrived to discover E-51 having apparently gone AWOL on him, he threatened E-51 into swearing his loyalty to the Eggman Empire again and follow his original orders. When Chris then tried to leave for home, E-51 kept him from leaving and forced the class to paint portraits of Eggman. Thankfully, Sonic arrived after wondering about Chris being late and destroyed E-51, leaving Eggman to depart in defeat again. Sonic then reminded Chris that he needed to get home, and Chris arrived in time to see his parents again.^[9]

The next day, Lindsey was helping prepare a dinner for her and Chris. However, she soon had to return to work, leaving her upset at thinking she was a bad mother for leaving Chris like this without saying goodbye first. When Chris discovered this, he began to think ill of his mother, causing Cream, who had been pretending to be a stuffed animal to fool Ella, Mr. Stewart, and Sam, to break her ruse and yell at Chris in fury for thinking bad of his mother after she overheard Lindsey earlier, before running out in a huff. Later though, Chris was able to make amends with Cream for what happened.^[10]

When Eggman began sucking up satellites with his E-90 Super Sweeper, Sonic and Tails were unable to reach orbit to face it in the Tornado 2. Tails and Chuck thus made the X Tornado, allowing Chris to join Tails and Sonic as they went into space to deal with E-90. When Sonic was frozen solid on the outside of the X Tornado's fuselage due to the freezing temperatures of the altitude they were at, Chris uses one of the cables in the cockpit to provide a means to thaw Sonic out using Ring energy, allowing him to destroy E-90.^[11]

Chris soon after had to attend the opening of Hotel de Blanc at Emerald Coast on behalf of his parents, providing Sonic and the others a chance for a vacation at the Thorndyke Family's bungalow. However, Eggman soon arrived to destroy the hotel and make room for his new amusement park, with Chris caught in the middle, leading to another battle in which Sonic and Amy were able to defeat him.^[12]

Later, Chris arrived at the soon-to-be-demolished Diamond Stadium when Tails located the turquoise Chaos Emerald that had been found by the stadium's groundskeeper, Albert Butler. When Eggman arrived with his baseball team of E-21 Ballios to challenge Sonic and his friends for it and the green Chaos Emerald, Chris took part in the game, but proved to be no match for the E-21s until a pep talk from Sonic encouraged him from striking out when up at bat again, allowing him to help Sonic and their team take the lead. In the end, Eggman cheated when he lost the lead, resulting in him escaping with the turquoise Chaos Emerald, but the game convinced the team manager to have the stadium's turf moved to the new stadium and keep Albert employed to maintain it.^[13]

While Chris was in class one day, a rumor came up that another Chaos Emerald had been found in an abandoned warehouse. Chris went to check it out with Sonic, Tails, and Danny, but were lured in the wrong direction by Rouge the Bat. By the time they discovered the mistake and checked out the warehouse, the trap set by G.U.N. meant to catch Sonic had already caught Rouge, leaving Sonic, Chris, and the others befuddled by the false lead.^[14]

However, Chris soon set off with Frances, Tails, and Amy to Tingalin Villa to seek out the yellow Chaos Emerald there, only to be secretly followed by Mr. Stewart, who had installed a tracking device in Chris' new goggles. However, during the search, Chris and the others were attacked by Eggman and his E-35 Funfun.^[15] Sonic soon arrived in time to save them, but Eggman quickly escaped with the yellow Chaos Emerald. Sonic, Chris, and the others followed him back to his headquarters, currently under attack by G.U.N. naval and air forces, where Sonic was able to break inside, defeat Eggman and his E-18 Guerra-Hard, and retrieve the turquoise and yellow Chaos Emeralds, while also allowing Rouge, Knuckles, and a G.U.N. commando team a chance to escape before the explosives they planted wiped out Eggman's headquarters.^[16]

Chaos Emerald Saga[]

As a result of Sonic's heroics, Chris and his household members were invited to meet the President at the White House. When Chris brought Sonic the news though, Sonic chose to stay in Station Square to fulfill a request for Chris' classmate, Helen. Chris thus went to the meeting with Chuck, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese. When Chris grew worried about Sonic though, he arrived in a commandeered G.U.N. helicopter with Helen, allowing Sonic to meet the President, before Chris and everyone shared a laugh when the President's aide, Jerome Wise, passed out upon discovering that the press he had at the party to take a picture of Sonic shaking hands with the President were fast asleep thanks to his earlier stall tactics until Sonic finally showed up.^[17]

Following the meeting with the President, Chris saw Sonic and his friends being granted passports, allowing them to travel in public and not be kept secret anymore. However, they had a hard time getting used to it when they noticed the strange looks they were given by the public on an outing to the mall with Chris and Ella. However, Eggman soon attacked Station Square in his new mobile base, the Egg Fort. Sonic arrived to confront him, and with help from Sam and Mr. Tanaka, Chris was able to retrieve the X Tornado to help Sonic against the Egg Fort, sending it plunging into the ocean.^[2] Later, Chris took Sonic and the others on a vacation to the Sapphire Sea, during which they explored a sunken ship, where they found the blue Chaos Emerald. Eggman soon attacked them with his E-57 Clurken from the submerged Egg Fort nearby, but Sonic was able to defeat E-57, allowing Chris and co. to escape with the Emerald.^[18]

During a dogfight with the Egg Fort, both it and the X Tornado were shot down over an African Savannah, resulting in Chris, Tails, and Sonic confronting a pair of crooked men who were planning to build a dam and destroy the Savannah in the process. However, thanks to Decoe and Bocoe fighting Sonic in the E-65 Gorru-Gaooh, the construction equipment got destroyed, while the criminals were arrested by the local authorities.^[19]

Chris soon brought Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese to the site of his mother's next movie that was being filmed. Later, after the director decided to call it quits after a take of Lindsey in the castle resulted in problems with the audio after two attempts, Chris paid his mom a visit to wish her goodnight. However, Lindsey got kidnapped by King Boom Boo and his fellow Booms, and Chris soon found himself struggling to rescue her alongside Ella, Sonic, Tails, Cream and Cheese, with Amy's help. After the two got tricked by King Boom Boo into freeing him with the Talisman, Amy got possessed by one of his minions and attacked Chris. Just when it looked like Chris was done for though, the possessed Amy showed fear when she saw he was in front of the Talisman, hesitating to attack him out of concern for the relic. Seizing the moment, Chris used the Talisman to free Sonic, who then exorcised Amy, before everyone else was released. The group then escaped King Boom Boo and Chris sealed him and his minions up again with the Talisman. However, Chris forgot to put the Talisman back on its pedestal the right way, meaning that King Boom Boo or his Booms could still escape.^[20]

Chris later took Sonic and his friends on a trip to the glaciers on his family's cruise ship, but Sonic proved to be unable to relax due to being surrounded by water, paranoid with wanting to return to dry land. Mr. Tanaka soon arrived with a helicopter full of senior citizens to help Sonic and his friends relax, but it was not until Eggman arrived to attack in his new Egg Fort II, and with support from a senior citizen offering him some advice, that Sonic finally managed to regain his focus. Also aided by an enraged Ella in the X Tornado, Sonic defeated the Egg Fort II.^[21]

One night, Chris was awoken from sleep by his uncle, Sam Speed, having arrived to challenge Sonic to a race in his new Rocket Car, which Sonic eventually conceded to. During the race, Chris and Tails arrived in the X Tornado to give Sonic lunch, but Chris was left covered in dust when Sam took off to retake the lead while Sonic was distracted. Chris later appeared at the finish line, where Sonic won by a huge margin.^[22]

Chris eventually came along with his friends and Sonic's crew on a trip to the homeland of Mister Tanaka, led by Mr. Stewart, in Japan. After Cheese got flushed down a river however, Chris helped his friends search for it. Eventually, the group discovered a small passage through which they entered a Chao colony. There, Chris and the others were warmly welcomed by its residents. After they found Cheese and played with the Chao, they decided to return to Mr. Stewart. However, Dr. Eggman and his E-66 Da-Dai-Oh soon appeared. When the robot tried to attack the group however, it slid down the mountainside. Although that neutralized the threat, the robot would muddle up the river feeding the Chao colony. Chris and the others thus tried cleaning the pond where the Chao lived until Sonic came and did it for them. After that, Chris could enjoy the evening at a bonfire, learning that Tanaka knew about the Chao colony.^[23]

A short time later, Chris received a call from his father Nelson, asking him to come to Filmdom City. The reason was that Nelson wanted his family, Sonic, and his friends there as he was planning on surprising Lindsey for their wedding anniversary by appearing on the set of her latest movie to present her with a ring he got for their anniversary while in disguise as one of her co-stars. However, when he revealed the ring to Chris and co., it turned out to be the purple Chaos Emerald, which reacted violently to the blue one Sonic was carrying before being subdued. During the rehearsal for the scene Nelson would present the Emerald to Lindsey in, he ended up ruining the whole plan and exposing the Emerald again, causing it to react to both the blue and red ones Sonic and Knuckles were each carrying, destroying much of the sound stage's equipment before Mr. Tanaka subdued it. Lindsey was furious as a result, but before Chris' parents could get too deep in arguing, the set got crashed by the Egg Fort II, setting in motion events that left the purple Chaos Emerald in Eggman's possession, before E-74 Weazo attacked everyone. When E-74 threatened Chris, Lindsey, and Ella, Nelson protected them, but Sonic and Knuckles managed to lure E-74 away and destroy him, while Eggman escaped with the Emerald. Afterward, Chris and his mother were relieved that Nelson was alright, before cheering Tanaka up after the butler thought he had failed his duty to protect the Thorndykes. With all matters settled, Chris encouraged everyone to celebrate his parents' anniversary, which they did.^[24]

Later, Sonic found himself unable to stop running when a microchip from Eggman's E-88 Lightning Bird got stuck in his ear unnoticed. Chris and his friends made several attempts to stop Sonic with various traps, but they all failed. Thankfully, Sonic eventually got the microchip out himself.^[25]

With everyone looking for the last missing Chaos Emerald, Chris began feeling depressed, knowing that once they had all seven, Sonic and his new friends would leave him and head home. When Steward convinced Chris to think about his friends first though, the decision was made for Chris and Knuckles to meet with Eggman and call a truce so they could work together to get those among them home. After Eggman agreed and asked for the Chaos Emeralds to be brought to him for safekeeping, Chris took the four Sonic had, and the one Knuckles had, to the Egg Fort II. After dropping them off, Chris and Knuckles witnessed E-77 Lucky report that he had found the last Chaos Emerald. Seizing the moment, Eggman ejected Knuckles from the Egg Fort II and took Chris hostage, revealing to Chris that he planned to establish the Eggman Empire on Earth and had no interest in their truce. With that, he launched the Egg Fort II to go meet with Lucky.^[26]

Shackled to the back wall of the Egg Fort II's cockpit, Chris was left helpless as he watched Eggman deal with Sonic and G.U.N., only able to cheer Sonic on and taunt Eggman. However, when Eggman turned the Egg Fort II into the E-99 Eggsterminator, fueled by power from the six Chaos Emeralds he now possessed, Chris saw Sonic get beaten into a pulp by the Eggsterminator, struggling against his restraints and shouting Sonic's name in anguish. Finally, when the Eggsterminator drop-kicked an unconscious Sonic into the ocean, it became too much for Chris to bear. Breaking free of his restraints and grabbing the Emeralds, Chris was left in a heavily injured state. When Knuckles then broke into the cockpit to rescue Chris, Rouge carried him off in the confusion. However, Chris struggled in her arms, causing her to drop him and the Emeralds. Rouge was able to save him, but the Emeralds fell into the ocean. As the Eggsterminator then grabbed Rouge and Chris and attempted to crush them, however, Sonic was revived by the seven Chaos Emeralds, as Lucky had given him his earlier, transforming into Super Sonic. Tearing the Eggsterminator's fist holding Rouge and Chris to pieces, Super Sonic then took down the rest of the Eggsterminator, before inducing Chaos Control.^[27]

In the void of Chaos Control, Super Sonic healed Chris of his injuries. Chris hugged Super Sonic, asking him not to leave, but Super Sonic soon disappeared, leaving Chris in deep grief. It soon turned out however, that Chaos Control brought the Mystic Ruins and Angel Island to Earth instead, and Chris' face brightened once more when Sonic appeared before him.^[27]

Chaos Saga[]

Six months after Super Sonic's battle with the Eggsterminator (during which Eggman had mysteriously gone silent), Chris would pay his mom a visit, where she gave Cream the yellow Chaos Emerald as a gift. Later, the two met another resident from Sonic's world, Big the Cat, who was looking for his pal Froggy, and Chris and Cream agreed to help him. However, some time later, Chris found the Station Square police under attack by Chaos 0 and it was only when Sonic showed up to fight it that Eggman arrived and revealed that he was behind Chaos and planned to evolve it into an unstoppable monster with the Chaos Emeralds to conquer the world with. Stealing Cream's Chaos Emerald, alongside the Emerald he already possessed, Eggman evolved Chaos into Chaos 2. However, Knuckles arrived, demanding to know what Eggman did to the Master Emerald, and together with Sonic, they managed to defeat Chaos 2.^[28]

Gathering with his friends to hear their stories, Chris learned from Knuckles that the Master Emerald had been shattered and that Froggy had swallowed the purple Chaos Emerald that Big had found previously. Chris thus agreed to help Big find Froggy, while Sonic and Tails looked for the rest of the Chaos Emeralds to ensure Chaos could not grow stronger. Knuckles also began his search for the shards of the Master Emerald so he could restore it.^[29]

During their search for Froggy, Chris and Big managed to fish him up from one of the fishing spots Big found, only for Froggy to then be kidnapped by E-102 Gamma, one of Eggman's E-Series robots sent to hunt Froggy down.^[30] Pursuing Gamma to the Egg Carrier, Chris and Big freed Froggy.^[30][31] However, they ended up becoming captives of Chaos when it absorbed the Chaos Emerald from Froggy, along with the Emerald Eggman got earlier from a Flicky, which transformed Chaos 4 into Chaos 6. However, a tag-team effort by Sonic and Knuckles defeated Chaos 6, thus freeing Chris, Big and Froggy from its clutches, leaving Eggman to escape his crashing Egg Carrier in fury. Boarding the abandoned X Tornado, Chris managed to escape the Egg Carrier, but was separated from the others, only to then find the white Chaos Emerald.^[31]

With the Emerald in his possession, Chris went to find Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, who had just discovered from Eggman that Chaos was still alive.^[32][33] When Chris finally found his friends, Chaos ambushed him, forcing Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to rescue him, but allowing Chaos to get all seven Chaos Emeralds the group had and assume its ultimate form of Perfect Chaos. Chris subsequently flew back to the now flooded Station Square with the others in the X Tornado, but none of their attacks, nor Eggman's Egg Carrier 2, were able to break through Chaos' defenses. Before Chaos could finish them off though, a spirit named Tikal saved them. Chris was later among those who retrieve the drained Chaos Emeralds for Sonic to use, who used their remaining energy to become Super Sonic again to fight Perfect Chaos. During the fight, Perfect Chaos tried attacking Chris and the others, but Super Sonic blocked the attack. Provoked by Perfect Chaos for this attempt at his friends' lives, Super Sonic defeated Perfect Chaos. This purged Chaos of the anger and hatred that had poisoned it for so long and reverted it back to its base form. After Chaos left with Tikal, Chris and the others noticed Eggman had escaped in the confusion, but they knew he would be back.^[33]

Shadow Saga[]

Because of the damage Station Square sustained from Perfect Chaos, Chris and his family had to move to the capital until the damage to the Thorndyke Mansion was repaired.^[34] However, Chris soon discovered that Sonic was wanted by the police and G.U.N. for numerous crimes being carried out by a mysterious hedgehog that looked like Sonic. Locating Sonic soon after, Chris saw Sonic's run-in with his doppelgänger, the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog. After Shadow fled the scene, the police and G.U.N. cornered Sonic. Sonic pleaded that he was innocent, but Chris begged him to just turn himself in to avoid further trouble, which Sonic did after being told that he was being taken to Prison Island. Despite Sonic having been incarcerated, Chris and Mr. Tanaka decided to bust him out with Tails and Amy. While Tails and Amy took the X Tornado to Prison Island, Chris and Mr. Tanaka headed there in disguise in a boat.^[35] Once there, Chris and Tanaka ditched their disguises and got onto the island, but when it was discovered that Eggman had rigged the island to explode, Chris encountered Shadow, thereby proving to him that Sonic was innocent. As Chris got entangled in Shadow's escape, he managed to convince Shadow to transport him off the island to safety via Chaos Control alongside Shadow's partner, Rouge.^[36]

After Prison Island's destruction, Chris ended up on Space Colony ARK, where he discovered that Eggman planned to use the colony's Eclipse Cannon to threaten the world into submitting to his rule. Any attempt by Chris to reason with Shadow also fell on deaf ears, as Shadow was convinced by Professor Robotnik to take revenge on humanity for Maria's death.^[37][38]

Once Eggman had all seven Chaos Emeralds, he attempted to fire the Eclipse Cannon at Earth for refusing to give in to his demands. However, he instead triggered his grandfather's doomsday revenge plot, turning the whole ARK into a mega-bomb that would destroy the Earth.^[38] While Sonic, Knuckles, Decoe, and Bocoe took the Master Emerald to the ARK's core to defuse the ARK by draining the Chaos Emeralds of their power, Shadow refuses to help, remained convinced that humanity deserved to perish. However, Chris managed to make Shadow remember the full understanding of Maria's last words to him, thereby convincing him to help save the world, but was badly injured by a hostile Shadow in the process. As a result, when Sonic and Shadow went Super to deal with the Final Lizard, Super Sonic momentarily returned to his friends to heal Chris of his injuries. After being healed, Chris watched as Sonic and Shadow destroyed the Final Lizard and restored the ARK to a stable orbit. However, when Sonic returned with only one of Shadow's Limiters, indicating he sacrificed himself to save everyone, Chris was left deeply upset over Shadow's sacrifice before returning to Earth with Sonic and the others.^[39]

Egg Moon Saga[]

After moving back home to the Thorndyke Mansion in Station Square, Chris joined his grandfather Chuck when he spoke with the President regarding how the recent Chaos Control used by Sonic and Shadow to stop the ARK had caused more parts of Sonic's world to be brought to Earth, which was troubling the President. While Chuck assured him that there was no problem regarding it, Chris still felt uneasy about everything. He also bore witness when Eggman attempted to make up for the incident with the ARK and his late grandfather's doomsday plot by repairing the Moon, turning it into the Egg Moon. Later at home, Chris watched Amy throw a temper-tantrum regarding Sonic standing her up for a date. As she swung her hammer in frustration however, Chris noticed a loud clunk when Amy seemingly hit something invisible. Some time later, Chris and the others were confronted by Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee, two members of the Chaotix, who had come looking for Cream, which led to a scuffle. This scuffle was only broken up when Sonic returned with Vector's client, Cream's mother Vanilla, allowing Cream and Vanilla to reunite, much to Chris' amazement, before everyone picked on Vector for his mistake.^[40]

Some time later, everyone gathered on the Thorndyke Family yacht to celebrate the New Year, but soon found their celebration ruined by the Egg Moon eclipsing the Sun. Eggman explained that the Egg Moon was malfunctioning, so he offered his Sunshine Balls as an temporary replacement until the Egg Moon was fixed. However, Chris was shocked when Sonic began destroying the Mirror Towers that provide power to the Sunshine Balls, angering the people of Station Square and causing them to surround the Thorndyke Mansion.^[41] After Amy broke down a wall to allow them out, Chris and the others were surrounded by the mob, led by the former aide to the President, Jerome Wise. However, Chris' uncle arrived with the Speed Team and threatened to arrest everyone there if they laid so much as a hand on his nephew. Faced with little options at that point, Jerome and the mob reluctantly disperse, allowing Chris, Tails, and Amy to take the X Tornado to find Sonic, arriving when G.U.N. did to confront him, as he had been fighting Knuckles at the moment. When Sonic attempted to explain his reasons for his actions, Chris was overwhelmed by all the logic, but Tails and Amy understood, and they realized that Eggman had been tricking everyone in another scheme to build the Eggman Empire.^[42]

Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, Chris, Sonic, Tails and Amy headed to the White House to rescue the President from Eggman, while Topaz and Rouge went with Knuckles and Mr. Tanaka into space to take out the transmitter on the Egg Moon to end the eclipse. With Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe on the run, Chris joined in a trap that led to Eggman and his two lackeys finally getting arrested and incarcerated.^[42]

Emerl Saga[]

As peace settled, Chris had to deal with Amy when she got upset over being stood up by Sonic after they had arranged a date. Fortunately, Sam Speed would show up and help take Amy off his hands.^[43]

However, even with Eggman in prison, that did not stop him from sabotaging the appliances being made by Nelson's company, Thorndyke Industries, causing them to turn evil and run rampant, forcing Chris, Sonic, and the others to deal with them while Bokkun busted Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe out of prison. In the process, Chris also met Emerl, who was able to help deal with the rampaging appliances by copying Sonic's Spin Attack.^[44]

With Eggman on the loose again, Chris joined his friends when they tried to infiltrate Eggman's base under Station Square. There, they had to contend with the Egg Spider, which was destroyed by Emerl. Amidst the chaos however, Eggman would escape again.^[45]

Hoping to lure him out, the President held the Chaos Emerald Martial Arts Mash-Up tournament.^[46] Chris made his way through the competition, but forfeited to Knuckles in the quarterfinals, not wanting to face Amy (knowing that she'll knock him out of the stadium if she gets mad enough) or Rouge (knowing that she'll do anything to win the red Chaos Emerald (the prize of the tournament)) in the semifinals.^[46][47] Emerl eventually won the tournament, only for the energy from the red Chaos Emerald to make him go berserk. When Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, and Rouge were unable to stop him due to its copy ability, it was Cream and Cheese who finally deal Emerl a death blow when they tag-team it, which prevented Emerl from using his copy ability on them as the other attacked before Emerl could finish duplicating the move he was recording.^[47]

Homebound Saga[]

Some time later, Chris found himself helping Sonic when Eggman attempted to locate the lost continent of Murasia, having taken the crew of the G.U.N. destroyer Seahawk hostage on his Egg Battleship to ensure neither Sonic nor G.U.N. and their GUN Fort V3 would try to stop him.^[48] However, in the end, Eggman's plan for Murasia failed, and Decoe and Bocoe, who Eggman left behind to perish, defect and join Chris, staying at his house.^[48][49]

Christina Cooper and Dr. Kim Bickley both arrived some time later to reveal that the Time Suspension Phenomenon was taking place, threatening to stop time permanently unless Sonic and his friends, along with everything from their world went back home. Heartbroken, Chris thought this was a trick, and decided to confront Eggman on it. However, Eggman had no part in what was happening, and even managed to show Chris that he was acting selfishly by refusing to let Sonic and the others go home. Realizing his mistake, Chris returned home.^[50] When Tails and Chuck later completed a portal leading back to Sonic's dimension, it was not long before it was time to say goodbye to everyone as they were sent back to Sonic's world. However, even after everyone else went through and returned to their world, Chris, at the last second, hit the shutoff switch to the portal before Sonic could enter, shutting it down, to everyone's shock.^[51] Before anyone could ask Chris why, he grabbed Sonic and fled for parts unknown.^[52]

Despite being willing to see everyone else off, Chris refused to let Sonic leave as he felt that, due to his parents and their busy schedules, Sonic's departure would leave Chris feeling all alone again. Fleeing to his family's old lakeside retreat, Chris and Sonic were able to talk, and Sonic finally convinced Chris to let him return to his world.^[52] It was then revealed that though Chris had shut down the portal, Sonic has always been able to use Chaos Control with the Chaos Emeralds to return home under his own power.^[53] Shortly after Sonic departed, Lindsey and Nelson, who finally understood Chris' feelings and wanted to make up for their absence by spending more time with him, arrived to find Chris waiting for them.^[52]

Post-Homebound Saga[]

Six years later, at the age of eighteen, Chris has grown considerably. In that time, he and Helen began working together on getting the portal working again to visit Sonic in his world. Eventually, they took a break to go meet with Frances and Danny. As the four friends discussed things regarding events with Sonic and the others so long ago, Chris reminisced about his time with Sonic and all the adventures that they had together.^[53]

Metarex Saga[]

Early in the third season, he gets the portal working and uses it to travel to Sonic's home in the show. But due to the differences in time-acceleration between both planets, the teleportation process rejuvenates his body back to his pre-teen age. Chris no longer takes the back seat in the X-Tornado; instead, he is shown as flying it capably, which his younger self would never have been able to do so. Chris also comments in one episode that he is a black belt in karate. Additionally, he has also shown to have become a quite capable engineer, enough to impress Tails. He invents different gadgets and devices like Sonic's Hovershoes, a hoverboard and a new, better Chaos Emerald scanner for the Blue Typhoon. He is also seen in a few episodes using Flash Bombs as a distraction and he also uses a laser gun as a weapon.

His support allows Sonic and their friends to defeat the Metarex in numerous conflicts, culminating in the final battle against Metarex leader Dark Oak, that results in the destruction of him, his remaining Metarex forces, and tragically, Cosmo, who sacrificed herself to paralyze Dark Oak so Tails could deliver the killing blow to Dark Oak with Super Sonic and Super Shadow using the Sonic Power Cannon. However, with the Master Emerald having been sacrificed to kill Dark Oak's two remaining generals that fused with him into Final Mova, Chris was stranded in Sonic's world, until Eggman offered a means to allow Chris to return home. There was a catch though: Chris could not take the time to say goodbye to Sonic and his friends as the window for him to return home closed in a few minutes. With little option left, Chris took Eggman up on his offer, boarded the pod, and was launched to return home, as he roared into the sky, Chris spotted Sonic running along the ground below, who looked up and wished Chris good luck before the pod disappeared from view as Chris returned home to Station Square and Earth. As a result, since Chris never got to say goodbye to them, Sonic and his friends all declare war on Eggman.^[54]

Archie Comics[]

Game appearances[]

Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut[]

In Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, Chris makes a cameo on a Sonic X sign found in Station Square.

Sonic X (Leapster)[]

In Sonic X (Leapster), Chris witnessed Dr. Eggman kidnapping Sonic's friends in Station Square. Shortly later, he joined in Sonic's quest for saving their friends.

In gameplay, Chris makes unseen appearances, often praising Sonic's skills. He will also appear at the end of the game, praising Sonic for having saved the day.

Personality[]

Chris is a calm and well-mannered boy, though sometimes a bit energetic with a hunger for adventure. Despite being a "rich kid", Chris very is down-to-earth, thinking himself no different from everybody else and does not want to be treated differently despite coming from a rich family. Because of being isolated from his parents since childhood however, Chris would often suffer from emotional pain and loneliness and thus longed for close companionship. Growing up, Chris did make friends with a few of his classmates like Danny, Frances, and Helen, but his relationship with them was not enough to mend his loneliness since he still spent most of his time inside his mansion outside of school. Chris' friendship with Sonic and his friends would ease his pain though, but because of how close his friendship was with them (especially with Sonic), it would also make him sink into a mild depression or even make him have breakdowns whenever he feared they would leave him. All of this indicates abandonment issues, most likely due to his neglectful parents.

Chris deeply treasures the bonds he makes with other people and will do anything to preserve them, especially his bond with Sonic. However, this tends to give him a reckless or selfish streak, like when he fell into one of Eggman's traps in an attempt to help Sonic and his friends get home, or when he deliberately kept Sonic from returning home so he would not leave him. Regardless, Chris has a good heart and is always remorseful when his feelings get the better of him.

At the age of eighteen, Chris seemed to have gained somewhat of an attitude, especially around Helen. He is somewhat of a super genius at this age, probably taking after his grandfather.

Powers and abilities[]

At the age of eighteen, Chris has become a scientific genius. Notably, Chris was able to invent an interdimensional portal generator similar to the one his grandfather and Tails built six years earlier, with the twist being that it did not need Chaos Emeralds as a power source (which was a good thing since the emeralds at the time were scattered across the galaxy).^[55] He also invented many gadget shoes for Sonic to use in battle, including the Nitro Blasters, the Power Shoes, the Hover Shoes, the Speed Shoes, and the 2G Hi-Speed Shoes. He has also become skilled at karate, having been trained by Mr. Tanaka.^[56] Chris has also become a brilliant hacker, with Tails claiming that only he or Chris could hack into the system of the Blue Typhoon.^[57]

Chris has become an excellent pilot, as shown piloting the X Tornado and various other ships throughout the series.

Weapons[]

During the Metarex wars, Chris used a laser pistol.^[58] In some episodes, Chris was seen using flash bombs as a distraction.

Relationships[]

Sonic the Hedgehog[]

Chris's most prominent relationship is with his best friend, Sonic the Hedgehog. Chris first met Sonic when he crash-landed into the swimming pool of his parents' mansion overnight, and he rescued him from drowning, something that Sonic has been grateful for ever since. At first, Chris had to keep the fact that he saved a blue, talking hedgehog a secret by saying that Sonic was a cat, but unfortunately, his grandpa Chuck discovers Sonic and suspects that he is a robot. However, he later proves instrumental in helping to rescue Sonic's friends and finding the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic and Chris quickly form a close bond that turns into an everlasting and (sometimes) co-dependent friendship. Though Chris spends far more time interacting with Sonic's other companions like Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese (given how Sonic is often off either battling enemies solo or simply enjoying a fast-paced run), his relationship with Sonic remains the most significant. Much like Sonic's sidekick Tails, Chris is as closely connected to Sonic as a younger sibling would be.

Due to the close and deep friendship that developed between Chris and Sonic, Chris became quite attached to the blue hedgehog and did not want Sonic to be far away or return to his home world. Similar to Amy, Chris can sometimes feel a little jealous of Sonic's freedom and can become a bit clingy with the blue hedgehog. However, unlike Amy, who constantly chases after and occasionally annoys Sonic, Chris was more willing to give Sonic the freedom to go out on his own, as long as the hedgehog wasn't too far away. Sonic himself also remained quite comfortable and cool with Chris, unlike his more exasperated interactions with the overly enthusiastic Amy. This difference stems from the nature of Chris and Sonic's relationship. While Amy's attachment to Sonic is driven by a romantic obsession, Chris's connection to the hedgehog is rooted in a strong, brotherly-like friendship. Chris genuinely cares for Sonic's well-being and happiness, and doesn't want to restrict his freedom, unlike Amy's more possessive behavior. But at the same time, Chris has grown so accustomed to Sonic's presence that he fears being separated from his fast-moving friend for too long.

There have been a couple highlights showing Chris's loneliness issues and fear of Sonic leaving him. Near the end of episode 26, in the void of Chaos Control, Chris hugged Sonic (in his super form) after being healed of his injuries. He begged Super Sonic not to leave, but Super Sonic soon disappeared, leaving Chris in deep grief. Chris' face however soon brightened once more when Sonic returned and revealed that the Chaos Control instead brought the Mystic Ruins and Angel Island to Earth. Later, towards the end of episode 34, Sonic was falsely accused of a series of crimes (actually committed by Shadow) and was arrested by the authorities to be taken to Prison Island. Though Chris remained relatively strong-willed during this situation, he was still saddened to witness Sonic being taken away. Even as he told Sonic to turn himself in to avoid further trouble, a few small tears could be seen escaping Chris's eyes.

Perhaps the most notable highlight was shown between episodes 49 through 51, when the Time Suspension Phenomenon was taking place, threatening to stop time permanently unless Sonic and his friends, along with both Eggman and everything else from their world all went back home. Heartbroken, Chris thought this was a trick by Eggman, but soon found out that the phenomenon was real and that Eggman had no part in it. When Tails and Chuck finally competed a dimensional portal leading back to Sonic's world, it was not long before it was time to say goodbye to everyone. However, even after willing to see everyone else go through the portal and return to their world, Chris didn't feel ready to say goodbye to Sonic. At the last second, Chris deactivated the portal to prevent Sonic from returning home. He grabbed Sonic and ran away with him, resulting in the two going on a faraway adventure. During this trip, Sonic seemed apathetic about being kidnapped by his friend. He observed Chris in need of assistance, but surprisingly, Chris did not want it.

Arriving at their location, Chris and Sonic were finally able to talk. During their talk, Chris accuses Sonic of pretending to be his friend regarding the time when they first met out in his pool, but Sonic explains to Chris that he truly is a loyal friend to Chris. Sonic said that he doesn't care about which world he chooses to live in, and that it was Chris's decision to decide whether Sonic should go home or stay. Chris finally accepted his own emotions and understood that Sonic had to leave. He not only admits to Sonic his loneliness issues, but also admits how Sonic's always been there for him when he really needed it, but in the end, he let him down by not letting Sonic return to his home world. Although he quickly forgave his friend and understood that he would be lonely without him, Sonic helped Chris through his grief, expressing hope that they would see each other again one day. In a series of flashbacks near the end of episode 52, it was revealed that though Chris had shut down the portal, Sonic has always been able to use Chaos Control with the Chaos Emeralds to return home under his own power. After gathering the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic took Chris for one final (yet, really fast) run before transforming into his super form and heading home using Chaos Control with a clean conscience.

When Chris came to Sonic's world in episode 54 and departed with Sonic and his friends to help fight the Metarex, his friendship with Sonic remained strong. Prior to arriving in Sonic's world, Chris invented many gadget shoes for Sonic to use in battle, which Sonic appreciates. Over the course of their continued adventures together, Chris has become less clingy and dependent on Sonic, demonstrating an impressive growth in both maturity and self-reliance. However, his old reluctance to abandon Sonic occasionally resurfaced at times. For example, when Sonic was captured by the Metarex in episode 55, Chris was overcome with desperation and a fierce determination to rescue his friend. However, Sonic, in a moment of concern for Chris's well-being, urged Chris to forget about him and retreat, stating that their chances of survival would be slim if Chris also got captured.

After Chris boarded a pod built by Eggman back to home to Earth in episode 78, he caught a glimpse of Sonic running underneath, with Sonic saying "I'll be seein' ya, Chris!". And since Eggman told Chris prior his departure that the fact that he was able to travel to Sonic's world from the start was just a fluke (due to the time differences between Earth and Sonic's world) and that he will most likely not be able to come back and visit Sonic's world in the future, Chris shed some tears once more, although he stayed strong and left Sonic in a more mature manner than before.

Miles "Tails" Prower[]

Chris and Miles "Tails" Prower are good friends throughout the first two seasons and are seen riding in the X Tornado together. Chris helps Tails give Sonic Power Rings when Tails is too busy to do so. In season three Chris and Tails become closer friends due to Chris being an accomplished scientist in the season and having more to relate to now. Tails comments that Chris reminds him a lot of Chuck now. Sometimes, Tails can be shown to be concerned for Chris's safety, even after Chris's accomplishment as a scientist. For example, in episode 55, after Sonic got captured by the Metarex, Chris went back to the Typhoon to prepare himself for Sonic's rescue. However, Tails noticed how exasperated Chris was feeling at the moment and that he didn't have a set plan for Sonic's rescue. This, combined with Amy forbidding Chris from handling Sonic's rescue himself, led to Tails recommending Chris to just take a shower and get some rest.

Amy Rose[]

Amy Rose is another one of Chris's friends, and the two tend to get along quite nicely. However, whenever Sonic gets in the mix, Amy tends to become a bit annoyed with Chris, feeling that his unbreakable friendship (despite being brotherly in nature) and occasional co-dependency with Sonic often gets in the way of Amy's hope to win Sonic's love. At one point in episode 42, she even threatened to hurt Chris if Sonic didn't come out of hiding, although it is later revealed that she didn't mean it seriously. Additionally, in episode 55, after Sonic got captured by the Metarex, Amy called Tails and Chris to report about the capture after the planet's natives witnessed and told her. And since she wanted to impress Sonic with her rescue, combined with Tails's concern for Chris's safety, Amy forbade Chris from helping out on the rescue and took his place, claiming she does not need a chaperone.

Despite their occasional ups and downs, Chris and Amy maintain an overall positive and supportive relationship. They've never engaged in any truly heated arguments and continued to show genuine care and concern for one another, always willing to lend a helping hand when needed. Both Chris and Amy have admitted to feeling a bit jealous of Sonic's unencumbered freedom to go wherever he pleases and do whatever he wants at any given time.

While they do care for each other, Chris still has some fear of Amy, as in the aforementioned episode 42, he was very frightened to see Amy angry (even if her anger wasn't directed towards him). Then, in episode 46, he forfeited a karate match with Knuckles as the winner would then face either Amy or Rouge, as they were in a martial arts tournament for a Chaos Emerald.

Knuckles the Echidna[]

Not much can be said about Chris's relationship with Knuckles the Echidna except that the two get along well enough. After Chris gets captured by Eggman due to Knuckles believing his lies in episode 25, Knuckles makes it his objective to find and rescue Chris. Throughout the series, Knuckles is shown to be concerned for Chris's safety, such as when they entered a fighting tournament in episode 46, where Knuckles refused to fight Chris in the Quarter-Finals since he did not want him getting hurt, and also, Chris was concerned that he would be facing Amy or Rouge in the Semi-Finals if he won, resulting in Chris forfeiting the match. At times, Knuckles's anger does annoy Chris at times, and Chris often has to convince Knuckles to listen before jumping to conclusions. Such examples are in episode 41 when Chris convinced Knuckles to let Sonic explain his reasons on both why he knocked down the Mirror Towers and the fact that Eggman had been tricking everyone with his Sunshine Balls in another scheme to build the Eggman Empire, and in episode 54 when Knuckles didn't believe Cosmo about not being sided with the Metarex, though Chris told Knuckles to hear Cosmo out.

Knuckles was the last friend from Sonic's world that Chris spoke to before going home in episode 78. They were seen interacting in a friendly and good-natured manner, in front of the broken Master Emerald, speaking about Chris's next move.

Cream the Rabbit[]

Cream the Rabbit is also one of Chris's friends, they are seen tagging along together in some episodes and are generally friendly to each other. Despite this, in episode 7, Cream gets mad and yells at Chris (after he makes a comment about how his mom is rude to leave the party without telling the guests) as she overheard his mom crying about how she is never able to be there for him and that Cream can't see or even talk with her on a phone with her mom since she is back on Sonic's world. Later, Cream makes amends with Chris for yelling at him earlier by giving him a crown of flowers she made, which (according to Sonic) is something that she only does for people she really likes.

Cosmo[]

Cosmo is another friend of Chris and the two get along pretty well. Throughout their adventure, Cosmo starts to look up to Chris and shows great concern for his well-being. In episode 60, when Chris daydreams about his times with Shadow, Cosmo was a little worried that Chris was lost in another world. Later, in episode 67, after Chris nearly succeeded in rescuing Cosmo from Black Narcissus, Chris tells Cosmo that she reminds him a lot of himself before he met Sonic. Like the others, Chris is greatly saddened when Cosmo sacrifices herself to save the galaxy.

Chuck Thorndyke[]

Chris and his grandfather share a more deep and emotional connection than Chris has with either of his parents.

Helen[]

Chris and Helen are very close friends in the first two seasons of the anime. Out all of Chris's human friends, Helen is the most trusted. In the second series, Chris and Helen appear to have become closer and they both excel at machinery, shown in episode 52 when six years after Sonic and his friends, along with Eggman and everything else from Sonic's world, returned to their world, Helen had taken up work to help Chris get the portal to Sonic's world working again to go visit him and his friends. Both also felt lonely due to the fact that their parents were working really hard and had little time for them. However, Helen's family was doing it to get by and she was able to restore her relationship with her parents much quicker than Chris was able to with his.

Danny[]

Danny is Chris' childhood friend and helps Sonic and the others a few times in the first season. In the Archie Comics, Chris and Danny are shown to be on the same soccer team. In the pilot episode of the series, Danny was going to have a much larger role then he ended up having but he would still have a smaller role than Chris.

Frances[]

Frances is another close friend of Chris who helps Sonic and the team out in the first season. Frances is seen as a tomboy and enjoys poking fun at Chris and Danny. Regardless, they remain friends.

Shadow the Hedgehog[]

Chris takes an interest in Shadow the Hedgehog especially when he returns after supposedly sacrificing himself to stop the ARK from hurtling into the earth. Shadow does try to hurt Chris at one point, but Chris is rescued by Rouge, who later abandons him, but Chris was then rescued by Knuckles. Although at times Chris has shown signs of dislike for Shadow, he has also shown signs of liking him. Chris kept Shadow's Limiters until Shadow came back and Chris returned them to him. Chris did as well shed one tear when he learned Shadow was supposedly dead. Chris's selfless nature and his kind, loving look in his blue eyes also reminds Shadow of Maria, and Chris convinced Shadow that she would want him to help people before he lost his memory.

Friends/allies[]

• Albert Butler
• Alexander Pell
• Amy Rose (close friend)
• Big the Cat
• Chao
  • Cheese
• Chaotix
  • Charmy Bee
  • Espio the Chameleon
  • Vector the Crocodile
• Christina Cooper
• Chuck Thorndyke (grandfather)
• Cosmo (close friend)
• Cream the Rabbit (close friend)
• Danny (classmate)
• Dr. Cadberry
• Dr. Kim Bickley
• E-77 Lucky
• Ella (housemaid)
• Elmer Johnson
• Emerl
• Frances (classmate)
• Froggy
• Helen (classmate, close friend, and love interest)
• Knuckles the Echidna (close friend)
• Lindsey Thorndyke (mother)
• Lue
• Lylem
• Miles "Tails" Prower (close friend)
• Momo
• Mr. Stewart (teacher)
• Mr. Tanaka (butler)
• Nelson Thorndyke (father)
• Rouge the Bat
• Sam Speed (uncle)
• Scarlet Garcia
• Shadow the Hedgehog (to a degree)
• Shadow the Hedgehog (Prime Zone)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (best friend)
• Topaz
• Vanilla the Rabbit

Neutral[]

• Chaos
• E-102 Gamma

Enemies[]

• Bocoe
• Bokkun
• Boom
• Boris
• Decoe
• Dr. Eggman
• Ivan
• King Boom Boo
• Metarex
  • Black Narcissus
  • Dark Oak
  • Pale Bayleaf
  • Yellow Zelkova
• Sergei

Trivia[]

• Chris was one of the four Sonic X characters exclusively promoted by Sonic Team (the others being Danny, Nazo and Cosmo).
• Chris making it home safely at the end of the series is never confirmed, only heavily implied by Eggman.
• Chris appeared with Sonic in the most episodes of Sonic X (76), leaving out episodes 17 and 68. Despite this, Sonic was mentioned in episode 17, and he and Chris appeared in flashbacks that were shown in episode 68.
• Chris unintentionally managed to make both Sonic and Shadow come to tears.
• Chris learned martial arts growing up but is unable to defend himself with them at first because of not being used to being in a twelve-year-old body.
• Chris's name likely comes from that of Sonic's birthplace in the mainline games, Christmas Island.
• Sonic's Sonic X actor, Jason Griffith, stated that he originally wanted to voice Chris during auditions as he wanted to see what it was like to be a human companion of Sonic, but the producers felt his voice was more appropriate for Sonic only.^{[citation needed]}

Notes[]

References[]