Okay, this may be a little bit of a nerdy fanboyish thing (ok it is totally...anyway), but it has been driving me nuts that some fans think that Chaos Control does not canonically need a Chaos Emerald (or a suitable substitute) when there is so much evidence that it does.
Profiles in manuals and online nearly always mention a Chaos Emerald with Chaos Control:
"He is given the ability of Chaos Control to distort time and space using the Chaos Emeralds" - Sonic Channel
"Possessing the power to use Chaos Emeralds to perform Chaos Control..." - Sonic Rivals minisite (the American version is gone but the European version is still up)
"Shadow has a special ability called 'Chaos Control' which allows him to warp time and space using Chaos Emeralds" - Sonic Adventure 2 manual (the Sonic Heroes manual says something very similar, possibly others also)
Most importantly, spoken words and actions in cutscenes almost all agree on this:
"It's not his speed, he must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp" - Sonic in Sonic Adventure 2
"It was a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? But... there's no way you could have activated the Chaos Control... using an Emerald that's fake." - Shadow in Sonic Adventure 2
"With a Chaos Emerald, I control time and space" - Shadow in Sonic 2006
Fans who say that Chaos Control can be used without an Emerald tend to point at Shadow's game where Black Doom flees with the Emeralds and Sonic Battle where Shadow's Emerald is given to Emerl as the best evidence for their point. However, it has been shown time and again that one does not need to be physically holding any Emeralds to use their power:
In Sonic Adventure, Perfect Chaos drained the negative energy from the Emeralds as they orbited his head
In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic 2006, multiple Super forms exist at one time
In Shadow's game, Black Doom warps the Black Comet down to earth with Chaos Control without physically touching any Emeralds (and after just explaining that he needed all seven to perform such a powerful warp)
Sonic X supports this in episodes 46: Sonic Vs Shadow and 77: Cosmo's Work (in fact in 46's Super Transformation, a Meterex is holding 2 of the Emeralds)
So looking at it with that in mind, since Black Doom only floated away with the Emeralds right at the end of the cutscene before Final Way, it likely suggests he was never far away during the level.
Also Emerl (and the 7 Emeralds) were never far from Shadow either. (Although it was never really explained what he needed it for, a possible explaination for what Shadow meant when he said he no longer needed it was he no longer weakened and in need of a crutch for his earlier injury)
Mostly instances in gameplay where Shadow used Chaos Control or a related power without an Emerald can be dismissed as Sonic Team not wanting to compromise the gameplay for the sake of the story (like the mysterious 8th Chaos Emerald in Team Dark's team blast in Sonic Heroes). Although one final instance is Shadow's opening cutscene in Sonic 2006, where he disappears in light after talking to GUN and no Emerald or other power source is around. But that game was messy enough (Silver's speed up anyone?) to consider the possibly of a mess up by the people Sonic Team hired to make the CG movies for the game.
yeah, you need a chaos emerald on hand or at least nearby to perform chaos control. in sonic battle, it's simple; they weren't going to give shadow an entirely new moveset just for half a chapter.
I've never seen anyone claim that Chaos Control can be used without emeralds. Such claims are kind of baseless as it's been the only established requirement since Shadow woke up in SA2.
As much as I love Sonic Battle and think it is well written, Shadow going a small amount of game without a chaos emerald is the least of that game's problems. If we took it literally, then people would be making threads about Amy creating imaginary Sonic's which she can use to defeat her enemies.
Feels kind of a waste, though. You've clearly thought this out and brought forth many specific instances to prove your point, but... I seriously have never heard anyone ever claim the contrary.
Actually the idea you don't have to have an emerald has been discussed on the GameFAQs a few times before; and in a way, I have to agree that Chaos Control can be used without an emerald.
Black Doom said:
The Emeralds amplify the space-time control powers of Chaos Control. We need them to charge to full power.
This is a direct quote from Black Doom in the last story, and to me, it kinda sounds like he saying that the Emeralds only amplify the natural Chaos Control powers of the Black Arms. I'll be honest though, I thought I remember BD saying explicitly that the Black Arms have natural CC powers and that the Emeralds only make them stronger.
While if explicitly saying it would provide actually evidence, the quote I use could still be used to imply that CC is natural to the Black Arms, or at least Black Doom, and therefore Shadow.
Ah, ok. I don't surf other boards so know and care not of their debates.
But as we've started some legitimate debating here, let's get in the fray! 
Perhaps this means that Shadow and the Black Arms have innate chaos energy in them, or something similar, or they can store it inside them, but given Sonic is able to Chaos Control and Eggman used a machine to generate Chaos Control (Sonic Advance 3) we can either agree that the stories are "Chaos Control works how it needs to work for stuff to be done in this game" or it is directly linked to the emerald's power.
Given how little the continuity has mattered since SA2, I'll vote the previous option.
Well, the way I see it is that the Black Arms, which in this discussion will include Shadow, have innate Chaos abiities without the Emeralds which just increase them, but any living creature, or maybe those with powers like Sonic, Silver, etc., and machines can perform CC as long as they have an Emerald or in the case of Sonic, a fake emerald. Speaking of which, I have a feeling that Silver could probably use an Emerald to perform CC with a fake one as well.
As far as no continuity, I don't really care as it's been too long since we've had any discussions about the mechanics of the Sonicverse as opposed to topics about a certain game or how messed up the franchise is. Man, how I miss the days when we had several serious discussions about characters, powers, game theology, etc. going on at the same time; hopefully, Chronicles and Unleashed can bring it back.
Yea, what Ray said...i've always thought Shadow, atleast, could CC w/o an Emerald. Also...speaking of the SA2 opening, I can't seem to remember exactly, but did Shadow awaken with a CE or did Eggman give it to him?
AFAIK, I don't think it ever explicitly said were he got it from. If the short Archie adaption got anything right, then Shadow stole the Emerald from some government facility who got Sonic confused with Shadow.
Didn't Eggman have to insert the emerald into the console to release him (M-A-R-I-A... Maria), and he just used that one?
It's been so long since I played SA2 that I just can't remember. Quick to YouTube, or at least someone should go start the game up. 
Yea, he puts the emerald into the console, and types in the password.
What exactly is it about the Chaos Emeralds that allows the use of CC?
The logical response would be the energy they emanate, the Chaos Energy.
And while the Emeralds are certainly the biggest source of this type of energy in the Sonic universe, there are other, minor ones, as well. By saying this I'm thinking of Chaos Drives and Rings.. I always considered rings as some sort of manifestation of the emeralds' energy, which would explain why a certain number of them is required to perform special attacks and a super transformation (and mantain one, as well).
As for Chaos Drives.. they can be used to power up robots, but can also be fed to Chao.. in my opinion if a consistent number of them were to be collected one could perhaps perform Chaos Control. But that's just me, I can't think of any point in the games were this claim can be supported.
As far as the ability to use CC goes.. some individuals (Sonic, possibly Silver..) could be naturally gifted to be able to harness that energy much easier than other people would, just like some people might be naturally gifted to learn languages very quickly. So being able to use CC or not wouldn't really be a unique power, but simply something very difficult for normal people to pull off; once the mechanism is understood it can be learned and/or replicated (explaining how machines can be programmed to use it).
Shadow and the Black Arms are probably a case where one's natural constitution is made so as to make CC more easily viable... "it's in their blood".
Chaos Control without physical contact with an emerald is undoubtedly possible, simple proximity to it will do, as long as the CC user is good enough to pull it off.
I wonder also if one could "block" the energy when holding the emerald, as to prevent bystanding people from being able to harness their power from a distance...
In Sonic X Shadow stole the chaos emerald from a museum or something. And security mistook him for Sonic. ...Why would they put the chaos emerald in a museum? Oh well.
For a long time I always thought that Shadow was just "built" with the ability inside him. Overtime it was Sonic's ability to do CC that puzzled me. Since he never even heard of the concept until Shadow demonstrated it. But then again Sonic of course could still use the Chaos Emeralds to go super. So I guess my real confusion comes from Sonic's origins. Theres a lot of crackbrained theories on tv tropes.com and I sometimes wonder if Sonic is really as young as he appears to be.
I've heard all kinds of crap ranging from Sonic also being an experiment of Gerald Robotnick to Sonic being a demi-god sent to earth by the 'powers that be' to protect Earth from itself.
But that's getting way off topic. Honestly Chaos Control is a plot device. A very convenient plot device. If you try to shoe horn logic into it all just falls apart like a badly constructed sand castle.
It is true that Black Doom's quote could mean that CC is a natural ability; the ability could be pre-existing in everyone and they just have to learn to use it or it exists in a select few. It is vague enough that it could also mean the powers only exist in the Emeralds, users only harness them. The most undesputable interpretation is that the powers of CC increase with a greater number of Emeralds. The problem with saying that the implication that since CC is natural to some or all so the Emeralds must not be required is that it would contradict so many other descriptions of CC.
An analogy for how I believe it (assuming that the powers are natural to everyone or a select few): an engine is designed with the ability to do something (like move a car), but it cannot do this without a power source (like say gasoline). With more gasoline, the engine can do more, but with no gas, ... well you know. So, if someone has all 7 Emeralds, their CC is at full power, with 5 Emeralds, their CC is at 5/7 power, with 3 Emeralds, their CC is at 3/7 power, but with zero Emeralds, they have no power to use their CC. It makes perfect sense with Black Doom's quote but doesn't contradict anything.
So having one chaos emerald would give its user energy to warp from one place to another but not much else? Yet using all 7 emeralds would allow the user to cause mass destruction or move a gigantic object out of harms way.
Shadow and Sonic only need one emerald to transport themselves to different places. 2 emeralds (I think) to travel through time. But they had to be Super Sonic and Shadow to put the Ark back in safe orbit. And being in Super form is pretty much having all 7 emeralds absorbed into you.
Yea, he puts the emerald into the console, and types in the password.
Ahh ok...so Eggman did have an emerald first. I knew Shadow couldn't have taken one from the vault or whatever, because chronologically the Dark Side begins first. Anywho...I think the agreed upon opinion, whereas CC is a natural ability is believeable. The only thing I don't know about is the new gained powers due to cumalative CEs. Of course 1-2 CEs allows the transportation through time/space, and all 7 allows a super transformation and the relocation of rather large objects. Other than that...I have no clue.
One thing that has been stuck in my craw though...Knuckles is getting the short end of the stick. He's the guardian of the emeralds you know...and he gets nothing. Not a thing. Atleast give him a super transformation in the new games, for crying out loud. You'd think Knuckles would have some special connection to the things he's the watcher over. Oh well...maybe some day, yea? Does anyone else feel Knuckles is getting misused? *awaits for the obvious answers*
Hell yeah he's being misused! Thats only because he is pushed more into the sidelines for every new hedgehog. Knuckles had a purpose in SA 2. He chanted the "Servers are the seven chaos" to stop the chaos emeralds giving power to the Ark.
Its been so long since I played SA1 that I can't remember his significant role other than putting the M.E. back together. But Tikal said the "Severs are the seven chaos" chant as well. It would make sense that even if Knuckles lacks ability to absorb chaos energy into himself and use it, he can at least externally control the activeness of the emeralds. (Like neutralizing them if they fell into evil hands) But his abilities are ignored lately. He's traded in 'Guardian of the M.E." for "Treasure Hunter" or something. I've got nothing against treasure hunting but its like Sonic Team needed an excuse for Knuckles to be playable outside of collecting shards of the M.E. Loosing his guardian powers in the process or forgetting that he had them.
One question that thinking about Knuckels occurs to me is.. how much do the Emeralds' and the Master Emerald's powers differ?
They can neutralize each other, so much is true, but from the whole "negative" and "positive" poles that the Emeralds were shown to have in SA, one could theorize that the emeralds can neutralize themselves, too..
It seems to me that the powers of the Master Emerald are still a bit obscure.. and it being used mainly as an excuse to get Knuckles into the games, or being forgotten altogether, has not helped to shed much light to the issue..
I wonder why the chaos emeralds don't gravitate back to the M.E. after they disperse. That would make keeping track of them a lot easier.
<strong class="quote-title"
B Vulpix wrote:
I wonder why the chaos emeralds don't gravitate back to the M.E. after they disperse. That would make keeping track of them a lot easier.
Hahha, yea no kidding. 😛 But the ME, how i've always understood it, is equal in power to all 7 CEs. But the other powers and abilities of it...i'm not so sure. I suppose the ME could be like the parents and the CES are the septuplets*. I still wish there was some way we cold throw the Super Emeralds into all of this. Because when it comes to the neutralizing powers and sort...I have been out of the Sonic canon for quite some time...so I have no clue. I do plan on replaying through all of my Sonic titles this summer though...so maybe I can through in my two cents this summer.
But yes Knux has been pushed into the sidelines more and more for each game. =/ I feel sorry for the guy. He's got quite a mysterious hereditary and SA1 touched on it alot, but I don't remember exactly what was explained and stuff. I do remember the "Super Emeralds" being shown in one cutscene and Tikal and Pach are key characters in the past, involving Chaos and whatnot. While on the subject of Chaos...he resides in the ME, right? Or has he since been lifted from that burden post SA1?
Some Tv Tropes theories and responses : Everybody can use Chaos Control.
Shadow doesn't have any innate Controlling powers, only training. Sonic was able to pull it off in Sonic Adventure 2 thanks to sheer force of will in a life-or-death situation. You don't have to be The Chosen One involved - heck, Tails and the Robotniks have powered all manner of devices from the emeralds alone. Of course, if this is true it makes you wonder why people don't just teleport everywhere, since even fake Emeralds with similar properties will work.
*Except building that kind of a fake emerald (all the same properties, but reverses the polarity or whatever) requires inventive genius on the level of Tails and Eggman, which is presumably not super-common. Eggman rarely holds on to an emerald long enough to study it (he tries to use it immediately and has Sonic right on top of him the moment it happens) while Tails had the entire stretch between the first Sonic Adventure and the second to build his, leaving basically one person in the entire world able to make such a thing. Presumably he doesn't want that kind of power multiplying, although his continued aging backwards makes that kind of thought process more and more unlikely. In the anime the Metarex were able to mass-produce knockoff Chaos Emeralds (which memorably gave us Dark Super Sonic), so...yeah.
**And clearly GUN hasn't been pursuing this since the GUN Commander is deeply unreasonable about anything relating to Project Shadow. Within GUN, pitching for a new Chaos Project would likely be a career-limiting move at best, and terminal at worst.
**Here's a fun one; go back and play Sonic Adventure 2. When Amy busts Sonic out of prison, you can see that the walls of his cell are literally covered in what appear to be very complex mathematics equations. Quite simply, Sonic saw Shadow do Chaos Control once, and one he had enough free time he figured out exactly how it works. This is a particularly odd scene because they make a point of showing Amy staring at all the equations in wonder, but never reference them later or give any real indication as to what they were meant for. The only logical conclusion is that Sonic figured out how to do Chaos Control. Whether or not other people could do it, though...
**Wait. You seriously think SONIC wrote all of that stuff on the cell wall? Be serious. (my response. lol)
**I'm told Silver was able to do one in the 2006 game just out of pure desperation. The flaw in that argument is that there IS no 2006 Sonic game.
Therefore, the above is as good as anything...although I think the implication is supposed to be that Sonic's cell is the one originally occupied by Professor Gerald, thus the math.
**That's how this troper read it, too.
**He was also executed there. Watch that prerendered cutscene; there's text behind him.
**So its assumed by most that Sonic read AND understood those detailed mathmatical equations on the wall? I figured he pulled off chaos control because he was lucky. Plus he's the hero n' all. (Me again. I had very little to say in this debate.)
I concur with Shadow Hog here, even if that plot point has been subject of much vocal hatred from myself since SA2's release.
This thread is featuring dizzying amounts of facts and concepts which are being plucked out of thin air. I fear, for my sanity, I will bow out before my brain implodes.
Smart move Craig. But you know it'll suck you back in.
Perhaps it be best if we try not to make sense of a plot device.
Awww...but it's so much fun. u_u
you like trying to make sense out of stuff that doesn't make sense?
If Trekkies get a show on NBC, hosted by 'George' from Seinfield, talking about Star Trek plot devic ...er... technology; what's wrong with Sonic fans ('Sonikkies' lol) talking about Sonic equivalents? *gets beat up*
Well Vulpix...I like trying to make sense of things that may appear to be senseless. And you're right Supa Sonic San...this is what we do. Yays!
Toy Store!
Ok then.....explain knuckles to me. EXPLAIN HIM TO ME
His very exsistance makes no sense.
Don't be dissuaded guys. Discussing plot points and the universe is good. Making up facts or interpretting things which clearly indicate something else to help your arguement, not so much.
Lets identify the theories that are Epileptic Trees and which theories are based in some kind of facts.
D.B. 1 to HS2K3 0. >_
While on the subject of Chaos...he resides in the ME, right? Or has he since been
lifted from that burden post SA1?
Well, he didn't appear in SA2 after the ME was broken. Chaos appeared in Sonic Battle outside of the ME, too. I don't think Chaos resides in the ME anymore.
Ahh alrighty. Cool, cool. Thanks!
A little late to the party here, but...
I knew Shadow couldn't have taken one from the vault or whatever, because chronologically the Dark Side begins first.
Shadow DOES steal an emerald from vault at the start of the game. It's the whole reason why the cops and GUN end up after Sonic in the first place. Remember all the cop cars surrounding Shadow on the bridge? Eggman seeing a news report stating Sonic had stolen something? Why Sonic ends up arrested at all? It was the theft that started all that.
Here's Shadow's level recap:
"I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, the one and only Ultimate Life Form. I took the Chaos Emerald from the national reserve bank, and now the military and police are chasing me. I don't care if they know who I am, because they'll never catch me. It's just a waste of time. There's no time for games, I have to get to get out of here, fast."
Furthermore, Shadow tells Eggman that they need more emeralds upon Eggy releasing him with the first. The emerald he uses when he and Sonic first meet is the one he stole, not the one Eggman had. So...
1 - Eggman starts with it.
2 - Shadow steals it from the federal bank
3 - Rouge gives it to Eggman as a sign of trust
4 - Rouge steals it from Security Hall
5 - ditto
6 - ditto (at this point they use what they have for the Eclipse Cannon warning shot)
7 - Tails has it, having received it for saving Station Square in SA1. Shadow and Rouge waste time trying to chase him down. Eggman takes it from him on the ARK.
The vault being referred to is the Security Hall vault which Rouge steals three emeralds from. The post asking if he stole one from there did not take the one that Eggman used to free him into consideration.
The one from the bank is a seperate Emerald.
Is it just me, or am I the only one who thinks that Sonic is the actual Ultimate Life Form?
In the final fight of SA2, Shadow does hint at it.
Shadow: Hahaha, Sonic! I think I've discovered what the Ultimate Life Form is...
it might be you!
Now, can we take that statement seriously? I mean, it was Shad's first ever time being Super (That isn't a far-fetched assumption now isn't it?), so his ability to not go crazy with that amount of power isn't like Sonic's (He has more Super experience.). Is it possible that Shadow was just spouting nonsense out of his mouth, or was he serious?
Other than in the British Sonic the Comic, I don't think there is any evidence of Chaos Emerald power driving anyone crazy. I think Shadow was remarking on Sonic's mad skillz (Project Shadow's goal was to create the ultimate life form and made it seem like that was the same as an immortal life form; Sonic died in Sonic 2006 - obviously he's not immortal)
While on the topic of the SA2 FinalHazard battle, I want to point out that Super Sonic said about the FinalHazard,
"Where does he get all that power? Is this the power of the Chaos Emeralds?"
It adds crediblity to the arguement that Emeralds do not need to be physically held to use their power.
That's been brought up in the past, Hukos. Shadow was joking and The Ultimate Lifeform is a stupid label.
Yea what Craig said. I know he stole an emerald, but not before he was released from containment. 😛 Anywho, yea Supa Sonic San you make a good point there. The Biolizard didn't actually have possession of the emeralds, then again...Sonic wasn't sure he was just hypothesizing. But umm...Lighty...give me those. Oh man! They're gorgeous! And "WTF mate" at nuke. 😛
Well the BioLizard was like a giant tumor attatched to the ARK. Really Attatched to the Ark. So maybe it was holding the chaos emeralds in the way. It was connecting to the space colony via cables and wires and the Emeralds were set up in some kind of machinary for their power to be harnessed.
SPY SAPPIN' MAH EMERALDS
Did the series ever explain where Chaos came from? Not the emeralds I mean the water god.
according to Sonic Channel (translated on http://sonicjam.wikidot.com/sisghz:other-sonicchannel-cp-chaos):
Chaos
* Real name: Kaosu
* English Name: Chaos
* Nickname: Kaosu
* Type: Chao (mutant)
* Gender: Does not have
* Height: Varies
* Weight: Varies
* Characteristic: Can evolve with the power of the Chaos Emeralds.
A mutated chao. Possessing high intelligence and abilities that far exceed those of the rest. A gentle personality; once profiting from the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, which guaranteed clear water around the altar and protected its race from foreign tribes. However, Knuckles' ancestors were a war-like people and slaughtered many of [Chaos'] fellow Chao in order to plunder the Chaos Emeralds, causing the enraged Chaos to go berserk, absorbing the 7 Chaos Emeralds and transforming into Perfect Chaos. The resultant heavy floods destroyed the civilization.
Tikal, by means of a prayer, linked her conciousness with Chaos and they were sealed in the Master Emerald. As for the 7 Emeralds, they were unaccounted for, but it was at that point that the stones came to be called "Chaos Emeralds".
Oh...wow. Ok that's a good tidbit right there. Thanks!
A bit offtopic, but what happened to the Biolizard after the Final Hazard fight?
Was it destroyed, or was it locked back in stasis?
It's dead, dude. Like, fer' sure!
SPY SAPPIN' MAH EMERALDS
That sapper's gonna be there a while.
